Posts Tagged ‘healthy-living’
Let’s Talk Breakfast!
Posted on: April 6, 2013
Linking Up today with Visible Monday & Watch What I am Wearing
I find that I do much better staying on a healthy path if I keep my breakfasts and lunches rotating between a few tried and true favorites…So what exactly are those few options you may ask? I am offering full disclosure of my journey so here is what works for me..
This shirt is not flatter to my midsection in this pose, but did not look like that in real life!!!
Smoothies– made with Greek Yogurt and Fruit.. I buy large bags of frozen fruit from BJ’s and Sam’s Club Typically Strawberries or a Tropical Fruit Variety.. To this I add Flaxseed meal and 1tbsp Olive Oil and either Truvia or Agave for sweetner.
Yogurt and Fruit– I don’t like the sour flavor of yogurt so opt for Yoplait Whips which are twice the points as other light versions, but the only way I can ingest it without if feeling like I am eating medicine and just tolerating it.. In addition I will have either a banana or grapes, or watermelon.
Hard boiled Eggs and Fruit
2- Feta & Veggie Frittatas and maybe a glass of milk.. On other days I opt for green tea and add fruit. I switch out the peppers and scallions for mushrooms and onions as I don’t like peppers…
Slice of Whole Wheat Bread, Peanut Butter topped with bannana and green tea. Other Options here are Better than Peanut Butter or something I am wanting to try, but haven’t as of yet, Almond Butter…
Omelet w/mushrooms, onions, low fat cheese and fruit with green tea. This is the least one I use as I only do so when I have pre cooked mushrooms and onions in the frig…
Since this is not a diet, (it is a lifestyle change), it is important to stay true to your own tastes and put in place real life things that can become a new habit. I prefer quick items for breakfast and that dictates my choices. In my weight gaining years, I ate cereal for breakfast , my favorites were Raisin Bran or Wheat Chex. Not terrible choices but I had to drop those options because I was eating double serving sizes , which ends up starting off the day with almost half the amount of points WW recommends for me….I don’t miss it at all and feel that getting the probiotics, protein and fruit or vegetables is more valuable.
Gratitude: I am grateful to my husband for telling me the story of a 13yr old boy in the news who killed himself after experiencing bullying at school(we are praying for his family and friends) and using it to thank me for homeschooling our youngest child and keeping him out of middle school… I am grateful for my own strength to push past all those naysayers who questioned my resolve to home school. I am grateful to my 17 yr old who found pictures on an old computer and saved them on a zip drive and shared his discovery with the rest of us(we had so much fun going through the memories). I am grateful that Connor found a book that interested him and read without me having to tell him to(huge progress for a child who was falsely diagnosed with a reading disability!!!)
Dear Readers, Any questions are comments are welcomed. Next Monday I will write about lunches, so be sure to follow me if you aren’t doing so already! I will continue daily with what I ate for each day…Wednesdays I will post my WW meeting results. Thanks for your support and hope this inspires you to make even just one change for a healthier lifestyle. Now off to exercise!!!!
Final thoughts, If I am aiming for Full Disclosure, I need to include my daily healthy guidelines some from WW some are my own ( I will not be going into the WW point system too much as I feel it is irresponsible since that number varies depending on your age and weight and I am at the lowest end)
Dairy- 2-3 servings
Fruits & Veggies- 4 -5
Protein- 2-3
Healthy oil-2tbs
Probiotics -2
Green Tea-2
H20- 6
Saturday’s meals– Breakfast: Yogurt, Banana & Green Tea
Lunch: (on the run) 2 wedges Laughing Cow cheese wedges & Grapes
Afternoon Snack: Yogurt
Dinner- Chicken wrap- made with 50 Calorie wheat tortilla by Smart Delicious and stuffed with Chiken, mushrooms onions. lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. (Note this torilla is small but I just fold it in half and stuff it full,not something I would eat in public!!!! LOL) I Still had 5 points left and needed more vegetables, so ate more salad greens with Lt Italian dressing & olive oil plus 2 pt dessert of Newtons Fruit thins which are just 2 pts for 3 cookies… Yeah stayed within my points and ate all the healthy guidelines!
