All posts in category Nutrition

Happy Mother’s Day to Me!

After having an absolutely horrendous week of eating whatever I could think of I decided to give myself a Mother’s Day present:  I’m going back to eating a plant-based diet.

The life of a mom with a newborn is taxing and I can feel it wearing on me daily.  The nights are a little rough and the days can get long and demanding.  With 2 kids and a husband I often feel like I get pulled in three directions constantly.  What better gift to give myself than the gift of health?

I had a wonderful talk with my husband about a week ago and it involved excuses.  I was going on about how when I get to six weeks postpartum it will get easier because I can exercise.  He totally called me out on my crap and said “you always say it will be easier when…”  fill in the blank.  I know that I have thought about these excuses before and light bulbs constantly go off in my head and I have plenty of AHA moments.  The problem is keeping myself motivated.

Do or do not, there is no try.

I thought I would take a little advice from Yoda and not put the word TRY into this post.  I almost wrote that I was going to TRY and get back to a plant-based lifestyle, but then I got taken back to my retail management days and I would get so annoyed when people said they would TRY to do the thing I was asking them to do.  It basically meant that they had an easy out clause with the word TRY.

This week will be all about getting myself back on track with eating (it is 70% of weight loss).  I’ve given myself permission to eat as much as I want to this week, but the only stipulations are that it has to have vitamins and nutrients of some sort, not be to grain heavy, and cannot come from an animal.  I’ve meal planned and I told the hub’s I don’t care if it doesn’t sound good the night I’m suppose to make it, that’s what we are eating.  He is surprisingly on board (I will mention that after this last pregnancy he is the heaviest he has ever been, and is motivated to lose some pounds).

I’m hoping that I will see great results like the last time I practiced this diet.  I lost weight, started sleeping better, was in a better mood, and I just felt great!  I’ve already had a great first day (which was Sunday, Mother’s Day mind you) and I am excited to get through this first week.

And because a post is always better with a picture, here are my two girls hanging out in our 80 degree house in their diapers (Air conditioner gets serviced on the 16th and it can’t happen soon enough!):

944667_4808877061090_1537861817_nHappy Monday!

2 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on May 13, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Challenges, Commitment, Daily Struggles, Diet, Goals, Health, Making It Happen, Meal Planning, Mindless Eating, Motivation, New Mind-set, Nutrition, Plant Based Diet, Postpartum

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on May 13, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/05/13/happy-mothers-day-to-me/

WIAW: What Nursing Mom’s Eat

One of the major things I notice when I start nursing is that it seems like I am STARVING all.  the.  time.  It doesn’t help that my little one is kind of a little piggie and I feel like she is taking most of my calories.

So like I said last week, I joined Weight Watchers Online  and my daily allotted points are 55.  It seems crazy high to me, but I will try it out for a few weeks and see what kind of results I get.  My real strategy is to eat as many 0 point foods as possible throughout the day and hopefully that will make all the difference!

Thanks to Jenn over at Peas and Crayons for helping me to stay accountable for my eats every Tuesday.  Dustin says that I need to document my weekend eats and that I always eat perfect on Tuesdays because I will have to blog about it.  Maybe next week.

I am happy to say that I stuck very closely to my plan yesterday and I didn’t end up being hungry at all throughout the day.  Small victories people.

Breakfast:

  • IMG_04222 eggs, plus 2 egg whites
  • 1/4 an Avocado
  • Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread
  • 1 Tbs. Justin’s Almond Butter
  • Blackberries and Strawberries

Here is what my WW tracker looked like:

Picture 1Lunch:

IMG_0424

  • Low Carb Whole Wheat Tortilla
  • Grain Mustard
  • 6 oz. Peppered Deli Turkey
  • 1/2 Avocado
  • Brocco Sprouts
  • Baby Carrots
  • Cantaloupe

I really didn’t think that my lunch was going to last me all day and so I added in a Chobani Pineapple Greek yogurt for a little sustaining power, and it seemed to do the trick.  Here is how lunch tracked:

Picture 2Dinner:

IMG_0426The blurry pic is because it was STEAMING hot.  This Red Curry soup has been a stand by in my kitchen the last few weeks.  It is incredibly easy to make and you can always use different ingredients of whatever you have on hand.

