Convenient, Versatile, Delicious Recipes Make the Journey More Enjoyable

In one of my previous blog entries, “Tips and Tricks,” I mentioned that it is good idea to find some “go to” recipes.  Even better, find some easy to make recipes that you can make in large quantities and then use in different ways.  Not too long ago, a friend asked me if I could use one of my blog entries to demonstrate how to use one healthy recipe in many different ways – here it goes.

I recognize that everyone has different tastes.  In some ways I am lucky because there are less than a handful of foods that I don’t like.  This makes cooking and eating much easier.  While today’s entry will focus on using black beans in many different ways, you can use this same logic with lots of different foods/recipes.  All it takes is a little imagination and some initiative.

Citrus Black Beans are one of my favorite foods.  They are easy to make, flavorful, filling, versatile and good for you.  I usually triple or quadruple the recipe.  Not only can I get multiple uses out this recipe during the week, but they also freeze quite well.  Once you have a big pot of beans, here are a few suggestions for what to do with them:

·         Beans and Rice – Pour a scoop of beans over a serving of whole grain rice and you have a nice snack, a super lunch or a wonderful side to a lean protein at dinner. 

·         Burritos – Take a whole grain wrap and fill it with lettuce, tomato, onion and beans for a wonderful lunch; eat two or three and you have a dinner entree.  And don’t forget some nutritious extras like your favorite homemade salsa or guacamole, and/or a little Greek yogurt.   

·         Soup – This recipe creates a wonderful broth (feel free to substitute canned black beans and cook them in chicken broth).  Sometimes I drain the broth, and then thin a little bit of Greek yogurt with some skim milk and add it to the broth; it provides a creamy texture and a nice slightly tart flavor.  Bring the broth to a simmer and add some fresh cilantro for a garnish.   This makes a great bowl of soup! 

·         Chili – Take the beans recipe and add your protein of choice – turkey, chicken or lean beef.  Don’t forget the toppings – some hot sauce, chopped onions, and a dollop of Greek yogurt make for a hearty bowl of chili. 

·         Burgers - Yes, I said it. These beans can be used to make fantastic burgers as well.  Eaten alone or on a nice whole grain bun with all the extras (e.g., lettuce, tomato, onion and your favorite condiments) and you have a very satisfying lunch or dinner.

Find a healthy recipe that is versatile.  Use it in lots of creative ways.  This not only makes for easy preparation, but it leads to tasty, nutritious and guilt free meals.  Try this approach with one of your favorite recipes and don’t be shy about sharing your results with the rest of us!

 

When Life Happens Don't Forget the Basics!!!

Like it or not, for most us, there will be times in our life when our commitment to proper eating and exercise wanes.  You may be surprised to learn that after two years of serious dedication to daily exercise I have not run or walked in almost two months.  Why?

There is no simple answer.  After completing my first half marathon I suffered a bit of letdown.  I was sore, tired and burned out.  I ran sporadically throughout July, but then the August heat arrived.  While I strongly prefer to run outside, the heat and I do not get along.  I took August off.  And to top it all off I accepted a new position at work.  The new position has drastically changed my daily schedule and totally thrown my exercise schedule into disarray.  These things have all contributed to my lengthy break from exercise.

During these last couple of months I have gained about nine pounds.  A couple years ago this would have devastated me.  I would have beat myself up over it and gone into a funk.  But as I have said before, losing weight is not so mysterious; and that is empowering.  I need to eat regularly –  three meals and three small protein snacks a day, eat primarily whole foods with an emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables, watch portion sizes, drink plenty of water and exercise regularly.  Failure to do these things consistently will almost certainly lead to some weight gain.

In recent weeks my diet has not been poor, but I have also not been as disciplined as I need to be.  Also, as I mentioned, I have not been exercising recently.  Given these two things it is no surprise that I have gained some weight.

Still, there is lots of good news.  First, in the larger scheme of things gaining nine pounds is not such a big deal; at one point I lost over 105 pounds.  I am confident that I can lose nine pounds.  Second, I have identified my two biggest problem areas.  And third, I know exactly how to fix these things.

