No, I haven’t abandoned my quest for fitness and a healthier lifestyle, I just haven’t carved out time to blog about it, but I’ve lost a total of nine pounds so far and I’m sticking to my healthy eating habits - except for last week which was chalk-full of goodies. But hey, everyone needs some goodies every now and then, right? 
There - that was quick and painless. 
Finally some progress!! I lost two pounds, and it’s very encouraging. It’s just what I needed to stick with this lifestyle change. After all, it’s hard to stick with something if it doesn’t appear to be doing any better than what you were doing before.
I thought I’d take a moment to ponder exactly why I am making this lifestyle change. Why go through it? Why spend the extra time, the extra planning, the extra money, the extra work? Why discipline myself to a set guideline of calories and fat, of fiber and vitamins and minerals, of lean meats, fruits, veggies and whole grains? Why encourage my children to eat things that are good for them even when they whine and complain, going over and over about why certain vitamins are necessary for healthy bones and teeth and muscles? It wouldn’t all be worth it if there wasn’t something better waiting at the end, would it?
Of course the first and obvious benefit is that we’ll all be healthier. If we eat food that is good for our body and get enough exercise or activity we’ll have more energy and feel better, and we’ll BE healthier on the inside. Also, we’ll avoid obesity and high blood pressure and heart disease all the other health and weight related issues.
More than that though, I think we’ll be taking care of our bodies the way God wants us to. The bible speaks out frequently against sloth and laziness, and also gluttony as well. It also tells us that everything we have (even our bodies and our health) ultimately belongs to God (Isa. 44:24-25; Psalm 24) and that we are supposed to be good stewards of what He has given us (Matt. 25.) So I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that God does not want me to binge on food that is bad for me, or spend every free moment laying on the couch watching tv. Of course, there are more reasons than just health for not laying on the couch and watching tv all day long. But that’s another post. 
On the other hand, I don’t think we are supposed to obsess with our weight and how many minutes we have exercised and how many calories we are eating. Anything we dwell on more than God and our relationship with God becomes an idol to steal away our attention from what matters most. Certainly there must be a balance. And that is my goal. While I am menu planning, I want to be thinking about making good choices that will be healthy for our bodies and affordable for our budget so that I can honor God with both of those things. While I am grocery shopping I want to avoid the temptations of the sweets and the treats. While I am preparing and eating our meals, I want to pay attention to portions and moderation. And lastly, when I stand on the scale, I want to keep the perspective of accountability and verification that what I am doing is right, while not focusing too much on that magic number that I think I need to be when this is all over. During the rest of my day, I want to focus on other ways to glorify God and not make this the end all and be all of my day.
Also, having said all of this, I come all the way around to something that I have learned and forgotten and remembered and forgotten again and am now reminding myself of again, hopefully one last time: It is okay to pray about resisting temptations, staying accountable with healthy eating and exercising, and losing weight!
I’m not advocating that you pray and ask God to make you the most beautiful women in the whole world, ever. Clearly that kind of prayer reveals an underlying wrong motivation.
On the other hand, if your desire is to please God, then why not go ahead and ask God to help you accomplish it?! I don’t know why this is hard for me to remember. I guess it feels wrong to ask God to help me lose weight, vain almost. But hey, pray about that, too! “God, don’t let me get caught up in vanity. Keep me grounded in truth!” God is able and faithful to come to our aid when we call on Him, in any circumstance.
So then, this week I continue on my journey towards a healthier me and a lifestyle change that will last longer than this new year’s resolution - walking down a path to pleasing God with my Lord by my side. This week, in addition to sticking to good habits is also about sticking to good thinking. After all, bad thinking is also unhealthy, too.
God Bless!
I’m very excited about this week’s Getting Fit post! I’m not really sure if the scale moved (it’s an “old-fashioned” spring scale, not some new-fangled fancy digital one), but I measured for the first time since I began this journey to a healthier me and I have lost a whole inch in my waist and a half inch in my hips. The scale may not be doing much, but at least the tape measure is providing some encouragement. I’ve got to get back on the exercise horse now that we’re all well and I can start getting enough sleep at night again.
This week I kept working on drinking more water, watching my salt intake, and keeping a better eye on my calorie intake. One of my biggest problem areas occurs after dinner. I get very “snack-y” late at night before I go to bed. Since there’s usually at least four hours between dinner and my bedtime, I definitely need to make sure I handle late night snacks. One thing I have been doing is having a slim-fast optima shake when I get hungry, because it’s a under my 300 calorie allowance and it also helps curb my hunger so that I don’t continue to snack more afterward.
However, sometimes I really have a particular craving. I’ve been making the chocolate chip granola bars whenever I have a really strong craving for something sweet… but what do I make when I have a craving for something salty and crunchy? Believe it or not, I secretly have an obsession for Ranch Dorito Chips. I know, it’s weird. I love cookies and cakes, but whereas I could not sit down and a whole bag or box of sweets, I could eat an entire bag of Ranch Doritos in one sitting. I don’t. But I could. I need some kind of healthy substitute for when I want something salty and and savory and crunchy. And I’m open to suggestions. For although I’m laying off the Doritos right now, it’s driving me crazy to not have something crunchy when I really want some crunchy. No, carrot sticks and ranch aren’t quite the same, sorry. So you think about it and I’ll keep thinking about it and in the meantime I’ll just keep chewing my fingernails and twitching through the withdrawals. Kidding! Chewing your fingernails is a very bad habit.
