The Only Things I Can Eat 4 a Month R N This Box?: Lots of Cardio & My Greek Yogurt Masterpiece (Day 156)

This post is for Monday, January 18th, 2010.

Lots and lots of cardio for me today. I started as usual with 30 minutes on the spin bike (I rode along with the LiveStrong DVD) just after breakfast. If I don't eat first I feel weak now, compared to 6 months ago when I feared eating before exercising because I thought I'd feel bloated or even get sick and vomit during a workout. After finishing on the bike we made our way to they gym where I did two sets of DJ's magical 5x5x5 treadmill routine (5 minutes at 5mph, then 5 @ 6mph, then 5 @ 7mph, then repeat). I was thouroughly exhausted and soaking wet afterward. Next we trained chest, quickly. Only 9 sets total (but I'm already wrecked as I type this on Tuesday morning). 3 sets of incline dumbbell presses, 3 sets of incline dumbbell flies, and 3 sets of push-ups. I can easily do over 100 push-ups in 60 seconds, but at the end of the workout (and 1 hour of cardio at that point) I could only do sets of 10. Pre-exhaustion rocks. After the chest workout we came home to rest and eat, then decided since it was such a beautiful day (above 60 degrees after weeks of below freezing temps) we'd grab Jumping Jack Flash and take a walk around the lake. Jack made it to the barn with us (which is less than 100 yards into the 2+ mile walk) where he jumped a rabbit and that was the last time we saw him during the walk (he was sitting on the front steps waiting on us when we got home, thankfully without a dead rabbit in his mouth). Our walk ended up being 2.10 miles and took a little over 39 minutes (not terribly fast, but we stopped to check out a bird or two, look at the geese, etc.) Finally last night I rode the spin bike again for another 30 minutes. On the day I had about 2 hours and ten minutes worth of cardio. That's a good bit really. I'm only used to doing about 90 minutes. Hope to do the same on Tuesday.

Jack Chasing the Rabbit around the Barn.

I've noticed on the days when I get around a 4000 calorie burn, I stay hungry at night. I tried to eat little bites of cheese, Kim and I split a very small Kashi bar, all to no avail. Finally I ate 1/2 a protein bar (200 calories) and got full. This is gonna be my new nightly plan. No more eating tiny bites of high protein things trying to quell my hunger. I'm either gonna fix a veggie burger, a bowl of yogurt, or have a protein bar and hope one additional larger snack will help me get satisfied at night. It hasn't been an issue on the days when I don't burn as much (I guess that would be Saturdays and Sundays when I don't get in as much cardio).

For breakfast Monday I had lowfat granola cereal, yogurt, a banana, and a slice of bread. My morning snack was a yogurt and a small supreme protein bar. Lunch was fettuccini alfredo and a veggie burger. Afternoon snack was a double chocolate almond cookie, a cup of yogurt, and a Kashi bar (this was a huge snack I know, but I was weak from the gym and the 2 mile afternoon walk). Dinner was wedged potatoes with sliced beef steak and cauliflower with cheese sauce. Dessert was chocolate noogat bar, 1/2 a cup of yogurt split with Kim, 1/2 a Kashi bar, and finally the small protein bar. Around 2000 calorie day. High calorie cycle day for me.

Recently I've made a change in my yogurt consumption. I've switched to Greek yogurt. Either Fage or BrownCow. Both are about the same nutritionally but the great thing is they have about twice the amount of protein as other yogurts. I have a few different ways of preparing the yogurt. I either just add a packet or two of equal (splenda, whatever) and mix up for a sweetened yogurt taste OR I add the sweetner, then a spoon full of calorie free caramel sauce. I've also tried a spoon full of chocolate better'n peanut butter (very good) and a hazlenut chocolate spread (pretty good too) but I like the calorie free caramel the best. It's made by Walden Farms and it gives the yogurt a dessert like taste. Kim and I love it. It also mixes well with goat milk yogurt which we love as well.