Bulkin' Up

Dec 062010

A lot of people, when they start dieting, will look to frozen meals. And there are a lot of plus points there, they are pretty affordable (and at least one brand is one sale at my grocery store each week), there provide instant portion control, you can still a bit of variety, and they’re easy to make.

On the flipside though, that portion control usually means a rediculously small portion, they are usually chock full of preservatives and sodium, and you don’t get much in terms of fruits and vegetables with them.

I’ll buy them every so often for lunches.  I don’t usually feel like cooking during the day, and I do like the variety.  What I’ll sometimes try to do though is bulk them up a bit, in a way that I get more of a filling meal with not too many more calories.

Case in point: Today’s lunch.

I started out w/ a Lean Cuisine Cheese Ravoli meal (220 calories), and added a few little bits, including:

  • Frozen spinach
  • Frozen peppers
  • Fresh Salsa
  • Parmesan/Romano Cheese

I prepared the Ravioli in the microwave as directed, and then heated up the spinach and peppers in the microwave as well.  I then added the salsa and a bit of cheese, and microwaved the whole thing again for a minute or so.  And BAM!

 I managed a spice up and otherwise small, and kinda boring meal, while only adding maybe an extra 50-60 calories.  Not bad, eh?

 

Do you use frozen dinners at all?  Do you bulk them up? 

The D word.

Dec 022010

Yesterday I stated my intention to lose 20 pounds this month.  It wasn’t an idle statement either, as I have every intention of doing it.

A major thing that is going to have to change though is my diet. 

It sucks.

I’ve always been prone to eat out of boredom, depression, or (insert whatever reason) here.  Since I am most of the day, being a telecommuter, its gotten that much worse.  There is nothing to stop me from raiding the fridge (except when it doesn’t have food in it), ordering Dominos delivery, or even running to McDonalds or the grocery store to pick up some random crap.

I think about all of the shit I eat, and it bums me out.  For one thing, that stuff costs money!  Here I am working crazy long hours to get all the overtime in that I can get, and I am blowing it on food!  That’s not cool man, not cool at all!  For another thing, it’s gotten me nowhere!  I mentioned earlier that I had lost inches thanks to my workouts and my personal trainer, but I haven’t lost a damn bit of weight.  If my diet was in control, I’d probably be in incredible shape by now.

Well, its the last month of the year, and I want to rock it out. 

I’ve started a food diary.  I’m not going to try to count calories again, because in all honesty, it’s a pain in the ass and I don’t keep up with it.  But if I can just make a list of what I’ve eaten, it will help to give me a better idea about what I’m putting in my body, when I’m eating, perhaps even why (if I choose to put that much into it, for now a list may be sufficient).

I also want to try to give myself a bit of variety in what I eat during the day.  I have frozen veggies, I have canned soups, I even have a few lean cusines, but I’d like to try to actually prepare from foods as well.

Last night, I made chicken and shrimp salad.

Don’t let the picture fool you.  It’s not cat food, and it’s actually pretty good and was really easy to make.  I merely mixed cooked chicken and shrimp together (I baked them in the oven, but do what works best for you) with about a tablespoon of mayonnaise (mostly because that’s all I had left, I need to go shopping), some seasoned salt, and a pretty generous helping of Old Bay seasoning, which is the best stuff on Earth.

Old Bay seasoning

I tried a bit before packing it up for tomorrow, in the future I’d probably use a bit more mayonnaise, and a bit less Old Bay, but overall it was really good.  With that said though, I probably won’t be becoming a food blogger anytime soon :P

 So there we go.  The less McDonalds/Dominos/Random Grocery Store junk, the better.  Reaching this goal may not be easy, but it will be worth it!

What do you prepare for yourself during the day?  Have you experienced the wonder that is Old Bay Seasoning? :P

Inches...

Nov 172010

It’s no secret that my weight loss progress has left quite a bit to desired.

I yoyo, I gain, I yoyo a bit more, I gain…etc…etc…etc…

But apparently, there is some progress being made…

…I’m losing inches!

Green Apple with Tape Measure

When I first started working out with my personal trainer, we took all of my measurements, and while I don’t remember all of the numbers, I can assure you that they were very depressing.

When he said that we were going to take them again, I was kind of freaking.  I knew for a fact that I hadn’t lost any weight,  I didn’t want him getting shitty with me about the lack of progress.

And while the weight itself, and the body fat percentage showed no progress…I have lost inches.

Again, I don’t remember the exact numbers, but I lost inches in my arms, chest, thighs, hips, waist.  Most of the measurements were only down an inch, including my arms, which was depressing because I was kind of hoping my arms would have gotten bigger.  But I lost 4 inches off of my hips, which is freakin’ crazy.

All together I’ve lost 8 inches off of my body since I started with the trainer (and pretty much started at the new gym in general).

It’s awesome, but confusing too, mostly because my body fat percentage hasn’t decreased.  Still though, I’ll take it.

What he said after the measurements kind of hit me too: Imagine what the results would have been if my diet was better.

So, in a way, I feel like I’ve got one half of the battle down.  I’m working out, and making progress…but alas, you can’t have one without the other, and unless my diet changes I’m not going to get anywhere fast.

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