Category Archives: exercise

Day 28

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¡Hola lector!

Today has been great. Not for any particular reason, it’s just feels good to be alive and a little lighter than the day before. Last night I wore my wedding suit for International Suit Up Day and it was a little baggier than the last time I wore it (which was for a frat formal in 2009.) I really felt it in the collar shirt I wore which I had no pull at the bottom (when I started this, so like 4 weeks ago, I had issues buttoning the bottom button up) and there was actually room in the collar instead of me choking. I have to admit it was one of the only times I didn’t mind having my shirt tucked in which for most big guys is their worst nightmare. (Actually at the high school I went to you had to have your shirt tucked in at all times to make sure you didn’t have a gun or something stupid like that. I was like the least threatening person so I never tucked my shirt in because I looked stupid and really fat so I actually went to detention a lot for that but then by senior year they didn’t care. It still annoying that kids who are bigger got in trouble for something like that. You’re vulnerable enough as it is, why make it worse? I’m just saying.)

Anyways…

Breakfast: I had Kashi, Yum! It had a lot of fiber. This picture is gross. (Yes, I just wrote a haiku about my breakfast.) I’m really sorry about this picture, unfortunately for you today is “All of Nathan’s Food Pictures Are Gross Day” The cereal is only 2 points and the cup of skim milk was also 2 points so it’s worth it and it doesn’t taste too bad… I mean, it’s fiber cereal folks.

Lunch: I was pressed for time so we made Smart Ones for lunch. I have always been a fan of their Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and it’s only 6 points so it’s a good deal if you are a fan the creamy sauces you shouldn’t eat. I added some ground pepper and a tablespoon of Parmesan which is 1 point to give it a little more flavor. It was really good just make sure you microwave it thoroughly. If you don’t you will be sad.

Snack: I had some work to do up at school so I brought a pack of Emerald Trail Mix to snack on. It was 5 points.

Dinner: Megan and I went on our Chick-Fil-A college night dinner date tonight and I actually remembered to take a picture! (Finally.) I got an 8-piece nugget (6 points) and we split a large fry (their waffle fries are the most amazing thing on the planet) which was 5 points for half of the box and then had 2 packets of BBQ sauce (an amazing 2 points.)I think I need to find a better trail mix/snack since the bag of trail mix is almost as many points as an 8 piece at CFA, but I really like trail mix because it’s really filling. Does anyone have any suggestions?

So far today I’m at 29 points and the night is young. See ya tomorrow.

Day 27

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HELLLO WIN COLUMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you aren’t aware, my Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays last night 5-1 to win their first ever postseason series. The Rangers (like other Metroplex teams) have produced plenty of heartache in the past years (past years being most of my life) so this is a big deal for us fans. Although I live 3 states away, I still feel like I am right there with the Rangers Nation. Next stop: The Fighting George Steinbrenner’s. Bring it on.

Let’s talk food.

Breakfast: I bought some Publix Organic Peanut Butter (the kind you have to stir) because we use to buy the stir-in kind from H-E-B, but unfortunately it wasn’t near as good. Sad days. Anywho, 2 tablespoons of PB was 5 points and the waffles were 3 points so it was a pretty good breakfast.

 

 

 

 
Lunch: As I said the other day, this week is about trying some new recipes to avoid getting in a food rut. Megan made the Spanish Tortilla out of the WW cookbook (page 254.) It is basically a egg-potato-and-spinach scramble (there’s actually no tortilla involved, but I think with a few tortillas and some salsa it would make a killer breakfast burrito.) Pictured is 2 servings which was only 4 points!!! (That’s right… it’s 2 points a serving!) We fried up a little bacon which was 2 points and I had a glass of milk which was 4 points. Megan wasn’t a huge fan of it (the recipe calls for nutmeg which was a little overpowering) but I really liked it and it was so filling I almost didn’t finish my serving!

