Spring Shape Up Day Five

Day five and the real test begins.... the weekend is here. And this weekend is especially special :) Thomas has two birthday parties to go to and Sunday is Cub Scout bowling night and Mike's Birthday.... and that's just the beginning. We will have a cheat day Sunday for Mike's Birthday, I'm not that mean. But I will also keep track of what we do eat so we know exactly how many calories we consume on a cheat day. I don't really want to know, but it will put things in perspective.

I'm really slacking on the menus and we're changing a lot as we go. It's just so hard for us to plan. That tomato and Broccoli Mac n Cheese has been on the menu a couple times and I have yet to make it. Life just happens I guess, but we've been doing well calorie wise. Mike has lost 5lbs. during the last five days! I've lost 1lb. but I'm not expecting to lose much weight here, just clean up our eating and give my body a chance to catch up and recover.

Since exercise is a big part of the Spring Shape Up too I figure I should start recording our progress there as well....

Mike's 1,800 Calorie Menu Plan

Breakfast

2 oatmeal muffins - 260c, 6f
2 Mandarin oranges - 90 c, 4f
350 calories, 10 grams fiber

AM snack

2 kiwi - 84c, 4f
1/2 cup broccoli - 27c, 3f
1 carrot - 21c, 1f
1/4 cup hummus - 60c, 1f
192 calories, 9 grams fiber

Lunch

Pesto Chicken Salad Wrap - 278c, 13f
2 Mandarin oranges - 90c, 4f
368 calories, 17 grams fiber

PM Snack

2 cups Fruit salad
284 calories, 10 grams fiber


Dinner

2 servings Vegetable/Pasta Bake - 644 calories, 10 grams fiber
642 calories, 10 grams fiber

Total = 1,836 calories, 56 grams fiber


Elizabeth's 1,500 Calorie Menu

Breakfast

2 Oatmeal muffins
260 calories, 6 grams fiber

*Workout burned 150 calories

AM Snack

1 cup fruit salad
142 calories, 5grams fiber

Lunch

Pesto Chicken Salad Wrap
278 calories, 13 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

1 cup Fruit salad
142 calories, 5 grams fiber

Dinner

1 serving Vegetable/Pasta Bake - 322 calories, 5 grams fiber
1 Pear - 98 calories, 5 grams fiber
420 calories, 10 grams fiber

Totoal = 1,242 calories, 39 grams fiber

We Have Peas!

I'm writing this post as part of the Grow. Cook. Eat. event being organized by Katie at Goodlifeeats.com.

I'm so excited to be starting my very first vegetable garden this year! Sure we've grow tomatoes in a pot, but that's about as far as I've gotten. This year I have the yard to make a big garden, 20' x 60'. The area has been used as a compost pile for yard debris for more than 20 years, it is very rich soil.

I made a garden plan and changed it about a hundred times :) We tilled up the dirt and marked off the beds. A month or so ago I planted blueberries, strawberries, potatoes and bush peas. I was worried for awhile that nothing was coming up, we had a light snow once right after planting (not normal for here) so I thought I may have to re-seed.

Then on a nice sunny day I went and started to weed the strawberries first and figured I'd weed the potato/peas bed before re-seeding. You know those little "helicopter" seeds, from an Oak Tree I think, well they are obnoxious! They grow ALL over my garden area about an inch apart. As I weed more they are coming back less, but still.... obnoxious. Anyway, I couldn't figure out why the berries were doing so well, but not a single pea or potato plant had sprouted. As I started weeding I saw one, and then two, and then more little sprouts that weren't weeds.... they were peas!

A couple days ago I went out to weed again, I'm really starting to enjoy it. I love having something to do that is mine and gives me some quiet thinking time working with the Earth while the boys dig for worms and play with sticks.

The three blueberry plants are doing well, I'm especially excited about the new variety, Pink Lemonade Blueberries. I bet Katie over at Good Life Eats could do something great with some Pink Lemonade Blueberries :) We won't be getting berries from it this year because it's a first year plant, but the other two we got are older so we will get harvest from them. Michael (3) asks me every day if we have Blueberries yet, he Loves them!

