Another early day in the lab and man is it dark here at 6:45am! And a bit creepy. Anywho, before I left home today I had a berry smoothie, packed my lunch and workout clothes.

Got into lab, got the instrument going, made a pot of coffee, and sent through the morning routine (read news, open iTunes, coffee drinking). Thus far, experiments aren't going they way I would like i.e. working perfectly first time 'round.

Yesterday was a good day on Core! I also got back to running using the PT recommended program instead of the 4-mile WATP tapes. It was time to bite the bullet and get back to running. It went really well and was fun! Yesterday for food:

Breakfast:
berry smoothie

Snack:
Plain yogurt + cinnamon & splenda + fiber one cerel

Lunch:
Core recipe of beef roast w/ apples & sweet potatoes. Amazingly my stomach was fine with this small serving of beef. I knew this as this meal was leftovers from dinner the night before

Snack:
Banana

Dinner:
Core recipe for lamb stew (1 cup serving)
fat free sugar free chocolate pudding

Water 72oz

I'm 20lbs heavier then I'd like to be and the scale is not being nice to me. Or rather, like my experiments, weightloss is going as perfectly as I'd like!

The plan for today is lamb stew leftovers and spinach for lunch. I'll eat after spinning + weightlifting. For dinner it will be grilled Ahi tuna and green beans.

I was up and at the lab by 6:45am...I wanted to make up for the 1.5 hour break in the afternoon with working out. Went to spinning (30min) and followed it up with weightlifting.

Breakfast:
Berry smoothie

Snack:
Core recipe for candied sweet potato (canned cushed pineapple, splenda, cinnamon, and sweet potatoes)

Pre-workout:
banana

Lunch:
2.6oz light tuna
1 cup spinach
1tsp wasabi gour mayo + skim milk = yummy salad dressing

snack:
1/2 cup plain yogurt + 1/3 cup fiber one + splenda & cinnamon
tall skim sugar free cinnamon dolce latte

dinner:
spinach frittat (1/2 cup egg substitute + 1/4 cup egg whites + 1/2 cup chopped spinach + 1/4 cup skim ricotta)
no sugar added fruit cocktail

Tomorrow the plan is to get up and do the 4 mile WATP tape then head to work.

It was warm today by Winter-in-Lincoln standards, so I took my puppy for a nice walk, about 25 minutes after lunch.

The weekends are when I use most of my 35 flex points. During the work week I have the time and only the access to eat the foods I prepare. I am liking life on the Core plan, but the weekend brought treats...low fat ice cream, chocolate, cookies, and Chinese food. All of which was counted and recorded at WW online.

Next week brings a return to more harder workouts. The plan is MWF spinning classes at 12:10-12:40 followed by 30 weightlifting, shower, and back to work. Tuesday I plan to return to jogging, something I've not done since late Sept due to an injury. Depending on how the bum leg holds up, I'll jog on Thursday as well. I've got to go to physical therapy Thursday as well.

I've got 3 WW Slow Cooker Core recipes (lamb stew, chichen dish, one w/ C. bacon) set to go this week, so dinners & lunches are set. I'll let you know how the dishes turn out!

I finished the Thurmond program and think I dropped maybe 4 lbs...I was too scared to weigh myself when I started, but stuff that was a bit tight fit by the end. Not the 10lbs or dress size touted, but I'm happy. It got me back on track and for that week I needed a bare bone (and boring) diet.

After the past 6 days, I have decided to stick with WW and the Core program. This is very similar to Thurmond's diet (no packaged/precooked food, all whole foods) but with much more variety. In addition, I'll be going back to higher intensity cardio workouts (3-4 days a week) in addition to lower intensity ones (2-3 days a week). Weight training is back and that will be 3 days a week. It takes a lot of time, but I REALLY want to loose 25lbs by April.

For food today...
Breadfast:
berry smoothie

Lunch:
whole wheat 1/2 pita w/ litht tuna & mayo
1 cup spinach w/ liquid aminos

Snack:
1 cup plain soy yogurt w/ cinnamon & splenda

Breakfast:
2oz turkey burger
1/2 grapefruit

Midmorning snack:
4oz soy yogurt
1 cup spinach + cucumber dressing

Lunch:
1 cup broccoli
2.5oz baked firm tofu
1/2 cup brown rice + cinnamon & splenda

Midafternoon snack:
4oz plain soy yogurt + cinnamon & splenda

I had planned to go to the CREC and hit the tredmill for an hour, but that plan loss all appeal after a day at work. I decided to head home, enjoy my midafternoon snack, and workout to my afternoon A&E shows.

The plan for dinner tonight is...

Dinner:
2oz chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice
1 cup spinach + balsamic vinegar

Evening snack:
berry smoothie