My new favorite magazine

Hey Y'all... I stumbled across this GREAT magazine and I wanted to share. I've been trying to clean up my diet a bit... halfway in preparation for the bikini/stiletto fest that will be occurring in Miami for my birthday, and partly in preparation for my 20% body fat challenge.

Usually when I try and get a little leaner I go back to the tried and true methods that I learned from my co-worker, Desiree, when I worked at a gym in New Haven, CT. Desiree was an aspiring body builder, (and super creative Sponge Bob Square Pants impersonator), and she was the QUEEN of clean eating, body builder style.... Which essentially meant eating 6-8 times a day and the meals generally consisted of lots of egg whites, oatmeal, brown rice, steamed veggies, grilled chicken, sweet potatoes, and cans of tuna on lettuce. That chick, and many other ridiculously ripped folks at the gym, ate like that EVERY DAY.

I was on the body builder style clean eating plan for a month or so and... that mess WORKS. It's no joke. If you're trying to drop weight quickly, that would honestly be the way to go. I stopped because honestly I was looking a little crackish... I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror one day and though; stop the maddness. It wasn't cute. I think it was around that time some members of my family started whispering about me possibly being anorexic.... Yes y'all... that diet is no joke. LOL

Anyway while I still incorporate a bunch of things I learned from that diet/lifestyle, that particular style of "clean" eating didn't really work for me. Firstly, I need variety and excitement in my food... While it really works for some people, the "food is fuel" viewpoint that a lot of body builders take is completely at odds with my personal "food is fun" viewpoint. Secondly, the diet makes you lose weight pretty quickly, and I'm not trying to really lose weight like that... and Thirdly, eating egg whites, tuna, and grilled chicken and veggies all the time REALLY made your farts stink... and I just wasn't down with that.... heh heh was that too much information?

Anyway... I was looking online last week trying to find some resources on "clean" eating to see if there were any new foods I could add or recipes that would spice things up if I decided to try eating that way for the next few months. That's when I came across Clean Eating Magazine! Although the magazine is from the same people that make Oxygen and Muscle Fitness ( I think), it really isn't about "clean eating" in terms of what fitness fanatics eat, but it's totally dedicated to eating foods in their most natural state... meaning minimally processed, seasonal, fresh foods. The magazine also talks about healthy lifestyle (mind and body) and has a TON of recipes that actually look like they would taste good (unlike the recipes in most fitness/muscle mags).

I LOVE this magazine! It completely speaks to how I try to eat generally (small amount of processed foods, cooking with seasonal ingredients, etc) and it uses a ton of grains and other ingredients that I wouldn't necessarily think about, or know how to use, but it doesn't do it in a crunchy granola, hippy-dippy kind of way. There is this really great looking white pearl barley and asparagus risotto that I want to try this month, and I think they have some recipes with Amarath as well. I'm so excited about this mag. It's a really great resource so far. You guys should check it out. Clean Eating Magazine

N :-)

Daily Wrap up- Wednesday March 4th

Just my little update for today.... not the best of days... woke up hella late, felt like crap, didn't drink enough water... didn't eat too badly except for the white bread, and didn't work out. Um... yeah.... Next.

Status Table:

Wake up time:
Ugh I set my alarm for 6:30 this morning.... I stumbled grogily out of bed at 7:45, my head was pounding and I felt like I had been beaten with wet rags.... I guess that's what I get for hitting snooze 10 times.

Water:
Ugh... I wasn't keeping track of this today.... But I know I drank more than none because I bought a gallon of water last night before bed.

Food:
3/4 of a banana
8 oz. oatmeal from Starbucks with brown sugar and fruit
3 little pieces of coconut candy from Vietnam
Bowl of white bean and chicken Chili with Lime
Chicken, goat cheese and sundried tomato sammich on White Baugette
Couple glasses of Cranberry wine

Workout:
None

Money Spent:
$4.50 on Oatmeal and HORRIBLE, NASTY Skinny Vanilla Latte... bleh I can still taste it.

Shoulda gone to Chick Fil'a... (WTF News of the Day)

So apparently this chick, Latreasa Goodman, was REALLY upset that her neighborhood Micky D's was trying to scam her out of her paper with the old Chicken Nugget switcharoo.... She ordered a 10-piece at the drive- through window, paid for it and THEN was told that they were out of those sweet nuggets... to make matters worse, they would not refund her money. They tried to pawn a nasty McDouble on her... So homegirl took matters into her own hands and called 911, not once... not twice, but THREE times an an attempt to report the travesty that was occuring....According to Goodman, "This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn't have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one," "This is an emergency."

