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<p>Ooh, that explains the weird neck spasm I’ve had all week! I did some light work with dumbbells last week and have not been able to turn my neck to the left all week. I have some cervical problems in my neck, a little osteoarthritis and an occasional pinched nerve. I hadn’t connected the two. It seems that everytime I do something with those weight machines I hurt something, especially in my torso or neck.</p>
<p>Another way health clubs make money. People do a lot of damage to themselves. What yo do and proper form is everything. The right trainer will work with you–I had a severely injured back and while work with light weights was key in getting it stronger, I worked with a trainer every time I worked out for months to make sure form was right or injury was probable. </p>
<p>I’m with you mousegray. Almost never order an entree. When I started a clean food diet I lost interest in hunks of meat of any kind. Steaks and chops gross me out (thank you Michael Pollan). I still like meat, but just a little, slivered in a salad or stir fry. Tapas are perfect and dim sum for a treat.</p>
<p>I do believe your brain chemistry changes after a month or so of eating well and you stop craving the junk food. I was a huge junk food eater.</p>
<p>I think I saw Pollan’s 64 Rules first written about in Oprah. The book is literally a small paperback with one rule on each page and a short explanation. So for folks like me that can’t remember if high fructose corn syrup is bad or not, I can whip out the little book to confirm that it is not something to eat. That page will also remind me that products made with pure cane sugar are no better- that sugar is sugar, no matter what. The book is divided into three sections: What should I eat (eat food); What kind of food should I eat (mostly plants) and How should I eat (not too much) - all principles from previous books just in a shorter and more concise format.</p>
<p>One week into using the “Lose It!” app for my Itouch and I happily lost one pound last week. </p>
<p>I look forward to the structure of the work week. The weekend seems to give me too many excuses/temptations to NOT be so good.</p>
<p>Yea! Abasket is one pound lighter! Good for you. Keep it up!</p>
<p>I need a web site devoted to tasty, low calorie vegetable side-dish recipes. I have plenty of entree ideas. If there is a veggie side dish, it is often full of calories. I do bake a lot of my veggies, but I need more choices. Right now I just usually google the food, like green beans, and see what comes up, but would love something that gave me a new veggies recipe every day to try. Is there something like that out there people know about?</p>
<p>I just gained my normal 7 winter pounds. They will be gone in a summer. I do not sweat over staff like that. As long as you are in weight range for your height, you should not be bothered putting so much stress on yourself. And gaining up to 10 pounds on vacation is very normal also. I do not go to gym on vacation, I do not want to be inside. I passed baby age of 50 very long time ago. I found that it is much easier to maintain after certain age, must have something to do with harmons, I do not know, I am not an MD.</p>
<p>Second Monday of the New Year - me thinks the gyms may be a tiny bit less crowded today? I’ve not been to mine in many months but I’m not sure I’m up to that challenge today; the trails have been my “gym” this past year. Sigh. That means I’m gonna have to get wet. REALLY wet.</p>
<p>And veggie recipes - great idea. GREAT idea. I would love that. The “boys” still at home? Not so much. H and youngest have absolutely NO interest in expanding their very small, boring, acceptable vegetable courses. I still try on occasion, though, I still try.</p>
<p>abasket – Good for you! One pound lost here, too. I just love MyPlate. Really forces you to think about what you’re eating (and drinking!) and shows you the tangible benefits of exercise. It’s helping me keep up with water intake, too, something I often overlook. As for weekend weight gain, my long-time trainer, who I love, advocates eating smart during the week, then relaxing the rules – within reason and without guilt – on the weekends. Life is short and I live in a fabulous restaurant city. </p>
<p>The Analyst – Check out 101cookbooks.com for vegetarian recipes. She has a whole section on sides. I made her red lentil and brown rice soup last night. Simple and excellent.</p>
<p>My newest favorite veggie recipe I got here on CC - brussel sprouts tossed with just a bit of olive oil (like a teaspoon or so) and sprinkled with sea salt - roast uncovered in the oven for about 1/2 hour. They are delicious!</p>
<p>Leftover chili and grapefruit sections for lunch today - great combination!</p>
<p>One of my favorite healthy recipes, that freezes well, can be a great main course (over brown rice) or veggie side dish.
