#8 Journey to a new me!

Yesterday I made something different. I got the idea from Cooking light book, but I put my own twist.
I roasted beets with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Jack (my husband) said he doesn't like beets.
I persuaded him to eat one bite. Guess what? He liked it. I told him because he's probably only tasted pickled beets, he agreed. Well, I let the beets cool, after I ate 3 or 4 pieces, and then made a salad. Beets, red onion, orange segments and thinly sliced fennel. Then I made a vinaigrette with Dijon mustard, fresh squeezed lemon juice, a little honey, salt and pepper and added some fresh parsley. I really don't know measurements, just taste as you go. The beets and oranges are already sweet, so I used very little honey. I prefer savory over sweet.

I am really just winging this. I want to learn to eat fresh ingredients, less fat and try and stay away from sugar as much as possible. This morning I'm having Quiche. Yes, there's eggs and milk, but I used low fat ricotta cheese, turkey bacon, mushrooms, red bell pepper, red onion and fresh spinach. I didn't add any butter. The trick, I think, is moderation, portion sizes. I don't want to limit myself to not having foods I love. I want to find ways to have the foods I love without all the fat that is usually used to make them.
I'm still learning. Such as never ever eat anything that has Trans fat. Tran’s fat is the worst kind of fat. And try to stay away from saturated fat. There are a lot of things that have fat that is not only good fat but fat your body needs. Nuts, Olive oil, Avocado, just to name a few. Without some good fat, your body will not function correctly; you're doing more harm than good.

Oh No, What did I do? #7

Let me start by apologizing for it being so long since I’ve blogged. I went out of town to Naples. I had a wonderful time. Obviously too good of a time. I really thought I was careful about eating. Yes, I did eat things I shouldn’t have. Starting with Pizza on Friday night. Let me start by saying it was one of the best pizza’s I‘ve ever had. I’m not sure if it was the pizza or that fact that it’s been a while since I’ve had pizza.  Saturday morning was a huge breakfast, but I think I was pretty good. I only ate the eggs, one little turkey sausage patty and maybe two tablespoons full of hash browns with cheese.  I had to try them, they looked so delicious. We went to the pool. I stayed active in the pool even doing some water aerobics. We went to a wonderful restaurant for appetizers. I ate sautéed veggies (asparagus, broccolini, and red peppers) Tuna Sashimi and Carpaccio. Everything was delicious and really tried to stay healthy.

I made up my own drink (a martini) and the bartender was trying to think up a name for it. Someone finally came up with the name of Spicy Di. It was cucumber and lime infused Vodka with a splash of club soda and freshly squeezed lime juice with jalapeno garnish. I loved it and it didn’t have any sugar in it which was my goal. We went and say Bad Teacher at the movies. Pretty funny, but just wait till it comes out on DVD.  The movie theatre was awesome. Huge soft leather seats with an ark rest that is about 8 or 9 inches wide to hold your popcorn. Very Comfy. Sunday we went to the pool again, more exercise and then Jack and I walked to the beach which was about ½ mile away. I thought at the least I was going to maintain the weight I lost. So when I got on the scale Monday morning, I was very depressed. I gained most of my weight back. I couldn’t believe it. I was trying to be so careful.  Yes, I was depressed but to be honest with you, it was worth it because I had a wonderful weekend with people I love. You can’t put a price on spending time with the ones you love. Anyway, I think I was embarrassed to blog about my weight gain. But I guess I’m going to have to tell about the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Since then, I’ve lost back two of the pounds and I am not going to give up, I promise.  Anyway, I now have a goal in mind. September 29^th I am going to New York to the Wine and Food Festival and I want to lose at least 30 lbs. by then. So keep cheering me on and pray that I have the strength to keep up the exercising and eating right even when I don’t feel like it. Blog you Later!

More weight loss #6

WooooHoooooo, I lost 2 more pounds. 169 was the weigh in. That means, I loss 6 lbs. in one week.

According to my brother, not you Bret, Not you Lawson, that weight loss is equivalent to throwing a lounge chair off of the Titanic. Lucky for me I know he's a jokester. Funny, Funny!!

I'm still riding the bike every day. Trying to move more. Instead of printing out documents at my desk, I print them out at the shared printer down the hall. Takes more time, but I have to get up and walk to the printer every time instead of sitting in one place. It's a start. Instead of calling people on the phone when I need to talk to them, I walk to their office. Not every time, but for the most.

