Day 11

Today I began a two week training class with catered breakfast, lunches and snacks!! Usually this is a good place to chow down and pack on some pounds.

The breakfast has fruits, yogurt, juices, danishes, bagels etc. The lunches are usually a theme - mexican - tortillas, veggies, rice, beans, salsas, italian - pasta, bruschetta bread, cheeses etc. The snacks and desserts are chocolate eclairs, fancy cakes, huge cookies.

I have sat through these catered training classes many times and most often people get really tired in the afternoons from all the carbs. It really is disheartening to be the presenter after lunch and watch people nodding off!

Luckily there are pitchers of water within reach at all times. I find that if I fill up on water, I'm not so tempted to crave the sweets. The fruits and yogurt are healthy enough for breakfast and I can select the salads and proteins to fill up on at lunch. My own snack of almonds and a peach or apple will give me enough natural sugar to keep my energy up and not chase the chocolate.

My saving grace is that I've been to this hotel with same foods every 3 months for the past 2 years. At least I can go home and make a really great supper that tastes amazing and is healthy too.

Tonight we had Chop Til You Drop Salad using a rotisserie chicken from the deli counter. I had to pick up groceries and not much time to prepare the meal. The salad is my favourite still!

Don't forget to mark your calendars for the 3rd season of Eat, Shrink and Be Merry on the Food Network this weekend!

Eat, Shrink & Be Merry, Season 3, Food Network CanadaBegins Friday, September 4thShow Times:Fridays: 8:00 am, 11:30 am and 7:30 pmSaturdays: 9:00 am

Day 10 - Back at it Again

Long day travelling back home on a Sunday with everyone else coming out of cottage country!
When I got home I found enough ingredients left in the fridge for me to make The Soprawnos - everything except white wine.

I'm sure the wine adds a special flavour - but kitchen fairies must have gotten into the wine I thought I had in the fridge!

The dish was delicious - shrimp, onions, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes (wine) etc. Definately going to do this one again - but I'll hide the wine first!

Day 9- Feelin Fine

While visiting my mom and brother - I have been doing all the cooking and they have been enjoying the meals. I was looking for my favourite family recipe of cabbage rolls because my brother Randy asked me to make some for him.

I came across a copy of Looney Spoons 1996 by Janet and Greta Podleski in my Dad's recipe books. My mom told me that I had given it to him and he used to make all kinds of recipes from it. I know that my Dad is who I get my passion for cooking from.

Today I made the Unrolled Cabbage Rolls from Looney Spoons for dinner - it was good - but I really love the originals rolled with ground beef and pork.

Day ATE - resent

One week done and a new week to plan for.

I am visiting my mom in northern Ontario. Its a bit of a job trying to explain - not only what I am attempting to accomplish - but also the concept of what a blog is to someone who is not on the internet.

Today I made Greek with Envy - a cheese tortellini salad - yummy. Mine was a wee bit spicy since I thought the jar of peppers in the fridge was roasted red peppers and they turned out to be hot pepper rings.

We still loved it.

Day Seven (resent)

One week and I weighed 3 pounds lighter! That would be 3 pounds of butter or lard for me to visualize.

Even more amazing than that was the "Dilly Beloved Chicken"!!!

Seriously - the best tasting chicken ever! Mike loved this and I can't stop thinking about it and when I can make it again.

Only 51 weeks remaining!

This was sent originally on Thursday on my blackberry to the blog. I thought I was so smart and could do this while I was away.

Day Six - Back to Life

What a difference a day makes! After a really crummy day at work - I met my two best friends, Margaret and Lori for a salad and a wine spritzer. Later we went to the show to see Julie/Julia. If you love to cook and eat - please go see this movie. Usually, I am so disappointed by the movies that are made from a really great book. Not this one! Meryl Streep was larger than life (literally) playing Julia Child.

It also made me think about my own motives for doing this. I really don't intend to write a book about this - or a movie and I really don't want to be famous. What this does for me is it keeps me committed and I have a constant reminder that I do intend to change my eating habits and add exercise - and add a lot of water.

