Weekly Tip: Have Fun!

In honor of my Spring kickball league starting tonight, this week's tip is simply to HAVE FUN with whatever physical activity you decide to do.  The concept behind this is very simple: the more you enjoy doing something, the more likely you are to keep doing it.  When it comes to starting an exercise plan, you have to choose activities that you know you enjoy so that you don't burn out early and completely give up.  If you hate running and you think that overnight you're going to start running 5 miles 5 days a week, you're sorely mistaken.  Choosing something more enjoyable, like a brisk walk or bike ride, will make your exercise plan more realistic and your goals more attainable.

For example, in the beginning of this challenge I discovered swimming for exercise.  Swimming has always been something I enjoyed, so turning that fun activity into quality exercise time means I'm more excited about sticking with it.  I also have my kickball team, and while it doesn't always give me the best workout, it's a way to get outside and be somewhat active with my friends, which is why I keep coming back to it.  If you like dance, try signing up for some classes at a dance studio.  If you enjoy team sports, consider joining a baseball league, etc.

Getting in shape and exercising more does not mean you have to make yourself miserable 7 days a week.  You just have to figure out what you like and then try to do those activities more often.  My plan so far throughout this challenge has been to stay realistic about my goals, and I know that workouts that feel like torture will not hold my interest for very long, no matter how effective they might be.

So get out there and start having fun with your workouts!

Skinny Chicken Florentine

I made this recipe for Skinny Chicken Florentine last Friday night and it was a big hit.  My only complaint was that the recipe says it makes 6  1 1/2 cup servings, but we only got 3 out of it, so you'd have to double everything if you want to feed more people.  Also the nutrition information provided on that site and the nutrition information that livestrong.com generated for me were different, so I just stuck with the info that I had gotten.

You will need:
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 box (approx. 5oz.) frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed to remove as much liquid as possible
1 cup low fat cottage cheese
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 large garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp. from my jar-o-garlic)
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs flour
1 tbs lemon juice
1 can no-salt low fat added chicken broth
pinch nutmeg
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper
8oz. whole grain pasta

cooking the chicken

ooey-gooey yumminess

Directions:
-Cube 'n cook chicken
-Cook pasta according to package directions
-Mix cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and spinach together until smooth 
-In a large pot, heat olive oil
-Add flour and whisk for 30 seconds
-Add chicken broth and stir until thickened (about 3 minutes)
-Add lemon juice, garlic, nutmeg, oregano & pepper
-Bring to simmer
-Remove from heat and add blended cottage cheese, spinach, chicken, Parmesan cheese & pasta. Stir to combine
-Place in lightly sprayed casserole dish
-Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes

ready for the oven...

Ta-da!

final product on my plate!

This is a great cold weather recipe that will satisfy your cheese and carb cravings without ruining your diet.  It tasted great, was easy to make, and isn't that bad for you - what's not to like about that?  

Estimated nutrition info from livestrong.com:  Yields: ~5 cups, serving size: 1 cup.  Calories 432; Fat 16.9g; Saturated Fat 6g; Cholesterol 56mg; Sodium 889.6mg; Carbs 38.4g; Dietary Fiber 5.4g; Sugars 3.8g; Protein 31.5g.

Week 9 Update

As the weeks continue to fly by during this challenge, I keep trying to challenge myself and make sure that I get the results I want.  Week 9 was another week of dedication and commitment, and I was able to benefit from that in terms of my weight loss.  Here's the recap!

Physical Activity:
-3/30/13: ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes, then did 30 Day Shred level 3
-4/1/13: 30 Day Shred level 3
-4/2/13: BODYATTACK
-4/3/13: ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes, then did 30 Day Shred level 3
-4/4/13: swam laps freestyle for 30 minutes, 900 meters total

I'm finally done with the 30 Day Shred DVD goal that I set for myself, which was to do each level 6 times, or 3x per week.  Now I can focus on getting more cardio in, but I still may pop the DVD in every once in a while to mix things up.  Overall I can say that DVD definitely kicked my butt, but in a good way.  Jillian Michaels is so motivating, so I might try one of her other DVDs at some point.  Also, I'm up to running 2.5 miles at a time on the treadmill, which I'm super proud of!  It's so helpful to see tangible progress throughout this challenge to keep myself motivated to continue.  I'd like to get the point where I can run at least 3 miles without stopping and then sign up for a 5K!

