A Big Salad and a Green Drink by Patti

First let me say that it has taken me quite a while to actually drink a green drink. Something about ground up greens and that bright green color left me a feeling a little queasy...

But after much research and a desire to add more veggies to my diet I decided to just go for it. Kind of treat it like a medicine. Just get it down.

I experimented with a few recipes and finally hit on one that I actually like. As long as I follow a few basic rules.

1. It has to be super cold.
2. I have to drink it with a straw. (Can't really stand that fresh mowed grass smell. Actually I like the fresh mowed grass smell just not in something I'm going to ingest.)
3. It has to be made with pineapple and definitely not cherries. (Cherries change the bright green color to something far worse.)

Place 4 cups of washed kale greens in a blender, add 1 cup of juice or water and 1 cup fresh or
canned (in juice) pineapple. Hit the grate button and finish by blending till you have the
desired consistency. Store in the fridge. 

I enjoy this green drink with breakfast and lunch. It helps to curb my appetite and it provides one serving of fruit and two servings of veggies.

My typical lunch...a big salad and a green drink...

4 cups of romaine, 1 cup of cucumbers, some grated carrot and chopped onions
and pepper. For protein I added 1 cup of kidney beans.
The dressing just a little honey and mustard mixed with a spoonful of the green drink. 

I'm pleasantly surprised that something I once thought of as pretty gross has grown into a drink that I find very refreshing and filling. Will wonders never cease?:-)

Eat well and enjoy a little green today!

Patti

What I Ate Yesterday - Patti

This is what I ate yesterday...

Breakfast:
Coffee - no cream or sugar
Omelet made with 1 egg, 1 cup sliced zucchini and 1/2 cup chopped onions and peppers. Cooked in olive oil and topped with 2 Tablespoons grated cheese.
1 slice sprouted Ezekiel bread with a little butter.
Green drink.

Mid morning snack:
1 cup of unsweetened Almond milk blended with 1 banana and 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed.

Lunch:
Salad made with 4 cups romaine, 1 cup cucumbers, grated carrots and beets and 1 cup kidney beans. Topped with 2 Tablespoons of 1 point dressing. (Braswell's Summer Tomato and Vadialia Onion)
Green drink.
Grapes
Cherries

Snack:
By 3:30 I was hungry so I ate 4 saltine crackers with 1 Tablespoon peanut butter and I finished off the green drink.


Dinner: 
1 cup whole wheat spaghetti noodles with marinara sauce.
Green beans
Small salad
1 piece of garlic bread with mozzarella cheese.

Snack:
After our evening walk I had a small vanilla cone from Dairy Queen.



I pretty much stayed within my eating plan.

Today (Thursday) is my official weigh in day. Since last Thursday I've lost 2.2 pounds. Yippee!!!

Eat Well and Enjoy the Day!!!

Patti

Patti's Plan to Get and Stay Healthy - What I Eat

Since embarking on this get healthy and stay healthy journey I've read dozens of diet and exercise books, countless blogs and viewed more Youtube videos than I can count. 

The one thing I've learned is that everyone has their own idea of what works in the weight loss arena. 

After muddling through all the information and misinformation available this is what I've come up with as a good eating plan for me. (It's working so far. I've been following this basic plan for about 3 weeks and I've lost about 3 pounds.)

Disclaimer- I came up with the eating plan for me and my personal use. I'm not a doctor or nutritionist. I think it's a good plan but I'm not sure that it meets all the requirements. Don't blindly follow any plan. Do research and decide what works best for you.

While firming up my plan there were a few things I incorporated:

• Uncomplicated. I don't mind counting points (Weight Watcher's Points Plus) because I'm used to that but I don't want to spend a great deal of time looking up food for calories and nutrients. 
• Use readily available foods. I'd like to use local grown, organic foods but it isn't always available or cost effective. 
• Provide the vitamins and nutrients I need to maintain strong healthy bones.
• Include all food groups and not exclude any one completely. 
• Include foods I like to eat. This includes an occasional ice cream sundae or chicken pot pie. 
• Allow me to eat the same foods I feed my family. 

