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February 8, 2023 – Quest Protein Bar taste test- White Chocolate Raspberry

So today I tasted the white chocolate raspberry flavor of the Quest Protein Bar. First the macros:

Serving size 1 bar, calories 190, Fat 8g, saturated fat 3g, trans fat 0g, cholesterol 5mg, sodium 250mg, total carbs 22g, dietary fiber 13g, total sugars 1g, protein 20g.

The numbers look good but how does it taste?

DELICIOUS!!!! It reminded me of raspberry cheesecake. No artificial after taste. There was real raspberry in this bar. I would definitely eat this one again. I’ll have to try other flavors too.

Tomorrow I will be tasting a maple glazed donut One bar. I can’t wait.

Do you have any brands/flavors to suggest? Or maybe you have a good recipe for me to try. Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading.

January 17, 2023 – Successful food prep lunch

Yesterday’s food prep made me be able to easily pack this healthy lunch. Sautéed chicken breast (3 oz.), quinoa (1 cup), roasted cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potato and butternut squash (1 cup). I’ll be drizzling with 2 Tbsp of Bolthouse Farms Classic Ranch.

492 Calories, Fat 11.4 grams, Carbs 57.2 grams, Protein 38.5 grams

Roasted veggies, chicken breast and quinoa – It’s what’s for lunch.

Reheated in the microwave for two minutes. Delicious!

Do you have any good food prep recipes you would like to share? Please comment and share.

Thanks for reading!

January 3, 2023 – Two good days in a row

Today was a “rest” day. I did not go to the fitness center. Instead, I did several short cardio and strength exercise videos from the Wakeout app.

Wakeout helps me to work out the stiffness that occurs when you work a desk job. It gives stretches and exercises to get you moving during the work day. It will even let you schedule reminders to move.

My food choices today were excellent. Special K cinnamon pecan cereal with blueberries for breakfast. No sugar in my coffee and i even measured my sugar free creamer!

For my morning snack I had a cup of unsweetened tea and a Sargento balanced break. For my afternoon snack, I had a clementine. Delicious.

Lunch was shrimp, spinach, tomatoes, Kalamata olives over orzo with a squeeze of lemon. Yum!!

Dinner was two tacos loaded with lettuce and tomato with 2 oz of lean taco meat. Just a sprinkling of cheese to top them off. Yum.

I drank lots of water and had no sugary drinks.

It was a good day and I am proud of myself.

Have any good healthy recipes or tips you would like to share? What is your go to trick to keep yourself on track?

I’ve been feeling uninspired lately.

It’s been over a month since I posted anything. I’ve had ideas for reviews of both books and healthy food, I just haven’t had the motivation. I need to get back on track.

Here are some highlights from life in the past month +:

Swimming – Mike and I have started going to the pool at our local recreation center on Saturday mornings. It has been wonderful for our joints. We didn’t go last week when I had the flu. This week we went to a comic book show instead. Next week we plan to go to North Port Aquatic Center to check out their pool and lazy river. Can’t wait.
The Winners by Frederik Backman – I had the pleasure to read the upcoming third book in the Beartown series. I am a a big fan of Mr. Backman. His books are wonderful. A review of the book is in the works and will be posted closer to the expected publishing date of September 27, 2022.
Cozy mysteries – I’m on a cozy mystery reading kick. I love to go on Amazon and find the first book in a cozy mystery series to see if I want to read the whole series.
Crafts – I haven’t been crafting as much. I’ve been craft brainstorming but haven’t done much more. I’m starting to feel a little inspiration to get ready for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas crafts. Stay tuned, there may be a how-to video or two in the works.
Trying to stay cool – I’ve not been successful. It is has been pretty freakin’ hot since what feels like forever. Can’t wait for “cool” weather.

So, what have you been up to this Summer?

Thanks for reading.

A healthy update

I have finished all of my Jenny Craig meals. I lost a total of 11.9 pounds in the four weeks that I ate those meals. All-in-all it was a good experience as I now have a good idea on what works for me.

I am going to continue to utilize the information I gathered in the past few weeks to continue on my healthy eating journey. Even after hitting a plateau, I used these techniques and managed to hit a 16.8 pound loss. I would like to share some of the things I’ve learned and will be using in the future:

1. Measure! It is amazing how much food we mindlessly eat thinking that we are staying within the recommended serving size. Get yourself a good set of measuring cups and spoons and keep them readily available. When in doubt, weigh it. You can get a nice kitchen scale at a reasonable price if you look for one. I like the Escali Primo Digital Scale , which was picked by Wirecutter as the best digital kitchen scale. There are also some fancy ones that will give you your macros as you measure and add your ingredients. I have been using the Greater Goods Nutrition Scale lately.

2. Figure out what your BMR is. Your Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories your body needs to accomplish its most basic life-sustaining functions. By figuring out this number you can determine how many calories you should eat to maintain, gain, or lose weight. You can use this BMR Calculator. Enter your age, gender, height and weight and it will calculate your BMR. A 5 foot 10 inch, 30 year-old female that weighs 200 pounds has a BMR of 1,707 Calories/day. If you add in the normal activity level, you will find out how many calories she can eat in a day to maintain her weight. Once you know your number, you can use it to adjust how many calories you eat and how many calories you need to burn to maintain, gain or lose one pound a week. If you create a deficit of 500 calories a day for a week you will lose 1 pound a week. This is the Calories In, Calories Out (CICO) way to control your weight.

