Time to get serious

As you can probably tell, getting me to stay on a healthy nutrition and fitness plan isn't easy. I start diets, usually going on a bad food binge before my official diet start date (gaining a couple of pounds before my diet even begins) only to fall off the wagon after a week or two and never get back on. I have finally realized I can't do this on my own and have enlisted the help of two great resources:

1. A fitness expert/trainer. I have started meeting with Dr. Mike Esco, a fitness expert on the faculty of Auburn University at Montgomery. I recently went through an entire health and fitness workup in his Human Performance Lab, the results of which I will share with you all later this week. Let's just say this man is a genius and I am so lucky to get to work with him. Very soon, his services will be available to the general public.

2. Weight Watchers. I have avoided WW for many years, probably because I know it works and I haven't been serious about getting in shape. This week, the Weight Watchers at Work program came to my workplace - meaning I can attend my weekly meet at work during the lunch hour. Today was my first weigh-in and I got all my materials. Starting tomorrow morning, I will be eating 41 points a day. Please share your favorite WW tips and recipes. Oh, and have you seen Jennifer Hudson lately since she joined WW? Boom Pow!

With these two amazing resources at my disposal, I have all the support I need to get in shape. No more excuses. What's more, my co-worker Lyla, my husband Tim, and my BFF Mariah have all started healthier habits recently. No more enablers or enabling. I feel like the stars have finally aligned perfectly and there is no better time for me to finally do something about my weight. No more waiting. I can do this. The time is now.

Don't change that dial!

I am sorry I haven't blogged the past few days. I've been really swamped and have lost track of my calories and steps. Tonight I had way too many Girl Scout cookies to count. I could easily backslide into my old ways, but don't count me out yet! I have some very exciting news to share on the wellness front tomorrow. Don't change the dial!

By the way, did you know that the Girl Scouts have started using a new manufacturer to make their cookies, resulting in a name change for most of their cookies? The yummy Samoa is now packaged as "Caramel DeLites." There ain't nothing "Lite" about these delights. Two of these little babies equals 150 calories. I had five or six.

Mmmm...Nutella

I am sitting here watching the Harry Potter movie marathon on ABC Family and, as Harry eats chocolate to perk up after a dementor attack, I think about how chocolate always makes me feel better when I'm stressed, sick or demented. This morning I've been eating lots of Nutella - a delicious hazelnut and cocoa spread that's better for you than chocolate, since it has protein in it from the hazelnuts. Have you ever tried it? It is scrumptious! I have eaten probably 3 tablespoons of it (100 calories per tablespoon) on Lorna Doone minis (130 x 3 packs = 390 calories). Total damage for this Saturday morning sweettooth binge? 690.

For breakfast, I had a bowl of Frootloops and whole milk. (400 calories) Feeling weak from eating nothing but sweets, I warmed up a pasta and cheese Smart One Weight Watchers frozen dinner (300 calories). I ate some carrots with ranch dressing on the side (150 calories).

I seriously need to go to the grocery store, as a lack of healthy food options has resulted in a week of fast food and junk food snarfing. I'm going to try to convince the family to go to Earth Fare with me to get some yummy organic nosh.

Total calories today so far: 1,540

Is it Friday Yet?

I'm not sure why, but my son was off kilter today.

I could NOT get him out of bed. I tried singing to him, jumping up and down on the bed, tickling, hugging and kissing him. I even got the dog involved - encouraging her to lick him in the face and snuff on him with her big, cold nose. No matter what I tried, he kept rolling over and letting out a big snore. Then I whipped out the magic words: "If you'll get up I will get you a sausage biscuit at Burger King." Well, that got him out of bed.

