And the b(eat) goes on.

I am happy to say I am still eating well. Even though I haven't been blogging as regularly. (Sorry about that.) I am also happy to see that finding good food is getting easier. It turns out unsweetened ice tea can be found in individual drinks in store coolers now. That is certainly helpful. Sometimes I want something with flavor instead of plain water. Or I might need a little caffeine. 

I got to eat at Primo again last night. It was our clinics annual holiday team dinner. http://www.primorestaurant.com/ It is always a pleasure. Their food is not only cooked beautifully but much of it is raised right there. I get the duck as often as I can. This is a washed out photo (too much flash) but it was amazing. 

I also always try new foods when I am there. If I had a better memory I could tell you what I ate but sadly I don't. Heck I can't even remember what came with the duck and the photo is right there! It was all amazing though and that is what counts. It is also very clean eating because it is all cooked right there using fresh real food. Which also counts.

A new trick I have is putting pistachios in a bowl on the counter for snacking. This way if I get a craving for something crunchy, instead of reaching for the potato chips I grab a few of them instead. (keep a small bowl there for the shells) Again, real food that is good for you. 

My husband got us a family membership to the YMCA this year. Both of my kids do athletics and are exercising more so it was a good investment for us. I am excited to put it to good use as well. My favorite exercise is swimming. A few years ago I took a synchronized swimming class with my daughter. I loved the challenge of it. Don't think that is a real sport? Try doing some of their moves! You will change your mind. (It is a great workout for the abs!)

On the exercise front I am also looking forward to doing some snowshoeing this winter. Of course this means we need some snow. It shouldn't be a problem in Maine but some winters are better than others when it comes to that. I like exercise that doesn't feel like exercise. Hiking in the woods, walking the dogs, playing games on the wii, and other stuff like that. Unfortunately I need to add some strength training to my routine since I have hit that age bracket. Gotta keep those bones strong!

On a similar note I have stopped drinking skim milk. I did a little research in the subject and what I found didn't seem right to me. Did you know after they take the fat out of the milk it is a grey color so they add powdered milk back into it? It changes the way our bodies process it among other things. http://naturalbias.com/why-skim-milk-isnt-as-healthy-as-you-may-think/ So as an experiment I am going back to whole milk instead. Not only that I have also started buying raw milk at my local co-op as well. http://www.realmilk.com/ I tried some at my sisters house at Thanksgiving from White's Orchard Farm and it was excellent. Very creamy. My kids liked it too! Always a good sign. So to supplement I am getting a half a gallon of raw a week as well. I personally think foods should be eaten in their natural state as much as possible. That means no GMO's as much as possible too. (which I just found out means Cheerios are now off my ok to eat list. ) We'll see if it makes a difference on the weight front.

As always, eat well! 

It's the gigantic things that get ya!

This morning we were out of milk. My go to breakfast is typically cheerios or life cereal with blueberries on top. (with skim milk) I couldn't chose toast because I have this weird thing about which food goes with which drink. Most of my breakfast choices need at least a mug of milk to wash it down. I never got into the coffee habit. (which I now count my blessings for) So because McD's is kind of on my way to work I went there instead. I got the oatmeal with fruit. I'm sure it is chock full of preservatives but it was a pick my battle kind of choice. I ate all of the fruit and maybe half of the oatmeal. I have to admit it was pretty good.

Not that I am advocating that sort of thing BUT I think sometimes you just have to make the better choice out of a few bad choices. I also got some unsweetened ice tea. Now here is where I have a bit of a gripe. It comes in one size. Gigantor. Seriously, who can drink that much of anything? I brought my plastic reuse-able cup with the straw (we have to have lids on our cups at work) and poured enough in to fill it up. I left the rest in my car. It is no wonder our society has an issue with obesity. If you figure the amount of sugar in the sweetened version of that size cup I'm sure we would all be appalled. When I went to lunch I poured the rest in my cup just to see how much I had. (the car was cold so it still had ice) It filled it again completely. So while some would think, "Cool, 2 drinks for the price of one." I'm thinking, wow that is ridiculous. Because let's face it, what percentage of people are getting it unsweetened like me? Just a thought.

(Tip: I find the unsweetened tea ant McD's FAR superior to the unsweetened tea at Dunkin Donuts for what it's worth. Though the size of the cup at DD is much more normal.) 