My goals for the upcoming week is to fit in at least 3 exercise sessions, wear my pedometer daily, and keep focusing on the sleep, water and salt. “Just do it!” =)
Again, I meant to get to this yesterday. It’s supposed to be a Friday post. Perhaps it should be a Saturday post. Currently I’ve been devoting most of my time to helping Big Daddy with a special project. But I’m taking a quick break for a quick update.
First of all, I lost my first pound. But only one. I’m not surprised though because this week wasn’t exactly ideal. The kids have been sick and between the three of them, keeping me awake for most of the night. I haven’t been getting enough sleep and we all know enough sleep is important for good health, physical and mental. As a result I’ve slept in very late and I only managed to exercise once this week.
On the other hand, I have focused on two things this week, even if I wasn’t getting any exercise in, to help me lose weight and be healthier.
1.) Drink more water!
2.) Eat less salt.
I’ve never really thought of myself as a big salt eater. I don’t add a lot of salt to my plate, if any. I do usually season meat with it while I am cooking though. I never really paid attention to how much sodium was in so little salt, but I am now! I had no idea it was so much. Most of what I have cooked this week I have cooked with little to no salt and then only added a little on the plate if necessary. For example, I seasoned the pork loin with a rosemary mix, some onion powder and garlic powder, and then I cooked it in a roasting pan with various vegetables which also added to the flavor. In fact, for that meal, no salt was necessary at all!
We do need to be careful of course, because iodine is an important daily need and iodized salt is our main source of iodine. However, it takes very little salt to meet that need and there are other sources of iodine such as milk, eggs, and potatoes with the skins on - yum!
I got a good start on those two healthy habits this week, but I need to keep working on it. Especially the water part. Oh, and I need to work on the exercise part, too! Okay, okay and the sleep part as well. Good grief.
I really didn’t intend to write a diet-related Works for Me Wednesday post. Honest. My life does not revolve around my new healthy diet. Really!
But when we made these granola bars Sunday afternoon and they were sooo easy and sooo yummy (so yummy that I since cut the recipe in half so that I couldn’t eat the whole pan in one sitting!) and they were ready to eat in about 15 minutes start-to-finish…
And when we made them again last night and I actually calculated the calorie count verses that of a snickers bar (because these granola bars are just as satisfying as a candy bar, I think) and the numbers totally blew me away…
Well.. you do the math.
So here it is. These granola bars are what is working to help satisfy my sweet tooth while I’m changing my diet and exercise for a healthier lifestyle. I adapted this recipe from THIS recipe on allrecipes.com.
Low-Cal Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
When cut into 8 pieces, your granola bar will be a reasonable and satisfying size - larger than most granola bars on the market. With the crunch and the chocolate it will also be as satisfying as most candy bars. However, this granola bar only packs a punch of 164 calories.
Oh, and those candy bars?
Regular Snickers = 273 calories
King Size Snickers = 541 calories
Milky Way = 260 calories
Nestle Crunch Bar = 230 calories
Again, do the math, right? So if you’ve got a chocolate craving skip the Snickers (though I do love me some Snickers!) and whip up a pan of these instead. Just, uh… don’t eat the whole pan in one sitting. It kinda defeats the purpose. Oh, and don’t make a pan everyday, either, cuz, well, that kinda defeats the purpose, too, right?
Works For Me Wednesday is brought to us by Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer. Stop on by!
I intended to post this yesterday but an afternoon of errands turned into a day of errands..
It’s the end of my second week and I’m feeling pretty good. I exercised three times this week, but I really want to exercise even more. But it’s off to a good start so I’m not complaining. On the other hand, I’ve been watching what I eat and as far as I can tell, I should have used enough calories more than what I ate to lose at least a pound. (You need to burn 3500 calories more than you eat to lose a pound - so burning about five hundred a day can help you lose a pound a week.) Apparently my scale doesn’t know that because I don’t think the needle has budged at all. Then again, one of the coach’s on the National Body Challenge said that our body does what it needs to do. Sometimes the scale doesn’t reflect whatever the body is doing inside, but we’re still accomplishing something. So I’m not gonna fret, I’m just gonna keep on keepin’ on.
Last week we tried out some new recipes. Some of them were really good! Some not so good. Here’s the low down…
Breakfast Tostadas 
- I really like this one. I made it a couple of times and varied it a little.
BBQ Chicken & Black Bean Burritos - This one was pretty good but I like my Chipotle burritos better. I wonder how many calories those are… Hmmm.
Guacamole 
- This was okay but a little too “onion-y.” It might be better if I cut back on the onion content.
Salisbury Steak - We all liked this one. It was easy and I’ll definitely make this again.
