Yummy, Effortless Breakfast

Now that my boyfriend is on the healthy bandwagon we have ZERO unhealthy food items at home!  We cleaned out the fridge and the pantry and went grocery shopping last night to stock up on some goodies.  We’re both huge fans of yogurt (regular and greek) so when we saw Dannon Light&Fit 80 calorie yogurts on sale 10/$6.00 we jumped on them.

And it was that yogurt that led to the subject of this post 🙂

This breakfast took less than two minutes to put together and you could even take it to go (sub tupperware for a bowl).

Simply empty the contents of 1 80 calorie container of Light&Fit yogurt (or any yogurt of your choice, any flavor-I had vanilla) into a small bowl, top with a spoonful of chia seeds, a scoop of vanilla protein powder and a handful of Bare Naked fruit and nut granola and volia! Yummy, effortless breakfast (comes in at 200 calories, 4g fat, 34g of protein and 7g of fiber.  With the granola containing 14g of whole grains) thats good for you too!  I know that whey protein gets a bad rap sometimes, but it blends perfectly with the yogurt, you won’t even know its there.

What are some of your favorite breakfast combinations?

Better Than I Thought…

As you guys know I’ve been fairly disappointed in my lack of weight loss lately.  Granted I’ve been happy to lose inches, but not seeing the number on the scale budge has been frustrating considering the amount of effort that I’ve been putting into this challenge.  However, I found out after going to the doctor this week that I’ve actually lost more weight than I had originally thought (happy dance).  According to my chart I weighed in at 223.5lbs before my spinal surgery, which was March 2nd of this year and now I’m hovering around 202-203 pound range, which means I’ve lost 20lbs since my surgery!  Which is pretty impressive considering that I could barely walk to the end of the street and back for the first month after my surgery, actually its pretty amazing how far I’ve come since then period.  Granted I still can’t jog (my doctor said that the impact is bad for my spinal fusion) so my activities are limited to walking, swimming and my physical therapy exercises (which in the capacity that I can do them don’t burn as many calories as I would hope).

So my weight loss is mostly controlled by my diet, which is also a challenge due to my insulin resistance (a by product of my PCOS…sigh) so I’m trying to limit my carb and sugar intake as much as possible to maximize my weight loss.

Oh, I am happy to report (since so many of you were kind enough to inquire) that my boyfriend has decided to jump on the healthy lifestyle bandwagon.  He’s been eating better, and has gone to the gym almost everyday for at least an hour (he even hired a personal trainer) and he bought one of those electronic cigarettes to try and help him quit smoking!

It made me so happy when he told me all this, but sad at the same time.  Apparently some guys can’t handle talking about their health and fitness with their significant others.  But when our mutual guy friend stepped in and talked about how he was worried about his health and how great the personal trainer he was working out with was they became instant gym buddies.

I’m kinda jealous that he would rather go to the gym with another guy than with me (granted I just work out outside, at home or at the fitness complex that’s included in our association fees) and I’m also probably a little jealous that since he’s not on disability (he’s receiving full paychecks, I’m only at 60% pay) he’s able to splurge on a membership to a fancy gym, a personal trainer that costs $50/hr and even a fancy Polar heart rate monitor ($250).    But I need to put my green eyed monster in check and just be happy that he’s making these changes.  And I’m glad that he decided to do it for himself and not do it just because I wanted him to.

I did find out that I’ll be going back to work next week (my doctor’s decision, my physical therapist thinks its a horrible idea) but I’ll only be working 4 hour shifts.  I’ve been trying to get a hold of my manager to work out a schedule but no one has gotten back to me, must be the long holiday weekend.  Hopefully their okay with it, otherwise I’ll continue to be out of work until I have the endurance to work a full 8 hour shift.

My physical therapist has some concerns other than the obvious ones for someone who is recovering from a spinal fusion, apparently my right leg is pretty messed up from overcompensating for my back pain (through my leaning walk) for so long.  To give you an idea, I cannot put my right foot flat on the ground, it looks like I’m wearing an invisible high heel.  I also have ridiculous muscle tightness up the back of my leg, even after her stretching my hamstring for an hour we couldn’t get the leg to fully extend, it was always still slightly bent at the knee.  Her biggest concern in the complete lack of flexibility in my right ankle.  She has someone coming to our session next week to fit me for a custom brace that she wants me to wear at least once a day for twenty minutes.  It will have a crank and I’ll have to use it to slowly stretch it out to try and regain some range of motion.

