Game On Diet- Low Carb Option?

Were talking about food again. Why? Because I'm doing another contest and I'm all about strategy. I came so close to winning the last one!  My team was in second place and I was second for the side bet of who loses the biggest percentage of weight. Ugh! So close!

I'm tweaking Game On Diet to be low-carb.  It's not by the book, but my group leader who is in contact with Az Ferguson says it's allowed so I'm doing it. She first suggested it to me months ago, but I wasn't ready.  Game On Diet is strict enough as it is and I was afraid I'd feel too deprived. But after a few months of doing it I wasn't finishing all my food anyway. I don't want to waste food. Less food means less money spent, am I right? 

If you're not going "low-carb" with this, add a whole grain, fruit, or starchy veggie with the last three meals. My favorites are roasted potatoes, a glass of milk, or beans, but you could put all of these on a toasted whole grain sandwich wrap or serve with a side of wild rice or fruit salad. The opportunities are endless!

I find there are two challenges when it comes to sticking to a healthy eating plan: 1) Eating on the go and 2)Remembering to share meals with your family.

My family is my husband and a cat, but this still applies, especially when my cat usually wants the protein in my meal.

Anyway, I made two sample meal days meant to be mixed and matched all over the place!

Low Carb Game On -- On The Go

Breakfast--2 mini cucumbers, an orange, ricotta or string cheese or greek yogurt, and cashews
Lunch--2 mini cucumbers, a sweet potato, ricotta cheese, and cashews
Snack--Red Bell Pepper, mini lean meatloaf, a slice of avocado
Snack--Sauteed broccoli with shredded colby jack.
Dinner + 100 calorie snack--cauliflower and chicken dipped in guacamole.

Low Carb Game On -- Family Meals

Breakfast - Cheesy Mushroom and tomato egg scramble
Lunch - Roasted Strawberry Salad with chicken breast
Snack - Salmon and cream cheese and avocado on cucumber slices
Snack - Lettuce Shrimp and Avocodo Roll Ups
Dinner +100 calorie snack - Roasted Vegetables in oil with sauteed garlic pork tenderloins

I like to do my "100 calorie snack" as more dinner rather than dessert. It usually comes in the form of a healthy fat like half an avocado or some more oil for cooking. There are more than enough meals I can substitute though and then enjoy a spoonful of ice cream at the end of the day.

Oh, and here are my results from the two games I've participated in so far:

Shrink, shrank, shrunk!

I've gotten it all together for my grocery list!  Time to go shoppa-shoppa-shopping! 

Local Blogger logs into her blog for the first time in a month and you won't believe what she wrote!

Let's see, what to put in this empty space?  I have no idea. I feel like I should be creating content and not just blathering on about me. Research interesting articles! Post photos! Entertain the masses!

Fortunately the masses are the six people who read this blog and the three people who might "like" it on Facebook.

LET'S TALK ABOUT FOOD.

I'm still doing that Game-On! diet thing. I haven't lost much weight this session, but I feel pretty good! In fact, I'm planning my meals right now. Here's what I'm eating!

• Breakfast: Cheesy Omelette with sauteed scallion, garlic, romaine, mushrooms. Cup of low-fat milk.

• Mid-morning snack: String cheese with sliced apple and cashews. (Half of the time I have ricotta cheese instead, since I've already brought a huge container of it with me to work and it's so easy to have four huge spoonfuls before putting it back in the fridge on my break.

• Lunch: Mashed Sweet Potato mixed with sliced cucumber, ricotta cheese and cashews. (I'm so lucky to have both a microwave and a refrigerator at my job.)

• Afternoon snack: Sweet red bell pepper stuffed with cold chicken, sliced tomato, low-fat cheese and avocado. (Only red bell peppers will do.  Green are too bitter, and what's the point of orange or yellow?  Get your lycopene on!).

• Dinner: Flatout Veggie Pizza (although this sort of is more like "veggie cheese and crackers" than pizza.  It's my favorite thing. Ever so crunchy. Thanks, Liz!!!)

I'm trying really hard to get a cup of vegetables at 4/5 of my meals.   I just don't have room in my stomach for two cups at two meals so I spread my four cups of vegetables out.

And on the days I feel like being super naughty I like to make super-processed junk food that's horrible for you like these miniature chicken pot pies made with Grands biscuit dough, soup, veggies, cheese, chicken, and herbs:



I changed up the recipe a little by not bothering to thaw the frozen veggies and adding pretty much every seasoning in my pantry and some shredded cheese. These are extremely fattening and good and I can't be trusted around them.

