Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Fat Flush: Week 1 - Shopping

Today was an adventure! It was my grocery shopping day. Time to prepare for the next week or so. Now, I have lots of choices when it comes to what to eat while on my Fat Flush Diet.

You may think that the food choices are limiting, but I can guarantee you that I will not be going hungry on this "diet". Look at all the protein, fruits and vegetables. The stuff you see in these pictures are things I picked up today. I still have some food in my fridge and freezer that I will use to add to recipes (for example: I love frozen mustard greens mixed with a can of diced tomatoes).

I have my Week 1 Meal Plan already sorted out in my head. I am a simpleton. I can eat the same thing for breakfast every day, same lunch, same snack...as long as I don't have the same meal for each meal (i.e. breakfast, lunch AND dinner).

So here's my plan:

Breakfast:

Power Berry Shake

1 scoop of Whey Protein
1 cup of mixed berries (blueberries and raspberries)
1 cup of kale
1 cup of spinach
8 oz of Cran-Water Mixture

Lunch:

Slow Cooker Barbacoa
(prepared ahead of time) Recipe Link Here

Side Salad:
1 cup of Sweet Lettuce Mix
1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tomato
1 slice red onion

Dinner:

This is where I will have my variety :) I will update with recipes in the future.

-Harris Teeter Chicken (see side photo)
-Healthy Meatloaf
-Chicken with Stewed Tomatoes
-Spaghetti (Squash) and Turkey Meatballs
-Fajitas
-Turkey Burgers
-Stuffed Bell Peppers

Snacks:

This is where I will take advantage of the extra fruit I can have (I already had my first portion in my shake).

Apples
Tangerines
Grapefruit with Cinnamon
Hard Boiled Egg (sprinkled with dry mustard)

Stay tuned...My goal is to check in and give feedback on my progress. Ready...Set...Go!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Day 1 of Gluten/Dairy Free 7.1.13

I woke up this morning fully charged. I had my breakfast and lunch packed. So my expectation that today was going to be a good day was really high.

For breakfast, I had a hard boiled egg, 2 meatballs (Find the recipe on my blog under the recipe section. I got this off of weightandwellness.com. However, I like them much better cold than warm), fruit, and green beans. I ate this around 7:30. By 10:30 I was having a gallbladder attack (and it was in the middle of a business appointment!). I had severe shooting pains on my right side and it felt like some invisible person was stabbing me. This lasted about 10 minutes off and on. When I felt my side it actually felt like a small round ball on my (near my rib). While doing a little research I thought the attack could have resulted from the hard boiled egg.

I snacked on pistachios, a banana, and carrots until dinner. Then, I had my chicken and vegetables. No attacks here.

Sadly, I have to admit that I was hungry for most of the day and craving sugar really bad. However, I held strong telling myself that I have to find out what is causing all of my issues. If I gave in now I would never know.

A bonus from the day was that I got a 1/2 hour walk in... I was even greeted by a copperhead that decided he wanted to hang out on the same trail I was on. EEWWW!

I hope that my blogs/stories help to inspire others who are facing health issues. Feel free to add me on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/brandy.randall.90

I would love to hear about your journey!

Chow!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Breakfast: Egg Stuffed Bell Pepper

This morning I wanted to create my own breakfast (inspired by Fitness Magazine's Easy, Cheesy Baked Egg). I experimented and boy did I enjoy it! I am sitting here writing my blog, and I am stuffed! I hope you enjoy!

Breakfast: Egg Stuffed Bell Pepper
Serving: 1
# of Calories (Egg Stuffed Bell Pepper): 168
# of Calories (Full Plate Below): 274

Ingredients:
1 Slice Tomato
1 tsp Parmesan Cheese
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tbsp Best Damn HOT Salsa (see my recipe on previous post)
1 tsp butter
1 tsp 2% milk

Non-stick Cooking Spray

Directions:
1) Set oven to broil
2) Cut top off of bell pepper and clean out inside
3) Place bell pepper on a non-stick pan and place in oven.
4) Once bell pepper starts to char around the ring (see photo) begin preparing egg mixture.
5) Mix egg, egg white, butter, milk together and place in a pan coated with non-stick cooking spray on medium heat.
6) Scramble mixture and continue cooking until mixture is solid (no longer runny) then mix in salsa.
7) Pull bell pepper out of the oven and place egg mixture inside the bell pepper.
8) Place sliced tomato on top of egg mixture (to fill hole) and then top with 1 tsp of Parmesan cheese.
9) Place bell pepper back in over and cook until cheese is well melted and slightly browning. Then remove and enjoy!

I served this with 1 cup 50/.50 Spring Mix salad topped with 1 tbsp Kraft Italian Roasted Red Pepper Dressing and 6 strawberries topped with 1 tbsp Cool-Whip.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Tips for Healthy Grocery Shopping

Video:Make a Healthy Grocery List

with Lynn Reynolds

Learning how to properly make a healthy grocery list before heading to the store can save you money and slim your waist. Here, see instructions for making a healthy grocery list.

Supermarket Savvy

Ward offers this checklist for making healthier food choices in every department of your supermarket:

Produce. Spend the most time in the produce section, the first area you encounter in most grocery stores (and usually the largest). Choose a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables. The colors reflect the different vitamin, mineral, and phytonutrient content of each fruit or vegetable.
Breads, Cereals, and Pasta. Choose the least processed foods that are made from whole grains. For example, regular oatmeal is preferable to instant oatmeal. But even instant oatmeal is a whole grain, and a good choice.
When choosing whole-grain cereals, aim for at least 4 grams of fiber per serving, and the less sugar, the better. Keep in mind that 1 level teaspoon of sugar equals 4 grams and let this guide your selections. Ward points out that cereals -- even those with added sugar -- make great vehicles for milk, yogurt, and/or fruit. Avoid granolas, even the low-fat variety; they tend to have more fat and sugar than other cereals.

