Guess who's back....

Oh yes, I have returned with a bang....the cholesterol police state is back in operation. First item on the agenda - wait til Mr. is in the bathroom to check the freezer and see how much of my hard work was actually eaten while I was gone. Just a few little plastic containers left. Hmm...one part of me was thinking 'wow that's great' and the other part was going 'well it's not as if he didn't know I was coming home, he could have just ditched the evidence'. I know, I know, completely unreasonable, and as a friend of mine once said - benefit of the doubt! So as I closed the door of the freezer, looked around the sparklingly clean apartment (what better welcome home present could a mrs ask for!?) and hugged my already trimmer Mr I thought maybe this time it's for reals. :-)

Mrs

xxx

Wednesday's Menu

Breakfast:  Low-Sugar Maple Oatmeal

Snack:  Kinder Schokolade 

Lunch:  Whole Wheat Penne with Red Sauce and Turkey

Dinner:  Pulled Pork on Wheat Bread with reduced fat Mozzarella

Home!

I welcomed Mrs. home today with great excitement... She wasn't even too tired after her flight, which was a doozy.  I had a few small bars of Kinder Schokolade she brought me....  I don't even feel to bad, 'cause we all know Kinder macht die Jimbo froh, und Erwachsene ebenso!  Or is that Haribo???  Well either way, it has extra calcium for my growing bones ;)  

Game 2 of the new basketball season will be tonight - can't wait!  I'll let you all know how the exercise goes - it's starting to pay dividends on the court, so I'm hoping to see some off the court soon as well.  

Welcome home Mrs!!  

-Mr.  

Monday's Menu

Breakfast:  Eggbeaters and wheat toast

Snack:  Sugar Free Fat Free Cheesecake Pudding

Lunch:  Turkey Sandwich on Wheat 

Dinner:  Pasta with Red Sauce

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

The clock is ticking - only a short time now and Mrs. is gonna be back!  Can't wait!!  Just in time, my food supply is running out ;)  Ok, I'm just joking, but it has made things very easy on me.  I've had a great day today (well, work was a drag - but I barely even take that into account anymore!), getting over the ill effects of my Saturday indiscretions!  Exercise yesterday was perfect, got in a great run at the gym.  I told Mrs. I was feeling inspired from all the basketball I've been watching.  Hehe.  Today, I picked up my bike from a tune-up and it felt so smooth I just took a little spin in the afternoon sunshine.  Loving springtime, 

-Mr.

Falling off the wagon...

I had a rotten day today, and I don't have the energy to pretend otherwise. Not that I should, you guys all know better than to believe every single day is a cheerful breeze. Problem is, i just went off the rails completely. That's what stress does for ya, huh? In fairness, I kept it relatively contained - low fat vanilla wafers, some fat free chicken franks (Mrs. will be getting sick in the background right about now) and my all time worst weakness - organic blue corn tortilla chips and salsa. Don't you love how they slap organic on there to make you feel better about things? Anyway, that was the real kicker. I walked right past the pita chips like they didn't exist. it's an old and familiar trap for me to respond to stress by eating. I'm pretty good at beating that now, but add in a whole lot of annoyance on top of it, and I usually blow it. I felt fully entitled to the gunge I ate, unfortunately.

well, tomorrow's another day and i've got a basketball game to boot. get that bloody wagon back up and rolling, i'll be back on in no time.

-Mr.

Friday's Menu

Breakfast : Low Sugar Maple Oatmeal

Snack: bananananananas

Lunch: Cajun Black Bean Pasta with Ham

Dinner: March Madness Turkey Burgers on Whole Wheat Buns

the should-be-longer-winded night train

i've drenched myself in basketball for two straight days. three actually, if you count the league game i played on wednesday. i'm feeling inspired, really want to recapture a level of fitness so i can play close to my potential again. i reckon it's been a couple years since i last played at that level. i spent that entire summer training for a season i was playing with my club, usually three or four times a week. core training with a seriously fit trainer, which if i attempted now i would almost certainly fall apart like a big stack of jello. but man, it felt good - that burn after a 30 minute circuit and few lines for a finish. brilliant. anyway, all this basketball has me thinking again about exercise (hence the new poll)... for me it's definitely all about getting on a roll with this stuff - once i get two days a week going, then i start to want three, then four and then i'm running out on the fast breaks for easy layups ;)

speaking of layups... what's with Mrs. calling me out on my 1%? too easy, Mrs. and this is one sous chef you can't get rid of that easily...

you know what? i was planning on stringing out a long long ramble here, but my head is cooked from the work week and i'm on call tomorrow. better hit the sack! oh, and rock chalk :)

-Mr.

