(a post as an official Hospital Hill Blogger.)
A few years back I lost about 20-25 pounds following the Weight Watcher's program. It worked for me. Actually, once your mind is in it, anything will work. So, when my baby was not a baby anymore (shortly after her 1st birthday) I decided it was time to get the weight off and get back to my wedding day weight! I was able to lose the weight and have kept if off for 3 years now! Running has definitely helped in "maintenance" mode of weight loss. Anymore, I do not feel like it is maintenance mode. I feel like it is life. I want to be fit. I want to be healthy. I want to eat healthy. I don't do anything extreme. I just try and eat a well balanced diet of protein, carbs, fat, fruit and veges. Veges are definitely my weakness and the area that I need the most improvement. So, here you go. What I typically eat:
A few years back I lost about 20-25 pounds following the Weight Watcher's program. It worked for me. Actually, once your mind is in it, anything will work. So, when my baby was not a baby anymore (shortly after her 1st birthday) I decided it was time to get the weight off and get back to my wedding day weight! I was able to lose the weight and have kept if off for 3 years now! Running has definitely helped in "maintenance" mode of weight loss. Anymore, I do not feel like it is maintenance mode. I feel like it is life. I want to be fit. I want to be healthy. I want to eat healthy. I don't do anything extreme. I just try and eat a well balanced diet of protein, carbs, fat, fruit and veges. Veges are definitely my weakness and the area that I need the most improvement. So, here you go. What I typically eat:
Breakfast: Click protein shake. Sometimes I drink it plain. Sometimes I put in in the blender and add a frozen banana and 1 tablespoon of PB 2. Sometimes I use vanilla Click and throw in a frozen banana and some frozen strawberries. I also might eat a protein bar. Zone protein bars are my favorite. Oatmeal, Egg whites with salsa and a tortilla wrap, Greek yogurt with fresh fruit. Begal with peanut butter. Honestly, sometimes I stop at Starbucks or Scooters coffee and get fancy, high calorie, high fat coffee drink that will hold me over until lunch!
Lunch: Since I work full time I always eat lunch at work. It varies from time to time, but is typically the same. I like to make a turkey wrap with turkey, wheat tortilla, spinach, green peppers, carrots, and fat free Italian dressing. That is one way I sneak in a lot of veges. I usually add a can of Progresso light soups. I also like to eat a Greek Pita with turkey, lettuce, Greek dressing, cucumbers, tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese. I always have fruit with lunch and usually my daily Diet Dr. Pepper. I have cut back significantly on my intake of Diet Dr. Pepper, but I just can't seem to cut it out completely. The hospital has a lot of great soups, so a few times a week I might get a large helping of soup.
Spaghetti squash has become a new favorite this winter. I usually add a piece of chicken breast for some protein if I take spaghetti squash in for lunch.
In the summer I like to make a pasta dish that includes zucchini and yellow squash. I cook wheat pasta (usually 8 oz.) I dice the zucchini and squash and saute it in olive oil (about 1/3 cup) with some garlic. I divide up the pasta into 2 oz servings and divide up the zucchini/squash/olive oil mix into each serving. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy. I usually add chicken breast as well for the protein.
Dinner: I cook every night. Well, not every night, but I make sure we have a home cooked meal every night. We do not eat out at all during the week. Occasionally on a Friday night I might grab a pizza, and sometimes on Saturday we might go out to celebrate something, but not very often. It is just too expensive and too unhealthy to eat out a lot. If my week looks crazy busy, then I will spend a few hours in the kitchen Sunday afternoon cooking. If I can cook one meal, I can cook 4 meals. All at one time. My husband is always amazed when I am done (and several pots and pans are dirty!) I usually have one crock pot meal as week as well. Sometimes 2!
Here are some of my favorite/fast recipes:
Balsamic Chicken in the Crock pot- 1 pound of chicken, cut into 3-4 oz pieces, sliced onion on each piece of chicken for flavor. Mix 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar with 1 tsp each of dried oregano, basil, and rosemary. Add 1/2 tsp of thyme as well. Stir together and pour over chicken. Add 1 can of diced tomatoes (28 oz) over the chicken. Cook on high for 4-6 hours. Serve with angel hair pasta.
Chicken Tacos in the crock pot- 1 pound of chicken, 1 jar of salsa (16 oz) 1 package of taco seasoning, 1 can of black beans, 1/2 bag of frozen corn. Pour in the crock pot. Cook on low for at least 8 hours. When done the chicken will easily shred.
Taco Soup in the crock pot- 1 pound of ground beef (already browned), 1 can of corn, 1 can of diced tomatoes (28 oz) 1 can of kidney beans, 1 package of taco seasoning, 1 can of tomato sauce (8 oz) 1-2 cups of water.
