The challenge of staying healthy when Eating out at Restaurant

Biggest helpful hints:
• Workout - to increase your metabolism
• Remember your portions - take half home!!
• Order something you'll love - feel free to replace the fries with vegetables. If you are having a craving, I'm sure your friend with give ya a fry or two.

I had to go out for all 3 meals yesterday. Luckily I fit in an hour on the Penns Landing Stairs in the morning. When I work out, it seems to help my eating by decreasing my appetite and also reminding me that I'm working hard to have a healthy lifestyle. So, it changes my menu ordering habits. I had an egg white omelet with broccoli, spinach, onions and American cheese!! So yummy. I got fried tomatoes on the side since I knew I'd be eating out a bunch. Not to mention, I've recently come to like them. Of course, the waitress forgot, so I got the home fries too. I took a bite and packed them up. They will be really good in a day or two :) Lunch, I went for the mixed greens with apples, beets, walnuts and fried goat cheese. I'm sure the dressing had a ton of sugar, but it was yummy and I finished all but some of goat cheese and fried coatings behind to shave a few calories. I would have finished it, but I was full. So, I'll save the calories for later. I highly recommend this salad at Bridget Foy (2nd and South). Dinner was taconelli's. 3 pieces of pizza and bottle of tempranillo Spanish Red Wine. not my healthiest meal. But, Thursday's at Taconellis with Sharon and Charlie leave no room for diet rules :) I did try to pick the smallest pieces. That's the best effort I had. It's all good, I'll get a good night sleep and up nice and early for a pre-work workout. I have to be in Horsham by 9:30. So, it's gonna be an early morning of jumping around and weight training. I did my best with water.

Oh...and lookin at yesterday, I noticed I forgot to add the medium frozen mocha from Dunkin Donuts. Skim milk, lite chocolate but don't forget the whipped cream!!! Guess that's better than bacon double cheese burger, super size and diet coke :)


Food

Have you ever tried to keep a food journal????...it is NOT easy!

I went to Dr. Yorker for a free pH+ test this week. I was on the low end, like most, eating mostly foods with high asidity levels. I came up low, he said, keep a food journal, I said "no problem." And, today, I think I had a bite of 60 different types of food. I can't possibly journal it. Sufice it to say mixed fried platter...but I only took 2 bites :) Then ummmmm... mixed mexican apps....I definately dug in to the guac and the black bean dip.I cut my grilled shrimp "small plate," in half and then I went back for the 2nd half. And, I definately had a least a piece of the corn bread. I'd venture to say a few bites over the reccoemended dinner. But, ya know what...I ate fairly lite bites all day long. The equivalant of a big bowl of chicken and rice soup. (slowly, throughout the day), a medium frozen chocolate coffee from dunkin donuts (But...I got the skim milk!!!) hummm...I must be forgetting something. If thats all I ate, I'll be very happy!!! I didn't work out, but I got a double work out in yesterday and my body needed a little rest. Ok,,,moral of the story is that if you journal once in a while, you'll realize you didn't need to fee guilt about that extra serving of yummy cheddar jalepeno grits:) I gotta say, that's not how I expected it to go. I definately expected to be horribly over my calories. Another day down...it's only about 60 days to beach wear...so back to the weights tomorrow!! Try it for 2 weeks...you can miss a day here and there. But, seriously try it!!!! I promise, it helped me so much!!

Exercise: Nothin...
Food: High in fat and protein and white carbs, but reasonable calorie count

What's your favorite Outdoor workout??

I was lucky enough to get both of mine this week!!

Saturday I ran down to Penns Landing. It's a workout playground. 5+ sets of stairs for climbing, pillars for dips, ledges for lunges and step ups, long straight aways for sprints (Those of you who know me realize that I don't run...so the sprints don't apply to me. But, when I say I ran to Penn's landing, I truly did run for the first 1/3 mile...I was in a major time crunch, but it won't be happening again anytime soon: )

Then yesterday, we fit in a 2 hour hike in Wissahickon park. 90 minutes of up and down and a little climbing on the trails and 30 minutes of sprint power walking. Gorgeous sounds, people laughing, great views and a killer workout 15 minutes outside of the city!!