It is time to go back to the basics!  Starting today, I am going back to my basic weight loss philosophy –purposeful, incremental change.  First, I am going to start keeping my daily food journal again.  Also, I am recommitting myself to exercise.  My initial goal will be to run three miles three days per week.  These are thoughtful, substantive, important and achievable goals.  A commitment to these things will help me re-establish the three years of good habits I had developed.  This will provide an excellent foundation for weight loss and improved fitness.

Gaining nine pounds is not a failure and it not something to be ashamed of.  At worst, it is a minor setback.  At best, it is an opportunity for success.  After all, I know exactly what it takes to lose weight successfully.  I have already done it.  My approach worked before and it will work again provided I am willing to make my health and fitness a priority again.

When life happens and you struggle with your weight, don’t panic – get back to the basics!  Examine your lifestyle.  Identify your most serious issues.  Set a couple of small but achievable goals designed to address your problems.  Take your time, stay committed, redevelop good habits, and build on your successes by slowly adding new goals over the coming weeks.  I plan to do all of these things and I will keep you posted on my latest journey.

Slow and Steady Can Win the Race

People frequently ask me, “What is the most important weight loss tip you can give me?”  That is virtually an impossible question to answer.  Losing weight and being healthier involves so many things:  diet, nutrition, calories, exercise, hydration, etc.  Everything you do works together to promote health and weight loss.  It is hard to pick just one thing.

But there is one thing I have learned that applies to virtually every aspect of weight loss – don’t rush it!  Use common sense, be methodical about your decision making and take your time.  To lose a lot of weight effectively, and in a healthy way, you are going to need to make a lot of changes in your life.  There is no reason to make all of these changes at once.  In fact, making too many changes too quickly will likely lead to unhappiness and ultimately failure.

I made lots of small changes over a long period of time.  Here some examples:

·         Soda - The first step on my weight loss journey was to give up Coca Cola.  After about three months without drinking soda, I felt confident that I could make another change.  Next, I gave up all drinks with sugar in them (e.g., Gatorade and iced tea among other things).  Three months later, about six month in all, I was ready to add more water to my diet – actually in my case it was Crystal Light Pure not plain water. At first I made sure to drink at least 16 ounces of water a day.  After successfully doing that for a couple of weeks I starting drinking 32 ounces of water a day.   Eventually, I was drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day! 

·         Eating More Often – Like many obese people, I skipped meals.  I rarely ate breakfast and more often than not I did not eat lunch.  This meant that dinner was frequently my first meal of the day; accordingly I almost always overate.  A huge meal was often followed by something sweet, then a snack and then maybe some leftovers before bed.  And I did all of this eating at the end of the day when I was relaxing and least likely to burn any significant calories.  I changed all this by deciding to eat three meals every day.  At first, I didn’t pay attention to what I ate – only that I was eating three times per day.  After a couple months of success I started adding snacks.  I eventually ate three meals and three small snacks (about 100 calories each per day).  My snacks were usually high in protein since they are more filling – a couple ounces of ham/chicken/turkey, a piece of part skim string cheese, yogurt or some nuts.  After six months or so I was eating three meals and three snacks every day.  Once that became a habit, I started to slowly make changes to what I was eating at every meal – e.g., whole grains, more fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, calories counting, etc.   

·         Exercise – For most of life I never exercised at all.  I started exercising by walking my dog Sammy.  At first it was ten minutes a few times a week.  Slowly, our walks got longer.  Over many months I transitioned to six forty-five minute walks a week with Sammy.  Once I established walking as a habit, I started to focus on walking faster – then further.  Eventually, I was able to walk four miles in 56 minutes.  At that point I realized that if I could learn to run, I could spend the same amount of time exercising but go much further and burn more calories.  So that is what I decided to do.  At first I would walk seven minutes, jog one minute and then walk seven minutes.  After a couple of weeks, I would walk six minutes, jog a minute and then walk six minutes.  Over many months, I slowly was able to run an entire mile, then two miles then three – and eventually I ran a half marathon.  It took me almost two years to move from no exercise to a half marathon, but I did – the slow and steady way.

All of these slow incremental changes allowed me to lose about fifty pounds during the first two years of my journey.  By the third year, all of these changes came together.  I was eating a healthy diet, hydrating regularly and exercising a lot.  I lost the last fifty pounds in six months. 

