Yay, go me!

I thought I would update, because darnit, I really want to be healthier--and if I lose weight along the way, so much the better! 

Anyhow, a couple of months ago, Dave and I picked up a treadmill for $20 at one of the thrift stores, and I finally decided to break it out tonight.  I walked for 16 minutes, about 3/4 of a mile, at roughly 8 mph.  I worked up a decent sweat, and I plan on using it at least once a day, possibly more, but the goal is going to be to use it for a total of about half an hour a day.  I'm also going to be working on eating healthier and drinking more water.

How's everyone else doing?  Feeling good?  Yes?  Yay!

Dammit!

I put on quite a lot of weight while pregnant, but a few weeks after the mousling was born I was back down to being only seven pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight, and I was rather pleased - people kept telling me how I'd always be fat and wobbly, and I was worried about that. I've never had my body look the way I want it to (not really skinny or anything like that, though) and I hated the thought of getting big for other reasons which I won't go into.

The trouble is, my depression has come back big time, and I've been comfort-eating vast quantities of chocolate which has led to my putting on another ten pounds. I'm really cross with myself, and am resolving to think more about what I eat, spurred on by this book. The author discusses the ways we are tricked - or trick ourselves - when it comes to portion sizes, food choices and the difference between wanting to and needing to eat.

I'm also going to start regular exercise, more than just pushing the pram around, and I'll be logging my exercise sessions here to keep myself motivated.

Wish me luck!

Chicken with Spicy Fruit

This is one I plan to make this week. The nice thing is that it serves 4, and that's how many of us are living at home now!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 C. unsweetened crushed pineapple
1/4 C. golden raisins
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 (4 oz.) boned, skinned chicken breast halves
1/4 C. all fruit strawberry spread
1/4 tsp. cornstarch
green onion strips (optional)

PREPARATION:
1. Combine first 4 ingredients in skillet; bring to boil. Add chicken; cover, simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove from skillet and keep warm.

2. Bring chicken liquid to boil; cook 7 minutes or until reduced to 3/4 cup, stirring occasionally.

3. Combine strawberry spread and cornstarch; stir into cooking liquid and cook 1 minute. Serve sauce over chicken; garnish with green onion strips, if desired.

Serves 4.

NUTRITION INFORMATION:
Chol: 66mg Carbo: 27gm Fat: 2gm Calories: 229 Protein: 18gm Fiber: 1gm Sodium: 77mg

Arm exercises

Ok, a co-worker was surprised at how muscular my arms are the other day, and I told her the exercises I do. These banish (horrible term alert) 'bingo wings' and generally firm up the upper arms.

Stand with your feet about hip width apart, knees slightly bent.
Raise your arms until they are horizontal from your shoulders, making sure your shoulders aren't hunched or tensed.

Rotate your arms from the shoulder until your palms are facing backwards.

Circle your arms up and back (small circles, not more than three or four inches) for a minute, making sure that your arms don't droop, and your shoulders don't tense up.

After, shake out your arms, then repeat, but with an up-and-down motion instead of the circles.

Two minutes a week really makes a difference. Four, even more so.

ETA: It's a lot more difficult than it sounds, I'm warning you.

Fresh Lemon Muffins

Okay, I'm putting this in as written, but at the end I'll put in the equivalents for real sugar, as opposed to substitutes. If you use the fake stuff, you'll end up with the nutritional values that I'll also put at the bottom.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C. diet margarine
5 pkg. sugar substitute
2 egg whites
1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
2 pgk. sugar substitute
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

PREPARATION:
1. Cream margarine; gradually add sugar substitute (the 5 pkg.), beating until light and fluffy. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in lemon rind and juice.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Spoon batter into miniature muffin pans sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, filling two-thirds full.

3. Combine sugar substitute (remainder) and cinnamon; sprinkle over each muffin.

4. Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 20 minutes.

Yields 12
Serves 6

Nutrition:
Serving amount: 2 muffins
Chol: 0 Carbo: 8 gm Fat: 4 gm
Calories: 72 Protein: 2 gm Fiber: 0
Sodium: 143 mg

Sugar substitutions (these are all powders)
Equate, Sweet N Low, Sweet'ner, Sweet Magic, and Sweet One: 1 packet=2 tsp. sugar

Guess what I found?

I found a cookbook chock full of tasty low-fat, low-cal, healthy recipes! It's for a Bible-study weight-loss and fitness program that I was in several years ago. The program was actually pretty helpful, and I was losing weight, but most of the ladies were older than me, and stopped being able to go.

Anyway, I haven't tried all of the recipes, but the ones that I have tried are very good. I will be cooking several of them a month, I think, and will post the ones I cook.

Not much of a post, I know, but I'd like to see us get back to updating here regularly.

Answers and lots of hard work ahead.

I had my second psychologist appointment yesterday and after having completed a food diary for a fortnight and describing the way I eat and how I feel and how they interact, I have been diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder (BED).

I always just thought I was a fat pig!

I had heard of BED before, the psych who did my initial evaluation suggested I keep a food diary for a few weeks before my sessions started because she thought I may have it but I guess up until I found out more about it I didn't really take it seriously. I mean are you really trying to tell me the way I stuff my face has a reason behind it???

So I'll be following a programme developed by the world's leading expert on eating disorders which will involve me following certain steps to understand what triggers a binge and how to overcome that. The first two steps are monitoring and getting into a regular eating pattern, which I kind of do now through Calorie King but this is really amped up. It's more about not only recording which foods I'm eating and when but the specific feelings and thoughts I'm having at the time. Also I have to eat at certain times of the day and if I have a binge at 5pm but I'm scheduled to have dinner at 6pm then I have to make sure I don't skip that meal as that will then lead to a further binge later on. My body is so out of whack from years of eating disorders (I'm pretty sure you all know I was anorexic in high school) that it needs to be retrained into knowing when to eat and when to know to eat.

Anyway we're in the very early days so far but I'll keep you all updated with how I'm going.

xxx