So, as of yesterday at about 10am, I am officially on Christmas break

WHOO!

As per usual, I gave myself the rest of the day to do whatever I wanted…meaning nap and read Harry Potter   I also decided that it would be ok to ‘treat myself’…meaning breaking into the Chocolate Orange that my dad gave me a couple of weeks ago and that I’ve been saving for a special occasion.  I have to say, although yesterday definitely could have been a healthier day, I think it was the right thing to do.  I didn’t force myself to do anything, got lots of rest, still managed to eat reasonably healthy, and even went for a jog later in the day and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I definitely could have gotten more exercise last, but being the Christmas season and all, I had a party to go to   But now I can say I’ve given myself a good full ‘rest’ day, and can be productive for the rest of my vacation.

Which brings me to today.  I must admit, I am a little bummed that I’m at work today, which is dampening my ‘excited-to-be-on-vacation’ spirit.    Considering that it’s my first real vacation day, I would much rather be at home cleaning/sewing/dancing around the house…but unfortuately school costs lots and lots of money, so I need all the shifts I can get.  However, so far the day has actually been pretty good.  I’ve spent most of the morning reading Harry Potter, went for a little walk to stretch my legs, and helped a few people.  I am a little disappointed in myself that I indulged in a  small Hot Chocolate (220cal, 4.5g fat, 41g sugar) while I was waiting for my shift to start…and acually, looking at the nutritional info there…that will definitely be my last ‘non-homemade’ hot chocolate for a while…wow…41 g of sugar…huh!

Ok, so except for that little slip up, I am determined to have a healthy holiday.  I’ve definitely gained a few pounds over the end of of the semester, and now’s the time to get rid of it.  And I realize it will be harder this time, because I don’t have a gym membership this time, and it will be harder to get outside with all the cold and snow.  I do however, still have the elliptical in the basement, and there’s the bonus that they built a sidewalk connecting my subdivision with the neighbouring subdivisions so I  can go walk in the winter without having to be on the highway.

So yes, this WILL be a healthy holiday.  I’m going to use my vacation to exercise, even if I don’t feel like it, because I NEED to lose this extra weight.  And just to remind myself of the reasons…

• My back will not get better until I lose the weight. 
• I can’t go skiing until my back gets better
• My jeans are currently tight enough that I want to wear sweatpants all the time…which isn’t exactly practical.
• I would really like to look great when everyone is home at Christmas.
• I put a LOT of work into losing all this weight the first time around…I CANNOT gain it all back.
• I feel better when I eat healthy and exercise
• I only have one body, and so far I haven’t been treating it as well as I should be.

Ok, so now I’m feeling a little depressed…I know I’ve been gaining weight the past few weeks, but I’ve been so busy that I haven’t really had time to dwell on it…and now I’m feeling a little disappointed in myself…and not really looking forward to all the hard work of getting rid of it.

But I know it’s something I need to do, so I may as well just suck it up and deal with it.  I’m going to lay off the treats, stop eating things I know I shouldn’t (including food that honey makes for himself that I would never think of making, but eat because it’s convenient), I’m going to give up fast food (including dairy queen, honey’s extra fries, and hot chocolate), and implement a sensible exercise plan (we all know what happened the last time I decided to go all out with a new exercise plan…I wound up with chronic back pain).

Ok, I think that’s it for today…

Thanks for listening…

L.L.

In my last post I came up with a great plan….but things have been going a little downhill…the past month has been insanely busy with school and work, so I haven’t had a whole lot of time to devote to healthy eating.  Instead, I’ve been stuffing my face with halloween candy in an ineffective effort to combat the stress.  I fully understand that emotional eating is a bad thing, but when you’re pressed for time and have to devote all your time to things like homework, you start to feel that you deserve that candy.

*sigh*

I have this HUGE desire in me to lose weight…I even had a dream about it last night where I had lost so much weight that my pants were baggy…I just need to find the right way to go about it.  Lately it seems like my main problems have been a lack of time, and then a lack of willpower when I am faced with food… I definitely find that healthy behaviours lead to more healthy behaviours, while unhealthy behaviours lead to more unhealthy behaviours. 

So, for example, if I’ve had a great week filled with lots of exercise, and reasonably healthy eating, I’ll be more likely to have the willpower to turn down treats…while if I’ve had a busy week with little exercise, I’ll be more likely to indulge…

And of course, this is a major problem, because they say if you indulge one day, you should just keep better control of your eating the rest of the week, but I seem to work the opposite way…

Ok, so lets look at the positives for a second:

- I usually manage to fit in at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.  Usually it’s walking, but I’ve gotten better at fitting in high intensity workouts and yoga in there too.  And if I do miss a few days, I always manage to bounce back.

