Diet ~ Exercise ~ Diet ~ Exercise !!!

[rivermom]

This is great! It sounds like many of us so far are motivated to get healthier!!

Marilyn - great tips about the sugars. Last night making stir fry I didn't make the white rice knowing that was a no-no. My husband sure missed the rice but he understood why I didn't make it. I like your advise about adding more of the whole grains!

Diana - thanks for the recipe. Anytime subsituting lower cal/fat ingr's can only be positive!


Rebecca - I share your cravings for Mexican. It's my favorite foods. I have made the choice to allow myself one dinner per week of whatever I desire. Most likely it will be mexican!! Since I am choosing this diet as more of a "lifestyle" change then I feel adding a "special meal" once a week will help me stay on track. My feelings is if you take "all the good stuff" away it might just set me up for failure.

I LOVE the fact that many are interested in checking back once a week to post our stories of how the week went, our strengths, new recipes, our set backs, etc.

Mandy - My hubby used to do the "cereal diet", it has always worked for him. In fact, he is kinda doing that now. He substitues one of his meals (normally lunch) for a bowl of cereal/low fat milk. He wanted to do it with dinner also but I felt I couldn't be satisfied w/ a bowl of cereal at dinner. I personally needed something more satisfying, warm, and fullfilling in my belly! LOL

Highlans - freeze that choclate and allow yourself maybe one piece per week. I have heard that the darker the chocolate the healthier it is sorta speak.
I too had to be rid of many "snacks" in the house prior to starting this diet. My downfall is salty snacks, ugh. Once they are outta the house I am fine. It's when they are sitting in the pantry calling out for me is when I become overwhelmed and cheat.

Dcollins - The normal diabetic diet is healthy and should be done by all really. It's a very well balanced diet. My stepdaughter is a diabetic and after reading many books have realized that their food programs are best for all it seems. Glad to hear you are keeping it under control in hopes to not have to use needles.


Gina - thanks for sharing my enthusiasm for the new years healthy life change! I too realize with each other's help this might make it all easier.

Thanks ladies !! I can't wait till next week to see everyone's progress.

[Marilyn]

Diana, thank you for the recipe. I made it tonight and it was a HIT!!! Like many of you, I also work full time with a 40 minute commute, so here's how it worked. We had chicken breasts in the freezer so got them out this morning and my oldest daughter made sure they thawed safely. At lunch picked up the other ingredients. Instead of rice I cooked whole wheat angel hair pasta. So we had your dish, the pasta and a salad. Hubby really liked it. I put it in the oven before leaving for the gym. When I got home, just had to toss on the stuffing and let it finish while I cooked the pasta (had boiled the water while getting ready for the gym, so just had to reheat to boiling) and made the salad. (BTW, I'm giving this detail to help others with ideas, not to show how together I am. We usually eat cereal for supper, eat out or just fend for yourself from whatever is available in the frig or pantry.)

It cooked a little longer than your recipe said, but it turned out fine. I cooked it in a Pampered Chef stoneware rectangular baking dish which helps hold in the moisture.

By the way, Mexican food lovers, go for the Chicken Chalupas or a fish dish when you are in a Mexican restaurant. Many of the restaurants around here offer Chicken & Spinach with grilled veggies, Mexican rice & guacamole. I eat the chicken, veggies and gaucamole and just a little bit of the rice. It's not super low cal, but much better than enchiladas, refried beans and rice. If you order something with refried beans on the plate, they will often substitute charro beans which are much lower in fat. You still get Mexican flavor without as many of the calories. There is a reason that San Antonio, TX is one of the fattest cities in the nation. It was #1 a couple of years ago.

BTW, I'm not a nutritionist by any means, just fairly well read on the subject. My genetic background is soooo bad. No diabetes (except one uncle), but lots of heart disease, cancer, strokes & alzheimers in the family tree, so I really try to keep up with what is heathy. I was around 12 when my father had his first heart attack, so Mother cooked the same food for all of us, and we were on what was considered heart healthy at the time.

I really want a cardio workup done to find out how I'm doing, but when I mentioned it to my doctor, he laughed at me and ask if I was afraid of a heart attack. I said yes, and he patted my shoulder. I know I don't look like someone who is headed for one, but neither did my father. The doctors were very surprized when he had his. I probably should change doctors.

[Lissa]

Yes, that chicken dish was REALLY good, I liked it!! I'm keeping a copy of it for when I've finally got a kitchen!!

btw, Mum, docs are supposed to do what their patients want, if you wanna get your heart checked up on then he has no grounds to not do it. I don't like it when docs look at you and tell you you don't need to get something checked out, do they have xray vision or something?

[highlans]

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Highlans - freeze that choclate and allow yourself maybe one piece per week. I have heard that the darker the chocolate the healthier it is sorta speak.
I too had to be rid of many "snacks" in the house prior to starting this diet. My downfall is salty snacks, ugh. Once they are outta the house I am fine. It's when they are sitting in the pantry calling out for me is when I become overwhelmed and cheat.

Tried that one will even eat it frozen it justs lasts longer ,it has to be out of the house, my poor hubby has been having it in his lunch box this week.
Will all be gone by tonight, I think everone on here wanting to slim is going to help.