I had a dream..well more like a plan

I had a plan for today and I actually followed that plan.  One gold star for me.  I started my day relaxing, which everyone should do on Sunday morning.  The laziness was followed by meal planning and then shopping at Right By Nature.  I love this store.  It's a local organic grocery store with a great selection and much more economical than Whole Foods.  (No offense to Whole Foods, but it's December and I've got gifts to buy!)  I took Aaron along, but he gets all freaked out around wholesome, all natural foods, so he just stood outside for the most part. 

Breakfast today was Stonyfield Lowfat Blueberry Yogurt and a PecanPie Larabar.  Lunch was a serving of hummus with an ounce of Stacy's Naked Pita Chips and a piece of string cheese.  Dinner was delish..Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Oven Roasted Potatoes and Sugar Snap Peas.  I limited by coffee intake to two cups today and drank my daily dose of water (1 liter).  I even had enough calories left for 1/2 slice of pumpkin pudding pie.  Overall I'm pleased with myself today, but I do need to get more fruit and veggies into my diet.  Oh wait...add and apple as my mid day snack to that menu.

New look...same great taste

I've decided that a blog about food isn't really the best thing for someone trying to eat a little less of it.  After all, there is more to getting healthy than just eating healthy food right?  I can tell you one thing for sure, there was not an abundance of healthy food at my Thanksgiving table this week and it didn't help that we had 2 celebrations within 5 days of one another.  I guess I also realized I'm just not that much of a creative writer, so I'm going to stick with something I do well, talk about myself.  The most important thing for you to know is that I'm committed to this new healthy lifestyle and yes, I will fall of the wagon, but I will jump back on and dust the powdered sugar off.  The second most important thing for you to know is that I can't do this alone and I will be looking to you, my three followers,  to help me along the way.  Sound like plan everyone?

I woke up this morning and declared I was going to get back to eating like a normal person today...that didn't happen.  I made it through breakfast with a bowl of Cheerios and skim milk and have every intention of a little leftover turkey and a salad, but we ended up at a mexican place and it was all down hill from there.  I think I recovered nicely at dinner with some wheat crackers, hummus and an ounce of cheese, but that dang apple pie kept calling to me.  It would be nice if I could just trash all the leftovers, but my mom and hubby might be a wee bit ticked if I did that.  All I can say is tomorrow is another day. 

On the fitness front I did manage a 30 minute fast ride on the good old stationary bike.  I'm sure that helped burn a few hundred calories today.  I always feel so much better after a good sweat.  I've got to find a gym with fitness classes.  Take my advice ladies...DO NOT let your husband pick out the fitness center and DO NOT let him lock you into a one year prepaid membership without checking it out.  I'll save that story for a rainy day.

I've Seen The Light or is it Lite?

Well for me there was nothing better than 2 big bags of Halloween candy and very few trick or treaters to scare me back on the wagon. I knew when I woke up Sunday morning there would be way too much undistributed candy to take my weight loss plan lightly. It seemed rather unfair to punish my candy loving husband and donate it, but I had to insist they put it out of my sight. Hiding the candy combined with digging into my latest food book “The Healthy Urban Kitchen” did the trick.


I haven’t gone all crazy and started believing that I could eat only whole foods, my life is too chaotic to fool myself into believing I could live by such a strict food code, but I did take away quite a few good things from the book and would suggest it to anyone trying to eat better and by better I mean healthier.

Did you know that:
- America is a nation of children who are expected to die before their parents
- 90% of the money Americans spend on food goes to fast food chains
- The average American eats 150lbs of sugar per year
- The U.S. sprays over 1 billion pounds of pesticides each year on our food
- As Americans we eat less saturated fat and cholesterol than we did 100 years ago, yet we have more heart disease and cancer than ever before

The premise of the book and cookbook is to eat only real food, food that was grown in the ground or had a mother. Additionally the food should be organic, unprocessed and animal products should be grass fed and chemical free. I know this lifestyle is possible, but just not for me. Not now anyway. I need convenience foods sometimes and I’m making a better effort to make sure whatever convenience foods I buy are as chemical free as possible. In defense of the author, he does suggest that you ease into this lifestyle and work with a nutritionist to develop a plan that works best for you and your possible allergens. Most importantly, he stresses the need to examine what we put into our bodies and the benefits or consequences of that food.

The book is broken into 23 chapters with the first 11 chapters providing instructions on how to make your kitchen healthier, how to shop healthier, food allergens and healthy cooking and eating guidelines. The remaining chapters provide recipes for everyday eating. My goal over the next few weeks is to prepare several of these recipes and share my results with you as I attempt to incorporate a greater whole foods mentality into my every day life.

Tonight I have tilapia in the ice box, so I’m going to start with a twist on one of his recipes and make Tilapia drizzled with Balsamic Butter Sauce. Photos, recipe and my thoughts to follow.

- Recipe Update: Tilapia with Balsamic Butter Drizzle

Well I completely forgot to take pictures, but the fish was excellent. Here is the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350.

4 tilapia fillets
salt/pepper
olive oil

Brush the fish on both sides with olive oil. Salt & pepper to your tastes. Cook fish for
12-15 minutes until done. Prepare drizzle while fish is cooking.

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup butter (unsalted)

Bring vinegar to boil and reduce until you have about 2 tablespoons left. Reduce heat to
low and add butter 1 Tbs at a time. Keep warm until fish is ready to serve and drizzle over
fillets right before serving.

My whole family loved this recipe and I hope you do as well.

Under Construction

I realize it's been way too long since my last entry. Hang in there please. I'm taking some time to rethink this blog and will see you soon.