Food plan

One of my downfalls is healthy eating. I plan well, I find recipes, we buy the ingredients, then after work I get lazy and have no desire to cook it. We order in or heat up pizza.

I want to do better this year, so I've decided to make my meals on Sunday. This way I have all the meals I had planned for the week cooked and all I have to do is re-heat them. This may not sound appetizing to you, but it's perfect for me. I'll add a frozen vegetable to many of them and be good to go.

This week's recipes are all Weight Watcher approved:

• Veggie Chili
• Deep Dish Pizza Casserole
• Taco Bake
• Tortellini Soup

We have a couple unhealthy foods left over from the holidays, which we will eat because I am not going to let them go to waste - money-wise or meal-wise {there are people in the world who do not have food and I am not going to let them go bad}. If we sprinkle them in between healthy foods, it won't be too bad.

My goal is each week determine the meals for the week and then make them on Sunday. This should reduce how many times we skip the healthy meal for convenience. Time to write up the grocery list and get started cooking!
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Motivational Monday

This is so me. I have such a hard time with food. It is my Achilles heel. Sure, I go through issues with working out, but I always go back to it. The issue I have is food. I have the worst time staying with healthy eating. I enjoy it. I like fruit. I like veggies. I'm eh on meats, but I eat the ones I like.

I have a hard time picking healthy over unhealthy - fruit over dessert, vegetables over chips, salad over burgers. I like all the healthy stuff, but I just can't seem to pass on the unhealthy stuff. It's like I don't want to miss out on yummy...even though healthy stuff is yummy too.

I don't want to be fast, cheap, easy, or fake. I know I am not fast {in more meanings than one}, I can be cheap {it doesn't take much to make me happy usually}, easy {right up there with fast}, or fake {I pride myself on never being fake}. The issue is I am this way in the way I eat. I'm not consistent in eating the way I should.

So today, let's focus on our food. Let's focus on not allowing what we put in our mouths to be fast, cheap, easy, or fake. Let it be healthy. Let it be yummy. Let it nourish not only our bodies, but our souls.




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"If you had cancer, would you take two hours for chemotherapy?"

                                                              The Biggest Loser

If you watched The Biggest Loser last night, you heard this quote (or thereabouts) spoken by the doctor to one of the male contestants. They were talking about his medical testing results and the doctor made that comment. When he did, you could see the surprise in the contestant's face and his response was he would.

It made me think. If I had cancer or some medical issue that made me change my habits, would I do it? Obviously, I would do what I had to in order to stay healthy. I would do chemo, I would take medication, I would do whatever I needed to so that I could live as long as possible. I would even do needles (I hate needles, with a passion). I mean, I base this on my little issue with milk. I found I'm slightly allergic to milk, I break out around my mouth and cheeks when I drink milk directly or eat ice cream. I know it's nothing earth shattering, but it is a random "medical" issue I've been dealing with for the last year and a half. 

Being overweight is a medical condition. There is a "cure" - eat healthy and exercise more. It's not always a fun one. Who wouldn't rather be eating donuts and sitting watching tv...or in my case reading a book? But, the doctor was right. If you had a medical condition, you would do what you needed to. If you were diabetic, you would reduce your sugar intake. If you had a heart condition, you would limit your salt and reduce stress. If you had cancer, you would do chemotherapy as prescribed  by your doctor. 

This quote is what I need to remember when I want to eat something I shouldn't (like the Hershey's nuggets I had after lunch...) or when I want to bail on my trip to the gym. Why do we not consider being overweight/obese as a medical condition? Is it because so many people are now overweight/obese we think it's the norm? According to the American Cancer Society, 1.6 million people would be diagnosed with cancer in 2012. The number of overweight people in the U.S. is approximately 103.8 million (based on the CDC estimate that over 1/3 of Americans are overweight/obese and the U.S. population based on the U.S. Census numbers). If those 1.6 million people are doing all they can to combat their diagnosis of cancer, why are the 103.8 million people not doing all they can to combat being overweight/obese? 

I need to remember this. I need to remember, I don't need two hours of exercise a day to combat the extra pounds I carry around on my body. I need to make better health choices and I need to be active 4 days a week for 30 minutes. If I can do more, great. If I can't, then I need to be forgiving and move forward. 

Does this quote make you think? Do you think it will help you make better choices?

3 mile run

I haven't been running much lately. I ran the Atlantic City Half Marathon in October and had run twice since then - a random 3 mile run a week ago Monday and then the Movie Madness 5k last Saturday. Wow. I'm such a great runner. LOL!

I've been thinking lately I need to get my butt back in gear with both my eating and exercising. So, I bought an interesting book yesterday that let's me keep track of my food and exercise each week.

It was on the clearance section at the book store for $5, so I got two. One for 2013 and one for 2014, though my goal is to reach my goal weight in 2013 and may not even need the second one. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

I also got a new running jacket. Eeeeeeee! I love new running gear! And it was on sale for $15. I decided to take it with me today on my run (part of my getting back out there) and I LOVE it!

Xersion Printed Half-Zip Pullover by JC Penny

 

It is a great jacket. I went out for a 3 mile run in 41 degree temps with a lovely wind kicking up. I wore a cold weather long-sleeve under it and felt perfectly fine. I loved the thumb holes. I'm a sucker for thumb holes on the sleeves. It kept most of my hand warm, though after half a mile my fingers were a tad bit cold. LOL! They were fine come the first full mile.

 

Hopefully this momentum keeps going. I need to lose the weight I've gained since July and take off the last 15ish to reach goal. Any amount I can lose between now and the beginning of 2013 will be very helpful.

 

What are you doing for exercise this holiday season? Going to the gym? Running? Taking a class?

Meals

My Grandmother is 87 years old. About 20 years ago, give or take, she decided she had cooked long enough in her lifetime and she wasn't going to do much of it anymore. Sure, she and my Grandfather had sandwiches, soup, and such but she decided no more big meals. For some reason I already feel that way and I'm not where near 87 years old.

I grew up in a family where everything was home made. My dad cooked (he was a cook in the Coast Guard for a number of years) and my mom baked. It was all from scratch. So, I have some guilt about not making from scratch meals for hubby and I, especially since we don't have kids. I have the time, but I realize I don't have the inclination.

This week I tried making my grocery list reflect the fact that we need to eat in more and eat healthier. I was able to purchase a Gordon's Baked Tilapia and since we have lots of various frozen veggies I know we will have a good meal. We also have frozen Jennie-O turkey burgers in the freezer we can have with chips. There are light hot dogs in there. We have tuna we can mix with Zatarian's mix or taco seasoning.

Hopefully this will help us keep our costs down and eat a bit healthier. I was happy at the store today when at the end of check-out we had saved $36.00. I'll take that. Coupons and sales are where it's at.

 

After months of ignoring the scale, I decided to face it head on.  Ugh.  It isn't as bad as I anticipated, but gaining 10 pounds is not pleasant. It also explains the pants/jeans not fitting as well as they did.

So, what does this mean?  It means I know where I am. 23 pounds over my goal weight.  It means I have 3.5 months to move the scale in the downward direction to hopefully reach goal or close to it by December 31st.

I'm back to logging what I eat.  I need to get better at that and working out, but it's a work in progress.  I have that pesky half marathon coming up in October.  Then I have two months of being able to pick races for fun.  Hopefully this helps motivate me to get my butt in gear!