Food

I've been working hard on trying to eat healthy food and to come up with healthy food that's so yummy I don't feel deprived.

So, yesterday, I made something for lunch that was just out of this world.  I took a large portobello mushroom cap and baked an egg in it - it was fantastic!  I forgot to take a picture of it, but I can show you the empty plate:

What I did was put the mushroom cap in the microwave with saran wrap on it for about 2 minutes.  Then I put the oven on 350 degrees, cracked an egg into the cap, salted and peppered it and then baked it.  It took about 20 minutes to bake (I like the yolk runny), but you'll have to watch it - most recipes say it only takes 10 minutes to get a runny baked egg, but my oven took 20.

It was so rich and decadent - and only 111 calories!

Next time I'll try to hold off on my excitement and get a picture BEFORE I eat it!

For dinner, I used the actifry again - I cut skinless chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and threw them into the actifry with garlic powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and texas pete hot sauce.  Tasted wonderful - I think next time I'll add in some chili powder for a little more kick.  With the chicken I had cabbage (which I cooked in water in a frying pan with salt and pepper), lima beans and some Caesar salad.  Pretty tasty and I managed to control my portions - the only think I went back for seconds on was the cabbage.

I've also discovered the little salad kits that I like to eat for lunches.  They are about 240 calories and are all pre-portioned so all you have to do is mix it together and eat it.

I went up 10 lbs yesterday on the bowflex ... not sore today, which is weird.  Maybe I needed to go up a bit more?  Either that, or I may feel the pain by this afternoon.

At any rate, I'm plugging along like a good little trooper.  Hopefully I can keep it up!

Good Week

It was a good week, this week.  I did my exercises and ate fairly well.  The portion thing is still very tricky for me, but I made sure to not go back for seconds, and I've lost a few pounds this week.

I had pork, which I cut into pieces and cooked in my actifry - no oils, just spices - and it was really, really good.  Then salad and lima beans.  Huge portion of lima beans, but I figured better to overdo on the veggies than on the meat.  It was satisfying, and I lost some weight, so that's a good thing.  I'm telling you, the actifry is a huge diet tool.  Any time you can make fantastic foods without having to add oils to cook them in is wonderful.  I make "fried" rice in it, beef tips, chicken and now pork.  I've also done frozen french fries - just dump them in, add the spices and cook it up - no oils needed to get that "fried" crisp.

Tonight may be date night - we haven't decided yet.  I'm really tired this week, so I'm trying to decided if I'd rather spend a night at home snuggling in front of the TV rather than going out and eating really high-calorie food.

Hubby and I even tried yoga this week!  It wasn't really the best video, so we'll keep looking, but it was fun and very supportive of him to be willing to try it with me!

I like this partner thing.  It's helpful, although I'm very jealous of his determination.  His workouts are intense and I'm not that able yet.  He actually works out every day and has a whole plan for working different muscle sets on different days, etc.

I just ride my bike every other morning, do calisthenics every other morning, bowflex for strength training every other day and now am trying to fit in yoga.  I just don't think doing it every day would be good for me yet.  I tend to over do it so this Mon, Wed, Fri thing is working out well.  A good solid day of rest in between.

At any rate, I'm doing something so I'm happy about that.  Oh!  You know that feeling where your stomach feels tighter and smaller?  I've hit that point!  I was walking into the living room and my stomach just felt ... tighter.  It's a good feeling.

As usual, I'll keep you all posted!

The Good Sore

I'm back into the whole exercise routine, finally.  And I'm sore!  I went up 10 lbs on the bowflex yesterday and I'm feeling it!  Which is good, because I had gotten used to the last weight and I'm not sure it's doing anything.

I'm craving protein - I ate an entire steak last night (had planned to eat 1/2 of it) and a bit of salad.  The only thing that saved me is that we ate early and I didn't snack afterwards - the art at night is helping with that - doodles keep me from snacking!

Here is what I drew last night while watching TV:

I am still riding the bike and still not trying to overdo it for my old self.  I'm feeling pretty good, actually.  Just tired, but I didn't sleep well last night - too much to do and I'm stressing over it.  I should get a lot done today, so hopefully I will sleep well tonight.

In the spirit of mini goals, I'm working on my stomach.  It's my least favorite part of my body right now, so I'm doing lots of crunches and whatnot.  I know the fat is hiding the muscles, but as I lose the weight, the muscles will be there.  My jeans already feel looser and I've not been doing this for too long, so that's motivational.

Hubby is also doing well.  His workouts are getting more intense so his body is also craving the protein.  I've made some chicken for him to snack on throughout the day to try and give his body the protein and also keep him from overeating or choosing the wrong things.  It's nice to have someone to work with.  We have yet to start the yoga part of our exercise - maybe this week!

I'm very glad that salad season is here!  Satisfying crunch and being able to eat a LOT of it really makes food less of a focus since I'm full.

We've got lettuce coming in the garden and our broccoli is starting to form heads.  Very exciting!  Summer is always easier to make proper food choices with all the lush garden produce coming in!

I will keep you posted!