- For the most part, I like healthy food.  I rarely eat fast food or takeout, and even then I lean towards salads with healthy dressing.  I even find it to be kind of a fun game at restaurants to try and ‘beat the system’ to order food in healthier ways (ie. dressing on the side, no bacon bits, less mayo, etc).   And at home, I drink skim milk, eat whole wheat grain products, and generally watch my portion sizes with snacks.

- I never let ‘being healthier’ get too far in the back of my mind.  It’s definitely something I think about on a daily basis, and I always try to ‘think healthy’ when making my food choices.

- I like fun things like notebooks and spreadsheets where I can track my progress because I find it motivating and neat.

And now the negatives:

- I will knowingly make bad decisions if I’m having a bad day.  I need something that I can always fall back on…even when I’m having the craziest day ever…a reason to stick with my healthy eating.

- I’m affected by the weather…when it’s cold or rainy outside, my instincts tell me to stay inside when its warm.  I need to act like an adult and take responsibility for my body…instead of whining like a kid and ignoring my responsibility to myself.

- I need to find time to come up with a system (spreadsheet, notebook, etc).  I know that my health is a foundation for everything else in my life…if I’m not healthy then I can’t perform to my full potential, so I have to make time for it like the important thing that it is.  I have gotten better with this lately, but I still have a ways to go.

 

Speaking of devoting time to my health, I gave myself one of my study hours to think about my weight loss issues, and that hour is up, so I have to go.

Thanks for listening,

L.L.

Welcome to the first week of November…

October was a pretty good month, all things considered.  I was able to keep up with tracking my exercise and it really gave me some motivation to get out on those cold nights and to be creative about fitting in exercise where I could.

But of course, the end of October means Halloween and therefore an overload of Candy.  I did my best to watch the candy intake, but a combination of midterms, no time, and a lack of healthy food in the house lead to some pretty unhealthy choices.  And that lead to my weigh-in yesterday morning (I get on the scale every monday) at a disappointing 167.5.

So I’m back here to review where I messed up, what I need to concentrate on, and what I can do to get myself back down to 165…and maybe back into those 150s before Christmas

So what are my plans for November?

Vision: To have a very healthy November so I can wear pretty clothes at Christmas, and have guidelines to follow so that I don’t go overboard over the holidays.

Goal: I will lose 5 pounds in November and my pants will be loose.

So what tools do I need to accomplish my goal?

• Time scheduled into my week that is devoted to healthy planning
• Time scheduled into every day for exercise
• A healthy freezerable lunch 
• A weekly supper plan
• A list of healthy snack choices
• Healthy snacks at school
• Healthy food in the house
• Healthy recipes that are easy to prepare
• A spreadsheet for my palm pilot on which I can track my progress
• A list of exercise options on the fridge for every day of the week

So what behaviours do I need to accomplish my goal?

• Stay away from chocolate (can I go a whole month without chocolate?)
• Every morning schedule my exercise into my palm pilot and stick to it (illness is the only exception)
• Measure my portion sizes
• Stick with healthy breakfasts (1c raisin bran, 1/2c yogurt, milk, banana)

Ok, so I think this should work out.  If I can put together a list of healthy supper recipes, and make sure that on Sunday that I have the ingredients for at least two big meals a week (Monday & Wednesday), then leftovers will get me through the work week and Friday and be healthy pickup suppers (soup & sandwidch, etc).  I stil need a healthy casserole recipe that I can make and freeze for my lunches, so I’ll have to look into that maybe tonight. 

On a side note, I wonder if I could get a second calendar application on my palm that I could use to schedule meals? Hmmm…

Well, I’d better get going, it’s almost time for class.

Thanks for listening,

L.L.

Ok, so things have been going pretty okay for the past little bit. I’ve had a cold, and felt a little dizzy, but I’ve still managed to get a decent amount of exercise. I’ve been trying to watch what I eat…making healthy lunches, watching what I snack on through the day, having reasonably healthy suppers…but I know I definitely have room for improvement.

For example, last night a couple of our friends invited honey and I over for supper…and it definitely was not the healthiest…wine, crackers & cheese, bruschetta, bone-in chicken thighs with the skin on, potato salad, greek salad, and a HUGE brownie for dessert. I did leave some potato salad on my plate, but half of that brownie would have been more than enough…and I had two full glasses of wine.