Making lifestyle changes is not easy and it does not happen overnight.  It is important to make small changes and establish good habits slowly. In the end you will improve your health, protect yourself against injury and most importantly you will lose the weight that you want to lose and hopefully enjoy your experience.

I am living proof.  Sometimes, slow and steady really does win the race! 

As Much Time As It Takes

Throughout my weight loss journey people have asked me a lot of different questions.  Perhaps the most common question is, “How long did it take you to lose all that weight?”  When I tell them that it took me the better part of three years to lose one hundred pounds people often respond by saying, “That is a long time.” 

Over the years I have come to learn that like it or not, losing weight takes a considerable amount of time.  And the time that is needed takes many forms:

·         Healthy, Effective Weight Loss Should Be a Slow and Steady Process – Generally speaking, depending on your size, it is not recommended that people lose weight rapidly.  FITDAY discusses six advantages of slow weight loss.

·         Shopping, Preparing and Cooking Your Own Food – It is very challenging to eat at restaurants a lot and lose weight.  While many restaurants offer some healthy menu options these days, the selection is often limited.  Even worse, it is almost impossible to know what is in restaurant food.  More often than not, restaurant foods contain preservatives, lots of sodium and lots of other things that do not support a healthy lifestyle.  If you do your own shopping and your own cooking, you and you alone control the quality, nutritional value and portion size of your food.  You will also probably need to spend time researching healthy recipes for meals and snacks.  All of this takes time, but it is time well spent. 

·         Journaling – One of my previous blog entries highlighted the importance of journaling.  WebMD summarizes a study that found people who keep a daily food journal lose twice as much weight as people who do not keep regular food journals.  Yes, it takes time.  But again, it is time well spent.

 

·         Exercise – A regular, well-rounded exercise routine will speed up your metabolism, build muscle, increase fitness, burn calories, help support weight loss, give you energy and generally make you feel good.  My workout routine was 50-60 minutes a day six days per week during my peak weight loss.  This is a lot of time, but in the end it was worth it!

I understand that most people are very busy.  Free time is a luxury.   But if you are serious about losing weight, especially a lot of weight, then you will need to find the time.  The time you dedicate to weight loss is an investment, not a cost. 

My mother used to say, “Son, people have a way of finding the time to do the things that they truly want to do.”  No matter how much time it takes, if you really want it, your health is worth the time investment and you will find the time.

 

Sometimes A Little Selfishness Can Be Healthy

Like most things in life success requires strong desire and a sense of purpose.  You must prepare yourself to succeed.  It was well over thirty years before I was “ready” to lose weight, get more fit and lead a healthier lifestyle.  But once I was ready, the determination, focus and discipline necessary to succeed came more easily than expected.  As it turns out, to a large extent, habits are habits.  Once established, healthy habits are not that much more difficult to maintain than unhealthy habits.  The more good habits I developed, the more disciplined and more successful I became.

And while I was surprised by my rapid progress, I was also surprised by the guilt I sometimes experienced.  My initial transformation from a sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle to a more active and healthy lifestyle required a substantial degree of selfishness.  During the late stages of my weight loss - summer 2012, the last forty-five pounds or so, I put myself and my commitment to weight loss before everything and everyone else in my life – including my family.  Since I did the cooking, my family ate what I ate.  I asked my wife and children not to keep certain foods around the house.  If we went out to eat, it had to be somewhere where I could eat a healthy meal.  No matter where we were or what we were doing, even on vacation, my diet and exercise were priorities.  At one point, I jokingly referred to summer 2012 as, “the summer of Bill.”

At times, I struggled with my selfishness. I knew that I was being selfish.  I worried about it.  I felt bad about it.  Sometimes my selfishness even made me feel bad about myself.  After all, selfishness is ordinarily not considered a virtue.  But in the short term, for me at least, I sincerely believe that a certain degree of selfishness was a key to my success.  And in the long run, that selfishness gave me the freedom to do what I needed to do to be successful.  It allowed me to lose weight, get active and become healthier.  But I was not the only person who gained something from my selfishness.  My family gained a happier, healthier husband and father; a person who has the energy and desire to fully participate in everyone’s life – hopefully for a very long time to come.

If you want to truly be there for your friends and family, you first need to be there for yourself.  Sometimes, a little selfishness can go a long way toward a healthier you!