  • Red Curry Paste
  • Chicken Broth
  • Coconut Milk
  • Carrots
  • Onions
  • Red Pepper
  • Red Potato
  • 6 oz. Chicken
  • 1 Cup Brown Rice

This meal was a little high in points, but I think it’s because I over estimated to make sure I wasn’t cheating myself.  Here is how it turned out:

Picture 3

Even after over estimating I still have 7 points left at the end of the day.  I think they will be spent on a Chobani with berries.  That leaves me with 3 points left.  Not bad.

Eaten anything memorable lately?

6 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on May 1, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Breast Feeding, Challenges, Daily Stats, Diet, Good Food, Link Love, Meal Planning, Nutrition, Weight Watchers, WIAW

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on May 1, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/05/01/wiaw-what-nursing-moms-eat/

Imagine My Surprise

One of the things I promised myself after I had Lucy was that I wouldn’t step foot on the scale until I was at least 3 weeks postpartum.  When I had Hanna (my first child, for any new readers) I had lost all the baby weight and then some when I went in for my 6 week appointment.  I tipped the scales at 296 at 40 weeks, and weighed 266 post-birth.  I could not have been more ecstatic.

I don’t know about any of you other mom’s out there, but it was really hard for me to not get on a scale right after I had Lucy (my saving grace was that my scale broke the week before I had my c-section, which was quite disheartening at the time, if you can imagine).  The last time I weighed myself I weighed 294 and still had two more weeks until my due date.

I really thought that I had gotten lucky my first pregnancy and was going to have to get use to some lingering poundage this time around.

Imagine my surprise when I got on the scale today and it read 263.6!  My weight when I started this pregnancy was 264 and I’m pretty sure that at the end my weight would have come in somewhere around 296 just like last time.

The only issue I had with my first postpartum was that I gained about 18 pounds from breast-feeding.  I was so stressed about whether Hanna was getting enough to eat I just started taking in calories to see if it would help me get my milk supply up.  Little did I know that Hanna was just a small baby and didn’t like to eat that much (she is still that way).  This go around I am not stressing out and I am mostly using my breast pump so I know how much Lucy is eating, and I don’t get so frustrated like last time (Lucy is a hungry little thing, and will out weigh Hanna in no time).

One thing I did do this time is lots of research on how to keep my supply up without taking in empty calories.  I found out some great information and it turns out the more fruits, vegetables, and lean protein you eat the better your milk comes in.  I can attest to that since my eating the last couple of days has been less than stellar.  I have been tracking all of my food through my Weight Watchers account but plants have been seriously lacking.  Pumping today was lower than it has been this past week when I had been getting in plenty of F&V’s.

My goal is to not gain any weight (obviously) and stick to my Weight Watchers goal of  54 points per day.  BTW, nursing mom’s get a crap-ton of points which makes it easy to stay on track.  I almost fear for when I’m not nursing and it drops significantly.

The hardest part is that I am not in the habit of tracking my food anymore and it is going to take me a while to make it a daily thing.  Also, my weight may only be up 11 pounds from my lowest recorded weight, but I am jelly everywhere (that’s what no weight lifting for 10 months will do to you).  None of my clothes fit, and my stomach is crazy stretched out.

But that’s what having a baby does to you.   And I am only 3 weeks out from my c-section, could be worse.

3 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on April 29, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Body Image, Breast Feeding, Family, Goals, Nutrition, Parenting, Postpartum, Pregnancy, Weight Watchers

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on April 29, 2013

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2013/04/29/imagine-my-surprise/

Wanna be a “Skinny Bitch”?

Shocking title?  I know.  It is the exact same thing I thought when I went into Borders 5 years ago and purchased the book titled “Skinny Bitch”.  Do you thrive on tough love?  Do you like being called a Fat Cow?  Then this is the book for you!

