Handy dandy cooking tools :)

It dawned on me that I didn't chat about some things that I have found very useful in the kitchen for cooking healthy.  Most of it is stuff that you have....  Here are the things that I use EVERY DAY with cooking.

• Measuring cups ( 1/4 cup all the way up to 2 cups)
• Measuring spoons. (1/8 tsp all the way up to 1 TBSP)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil ( you can get a big container at Costco--it will last you forever)
• The MISTO! For the Olive oil! You don't use nearly as much if you spray the olive oil versus dumping in the pan.
• A strainer for all the delicious steamed veggies you are going to eat!
• A Salad spinner!
• Storage containers. I have a tendency to make a dinner then take it for lunch the next day.
•  Canisters. I like to make different kind of snack foods that will last me for a little while. like a healthy trex mix, or one of my favorite snacks.. ALMONDS!
• and my most very very favorite thing... my food scale! The best $20.00 I have ever spent :) Don't spend an arm and a leg on this but I really do recommend getting one. Most of the health recipes I have come across use a lot of weight when it comes to portioning out your food. Especially when using meat. (make sure it has Ounces and pounds)

Hope this helps :) I am sure I will add to this list off and on, but I wanted to get you started!

Recipe for: Mac and Cheese with Polish Sausage

Every once in a while I'd like to share some recipes that my hubby and I cook!  This one is out of the a fantastic cookbook I got for Christmas "The most Decadent Diet Ever" by Devin Alexandaer. I'll go into the cook books I cook out of later. in the mean time I hope you can enjoy this delicious meal!

Makes 3 cups: 2 Servings or 4 portions

What you need:

• 4 ounces extra lean Kielbasa or smoked Turkey Sausage ( 3 grams of fat or less per ounce serving) -- I could only find Kielbasa with 5 grams of fat, I only used 3 oz because of this.
• 1 cup dried elbow macaroni
• 2 teaspoons unbleached all purpose flour

• 1/4 fat-free milk
• 1/8 teaspoon
• 3 1/2 ounces (1 3/4) finely shredded cabots 75% light cheddar cheese or your favorite low fat cheese. -- side not. The only place that I have been able to find that has the Cabots cheese is Trader Joe's. I don't live near one so I did recently find   Kraft fat free cheddar cheese at Fred Meyer. It is already shredded.

      Bring a medium Pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Cut the sausage into 1/4 inch thick slices. Add the macaroni and the sausage to the pot and cook., Stirring occasionally, until the macaroni is cooked., about 5 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, mix the flour with just enough milk to form a paste in a small bowl. Slowly add the remaining milk, stirring as you do, making sure to remove any lumps. Place a medium saucepan  over medium high heat. Pour the milk mixture into the saucepan. Stir in the salt. Add the cheese and continue to stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until the cheese is completely melted and the mixture is almost smooth, stir in the cooked macaroni and sausage until it is well incorporated. Serve immediately. 

( 3/4 cup) has : 199 calories, 17g protein, 24g carbs 4g fat, 2g saturated fat, 27mg cholesterol 1g fiber, 550 mg sodium.

(1 1/2 cups) has: 397 calories, 34g protein, 47g carbs 9g fat, 4g saturated fat, 53mg cholesterol 2g fiber, 1,101 mg sodium.

I'll get a picture of what it looks like posted soon :) in the mean time I hope you enjoy! Please keep in mind using the fat free milk and Low fat or Fat free cheese is what makes this version of Mac and Cheese healthier then your basic mac and cheese dish. 

Enjoy!

To count or not to count?

Let see, Now that we have running down... right? Maybe not 100%. But we started, Correct? I wanted to start talking about this food thing. When I first started running I was not really focused on what I was eating. In fact I was eating awful! I really didn't have a clue how to eat right. It wasn't until I started losing just a little bit of weight that it hit me if I ate healthier I could probably really start to drop some weight. It was February 9, 2010 that I started to eat healthy and really started to educated myself on  food! Now I am a big fan of the Biggest Loser and before February 2010 I would watch the show and be one of those people that would be eating my ice cream or Pizza  when the show was on.  I went out and bought a book I think its called "6 weeks to a healthier you" This book got me started with a circuit at the gym, Zak did the work out with me. Which was a huge help to get me going... This book also had some tips to eating. I read it and really liked the way it was written. It made it easy for me to understand.

I thought It would be a good idea to sign up for the biggest Loser Club. The first 3 months were free! Quick reminder, after 3 months you have to pay. The advantage to me signing up for this was I got a few of the biggest loser cook books! I really don't recommend signing up for the this, until you are sure you are really going to be committed to this.  You would be better off to go out and buy a few books. 