Keeping tabs from afar! :-)

So, this week is a great big test for hubby- I'm back visiting family on the aul' sod so he's been flying (sort-of) solo. That means no disapproving looks as his hand hesitates over chips and cheesy dip instead of the healthy home made version, no arched eyebrow when he announces he's taking the car to work instead of cycling, no suppressed sigh when he says he's taking a night off from cholesterol stuff (I don't notice the baddies in his blood taking a days rest!). Okay, so he's not quite that bad, but I was sweating it a bit at the thought of all the damage he could do in 10 days with no jiminy cricket :-) I figure the blog is  a good way to keep track and happily I married a man who is a terrible liar (or maybe so good that he's faking being bad?!) so I should be able to spot the bits that don't add up. So far so good though, and he's even updating the menus...hmmm. Right now as I look out as lashing rain, after a feed of spuds (potatoes) I think it definitely is easier to eat better when the sun is shining..I crave much lighter food then and the outside world is a much more inviting place for exercise, which I will definitely need lots of when I get home!

By the way - the 1% of the cooking that hubby says he did - curdling cream, dropping cooked pasta all over the floor, spilling sauce half over the sink and the piece de resistance - smashing a ramekin of salt in the tiny space between the fridge and cooker...of course I'm sure it will be all cleaned up before I'm home! (Yup hubby, that's a "hint-hint" moment!) Oh and please no more helping! :-D

Mrs.

xxx

Sunday's Menu

Breakfast:  Frosted Mini-Wheats & Fat Free Milk

Snack:  Fat Free, Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding... (Don't try it at home!)

Lunch:  Cajun Black Bean Pasta and Ham

Dinner:  Turkey Lasagna from Mrs.  (Oh year)

In through the out door...

So Mrs. flew the coop on Friday, off for a Paddy's/Easter visit to her family.  It hasn't really sunk in yet, since my Mum showed up just as she took off!  I've found it surprisingly easy to have visitors on board - but it also helps that they are in-the-HHH loop and super supportive.  The meals that Mrs. has been salting away for several weeks have been a total godsend.  Note to all the high cholesterol comrades out there - get yourself some good options that are easy to access.  It's making this work for me.  When you walk in and have the ability to choose between 4 or 5 different meals that can be heated and eaten in less than 5 minutes.... well, you can't lose.  And the best thing is you can do this simply by making a little extra every meal and freezing portions of the leftovers.  (Says Mr., who did approximately 1% of the baking/cooking of these meals).  Ok, gotta take Mum out to explore the sights.  Talk to you all soon!

-Mr. 

Saturday's Menu!

Breakfast:  Whole Wheat Muffins

Snack:  none (too many cookies when Mrs. left yesterday!)

Lunch:  Toasted Wheat Bread Sandwich (Ham & Relish)

Dinner:  Mac and Cheese, Heart Healthy Style

Tuesday's Menu

Breakfast : Raisin Bran w/fat free milk

Snack: Jacob's Fig Bar

Lunch: Turkey Lasagna (Mr.)/Toasted Sandwich (Mrs.)

Dinner: Pepperoni Pizza (I know, not great)

Monday's Menu

Breakfast:  Oatmeal with a few Raisins  

Lunch:  Whole wheat pasta with black beans and home-baked ham

Dinner:  Whole wheat bread toastie with ham and low-fat cheese.  

Snack:  Rice and Corn puffs and Cappucino (fat-free milk)

Family Ties

So, we've had lots of special guests dropping in on our little heart-healthy party lately... Big Brother was here over the weekend, and we had mexican night on Saturday.  Brilliant - poppers, fire/ice dip with pita chips and some slow-cooked beef tacos to tie it all together.  We had a picnic of sorts and played some overstuffed guitar hero to celebrate.  It was great having Big B here - he's on his own mission and has dropped a good 20 pounds since Thanksgiving by my guess.  I'm totally wrecked now tonight, but I'm really happy with the way things are going.  They stole my blood on Thursday, so it's just a matter of time before I get a more detailed breakdown of the issue at hand.  I am a bit nervous about it, mostly because I know there's a job to be done and I'm the one who needs to get busy doing it.  Ok... talk to you all soon - gotta get some sleep, it's definitely harder to stay strong when I'm tired!  