I don’t know about you, but I tend to keep a healthier diet when I am reading books that promote a healthy lifestyle. I actually first read this book back when I first purchased it in 2007 and I had no idea what I was in for.  I will admit that the title totally got me (and the writers fully admit that is the reason why they titled the book the way it is).  So when I was looking for good books to read recently, I decided that I would read this book again and brush up on the lifestyle that I was too scared of back then.

The first chapters title is “Give it Up”, and then proceeds to list items in your diet that you should give up, and reasons why you should give them up.  Basically everything that was in my diet at the time. Dairy, meat, caffeine, candy, and anything else you can think of that makes your taste buds have a party in your mouth (at the time).  I was thinking that the diet they were promoting would be more South Beach, or Mediterranean, since those were the “hot” diets at the time.  I thought to myself, “I’ll get this book and just keep reading the same old, same old”, but I found very different information than what I was use to.

This book is written by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, both former models, and Kim holds a Master’s Degree in Holistic Nutrition.  I will say that they are straight forward with their tactics on how to get fit and healthy.  This works well for me, or at least I take it well, I should say.  I remember it was around 6 years ago when I went to an Endocrinologist because I wasn’t getting a period regularly.  The blunt Doctor told me I was too fat and that I needed to lose weight.  At the moment I was offended and kind of wanted to cry until I told myself “she’s right, and just because she didn’t use the best tactic doesn’t make it any less true, and she wasn’t saying it to be mean”.

Anyway, I like the book’s straightforwardness.  It also has an entire chapter dedicated to poop (my favorite subject), and how a plant-based diet helps you to move things along.

It gives you information on government agencies and the role they play with our food, and without getting too controversial, I will just say that the chapter is titled Have No Faith: Governmental Agencies Don’t Give a Shit About Your Health, and I have to admit, the proof is in the Pink Slime (if you have never heard of Pink Slime, click to link to a shocking demonstration of how 70% of America’s meat is containing this HORRIBLE concoction of meat and chemicals) .   I like the tagline in this chapter that states “Trust No One”.  It empowers you to get to know your food and the ingredients.

The one thing I found hard with this book is that I felt overwhelmed.  There were so many things that you feel like you have to cut out of your diet at once it seemed impossible and frustrating before you even started the method.  My advice for people who want to do a major overhaul in their diet is to make one small change at a time.  A big step for me this year has been the Vegan kick-start that I did in January, and now in April, but I also realize that my hub’s will never be a health guru and that I am going to have to compromise on a few things (like not completely cutting out meat products).  So on the weeks that I have not been doing the kick-start we have meat products at dinner every other night.  This is a big step considering we are used to eating meat multiple times a day.  Eventually I hope to get it down to 2-3 times a week, but like I said, small changes at a time.

Bottom line for this book:  It was entertaining, gave good information, and was definitely food for thought. I still think that meat in moderation is okay for you, but I do think that you need to research where you are getting your meat, and purchase the highest quality you can find.  An example that I just can’t get out of my head is the fact that my Grandma is 92 years old, in great health, and has eaten meat and dairy her entire life, in moderation.

Do I recommend this book?  Absolutely!  If for anything it will definitely make you laugh!

4 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on April 10, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, Book Review, Books, Diet, Nutrition, Plant Based Diet, Poop, Vegan

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on April 10, 2012

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2012/04/10/wanna-be-a-skinny-bitch/

The Verdict.

Sweat it Out:
Weights 45 Minutes
Elliptical 45 Minutes

This last week was less than stellar eating wise.  I’m not going to re-cap what I ate because doing that will only make me feel frustrated and defeated, and that is not what I need at the beginning of a new week.  I am VERY motivated this week. I have tasted success and it feels so good that I have to keep going.

