Ew! And Allan's Challenge

More on this later...

ETA:  In response to the above article...well, I don't have much of one.  The way our country produces food is so flawed that I can't even begin to write on that topic because it will turn into a political rant.  I'd be curious to know what the food borne illness stats are for the EU because I know their food safety regulations are a lot tighter than the US regarding GMOs and additives.  In Europe, food that contains GMO has to be labeled appropriately and some of the additives used in food in the U.S. that are considered GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by the FDA are banned in Europe.  What a shame.  No wonder people are always so sick; they are eating chemicals that our body does not know how to process.  I have a book that lists all of the approved food additives and there are over 14,000 used in the U.S.

Anyway, change of topic!  I joined Allan's challenge at the last minute tonight.  So, as most of you know, I will be posting pics of everything that goes into my mouth (THATSWHATSHESAID) before I eat it.  This also coincides with my version of Whole30.  I am cutting out added sugar (fruit is OK), limiting my fruit servings to 2 per day and reducing carbs.  I don't have a specific carb amount and I'm not sure I'll set one.  

My "last meal" tonight was a Chipotle bowl and a Sparkling Clementine Izze Soda (fuck yeah).  I usually scarf these down like it really is my last meal but I only finished about 2/3 to 3/4 of it.  Now I feel like I'm going to explode.  I used to love this feeling and now I just feel like I'm going to be sick.  Ugh.  Lesson learned.  

We took a long ass walk today on some mountain bike trails at a local park.  My pedometer read approximately 2800 steps before we started and when we got home, it read about 14,800.  It felt good but I felt disgusting and sticky afterwards.  We checked each other for ticks when we got home because I do not want a repeat of last week.  I still have that little bastard in my freezer.  I kept it in case I got sick but I think I'm in the clear now.

Tomorrow will be my last weigh-in for a month and I'd also like to take some body measurements.  Probably belly button, biceps (relaxed and flexed), thighs, bust and shoulders (can these be measured?).  

Hey, What Happened?

Stupid Blogger app for android just deleted the post I wrote last night.  Ugh.  Pain in the ass.  I had pictures of the delicious vegan brownies and vegetarian enchiladas I made this weekend. All from scratch, too.  You'll have to use your imagination to visualize how tasty they looked. 

Anyway, today I started a new workout routine.  I'm doing a 3-day split.  Legs, push, pull.  Simple, quick and efficient.  I destroyed my quads and glutes doing lunges.  My legs and ass feel like jelly but that's a good thing.  I need the reminder that I'm still not even close to my goals.  So, here is what went down at the gym this morning...

Squat 95x8, 115x7, 135x6
Lunges 3x10 - I barely squeezed out the last set.  My legs were toast.
Stiff leg dead lift 45x8, 65x8, 75x8 - these all felt easy but I didn't want to go heavy on the first day of doing a new exercise. I know what I can handle now so this will take a big jump next week.
Calf raises 2x15

As you can see, a very easy routine.  I got to the gym pretty late this morning and didn't have time to do much else but in the future I will be adding in at least 15 minutes of cardio or HIIT after the weights.  So I'll need to get my ass out of bed at a decent time in the morning. 

Breakfast was a green smoothie with:
1/2 c water (goodbye soy milk, sniff sniff)
1/2 c homemade Greek yogurt
3 large frozen strawberries
1 scoop raw vegan protein powder
Couple hand fulls of baby spinach

Lunch will be leftover enchiladas and dinner will either be a salad or eggs with some of the pinto beans I made over the weekend. 

I did some research on the Whole30 plan and they actually have a modified plan for vegetarians.  It allows dairy and some protein alternatives.  I'm not sure how specific I want to be with the program.  Right now, my goals are to eliminate sources of added sugar and reduce carbs.  This includes soy milk and my occasional Starbucks drink and honey.  I will also limit fruit to two servings per day.  I have to figure out what a serving of fruit is because right now, I have no limit.  I think this will force me to eat more veggies and that is a good thing!  My sweet tooth has always gotten me in trouble and I need to rein myself in.  I am also going to lower my carb intake.  I think this will help with the sugar cravings.  I tend to default to pasta a lot because it is fucking delicious and so versatile.  I never eat more than one serving (at least not now) which is about a cup so that's good, but it needs to go for a while. 

Today I will be scavenging the web for low carb vegetarian or vegan recipes.  I found the most amazing Brussels sprouts recipe that I will have to try at some point; garlic and herb stuffed Brussels sprouts! 

I went and looked at bikes this weekend and I'm going to have to convince myself that spending $650 on a nice bike that will last the rest of my life is worth it. 

Until next time...

Happy Fucking Monday!

"Because I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough And..."

"...Dog-gonnit, people like me."

