Don't think I've gone over to the dark side, but it is time to get back on the straight and narrow when it comes to weight loss. When I left my job to come home, my doctor was the first to expect the best from this. My yearly appointment with her in September included her wish list for me for the coming year; healthy eating, regular exercise, and at least a little weight loss. She would like 12 lbs in a year. While she's happy with my lab results and lack of weight gain every year, she knows the risk excess weight holds for me as a person with Hypothyroidism. I am more susceptible to Diabetes among other things. For that reason she has always encouraged me to lose at least a little weight but has never done it in a pushy or mean way. Can you tell I really like my doctor? Anyway,couple that reason for healthier eating with the rest of my family wanting to get on the band wagon and we have a go.
While not a lot will change grocery buying wise, there are certain things I am going to opt to buy rather than make. Yes it will cost me a little more in some cases, but time for me becomes a factor. If I am to include a 45 min workout each day, I want to save that time somewhere else. Granola and Wheat bread are two things I will still make. Granola bars, Yogurt, and cookies are things I don't plan on making. Granola bars and yogurt take time to make and plus my sons prefer the cartons they can grab. They don't like having to sweeten or flavor their own yogurt. Whatever I can do to encourage them I will do. Cookies are too much of a temptation. At least homemade ones are. The dough is another stumbling block. I LOVE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH! Other things going on my "buy don't make" list are Hamburger buns, Bagels, and English muffins. Mainly because of time, but also, I can get the Natures Own Bagels, English Muffins, and Hamburger buns for fewer calories than my homemade counterparts, and they still don't have a lot of crazy stuff added. Plus I can get them at the Bread store cheap(Yay!).
With overall price increases in groceries these days, and the fact that I am still on a budget: I need to get all the bang for my buck I can. For that reason I've started looking closely at the nutritional information of the protein sources I use. I've discovered that boneless pork loin is a power house of protein compared to eggs, or even ground turkey. If I purchase boneless pork loin when on sale and have some of it ground for me, I can then use the ground pork for my breakfast sausage recipe. The pork loin is a little more per serving than eggs, but, my son can eat it for breakfast (he's allergic to eggs), little to no waste left in the pan, and about 2 times the protein as eggs. This means it will stay with us longer, and the calories are about the same as eggs. I look for boneless pork lion for $1.99 lb or less. I had been buying the 1 lb bullet packs of Ground Turkey at Aldi. It's 85% lean. I compared it to the 93% lean ground Turkey I can get at Sams and realized I have a lot of waste left in the pan in the form of fat that we neither want or need. So I'm going to start using only the 93% lean at Sams. I will actually be saving 9 cents a lb.
I still intend for any weight loss I achieve to be with normal food. There will be no "Fisher Price Foods" as my mom says. No artificially fat free, sugar free items will be on my list. Well with the exception of a stray Diet Dr Pepper. I do love those. Don't drink them often mainly cause I can't afford them all the time. We also like our Kool aid, but we mix it with 3/4 cup Stevia and 1/4 cup sugar.
So here we go. Back on the straight and narrow. We'll take it one day at a time. I will succeed and I will fail from day to day, but the important thing is to keep going. So what about you? Any Resolutions or changes coming your way?
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