Yesterday was the LAST day of the 21-day PCRM Vegan Kick-start challenge!  I finished, and I only had a couple days where I fell off the wagon.  Since December 26th I have lost 13.2 pounds! I have had major energy, I’ve been sleeping better and my head feels clear.  It is hard for me to deny the way that I have felt these past 3 weeks.  So what have I decided to do?  Do I want to continue on with this lifestyle?  Do I want to keep putting my husband through plant based hell?

Yes.  Yes I do.  In some form.

I mentioned how baby steps are the only way to make an impact on my way of life.  A BIG baby step was participating in the challenge.  But I am not going to deny that it is going to take some time to perfect it.

My next step is to replace the word “Vegan” with “Plant Based Diet”.  I was not a fan of the looks I got when I told people that I was doing a Vegan cleanse.  To me a Vegan is someone who is 100% dedicated to that lifestyle.  They are interested in Animal Rights, and use NO animal products (i.e. leather and such), and also benefit from the healthiness that the lifestyle brings.  Don’t get me wrong, I love animal rights, and know the animal cruelty that comes along with the slaughter of animals for big food industries is wrong, and I have researched it in the past.  The other side is that I think God put certain animals on this earth for us to eat…….sparingly.  That means that if we are eating meat the way God intended, there wouldn’t be a high demand and they wouldn’t have to slaughter millions of animals so that I can eat meat or dairy products 3 times a day like most Americans.  (steps off soapbox)

No more dairy.  I noticed the biggest difference when I quit dairy & eggs.  I didn’t think I ate that much dairy until I started trying to eliminate it.  Come to find out I was eating multiple forms of dairy, multiple times a day.  Besides there are some great cheese substitutes.  I made a Mac & Cheeze recipe yesterday that was BETTER than the dairy form.  And it was packed with protein.

No more red meat.  I enjoy myself a steak every now and again, but I don’t want the fat and cholesterol that comes with it.

Meat 1-2 servings a week.  I love fish and I love chicken, so I have decided that on the weekends we will have a MAX of 2 servings of meat.  For now.  In order for my hub’s to be on board for the rest of the week, I have to compromise with meat.  I may end up just making it for him, and me not eating it.

Bottom line.  I will listen to my body and eat what it craves.  It does not crave dairy, but every now and again it wants meat.  If there must be a label put on the way I am eating it would be a Flexatarian.   

New Rules of Lifting for Women:

I am happy to report that I am 2 workouts away from completing the final phase of NROLFW.  This last phase has been a killer!  Every workout is circuit style and has higher reps and more sets.  I wish that I had documented the last half of the workouts better, because I don’t have anything to compare it to.

I will promise that this next go around (start again next week) will have better results and better documentation.  I can’t wait to see what this program can do for me once I pair it with my new way of eating.

Musings….

I’m thinking of doing bi-monthly or monthly weigh in’s instead of the weekly weigh in’s like I have been doing.  I find myself getting a little frustrated with the scale and I’m thinking that doing it on the day I do measurements would help me out. I though about this because I haven’t had a weight change this week, but my body feels different.  My hub’s and I even noticed that my face is looking thinner. Thoughts?

I will being doing progress photo’s and measurements next week, as I have decided that I am going to do one more meatless/dairy-less week and see where it gets me.

What’s going on in your neck of the woods?

 

 

6 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on January 23, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, Diet, Energy, Health Benefits, Nutrition, The New Rules of Lifting for Women, Vegan

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on January 23, 2012

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2012/01/23/the-verdict/

Let Me Ease Your Mind Part I

Sweat it Out:
Elliptical 60 minutes

When I tell people that I am doing the Vegan Kickstart Program I get funny looks.  I think the term “vegan” gets a bad rap, and people don’t realize that cutting only a few foods from your diet could mean that you are eating, dare I say, Vegan (gasp!).  The main question I get is “where are you getting your protein from and other main sources of vitamins and nutrients?”.  Let’s just say that I am probably getting more vitamins and nutrients now than I was before when I was eating dairy and meat.

