We’ve been trying to eat healthier and incorporate some exercise into our life.
For me and Tony that means implementing our tweaked version of the Body For Life plan.
I first heard about this in college, and I’ve used its methods off and on a lot since then. It consists of a well-balanced diet, drinking lots of water and some basic exercise/weight-lifting.
Because we’re eating healthy I am missing baking, so I am trying to get healthfully (is that a word?) creative in the kitchen. I’ve been making some healthier waffles by substituting whole wheat flour for some of the regular flour in my recipe. I find it nice to make a bunch of these ahead of time and then freeze them. Then for breakfast we can just pop them in the toaster. My kids are even loving them. (And they’ve gotta be cheaper than eggos, right?)
I also made pizza crust by partially substituting whole wheat flour. I’m not sure if this pizza would be Body For Life kosher, but I did say we’re following our “tweaked” version, right?
My exercise is hit or miss at best, but I am trying to get on the treadmill at least 3 times a week. I can do this if my 2 month old is sleeping and if my 2, 4, and 5 year old are riding their bikes in the garage. It actually works pretty well (so well that I’ve only done it twice). On the days the treadmill doesn’t happen, I either want to get outside and take a walk with my kids (if it’s warm) or I want to start implementing some of Erin’s creative tips in this wonderful blog post. Let’s face it, I’m going to have to get creative with my exercise.
Where do you look for healthy recipes? And how do you implement exercise into your day?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been doing this too…..kinda modified WW. I don’t like to use artificial sweeteners when I can help it, so I substitute when I can…..mostly with honey. But I figure it’s better than nothing! I use e-mealz.com It’s a website that plans meals for you and you go on once a week and print out a meal plan and grocery list. They have a lot of options…..WW Points, Low Fat, Low Carb and Regular. I love it, it saves me so much time and it’s costs next to nothing!
But it’s the excercise thing that gets me! Thanks for the link to the blog post! There is lots to do around here when it’s nice outside, but when it’s yucky….well….she had some great ideas!
Haha- I was going to blog about this this week! My new “exercise” routine: I saw something on TV about making EVERYTHING you do an exercise. So like while I do laundry I do squats, while I shop and reach up to the tall shelves I tighten my abs, while I cook I do little side bends, etc. Also I do about 10-15 minutes of rebounding a day (mini-trampoline) and some crunches and tricep stuff. Gotta say I’ve been SORE so it must be doing something and it takes no time at all!
I try to base my recipes off of veggies and work up from there, (as opposed to meat or pasta being the main ingredient). Exercise is hard to work in, I think heading out with the family for a walk is the easiest. It’s fun and you hardly know you are working. Erin’s ideas are brilliant. Although that post made me need to lay down for a bit.
Try the ‘King Arthur’s Whole Wheat Baking Book’, it’s incredible, everything I’ve tried so far has been fantastic, especially the whole wheat carrot cake, (I could eat it every day!, but then that would ruin the exercise right? so only for special occasions!).
For me I have been heading back to the gym and walking in the am and pm, it’s working! Yeah!
I use king Arthur’s white whole wheat flour and the kids cannot even tell the difference. How do you make your pizza dough? I make mine in the bread machine and use whole wheat flour and even sprinkle in flax seed. I get almost all of my recipes from http://www.allrecipes.com I like that I can read the reviews and see how the recipe turned out for other people. I also like the recipe for the vegetable quiche cups from the south beach cookbook. Those can be made ahead and frozen then you just have to heat in the microwave.
As someone who has battled weight all her life and recently went under the knife –after A LOT of praying – to finally succeed (Lap-band), I really believe the key to everything is moderation. I now substitute a bag of splenda a week instead of the cola (now the kids love Grandma Shackelford even more these days when we visit because they get 1 can of pop). I also make sure I have protein as our start. I never realized what a big part the protein does to keep you full until I had surgery. I keep vanilla & chocolate protein powder (& benefiber) in the kitchen and add it to hot chocolate, milk, sauces (benefiber) when I can. The kids & my hubby are none the wiser:) I still have those items I love, I just can’t eat them like I use to and they can’t run my life. In turn, I’m seeing changes not only in me but my family too.