My way of eating is a combination of information from several sources including: 

• Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman
• The 7 Principles of Fat Burning by Eric Berg
• The Whole Food Guide to Strong Bones by Annemarie Colbin
• Weight Watchers (although I'm no longer a member of WW I do think it's a pretty good program and I still count points most days and follow some but not all of the WW guidelines)

My Plan- include each day:

Cranberry water - 3 times per day 

• I've found several variations of this recipe but I like the one from "The 7 Principles of Fat Burning" by Eric Berg. Go HERE to see a video about this drink. 

Protein - 2 servings-examples of a serving:

• 1 egg
• 3-4 ounces of lean meat, poultry or fish
• 1-2 cups legumes

Whole Grains and Starches - 2 servings - for example

• 1 cup cooked oatmeal
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 cup whole wheat pasta
• 1 cup cooked quinoa 
• 1 slice of Ezekiel bread
• 1 Shredded Wheat Biscuit (the big kind)
• 1 Medium baked potato or sweet potato 
• or a combination to equal 2 servings - 1/2 oatmeal for breakfast + 1/2 brown rice for dinner = 1 serving

Fruit - at least 3 - 4 servings a day 

• Limit banana to one per day
• Small amounts of dried fruit such as dates or raisins may be used as a sweetener in oatmeal or in salad dressing. 
• Kale and Pineapple drink (recipe below) counts as 1 fruit and 2 veggie servings
• Can use a small amount (no more than 1 cup per day) of unsweetened fruit juice in salad dressing or smoothies

Vegetables - unlimited (I avoid corn) but at least two veggies for every fruit I eat

• Eat at least two veggies for every one fruit consumed. 
• Eat at least 4 cups of raw greens per day (counts as 2 servings)
• Drink Kale and Pineapple drink(recipe below) 3 times per day (counts as 2 veggie and 1 fruit)

Legumes 

• Use 1/2 - 1 cup of beans on my salad (in addition to the beans consumed as a protein serving)

Nuts and Seeds -about 1 ounce

• Should be raw
• Sunflower seeds and almonds are my favorite

Healthy Oil - 1 - 2 Tablespoons per day used in cooking or salad dressing

• Coconut oil (yummy on sweet potatoes)
• Olive Oil 
• Sesame Oil 

Dairy - limited to very small amounts - for example

• 1or 2 tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese 
• 1/4 cup milk on cereal (not everyday)
• A little bit of butter (1- 2 teaspoon)
• 1 Tablespoon sour cream 
• Plain yogurt
• Low fat cottage cheese 

Calcium source will be mainly from food other than dairy.** For example:

• Unsweetened Almond milk 
• Green veggies such as broccoli, kale and spinach
• Whole grains 

**The book listed above by AnneMarie Colbin is an excellent source.

So that's my plan. 

I may not follow it to the letter everyday but I'm trying and something is better than nothing!  

Eat well and enjoy your day!

Patti

*Kale and Pineapple Drink 

(adapted from various sources)

Makes about 3 one cup servings
4 cups kale
1 cup pineapple - if canned use the no sugar added type
1 cup 100% pineapple juice-no sugar (can use water instead of juice)

Place all ingredients in a blender and liquefy or grind.
Drink will be very thick. Can be thinned with additional liquid if desired. 
Store in the fridge in a glass jar. 
Divide and drink with breakfast and lunch and before dinner.
Consuming the whole recipe is equal to 1 serving of fruit and two servings of veggies. 

7 Principles of Fat Burning

Interesting information on body type and possible reasons it's difficult for some of us to lose weight. This information presented by Dr. Berg is definitely worth serious consideration.
Dr. Berg book is called The 7 Principles of Fat Burning
Youtube videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NPVnXixQ8c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6yutHLYz6I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCdpF5FFYPo


Trina

What I'm reading by Trina

The books I order from Amazon arrived today. Yay!