Moroccan Stew</p>
<p>[WeightWatchers.com:</a> Weight Watchers Recipe - Moroccan Slow Cooker Stew](<a href=“http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeId=67741]WeightWatchers.com:”>http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeId=67741)</p>
<p>fyi–no need to cook this in a slow cooker, since it cooks up in just 45 minutes on the stove
I sometimes add a cubed sweet potato to give it a little boost.</p>
<p>The “Eating Well” web site has plenty of great side dishes–this is another favorite</p>
<p>[Salsa</a> Cornbread | Eating Well](<a href=“http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/salsa_cornbread.html]Salsa”>Cornbread-Topped Corn Casserole)</p>
<p>I serve this with ground turkey chili.</p>
<p>Thanks for the web sites. I have found some great recipes and printed them out. I need to look every day to stay inspired. For me, so much is about planning ahead so I have the ingredients and have a tasty recipe. Otherwise, I grab the same carrot or celery stick and get bored. I also am good about planning the entree for dinner every night but the side dishes don’t get the attention they deserve and need.</p>
<p>Analyst—I do not plan ahead, as much as cook ahead. I have a full work week and like to exercise when I get home, so I have NO time to cook. I generally spend all Saturday or Sunday cooking double recipes and dividing them into individual portions in the freezer. I get to take this coming weekend off since I have accumulated about three weeks worth of meals after the last two Saturdays of cook-a-palooza!</p>
<p>Miami, unfortunately gaining and losing weight like that is bad for the heart. I also eat more while traveling to places with interesting cuisine, but usually all the walking to see the places takes care of the extra calories.</p>
<p>Analyst, one of the hardest things for me was veggies too. Let’s face it, butter, cheese and Hollandaise make them taste great! I’ve taken a leaf from the hide the veggies children’s books-I serve a lot of things over a bed of spinach. I don’t even notice it in many dishes. </p>
<p>The veggies rolled in a little olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt are good and can be done with many including broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower. Just watch the oil, use under a tablespoon for a serving for 2.</p>
<p>Trader Joe’s sells big bags of mixed greens–chard, kale, etc. I make that into an easy soup with their organic chicken broth and some sauteed onions. To really cut back on the fat use Pam olive oil spray for the saute. </p>
<p>We also got used to enjoying any steamed vegetable with just lemon.</p>
<p>One thing to notice on the eating well and many recipes is that they give very tiny portions. So you’ll spend an hour making a not very big pan of corn bread, get one-tenth of it, and have consumed 138 calories. That’s a lot for a tiny piece of bread if you’re losing weight and trying to eat 1200 or 1500 calories per day, which is what my trainer says women trying to lose at a moderate pace (2 lbs/wk) should consume. You also then have tempting leftovers. When DH was seriously losing, we never made anything that would leave leftovers as he would have cheated.</p>
<p>^The above mentioned corn bread is VERY dense (packed with veggies) and that one tenth portion is a really filling part of a meal. H (a southerner) craves corn bread—this is a great nutrient filled sub for regular corn bread. We freeze it in portion size and ONLY TAKE OUT AS MUCH AS YOU PLAN TO EAT.Thats why there are no “leftovers”. Try it — you will be surprised.
(H lost about 45 pounds in 6 months last year and ate it 3-4 times a week) We still eat it regularly.</p>
<p>“Miami, unfortunately gaining and losing weight like that is bad for the heart”
-So far my heart is OK and all blood tests are OK. All animals are gaining for winter and loosing for summer, I thought that it is normal. I exercise less in a summer, I do not need to exercise as much as in a winter, because weight is coming off anyway. I do not know what else is different, except for type of exercise. I stopped dieting long time ago which resulted in permanent weight loss of about 20 pounds. I do not know how to stop my seasonal weight fluctuations. I do not want to exercise 3 hours / day (1 hour in addition to my current 2 hours) , even my chiro believes that it is too much.</p>
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<p>I roasted brussels sprouts yesterday. We bought Montreal seasoning for our Christmas roast and I used a bit of that instead of salt and pepper. So yummy.</p>
<p>I always enjoy going to the local Y. It’s full of 80 year old women who are still swimming and the average age of the guys in the weight room is probably 60 when I go which is around 9 am - but there’s a mix of young and old that varies depending on when you choose to go. Lots of conversation - there are enough buff bodies to be inspirational and enough who look like me or worse not to feel bad.</p>
<p>I’m trying to work more walks around the neighborhood in addition to going the gym three times a week, which I’ve mostly been doing for years. (Though too many times it’s only two times which I am also trying to avoid.)</p>
<p>I love Pollan’s food rules, but I’ve followed most of them all my life. I just need to eat less, and I am glad that the Christmas cookies are now gone.</p>
<p>For vegetables - one of my favorites is to cook up a big pot of ratatouille. I also like variations on roasted vegetables and Cooks Illustrated has some great recipes for asparagus that taste wonderful.</p>
<p>I read something about swimming making people hungrier. It had something to do with the temperature of the water bringing down your body temp. and making you hungry. That would explain why skiing also tends to make people hungry.</p>
<p>TheAnalyst – one of the best things I did along the way was to buy an inexpensive, countertop food steamer - (just Google “food steamer” and you’ll see examples). I just buy fresh veggies, slice them and toss them in the steamer & I have delicious vegetables all the time. My son doesn’t like steamed vegetables – he’s more inclined to throw stuff in the broiler – so it wouldn’t work for him. Stir frying is a great way to come up with a delicious combo, too – but that involves using cooking oil, so not so good with the calories. </p>
<p>I think the main thing is to focus on combinations of fruits & vegetables to avoid unnecessary calories. No need to add special sauces or cheese, for example. I often slice fresh tomatoes to add to other vegetables, for example. If you want to get more flavorful, experiment with spices like curry powder or chopped up peppers. </p>
<p>I’ve found that its pretty hard to go wrong with mixing what you happen to have on hand- the main thing is to be aware of different cooking times for the vegetables – or cut the longer cooking types into very small pieces so they will cook faster.</p>