I'm Back!

 

My new favorite "lazy dinner." I've included the "recipe" below!

June 29, 2023

I'm back!

It has been way too long. So let's catch you up!

My health journey had been at a standstill since Easter. I fell, and I kept stumbling with the same two pounds. Up one week, and down the next. Over. And over. And over.

Fast forward to June. 

On our way home from a family trip, we stopped at an old fashioned candy store. I bought to my heart's content and came home with a huge bag of candy that I ate over the next week and a half. 

Suddenly, I notice that my joints (especially my knees) are incredibly sore and stiff, my brain fog was back, and I wasn't sleeping. I knew then that I had to cut the sugar again and get back to my healthy, anti-inflammatory habits. 

Also, about that time, I discovered an app called Yuka. Now, my whole family has it downloaded. It is an amazing resource to help you on your journey. And if you need any further motivation to start, all you need to do is scan your favorite health and beauty item or packaged food, and I guarantee you will start making changes. I don't buy anything at the store now without scanning it first, and there are a lot of changes I have made! The app will even give suggestions at the bottom of each review for products that are healthier alternatives.

Currently, I've been making cuts and changes and getting back to my healthy habits. I've cut out most of my "bad" snacks. I'm reducing my gluten intake. 

I've also began eating a lot more berries lately. Not only are they in-season, but they are lower on the glycemic index (they won't spike your sugar levels) and they are also rich in antioxidants! Antioxidants are fabulous for inflammation problems.  I would have about nine berries, either as a part of breakfast, or a late morning snack.  They were just sweet enough to curb my sweet tooth and were so juicy!

The picture above is a meal I came up with one night while shopping at Sam's Club. Thanks to my boyfriend, I am now hooked on membership warehouse shopping! As I was walking around, scanning items with my Yuka app, I came upon these chicken breasts! While they were much too high on sodium, and contain phosphorus (something we consume WAY too much of), the rest of the ingredients were pretty simple and they sounded tasty and easy.  

Just around the  corner in the next freezer was a huge bag of frozen broccoli.  You get FOUR 16 oz bags for just over $6! I paired a bag of broccoli and a chicken breast with a bag of Success quinoa that I had at home.  All together, this meant that I had a delicious and tasty meal in about 15 minutes! And the best part, was that it made enough for THREE meals by using one bag of broccoli and one bag of quinoa.  The chicken breasts are pre-cooked and frozen in the bag, so each night, I just grabbed one from the freezer and popped it into the air fryer! Talk about easy!

Thanks to those few simple changes last week (reduced snacking, reduced gluten, less refined sugar, and more berries) I dropped FIVE pounds! I blew right through that plateau!  My total loss is now at 26 pounds since January. It might be slow, but it's in the right direction, and I'm not stopping now!

Til Next Time,

XOX Margie