Just so you know, I DID go to the gym yesterday. For three hours. And now I’m here again. 7am spinning class. Why am I awake?

I really meant to take a picture of my breakfast/lunch, but I ate it. Whoops.

Low Fat Chicken Tikka Masala with Cauliflower Basmati Rice

1/4 Trader Joe’s Tikka Masala Sauce

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (cubed)

1 cup cauliflower rice

1) To prepare cauliflower rice, shred fresh cauliflower in food processor (on pulse) or with cheese grater. Put in pan and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes with lid. (DO NOT ADD WATER)

2) Spray sautee pan with cooking spray. Add chicken and cover with 1/4 cup of tikka masala simmer sauce and 1/4 cup water. (You may substitute for 1/4 cup fat free chobani yogurt if you want a creamier texture). Add lid and cook for 10-15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Nutritional info:

Calories: 300, Carbs: 15, Fat: 7, Protein: 42, Fiber: 2, Sugar: 11

I ate mine with a fresh mint, cucumber salad!

Do Blogilates’ Victoria Secret Angel Arm Slimming Workout without stopping once.

Pray for me. This thing kicked my ass this morning.

PROOF!

For those of you who don’t know, I work part-time in the theatre industry while I attend law school full-time. What this means is that, occasionally, I have the opportunity to go to Opening Night events for various Broadway performances here in NY, and that also means that I’m faced with unlimited free alcoholic beverages, mountains of gourmet food, and a plethora of delicious baked goods/sweets.

While this would normally sound like Heaven, it is a dieter’s hell. As someone who is often tried for time and funds, it’s hard to turn down free, already prepared food, especially when it’s prepared by Bobby Flay.

I can’t say that I was an angel. I did breakdown and have 1 pint of beer (I went with the Heartland Brewery Indian Pale Ale), and I had 1/4 cup of mac and cheese, but I abstained from the mashed potatoes, the alfredo, and even the elaborately laid out dessert islands.

For me, that’s a non scale victory worth sharing!

Omg, guys, best dinner ever! Spaghetti squash instead of pasta, homemade tomato sauce, spinach, and lobster chunks. Yum! (Taken with Instagram)

Recipe (makes 6 servings)
1 spaghetti squash
2 cups fresh spinach
3 cups favorite tomato sauce (I make mine homemade so I can control the sugar/salt content)
1 cup imitation lobster (flake style)

Directions

1. Cut spaghetti squash in half LENGTHWISE and scoop out seeds and pulp. (You can roast the seeds just like pumpkin seeds! Add a little cinnamon or curry powder for a yummy snack!)
2. Put two halves onto a plate and microwave for 8 - 10 minutes. The squash should be squishy.
3. Run your fork along the inside of the squash to make “strings.” They should come out very easily, if you’re not getting soft, easy pasta-like strings, then you probably need to microwave longer.
4. Put spaghetti squash strings in a pot with the spinach, tomato sauce, and lobster.
5. Cook on low heat until everything is warmed through and the flavors have combined.
6. Season as you like. (I used a little basil and parsley as well as lots of pepper)
7. Enjoy!

Nutrition Info (1 serving)
Calories: 165
Carbs: 28
Fat: 2
Protein: 11
Fiber: 4

A great low-calorie and low-fat comfort food meal to fuel you through the day!

As promised, here is the first installment of my 90 Day Challenge courtesy of Cassey at Blogilates.

MEAL ONE
Tone It Up! Protein Pancake
Black Coffee (1 cup)

MEAL TWO
Baked Sweet Potato (1 small) w/ 1 tsp cinnamon
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast (6 oz), dusted with Knorr Pesto mix (2tsp) and grilled
Frozen Broccoli (1 cup); red onion (1/4 cup); yellow bell pepper (1/4 cup); all steamed

MEAL THREE
Dole mixed berries (1/4 cup)
Fresh Spinach (1 cup)
2 scoops vanilla whey powder (blend all with ice)

MEAL FOUR
Breakstone fat free cottage cheese (small curd)
Trader Joe’s pumpking butter (1 Tbsp)

TOTALS
Calories: 755
Carbs: 76g
Fat: 5g
Protein: 102g

EXERCISE
Running (6 mph/10 min mile): 30 minutes
Technically, I ran a 5k (3.1 miles) in 27:13 and then I cooled down for the rest of the 30 minutes.

Before you yell at me for under-eating, let me clarify that I was not restricting, I have a cold! (You know, feed a fever, starve a cold?) Because of that, I can’t really give you an accurate description of whether or not I was hungry on this meal plan, because, well, I wasn’t hungry at all and had to force-feed myself what I ate. So, we can’t be sure if it was the high protein content or the nasal drip, but, I didn’t find myself to be hungry at all during the day.

If you’d like to see a more detailed breakdown of the calories of each item, you can check out my food diary on myfitnesspal here.

This is going to be a short post, but I wanted to put it up tonight, since I’ll be officially starting the Blogilates: 90 Day Challenge tomorrow morning.

Basically, here is what has been going on with my body lately: it’s fucking crazy. As some of you may know, I am training for a Half-Marathon (in Disney World!) and have been running for 3 times a week since early May. Also, some of you may know that I have been attending Weight Watchers all summer. What you may not know is that both of these ventures have been terribly unsuccessful as far as weight loss is concerned. In fact, I steadily gained weight throughout the summer.

While weight loss/gain is based on that age old calculation calories in vs. calories out (with some variations on carb/protein/fat intake etc), this tried and true formula failed me miserably. My Weight Watchers leader and I looked at my food log helplessly, totally at a loss as to how I could be running 15 miles a week and eating within my daily limit and still gaining weight each and every week.

At the end of the summer, I have gained over 20 lbs. TWENTY POUNDS. I have an appointment with a nutritionist and my doctor to check my metabolism level (my parents are thinking that maybe the running has affected my metabolism and that my thyroid medicine needs to be adjusted), but in the meantime I am self medicating by doing the Blogilates 90 Day Challenge.

Now, if you’re not familiar with Blogilates, it’s an amazing blog written by Cassey, a pilates instructor, who does these RIDICULOUSLY difficult and awesome workout videos (I’m in pain after 4 minutes). She really advocates eating clean (abs are made in the kitchen), and she has a pretty restrictive (not in calories, but in food variance) meal plan for the 90 Day Challenge posted on her blog. I decided that maybe a strict meal plan is exactly what I need.

I haven’t exactly committed myself to the full 90 days at this point, but, I have already committed for the week. I already bought my groceries, have my meal plan for the week worked out, and have my exercise videos scheduled (along with my normal Half Marathon Training routine). So, each day, I’m going to post for you what I ate (how I prepared it), how I’m feeling (how hungry/tired/bored/whatever I am) and, at the end of the week, results!

If anyone is interested in trying to eat clean with me for the week, I definitely recommend taking a look at Cassey’s 90 Day Challenge workout schedule and meal plan.