And Then God said..."Let There be Catapult!"

Meal 5 (9:45 pm)- I chose to take a cute purse out, which meant I had to go sans camera and I am so bummed on that decision, because I had the most AMAZING meal at what has now become my favorite restaurant in Austin....Eddie V's...FABULOSITY! It was SO YUMMY! I'll cut and paste what I had here...

Fuji Apple and Beet Salad -Crumbled Blue Cheese, Ginger-Orange Vinaigrette and Candied Walnuts (no beets for me)

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Broiled Jumbo Georges Bank Sea ScallopsWrapped in Bacon and Tomato-Basil Butter Sauce (removed the bacon, but could still taste the flavor....seriously the best scallops I have had in my life!...not even exaggerating)

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Steamed asparagus

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split a bottle of Brut champagne with hubby (I know I said no drinking for a couple weeks, but I could not resist...the ambiance here is so dark and nice with candles everywhere...Besides, anywhere nice enough to remove your bread crumbs off the table with a knife deserves a nice bottle of champagne to compliment the meal)

7 pm- Went for a run to wake myself up and practice running with a water bottle in my hand...got slightly lost in my own neighborhood, turned around and came back....sprinkling out and so invigorating! I love running!

Meal 4 (5 pm): 3/4 cup fat free cottage cheese + 1 medium gala apple (1 cup diced)- Just found out we'll be eating super late (9'ish) at one of our fave restaurants, so needed something to fill me up for at least 4 hours...had to whip out the magic bullet (one of them at least;)

Meal 3 (1:45 pm)- Leftover seared ahi tuna (the trick to leftover ahi tuna is heating it separately and only for about 15-20 sec. in the microwave) + 1/2 cup brown rice + 1/2 bag Bird's Eye Steamfresh sugar snap peas + 12 unsalted whole almonds + lemon lime Zevia of course!

Meal 2 (10:45 am)- Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran, and Whole Wheat Flour Lavash Bread (just found these huge wraps....awesome!) + yellow mustard, spinach, red onions + Kretschmar all natural honey turkey

Meal 1 (7:45 am)- 1 slice Nature's Own Wheat n Fiber bread w/15 sprays Parkay fat free butter spray + 1 serving EAS Muscle Armor & 1 scoop Whey Protein Isolate + multivitamin & 2 glucosamine/MSM

Pre-Workout (6 am)- 1 serving EAS Catapult

Today has been an outstanding day thus far. Whatever bug I had yesterday is now long gone, and I woke up invigorated! Who doesn't love Fridays?!

So today I had my first weight training session with my new trainer. This guy is super professional, has been in the training biz for a long time, and is a bit like me and my hubby in that he moved here from CA and is still getting used to all things Texan. For any Texans reading this, don't hate me....I'm not bashing Texas! I was born in Houston, even though I don't remember much, and I do LOVE TEXAS.... I'm just still getting used to the size of things here....like restaurant meals and vehicles. There's also a disproportionate number of oil change places and car repair shops....still trying to figure that one out, but that is another story.

Anyhow, I have been working out for the past year every morning on an empty stomach. I always wait an hour to eat post cardio and eat immediately after lifting weights. The methodology behind doing this is to burn stored fat as your only energy source during the workout rather than the calories you've consumed right before working out. Remember, I have not been any sort of endurance athlete in the past, and we are talking about short workouts here. However, I really do not have much fat to burn anymore at this point, and I feel like after seeing my last pictures that I took in NY, that I would like to put on a bit more muscle, mostly in the lower body. I'm not seeing nearly as much definition as I'd like there. With my focus changing to trying to get a little more shredded, I think it's time to take a look at tweaking some things in minor ways just to maximize my ability to make any gains in strength....something I honestly haven't done much of lately. I've done a great job of maintaining and have stayed a size 0 now for the longest I ever have in my life (insert curtsey here), but I'm ready to take it up a freaking notch already! So I'm going to be eating some carbs before lifting and maybe even before cardio (no promises on that yet). It is quite possible that this might be exactly what I need to get in a more intense strength training workout and to also prevent from breaking down any muscle....ya think?! I don't know why I've been so stubborn about working out on an empty stomach always, even after losing all the fat, but I guess it's just one of those things we get in the habit of and don't want to compromise. It's like there is this lingering fear of gaining weight or something, but honestly, I think I need to realize that I'm over that hump and it is absolutely essential to adapt as I progress to a new level of fitness. For anyone who is looking to focus primarily on burning fat, however, I still swear by doing cardio on an empty stomach (at least for short 20-30 minute HIIT sessions)...just for the record.

