Tuesday, October 8, 2013

The Shred W1D2

Cooking lesson of the day: it takes longer to cook chicken in foil, regardless of what the instructions say if you don't want salmonella! I was able to try out my nifty new meat thermometer, but couldn't seem to master it. I know, I seem to be full of technical difficulties in the kitchen. 

On a side note, I put some leftover spaghetti squash, onions, and bell peppers in with the chicken and it was delicious. 

My food is all packed for work tomorrow. Day two was a success. I love how full I feel on this diet, but I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for the upcoming weeks when there are more smoothies and soups and less real meals...

The Shred Diet Again

Adios, Nutrisystem. It is amazing how good a piece of toast, egg whites, and orange juice tasted as my first breakfast back to fresh foods. (Okay, I may have had a cinnamon roll for breakfast the day before...let's revise to fresh and healthy foods!)

My first day back to cooking, I'd love to say it was a success. Following the diet was a success. My cooking skills, a little hazy. (Again, my honest voice must jump in and say, weren't they always hazy?)

Dinner was my big cooking test and...I was cooking spaghetti squash for the first time. All the recipes I found required cutting it in half before cooking, which sounded difficult. I kept searching and found the perfect recipe for me.

All I had to do was very carefully stab the heck out of the spaghetti squash (aka Stress Relief!) and nuke that sucker for 12 minutes. In the meantime I was heating up my black beans with some diced tomatoes and onions. This is where the I-Suck-at-cooking-story comes in. 

I decided to multi-task. I set my lunch bag on the side of the counter near the stove and decided to let my dog outside. I'd come back in, finish up the squash and pack my lunch while things cooled down.

However the bag fell away from the wall and onto the burner. Thank goodness I was right back and noticed this, I didn't have those pesky smoke alarms telling my neighbors I suck at cooking too!


So after a second of debating if I should just tie it in a knot or duck tape it back together, I chose tying it. My squash was finished and I mixed my meal together. Yum!


So...if I was going to choose nutrisystem over the Shred Diet, it would seem like nutrisystem would be my choice. (Hello, microwave!) But, I'm loving the fresh foods on the Shred even if it is more work and I suck at cooking!




Friday, October 4, 2013

The Plateau

I read an article this morning about plateaus and how they usually happen about 4-6 months into a diet. I'm going on month 5 with Nutrisystem and seem to have hit one.

What should I do? So far I've stayed the course and waited. Every morning after sweating my butt off with T25, I read a couple articles on muscle vs fat, plateaus. I'm trying hard to be patient, but I'm not.

Today I tried a technique of eating more calories. I also made up my mind I'm going to do the shred diet again. I know from pictures, from clothes, and from the mirror, that my work is paying off. I just need some recognition of this fact from my scales!!