November 30, 2008

Today has been an okay day. I worked ALL day on a paper on Islamic Extremism (fun, right?) and am now working on the video project (can't wait til it's all over.. man!)

I ate okay today. I didn't track but ate reasonably until dinner, haha. Since I am going vegan (for next week at least) I did decide to indulge in dairy... I had Shells and Cheese and a milkshake. Ha, well it made me feel terrible an hour or so after consuming >.<

I did go to the grocery store today and made a video about my grocery haul on YouTube so check it out! Also, does anyone have any vegan-friendly recipes with lentils? These things are nutritional gods! 11 grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein in just half a cup! Oh man!

Ha, so on that note, I'm going to be working on this paper til all hours of the night. Have a wonderful rest of the day and I will give an update tomorrow on the vegan eating!

Dominic goes vegan!

Yes, that's right. vegan. Dominic is going vegan. Why? Dominic was inspired by a book called Skinny Bitch. It talks about about why we are so dependent on milk and meat products and the conditions the animals are in. Also, I am doing it for the health benefits. Vegans live 15 years long, almost never get sick and just live better lives. It's suppose to be really good for setting a good mood. Also, the whole animal thing is just icing on the cake. I will really be trying this week. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow! I'm really excited. I don't plan on counting calories because I think I get obsessive by doing it. I will, however, be posting my menu. I hope everything works out, I really want to make this lifestyle change; not just for me, but for the animals, too!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I've had a really great day today! I went to my aunts like I normally do for the holiday and guess what I ate? About half a cup of stuffing, half a cup of mashed potatoes, green beans and a small roll. That's it. I didn't pig out or anything. I'm really happy with the choices I made and compared my plate to everyone elses: All were overflowing and mine had space between each item. It is also quite upsetting to see almost everyone gaining 10-15 pounds :( I am determined to become an inspiration!

Falling off track/Thanksgiving/Skinny Bitch/SchoolACCOMPLISHMENT/

Ok, so I did indeed fall a little off track the past few days. I wouldn't say I completely turned back to my old eating habits but I did indulge in some things that I know I shouldn't have.

Thanksgiving is (technically today) so Happy Thanksgiving! I honestly don't care much for Thanksgiving food so I probably won't be eating too much (I'm really only a sucker for stuffing.. ha).

So today I finally recieved the Skinny Bitch book I ordered in the mail. Yeah, I know, I'm not a girl but the book has lots and lots of great information. It is written fairly vulgarly but I tend to gravitate towards things like that anyways, lol. I already finished it and it completely changed my views towards meat and dairy. I will be making a shopping adventure this weekend in search of some new wholesome and good food. I'm really anxious to try rice milk or almond milk if I can find it.

Today was an amazing day. It is soon-to-be Black Friday and everyone knows that there are amazing deals. Anyways, being a complete computer nerd, following the weekend comes Cyber Monday where there are usually really great deals on computers and whatnot. I have been meaning to get a gaming desktop (even though the Mac runs fine) and they are decently cheap now. I completely crossed out the idea and decided that I am going to put the money I would have used (~$700) towards a gym membership and a new way of eating. Tell me that isn't progress? Man.

This week has been probably the most stressful week of my life. I have the week off from college (which I though would be a nice thing) So far, I have to work on a video project for IST, an 8-10 page research paper due on islamic extremism, a book to read, two tests to study for on Monday, and then preperation work for finals. OMG, shoot me. It's been hell on Earth. And on top of all of this, I've been working a good 50 hours this week between the office and Wendy's.

So, that's where I stand currently. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

November 24, 2008

I didn't track today. I did still eat within my calories, I think.

Calorie Counts

Something interesting I thought I would share. I went to the family doctor a week or so again because I was ill and had asked him about how many calories I should be consuming since I was trying to lose weight. He told me 1700 would be adequate.

The next week, I went into my work office (dermatology) and was talking to one of the doctors about how I was trying to lose weight. She was telling me about her hollistic diet and I was getting really motivated. I told her about the 1700 my family doctor had suggested and she told me that I should probably be eating more, since I am a male and I am young. So, to further my research, I tried multiple calorie counting calculators and here are the results:

http://www.globalrph.com/diet_calc.cgi - no more than 2215 calories to lose weight
http://www.caloriecontrol.org/calcalcs.html - 2247.5
http://nutrition.about.com/od/changeyourdiet/a/calguide.htm - 2486 with no exercise, 2949 with 30 minute exercise daily

Ok, so now I'm really confused. How much should I be taking in? Maybe I'll average the three together and go off of that.

November 23, 2008

I'm planning in advance for tomorrow! So for the menu:

Breakfast:
1/2 cup of organic vanilla yogurt - 90
1/2 cup of blueberries - 45

Lunch:
1 cup of milk - 90
1.5 cups of corn chex - 180


Dinner: TBD

November 22, 2008

Breakfast:
1/2 cup of blueberries - 45
1/2 cup of organic vanilla yogurt - 90

135 calories / 2 grams of fiber

Lunch:
3/4 cup organic vegetarian baked beans - 200
2 tsp organic brown sugar - 35
3 bites of gross rice mash I made - 40

275 calories / 7 grams of fiber


I plan on going out tonight so I tried to limit my calories in the morning so I could have a good dinner and not feel guilty!

Update: I went out and got an antipasto salad and stuffed chicken breast. Ok, I was like I totally have enough calories. Little did I know, it totaled over 1600 calories! Holy shit, batman!

Tomorrow I am working a morning shift at Wendys. 7-12. I offered to. So anyways, my goal for tomorrow is not eat anything from Wendy's. It really is my downfall on days I work there! Better eat a big breakfast!

