The weight doesn’t just slip off. For someone with a penchant for eating throughout the day because of boredom, dieting doesn’t come naturally. I’ve heard it before–reduce your caloric intake, increase your caloric output. If you are consuming less than you are burning off, you will start to lose weight. It isn’t difficult to count calories, you can find calorie figures for foods online, and now restaurants are starting to post their calorie counts as well. Go to this website: http://www.visionx.com/cgi/mm/search.pl

Or, download a calorie counter that lets you use it on your blackberry or iPhone or other Smart Phone. Personally, I follow Weight Watchers and I work out for one hour every other day at our local YMCA. Remember to keep your heart rate up for at least 20 minutes to reach a desired level of cardio fitness. You’re not really “warming up” if you do anything less than 20 minutes. I usually begin with 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and then do a timed circuit of free-weight machines. I also use the mats to stretch and do abdominal exercises. When I’ve reached an hour of continuous movement and sweating, I drink a recovery shake or eat a protein bar to replenish my electrolytes and sustain my energy. If you burn a large amount of calories during a workout, you will collapse afterward if you don’t “refill” your energy pipeline. Drink plenty of water but drink a myoplex shake or eat high protein bar.

One thing Ray and I have started doing is eating low-carb to no-carb dinners. Consume the bulk of your carbs in the beginning of the day to give you energy to make it through the day without “crashing” in the afternoon. For dinner, eat fewer carbs, more protein. I made Rachel Ray’s artichoke-stuffed mushrooms recently along with a meatloaf for dinner and Ray loved it.

Ray made omelets for dinner a little while ago–stuffed with tomatoes, ham, green peppers, onions, and cheddar cheese. Mine was phenomenal! It doesn’t hurt that Ray is an incredible cook (very much more than me), so his food always comes out great. I find it nice to share recipes that help in the weight loss journey, so I’m going to try to post one with every post. These were given to me and found in books and blogs. All recipes have one thing in common: I’ve eaten every one of them and I enjoyed them. Therefore, I’m sharing.

Chicken with Orzo and Cucumbers

(taken from Laura Kuttler’s blog, “Living Insanity’s Loving Food.”)

  • 3 chicken breasts
  • sprinkle of balsamic vinegar
  • springs of ground thyme
  • olive oil to coat the pan
  • 1/3 c. Feta cheese
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1 T. plus 1.5 teaspoons flour
  • half a lemon’s worth of juice
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • dried oregano
  • cooked orzo
  • fresh cucumber chunks, peeled

Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil and place chicken breasts in the pan. Sprinkle balsamic vinegar and thyme on both sides of each breast. Cook the chicken through, maybe 8 minutes per side. Cut the chicken to make sure it is white with clear juices. Remove the chicken from the pan to a plate. Add flour to the pan stirring it well so you don’t have a lot of lumps of uncooked flour. Then add the milk and heat it to a simmer. Cook for about two minutes so the mixture thickens. Add the feta cheese and lemon juice and stir until the cheese melts. Season the sauce with black pepper and oregano. Add the chicken back to the pan and heat everything together, letting the cheese mixture coat the chicken. Then, plate some orzo and place chicken and sauce on top. Sprinkle fresh cucumber chunks around the chicken and orzo and enjoy the Greek delight!

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