I spend a lot of time in the car and I drive past a lot of fast food places every day. I also have little nagging urges everyday to go find a chocolate bar or chips - my comfort food.

The difference I have noticed is that by planning the menus and being prepared with really tasty food that is balanced, I can fight off the cravings. If fit and healthy came in a bottle - my shelves would be stocked!

Margaret reminded me that her husband Mickey says "with all the various diets, exercise programs, weightloss centres and nutrition books we have entertained - we must be the smartest fat people he knows!"

The food we ate from Eat Shrink and be Merry was Touched By An Angel - angel hair pasta with peppers, basil, garlic. It was like a healthier version of pesto. Mike did the preparing of the peppers while I went to the gym and I finished it off when I got home. I think I overdid the garlic though. It was yummy but the garlic has lived on long after the meal ended. Not a fault of the recipe - I am learning moderation! You wouldn't want to be on the treadmill beside me tomorrow!

Tomorrow I am leaving for the weekend up north so I had better get planning some easy meals to prepare. Actually I haven't come across any recipes in the book that would be difficult for anyone.

Day 7 tomorrow!! Whoo Hoo - 1 week almost complete - 51 to go!

Day 5 - Barely Alive

Lucky for me - I marinated the Jamaican Me Hungry Chicken before bed and woke up with a red hot sore throat! All day I fought an incredible headache and seriously painful throat.



Mike was good enough to cook the chicken for me and I did try it - but I'm going to make this one again when I have taste buds. Gone to bed at 6pm and ate some ColdFX - I don't know how and I don't really care how it works - but it does! This morning I got up with no headache and no cold symtoms - just a bit scratchy throat.



Needless to say, there was no trip to the gym yesterday - but I will get those 2 more hours of exercise in this week. Thanks for the support and I promise that tomorrow will be more interesting.

Day 4 - Getting Sore

Yes I finally did it - opened the ominous doors to the gym. No thunderbolts or lightning - not even a bell rang! As part of this one year committment to change my lifestyle - I did commit to 3 and a half hours per week. Okay I'll admit that it really isn't that much time out of my life and it will only provide a lot of benefit to my health. One hour done - 2 and a half to go!



I really hate sweating in front of people (and the gym is full of them), so l like to go early in the morning or mid afternoon. My plan is to

1. warm up for 5 mins on a treadmill or bike


2. then 30 minutes on the machines and


3. back to the treadmill or bike for 20 mins of cardio


4. 5 more minutes of stretching

I plan to work on upper body machines one day followed by lower the next and a combination on the third - followed by repeat, repeat, repeat until I get fit and love doing this (not there yet!)

I did my upper body exercises and really struggled with last few repititions. My motivation to fininsh was the Biggest Loser Show. All I had to do was think about those people with 8 hours of this a day and Gillian and Bob screaming at them.

Yes I am sore - but grateful that only the upper half of my body is aching. Tomorrow I will do the lower body and look forward to the total body ache! Hurts so good.

The nutrition part of this endeavour is my favourite part. Yesterday I made Hakuna Fritatta for breakfast and Loin King for dinner. The breakfast was amazing and it tasted so good that I really felt like I was cheating badly. The Loin King was a marinated pork roast that turned out amazing. We added salad, brocolli and corn on the cob. So good - I will do this one again!!

My husband Mike and I always joke about me roasting a pork loin on Sundays. Ususally it is during football season and he never makes it home in time to enjoy it - the last game airs at 8pm. Last night he said that he won't be missing any more pork roast Sundays if this is the menu!

Day 3 - Life Gets In the Way

The hardest thing about exercising is just getting started. Yesterday was the day I would begin to add the first trip to the gym. Well it just didn't happen! I had good intentions and meant to get there after the trip to the market and picking up groceries.



My neighbours came to see if I would look at a Bernese Mountain Dog - Sadie who wasn't doing very well. I am not a veterinarian, but I used to work for one and I did breed Goldens for 15 years. My love for animals got in my way of getting to the gym yesterday.



