Cheating

This post is about food - cheat meals, cheat days, cheat months, whatever. I frown upon all other forms of cheating, including cheating on your hairdresser. Nothing good ever comes of it.

I think everyone has an opinion on cheating and their diet. (I'm interested in your opinions so please comment and let's get a discussion going.) Some folks go with the cheat meal once a week, others have dessert at one meal every day. One of my favorite coaches and his girlfriend eat incredibly clean except for about once a month when they celebrate that month's holiday. (It's actually pretty cool - you can go through the calendar and actually find a major religious or cultural holiday that warrants sugar cookies and booze each month.) My boyfriend eats like a saint Sunday through Friday and then Saturday is a hedonistic free-for-all of Doritos, ice cream, and whisky. (He has some of the best ab definition I've ever seen so clearly this works for him.) I try to follow his example but I'm a work in progress.

I've been a lot more consistent since I moved to Georgia. I have a protein shake that I split between before and after my morning workout. I eat some bacon after my morning shower. Lunch is Caprese Greek yogurt with a tuna packet or 3 oz of Boar's Head Ovengold roast turkey. For dinner I've been eating 3-5 oz of steak with steam in the bag broccoli and cauliflower with a tablespoon of Kerrygold butter. I might also have another protein shake. But then fun things pop up, like the Professor was in town for work and we had a delicious dinner that involved fried asparagus fries. And yesterday I ended up staying at the office later than I had planned and I picked up some sushi and a packet of Raisinets. I took today off from CrossFit, completely throwing off my autopilot morning routine and forgot my Fage at home. I went to Publix, where I could have purchased a Fage, and instead walked out with 8 pieces of fried chicken, a slice of key lime pie, and a half-gallon of unsweetened iced tea*. Best damn 1,400 calories I've ever had.

Better Food Choices

I'm being smart and making better food choices at the beginning of the week and hope that I can keep it up through the troublesome days known as Wednesday post-volleyball happy hour, hungover Thursday, and dear Lord kill me now Friday - oh wait, shit it's already Saturday morning. These are actual days and times on the calendar. You just didn't know it until now.

One thing left over from my minor foray into Whole 30-dom is eating tuna fish for breakfast. I'm so used to it now that I kind of look forward to it. That being said, I'm thinking about reintroducing Fage into my life.

For lunch, my daily lunchmate and I went to Just Salad. I love Just Salad and have recently branched out past the Immunity Bowl. Today I had romaine lettuce with pesto chicken, turkey bacon (double protein, I know I'm living large), walnuts, green apples, red onions, and cucumbers with lemon vinaigrette.

Not as good as the arugula and watercress salad I had at Westville on Friday but still way up there. I went on a lunch date on Friday. It was fun but by that evening I had convinced my date that I am a sociopath and untrustworthy. He won't be asking me out again. I added grilled chicken to the salad.

I've got some tasty leftovers from La Mela last night. I think I will be enjoying some veal this evening with a side of lettuce.

Day 7 Whole 30 - Use a Plate

Last week I decided that paper plates were no longer going to cut it and found some cute Melamine plates at Target. I went to Target over the weekend and found similar plates on sale for $1.39!

Food looks better and more appetizing on a plate. After spending time to buy and prepare my paleo meals, I want my meals to look like something I actually want to put in my mouth.

breakfast of granny smith apples and prosciutto di san daniel

dinner of salmon and broccoli rabe

Also a Target plate, but it's not Melamine.
This is one of the plates I have at my apartment.

lunch of coconut chicken breast and iceberg lettuce

I'm enjoying my stylish plates and my colleagues are definitely envious.

Westside Walk

I really had no intention of working out today because the never ending week is in no sight of ending. Around 7 PM, I made an appearance in the ladies' bathroom and spotted my Favorite Work Friend's striped socks under the handicapped stall. She was obviously conducting a debrief from her cell phone while changing for a walk along the Westside Highway. My FWF kindly invited me along. Thank goodness I keep a desk drawer full of workout clothes.

Favorite Work Friend

FWF walks with her friend from her old job regularly. They frequently walk the Highline but unfortunately it closes at 7 and we didn't leave until after 7. We had a nice brisk walk along the Westside Highway instead. We turned around when we got past Chelsea Piers and headed back. It was unseasonably warm today and a little windy. Great walking weather - especially when you are being entertained with slightly insane stories about former co-workers who are pathological liars. The hour we spent walking passed quickly.

