February Fit & Healthy Focus

Sunday was the 21st day of "21" Meditations & Motivations to Get You Moving! I didn't miss a day of working out in 21 days! Now I'll go back to my regular plan of working out 6 days/week and a rest day on Sunday.
Doing the "21" plan on the "21" Group Page on facebook worked out well.
I'm planning another Fitness Challenge for the spring. Let me know if you want to join in on that one. Hopefully, by then, those of you in "snow country" will be able to get out and hop, skip, jump...walk or run!

Some of us are still posting our daily workouts on the FB Group Page. And others posted on my running blog ~ www.seemymomrun.com 
(Yay! Sonja and Mindy and Tracy!)

For the month of February I am going to post a weekly Fit & Healthy Focus. 

For this first week the focus is to increase your fiber intake to 25 grams a day. (Women ~ 25 grams and Men 35 grams. I'm working on my husband! He's agreed to up his fiber intake.)
I got 29 grams in today and what I have noticed since increasing my fiber this week is that I naturally eat less. When you choose to eat an apple with peel (I buy organic apples.), you get a little over 4 grams of fiber and then you really don't reach for a cookie or two or five.
Here is a good site that includes a list of high fiber foods.


If you want to join in on the February Fit & Healthy Focus, leave a comment. And if you are on FB, "friend me" and join our Group Page. You'll recognize a few fellow bloggers there!

Have You Seen This?

As you have already figured out, I like to cook. I also strive for healthy choices when it comes to food. Admittedly however, I don't always cook with health in mind.
(Me + a "bad hair day" = goofy picture)
Sometimes I prepare meals based on what I can put together without a trip to the grocery. This week one of our dinners was bacon, scrambled eggs, refrigerated biscuits and cheese grits. And today for lunch we had fried chicken. (All the kids were home at lunchtime.) I must say that although it was all tasty and all eaten, I felt yucky afterwards.

What I have learned to do when my cooking is not the healthiest, is to limit these types of meals to once or twice a week. Being careful about portion sizes is another good way to offset a high fat meal. And if our dinner is not going to be so "healthy," I will prepare it early so we have several hours before bedtime to "burn it off." We sometimes eat dinner before 5:00. We can do this because One Fine Man works from home. Then, as for me, there is no snacking after dinner. The kitchen is closed! Along with my hiatus from sugar and chips, this has worked to keep my weight down. However I am also concerned about my overall health...not just the number on the scale.

That being said, I would like to lose 7 more lbs. In August my "Everyday Life" article will be on the Proverbs 31 website. In it I write about my 16 pound weight loss. You will find out in more detail how I did it. Since cutting out sugar and chips, I've lost another 6. But at my height, I would prefer a little less stuff "here" and "there."

Last week I watched a new show on Lifetime. It is called "Cook Yourself Thin." Three chefs show a guest how to lighten up her favorite recipes in order to drop a dress size. From what I have seen so far, they redo a lunch, a dinner and a dessert. I think this is a great idea for a show. The chefs revisit the guest 6 weeks later to see if she has, indeed, dropped a size. I'm thinking about making this my next cookbook. At any rate, I plan to start "skinny~fying," as opposed to "fat~frying" some of my favorite dishes so I can drop a dress size! I'll let you know how it goes.

I want to try the recipe for "Sesame Peanut Noodles."
Have you seen this new show? Do you own the cookbook? Have you "skinny~fied" any of your favorite recipes?

A New DoTellMel post & Healthier Banana Muffins

A new DoTellMel post ~ Living La Vida Diva! Another Devoted Woman here.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffin

Since I am not consuming sugar or artificial sweeteners, I tweaked a couple of recipes and came up with this version which uses a small amount of honey.

For more Saturday Stirrings recipes, visit Carol @ I Throw Like A Girl.

1 C whole wheat flour

1 C self rising flour *

1/2 tsp. baking soda *

1 tsp. baking powder *

dash of sea salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 C oil

2 eggs

3 mashed ripe bananas

1/2 C buttermilk

1/4 - 1/2 C honey (I used 1/4 cup.)

Mix dry ingredients. (If using all purpose flour, then adjust recipe to: 2 t. baking powder 1 t. baking soda.) Stir in bananas, oil, eggs, buttermilk and honey. Makes a dozen muffins.

Bake in lined muffin pan @325 for 20 - 25 minutes. I use the "toothpick" method to check if middle is done.

Verdict: I enjoyed mine toasted with a bit of butter or a bit of cream cheese. One Fine Man liked it best toasted w/butter. Tech~Son sprayed whipped cream on his. Skate~Boy passed. Guitar Girl is doing South Beach so she did not do the "taste test." Guitar Girl's beau gave his approval on toasted w/butter. Two of my taste testers said the muffins could be sweeter. Keep in mind, I only used 1/4 cup of honey. As for me...muy delicioso!