Counting Calories-aka-STARVING!

Like I need one more thing to keep up with during the day... Yes, I have decided to start counting my calories. Yes, I am crazy. Yes, it is hard. No, I really don't feel like I'm starving, but it was quite a shock to actually eat just one serving of cereal. Did you know that one serving of Honey Nut Cheerios is 3/4 cup?!?! Whhaaaaa? That one serving is 110 calories. Once you add 1 cup of milk (110 calories), you're up to 220!

This has been my breakfast for the past two mornings. Yes, I actually measured it out. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right! About an hour after my cereal, I eat a yogurt...110 calories.

Let me back up and tell you why I started this in the first place... I do not think I am fat. I'm back down to my pre baby weight but it is not distributed like it was before...ha! So, I do have a few pounds that I would like to get rid of. My eating habits as is aren't that bad. I don't eat a ton of sweets (I would if I bought it, so I don't even bring it in the house). The overall goal is to have a healthy relationship with food and a good understanding of portion size and what my body really needs to operate from day to day.

Let's face it, too many of us eat until we're full and then some, especially if it's a meal outside the home. Restaurants are the worst if you're trying to loose weight! And snacks, don't get me started on a bag of Lays...they will be gone within a couple days once opened. Throw in the famous Shelley Darling dump dip (this dip is fabulous...it has cream cheese, ketchup, and Catalina dressing...you mix it all up in a food processor and...BAM...heaven in a bowl!) and you have a real weight disaster! I love snack foods, pretzels, cheezits, salted peanuts, chips, anything really!

The thing is, if you think "hmmm....I want a snack, maybe white cheddar cheezits!" So, you go grab the box, sit on the couch, and start chomping. How do you know when you've eaten a serving? When do you stop, when half the bag is gone? In case you didn't know, one serving of white cheddar cheezits is 25 pieces and is 150 calories. Once you count them out (yes, for the past two days, I have been counting out servings of my snacks), it doesn't turn out to be too many!

So, the plan is to document my calories for the next two weeks. I'm allowing myself 1,500 per day. Supposedly, someone my age and weight burns about 1,300 calories a day just by doing nothing. I got this info from the Biggest Looser website. Since I am active, I'm allowing a little more than the 1,300. I'm being very strict about my snacks. In the morning, I'm counting out my pretzels, peanuts, and cheezits and putting them in sandwich bags for the day. I've noticed that it's harder for meals that I cook. But, I'm going to try my hardest to be as accurate as possible!

I'll update you guys in a couple weeks with my results! I challenge you to do the same...and let me know how it goes!

Britt

More recipes!!

A few days before I started cooking, I had to get my grocery list together which was LONG.

A few suggestions:

1) Buy in bulk. We have a Costco membership and they have 10lb bags of chicken (Purdue chicken that's frozen individually...it goes from freezer to oven and is VERY good). This goes for beef, too. You might have to buy 4 or 5 lbs depending on what you're making.

2) Cook and chop the chicken and veggies the day before. It saved so much time to cook the chicken the day before. I just did a couple rounds in the oven. I seriously cooked about 10 chicken breasts and chopped them!

3) Make sure you have enough freezer containers, freezer Zip Lock bags and the disposable casserole dishes work the best...

4) Make labels for your dinners ahead of time. I wrote what the dinner was, the date, how many servings, and how to get it ready for serving. I think next time I cook, I'll type them. So I can just print and stick it on the dinner.

ok...enough about preparation...here are a couple more recipes!

Wild Rice Chicken Serves: 6

1 6 1/4-ounce package of quick cooking long grain and wild rice (I used brown rice)

1 cup cooked chopped chicken (I used 2 cups b/c I wanted more chicken)

1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 cup finely chopped celery

1 1/4 cups finely chopped onion

1 cup light mayo

1 10 3/4-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup (standard can size)

Cook rice according to package directions. Combine rice with chopped chicken, water chestnuts, celery and onion; put mixture in a 1-gallon freezer bag.

To prepare for serving, thaw rice mixture, remove from bag, and place in a 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Stir mayo and cream of mushroom soup together, and spread over top of chicken mixture. Bake covered in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour. Enjoy!

This is an example of a meal that does take a little work the day of eating, but not near what it would be if you made the whole thing the day of!

Chili Hamburgers Serves: 4

1 lb lean ground beef

2 tbsp finely chopped green bells pappers

1 tbsp minced onion

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp chili sauce (I couldn't find chili sauce, so I just left it out. But they were really good!)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

4 hamburger buns

Thoroughly mix all ingredients except buns. Shape into 4 patties. Freeze in a large freezer bag with wax paper between each one. If freezing for more than a couple weeks, you can freeze the buns too. Bread freezes well.

To prepare, thaw patties and buns. Grill or fry to desired pinkness in center. Serve on warm hamburger buns.

This is a recipe that you can modify to your hearts desire! Next time I cook in bulk, I plan on making several varieties of burgers to have on hand for hosting company!

ok...enough for today!