I was able to do a ton of food prep in preparation for this week. I got some celery and sliced it up, then measured out 2 ounces of celery into snack-sized ziplock bags with some baby carrots. I made 5 bags for the workweek and I also picked up some pre-measured guacamole. I’m not usually a fan of this type of thing–I’d much rather have homemade (and nothing compares to Michael’s guacamole–it’s out of this world good) but I wanted something that was portion controlled and honestly, something with preservatives (gross) so it wouldn’t go bad too fast.
Here is week two of reducing my calories. Like last week, my goal isn’t necessary to hit “1300” or less calories. But my goal is to reduce my calories more than what I was doing before, including HOPEFULLY not eating back all the calories I burn at the gym.
Day One
Breakfast: Plain Greek Yogurt with sliced strawberries and some coconut flakes, half an English muffin with cinnamon and splenda, EmergenC drink, and coffee with creamer. Calories: 290
Snack: Apple and some tea. Calories: 70
Lunch: Lean Cuisine lasagna and a piece of chocolate. Calories: 365
Snack: Wholly Guacamole with celery and carrots. Pre-gym snack. Loving this combo lately! It’s tasty and filling! Calories: 110
Dinner: Salad with tomatoes, broccoli, Craisins, light Caesar dressing, pan-seared tilapia, some tortilla chips with spinach dip. Calories: 621
Dessert: Cantaloupe. Calories: 34
Day Two
Breakfast: This breakfast did not work well for me. I thought it would be enough food but it really wasn’t and I was hungry within 2 hours. 🙁 I had a grapefruit, the other half of the English muffin with cinnamon and splenda, coffee with creamer and unsweetened iced tea. Calories: 292
Snack: String cheese and hot tea. Calories: 80
Lunch: Salad with tomatoes and light raspberry vinaigrette dressing, half a blackened salmon fillet, small piece of chocolate. Calories: 285
Snack: Wholly Guacamole with celery and carrots and some crackers. Pre-gym snack. Calories: 210
Dinner: Boneless pork chop, steamed broccoli with Goddess dressing and Michael’s amazing red potatoes (boiled and then sauteed with onions, garlic, rosemary and thyme). Calories: 470
Dessert: Plain Greek yogurt with strawberries, dried coconut flakes and some chocolate chips. Calories: 187
Gym: Warmed up on the spin bike, did some weight lifting and my PT exercises, then the elliptical.
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, leftover red potatoes from the previous night’s dinner, unsweetened iced tea, coffee with creamer. Calories: 272
Snack: Apple with tea. Calories: 70
Lunch: The rest of the blackened salmon (half a fillet), one serving of quinoa. No idea why the quinoa looks green in this photo, I assure you it’s not! LOL Calories: 337
Snack: String cheese. Calories: 80
Dinner: I saw a friend and then ran some errands and ending up getting home later than I was planning on. I needed something quick and easy! I had some chili with sour cream and tortilla chips, steamed broccoli with Goddess dressing on the side. Calories: 640
Dessert: Fun sized Snickers bar. Calories: 90
Exercise: It was a rest day but I did a lot of walking!
Breakfast: Trader Joe’s oatmeal with a little brown sugar, coconut flakes and some protein powder, unsweetened iced tea, coffee with creamer. Calories: 358
Snack: Apple. Calories: 70
Lunch: Two turkey slices made into wraps with a little mayo, mustard, spinach and Craisins. Guacamole with celery and carrots. Calories: 259
Snack: Plain Greek yogurt with strawberry slices and coconut flakes. Pre-swim snack. Calories: 129
Dinner: Papa Murphy’s DeLite pizza and two glasses of wine. Calories: 694
Exercise: I went for a swim and burned roughly 300 calories. Plus I did a bunch of walking during the day. 
Breakfast: Saturday morning I had a grapefruit and and English muffin with cinnamon and splenda, a small glass of milk and coffee with creamer. Calories: 392
Lunch: Chili with sour cream and some tortilla chips. Calories: 417
Snack: Had a few bites of Michael’s popcorn at the movies (we saw the Avengers!) and had to estimate on the calories. Calories: 190
Dinner: Quinoa with steamed broccoli and Goddess dressing, Michael’s amazing garlic butter shrimp, 1 glass of wine. Calories: 656
Dessert: Way too much chocolate. 🙁
Gym: I did some weight lifting and then the elliptical. Burned 577 calories.
Not my best day this week… 🙁 The movie theatre popcorn and chocolate for dessert got me. SIGH.
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Krispies cereal, an English muffin and coffee with creamer. Calories: 389
Lunch: Turkey sandwich with cheese on gluten free bread. Calories: 491
Snack: Blueberries. Calories: 83
Dinner: Homemade burger with cheese on a sandwich thin, pickles and baby carrots and Laughing Cow cheese on the side. One glass of wine. Calories: 636
Fitness: Went for a 5.72 mile hike. Burned 542 calories.
Dessert: Some chocolate pudding. Calories: 162
Stay tuned for next week when I post about my thoughts and weigh-in.
Carrie @ Season It Already
I like reading these because you give me ideas for ways to lower calories or change up my snacks/routines. I never thought about putting a little dressing on steamed broccoli… and why didn’t I think about dipping carrots and celery in guac? I do it with hummus!
I hope it all worked out well for you!
Lisa Eirene
Just a little bit of dressing on steamed veggies is nice. It’s not a lot but it changes up the routine. And yes! I do hummus and veggies a lot but then get sick of hummus, so the guacamole is a nice change.
Kitty
Great idea on doing the veggie bags. I should do that for veggies to dip in hummus (don’t like the guac). Another veggie to use for that kind of thing is to cut up spears of Red bell pepppaers. So good.
Also, on the muffin with the cinnamon and splenda, how much of each do you use? Do you then broil it? Looks yummy.
Lisa Eirene
Raw peppers are great, I do that too. I also got some cucumber for this week and will be having that tomorrow!
As for the English muffin I toast it and then top it with cinnamon and about a teaspoon of the splenda mix.
Carbzilla
What an amazing week! I LOVE my carrots and guac. Had it yesterday in fact (today was carrots and hummus).
Last night and today for lunch, I had chicken zucchini poppers and then I made shredded sweet potato patties fried in a little coconut oil. OMG so delicious. I’ve lost 5 lbs in a week, but I’m starting to worry it’s all muscle so I have to get back to bootcamp. When I do bootcamp, my weight jumps all over the place. I hate that part.
You’re doing awesome!
Lisa Eirene
It was pretty good! I had a few bad days, or days where I was over — not necessarily “bad” but you know what I mean. I am trying to reduce my calories and NOT be eating the amount I was before when my base was 1530 and then I’d eat back the gym calories. So I was usually around 1800 total. My goal now with the 1230 base is to be closer to 1500 or less after eating back the gym calories. It’s creating a “deficit” in a different way. I don’t feel starved, so that’s good.
Great job on the 5 pounds!! And yes, weights do that. When I was consistently going to the warrior room and burning like 700 calories a session, I gained about 5 pounds. Which was frustrating!
CARLA
SO SO SO INTERESTING and youve done such a great job setting yourself up for success too.
the husband LOVES those guac minis.
I wish I loved guac 🙂
Lisa Eirene
Thanks Carla! It’s going pretty well so far.
laura
where do you get your starting number from or goal number?
Lisa Eirene
Do you mean the base? If you mean the base, I got it from My Fitness Pal. It was 1530 as a base. But I changed the settings to “lose 2 pounds per week” (even though I know that won’t happen) and it reduced it to 1230 as a base.