I'm runnin late, so I'm going to miss my food and exercise journal. I'll add it to the blog later. But, for the most part, I'm keeping control of the portions and still not getting enough water. Oh...and I'm living on Lemon Chicken and Rice soup by Cyber Chef. Look up Jason Kelso on my friends list and start getting your soups from him. He makes 2 flavors weekly and at $10 a quart, you have a yummy snack or meal a few times a week.

Tip: Find workouts you enjoy and can look forward to. (i.e. hiking, biking, blading, walking city or parks with a friend, etc.) Make a weekly date with a friend. You catch up on gossip and have at least 1 hour of weekly exercise covered.

Guilt Free Indulgence....Do you stress about what to eat when you go to a house party?

Yum!! Yum!!! Yum!! I went to a fabulous oscar party last night. I had a spinach egg and cheese wrap at home for breakfast and then off to a show. I had a few nibbles throughout the day that equaled about 1/2 a tuna wrap. So, I was concerned about food before this party. Luckily, my girlfriend Francesca told me that our hostess always had more than enough food. I was running late, so I got dressed and headed to the party. I was totally stressed that I didn't want to gorge on pepperoni and cheese or a bunch of fattening dips. Boy, was I ever happy that I didn't come prepared! Her food was insane! I probably ate too much and I did it all without guilt. I've been getting 30-90 min of exercises most day. I've been eating raw or entirely whole grain whenever possible and she put alot of love into this food. I will say I tried to take it slow and was conscious of enjoying every bite!!

Thank you stacy!! My favorites were the eggplant dip stuffed in mini pitas. And, the Chocomole!!! Yes people quacamole with coco powder. It was so yummy. I think I'm going to steal that and change it around to a chocolate mouse layered with berries. So, what else...Stuffed Mushrooms, Mock Tuna Salad made with Parsnips stuffed in mini pitas, Stuffed celery with a crazy cheese concotion that I definately had too many of, yummy marinated veggies, delicious sangria (I probably didn't take that slowly enough.) And, Stacy does private party catering. She even specializes in Vegan, Vegetarian or even Raw diets. That makes 3 good friends who can cook phenomenal menus. So, if you are ever looking for a little party help...let me know. Then we'll send Dan from BodyMind Training over in the morning to work everyone back into shape.

But, the message here is sometimes you just have to let go of the "Ultimate Healthy Choices," and enjoy whats in front of us. (in moderation of course) Afterall, that's why we work out 4+hours a week.

Well apparently the calories that you drink, not only add up while your are drinking them, but they knock out exercise on the following day. oops! And, possibly your memory, I'm having a hard time remembering what Friday's food was.


Friday food and Exercise:

Eating in Real life: So Saturday was a test of how to eat in real life. I got a call at 9:30, that there was an extra ticket to the Villanova game and they were meeting at 11. So, I jumped outta bed and ran to Penn's Landing. Ok...for anyone who knows me, this is obviously not true. I do NOT run. But, in this case, time was a major issue, so I did run the first 1/4 mile then power walked. 15 minutes to the stairs, 25 minutes on the stairs and 20 minutes home. Here is the part where I should have added 15 minutes of stretching, but settled for 5. I am currently paying the price in my hip flexors for skipping that stretch and walkin a little funny around the house right now. But, I did get the hour of cardio in!!! Quick shower and off to the game. Where of course it is open bar and there is no food!!! Really!?!? Let me tell you having to right this down is a real eye opener. Luckily the open bar also had bottles of water. So, after my 2nd Mich Ultra, I realized we were going to have to find food. The best option was the Chicken Quesidillas. Lots of tomato and little quac sauce. I would have eaten a vat of quacamole. But, this was a funny shade of green and obviously half sour cream. My bet is that it was sour cream and some kinda of green powdery avacado flavored dip mixed in. So, I split the quesedilla, giving me just enough calories to tide me over. They ordered lots of Nachos, and the chicken was piled on the side, so my few bites throughout the game were mostly chicken with a dab of the goodies like cheese wiz and weird green sauce. Then time to run from there to a Rack and Roll Show at Bensalem Country Club. I grabbed a handful of soybeans for the ride to the show to keep some sort of calories coming in.

