40 Days: It's All Routine

Okay, all "Jillian=the Devil" jokes aside there is something wrong with my right elbow after doing the Shred.  I thought that my arms were just sore--and, I mean, they were.  However after 2 days my arm muscles all feel a lot better but my right elbow is still in some pretty serious pain.  I can't fully extend it or fully flex it and it is tender to the touch.  I am hoping that it feels better soon because it's sort of an important joint.

In other news, something else is wrong: namely, my scale.

Weight: 127.4 (+0.2 from yesterday and the day before; -10.6 since beginning of blog)
Calories: 1200 (a little under)
Exercise: I'm out on injury! And I am "questionable" for tomorrow...(Has anyone else caught on that I am far more disciplined when it comes to dieting than working out?)

WTF, Sorting Scale?  You were hovering between 126.6 and 127.2 for the last two days.  How could I have gained some?!  I am not pleased.  Not at all.  Hmph.

Well.  There's not much to do about it except just keep doing what I am doing. This whole "dieting and very little drinking" thing has become so routine.  I was actually re-reading my earlier posts and it's amazing how far I've come in terms of making a "lifestyle" change.  I used to struggle to stick with the diet and find foods that fit the diet and avoid foods that would destroy the diet but now it's just sort of "what I do."  I don't really have to think about it at all.   I have a nice arsenal of foods that I've eaten so often with success that I know they are fine, and I am adding to that arsenal every day.  It's not really a struggle to not eat decadent stuff because I "just don't" eat decadent stuff.  I wonder if this is how newly converted vegetarians feel.

I am sure I will feel differently at the Moot Court Banquet that I am going to next week.  I am sure I'll want to go nuts.  But my first actual fitting where I'll get to see the gown is the next day I don't want to get too carried away.

Since the tribute to deliciousness, I've stumbled upon a couple more things that I think are just fantastic and worth a mention:

For Late-Night Snacking:

Pickled cauliflower.  Holy moly.  For the punch of an olive without the fat or calories (and without the dilly-ness of pickles), this is the best thing I've found.   Just 5 calories for a salty, tangy, spicy 1/3 cup of this stuff.  Yumness.

For All-Day Snacking and Energy:

Hard-boiled Egg Whites.  You cannot get more protein for fewer calories, folks (at least as far as I know). At 6 grams of protein and 17 calories a piece, I love these to keep my energy up throughout the day.  And they're user-friendly too: there's no need to refrigerate once they are boiled so I like to keep one or two in my purse at school.  And, yes, people think I am really weird when I peel them in the bathroom, but I am woman on a mission and, frankly, I am used to getting strange looks from people.

For When I Wanna Enjoy What Everyone Else is Having:

MorningStar Spicy Black Bean Burger.  Now that the weather is getting nicer I keep finding myself at these BBQs where everyone gets to enjoy hotdogs and hamburgers with reckless abandon.  These are my savior.  With cheese, condiments, bun, lettuce and tomato, the entire burger comes it at about 250 calories.  One word of warning for anyone who might try these: don't expect them to be a "meat" substitute--you'll just be disappointed because while tasty, these patties are not "juicy" like meat.  But they're still pretty good.  And because there is no meat I could, in theory, carry them around in my purse all weekend lest I end up at a BBQ.  But I haven't sunk so low yet. And that sounds a bit too gross to try. 

For When the Craving JUST WON'T GO AWAY:

Amy's Cheese Pizza.   Y'all, this pizza is the ONLY frozen one I have ever had that tasted one bit as good as a real, honest-to-goodness, restaurant-quality pizza.  It's the real deal.  And it's not particularly healthy (290 calories for 1/3 of a fairly small pizza).  But sometimes I just simply have to have pizza.  Real pizza.  Not crap-passing-for-pizza sold by Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, and the whole crew.  This stuff is worth the splurge for the pizzeria flavor with calorie-transparency.

That's it for now!  Let's hope for some DOWNWARD progress tomorrow.

Sorting Scale, I command you to go down!