Jan 19, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Jan 19, 2011 in a day in the life of me!, breakfast, salad | 7 comments

100 days

Have you seen the new MTV series, “I used to be fat”? On the show, they profile kids who have a summer before college, or a summer before starting a new job to get into shape. The trainers they work with, give them a HUGE calendar starting with the number 100, and every day they peel off that page and that’s how many days left until their program with their trainer is over. There have been 2 episodes so far, and one guy lost 87 pounds and another girl lost 90 pounds. So, it got me to thinking. I have 2 goals.

The first one is 60 days. That’s how many days it will be to me and my twin sister’s birthday on March 19th. Every day, I’ll put another sticker on my calendar and keep going past my birthday just to see how far I can go in 100 days.

I still can’t believe I’m on day 16 sticking to my plan and exercising. I feel great!

OK, before I show you some of my good eats yesterday….what about Biggest Loser? For those of you who didn’t watch it, the twins Dan and Don stepped on the scale and they each GAINED 9 pounds! I knew they did it on purpose because Dan really missed his wife and daughter. I wasn’t sure if he would make it on his own, but he actually has lost 77 pounds so I was happy for him about that!

I was so busy yesterday morning getting the kids to school and such that I didn’t have time to bring a breakfast to work. BUT, I knew I had oatmeal at work and an apple, so that’s what I decided to make:

I bought a box of this brand of Oatmeal

This oatmeal is High in whole grains, Omega 3′s, a great source of Vitamins A & E as well as fiber and calcium. You can get these at any major grocery store. In fact, when I bought them it was only .99 cents for the box and you get 5 servings are in each box! Each pouch is 160 calories, 2.5 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber.

And of course no Tuesday would be complete without salad club. For those of you who don’t know, a few co-workers and I bring a green and a veggie/fruit to share to make your own salad. Yesterdays salad was spectacular!

This huge bowl had mixed greens, spinach, garbanzo beans, carrots, celery, red onion, kidney beans, candied walnuts, cauliflower, peas, a few croutons. And, I was down to the last tablespoon of my favorite salad dressing: Paul Newman’s Lite Honey Mustard dressing, so I mixed that with Lite Ranch dressing and it was a great combo!

Have a super day!! Make this day count!!

Jan 12, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Jan 12, 2011 in a day in the life of me!, dessert, salad | 11 comments

Biggest Loser recap/creative dessert

I thought it was a really good show tonight, at some point I thought I would need a tissue! I think the highlight of the show was Arthur (the biggest contestant ever on BL) dancing on the scale after losing 13 pounds and his team winning the challenge AND immunity.

For those of you who don’t know or aren’t watching this season, the teams got to choose to workout with Bob & Jillian, or work with 2 trainers they didn’t know (and who we don’t know either because they haven’t shown them yet!).

The first week, the group who was working out with the unknowns lost the most weight, and this week, they sent the message they were going to win again. One person on their team lost 41 pounds their first week!
If only I could do that, then I would be done

The part that always makes the contestants cringe is when they meet Dr. H and find out everything that’s wrong with them. Arthur (the Biggest contestant) has 370 pounds of fat AFTER losing 150 pounds!

The Dr. pointed out that the twins who are cops are killing themselves slowly with sugar, chocolate, cigarettes and corn chips! One of the twins said which stuck with me, is that they were nonchalant about the things they were doing, not really worrying about it!

In the end, Bob and Jillian’s team won the weigh in. Some of the numbers:

Arthur -13
Jessie – 8
Dan -8
Don – 5
Olivia -6
Hannah – 6
Jen – 8
Jay – 10
Courtney – 10
Marci – 8

Courtney was 298 and when Ali asked her when was the last time she weighed under 300 pounds, Courtney said it was Middle School! Can you imagine trying to fit in a desk at school at 300 pounds?

What was the highlight of the show for you? Any favorites yet?

*****
Today was also good because it was SALAD day at work! To be honest, I couldn’t even eat the whole thing!

And, after dinner, I was looking for something sweet to eat. I had a couple of marshmallows (45 calories) 1/2 a tortilla (40 calories) and a schmear of chocolate peanut butter (30 calories)

Cut the tortilla in half, put a dab of chocolate peanut butter and 2 marshmallows, roll up and microwave for 10 seconds.

The chocolate peanut butter melted and the marshmallows got soft and gooey and it was delish! All for 115 calories and it satisfied my sweet tooth!

My brother and his family gave us this in our Christmas basket. It’s SO GOOD!

Have a super day!

Jan 5, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Jan 5, 2011 in a day in the life of me!, breakfast, lunch, salad | 9 comments

Good eats/biggest loser recap

Did anyone watch the new Biggest Loser last night? I thought it was a good one. I didn’t start watching it until late, so I fast forwarded through the workouts, but I like these contestants. There are a few of them who are my favorite so far. I thought of course, that Dan and Don, the twin cops were right up there, I think being there together, they will do great. And of course, I feel sorry for the guy who is 507 pounds. Did you catch the part that he’s already lost 150 pounds!