After Sadie was showing signs of improvement we were invited to a barbeque. I had visions of my diet and exercise committment going out the window. I considered staying home and instead, I prepared Chop Til You Drop salad with chicken and took it along.



The salad is unbelievable! It is yummy and has so much variety - I have put 5 stars beside this recipe in my book! Right now it is my favourite.



The day was not a complete bust on the exercise. We did walk to Sadie's twice and might call that 30 minutes of exercise. I have made sure to drink a minimum of 4 bottles of water and I did avoid the alcohol.



I am making the Loin King - pork roast for Sunday dinner. Last night I prepared the marinade and put it and the pork loin in a large bag to sit overnight.



The trip to the gym will be first thing in the morning - before life gets in the way!

Day One - Expect the Unexpected

My good intentions yesterday were almost destroyed by my husband - Mike's good intentions.



He told me we were going parachute jumping, bungee jumping or rock climbing for my birthday. I wasn't that thrilled - as they involved losing my bodily fluids. At least they included exercise!



I packed 4 bottles of water and a fibre one bar - just in case I was going to miss a meal.



We took a two hour drive to Barrie Ont and stopped at the Mandarin for lunch. I ate a good selection of chicken, shrimp, and veggies and avoided the deep fried chicken balls, egg rolls etc. The sushi there doesn't contain any raw fish. Imagine bungee jumping on a full stomach!



After lunch we drove to Midland where he took me to a Golden Retriever breeder to see my birthday present - a 4 wk old puppy! I get to bring it home Sept 19. He has been working on this surprise for months with my friends and the breeders. Needless to say - Mike now has a full set of Brownie points and I am truly over the moon. We have been dogless since December.



When we got home my neighbours and daughter Carolyn came over to see pictures and celebrate. This is where the sabotage comes in - Carolyn brought a box of tasy little pastries and the beer and wine were not in short supply.



I did indulge in a corner of a cannoli and one glass of wine. Then I quickly pull out my Eat Shrink and Be Merry. I found a recipe that contained a large amount of chicken breast and enough ingredients found in my kitchen that I could do on the barbeque and feed large group.



Chicken Teriwacky - I didn't have an orange - but I did have a lemon and I figured that I may not be so adventurous to bungee jump - but I think I am pretty good at improvising. Oh this went over huge - everyone loved this and I served it with kaisers for the rest of the group and plenty of fresh tomatoes - just off the vine!



Today is market day in Milton and I will attempt making a plan for the week and then shop for the recipes. My intentions are to plan a weeks worth of menus and then try to stick to them.



I plan on going to the gym and starting slowly getting back into shape! I also shared my news about this blog with my husband and daughters and they are very supportive.

Okay - so I'm jumping in with both feet. A one year committment to get healthier. This began with reading Eat, Shrink & Be Merry by Janet and Greta Podleski and Julie/Julia by Julie Powell.

This blog will provide the accountability I need to stick to the changes I am making - specifically - 3.5 hrs of exercize a week and eating healthy foods. I intend to eat my way through the book - Eat, Shrink and Be Merry by preparing and eating at least one recipe per day. I loved this book and read the book cover to cover in two days. It was purchased for a gift and I could not part with it. The recipes are both healthy and tasty. The articles are interesting and useful - but also motivating and funny.

Yesterday was my birthday and I am giving this project to myself for the next year. Today - I weighed in at 2 pounds more than I was when I was last pregnant in 1985 - 173.

Today I am going to start with 30 minutes of yoga, a breakfast of yogurt and cottage cheese with blueberries and then prepare Chop Til You Drop - oriental chicken salad with peanut dressing.

My husband, Mike has a surprise for me today (I hope it is a puppy!) and I will try my best to avoid birthday cake, chocolate bars, potato chips -ooh my favourite and chicken wings.

Last night I went to the local pub with the neighbors for wings and beer as my last hurrah - and we had a tornado rip through the city - knocking down trees and tearing off roofs! An omen?

Today I will plan to pack lots of water, snacks and good intentions for the first day of Eat, Shrink & Be Merry Project. Wish me luck!