I am finding that Veganism allows you to get creative. Take my dinner from last night:

In that bowl is:

  • Red Pepper
  • Green Pepper
  • Black beans
  • Brown Rice
  • Red Curry

It was AH-MAZING!  The entire bowl was only 461 calories, and it may not show it but that bowl is probably about 3 1/2 cups.  It was so good, but there was so much I couldn’t finish it all!

Anyway, my point is that I am actually more aware of the foods that are going into my body than I was before, and I get a TON of fruits and veggies in everyday.

There are some vitamins in meat that might be hard to get, and one of those is B12.  After looking on PCRM’s website, I found some info as to how to get some of those important vitamins and nutrients while not eating meat.  After all, I don’t want my hair to start falling out, or any other strange occurrences!

From the PCRM Website:

“For individuals following a diet free of all animal products, vitamin B12 needs can easily be met by consuming a variety of vegan foods. Fortified breakfast cereals, fortified soymilk, and fortified meat analogues contain a reliable source of the vitamin.4 Nutritional yeast, such as Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula, is also a reliable source. Be sure to check the Nutrition Facts Label or the ingredient list to ensure you are receiving the active form of vitamin B12, called cobalamin or cyanocobalamin. Most common multivitamins, from Flintstones to One-A-Day to Stress Tabs, also contain B12.Regular intake of vitamin B12 is important to meet one’s nutritional needs. The recommended dietary allowance in adults is 2.4 micrograms per day, with increased requirements for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.5 Ensuring that vitamin B12 needs are met as one ages becomes even more critical as deficiencies are common among the elderly.6,7 Symptoms of deficiency may include fatigue, weakness, tingling in the arms and legs, digestive disturbances, and a sore tongue, and may lead to anemia and more serious disorders of the blood and nervous system.”

I have just barely discovered Nutritional Yeast, and let me tell you that I have been missing out!  I had no idea that it was such a great source of the vitamin B12, and it has 8 grams of protein in 2 tablespoons!  You can sneak it into any meal, sprinkle it on popcorn, or over a salad.  Or you could just take a multi-vitamin to fill in the gaps.
Do you take a multi-vitamin?  
Did you know how important B12 was in your diet?

5 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on January 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, Good Food, Nutrition, Vitamin B12

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on January 3, 2012

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2012/01/03/let-me-ease-your-mind-part-i/

WIAW: Day 4 of Perfection!

Today I successfully ate more vegetables than fruit, which is an oddity in this girls life.  One of the things that I love about eating mostly healthy food, is that after a couple of days your cravings disappear, and realize that most of it is in your head.  Here is where I ended out the day:

Breakfast:  Today was a lifting day, so a Protein shake was appropriate for muscle-building.

Weight Watchers

The Daily Plate

Lunch:  I got thinking about how I have the time to make better lunches, I just wait until I’m starving so I make something quick.  Today I actually took the time to plan a lunch out, and I’m glad I did!  I had a chicken sausage with horseradish mustard, roasted broccoli with mozzarella cheese melted and topped with spicy marinara sauce.  It was totally yum!

Weight Watchers

Dinner: I was kind of clambering at the last-minute when 2 stores didn’t have the peanut sauce that I wanted.  Instead, I got some new-to-me Red Curry Sauce.  I roasted spaghetti squash and pounded out a 12 oz. chicken breast.  Side note:  I only thaw out 1 chicken breast for my hub’s and I’s dinner.  The size of the chicken breasts are insane and so to save on portion and cost, we split one.  I cooked the chicken in the curry sauce and then added a half of a red and a half of a green pepper, along with half a yellow onion.  I let it all simmer and then put it as a sauce over the spaghetti squash.  I thought it was delicious!  Dustin like it, but likes it better when I use the squash as spaghetti noodles.  Maybe I’ll make it for lunch for me sometimes.

Weight Watchers

The Daily Plate

And check out these stats:

This has been a GREAT day eating wise, and I can’t wait to see the results on the scale tomorrow!