Any ways...  Not having a clue of what I needed to eat or how much. I used my 3 month membership with the Biggest Loser. I was able to see how they recommended planning out your food plan.  We all know this, smaller portions and eating more throughout the day. The next question.. How much do you eat? I thought that the less I eat the more weight I would lose. Not true :)  

So before I share this with you I want to caution you that I probably was not eating quite enough so please make sure you are smart with your food choices and remember to take the amount that you work out into consideration. I gathered the amount of calories I should be eating from a few different sources. Book by Jeff Galloway, Nancy Clark and The Biggest Loser Club/Books. After reviewing several different sources the same formula would come up for the amount of calories you need to eat daily to lose weight:
                              Your present weight * 7= your daily calorie needs for weight loss.

another key note "if you weigh more than 300lbs, start by eating 2,100 calories a day if you weigh less then 150lbs eat around 1, 050 calories a day" or use that equations.  I got this information out of the biggest Loser Family Cook book.  One more note, This is really the amount that you need to lose the weight but keep in mind if you are going to incorporate exercise you will need to eat a little more to replace the amount you burn in work out session.

There are advantages and disadvantages to counting calories; Some that I would like to share with you all...

Advantage: it really really forced me to be knowledgeable about EVERYTHING that went into my mouth. It also was what really made me drop the weight. It  helped me plan my meals and know what I was going to eat ( I will fill you in on that part later)

 Disadvantage: I didn't realize until later on (after I have lost most of my weight) how hard it would be to snap back into reality and recognize I DO NOT have to count everything that I eat and it was okay to splurge a little every once in a while.  Still a concept that is really really hard for me to grasp. Another disadvantage to this was once I started training for my marathon it was really hard to eat more, because it would put me over the "amount of calories" I THOUGHT I needed to still lose weight.  It also made my poor hubby a bit crazy! Lucky for me I have one patient husband and helped me a great deal with this.

Something else that is  to remember you need to make sure you are getting your calories from the correct food groups. Carbs, Protein and yes even a little fat is good. So eating a piece of Chocolate cake and eating only that is not okay... even if you stay in your calorie intake. We'll go into that more later

If was going to do this all over again I would do it the same with the calorie counting.... because it worked for me. Keeping in mind everyone loses weight very differently with all different kinds of methods.

Sort of a lot of information, I know.. I will close for now but not to worry there will be lots more on food :) 

How I started

So, I believe I made it really clear that I was not a fan of running! How in the world do you start something you hate and are not very good at? To be honest... I have no clue! I think its one of those things you just have to make a decision you are going to do it. With me I had this 10 mile run in my future and there was no way I was going to pay the silly $25.00 and not do it. I paid the 25 dollars and went for it :) I think some people thought I should start with a smaller run. I think it would have made it easier to talk myself out of it. So here is my training schedule that I did to simply start running! Oh real quick, for those of you that don't know I have a few people in my family that have ran and walked some Marathons. My mom is a walker! Amazingly she can walk a marathon in 6hrs 15 min. My aunt and uncle are runners. They told me about this awesome thing called walk breaks! So I did some research and here is what worked for me: By the Way Sundays are REST days :)

Wk	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat
1	Run & Walk Run 1 min Walk 2 min Repeat 10X	Walk    Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk    Run 1 min    Walk 2 min     Repeat 10X	Walk      Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk     Run 1 min     Walk 2 min    Repeat 10X	Run & Walk     Run 1 min     Walk 2 min    Repeat 10X

Week 2

Wk	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat
2	Run & Walk Run 2 min Walk 1 min Repeat 10X	Walk    Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk    Run 3 min   Walk 1 min  Repeat 7X  Run 2 min	Walk    Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk   Run 4 min   Walk 1 min   Repeat 6X	Run & Walk     Run 4 min     Walk 1 min     Repeat 6X

Week 3

Wk	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thur	Fri	Sat
3	Run & Walk Run 5 min Walk 1 min Repeat 5X	Walk Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk    Run 5 min   Walk 1 min    Repeat 5X	Walk     Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk    Run 6 min    Walk 1 min   Repeat 4X   Run 2 min	Run & Walk     Run 6 min    Walk 1 min    Repeat 4X    Run 2 min

Week 4

Wk	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat
4	Run & Walk Run 8 min Walk 1 min Repeat 3X Run 3 min	Walk     Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk    Run 9 min   Walk 1 min    Repeat 3X	Walk Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk      Run 10 min     Walk 1 min     Repeat 2X      Run 8 min	Run & Walk         Run 11 min        Walk 1 min        Repeat 2X          Run 6 min