 

 

Exercise: If you haven’t figured it out, I’m a big racquetball fan (even though I’m not too good but to be fair, I’ve never played someone who was my size. Not that that’s an excuse I’m just saying.) Today was maybe the first time I thought I might pass out. I. Got. Worked. I had a lot of fun and I even won a game, but I have never had my obliques hurt after an hour of racquetball. It was awesome. Anyways I put the exercise info in my Calorie Count account and it said I burned 900 calories. It was a blast but between that and working out with Justin yesterday I’m going to take it easy the next few days. I calculated it with the WW exercise formula that I found on my friend’s blog and it said I get 13 (yep, you read that right) exercise points for today which makes that butt kicking I got worth it.

Dinner: Like I’ve said before, I really like Uncle Jim’s Chili as a leftover because it’s a little more congealed so it works better as a topping. Tonight I felt like I wasn’t doing WW: I made Chili Dogs. I took the rest of the chili, heated up some hot dogs and cut them in half, and then I put a serving of reduced fat of cheese on it. I then added some ketchup, mustard and hot sauce which is what I usually put on my chili dogs. The chili was 5 points the 3 94% fat free hot dogs were 3 points and the 1/4 cup of cheese was 2 points. If you made this in a non-healthy way (like with Wolf Brand Chili) this could be a 1,000 calorie meal pretty quick, but just making a few simple adjustments like no bread and low fat dogs you get the pleasure without the guilt. Which is what we are really looking for right? Have you ever made a “diet” version of your favorite meal?

 

Snack: If you live close to a Publix, you should definitely try out their Premium Low Fat Vanilla. So legit. I had 1 cup which was 2 servings so it came out to 4 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far today I came out to 32 points but I still have 13 exercise points to deal with so I’m sure there will be a little snacking in my future (but with in reason of course!) See ya tomorrow.

Day 22 (Emmitt Smith Day)

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(It’s Emmitt Smith Day because it was his number…22)

TGIF!!!!!! (Remember when that was the thing to watch on ABC? When they had Family Matters, Step by Step, and other awesome shows? Now ABC has Modern Family…. and that’s about it)

So this morning I went and played racquetball again with my friend Adam and the traffic was a nightmare. I’ve never lived somewhere where I was speeding going the speed limit (for supplemental reading in regards to my opinions on driving, please read this) Anywho, I had a blast playing but I’ve been tired ever since.

Breakfast: I was in a rush this morning so I just popped two waffles in the toaster and ate them on the way. No peanut butter, just deliciousness. So 3 points right there.(No picture, if you want to know what a waffle looks like, google it.)

Lunch: I didn’t get to eat lunch until around 2:30 so I was soooo hungry!!!!! I started to dig around in the fridge and I wasn’t finding anything big, just a lot of little things so I put those little things in to an omelet baby! (There was a crazy lady at The Bean that would yell OMELETS BABY! I love weird people.)  I used three cage free eggs, which are so much better than regular eggs, which was 6 points, a serving of turkey breast (1 point) and half of a serving, 1/8 cup of Sargento Reduced fat shredded cheese (1 point.) I was going to use the whole serving which was 2 points but I realized it wasn’t worth the point and the cheese was enough. I also just put a splash of skim milk in there too. And like my friend Jade always says to do, I slathered that sucker with salsa. Not to brag, but it was the best omelet I have ever made. Then I had a 1 point orange because oranges rock.

Dinner: So we were suppose to have turkey burgers tonight, but I forgot to take out the turkey this afternoon to defrost (fail.) When Megan realized my screw up she said “Alright, where are we going for dinner?” Immediately, we hopped on to our respected laptops and started to search for places we could go eat. She then brought up Qdoba, one of my favorite burrito joints. I was really giddy about the idea, but I thought we were going to over do it points wise, but you can build a burrito and find the nutritional facts. So we split the shredded beef queso burrito and we each had a small order of chips. Chips and half of a burrito came out to 13 points. I was a ton of food for the points. I typed in what I use to get, just to see, and it was around 24 points! It was kind of depressing because we use to go to burrito places a lot so it explains where all these extra lb’s came from. Oh, and sorry about the ghetto picture, it’s off of Megan’s phone. My phone was dead.