Did they show the other trainers? I kind of went through the middle part, but it didn’t seem like they showed who they were.

On the eating front, I had another great day. I am loving www.myfitnesspal.com. It takes just a minute to enter in what I am eating. Shelley said she used that tool while losing 100 pounds, so that sounds like the route I will take. I also decided to briskly walk home from work last night (in 20 degree weather!). I pretty much talked to my sister on the phone the whole way while she was driving home from work, so it didn’t seem that bad.

So for breakfast I had a deluxe quessadilla

I had 2 low carb tortillas, 1 egg, 2 egg white “fried” egg, 1 green onion chopped, 1 slice of swiss cheese and 2.5 ounces of deli ham. It took me a long time to eat and kept me full until lunch.

And, I did something I haven’t done in a while. Fill up my big mug of water as soon as I get to work!

The other great thing about yesterday, is that a few co-workers and I brought back salad club! We took a break over the holidays, so it was nice to get together. Everyone brings a veggie or fruit to share with some greens and we lay it all out and everyone gets to build their own salad. We also keep a few bottles of low cal dressing to go with it.

The other downfall I usually have is eating late night. So I just told myself after dinner, this is the last thing for today until tomorrow. I felt like I wanted something, but I kept telling myself, “you’re not hungry!” It worked!

So here was my day:

Have a great day everyone!

Apr 15, 2010 Posted by Jennifer on Apr 15, 2010 in breakfast, fruit, general ideas, lunch, salad, vegetables | 5 comments

Interesting Article about Fruit + A new favorite breakfast

I read an interesting article today from the University of Michigan Health System. They devised a “healing foods pyramid” which is shown below. I’ve mentioned before that researchers are now saying its better to eat 7-10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and as this article mentioned the more fruits and vegetables you eat the more significant the reduction of chronic disease.

One thing I thought was interesting about the article is that it talked a lot about phytochemicals. I know we hear about phytochemicals. Those are naturally occurring plant chemicals. Phytochemicals are not yet classified as nutrients, but their role in nutrition is still unfolding.

In the human body, some phytochemicals act as antioxidants, some protect and regenerate essential nutrients, while others work to deactivate cancer-causing substances in your body.

There are THOUSANDS of phytochemicals which have been identified in the plant foods we eat. One serving of fruit or vegetables may contain 100 different phytochemicals!

Notice how the bottom of the pyramid is water, followed by fruits and veggies, legumes, whole grains, etc… It kind of gives you a better reason to feed your body something that actually can heal itself vs. processed foods that are dead and yucky, or at least that’s how I am looking at it!

On another note, I tried something this morning for breakfast and I loved it! Are you a fan of cottage cheese? I’m not. I’ve tried it before, can’t eat it plain, but thought, what if I add them to my scrambled eggs? I bought Fiber One brand cottage cheese which is only 80 calories and 5 grams of fiber per half cup.

In a skillet, I chopped up 1 Trader Joe’s chicken sausage that’s only 100 calories, then in a separate bowl I whisked 1 egg + 2 egg whites and added the 1/2 cup cottage cheese to that. After the chicken sausage was browned, I added the egg/cottage cheese mixture and just cooked until the eggs were cooked. It was creamy, melty, it bulked up the eggs a lot and I loved it!

And, I had a banana on the side, and don’t worry I had LOTS of fruits and veggies for dinner:

I had mixed greens, romaine lettuce, celery, carrots, strawberries, grapes, sugar snap peas, green peas, jicama, homemade croutons, and a few soy nuts sprinkled on top. It took me forever to eat this huge salad, but it was SO good! Oh yeah, and I had a few ounces of grilled chicken in there too!

So, what do you like to make with cottage cheese? Do you like it plain, drizzled with honey, salt and pepper only? I need some more ideas to finish this container!

Aug 19, 2009 Posted by Jennifer on Aug 19, 2009 in chicken, Dinner Idea, lunch, News, salad | 11 comments

Chicken Salad

First of all I am excited to say I jogged/briskly walked another 5k during my lunch hour yesterday!! And I rode my bike to work (3.2 miles!) Wahoo!! Today at lunch is a boot camp cardio class by my office, it was really hard last week, but I’m excited about it today!

My kids were all gone for dinner again, my younger son was at a sleepover birthday party for his best friend, and my other two kids spent their day with our old babysitter. They had a great time.

So, of course, around 4:00 o’clock yesterday I was starting to think about what to make for dinner. And then I thought I would love a HUGE salad, I could cook up a couple of chicken breasts and put that on top!

Luckily, when I told my plans to my hubby, he agreed :0)

On my salad:

3.5 ounces chicken
2 cups spinach
1 cup romaine
green beans/wax beans
feta cheese
carrots
celery
red onion
chick peas
cauliflower, chopped
croutons
And my favorite dressing:

This HUGE plate before the salad dressing is only 6 points!! It would be less if you omitted the croutons, but I love croutons!

It’s so funny, I was thinking there was a time in my life where I would probably have gone days without eating any veggies or fruit! I love that I have been able to incorporate them into my healthy eating plan and try new veggies!

What’s your favorite salad?