What I Ate: 9/21/09

• 1 scoop Isopure dutch chocolate protein powder in instant iced decaf with sugar-free white chocolate syrup (110 kcals, 25g protein)
• 4 slices Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh chicken breast, barbecue flavor and 2 slices of the same brand's honey ham (50 kcals, 9g protein) and 1 mini Babybel light cheese round (50 kcals, 6g protein). I have to switch to nitrate/nitrite-free lunchmeat. I read this weekend that nitrates/nitrites substantially increase your cancer risk. I bought some nitrite-free lunch meat last night, so will be switching to that tomorrow. I already had this at the office.
• 1/4 cup fat-free ricotta with 1/4 cup Bolognese sauce made from lean ground beef (140 kcals, 17g protein) - yep, still eating this. I think I have 1 or 2 more left, which is kinda sad, because this was fantastically tasty.
• 3 oz. Southwestern chicken chili (made with ground chicken breast) (about 110 kcals, 19g protein) over 2 tbsp. cauliflower "rice" with parsley (10 kcals, 0g protein), topped with 1 tbsp. fat-free mozzarella cheese (12 kcals, 2g protein). To make cauliflower "rice," you just blanch cauliflower florets and mash them with a fork to make little pellets that mimic rice. I mixed mine with chopped flat leaf parsley for color and flavor. It doesn't have the consistency of rice, but it's sort of cool all the same. Cauliflower is pretty flavorless, so the "rice" works, just like mashed cauliflower is a good replacement for mashed potatoes.
• 1 scoop Isopure dutch chocolate protein powder in instant iced decaf with sugar-free white chocolate syrup (110 kcals, 25g protein)

Total: 592 kcals, 103g protein, 69.6% kcals from protein.

I'm pleased with these numbers! Maximal protein with minimal calories. It's still more than I was eating toward the end of my bar prep days.

Anyway, today's activity was been 45 minutes on the elliptical after work and nighttime pilates. I supposedly burned a little over 425 calories on the elliptical. I've definitely noticed the dropoff in the number of calories the machine says that I burn now that I weigh less. I know the elliptical machine isn't accurate, but when I weighed 250+ I could go 120 strides/minute and the machine would say that I was burning over 10 calories/minute. Today, I noticed that I have to go 140-150 strides/minute to burn that amount.

There is a marked improvement in my ability to do the pilates video. I still can't get my legs straight enough, but I can credibly get through it and I can stretch a lot more than a few weeks ago. I credit yoga with this improvement. I'm going to do the yoga video again tomorrow.