I feel her... I rarely eat at McDonalds, but the only thing I've gotten there in YEARS is the chicken nuggets and maybe some fries... I mean the little McDonalds window person really tied her hands in this one....They should have givenLatressa her $6.48 back straight away. That drive through chick should consider herself lucky... you really shouldn't mess with people's food... People are very unpredictable when they're hangry... it's a good thing she called 9-1-1 and didn't just go in and shoot up the employees and ransack the place looking for chicken.... 'cause you know they had some in the back or in the basement somewhere, Little Pookie and them were probably just too lazy to go down there and get it.

Oh well, Latressa was charged with misuse of 9-1-1.... hopefully she has learned her lesson and will just hit up Chick Fil'a next time.

E.T.A. HAHAHA they posted a link to the actual 911 audio on theybf.com... HAHAHA at how earnest she is in....

Daily Wrap Up- Tuesday March 3

Today went pretty well me thinks.... I almost got up on time... I actually sat up in my bed at 6:30, when the alarm went off, and thought about whether I wanted to get up.... usually I just roll over and smack my nightstand until the music/alarm goes off, or falls off the nightstand... At that point I generally fall back asleep with the music still playing ( a lot of times what's on the radio gets incorporated into my dreams... I've had some fascinating conversationss with Steve Harvey....).... and get up an hour or so later than I had planned. So... yeah, so despite the fact that I still didn't get up on time, I consider today a small victory because I THOUGHT about getting up on time! Yay!

I worked out (YAY), but I ate too much... was doing well until about 10:00 when I started snacking on avocado and wheat tortilla... I also had to douse and dump (ie pour water over and throw away) the rest of my salt water petite brownies... I was just eating WAY too many of them... All in all, not a horrible day, but I can still do better...

Status Table:

Wake up time:
Woke up at 6:40 (or 6:50... i don't remember). I hit the alarm once or twice, I was supposed to get up at 6:30.

Water:
About FOUR full glasses of water today!!! YAY!
Food:
8oz of Perfectly protein shake (post- work out)
1/2 cup Fage 2%, some honey and GoLean Crunch and a banana (breakfast)
7 mini eggs (snack)
Turkey, Munster and bacon open faced sammich and Small chicken ginger chili from Whole Foods(lunch)
Lil bit'o'Cherry Cobbler ($1.12 portion from Whole Foods... I don't think I've ever gotten ANYTHING from Whole Foods for less than $5, so that should give an indication of the amount of cobbler:-p) (lunch dessert)
1 glass cranberry wine
Bootleg Salmon wrap - Salmon, wheat wrap, lettuce, goddess dressing
5 sea salt petite brownies (dessert.... The remainder of the brownies were doused in water and thrown in the trash)
Wheat tortilla
some avocado
Swig of Bolthouse Farms

Workout:
Jillian Michael's 30 day crunch level 2
Arms: Push ups, arm curls, tricep kicks, overhead triceps
Shoulders: Shoulder set (military press, boob squeeze, front lift), Shoulder Fly

Money Spent:
$10.22- Expensive, yet quite tasty, lunch from Whole Foods

Daily Wrap up- Monday March 2

It's really funny how much of a motivation it is for me to see little stickers, in a goofy excel table. Numerous times today I was sitting at my desk thinking, "Yo I HAVE to do my dishes tonight or there's going to be NOTHING in today's box!" now granted.... I didn't do shit when I got home other than take out my braids, but it is definintely a motivation to know that everyone (meaning the 3 people that may check this blog) will know how crappy you ate today, or that your sink is filled with crusty dishes and your floor is covered with dirty clothing. While it didn't necessarily work today, I do have a good feeling about this little status update thingie... I forsee strong work this month.... strong work indeed.
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Status Table: (heh heh... I really need to figure out how to make this table look better ;-p)






Wake up time: 7:45 Grrrr totally forgot to set my alarm... fell asleep last night with all the lights on and all my clothes on.. :-(

Water: Hmmm no water as of 3:07.... I need to remedy that
-Ok... now it's 5:20pm and still no water... I did drink a cup of honeybush tea with no sugar... I think that counts, no?
-11:45pm- Just took a swig out of the water bottle in my fridge.... This only the 3rd drink of liquid I've had today; coffee, tea and swig'o'water.... I really need to find a way to drink more water. I hate drinking with meals, but maybe I'll force myself to drink at least 8 oz of water with lunch and dinner?

