Weekly Check In Jan 24

This week, I stuck to the diet well and the results show it. I've lost the weight from the Holidays and made up for some less healthy eating decisions. I'm super tired of salad but I'm finding lots of different ways to prepare it which helps.

This week's best meals were Italian Meatloaf and a spicy stir-fry.

Statistics:

Starting Weight: 207.4

Last Week: 210.2

Current Weight: 206.4

Highest Point: 212.2

Lowest Point: 206.4

Recipe: Creamy Italian Chicken

Crockpot meals are my favorite way to cook healthy. 10-15 minutes of preparation in the morning allows dinner to be done when you get home. This particular recipe makes something similar to a chicken stroganoff.

Creamy Italian Chicken

Ingredients:

3 pounds chicken pieces, skin removed
1/2 Bottle Italian Dressing
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves minced Garlic
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
8 oz lf cream cheese
4 ounces ff plain yogurt, drained
8 oz fresh mushrooms, optional

Directions:
Place chicken in crockpot. Sprinkle with Italian dressing, onions and garlic. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Remove ½ cup of liquid from crockpot. Add soup, cream cheese and yogurt to liquid. Stir until smooth. Add mixture back to crockpot and cook 1 more hour.

Easy Vegetable Recipe: Brussel Sprouts

Finding good ways to cook vegetables for side dishes is always a challenge. One of my personal favorite recipes is for Brussel Sprouts.

Garlic Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

• 1-2 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 TBSP Butter
• 2 tsp Minced Garlic
• Brussel Sprouts

Directions:

Heat the oil and butter in a medium skillet on med-low heat until the butter is melted. Add the garlic and simmer for a few minutes.

Slice the brussel sprouts in half and place sliced side down in the skillet. Simmer for 4 minutes, stir and simmer for another 4 minutes until the brussel sprouts are browned. Remove the brussel sprouts and serve.

Weekly Check In Jan 17

Despite my best intentions, this was not a great week for dieting. I think I mostly did very well at cheating on the diet with french fries, ice cream, cookies, and brownies. Despite the many temptations of sweets, I've gotten some more healthy habits going as well. I've made the transition into carbohydrate-free breakfasts which is often the most difficult meal for me to find time to cook. I've made breakfast simpler by keeping a bag of chopped vegetables in the fridge to be sautéed and scrambled into eggs with cheese.

This week I also was able to try a few new recipes: Roasted Eggplant Stuffed with Beef, Mole-Style Pulled Pork and Slow Cooker Jambalaya.

This is the start of a new week and a chance to do better on the diet. I'm not going to let myself get discouraged!

Statistics:

Starting Weight: 207.4

Current Weight: 210.2

Highest Point: 212.2

Lowest Point: 207.0

Weekly Check In Jan 10

Well, the diet is going well! I've lost all of the Holiday weight now and am ready to start losing consistently. Unfortunately, that might be a bit difficult since I'm already very tired of salad. Gyros Salad, Taco Salad, Caesar Salad, Chicken Salad ... Salad, Salad, Salad. That said, I still haven't have the same salad twice yet. Losing weight would be so much easier if I actually liked salad.

Assuming I can keep from eating anything too far off the diet, this week should be a good week for losing weight because I'll be getting a great deal of exercise in. I'll be going dancing everyday from Thursday to Sunday.

Statistics:

Starting Weight: 207.4

Current Weight: 207.4

Highest Point: 212.2

Lowest Point: 207.0

Exercise: Swing Dancing

One of the most important aspects of losing weight in a healthy way is exercise. My personal favorite form of exercise is Swing Dancing, more specifically Lindy Hop. With swing dancing, I get to both exercise and have a social life. exercise and socialize. I go out dancing at least twice a week on Thursday nights and Sunday nights. I spend about two hours a night out on the dance floor. I make a point to spend as much of the night as possible on the dance floor, trying not to spend more than one song at a time sitting out.

Sun Valley Jazz Festival 2010, Photo taken by Me

Weekly Check In Jan 3

Clearly the Holiday diet busters have not done well by me. Hopefully by jumping right into the strict phase one of the South Beach Diet, I can easily drop at least the very least the extra pounds. I knew that the holiday season hadn't been great for my weight but that didn't stop me from enjoying the fabulous holiday foods. However that means it is now time to pay the piper: no more sugars, no more breads, and no more starches! Add to that more exercise and hopefully I can get the weight loss started. My goal is to lose 50 pounds and to get down to a healthy weight.

Statistics:

Starting Weight: 207.4

Current Weight: 212.2

Highest Point: 212.2

Lowest Point: 207.0