November 21, 2008

Woo. Today I skipped class (yeah, one class. So not worth the drive and the fact that I know what we're doing). Instead, I'll be working an 8 hour shift at the office I work at part-time during the week. So with that said, my menu is as follows;

Breakfast:
1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt - 90
1/2 cup blueberries - 45
1 100 calorie whole wheat bagel - 100
1 laughing cow wedge - 50
1 slice of thin crust pizza (ok, it's out of the house) - 280

565 calories / 7 grams of fiber

Lunch:
1/2 cup of organic vegetarian baked beans - 140
1 slice of thick crust cheese pizza - 365

505 calories /4 grams of fiber

Arby's Chicken Cordon Bleu /w curly fries - 1281


2351/1700 calories / 15 grams of fiber

I used my one 'cheat' meal for the week.

November 20, 2008

I am so pleased with how I handled things yesterday. I know it would be difficult to completely cut out processed junk so instead I am going to eat healthy and still enjoy some of the 'ok' processed food. I will make sure to be counting my calories so I don't overdo it! I did have my weigh-in today and wasn't too happy. So despite the fact that I gained, I still went through with the day.

What I have planned so far (subject to change)..

Breakfast:
1/2 cup of blueberries - 45
1/2 cup of organic vanilla yogurt - 90

135 calories / 2 grams of fiber

Lunch:
2 slices of thin crust pizza - 560
1.2 bread sticks - 120 calories

680 calories / 3 grams of fiber

Snack:
1 100 calorie whole wheat bagel - 100
1 wedge of Laughing Cow - 50

150 calories / 4 grams of fiber

Dinner:
1/2 cup organic vegetarian baked beans - 140
3 cups of baby spinach - 20
2 tbsp light honey mustard dressing - 90
1/4 cup feta cheese - 90
1 slice of thin crust pizza (I really need to get rid of this stuff) - 280

620 calories/10 grams of fiber

Snack:
1/2 serving of Cheez-its - 100

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1685 calories/19 grams of fiber

November 19, 2008

Like I stated in the last post, I really need to go to the grocery store!

Breakfast:
1/2 cup raspberries - 45
1/4 cup almonds - 160
1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt - 90

295 calories/7.5 grams of fiber

Lunch:
2 slices of bread - 140
2 eggs - 140
2 tbsp Miracle Whip - 70
1 Tsp Dijon, 1 Tbsp Relish - 20

370 calories/1 gram of fiber

Snack:
Mandarin Oranges - 200

200 Calories/1 gram of fiber

Dinner:
2 cups Whole Wheat pasta - 420
1/2 cup of Tomato Sauce - 90
1 tsp Feta - 30

540 calories/7 grams of fiber

Snack:
Cheez-Its - 160

160 Calories/0 grams of fiber
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Total for the day:
1570 calories / 16.5 grams of fiber

I think I did pretty well for my first day on this plan :)

Inspiration

Today, as I was eating not really bad or good, I got a sudden burst of inspiration while watching The Biggest Loser. This show is great. I also then got inspired by the fact that I was overeating in calories by ~ 400 according to my doctor! Man! No wonder I might be stalling..

I really need to go grocery shopping and might tomorrow after school and work.

Going to try and start my non-processed way of eating again tomorrow, I feel great as of now.

Anyways, the guidelines I will be trying to follow:
1700 calories per day
5 servings of fruits/vegetables
lots of protein including nuts, eggs, chicken
wish me lucky :)

November 17, 2008

Today hasn't been soo bad. I am slowly trying to convert over to a whole non-processed diet and taking small steps at a time. With that being said, my menu for today was:
B - Organic Yogurt, almonds, blueberries - 6 points
L - Lean pocket, pineapple, soda (completely uncalled for, I know) - 9 points
S - Cheese bagel, oreos (ok, maybe I didn't do extremely well) - 6 points
D - A turkey hot sausage without bread, potatoes with parsley, and green beans - 8 points

Six points may go towards more fruit or some small snack.


Yah, my day got ruined with a midnight binge. I ate everything I could. Good way to start the week.

Nobember 16, 2008

"Being overweight is hard. Losing weight is hard. Maintaining your weight is hard. Choose your hard."

Wow, is this quote ever so true? I always had such a hard time being overweight.. and now in the process of losing.. then maintaining. Wow.

So, my Ecuador trip is in roughly 3 months and 2 weeks and I really need to get my but in gear. I know I know, I'm not going to get some cut body or anything, but I really would like to lose at least 15 pounds by the time I go. I think that it is a realistic number and I can do it!

So, today like every other Sunday, I sit here and do all of my homework and usually don't eat too much. As stated, I didn't eat too much. I'm not hungry though.

My voice sounds so terrible since I've been sick; my cough, nose, and throat have cleared up but when I talk it sounds like I have a frog in there!

Tomorrow at school they are having a Jeopardy type thing in Cafe and I'm going to check that out with Sam. I LOVE Jeopardy!

I also found this thing online involving eating a lot of points for breakfast, medium amount of lunch, low for dinner. Apparently it works better when burning throughout the week. I might have to give it a whirl. The only thing, though, is that I usually can't eat a lot for breakfast or I'll get sick!

I hope everyone is having a good day and good night!

November 16, 2008

I have successfully lost 30 lb on the Weight Watchers Flex plan, but after eating basically anything I wanted (loads of processed crap, etc.) my weight loss stalled. I'm back again, combining a plan of both WW Core and WW Flex, in hopes of losing the remaining 30 or so pounds. My diet will consist of MOSTLY whole foods and since I don't trust myself in a free-for-all type of environment, I will be counting the foods in the form of Weight Watchers points. I will allow myself the 35 flex points like the plan suggests and still continue with that. I am determined more than ever and I will be a force to be reckoned with.