Favorite Work Friend's Work Friend

I received a comment on my post about Trish Stratus' Yoga Warrior Goddess routine today that asked me to look up the specific moves. I obviously did (I love my readers) and decided to do it when I got home. I feel pretty accomplished since I hadn't planned on do anything but freak out and work.

As promised, I did eat better today. I ate oatmeal with Fage 2% Greek yogurt, frozen peaches, and chia seeds for breakfast (okay, closer to lunch) and a salad at 3:30 (house mix with green apples, garbanzo beans, red onions, mozzarella balls, chicken, walnuts, and balsamic vinegar.) Then I ruined it by eating a chocolate-covered marshmallow Santa Claus. Booyah!

Apparently the work fridge is set to "aggressive" because I definitely
found frozen yogurt in my Fage container today.

Clean(er) Eating

You can't out-train a crappy diet. I am proof of this because despite my summer/fall running schedule, my buffalo wing and beer habit forced me to buy bigger jeans. A crappy diet also leaves me feeling crappy. Go figure.

In an effort to return to my former glory (hello visible abs!), I am committing myself to eating cleaner. Conscious decisions and more mindful habits will hopefully get me back into my tiny ass running shorts by March. I also want to be realistic. I'm not going to refuse tasty (and free) food from my friends and family because it does qualify as eating clean.

Today I started off with a piece of Ezekiel 4:9 toast with fresh-grind peanut butter and a little honey. I also had a cup of black coffee. (I like my coffee like my kickboxing instructors: tall, dark, and strong. Cue the cymbal.)

Later on at work I ate a clementine as a snack. I ate a pouch of chunk light tuna with a McIntosh apple and Laughing Cow Light cheese. I frequently eat huge lunches but don't feel satisfied because I scarf them down. Slicing the apple and eating the tuna with a fork forced me to eat more slowly than when I inhale a sandwich. Less food, fewer calories, more satisfied.

After attending the awesome C9 by Champion for Target event at Flywheel, I ate some pineapple and an Archer's Farm strawberry-pomegranate granola bar because I was feeling lightheaded. You should have seen how psyched I got when they were handing these out. They are my favorite flavor. (I am obsessed with all things Target if you haven't figured this out yet.)

LOVE Archer Farms products.

Since I would be staying at the office late to compensate for the two hours I spent at Champion C9 event, I packed dinner. I had left over lasagna my mom made for me. This was definitely not clean because my mother doesn't believe in reduced-fat cheese. I had it with a side of steam-in-the-bag frozen green beans. I think the green beans made up for the calorie-loaded lasagna and that my meal was pretty dang good for me.

I spend way too much time eating at my desk.

Clean eating can get expensive. It can also drive you crazy if you eat with non-clean eaters a lot. Two years ago I would have said to avoid these dishes at all costs, but now I think we have to pick our battles. I also kind of agree with my mom about that reduced-fat cheese thing.

Just Salad

I'm not going to lose any weight at this rate, but it's sooo good.

My boss's boss (does that make her my grandboss?) told me about this life-changing chain JustSalad and now I get my lunch from there practically everyday. JustSalad is technically a misnomer because they do serve wraps, but why bother when there are so many salad's to choose from (and you get a free piece of bread thrown in)?

You can create a custom salad like I did today, or you can choose a salad from their extensive menu. Yesterday I ordered the Fall Slimdown and added chicken. But then I was reminded that I have a loyalty card and could choose two more toppings for free. I let the salad guy choose for me and he added butternut squash (great choice) and beets. Umm, I wish that I had known that I don't like beets before I had him chop them all up in my salad. I spent the afternoon trying to distinguish between beets and dried cranberries. Oops.

FALL SLIMDOWN 345 Cal*  
Kale-Iceberg Lettuce Mix, Dried Cranberries,
Walnuts, White Mushrooms, Sliced Radishes,
Reduced-Fat Cheddar
Suggested Dressing: Cranberry-Maple Splash 90 Ca

Today I made a delicious salad creation with mesclun greens, almond slices, garbanzo beans, celery, cucumbers, wheatberries, pesto chicken, edamame, and balsamic vinegar. It was 676.8 calories including the piece of bread that came with. Oh, how do I know the exact nutritional information? Because there is a calculator on the website! Check out my meal here.

I had no idea what a wheatberry was until I looked it up the other day. A wheatberry is the entire wheat kernel including bran, germ, and endosperm. Who knew? They're tasty so you should get them when you go. Make sure you buy a reusable bowl and a get a loyalty card to get discounts and extra toppings.