So what I really need to work on is my restraint. I know you’re probably getting sick of hearing about my ‘rules’…but I really do find that if I keep reminding myself of my goals and how I need to get there, it helps

Ok, so here it goes:

• Stick to raisin bran & milk for breakfast
• Banana or apple morning snack, and tea or coffee, and almonds
• ‘Healthy goulash’ or turkey sandwidch lunch with applesauce for dessert
• Oatmeal or graham crackers for afternoon snack
• Glass of veggie juice after school
• Healthy supper
  • Watch portions!
  • Remember to have mostly veggies!
• Fruit & yogurt for dessert, with a piece of chocolate
• Watch evening eating

And to keep myself out of trouble:

• No alcohol on school nights
• Alcohol only once a week
• Limit treats to once per day
• Don’t give in to peer pressure!
• If you really want a treat, only have half!  Save the other half for another time!!

Ok, that should be good for now

And on the bright side, I got on the scale this morning and I’m down to 155.0 lbs!  Hoooray!

And one other P.S…I’ve been tracking my exercise in an Excel spreadsheet on my palm pilot and its been working out super well…I’ll take a screen shot of it soon and post it up here.

Thanks for listening!

L.L.

Topping

• 8 plum tomatoes, chopped 8
• 1 garlic clove, minced 1
• 1/2 tsp salt 2 mL
• fresh basil leaves, optional
• 1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese 454 g
• mushrooms, peppers, onions, etc.

Dough

• 2 tsp granulated sugar 10 mL
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 11 mL
• 1 1/2 cups warm water 375 mL
• 2 tbsp olive oil 30 mL
• 2 tsp salt 10 mL
• 1 tsp garlic powder 5 mL
• 4 cups ROBIN HOOD Best For Bread Homestyle White Flour 1 L

Preparation

Topping: Combine first 4 ingredients in non-metallic bowl and set aside to marinate.

Dough: Dissolve sugar in warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast. Let stand 10 minutes and then stir well. Add olive oil, salt, garlic powder and 3 1/2 cups (875mL) of Robin Hood Best for Bread Homestyle White Flour. Beat with wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth and elastic. If necessary, add more flour to make a soft dough which leaves sides of bowl.

Turn out onto lightly floured board. Round up into a ball. Knead dough, adding more flour until smooth, elastic and no longer sticky (8-10 minutes). Place in lightly greased bowl. Turn to grease top. Cover with waxed paper and tea towel and let rise in warm place, until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Punch down. Turn onto lightly floured board and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll dough to large rectangle and place on to greased baking sheet (20″ x 15″/50 cm x 38 cm) or two round pizza pans.

Spread with tomato mixture, cover with cheese and veggies. Bake in pre-heated 425ºF (220ºC) oven for 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

 

Source: http://www.robinhood.ca/recipe.details.asp?prcid=29&rid=649

If you’ve never thought about pizza as a sophisticated supper, think again. The Roasted Pepper, Goat Cheese and Olive Tapenade Pizza is a versatile dinner (or lunch!) solution that suits any taste and occasion. Prepared from scratch, this gourmet pizza tastes best when made with Robin Hood Best for Bread Homestyle White Flour. A perfect meal when you’re hosting an evening with friends or family, this delicious blend of olives, goat cheese and roasted red peppers over a crispy crust will have guests reaching for a second slice…and possibly a third. Here’s a tip: Replace Robin Hood Best for Bread Homestyle White Flour with Whole Wheat or Multigrain Blend Best for Bread Flour. Try varying the toppings to suit your own personal taste. For a thick crust, let rise about 30 minutes before topping.

DOUGH 2 tsp sugar 10 mL 2 tsp (8 g) active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp/11 mL) 10 mL 1 1/2 cups water, warm 375 mL 2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil 30 mL 2 tsp salt 10 mL 1 tsp garlic powder 5 mL 1 tsp dried basil 5 mL 4 cups ROBIN HOOD Best For Bread Homestyle White Flour 1 L OLIVE TAPENADE 1 can (398 mL) pitted black olives 1 can 1 clove garlic, minced 1 clove 3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil 45 mL 1 tsp dried basil 5 mL 1/2 tsp black pepper 2 mL TOPPING 1 cup roasted red pepper, strips 250 mL 2/3 cup goat cheese or feta cheese, crumbled 150 mL

Preparation

DISSOLVE sugar in warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes, then stir well.

STIR in oil, salt, garlic powder, dried basil and 3 1/2 cups (875 mL) of Robin Hood Best for Bread Homestyle White Flour. Beat with wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth and elastic. If necessary, add more flour to make a soft dough which leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto floured board. Round up into ball.

