Prior to beginning the diet that is proving to work for the two of us we joined a fitness club. We pretty much joined after the death of one of our Newfies, Grady. This was after Hubby had quit smoking the year before and had gained weight from not having the stimulant in his cigarettes.
We went at least twice a week in addition to incorporating walks into our daily routine with the pups. The weight didn't seem to come off as fast as we'd expected it to. I lost a few pounds, but hubs didn't seem to. We would even bundle up and do walkies in the winter, dressing up Vino in his snow suit and walking in the freezing cold. Hey, at least it was exercise.
When I was slated for a stressful doctor's appointment I found that the exercise was working by my blood pressure readings. This was not a fun type of appointment, but, my BP was within norms which for me was surprising as normally, my BP would be high. I definitely have White Coat Syndrome! Then I found I had to have a surgery to remove a stupid mole and that day it was normal too. This was with all the stress of gearing up in hospital garb and being cut upon and sent home in pain dulled by narcotics. Two weeks later, it was 108/76! I'd continued my walkies and even managed a trip to the gym for upper body exercises. Outstanding!
So I knew that losing weight and continuing to eat healthy were beneficial. I slept better, I felt better and had more Joie de Vivre and my BP was perfect. To hell with everything else. :)
So of course you have to make different selections and *I* have gone through some food cravings but they're quelled with a handful of baked garbanzo's seasoned with Ranch or Cajun or a baby sweet pepper or a piece or two of sugar free gum amongst other healthy snacks included in phase one of the SBD. This as I mentioned in another post is where you have to use an imagination and eat what is "allowed" otherwise you're just doing all this for naught.
So here's where I post what I made last night: Parmesan Crusted Porkchops (got this from a website I'd not seen before), Bok Choy with Soy and Butter and a side salad.
The recipes are *approximate* and I did make them based on what I found on other websites which I'll indlude. As I rarely go by a recipe measurement by measurement, please add more/use less per your tastes or even throw in some different ingredients you like!
Parmesan Crusted Porkchops
Four Porkchops (lean/boneless)
1.5 tsps dried basil
1.5 tsps dried oregano
couple dashes black pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup Dijon mustard (I used the coarse Dijon)
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup grated parmesan*
handful fresh parsley coarsely chopped
Oven to 375
1 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. You can also spray your sheet with a cooking spray. Set pan aside.
2 Mix herbs/seasonings, the parsley, oil and mustard together
2 Season the chops with pepper and brush the mustard mix on both sides of the meat.
3 *My parmesan had gone bad so I had to use different cheeses which wound up working GREAT and tasted wonderful nonetheless. I used feta, mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan from a can. Mix the cheese together in a small bowl and/or pressed the cheese into the meat where it sticks to mustard sauce.
4 Place the chops with the cheese/mustard-spice mix on your baking sheet and bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until the meat is cooked all the way through.
Goes GREAT a salad and another healthy side.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Losing the pounds...
Today is February 28th.
Hubs and I made a conscious effort two weeks ago to really start losing weight. He'd recently subscribed to Readers Digest and one of the first copies we received in the mail showcased an article called Eat This, Lose Weight right on the front cover. This sparked a thought in hubby which led to the purchase of the latest/greatest South Beach Diet book and cookbook.
Wow. 'nuff said
Not wow in that hubs would think hey, let's try something other than what we've been doing (workouts in the gym/walks in the afternoons, etc) but Wow in that it W O R K S period.
Modifications to our diet have led to wonderful results. 12 lbs in two weeks for hubby and two in two weeks for me. The image of 12 lbs is a little staggering if you could have an actual visual of what it looks like: taken from here.
12 lbs of cream cheese
What have we done to lose our weight? Get rid of the bad carbs/sugars/fats! I've not read the entire book from beginning to end, but refer to it often when I find myself hungry or planning a meal. Simply, it replaces bad carbohydrates and fats for good ones. Sound difficult? Well to begin with, it is. How do you substitute a side you're used to having with one you hadn't even thought of using with a meal? And...have a side that tastes, Heaven forbid....good? South Beach provides some GREAT info on what to have and what to not have and even includes recipes/meal plans for the three different phases. Then you can use your imagination and a little planning to come up with ways to spice stuff up.
Phase one
NO starches, baked goods, "fatty" meat including veal, honey baked ham, etc., ice cream and certain vegetables including peas, corn, sweet potatoes black eyed peas and a few others. And, no alcohol.
We've cheated a little but the proof is in the pudding. 12 lbs for hubs and 2 for me.
Week one was a "test" and we'd actually not "officially" started the diet. Hubs lost 5 lbs just by some simple modifications. We bought some healthier choices for vegetables and meats. Our chickens we raised from chicks started laying again after the cold winter so we have plenty of eggs available daily, and we had the will power to cut out some less healthy stuff and add some newer stuff to our day to day meals.
Hubby when we met didn't like some stuff and slowly I've added them to our meals disguised in foods he was familiar with. Where he wouldn't eat cabbage, sweet potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, and okay a lot of other veggies he now eats them and enjoys them.
Samples of some veggies and meals we've had in the last two weeks: Cuban Black beans with added kale and spinach for GREEN stuff, stewed squash, egg casserole with spinach, Rotkohl - red cabbage the german style, Red and green cabbage as a slaw (asian style)etc etc.
Breks this week consists of an egg casserole and pre-cooked on a Foreman grill Turkey Breakfast Sausage.
