We are on a mission in the Riley house to eat healthier. One of the first things that had to go was fried foods (we’ll mourn later). Since one of my favorite meals to make is fish tacos (batter fried of course) I decided tonight to make a few revisions to the meal to healthify it. First to change was the sauce. No more mayonnaise or sour cream. Instead I blended up an avocado with jalapeno, cilantro, lime, onion, and a tablespoon of white vinegar (plus a teensy bit of water and salt).
The next big step was to skip over using beer batter, and to grill the lightly seasoned fish. Of course since the grill was already hot it was perfect to toss the tortillas on allowing for warm soft tortillas without frying them in oil.
While the fish is cooking toss up some cabbage salsa (cilantro, tomato, cabbage, sweet onion, and lime).
Aww, the fish is done (its tilapia by the way).
There you have it, fish tacos healthified. Nothing fried or saturated in fats.
Last night for the fun of it we decided to make dinner as a family. Of course whats funner than letting the little (and not so little) ones put together their own pizza. There’s nothing like flour and cheese all over the place to make the kiddos happy. However pizza is hardly healthy eating. In an attempt to make it a bit lower in carbs and lower fat I picked up light mozzarella cheese and substituted steak tomatoes for the crust. Wow, talk about delicious. I am not even a tomato lover but these babies were to die for. Meanwhile I saved about 400 calories and over 70g of carbs with this simple substitution and it took only about 5 minutes to assemble. Let me know what you think if you give it a whirl.
No Crust Pizza
Ingredients:
Large tomato
Pepperoni
Marinara Sauce of your choice
Mozzarella cheese
Italian seasonings
Directions:
Cut tomato in approximately 1/4 inch slices.
Smooth 2T of marinara sauce atop the tomato slices.
Top with grated mozzarella and pepperoni and finish with sprinkles of garlic salt and basil.
Bake for 8 minutes at 400 degrees or 12 minutes under the broiler set on high.
As pictured here 2 Slices made with Ragu traditional sauce & reduced fat mozzarella (1.5 oz):
Calories 226; Fat 13; Carbs 8.85; Fiber 2; Protein 17; Weight Watchers Points Plus: 5.5
One of the quickest ways to ruin a diet is to give into the cravings that inevitably show up right when you are trying to be at your best. Hasn’t this happened to all of us? You’ve worked for days to eat just the right meals, kept on task with an exercise plan, and been on your best behavior by not even indulging in the slightest treats. Then out of nowhere your mind sends you flying to the cupboards in a dire search for anything you shouldn’t be eating. Its most surprising when you have just finished a meal and can think of no good reason why you should want to eat again. This would be head hunger at its worst. Your stomach certainly isn’t calling you out, its your brain. So how in the world can you get beyond this calling? Here it is in a nutshell: dump the carbs, especially the white ones.
Even in moderation the bread, pasta, rice, and tortillas go to work on your blood sugar and when you least expect it, they leave you desperate for more. Cutting them out of your diet though won’t just help in reducing the late night frantic rushes to the fridge, you will probably also find an increase in energy, and possibly a better disposition. There isn’t a slow way to do away with these carbs though because if you look at your labels they are hiding in so many of the foods you would least expect. What I suggest is to go cold turkey. Try a carb busters diet like this one and let me know how it goes.
#1 – Do this for 10 days
#2 – Drink 2 quarts of water a day
#3 – You must have 45 grams of protein supplement and all your vitamins/minerals supplements each day
#4 – You may consume up to 3 oz of the following high protein foods, 5x a day
beef
pork
chicken
turkey
lamb
fish
eggs
low fat cheese
cottage cheese
plain yogurt or artificially sweetened (?)
peanut butter
beans/legumes
You may also have:
sugar free popsicles
tea or coffee
sugar free soda
sugar free jello
broths/bullion (sp?)
crystal light drinks
#5 – If it’s not on the list, you can’t have it for 10 days!!!!
