January 2010: New Year's Resolution

I mentioned before that my New Year's Resolution for 2010 was to eat healthier foods and exercise more. I used my list to choose healthier foods at the grocery store. There were a few things I posted on Facebook that helped me with my recap:

I started out my new year on January 1st with a salad for dinner. This must not have been enough to fill me up because for dessert I ate 3 bowls of Cheerios (that would be PLAIN Cheerios with NO sugar added to them). Hey- it's better than eating junk food! On the 2nd I posted that I was sore from working out two days in a row. Gilad was killing me!! I had started working out with Gilad's Total Body Sculpt workout on FitTv back in October after my cholesterol test said my cholesterol was 334. My first couple of workouts I was actually SCREAMING while doing the abdominals. In November I was able to make a little less noise and was working out several times a week. So now that it was a new year I was going to try my hardest to workout every day.


Another gift I was given for Christmas was a workout DVD by Jilian Michaels. It was the 30 Day Shred workout. I decided to try it out on January 3rd. I did the level one workout and this workout kicked my butt. It kicked my butt so hard that I believe it was why I woke up in the middle of the night with a muscle cramp that was so painful that I fainted. I knew I was going to faint so I did not get out of bed but that was the first time I ever fainted while laying down (my fainting issues are a whole other story). I have not tried the workout since. I probably should give it another try now that I am in better shape and when I do I will let you know how it goes.

In January I usually go to a Creative Memories scrapbooking retreat. It always seems to fall on or around my birthday. I remember we went to McDonalds and I got a fish fillet but did not get any fries. It is hard to find healthy things to eat when you are staying in a hotel. There was a table full of snacks there and I only ate from the vegetable tray. I had never eaten RAW asparagus before and it was pretty tasty. I think I was pretty well behaved over the weekend. I brought a big bowl of broccoli slaw salad with me to eat for lunch and brought Cheerios for breakfast. I had stopped at the grocery store when I arrived to pick up some milk for the cereal and some flavored water to drink and I think I also picked up some Triscuits and nuts in case I needed a snack.

Here is the recipe for the broccoli slaw salad (I don't remember where I found this and I changed it a bit):

Basic Ramen Broccoli slaw

This is one of the most popular ramen noodle salad recipes in circulation. It's perfect for a potluck or picnic, because it contains no dairy products and will stay fresh.

Some of the recipes I've found use more oil. Overnight, the noodles will soak up the liquid, and to me, too much oil makes the salad...well, oily.

1/4 cup oil (some recipes call for up to 2/3 cup)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 seasoning packet from ramen noodles

1 pkg. broccoli slaw mix
1 cup sunflower seeds
2 pkg. chicken ramen noodles (broken up)

Mix oil, sugar and vinegar. In large bowl, mix together broccoli mix, almonds and broken ramen noodles. Add dressing and toss. Let stand for a few hours.

I was trying not to eat as many processed foods and I do remember eating a lot of home made potato soup in January. I also ate some low sodium soups. I like to eat soups when it is cold out.

Here is my Grandmother's recipe that I use when I make potato soup:
Potato Soup

5 potatoes- diced
1 medium onion- chopped

Boil in water for 10-15 minutes
Drain

Add:
1 quart of milk
dried parsley
2 eggs- mixed up
1/3 stick of butter or margarine
salt & pepper

Once the milk is heated up it is ready
Try not to boil the milk

I have no other notes from January and I can't think of anything else I was doing in January so next up will be what I can remember from February.