So I am almost done my month long healthy living cleanse and I am three and a half weeks into my workout challenge! I thought I'd offer an update to the few out there who read this (not because all of the others don't care, but because I am so horrible at updating my blog!)
Anyway here goes.
Healthy Living Cleanse:
Things have gone well. I was not crazy psycho about everything with this cleanse. I knowingly and willingly ate cake on three birthdays (bro-in-law, mother-in-law and newphew), and ate cheesecake because I went to The Cheesecake Factory and will not refrain from cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory! And I ate pizza once because I was out with my students and was not going to deal with their short attention spans while I ate a salad (real food definitely takes longer to eat!) I did subsequently find out that even though I have been in denial for years, gluten and I are not friends--not at all. Four of the five times I ate it, I distinctly remember a sinus headache coming on within the half hour. Antihistamines worked, but maybe my environmental allergies are all to blame for the pounding of my sinuses at least twice a week! So even when I go back to eating more foods on Thursday (I'm almost there!), I will refrain from gluten as much as possible and be prepared with antihistamines just in case!
Workout Challenge:
Now this is amazing even for me! I have worked out 6/7 days a week for the last 3 and a half weeks! I am in the lead with a few others who are keeping up with this challenge as much as I am! I'm psyched! I am not always the most competitive person, but with this I will absolutely not miss a day!
So this New Year, New Me stuff is working out pretty good and I am not stopping!
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
My new focus for 2012
Right now, I am focusing on some things I neglected in 2011 and I need to get back into them! These are not resolutions. Because resolutions absolutely do not work. These are motivations, life-style changes, things to focus on for my life. Because of the big changes at work, I got overwhelmed, overtired and stressed. I stopped focusing on healthy eating (although it didn't get too too bad) and stopped even attempting to work out. We were a little active in NH, but the day we planned for a big hike was rainy and the next day was too wet to do the trip we had planned. Anyway, a few years ago, I discovered that I do very well with waking up at 5:30 in the morning a few days a week (2-3) and working out, I also make it a point to work out at least once on the weekend. I get in a great work out, rev my metabolism and start the day off right. I did this for 5 or 6 months and lost 30 pounds! Then I got the dreaded summer cold which killed all attempts at healthy living for a month and I lost my momentum. I maintained my healthy eating habits even though I didn't use weight watchers online religiously though and even lost another 5-10 pounds the following year and was keeping active (not as active, but pretty good). The thing was, I worked with a lot of health conscious people and my co-teacher for most of that year eats healthy and we held each other accountable. (Danielle is still a dear friend and I miss not working with her!) That year I also started a two year Master's Degree program which took up any free time I had (my husband used to joke with me--when I was on my way home or calling him to talk he'd say "Ahhh...my long lost wife). So I switched careers in 2009 and went from teaching little ones to teaching teenagers with emotional and behavioral disabilities. BIG CHANGE. I became the boss in the room, not the co-teacher and even though I adore my co-workers at my school, the support system of women you spend 8 hours a day with every day was lost. So I gained ten pounds, which I took off by doing Jenny Craig (with out exercise so it didn't really stick, but I looked great as a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding!)
This first one is seriously the best shot of my body during the wedding--The ten pounds I lost actually came off from my waist and back which really helped the dress fit beautifully! My legs have always been heavier and I've never liked wearing short things because it it. I am hoping exercising will thin my calves out a bit.
I also started a 30-day cleanse for healthy living. I started on January 2, so it will last until January 31st. You cut out dairy, wheat, gluten, soy, sugar, peanuts and simple carbs like white potatoes, corn and white rice. In exchange, you eat whole foods, such as eggs, lean protein, brown rice, sweet potatoes, almonds (almond milk), etc... You are supposed to buy a shake from the company but I couldn't see spending $60 on a shake for one month so I bought a Hemp Protein shake and it is pretty good. I'm one and half days in and its actually doable. When I think about things I can't have I remind myself that it is only for 30 days and I can handle it. That's a pretty good way of looking at it. Anyone can do something for 30 days.