We have two Strawberry varieties, one of which are the "Hoods" that are so famous around Oregon, the other an everbearing variety that will hopefully provide some strawberries this year. One thing I learned while planning my garden is that many plants don't produce the first year, especially the fruit plants. We won't be here next year so I wanted things we can eat this year, but that left a lot of my favorite fruits out :( Our 25 Strawberry plants are growing every day!

Two of the Purple Potato plants have broken their mounds and have the most beautiful purple leaves! I am still waiting on the rest of the Purple Potatoes and the Yukon Gold, we have six mounds of each. I have a weird thing about purple vegetables.... we will be growing a lot of purple vegetables this year. I once got the kids to eat a whole head of Cauliflower raw because it was purple.

I am thrilled to report that well over 30 pea plants have started growing! I have them spaced around the potato mounds and after making sure they were all spaced correctly I wound up with the middle of that bed feeling kind of empty. We love Spinach here so I planted some spinach in the middle of the bed!

Next I planted the carrots in another bed, the peppers will be keeping them company in May. The Spinach, Romaine and Flame Leaf Lettuce were all planted together in one bed, about 28 plants each.

This may seem like a lot of plants, but we feed a lot of people and dogs! We will be freezing what we don't eat right away for winter months and for dog food. Making the dog food uses about 5lbs. of vegetables every three days (for all three dogs), costing us about $50 a month for just the vegetables.

I still have plenty of vegetables waiting to be planted and I am so excited!

A quick note about starting from seed: I tried starting some plants indoors from seed. The tomatoes and peppers are doing well, but the cauliflower and broccoli didn't make it. Next year I will be buying starts of those.

Sausage & Egg Breakfast Burrito

This Breakfast Burrito paired with some fruit will get your day started off right with plenty of protein and fiber, and the fact that it's pretty tasty doesn't hurt either :)

The key to our high fiber wraps are the tortillas. These are a new find for us and so far I've only seen them at Costco. Each whole wheat tortilla is only 80 calories and packs 12 grams of fiber! That's nearly half of your recommended daily fiber intake. And unlike many other whole wheat tortillas we've tried these taste good! They remind me of a crepe.

Each Burrito contains:

1 tortilla
2 eggs (scrambled or fried)
1 Morning Star veggie sausage
1 Tablespoon salsa

*I also like to add 1/2 cup of spinach

Directions:

Scramble or fry your eggs and heat your sausage, cutting into small pieces as it cooks.

Lay the eggs in the middle of the tortilla, top with sausage and then salsa. Wrap it up and serve with your favorite fruit!

Spring Shape Up Day Four

Well I have to say that it's been a little difficult, like missing our Wednesday trip to Starbucks :( But it hasn't been THAT bad and Mike has even lost a few pounds already. Planning the menus and calculating nutrients is time consuming, but I'll really enjoy having this information on hand and I hope you do to. The more planning I do, the easier it is to substitute snacks or meals for something else. One of the reasons I am terrible at making and keeping a menu plan is because sometimes I don't know what we want until that day. It's like picking out your outfit for every day of the week on Sundays..... that shirt might not be "the shirt" on Thursday, ya know? :)

Mike's 1,800 Calorie Menu

Breakfast

1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup Original Fiber One cereal
1/4 cup Grape Nuts cereal
345 calories, 24 grams fiber

AM Snack

3 Mandarin oranges
1 carrot w/ 1/4 cup hummus
280 calories, 9 grams fiber

Lunch

3 cups Chicken Fajita Salad
372calories, 9 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

1 apple
4 cups popcorn
174 calories, 10 grams fiber
*changed apple for oatmeal muffin = 250 calories

Dinner

Tomato & Broccoli Mac n Cheese
371 calories, 4 grams fiber
**A late night so we ended up having 3 spinach cakes w/ salsa & 2 mandarin oranges = 360 calories, 4 grams fiber (at least)

Total = 1,542 calories, 56 grams fiber
Actual = 1,607 calories, 56 grams calories

Elizabeth's 1,500 Calorie Menu Plan

Breakfast

1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal &
1/2 cup Original Fiber One cereal with
1/2 cup soy milk
1/3 cup dried cranberries
355 calories, 21 grams fiber

