Day 22

Ah, I think I am going to like going to the gym! I went through all of the exercises that my trainer wrote up for me and included a 20-minute session on the treadmill for some cardio. All in all, I was at the gym about an hour. I saw my husband doing these wicked crunches using an exercise ball and decided to throw a few of those in, too. Yowza! What a work-out! My plan is to make it to the gym at least every other day to do the exercises my trainer set up for me. On my "off" days, I am going to hit my treadmill at home when I can. I have my first exercise goal, too. Tonight I walked at a pace of 3 miles per hour at an incline of 3 for 20 minutes. Not a hard work out by any stretch, but I want something to build up to. I want to gradually increase the time, speed and incline gradually so that I can build up to a jog. My first goal is to build up to 25 minutes at a speed of 3.5 and an incline of 5. I think that is an easy goal to shoot for and when I get there it will inspire me to push harder to the next goal.

I spent some time this evening looking on-line at calorie counts for different foods. It's back to work for me tomorrow, so I am trying to plan ahead. My trainer wants me to consume between 1500-1600 calories per day, eating 5 or 6 small meals each day. This means I need to know how many calories I am consuming when I have my "mini" meals. She told me that my protein drinks are fine and that I cannot "save up" my calories! I am supposed to aim for 250-350 calories in my "mini" meals, so I am trying to plan accordingly.


Since my husband is now inspired to eat better as well, I am trying to find meals for the both of us--a daunting task, indeed! To make it even more difficult, my goal is to lose weight while his is to gain muscle. As a result, our eating habits will be different as well. He is supposed to eat more nuts, eggs and protein while I am supposed to increase my fruits and vegetables and watch fat content.

I am sure I have mentioned previously that my husband is not a big vegetable fan, but he has agreed to eat more salads. The challenge is salad dressing. Judging by the poll results so far, most people seem to agree that fat-free salad dressings are gross. I tried once to make homemade fat-free Ranch dressing and the results were a thick, disgusting substance that I just did not wish to ingest. My theory had been that if homemade Ranch tastes so much better than store-bought, the same must be true of fat-free versions. Yeah. Not so much...

So, here is what I did: I tried the homemade thing again, only this time I used 1/2 cup of real, full-fat mayonnaise with 1/2 cup of the disgusting low fat crap (aptly named, if I do say so myself). I know using full-fat mayo is increasing the fat and calorie content, but if it gets my husband to eat a salad it will be worth it to me! I stuck with the non-fat milk since I didn't view the milk as the culprit in my last homemade attempt. I will post the results tomorrow...

I will post a recipe tomorrow. Still looking for that quiche recipe, but even if I can't find that one, I will post something tomorrow since I am long over-due for a recipe.

If you haven't already done so, please take a moment to answer my poll. It will end soon and I have the next one ready to go.

Maybe I should have added mayonnaise to the list of most disgusting fat-free items....

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't -- you are right."