Getting back on the Wagon

I haven't posted in a year!! It was probably one of the roughest years I have ever had and things seemed to have calmed down now, so it is time to get back on the wagon. At one point I was down a total of 51 pounds, however I have put about 5 of it back on in the last 6 months or so. Now it's time to finish what I started and get myself healthy and in shape. Lately my eating and exercising habits have been less than stellar, but they are improving. I started slowly adding cardio workouts back into my life a month ago and yesterday did a mile in sixteen and a half minutes on our elliptical. Think it is time to start counting calories again too!

Safeway's Online Features

I shop at Safeway. I like the products, the deals, and how closely it is located to my place. Another thing I like about Safeway is their online shopping tools. Now I know most places let you shop online, but that's not the cool part. Safeway, (and possibly others, I have yet to check) have a little button next to the items you are shopping for that says more information.

Can you guess what some of that info is? That's right the nutritional facts! This tool is great for when you are creating menus or just curious about the ingredients and nutrition facts.

This tool is also very helpful for me, because it helps me find and input my calories quickly. This makes calorie counting just a little bit simpler. It also saves the amount of time you stand in the aisle at the store looking at labels, time you could be using to work out or just enjoy yourself.

There are some items that will not have the nutritional information available such as items from the bakery or hot deli counter. I try to avoid a lot of these items simply because I have no idea what I am putting in my body at that point. Try and find a comparable treat with the nutrition facts on the package if this happens to you, and tell yourself those cherry turnovers probably have like 600 calories!

Taco Bell or Taco Hell on your diet?

For lunch today my significant other offered to bring home lunch. I was having a hankering for Taco Bell, so I decided to do a little research on Taco Bell's nutritional facts. I came across some things that I was happy with, then I noticed some things that just took my breath away.

Number one would be Taco Bell's Volcano Nachos. Holy cow are these things bad for you. I wouldn't even recommend eating a half an order. There's a whopping 980 calories in these bad boys.

Let's list the facts:

980 calories,
560 calories from fat
9 grams of saturated fat
60 grams of total fat
0.5 grams trans fat
45 mg of cholesterol
1620 mg of sodium
89 grams of carbs
15 grams of fiber
6 grams of sugar
21 grams of protein

Now I will commend them on the fact that the Volcano Nachos do offer about 50% of our recommended fiber for the day. I however, do not think it outweighs the amount of calories, fat, and the 66% of sodium you get from these puppies.

Number two on my list is Taco Bells Taco Salads. I have to admit I have a bit of a beef to pick here. Taco Bell offers 4 taco salads, but don't be fooled! The Taco Salads range from 660-910 calories!! The salad section on Taco Bell's nutrition site has the highest caloric value average for all the groups.

If you really want Taco Bell, and I do, look at the nutrition facts and find the things you like that are the lowest in calories, the crunchy taco only has 170 calories, the beef soft taco only 210 calories, or try one of the many Fresco options they offer.

Just stay away from those Volcano Nachos. Your heart and waistline will thank you!

My favorite breakfast

I have found I really enjoy nuts and dried fruits. As a kid, I was never thrilled with trail mix. Premixed varieties always have something I don't like, or not enough of what I do like. I like making my own trail mix every morning for breakfast. I keep a large container of my choice of nuts (I really like honey roasted peanuts, cashews and pistachios) and a variety of dried fruits in the house.

In the morning I just grab a small handful of the nuts (golf ball size is a portion of nuts) and about half as much of dried fruits and/or berries. My current favorite combination is honey roasted peanuts and raisins.

Not only is this a healthy snack but it fills me up and keeps me going for quite a while. But it also is great cause it satisfies that sweet, salty and savory craving most people suffer from. Another great reason for buying the components individually is you can mix it up from day to day or people. My daughter likes raisins, but my son likes the blueberry Craisins.

Try making your own trail mix and throw it in snack baggies in your purse or desk drawer for a quick but filling snack.

Good Influence

It can be very hard to stay motivated when trying to lose weight. Finding ways to stay positive and encouraged can be hard. One of the things that motivates me to stay on track is my family.

As you may know from my past postings I've never been a very active person, nor have I paid much attention to my health. I now know I was neglecting more then my own health.

I have started trying to better the whole family's health by improving what we eat and trying to get everyone to engage in more physical activity, and it's working!

