#WisdomWednesday – You can lose a battle, but still win the war!

I did a video log about two weeks ago about how hard August was proving with my weight loss goals. Much harder than July which I expected to be far worse what with two conferences sandwiched in the middle of the month. August was a bear. Work, writing deadlines, and workout disruptions all had me barely losing anything in the first two weeks. It was truly depressing. Worse, I found myself slipping into that self-destructive mode I’ve experienced more than once and which usually leads to me gaining back all the weight I’ve lost. After wallowing in potato chips, baked potatoes, and bread, I decided that this time would be different. I might be losing the battle in August, but I was going to win the war in the end because I want to be healthier. Armed with that, I yanked myself out of that wallow and somehow managed to lose 3.2 pounds in August. Not the five pounds I wanted to lose, but not a weight gain either. I’m happy with that and determined to keep on going. I also had some good news since at my yearly physical I got great results with all my work-ups. I’m basically healthy as a horse and plan on getting even better! Thanks to all of you for following along on my lifestyle journey. If you’ve got news about your journey, please take a moment to share.

Original Dumbbell Image by Mac Kenzie from Pixabay

August 20, 2019

#TransformationTuesday – An Unexpected Hard Month Vlog

I’m doing something a little different today with a video chat about this month! In short, I had expected that July would be the hard month on account of the two back-to-back conferences. To my surprise, August is proving even harder for a number of reasons that I’m sharing in the video! Hope your transformation is plugging along well if you’re on this journey with me.

June 5, 2019February 17, 2021

#WellnessWednesday – A Spoonful of Honey is Sweet in Many Ways

I started reading about the benefits of honey and decided I’d try it! Every couple of days I take a spoonful of local raw honey straight up or mix it in with my Greek yogurt and fruit. I’ve got a sweet tooth so it’s a welcome blessing, but honey has a number of health benefits like:

Thanks to Dailylifestyles.com, simplyhealth.io, and webmd for their input on the possible health benefits of honey.

Original Honey Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

April 1, 2019July 14, 2023

#MotivationMonday – Time to Get Healthier

For those of you who have been visiting over the many years, you know I’ve had an up and down battle with my weight. Sigh. It’s disheartening at times, but with my daughter’s wedding in a few months and a desire to get healthier in order to stay healthier, I am once again committing to changing my lifestyle. I hope you’ll help me out by sharing your stories and by following as each Monday I share my success and/or my troubles with that week’s goal. My overall goal is to lose 35 pounds by November 1, the big day when my baby gets married. My weekly goal is to lose one pound by eating healthier and being active. Here is a picture of me today as well as a photo of some cute workout clothes my sister got me for my birthday! Can’t wait to exercise in them! Thanks, sis!

April 20, 2018

Eggplant Un-Parm #FoodieFriday #FitnessFriday

One of the things about changing up how I eat is to keep food fresh and flavorful, but healthier. After all, the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to create a lifestyle that you can live with every day.

I always watch a lot of cooking shows and one of the things the chefs mention is building layers of flavor. With that in mind, I tackled an update to one of my favorite meals: Eggplant parmigiana.

Eggplant is tough on several levels. It can be bitter although that doesn’t normally bother me. It sucks up oil like there’s no tomorrow. Plus there’s the frying in the parmagiana essential. So I decided to change it up by grilling and also, by not going heavy with sauce and instead also grilling the tomatoes. The grilling added a great smokiness to the dish that was offset by the tang of the goat cheese I used. I think you’ll love this!

Ingredients

2 medium eggplant sliced into rounds about 1/2 inch thick (I had about 20 rounds when I finished)
5 tomatoes sliced into rounds about 1/2 inch thick (I had about 10 rounds when I finished)
5-6 ounces of goat cheese
6 ounces of a mix of shredded provolone & mozzarella (Bought this pre-shredded and mixed)
4 garlic gloves
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup fresh parsley
1 cup fresh basil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Preheat your grill on high and brush/spray with oil.

Place 1/2 olive oil, garlic cloves, vinegar, parsley and basil into either a blender or food processor. Blend until you have a sauce (kind of like pesto).