3. Read the label. If you are trying to start a healthy lifestyle, you should know what you are putting in your body. First, look at the ingredient list. Can you pronounce every ingredient? Does anything sound like it came from a lab? Look for actual FOOD ingredients. Second thing I look at on the label, Sodium. You are supposed to consume less than 2300 mg of Sodium a day, per the FDA. If you eat 3 meals a day, keep the Sodium under 800 per meal. I try to keep mine between 500 and 600 mg per meal. To get more information on using the Nutrition Facts Labels, go to the FDA website.

4. Pay attention to your macronutrients. Carbs. Protein. Fat. What percentage of your calorie intake should be carbs, protein, and fat. The 2015–2020 Dietary Guideline for Americans recommends that carbohydrates comprise 45–65% of calories, fat 25–35% of calories, and protein 10–30% of calories. Are you sodium sensitive? Make sure to track those amounts as well.

5. Whole food is ideal, but there are prepared food you can fall back on. I love to cook. I enjoy finding and trying new recipes. I do not enjoy prepping ingredients, nor do I enjoy standing at the stove cooking after work. Prepared food comes to the rescue. Yes, you can find prepared foods that will fit into your eating plan. You just need to visit #3 above and read the label.

6. Move. If you have a desk job, make sure you get up and move around during the day.

7. Hydrate. With all the healthy food you are eating now, you will want to make sure you are staying hydrated. Remember- water has zero calories!

Well, that’s all of my tips and tricks for now. Im learning more and more about losing weight and getting healthy every day. What are your favorite tips and tricks for losing weight and getting healthy? I’d love to hear from all of you.

Thanks for reading.

Jenny Craig breakfast and lunch update

Good afternoon everyone! I hope that you are well.

I’ve been distracted by other things (the news, the weather…) and have not given any updates on my weight loss using Jenny Craig breakfasts and lunches. I haven’t stuck to the program as well this past week but I can proudly say that I’m down 11.5 pounds.

Some comments on the Jenny Craig meals I’ve had recently:

French Toast – It looked like one piece of French toast cut into 3 strips. It smelled so good and tasted even better. Thank goodness it was a portioned meal. I could have eaten a whole loaf of bread cooked that way.

Tortellini with Chicken – The creamy sauce and the tortellini were delicious. The chicken “pieces” were mostly grizzle. I ate around them. I wouldn’t eat this one again.

Pepperoni pizza – I’ve been surprised by how good these little pizzas are and the fact that they are filling. I will miss these once I my stash runs out.

Cheese omelette and chicken sausage – Really delicious and filling. The sausage looked a little disgusting but smelled and tasted fantastic.

I am starting to put together my own food plan based on some of the Jenny Craig foods that I’ve had. I am using the Lose It app to make a plan using calories in and calories out. The plan gives me a set amount of calories I can consume in a day and breaks it up into meals and snacks. For example, an 1900 calorie day would break down to 350 calorie breakfast, 125 calorie morning snack, 450 calorie lunch, 125 calorie afternoon snack, 700 calorie dinner, and a 150 calorie evening snack. Those are guidelines to help me plan. Here is my sample menu:

Breakfast (350 calorie budget): coffee 12 oz. – 4 cal, fat free half and half 4 Tbsp – 40 cal, 2 eggs cooked with Pam – 140 cal, Vanilla non-fat greek yogurt 3/4 cup – 120 cal, blueberries 1/2 cup – 42 cal. Breakfast total= 346 calories

Morning snack (125 calorie budget): Grapes 1 cup – 100 calories, water. Morning snack total = 100 calories

Lunch (450 calorie budget): Teriyaki chicken lettuce wrap (www.simplyrecipes.com) – 427 cal, Asian caramelized pineapple 1/2 cup (www.myrecipes.com) – 61 cal. Lunch total = 488 calories

Afternoon snack (125 calorie budget): Cranberry Almond Whenever Bar – 180 calories, water. Afternoon snack total = 180 calories

Dinner (700 calorie budget): Chicken with garlicky green beans and new potatoes – 393 cal, Klondike Bar Health English Toffee – 230 cal. Dinner total = 623 calories

Evening snack (150 calorie budget): 5 cups microwave movie theater popcorn – 150 cal, flavored seltzer – 0 cal. Evening snack total = 160 calories

Total calories for the day = 1897

I think I can do that, don’t you?

Besides eating healthier, I’ve also started going back to the gym. I don’t always enjoy going, but I always feel good after. I mostly want to increase my stamina by walking on the treadmill.

Here’s to eating healthier and moving more!

Thanks for reading!

One Hit Wonders

I often take a recipe I find and embellish it with my own touches. Unfortunately, I tend to forget to write down what I added to the existing recipe. This ensures that my hubby, Mike, loves it. Thus it becomes a One Hit Wonder similar to “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred. The barbecue sauce I made this week has become my latest. While I try to figure out what exactly I put it that delicious sauce, let’s listen/watch this.