Photo OPT

I think that I will be doing a before photo so that I can track my progress in film and in measurements. This process isn't all about losing weight but I have hopes of getting to a goal of 135-140 ( I wanna give myself a little breathing room.)

The status on this vegetarian thing is that I am hungry and really really really want cheese right now. It's so unfortunate that I can not have any. I have 5 more days!!! I hope I will survive.


I wanted to share some of the recipes that I am trying out and one that I am having for dinner after this.

Spring Asparagus and Wild Rice Recipe. You can serve it cold as a side salad, or warm as an entree or side dish. With just 225 calories per serving, this vegetarian recipe is also very low-calorie. You might also want to browse through my collection of healthy vegetarian rice recipes, or, scroll down for more healthy asparagus recipes.
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup wild rice
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the rice and allow to simmer until rice is finished cooking, about 20 to 30 minutes.
In a large frying pan or skillet, simmer the mushrooms and onions in 3/4 cup of vegetable broth until mushrooms are cooked and browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the asparagus and the remaining 3/4 cup vegetable broth. Cook for just a few miuntes, until asparagus is slightly soft.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice to make a dressing.
Toss together the rice, vegetables and olive oil dressing, stirring to comine well. Season generously with salt and pepper. Serve hot or cold.
Makes four servings of wild rice salad. Nutritional Information:Calories: 226, Calories from Fat: 41Total Fat: 4.5g, 7% Daily Value; Saturated Fat: 0.7g, 4% Daily ValueCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 297mgTotal Carbohydrates: 38.0g; Dietary Fiber: 5.5g, Protein: 11.1g

Here is the wedsite that I found it from.
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/ricerecipes/

Until next time. :)

Day 1

Where to start? Yesterday was my birthday. I am now 23 yippy!! I had a great weekend full of endulging. :) I am doing a cleanse starting today. Its not the lemonade cleanse or anything that doesn't invole eating. I don't know if I could handle that. Here is the basic outline.

• Fill up on healthy fruits and vegetables high in fiber and water.
• Go organic!
• Avoid animal protein. Instead choose tofu, tempeh and beans
• Avoid heavy carbohydrates like bread and pasta. Consume whole grains like quinoa and millet.
• Fill up on omega 3 oils fropm flax seed, olive oil and fatty fish (e.i Salmon)
• Drink 8 to 14 glasses of pure water, herbal tea and fresh squezzed juice.
• Minimize dairy and avoid cheese.
• Eat slowly for good digestion.
• Eliminate sugar, saturated fat, salt, caffeine, alcohol, refined foods and processed foods.
• Take a natural supplement.

I had planned to go to the store yesterday and buy some groceries to be prepared for this week. I wasn't able to go because of all of the excitement of my birthday and partially because the sun drained me of all my energy. Does that happen to anyone else??

So today on my menu I unfortuantly snacked on some tortilla chips and eventually made it to my favorite taco joint for a burrito with beans, lettuce, tomato, jalepenos, and avacado. I read that if you eat a spicy pepper for breakfast or your first meal it will make you less hungry. There is an element in hot peppers called Capsaicin that is a natural appetite supressant. Capsaicin is what gives peppers there bite.

For dinner I am having 8 small pieces of vegetarian sushi and an apple. Mean while I am going to be eating mixed nuts with dried cranberries and some cool granola mix from Terra Breads that was a free sample from Whole Foods!! It looks like it has some cashews (which are my favorits nuts) and raisins. Yummy!

While I am working tonight, I will be making a list of dishes that I want to prepare for myself so that I don't have to go to Whole Foods everyday to get something to eat. If you have any vegetarian dishes you could share it would be much appreciated! Thanks!

New Chapter

I didn't always have this problem. When I was a child the most important thing in my life was how much time I would play outside. I never thought about eating, that was just something that I had to do to survive and I was so active that it didn't matter that I had a Happy Meal once in a while.

I think that there are many factors that contribute to a person becoming over weight. I look at a picture of my 5 year old self and think what went wrong, how did I go from running, biking and roller blading for fun to not even wanting to move around at all??

I want to reprogram my brain in a sense. I want to enjoy activity again and eat natural foods that aren't processed. As a kid I was fed Mc Donalds and Burger King daily. The convenience was to much to resist I guess. Not that it was my parents fault no one knew the harmful effects of fast food. I think that convenience in general has taken hold of many people and I don't want to be apart of it anymore.

I start my journey on Monday the 26th. I will put more activities in my routine and eat food that I have prepared myself from organic natural foods.

Wish me the best of luck.