What's a naughty vegetarian to order for breakfast at a fast food joint? I highly recommend an egg and cheese English muffin (or "McMuffin," if you're at McDonald's). You'll shave about 120 calories off your breakfast with one of these babies versus a biscuit. And don't order hash browns unless you're at McDonald's. Their long, fritter-sized taters have about 150 calories each vs. 250 for a small order of "hash rounds" at Burger King. McDonald's hash browns, however, are sold in pairs. You better have a plan for that second one or you won't save any calories. Plan to donate it to a hungry co-worker, a homeless person, or throw it out the window.

Total breakfast calories: 300.

I didn't get around to eating lunch until 1:30 and, by then, I was starvin' Marvin. I popped in to our university's food court and got a personal size veggie pizza from Papa John's.

Total lunch calories: Around 500.

After work I got a little exercise at Zoom Zoom Car Wash, where I had to do some serious work on my messy car - particularly the back seat, where there are lots of sausage biscuit crumbs.

Fun fact: I broke my foot at Zoom Zoom Car Wash last summer, tripping over a vacuum hose whilst admiring a very attractive young couple. "Oh, they're so cute and sweet looking...whoa...crash...OUCH!" I didn't get to exercise all summer after fracturing my fifth metatarsal there.

Total steps taken: 6,866

Very pleased with myself for getting the car cleaned out, I went home to cook dinner feeling like an A student. Unfortunately, there isn't much to cook in the house so it was "breakfast for dinner" night. I had the last of the vegetarian sausage biscuits I put up in the freezer last weekend (250 calories) and a small bowl of Fruit Loops with a splash of whole milk I purchased by mistake (300 calories).

Total Dinner Calories: 550

Total Daily Calories: 1,350

Wow, that's the lowest calorie count all week. I guess St. Patrick's Day is lucky!

Hump Day

Happy Hump Day!

I got stuff to do around the house, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet.

I didn't have time to eat breakfast, so I decided lunch at Jim & Nick's BBQ wouldn't blow the diet. This place has the best cheese muffins in the world. Just look at them (thanks for the photo Chow Down Atlanta). You get as many of these as you want, for free, so I ate three (300 cals). For my entree, I had a baked potato (300 cals) and a salad with Ranch dressing (200 cals).

Lunch calories: 800

I didn't have any snacks. For dinner, I had some errands to run so I popped in to Jalapeno's Mexican restaurant. I ate free chips and salsa (350 calories) and a veggie quesadilla (250 calories).

Dinner calories: 600

Total calories consumed: 1,400

I forgot to wear the pedometer today, but my day was very similar to Monday (when I took in more than 6,000 steps).

Good lord, look at those cheese muffins. They're worth being fat for!

Super Tuesday

This morning was a mad rush. I woke up completely exhausted, as I didn't get in bed until really late the night before. Neither my son nor myself are morning people and my husband, who usually gets us out the door in the morning, is out of town. So we rush out the door late. I give my son a cereal bar and a juice box, while I skipped breakfast.

At work, I had to attend a day-long workshop. Good workshops always have a supply of yummy snacks to keep participants happy while they're stuck in one place. Unfortunately, this was indeed a good workshop. There was a bounty of free chips, candy, snack bars and drinks. I didn't eat constantly throughout the day (unlike some of my surprisingly thinner fellow workshoppers). Here's what I took from the snack bar:

White popcorn (large portion): 280 calories

Whoppers candy: 6 balls x 10.5 calories per ball = 63 calories

Milky Way Midnight Mini: 35 calories

Baked Cheetos: 200 calories

Lunch was sketchy. They ordered deli sandwich rolls, which I couldn't eat. So I had a garden salad with ranch dressing and another bag of Baked Cheetos, for a total of 350 calories. Opps! I forgot dessert. I had two brownie triangles, equaling about 400 calories.

After work, I took my son out to dinner at Red Robin. I had a vegetarian burger with steak fries, with a strawberry cupcake for dessert. Total damage at dinner: about 1,000 calories.

Total daily calories: 2,328

Total exercise: 2,403 steps

Manic Monday

"6:00 already and I was just in the middle of a dream.