AM Snack

2 Mandarin oranges
1 carrot w/ 1/4 cup hummus
235 calories, 7 grams fiber

Lunch

2 cups Chicken Fajita Salad
248calories, 6 grams fiber
*had 1 cup salad and a banana instead = 229 calories, 6 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

1 apple
4 cups popcorn
174 calories, 10 grams fiber
* subbed 2 oatmeal muffins & dried mangos = 420 calories, 7 grams fiber <-- I was really craving something sweet! Dinner

Tomato & Broccoli Mac n Cheese
371 calories, 4 grams fiber
**A late night so we ended up having 2 spinach cakes w/ salsa & 2 mandarin oranges = 280 calories, 4 grams fiber (at least)

Total = 1,383 calories, 48 grams fiber
Actual = 1,519 calories, 45 grams fiber

Spring Shape Up Day Three

Today is Mike's day off so we get a hot breakfast, yay! We'll take advantage of some leftovers for lunch and make one of our favorite salads for dinner. Mike gets the credit for this salad which he made for me when we tried out the Atkins diet (which worked wonders, but they didn't last at all). Tossing the small amount of dressing with the whole salad rather than drizzling some on each individual plate leaves you with (surprisingly) plenty of dressing.

Keep in mind with these menus that I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. This is what we are eating, it may not be right for you. While I am doing my best to calculate accurate calories and grams of fiber I may not be exact; The smoothies for example change every day, but they are almost always under 200 calories and contain at least 3 grams of fiber. I also end up under rather than over calories. I do this so that if we feel like we want an evening snack or extra snack during the day, we have room to do so while still staying under our calorie budget.

Mike's 1,800 calorie menu

Breakfast

Breakfast wrap
2 mandarin oranges
426 calories, 16 grams fiber

A.M. Snack

1/2 cup yogurt
1 apple
214 calories, 3 grams fiber

Lunch

2 cups leftover chili
370 calories, 13 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

Smoothie
carrot & 1/2 cup hummus
350 calories, 6 grams fiber
*We were out and about and actually skipped our afternoon snack, oops! Left us really hungry come dinner.

Dinner

4 cups Fajita Chicken Salad
496 calories, 12 grams fiber

Total = 1,856 calories, 50 grams fiber
Actual = 1,506 calories, 44 grams fiber

Elizabeth's 1,500 calorie menu

Breakfast

Breakfast wrap
2 mandarin oranges
350 calories, 16 grams fiber

A.M. Snack

1/2 cup yogurt
1 apple
214 calories, 3 grams fiber

Lunch

2 cups leftover chili
370 calories, 13 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

carrot & 1/2 cup hummus
150 calories, 3 grams fiber
*no snack

Dinner

2 cups Fajita Chicken Salad
248 calories, 6 grams fiber

Total= 1,332 calories, 41 grams fiber
Actual = 1,182 calories, 38 grams fiber

Another Green Smoothie :)

I just made this and Mike said it's one of the best I've made so far. We make smoothies a lot so I figured I should remember what I put in this one to receive such a compliment :)

2 small mangoes, chopped
2 small bananas
1 apple
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup carrot juice
1 cup grape juice
*ice if none of your fruit is frozen, I used frozen apple slices.

Blend until smooth, add water to achieve desired consistency.

Spring Shape Up Day Two

We're both finding it difficult to eat our daily calories, it's a lot of food! <- Silly me I wrote that yesterday. It was a lot of food and we were not hungry until the afternoon. The smoothie hit the spot, but come dinner time I realized when it is we consume all of our calories. We both would've gone back for seconds, but we didn't. Even when you think you're eating healthy , keeping a food log really puts things in perspective. We are also making sure to drink lots of water every day! You may have noticed that we pack a lot of calories into the afternoon snack. This is the time of day we tend to be the most hungry and tired so having a snack planned out that will fill us up is really helpful. Smoothies are great nutrient dense snacks, and while they are a great snack on their own, if you pair it with food you can actually chew (like carrots and hummus) you won't feel like you're missing out on eating anything. Mike's 1,800 Calorie Menu


Breakfast

2 oatmeal muffins
2 mandarin oranges
350 calories, 7 grams fiber


AM Snack

Freeze dried fruit <- we buy these at Costco, no added sugar and very good :) 2 cups popcorn 110 calories, 6 grams fiber
*he exchanged the popcorn for another muffin adding about 10 calories... they are good muffins. = 120 calories, 6 grams fiber