After the thirty day I will eat healthy: three meals and two snacks. One of those snacks will be at 8 p.m. and I call it my planned snack. It keeps me from grazing and snacking all evening long. Right now that planned snack has been my protein shake made with almond milk. With the berries I put in it, it is only about 200 calories. Much less than most shakes like that and the perfect amount of calories for a snack (according to my nutritionist!) The worst thing about the 8 p.m. snack used to be when my husband would say "Are you supposed to be eating that?" Not a very supportive way of supporting his wife. This would just make me grumpy and make me feel like a rebellious child, so I would eat more when he went to sleep. So I'm punishing him, but hurting myself...that works. So now he and I have come up with language that doesn't upset me. If he's going to ask about what I eat in the evening (out of love and support) he will say "Is that you planned snack?" If it is, I can honestly and happily answer, "Yes it is" and if it isn't, he has adressed my eating in a healthy way. Maybe it isn't my planned snack, but I didn't eat enough during the day and I'm hungry. So maybe if he asks me in this way, I can make a smart choice instead of eating junk!
Anyway, I've done it before, so I know I can do it now. I'm going to try to keep track of what I eat. I use a Nutrition tracker online and I know I don't need to be psycho about it like I used to with Weight Watchers because it was getting unhealthy to the point where I'd say, "How much can I eat for as little points as possible." I wasn't getting any nutrition per say, so it wasn't really great. Last night I had brown and wild rice, asparagus and 3 oz of pork loin and didn't finish the meat. I was full. It was enough and I got a little hungry around 7:45 so I had my shake at 8...I put it off by finishing the dinner dishes, getting in my pj's and putting out the dogs. Then I have a cup of decaf green tea. And when I went to bed, my stomach was telling me it was a little hungry, but to me, that's ok, because that means that my stomach is empty and the energy my body used to put into digesting food at night and making that food into fat can burn calories of the fat I already have! Now isn't that a new concept!
Here's to a healthier 2012!
Here are the links to different things mentioned in this article:
http://sandratillinghast.com/28daycleanseprogram.pdf This isn't the exact program I'm using, mine isn't quite as strict, but this is close!
https://www.arbonne.com/shop_online/showCatalog.asp?category=265 If you do want to use the Arbonne shakes and extras.
http://nutivahempshake.com/index.htm This is the shake I'm using!
http://www.weightwatchers.com/index.aspx This is how I lost 30 pounds the first go round. It works if you can be that disciplined to write ALL of your food down.
www.sparkpeople.com This is the free nutrition tracker I use. It can set up a diet program for you or you can put in your numbers yourself (this is the route I went since I got them from my nutritionist!)
This first one is seriously the best shot of my body during the wedding--The ten pounds I lost actually came off from my waist and back which really helped the dress fit beautifully! My legs have always been heavier and I've never liked wearing short things because it it. I am hoping exercising will thin my calves out a bit.
I also started a 30-day cleanse for healthy living. I started on January 2, so it will last until January 31st. You cut out dairy, wheat, gluten, soy, sugar, peanuts and simple carbs like white potatoes, corn and white rice. In exchange, you eat whole foods, such as eggs, lean protein, brown rice, sweet potatoes, almonds (almond milk), etc... You are supposed to buy a shake from the company but I couldn't see spending $60 on a shake for one month so I bought a Hemp Protein shake and it is pretty good. I'm one and half days in and its actually doable. When I think about things I can't have I remind myself that it is only for 30 days and I can handle it. That's a pretty good way of looking at it. Anyone can do something for 30 days.
After the thirty day I will eat healthy: three meals and two snacks. One of those snacks will be at 8 p.m. and I call it my planned snack. It keeps me from grazing and snacking all evening long. Right now that planned snack has been my protein shake made with almond milk. With the berries I put in it, it is only about 200 calories. Much less than most shakes like that and the perfect amount of calories for a snack (according to my nutritionist!) The worst thing about the 8 p.m. snack used to be when my husband would say "Are you supposed to be eating that?" Not a very supportive way of supporting his wife. This would just make me grumpy and make me feel like a rebellious child, so I would eat more when he went to sleep. So I'm punishing him, but hurting myself...that works. So now he and I have come up with language that doesn't upset me. If he's going to ask about what I eat in the evening (out of love and support) he will say "Is that you planned snack?" If it is, I can honestly and happily answer, "Yes it is" and if it isn't, he has adressed my eating in a healthy way. Maybe it isn't my planned snack, but I didn't eat enough during the day and I'm hungry. So maybe if he asks me in this way, I can make a smart choice instead of eating junk!