2 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on September 21, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Daily Stats, Goals, Good Food, Health, Meal Planning, Nutrition, Power, Weight Watchers, WIAW

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on September 21, 2011

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2011/09/21/wiaw-day-4-of-perfection/

Tuesday Stat’s

Today was a very good day eating wise.  If you didn’t catch my earlier post, I compared how calorie counting and the Weight Watchers Points+ program compared.  I did a little extra work and logged my meals on both websites today to see the results of both programs.  I hope there is not too much information going on here, but I found this really interesting and I hope you will too!  I think I’m going to try this method for a few days to see how the foods are effecting me weight loss wise.

Finished out my day with 7 points+ left, yay me.

Here is what The Daily Plate had me finish at, and it also tells you how much of everything you should be having:

The Daily Plate also suggests that you eat back the calories you burn from activity.  This method does NOT work for me so I try to stay within point and calorie goal.

Breakfast with Weight Watchers

 The Daily Plate Breakfast

Lunch with Weight Watchers

The Daily Plate Lunch

Weight Watchers Dinner

The Daily Plate Dinner

Weight Watchers Healthy Checks

Nutrient Breakdown

This day was a little carb heavy so I will have to see how that affects me come weigh in day.  I didn’t eat ANY eggs today, which is weird for me.  I do feel less puffy (if that makes any sense).

Eating is hard because what works for one person may not work for another.  I’m hoping that through this process, I can learn a little more about what helps my body lose weight.  It may be added work to be tracking twice, but I like to see the actual nutritional breakdown, which Weight Watchers doesn’t tell you.  The main reason I do Weight Watchers is for the added accountability, and that is one of the reason’s I don’t switch over to just counting calories.  I love the added support!

Happy Tuesday night!

Anyone out there watch The BIggest Loser Premier?  

I had an activity for church this evening, but you better believe I will be watching it on Hulu tomorrow!

3 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on September 20, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Challenges, Daily Stats, Goals, Good Food, Health, Nutrition, Power, Weight Watchers

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on September 20, 2011

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2011/09/20/tuesday-stats/

Curiosity Killed the Cat…

Sweat it Our:
1 Hour Elliptical

Today was the first official workout that I felt like I was going to throw up on the way home.  I was a little panicked thinking that I had nothing to puke in and would just have to do it all over the steering wheel.  Lucky me, I have a horrible gag reflex and only throw up if my life is in danger like food poisoning.  I haven’t had the flu since 6th grade.  Stomach of steel over here.

Another fabulous thing about today’s workout is that I increased my resistance and completely zoned out the entire hour.  I worked harder than ever and didn’t even notice, I was so deep in thought.  What was I in thought about you ask?  Oh, you didn’t ask?  Well I’m telling you anyway!

Let me start with saying that I Love the Weight Watchers plan, and I love the way the point system works, but the last few days I’ve been wondering if I eat ALL of my WW points plus how many calories am I ACTUALLY taking in?  Before I started Weight Watchers, I used the Livestrong website. They have a program called The Daily Plate, and it’s awesome. It has the caloric information for almost every food imaginable. My only gripe with WW is when I go to enter in my food, the particular item is almost never in their database and I have to enter every food myself manually, and sometimes when I go to put it in again, it has lost the information so I have to enter it AGAIN! Kind of Frustrating.  If you are calorie counting, I HIGHLY recommend using The Daily Plate.  You can even make nifty nutritional labels for your meals.  Anyway, it’s awesome.

Moving on.  Today I decided I would answer the question of “How many calories am I actually consuming?”.  I took all the foods that I ate yesterday and put them into my account on The Daily Plate and I found some interesting information:

Did I really eat  162 grams of protein?!  To see the actual nutritional breakdown is interesting to me, and puts a LOT of things into perspective.  Like I am eating too much salt and my cholesterol is pretty high for the day.  I should probably cut back on the eggs a little!

