End of week 4, start of week 5!

End of week four already. I can't believe it. 

I'm sad to say I didn't do very well this week. This seems to be pretty consistent for me, doesn't it? Parts I did well, and parts I didn't. 

Calorie-wise I only stayed on track 4 out of the 7 days. My goal is usually to get at least 6 of 7 days on-target. And if I go over on the 7th day, I aim for it to not be that much more. The culprit? Alcohol and potlucks. Oh man. Tuesday we had a "going-away" party for my unit. We moved buildings two weeks prior but we hadn't had the potluck yet. Normally, potlucks at my work are pretty safe. There are usually fruit and veggie plates, and I typically bring my own lunch as a back-up in case there are options that aren't healthy. Unfortunately, what I thought was a potluck actually ended up being something catered by Q'doba, and I hadn't brought any other lunch with me. Thursday night was spent with my dad as usual, and I got my typical vegetarian Jimmy John's sub (high calorie and high fat, but so delicious) but then made myself some drinks. I ended up staying there pretty late. Then when I got home, I was so hungry that I ate more. Ugh. 

I did do pretty well on exercise this week, though. I racked up 200 fitness minutes this week. Not amazing, but pretty good for me. Most were pretty high intensity.

Friday night I was struggling. It'd been a long week at work. Having my friend there is great, but trying to train a complicated job while trying to actually complete said job is stressful. She kept talking about getting Chinese food after work, and all I could think about was how great it would be to get some myself, a bottle of wine, and relax in front of the TV. I almost did it, too.

But instead, I came home as planned, ate my leftover winter vegetable stew, did a quick and intense cardio kickbox session, and worked a little on my novel. I went to bed early and had a great sleep. Such a better decision. 

All in all, though, I gained 2.6 pounds this week. Ugh. 

I know I shouldn't be so dependent on the scale. I also felt bloated this morning so I'm going to weigh again tomorrow and the next day (so I can sum my total weight loss for January.)

I leave for Florida on Friday! I'm really excited. I'm hoping to eat really healthily there, what with all the fresh produce. Last year when we went, I ate healthily part of the time, but then ended up going out to bars with my sister at night. I'm hoping to do way less of that on this vacation. Maybe once or twice we can go out, but I would rather spend this trip spending time by the pool and beach instead, relaxing. 

So I only work through Wednesday. I took Thursday off so I can pack and get my apartment organized. Thus, I only menu planned from Saturday through Thursday. Here's this week's plan:

Saturday

Cape Malay Curry (the recipe is here. I rarely ever cook with red meat, but this is one exception - I LOVE this recipe! I've only made it twice because it's pretty time-consuming as it has to simmer for a couple hours, but it's very easy. Tons of complex flavors, I just love it.) 

Sunday

Cajun Vegetable Pizza. Recipe adapted from here - this was delicious! 1st time making it. The original site gives rough estimates. I used Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough. To keep it "light", I used 2.5 oz of cheese on the entire pizza - 1 oz reduced-fat smoked gouda (Trader Joe's makes a great one) and 1.5 oz fresh mozzarella.) The rest of the toppings on the pizza are just veggies - crushed tomato as the base (I just chopped one regular tomato up finely and spread it across the crust), jalapeno (I used anaheim because the store didn't have any jalapenos), red onion, bell pepper (I used a yellow one), and corn. The cajun seasoning makes this so special!

Monday

Bean-stuffed Peppers with Manchego (I've made this once before well over a year ago and recall loving it. I may post the recipe after I make it. It's a really unique dish! Not your ordinary stuffed pepper recipe.) 

Tuesday

Leftovers

Wednesday

Sunflower seed burger with avocado with a side of steamed broccoli (I just use a Sunshine Burger,  which I recently discovered - an organic, soy-free and wheat-free veggie burger. The only ingredients are organic brown rice, raw sunflower seed,s, carrots, herbs, and sea salt. Delicious! Tastes nothing at all like meat, but it's delicious on a bun or roll with avocado and ketchup.) 

Thursday

Leftovers

After that I'm not sure, as we'll be in Florida! I presume we'll do some good grocery shopping when we get there. I'm excited to go swimming and get some sun. 

I'm going to post on the 31st to do a summary for January. I am just hoping that I lose these extra couple pounds I gained, because I'd like to maintain a 10-lb loss for January!