KNEAD dough, adding more flour as necessary until smooth and no longer sticky (8-10 minutes).

PLACE in lightly greased bowl. Turn dough to grease top. Cover with greased waxed paper and tea towel.

LET RISE in warm place (75°-85°F/24°-29°C) until doubled (45-60 minutes).

PUNCH DOWN. Turn out onto lightly floured board and let rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into two. Press 1/2 batch in 14″ (35 cm) pizza pan. Repeat with rest of batch to make 2 crusts.

COMBINE all ingredients for olive tapenade in food processor until smooth. Spread each pizza with olive mixture. Top with roasted red peppers and goat cheese.

BAKE at 425°F (220°C) for about 20 minutes, or until crust is crisp and browned.

Source: http://www.robinhood.ca/recipe.details.asp?prcid=13&rid=60

So, earlier this week I came up with some ‘Healthy Me’ ideas, including some ideas for incorporating a variety of exercises into my fitness routine:

FITNESS IDEAS (Diversify my fitness):

• Yoga 60 min 2x per week
• Pilates 15 min 2x per week
• Weights 30 min 2x per week
• Hard cardio 60 min per week

Well, so far this week has been a bust.  Monday was pretty good…I got 30 minutes on the elliptical, 20 min of yoga, and 30 min of walking.  But Monday night I worked 6-11, and Tuesday we went shopping after work, and by the time I got home it was too late to go to yoga, I was pooped, and still had my cold, so I stayed home to rest.  The plan was that Wednesday I’d get up early and go to the gym, and when that didn’t happen I figured I’d go after clinical in the afternoon, but that didn’t work out either…I didn’t get to have lunch until after 2pm, so I was dizzy and headachy, and with the cold on top of that I didn’t think getting on the elliptical would be a great idea.  But now that means it’s Thursday and I NEED to exercise.  My plan is to go to yoga tonight at 745…and maybe I can go a little bit earlier and do some more cardio?  *sigh*  Things are not working out as I planned…

Thanks for listening,

L.L.

Prep Time:
10 minTotal Time:
40 minMakes:
42 cups mashed cooked butternut squash 1/2 cup PHILADELPHIA Light Cream Cheese Spread 3/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs, divided 2 Tbsp. brown sugar 1 egg Dash each of ground ginger, pepper and salt Just follow our 3 simple steps:
——————————————————————————–

COMBINE 2 cups mashed cooked butternut squash with 1/2 cup Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese Spread, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1 egg and a dash each of ground ginger, pepper and salt.

PLACE in a greased shallow baking dish (1 L). Sprinkle with additional 1/4 cup bread crumbs.

BAKE at 350°F for 30 min. or until lightly browned.

Source: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/butternut-squash-puff-84217.aspx

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

I love Zucchini but never know what to do with it…this recipe looks delicous

Prep Time:
20 min

Total Time:
35 min

Makes:
4

2 large zucchini (1 lb./450 g), parboiled

3/4 cup  KRAFT Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese, divided

1 small tomato, finely chopped

10   30% Less Fat RITZ Crackers, finely crushed

1 tsp. dried basil leaves

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Cut zucchini lengthwise in half; scoop out centres onto cutting board, leaving 1/4-inch-thick shells. Place shells in 9-inch square baking dish; set aside.

CHOP zucchini pulp; place in medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the cheese, the tomatoes, cracker crumbs and basil; mix lightly. Spoon evenly into zucchini shells; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

BAKE 15 min. or until heated through.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

How to Parboil Zucchini

Bring 2 L unsalted water to boil in large saucepan. Add zucchini; cook 6 to 8 min. or until fork-tender. Drain.

Source: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/stuffed-zucchini-boats-111180.aspx

A list of my favorite ‘healthy foods’ to keep in my kitchen:

Fruits & Veggies

• Baby carrots
• Frozen mixed veggies
• Frozen mixed fruit
• Bananas
• Apples
• Veggie Juice
• No sugar added apple sauce
• Canned diced tomatoes
• Canned peas & corn
• Canned kidney beans

Grains:

• Raisin Bran
• Small whole wheat tortillas
• Brown rice
• WW macaroni
• WW spaghetti
• Big bag o’Oatmeal
• WW flour

Dairy:

• Skim milk
• Skim cheese slices
• Low fat parmesan
• Block of skim cheddar cheese
• Small chocolate popsicles

Meat & Alternatives

• Extra lean ground beef
• Boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Light tuna packed in water
• Veggie Ground Round
• Veggie dogs or low-fat chicken hot dogs

Sauces & Condiments

• Tomato sauce