Luckily when I got there, they had a big crudite display and lots of fruits. I had 2 bites of cheese since there were plenty of free calories left, and 2 Big plates of fresh veggies and fruit. It's amazing. A year ago, I would have seen that as deprivation. Now that I have changed my eating habits, I really taste the different veggies and even crave them. Not to mention that I could live on the pineapples and oranges they had. Now...looking back on my caloric intake for the day, I had NO problem with the two mini beef wellingtons I ate when the servers came around. I did however stay away from the super buttery filo concoctions like deep fried roll of something and deep fried mystery ball. They all taste about the same, have no nutritional value and I really don't enjoy them as much as a fresh red pepper. Plus, let's face it...Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels :) I do wish I had a few more whole grains though. It's ok, no day is perfect and there's always tomorrow.


Saturday food and exercise:
3 glasses of white wine
4 Mich Ultras
1/4 chicken quessadilla
a few bites of chicken nacho
roasted soy beans
plates of fresh veggies and fruit
2 pieces of cheese
3 fried bite size appetizers: 2 beef wellington, 1 spanikopita

Definately NOT enough food. I have to be careful not to slow down my metabolism. At least, I was continuing to have bites every hour or so. And, not to be gross, but oprah and Dr. Oz made this socially acceptable, so here goes. As long as I'm still regular in the morning, I feel like the old metabolism is still kicking properly. Wow...I really have gotten used to posting all this diet stuff if I'm gonna go there. I hope it really is motivating someone and keeping someone else on track when they want to just let go. It really is a big change to commit to a healthy lifestyle and make the right choices for our bodies every day.

Do you know how many calories you are drinking?

When I was thinking back to what I ate yesterday, I had to go to www.myfitnesspal.com to see if I even had enough calories. I'm still amazed by this, since I easily used to consume 3,000 calories a day. Hell, most dinners on a restaurant menu are well over 2,000 calories. Anyway, I noticed that I hadn't had enough calories until I added in my drinks. During the day I rarely drink anything but green tea, coffee or water. So, during the day my drinking calories were 60. Then we look at the the night time. Um 700 calories!! And, I mix soda water with my vodka. So, be very careful when you start ordering another Rum and Coke or fruity cocktail. Or, Mojito like the one I am going to order in 90 minutes at lunch with Robin :) The old adage "everything in moderation," is really important here!

So...here is yesterday's food/exercise journal:

• 45 min Tae Bo
• 1/2 bowl of natures path, optimum slim with some blueberries
• 90 min of yoga (really great class at Practice Yoga - 4th and Fitzwater)
• 2 green teas
• Split a bowl of lentil soup and the "pick any 5 apps" at Cafe Fulya with Francesca. We went with a great mix of veggies and beans. They have fabulous mediteranean options. Just be careful with the bread. they bring LOTS! I managed to keep it to 1/2 a piece.
• little clothing schlepping (which I always count as exercise)
• Split 3 sushi rolls with the girls at Bleu Martini
• 2 blueberry vodka sodas, 2 pinot noirs and a citrus cosmo (really?!?! Why did I have a headache this morning) think I'm gonna add water in between the cocktails last night.

Passed on the exercise this mornin...wonder why?!? But, it did give me more time to shop for new clothes for Rack and Roll's Spring sales!!

What is your favorite workout?

Mine used to be Tae Bo and I thought it was impossible! I just did one of my old Tae Bo cardio tapes, I had to kick a few of the exercises up a notch to keep my heart rate at 75%. It felt good. Until I kicked up some punches by adding a squat without remembering that his next move was a 45 second static squat!!! Ouch! But, the lesson of the day is DO NOT GET INTO A WORK OUT RUT!! I did that tape forever a few years ago and got complacent with it. I've only be a month back to working out after a long hiatus, and it's too easy now. So, even if you are working out in a class or to a tape with your friends, make sure you are working to your level!! If you are going to put in the time and the sweat make sure your heart is working to burn the most calories.

I though putting my food journal in yesterday would mean I was done eating....No such luck. I went for a small bowl of ice cream (Which is still a full serving, since they make a serving size just 1/2 cup) and watched Oprah's Oscar special...how cute is Halle berry?? It's ok, I make up with it today with Tae Bo Cardio and a 10 oclock Yoga class with a friend. I'm taking the morning off for girlfriend time, then back to work this afternoon. and, shlepping a rack or 2 to Bleu Martini for their weekly Thursday shopping night!!

