Day 2: Chicken Rotini

So far I'm off to a great start, the Moroccan Chicken was quite delicious, satisfying, and made for quick clean up! Plus I weighed in today, dropping 1.6 pounds since yesterday!

Tonight's dinner features whole wheat pasts and even sweet potato!

Chicken Rotini with Roma Tomato Sauce:
****
Adapted from The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook
Reheat: 30 minutes at 350°



> Prick one sweet potato with a fork and place into microwave for about 6 minutes. Or until soft. Remove skin, mash up and set aside.

> Cut 1/2 of a chicken breast into thin strips and set aside.

> In a skillet heat 1 Tbsp coconut oil over medium lie heat. Add 1/4 chopped vidalia onion, 1/2 a chopped carrot, and 1/2 a rib of chopped celery and cook until soft but not brown.

> Add a small sprig of basil, chopped, 1/4 tsp. Dried oregano, and 1 clove of minced garlic. Continue to cook another 2-3 minutes.

> Add 2 chopped Roma tomatoes, 1/2 of the sweet potato pulp, and a 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Add chicken strips and Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.

> Meanwhile, Fill a pot with water and a dash of salt and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 to 1 cup dried whole wheat rotini noodles to water and boil for about 10 minutes.

> Dain pasts and combine with tomato sauce.

Day 1: Moroccan Chicken

A few years ago, in a whole different life, I got sick and tired of coming home and staring into the pantry like it was a Magic 8 Ball every night - never truely yielding up anything of worth for me or the 2 hungry boys. So I decided to try out meal planning - which ended up saving me time, money, sanity, and of course weight gain! But life changes. Now, single, I just don't bother. I'm never in the mood to cook for just me, and my food always goes bad before I can finish it. So, naturally, I eat a lot of convenience food (or my sister's food - let's be honest!) And I will never be healthy like this - plus there is a lot to be said for a nice home cooked meal!

So this last Sunday I drew up a menu and went shopping. I made sure to choose dynamic dishes that also used similar ingredients. Then I spent a couple of hours Sunday cooking everything up. The hardest part was modifying for a single serving! Then I put each one into small (7x5x1) casserole dish and popped them into the freezer.

Day 1: Moroccan Chicken over Basmati Rice
*****
Reheat 30 mins. @ 350°
Modified from Eat Clean Diet Cookbook

> In a skillet heat 1tsp coconut oil over medium low heat. Add 1/4 of a vidallia onion, chopped, and sauté untill well cooked.

> Add half of a chicken breast, thinly sliced, and sauté 2 more minutes.

> In a small bowl combine a heavy pinch of sea salt, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp Chili powder and aheavy pinch of cinnamon - combine and then add to skillet, evenly distributing over chicken.

> Sauté until chicken is cooked through.

> Lay a bed of cooked Basmati rice into the caserole dish and top with chicken mixture.

> Cover and freeze immediately. Remove cover and cover with foil before replacing in the oven.

I'm in

I ( Oma) am new to this party, thank you for allowing me in girls.  I have been trying to loose weight for it seems most of my life....crazy because my family is all very small...but I have a horrible sweet tooth and no control.

I am taking control. 

June 1st the Hubs and I started a dextox cleanse with a product we were introduced to called Elemis...the first month every morning with breakfast we take a deep drainage body enhancement & a cal-metab plus capsule.  These are all herbal formulas.  We got enough for 6 months.

The guy explaining the program said that if the liver is clean then you won't store extra water as well as getting the toxins out of your system will help you digest your foods better and keep the intestines working well.  Also I have been getting so many colds lately and this is suppose to help the immune system.........It all makes sense. 

At the same time as doing this drinking lots of water and eating well and exercising is important...

~dah~

 we all know that part. 

I have been doing well all week, little slip ups but nothing big...if I start my day with greek yogurt (Melanie I loved that stuff you got me last weekend what was it again?) and blueberries or raspberries it just feels good for me and I can do well the rest of the day.

So far I have lost 4lbs this week....I need to lose 40 so if I can lose 4lbs a week that is only 10 weeks....I have to keep going I really want to be back in my clothes again...the ones I haven't thrown out for 10 years....and I want to be healthy to keep up with my grandkids.......yikes big goal - but girls

 I'm all in! 

While writing this I've already drank 1 glass of water...my water bottle is a 16oz panera bread cup with a pink straw and it works for me....I am also keeping a journal of what I eat...

