MONDAY  --  I'm 7 lb. away from my goal.

Food
Smoothie with a banana, strawberries, scoop of Vega
12oz. of Vega Workout Recovery Accelerator
a Larabar
BBQ at work: Some raw cucumbers, cauliflower & sweet peppers, potato chips with some French onion dip, a veggie burger (Amy's Texas flavor) on a crappy white bun with a little ketchup & mustard, romaine, tomato, green chiles; and two baby brownies
Tall beer and big salad (greens, cucumbers, zucchini, lots of edamame and green peas, sunflower seeds) with honey mustard dressing at Ruby Tuesday's

Exercise
1.3 miles on the treadmill, then a 40-min full-body group session

I didn't eat great over the weekend. Saturday started out with a bang as I got into a huge fight with my husband, then ate A TON of brownies. And I'm not going to not list all the crap I ate on Saturday evening at the second party in as many days.

However, I do a public service announcement of sorts. There are SO MANY fantastic reasons to eat clean... however, if saving the planet, solving the healthcare crisis, experiencing vibrant health, and not being a part of animal cruelty aren't good enough reasons... and if you are a "drinker"...maybe this ONE reason will sway you to start eating clean:
When you regularly eat a clean diet...you stop experiencing hangovers. This is one of the first things I noticed when I quit eating meat and dairy. I don't know the exact science of it, but when your organs (especially your liver) don't have to work so hard to process your food, they become more efficient, thus better equipped to process the excess liquor. Saturday night, I split a fifth of vodka with a friend (I know - total LUSH). Sunday morning I didn't even have a headache.

I realize that this is more pathetic than inspiring, but it is what it is. I don't plan on tying one on like that again for a long time.............

Amy

5am... huge glass of veggie juice made with romaine, cucumbers, kale, lemons, ginger, apples; a small shake made with half a banana, handful of strawberries and a scoop of Vega Whole Food Optimizer
6:30am... 12oz of Vega Workout Recovery Accelerator; cup of coffee with Silk creamer
8:15am... bowl of barley with blueberries, flax milk, cinnamon, vanilla and agave nectar
11:30am... leftovers from last night's dinner: vegetable stew and brussels sprout  and dried cranberry salad
1:30pm... a cream puff (someone's birthday in the office), then several handfuls of Cheese Nips MOFO :-/

Later in the evening, I had a party to attend. I had a beer and two glasses of wine, a bunch of raw veggies (with some ranch dip), a ton of "stuffed strawberries" (loaded with sugar and fat I'm sure), and a mountain of stuffed jalapenos. Fuck. What a moron. I was so hungry and those things were sitting right next to me and they were unbelievable...and nobody else was eating them!

Sorry I wasn't more inspirational this evening.

Exercise
45-min full-body group session that kicked my ass. I burned at least 650 calories.

I don't know what happened to me but I have been on a heck of a break from the blog. Two blogs in two weeks isn't cutting it. Jen I am sorry I have been such a slacker. Today is day one of me getting my ass back in gear. My plan is to weigh myself every Monday. I'm back up in weight because I have been cheating too much and just eating too much in general over the past few weeks.

I had blood drawn this am, and I had to fast until after that, so that's why I started eating so late today.

9am...a Chocolate Mix 1 protein shake, cup of coffee with Silk creamer (I drank regular coffee this morning because we ran out of decaf). Chuck still doesn't know that he has been drinking decaf for about a month now. I haven't decided how or when I should tell him!
11am...a banana
11:30am... some baked sesame carrots (from Clean Eating cookbook) and a heaping pile of brown and tehani rice with tempeh (cooked in the rice cooker last night), with a tiny drizzle of teriyaki sauce
2:15pm...small salad with greens, garbanzos, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts and a tiny bit of avocado, with several TBS of Bragg's Hawaiian Fat-free Dressing.
4pm... a couple handfuls of peanuts in the shell, and a beer
7:30pm... a bowl of "Kitchen Sink Veggie Stew" with potatoes, yams, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, broccoli, brussels sprouts, edamame, chickpeas, barley and vegetable broth (with some hot chili sauce); and some brussels sprout cranberry salad made with brussels sprouts, dried cranberries, pecans, rice wine vinegar, lemon juice and a little bit of olive oil (Tony Horton recipe);

Exercise
Ran 5 miles on the treadmill, did about 2/3 of Ab Ripper X (P90X workout)

I haven't had a beer since last Friday. That's pretty good for me.

5am...smoothie with a banana, strawberries, scoop of Vega Whole Food Optimizer, and TBS of cocoa; and a cup of decaf with Silk creamer
9am... an apple
10am... a LARABAR
10:30am...less then half of a cup of coffee and a slice of zucchini bread
11:30am...half of a veggie sandwich (artichokes, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and hummus on rye bread), a cup of vegetable bean soup, and a small roll
4pm... a couple handfuls of peanuts in the shell
6pm and on... two beers, small portion of Tunisian Yam Stew (a fantasMcDougall recipe from their latest newsletter) over brown and red rice, and brussells sprouts sauted in a tiny bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce

Exercise...
5:30am: 45-min full-body group session

I have been preaching about the horrors of diet soda to my friends and family for quite some time. Most people have trouble getting this fact to sink in, because our brains have been conditioned to think a "diet" anything must be healthier than it's non-diet counterpart. Both diet and regular soda are bad for your health, but it is a proven fact that fake sugar is worse for your health than real sugar. Here is an article I read last week from www.maximizedliving.com:

The European Cancer Research Center has called for an urgent review of
aspartame and of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) stance that
Aspartame is not a carcinogen.  The FDA does report however that 75 percent of the adverse reactions caused by food additives is caused by Aspartame. 
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is commonly called NutraSweet or
Equal.



