Lose Or Chews

I can't seem to tear myself away from MSNBC's coverage of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. When I do, I will be knocking the cob webs out of here and beginning to Lose or Chews again.

--Jeff

Broccoli Salad (I am loven’ this right now)

The Dressing
1 cup miracle whip (Fat Free)
¼ cup sugar or Splenda if you have it
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
Mix all of the dressing ingredients together and add to
2 small heads of broccoli cut up(you can use more broccoli or less depending on how you like it)
½ cup sunflower seeds (no salt)
8 strips of bacon (you can use turkey bacon, fake bacon or just less of the regular bacon or skip it all together)

This makes a wonderful salad to take for BBQs.


Last night I fixed the best chicken ever.
2 chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
Cut into small pieces
Cook in a sauté pan (coat with nonstick spray)
Cover the chicken with either cream of mushroom or cream of chicken and you can get the low fat version. And ¼ can of water.
Cover the chicken and cook at medium heat till done (about 20 minutes)
You will want to stir occasionally.
I serve this with steamed white rice.
If you like you can also heat up ½ cup of frozen mixed vegetables and add to the rice, chicken and sauce.

I'm relatively close to the weight I want to end up at, which is a good thing. But I have allowed stress to affect me negatively lately - a bad thing - and would like to start moving things back in a positive direction. With that in mind, I'm issuing a weight loss challenge to those who are up for it.

The challenge is inspired by something one of my sister papers is doing. There is a point system and 2 (two!) winners each week - one for the most points, one for the most weight loss.

Here are the point particulars:
You get 1 point for these daily tasks:
Drinking 64 ounces of water
Eating 5 servings of vegetables
Exercising for 30 minutes

You also get 1 point for each pound loss.

When would everybody be ready to start? I'm thinking either Wednesday, no next Monday. Let me know if you're in and when you'd like to start.

--Jeff

A must try muffin recipe.

Please make these muffins for your Easter celebration you will thank me.
You will need
1 box of cake mix pineapple
1 (20 oz) can of crushed pineapple
Preheat over to 350 (whatever the box calls for)
Mix together cake and pineapple (DO NOT DRAIN)
Spray 24 muffin tins with Pam, place equal amounts of muffin batter into each little muffin tin.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until slightly golden brown on top.
Try one while they are still warm you will love it. They are also tasty after they have cooled down. They are right at 2-points/ muffin. (Close to the line between 1 & 2)
Have a wonderful Easter weekend. Let me know how the muffins turn out.

See picture: Two happy campers. (The pink was a coincidence not planed)

I have a recipe that you might already know, but if not you really should try it. I call it Soda Chicken

Skinless, boneless chicken breast (2 or more)
Diet cola 1 can
Catsup

Spray a skillet with Pam non-stick cooking spray.
Place chicken in pan add ½ of the soda (you don’t need to cover the chicken just make sure the soda comes up around the chicken) then add about 2 TSP of catsup. Cover and cook over medium heat. Turn chicken at ½ point so that both sides are cooked. I always cut the chicken up to see if it is done so I don’t have a time for this. The soda makes the chicken so tender it is unreal. I love it and so does Shane. I guess we could call that the St. Louis review.

I guess this would be a backlog. On March 20th I weight in at 156#. I had a few other issues going on at the time at made my weight a little higher than it normally is but, we can count it. I am already back to 154#, but it isn’t a true weight loss.
Here are my goals.
Current weight 156#
Goal weight 143#
(13# to lose)
Again thank you for letting me join the group.

( :

Who should I normally send my weight ins to?

I've been a little bored with food choices that help me lose weight. So I bought a new cookbook from Better Homes and Gardens called: New Dieter's Cookbook. It gives lots of recipes with the information to count points. Tonight Randy and I tried two of the recipes and I thought I would start a little food review. Why? Because I'm craving new food that tastes good and is healthy for me and I hope that some of you have some awesome recipes to share with me.

Last night we tried the teriyaki beef spirals and I tried the broccoli with lemon and dill (Randy hates vegetables). It took us about an hour to prepare, but mostly because we didn't know what we were doing!

The teriyaki beef spirals had spinach leaves, water chestnuts, green onions tossed in teryaki sauce wrapped inside beef flank steak. It was 4 points for two spirals.

The broccoli with lemon and dill was seasoned with green onions, garlic, olive oil, chicken broth, lemon and dill. All of these added things made the broccoli 1 point per serving. So the whole dinner was 5 points! Not bad!