So today I tried to make up for yesterday by drinking a lot more water and also by trying to keep the points down. I’m only at 25 points today so far so not too shabby. Hopefully the proof will be on the scale on Sunday. See ya tomorrow.

Day 21

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HELLO WIN COLUMN AGAIN!!!!!!!!!

I love Thursdays, like a lot. They are like a Friday Eve and I guess since I like Christmas Eve almost more than Christmas it makes sense that I would like the eve of something more. Make sense?

In other news…

Breakfast: I did the same thing as yesterday because I was going to play racquetball this morning. If you don’t remember (if this is your first reading, welcome!) I had 3 point Publix Multi Grain Waffles, 5 points worth of TFM ground peanut butter (if you haven’t had ground or organic peanut butter go buy some. You’ll taste the difference!) To sweeten it up, I added a tsp. of honey for 1 point. (Yes this is the same picture as yesterday, but rest assured it looked exactly like this.)

Exercise: I played racquetball with my boy Alex before class. I lost… bad. But I got mine, I accidentally hit him in the face with a ball. He took it like a champ though.

 

 

Lunch: I had to stay on campus this afternoon so I hung out with some of my AFC peeps at the food court and ate one of my favorite chicken places Pollo Tropical.  As always, it was amazing. I had the 1/4 Chicken combo: the chicken was 8 points, the rice was 4.5 points, and the black beans were 1.5 points. It’s a little pricey (but it’s a campus food court, they’re all a scam anyways) but it’s always great to find a place that’s within your points.

 

 

 

 

Snack: In keep with what’s becoming a Thursday tradition, Megan and I went get some yogurt, but this week we went to Yogaberry (sorry Hiro’s, it was right next to Publix… plus they have blackberries and crushed up waffle cone.) As you can see from the pic, I made a parfait-like masterpiece. Top layer: Blackberries and raspberries (1 point) crushed up waffle cone (1.5 point) and a cup of Taro yogurt (4 points) I might have over calculated a tad but rather be safe than sorry right?

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Last week Megan asked if I had any requests for a new recipe to try this week. So I dug around in the WW cookbook and found turkey sausage and peppers. When I was watching the Rangers crushing the Rays (again) the smells from the kitchen wafting in made my mouth water. The smells delivered. Holy cow it was so good! This would be a great recipe if you wanted to have a point conscious Oktoberfest or something like that. To make it even better, it was 3 points per serving! Then we added some potatoes (the ones we got at the Farmer’s Market) which was only 1 point a serving. So dinner came out to 8 points and so decedent. Plus I had 2 points of milk.

 

 

So today (so far) I totaled out at 39.5 points. I went a little over but I don’t care for 2 reasons: 1) I got some killer exercise so I really have some exercise points and 2) I ate freakin’ well today. It was worth the 6.5 flex points. See ya tomorrow.

Day 20

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Hello Win Column!!!!!!!!!

Breakfast: Under the advice of my friend Michelle, we bought some multi-grain waffles and they are fantastic! 2 waffles were only 3 points and I put a tablespoon of freshly ground peanut butter from The Fresh Market on each which is 2.5 points per tbsp so it was 5 points and then I put a 1/2 tsp of honey on each waffle for 1 point. (If you haven’t discovered the awesomeness of honey, check it out.) It was a super filling breakfast. I was full until like 1:00 this afternoon. Does anyone else have a good waffle topping recipe?

Oh yeah, I also had a 1 point orange.