#6 – Keep a food diary and try to get up to 30 mins of exercise daily
I wonder how many times these words have been uttered in regards to dieting or weight loss. Certainly this is the time of year when everyone gets revved up to shed that excess weight. Partly because holiday eating has forced us to squeeze so tightly into our jeans that we can hardly breath, and partly because new year resolutions make us feel inspired to set that goal and finally stick to it. So what precisely is the key to going the distance?
For some the answer may simply be setting a goal and sticking to it, where for others the time has just finally come and nothing is going to set them back. For me however, I have yet to find the one thing that keeps me going so that I can finally say I have succeeded. Therefore with payday around the corner and a pocketful of inspiration I plan on filling the cupboards with yummy, yet healthy, alternatives to the junk we have been eating. I also offer the following tips and websites collected from friends on this similar journey to anyone else out there hoping to unload some spare tires.
- Keep track of what you are eating: awareness alone in an amazing tool to consuming less or choosing low-cal alternatives. Whether you write it in a notebook, track it in a word doc., or visit an online journal do you best to put it down. Don’t trust yourself to keep a running log in your head as this often flops and you can’t easily reference it down the line.
- Do not go cold turkey: Where this can work for certain foods like sugar, or cheese, don’t cut everything fattening that you enjoy out in one step. This often leads to binge eating sabotaging everything you have done up to this point. Make baby steps like drinking at least eight glasses of water, a salad before your meal, or a bigger portion of vegetables than usual. Once you have learned new habits and begun enjoying healthier foods then cut out more of the junk you shouldn’t be eating.
- Continue to enjoy your favorites: You can still enjoy even the worst of foods if they are your favorite, just do it in moderation. Or if you are dying to have a chocolate bar make it a reward for a full workout you have done. Do remember however that the calories you are consuming are quite possibly more than you burned, so keep the portions small.
- Find a friend or support system to help you go the distance: There are many online sites which are intended just for this.
- Spark People- This is an amazing community recommended to me by a couple of friends. It is a source for anyone looking to shed lbs. It includes multiple tools like online journaling, a full calorie database, multiple community forums to meet your individual needs, and much more. Best yet it is 100% free!!
- Weight Watchers: I include this link not to endorse this company but to say that this is an incredible plan which helps to teach life habits to individuals who plan to lose weight and keep it off. Unlike many fad diets you do not need to eat their foods or even attend their meetings to lose. The main principles alone are worth knowing.
- Calorie Count Plus: An online database of common foods nutritional data, as well as low calorie/ low fat recipes.
Most importantly if you blow it, get back on track the next day or even the next week. Don’t just throw it all out because of a bump in the road. This is one I am so often guilty of and precisely the origin of the post to begin with.
Today is day seven in mine and hubby’s pursuit to be healthy. Well, actually on day two we ate loads of junk, making us blow off walking on day three which was to be our first day of exercise, so that makes today instead day four in our pursuit to be healthy. Except that on day five we had cheesy lunches and fried pork for dinner, so how bout we call it even and just say today is day 1.
Here’s a minimal history to bring you up to par. Dh has insanely high blood pressure & cholesterol and I am “obese”. In other words, we eat poorly, and we’re lazy bums. Unfortunately if we continue down this path, one or both of us is going to leave our children parent less. Also since I used to be thin, it stinks when someone see’s a photo of me from 9 years ago and gasp’s, adding how young I looked. Well either I have turned into one old looking 30 year old, lol, or this is the recovery line. Either way, I am dying to be much thinner than I am now.
Step one is our diets. I have been cooking healthier meals and have actually been surprised to find some really good recipes for chicken. Step two is exercising. Dh and I have committed to walking every morning and every evening (starting today of course) plus I finally pulled in the Total Gym from out of the garage (which has gone unused for over two years). What I need now are ideas to keep myself motivated. This certainly isn’t the first time I have attempted to lose weight. But it will probably take three or more months to see any change at all, then it will be another couple of months for the rest of the world to notice. (Actually, I have never made it beyond the first three months, so that’s just a guess). Any thoughts on staying motivated?
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