Shred Day 6

Meal 1:

• fruit: apple

• oatmeal

• juice: cashew

Snack 1 (150 cals):

• 1/2 cup cottage cheese w/1 tbsp PB

Meal 2:

• protein shake

• fruit or veggie: brussels sprouts

Snack 2 (100 cals):

• cucumber sandwich

Meal 3:

• tilapia w/1 slice cheese

• veggie: peas

• 1 cup cooked brown rice

Snack 3 (100 cals):

• 10 baby carrots w/2 tbsp hummus

Meal 4:

• large salad (3 cups greens, 3 tbsp fat free dressing, ¼ cup shredded cheese)

• 1 cup beans (mixed black and pinto)

Snack 4:

• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce

I started my day off later than usual.  I had set my alarm for 9am so I would have time to go to the gym for 30 minutes on the treadmill and then time to go to the bank and then stop and fill up the car before getting ready for work.  However, I was still tired when the alarm went off, so I reset for 10…I would have still had enough time to go to the gym, bank and get gas, it just would have been tight.  Buuuuut…I again reset my alarm.  I got up around 11.  So, no time for the gym.  But I did have time to go to the bank and to get gas.  I figure, the only thing I’m doing tomorrow is going to have lunch and some hanging out with my friend Denise and her hubby and probably about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I’ll head home…maybe 4 if she’s feeling sprier than usual (which she might because she got a CPAP and says she has soooo much more energy during the day now because she’s finally getting quality sleep).  So, I’ll leave Denise’s house, go to the new Trader Joe’s in Austin and do a bit of grocery shopping (I need a wee bit more variety in my 100 and 150 calorie snacks I eat).  After that, I’ll go home and get ready for the gym.  When I get to the gym (as it’s planned right now) I’ll do my 30 minutes of 3-to-1’s on the treadmill, then I’ll do my upper body and abs workout.  So, about an hour and a half or so at the gym.

I was a little curious about the cottage cheese and peanut butter for my first snack of the day today.  The snack list actually states almond butter, but I didn’t have any, so I subbed the peanut butter in place of the almond butter.  It was pretty good, actually.  I knew it wouldn’t be bad.  I just wasn’t sure how it would be.  I bet it would be even better with almond butter, like it calls for.

I put together a shopping list today to take with me tomorrow when I got to Trader Joe’s.  Most of it is snack items.  I was going to put turkey on the list, but I just remembered that I have 1 frozen Jennie-O 1/3lb turkey burger patty and 2 lbs of ground turkey in my freezer.  So, I can just thaw those out to eat.  I did put steaks on the list.  I can season those and cook them up in the oven, then cube the whole lot and separate into 5 ounce servings.  I have this cocoa based steak seasoning I bought at the farmer’s market a while back that I want to use.  I just wish I had taken the Shred book with me to work so I could look through it and add more food items to it while I was at work…less to do when I got home from work…haha.

Today was day 6 of the Shred Diet and I have to say that I’m really liking it.  My body finally adjusted to the lesser amount of calories.  I think I wrote about that on day 1 or 2.  I was getting a little light headed with the heavy cardio workouts I did the first part of the week.  I think I said yesterday that my pants aren’t as tight anymore.  I know I said yesterday that my acid reflux doesn’t bother me anymore.  These are all good signs.  I REALLY wanted to step on the scale this morning, but I resisted.  I must wait until tomorrow.  Now, I did briefly toy with the idea of stepping on the scale every morning.  I dismissed that idea because then I might end up getting a little obsessive about it.  I think once a week is just fine.  Maaaaaybe after I’ve hit the maintenance phase I might weigh everyday just so I can keep tabs on my weight a little better and adjust what I’m doing if I see a gain happen.  But, while I’m losing weight, more than once a week seems excessive.

I am super in love with the Shred Diet.  I have never had this much variety in what I’m eating day to day and throughout the day before.  It’s awesome!!!  I used to have no problems eating the same thing over and over again, day after day.  But apparently, somewhere along the way, my ability to tolerate eating like that evaporated.  When I eat like that now, I cheat constantly on my diet and defeat myself at every turn.  It’s horrible.  Finally, a few months ago, I realized that I needed variety in my diet now…even though I never needed it before.  So, I tried to make a varied food schedule.  However, I only succeeded in making my dinners varied.  I just couldn’t figure out how to vary the rest of my daily food, so during the day I was eating the same thing day after day after day.  Just varying what I was eating for dinner simply wasn’t enough.  So, when I was perusing the diet books at Target and I opened up a copy of the Shred Diet and saw that it gave food lists/schedules for each and every day of the 6 week diet plan, and that it gave me lists of things to pick from for each meal and snack…oh yea, I was sold. 

But, once I’ve gone and done some more shopping tomorrow afternoon, I’m really looking forward to varying my snacks even more!  Something I think I’m going to change…after I’ve drank through the current and other 2 half gallon cartons of unsweetened almond milk that I have…I think I’m going to switch to probably either like lactose free milk or just unsweetened plain almond milk.  The vanilla flavor of what I currently have doesn’t go too well with the Yoplait fruit smoothies I’ve been having.  It doesn’t taste bad, it just doesn’t taste “right,” you know?

One of the things I want to accomplish between Sunday and Monday is to plug in what I’ve eaten each day since starting the Shred and see what my daily intake totals are like.  I’m really curious about the total calories.  I’m sure it’ll probably be right at or near 1200.  I know something I’m eating a lot less of is salt.  Usually when I eat my veggies, I salt them.  Granted, I have Morton’s Low Sodium salt that has half the sodium of regular salt, so I’m already using less salt right there, but I haven’t been salting things I usually salt…like the boiled egg I ate the other day…and most of the veggies I’ve eaten haven’t been salted.  I’ve spritzed them with my I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray, but no salt.  And you know what?  I liked it.

Full disclosure for today: I ate a small (less than 2” in diameter) cookie with mini M&M’s.  It wasn’t even that good, either.  I almost stopped eating it and threw it away after a couple bites.