I was eating Belgian waffles drenched in strawberries

& whipped cream."

Okay, so that's not how the song written by Prince, performed by The Bangles, goes. But to me, a pile of carbs and sugar is much more appetizing than some dude named Valentino. But I digress. This post is about Mondays, and how I tend to overeat on this manic, "have to run" day.

Today started off well. It's spring break and my son is attending a culinary camp on campus at the university where I work, so he got to come to work with me. While he learned about the food groups, table manners, and tried a few recipes, I tried to stay on the diet at work.

For breakfast, I had one vegetarian biscuit (250 calories). And good for me! I've been eating two of those the past few days.

At lunch, I went to Zoe's with my favorite co-worker. We decided to eat healthy, so we got a hummus salad plate. Not so bad, huh? She's tells me while trying the mediterranean dip for the first time that she and her husband have decided, upon my influence, to go vegetarian for the month of April. This is pretty cool. I have never tried to convert anyone to vegetarianism, not even my own child. It's a personal choice one has to make on their own. I do, however, think people should be open-minded about vegetarian food. It cracks me up when people turn their noses up at a veggie burger...gagging at the idea of a vegetable patty...but will eat hotdogs made from sundry parts of an animal.

It is cool that I have influenced my sweet co-worker to try veggie living. It is NOT cool that I encouraged her to buy a big old chocolate chunk cookie so I wouldn't be alone in my guilt. All told, we consumed about 1,150 calories during this meal. Here's how that breaks down:

Hummus (huge portion, about 1 cup): 435 calories

One white pita: 165 calories

Small Greek salad (no dressing): 150

Cookie (huge): 400

If I had resisted the cookie my lunch would still have been 750 calories, which is pretty high. Hummus is a very healthy and yummy snack but the portion size at Zoe's (like many restaurants) is out of control. My other meal options would have been a pimento cheese sandwich or feta & carmelized onion sandwich. Even with fruit for a side, I believe those meal options would have put me at or over 700 calories. Perhaps the yummy Zoe's isn't the best lunch options for me and my dieting co-worker.

After work, I had to help a friend with a family emergency. This involved driving an hour out of town. I was really super hungry, so she and I pulled over at Wendy's and got a Diet Coke and a small french fry to share. Have you tried Wendy's new fries? They're naturally cut (meaning the skin is still on there) and are seasoned with sea salt. I think they are yum-o. I wonder if they're healthier than the old version? A quick Google search confirms that the new version actually has more salt and calories. Well, at least they taste better! Total calories for a small? 320. I shared them, so I'm only counting 170 calories.

When I got back in town, well past my son's bedtime, I accepted two slices of Papa John's cheese pizza for dinner that my friend offered. Total calorie intake: 600.

Total calories for the day: 2,170

Total exercise: 6,027 steps

Day Two

Well it's Sunday, my "I don't have to run day," but I did loaf a bit. We drove 1.5 hours north to Homewood, Ala. to see the Harlem Globetrotters. Talk about in shape, those boys are fit! They run around doing slam-dunks (which they apparently invented, back when Michael Jordan was just a gleam in his daddy's eye), four-point shots, monster lay-ups, break dancing and moon walking...hardly even breaking a sweat! I don't think I could keep up with them for one quarter.

So today I spent two hours watching athletes work hard, while I hardly worked. I didn't even remember to wear a pedometer. Other than walking about a half-mile roundtrip from the parking garage, I didn't get any exercise today. Here's my food in-take:

Breakfast: Two vegetarian sausage biscuits (500 cals). I really need to cut back to just one, or maybe one plus a yogurt or piece of fruit.