Food:
1/2 cup Fage 2%, some honey and GoLean Crunch, and cup of coffee with sugar and half and half (breakfast)
Spinach and Salmon Wrap-salmon, tortilla, spinach, mushrooms, Goddess dressing (lunch)
Apple and 7 mini eggs (Snack-yummmmmmmmmm)
6 Raw almonds (Snack)
Big bowl of White bean Chili and Brown rice (dinner)
3 sea salt petites (dessert)
A few mini sweet peppers (random snacky)

Workout:
No workout today. I didn't set my alarm, so I didn't wake up on time, and I had to take my braids out, so I couldn't do it when I got home... tomorrow morning.. it's on

Money Spent:
$1.90 Coffee
$25.00 Muscle Milk Powder at GNC
$1.07 Little Mini egg packet
$5.00 Hair pins and Black soap at Beauty Supply Store

Daily Wrap Up- Sunday March 1

Wake up time: 10:45am

Water: Unknown but more than none :-p

Food:
Breakfast:
Leftover Garlic Kale from dinner (Breakfast)
Fage 2%, kashi go lean, honey (Pre-workout)
8 oz of Bolthouse Farms Vanilla Perfectly Protein (Post-workout)
Little sample of Trader Joe's Barley Soup (yummy!)
Little sample of Brown Stewed chicken from my landlord (I'm trying to learn how to make proper stewed chicken)
2 glasses of Tempranillo
2 bowls of white bean chili with brown rice
5 sea salt brownie bites

Workout:
Legs: Basic Squats, Step ups, Split Squats, Jumping Lunges, Dead lifts, dumbbell squat, calf lifts
Back: Back row, Back fly, Back press
Abs: Double crunches, scissors/lower leg lifts, Bicycle

Money Spent:
$7.00 on a Metrocard (my daggone Transit check expired! Grrrr!)
$1.50- water at the gym
$10.00 - 2 magazines
$19.00- Produce at produce stand
$37.00- Grocery at Trader Joes

Good day overall... I ate too much chili, but other than that I'm ok with what I ate today. There were a ton of cute guys at the gym tonight.... Is it tacky to meet guys at the gym? I'm guessing if I have to ask, it probably is.... not that any of them were checking for me anyway, and I was wearing tight ass black pants and doing dead lifts. Oh well... there was this cute dude there with glasses... he had the unfortunate Superhro physique (Big ass upper body and little teeny legs), but he had glasses on and just seemed cute in the geeky "I wear glasses to the gym" kind of way... tee hee... cute.

I am planning on doing upper body and abs at home tomorrow morning. We're supposed to be getting like 27 feet of snow tonight and I don't want to trek to the gym in the morn.

Nighty night! :-)

In like a Lion and out like a f(cking monster!

So I think I need to kick this goal thing into higher gear and star to actually complete the goals that I say I'm going to start each month and blog on them more routinely. I think one of the issues that I've been having is that I set my sights WAY too high at the beginning of the month... I'm a pretty results oriented person. When I can actually see the results of my work, I am WAY more likely to actually get it done... so this month I'm going to do things a little bit differently. I'm going to focus on actually completing one or 2 goals, and I'm going to do some preparation work for other goals.

Goals I’m going to continue/stick on track with this month
4.) Acquire 2+ new songs (The last few months of failure on this will hopefully have prepared me for success this month.... :-/)
10.) Make 2 new recipes
13.) Try 2 new foods/types of cuisine
20.) Watch 2 movies that have won Best Picture since I’ve been alive.
Read 1 non-fiction book (a new book or one on my shelf)

Here are some things I’d like to start to track in the next month or do the preparation for the actual goal

- Wake up at the same time every weekday: I wake up at different times every day depending on what time I want to be at work or whether I'm working out that morning. I think it would really help me with my timeliness if I had a routine wake up time every morning. In order to take care of my morning dog routine, go to the gym and get to work on time I have to wake up at 6:00am. If I can get an actual set routine for my gym days I should be able to wake up at 1 time for gym days and another time for non-gym days, but until I get my gym schedule set in stone I'm going to shoot for a 6:00 wake up time.

-Find a multivitamin that I’ll be able to swallow
-Record the amount of water I drink each day.
-Record everything I eat. I think I eat pretty well, but I'm trying to clean up my eating habits a bit in preparation for summer and Miami to a smaller extent. I think writing down what I eat everyday and posting it for everyone to see will keep me honest :-p

-Record when I go to the gym and what I do.
-Record all the money I spend for an entire month
-Record the number of days that I go to bed with no dishes in the sink and all clothing hung up.

At the end of each day I am going to write a daily update which will include the time I woke up, whether I worked out, what I ate and drank and the amount of money I spend each day.

I respond REALLY well to tables so at the end of every day I’m going to update my little status table with cute little icons and what not.... I often have tables like this in my apartment... with little stickers or symbols on them... I'm such a kindergartner :-p

Wish me luck