SundayMeals –Breakfast: Smoothie and today I added my green tea!
Lunch: Sharp Cheddar cheese stick , pre -cooked Fajita steak strips & apple
Afternoon Snack- Newtons Thins & Milk
Dinner: BBQ chicken w/ bacon, tomato & cheese- a favorite of my family, I use to eat it as a sandwhich, but now just make it in individual corning ware… added olive oil to bbq sauce to get that in…
My biggest problem in losing these final ten pounds is one hundred percent due to a carb addiction. It is the thing that caused me to gain weight in the first place. Back then I was in emotional pain from closing my store and my mother’s dementia. Now it’s stemming from the three weeks of not feeling well.. Who craves fruit, veggies and protein when they are having stomach bug or even when taste buds get messed up from sinus infection???
Didn’t bring sunglasses outside because it was 6:30pm….
No matter how much I tried to eat right these past few weeks the carbs have won out and all reason and doing what I know to be right has gone out the window… The problem with this is that once I indulge in one carb high meal for the day, my body craves more. I successfully lost the weight because I filled myself up with yogurt , fruits, veggies and lean protein… I did eat whole wheat pasta and whole wheat wraps and that was pretty much it for carbs as meal items. I also allowed myself one WW 3 pt Dark chocolate Raspberry Ice cream bar almost every day…
Rocking my new purple leopard spotted jeans by Diane Gilman who has a huge variety of styles and a large following of women who own up to 50 pairs! I am on my way to that….
The thing is that when I was losing successfully I ate at least 5 times a day, stayed within my points and lost an average of one pound per week.. I was never hungry and felt really good, vibrant and alive… Eating these carbs lately is making me tired and I have been napping a lot… I have made excuses and been blaming this on my current changes due to menopause… Truth is like I said from the beginning of this journey it is about getting Mind, Body and Spirit all in alignment and balance…
So after eating banana bread for breakfast, I refuse to go down that path today… For lunch I had a yogurt and grapes (after a long nap). For dinner I think I will cook up some chicken with mushrooms and onions for a wrap with lettuce tomato and cheese, leaving enough points for another yogurt… ( I am trying to eat two probiotics a day) In order to curb this addiction I am going to hold myself accountable by becoming more transparent and divulge what I eat daily… Hope you will join me on this journey and if you are trying to eat healthier for either weight loss or just to be kinder to your body, comment and let us support each other in the journey!
The good news is that I have been exercising daily for the past four days and am really loving the feeling and am not just aiming to lose weight but increase my cardio for my heart and tone up for my self esteem!
Dear Readers, Have a Wonderful Weekend! If you read this entire post, thank you and I hope to bring some of you along on this journey with me! Those last ten pounds aren’t going to know what hit them! I am now in balance and have my head back on straight and a force to be reckoned with!
Weigh In Day
Posted on: February 20, 2013
Today was weigh in day and I wasn’t looking forward to it… I have been working out really hard, but stress ate for the first time since starting Weight Watchers…I went for the Chocolate Chip cookies and not just once but several times…
I gained .8, which in part was due to the fact that I was wearing an extra sweater for weigh in and that is not just wishful thinking. I weighed myself at home with and without it and it was .4 difference. All in all less than a pound is really nothing and I am not worried about it. I don’t sweat the small stuff. I think my exercising saved me from a larger gain!
I gained all my weight due to stress eating and was proud of curbing that habit and doing so well. For ten months I succeeded. I know that my success was due to several reasons. One main one is eating mostly what Weight Watchers calls Power Foods, meaning fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and low fat dairy. In addition I am scheduling myself to eat 5 times a day, which curbs impulse eating. With the trip, I wasn’t as prepared this week and didn’t surround myself with things to make me successful. So will make sure no matter how busy I get that I don’t fall short there again.. In fact I came home and hard boiled a bunch of eggs and went the store for fruit and got my 2pt ice cream bars for cravings…
This isn’t a skirt, it’s actually a dress. Look Here for how I wore it before.