Place eggplants in a tray and put about 3/4 of the pesto mixture over the rounds. Toss to coat each one. Place on hot grill and cook for about 3-4 minutes a side. Don’t worry about cooking all the way as you’ll finish this dish in the oven, but don’t undercook. Eggplant is squeaky and unappealing when not totally cooked!

Remove eggplant rounds and place on a tray. You can put two on top of each other for now if you’d like. I used a greased cookie sheet that I later used to bake everything. Why wash more than you have to?

Place tomatoes in the tray and put remaining pesto mixture on them along with remaining 1/4 cup oil. Tomatoes stick a lot more hence the extra oil. Coat well with the mixture and place on hot grill. Cook for maybe 1-2 minutes a side. Don’t worry if they break. Place tomatoes in another bowl and let cool until you can handle.

Put one eggplant round on the greased cookie sheet and top with one tomato round. Add a sprinkle of the shredded cheese mix. Top with another eggplant round. Place 1 teaspoon or so of goat cheese on this layer and top with a little more shredded cheese mix. Enough to cover the goat cheese.

Repeat until all rounds are done.

Cook in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Broil for 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese on top.

Serve with a little grated parmesan cheese on top and a side salad! It sounds like a lot of work, but it really only took about 20 minutes of prep time and it was DELICOUS!

April 13, 2018

Chia Seed Pudding #fitnessFriday #foodieFriday

Today’s post both helps you get fit and hopefully has you trying a new food. Chia seeds are one of the hot new super foods! They are packed with fiber, protein, anit-oxidants, omega 3 fatty acids and iron. For more on the benefits of chia seeds, you can visit http://bit.ly/2IRcyVd.

Today’s recipes are for chia seed puddings, but I also sprinkle dry chia seeds on salad for some added texture and taste. I make my chia seed pudding with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and I don’t add sugar or honey because I usually mix it up with fruit and sometimes a little yogurt. The recipes below show you just how versatile you can be with this superfood! Chia seed pudding will last for about 5 days in the fridge so one batch is enough to last you for an entire week of breakfasts or desserts.

Recipes

Chia Seed Pudding Recipes

March 28, 2018

#WellnessWednesday – Weight Loss Tricks That Have Worked for Me!

As some of you know, I’ve been on a roller coaster of losing and gaining weight for quite some time. I cut out carbs, work out and BAM I drop pounds until I hit some unseen barrier that throws me off the rails and has me gaining again. I was talking to a friend about it and was surprised to hear her say that she’d lost nearly 100 pounds over a few years. In truth, I had never really thought of her as that overweight and I guess because the weight came off gradually, I didn’t notice a drastic change, although I had noticed she seemed slimmer.

It occurred to me that instead of my BAM approach to getting healthier, I had to adopt a more subtle plan. One which I could maintain as a new lifestyle. The first thing I did was stop logging every food I ate. There was no way this was sustainable and what I really had to learn was to be more mindful of my eating. That meant understanding what was a reasonable portion and eating slower so that my brain could catch up to my mouth (something that goes for more than just eating! LOL!) Adding lots of good vegetables to my plate also helped create a feeling of fullness. When I did this I found that I was eating less and eating to satisfy hunger and not just because there was food on my plate.

I also cut our artificial sweeteners and instead started using raw sugar. I also didn’t use as much sugar. If I have a sugar craving, I try to eat fruit instead, but still allow myself the occasional piece of chocolate or other sweet.

I also didn’t totally eliminate carbs as that turned out to be a major fail. Instead I’ve learned to choose more complex carbs and have embraced new grains such as barley and farro instead of my beloved rice. If I have rice, I have brown with some quinoa thrown in!

While I believe that weight loss/gain is 75-80-% diet, I’ve made sure to work out to keep myself strong. I do cardio at least 2 to 3 times a week and strength training the other two days. On the weekends I strive to do long strolls on the boardwalk in lieu of the elliptical. Exercise helps to boost your metabolism which in turn helps burn calories. Muscle also uses more energy than fat, so it too burns more calories. A win-win.

So far, that’s all working for me, more slowly than before, but hopefully in a way that will help me not only lose it, but not gain it back!

I hope these tips help you in your quest for a healthier life!