I’ve been pretty active this weekend though, I’ve walked about 2.5 miles each day and I swam laps for about 40 minutes on Friday.  I have also been doing my physical therapy exercises at home.

I made a KILLER dinner the other night too, I pan seared some chicken until it was lightly browned on both sides then brushed it with some marinade that I made from BBQ sauce and a mix of spices (black pepper, garlic, crushed red pepper, parsley) put it in a casserole dish, covered with tin foil and baked in the oven at 375F for about 30 minutes.  While the chicken was cooking I sliced two ripe plantains nice and thin and pan fried them to make some nice, crispy, delicious plantain chips.  I served both with a simple side salad.  Oh, and I love to season my plantain chips with a liberal sprinkle of Adobo seasoning 🙂

Its nice outside so I’m going to go walk before I enjoy some more BBQ later.

Hope you guys are having a great Memorial Day Weekend!!!

Its Almost That Time

It’s almost time for my local Farmer’s Market to start back up and I couldn’t be more excited!

Just the thought of all the local grown veggies and homemade cheeses and other goodies is making my mouth water.  I know that recent studies have shown that frozen fruits and veggies can be just as good for you as fresh, but there is just something about produce that was picked within 24 hours that just makes me go Mmmmmmm…..

Fit Sugar (www.fitsugar.com) posted a great article today about how many veggies you could eat before you hit 100 calories (like you needed more reasons to eat yummy veggies?)

Check it out below ( via Fit Sugar)

Food	Amount	Calories
Asparagus	32 spears	106
Avocado	1/3 of the fruit	106
Beets (sliced)	1 1/2 cups	94
Bell Pepper (green)	4 medium peppers	95
Bell Pepper (red)	3 and 1/3 medium peppers	103
Broccoli (raw)	10 (5-inch long spears)	105
Brussels Sprouts	14 heads	106
Carrots (baby)	28	98

Food	Amount	Calories
Cauliflower (raw)	30 flowerettes	98
Celery	18 (8-inch stalks)	101
Corn (sweet white)	Kernels from two ears	118
Cucumber	2 (8 1/4-inch cukes)	90
Green beans (cooked)	2 1/4 cups	98
Kale (cooked)	3 cups	109
Lettuce (Romaine)	1 head	106
Mushrooms (raw)	20 large	101
Onions (raw)	2 medium	92
Peas (cooked)	3/4 cup	94
Potato (russet)	3/4 small	100
Potato (sweet)	2 small	108
Radishes (raw)	70 large	101
Spinach (raw)	45 leaves	98
Summer Squash (raw)	3 medium	94
Tomato (grape)	48	108
Tomato (Roma)	3 medium	105
Zucchini	3 medium	94

How awesome is that!?!?! I’ve always had a thing for bell peppers, but I had no idea that I could eat 4 whole bell peppers for less than 100 calories!

For those of us watching our caloric intake this is valuable info, fill up on those veggies so you don’t end up splurging on high calorie food, and since most veggies have a high amount of water in them it can help keep you hydrated 🙂

Dinner tonight was fantastic!  Super filling and tasty 🙂

I made Chicken Pomedoro from Trader Joe’s and put it over a bed of quinoa with some Green Giant Immunity Blend mixed veggies on the side

Sorry so blurry, its my camera phone

The mixed veggies was a combination of broccoli, bell peppers and carrots-YUM!

I give this meal two thumbs way up, Trader Joe’s never ceases to amaze me.

I had physical therapy today and I was talking to my therapist about Wii Fit and she smiled and pulled out a piece of paper that was a Wii Fit workout routine (with the activities I can do that are safe for my level of recovery), how AWESOME is that?!?!  I love my physical therapist, I really do.

So last night was the series finale of Lost and I really liked it, I have to be honest at first I was a little disappointed that Jack was the one to replace Jacob (too obvious) but I’m not going to say any more than that since I don’t know how many of you have seen it.