Food:
Last weekend my mom was in town visiting, and it was Easter.  My mom and I went out to eat Saturday night at Fogo de Chao, which is a Brazilian steak house.  For anyone who doesn't know, that means the servers come around to your table with skewers of different kinds and cuts of meat and slice off whatever you request onto your plate.  Basically it's meat overload, and there's also a pretty extensive salad bar for non-meat lovers.  I did try to stick with the fresh veggies on the salad bar, which were delicious, but I couldn't resist trying the many varieties of meats the restaurant had the offer.  The saving grace was that all the meat seemed to be just drenched in salt, which meant I didn't end up eating a whole lot of it.  On Sunday we went to my cousin's house for Easter dinner, which was wonderful.  I love spending time with my extended family since I don't get to see them very often.  Dinner was wonderful and I made sure to keep my portion sizes in check, and was still able to enjoy a glass of wine or two!  When weekends like this arise where I know I won't have as much control over my food options, I make sure to at least try and stick to normal portions and I definitely make sure to get plenty of exercise in so that I don't end up feeling guilty.  I also kept my calorie counts in check for the rest of the week to make up for any splurging I had done.  

Cooking:
My cooking experiments continued in week 9, and I tried out a skinny recipe for Chicken Florentine.  It was a delicious casserole with chicken, spinach, and pasta.  Two of the most voracious eaters in my friend group helped taste test this for me, and one of them wanted seconds, which I know is a good sign!  I think I'm becoming more comfortable in the kitchen, but I'm still a beginner, so I don't want to toot my own horn too much.  I'll post the recipe later this week, since this is one that everyone should try!

Weigh-In:
I'm happy to report that my weight loss continues, and this week I lost...

1 POUND!!!

I'm steadily working my way toward my goal, and I'm now down 11 pounds in 9 weeks.  Taking this challenge 1 pound at a time has made it so much easier, because my goal is reasonable and I've been able to see progress pretty steadily throughout the last 9 weeks.  I'm so close to the end I can taste it, but I know there's a lot more work to be done.  Here's to week 10 being just as much of a success!

Workout Song of the Week: M83

Who doesn't love a strong, steady, synth-filled song to push them towards a great workout?  I know I sure do!  That's why this week's song is: M83 "Midnight City"

Besides being a great song in general, this one is also good for your workout because the beat builds slowly and steadily, leading up to a powerhouse hook and exploding melody.  It's outer-spacey and full of creepy vocals, not to mention a killer saxophone solo.  This is not the song that's going to help you sprint through your last half-mile, instead it's the interlude that helps you fight off your mid-cardio lull when you're past your initial gung-ho start but not quite at that the-end-is-near rush.  Important to note: this song was also used in a Victoria's Secret commercial back in 2012, and there is nothing more motivating for a woman working out than models in sexy lingerie.

Weekly Tip: Food Snapshot

I've been getting a lot of questions from people about what I'm doing in terms of diet throughout my challenge.  People are asking me if I'm following a strict diet and what I eat, so I decided to give you a snapshot of what a typical day's worth of meals looks like for me.  I'm not actually following any specific diet plan, I just try to stick with lean proteins, veggies, and whole grains.  I also am trying to stay away from a lot of processed and pre-packaged foods and I started learning how to cook so that helps a lot.  To give everyone an idea of what I usually eat, here is my food snapshot from this past Tuesday:

7:00am - Breakfast: Oatmeal and a banana

280 calories

10:15am - Morning Snack: Vanilla greek yogurt with blueberries and granola

240 calories

1:30pm - Lunch: Turkey slices and a Laughing Cow cheese wedge on whole wheat bread with carrots