This is the cleanse I'm doing.

One of my friends has had success losing weight following this plan

so I've decided to read it.

I browsed the book and like some of the idea, but I don't think I would enjoy what I ate if I had to give up meat and salt for 6 weeks.

My philosophy concerning healthy habits and weight loss has always been that I must like the foods that I eat. So because I'm trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet I came up with a rule; I will try a new fruit or vegetable about 3 times. I change how I prepared it if I don't like it the first time - cooked, raw and maybe added into a smoothie. If I don't like it after the third time I remove it from my list. Although sometimes after a number of months or a few years I will try that food again. For example I applied the three try rule to Brussels sprouts two different times over the last few years. My finally try was this year and I've come to the conclusion that I don't like Brussels sprouts no matter how they are prepared. The same is probably true for mangos. I didn't like them as a child and I tried one last month and I still don't like them, so this week I plan to make a smoothie with mango and that will be my final try. I've also tried avocado a few times and I didn't like it, but this week I added some to a homemade salad dressing to thicken it and make it creamy. It was great.

 

My Motto:

"Have fun now while you're on your way

to accomplishing your goals!"

I can't have fun if I don't enjoy the foods I eat.

Produce finds from Beach Blvd Flea Market

Most of the flea markets where I live have various venders that sell produce. Here's what I found on a recent visit.

Not sure of the name for these, but I'll call them mini plums.

Jicama, cucumbers, eggplant, bell peppers, shallots, onions, etc.

I had some much Italian parsley that I made a herb paste to put in the freezer.

Here's how I did it.

 -  I rinsed the parsley really well

 - Removed the larger stems 

- Then I used the salad spinner to dry the parsley

.- Place the parsley in my food processor and added oil through the chute

I placed the finished product in a sandwich bag and then in a quart size freezer bag.

I used 2.5 cups of parsley (packed cups) and about 1/4 cup of oil.

 

The Conscious Cleanse - "What I'm eating." by Trina

Tonight will end day five of "The Conscious Cleanse" and below is a list of the foods I've been eating over the past five days.
Fruits:  blueberries, watermelon, peaches, bananas, mini plums, pineapple, unsweetened dried coconut and lemon juice
Vegetables:  Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms, onions, celery, kale, green beans, jicama and cabbage
Fresh herbs:  Ginger, cilantro, Italian parsley, and garlic
Protein:  Black beans, organic chicken breast and wild caught fish

So far the cleanse is going well, but it would be better if I were a little more organized.
One thing I'm really pleased about is how my cravings for certain foods have almost completely disappeared. Sometimes I think about a specific food, but my desire to have it is minimal. For example my daughter makes a very good semi-homemade chicken potpie and I usually just have to eat some. In fact she made it for dinner tonight, but I had brown rice cooked in mushroom and onion broth with kale instead. I've also been able to cut back on the amount of meat I eat which is a big deal for me because I am definitely a meat lover.

Kale, purple cabbage, broccoli and organic chicken breast

Romaine Salad with jicama and lemon, ginger, cilantro dressing. Looks a little messy as I had already began eating then remembered that I wanted to take a picture.

Romaine, carrots, pineapple and blueberries with a pineapple dressing. To make the dressing I put 1/2 cup of pineapple with juice, a small chunk of avocado, sea salt, black pepper and a little water in a blender.

Chicken Vegetable Soup - Organic chicken breast, onions, green beans, carrots and parsley. I marinated the chicken breast overnight with minced ginger, garlic and 1 tsp EVOO. I also added a little sea salt and black pepper.

New find:  I've been wanting to try coconut milk. I found this at Winn Dixie. It was $2.99 and has only 1g of sugar compare to 5g in Silk Original Coconut milk. Once I try it I'll post what I think.

Dinner tonight - Brown rice cooked in mushroom and onion broth with some kale on the side. I made the mushroom and onion broth to eat as a soup, but decided it would really be good as a base for brown rice. It was really good!