And tonight is the season finale of Chuck so I’m going to go watch that, and my boyfriend asked me to make him a workout playlist since he’s going to start going to the gym effective tomorrow (woot!) so I better get on that.

How was your weekend?

Weigh in Wednesday…Yes I Know It’s Thursday

As I mentioned earlier, yesterday was kind of a bad day for me.  On top of that its “that time of the month” and I am SOOOOOO bloated!!! So while I didn’t lose this week, I didn’t gain either.  So thats a win.  And my measurements stayed the same from last week (including the two inches I lost last week) which I will take as another win since I feel like I’ve gained 10lbs of water weight this past week.

So we’ll just continue healthy habits, drink lots and lots of water (and cut down on the wine…) and be more active (my physical therapist finally cleared me to resume SOME of my Wii Fit activities YAY).

I’m going to share some cool articles I found with you guys…after dinner 🙂

Yesterday

Yesterday was kind of a dark day for me, very depressing and my post reflected that.  My boyfriend and I were fighting all day and I was stressed out about his lack of concern for his own health and I let it get the best of me.  The thing about fighting with someone you love and have known for awhile is that they know EXACTLY what to say to get a rise out of you.  Or in this case, exactly what to say to break the dam that had been holding back all my psychological and emotional stress and cause a breakdown.  I cried harder yesterday than I have cried in a long time.  Probably since my grandma died.  It was one of those loud, wailing, snot filled cries that uses up and entire box of Kleenex kind of cries.  I was so embarrassed, I was certain that one of my neighbors was going to knock on the door of my apartment to see what was going on.

I think my boyfriend felt bad that he had pushed so hard and he let me cry it out while he tidied up our apartment, before picking me up and making me take a hot shower to relax and clean myself up.  It was a sweet gesture, but honestly I would have rather he just held me and apologized (which he never did).  He then ordered pizza and cracked open a bottle of red wine while we played board games.  And I’m ashamed to say that I probably consumed WAAAAAYYYYY too many calories via pizza and wine than I should have.

We never talked about the fight, even though I tried.

Anyways…back to your regularly scheduled health and fitness blog…

What Do You Do When Someone You Love is KILLING Themselves

I feel so lost, I’ve always tried to be somewhat healthy, even before embracing this challenge, and now I’ve kicked it into high gear.  I have been trying to get my boyfriend to do this with me, one because its easier to do with a buddy and two because he NEEDS this (probably more than I do).   He’s Russian, he immigrated over when he was six and his family is big on meat and potato meals and using real sugar, real cream and real butter on EVERYTHING.  However, most of the people in his family are active and have kept off the weight (I haven’t inquired into their cholesterol or anything its not my place) but my boyfriend goes to work and promptly plops on the couch to play video games and watch tv before going to bed.  This is his routine EVERYDAY.  He was a larger guy when I met him, about 6ft 3in and 230lbs, but he has gained a considerable amount of weight in the two and a half years we’ve been together.

Today I was using Wii Fit and I told him we should set up a profile for him.  He argued about it for about an hour before he finally gave in (only after I PROMISED that he wouldn’t have to do any of the workouts today) and I was shocked by the results.  To be clear he was under the impression that he weighed no more than 250lbs (although he refuses to weigh himself) so when the Wii Fit weighed him in at a whopping 307lbs with almost a 38 BMI we were both shocked (him more than me I think).  I almost cried when he stepped off and went back to his bag of Fritos and his video games like the number on the screen didn’t matter.

He is also a heavy smoker, although I did finally convince him to order one of those electronic cigarettes hoping it will help him quit (since the patch, gum and prescription medication didn’t “work” for him).

I’ve been trying to cook healthy food for both of us, but healthy food is still unhealthy when eaten in excess, which is exactly what he’s doing, eating double and sometimes triple the recommended serving size.  And don’t get me wrong, I understand that his daily caloric intake will be higher than mine, I’m not trying to force him to eat 1200 calories a day, but he is well exceeding even 2000 calories a day and lives a sedentary lifestyle 😦

When I try to talk to him about anything he shuts down and its no better than talking to a brick wall.  To him I’ve become a “nag” and its hurting our relationship.  I love him, I do.  We’ve talked about getting married and starting a life together, but I’m starting to wonder what kind of life we could possibly have together if he’s willing to throw away his health and his life so that he can enjoy sitting around and eating junk food?