Lunch: We didn’t get to go to lunch until around 2:00 (it’s been such a weird week) so we went to the Pita Pit (the only reason I go there is because their name sounds like my favorite band Passion Pit.) Last time we went there I was going to get their falafel pita but then I forgot to so this time I was stoked to get it. As always, I did my pita homework and it was 14 points but I had the points. Anyways, we got there and they were out of baby spinach and tomatoes, how can a sandwich place be out of those two things! FAIL! So I just got cucumbers, feta and tzatziki sauce. The feta was really salty but the cucumbers added the crunch it needed. I was stuffed (Jedi Mind trick of the day: if you want to feel really full, you need to drink at least 2 glasses of water. It makes a lot of difference.)

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Dinner: Since we were both full from a late lunch, we decided to eat a little late. We went to Target to buy some Halloween stuff, but we were really looking for owl stuff. I’m kind of a fan. Anywho, we each got a frozen dinner. Again going with brand loyalty, I tried a new Amys entree: their cheese enchiladas. They were really good but be warned even though it comes with 2 enchiladas, the serving size is for 1! Lame! So again, be careful when reading labels. Anywho it was 11 points and I had 9 chips for 3 points. One thing we noticed the other day that we have had this bag of chips for a long time compared to before dieting because we eat one serving at a time. We use to just pile those suckers on there. Something to think about.

So I totaled out at 38 points so I dipped 5 points in to my weekly points. Aw well. Go Rangers. See ya tomorrow.

Day 19

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Hey Good Lookin’ What Ya Got Cookin’?

So I forget to mention yesterday about something awesome on Monday! This summer I bought a Polo cardigan that was pretty snug but I still bought it because I knew eventually I would look good in it. So Monday, which was the chilliest day so far, I wanted to wear and it fit great! I was so stoked. Also, my button-up shirts usually had a lot of pulling at the bottom but most of them are starting to fit without any pull. At this point, that is just as good as pounds off! I mean I’m not at the point where I have to get a new wardrobe (yet) but even just having your clothes fitting right is such a great feeling.

Alright, let’s talk about food.

Breakfast: Since I was going to workout and I knew I wasn’t going to get to eat until around 1:30, I had a big breakfast to keep me full. Plus the other day after I was done working out and I hadn’t really eaten breakfast and I got the shakes which are no fun. Anywho, I made some scrambled eggs with a splash of fat free half and half. I know there are healthier options other than to add half and half, like water and bread crumbs, but frankly that pretty much what they did in the Depression and it was probably just as gross then as it is now so it’s worth the point. So 2 scrambled eggs came out to 5 points and a piece of toast for 2 points. The other day I talked about foregoing the toast to keep the points for later, but today I realized I might as well eat the points when I want instead of eating something late at night when I’m starving. For the record, I know my scrambled eggs look weird, it’s just easier to divide them if you make them like this. The still taste amazing.

Exercise: Today was one of those days where I felt like I could just run forever, but I was pressed for time so I just ran for 30 minutes. My first mile was about 13:30 which I was super stoked about, but after that I didn’t push as hard as I should have. I burned 450 calories and ran a total of 2 miles. It felt great to run again. I really need to find a 5k around here and sign up for it and start to train again. (Know of any?)

Lunch: I made a can of Campbells Classic Chicken Noodle and it was great. It totally redeemed Campbells for me after that Steak and Potatoes fiasco the other day. I think so far it’s my favorite chunky soup they make (my overall favorite is their tomato soup hands down.

After a while, I was in this weird place where I wasn’t sure if I was still hungry or full (listening to your organs fight is interesting) so I ate 2 points worth of almonds and I felt fine.

By the way, 1 point Fudgesicles were created by God.

Dinner: We ate our favorite Orange Chicken recipe from the WW cookbook. It was particularly good, maybe because I was super hungry, (have you bought your WW cookbook yet?) With the rice, the orange chicken was 9 points. I forgot to take a picture mid way through dinner. For dessert, I had a glass of  Chai Tea that I made from this Food Network recipe except instead of whole milk I used skim milk so its pretty much 1 point a serving.

