Happy Friday everyone!!
So last weekend I watched a few documentaries on Netflix about dieting and eating clean and all that... It inspired me to 1) look more closely at what's actually in my food and 2) to try going Sweet-free for a week. Sweets are my achilles heel, and also are the least natural, most processed foods currently in my diet so I wanted to see what all would happen if I took them out. BOOM down 2 more pounds, and that's with less exercise than last week but quadruple the results! I also noticed that my belly is flatter and I am fuller.
Protein, fat, and carbs are all necessary for satiety; so by restricting those I wasn't doing my body any favors and felt more deprived than anything. This week I chose almonds and cottage cheese with applesauce as my snacks, the almonds are much higher in point value but they are so fulfilling and helped me to feel fuller.
My recommendation, try a week or so like I did and reduce the processed foods, especially sweets in your life :)
Recipes I used this week were: healthy chicken taquitoes, and the healthy hash scramble!
This weekend I have my local Relay for Life so I won't be able to eat very well, but I have packed some healthy snacks like apple slices, carrot sticks, banana pb2 wraps and a subway. I am on the committee as well as being a team captain so I will be there for about 19 hours O.O looonnngggg day! But I will be getting plenty of exercise walking, and it should be a good time, the Survivors lap and Luminaria ceremony always get to me...
Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! I'll check back in with you all later :)
How I found my way to health and fitness and how you can have fun along the way!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Crazy happenings...
Hello everyone!
First of all I'd like to extend my deepest sympathies to anyone affected by the Boston Marathon bombs and the Texas fertilizer plant explosions. This week has been a dark one for our country and I hope that the particulars can be resolved soon. I would challenge you all to dedicate your runs or other workout to Pray for Boston and share them.
Well, I finally made it back down to my goal weight yay! It took more effort this time, at least it felt like it, and I think part of that is because I have more muscle and less fat so dropping weight is harder. So to those of you in the same boat just keep at it!!! I also suggest switching it up, sometimes it can help jumpstart the process. Now comes the daunting task of learning to maintain this weight. I think that as long as I keep exercising at least 3x a week and eat wisely, at my point limit rather than below, I should be able to maintain and maybe even lose a little more fairly easily. The real trick will come when I go home for the summer... But I've been charged with the task of helping my mom get into a healthy routine and I'm addicted to exercising, so hopefully it won't be as hard!
Something that I've always had an issue with is stress/boredom eating... Recently there's been a lot of stress in my life so I really needed to find a healthy way of dealing with this. I started taking walks or running at time s of the day when the cravings are at their worst; this makes me less hungry and feel much happier :) You really are only a run or a workout away from a better mood!
I've promised my family and friends that I would accept a +/- 4lb mentality and I hope to be able to stick to it. This is to allow for menstruation weight fluxes and the occasional splurge. I suggest everyone coming to the end of their journey develop a similar strategy to make life livable and not a constant weight struggle.
Recipes I've tried this week:
-6pt Taco Salad
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1 cup romaine lettuce
cucumber
1/2 bell pepper
2 chives
1 roma tomatoe
1/2 c 97% lean ground turkey cooked in taco seasoning and salsa
1/8 c fat free cheddar cheese
6-8 Baked Tositoes Scoops crumbled over the top
2 tbps Fat-free Thousand Island dressing
First of all I'd like to extend my deepest sympathies to anyone affected by the Boston Marathon bombs and the Texas fertilizer plant explosions. This week has been a dark one for our country and I hope that the particulars can be resolved soon. I would challenge you all to dedicate your runs or other workout to Pray for Boston and share them.
Well, I finally made it back down to my goal weight yay! It took more effort this time, at least it felt like it, and I think part of that is because I have more muscle and less fat so dropping weight is harder. So to those of you in the same boat just keep at it!!! I also suggest switching it up, sometimes it can help jumpstart the process. Now comes the daunting task of learning to maintain this weight. I think that as long as I keep exercising at least 3x a week and eat wisely, at my point limit rather than below, I should be able to maintain and maybe even lose a little more fairly easily. The real trick will come when I go home for the summer... But I've been charged with the task of helping my mom get into a healthy routine and I'm addicted to exercising, so hopefully it won't be as hard!
Something that I've always had an issue with is stress/boredom eating... Recently there's been a lot of stress in my life so I really needed to find a healthy way of dealing with this. I started taking walks or running at time s of the day when the cravings are at their worst; this makes me less hungry and feel much happier :) You really are only a run or a workout away from a better mood!
