Well, today is Day 1 of Week 3. I’m down 11 pounds. My workouts kind of fizzled out after Wednesday because of a quick overnight trip, busyness, and simply not making time for it. Tomorrow is a new day though! Despite a wonderful lunch and dinner out in Memphis, I was relatively careful with my choices, and the scale was still my friend this morning. That’s part of what I want to stress. Life is too short and precious to not enjoy meals with friends and eating things that are delicious; however, there are better choices that are still fabulous, and sometimes you just need to drink that glass of wine (or 2!) or have the pie (whatever your treat might be). For me, getting right back on track and making better choices MOST of the time means that I don’t have to feel bad. My goal is to build myself and others up, not bring them down!
For recipes for this post, I want to share a Hello Fresh recipe that I modified a little and an overnight oatmeal that I saw on the Today show and tried last night/this morning. If you’ve never tried one of the dinner subscription boxes, now is a great time! Many of them are offering great deals to try their service at a discount or even free. I have used Blue Apron and Hello Fresh in the past, and there are several others to choose from. I don’t think of them as a permanent thing, but more of a way to add variety to my diet and easily try new things. When my family tried them before, it was because I was kind of bored with my own cooking. It is fun to experiment with different ingredients without having to commit to a whole bottle or container of an ingredient or spice that you’ve never used before or may never use again! I keep the recipe cards for the ones I like and make them again on my own. It’s easy to skip weeks, choose the meals /recipes you want, and stop anytime. The best part is that EVERYTHING you need for the recipe is included in the box except salt, pepper, and oil or butter.
I enjoyed Hello Fresh meals the best in the past, so that’s the one I chose to get again. I’m going to get 2 meals per week for 4 weeks just to get some variety in my diet and cooking repertoire. The meals can be anywhere from 500-1000 calories per serving (you can see this before you choose), so where possible without compromising taste, I will be cutting out some of the calories. I’ve found that the recipes usually use more fat (olive oil or butter usually) than is really necessary, so it’s pretty easy to cut the total calorie count.
The modified Hello Fresh recipe I’d like to share now is Shrimp and Zucchini Ribbons with Basil Oil over Jasmine Rice. Original calorie count was 630 per serving; the way my recipe is written is 470 per serving. This recipe serves 2. It can easily be doubled.
The second recipe is one that I heard about on the Today show during a Joy Bauer segment about what to eat to build your immune system. This is something that is near and dear to my philosophy of eating (is that a thing–do I have a “philosophy” of eating?? LOL, I think I do!!) She stresses building your body with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and plant based protein so that it is better able to fight any infection. This is why I drink Ningxia Red EVERY DAY and why I’m trying to pack as many whole nutrient rich foods into my diet as possible. We definitely are what we eat!!! My biggest mindset change has been to really think about this concept and focus on giving my body high quality fuel.
Feel Better Overnight Oats was made last night and eaten this morning. It’s delicious, filling, and super healthy! I used blueberries instead of strawberries because that’s what I had on hand and added cinnamon but no maple syrup. I bought my hemp seeds at Trader Joe’s; however, most larger grocery stores probably carry them too. Don’t know if it was the hemp seeds or what, but I swear I felt healthier the moment I scraped the bottom of the jar!
Here we go, Week 3!