Establishing The Rules

My Daily Routine:

So you don’t have to bother seeing this listed every day, my daily routine will be the following:

My alarm clock – Aaron – will wake me at 6:15am so I can walk in place 1 mile. This takes 15 minutes. I will then be rewarded with a cup of coffee (no cream or sugar) as I watch a little news with my Honey before I hop in the shower. I eventually will increase the mileage.

I eat the same thing for breakfast each morning. A creature of habit, I guess. 1 fat free yogurt and 1 hard boiled egg. My dietician has suggested I throw away the yolk 3 times per week to reduce my high cholesterol. I’ve also decided to get rid of my salt shaker.

Since I have Type II Diabetes, I eat a morning and afternoon snack. Usually a high fiber and protein breakfast bar, unsalted nuts or an instant oatmeal packet in the morning and always a piece of fruit in the afternoon.

Lunches usually consist of a brand name frozen boxed light meal with lean protein, vegetables and a healthy carbohydrate. Or, I will make a sandwich on whole grain bread with lean meat, lettuce, tomato and a ¼ of an avocado. Sometimes we eat left-overs from dinner the night before.

Dinner is where I like to experiment so you will be reading about my attempts at cooking gourmet light meals.

My Food Plan:

I’m currently researching the benefits of a Mediterranean diet – using herbs and spices to flavor foods (instead of salt), olive or canola oil, avocado, unsalted nuts, fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry, low fat cheese and yogurt, a small amount of red meat and red wine, whole grains and pasta. I’m trying to incorporate more of these foods into our diet.

I plan to eat a total of 1400 calories a day with a small allowance of a little more on Saturdays.

My Exercise Plan:

Monday through Friday mornings, walk in place 1 mile, Monday and Wednesday evenings Yoga and stretching for 30 minutes. Tuesdays and Thursdays walking for 15 minutes on my lunch hour at work. Saturdays and Sundays walk 2 miles.

My Weigh-In Plan:

Each Friday morning, I'll step on the scale and report my weight loss.
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My Motivation for Today:

Today I bought myself a pair of new shoes. You just can’t find a good pair of blue shoes but I was successful. The motivation for my new shoes is reminding myself that I need to continue taking steps toward my goal. I also bought a new lipstick. When I circle my lips with the new color and look in the mirror each morning, I will remind myself that I need to put only healthy foods into my mouth. I thought I would take it a step futher and try to be conscious of what I am saying as well - striving to be more constructive and complimentary.

Tonight's Dinner:

Since I love cooking and writing about food, I'd like to elaborate on our dinners. Tonight I made Filet Mignon and trimmed all the fat off. I sprinkled garlic powder and crushed black pepper over each filet and pan seared them on a hot cast iron pan (no oil or butter or salt). Once browned on each side I finished them in the oven for a few minutes to let the juices run. I toasted 1/2 whole grain English muffin with a thin slice of low-fat cheese and placed 1 filet on top for Aaron and one for me. I also sauteed in olive oil some sea scallops (7 each) and sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese over them with a red and black pepper mix. As a side dish I served canned peas with a can of mushroom pieces tossed with lemon pepper. Aaron had a Vodka and sugar free lemonade drink and I had 5 ounces of red wine.

Food For Thought:

For the past 2 mornings I have been walking in place along with my DVD. Our living room is right above my mother-in-law's bedroom. (She lives in the basement). I am trying to do it very quietly so I don't wake her so early. Tonight she came upstairs to see how everything was going with the new plan and I asked her if my exercising was bothering her. She let out a huge laugh and said, "I thought you guys were having sex!" My husband, Aaron, said, "At 6:15 in the morning?" She replied, "Your father was ready to go anytime, I thought maybe you took after him!"

Ok, so I guess we're all going to have to get used to my new journey! Wednesday night, now time for Yoga...

(8:22pm)