As I was considering different options on what to ingest prior to the workout this morning I was thinking of all possibilities...oatmeal (well that is only slow digesting carbs)....piece of fruit (sugars here which is good, but eh, not my ideal choice)...granola bar (blah)....everything just sounded unappetizing to me. I've had this canister of EAS Catapult in my cabinet for a while now, and still hadn't tried it. Looked on the label and got excited...21 g carbs (exactly the amount I was thinking of shooting for)...made up of fast AND slow digesting carbs (perfect)....contains 199 mg caffeine (I don't drink coffeee or any other caffeine, so this sounded like a great zinger for me at 6 am...equivalent to about 1 1/2 cups regular coffee)....contains tyrosine, an amino acid which helps prevent muscle fatigue and is a precursor to the neurotransmitters dopamine and epinephrine (helps you focus more basically). I tried it and LOVED IT! TWO THUMBS WAAAAY UP! I think I've found my new pre-workout concoction! Lots of energy and no jitters. I'm SOLD. I just ordered 3 more containers of it and am also going to be trying out another product from EAS called Endurathon, which is meant to be taken during endurance activities. I'll let you know how it goes... By the way, I'm not trying to make this into some sort of pitch for EAS products. While I AM a spokesperson for EAS, they don't pay me to write this stuff.....Anyone who knows me, knows I'm always trying different stuff out, and I'll tell you if there is something I don't like just as easily as if there is something that I do like. I definitely have products I prefer over others, but overall they just make really solid products, so THAT is why I use them and am always raving about them.

On another interesting front, I just realized that a few people at Livestrong are vegetarians, and I was really interested in some feedback from them today. It seems like for the most part so far, MOST vegetarians are not vegan. I think I actually only know one person who is vegan, and everyone else I've talked to still eats dairy, eggs, and sometimes fish. So that would make them lacto-ovo-vegetarians for the most part? The more and more I think about it, the more I am convinced that eating wild caught fish cannot possibly be bad for us, and that I really do need to focus more on moderation than anything else. I'm not trying to cop out here on my upcoming 30 day plan, but I'm just saying that I think God put fish on the earth for reason...to be eaten...and I might make provisions to allow myself seafood RARELY during my 30 day veg stint. I will NOT eat ANY chicken, beef, lamb, buffalo, bison, pork, etc....anything besides the rare serving of wild caught seafood...that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I think I can still stay within normal limits of other vegetarians in doing so and still get the full vegetarian experience from this. My boss there said she tried going vegetarian for 30 days once, and hasn't eaten meat since! I wonder if that will happen to me?! I can't imagine it, but who knows!

Outside of the feedback from other veg heads, I'm always fascinated with how many people have used nutrition as part of their approach to fight cancer and won, and then prevented it from coming back. Was talking with a really nice gentlemen (has been at Livestrong since it's creation and is also a cancer survivor), and we got to chatting about protectors and promoters of cancer. I was telling him about the China Study findings, and he passed along his favorite food list that he found really helpful. While the promoters certainly didn't shock me, I was kind of surprised that whey protein is listed as a protector....especially after everything I read in the China Study pointing to animal proteins as such large promoters of cancer. The China Study does list high fat animal sources and casein containing sources of protein as the biggest promoters though, so I think that whey protein, although it does contain milk products, is probably the least of my worries. Here is a link to the list... http://watchfulwarrior.org/default.asp?Type=protect

I felt a bit relieved to read it, seeing as how I'll probably be consuming quite a bit of whey once I cut out the meat. And when will that be exactly?....I'LL BE STARTING THIS WEEKEND OFFICIALLY!!! I still have some salmon and scallops in the freezer, but I think I'll keep those in case an emergency arises and for those RARE times when I might incorporate seafood here or there (only if I feel like I might die without it). I bought some new vegetarian products yesterday and have several non-meat foods ready to go, so I'm ready to take the leap! Wish me luck! I'll be posting every step of the way!