Growing up, the portions at the dinner table were large and full of meat and potatoes.  I’m pretty sure my mom never used spinach, leeks, cilantro or lentils.  It was venison, potatoes, pasta and whatever got canned or frozen from the garden.  Of course, we also rarely ate out or ate prepackaged meals, which I think is fairly healthy just in itself.

I didn’t learn how to watch the calories, because we WORKED.  We didn’t really worry about how much we consumed because we would be burning it off.  I never had to know how to exercise, because that was called “chores“.

Fast forward to now.  I’m in my mid-thirties, sit at a desk all day, and love to cook…and eat.  I really don’t bake – not because I don’t know how – I just know I don’t need that temptation in my house.  One of my resolutions for this year was to be healthier and lose some weight.  Well, I think I went in the opposite direction.  Actually, according to my clothes and the scale I most certainly went in the opposite direction (damn them!).  Work just got too busy, so I was sitting and eating even more than usual.

New game plan! 

This week, I started trying to count calories, and it was a bit eye opening.  You know that old saying, “What you don’t know, won’t hurt you?”  It’s rubbish.  I couldn’t believe how many calories were in just one meal I ate for lunch on Monday.  I think my eyes bulged out of my head when I saw it online . Did you know most restaurants post their calories online??  It’s so helpful…makes me not want to eat there anymore since it is so fattening!

I have also begun exercising again.  Only a few times this week, but it’s a start.  I also started climbing the stairs at work.  I’ve had a key to the stairwell for several years and have never used it.  I work on the fifth floor, so by the time I get to the top my legs are burning and I’m huffing and puffing like the woefully out of shape person I am.  It’s sickening how I’ve let myself go. 

I’ve also been trying to find good healthy recipes, and include more veggies into our meals.  There are a few sites out in Internet land that have good ideas.  During lunch, I’m eating Lean Cuisine entrees, which helps me get a handle on this little thing called “portion control”.  I really like the butternut squash ravioli…it’s yummy!  Those frozen meals have come a long way.

What does everyone else do to stay healthy?  Any good healthy recipes I need to know?

Here’s something I made this week.  I know it sounds incredibly weird but it was good!

Guacamole stuffed baked sweet potato:

Basically, just make guacamole, bake the sweet potatoes (I microwave for about 10 minutes), open the sweet potato, put some sharp cheddar in there and top with the guacamole.  It is healthy and tasty, but watch how much guacamole you put on there since that does have a high fat content…even if it is good fat.