If I could have eaten every single one of these, I would have.

But then I had leftover biscuits and tried to make little egg pies with those.  And then the egg ran out as the biscuits puffed up and now I have stinky burned egg at the bottom of my oven. And the intact eggs tasted like plastic on top of the delicious biscuits. So don't do that.

But you should totally cut your own hair. I cut mine up from mid-waist to my armpits recently. It looks really good, much better than in this video.



I cleaned it up a little bit after that so it's much shorter. I've been rocking a sort of Jenny Lewis (NOT Zooey Deschanel as that would involve mega hair extensions.  Maybe Zooey circa 2007-ish) haircut for about a year that I got sick of. I prefer my hair short. I want to cut it up to my chin, actually, but I like being able to tie it up into buns and ponytails.

GO BUY THIS BOOK. 

That is all. 

No-Equipment Full Body Strength Training Workout Right At Home!

I haven't done my strength training this week.  Why? Because the Insanity Fitness Test was harder on my body than I thought. I was very sore several days in a row and walking funny. It was those squat jumps and burpees, man. They did me in!

 

Also I have yet to find a gym in my area that doesn't cost around $50 a month to join. I don't know who decided to make all the good gyms in the Annapolis area that expensive, but they are. The gym near my job is about $64 a month. Even the Y is $51 a month. L.A. Fitness is about the same price depending on what deal you take. Just no.

 

That's a ridiculous amount of money considering the gyms in adjacent communities such as Bowie and Glen Burnie will run you about $10-30 a month. I could buy my own treadmill and NordicTrack and still have money left over (but no room for my bed or books). No, no, no!

 

So I was forced to find a weather-proof no-gym no-equipment apartment-friendly workout plan.

 

The Insanity Fit Test is actually an amazing full body workout. However, I think I can only handle it once a week at this point in my training.

 

It's surprisingly easy to put together a strength training workout. You don't have to have a personal trainer or follow some dumb workout with light pink weights in some woman's magazine.  You don't even have to do Crossfit if that's not your thing. The cornerstone fitness moves for any strength-training workout are as follows:

 

• Chin Ups
• Pull Ups
• Push Ups
• Bent-Over Rows
• Crunches
• Deadlifts
• Squats
• Calf Raises

 

There's no law against doing basic bicep curl/tricep dips if that's your thing. I feel like these are more for vanity if you're already doing push ups, chin ups, and pull ups. Ain't nothin' wrong with vanity, you know. I'm sure there are some more you could add to that, but if you're not basically paralyzed after doing 2-4 sets of 12 for each of those moves three days a week, then go swing your kettle ball or lift a damn monster truck and go away.

 

"But Jenny!" you protest "I don't have a monster truck! I also don't have a chin-up bar or dumbbells! All I can do is dangle on the chin up bars and lift bags of sand that fall on my feet and create ouchies! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GOOGLE THESE THINGS MYSELF OR HAVE NEVER THOUGHT OF GOOGLING THEM. HALP." Never fear!  Here is the recipe for success I'm going to try tonight!  I'll bet YOU could do these too after consulting your doctor and making sure you're not going to drop dead if you even think about getting off your dupa. (STAY ON THAT DUPA IF YOUR DOCTOR SAYS SO. DOCTOR'S ORDERS!!!)

• Some Form of Crawling - This link shows modified beginner crawling to crazy awesome army crawling that might even surpass the ol' chin up bar.
• Try doing inverted bodyweight rows or pull ups and push ups using a sturdy table or counter top to counterbalance your body weight.
• Push-Ups - start with doing them against a wall, then work your way down to moving your feet out farther and farther from the wall until you find yourself progressing to coffee tables, stairwells, and then eventually the floor.
• Crunches - the classic no-equipment crotch headbutt. Although I don't go all the way up because that's a sit-up.  I do, however, pull my hips off of the floor and curl my pelvis up toward my ribs each time I curl my chest toward my crotch and really squeeze with each movement.
• No-Equipment Alternative to Deadlifts
• Air Squats - the holy grail of fitness.
• Bodyweight calf raises  - Really don't leave out the calf raises. I swear calf raises changed my life.

I now have no excuse to skip my strength-training workouts from now on.  Gym or no gym, maybe some day I'll come to an expensive gym near you and lift it. No, not weights. The whole dang gym.

 

Click here for a link to that tasty, tasty sandwich created by Thug Kitchen!