Oh, one more thing - you'll be seeing a lot more of me soon :)  Mrs. is headed home for a short while to see the rest of the family!  This would be a huge challenge, but she's already got me locked and loaded with healthy options to enjoy while she's away...  I know, I know - I'm spoiled rotten!

-Mr. 

Friday's Menu

Breakfast : Whole wheat & wheatgerm Orange Cinnamon Pancakes

Snack: Home baked pita chips with apricot chilli dip

Lunch: Toasted sandwich with home baked ham and low fat cheese (on whole wheat bread)

Dinner: More tacos, more poppers - there is a bit of a Mexican food obsession going on this week :-)

Thursday's Menu

Breakfast : Whole wheat Toast

Snack: Home baked pita chips with apricot chilli dip

Lunch: Egg white omelet with turkey sausage, basil and tomato

Dinner: Slow cooked beef tacos, jalapeno poppers and baked chips....don't worry all heart healthy from the American Heart Association Cookbook!

Wednesday's Menu

Breakfast : Raisin Bran for Mrs & Mr

Snack: Streusel Raisin Cake - and a few Cadbury mini eggs...thanks Uncle! :-)

Lunch: Black eyed peas Pasta with home cooked ham (hint: one $4 ham can be cooked and chopped giving enough meat for three different meals, plus some leftovers!!)

Dinner: Italian Chicken Roll-Ups (you can find this in the American Heart Association cookbook) with whole wheat pasta

Money, money , money.....

Sometimes I think it doesn't matter how much or little we get at the grocery shop, the bill always seems the same at the end....and it always seems crazy high to me. I mean, it's just food, basic ingredients...last time I checked we weren't tossing in tins of caviar and bottles of Brut! Why does food cost so much? The politicians and pundits freak out about rising gas prices but I don't remember hearing any speech where they said the price of food was rising through the roof, and they're certainly not paying too much attention to the millions of Americans who have to make the choice between rent/shelter costs and enough food! So, before I get off my soapbox, there's something you should know - we're not rich, we don't have thousands of dollars to throw around on fancy food items each month. We were worried about starting a low fat heart healthy diet - would that mean that as our waists were getting leaner, so would our wallets? Happily, the opposite is the case - out of that turkey lasagna we got 8, yep 8, big portions! Some for the freezer, some for our tummys but per portion it worked out about 60 cents! That's fantastic! Cost effective, heart healthy meals - give them a try!

Mrs

xxx

Tuesday's Menu

Breakfast : Raisin Bran for Mrs, Wholewheat Toast for Mr

Snack: More delicious streusel raisin cake

Lunch: Crustless Ham quiche

Dinner: Turkey Lasagne leftovers (you can find this in the American Heart Association cookbook)

That was exercise?

Hey everybody...  sorry for the prolonged absence since my last entry, I'm gonna try to avoid that going forward - even when I'm totally distracted by the weekend!  Looks like Mrs. went into a lot of my thoughts on the weekend already, so I'm not going to rehash too much.  I want you to keep reading, after all.  I've had a few thoughts over the weekend, though, which I'd like to share...

While I feel a huge benefit already from the change in my diet, I can hear a little voice in the back of my head reminding me it's not going to be enough on its own.  I really have to get the exercise truck fired up.  Gone are the gym-rat days of old where I could easily waste 3 hours a day playing basketball.  Much as I'd love it, I just have too many other things going on that I want to focus on. It's a funny thing with me and basketball.  I know I'm getting a great workout, but I don't even think of it as exercise.  Once I get into the flow of a game, my adrenaline flicks on that competitive streak, and that's that.  It's like a little motor inside me that won't stop even when I'm sucking air and my legs are wobbling like jelly.  I love it.  When I finish playing, I always find myself asking...  that was exercise??  I really must find more exercise that feels like basketball, but fits in with the other things in my life.  Easier said than done I reckon!

