Tuesday, September 21, 2010

IT'S OK TO ASK FOR HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT!!!

This was a topic which I thought was outstanding in a recent weight watchers meeting that I attended. I know for myself that I often just try to keep it to myself on my new healthy lifestyle but it's best to ask for help from others which makes it much easier to eat healthy.  At work when they have pot lucks or get togethers when their is food it's a good idea to tell your co-workers that it would be very much appreciated if their was some healthy food available and you can also make a healthy dish.  For me the weekends are incredibly difficult because the people that I live with are not thinking about eating healthy and they tend to eat whatever sounds good at the moment.  So speak up and let others in your family know what you would like to eat instead of just eating whatever everyone else decides on, this is also something that I need to work on myself.  Many times when going out to eat I tend to dread it because it seems like it's very hard to have a healthy meal out.  What I will be doing from this point forward is asking the waiter or waitress how the food is prepared and what's in the food.  We can always tell them to cook the food the way we want to eat it especially since we are the ones paying for our food.  Substitutions are also a great way to eat healthy when at a restaurant. For instance we can get a healthy bowl of fruit instead of a muffin or buttered toast which tastes much better and is much healthier to eat.  Something else that I do while at restaurants is get salad dressing on the side so that I can decide how much I use instead of them.  Another tip at restaurants is that if the meal comes with something that is unhealthy or that you just don't want to eat it's ok to tell them not to bring it to the table and leave it out of the meal even if you have to pay for it.  So I would highly suggest to ask for help in many different situations while eating which will make it much easier to stay on your new healthy lifestyle!!!  Have a great healthy week everyone  :)   

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

A Great Healthy Recipe I Received For Summer Vegetable Stew Gratin

  

Fresh herbs and garlic say summer. Serve this summery stew as a side dish to grilled meats or fish, or as a delicious vegetarian main course with a crisp green salad and crusty whole-grain bread.



Weight Watchers points = 2
Servings 4
Preparation Time 15 Minutes
Cooking Time 26 Minutes

Ingredients

 

1 medium onion(s), thinly sliced

2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

14 oz canned stewed tomatoes, with basil, garlic and oregano

2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped or 1/2 tsp dried

2 tsp rosemary, fresh, chopped or 1/2 tsp dried and crumbled

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup(s) dried bread crumbs, sourdough  

3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F

Coat a large, nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add onion, zucchini and garlic and sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. If pan becomes too dry, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water.

Stir in tomatoes, oregano, rosemary and cayenne, increase heat to high and boil until almost all liquid has evaporated.

Put vegetables into a shallow, 1-quart baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Bake until bubbling and nicely browned on top, about 10 minutes. Cut into 4 portions and serve.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

How I Had A Very Healthy Labor Day Barbeque This Weekend!!

Hello everyone I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend, I sure did :)  This year I decided to have a Labor Day Barbecue at my house which was a big hit.  I was very prepared to have healthy food available for all of the guests at the Barbecue which was on sunday.  I went to the grocery store and bought honeydew melons, a watermelon, a veggie tray, whole grain hamburger buns, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, chicken, and ground turkey to make turkey burgers.  For drinks we had bottled water and some diet sodas for everyone to enjoy.  I cooked the chicken and turkey burgers on my charcoal barbecue which came out excellent and very healthy.  Their were raw veggies and cut up fruit to snack on before the food was ready to eat that everyone enjoyed a lot along with the drinks. A tip that I would give to you is to have a gathering or barbecue at your own house so that you can have control over the food that is there.  So we had a great day, ate very healthy, and everyone had plenty to eat on a great summer day in Southern California!!  I hope you all had a great Labor day Weekend and are relaxed for the upcoming 4 day work week.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

PERFECTIONIST - WHY THIS IS TOUGH FOR ME!!

So by now many of you may know that I have lost 230 pounds and maintained the weight loss for well over a year now.  I am finding out that maintaining the weight loss has been much tougher believe it or not than the journey of losing the weight.  This has been tough for me because I'm a perfectionist which means that I eat healthy and exercise on a daily basis or after one bad meal, snack, or day of not exercising I just eat whatever and completely fall off the wagon.  Their is just no middle ground for me and it's either 100% or 0% which has really kicked into high gear after I got to my goal weight.  During my weight loss journey I lost weight consistently on a weekly basis which was great since I needed to drop weight.  Now that I am working on maintaining my weight loss and staying the same weight it has been very difficult because I'm not trying to go up or down in weight.  I do know that I am a perfectionist because in college when I was in sports we had a sports psychologist come in and test all of us and the results were that I was a perfectionist.  This isn't just in what I eat but in competing sports and at work I'm the same way in that I either give it my all or give it pretty much no effort at all.  So if you are struggling with maintaining your weight loss or are having a tough time on your weight loss journey then I would highly suggest that you find out if you are a perfectionist.  If you are then you can do your best in finding the middle ground and not have the do or die mentality.  As far as weight loss goes I was told several times by someone that I look up to that it's like when your driving your car and miss the off ramp.  We don't just throw our arms in the air and say oh well and keep on driving until we run out of gas but we wait for the next exit and then get back on track with a little detour.  I hope this helps you all out and have a great and very healthy Labor Day Weekend!!!