What is your favorite work out? What is your most effective? (for some of us it's the same) And, how many hours a week do you work out? (that was an awakening question for me, since many of my workouts are 45 min.)

Looking for more meal ideas

I managed to keep it to 1/2 a glass of wine at the shopping party. (And, one of those single serving bottles when I got home) The hostess had all sorts of healthy options. Baby carrots, shrimp cocktail, mellon, berries. I didn't count calories yesterday, but I was definately not much over 1000.

So, it's 3:30 and I think I may have to hit up fitness pal to get a true count of where I'm at today. I'm not sure if i don't feel like cooking or dont fee like eating. But, I had less than a serving of oatmeal square cereal. low sugar, high fiber and somehow still yummy! For lunch I had a handful of baby carrots, an apple, 2 huge strawberries, a handful of blueberries, a big chunk of gouda...I'm gonna guess 2 ish servings and close to 2 servings of hummus. I can't imagine thats very much. I had a FUZE...does anyone know the true nutritional value of something like this. It says 150% Vitamin C, 25% Chromium, 30mg of L-Carnatine, 300 mg of Super Citrimax. What the hell are those last things. Are they gimmick or should I be proud of myself for choosing them? It says its only 5% juice, so I'm thinking it's one of those energy type drinks diquised to look healthy.

I don't forsee a big workout in my future. I'm a little sore from yesterdays circuit training. I'd really like to do weights, but you aren't supposed to do that 2 days in a row. So, we'll see if i find the inspiration to throw in a Tae Bo tape. I'm trying hard not to use my low caloric intake today as a reason not to exercise. I should be putting more good foods in my body and getting that cardio done. Ah...and water, I did really well yesterday, but today, I'm still on my first glass.

How do you guys get your cardio? And how many hours a week do you do it?

Also, anyone have some suggestions for quickie or pre-made meals that are also healthy?When I don't feel like cooking, I'm going for another bowl of cereal. That's fine, but I think we need a little diversity.

Ok...I'm really going to have to put the hummus away, it's just close enought that I can keep taking the lid off and taking "just one more bite." At a serving size of 2Tbs, just one more bite adds up to 3 servings in no time :)

All or nothing...

Seems like last night I needed to be held back from getting that 3rd bowl of chocolate caramel brownie ice cream (light!!!! )and I have to admit I always say don't by "lite" foods or why skimp on cheat food anyway, but Target brand Chocolate Caramel Brownie light ice cream had no high fructose corn syrup, less calories and fat than most, so it won the battle. Now, I'm just trying to figure out how to have only 1 serving (1/2 cup!!!...this is really hard work, but I intend to win the battle because the other 2 options are FAT! or No ice cream in the house!! Neither are acceptable options!!

Now today, I can't seem to get enough calories. I had to make myself eat breakfast after working out and going straight to work. And even then I barely had a full serving of high fiber cereal with some fresh strawberries. Lunch wasn't till 3:30 and it was blueberry greek yogurt with some live enzyme sprouted grain cereal in it for crunch. It tasted like yogurt and granola. I'm not hungry, but I definately haven't had enough calories. I've been taking a handful of dried soybeans throughout the day which is probably what's keeping me full. Who knows, I'm off to do a shopping party and god knows that means lots of tastefully simple dip, cheese and brownies! Let's see how much of it I can resist. Think I'm gonnna drink my dinner. First in the form of Naked Super Green Juice (As I read back on the stuff I'm eating...It sounds a little gross, but I have to admit, they have all truly become acquired taste. I really am only thinking about food in as much as I need to remember to have enough. It is still freaking me out a little) But, I digress. I'm sure I'll get my final calories in a glass of wine or two at the shopping party.