After dinner: About 2 hours after dinner I had that weird hunger thing and then I realized I had only eaten 24 points plus I had worked out so I made a 5 point sandwich and 5 points of Orville Redenbacher 94% Fat Free Kettle Corn (5 points is for the whole bag!!!!!)

So after my evening snacking I came out to 34 points. So a point over is not too bad. I think I need to eat more at lunch which is hard because a noon class during the week. Before I leave one question? How do you like (or hate) the new BL10 layout? Let me know. See ya tomorrow.

Day 16

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GOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!

(Did anyone get the reference yesterday?)

Today was awesome! Not just because the Noles won, but it was great just to have some time to hang out as husband and wife. Grad school has become both of our mistresses.

This morning we went downtown to the Farmer’s Market. There were a lot of cool booths with everything from art to walking sticks. We were on the hunt for some fresh produce and of the three booths, we only found one that looked legit (the produce at one booth had stickers on them like they had just bought stuff from Walmart and brought it there. Shady City my friend.) Anyways, we came upon this cute old couple (that didn’t look like they could pick up a watermelon) and oh boy what a spread they had! We got, peppers, zucchini, red potatoes, and whatever else is in the picture. We bought pretty much all of our weeks worth produce for $12.50! Can you say deliciously legit? There is something about organic food that just feels, and/or tastes, right like it was the way God intended produce to be: without all the harmful stuff. I would definitely suggest finding out about when your local Farmer’s Market is open. Living organically is not necessarily important for a diet, but it is for a lifestyle change.

Breakfast: Just an orange for 1 point

Lunch: Since the FSU game was on at noon, we wanted to make some concession stand food again like last week, so we did frito pie again but this time with a freshly cut up jalapeno. So good! The chips (1 1/2 serving) was 4.5 points, the chili is only 5 points and the cheese was only 1 point. My mouth was burning after so I had a 1 point Fudgesicle to extinguish the flames.

Dinner: Tonight Megan made an awesome oven baked fried chicken with her famous sour cream mashed red potatoes that we got today. Since we got jalapenos from the Farmer’s Market, I wanted to make some jalapeno poppers like my dad does, so we cut them in half , filled them with low fat cheddar, and wrapped them with center cut bacon. It was a fantastic meal to say the least. The chicken was 5 points, the potatoes were 5 points as well and 4 jalapeno popper halves were just 3 points.

So far today I’ve tallied 25.5 glorious points. So I’ll probably have some dessert or some milk or something like that. Just out of curiosity does anyone have a good Iced Chai Tea recipe? I’ve been looking for a good one.

Anyways, tomorrow is weigh in day (hooray!) I’m always scared of being optimistic but I’m hoping between the working out and staying within my points I should be alright. So this week I’ve thought a lot about creating some goals and I have figured a big one out. Stay tuned tomorrow and read all about it. Until then, see ya tomorrow.

Day 15 (It’s Friday!!!)

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Hallo, my name is Nathan MacDonald. I’ve written a blog. Prepare to die.

This morning I went and played racquetball with my bud Adam at an outdoor court. Not having a roof was a little different, but sadly it was still nice than ACU’s courts in Gibson. (You ACU folks better enjoy that new rec center!)

Breakfast: Although I did remember my water bottle, I didn’t have enough time to get some breakfast. So I ate an 1 point orange and Emerald Trail mix which was 5 points. I was planning on pigging out (bacon, eggs, the whole shebang) but I knew lunch was right around the corner so I held of.

Lunch: For lunch I encountered one of those annoying situations when you see something at the store that looks good but is then just gross. These situations usually occur with canned soups. I bought Campbells Chunky Meat and Potatoes soup. Basically it was a bizarre brown gravy, preservative-caked potatoes and some protein that might have been beef. Usually I really like Campbells Chucky soups but that one was no bueno. Either way it was on 4 points for the whole can so live and learn I guess.

