Up to date weight loss and exercise commitment

Today is the beginning of week 4 for me and my health journey.  Steve and I began Eat to Live on July 1 (it is now July 22), and we have stuck to the program like glue!  I am happy to report that I am feeling more and more energetic, more happy, have a clearer mind, and just an overall sense of well being.  I do not feel cheated on what I get to eat, I feel liberated.  My cravings for sweets are gone.  I fulfill that desire now with fresh fruit.  We try to weigh every day, but count our weigh in on Sunday as the official.  I am happy to report that my weight loss from July 1 is a solid 18 pounds!  We have committed ourselves to 6 weeks of this program, yet I can see us carrying this further and further. Steve has lost 15 total.  I would encourage everyone to read the book "Eat to Live" and follow its principles. 

I have committed myself to begin my exercise regimen this week as well.  I am pleased to report my progress.  I worked out on the elliptical machine at the Health and Wellness Center (no arms yet.. just my legs) on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.  Each time, I went for a total of 20 minutes, on the lowest resistance setting.  Furthermore, I went to the water aerobics morning class on Wednesday and Thursday.  I rested on Saturday and walked one mile down our road and West Lake this morning.  Ahhhhhh it is a challenge for me FOR SURE, but I feel so great after it's all over!  I am committing to 6 days again this coming week.  Thank you for following my blog.  It's feeds my enthusiasm for this. 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Well, it looks like my bell pepper plants have resurrected themselves and are going for round 2!!  We have sooo many, I was not sure of what to do with them.  I remember my friend and co-worker Veronica talking about making stuffed bell peppers.  I haven't had these since I was very small.  My mom made them once or twice.  And so...I began on a search for stuffed bell peppers that would fit my Fuhrman diet.  I found a few online, and tweaked them, and came up with this: 

1/2 lb dried red kidney beans
1 cup brown rice
6 medium green peppers
3 Tbsp. vegetable broth

4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 medium onion (diced)
2 large celery (diced)

3 large carrots (diced)

1 large tomatoes (peeled & seeded)
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 Tlbs. fresh parsley, chopped
freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Rinse beans. Add 3-4 cups water and soak overnight. Drain beans,  cover with water and simmer until tender (30-40 minutes). Drain beans, set aside.

Bring 2 1/2 cups water to boil. Add 1 cup rice. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes (or until all liquid is absorbed).

Put 3 tablespoons vegetable broth in frying pan and add the minced garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes, stirring so the garlic doesn't burn. Add onion, celery, and carrots (and additional vegetable broth if needed for moisture) and sauté for an additional 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and mix with the rice.

Add the seasonings (all the dried seasonings, pepper, and fresh parsley). Mix well. Mix in the beans.

Cut the tops off the green peppers and remove the seeds. Stand the peppers in shallow baking dish. Fill peppers with bean and rice mixture.

Dice tomato. Place the diced tomatoes over top of each pepper and top off each with a sprinkle of fresh parsley. 

Cover dish and roast in 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until peppers are tender.

Yield: Serves 6

And here are some pictures:

 

Beans, beans, beans!!

Oh my goodness! I just made THE.BEST.BEAN.SOUP.EVER!!!  And I'm so proud of myself, I made it all up. I could not wait to blog about this, even though it's late and past my bedtime!

I started off yesterday with some dried beans like in the picture above.  You can buy these already mixed like this in the dried beans section (next to rice, I believe).  They are packaged like that with a recipe and spices for soup.  I threw away the spices and opted for fresh veggies instead.  Let me (hopefully) come up with a recipe:

• 2 cups dry bean mixture
• 1 quart Swanson's low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 onion (chopped)
• 2 green bell peppers (chopped)
• 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
• 2 stalks celery (chopped)
• 3 carrots (peeled and chopped)
• 1 quart tomatoes (drained)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/8 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper 

Soak the beans in water overnight.  Drain and rinse.  Place the beans and vegetable stock in large pot.  Bring to a boil.  Add chopped veggies, garlic, tomatoes and spices.  Simmer on low for about 1 1/2 hours.

DELICIOUS!!

 This would be great paired with some brown rice! 

Garden Veggies... YUM!

