Getting Fit #2

I intended to post this yesterday but an afternoon of errands turned into a day of errands..

It’s the end of my second week and I’m feeling pretty good. I exercised three times this week, but I really want to exercise even more. But it’s off to a good start so I’m not complaining. On the other hand, I’ve been watching what I eat and as far as I can tell, I should have used enough calories more than what I ate to lose at least a pound. (You need to burn 3500 calories more than you eat to lose a pound – so burning about five hundred a day can help you lose a pound a week.) Apparently my scale doesn’t know that because I don’t think the needle has budged at all. Then again, one of the coach’s on the National Body Challenge said that our body does what it needs to do. Sometimes the scale doesn’t reflect whatever the body is doing inside, but we’re still accomplishing something. So I’m not gonna fret, I’m just gonna keep on keepin’ on.

Last week we tried out some new recipes. Some of them were really good! Some not so good. Here’s the low down…

Breakfast Tostadas – I really like this one. I made it a couple of times and varied it a little.

BBQ Chicken & Black Bean Burritos – This one was pretty good but I like my Chipotle burritos better. I wonder how many calories those are… Hmmm.

Guacamole – This was okay but a little too “onion-y.” It might be better if I cut back on the onion content.
Salisbury Steak – We all liked this one. It was easy and I’ll definitely make this again.

“Good For You” Green Bean Casserole – This was good but a lot of work! I’d rather just steam them, it’s a lot faster.

Lite Mashed Potatoes – This was alright. Not bad, but not amazing. On the other hand, Princess liked them. And that is amazing.

Skillet Baked Ziti – This didn’t turn out very tasty. And it was a lot of effort. I think I’d rather just mix it with prepared pasta sauce and only use the minimum amount necessary instead of dumping the whole can in.

Meatballs – Ick. I’d rather just make them with lean ground beef and not eat too many.

Cornbread – We haven’t tried this one yet, plans changed and we didn’t stick to last night’s menu.

In other news, I’m still using mypyramidtracker.gov and www.metamucil.com/beautify-your-heart/ and I’m happy with them. I’ve picked out some new recipes for this week ahead and I’ll keep shooting for 1500 – 1800 calories a day. For exercise, I’m using a video I have as well as catching the episodes of “Total Body Scult with Gilad” that come on Discovery Health – Gilad is the fitness trainer for the National Body Challenge. Gilad is intense but easy to follow and the workouts are really good – you can feel that you’ve gotten a good workout.

Also, the girls have been helping me prepare the meals and learning what types of nutrients we gain from certain foods. Princess is particularly full of questions like, “So what part of the body is apples good for?” and “What do we need to eat for healthy muscles?” They been exercising, too. I’m enjoying doing this together with them and I like knowing that I’m implanting healthy habits for their future.

If you’re making a change for a healthier lifestyle also, feel free to link to your posts in the comments.

Until next week! Go healthy!