Egg Casserole
8 Medium to Large Eggs
1 and a half Handful of Fresh Spinach - chopped
4 slices smoked Turkey Breast
3 mushrooms sliced
1 pepper (any color) diced
1 onion (red is GREAT for flavor) diced
1 tblsp EVO
1/4 cup bacon bits (real bacon works great, don't use imitation bacon bits)
3/4 cup low fat cheddar
1/2 cup swiss (yes this is a fat)
Salt/Pepper for taste
Spray a casserole dish (I used a round casserole for this recipe)
Layer your meats on the bottom
Sautee the veggies (minus the spinach) in the oil in a non-stick fry pan for about 5 minutes. Mix in spinach and scrape them onto the meat layer. Lightly beat the eggs and cheese together until blended well and pour over the top of the veggie/meat layers.
Bake at 350 until bubbly on top or light brown on top. Use a knife to check the center.
Great for leftovers!
Week two we became a bit more stricter in our selections as this was OFFICIALLY the beginning of our diet. We ate more varieties of veggies all falling into the allowed foods for phase one, different meats and being conscious of how much we eat on our plates, so smaller portions have helped. Our snacks now consist of baked garbanzo beans, fresh veggies and cheeses. South Beach keeps you full and it works. period. Proof is in the pants.
Future snacks in the works for us: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus! Ricotta Cheesecake with Lemon Drizzle? Sounds SINFUL! But...it's part of phase one in the South Beach Diet.
Hubs and I made a conscious effort two weeks ago to really start losing weight. He'd recently subscribed to Readers Digest and one of the first copies we received in the mail showcased an article called Eat This, Lose Weight right on the front cover. This sparked a thought in hubby which led to the purchase of the latest/greatest South Beach Diet book and cookbook.
Wow. 'nuff said
Not wow in that hubs would think hey, let's try something other than what we've been doing (workouts in the gym/walks in the afternoons, etc) but Wow in that it W O R K S period.
Modifications to our diet have led to wonderful results. 12 lbs in two weeks for hubby and two in two weeks for me. The image of 12 lbs is a little staggering if you could have an actual visual of what it looks like: taken from here.
What have we done to lose our weight? Get rid of the bad carbs/sugars/fats! I've not read the entire book from beginning to end, but refer to it often when I find myself hungry or planning a meal. Simply, it replaces bad carbohydrates and fats for good ones. Sound difficult? Well to begin with, it is. How do you substitute a side you're used to having with one you hadn't even thought of using with a meal? And...have a side that tastes, Heaven forbid....good? South Beach provides some GREAT info on what to have and what to not have and even includes recipes/meal plans for the three different phases. Then you can use your imagination and a little planning to come up with ways to spice stuff up.
Phase one
NO starches, baked goods, "fatty" meat including veal, honey baked ham, etc., ice cream and certain vegetables including peas, corn, sweet potatoes black eyed peas and a few others. And, no alcohol.
We've cheated a little but the proof is in the pudding. 12 lbs for hubs and 2 for me.
Week one was a "test" and we'd actually not "officially" started the diet. Hubs lost 5 lbs just by some simple modifications. We bought some healthier choices for vegetables and meats. Our chickens we raised from chicks started laying again after the cold winter so we have plenty of eggs available daily, and we had the will power to cut out some less healthy stuff and add some newer stuff to our day to day meals.
Hubby when we met didn't like some stuff and slowly I've added them to our meals disguised in foods he was familiar with. Where he wouldn't eat cabbage, sweet potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, and okay a lot of other veggies he now eats them and enjoys them.
Samples of some veggies and meals we've had in the last two weeks: Cuban Black beans with added kale and spinach for GREEN stuff, stewed squash, egg casserole with spinach, Rotkohl - red cabbage the german style, Red and green cabbage as a slaw (asian style)etc etc.
Breks this week consists of an egg casserole and pre-cooked on a Foreman grill Turkey Breakfast Sausage.
Egg Casserole
8 Medium to Large Eggs
1 and a half Handful of Fresh Spinach - chopped
4 slices smoked Turkey Breast
3 mushrooms sliced
1 pepper (any color) diced
1 onion (red is GREAT for flavor) diced
1 tblsp EVO
1/4 cup bacon bits (real bacon works great, don't use imitation bacon bits)
3/4 cup low fat cheddar
1/2 cup swiss (yes this is a fat)
Salt/Pepper for taste
Spray a casserole dish (I used a round casserole for this recipe)
Layer your meats on the bottom
Sautee the veggies (minus the spinach) in the oil in a non-stick fry pan for about 5 minutes. Mix in spinach and scrape them onto the meat layer. Lightly beat the eggs and cheese together until blended well and pour over the top of the veggie/meat layers.
Bake at 350 until bubbly on top or light brown on top. Use a knife to check the center.
Great for leftovers!
Week two we became a bit more stricter in our selections as this was OFFICIALLY the beginning of our diet. We ate more varieties of veggies all falling into the allowed foods for phase one, different meats and being conscious of how much we eat on our plates, so smaller portions have helped. Our snacks now consist of baked garbanzo beans, fresh veggies and cheeses. South Beach keeps you full and it works. period. Proof is in the pants.
Future snacks in the works for us: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus! Ricotta Cheesecake with Lemon Drizzle? Sounds SINFUL! But...it's part of phase one in the South Beach Diet.
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