“Good For You” Green Bean Casserole - This was good but a lot of work! I’d rather just steam them, it’s a lot faster.
Lite Mashed Potatoes - This was alright. Not bad, but not amazing. On the other hand, Princess liked them. And that is amazing.
Skillet Baked Ziti 
- This didn’t turn out very tasty. And it was a lot of effort. I think I’d rather just mix it with prepared pasta sauce and only use the minimum amount necessary instead of dumping the whole can in.
Meatballs - Ick. I’d rather just make them with lean ground beef and not eat too many.
Cornbread - We haven’t tried this one yet, plans changed and we didn’t stick to last night’s menu.
In other news, I’m still using mypyramidtracker.gov and www.metamucil.com/beautify-your-heart/ and I’m happy with them. I’ve picked out some new recipes for this week ahead and I’ll keep shooting for 1500 - 1800 calories a day. For exercise, I’m using a video I have as well as catching the episodes of “Total Body Scult with Gilad” that come on Discovery Health - Gilad is the fitness trainer for the National Body Challenge. Gilad is intense but easy to follow and the workouts are really good - you can feel that you’ve gotten a good workout.
Also, the girls have been helping me prepare the meals and learning what types of nutrients we gain from certain foods. Princess is particularly full of questions like, “So what part of the body is apples good for?” and “What do we need to eat for healthy muscles?” They been exercising, too. I’m enjoying doing this together with them and I like knowing that I’m implanting healthy habits for their future.
If you’re making a change for a healthier lifestyle also, feel free to link to your posts in the comments.
Until next week! Go healthy!
It’s the first full week of menu planning for a healthier me. Actually, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. And a lot less expensive than I thought it would be - only marginally more than what I normally spend for a week of groceries. I managed to find many recipes that are a lot like what we normally eat. I hope they turn out as well as I hope.
My goal is to shoot for 1500 - 1800 calories a day. I have found two websites that are really working and helping me meet that goal. The first is the Beautify Your Heart Challenge. Their website is much easier to navigate and more user friendly than the website for National Body Challenge, and their recipes are what I call “realistic for real people.” Once you sign in for free, you can see everything. The only thing they are missing is some type of daily tracker. I found a free food intake and physical activity tracker on Mypyramidtracker.gov that is not only easy to use but also very informational. After you input your food intake and activity it will compare it to daily standards, past input, and balance calorie input and calorie expense so you actually see how well you are doing. I like how it tells me at the end of the day if I’ve eaten enough servings of each food group. That will help me adjust my menus as I go for the healthiest benefit to my family.
So are you as excited as I am? Here’s what’s on the menu for this week. You’ll notice that I’ve gone back to the FULL menu planning, snack and all, so that no calorie goes uncounted.
Sunday:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
See? Now that wasn’t so bad. I love how I have meals on here like the Salisbury steak with green beans and mashed potatoes or the chili and cornbread. It’s the kind of food we usually eat, just slightly modified. I’ll let y’all know how good they are next week.
Whether you’re “gittin’ fit” or not, there’s a “whole mess” of menu plans over at I’m An Organizing Junkie! Why don’t ya just hop on over and check it out…
Not just because of the new year, but just because I need to anyway… one of the things I hope to accomplish this year is to become a little healthier by eating healthier, exercising more, and yes - losing weight, too. It’s not all about vanity or pride, though I am looking forward to feeling more energetic and fitting into my clothes better. I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t at all about losing weight and only about making good decisions. At the same time, though, it’s also about making good decisions, being a better steward of the body that God gave me, and passing on healthy habits to my children.
One of the ways that I hope to accomplish this is by participating in the National Body Challenge. I’m hoping that having the meal and exercise plans already laid out will help make things a little easier. I’m having a little trouble navigating the website, I don’t know if it is my connection or computer or what. And I’m finding editing the daily menu a little tedious. So I haven’t decided if I am going to try to use their resources and count my calories or use my own and count Weight Watchers points like I used to (and am already familiar with) or find something else.
Regardless, I did find a lot of good information on mypyramid.gov. They have a lot of resources including the MyPyramid Plan and the MyPyramid Tracker as well as several resources and games for kids, which is convenient, since I’m planning on getting the kids involved with me. We all need to exercise and we all need to healthy, so let’s do it! Of course, some of this conveniently doubles as homeschool material. =)
Each Friday, before I need to make my menu and plan the school assignments for the next week during the weekend, I’ll be looking for healthy recipes, informative resources, websites and printables for school, etc. Of course, I’ll also be tracking my progress with the weight loss, too.
Hopefully each Friday I’ll also set aside a time to write a post to share any useful links or information I find, for anyone that is working on weight loss resolutions or participating in the national body challenge also. I’m not going to add a Mr. Linky or anything, but I’m also not going to stop anyone from joining in so if you wanna, go for it! Let’s be good stewards of our time, our health and our bodies. Let’s take care of what God has given us and teach our children to do the same thing. Let’s get healthy.
Here’s to good health in 2008.
What My Hubby Has To Say...
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