In other news, I get my blood test tomorrow.  No results, just the whole poking and drawing bit.  I'm hopeful that some of these changes will already be affecting this test in a positive way.  I know it's early days, but I'm allowed to hope, right?  I'm finding it a lot easier to think in a positive way about this stuff.  I'm actually excited about choosing healthier turkey sausages, where before I would have turned up my nose and happily plowed into those greasy, delicious, fat-full, 0h-so-delicious bratwursts grilled to that perfect bursting point... ahem.  Hey, I said I was excited at the choice, right?  I can't really be expected to turn off decades of bratwurst-ing in a few weeks ;)

See ya again soon...

-Mr. 

PS... C'mon faithful readers!  Don't forget you can post some quick comments after you read - we'd love to hear your feedback :)  Just click the little link below that says "0 comments"... and then let us have it!  Also, all you Nike + readers, let's follow Mrs.' plan and get the competition on!

No to yoga!

Nothing like a dramatic headline, right? It's great that we've made some good changes in our diet, but both Mr and I know that without regular exercise we're not going to see the changes we want (yes, you belly rolls - your days are numbered!). We have tried many different kinds of yoga which have frustrated us no end...everyone else is in a state of zen while we huff and puff in the corner. You do get undeniably visible fast results physically, but we never could stick with it. For some reason we could not click with yoga or any of the fabulous yoginis who tried to keep us on the zen side. Both of us realised that the reason it wasn't working was that neither of us LOVED yoga. We appreciate it's benefits, we definitely want the results, but we didn't get that great exercise buzz from yoga. So what works - for me it's dance. I can dance until sweat is streaming off me and I still can keep going. I never look at the clock to see when the class is going to end and I can always find another scrap of energy to keep going. For Mr. it's basketball - when he gets home (I can usually smell him in the corridor before he arrives in!) he is sopping with sweat, but with a great spark in his eyes - he has worked out, he has gotten exercise, but he loved it! But with dance three times a week for me, and basketball once a week for him, it's hard to find ways to get exercise, but still have fun the other nights of the week. Once upon a time we had a rule that in the evenings we could only talk about work when we were out walking - it diffused the stress of the day and also kept that stress out of the home, always a good thing. Mr has one of those Nike things where you can measure your distance, speed etc while you walk and then have competitions with your friends. Seems like it might be time for a new NIKE tournamet!

Mrs
xxx

Monday's Menu

Breakfast : Raisin Bran for Mrs & Mr

Snack: Home made streusel raisin cake - yum! (from American Heart Association Cookbook)

Lunch: Three Cheese Macaroni - yes, really! (from the American Heart Association Cookbook)

Dinner: Turkey Lasagne - so delicious! (you can find this in the American Heart Association cookbook)

Weekend food...aah!

Weekends are hard!! It is definitely hard to keep on track with food at the weekends...it's just so tempting to order a pizza or just grab something quick from the shop - even though it's just as quick to make something. So on the upside - we both had great breakfasts: oatmeal and raisin bran. We had pretty good lunches too - homemade brushetta on Saturday, sandwich on Sunday. But, we didn't have a proper dinner on Saturday - in out defense neither of us were hungry and on Sunday we went to a BBQ. I was so proud of Mr! There were lots of different kinds of sausages and he chose the low fat turkey option, I nearly fell over in shock! Of course, drinking some beers may have balanced out any saintly feelings we were having at that point!

Lets end on a high note though - I was at a highly energetic (still feeling it in my muscles!) dance class over the weekend, and Mr. tore it up on the basketball court...yay!

Mrs
xxx

Friday's Menu

Breakfast : Raisin Bran Cereal for Mrs & Mr

Snack: Natural fruit sweets

Lunch: Egg white omelet with basil and pureed tomatoes

Dinner: Grilled chicken kebabs with hoisin sauce and onion, garlic baked potatoes

Thursday's Menu

Breakfast : Oatmeal with raisins for Mrs & Mr

Snack: Baked pita chips with Fire & Ice dip (from American Heart Association Cookbook)

Lunch: Egg white omelet with low fat sausage and pureed tomatoes

Dinner: Jalapeno Poppers (you can find this in the American Heart Association cookbook) with grilled chicken whole wheat pita