Snack: After sitting and waiting to get a tire fixed at Tire Kingdom for 2 hours (should have went to WalMart. They might be evil but at least they are cheap) I was ready for something substantial to eat so I made a sandwich. The Hillshire Farm (Go Meat!) turkey that we buy is 1 point for a third of the container which is a ton so I just put a little mustard and a pickle (both no points) and two slices of bread were 4 points so it hit the spot.

Dinner: We went out with Megan’s department to a local dive called Monk’s. They had all kinds of food from healthy cuisine to a 5 patty burger challenge. I went with the Vegan Garden Burger with sweet potato fries. They had a lot of healthier sides like celery and like chips and salsa, but I’ve always want to try sweet potato fries and they were awesome. The burger looked a little rubbery but went I took a bite the texture was just like ground beef. (By the way, those are regular fries so they gave me these ones for free but I was good and gave them away.) So I have no clue how bad it was but to ere on the side of caution I’m going to just assume it was more than I had left for the day (18 points) and not use the rest of my flex points this week (which won’t be too bad because we go Sunday-Sunday. So I just have to be good tomorrow!) I seriously doubt it was that bad but I’d rather be safe than fat. (That was suppose to be funny not mean.)

Sorry this post is really late, we were out with some friends in this really cool art district of Tally. I hope you will forgive me and will keep being awesome. See ya tomorrow.

Day 7+7

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Përshëndetje (That’s hello in Albanian)

Once again, another gorgeous day in FL (are you seeing the pattern?)  This morning I played racquetball for the first time in about a year and a half and it was awesome. I felt like I wasn’t near as sluggish on the court so I’ll definitely call that a win (even though I lost. Regardless, Gerard and Adam better watch out tomorrow.) I did forget to bring my water bottle (this comes in to play in a few paragraphs.. well in a few sentences but whatever) so I was hurting after. (Tip of the day: always drink water when you work out.)

Breakfast: Kashi Honey Sunshine. Awesomeness in a box. 5 points.

Snack: After forgetting my water bottle this morning, I decided to buy a Powerade before my class to rehydrate (I was going to get a smoothie at Leach but all the fruit was frozen! How are you suppose to make smoothies with out fruit? Fail.) but anywho one bottle was a thundering 4 points along with something like 54 grams of sugar! Holy schnikes what a fail! I was not impressed, but a little more hydrated.

Lunch: I was super starving (the highest level of hunger) and a Smart One did not sound appealing but it was pretty much all we had in the house. It turned out to be really good since it was one of my favorites. It’s really good if you sprinkle a little cheese on top (not too much though!) Plus there were coupons in the box. Score! As you can see from the box it was only 4 points so a good light lunch but you’ll need a snack later in the day. And of course.. an 1 point orange.

Afternoon Snack: After Megan’s class we went to my “Diet Coldstone”(if you say that you better give me credit)  Hiro’s Frozen Yogurt and as always it was amazing. I’m such a huge fan of their Taro yogurt but if I wasn’t doing this whole living better thing I would totally jump on the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies and Cream (Yes, it’s one flavor.) So as you can see I got a ton of blueberries and strawberries and not as much yogurt this time. It came out to a legit 3 points and last time I was in there I told the girl who worked there about the blog and then she asked me about it today. Pretty tight. So if you are reading this Hiro’s gal, thanks for reading.

Dinner: We made that awesome Tamale Casserole from the Weight Watchers cookbook (if you haven’t bought this cookbook yet, click on this link and buy it or at least put it on your Amazon wish list!) The serving sizes are huge for it and it really doesn’t feel like you are on any sort of diet. It’s also good because it’s ground turkey. Although it has a a whole chopped up jalapeno in it, its really good with a little salsa and a few chips. I had 2 servings which was only 12 points and the 9 chips were 3 points. By then end I was stuffed but not gross (and that’s the difference between eating well and being unhealthy.)

So overall, I ate a total of 32 points plus a Fudgesicle coming right out to 33 points. So like I said tomorrow I’m going to play racquetball. What do you do with your friends to get some exercise? Any tips? See ya tomorrow.