He also has medical problems (likely due to his weight and smoking) but he REFUSES to go to the doctor and get checked out.  He uses flimsy excuses like he “hates doctors” or “we have better things to spend our money on” but seriously, what’s more important than the one irreplaceable thing you have-YOUR HEALTH???

I’m worried that I’m going to end up pushing him away if I keep “nagging” him…but I only do it because I love him and I want us to have a long healthy life together.  I don’t want him to have a heart attack or be diagnosed with lung cancer and have to be on a respirator and not be able to spend time with our family and do everything we’ve always dreamed of doing…

I’m so lost…

What do I do….?

The G.I. Diet

I picked up this book on Amazon after hearing some great reviews, its almost identical to the diet my doctor recommended and I like that it comes with 140 “green” recipe ideas.  This diet is based on the glycemic index, and focuses on the difference between good carbs and bad carbs as well as keeping your blood sugar at a healthy level to avoid sugar highs and lows.  Almost everyone I know that has used this method has lost an average of 2lbs per week and have reported increased energy, clearer skin and elevated moods.  Whats nice about this “diet” is that its not a diet in the traditional sense, from what I’ve seen so far you don’t have to feel like you’re depriving yourself.  In fact the author himself only sticks to the “diet” 90% of the time indulging in the little things, a square of chocolate, some wine, etc so that you don’t feel like your missing out.  These indulgences can be expanded upon further once your reach your goal and go into the maintenance phase that you can continue for the rest of your life.

Pretty much every food you can imagine is listed under one of three categories:   red, yellow or green.  Green foods which include most fresh fruits and vegetables, lean cuts of meat, almonds, etc are unlimited (within reason).  Yellow foods like cheese, mayonnaise, fruits higher in sugar (like pineapple, apricots, melons), dark chocolate, etc should be limited and avoided initially to maximize weight loss potential.  Red foods like alcohol, refried beans, pate, soft drinks, bacon, etc need to be avoided/strictly limited during the weight loss phase, but can be re-introduced in small doses once you enter maintenance.

The carbs that you should look for are ones with at least 5g of fiber, and you should avoid “white” over processed items in favor of whole grains.

I’m only about a quarter of the way into the book, but I’ll keep you guys updated 🙂

If you want to check it out for yourself pick up “Living the GI Diet” by Rick Gallop

Samurai Workout!

This is just too cool!  I was doing some surfing and I came across an article on Jezebel.com about a new fitness trend that is HUGE in Japan right now called Forza and its a workout with samurai swords!!!  Now to be clear, this is not a workout that will teach you the way of the samurai, but it is an effective workout that burns a good amount of calories and looks fun to do.

After reading the article I did a search on Amazon and and found some books and DVDs on the subject:

You can click the above image to go to the page 🙂

One thing that I like about this workout is that you can you stuff you have lying around the house, or you can get into the workout and buy a kendo sword or something and unleash your inner samurai warrior!

I found an example workout (with pictures) via Mens Health

Directions:
Grab a dull, long, weighted object, such as a broomstick and walk into an open area with a tall ceiling (or no ceiling) and plenty of space. (You can buy a wooden sword at wooden-swords.com.) Perform the workout as a circuit, resting 30 seconds between exercises. (So you’ll perform all your reps for exercise A, rest, then exercise B, rest again, and so on.) Repeat the circuit as many times as it takes until you’ve been working out for 15 minutes—your goal is to eventually perform 15 minutes of continuous activity with no rest. Once you can do that, use a heavier object.

The Workout:

A Half-Cut
Grab your “sword” with both hands, palms facing each other, but separate your grip by four inches. Your right hand should be on top. Take an athletic stance and place your feet together. Keeping your arms bent, lift the “sword” over your head so the “blade” points directly behind you [1]. Take a short step forward with your left foot and simultaneously slice downward, so that the sword ends up in front of you with your bottom hand at waist level [2]. Return to the starting position. That’s one rep. Perform 15 reps, and then switch your grip so that your left hand is above your right. Now you’ll step forward with the right foot. Complete another 15 reps.