Eating on vacation & supporting your local farmer

So I just got back from a weeks vacation. I admit I was worried about falling off the eating well wagon. Thankfully that didn't happen. Sure I ate a few more things than I might have if I were at home but ultimately I did well. First of all there was good food choices everywhere! I was shocked that even in the airport I could find fruit and healthy snacks. I would say society must be changing because I don't remember that being the case in the past.
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One of the things I did was bring these along:

I am kind of addicted to blueberries. I eat them on my cereal almost every morning. Berries are great for the antioxidants. I prefer fresh but use frozen (thawed) frequently when I need to. These were a great option that my husband found for me.
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While there I did see a disturbing report on food that is being transported to restaurants not being properly cooled. I couldn't find the link but found this similar story instead. This is long (6 minutes) but worth watching.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3_n3RkF1OQ Yet another reason to support your local farmers.
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So after a week of vacation eating I am pleased to report than I didn't gain a single ounce. I still need to find the motivation to begin working out to get in better shape. Tho I think I can safely say I have the food part down pretty well now.
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Eat well!

I have a challenge for you....

I was thinking about the small things people can do to begin changing their eating habits to become healthier. I think starting slow was the key for me, and can be for others as well. So my challenge for the week to my readers who DO want to make the change is this: Cut out all soda for a week. Go for two weeks if you can. 

Weigh yourself before the challenge begins, and then at the end of the week(s) and see if you notice a change. (Tip: Weigh yourself in the morning before eating breakfast when your body is empty.) If you can't cut out all soda, then try at least cutting your consumption down. Replace when you would have soda with water or unsweetened ice tea. If you add a slice of lemon it sweetens our drink naturally AND gives you some benefit of the citrus. If you can't do unsweetened ice tea try ordering unsweetened and adding sugar packets. Add no more than 5 packets. (there are 10 packets per 1 can of soda. Source: http://www.onecanofsoda.com/) 


This will do 2 things for you. It will cut your sugar intake in half AND you will be adding the flavonoids of the tea to your diet which is healthy for your body. Both black tea and green tea is good for you. If you buy an ice tea, check the grams of sugar in it. (some are sugar free) 4o grams of sugar are what is in a typical can of soda. So the goal is to cut down on the sugar, while increasing the health benefits of what you are putting in your body. I make my tea by heating water and brewing 1 cup of decaffeinated tea and 1 cup of caffeinated tea and pouring them together to cool in the fridge. I add ice and lemon before drinking. Thankfully most fast food places do offer an unsweetened ice tea. (I had some at Wendy's yesterday.) When ordering unsweetened tea in restaurants be aware not all will taste good. Default to water if this happens to you. And keep trying! As we all know, some restaurants are better at some things than others. 


I haven't had a soda in months and I really don't miss it any more. Whenever I got tempted in the past I would just think about what little nutritional value it had for me, (none other than being a liquid) and I would make another choice. FMI about the health benefits of tea check this article out: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tea-types-and-their-health-benefits  Cutting back on soda or phasing it out completely is just one way you can eat healthier. Then once you get the ball rolling the rest will come too.

My scale said 108.4 this morning. I swear on my whole families life I am not even trying to lose weight at this point! I am just as surprised as you are. And before anyone freaks at that number I am only 5'1". I am also still eating a LOT of food! (including the occasional fast food meal and cookies) I do still have a bit of the "Mummy Tummy" from birthing 2 kids. It is finally going away! I never thought I would see that happen. Eating healthy just works. Trust me, if I can do it anyone can!!!

Eat well!

I'm still eating!!

Yes I am still here. Sorry about the lag between posts. Life has just been so busy! Add that to battling some allergies and my "spare time" (ha ha) where I feel like doing more than just reading has just been very rare. Check out my new "look". When I can, I wear the mask because it cuts down on the coughing drastically. I can't get in to see the pulmonary specialist until the end of the month. Until then I am on a cough medicine that works but works best if I can take a dose that prevents me from being able to drive. Yeah, not helpful.

My husband and I went to a local well known restaurant in the area a few weeks ago. It is FABULOUS! It is called Primo and they specialize in home grown herbs, vegetables, eggs and they even raise their own pigs and ducks for the dinner table. They are a great example of healthy eating done well AND being as green as possible. I am convinced that you can NOT have a bad meal there! Here is their website: www.primorestaurant.com  Here are a few photos of just part of our fabulous meal. I had the duck and it came with a side of beets. Add beets to new foods tried for me list. Interestingly it tasted familiar and I did like them. The duck was perfection.

Because I know the co-owner Price (as a client of the vet hospital I work at)
he was kind enough to send out an extra course of a linguine dyed with squid ink. It also had cuttle fish and squid pieces along with chik peas and assorted vegetables. It was amazing! A very spicy dish for me as I am not used to eating much spicy foods. I am super proud of myself for eating it since once upon a time I wouldn't have even tried a dish like that.

This is one of the desserts we tried. It is a rhubarb crostata. Also amazing. Everything we had was wonderful. We sat near a window and it was incredible watching the chefs gather herbs and then take them back to the kitchen to use. You can't get fresher than that!

We also had a going away dinner for one of my co-workers since I last posted. I tried Fiddlehead pizza and it was fabulous.