Lunch

2 Spinach Wraps
1 Apple
351 calories, 33 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

Smoothie
1 carrot & 1/2 cup hummus
350 calories, 6 grams fiber
*subbed a hard boiled egg for the carrots and hummus = 274 calories, 3 grams fiber


Dinner

2 cups Turkey chili
370 calories, 13 grams fiber


1,531 calories, 65 grams fiber (holy fiber!)
This is well under his 1,800 calories, so if he's still hungry he can grab a snack up to 269 calories.
1,465 calories

Elizabeth's 1,500 calorie menu


Breakfast

2 oatmeal muffins
2 mandarin oranges
350 calories, 10 grams fiber

AM Snack

Freeze dried fruit
20 pretzels
150 calories, 3 grams fiber
*changed for 1 hard boiled egg and 2 mandarin oranges = 164 calories, 4 grams fiber

Lunch

1 Spinach Wrap
Banana
253 calories, 18 grams fiber
*changed banana to 2 mandarin oranges (we have a big box of perfectly ripe ones and they are soooo good!) = 238 calories, 19 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

Smoothie
200 calories, 3 grams fiber
exchanged 1/2 cup yogurt and 1 apple = 134 calories, 3 grams fiber

Dinner

2 cups Turkey chili
370 calories, 13 grams fiber

Total = 1,323 calories, 47 grams fiber
1,256 calories

"Spring Shape Up" Menu Plan Day One

No eating out, no cookies or ice cream, but plenty of good food! Mike's goal is to lose around 30lbs. and my goal is to tone up. While we will be limiting fats and sugars our main focus will be on aiming for 30-40 grams of fiber per day and not exceeding our daily calories. Exercise is a main part of the plan, but I'll spare you those details :)

Mike's daily calories are limited to 1,800 and mine to 1,500. The day is broken down into 3 meals and two snacks. Each menu is tailored to our individual tastes and eating habits.


Mike's 1,800 calorie Monday Menu

Breakfast

1 cup Honey Greek yogurt with 1/4 cup Grape-nuts cereal and 1/2 cup Fiber cereal.
1 banana
425 calories, 24 grams fiber
*He only ate half of his yogurt/cereal = 265 calories, 11 grams fiber

AM Snack

2 Hard boiled eggs
148 calories, 0 grams fiber

Lunch

Pesto Chicken Salad Wrap
1 apple
331 calories, 16 grams fiber
*saved the apple and ate it with dinner.

Afternoon Snack

1/2 cup dried fruit/nut mix
Fruit smoothie
480 calories, 5 grams fiber
*Traded 2 cups popcorn for the dried fruit = 260 calories, 6 grams fiber

Dinner

Tomato & Broccoli Mac n Cheese
371 calories, 4 grams fiber
*Realized I didn't have the tomato soup and made Quesadilla Casserole instead = 297 calories, not sure how much fiber, but at least the 4 grams.

Total = 1,755 calories, 49 grams fiber
Actual total = 1,301 <-- Oh, THAT'S why we were hungry... oops.

My 1,500 calorie menu plan

Breakfast

1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal & 1/2 cup Original Fiber One cereal with 1/2 cup soy milk
1/3 cup dried cranberries
355 calories, 21 grams fiber

AM Snack

Banana
Hard boiled egg
179 calories, 3 grams fiber

Lunch

Pesto Chicken salad wrap
278 calories, 13 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

Fruit/Veggie Smoothie
200 calories, 3 grams fiber

Dinner

Tomato & Broccoli Mac n Cheese
371 calories, 4 grams fiber
*Realized I didn't have the tomato soup and made Quesadilla Casserole instead = 297 calories, not sure how much fiber, but at least the 4 grams.


Total = 1,393 calories, 44 grams fiber
*actual = 1,319 calories

This is actually a ton of food, we did a test run day to make sure we weren't starving ourselves. Keeping the fiber level high helps keep us full. While putting the menu together and calculating all the numbers is kind of a pain I think the more detailed our plan the easier it will be to stick to. And by having a week or two's worth of meals that we can eat, we can always substitute if we feel like something else.