This year's Lab Week celebration has actually been very nice.  We were treated to a pizza lunch today (of course) and they gave every lab person a nice stainless steel water bottle.  I ate one small slice of veggie pizza and a giant salad.  Someone made cookies that had the ABO/Rh groups on them.  They were a cute idea and I had an AB negative one, the most rare type!  I worked late so I had brought a giant salad with me because I knew I wouldn't be home.  Tomorrow they are having a happy hour at a local bar so I will probably make an appearance before I head home.

My weight this morning was 178.  Although I may not technically be following Whole30 to a "T," I don't plan on weighing at all during the month of May.  My Whole30 goals will be a little different.  I'm cutting out added sugar so this will include my precious vanilla soy milk.  I only drink 1/2 c. per day currently in my breakfast smoothie but I think it will be a good idea to cut back.  I can replace it with water and if they start tasting bad, I can throw in some plain powdered milk.  I'm debating on whether or not I should give up dairy.  I'll get back to you on that one.  It's hard to beat 14g protein in 1/2 c of cottage cheese.  I am also going to limit my fruit to 2 servings per day.  Strawberries in my morning smoothie and an apple or orange with lunch or after dinner.  We'll see how this goes.  I think it will be good for me.  Well, obviously, it can't be bad.

I will make sure to post my meals every day but there will be a lot of repeats, I'm sure.  

Tomorrow is Friday!  Fuck yeah!

WHATISHAPPENING?

I just found a tick...in my ear.  My fucking ear!

Luckily it was not the canal but the top part but still.  Now I am itching all over and I can't focus on my work. 

I trapped it in a test tube which is inside a ziploc just in case I get Rocky Mountain spotted fever. 

I guess that's what I get for wanting to walk in the woods yesterday.

Little bastard.

Tony, Tony Turn Around...

...Something's lost and can't be found!  If you are Catholic, you may recognize that one.  The thing that's lost is my motivation.  I think it was drained out of my body with the ickies I had his weekend.  Going to the gym this morning required a shit ton of effort on my part.  Just getting out of bed his morning felt like torture. Predictably, my work out was fucking terrible.  I manage to barely make it though DLs then crapped out on everything else.  I'm just not feeling it this week.  I think this may be hormonal because this sort of thing seems to happen every month.  Shark week is approaching...joy.  Ugh.  

Norma and her minions have posted about doing a Whole30 challenge in May.  I like the idea of this and I'd like to participate but I can't figure out a way to so it without eating meat, or eating very little at least.  Actually, now that I haven't been eating a lot of meat, it just does not sound very appetizing.  Sigh.  I need to do some more research.  I can't rely on nuts and eggs as my sole source of protein for a month.  I'm thinking of doing a modified version and just cutting out sugar, stevia and tofu.  It is going to require some planning but I think I can pull it off.  I think I also may need to reduce my fruit intake.  I'm probably eating more than I  should.  I'll be doing some reading today at work and come up with some goals. 

On a completely unrelated note, I would give my left nut (if I had nuts) for a giant bowl of half regular Cheerios and half Honey Nut Cheerios with ice cold milk. 

Yea, this is definitely hormones...

Oops...

So I've had an interesting past few days.  I think I picked up a bug at work and I had this vague weak and fatigued feeling all weekend.  It wasn't that bad, I still managed to make it to the gym.  But this morning it caught up with me.  Usually before I work out in the morning I eat a half a banana and a tablespoon of PB.  Well I still felt icky and kind of nauseous so I didn't eat it.  Terrible idea and I should have known better because I was thisclose to passing out.  So I went in the locker room to get my rescue pack of energy goo.  I choked it down with some water and the shakes went away but then I was exhausted.  I didn't finish my workout and called out sick from work.  I went home, managed to eat some oatmeal and I went back to bed.  I woke up 4 hours later feeling like I had risen from the dead. 

Ugh. What the fuck.  All this has happened before so I now have an appointment with a my GP doc tomorrow but I'm sure she will just refer me to an endocrinologist but I already have an appointment with one in May that I made back in February.  I had a glucose tolerance test a few years ago and it was normal so I don't know what to make of it. 

Anyway...Saturday I went out with some friends and I nursed two beers then switched to soda water with lime so it looked like I was drinking.  I didn't feel like a guilt trip from my friends about not drinking.  I used to be quite the party girl and was always more than willing to get shit faced.  I'm too fucking old for hangovers.  They fucking hurt and it takes me out for a good two days. 

The pic I attached is from a cookie that was brought into work by one of our research students.  She is from Saudi and brought some back with her.  I assume the "animal obesity" was lost in translation and it is actually lard or something similar.  And for the record, I did not have any.

Whooped

I just got home from an unexpected 14-hour day. 

Whew.

I'm going to bed and sleeping until Monday morning, or at least that's how I feel right now.