I love this time of year because of all the fresh berries. I try to eat blueberries every day but I am making exceptions for strawberries when I can.

Can't get fresh berries where you are? A great second choice is homemade berry Jams. I am spoiled by a grandmother that makes her own and shares with the family.

It looks like my new maintained weight is still changing. The scale this morning said 110.2lbs. I admit I was surprised. With the cough I haven't been able to walk or exercise at all so I am happy that the eating well has continued to work. I do find I cheat a little more during "the week of the beast". I am ok with that. I still try to make healthier choices, homemade cookies vs store bought for instance. Check out the blog by a girl in the UK about her school lunches. http://neverseconds.blogspot.com  I love it. My son and I watched the documentary "Supersize Me" recently. I'm glad my kids are picking up on our message that healthy eating is important. I really wish I had learned the lesson earlier and could have been doing better by them when they were younger. It really is true, when you know better you do better. Happy eating!

Pancakes and hard boiled eggs 101

First, it is weeks later and I am still holding at 115.2lbs. It looks like I have finally leveled off. That works for me! Now that doesn't mean I am changing what or how I eat. If I backslide I am positive I will gain it all back. Not to mention I will be eating unhealthy foods again. This is a lifestyle, not a diet remember.
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Check out the pancakes I made the other day. For anyone worried that the taste is different I can assure you they tasted great. I added blueberries to one, and raspberries to the other. Add some homemade maple syrup from a friend and it was fabulous. Homemade syrup is less sweet than the sugar filled store bought so the berries make it a perfect balance. (I only ate about half of each pancake) A tip: make up all the batter into smaller pancakes and you can freeze them to warm up in the toaster at a later date.
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Because I eat a lot of hard boiled eggs I needed to find a good recipe for them. Sadly it was because I kept over boiling them when left to my own cooking devices. Here is what worked for me: For easy peeling you want to use eggs that are older, 2 weeks are ideal. Use a heavy bottomed pan and make sure the eggs aren't crowded so they don't crack when the water comes to a boil. Put the eggs in the pan with at least an inch of cold water covering them. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cover for 17 minutes. Then remove from the water and put into cold water again and let set for 15 minutes. You will have a hard boiled egg that is easy to peel and NOT overcooked.
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Healthy eating!!

I hit my goal!! and some helpful tips for others

New foods tried this week: Crabmeat quesadilla with the tomatoes and chilli's included! My previous version of a quesadilla was just chicken and cheese. It turns out I love tomatoes! I also tried a bite of my husbands enchillada (liked it) and some salsa. (too spicy) I only ate 3 of those slices. Thankfully it was light on the cheese. (From my local Mexican restaurant The Sunfire Grill in Rockland Maine which ROCKS!)

