Daily Affirmations

Superbowl is here in Tampa Bay this year, and everywhere is packed with tens of thousands of tourists (on top of the usual flock of "snow birds") Many Superbowl parties are being thrown tomorrow and it is another reminder of committing to PCP. No spinach artichoke dip, or buffalo tofu nuggets for me, just sore muscles and protein powder. I joke, it doesn't bother me at all that I'm not going to eat what everyone else is eating, because I'm not everyone else, I want to be the best version of myself because...

Day 14

In my past life I loved mayonnaise. Homemade olive oil mayo with lime juice, white wine and tarragon could make any sandwich amazing.
I've been eating my fair share of dry egg sandwiches lately and I needed moisture, somehow it came to me that I would spread cold carrot soup on my toasty bread and the rest is history. I never thought I could actually prefer soup to mayonnaise on my sandwich, but I do, it gives me great flavor, less fat, and perfect moisture. The possibilities are endless, so many soups so little time...actually lots of time, time to try delicious soupy sandwiches.

lightbulb

I want to first say that today I feel really good.
Yesterday was another story...

Late afternoon yesterday I found myself with jar full of egg yolks I didn't want to waste, and I thought what anyone would think when they are faced with a stock of undestined yolks...FLAN! I'll make a flan and give it to someone (because flan is not PCP friendly). So that's exactly what happened, I made a flan, and then I had a delicious looking flan chillin' on my microwave. But it was a mean spirited flan, It made fun of me for not eating it and I started to feel frustrated.

Part of my love for food is enjoying the community it brings. I'm used to dates at restaurants, having a couple drinks with my friends, eating with family , and attending dinner parties. For the last week I've been eating alone and I was starting to feel it. Why would I want to do something that separated me from the things I love? I want to eat delicious fat and sugar filled foods, taste rich cheeses and drink salty margaritas like everybody else.

Actually I don't want those things, well, maybe occasionally but not regularly like I have been. What I really want is to be healthy, to consciously challenge myself to do something that I know is best for me. Yesterday 3 months never seemed so far away, but today is just today, not day 13 of 90, just a Tuesday that I am choosing to eat consciously and not impulsively. Today it clicked.

I did eat a bite of that jerk flan, but I'm coming clean about it and moving on, and the silver lining is my favorite new idea.... PCP dinner party!

Convo

This post is in response to Lene's post "Bad Habits Die Hard":

A little peek into my brain today.



Right shoulder: "hmm, i think we should eat some cheetos."
Left shoulder: "no, we're on a diet...duh"
R: "i know but they're the natural cheetos"
L: "but they're still from a factory and that's a no no"
R: "you could just count them as your carbs"
L: "no way, that would be letting myself down"
R: "but no one would ever know"
L: "yea i guess...WAIT, i mean no! I would know"
R: "whatever, square"
L: "*sobs* this is hard"

Don't feel alone dealing with the cravings. Just stick with good shoulder.

Let Us Rap.

Today I made this meal,

On the right: Romaine lettuce wraps filled with carrot, cauliflower, eggplant and mashed acorn squash seasoned with Thai curry spices. (I left it unwrapped for the picture so that you could see the contents)
On the left: no oil air baked yucca fries with garlic sauce

I felt really happy with my sneaky egg camouflage, this time my 100g egg whites are first cooked, then blended with garlic, pepper, lime juice, siracha, and a few pieces of steamed cauliflower, to create the sauce. It worked out well.

The wraps were OK but not great, they need a little retooling but it's headed in the right direction.

Day 9: Uphill

Patrick wants us to open up about our struggles and the man gets what he wants....

As my friends in Rhode Island might say: exercising is wicked hard (wiggid haahhd). I'm sorry to say I am not enjoying it (yet). I'm dreading doing it right now. I really hope I overcome this feeling but I'm also a little scared that I wont. Don't get me wrong I still do the exercises but the whole "it releases endorphins" and "feels invigorating" I have not been there yet.