Today, I went out to water my garden.  It is nearing the end of the harvest for us because the temperatures are too high, and the bugs are getting so bad.  We have had rain so bad for the past week or more, that I haven't had to water it in so long.  I guess we haven't picked much either because of the rain.  I was pleasantly surprised with what I brought in today.  Now... what to do with all of the peppers.  Well, in the first place, I needed to make my salad.  Imagine my excitement to be able to use veggies that had just BARELY been picked :)

You can just see the water oozing out of these.  They were SO CRISP and FRESH!  Delicious.  I made a delicious salad. 

I added some fruit, and my lunch was complete!  So satisfying!  Now.... what to do with those peppers!  I will blog about those tomorrow ;)

Collard Greens

I've always had a hard time with collard greens.  Sadly, Dr. Fuhrman counts them as nutrient dense, so I realize this is something that I must learn to like/love.  Today I remembered back in the day when I was little, we had a garden full of swiss chard. My mom would wilt the swiss chard (probably through the steaming method) and add vinegar, salt, and pepper.  I loved that.  I thought about recreating that with the collard greens.  We had a big bag in the fridge that I had bought earlier at HEB that needed to be used up.  This bag contained already washed, and chopped collard greens.  I looked on the bag and it seemed to have a great recipe.  We had a jar of tomatoes, that somehow didn't seal when we were canning, that needed to be used.  This was the outcome.  And, they were actually pretty good.  This is the recipe:

1/2 pound chopped collard greens
2 Tlbs. Italian seasoning
1 15 oz. can tomatoes

Simple!  You put the collard greens in a good sized pot and cover them with water.  Bring the water to boil, then turn down the heat to simmer for 10 minutes.  After the 10 minutes are up, drain 1/2 the water.  Add the seasoning and the tomatoes (you can add the juice from the jar if you want). We simmered for 10 minutes more on low.  They were actually quite tasty. 

Our dinner consisted of 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 small sweet potato (my FAVORITE part of the meal), a small portion of navy beans (I had cooked these earlier), 1/4 avocado sliced, about 2 Tlbs. salsa.  We also had a bowl full of cherries, and a glass of water.  PERFECT!

Weight loss :)

How I love eating lunch!  Every day I find what kind of pretty fruit I can have.  Then I make a HUGE salad (hopefully with garden vegetables).  I also make my own salad dressing.  Today did not let me down.  I have been exercising consistently every day this week.  I am finding myself more and more hungry!  But also, the food tastes more and more distinct.  It's just an overall GREAT experience.  I suppose I need to talk about weight loss.  I began this journey on July 1, 2012.  Today is July 18, 2012.  I weighed in for a total loss of 14.8 pounds since the beginning!  YAY!  It seems to be just falling off.  This is getting FUN! 

Eat to Live!!!

This is the book that I live by!  It has changed my life, and changed my eating habits.  I believe in everything that he says.  It has given me so much energy.  I have had no cravings what so ever.  I am just enjoying all of the glorious food that Heavenly Father made for us... in it's natural state.  To make it simple, here are the "rules" for this eating plan.  Dr. Fuhrman says to give it 6 weeks, and then add in lean meats and 1 tablespoon of olive oil about 3 times a week after the 6 weeks are up.

THE SIX-WEEK PLAN
Unlimited (Eat as much as you want):

• All raw vegetables (goal: 1 lb. daily)
• Cooked green and non-green nutrient-rich vegetables (goal: 1 lb. daily; non-green nutrient-rich vegetables are eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower)
• Beans, legumes, bean sprouts, and tofu (goal: 1 cup daily)
• Fresh fruits (at least 4 daily)

Limited:

• Cooked starchy vegetables or whole grains: butternut and acorn squash, corn, white potatoes, rice, sweet potatoes, bread, cereal (not more than one serving, or 1 cup, per day), and
• Raw nuts and seeds (1 oz. max per day), and
• Avocado (2 oz. max per day), and
• Dried fruit (2 tbsp max per day), and
• Ground flax seeds (1 tbsp max per day)

Off Limits:

• Processed Sugar
• Dairy products
• Animal products
• Between-meal snacks
• Fruit juice
• Oils