When I had Gestational Diabetes, my nutritionist told me that I needed to keep my protein, fat, and carbs in balance so that my blood sugar stayed stable.  Looking at this pie chart tells me that my carbohydrate intake was a little high yesterday.  Could it have been the 3 LARGE peaches I ate yesterday?  Little sidenote:  when entering in my peaches to The Daily Plate I found out that I ate 532 calories in peaches alone yesterday!  Say what?!

After doing this little experiment I found out that each Weight Watchers point was about 54 calories.  The other thing I found is that I need to do a little extra work when it comes to tracking my food.  The nutritional breakdown really put a lot of things into perspective for me and there are area’s that I need to cut back on.  Let’s remember I’m in this to be healthy not thin, and although staying within my alloted points will help me fit into skinny jeans, it won’t help me live longer and that is the ultimate goal here.

Anything you’ve been enlightened with lately?

BTW:  This is my 100th Post!  Yay me!

10 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on September 20, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Daily Stats, Health, Meal Planning, Nutrition, Power, Uncategorized, Weight Watchers, Workout

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on September 20, 2011

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2011/09/20/curiosity-killed-the-cat/

Better Beginnings

Sweat it Out:
Elliptical 50 Minutes
Spin Class 45 Minutes

Weigh in day, yay!  Actually it was weigh in night, last night.  My workout regimen is a pretty strict schedule, with classes at certain times and meeting people for weightlifting I have to be at the gym at a certain time in the morning.  My normal weigh in time would be either Wednesday or Thursday at 9:00, but this conflicts with the gym and lets face it, the gym is more important than the weigh in.  I’m trying to find a time that works and I am thinking that Wednesday night at 6:00 may be the keeper and then I will post the results on Thursday morning.  Anyway, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.  Today’s weight is……..263.8!  That is a 1.6 pound loss which means I am 1.1 pounds away from reaching 20 pounds!  I am so excited to do measurements next week!  That will be huge.  Just so ya know, I feel a difference in my body since killing myself at the gym every morning.  I feel muscles in my legs that haven’t been around in a while.  And I feel like my stomach is getting a little smaller.

Getting to 261 will be kind of a big deal to me.  The first time I lost weight when I was 21 that was the number that I started with.  Then over a course of about 6 years I managed to gain it all back, but as soon as I got to 261 again I held steady for about 3 years.  Then I hit 30 and it was like over night I gained 15 pounds and that is where I have been for the last couple of years.  So for some reason 261 sits in my head and once I pass that number it seems that everything will be real to me.  It’s weird how the mind works.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon making baby food and it led me to the topic for today’s post.  Where this all began.  Of course I have told you my driving force behind my weight loss, but one of the big things that got me to actually start the process was when my baby turned 6 months old and it was time to start solids.  everyone wants their children to not make their same mistakes.  Growing up my mom always had a vegetable with dinner, and we ate pretty healthy.  Still, I gravitated more towards junk food and soda than anything.  When I became an adult I realized the importance of fruits and vegetables, and even though I still enjoyed my junk food, I started to eat more varieties of F&V’s.  It got me thinking about Hanna and how I wanted her to have a diverse pallet, and love foods that are good for her body, no matter what lengths I had to go through.  When I first started to buy baby food I bought the organic jarred variety, but I couldn’t help but notice how unappetizing they looked.  When I would show Hanna how to eat the food, I would put the spoon in my own mouth and it made me want to gag. It was disgusting.  And expensive.

While lurking on Facebook one day, I had a friend that was starting to make her own baby food from a cookbook.  I immediately asked her what the book was called so that I could check it out.  I went to Barnes and Noble that same day to purchase the book “Cooking for Baby”.  

(I have no idea why this picture turned out so small)

This book has been life changing for me and Hanna and she will now eat ANYTHING I put in front of her.  Which for all you parents out there, you know this is no easy feat.  I fee like it has given her the reality of what fruits and vegetables taste like without any fillers or preservatives.

let me state that I am no super mom.  Making homemade baby food has been easy and stress free.  I even made it when I was on vacation for Fourth of July when I was in Utah for 2 weeks.  When we were on vacation I started with bottled food because I thought it would be inconvenient, but after Hanna didn’t poop for almost 3 days I figured out the tapioca that they use to thicken bottled baby food had BOUND HER UP.  She was miserable and her tummy was huge!  So I went to the store-bought a ton of fresh F&V’s and it took me two hours to make 6 different types of healthy options.  After about a day she finally started pooping again.  Nowadays she poops sometimes up to 6 TIMES A DAY!  That’s a healthy colon folks.

