Exercise: none, planned rest day

Water: 20 cups

Food: 2199 calories (34% fat, 33% carbs, 30% protein)

Breakfast: protein shake, 12-grain toast, almond butter, 3 clementines (380)

AM Snack: almonds (164)

Lunch: beef barley mushroom soup, smoked ham, apple, fruit salad (554)

PM Snack: protein shake, soy nuts (224)

Dinner: lamb with balsamic marinade, broccoli, butter, salad w/dressing (506)

Late Snack: protein shake, apple, ice cream bar (371)

So I went out early Saturday morning and picked up… a half a lamb, cut into pieces. We played identify the cuts and have it all packed up in the freezer. Tonight’s meal was a leg chop plus a shoulder chop. I was sure of the leg chop, but not 100% sure what the second cut was. After cooking it in the crock pot the should chop shreds a little (not a great slow cooker cut), but the other one was gorgeous. After getting a tip from one of the women in the forum I marinated it in: salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, lemon zest, oil (1 tbsp) and balsamic vinegar (2 tbsp) . I put everything into a plastic bag and stuck it in the fridge overnight. I didn’t want to go outside to barbecue and wasn’t sure how to cook it in the oven. So I dumped the whole shebang into the crock pot with a little veggie stock. Since it was later in the day I cooked it on high for five and a half hours. I was concerned that the gravy would be too thin so I whisked in a little cornstarch solution about an hour before serving. And as we’re trying one pot cooking, I dumped 4 cups of broccoli in about 20 minutes before serving.

Lessons learned - don’t be lazy and barbecue the other leg chops. The chop I thought might be a shoulder chop was wonderful, so I’ll use those again this way. The broccoli probably needed 30 minutes. It was cooked, but just not quite enough. Oh, and don’t thicken the gravy. Next time I’ll just pour it over both the meat and the broccoli. Half the gravy ended up stuck to the crockpot. All told though, it was a good meal. Tomorrow I’ll use the other half can of beans and make the white bean/cauliflower chili again. It was very good, and not too small a meal for the crock pot.

Well, tomorrow is another lifting day, and I’m really looking forward to it. Well, not the crunches on the ball….

Well, I’m really kind of surprised at this morning’s weigh-in, but at 322.4 I’m down exactly 3 pounds from last week. I was really expecting to hold or something, especially with the bouncing up and down I did this week. Most days I did the lifting was followed by a sudden increase (which I’m assuming was water). However, the last three mornings have been downward, so the week ended lower than expected.

Trying to follow as much from the book (the New Lifting Rules for Women) I am going to slightly increase my calories. According to their numbers I should be eating 2200 calories on non-lifting days, and probably 2600 on lifting days (I’ll try 2500). This is playing a little with the numbers as the 2200 is for a no workout day, 2600 for an active day, and almost 3000 for a strenuous day. Even with the daily treadmill I tend to count it as a no workout day as I truly am sedentary without it. Walking from the desk to the couch, upstairs for meals, back to the desk/couch, etc. is not an active day. I haven’t planned tomorrow’s meals, so I might even try to hit the 2600. I do know it’s important to fuel the body, however, my body has become used to the 2000-2100 at the moment, so I don’t want to really raise it by much. However, I do recognize the effort from just 30 mins of the lifting, even with light weights. The post workout snack is one of the few times I feel that I really need to eat, so it’s obviously affecting my body way more than the treadmill does.

passiflora - I don’t know why I don’t have issues with the amount of water I drink. The only thing I can think of is that I once ran across an article that suggested we need 1/2 ounce of liquid per pound of bodyweight. So being heavy I would need more than someone slim. I also know that after 30 mins on the treadmill it’s quite simply to drink water because I’ve sweated some out. I to try and space them out during the day. Today for example I’ve been very lax on drinking water so I’m making sure I brought some with me to the desk.