Ok, I have a few things about this entire post, but wanted to mainly focus on the hamburger stuff. If you try to make a burger with 97%FF beef, it's disgustingly dry. The very lean beef is good for like chili or tacos or something of that nature. I think you did a great thing by making the burger in your George Foreman grill and draining the grease really well.
3lbs of meat left.. when I make tacos or spaghetti or anything like that, I rinse the meat after cooking it in the pan, and I rinse the pan before putting it back in to mix in the seasonings etc. Just an idea.
Hubby and I found some Turkey Burgers at Costco, and they are really good. I'm not sure if you guys are opposed to that, but it'll be less fattening even than the 97% lean beef if you try them.
As far as rewarding yourself with the cookies for working out, I personally think that's not a great idea. 1) you are giving yourself permission to eat them even though you may not really want them at the time 2) you have already set a number that you can eat and 3) It's rewarding bad food for good behavior, and well, I'd rather see you reward yourself with a pedicure after 2 successful weeks of working out or something. But, we are 2 different people, and you may be able to handle the cookie rewards whereas I couldn't. (I"m weak). heh.
I too have thought about taking some full body shots to compare to at a later date, but haven't done it yet. hmmm. Wonder if I'll ever get around to it. lol
Anyway, do you schedule your meals like weekly or something? That's what hubby and I have gotten into. Last year I noticed that we were spending way too much money eating out and I stuck us on a dining budget between $75-$100 a month. We save the receipts and stick to that dining budget and plan our meals weekly or for 2 weeks at a time to help eliminate that opportunity to be terrible if we are ravenous by the time we are able to eat. Just a thought though.
Hope you are having a great day!
Tasha
I was kind of thinking a burger with 97% lean beef would be dry because mine last night was really dry after I squeezed out all of the grease. I like the idea about rinsing the meat and pans before using the meat to make something like tacos or spaghetti. I will have to try that.
I have had turkey burgers and do like them. I've also used ground turkey for tacos, chili, etc. and hubby and I really do not notice any taste difference. I honestly just got the 80/20 beef because it was the cheapest, which wasn't a good reason. I will have to build more $$ into the grocery budget for the more expensive, healthier stuff like extra lean beef and ground turkey.
Onto the cookie reward subject: I guess I shouldn't have said the word "reward." I honestly look at it more like the night I do C25K I have more calories to use than the nights I don't; therefore, it's easier to work a few cookies in. My overall diet tactic is calories in vs. calories burned, which I track in the software program Fitday, so on the nights I do C25K, I am burning more calories and can therefore eat a little more.
I honestly only ate four cookies last night, and my total calories for the day still came in around 1250. I have very, very good willpower, and focus more on moderation and less on making foods off-limit (i.e. "bad foods"). I have a bag of my favorite bite-sized Dove chocolates from January, and there's still some left. I have one or two pieces, here and there, whenever I have the calories. I may call foods "bad" in the sense that I know they're not as good for me as fruits, veggies, and lean meats, but when I call a food bad, that doesn't mean I cant have it. Do I make any sense or am I rambling?
As far as eating when not hungry, I do that a lot as it is just to hit my daily calories target. (See the early posts in this diary where I was told I wasn't eating enough and to eat more) I don't want to undereat, and a lot of days I do have to eat when I'm not hungry to get a minimum of 1200 calories in.
I don't understand the part about already setting the number of cookies I can eat, so you'll have to explain that one to me.
I don't know if my pictures will be the best full body shots since my before pictures are from a Marine's ball and I have a gown on. Plus, the dress I got to wear to the wedding this weekend is a pretty loose fitting babydoll type dress that doesn't really show off my figure (but it's a size 10!!!). But I am sure you'll be able to see my loss in my face - it's unbelievable how much I lost just from my face.
I'm actually an accountant working as a dispatcher, so our household budget is organized in Excel and Quicken (I'm a dork!). We actually don't eat out that much. We try to shoot for one nice dinner every two weeks and may stop in my in-law's restaurant once a week. I plan our meals eaten at home two weeks at a time and grocery shop every two weeks. When we do go out to eat, it's usually my "cheat night." I do stick to one cheat night per week, but I always invoke the right to eat whatever I want because like I said, there are no "bad" or "off-limit" foods, just those foods that should be eaten in moderation.
