Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Getting Healthy

I started my journey of weight loss and fitness back in November of last year. It has been a hard journey with some not-so-great diagnoses but with hard work, perseverance, I am getting healthy. I am half-way to reaching my goal of my actual weight for my height. Now I am on a mission to get the rest of my family on-track. I am trying to find healthy meals that are kid-friendly. If you have some great, healthy, non-processed meals, please send them my way!

I have already tricked Matt and the kids into eating veggie burgers with fresh veggies and they can't get enough of them. No more potatoes with burgers in this household! I have eliminated pasta from our diet minus mac n cheese for my carb-loving daughter. I would love to find a HEALTHY recipe for mac-n-cheese.

We are going to be active starting in May with Cody's baseball games, but prior to that, I started Jillian Michael's "30 Day Shred." I am a HUGE fan of "Biggest Loser" and would have loved to be on the show, but her video is already giving me results. In 20 minutes, you get the workout of your life! And, Cody and Carleigh are doing the exercises as well so another goal is being accomplished! We are also walking in the evenings during good weather and we have plans to start walking the bike trail once the warmer temps stay around.

Again, if you have any recipes, please leave a comment.

6 comments:

Toni said...

I'll go through and evaluate my recipes to see which ones are kid-approved. Also, I do have a great mac/cheese healthy recipe. It's on my blog somewhere so I'll track it down. It's a bit labor intensive but has no cheese. You make a cheesless sauce that, there's no way to really describe it, you just have to try. It's not identical to cheese flavor, but the consistency is spot-on and the taste is like....gourmet cheese? My kids LOVE it.
Jen, keep up the fabulous work. Who needs to be on Biggest Loser when you've stepped out in faith and have done soooo well with your own God-given determination. I'm so proud of you, friend.
Blessings,
Toni

Toni said...

Btw, you're doing it soooo reasonably (which was key for our family, absolutely KEY). You focused on yourself first, setting and achieving goals and allowing yourself time to form new habits and routines. And now you're extending your healthful changes to your family. And that too can be a gentle process. You will feel SO great about blessing them in this way as time goes one.

A Family Created By God said...

Thank you so much Toni! I will have to search your blog for that mac n cheese alternative! I think switching our diet will help with Cody's digestive issues and I kind of wonder if he should be on a gluten/casen free diet. I digress....

Toni said...

Here's the mac-n-cheese link. Like I said, it is labor intensive, but if you cut the veggies in the evening and place in fridge for the next day, it's not so bad.

Also, I use Smart Balance Light with Flax Oil instead of margarine because it's vegan, non-hydogenated, no trans-fats and contains omega 3's (not to be confused with their "Heart-right Light" version, which contains dairy.) It's expensive, so I get it at Walmart and only use it on bread and in this one recipe.

If you try this recipe, do so when you have the time. I really think the end result is well worth it, but it does require some time to prepare it. Oh, and the kids will LOVE watching "the magic" when you place unseeming ingredients into your blender and they turn into "cheese" sauce right before their eyes.

http://inthemidstofthisseason.blogspot.com/2008/11/wow-great-mac-and-cheese-less-cheese.html

http://www.smartbalance.com/FlaxLight.aspx

Toni said...

Oh, and another thing. ;)
I don't think making the bread crumbs (as stated in the recip) is necessary. You could eliminate them as a time saver, or just use 1/2 cup store-bought bread crumbs with perhaps a tablespoon or two of melted Smart Balance stirred in.

A Family Created By God said...

Thank you Toni! I am going to get all the ingredients this weekend and give it a try. I am sure Carleigh will LOVE it!