Can't remember if I posted much of yesterday. But, when I made lunch for me and Dan, I made 3 servings, so I could have some for lunch. And, since i kept it to small servings, I felt no guilt in the 2 or 2 1/2 servings of ice cream I had watching TV and yapping on the phone. I did miss my workout because just as I was grabbing the weights, the phone rang. Cute boys win over weights and sweating sometimes :) I did get the workout in today. 45 minutes of circuit training while watching Dr. Oz. 90 seconds of heavy cardio followed by 20 reps of upper and lower body combined weighted exercises like lunge presenters, squat kicks, plank moves, etc. I get mine from various fitness magazine and follow them. Sometimes I throw in a few of my own. But the more muscle groups you can use, the better. I'm all about getting the most out of the work out (on most days:)

keeping momentum

I had an amazing week of healthy eating, loving my veggies, kicking out in the workout arena. And, then got sabotaged by a family trip to Cape Cod, always filled with eating and cocktails. We weren't 5 minutes into the trip before we had to stop at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast! Luckily, I was prepared. I had 1/2 a banana and a handful of dry cereal before leaving the house and I was armed with 2 bottles of water!! Then, 1/2 way thru the drive, we pull into McDonalds! Ugh...how am I gonna make it thru this one?? The place actually had side vendor with Chicken Fajita quesidilla, they were made in george forman type grills, not too fatty. I ate half and shared the rest. And found the best bag of trail mix with soy nuts and dried blueberries, cranberries, raisins, all sorts of seeds. Yum, filling and uber healthy :) Then we arrive.... staggered arrivals, so we "have to order apps while we wait for everyone." And, they litterally ordered 6-7 apps. I had a small bite of most and went back for a little more shrimp cake. But, SMALL bites, minimal dips. And, I stayed away from the spinach dip, it just looked full of fat, so why waste the calories. Then they had a reallly delicious vegetarian dish. Cous Cous with roasted veggies, it was in this amazing sauce, didn't even miss the meat. Oh cours I toop a piece of steak tip from my aunt, but I didn't finish mine. :) Oh and a bit of tomato soup, but didn't like it, so didn't waste the calories. I couldn't, I had to save them for the "french silk panties martini" and the 6 glasses of wine that were about to follow. That's like 900 calories just in cocktails (But, very little fat :)) And, it's nap time, because we have to get up at 6am and head to the cape for Gram's 1 year memorial mass. Not the optimum sleep for healthy living, but family reunion weekends have different rules. So, of course, by 6:30, we are back at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. I couldn't do it. I got green tea for sugar, black coffee and water for hydration. After the mass, it's off to a restaurant. And, oh my god....it was the best breakfast place ever. All bets were off, I was no longer calorie counting. seriously, this is probably my only time I will eat at this restaurant, now is no time to be ordering by your diet conscience. They had a crepe menu, an omelet menu, a panckake menu, they even had and entire benedict's menu. So, I got the Portugese benedict with sauteed chorizo and onion..amazing home fries, beans...yum, yum, yum...and I went to other plates to see what they had. But, I gave away 2/3 of my meal. So...coulda been worse and I felt like I had abandoned all dieting and turned glutton - Guilt Free!!! So, a few hours later, we were back at mcdonalds. unfortunately nursing a hangover AND still kinda in glutton mode, I got a McFlurry!! Yum fake ice cream and m&m's. All thoughts of health out the window, replaced with cheat food! When we got home, I ran to my sisters play with my niece and nephew. I hapily finished her fried chicken (truly ony a few bites), Then dug into some Ablondigas. Her mother in law is a fabulous cook from Spain...I really had no choice..lol. But, now that I go back and look. I have fallen into a practice of cutting portions, so every time I ate, I found a way to make it smaller. And, my calorie count wasn't that awful...so a few of those every once in a while....who cares. In fact, ENJOY!! Let's hope my jeans agree :) And, that I hit the veggies tomorrow.

Truth be told, it's tomorrow as I'm writing this. And, I haven't been able to get a full glass of water down. A little behind on that. I had cup of coffee, a decent fiber cereal called oatmeal squares and a banana. I've had bites of ice cream as passing the fridge. about 1.5 servings so far!!! Don't know if I am someone who can have ice cream in her fridge. for lunch I roasted some veggies with a small amount of new potato. Then I made a stir fry of white beans, chick peas, chicken, spinach and onion. No exercise so far, hoping to do weights during Monday Night CBS line up.