I'm in a food rut!

I'm having a hard time coming up with anything exciting to make for dinner that will still be good for me.  We've been eating a lot of chicken breasts and ground turkey, and I just feel like I am at a stand still.  It also doesn't help that we aren't that "well stocked pantry" type of house, so I can't just whip something up.

Yesterday's dinner was tasty, but simple.  Cut up some chicken breast, cook in delicious teriyaki sauce, and serve with rice pilaf and broccoli.  While it tasted really good, I feel like I am craving something different.  Tomorrow I think I will make lasagna (still searching for a "healthier" recipe).  I wish that Nick liked spinach, because that's my favorite, but we will be having meat I guess!

What are some delicious foods that you make that are still healthy?  Care to share recipes with me?

My Ideal

I am currently taking a Women's Health Issues class in school, and hearing women talk about their ideal body and ideal weight made me want to write this post.


When I hear women talking about their ideals, I often wonder where they come from.  I know that many women feel that society places an ideal on all of us.  There are models and actresses who have these bodies that most of us will never have.  They have personal trainers, chefs, nannies to watch their children so that they can spend hours working out.  I always wondered why as women, we feel that we have to live up to this, even if we have never looked like them in the past.


For me, of course there have been times that I have said "I wish I had her [insert body part here]".  I think that's only natural.  But, as far as weight loss and fitness goals, I've tried to never compare myself to someone else.  I am very tall, athletically built, with hips that will be great when it's time to have babies.  Even within my family, my sisters have different body types than me.


Since I am working on watching what I eat and exercising, I have an ideal in my head.  The thing that is most important to me, is that I have an ideal of myself.  My ideal is from the end of 2004.  This was back before I gained the love, commuting, fast food, desk job weight.  I was healthy and active.  I felt damn good about myself, and was super confident.  I met Nick just a couple of months later, and really believe that because I loved myself, I was open to loving him, too.  I am ready to have that confidence back.


I figure I would share a picture of myself that has always been a favorite.  This was from Christmastime 2004, and it's been a picture of myself that I've always loved.  Nick used to carry a copy in his wallet.  I looked happy and healthy.  This is what I am hoping to get back to (and this is also what makes me contemplate dying my hair brown again about once a month...but that's another story).

Do you feel like there is pressure for women to look a certain way?  Do you have any tips for loving yourself despite the pressure?

Wellness Wednesday - Volleyball

When I was in 7th and 8th grade, we had what was called "wellness Wednesday" in gym class.  I think that it was once a month, if gym class fell on Wednesday, there would be a special set-up of things to do.  We would have to run a mile (timed), see how many pull ups and push ups we could do, and also do some flexibility tests.  I hated it.  I wasn't strong, I couldn't run, and I was not flexible in the least bit.  Even though I hated it, I thought it could be a good thing for my blog!  Keep a look out every week for an entry related to overall wellness (healthy recipes, workouts, ways to destress).


Today, I want to talk about volleyball!  I played volleyball in high school, and we were generally 3rd in our division and played against the two best teams in the state.  I also played my freshman year at a tiny women's college, but our team was not as good.  I think we won one game!  But, no matter how good the team I'm on is, I love to play.


Yesterday, I went to play at my hometown recreation center.  They have adult volleyball on Tuesday nights, and I have been trying to go every week.  I am not as good a I used to be (since I am out of practice and a bit out of shape), but I love to play.  I have been using "my fitness pal" to track my food and exercise, and according to them playing volleyball for 2 hours competitively in a gymnasium burns about 1350 calories!  Now I know why I was so skinny when I was playing ever day!

This is me, 40 lbs lighter, my freshman year of college when I was playing volleyball every day.  I am not trying to be this skinny again, I am hoping to lose about 20 lbs.

For me, playing volleyball is a fun way to mix up my work out routine.  It burns more calories than anything that I do at the gym, and works muscles that I just can't seem to target there, too.  I know that I will have a flat stomach in no time if I keep playing weekly.  Here's hoping!


Did you play any sports in high school or college?  Do you still play sports?  Do you do any nontraditional workouts?

A Different Kind of Mess

For the last 5 years or so, I have been very inactive. I worked a desk job where I commuted for close to three hours a day. Basically, I sat all day long. Now that I am not working, I have so much more time!

Last New Years, I made it a resolution to take better care of myself. While I did good with my eating for a while (Lean Cuisine's for lunch for a few MONTHS in a row instead of getting takeout subs or something), I never got much use out of my gym membership. I signed up for one on January 5th, worked out on January 6th, and never went back.

Thankfully, my friend Christie moved close to the gym that I belong to. She is also trying to get into better shape so we have been each others gym buddies! We've been trying to work out together at least 3 times a week, and when we are there we stay for about 2 hours. Here's a little run-down of what we've been doing.

• Start out on the bike for about 20 minutes to warm up. This is also where we do most of our catching up and chit chat.
• Then we go into the circuit room so that we can use the weight machines without being out in the big area of the gym. This is much less intimidating than working out in the large room with all the dudes. Seriously.
• Depending on the day, we will also do some ab stuff in the circuit room using a medicine ball.
• Then we hit the treadmill. Since my knees are terrible from being so tall all my life and lots of years of volleyball, I can't really run. I spend the 45 minutes to an hour using the weight loss program. Generally, I will wind up doing a pretty quick walk while the treadmill varies the incline. This is my favorite part (and not just because of the Motown playlist that I listen to).

I have seen some results that make me smile, and I can't wait until I can really feel strong and confident in the gym! Fitting into my skinny clothes would make me happy, too but that's not the point for me.

What's your favorite way to exercise?