I've been eating very healthy. I bought groceries, finally. My Refrigerator looks like "The biggest Loser" refrigerator, which is a good thing.

Sunday for Father's day we had Prime Rib. I know, I just had a little, and with no fat on my piece. Roasted root vegetables, Broccoli and Cauliflower, fruit salad which looked awesome, but I didn’t have any because it looked like it might have some kind of sugar in it. And bread which I had none. For appetizers which I made, was Skewers of watermelon, cherry tomatoes and basil, drizzled with a balsamic glaze. Also, potato salad bites, which was a low fat potato salad that I made, inside the red potato halves that I had baked. 50 calories and 1 gram of fat, which might not have been because it called for real mayo and I put low fat mayo and only 2 tbls for all 24 of them. I'll tell you about last night’s dinner, tonight when I blog again.  I'm going to try and find a way to put recipes separate from the actual blog so you can print them out. Tonight that will be my mission. That way I can blog about the food without having to actually give details of how it was made. Be patient with me. I am a blogger in training. Gotta go, blog you later.

#5

So, here I am on Day four looking in my kitchen wondering what am I going to eat. I know I'm not doing this right yet, but keep in mind, I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow. So If I have had to be bored with my food, so be it. It was worth the four pounds not to give in to all the fattening options I could have had in this house. I had brown rice, again, with a little chicken. That was breakfast and lunch. I ate around 10:30am. And then I treated myself for dinner. Not fattening, but something I love. I had sushi and Miso soup. And for dessert? The qtr of an orange that they decorated with. And water to drink.
I went to Mom and Dad's today and I did something I shouldn't have done. I weighed on their scale.
I should stick to the one scale. It showed that I lost another pound. I hope it isn't giving me false hope.

Okay, everyone, I'm going shopping in the morning. Now is the time if you have any ideas. Think Low fat, low calories and good energy, not to mention, lots of flavor. My mommy wrote on my blog. She is the comment on #4. Time to get on my Bike. Blog you later!

#4

I just want to thank all of you for participating. Thank you for all your ideas. Keep them coming.
With all of this support, how can I not succeed? It's Thursday. So this is mine and Jack's date night.
Sooooooooooooooooo, Blog you later!

Getting healthy Foodie Style #3

I got to make this quick. But I weighed this morning, and I wanted to share with everyone because I was so excited. New weight? 171 lbs. I lost 4 lbs since Monday morning. Not bad right? I will be weighing every Monday and Thursday mornings. Yesterday Food was boring, nothing to talk about. Jack (my husband) grilled chicken. I took off all the skin and any fat, dipped in hot sauce. It was yummy, thank you honey! And green beans. Exercise? I was disappointed because I couldn't go as far on the bike as the day before. At one mile I was feeling it burn. I guess I was sore from the day before, just didn't know it until I got on the bike. Anyway I pushed and pushed and I got it up to 3.6 miles. Did it hurt? YES. But when I got on the scale this morning it was all worth it. Thank you everyone for all of your support. Thank you Nathan for calling me last night. That was very sweet. Gotta go! Blog you later!

My Journey to a healthier me, Post #2

So, it’s day one of my journey. First I want to thank everyone for all the support and well wishes.
Second I'm going to do what I promised. Report my weight. Are you ready? I don't think I am, but a promise is a promise. Oh my gosh, here it goes. This has got to be one of the most humiliating, not to mention embarrassing things I've ever done. This is the most I have ever weighed in my whole life. I weighed this morning and it was one hundred and seventy five pounds. WOW, you didn't have to make such a horrible face. Now get over it and let's talk about what I ate today and never mention that weight again. NEVER. Oh, I was told by my brother that I need to tell my height. I'm 5'0". GET OVER IT!!!!!
Let's move on.

