To Cheat, or Not to Cheat?

Well, I had my first ‘cheat day’ on Saturday and I must say… I didn’t really enjoy it!  After having such an amazing loss last week, it felt really strange/wrong to be eating foods that I knew weren’t the best for my body.  Here’s what I ate on my ‘cheat day’:

Breakfast

Chocolate Protein shake w/ Skim Milk

Snack:

About 8 almonds

Lunch:

½ Strawberry Poppy seed Salad from Panera (150 calories, 6g fat, 17g carbs, 14g protein)

Whole Grain Baguette (140 calories, 1g fat, 29g carbs, 6g protein)

¼ Turkey Sandwich w/ only the bottom piece of bread (turkey, tomato, lettuce, whole grain bread)

Snack:

Handful of popcorn w/ Nora

Dinner: (this is where it gets BAD)

Andouille Sausage and Pork Burger w/ French Fries (holy cow, I know)

1/3 of a slice of Key Lime Pie

Later at a party:

1 Chicken Wing

1 Meatball

4 Club crackers w/ cheese ball

2 Bud Light Limes

Like I said, it just didn’t feel right/good.  On the plus(?) side, we stayed the night in Louisville with my sister who lives in an apartment without A/C and we went to my father-in-law’s surprise birthday party in a community center where the A/C wasn’t working PLUS my house still doesn’t have A/C right now so, needless to say, I’ve been sweating my ASS off for the past like 96 hours.  While I appreciate the cleansing properties of sweating, it’s really not fun when you’re trying to do your hair and makeup or just look pretty for 5 minutes lol… but it made me feel better after eating all of that junk.  Another thing I don’t like about the ‘cheat days’ is how easy it is to get back into the habit of eating shit.  It’s so easy to just grab something and eat it, but after spending a week re-disciplining yourself and doing so well, only to take 3 steps back on a ‘cheat day’ could prove to be detrimental if my mind is not at it’s top performance. 

Yesterday was another sweaty one, but better food-wise:

Breakfast:

Fresh fruit cup and water

Snack:

Cashews

Lunch:

Salad at Subway w/ FF Honey Mustard

(about 190 calories)

Snack:

1 minute muffin (see below)

Dinner:

Grilled Chicken Breast

Broccoli

Dessert:

Protein Mousse

Much better than Saturday J

I went to the gym this morning and got in a pretty good workout!  I was sweating a LOT (shocking, I know) and felt good when I left.  One good thing about that ‘cheat day’ is it was part of the driving force this morning!

Here’s what I did:

TIME	EXERCISE	REPS	LBS	SETS
14 MIN / 1 MILE	ELLIPTICAL	MED/FAST	N/A	1
	SINGLE LEG EXTENSION	12	10	4
	SINGLE LEG CURL	12	20	4
	LEG PRESS	10	180	4
	CALF PRESS	15	180	4
28 MIN / 10 MILES	BIKE	FAST	N/A	1
	BALL CRUNCHES	20	N/A	2
(on ball)	BACK EXTENSION	20	N/A	2

Not a huge difference from what I did last week, just added more weight on the leg press and added the back extensions.  I really need to build strength in my legs to help protect me knees, hence the additional weight/fewer reps on the leg press.  The back extensions proved to be pretty challenging, meaning I need to start working my back more!

So I’m REALLY excited, I got a bike this weekend!  My sister’s awesome friends in Louisville had 2 bikes that they were no longer using and just wanted to get rid of, so they gave them to Branden and me!  I haven’t had a chance to ride yet, but hope to this evening or sometime soon.  Branden went on a ride last night and he said his legs were burning and it felt really good, so I’m excited!  I’m considering just riding it to the gym every morning?  I would love to ride to work but that’s like 20 miles and would add like 3 hours to my work day, which I can’t do.  We’re going to get a seat for Nora so we can take family bike rides!  I’m really excited J

Food Today:

Breakfast:

Chocolate Protein Shake w/ Skim Milk

2 Egg Whites

Snack:

Low Carb Yogurt

Lunch:

Frittata (see recipe below)

Eggplant Cakes (for lack of better name – if you have a better one, let me know!) w/ sugar free ketchup (I love dipping)

Snack:

Protein Mousse

Dinner:

TBD – it’s so damn hot in my house, the thought of cooking anything sounds absolutely terrible!

Recipes:

1 Minute Muffin (above)

¼ c Flax Seed

½ tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 Packet Splenda

1 lg Egg White

1 tsp Butter

Mix it all into a coffee mug, microwave for 1 minute 9 seconds (random, I know) and then just run a knife around the perimeter and pop out onto a plate!  I split it in half and sprayed w/ 0 calorie “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter” spray.  It was pretty good… definitely tasted a little flax-y.  It tasted similar to a bran muffin, but I’m thinking that I can play with the spices and possible add some mashed pumpkin?  It will definitely suffice when I really want some bread, though.

Frittata

 2c Liquid Egg Whites (or comparable w/ regular egg whites)

3 pieces Sundried Tomato, diced

2 Slices lean Turkey Bacon, cooked and diced

1c Fresh Spinach, chopped

¼ c Red Onion, diced

¼ c Fat Free Feta Cheese

¼ c Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese

S&P

Pre-heat oven to 350

-Cook turkey bacon until medium-well, add red onion (in a pile on the side of the skillet) and cook until bacon is done and onion is a little tender

-Mix everything other than egg whites and mozzarella in a glass pie pan, cover with egg whites then sprinkle mozzarella on top.

-Bake in pre-heated oven until top is firm and starts to turn golden-brown (about 20 minutes) – keep an eye on it! 

*In the oven, the egg whites will puff up and look like a soufflé but it will deflate once you take it out and it cools a bit.

-Let it come to room temp and then slice into 4 slices

NUTRITION: (per serving)

Calories: 120

Fat: 1.25

Sodium: 450

Carbs: 3.5

Sugar: .75

Protein: 20

I haven’t eaten my first slice yet but I will let everyone know how it is!  But seriously, with those ingredients, how can you go wrong?!

Alrighty, well I think that’s all I have for today! 

Until tomorrow… J