My kids have started asking me "Is this a healthy snack Mom?" and they ask me questions about the nutrition facts when I read them out loud to them. They know that soda is a special treat for special occasions.

I've even caught my fiance several times looking at the nutritional facts and making faces as he realizes what I've been realizing the last many months since I made the switch.

Now my kids still HATE wheat bread, but all in all the whole family is thinking about their eating and everyone is trying to keep active. My new habits are even rubbing off on my close friends, who not only listen to my advice and use it but bring me ideas and suggestions they pick up elsewhere.

It feels really good when you can be a positive influence on other in your life. It helps keep me motivated to know that I'm not just improving my health and lifestyle, but I am teaching my kids what's important in the process.

Size vs. Weight

Which is more important? Honestly I think the answer should be getting healthy above all else. Yes we all have that ideal number in our head of how much we'd like to weigh, or what size we'd like to be. I, however, am trying to only focus on different numbers. Those numbers are minutes of exercise in a day and how many calories I eat.

I have been working out for 30 minutes a day doing step aerobics. Tonight I am going to try and go to best buy and get the aerobics platform for the Wii Balance board to bring it to the standard height for step aerobics. I also plan on increasing my work out time by ten minutes for the each week till I reach a full hour a day.

Also, I try and keep a running total of calories in a day, and keep it around 1600-1800 calories a day. I do not always succeed but that is what I strive for and those are the numbers I try and focus on.

I do weigh myself everyday as part of my work out. The Wii makes this easy to do, but I try not to really pay attention to the weight as it fluctuates day by day. I am seeing a slow steady decline, but what's more important to me is that I know I am really helping my body and my pants are getting looser every day.

That said of course I have an ideal size/weight in mind. I'd like to be around 160 pounds and about a size 10 or 12. I have a fairly good sized frame and am 5' 7" tall. This is where I'd like to be in about a year, I know it will take a while, but in a year I will look back and say wow it only took a year!

The Plague Strikes

So last week the plague struck our house as the stomach flu made it's way through town. As you can imagine I fell off the wagon a little bit dealing with sick children and a sick significant other.

Instead of cooking at home we ate out, I cheated and had a coffee, didn't do my work out as I was not feeling good. So I was expecting failure this morning when I got on the Wii Fit to do a body test and my work out.

To my amazement, I lost 3 pounds. I felt like I was on top of the world and felt even more motivated to get back on track. I know what some of you are thinking of course you lost 3 pounds with the stomach flu, but I never got sick! 

I'm glad everyone is on the mend, and happy to be back to my routine. I am looking forward to seeing how much I can accomplish this week. I had to give away some of my clothes that are too big now, but I am fitting clothes that were too small a month ago and it's like getting a whole new wardrobe.

Mmm Subway Sandwiches

So last night the significant other and I went out to grab dinner since grandma was going to have dinner with the kids before they came home. We recently bought a sheet of Subway Sandwiches coupons from a local fund raiser. The majority of our coupons are buy a foot long meal and get a free foot long sandwich, which works out great for the two of us.

I ordered my favorite: Roasted chicken breast. Yum! Since I am trying to eat healthier, I ordered my roasted chicken breast sandwich on Subway's 9 grain wheat bread. Toppings included American cheese ( I love it, I can't help it.), lettuce, onions, green bell peppers, spinach and one pass of Subway's Chipotle Southwestern Sauce.

Since the meal included a drink and bag of chips, I had a Lipton Brisk Raspberry Iced Tea and a bag of SunChips. When I came home and tallied my calories using Subways Nutritional information (provided on their website), I was pleased with what I saw.

For this 6” Subway Sandwich with my toppings was: 440 calories. 160 from fat, 18g fat, 4.5g saturated fats, 45mg of cholesterol, 1160mg sodium, 47g carbs, 4g fiber, 5g sugar, and 25g of protein.

Usually, when I go somewhere to eat and then come home and check out the nutritional information, I am shocked and a bit disappointed. Not last night, I ate and I ate well. Next time I will order it with out the Chipotle Southwestern Sauce, (it alone accounted for 100 calories and 10 grams of fat) and just add some Dijon mustard when I get home, as it's only 5 calories per serving.

So, Hats Off! to Subway for providing an easy, healthy fast food choice, and if you're listening Subway please bring back the Asiago Caeser sauce!!