January 4, 2012
Day 2
So yesterday wasn’t as bad as I had envisioned it would be.
I kept to my diet, did all of my tracking on SparkPeople.com and even prepared
my first healthy meal of the year at home! I didn’t end up making it to the gym
as I had planned, but want to start ASAP. I know I’m completely out of shape
and will only be able to start off slowly, but some type of physical activity
is better than nothing at this point. I work in an office where I’m basically
glued to my desk, so I live a very sedentary life. One of the perks of my job
is that I work for a healthcare facility, so we get a super cheap membership to
the gym. I’m paying around $32 a month for a membership for both Ben and myself. Not a bad deal,
right? It may be cheap, but I need to get my money’s worth and use it. I’ve had
the membership for around 2 years and I’ve used it sparsely. Time to make it
pay off!
So going back to food… my meals were relatively healthy
yesterday. I had ½ cup of oatmeal for breakfast, a chicken salad with
pomegranate vinaigrette for lunch, and whole wheat rotini with chicken and Brussels
Total for 1/3/12:
Calories: 1,259
Carbs: 183g
Fat: 74g
Protein: 86g
According to SparkPeople.com I was well within my goals on
everything except fat. I exceeded my daily fat intake by 17g. When thinking
about how I did this, I realized it was probably my lunch that made the
difference. My chicken salad was from Wendy’s. And even thought I chose the low
calorie dressing and opted for grilled chicken, fast food always has a high
amount of fat even though you think you’re eating “healthy”. In fact, the
majority of my calories came from lunch. My dinner was larger in portion size,
yet had half the calories of the salad. Now this is knowledge I can carry forth
with me for next time.
I know I’ve only made it through one and a half days, but I’m
already starting to feel better. For the first time in ages, my IBS isn’t
bothering me since I’m not overloading myself with greasy food. I came into
work with a little more energy and I haven’t yawned my morning away. Perhaps
this is all just a psychosomatic response, but I like it nonetheless! Onward
and upward! ~*A*~
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Here is my recipe for last night's dinner:
Grilled Chicken Breast w/Garlic Butter Rotini & Brussels Sprouts
4 medium boneless skinless chicken breast (4oz each), thawed
1 ½ C. dry whole wheat rotini
6 C. Water
1C. Smart Balance Buttery Burst! spray with Soy
1 Whole Garlic Clove
4 C. Green Giant Buttery Brussels Sprouts
½ tsp salt (can substitute Mrs. Dash if on a low sodium
diet)
¼ tsp pepper
Butter flavored non-stick cooking spray
Spray a non-stick frying pan with a generous coat of
non-stick cooking spray. Lightly sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over each
chicken breast and cook over medium heat for 4-6 minutes. Flip chicken breasts
over and cook for another 4-6 minutes. Cooking times may vary, but you want to
be sure that there is no blood or pink in the chicken. This can be checked by
making a small cut in the thickest part of the breast to see if blood has
accumulated in the center. I prefer cooking my chicken until the outside is a
nice golden brown.
Next, pour the 6 cups of water into a large pit and bring to
a rolling boil. Add a pinch of salt to the water and a generous spray of the
non-stick cooking spray. The salt will add flavor to the pasta and the cooking
spray will stop it from sticking together. This works just as well as the
traditional method of adding olive oil to the water but with fewer calories. Add
the 1 ½ cups of pasta to the water and cook to your preference, usually about
10 minutes. The pasta will expand to about 3 cups when cooked which is about 4
servings. Once the pasta is done, let it sit in the water until ready to use,
(but not too long since it gets sticky easily!)
If you’re good at multi-tasking, now would be the time to
pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven is heated up, get a medium
sized cookie tray and cover it with foil paper. Spray the foil paper lightly
with non-stick cooking spray and pour the Brussels sprouts onto the tray. Spray
the tops of the Brussels sprouts with a light coat of cooking spray and
sprinkle with ¾ of the remaining salt. Bake the Brussels sprouts for about 10
minutes and then flip them over. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until
slightly toasted. Watch them carefully because it only takes an extra minute or
2 to go from “toasty” to full blown “charred”.
Get your whole clove of garlic and cut it in half length
wise. Spray a small amount of cooking spray over the exposed halves and
sprinkle with the remaining salt and the ¼ tsp pepper. This can be placed on
the same cookie sheet as the Brussels sprouts and baked for about 20-30
minutes, or until toasted and aromatic.
The last ingredient is the garlic butter sauce. Pour 1C.
Smart Balance Butter Spray into a small saucepan and cook on low for about 3
minutes or until bubbles appear along the sides. Grab the garlic cloves and
gently squeeze each half into the butter. Baking the garlic will make it slip
out of skin easily and it becomes sweet and less harsh tasting. Mash the garlic
into the butter and continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes on low. This will
allow the butter to become infused with the sweet garlic taste.
Now we put it all together! Drain the pasta and place it
back in the pot. Pour the butter sauce over the pasta and mix until well
coated. Serve a quarter of the pasta on a plate and top with a chicken breast
and 1C. Brussels
Nutrition information per serving (recipe makes 4 servings)
Calories: 289
Calories from Fat: 44
Total Fat: 5g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Cholesterol: 70mg
Sodium: 695mg
Total Carbohydrates: 52g
Dietary Fiber: 8g
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 34g
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