It has been a busy and stressful few weeks with traveling and getting back into a routine. Getting back on track with eating healthy and living healthy after taking any amount of a break can be very difficult. With my ankle sprain and physical therapy I have been unable to workout as regularly as I would like, this makes it difficult to stay on track with weight loss.
However, today Matt and I went back to Weight Watchers for the first time in a few weeks to get back on track no matter how difficult it might be. I am back to working tomorrow and it will be a busy weekend which should help me to stay on track with my eating habits. When I am bored I eat so keeping busy and working is essential to my weight loss.
I will be posting my weekly triumphs and weight loss failures to help keep me accountable and to encourage all of those who are on this journey as well. It is hard and frustrating at times and sometimes I want to quit, but then I remember how good it felt to be healthy and I want to keep working for it.
If you are struggling with your weight loss or if you just wish you could be at a different weight I know where you are. It will happen if you are willing to work for it! Do what you can and let it go if you have a bad day. Just don't let one bad day turn into 20 like I sometimes do! Good luck!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Portion Control of things I love
Portion control is one of the biggest problems we have as Americans and that I have in my own life. Culturally we are given more and told that bigger is better and we always want more. So in this process of changing to a healthier lifestlye I have to work really hard to have better portion control. Here are a few recipes where eating the right portion is delicious and truly filling enough.
2 nights ago we had homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade whole wheat egg noodles. The recipes are as follows:
Egg Noodles:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
a dash of salt
2 eggs beaten
1 tbsp of butter
1/2 cup skim milk
Mix dry ingredients, add liquids, knead for 5 minutes, cover and let rest for 10 minutes, then roll out to a 1/4 of an inch thick, let them sit and dry for an hour or two. The noodles in my photo are large. This was my first attempt at using whole wheat flour and they are MUCH denser than the ones I make with white flour. So cut your noodles much thinner and smaller than these because they will double in size once you add them to the water. Also for an entire pot of soup you probably need about half of the noodles you make so you can half this recipe or make a very large batch.
The chicken soup recipe is as follows:
32 oz. of chicken broth (or more)
6 cups water
6 tsp. of chicken boullion
3-4 shakes of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
I use a whole chicken leftovers, my husband and I eat one meal and I use what's left to make soup.
1 1/2 cups carrots
1/2 cup minced celery (or diced if you like larger pieces)
Combine all of the ingredients and let boil. About 20 minutes before you are ready to eat add the noodles and let boil. Dish it up and enjoy!
One bowl is a serving and it is very filling!
Today for lunch I had one of my favorite meals.... Salad. I love salad and could eat one every day and be happy. Now there are a few things that I won't give up in my quest for health and one of them is regular ranch dressing.
Here is how I make my salad.
2 cups of lettuce
8 carrots diced
6 croutons
2 tbsp ranch dressing (of which I use half)
1/2 oz. of Cabbot 50% of the fat Light Cheddar Cheese (which i buy at Sam's Club)
I sometimes add cucumber and tomato when I have them on hand.
The best way to portion control this meal that I love is to abundantly add healthy ingredients like lettuce and limit the less healthy ingredients like croutons, cheese, and dressing.
I have a scale, which is a great investment for weighing and measuring the ingredients you love but want to eat in smaller portions.
I put my dressing in a small cup like that instead of pouring it over my salad because I use less when I dip my fork into the dressing instead of pouring it over top and I still get the dressing taste that I love with a lot fewer calories.
Also, while I know that 1 oz. of cheese is a serving, cheese is high in fat and I get my dairy servings in other ways throughout the day that are a little healthier.
I hope that these ideas can help you with portion control in your quest for healthier habits. It is difficult at first but eventually you will be used to it and it won't be difficult!
2 nights ago we had homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade whole wheat egg noodles. The recipes are as follows:Egg Noodles:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
a dash of salt
2 eggs beaten
1 tbsp of butter
1/2 cup skim milk
Mix dry ingredients, add liquids, knead for 5 minutes, cover and let rest for 10 minutes, then roll out to a 1/4 of an inch thick, let them sit and dry for an hour or two. The noodles in my photo are large. This was my first attempt at using whole wheat flour and they are MUCH denser than the ones I make with white flour. So cut your noodles much thinner and smaller than these because they will double in size once you add them to the water. Also for an entire pot of soup you probably need about half of the noodles you make so you can half this recipe or make a very large batch.
The chicken soup recipe is as follows:
32 oz. of chicken broth (or more)
6 cups water
6 tsp. of chicken boullion
3-4 shakes of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
I use a whole chicken leftovers, my husband and I eat one meal and I use what's left to make soup.
1 1/2 cups carrots
1/2 cup minced celery (or diced if you like larger pieces)
Combine all of the ingredients and let boil. About 20 minutes before you are ready to eat add the noodles and let boil. Dish it up and enjoy!
Today for lunch I had one of my favorite meals.... Salad. I love salad and could eat one every day and be happy. Now there are a few things that I won't give up in my quest for health and one of them is regular ranch dressing.
Here is how I make my salad.
2 cups of lettuce
8 carrots diced
6 croutons
2 tbsp ranch dressing (of which I use half)
1/2 oz. of Cabbot 50% of the fat Light Cheddar Cheese (which i buy at Sam's Club)
I sometimes add cucumber and tomato when I have them on hand.
The best way to portion control this meal that I love is to abundantly add healthy ingredients like lettuce and limit the less healthy ingredients like croutons, cheese, and dressing.
I have a scale, which is a great investment for weighing and measuring the ingredients you love but want to eat in smaller portions.
I put my dressing in a small cup like that instead of pouring it over my salad because I use less when I dip my fork into the dressing instead of pouring it over top and I still get the dressing taste that I love with a lot fewer calories.
Also, while I know that 1 oz. of cheese is a serving, cheese is high in fat and I get my dairy servings in other ways throughout the day that are a little healthier.
I hope that these ideas can help you with portion control in your quest for healthier habits. It is difficult at first but eventually you will be used to it and it won't be difficult!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)