Lunch: We stopped at Burger King on the way to Birmingham. I am really sick of "having it my way," but it's one of the only fast food restaurants that has veggie options. I gobbled a BK veggie burger (410 calories), about 10 french fries (90 calories) and a Diet Coke (0 calories). Total calories: 500

Snack: About 20 minutes outside of Birmingham we had to pull over and get a toy my son had dropped beneath the back seat. If you have children, you know my pain and will understand why I had to treat myself to a snack size M&M McFlurry at McDonalds. Calories: 430 (really? it wasn't that awesome. i could have eaten nearly 2 bags of M&Ms for the same number of cals)

Dinner/Supper: We stopped at McAlister's Deli on the way home. I had vegetarian chili (240 calories) in a bread bowl (140 cals, but I only ate about half of it: 70 cals). and half of a small garden salad with ranch dressing (140 cals). Total calories: 450

Total calories for Sunday: 1,880

Not bad, considering I dined out for most of the day, but it could have been better. If I had eaten one biscuit and a yogurt for breakfast I would have shaved off 150 calories. If I had skipped the McFlurry and eaten a bag of M&Ms instead, I would have saved about 200 calories. These two simple changes would have given me roughly the same amount of food and 350 less calories...bringing my daily intake down to a very respectable 1,530.

Day One...Later in the Day

I haven't been doing so well today food-wise.

For breakfast I had two vegetarian sausage biscuits. I made them with my own two hands - baking frozen biscuits (170 cal) and slapping a Morningstar Vegetarian Sausage patty in the middle of each (80 cal). I chased them down with half a can of Diet Coke (0 calories).

Total breakfast calories: 500

My parents visited today and me and Mom ended up vacuuming under all the living room furniture. So I got a little exercise. After shopping at a second-hand store - trying on some seriously silly Church Lady hats - I treated Mom to lunch as Shashy's Bakery. I ate the salad combo, which wasn't as healthy as it sounds. It included a scoop of pimento cheese (350 calories, perhaps?), a small fruit salad (60 cals), crackers (150 cals), a handful of plain potato chips (150 calories), a tiny sweet roll (60 cals), a small cheese biscuit (60 cals), and an unsweet tea sweetened with Splenda (0 calories).

Total lunch calories: 830

For snacks, I had a Blue Bell  cherry ice cream bar (200 calories) and some Smart Food popcorn (150 calories).

Total snack calories: 350

My husband and son wanted to go the the skate park in the evening, so while they played on their scooters I moseyed across the street to Winzell's Oyster Bar for a drink. I had a Planter's Punch/Bahama Mama style rum drink (200 cals), baked potato with no butter and a splash of sour cream (350 cals), garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette (100 calories). I should have stopped there. Honestly, I should have stopped eating after lunch. But I didn't stop, did I? No. Because by this time the alcohol had kicked in so, with my judgement impaired, I order dessert. And not just any dessert: a big hunk of chocolate cake with vanilla icecream. I was stuffed after half of it, but I kept eating because I didn't want to waste it. Calories blown? Realistically, 800.

Total dinner calories: 1,450

I did have to walk about 2 blocks roundtrip to get to the restaurant. Then, when I got home, I swept the dining room and bedroom. I'm about to go to bed and the pedometer says I took 3590 steps today.

Total daily calories: 3,130

Total exercise: Housework and 3,590 steps

 

Day One

Welcome to my first blog! I am a Southern vegetarian girl who likes to eat fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese sandwiches and chocolate pecan pie - all washed down with a large glass of iced sweet tea. I am living proof that vegetarians aren't always skinny or healthy. Pass the carbs and the sweets, because I need an energy boost!

Allowing myself to eat anything and everything that didn't once breathe, I have actually packed on quite a bit of weight in the past 12 years of vegetarian living. This blog will chronicle my journey of adopting a more healthy lifestyle. I hope to eat better (without sacrificing the foods I love) and exercise more (despite my busy working mom lifestyle).

As any doctor or fitness expert will tell you, journaling about your eating and exercise habits greatly increases your chances of success. This blog is my way of staying accountable to myself, but if you're watching I am more likely to stick to it. Please read and give me advice and encouragement. If you are also trying to lose weight, share your experiences.