March 23, 2007
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I'm still on track...
It’s Friday and I haven’t updated all week. The only thing that’s new is I’m sick. Throat hurts. It’s worse in the morning when I first wake up. Bleh. Hopefully it goes away soon because I don’t want it to interfere with me working out. I didn’t go into work today, just didn’t feel up for it. So I think instead of going to the gym and working out too hard for my cold/flu whatever it is, I’m going to take the doggies to the park and maybe walk a few laps with them. I think I can do a good 5 mile walk in about 1.5 hours. That should get my heart rate up just enough to burn some good calories.
My trainer keeps telling me that if I want to build bulk, I need to slow down my cardio to a way lower intensity, up my food intake, and gain a little fat. BAH! And I keep asking him can’t I just do both at the same time?! Lose fat, gain bulk! And he says yes you can, but really if I’m doing them both at the same time it’s kind of working against each other, AND you don’t want to be doing cardio so hard that you’re dipping into your lean muscle. Why is everything so scientific? It’s kind of funny actually. Anyway, plus I’m eating A LOT. I somehow feel like I have to keep my cardio up. But what he’s saying is probably true, so I’m going to start doing my cardio at a lower intensity but just for longer periods of time so I can burn more fat calories? Good grief. This is confusing.
Anyway I’m still doing really well with food. Last week I cooked at home mostly and packed my lunch. I found it harder to keep track of what I’m eating when I cook because with Chinese food, all these different ingredients go in and the portion sizes aren’t very consistent. The only thing is really do my best at estimation. I’ve also tried to use as less oil as possible with my stir fry. Generally for a large plate of stir fry, I’ll use about 1 tablespoon of oil, then once the food goes in the wok, I add a little bit of hot water to help cook the food. Cause obviously that 1 tablespoon of oil isn’t going to do much for cooking the food. Burning the food is more like it. I’ve gotten quite used to not eating so much oil, though it doesn’t taste as “good” as what I’m used to eating outside. But it’s much healthier that’s for sure. And plus a lot of times it’s an acquired tastes. I love food… so thinking of ways to make everything healthier has actually allowed me to eat MORE. Can’t complain about that! Oh, and one other thing.. once people get more educated about what are in the food in restaurants, I think most people wouldn’t want to eat it either. Like Macaroni Grill….most of their salads are 1000+ calories with 50+ grams of fat. Ok, forget about just getting fat from eating that, I’d be afraid of getting a heart attack right then and there. Also their teriyaki salmon with spinach orzo pasta, also 1200 calories with 60 grams of fat. Most of their creamy dips like the artichoke dip are loaded with fat. I think once in a while is okay. Like my weekly splurges. This weekend I’m going to have my country fried steak and eggs! But a lot of people eat junk a few times a week. Bad bad bad.
I’ve been on top of my workout for almost a full month now! 6 days a week every week. I haven’t lost any crazy weight at all, but my clothes are fitting just a bit better. They’re really small changes. Nothing dramatic. So I’m still just sticking to my routine, and getting out there to do a little something every day.
I skipped breakfast today because I was sleeping all morning from feeling sick. I got up and heated myself some leftovers of rice and Ma Po Tofu made with ground turkey breast. I used a little bit of oil and sautéed some scallions, ginger slices, and garlic on medium heat to bring out the flavor. Then I added the ground turkey breast. Cooked it till all the meat has turned white. Added 1 tablespoon of Do Ban Jian. 1 tablespoon of ketchup for color. Toss a bit. And then added my cubed soft tofu. Put the lid on and simmered it on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Right before turning off the stove, mix some starch in cold water and add it to the tofu to thicken the sauce. And right before taking the tofu out of the wok, throw in some fresh scallions for added color. So yummy. Usually Ma Po Tofu has a lot of grease floating around on the top from the ground pork fat. But this is practically a clear broth. The only thing is it probably doesn’t look as tasty as the greasy look though. I don’t know… depends on how you feel about grease. Haha.. I actually love greasy, fried, fattening stuff. I just try not to eat it all the time.
A little info I found on the web today:
Friday's Introduces Portion-Controlled Entrees - Let's welcome six new, affordably priced ($6.99 - $8.99), smaller entrees to the T.G.I. Friday's menu. Four of Friday's classic dishes are also being made available in smaller portions. They may be tinier but they're not necessarily diet-friendly. Watch out for the Half-Rack Baby Back Ribs and the Jack Daniel's Chicken Alfredo. The really exciting news is that two of the offerings, Dragonfire Chicken and Shrimp Key West, are also included in the "Better For You" section, and they each contain 500 calories or less and 10 grams of fat or less per serving.
Ditch These Dips...
Warning: Any food that requires another food as a utensil has the potential to be a diet disaster. Here are the worst ones we've uncovered…
Macaroni Grill Shrimp & Artichoke Dip with Romano Croutons - Layers of assorted baked cheeses encrust the otherwise healthy ingredients: shrimp, artichokes and spinach. Once the plate's loaded up with greasy croutons, this dip tips the scales at 980 calories and 52 grams of fat. Yikes!
Chili's Skillet Queso - This frightening pile of cheesy goo and ground beef contains 670 calories and 53 fat grams…and that's before you dip a single chip in it! When it comes to this skillet…skip it!
Pizza Hut White Icing Dipping Cup - This dessert dip comes with the Hut's cinnamon and sugar dusted breadsticks. But just 2 teeny ounces of the sugary stuff contains 190 calories and 40 grams of sugar! And again, that's WITHOUT the sticks!
Ruby Tuesday Spinach Artichoke Dip - Hmmm…with 332 calories and 20 fat grams, this dip doesn't look nearly as bad as the others. Oh wait, that's for just a quarter of the appetizer! Even with three friends chipping (and dipping) in, this is no way to start a meal.
Comments (2)
wow! you have alot of perseverance with your work out routine!
RYC: Thanks for the compliments! I actually don't feel very big. It depends on who I'm with. If I'm out with my single girlfriends or out at a bar, I tend to feel a bit round compared to everyone else. If I'm at the office or just walking on the street, I wish I were a bit rounder in the belly so people could know I"m pregnant right away! I think at last I've hit the "no doubt she is pregnant" stage, yay!
I'm not a big fan of greasy food, actually, because my mom and grandma never cooked that way at home. They used very little oil and were big sticklers with the hot water in the wok thing. Actually, my mom always keeps a little electric water boiler by the stovetop, so that she can add fresh hot boiling water when she's cooking. They never added much salt, either, so when I go out to restaurants, I often feel kind of sick and dehydrated afterward. I love to make all sorts of different food, but my personal tastes are actually kind of light. The Ma Po Tofu you made sounds yummy!
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