The good news is that I am now aware that I have to make sure to have the right things in the house . no matter what is going on. The other good news that I shared in my meeting today is that my exercising with weights and doing these exercises from Melt it Off with Mitch Dvd(purchased on Ebay) for my stomach have really paid off. I started working consistently on this and now have defined lines in my stomach. I affectionately call it “my two pack” as my lower abs are never going to be the best since I had a C-section but I have definite definition in the upper abs.. I also have defined vertical lines on either side of my abs. I have never had this kind of definition in my stomach and I love it. I am going to keep it up and wonder where I will be with this by summer…
Please go see some other wonderful bloggers Linking up with The Pleated Poppy
Dear Readers, Are any of you working on toning your bodies and getting ready for warmer weather? My body is now craving it and I have actually come to enjoy it. I have now gone from just the goal of losing weight and body measurements to wanting everything toned and tight… Wish me luck, it’s a big order.. I will say that going to WW meetings I meet lots of women older than myself who encourage me to do this now as it gets harder as you age. So taking the advice of my Elders!
Gratitude: I am grateful for my WW meetings and the boost it gives me every week…I am grateful for the woman at my meeting who apologized for staring at me , confessing that she just can’t get over my age and how great my skin looks… I am grateful that my husband had a short break in the day that allowed us to do a quick tanning in preparation for the vacation. I am grateful for a wonderful conversation with my daughter who is away at college. I am grateful that my 17 year old is being so responsible and signing up for SAT’s and college tours with no prompting from me! I am grateful for the moment when my youngest hugged me today and told me I was “perfectly huggable” !
I have to say that while I really like water aerobics in deep water and finning(swimming with a kick-board and fins in several ways to promote all over body workout). I had a membership to the YMCA and was there for three days a week and in the pool for about 21/2 hours each visit. Unfortunately as a mother that involved a lot of work to provide that for myself and it got old pretty quick…If only I had a husband who was at home nights instead of out working…
So right before joining Weight Watchers, I happened to catch an infomercial on the Fluidity Ballet Bar program. I loved what I saw from the very first moment, but refused to make an impulse decision on something with that price point.
What made me decide to make the purchase:
1. Reviews on Facebook page that were very positive and most impressive and repeated review was that the workout could only be done every other day as the body needed a recovery day.
2. It reignited my love of ballet that was part of my early childhood
3. It is low impact and would not hurt my knee or sciatica.
4. I respect the program as it is a combination of Yoga and Pilates
5. I tested some of the moves with a chair for two weeks and saw the value.
6 It is an all over body workout and targeted my trouble spots.
7. I can do it from home whenever I find the time
8. They offered a payment plan that made it much more affordable
I religiously did the program for 3 days a week for one month before joining Weight Watchers. I did not change my eating habits and lost 8 pounds. The reviews were right I could not do it more than 3 days a week. It kicked my butt each time. I have finished the payments and have no regrets for making this purchase. While I have neglected to do a regimented program, I have kept it up in my den and use it often, just not the full work out…
So I now realize I have been saving this as my secret weapon… I am now at the end of the weight loss journey and those last pounds are the hardest to lose. I am determined…So I am making the commitment to the full workout for 3 days a week. I don’t like embarrassing myself and do really well with accountability. Now that I have put it out there to you, my dear readers, I have to commit…
The proof is not just in the scale moving, so I will track my measurements as well. Since I weigh in on Tuesdays, my week is going to start on Tuesdays. So far this week I did it on Thursday and again this morning. That means Monday will be day three for the first week!
I am not receiving any compensation for any recommendations made on my blog.
So What is your favorite exercise program? Comments are welcomed and appreciated!
