Red Panda One gets back on the wagon

[RedPandaOne]

 

I'm back! I waved the white flag on the last challenge. The conventions just threw me overboard and now I'm getting back on the wagon.

 

There's no zero week for me, I'm diving right in and making this a 6 week challenge. I'm going to miss the last two days due to my trip to Orlando, so I want to take full advantage this time around.

 

Goal 1 - Eat more protien

 

This goal actually comes from the nutritionist I met with on Friday. I've joined the weight loss department at a local hospital and am doing their medical weight loss program - so no surgery for me. I've met with the behaviorist and the nutritionist now.

 

After going over my daily intake she thinks I'm not eating enough protein. She said that at the levels I'm eating at I should be losing weight. So we are upping my caloric intake from 1200-1400 to 1400-1600 with 80 grams (minimum) of protein a day. She's good with what I eat for lunch and we worked on some ideas for breakfast and dinner. I'll post that list later.

 

Goal 2 - Exercise 3x a week

 

Still working on this. It's been a few weeks since I exercised. I did a lot of walking last week at DragonCon, but I need to do that daily.

 

MWF I will work out.

 

Goal 3 - Face care once a week

 

I need to start moisturizing and flossing more. I'm really bad at doing both. So starting off slow and doing it just once a week.

 

Mini goal - put away clothes by end of challenge. I need to stop living out of my laundry basket.

 

[WhiteGhost]

Getting enough protein is important, but can really be tricky if you don't plan for it.

[RedPandaOne]

The biggest hurdle will be breakfast. I am okay with my bowl of raisin bran. I dont want to take the time and make something in the morning.

She suggested putting my cereal in greek yogurt. I'm not sold on it, but I bought some and will try at some point.

Here are the possible meals she gave me for breakfast and dinner:

[Diadhuit]

With this pictures I just now realised you are a brown coat and in your profile pic you are wearing Jayne's hat!

[RedPandaOne]

With this pictures I just now realised you are a brown coat and in your profile pic you are wearing Jayne's hat!

Yup!! I was late to the party, but I love the show. Actually went as Kaylee this year at DragonCon, too.

[Diadhuit]

Yup!! I was late to the party, but I love the show. Actually went as Kaylee this year at DragonCon, too.

That is amazing!!!
I was late to discover it too, and watched first at the 10th anniversary of cancellation [emoji28]

[Sylvaa]

I really enjoy Greek yogurt and granola for breakfast (sometimes with fresh berries, peanut butter, or honey). I'm not a huge raisin bran eater, so I can't comment on how that would taste. I will say that it's pretty simple to make breakfast sandwiches ahead and keep them in the freezer. Or egg muffins, which are my favorite easy breakfast and just need warmed up in the microwave.

 

How did your nutritionist visit go? I know you weren't having a lot of luck, but this seems positive so far! Also, love the cosplay!

 

 

[RedPandaOne]

1 hour ago, Diadhuit said:

That is amazing!!!
I was late to discover it too, and watched first at the 10th anniversary of cancellation

 

Thank you!

I can't remember exactly when I started. It was well after the movie came out. I actually remember working at Blockbuster in 2007 and one of my coworkers suggesting it for me. It would have been another 2 or 3 years after that, I think, when I actually did. 

 

27 minutes ago, Sylvaa said:

I really enjoy Greek yogurt and granola for breakfast (sometimes with fresh berries, peanut butter, or honey). I'm not a huge raisin bran eater, so I can't comment on how that would taste. I will say that it's pretty simple to make breakfast sandwiches ahead and keep them in the freezer. Or egg muffins, which are my favorite easy breakfast and just need warmed up in the microwave.

 

How did your nutritionist visit go? I know you weren't having a lot of luck, but this seems positive so far! Also, love the cosplay!

 

 

 

I've never been a fan of parfaits, so that's all I'm imaging mixing the raisin bran with greek yogurt. It's funny, really. I like both, so you'd think I'd be all over combing them. 

 

How does one freeze a breakfast sandwich? Make the entire thing and then freeze it? Or just the egg?

 

The meeting went really well. We went the entire 45 minutes scheduled. I think she got concerned at one point thinking I had an eating disorder when I listed what my typical day for eating was. Even after I said it out loud, I was like "I know it's not a lot. But I started eating like this because of a job and timing." I told her about my pepsi and chai addiction. She said that those were low hanging fruit, and not what she wanted to address right away. Though, she did say with the right brand of chai, I could still continue to have it. If I substitute one spoon of chai mix with vanilla protein powder I could potentially keep it in my diet. We would just need to see if what I have is a good brand, sugar wise. I would need to find a good vanilla protein powder, the last one I tried years ago gave me horrible acid reflux. 