An expansive list of symptoms attributed to Aspartame use was released by
the FDA after more than 8,000 complaints were filed against NutraSweet. A select few of the over 90 different health conditions includes weight gain, depression, fatigue, fibromyalgia, anxiety, memory loss, joint pain, hallucinations, headaches, infertility and insomnia.



Aspartame is now found in over 6,000 products and is consumed by over 250
million people.  Many of these people have no idea what they are consuming.  If you believe that consuming an artificial sweetener is safer than traditional
sugar, it’s time to think again. The term “sugar-free” has secretly snuck into
the definition of a healthier, safer choice.



One of the best ways to gain weight is to shop for diet foods.  The two
major components of Aspartame include phenylalanine and aspartic acid.  These two substances have been found to trigger the release of leptin and artificially spike insulin levels that will stimulate fat storage.   The first step to
licking the habit is to understand the disastrous health effects and secondly to
identify where the hidden poison is located.

Aspartame Containing Food
Products

Flavored drinks and waters
Sugar-free
products
Cereals
Cooking Sauces
Gum
Diet Sodas
Yogurts

The good news is that there is a cure for artificial sweetener related disease that is free and does not require prescription medication. Start by reading the food labels of the items in your pantry and throw away all of the products that contain Aspartame. Schedule a time that you can go to the grocery store and look at the food label of every item that you buy. The important factor needs to be quality food versus quantity. 

A healthier and safer alternative to sugar and Aspartame is Xylitol or Stevia. These two products are natural and do not have the same negative health effects of sugar and all artificial sweeteners. You can pick these items up at your local health food store. 

5:30am... smoothie with halff a banana, strawberries, a scoop of Vega Whole Food Optimizer, a Tbs of each: ground flaxseed and cocoa
Cup of decaf with Silk creamer
7am... 12oz of Vega Workout Recovery Accelerator
8am... two packets of instant oatmeal (one flavored, one plain)
11:15am... a handful of raw grape tomatoes, and some raw cauliflower
12:45pm... a cup of McDougall's black bean and lime soup
1:45pm... a cutie
4pm... a banana with almond butter
8pm... a smoothie with strawberries, a scoop of Vega Optimizer


Exercise...
about 45 mins in the gym-- Legs (heavy emphasis on butt) and Back

It's official: I need to log what I eat if I don't want to be completely out of control. Especially when I'm PMSing (which has been going on so long, I'm starting to wonder if I'm either pregnant or going through" the change".lol). Good GAWD I have not been eating well over the past 12 days.

Recap since my last post:
*I have switched to decaffienated coffee, with absolutely no effects! Also, I have cut back slightly on the beer consumption. That should get better at least in the short term, because my hubby is "on the wagon" for a little while. Whenever he quits drinking, I naturally cut back too, because I no longer have that pressure to have a beer with him nearly every evening.
*My workouts have been great-- high intensity most days, and 5 or 6 days/week.

5:30am...smoothie with a banana, handfull of strawberries and a scoop of Chuck's whey protein powder (I ran out ov my Vega powder yesterday and haven't been able to get to the store); cup of decaf coffee with Silk creamer
7:30am...large portion of stir-fry (asparagus, zucchini, onions, peppers, mushrooms & tempeh) with cous cous
11am four animal crackers and two Town House crackers...ugh
11:30am... medium-sized portion of swiss chard, golden beets and green peas (from Clean Eating cookbook...not my favorite dish, but healthy as hell)
1pm... an apple and two cuties
2:30pm... bag of in-shell peanuts
4:30pm... a banana with some almond butter
5pm... a Bobo's Oat Bar

I don't know why I'm eating so much. This is way more food than I need. PMS is a terrible excuse but it's all I've got. :) Oh one other lame excuse is that I've been working out hard...but still -- I need to do be MUCH more conscious of how much I eat.

7:45pm... two bites of the tempeh yam pot pie that I made up, using a stew
recipe that I tweaked into a pie. I'll eat it for lunch tomorrow and/or the next
day. It's a store-bought pie crust, and the filling has tempeh, yams, carrots,
celery, onions, some oregano, fake chicken stock, arrowroot and a bay leaf).

Exercise...
5:30am - 45-min full-body group session

After a four-day  party weekend and a dinner out last night, I was expecting the worst for my final 6-week weigh-in. I knew I would gain, and I did, but just 1.2 lb. So...weight-wise, I'm back to where I was two weeks ago. In fact, I'm just .4 lb above where I was after the first two weeks! But I feel great and I have learned a lot about my body over these past 42 days. I'm still six pounds away from my original goal. I'm ashamed that I don't have an amazing story of weight-loss to add to Jen's blog; but hey, sometimes things like vacations and birthday parties cause us to fall slightly-off-track...and that's okay. It means we are human. After all, we are "eating to live", and we gotta live it up once in a while! :)

Over the next six weeks I plan to up the intensity/frequency of my workouts. I'm getting in better  physical shape and I want to be RIPPED come summertime!! I also plan to cut WAY back on the beer, and cut out caffeinated coffee completely. FACT: this daily blog was the only thing that kept me from cheating at times!

I know that today is not the end of anything-- it's just the start of the next six weeks. 
Thank you Jen for inviting me to share my 6-Week diet/exercise journal with you and your readers!
Love,
Amy