I know I was at Whole Paycheck, but this is RIDICULOUS!

Since I’ve decided to follow Medifast strictly (no more string cheese, Greek yogurt, or almonds as snacks), I figured that I owed it to myself to make my Lean & Green meals really delicious.  And as this idea struck me yesterday, I found myself near Whole Foods.

Now I know that Whole Foods is expensive, but I figured that since was going to buy, well, whole foods – only meat, fish, and veggies – that it wouldn’t be too bad.  I told myself that it was specialty items and packaged foods that were the most expensive there, but that some veggies and protein couldn’t possibly be that much.

Oh how wrong I am sometimes.

Here’s exactly what I bought:

• 1 bunch of dino kale
• 1 bunch of broccoli rabe
• 2 bunches of asparagus
• 1 container of sugar plum tomatoes
• 6 east coast sea scallops
• 6 oz salmon
• 2 small lamb chops
• 1/3 lb imported prosciutto
• Rachel Ray magazine

And the total for this very reasonable list?  Go ahead, guess…. I’ll wait.

.

.

.

.

$75.34!!!!!!

What?  The scallops alone were $22; the salmon $10; the prosciutto $9; the tomatoes $5.  Wow!!!!

I had the lamb chops and asparagus last night, and both were delicious, but not $75 worth of delicious.

So the lesson I’ve taken away from all of this is that I will never, EVER, shop at Whole Food$ again.  Ever.

Instead, I’m going to frequent the farmers markets that are prevalent on the weekends here.  And if I want to treat myself to really good meat, I’m going to go to the local Italian grocery store that’s known for having quality food, and although expensive, it’s not OUTRAGEOUS.

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By the way, I’ve been doing very well with just having the 5 Medifast meal replacements and the 1 Lean & Green meal with no snacking in between.  And the scale is rewarding me in a big way.  That’s all I’m going to say for now, so if you want to see the details, make sure to check back in on Wednesday for my weigh-in post.

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Saturday Morning Snapshots

This morning, after taking Miss Lulu on a walk, I broke tradition and went to the grocery store (Trader Joe’s, to be exact!). It was so nice to beat the weekend crowds (and the expected heatwave coming today) and get my shopping done early. I even found rockstar parking!

You guys know how organized and prepared I feel when I have lots of healthy food in the house. It’s nice to start the weekend thus way. I may start doing my shopping on Sunday mornings (I only went today because I had NOTHING in the house after being sick for a few days).

Here are a few photos of all the reasons I’m smiling today:

Now on to the rest of my day: unpacking/decorating/organizing the new house (photos coming soon), grading, dog park with Lulu, Wii workout (don’t want to push it since I’m not quite 100%), delicious, grilled dinner for one, a glass of Pinot Grigio, and a luxurious bubble bath to end the day. Ahhhhhhh!

I feel inspired, happy, and so ready to take on the day. Feeling better after being really sick definitely makes me appreciate all the great things in my life!

I hope you all have a glorious weekend.

(I wrote this post on my iPhone, so please forgive me for any strange spacing/layout issues).

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Dusting off my trusty Wii, healthy shopping, & a new recipe

I’m finally feeling better, after last week’s nebulous sickness.  Something between a flu and a cold.  Whatever it was, it sapped me of my energy and made working out improbable if not impossible.

So I was really looking forward meeting Jimmy for our 6pm training session today, because all day I felt great – light, energetic, and so happy about life in general.  When I got home I got a text from him telling me that now HE was sick and he thought it was the flu.  So… back to the drawing board.

I *could’ve* gone to the gym, but I also needed to go to the grocery store, grade some essays, and get dinner going.

Instead of skipping a workout, as I might have done in the past, I decided to dust off my Wii Fit and EA Sports Active and give those a whirl.  I think I got out of the daily habit of jumping on my Wii for a little Fit/EA Sports Active right about the time that I started with the personal training sessions.  Not sure how they’re correlated, exactly, except to say that I have been expending so much energy at the gym that I don’t have the time/wherewithal left most of the time.

It felt good to get back on the Wii.  I really enjoyed my morning routine in the early part of the summer when I’d start making the coffee and then play the Wii Fit for 20 minutes or so before I started reading the paper/having breakfast/drinking coffee.  It wasn’t that I burned a lot of calories, but it was a good way to get active first thing and it helped me feel like I was doing something to get my blood pumping right off the bat.

Now that I have a 1st period prep every other day, I am going to start that habit back up.  This way, I can keep waking up at the same time each day, but I can fit in this type of workout 2-3 times a week.  In fact, since I wake up at the ungodly hour of 5:20am, I should be able to fit in both the Wii Fit and the EA Sports Active before I get ready on those late mornings.

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After the workout, I headed to the grocery store to pick up a bunch of produce and a few other items.  Things like bok choy, edamame, whole wheat pasta, granny smith apples, nectarines, strawberries, Oikos honey-flavored Greek yogurt, Yoplait yogurt (I’m a sucker for the breast cancer pink lids), and a HUMONGOUS container of organic spinach.

As I was in the checkout line, I noticed the woman ahead of me looking at the items as I placed them onto the belt.  She said, “wow, you’re buying so much healthy stuff!  It all looks so good and so fresh.  That’s wonderful!”  I told her I was on WW and really enjoyed eating this way.  She said that she had been thinking of joining, but wasn’t sure about it, but after seeing my groceries and being impressed, she was going to look into finding a meeting.