So I finally hit my goal weight of 115 lbs. I won't lie, I am excited about that. I do have to share something that happened though as a caution. I actually gained a pound during the time I was counting calories. I think I know why. I fell into the trap of only worrying about the calories and not paying as much attention to what I was actually eating. Oh a Hershey's kiss is only 21 calories? Well according to my numbers for the day I can eat 5. Cool. Forget about the fact it isn't a real food. (by real I mean something that has any nutritional value) It turns out it isn't always going to be super accurate. They give you a few choices for raw banana for instance that all differ in the count. Knowing which one you can use is a guessing game you can get wrong. So I went back to not keeping track and doing what works better for me. Trying to eat as much real food as possible and eating frequently. 3 meals and 2 snacks minimum.
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I do also exercise a little. I walk as much as I can. Now for me this means a minimum of 30 minutes at a time of at least a moderate speed. I usually have a dog or 2 with me. (which varies my time and speed) If I am trying to burn more calories I shoot for 45 minutes at a faster pace. I read that for heart health you want to shoot for 30 minutes a day. I am lucky if I get 3 times a week. Because I am not a morning person I walk after work and on weekends. I don't keep track of my walking days, I just go whenever the weather is nice and I can eek out the time. If you can't do 30 minutes start with less. Work up. Any added exercise will benefit you. If you try to start strong and hurt yourself it won't do you any good. Look at it as just moving more than you did before. I am still hoping to add some strength training and yoga soon. (My husband is putting me to shame by running at least three 5K's a week now. That's ok! I am focused on me and my goals and supporting him and his. Don't worry about what others are doing, it isn't a competition.)
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Getting healthy is also not a speed race, it is a long distance event. Portion control is important. Don't try to eat so little that you are hungry. This will also work against you as your body goes into starvation mode and you won't lose any weight. (if that is your intention) Or you will have a break down and pig out in response when you can't take it anymore. Start with just eating a little less in your portions. This will help shrink your stomach over time back to the normal size it should be. If you eat out very often you will notice most restaurants serve portions that are NOT a normal serving size. I am an adult and I eat a happy meal because that is a more normal size of a meal for me. If I go to The Olive Garden and get the Fettuccine Alfredo, I take half home to become another meal. I eat a small bowl of the salad and 1 breadstick. (a half would be better but once started it is hard to resist) It is ok to take the rest home! It is also ok to leave food on your plate and walk away. Yes you paid for the food but that shouldn't justify you eating all of it. Think ahead to potential doctor visits or medications needed for diabetes. Or just realize you paid for the food to be your fuel. It costs the same if you stop eating when you are full or if you eat it all. You aren't really "out" anything if you walk away. Super sizing is not a better value if it is super sizing you and your arteries!
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Things I try to eat daily or at least very often: Blueberries for the antioxidents. (or other berries) I usually get these at breakfast or sometimes at lunch. Either by using thawed frozen (Maine) berries on my waffle, in my yogurt or on my cereal. (cheerios) If I miss them at breakfast I might have it in my grandmothers homemade jam at lunch. The next thing I eat daily is nuts. They are for heart health. My go to is almonds. I have some in a container I take to work. (no more than an ounce a day) Or I eat almond butter in a sandwich along with the jam. If I don't get it that way I add sunflower seeds to a salad. At the end of the day if I haven't had any nuts I might also have a handful of walnuts instead. Another thing I eat daily is wheat bread. Also for heart health. If you get store bought make sure it has 3 grams of dietary fiber to be a healthy source of fiber. (that 3 gram rule applies to other foods as well) Carbs get a bad name with people who diet. It isn't about cutting out all carbs, it is about eating good carbs. Simple carbs like donuts, cookies, pastas and such can be bad for you because of how they create sugar in your body. Complex carbs are good for you because they convert differently and keep your blood sugar regulated. (again, I am not a nutritionist but this is my understanding of the process) I do still eat cookies, just not as often and I now buy the ones with no trans-fats or I make my own. Eggs for vitamin D. I usually get 1 hard boiled egg at breakfast. If not I might do egg salad at lunchtime. (with reduced fat mayo made with olive oil) Fruit. Because I want to prevent scurvy! LOL No I just eat more fruits and veggies whenever I can because it is a natural food. I do sometimes eat half a grapefruit at breakfast. I also eat bananas frequently at least once a day.
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What you drink matters too. Drink more water if possible. Again start slow if you need to. Replace 1 soda a day with water or ice tea instead. Tea is great for heart health and cholesterol health. It helps good cholesterol and blocks bad cholesterol. I brew my own unsweetened ice tea now. I started with a sweetened green tea and graduated to unsweetened. I buy lipton and try to have at least one glass a day. I brew it ahead and store it in the fridge. I add a piece of lemon for sweetener and for the citric acid. I haven't had a soda in months now and can honestly say I don't miss it at all. When I would still get cravings I would just think about what's in it. Syrup, sugar and carbonation. What's nutritious about that? I am also excited to report my teen daughter has also quit drinking soda. (aside from the occasional one at a friends house) This is big news because she was very much into her Dr. Pepper! (When I go to the movies I get a kids pack and ask for a tap water as my drink.)
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Read your labels. If you can't pronounce half the stuff on the label it probably isn't good for you. Think of it this way, home made from scratch has things in it you know like flour, sugar, butter. Those are real foods. Processed foods have preservatives in them so they don't go bad on the store shelves. Some of those ingredients are chemical in nature. Those chemicals don't always act like real food in your body. When in doubt go with homemade if possible. If it isn't possible check out your health food aisle. Those labels are far less scary and usually have less or no trans-fats.
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So that has what has worked well for me. I plan on continuing of course because it was never just about taking weight off. It is about a healthier lifestyle. I am still learning as I go of course. I also hope to post some recipes here that I find helpful.
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Now the bad news: Eating better can cost more money I've found. Organic foods cost more than foods with chemicals because crappy foods are cheaper to produce. (because they are half chemical!) It can also mean more prep time and thinking ahead time. If you get hungry and only have junk food around guess what you will eat? That's right, the junk. (it happens to me too) So be prepared. Have healthy choices around. It doesn't mean you can never eat out or have some potato chips again either. Heck I have Ben and Jerry's ice creme in my freezer I sometimes eat! (beside my frozen yogurt) The secret is moderation. I don't sit down and eat the whole container. Unless you live on a farm and make all your own food you will eat some processed foods. It is reality. So yes eating healthier might cost more and yes it might mean more work on your part, but ask yourself this question? Aren't you worth it?

A healthier snack: Banana slices with dark chocolate melted on the top and frozen. Recipe from Clean Eating magazine. Next time I will try this with dehydrated banana chips. I found the banana to mushy when thawed.