Just another day in the Kitchen

Stumped as to what to eat? Bored with your normal kitchen consuming habits? Here is an entry just talking about one menu planned day that I enjoyed! Feel free to ask questions and try anything you read about!

After a week of "just winging it" I was able to really think about the foods I've missed and sit down and plan out my 5 meals a day for a week...

It's a BEAUTIFUL THING when what your body wants actually turns out to be a meal you planned for the day!

I started the morning out with a Strawberry Kefir and Ground Flaxseed Mixture. It's 4 smartpoints and I drank it this morning with a banana as a side. Kefir is a REALLY interesting thing...if you don't quite have a taste for Greek Yogurt or any type of fermented food, Kefir is not the best food to start with. I'm drinking this mixture for the next 2.5 weeks. It's a gentle colon cleanse, a helpful little mouthful of goodness to get your body back in to the flow of things. I had it last night and actually looked forward to it this morning, and as I type this, I'm actually looking forward to it again. It's only recommended to do this cleanse once a year, so this is my once a year. The beauty about it is I DON'T HAVE TO STARVE MYSELF THE REST OF THE DAY! It uses natural foods and lots of water...my kind of cleanse. When I got home from my LDS mission to Italy, I did a cleanse...it was the worst week of my life...and provided one of the funniest video my mom had on her phone for quite a while....

Anyways...

My second meal of the day was a delicious bowl of Kellogg's Origins Touch of Honey Ancient Grains Blend Cereal. Because I had a smaller point breakfast, I upped my cereal serving to a whole cup (6 sp) with 1/3 c Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (0sp) and 3 egg whites, seasoned with my 21 Seasoning (1sp). Yes, a 7 smartpoint second meal of the day, but so satisfying!

Third meal rolls around...literally...it felt like the slowest three hours of my life! Actually, every break in between my meals felt that way. Whenever I come off of an extremely high smartpoint weekend...my desire for food ALL THE TIME takes a while to go away. How do I resist? Self-talk and remembering my plan and desire to stick to it!

My third meal was planned to be an apple with dip, but I decided to switch to my rice cakes with peanut butter. I know lots of you out there love rice cakes plain (like without anything else...but sometimes with flavor) because you can have so many for so little points. For me, I see them as empty food IF I don't put anything with them. There HAS to be SOME SORT of healthy fat or protein associated with them, or I could eat the whole bag and never feel satisfied. Thus, 2 Low Sodium Rice Cakes (2sp) with 3 T PB2 (2sp) and a Premier Protein Shake (2sp). I ate those things so slowly because I was SO excited to eat them...it was what I was WANTING at that exact moment...and all I needed to do was switch my planned 4th meal with my planned third meal.

Fourth meal was apple with fruit dip...I also made a switcheroo with this meal. Instead of the PB2 dip...I decided to go for my Vanilla Protein Pudding.

And yes, I ate it with a spatula instead of a spoon...

Little Man LOVES this pudding dish...He always asks for a bite and comes back for more...I should probably start making a double batch from now on...

Dinner was hard to be motivated to make, BUT I did it! We had homemade Chinese...Sweet and Sour chicken, veggies, fried rice, and these GREAT Wonton's from Costco...4 for 1 smartpoint! They have Chicken and Cilantro as well as a Honey Glazed Pork Wonton. You get them at Costco in the freezer section.

My homemade Sweet and Sour Chicken is about 6 smartpoints per serving, but I counted it as 4 because I don't eat hardly any excess sauce. When you cook it in the pan, a lot of sauce drains off and so you'd need to scoop it onto your plate versus just serving the glazed chicken. Enter in you ingredients when you make it for your recipe builder, but for 2 chicken breasts, cut and diced, I generously coated them with Emeril's Orginal BAM! Seasoning, 1/2 c Tropical Apricot Pineapple Preserve, and 1/4 c chili sauce. Add a little bit of each ingredient according to your taste! It's THAT simple and everyone loves it!

My homemade fried rice? I first got the rice cooking in my rice cooker (love that thing) cut up the veggies-carrots, green beans, canned corn- and seasoned them with my Smartpoint Friendly Stir Fry Sauce then added the rice. Served up 1/2 cup and called it dinner!

Use what you have, utilize what you know...and soon you'll be a master in the kitchen!

Keep cooking,

Camille

Oh, the Beauty of a FitBit

Always remember: You Can Do Hard Things!

I KILLED IT today in my workout!

My mind keeps trailing back to my huge slide over the weekend, I still feel the metaphorical weight of my actions due to the negatives still being present on my phone. But, I do forgive myself and I know that negatives happen! Overkill with calorie DO HAPPEN...even to the strongest. I have done GREAT with my nutrition the past two days, and I've done even better with my exercise.

To all my readers, I've been doing a bit of studying when it comes to physical health. I've realized that physical activity is just what you are doing to move your body...essentially what gets done in a day's time. For the human species, the physical activity our bodies need to be healthy has been significantly reduced due to the commodities we have in our day to day lives. Thus, exercise comes into play. Exercise is a planned or set routine used to build physical characteristics of the human body, be it cardiovascular or muscular.

What in the heck? Where do I even start?

That's the beauty of just getting out and moving. Upping your physical activity if you will. I have made a goal to get my son out in the jogging stroller and go for a 45 minute walk with him; just to get the sunshine and get my legs moving. He loves it and I love it because I feel like a better mom. I can't wait for it to finally get warm and I can take him to a park and REALLY get a workout, since he can't quite get around independently in a park setting...yet.

We, as a human species, accomplish great things when we are motivated. A WW member this past Saturday talked about his recent purchase of a FitBit Charge HR...He told everyone: "I hate this thing!" But, he further went on to say that it is more of a love/hate relationship. He loves it because it holds him accountable to get great goals done in a day's time...but he also hates it for the same reason. If he is ready to just kick back on the couch...and he has 2000 more steps to go before he meets his daily goal...He won't sit down! He'll rock those 2000 and THEN rest.

That's the beauty of fitness trackers if you have no routine set in place. I started out with a FitBit Flex and it did the trick for me until I was ready to move on to a more in-depth device. I got the Flex to just get me moving again after the birth of my son. I had that wonderful tracker for almost 2 years, until I was able to purchase a FitBit Charge HR this most recent December. The Flex went to my mom...though I don't think she has set it up. My husband got a new tracker too, and his went to my sister.
My husband has never moved so much in his life. It brought him SUCH confidence when he pulled a 30k step day...
And yet he continues to impress...

The highest I EVER have gotten was 26k+...and I will NEVER do that again.

All I'm saying is that I am grateful to my FitBit Charge HR. I'm grateful for the verification of my effort and a reminder as to why I am so tired when I go to bed at night.

I've worked.

And I've worked HARD.

I maintained a strong heart rate, I hit my daily goal and then some, I feel strong, I've gotten in my daily workout that I needed, and I even find any opportunity possible to just walk a LITTLE more.

That's where it starts: A desire to up your physical activity. Then, when you feel comfortable with that...then comes a daily amount of exercise.

Our bodies are AMAZING THINGS! If you are thinking about a fitness tracker, DO IT! If you are serious about upping your physical activity and even moving on to bigger and better things...a fitness tracker is a GREAT way to get started!

It's all about balance...You have to love yourself, love your body, and love the food you eat. If you are feeling a little down, say this to yourself for 30 days EVERY DAY in front of your mirror:

I accept myself completely and unconditionally right now.

Bad thoughts may come, but keep saying it. You only have one life to live...so live it the best you can! Get up and move...even if it is as simple as getting that Diet Coke yourself...Oh yes, you know who you make get it for you... ;)

Do something great today,
Camille