So, my husband went shopping the other day, before my revelation of changing. So I am basically stuck with what I have in the house until the weekend when I go shopping again. You wouldn't believe what I ate for breakfast. This week will be way different from next week when my groceries will be appropriate for my mission. So, breakfast, Soup 180 calories. No snacks (didn't have any healthy snacks) A diet soda, for the caffeine (I know you're not supposed to, but I did. Again, get over it) It's better than the 4 or 5 diet sodas that are the usual. One cup of Black coffee and water (not enough water, but I'm trying). Lunch, I had a Jenny Craig Frozen Pizza that I had in the freezer from when I bought a sample package to see if I wanted to do JC. 230 Calories. Honestly? Picture the worst frozen pizza you've ever had, now times that times 5. That's how bad it was. But it satisfied my hunger for the time being. This week, that's what it's all about. I don't have the tools (food) to make food fit for a foodie.
But wait, there's still dinner and it was yummy. My husband made me grilled fish (Tilapia), you know at the same time he grilled his hamburger with blue cheese, mushrooms and onions, on a white bun with mayo, ketchup and mustard. That's what I would have had, had I not made this commitment. Not to mention the fried french fries. I made my side dish. Brown rice with mushrooms, asparagus, shallots, garlic, Chinese five spice, a tbls of low sodium soy sauce and a dash of fish sauce, and a little lemon juice. Now don't be haters. If you don't like any of those ingredients, substitute with what you like.

My sweet daughter tried long ago to get me to eat brown rice and whole grain or wheat pasta. I tried it back then and didn't like it. But let's be honest I tried it with the attitude that I wasn't going to like it, and without butter? Are you kidding me? Well, my sweet Kimberly, I have one thing to say to you. I was wrrrrrrr, what? Oh, gash darn it, I was wrong, okay? You were right! It was delicious. All together, approx 600 Calories including the fish (I'm figuring high.) So for the day, 1010 calories. Not bad. And I'm full. If I can stay under 1500 calories a day, I'm happy. But wait, there's more. I came home, I couldn't sit down, and I know me. I change my clothes and got on my stationary bike. This may not seem like a lot to many of you, but I went 4.5 miles. To me that was awesome. I pushed myself to get there. Probably pathetic, but not to me. Next time my goal is 5 miles. So stay with me everyone. I need you, I need you all. Not fun writing to myself. And don't forget to place comments. Until tomorrow!

My New Life Mission - Get Healthy, Foodie Style

I know it's been awhile since I have posted to my blog. I could make up a million excuses, but the truth is I've just been lazy. Why? I'm just totally exhausted all the time. When I come home from work, I really just don't feel like doing much of anything. It might have something to do with carrying an extra 50 lbs of weight around. YOU THINK? I mean yes, I've had some health issues. AGAIN, It might have something to do with carrying an extra 50 lbs of weight around. YOU THINK? I know it does. Losing weight may not cure my health issues, but it will certainly help me feel a whole lot better. Enough of being hard on myself, let's get to the inspiration behind all of this. Besides feeling better, let me tell you the reason behind this mission. I am dedicating this journey to my mom. I am doing this for her. She has enough to worry about without worrying about me too. I want to do this for her. They say you can only lose weight or better yourself if you are doing it for yourself. WRONG! I've tried doing it for me. It's so much easier to let myself down than to let my mom down. How can I not stay true to the journey that I have dedicated to my mom? So here it goes, let me explain my new mission.

I consider myself a foodie. Why? Because I love food. Not just eating it, but cooking, preparing and learning about food. Once I got this passion to cook? I've tried to soak up as much knowledge as I could. I'm still learning. If I hear about any ingredient or dish that I've never heard of, I look it up. Obviously I'll be learning for the rest of my life, because there is a lot of food. Luckily, I like almost everything, there is very few things that I do not like. Previously, that has not been good because I'll eat most anything. But think about this. Since I like so much, I can find plenty of ways to make food that is good for me, yet I'll still enjoy it. I like veggies more than meat. I love fish, cooked and/or raw. I'm going to experiment. Try and flavor my food with seasonings and fresh herbs instead of butter and other fats. So I am going to share my weight, my food and my daily exercise with all of you. I welcome anyone to come on this journey with me. Share on my blog, recipes, inspiration and goals you have met along the way. This is NOT a diet. This is a new way of eating and living to become healthy and happy.

I am not going to lie to you. I know there are going to be bumps along the way. That is life. I am not going to deprive myself from eating out or going to a food and wine festival. I'll try and make good choices when I eat out and work extra hard to burn off the guilty pleasures. Tomorrow I will weigh myself. And as much as I hate to, I will let you know what that weight is and give updates to my weight loss. I promise to try and make this blog entertaining. And I will try and give as much information I can about what is working and what is not. I'm going to do this for you Mommy!