Meal Planning

My biggest hurdle right now is meal planning. Marcia was telling me that she freezes meals and stores meals in containers. I asked her for more information and last week she brought me a book called "Dinner is Ready." This book is a complete guide to freezing 30 meals in just one day! This book has family friendly recipes, no strange recipes, no weird ingredients and all are freezer worthy. Marcia gave each one of the Challenge participants an information sheet on this book. I have already started making and freezing a few of the recipes for days when I don't have time to cook. I also have containers and Ziploc bags with snacks that I take with me in the car. The snacks that I have do not need to be refrigerated and are there when I am away from home for prolonged periods of time. Today we left home after breakfast and did not get home until after 2:00. Having snacks available helped curb my hunger until we were able to have lunch. I need to take all of this information and start planning meals for a week. I feel I am eating healthy, but I still have fruits and vegetables in my refrigerator that go bad before I use them. Before when I have tried to lose weight I have been so consumed with food and weight loss. This Challenge is very different I still am concerned about food and weight loss, but I am more concerned about my health and the future.

Holidays Food and Portions

At our nutrition class this week we talked about fad diets. Jalaine gave us a handout on some popular fad diets. I had tried several of the diets and also tried some that were not on her list. I remember that on one diet I had shots and could eat all the protein I wanted to breakfast but I had to only eat fruit and vegetables that rest of the day. (Up to 8 oranges a day) On another diet I ate so many carrots that I turned my skin orange. This challenge has made me look at FOOD and Portions. On Easter I made my old favorites: ham, potato salad, baked beans, and other salads. As I was preparing the food I tried to count the calories. I used all the resources. I had a half a cup of this and a fourth of a cup of something else. I had a few tablespoons of other things. I tried to be a conscious eater and I enjoyed every bite. I savored the food instead of eating on the run. I was able to eat with the family and still stay within my calorie allotment. (One day down-each day has its challenges). When I prepared the Easter treats for my grandchildren I choose mostly (not completely) healthy snacks to go in their bags. I had part of a bag of Reese Chocolate Eggs left over and I ate a couple of the eggs on Monday. I told my husband to take the rest of the candy and put it away. When I went into the pantry the first thing I saw was the candy. I put it away and when when one of the grandchildren came over that day I gave the candy away. I have been trying to incooperate sweets back into my food choices. I started this a few weeks ago. The first weeks on this challenge I treated sugar as the forbidden food. Now I have a little taste of this of that. The book Intuitive Eating is helping me with food choices.

Getting Healthier and Stronger

As I am writing this Blog, I can look out the window and I see the wind blowing and it is raining. It is quite a contrast from yesterday when it was a beautiful Spring day. Yesterday we were able to walk in the gardens on Temple Square. One of our trainers told us about a garden where Heber C. Kimball and some of his family members are buried. The garden is nestled in one of the neighborhoods within walking distance from the conference center. The walk is all up hill. We had one of our grandsons with us and I was able to walk up hill and keep up with him. My husband and one of the other garden guides walked much slower. We enjoyed this garden and saw some beautiful Sequoia (Redwood) trees. I am amazed everyday what I can do.
I just read an email from Traci about the "Race for Red" and training to run part of the race. I had planned on walking the race. After reading the email, I thought I might as well train to run. If I could run a block I would be thrilled. The "Race for Red - Walking vs. Running (a block) what will it be? Stay tuned.

Food for Thought

I just read Karen's blog about the gym. We had a good time. Whitney our trainer is the best. She is so fun. She is there is encourage you and push you. I would agree with Karen that Whitney is the best. We are going to miss her after this challenge.
Yesterday was our nutrition class and we had Mike, the Chef and Manager at Utah Valley, talk to us. He shared his story of weight loss and how he has maintained his weight loss. He gave us lots of ideas to help us. He talked about the "conscious eater." I hate to think about all the times I have eaten food unconsciously. He said Americans eat in their cars. (I said to myself, "Yes" we do.) He also said we need to enjoy our food and eat it slowly. (I would agree.) He said that he cuts is food especially fruits into very small pieces and then savors each piece. (What a great idea!) He said that anyone can exercise. He gave us an example of a relative that was limited in her mobility and he said to her ' can you sit and move your arms' and she said 'yes'. He then went on to mention other parts that she could move while sitting. She lost weight. The point was no matter what your ability or inability is you can move something on your body to help you burn calories and hopefully to lose weight. He gave us lots of "food for thought", hopefully some of it will be digested to help us in our healthy choices.

One Step at a Time

We have been garden tour guides on Temple Square in Salt Lake City for the last two years. (Tours are from April- October.) We give tours on the gardens on the top of the Conference Center and the Plaza by the Joesph Smith Memorial Building. (Lots of walking and stairs) We gave our first tour yesterday. Usually I have great difficulty with the stairs. I hold on to the handle rails and take the steps one at a time. Yesterday, after leaving the elevators and going on the outside of the conference center I walked up the stairs one foot on each step. I said to my husband, "Look, I can walk up these stairs with out resting." I climbed all the stairs. After our tour we decided to take the stairs from the top of the conference center to the street and I did it. Heart Challenge you have given me back my ability to climb stairs. I can't thank you enough.

The Plate Method-The To Go Box Method

This challenge has made me look at meals in a whole different light. Jalaine taught us the "The Plate Method" for eating. This method is very simple. If your plate was a pizza: half of the pizza would be fruits and vegetables and the other half would be a fourth for starches (rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes) and the last fourth would be for protein (meat). When I prepare my food at home I use this method. I always put the vegetables on first. Someone in our nutrition class told us about getting a "To Go Box" at the beginning of the meal and taking home the extra calories to be enjoyed that next day. Putting the extra calories in a box helps me in my clean up the plate mentality. I am learning to modify recipes or maybe I should say I am trying to modify favorite recipes. (Some have turned out great and others will be left the way they are and I will eat more vegetables to stay full from the favorite splurges.) Again, this challenge is teaching us choices!!