The First 43: My Life Now

I've decided to compile the questions I'm asked the most and answer them for you all here. Put it all down in one place! So here it goes... Do you still eat bread? Yup, I'm asked this one a lot. I do eat bread, I love bread. If the lifestyle change had me give up bread, I honestly would have never kept with it. My favourite bread is rye, can't get enough. Pasta too, love a nice big bowl of it! Who are we kidding, I love carbs. Do you still eat desserts?  I guess this is one I should expect. Sure do! Of course, all in moderation but ice cream is my favourite food. I guess I inherited that from my mom.  I've never given it up but, I have changed the kind of ice cream I buy. For example, the PC Chocolate Yogurt is 90 cals/half cup with lower fat content than the creamy Breyer's chocolate which comes in at 130 cals/half up. Do you feel healthier? I guess so? It's hard to say. I am most definitely healthier but it's not a dramatic change for me. It

    Banana S 'more!! This is in honour of iron chef this week.  The ingredient was marshmallows and I was trying to find something that was lower calorie or healthier th at still tas ted del icious. I decided to try out a banana s 'more. You can make them in the oven or on the BBQ, whichever you pr ef er.  In order to get everything me lted I had to leave them in the oven for 8 minutes at 400*F.  On the BBQ, I imagine it would take far less time but put them on the upper rack of you have one to avoid charring your banana. What you do: Peel a banana, place it on a piece of foil and slit it down the middle.  Take one marshmallow and cut into four slices, put inside the banana.  Add one tablespoon of semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Wrap up the banana into a foil tent.  Grill or bake! Overall, it's a pretty healthy dessert as the majority of the calories are actually coming from the banana, not the chocolate or the marshmallows. Total calories: 195 per banana s&

  I have been looking for a new marinade for chicken. I've seen a few recipes for different things so, I decided to combine a few and see how it turned out.  I'm pleased with the combination I came up with, highly recommend it.  We grilled our chicken on the BBQ after it marinated but I would think you could bake this in the oven too, no problem. Marinade: 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil  2 tbsp of fresh basil, chopped 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce or 1 tbsp low sodium teriyaki sauce, depends on which taste you prefer.  1 lime, both zest and juice Mix all of this up in a bowl.  Put your chicken in a zip lock bag and pour the marinade over it.  Put in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.  This marinade makes enough for 3 regular chicken breasts.  If you're making more, just make more marinade! 

It's time for me to get back on track.  It's been a summer of good times and a lot of relaxing. By some miracle, I haven't gained any weight but I'm been slacking on logging my food into My Fitness Pal and getting a proper amount of exercise.  I have continued to log into MFP everyday and I start to log but, I don't end up completing my diary for the day. I just hit 505 days on MFP and I've decided because I don't want to lose all my hard work, I'm going to actually start logging again. Every piece of food, every single day. So far, so good. Everyday logged since Monday. Getting back in the habit is half the battle. My exercise has been mediocre at best for July and August.  I was really busy with work and with social events every weekend, it didn't leave much time for exercise.  A new month, a new energy to get to the gym.  I've been 3 times this week and plan to go this weekend. I have to keep moving and even out my bumpy bits. I feel myse

I decided to try out a recipe from the website Skinny Mom tonight. It was really very very good.  I will definitely make it again. I left out the red pepper flakes, ginger and I used chicken broth instead because I didn't have beef broth at home. Didn't make any difference because it still tasted fantastic. I also used a little more beef than the recipe called for. The recipe can be found here, I followed the directions as she has it: http://www.skinnymom.com/2014/02/04/skinny-beef-and-broccoli-stir-fry/ ** New link. The original link has been removed. The new stir fry incorporates more vegetables. Calorie Count: 245 for the stir fry + whatever rice you like.