MY POINT: I was going out of my way to make sure that my little girl was starting out on the right track eating wise, but I wasn’t eating healthy myself.  How can I tell my daughter that she needs to eat healthy while mommy is shoving ice cream down her pie hole?

For anybody out there that may find this interesting I documented my process yesterday and wanted to share it with you!  First off let’s go over some of the benefits of making your own baby food:

  • You know exactly what is going into your baby’s body (no tapioca, and no constipation, nuff said)
  • It’s more economical than buying prepackaged foods.  Buy fruits and veggies that are in season and it stays cheap.
  • You can choose your own fruits, vegetables, and other foods for purees, instead of relying on the flavors chosen by manufacturers. You’re not going to find melons or avocados in the baby food section of the supermarket.
  • It gets the baby used to eating the same food as the rest of the family — just in puree form.

To make the purees you only need a few different kitchen tools:

  • Stove, to roast or bake
  • Steamer basket, steamer pot, or a steamer
  • A good quality blender, or food processor
  • Ice cube trays, to freeze the purees once they’ve cooled
  • Cookbook is optional.  The only real ingredients is fruits and vegetables!
Since peaches are in season right now (and super cheap), I decided that I would make about 3 pounds of peach baby food (I also made green beans and sweet peas which I will show you the finished product of further down).  I started by washing, pitting, and halving the peaches:
Then I gave a slice to Hanna because I have to give her a slice of fruit whenever I’m eating it.  She is becoming a really good beggar.
After you can clearly see that the water is boiling in the steamer, steam pot, or steam rack, put the peaches into steam.
Let them steam for about 5 minutes or until the fuzz starts to peel back from the peach.
Once you can pierce them easily with a fork they are ready to go into the blender.
I was blessed with an awesome boss that bought me a Vita-mix one year for Christmas after I sat in awe of the one his wife had.  Because this is a powerful blender, there is no need to remove the skin (extra vitamins and nutrients!).  With peaches you don’t need to add any extra water.  With most vegetables you do need to add a little water to get it going.  You can also add breast milk or formula to make it that much more nutritious (but you don’t have to).  Once the peaches were pureed (after about 2 minutes in the blender on high), they are ready to go into the ice cube trays.  Baby food will keep up to 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. I prefer freezer, that way I can make huge batches about twice a month and have plenty of options.
This is enough to feed Hanna for 24 meals. If the consistency is too runny I add some oatmeal cereals from Happy Bellies to thicken it up!
I spent about $10 as opposed to about $30 I would be spending on bottled food.  I only make baby food about twice a month and it takes me about 3 hours all together.  And last of all the comparison:
Check out the difference in color of these frozen pureed green beans, and the store bought bottled green beans.  Ya, I wouldn’t want to eat those either.
This post is purely for something to think about.  It is my preference to make homemade food, but I have the time to make it.  I understand that there are working mommies out there that don’t have the time or the energy to make this stuff!  This is strictly my own opinion, and there is no judgement about what works for other mom’s.  The important thing is that our kids are getting the best nutrition we can offer them!
If you got through this whole post congrats!  I hope it was interesting for you!  If not, come back tomorrow for a different topic!
If you’re a mommy, have you done homemade baby food?  What did you think?
What else has influenced a change in your eating habits?
11 Comments
by Shrinking Carrie on August 25, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Baby Food, Family, Finances, Good Food, Health, Motivation, Nutrition, Parenting, Poop

Posted by Shrinking Carrie on August 25, 2011

http://shrinkingcarrie.com/2011/08/25/better-beginnings/

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