Chili Mac- brown 2/3 lb of ground beef, add 2 cans of Mexican style stewed tomatoes, 2 1/2 cups of tomato juice, 4 oz can of green chili peppers, 1 tsp of chili powder, and bring to a boil. Add 1 1/2 cups of uncooked elbow size macaroni and 1 can of pinto beans. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Chicken Fingers and Sweet Potatoes- cut one pound of chicken into strips, mix 4 tbsp of honey mustard and 4 tbsp of buttermilk in a bowl. Coat the chicken strips with the honey mustard/buttermilk mix. Coat with dried bread crumbs (about 1 cup) Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes, turning the chicken strips after 6 minutes. Serve with homemade sweet potato fries. Sweet potatoes cut into strips, painted with olive oil, topped with garlic salt, bake at 450 for 10 minutes.
Grilled chicken marinated in Italian dressing. I usually serve this with roasted vegetable from the grill. Red or green peppers, mushrooms (for husband and oldest daughter) and red potatoes. I put the veges in a bag, pour some olive oil over it and garlic salt, shake and put on grill. They are so good!
Tacos, Sloppy Joes, Spaghetti- because with 2 kids running round let's keep it real. I usually eat a small helping of each of those items and fill up on the vegetable side dish (which is usually green beans, or a bag of steamed veges.) My kids will eat the veges as well. One like green beans, the other likes broccoli.
Snacks are usually pretty predictable: Greek yogurt with fruit, carrots and hummus, fruit (apple, orange, pear, banana, blueberries, kiwi) almonds, string cheese, scoop of peanut butter (definitely my weakness,) popcorn, and sometimes I grab a handful of M & M's from the office, or peanut butter filled pretzels (don't try them...you mightlike love them!) The last few weeks I have been challenging myself not to eat anything after dinner. This has been tough, but I have stuck to it. I am hoping to lose those last few pounds before Rock the Parkway so I am in the best shape I can be.
As a nurse, I know what I am supposed to eat. I have taken health promotion/wellness classes. I have taken care of kids that already have diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity...and they are just kids. I know that I need a well balanced diet of protein, carbs and fat. I try to make good choices every day and I am usually successful. My husband (who has lost almost 60 pounds over the last few years) and I try to be good examples to our children in living an overall healthy lifestyle. We exercise, provide healthy meals, limit screen time, encourage our kids to go outside, run, play, ride bikes, and take every opportunity we can to guide them in the right direction for a long healthy life. What I eat is an example to my kids and a way of life I want them to know, carry on and live.
Chicken Fingers and Sweet Potatoes- cut one pound of chicken into strips, mix 4 tbsp of honey mustard and 4 tbsp of buttermilk in a bowl. Coat the chicken strips with the honey mustard/buttermilk mix. Coat with dried bread crumbs (about 1 cup) Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes, turning the chicken strips after 6 minutes. Serve with homemade sweet potato fries. Sweet potatoes cut into strips, painted with olive oil, topped with garlic salt, bake at 450 for 10 minutes.
Grilled chicken marinated in Italian dressing. I usually serve this with roasted vegetable from the grill. Red or green peppers, mushrooms (for husband and oldest daughter) and red potatoes. I put the veges in a bag, pour some olive oil over it and garlic salt, shake and put on grill. They are so good!
Tacos, Sloppy Joes, Spaghetti- because with 2 kids running round let's keep it real. I usually eat a small helping of each of those items and fill up on the vegetable side dish (which is usually green beans, or a bag of steamed veges.) My kids will eat the veges as well. One like green beans, the other likes broccoli.
Snacks are usually pretty predictable: Greek yogurt with fruit, carrots and hummus, fruit (apple, orange, pear, banana, blueberries, kiwi) almonds, string cheese, scoop of peanut butter (definitely my weakness,) popcorn, and sometimes I grab a handful of M & M's from the office, or peanut butter filled pretzels (don't try them...you might
As a nurse, I know what I am supposed to eat. I have taken health promotion/wellness classes. I have taken care of kids that already have diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity...and they are just kids. I know that I need a well balanced diet of protein, carbs and fat. I try to make good choices every day and I am usually successful. My husband (who has lost almost 60 pounds over the last few years) and I try to be good examples to our children in living an overall healthy lifestyle. We exercise, provide healthy meals, limit screen time, encourage our kids to go outside, run, play, ride bikes, and take every opportunity we can to guide them in the right direction for a long healthy life. What I eat is an example to my kids and a way of life I want them to know, carry on and live.
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