SMART Goals

I need to get back to the basics. I knew this holiday season would make it difficult to stay on track, but I underestimated my lack of willpower. There is candy everywhere I turn these days and it is just unrealistic to expect my housemates to stop enjoying themselves for my sake. Nine months ago when I started this journey a very wise friend of mine told me to establish SMART goals and it worked. For 3 months I kept track of those goals and reported back to her every week. I'm not sure why I stopped tracking things, but I'm going to get back to it and report my success or failure on this blog every Monday. I've posted a link with additional information on setting SMART goals. In a nutshell they need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time bound. SMART..get it?

Here are my SMART Goals:

1. Log every bite of food I eat every day. 100% Completion for success
2. Limit my caloric intake to 1500 calories a day or 10,500 a week
3. Limit my fat intake to 35g per day (20% of caloric intake)
4. Burn an additionl 500 calories a day at least 4 times a week.
5. Lose 1% of my body weight each week

I think 5 is a good starting point. In the beginning I had goals that helped me get into a routine as well, like wake up by 6:15 M-F, take my vitamins every day and drink 8 glasses of water every day. All three of those are now part of my daily routine. That's a sign of success to me. I'll track these goals for the next 8 weeks and see how much I have succeeded.

My current weight is 196.8 so I need to lose 2 lbs this week. If I succeed each week I will be down to almost 180 lbs. That's 1/2 way to my final goal of 165. Wish me luck.

2010 The Year of Me

I'm excited that 2009 is 27 days from being over.  2009 was not a banner year in most regards.  I ate my pork and sauerkraut and still bad things happened.  I make resolutions every year, just like everyone else, well this year I'm making a plan and my only resolution is to put myself first.  It sounds selfish, but if I don't take care of me I won't be any good for anyone else.  So let's recap 2009 and see what I can learn from the events.

January - Found out my employer was implementing a wage freeze.
February - Got a bad case of  the flu
March - My father passed away very unexpectedly
March - Our sewer system erupted in the backyard the day after my dad's funeral.  Spent $8,000 to get it fixed.
April - Started grief counseling - this was actually a good thing
May - My paternal grandfather passed away
May - Took mini vacation by myself to work through grief issues - another good thing
June - Work, work, work oh...my boss resigned and I got a new one - also a good thing
July - Very stressful family vacation
August - Learned of some very personal marital issues - working on it!
September - Started working out with co-workers one day a week - Painful at first, but now I love it
October - Vacation with the husband - more marital issues - still working on it
November - Planned a big family Thanksgiving that was reschedule because of everyone else's timing issues.
December - well it's not over yet

I know, it sounds pretty lame and the only tragic thing was the death of my father, but that's a pretty big tragedy.  After I finished my grief counseling I realized that I needed to turn this tragedy into a positive learning experience.  My dad was significantly overweight and had heart problems.  In mid April I made it a point to start getting healthy.  I don't just mean weight loss, I mean eating better, exercising and taking care of my high cholesterol.  Six months later I had lost 25 pounds and my cholesterol was in the normal range.  The last few months I haven't lost nearly as much as I would have liked, but I'm still exercising and staying on track most of the time.  The marital issues have caused some stress and I get a little depressed and tend not to be as focused on my goals.  2010 is going to change that. 

As you know, I track my food and exercise daily on a web-site.  I will continue to do that in 2010, but I'm also getting a really big calendar for my wall so I have a visual plan to see each and every day.  There it will be right in front of me in the morning and evening.  I'm also going to make more of an effort to read all the fitness and health magazines I get and to save the helpful and interesting articles.  Most importantly, I'm not going to let everyone else dictate how and when I eat or exercise. 

I liked taking some time away from my husband and my mother.  I'm doing that again in 2010 when I attend the FitBloggin convention in Baltimore with a friend of mine. 

I'm also going to pick one thing that I habitually stress over each month and work on a plan to reduce the stress it causes me.  January is going to be money.  I'm going to finalize a budget in January and work on a way to reduce my debt and increase my savings.  What better time to do so after the Christmas spending season.

So, what I can say about 2009 is that I learned a few good lessons and made some real progress with my health.  I'm very thankful for that.  At the same time, it is the last year I had my father with me so I will be sad to say good-bye in that regard.  I am welcoming 2010 with open arms and vow to make the year of my 40th birthday the best one yet!

Stress Buster

Yesterday was crap.  Work was so stressful that I came home and did nothing but play computer games and feel sorry for myself.  What I did not do though was comfort myself with food.  It took repeating "I deserve to be healthy and fit" over and over.  By 9 I had the start of a migraine and by 3 a.m. it was in full swing.  I wonder if I had come home and exercised if the headache would have never started?  Lesson learned.  No more self pity at the end of a hard day. 

I did end up staying home from work today.  I just couldn't get rid of that stinkin headache.  Finally at 3 p.m. I forced myself to put on my gym shoes and exercise.  I've seen so many commercials for Exercise TV so I chose to give it a try.  OMG I can not believe the wealth of workouts available for FREE!  Today I did Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred Level 2.  What a wicked workout.  I'm going to hurt tomorrow, but it got rid of my headache and I'm looking forward to finding another intense workout tomorrow...after work of course.  I was also inspired to make a healthy and, to my surprise, very tasty meal for my family.  Orange Chicken with Basmati Rice.  Try this recipe..trust me you will love it.

Chicken With Oranges and Almonds

Ingredients

4 chicken, broiler-fryer, breasts, without skin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper, black
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1/8 teaspoon cloves, ground
2 tablespoon oil, salad
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 cup(s) onion(s), chopped
1 cup(s) orange juice
1/4 cup(s) nuts, almonds, slivers
1/4 cup(s) raisins
2 orange(s), pared and thinly sliced

Preparation
Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, cinnamon and cloves. Heat oil in large skillet; place chicken in oil skin down and brown a golden color. Turn over in pan. Put garlic, onion, orange juice and 1 cup of water over chicken; cover and cook at a simmer for 35 minutes.

Spread out almonds in shallow pan and place in 350°F oven for 5-10 minutes or until fragrant but just barely toasted. Add almonds, raisins and sliced oranges to chicken. Cover and cook 5 minutes.

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.