Just Eat It

This post isn't about real estate or DIY or decorating at all.  It's about me stepping up to the eating healthy plate (get the pun?).  So, this is kind of personal so don't get uncomfortable, mmkay?

I have been trying to get pregnant for, like, a year.  I have a little brother who is 4 years younger than me and I wanted my kids to be a lot closer in age (2 years).  Morgan is going to be 3 in April so things are looking to be closer to the 4 year mark.  Since I have had it in my mind for the past year that I am just going to get pregnant and fat, what's the point of losing those 5-10 pounds that are hanging on?  You know?  Well, I stepped on the scale for the first time in three months and it was up another 5 pounds.  What the?!!  Uh uh!  That is one pound over my high point in high school when I decided to stop eating except for gummy bears and Peach Ole (I've learned a lot about health and nutrition since then).

I'm really not overweight at all but the embarrassing thing is that got my bachelors degree in exercise science and I used to be a nutrition and exercise consultant.  Let me tell you something.  I would NEVER let my clients eat three sugar cookies, two crepes, and bacon for breakfast.  But that's just what I was doing to myself (literally -- the Saturday before last).

I weighed myself last Monday (the 13th) and started eating healthy and watching my caloric intake that day.  I lost 2 pounds the first day.  It was just my system cleaning itself out, don't think "miracle" or anything.  But I weighed myself yesterday (Monday the 20th) and I had lost 4.6 pounds total.  Super!  I have another 10 to go and I can healthily expect to lose 1-3 pounds per week from now on.  The first week is always the hardest and the best.

I know a lot of you want to get into swimsuit shape for the summer (that will be here before we know it -- wooh!) so I want to give you some healthy eating ideas and advice in order to reach your goals.

This is from me as a nutrition consultant.  Eh hem...

1. Your biggest meal should be breakfast.  Don't ever skip it!  You should be eating about 60% carbs, 30% protein, and 10% fat.  I eat one whole egg, one egg white, 1/2 cup of Fiber One with 1/2 cup of skim milk, and a serving of fruit.  I even sweeten the cereal with Splenda.  I know some of you are not okay with that and want to use more natural things but remember that honey has lots of calories like sugar.

2.  Depending on the amount of calories you want in your diet, eat 200-400 calories every 2-3 hours.  You will keep your metabolism up and hunger down.

3.  Taper your calories and carbs throughout the day.  This means that if you eat 400-500 calories for breakfast, you should be eating 200-300 at the end of the day (dinner).  I'm not always good at this because I really love dinner.  I still eat healthily and it still works, so I'm okay with that.  Also, your end of day meal and snack should consist of mostly protein and very few carbs.

4. Always have a snack bar with you in case you get caught away from home and hungry.  This could be a Fiber One bar, Atkins bar, South Beach bar, or other low cal power bars (be sure to check the calorie content though -- some bars are packed with calories).  If you do this, you'll save yourself the tub of popcorn at Target or the burger from McDonalds.  

I could eat the same breakfast, lunch and snacks every day, but I get so bored if I have to eat the same healthy dinner.  Instead of eating plain chicken or tilapia, I try to make our normal meals light.  I'm going to share some recipes that I made last week for dinners.  Tom and Morgan liked everything we had!

Zucchini Pizza 

ingredients:
1 cup low-fat part skim mozzarella cheese
1 can stewed tomatoes (I would have used pizza or spaghetti sauce but we were out)
approx 35 turkey pepperonis (so much less fat than regular pepperoni)
1 container sliced mushrooms (I used the styrofoam container, not a can)
3 zucchinis

Slice the zucchinis and put them in a pan (my pan was half of a large cookie sheet).  Put all the other ingredients on top in whichever order you prefer.  Bake at 350 until it looks done (yeah... I'm not really a great recipe writer).

Total Calories: 520 in the entire pizza

dessert: Apple Pie

For dessert after the pizza we had a pie with a little scoop of ice cream.  I made the crust with 1 cup of ground oats (that I just put in a food processor) and an egg white.  I mixed it together and pressed it into individual pie tins (two tins plus the bottom of another).  Then I sliced one apple and put the slices in each tin. I sprinkled cinnamon and Splenda over the top and baked at 350 until the crust was done and the apples were soft.  Then I put a scoop (1/2 serving) of reduced fat ice cream on top.

Total Calories: 410 in all the pies put together

Chicken Enchilada Stew (for lack of a better word)

I could not edit the green out of this picture with my free editing software but just know that the only thing that was green was the cucumbers.

Ingredients:
1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
2 corn tortillas
1 c fat free sour cream
8 oz shredded chicken (already cooked)
3 roma tomatoes
2 cucumbers

Mix the soup and sour cream together in a pot.  Add chicken.  Tear the tortillas into bite size pieces and put into the mixture.  Cook until warm.  Garnish with tomatoes and cucumbers (don't mix the cucumbers with the "stew" -- no bueno).

Total Calories: 710

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Tomato Soup and Cucumber/Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

sandwich -- use spray butter instead of butter to grill it.

2 slices Sarah Lee 45 calorie bread

1/4 cup low-fat part-skim mozzarella cheese

Progresso Hearty Tomato soup

Cucumber and tomato mixed together with some fat free miracle whip

Total Calories: Around 300

I hope that gives you some ideas on how to eat and cook healthy meals.  Good luck if you are trying to cut back on the junk.  I know what you're going through!  Just remember, "nothing tastes as good as being thin feels" -- which is total bunk anyway (sometimes) but a good motivational quote.

Oh, and send some fertility vibes my way.  Thanks!