Learning to be Healthy-Training this Body!

So my other most recent cooking adventure was to make French Onion Soup! I love this delicious, savory, hearty soup and I was excited to try it at home.  I also thought it would be a good one to work on since it's pretty much idiot proof. You cook the onions down to a beautiful golden brown, add it to broth, throw some herbs around, add bread and cheese and bake. It hardly needs a recipe, though I referenced a few to find out which herbs to put in it, which I still modified. Basically, I was totally in charge of this one. What could go wrong?? First, I started with the onions. Yum! I love onions in all forms. I used the magic mandoline to get them all thin and wonderful. Then because I was lazy and don't really like the giant chunks of onions I get at restaurants, I used scissors (now deemed kitchen scissors) to chop them all up fairly small.  I added them to my pan and drizzled olive oil on them. I decided to stay away from butter since it isn't as good...

I will be the first to say that eating vegetables is not my favorite thing. And by "not my favorite", I pretty much mean that I hate them. There are a few exceptions, as there is to everything, but I try to avoid the majority and stick to the three I actually enjoy (asparagus, peas, corn).  However, since life is long and I want it to be longer by being healthy and eating nutritious meals, I better learn to like something else. I decided to try something inspired by the movie Ratatouille and use my newly acquired mandoline .  I used a recipe I found online to make this, though I only used it as reference and to make the sauce. I didn't end up making as much as I could have. I didn't want to make too much and have this warm veggie stuff and just throw it away after all that extra work.  First I prepped the veggies! And with all cooking I do now, I rinse them in a vinegar/water bath. I do a decent sized splash of vinegar and at about half a sink full of wa...

This weekend, my sister, brother-in-law, boyfriend and I all participated in a 5k (about 3 miles) called Color Me RAD. Part of the proceeds went to a local charity too, so on top of it being amazingly fun, it was for a good cause. It was a really good experience and totally worth every penny. It wasn't as cheap as some of our local races, but it wasn't timed and it was very very fun. The race started with small non-toxic, gluten free, cornstarch color packets. Then as you walked/ran the course, they had different color stations where they would throw color at you and you'd walk through giant clouds of it. Or they had stations where they would hose you down with colored water! The race started earlier in the day, so it wasn't too hot and everyone had a wonderful time. I've learned that doing walks as motivation to start exercising works really well. They are always fun and if you sign up to do them with other people, you definitely won't be disappointed ...

As of today, 3 days after I completed the first round of the 3 Day Diet, I have a net 5 weight loss. That is my goal for every 4 days off that I do this, to lose a total of 5 pounds in the 7 days (3 diet, 4 off). So far, I'm on track and I hope to stay that way.  This weekend went really well overall for the healthier eating and maintaining the weight I'd lost.  Friday was my first day off and I went to Chipotle with some work friends! I love eating out and they have a really good salad option. My boyfriend and I had talked about me going out the night before and we calculated the calories at their website . Which honestly, is a really cool feature. So I only had about 550-600 calories when I went out to lunch. That is such a small amount for a fast food restaurant, eating out in general, and a hearty, well balanced meal that really hits the spot. That night my boyfriend and I went to get a free doughnut! It was National Doughnut day or something, so we went to pick one u...

Good MORNING! So the results are in! But before I get to them, I want to summarize the whole experience. Overall, this is a really satisfying, easy diet. It is convenient and quick. It fills you up with a variety of foods, all with different nutritional pluses and there is plenty of sweet, meat, and crunchiness for everyone's needs!  It is only 3 days long, so the commitment isn't hard, even for the commitment-phobes out there. Plus, it has ICE CREAM!! How can you go wrong? Even the bad stuff isn't that bad, or only for a meal or two. The next time or two I do it (because I will do it again), then I'll be tweaking it just a little. Chicken here instead of tuna, or replacing a meal with one from the day before. I will see how  well it works and post my results as well.  After you finish the 3 day part, you have 4 other days until you can do it again. Which honestly makes a ton of sense. Even though you may not be feeling hungry, your body isn't meant ...

Finish line in sight! :) Breakfast was pretty good, although when I looked at it, even after the previous days of eating so little, it looked pretty meager.  It was crackers and cheese and apples. I've seen my grandma eat this a lot lately, she's all alone now and doesn't like to cook for herself, so I totally understand why this would be easy and fairly nutritious! It just doesn't seem like a lot at first... Black coffee or tea with Equal or Sweet & Low 5 regular saltine crackers 2 oz. cheddar cheese 1 apple Let me tell you, this is actually a pretty hearty meal! It's so yummy and cheese and crackers always go together. And of course, so do cheese and apples. I really enjoyed it. Protein, and cheesy and crunch and crack. It is a little odd to eat as a breakfast, though it is filling. For lunch, another one of those hard boiled egg things. It was another great meal! 1 hardboiled egg 1 slice toast Black coffee or tea with Equ...

WOOO! Day TWO is over! It went just as well as day one, though I had some serious concerns for the later part of the day. Breakfast- piece of cake! I LOVE fried eggs, and this egg meal was no restrictions on how you cooked it! I used a little non-stick spray, salt, pepper and a breakfast from heaven was created :) 1 egg 1 slice of toast 1/2 banana It was really yummy and easy! I loved it. And of course it was filling. Eggs are like the super food of the WORLD. I am always so satisfied after I eat one. Especially on toast, with a banana. For lunch, I was seriously apprehensive. I DO NOT eat hard boiled eggs. They really gross me out. Too many summer barbecues with them left out for hours. I get really weird about perishables left out for too long and eating them. I can't do it.  BUT, I said I was going to stick to this whole diet. So, I will. Even if it kills me. 1 cup cottage cheese or 2 oz cheddar cheese 1 hard boiled egg 5 regular saltine/soda cra...

I've finished all of day ONE! YAY! I won't be weighing myself each day, at least not the first time. I don't want to get discouraged or over excited. I want to just see what the overall results are, and then to tweak and weigh each day if I do it again. For breakfast, you get the following: Black coffee or tea with Equal or Sweet & Low 1/2 grapefruit or juice 1 slice toast with 1 tablespoon peanut butter And this is what it looked like!  It was actually quite filling and fairly satisfying, though I still don't like grapefruit. And I need a grapefruit spoon. I skipped the coffee/tea to start and went with water, since I'm not crazily addicted to caffeine at this point.  I started to get hungry around lunch time, so I was definitely ready to munch when the time came! 1/2 cup of tuna 1 slice toast Black coffee or tea with Equal or Sweet & Low It definitely doesn't look very appetizing, and it isn't re...