So last week I posted and then immediately made it “Private.” I guess between insight from my husband and a little bit of personal nervousness I decided it was the right thing to do. The basic idea was that I have allowed myself to put on more weight than any other time in my life. As a result my clothes do not fit well, I don’t have the energy that I want, and I am facing high cholesterol.
What to do? What to do? Isn’t that always the question?
The first thing I did was reach out to the healthy people that I know and find out what they are doing. The second thing was to commit my brain to making the changes that I knew I needed to make.
You will never guess what I discovered in talking to my healthy friends. These friends are eating yummy but good for you foods, getting plenty of exercise and lots of good sleep. So I am jumping on the bandwagon. I am trying to be realistic about what I can and can’t do all at one time. So I have decided to start with eating better. I will get to the exercise part later.
Based on a very reliable recommendation, I bought a Magic Bullet blender at Target. Please keep in mind that I am not sponsored by anyone and I don’t get any money for saying nice things. Maybe that means that I am doing this blogging thing all wrong. Anyway, The Magic Bullet is like a blender on steroids. It breaks down super-foods like
Smoothie Mix – The pretty straws make them taste better.
kale, spinach, blueberries, and chia seeds into such small bits that you can mix with fruits and water to make amazingly delicious smoothies. I am picky when it comes to the colors and textures of my foods, so when fruit and veggie smoothies were first suggested to me, I decided that it was not a good option. However, after visiting a good friend and trying a smoothie, I changed my tune. She threw in spinach, half a banana, strawberries, pineapple, almonds, orange slices and a handful of blueberries. I think the blueberries were the key for me. The blueberries kept the smoothie from turning green. Instead, the smoothie stayed a beautiful purple color and it tasted good too. Andrew and I are learning to use Goji berries, chia seeds, flax seeds, power greens, and all kinds of other goodies in our smoothies to make sure that we are getting all of the nutrients and healthy stuff we need. The whole family seems to be enjoying the 
smoothies. Ethan is really the only hold out. He is not so interested in drinking his fruits and veggies. However, I did make him a milkshake the other day that he really enjoyed. I used chocolate almond milk, plain greek yogurt, half a banana, and ground flax seed. We are using these smoothies to enhance our breakfast routine and replace some of our unhealthy snacks.The other thing that I have been doing this past week, is tracking my food using an app called MyFitnessPal. This app resides on my cell phone so it is always easy to get to. However, it’s also accessible on my laptop as well with additional features. This app has a gigantic database of different foods including restaurant dishes and private label items. You can add items to the database if you don’t find what you are looking for.
Sauteed Swiss Chard, Farro, Chicken, Pecorino Ramano
In all fairness, I have to give credit to my dear husband, who has used this program in the past and encouraged me to try it earlier. I wasn’t ready at that time. Now, after using this program for a week, I’m more conscious about where the fats and cholesterol are in my meals and I can see exactly how many calories I am taking in.
Green Swiss Chard
The last thing that we have done this week with our diet is to start using Kale and Swiss Chard in our cooking. We are sautéing the greens with onions and garlic and adding them to meals like eggs, pasta, and chicken.
The good news is that I have lost about 4 pounds this week. I would like to lose another 40 pounds. Slow and steady! The bad news is that I have not started exercising yet. Actually, I just haven’t gotten that far yet.