Thanks for linking to me! My favorite baking and cooking site
healthdiscovery.net/forums/
(It’s not letting me post the direct link)
I try to eat mainly whole foods so I make stuff for me from the WW Simply Filling tab that you will see on this page.
I’m married to a meat and potatoes man who has a great body no matter what he eats so I cook regular WW recipes for he and my boys.
When I bought a house I made sure it was near our downtown so I could walk for a reason. I knew I would not go to the gym for any sustained period of time so this was the only way to get exercise! I can walk to my bank, the grocery store, cafe’s etc. It is a small house but having the town to walk to seems to make the place bigger! I take the baby out for a stroll every day and he has a ton of friends downtown, from the guy at the bank to everyone who hangs out at the coffee places to the checkers at the store. There are multiple benefits of walking downtown! Of course, this only helps if you are looking for place to live right now. Any way to walk for a reason besides exercise though—visiting a neighbor regularly etc—is the best way to exercise, I have found. Of course there is yoga, which I used to go to but haven’t been back since the baby! I practice at home when I have some time. It is harder than going to a class though.
It has been difficult for me to find cooking time with a baby–I know all of you have more kids and I don’t know how you cook at all! When I can cook, I love “The Moosewood Cookbook” and “The Enchanted Broccoli Forest”. Beautiful handwritten and handdrawn pages (artists will appreciate!) and all the recipes are made from real ingredients that you probably already have in the cupboard. You’ll just need to go pick up some produce. Very healthy, very easy. Another favorite is “A Taste of Heaven and Earth” and the “Vegetarian Epicure”, which has lots of really good non-meat meal ideas from various cultures. Other cookbooks I like are the Tassajara Cookbooks. They have a few different ones and they even have really simple things in there like making different kinds of grains or cooking a vegetable and how to cut a vegetable so it tastes a certain way. So if you aren’t sure how to incorporate bulghar into your diet, they can help. Simple, healthy, delicious and with a spiritual focus. I love the cookbooks that make food preparation the spiritual practice that it is. Real ingredients and a good focus when preparing make healthy bodies! For sweetener, I recommend agave nectar. It is low-glycemic, does not have a strong flavor so it goes well in places where you don’t want a strong honey flavor. It is really sweet too–it goes further than sugar. I make desserts with it and no one knows the difference. It is totally natural–from a cactus.
For any of you interested in yoga (mentioned in the comment before) — it is hard indeed to get to a class regularly. I recommend this website with the knowledge that it is not necessarily any easier to find an hour to do yoga at home. HOWEVER, this group of women do a great job bringing a new amazing yoga class to you, at home, everyday – for you to do whenever you can fit it in. One of the ladies is a good friend of mine and an incredible, inspiring woman. Just thought I’d pass the link along in case anyone has enjoyed yoga in the past and would like a way to do it at home with a “class” feel.
http://www.yogatoday.com
Oh, and the scenery is beautiful.
I can relate Mandy! We are doing the same thing. I’ve joined WW again, and have been learning a ot, and I can ditto the exercise thing. It’s really hard to do with a 6 month old crawling up your leg. So post any ideas you come up with. Beau is trying to cut back on Sugar since he’s a sugar-aholic, so that’s helped me be more aware of my sugar consumption too.. but this is definitely a huge battle, but a battle worth winning I think!
Karen – This is such a cool idea to get a house close to places you can walk to. We might could walk to the mall from our house, but I don’t think there are sidewalks to get there, which is really too bad. Plus where you live lends itself to cool places to visit I’m sure.
Paige – The yoga site is incredible.
Mandi- How much whole wheat flour do you use? My recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, so I’ve been substituting 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and the rest white.
Christina – Is it the whole grain cook book or whole wheat?