230 calories

4:30pm - Afternoon Snack: Granola bar

140 calories

7:00pm - Dinner: Chicken breast, sweet potato, and sweet peas

335 calories

9:00pm - Evening snack: Trail mix

160 calories

As you can see, I actually eat quite a bit, and I'm eating totally normal things!  My total calories for that day was about 1380.  Eating a bunch of smaller meals throughout the day means I don't get the urge to binge on something really unhealthy, and this way I never eat too much in one sitting.  This has been a really helpful way for me to watch my portions and also satisfy my snack cravings.  I have fallen in love with trail mix as a low calorie snack in the evenings that still gives me the sweet & salty combo that I love.  I also try to include fruit or veggies with almost every meal.  Chicken or fish are easy enough to make in the evenings for dinner in order to get lean protein.  In terms of drinks, I drink water all day long, so no added calories there!  Usually I have at least 8 glasses, sometimes more.  I also might have a cup of coffee or tea once in a while, which have almost zero calories.

Have you made any changes to your diet that have worked well or not so much?  Tell me about it!  As always, feel free to send any questions my way.  Happy eating!

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars

I made these Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars last week to change things up from the dinner recipes I had been trying and they came out great.  I ate them for breakfast all week long, they were so satisfying!  Not sweet enough to be dessert but not too dry or bland either.

You will need:

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt (I used regular salt, just use half the amount)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large mashed banana
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used low fat)

dry ingredients

after adding wet ingredients

Directions:

-Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, kosher salt, and ground cinnamon.
-Add in the vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix the ingredients together.
-Add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all of the ingredients.
-Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch metal baking pan. Bake at 350 F degrees for 20 minutes.
-Cut into squares and enjoy!

All done!

so light and fluffy!

These are just like making your own granola bars, except way better since you know all the ingredients and what's going into them.  They're perfect in the morning with some fresh fruit and a cup of coffee.  These bars  were so tasty and satisfying, I would definitely make them again!

Estimated nutrition info from livestrong.com:  Yields: 8 bars, Serving size: 1 bar.  Calories 160; Fat 5g; Cholesterol 0.9mg; Sodium 164.8mg; Carbs 24.5g; Dietary Fiber 2.1g; Sugars 10.1g; Protein 5.4g.

Week 8 Update

I'm 2 months into my weight loss challenge and I continue to work hard and see results.  Here's the week 8 recap!

Physical Activity:
-3/23/13: ran on the treadmill for 40 minutes, then did 30 Day Shred level 3
-3/25/13: 30 Day Shred level 3
-3/26/13: BODYATTACK
-3/27/13: ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes, then did 30 Day Shred level 3
-3/29/13: ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes

I finally made it to level 3 of my 30 Day Shred DVD and I was SO not prepared for it!!!  These workouts kick my butt so hard every single time I do it.  You would think that it would get a little easier as you continue, but it doesn't.  It's always difficult, but I stuck with it and I'm almost done so I can be proud of that!

Food:
Despite going to the La Boum brunch at L'Enfant Cafe last weekend (if you've never been or don't live in DC, you can find out what La Boum is here), I still managed to do pretty well with my food intake.  I let myself indulge a little more with alcohol (because when the champagne bottles come out with sparklers attached, how can you NOT order multiples?!), but since I had been really good about that over the previous 2 weeks, I thought that was okay.

Cooking:
I had been making a lot of dinner/main dish recipes lately, so this week I decided to try something different: breakfast bars!  I followed a recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal bars and they were awesome.  They were very light and fluffy, almost a cake-like consistency, but they were very satisfying.  I had them for breakfast throughout the week and it was almost like having a granola bar, but better!  Recipe to follow later this week.

Weigh-In:
This week I reached another major milestone with my weight.  I stepped on the scale Saturday morning and saw that I had lost

1 POUND!!!

This means that over the last 8 weeks I have lost TEN POUNDS!  I'm 2/3 of the way to my weight loss goal and I still have 7 weeks left to lose the remaining 5 pounds.  I couldn't be happier about this progress and I feel really great that I've made it this far.  Onward and upward!