The diet however is great I already thought way too much about eating, often excited about the possibilities of lunch/dinner while eating breakfast. so having to concentrate on this diet is just a more focused approach. Our current food intake is unbelievable, at the moment I'm working on a breakfast built for three.

Patrick has also let us know that we are expecting an announcement, maybe an addition of sorts.
I hope we're getting a puppy.

Not an Egg-head

It is said that it takes 1,000 attempts before one can make a perfect tortilla, so this is somewhere between 50 and 992 for me.

(also follows the pancake law that the first one is always weird looking)

This is the recipe I was playing with today:

Homemade garlic corn tortillas (made with unbleached mesa)

under diced onion and peppers seasoned with chipotle

puree and cumin powder, all topped with fresh tomatoes

and avocado with a squeeze of lime.

A part of the beauty of this dish is versatility. I added egg whites into my veg mix while cooking and it came out perfectly, but it could just as easily accommodate meat or fish.

I am a vegetarian, so in the PCP I am receiving my protein from eggs. Unfortunately for me eggs are among my top 3 least favorite foods (eggs, olives, spaghetti) so I will be spending a good deal of effort masking their taste and texture.

Day 8

This is the first day of the rest of my life.
Today we started the diet full out, weighing our food, and being strict about it.
Right now I'm working on a black coffee and some fruit salad for my mid morning snack.
I would never have thought to drink black coffee even a week ago, but at the moment I am actually enjoying how the bitter coffee makes my fruit taste extra sweet.

Day 5

Exercise is getting easier. Days 1 through 3 were pretty rough, culminating in a crazy sore 3rd night. After that it seems that even though I'm increasing my reps, I'm not nearly as sore and not so out of breath.
The improvement is motivating, but I know it's all uphill from here.

Inspiration

It was really difficult for me to choose an inspiration. I finally landed on the picture of Logan Tom shown in my banner. I don't actually know much about her other than she's a volleyball player, who has got a rockin' bod, and is shiny. I have many inspiration pictures around of different people, pictures that embody female strength, grace, and power.



I guess the binding factor in the pictures I admire is the sense that these women are truly owning their ground.I'm bit on the lanky side and quite clumsy, something I hope to improve upon with PCP, so I respect the "solid" feeling these women represent.

I've also found that it really inspires me to exercise when I think about running into some hot celebrity guy while wearing a swimsuit on the beach...

"Oh, hi Jake, I'm just working on my, uh, freckle distribution."

WAKE UP!!!

I was soo sore today! I guess that's a good sign. I feel like I'm trying to wake up my lazy muscles, and they're trying to hit the snooze button.

The diet is going well so far, cutting back isn't so bad if I can keep my mind off it and stay busy. Like Lene, I am also kicking a soda habit, and getting the Diet Coke DTs. I'm using canned seltzer water as my placebo. I've had about 5 black cherry waters today.

Avoiding the Pitfalls

Hunger messes with you, and it makes a peanut butter
and Cap'n Crunch sandwich sound like a fantastic idea.

I've been mentally developing recipes for this project for weeks. My goal is to create menu plans over the course of this project so that making PCP meals isn’t a guessing game. Hopefully I will be able to refine a food plan that includes shopping lists, recipes, advanced prep, cook times, and variations. I’m just beginning and I have ideas about what will work and what wont but I’d like to hear from some of the veterans about their food challenges.

What did you miss or crave?
What are your favorite types of foods and flavors?
What about the diet was most challenging for you?

Thank you everyone for your support!

Day 1

Just finished my day 1 exercises=
jump roping: cool
squats: manageable
sit ups: a struggle
push-ups: form of medieval torture.

Upper body strength; Here I come!

I just enjoyed my "last meal", a delicious dinner of Ethiopian food.

It is very scary for me to think about how radicaly my diet will be changing over the next few months. To me, food has not just been my sustenance but my passion. I am a vegetarian chef and I live to eat but I'm ready for change. I'll go into more detail later but for now...digestion.

Welcome

This is Carole's Blog! Yay!