Dinner Time!

In order to facilitate a healthier lifestyle, Mark and I have started Meal Planning! Grocery shopping will be more efficient, and we can be more careful about what we eat. This should make things much easier, right? Errr... Kind of. For some reason, I can come home and whip up dinner in a few moments without even thinking about it. When I start planning it out, I run dry on ideas.

Cookbooks are coming in handy now! Just scan through and pick a few. I have a couple of Rachel Ray cookbooks, but all her food seems to consist of some unhealthy main dish paired with some crazy salad. WTH, Rachel? You're not making this any better. What I've ended up doing is this: taking a couple of her recipes and making them healthy. For example, cutting out the extra butter, cheeses, and sauces she loves to top food with, and using whole grains and whole wheat instead of white breads and processed flour. Hmm... That's better!

So that I don't feel "blah" about meal planning, I've made a pool of recipes for the week. That way I can have a little bit of flexibility on what I feel like eating or cooking on a particular day. Planning out each day feels like a trap and makes me want to rebel. Instead, I just pick from a list and it's all good.

This week's recipe pool:
Crab cakes with quinoa and steamed spinach
MahiMahi fish tacos with black beans and pineapple salsa
Shepherd's Pie
Turkey Burgers
Spaghetti with chicken, mushroom, and onion, with tomato sauce

Tonight is Crab Cakes!

Another incentive to cook more and eat out less (saving lots of money!) is this great new Chef's Mat Mark purchased for me! It's filled with a wondrous gel that makes my feet feel cushy! I very sincerely believe that everyone should go to Bed Bath and Beyond and purchase your own. It takes the tired feeling away from your feet, knees, and hips while you slave over a hot stove.

And then it doesn't even feel like "slaving" anymore. ;)

To Alcohol!

So... from my last blog post, I'm taking a good hard look at my eating habits. I had a talk and a boo-hoo whine with Mark late in to the night. Ha ha ha, I was never counting calories from all the alcohol I drink! A couple of beers here, a glass of wine there, and etc, really add up. While my eating habits are great, my drinking habits... not so much. ;) But I'm working on that.

I have a rough plan here. I can either cut out drinking (boo!) or drink less and exercise more. While I do hate exercising, I do love to drink. I'll cut out drinking for a little while, then try drinking lower calorie drinks and exercising a bit more. There's no point in working so hard and then sabotaging myself with alcoholic beverages. Tasty, tasty sabotage!

Also, my list of things to do before I have kids is still sitting there with nothing checked off. I swear I will finish that painting by tomorrow, even if it takes all night and a few pots of coffee. Pictures WILL be posted!!!

Health and Nutrition

Lookin' Good Ma'am! Well, it is a very flattering angle, and I am wearing a pretty dress... and lots of people in my life tell me I look great! I feel great too! But... after talking to my doctor, things aren't so great after all.

All I've ever done is fad dieting, and eating consciously in between crazy diets. The truth of the matter is it's not healthy. What I eat in between dieting is actually way better than the dieting itself. Have oatmeal with dried fruit in the morning, last night's dinner for lunch, low fat yogurt as a snack, and then another round of lean meat with vegetables for dinner. I don't use butter, sometimes a bit of EVOO, not a lot of salt, the carbs are whole grain... so why doesn't it work well? I lose more weight when dieting - which is really bad for my liver, apparently!

With eating right (I estimated about 1300 calories a day), I lose about 1/2 pound per month (with sporadic exercise). Hmmmm... at that rate my doc says it should take about 10 years to reach a healthy weight. Damn that's so totally lame. Doc wants me to get blood work to see if it's a thyroid issue, but I honestly think that is a total cop out. Seriously, fat people that say "I have thyroid problems" just sound lazy - like it totally justifies being fat. WHATEVER, 'cause it really doesn't. I don't want to be "thyroid issues fat chick" - that is so much lame sauce.

Anyway, I think I might be missing something here. So! Miss Kristin-pants at Just Thinking has inspired me to really take a look at what I eat and cook down to every ingredient and portion. The answer will be revealed. Ugh... but it's going to be a pain in my butt to measure and record everything. I have a feeling it will do me some good though.

And while I'm on the subject... dang Mark! I make a small adjustment to our eating habits and that fool loses weight and looks great like nobody's business. I will get him for this; I really really will. *shakes fist in air*

Ha ha, but seriously. I am going to really watch what I put into my body and start exercising with more regularity. Luckily, my gym offers free classes (like body bump) and my man likes some junk in the trunk.