Ok.... I'm using this blog to make me be accountable....here goes!!!!

hiccups

It's been a very long week or so... I don't get stressed all that often but when I do it's in a major way.

And I have been stressed.

I need a break... but that's a different matter. My biggest problem with keeping on my diet is that I am a horrible stress-eater. In fact this has been me for at least the last week:

I need to get a grip. So whether I like it or not, I'm going back to being good starting NOW.

I haven't weighed in in a week and a half, I'm slightly concerned about what that number will be but I can't beat myself up about it... I just need to go back to what I was doing...

...I've always wanted to take Krav Maga, I bet that would take care of both my weight and my stress...

Sunday Confessional

My lovely sisters gave me publishing rights on this blog and I never post anything. Until now.  I don't post things as this is not my preferred method of encouraging myself to be more healthy.  However something that does speak to me is Mathematics.  I recently read an article that mathematically explains the issue of obesity today.  Being an applied mathematician I found this article fascinating.  I would draw your attention to some of his ending remarks:

Any practical advice from your number crunching?

One of the things the numbers have shown us is that weight change, up or down, takes a very, very long time. All diets work. But the reaction time is really slow: on the order of a year. 

People don’t wait long enough to see what they are going to stabilize at. So if you drop weight and return to your old eating habits, the time it takes to crawl back to your old weight is something like three years. To help people understand this better, we’ve posted an interactive version of our model at bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov. People can plug in their information and learn how much they’ll need to reduce their intake and increase their activity to lose. It will also give them a rough sense of how much time it will take to reach the goal. Applied mathematics in action!

Article from the NY Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/science/a-mathematical-challenge-to-obesity.html

The simulation is interesting and not too complicated to use so try it out.  And remember you are using a beautiful thing called mathematics.

On a less serious note I've had a song stuck in my head almost all weekend.  The chorus says "My body tells me no, but I won't quit 'cause I want more."  It makes me think of my delicious pasta salad I made this weekend. I guess I'll have to dance around to the song a few more times to burn off those extra calories.

loving yourself

 A long time ago - when I was at a weight I'd give anything to be at right now - I was trying to lose weight. And I had a thought. I'm always reading and hearing about how you aren't supposed to "diet", you are supposed to make life changes. Anyone can crash diet and lose weight, even a lot of weight. It's keeping it off that is the real challenge. So my thought was... I shouldn't just be focused on losing weight, I need to learn to love my body (regardless of how I feel about it when I look in the mirror). Treat it well. Take care of it.

Easier said than done.

 

I've always been extremely self conscious about how I look, my weight especially, and that's not something easily overcome. A big part of doing this weight loss challenge between Sandie and I is that I just need that extra nudge to remind myself I need to take care of me. Eating right and exercising is the biggest part of it, but I'm trying to do other small things as well. This is particularly difficult with a 3 year old and a 4 month old... but every little bit helps. Whether it's trying to make sure I'm getting enough sleep (ha! 4 month olds are totally known for letting their moms get sleep), or taking time for something small like a hair treatment or a pedicure. All the moms out there definitely know what it's like to put yourself last on the priority list... so take this challenge and do something for YOU this week!

I'll leave you with this last picture - I think it's completely on par with what I'm trying to convey here. It also reminds me of my Grandmama who is 94... or 95? To this day if you asked her how old she is, she would tell you "sweet 16".

Sunday Confessional

     Sometimes I feel like there is a lot of food obligation. What do I mean by that? I'm talking about instances in everyday life where people or circumstances predict the outcome of your dietary intake. This is always a huge downfall of mine! Guys especially seem to have a need to feed women, like we're starving away just because we're on a diet. Friday was my worst day of all! I had actually been great all week and steadily loosing weight, and then there was suddenly too much food obligation! I was working too hard - up super early, no breakfast, no lunch, squeezed in some water breaks and an energy bar, then went into OT and then stopped in to spend several hours helping a friend with their own job that was overwhelming them. Naturally I was offered food - Rinconsitos (so yummy!). Which I turned down since I was headed to dinner at my sister's house. But these 2 guys wouldn't take no for an answer! So they ordered me 2 small tacos, made sure I ate them, bought me a soda, dared me to eat a whole jalapeño, then tried to force more tacos on me! Then I went to my sister's house where we ordered amazing Indian food - followed up with ice cream desserts (and I'm lactose intolerant). I'm pretty sure I crashed my whole diet in one day!! The confessional is open please post or add encouragement for others.