Anyway, I've done it before, so I know I can do it now. I'm going to try to keep track of what I eat. I use a Nutrition tracker online and I know I don't need to be psycho about it like I used to with Weight Watchers because it was getting unhealthy to the point where I'd say, "How much can I eat for as little points as possible." I wasn't getting any nutrition per say, so it wasn't really great. Last night I had brown and wild rice, asparagus and 3 oz of pork loin and didn't finish the meat. I was full. It was enough and I got a little hungry around 7:45 so I had my shake at 8...I put it off by finishing the dinner dishes, getting in my pj's and putting out the dogs. Then I have a cup of decaf green tea. And when I went to bed, my stomach was telling me it was a little hungry, but to me, that's ok, because that means that my stomach is empty and the energy my body used to put into digesting food at night and making that food into fat can burn calories of the fat I already have! Now isn't that a new concept!
Here's to a healthier 2012!
Here are the links to different things mentioned in this article:
http://sandratillinghast.com/28daycleanseprogram.pdf This isn't the exact program I'm using, mine isn't quite as strict, but this is close!
https://www.arbonne.com/shop_online/showCatalog.asp?category=265 If you do want to use the Arbonne shakes and extras.
http://nutivahempshake.com/index.htm This is the shake I'm using!
http://www.weightwatchers.com/index.aspx This is how I lost 30 pounds the first go round. It works if you can be that disciplined to write ALL of your food down.
www.sparkpeople.com This is the free nutrition tracker I use. It can set up a diet program for you or you can put in your numbers yourself (this is the route I went since I got them from my nutritionist!)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Cookies!
I love sweets...I crave them every now and then and I need something that is rich and decadent when I crave sweets....if I crave a cookie, I want a hearty, rich, decadent cookie...so tonight, I realized that I had purchased sugar free chocolate chips and I didn't want to wait until Saturday to use them in chocolate chip pancakes, so I decided to make cookies. But when you are trying to eat healthy and lose weight, cookies don't really fit in when they are in their "traditional form." I did a little internet hunting and decided to go to Bethenny Frankel's website to look for a recipe, because lets face it, I think she's awesome.
So I found this yummy recipe for your enjoyment! Its good if you like the taste of banana because you can taste it...however, there are no eggs or oils or butter but the cookie is still rich and satisfying! Oh and they are EASY and quick!
Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon canola oil1/3 cup soy milk (I used skim milk)
1/2 banana puree (1 medium-size banana)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, until well combined.
4. Use a medium-size ice cream scoop or a large spoon to scopp batter onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. (I made some with an ice cream scoop and cut the other half of the batch in half to create smaller cookies) (I also found that I needed to flatten the cookies down, but I didn't puree the banana, I just mashed it a bit).
So enjoy a healthy, yummy cookie that tastes like something real!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Yummy Winter Recipe
My friend's husband made this soup for a cold winter's night dinner party and now we are hooked!
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup (or Stew--depending on the amount of liquid you add)
Ingredients:
5 cups chicken broth (use less for stew--2-3 cups)
1 cup wild rice
1/2 onion diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 strips of bacon crumbled (I use more!)
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups half and half
2 cups chicken cubed and cooked (2 breasts)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp celery salt
salt and pepper to taste
Use two pots (once to cook the rice with the broth and the other for everything else!)
In the first pot heat the broth and the wild rice.
Bring to a simmer andd let it cook for 30-40 minutes.
In the other pot cook the bacon, remove it from the pan, crumble it and set it aside.
Reduce the heat to low and add the butter to the pan
When its melted ass the onion and cook until soft.
Add the garlic.
Add the flour and whisk it until it comes together in a clumpy paste.
Turn the heat down to low and very slowly add the half and half.
The mixture should look like a thick soup.
Add the cooked rice and chicken broth.
Turn the heat up to medium-low.
Add the chicken, bacon crumbles, sage, thyme, celery salt, salt and pepper.
Heat through and serve with yummy bread!
