Lifestyle Changes

(Warning: this may be a boring post to some people because we are just talking about trying to be healthy….nothing too cool or exciting.)

As some of you know, Grant and I decided it was time to change how we were living. We were eating unhealthy, just lots of snack foods since I could get them so cheaply with coupons, and we weren’t exercising at all. I think everyone has these unspoken rules in their heads like, ” If I can’t see my belt buckle, then I will start working out again….” Well, the promises we had made to ourselves came and went, and we never changed anything. We were both feeling a lot more tired, and just not very confident in how we looked. So, we took drastic action!!! We saw some Transformation Pictures of other people, and I know that helped motivate me.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/trans19.htm

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/trans28.htm

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/trans55.htm

Grant and I both started using the website http://dailyburn.com/ where we started entering our body weights and body fats daily. Also, this website also lets you enter in all of the food that you eat, and it lets you set goals,etc. We have messed with a few other ones like Live strong,but this was the one that worked best for us. I was able to enter recipes, and it will break it down to make it easier. Also, they have iphone apps that let you scan the bar codes on food which also helps in entering what you eat faster. We have been taking daily pictures of ourselves in the same spot so that we can see a difference and progress. Every once in a while we forget to take pictures,but we are doing pretty good thus far.

The biggest things that we changed were our eating habits and our workout habits. We found exercise routines designed for men and women, and your goals which was very helpful. http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/fat-loss

Dailyburn let us enter them,and that I could see how many calories I burned which is what I need for encouragement.

We have been trying out different recipes, and there are one or two that we stumbled upon that are just great! I have been eating 6 smaller meals a day. I am not a huge fan of meat, so I have been eating LOTS of eggs, and normally one whey protein shake a day to keep me healthy. Also, some fish and chicken in the mix. About once a week we will have some beef just to mix it up a little bit. Eating healthy is definitely a little bit more expensive. I am doing pretty well on our budget due to the fact that we buy meat in bulk and when there is a deal. But there is no question, that veggies are always more expensive than junk food. We pretty much have been trying to eat clean. We have been cutting out the preservatives and processed foods. We are drinking LOTS of water, and planning each meal and snack makes it harder to cheat.

We have been lifting 3 days a week and doing cardio on those days. Then we have been doing cardio on the other days except Wednesday which are our day off. We have kept this up for a month and 6 days now. So, we are finally seeing some results. We looked at our first pictures and the ones after a month, only small progress,but it is a start. We are more concerned with how we look rather than the weight we lose, but it is always encouraging to see any progress, so after 1 month and 6 days I have lost 5 pounds which is a definite start, but I have noticed a lot more muscle too which is nice to see. Looking like I want will still take some time, but I am glad that Grant and I have both been doing this, and keeping it up even when it is hard. I am glad that Grant was there to show me the correct form when I wasn’t sure, and being very respectful and loving when he corrected me. Sometimes it can be intimidating to girls to start lifting weights when it is normally all guys in the weight area. Having a gym you are comfortable in is a big part of it as well. We looked at two different gyms, and we decided to go with Anytime Fitness because it was smaller and less crowded. So, I hope we can keep being consistent.

Now to the recipes:

Grant and I have been eating homemade cheese pizza which is really tasty and pretty healthy. There is not a lot of protein in the recipe so you might want to eat something else to help the stats out for that day.

Here you can see the pizza that we normally eat. We usually cut it into 8 pieces, and we like a thin crust. I make the typical dough recipe and then cut it in half. I use half for the pizza we eat right then and there, and the other half I freeze until we want pizza again. It takes about 3 to 4 hours to thaw so I take it out in the morning or after lunch so it is thawed by dinner.

Pizza

Dough:
1 pkg. yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons if you use the jars of yeast)
1 cup warm water
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. oil
2 1/2 cups flour

dissolve yeast in warm water then add sugar, it is ready once it is foamy. In the other bowl, mix dry ingredients then combine all together. Kneed dough for a few minutes( I just put everything in my Kitchenaid mixer and let the kneading hook kneed while I collect the other ingredients) then let rise for 5-10 mins(I don’t let is rise because we prefer the thin crust and it goes faster). Oil pizza stone(especially if it is not seasoned.), and when done rising roll out on the pizza stone.( I use a rolling pin since that is easiest for me.)
Sauce:
Tomato Sauce
Pepper
Salt
Italian Seasoning
Basil
Parsley

Toppings:
Cheese
Pepperoni(Not very healthy…we stopped eating once were were dieting…cheaper without it too.)

whatever else you want

Spread tomato sauce on the pizza dough, add all of the  seasonings. Then put cheese or pepperoni or both on top.
Then bake for 20 to 30 mins. at 425°F.
** I only use half the pizza dough and freeze the other half. Also, I don’t let it rise after making it so it stays thin.**
As I said above, we cut it into 8 slices which means that per slice there are: 148 Calories, 6.6 grams of Fat, 17 Carbs, and 5.5 grams of Protein.

But the best recipe that we found that I think we will eat even after we aren’t so ridged with our diets is this pancake recipe.

Golden Protein Pancakes!!!

These pancakes are light, fluffy, and I would say they taste very good. I will show one serving. If Grant and I are both eating them, we make a double batch.

Ingredients:

3 Egg Whites

1/2 cup of Oatmeal(I just use whatever kind as long as they are plain… apple cinnamon wouldn’t taste very good.)

1/2 cup of fat free Cottage Cheese

Blend together and cook like a regular pancake!

I have found if you put the egg white in the blender first, then the oats, and then the cottage cheese, then the blender has the easiest time blending everything smoothly.

We use Sugar-Free Syrup and 1 tbsp of Natural Unmixed Peanut Butter (spread on top of my pancakes), this is very filling, and we normally can just barely finish a serving each.

For the health facts:  291 Cals,  4.7 Fat,  32.7 Carbs, &   28.7 Protein. That is not including the natural peanut butter and light syrup that we use.

We will update more recipes as we find them, but Chez Dishman has  a great one for cottage cheese on her blog http://chezdishman.blogspot.com/2010/02/recipe-i-love.html