Bread, pasta, rice, and grains offer more opportunities to work whole grains into your diet. Choose whole-wheat bread and pastas, brown rice, grain mixes, quinoa, bulgur, and barley. To help your family get used to whole grains, you can start out with whole-wheat blends and slowly transition to 100% whole-wheat pasta and breads.
Meat, Fish, and Poultry. The American Heart Association recommends two servings of fish a week. Ward recommends salmon because people often like it, and it's widely available, affordable, not too fishy, and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Be sure to choose lean cuts of meat (like round, top sirloin, and tenderloin), opt for skinless poultry, and watch your portion sizes.
Dairy. Dairy foods are an excellent source of bone-building calcium and vitamin D. There are plenty of low-fat and nonfat options to help you get three servings a day, including drinkable and single-serve tube yogurts, and pre-portioned cheeses. If you enjoy higher-fat cheeses, no problem -- just keep your portions small.
Frozen Foods. Frozen fruits and vegetables (without sauce) are a convenient way to help fill in the produce gap, especially in winter. Some of Ward's frozen favorites include whole-grain waffles for snacks or meals, portion-controlled bagels, 100% juices for marinades and beverages, and plain cheese pizza that she jazzes up with an extra dose of skim mozzarella cheese and a variety of veggies.
Canned and Dried Foods. Keep a variety of canned vegetables, fruits, and beans on hand to toss into soups, salads, pasta, or rice dishes. Whenever possible, choose vegetables without added salt, and fruit packed in juice. Tuna packed in water, low-fat soups, nut butters, olive and canola oils, and assorted vinegars should be in every healthy pantry.

Nestle offers these simple solutions to savvy shopping without spending hours in the grocery store:

Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are usually located. Avoid the center aisles where junk foods lurk.
Choose "real" foods, such as 100% fruit juice or 100% whole-grain items with as little processing and as few additives as possible. If you want more salt or sugar, add it yourself.
Stay clear of foods with cartoons on the label that are targeted to children. If you don't want your kids eating junk foods, don't have them in the house.
Avoiding foods that contain more than five ingredients, artificial ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.

Published May 26, 2006

SOURCES: Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, professor of nutrition, New York University; author, What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating. Elizabeth Ward, RD, author,The Pocket Idiot's Guide to the New Food Pyramids.

My Recipe: Easy Chicken Mozzarella

This evening I made my Chicken Mozzarella (easy style). I plugged the ingredients in the recipe creator on www.myfitnesspal.com. I was happy to see the calorie count. Since there are three of us and my son does not like rice I had to break my recipe into two (see below). Altogether my calories for my portion ( 1 of each below) was 341. I had it with a side salad and a little ranch. Yumm! The recipe will be in my recipe section (top of my blog).

Chicken Mozzarella (Chicken/Tomatoes/Cheese Only)
Number of servings

Serves people

Ingredients	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein
Aldi Fit & Active - Light String Cheese: Mozzarella 24 g (1piece), 48 g	100	1	5	14
Perdue - Thin Sliced Chicken Breast, 4 Breast Piece	320	0	4	68
Happy Harvest - Stewed Tomatoes, 7 \2 cup	245	56	0	7
Add Ingredient

Total:	665	57	9	89
Per Serving:	166	14	2	22

Chicken Mozzarella (Brown Rice Mix)
Number of servings

Serves people

Ingredients	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein
Aldi Fit & Active - Instant Brown Rice, 1 cup (42g) dry - 2/3 cup cooked	300	66	2	8
Aldi Casa Mamita - Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, 1 1/4 cup (121g)	50	10	0	3
Add Ingredient

Total:	350	76	2	11
Per Serving:	175	38	1	6

Sorry for the crappy photos. They were taken with my IPod.

Brown Rice with Tomatoes & Diced Green Chilies

Chicken with Stewed Tomatoes

Chicken with Rice, Tomatoes & Mozzarella with a side salad

Monday, September 3, 2012

First Month: Officially Over

The first month has been quite a journey. First off, it started off really slow. If you recall I took the first week of this off of work so that I could concentrate on becoming healthy.

The first two weeks I was trying to use someone else's plan. This included a meal plan and workout routine. I only lost 1/2 pound those first two weeks. That was enough for me to say, "Screw this! I am doing it my way!" I buckled down these last two weeks and lost 8 1/2 pounds. I really watched what I was eating and began walking every evening.

Today officially the end of my first 4 weeks (month), and today starts my 5th week. I have updated my blog with new photos and measurements to reflect my changes since I started this journey. The pics are embarrassing (I am heavy #1 and no makeup #2). However, it will be nice once I hit my "transformation" to be able to look back at my before pics.

I weighed in at 195 this morning. I am down 3 1/2 lbs from last week and a total of 9 pounds in a month. I have 60 more lbs to go to hit my goal weight of 135. I am dropping the weight but not the inches. This concerns me because I consider true weight loss to be measured in inches lost.

I am going to workout this evening before going to bed. Admittedly, I am so tired from this weekend that exercise feels like "work". However, I know that eating less will not get me the results I am looking for. I need the exercise to tone my body and mold it along the way.