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup (or Stew--depending on the amount of liquid you add)
Ingredients:
5 cups chicken broth (use less for stew--2-3 cups)
1 cup wild rice
1/2 onion diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 strips of bacon crumbled (I use more!)
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups half and half
2 cups chicken cubed and cooked (2 breasts)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp celery salt
salt and pepper to taste
Use two pots (once to cook the rice with the broth and the other for everything else!)
In the first pot heat the broth and the wild rice.
Bring to a simmer andd let it cook for 30-40 minutes.
In the other pot cook the bacon, remove it from the pan, crumble it and set it aside.
Reduce the heat to low and add the butter to the pan
When its melted ass the onion and cook until soft.
Add the garlic.
Add the flour and whisk it until it comes together in a clumpy paste.
Turn the heat down to low and very slowly add the half and half.
The mixture should look like a thick soup.
Add the cooked rice and chicken broth.
Turn the heat up to medium-low.
Add the chicken, bacon crumbles, sage, thyme, celery salt, salt and pepper.
Heat through and serve with yummy bread!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Tuesday Tales
Stress!
So as I mentioned in a previous post, I hurt my back at work. Now no one ever told me how confusing worker's compensation was. There is all this 60/40 stuff with insurance covering 60% of my salary and 40% coming from my sick time...etc...etc...and once I run out of sick time, my company pays my health insurance but then I do a pay back thing, etc...etc...This is my opinion. I got hurt doing my job. I got hurt carrying out the duties assigned to me. Shouldn't my company pay for it all? Why am I going to be the one to be worrying in a few weeks? Shouldn't they be worrying? This makes me want to get back to work right away despite my injury because, lets face it. The pain in my back is much more bearable than the pain in the butt that worker's comp seems to be! Anyone have any thoughts on worker's compensation and any experience with it? Feel free to comment!
One favorite Fall Recipe
Every fall there are a few recipes that I make because they warm the soul.
Today, I've decided to share my recipe for Corn Chowder.
If you have any wonderful fall recipes feel free to share under comments!
PT!
I finally have appointments set up for physical therapy! I am looking forward to feeling better and working on strenghtening my back so I don't have to go through this ever again! Thank God that this is finally settled!
So as I mentioned in a previous post, I hurt my back at work. Now no one ever told me how confusing worker's compensation was. There is all this 60/40 stuff with insurance covering 60% of my salary and 40% coming from my sick time...etc...etc...and once I run out of sick time, my company pays my health insurance but then I do a pay back thing, etc...etc...This is my opinion. I got hurt doing my job. I got hurt carrying out the duties assigned to me. Shouldn't my company pay for it all? Why am I going to be the one to be worrying in a few weeks? Shouldn't they be worrying? This makes me want to get back to work right away despite my injury because, lets face it. The pain in my back is much more bearable than the pain in the butt that worker's comp seems to be! Anyone have any thoughts on worker's compensation and any experience with it? Feel free to comment!
One favorite Fall Recipe
Every fall there are a few recipes that I make because they warm the soul.
Today, I've decided to share my recipe for Corn Chowder.
If you have any wonderful fall recipes feel free to share under comments!
Corn Chowder
6 Cans of Creamed Corn
1 Cup of Frozen Corn
1 Pint Fat-free (or Low Fat) Half and Half
1 Package of Bacon (Chopped)
1 Large Russet Potato
1 Cup Chopped Onions
2 Tablespoons margarine or butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Put first three ingredients in a large soup pot. Simmer on low. Add the seasoning as it simmers.
Cook bacon and onions in a large frying pan with one tablespoon margarine on medium.
Chop the potato and cook it in the microwave to soften for 3-5 minutes.
Add it to the frying pan and cook on medium until bacon is fully cooked and potatoes are slightly brown (5-10 minutes).
Add the mixture from the frying pan to the soup and cook on medium to low for one hour. The goal is to have the soup bubble just slightly so it reduces and becomes very creamy.
I always serve this with fresh bread from the bread maker and a very large spoon! Enjoy!
PT!
I finally have appointments set up for physical therapy! I am looking forward to feeling better and working on strenghtening my back so I don't have to go through this ever again! Thank God that this is finally settled!
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