Week 5

Wk	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat
5	Run & Walk Run 12 min Walk 1 min Repeat 2X Run 4 min	Walk      Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk     Run 13 min    Walk 1 min    Repeat 2X     Run 2 min	Walk    Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk     Run 14 min   Walk 1 min   Repeat 2X	Run & Walk      Run 15 min     Walk 1 min      Run 14 min

Week 6

Wk	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat
6	Run & Walk Run 16 min Walk 1 min Run 13 min	Walk      Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk    Run 17 min    Walk 1 min    Run 12 min	Walk Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk    Run 18 min    Walk 1 min    Run 11 min	Run & Walk    Run 19 min    Walk 1 min     Run 10 min

Week 7

Wk	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat
7	Run & Walk Run 20 min Walk 1 min Run 9 min	Run & Walk     Run 20 min    Walk 1 min     Run 9 min	Run & Walk    Run 22 min    Walk 1 min     Run 7 min	Walk      Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk    Run 24 min    Walk 1 min   Run 5 min	Run & Walk    Run 26 min    Walk 1 min   Run 3 min

Week 8

Wk	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat
8	Run & Walk Run 27 min Walk 1 min Run 2 min	Walk    Run 20 min    Walk 1 min    Run 9 min	Run & Walk    Run 28 min   Walk 1 min    Run 1 min	Walk  Walk easy 30 min	Run & Walk     Run 29 min     Walk 1 min	Run & Walk     Run 30 min

I think I found this information when I started at runnersworld.com.    When I did this I really stuck to it. I did most of it on a treadmill, If I was going to go back and do it again I think I would have done it outside. But It worked. The nice thing about these walk breaks is they help keep your heart rate at the fat burning level. I didn't really pay to much attention to that when I started, maybe I should have.   I hope this helps you get started!

And we are off...

Hey there everyone!

I have been wanting to do this blog for several months, I didn't want to start until I knew that I was going to be able to really be committed to doing it. I have been doing a little bit of research to really know what people want to read about in a blog. Based off of all the things I have found.... people want to know EVERYTHING! So I will do my best. I guess I should back up... What is the blog really going to be about? I am hoping it will be some encouragement to people out there who want to lose weight and get in shape not only that but make a life style change, thats honestly what it is!  I am hoping to be able to take you all through my next Marathon training process (yes, I said NEXT--more about that later), the ups and downs of being a little psychotic with what and when I eat, not to mention some delicious recipes that I have come across in my, what I like to call "Weight Loss adventure".

I will try to get some pictures up at some point but I suppose I should start with a brief history of why I started to lose weight. We have all gone through phases when we have been really good at going to the gym or being really good at eating healthy then all it takes is one bad day and you are done. I was of course there myself.

For those of you that don't know my Husband, fiance at the time decided to go to Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington, and also for those of you that don't know I am extremely close to my family. With GREAT hesitation and extreme uncertainty we moved. I'll be honest with everyone, the first year was rough to say the least. There were several nights that I would just cry mostly because I missed my family and friend so much it truly hurt. At the same time I want to be here and support the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with. I am not going to go in depth with that year other then it was hard and I  something needed to change... it took a long time to realize that. There was a point I started working out pretty consistently. My aunt and I even became regulars at a yoga class and I was noticing a difference, it was before my Husband I got married, I remember feeling better about things in general, then stupid me injured my right leg at the gym. I still made an attempt to continue to go to the gym but eventually I stopped, just like every other time . I did the physical therapy thing and got that taken care. Zak and I got married July 18, 2009 and it truly was one of the happiest days of my life! The wedding was beautiful and our pictures turned out great... I noticed I seemed to like the close up pictures much better then the full body shots... My hubby assured me I was perfect! What a sweet guy :)  We had a fantastic honeymoon in Disney Land! We did a ton of walking and I  remember being exhausted I had myself convinced that it was just really long days , looking back now I was just extremely out of shape! After we got through the wedding and honeymoon we got back to regular life back in Spokane Zak a full time student and I was working full time. For the most part things were great...  I then found myself really sad again.... I wish I could tell  you all there was this moment that everything stopped around me and I made the decision right then and there that things were going to change... but it didn't I will say that it was a slooowwww process to get started.  I think it was some time November or December of 2009 that I sort of started going back to the gym and tying to be more active.  I was also doing some research on running. My dearest Friend Niki and I decided we wanted to run the Pear Blossom. A Huge annual 10 mile  run that happens in Southern Oregon. I had actually been telling my Brother in Law I was going to do it for years and like a lot of things I just didn't do it.  Now that I had Niki on board there was no way I was going to let her down.  The problem... I WAS not a runner AT ALL! In fact, my quote that I would tell my husband frequently was " I'll only run if I am being chased" I TRULY HATED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT! I thought this would be a good little "Project" for me......  I'll leave it at that for now :)