B Full-Cut
Set up in the same position as you did for the half-cut [1]. Lunge with your left leg until it’s nearly parallel to the floor, and slice downward with your “sword” so that it ends up in front of you and your bottom hand is at waist level. [2]. Return to the start position. That’s one rep. Perform 15 reps with before switching grips so your left hand is over your right. Now you’ll lunge with your right leg. Do 15 more reps.

C Horizontal Cut
Take an athletic stance with feet shoulder-width apart. Hold the “sword” so your hands are slightly in front of your right shoulder and your “sword” extends behind you [1]. Rotate your hips and shoulders from right to left as you slice with your “sword,” tracing a line parallel to the ground and at your eye level, stopping when your bottom hand reaches your left arm pit [2]. Return to the start position. That’s one rep. Perform 15 reps before switching grips, so your left hand is above your right. Now you’ll cut left to right, rotating your hips in shoulders in the opposite direction. Do 15 more reps.

D Thrust Lunge
Take an athletic stance with your feet together, and hold your “sword” with your arms bent and your hands near your left hip so the “sword” extends in front of you [1]. Lunge forward with your right leg until your front thigh becomes parallel to the ground and push the “sword” forward [2]. Reverse the motion and return to the start position. That’s one rep. Do 15 reps before switching grips so you left hand is on top of the right. Now you’ll lunge with your left leg, and start on your right hip. Do 15 more reps.

The article also recommended checking out http://www.powerstrike.com for more information.

Please note that the above pictures are in NO WAY me, they were in the above mentioned article 🙂

Seems cool huh?  I may pick up the dvd and check it out.

Green Bananas

I woke up this morning CRAVING some oatmeal and banana, however when I went to the kitchen I noticed that the bananas that we’d bought at the grocery store were still green.  I only recently started eating bananas (it was a texture thing, not a flavor thing) but even I knew that green=unripe.  But it was the only thing my body wanted so I sucked it up and peeled the banana (much harder than a ripe banana).  It only took one bite to taste the difference, the banana was definitely missing its sweetness, so I drizzled some  organic honey on top and that solved the problem 🙂

Weight Control Oatmeal with chia seeds, banana and organic honey.

I’ve been keeping up with my physical therapy exercises and sitting on my swiss ball while I watch TV and read my Kindle and my core is soooo sore (but sooo worth it).  But I need to step up my walking, the gloomy weather we’ve been having lately has given me and excuse to skip it (lame I know).

Grocery shopping was fun, we got a lot of produce and organic items.  I was so sad they were out of my favorite Larabar (apple pie) but I got another favorite:  banana nut bread and two flavors I haven’t tried yet:  peanut butter and jelly and pecan pie.  I also picked up a Kind Bar after reading about them on the blogosphere, I got the protein one thats mostly nuts, it looked pretty good.

I also finally picked up some popchips, I’ve been thinking about it for awhile and I am trying to do low carb as much as possible but I figured its better to have these around than some pringles.

So I have lots of healthy snacks and a set routine, I’m still nervous for tomorrow’s weigh in (because its that time of the month and I am BLOATED) but I’m sticking to my diet and drinking crazy amounts of water so thats all that matters for now 🙂

How is your week going so far?

Ugh…

Its “that time” and I’m bloated and cranky and those tampon commercials are seeming even more annoying than usual.  My hormones are out of control and I’ve been a bit lax on my diet today to appease my body which is CRAVING carbs and sugar.

I munched on an apple for breakfast, but had pizza for lunch and cookie dough ice cream for dinner.  But small amounts seemed to sate my cravings, I ate less than the recommended serving size of both so even though it was a “splurge” at least I didn’t go overboard.

Its been cold and rainy here the last few days so I haven’t been able to walk outside very much, but I’ve been diligent about doing my physical therapy exercises, especially the ones with my swiss ball and resistance bands to keep up some level of activity.

How has your weekend been going?