I'm Totally Lame

Yup, I am!
I haven't posted anything cause I am not doing super fantastic with the whole healthy thing. I haven't eaten any meat though!
But this butt is getting into gear right now!! I'm trying to do a Jillian Michael's 30 day shred workout everyday as well as some interval training on the treadmill. 30 seconds sprinting, thirty seconds off. I could only do about 7 minutes of that yesterday before I felt like dying but it will get better!
I'm doing oatmeal, smoothies, or egg white omelets with spinach or peppers for breakfast.
Lunch is my hardest but I'm trying to get in two serving of veggies at lunch. Still working on this.
Dinner is hard too because I'm trying to get used to making food for me and food for the hubster. It's been a hilly couple of weeks but I think I'm getting the hang of it.
I'll keep ya posted.

Roasted Peppers Panini

Today was a pretty fantastic day as far as food goes (if you totally dismiss the half dozen chocolate caramel pretzels I gobbled down between meals). Really though, I enjoyed my food today. I had Microwave Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal for breakfast.
Then a chocolate caramel pretzel.
I had some leftover seafood stew for lunch. Then a pretzel, and another.
For snack I had some pistachios. (Every time I think of pistachios I think of the Gangham Style dance, yet I've never actually tried to dance the dance for which you should all thank me.)
Maybe another pretzel. Who's judging? You know you would if they were in your house.
For dinner I made a delicious Roasted Peppers Panini. I meant to add a salad with it but I was totally stuffed after all the pretzels the sandwich. I threw some leftover ham on the hubster's and he loved it too!

Ingredients:

3 sweet peppers (I used orange, yellow and red), sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fajita seasoning
Mozzarella cheese
Guacamole (just mash an avocado, add a little lemon and salt, maybe some garlic powder)
Ciabatta rolls

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450. Mix peppers, onions, olive oil and fajita seasoning in a baking dish. Roast for 10-15 minutes (edges should just barely be getting dark).
Layer ciabatta rolls with guacamole, cheese and pepper mix and press with panini grill. Or use a stove top grill pan and use another pan to press down on it, flip, repeat.
It's delish! I don't like a lot of sauce on my sandwiches but it would be great with a bit of chipotle mayonnaise or something if you like that sort of thing.
Add a glass of Piña Colada and you'll be in heaven.

Or a chocolate caramel pretzel. You know, whatever's on hand.

Week 1 reviewed

Week one was a success. If you don't mind success being replacing meat with chocolate.

Just kidding.

 Maybe.

Actually I think it went pretty well. The hardest part was when I took my kids to Taco Bell for their first time so I didn't really know what they would eat. My boy is easy, he loves beans so I just got him a bean burrito. My daughter is tough, she doesn't eat much so I asked her what she wanted: taco, cheese quesadilla, or bean burrito. And she chose a taco, but then didn't like it cause it was too messy. She is a little three year old princess. It was pretty difficult for me to just throw her taco away, usually I would just eat it since I gave her my food but instead we had to stop again somewhere. But after a couple hours, out of sight, out of mind and no problems.

I have felt more tired than usual so I ordered some iron tablets, we will see if it helps.

This week I have enjoyed:

• The new Kale-ribbean breeze smoothie from Jamba
• Olive Garden's Seafood Brodetta
• Martha Stewert's Roasted Salmon
• Skinny Taste's Pasta and Broccoli

Things I need to improve:

• I need to get moving! 
• Get some pescatarian/vegetarian freezer meals made.

Crockpot Potato and Leek Soup

I made this Crockpot Potato Leek Soup today. Most of the time it's made with just potatoes and leeks but I wanted to bump up the veggie power so I added some celery and carrots (I had some yellow carrots so it wouldn't change the creamy classic color). It was pretty tasty! I served it with a green salad with sweet onion dressing and crusty bread.

• 2 large leeks, washed, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
• 4 large russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cans (15 oz each) vegetable broth, or enough to cover the vegetables
• Heavy cream (optional)

Directions

Place the leeks, potatoes, carrots, celery, and garlic in the slow cooker pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the vegetable broth, just to cover the vegetables. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 6 hours. 

Puree the soup with either an immersion blender, or a food processor. If using the food processor, puree the soup in batches; do not pour all of the soup into the food processor all at once. Taste for salt and pepper. 

Stir in heavy cream if using (i used about 1/3cup). Ladle the soup into bowls.

Slightly adapted from here.

Day 1

I started the New Year off with a cookie: and thus the tone is set.

Just kidding.


I hope.


Anyway, I did follow my Pescatarian diet. Beside the cookie (or two) for breakfast/lunch (I woke up at noon), the family went to Olive Garden and I ordered their minestrone soup (which wasn't my favorite), salad, and the Seafood Brodetta which was a kind of seafood stew that was on their "lighter fares" menu that was really delish. Packed half to go (because I was too full from the breadstick) so I have lunch for tomorrow!

We also went out for ice cream from a Groupon and I had ice cream and another cookie. I'm awesome. Now you know my perspective on all this though.

The dreaded Wednesday weigh in started today and I was pleasantly surprised:

Week 1: 154 pounds

In the last couple of weeks that is my lowest weigh in.

Goals

I was going to title this post 2014 goals but in reality I know some of them may take longer. So here goes:

1. Focus on eating correct portions of healthy food with vegetables as the focus. I plan on following the 80/20 rule. I'm not going to beat myself up about indulging one day if I've been doing awesome for 5 days. 
2. Work out....a lot.....for me. Right now working out consists of kneading bread and putting it in the oven. I'm going to really start working out! I'm going to try to do Jillian Michaels videos and high intensity training 5 days a week.
3. Goal weight: here goes, the dreaded number. I hate this number but I think it's important to have a realistic goal weight while staying healthy and toning my itty bitty muscles. I looked it up here and decided that I'm right in between a small and medium build so my number is where those two meet. Fortunately this is the number I have always had in my head. 125. This number is hard for me to admit because its about 30 lbs away and every time I try I lose motivation fairly quickly. I have hypothyroidism so I lose motivation fairly quickly cause it takes so stinking long to lose anything! But if I am diligent I know I can do it.
4. Clean the house. Like deep clean. Organized. Sparkling. Maybe not too sparkling, I do have children. It's part of my healthy lifestyle though.
5. Stick to our budget.

The Plan

New Years is almost here. Ahhhhh! I'm getting so excited to start this "project" of mine. I've been looking up recipes and ideas all day. I've decided on a few things:

• I am avoiding meats but I am still going to use bouillon in my soups.
• My main objective is to make vegetables the forefront of my meals.
• I realize that pescatarianism is not a weight loss plan but I am hoping to change the way I eat and move my body more in an effort to lose some pounds. Therefore I will be tracking my weight weekly.