 

And thank you too! She was a lot of fun to dress up as. A lot of people were like "Hey, Kaylee!!" Though one person did call me a mouse... But, it was a relatively cool cosplay, at least compared to the Scarlet Witch I did the day before. I was only in it for 2 hours max, and by the end I was drenched in sweat. My hair line looked like I had come out of the shower. 

[Sylvaa]

5 minutes ago, RedPandaOne said:

I've never been a fan of parfaits, so that's all I'm imaging mixing the raisin bran with greek yogurt. It's funny, really. I like both, so you'd think I'd be all over combing them. 

 

It's closer to the Flips Yogurt cups if you know what I'm talking about... I can find a picture if you need!

 

9 minutes ago, RedPandaOne said:

How does one freeze a breakfast sandwich? Make the entire thing and then freeze it? Or just the egg?

 

There are actually a bunch of internet videos around it! You can like toast your bread, cook your meat and eggs, stack up (with cheese), then wrap in parchment and aluminum foil. Then, to eat, you just take off the foil, microwave, and voila! 

[RedPandaOne]

Oh, I remember the Flips Yogurt cups. Okay, I might like that then. 

 

And that is super easy. I'll have to search out a video. Or just parchment paper and just do a batch some day this week and toss in the freezer. 

[Diadhuit]

 
There are actually a bunch of internet videos around it! You can like toast your bread, cook your meat and eggs, stack up (with cheese), then wrap in parchment and aluminum foil. Then, to eat, you just take off the foil, microwave, and voila! 

But, but... microwaving bread? Wouldn't it taste soggy and [emoji21]?

[RedPandaOne]

Oh, good point...

[RedPandaOne]

I hit my protein needed. I've also wanted to eat all night. I didn't, but wanted to.

I also flossed this morning

No workout. Shocking.

[Diadhuit]

I hit my protein needed. I've also wanted to eat all night. I didn't, but wanted to.

I also flossed this morning

No workout. Shocking.

How do you count protein intake?

[RedPandaOne]

I use spark people to track everything. I input all the information on the label and sparkpeople keeps track of it all. I have a growing database of food. Here is what yesterday fully looked like

 

 

[Sylvaa]

14 hours ago, Diadhuit said:

But, but... microwaving bread? Wouldn't it taste soggy and ?

 

So toasting the bread before freezing really helps. Also, making sure the ingredients you are using are dry (i.e. not oily) before you build them. It turns out pretty similar to the frozen ones you can buy at the store, although a bit cheaper and fewer extra ingredients. So it's not perfect, but if you are looking for breakfast ideas that are quick and easy with protein, it's not a bad option. *Shrug* I've found the bread is more likely to get a bit "hard" than soggy.

[Diadhuit]

 
So toasting the bread before freezing really helps. Also, making sure the ingredients you are using are dry (i.e. not oily) before you build them. It turns out pretty similar to the frozen ones you can buy at the store, although a bit cheaper and fewer extra ingredients. So it's not perfect, but if you are looking for breakfast ideas that are quick and easy with protein, it's not a bad option. *Shrug* I've found the bread is more likely to get a bit "hard" than soggy.

Thanks! I'll stick to toasting the bread from frozen though. Might freeze the content and assemble on the spot.
But to be fair I found PCOS friendly home-made waffles and I want to try to make those instead. I could freeze them and toast them in the morning.

[Diadhuit]

I use spark people to track everything. I input all the information on the label and sparkpeople keeps track of it all. I have a growing database of food. Here is what yesterday fully looked like
 
 

As with every diet and calorie counter my problem is that I mostly cook my meals from raw. How fatty/proteiny is my beef from the butcher? I dunno! So I start getting anxiety about tracking correctly or being so vague it does not make sense...

[RedPandaOne]

As with every diet and calorie counter my problem is that I mostly cook my meals from raw. How fatty/proteiny is my beef from the butcher? I dunno! So I start getting anxiety about tracking correctly or being so vague it does not make sense...

I *think* there is a way you can figure it out. It wont be 100%, but give a good idea. I know sparkpeople has a large user database and will show raw foods people have put info in for.

I'm sure there is someone on the boards here who could help you. If I knew what it was, I'd help. I just think there is.

[Diadhuit]

I *think* there is a way you can figure it out. It wont be 100%, but give a good idea. I know sparkpeople has a large user database and will show raw foods people have put info in for.

I'm sure there is someone on the boards here who could help you. If I knew what it was, I'd help. I just think there is.