I've promised my family and friends that I would accept a +/- 4lb mentality and I hope to be able to stick to it. This is to allow for menstruation weight fluxes and the occasional splurge. I suggest everyone coming to the end of their journey develop a similar strategy to make life livable and not a constant weight struggle.
Recipes I've tried this week:
-6pt Taco Salad
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1 cup romaine lettuce
cucumber
1/2 bell pepper
2 chives
1 roma tomatoe
1/2 c 97% lean ground turkey cooked in taco seasoning and salsa
1/8 c fat free cheddar cheese
6-8 Baked Tositoes Scoops crumbled over the top
2 tbps Fat-free Thousand Island dressing
1pt Banana Bread
0pt Banana Ice cream!
frozen bananas in the blender with unsweetened cocoa and or low-fat peanut butter/ pb2
I'm going to try some Skinny Chicken Taquitos this week, I'll let you all know how it goes :) Other than that I'm just trying to keep up with school and studying for my Radiology Registry exam, only 28 days til I take that...
Keep at it! As always feel free to comment here or message me with questions or if you'd like to share :)
Friday, April 5, 2013
Healthy Chicken Pesto Pizza
I LOVE pesto and chicken pesto pizza used to be a rare treat, not usually a "dieting" item. But after some internet research I've found a delicious and healthy recipe!
Ingredients:
- Weissenbergs pizza crust mix, whole package
- 1/2 cup artichoke hearts in water
-1 medium red bell pepper
-8oz cooked chicken breast, bite size pieces
-1/3 cup low fat pesto sauce
- 1/2 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and spray a cookie or pizza sheet with cooking spray.
2. Mix up pizza crust and let set for atleast 5 minutes. In the meantime cook up your chicken and slice the red bell pepper.
3. Roll out the pizza dough into a crust big enough for 8 slices. Evenly spread the pesto sauce over the crust.
4. Spread the chicken, artichoke hearts, and bell pepper over the pesto and top with mozzarella.
5. Cook the pizza for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and crust is browned.
6. Slice into 8 servings and enjoy!
Here is the finished product and a view of a single serving:
I thought it was a winner, comment and let me know what you think!
Ingredients:
- Weissenbergs pizza crust mix, whole package
- 1/2 cup artichoke hearts in water
-1 medium red bell pepper
-8oz cooked chicken breast, bite size pieces
-1/3 cup low fat pesto sauce
- 1/2 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and spray a cookie or pizza sheet with cooking spray.
2. Mix up pizza crust and let set for atleast 5 minutes. In the meantime cook up your chicken and slice the red bell pepper.
3. Roll out the pizza dough into a crust big enough for 8 slices. Evenly spread the pesto sauce over the crust.
4. Spread the chicken, artichoke hearts, and bell pepper over the pesto and top with mozzarella.
5. Cook the pizza for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and crust is browned.
6. Slice into 8 servings and enjoy!
Here is the finished product and a view of a single serving:
I thought it was a winner, comment and let me know what you think!
Calories vs. Points
Happy Friday!! It's a beautiful day here in Southern Illinois, finally some Spring/summer weather! Made me kind of sad to be indoors all morning working out, but I sure needed it... This last week and a half, two weeks, I've been experimenting with comparing what I eat in calories vs. points. I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app and have been dutifully logging every morsel I consume, or fairly close to it. My experiment showed that counting points keeps you very close to the suggested calorie limit for weight loss. For example, I was on 16pts a day this last week and I usually kept under 1390 calories, 1400 being my limit, even counting veggies and fruit that are free on Weight Watchers!
I like the idea of counting both when I have the time because it really makes me concentrate on what I'm eating and helps me keep my fruits to a reasonable limit. My Fitness Pal makes it easy to log food, exercise and water intakes! If you're having trouble getting results or just want a challenge, try tracking both this week and let me know how it goes :)
I'm hoping to get back down to goal-weight this week, post spring break, and thus be able to really test my ability to balance eating more normal and exercising less crazily while maintaining that weight. This is something I'm very nervous about getting a handle on, especially with a summer at home ahead of me.
Hope you are all well! Please message me if you have any questions or comments!
I like the idea of counting both when I have the time because it really makes me concentrate on what I'm eating and helps me keep my fruits to a reasonable limit. My Fitness Pal makes it easy to log food, exercise and water intakes! If you're having trouble getting results or just want a challenge, try tracking both this week and let me know how it goes :)
I'm hoping to get back down to goal-weight this week, post spring break, and thus be able to really test my ability to balance eating more normal and exercising less crazily while maintaining that weight. This is something I'm very nervous about getting a handle on, especially with a summer at home ahead of me.
Hope you are all well! Please message me if you have any questions or comments!
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