I can’t tell you how good this made me feel!  First of all that someone noticed my healthy choices, but also the fact that my simple shopping trip at Safeway inspired someone to possibly join WW.  So cool!

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When I got home, I made one of the best dinners I’ve had in a long, long time, which you can find below this post.  It was so hearty, satisfying, and delicious.  I hope you try it out.

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Treating myself to Whole Foods

Today I need to go grocery shopping. As much as I put off this task, once I hit the market, I usually enjoy myself. I love perusing the aisles for new veggies and fruit, food finds that I’ve never tried, and getting inspired to cook new recipes.

Since I’m about two weeks away from beginning my medical fasting program, I figure that this is probably going to be one of my last trips to the grocery store for quite some time. Sure, I’ll probably need to buy gallons of milk for the shakes, but I that’s not exactly grocery shopping.

So, I decided that I would treat myself by going to Whole Foods. If you’ve ever been to a Whole Foods you know that they offer wonderful organic produce, free range meats, and a wonderful variety of whole grain breads. They also have off-beat items like whole wheat panko crumbs. I love that they have spices in bulk, so you can get just the right amount of those unique spices that you only use once in a while. Their deli case is to die for, but can be very caloric, if you’re not watching what you’re doing. Whole Foods is also known as Whole Paycheck, because their prices are fairly expensive.

Still, since these next two weeks are going to be my last chance to cook and eat “real food,” I want to make sure each meal is memorable. I want to eat well, but healthfully. Plus, maybe those Skinny Bitches got in my head a little bit, and I’m willing to jump on the organic bandwagon. While they have certainly not convinced me to become vegan, what they wrote about meat processing and pesticides on farms has gotten me thinking that buying free range meats/poultry and organic produce is a wise choice.

I’m actually looking forward to going shopping later this afternoon. If I find anything extraordinary, I’ll post about it later.

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$112 later, I wonder how some people can exclusively shop at Whole Foods. I didn’t buy anything extremely over-the-top. I bought lots of organic fruits and veggies, a piece of salmon, a really small filet mignon ($9! ouch!!), and a few other odds and ends. This was ok because it was a special treat, but I think I’ll buy my organic produce at the farmers’ market instead next time.

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Feeling Good

After last night, I was determined to get up this morning and start my New Me project of working out and eating right.

I woke up late — 8:30 — but since there’s not schedule for me to follow right now, that wasn’t a big deal. I got up, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and got changed into workout clothes.

I headed to the gym with a bottle of water and a fully charged iPod. When I got there I was really surprised to see so many people. I figured that most people would be at work, since it was close to 9:30, but I guess quite a few people have the whole week off.

Still, I was able to get my favorite elliptical machine, so I climbed up and started the “weightloss program.” I love this preset program because it has a variable mode that keeps me interested. The first set of 4 minutes is a lower incline, so I use the arm “pumpers” (not sure what you call those things), then the next set of 4 minutes is a higher incline and resistance (10 incline, 7 resistance), so I go backwards and don’t use the arm things. This alternates every 4 minutes until 28 minutes is done. Then comes the “cool down” mode, when I go backwards slowly, drinking water to truly cool down. Before I know it, 33 minutes is up, and I’m feeling great about myself.

Right after the gym I went to Safeway to stock up on some food and other things that had run low. $121.27 later, I had everything I need for the week, and then some. I bought some One a Day Women’s Weightloss multivitamins, Benefiber plus Calcium (I’ve found out the hard way, no pun intended, that I need this added fiber to help keep things running smoothly, again, no pun intended). I also found some SBD meal replacement bars. They were expensive — $2.39 each — but I know they’re going to come in handy on most mornings when I’m running late and don’t have time to eat a proper breakfast before leaving for work. They had the SBD frozen dinners on sale for 5 for $11, so I got some of those, as well as some yogurt. I also bought some fruit and veggies, Jenny-O Italian turkey sausage, and a roasted chicken. I bought a few other things, but I don’t want to bore you with my entire shopping list. I’m all set, I think, for the week. I may need to stop and get a few things from Trader Joe’s but that will be later in the week.

I feel so good about working out, and I want to continue to feel this way, so I’m determined to keep this up. I’m going to try to go almost every morning during this break, just to give my weight loss a jumpstart. Once school gets back in session, I’ll only be able to go on “A days, ” which is every other day. Still, not bad, especially if I go to yoga a few nights a week.

Things are looking much brighter than they did last night, and for that I’m so happy.

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The Carbs are Back!

I started Phase 2 on Saturday and have been enjoying having a morning bowl of oatmeal, especially since the weather has been cold and dreary lately. Other than protein, oatmeal is one of the best breakfasts for staying full ’till it’s time for the morning snack.

I went to the grocery store tonight and picked up some other SBD carb friendly items: apples, whole wheat wraps (tortillas), whole wheat English muffins, and a few SBD frozen meals. I got a few other things, as well, but all of those were Phase 1 foods, so not worth mentioning.

I’m very happy to be able to incorporate more types of food into my diet, but I have to admit that I am a bit worried about moving into Phase 2. Especially since I only lost .8 on my 2nd week of Phase 1. I’m hoping that I can continue to lose a decent amount of weight each week.

I know that part of this is going to come from working out — I have such a slow metabolism that I have to keep moving so that I can increase it.

The cool thing is, beside seeing results on the scale, I’ve had a few NSVs (non-scale victories):

• clothes are fitting looser
• my appetite is decreasing/it takes less food to make me feel full
• I feel more energetic

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