Randy and I gave you our "black and white review." Randy really liked the teriyaki flavor of the beef and didn't even feel like he was eating spinach. I thought the dill and lemon added a nice summery taste to otherwise boring broccoli and I think that it would taste just as good without the other flavorings, but I'll have to try next time. Below are the recipes for anyone who is interested! Next week I plan on making feta-stuffed chicken! I'll let you know how it turns out! Happy cooking!

TERIYAKI BEEF SPIRALS

1 cup of fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup of chopped water chestnuts
1/4 cup of thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup of reduced sodium teriyaki sauce
1 to 1&1/4 lbs of beef flank steak
Salt
Pepper

Preheat boiler. Remove stems from spinach leaves. Layer leaves on top of eachother and slice into strips. Combine spinach, waterchestnuts, green onions and 2 tbs of teryaki sauce in bowl.

Trim fat from steak. Score both sides of meat. Place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Working from center, use flat sid of meat mallet to pound steak into rectangle. Remove wrap and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Spread spinach mixture over steak. Starting from long side, roll rectangle into spirl. Secure with lots of tootpicks! Cut 10 pinwheels between tootpicks. Thread pinwheels onto long skewers (about 2 to 3 per skewer). Brush with remaining teriyaki sauce.

Place skewers on broiler pan and broil for 12 to 14 mins.. Turn once and brush with sauce. Enjoy!

BROCCOLI WITH LEMON DILL

1/2 cup chopped onion (I used green onion b/c I had it)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 & 1/2 pounds of broccoli (I used frozen broccoli because I had it)
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp flour
2 tbs snipped fresh dill or 1 tsp dried dill (I used dried)
Salt and pepper
lemon slices (optional)

In saucepan cook and stirl onion and garlic in hot oil for 3 mins. Add broth; bring to boil. Add broccoli and return to boiling. Reduce heat and cook, covered, for 8 to 10 mins or until broccoli is tender. Transfer vegetables to a serving bowl, reserving broth in pan (about 1/2 cup)

combine lemon juic and flour, add to broth in saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, cook and stir 1 more min. Add dill and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over vegetables.

(I didn't read the part where you take the veggies out of the broth and I mixed the flour, lemon and dill on it's own and heated it slightly. Then I mixed that into the broccoli and broth. It still tasted delicious. I also had a little extra water because my broccoli was frozen, but it was about a 1/2 cup of liquid anyway).

I don't want to imply that some of us aren't motivated by writing this post. I just want to provide some motivational support.

How do we reach our goals? What do we need to do? What important changes need to be made asap for all of us to feel successful? We all deserve to be successful in our weight loss journey.

Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Be accountable-- This applies to becoming accountable to oneself and to the group. I know I've struggled at times with food, in that I may say, "Well, no one will know if I don't count this food as all it's points," or "No one will know if I eat this brownie." It's okay to indulge sometimes, but don't hide it from others. Most likely, if you feel bad or ashamed while you eat, it may not be the best thing for you to do/eat at the time.

2. Increase activity-- The one thing that has helped me is working out and being accountable in that area as well (having John as a work out buddy). If you aren't able to work out at a gym, think of other ways to increase activity. Park farther away from the door at Walmart. Take the stairs instead of the elevator (you may have to make that a part of your day--try not to run behind so you don't have to rush and you do have time for the stairs). Do crunches and lift small hand weights while you are watching your favorite reality tv show. All these things are completely doable. Don't make any excuses--just do it.

3. Cut out temptations-- If you know you are more tempted to eat unhealty foods when around certain people, change your situation. You may suggest to meet and eat a different restaurant (one that offers healthier, smaller portion foods). Maybe you need to eat prior to meeting friends at a restaurant, so you aren't as hungry when you get to the restaurant. Plan ahead. Always know what restaurant or type of restaurant you are going to, so you can plan what foods you will order. If you are more tempted with the foods in your house, limit them or get rid of them. Almost every company has come up with 100 calorie packs, so buy those. Or preportion your favorite foods in snack size baggies and store them away. Don't let access to certain foods keep you from losing weight. You are in control, not the food.

I hope I don't sound too forward (my dad is a retired drill sergeant, so I'm sensitive to that ;) . I just want to help everyone reach their goal. None of us have unrealistic goals. We are all capable of reaching our goal. You have control of your success. Take control of your situation and make changes. When you make positive changes, you will see positive results. It may seem like a lot to chew all at once, so start by making small changes. Remember, you are in control. You control your destiny (at least as far as weight loss goes). Keep your goal in mind. Heck, you may even need to make a mantra of it ("I will look good in a swimsuit. I will look good in a swimsuit. I will look good in a swimsuit.").

I hope this post has been helpful and not a hinderance. I just want all of us to succeed because I know it's within our reach.