I wrote that post in a moment of no-hope. And I know it stems from eating very randomly in the last two days (on top of many other things). Thanks for the tips, and for ignore my tone. [emoji5]

[WhiteGhost]

15 hours ago, Diadhuit said:

As with every diet and calorie counter my problem is that I mostly cook my meals from raw. How fatty/proteiny is my beef from the butcher? I dunno! So I start getting anxiety about tracking correctly or being so vague it does not make sense...

This is why I have given up completely on food tracking.  When every other meal is cooked from ingredients that are not clear and the rest of the meals are done family style, I have no idea on either the inputs that went into making the food or have any idea of exactly what size portion I consumed.  

[RedPandaOne]

20 hours ago, Diadhuit said:

I wrote that post in a moment of no-hope. And I know it stems from eating very randomly in the last two days (on top of many other things). Thanks for the tips, and for ignore my tone.

 

You're welcome! We've all been there at some point in some way. 

 

So, I didn't track yesterday. Or, I didn't fully track. I had input breakfast and lunch in the morning. Lunch time came around, reheated my chicken, broccoli, and couscous, and then proceeded to accidentally dump it all over the counter in the shared kitchen in the office building. I put as much back into my container as possible. Looking at the time I knew I couldn't get to the cafeteria in time before they closed at 1:30 (it was like 1:24). Sucked up being grossed out and ate what I could save... until I found a hair. A blonde hair. My profile picture is outdated, I no longer have blonde hair. I'm red and blue. So, the hair did not belong to me. I stopped and dumped it all. I think I ate about half the chicken breast, but none of the broccoli or couscous. I was starving by the time I had dinner. It was tuna salad on wheat bread with pickles and lettuce. It came with a side of fries, but I ate half. 

 

And my problems didn't stop there

 

I got in a car "accident" this morning. I put it in quotes because it did not involve another car or person. It was just me. But I did a lot of damage to my car, it's potentially totaled. I hit a fire hydrant trying to give street sweepers more space on the road. I feel like an idiot. The cop was super nice about it. Gave me business cards for two auto body places he likes, one of them being where they take their cruisers for repairs. Money wise, this is the last thing I need! I really hope it can be fixed, I can't afford a new car right now. My baby was supposed to go another 5 years and then I was going to start looking at them while I built up a savings for a deposit. Ugh. 

 

Yes, I'm fine. Just feeling like a stupid driver. 

[redgrill18]

2 hours ago, RedPandaOne said:

I got in a car "accident" this morning. I put it in quotes because it did not involve another car or person. It was just me. But I did a lot of damage to my car, it's potentially totaled. I hit a fire hydrant trying to give street sweepers more space on the road. I feel like an idiot.

Ugh, that SUUUUCKS.  Glad you're okay though!  And don't feel like an idiot; it literally happens to all of us.

[Diadhuit]

 
You're welcome! We've all been there at some point in some way. 
 
So, I didn't track yesterday. Or, I didn't fully track. I had input breakfast and lunch in the morning. Lunch time came around, reheated my chicken, broccoli, and couscous, and then proceeded to accidentally dump it all over the counter in the shared kitchen in the office building. I put as much back into my container as possible. Looking at the time I knew I couldn't get to the cafeteria in time before they closed at 1:30 (it was like 1:24). Sucked up being grossed out and ate what I could save... until I found a hair. A blonde hair. My profile picture is outdated, I no longer have blonde hair. I'm red and blue. So, the hair did not belong to me. I stopped and dumped it all. I think I ate about half the chicken breast, but none of the broccoli or couscous. I was starving by the time I had dinner. It was tuna salad on wheat bread with pickles and lettuce. It came with a side of fries, but I ate half. 
 
And my problems didn't stop there
 
I got in a car "accident" this morning. I put it in quotes because it did not involve another car or person. It was just me. But I did a lot of damage to my car, it's potentially totaled. I hit a fire hydrant trying to give street sweepers more space on the road. I feel like an idiot. The cop was super nice about it. Gave me business cards for two auto body places he likes, one of them being where they take their cruisers for repairs. Money wise, this is the last thing I need! I really hope it can be fixed, I can't afford a new car right now. My baby was supposed to go another 5 years and then I was going to start looking at them while I built up a savings for a deposit. Ugh. 
 
Yes, I'm fine. Just feeling like a stupid driver. 

Thank God no one was hurt!!
It seems one of those days where all goes wrong beside initial intentions and best effort.
Take extra care of yourself in days like these!

[Sylvaa]

20 minutes ago, redgrill18 said:

Ugh, that SUUUUCKS.  Glad you're okay though!  And don't feel like an idiot; it literally happens to all of us.

 

Totally this! My husband backed into the side of a tree once coming out of a parking space. Still has the dent too!