TexasSwede

I am in the process of trying to lose a few more lbs, and I recently (2 weeks ago) signed up at LA Fitness. My membership ($29.99/month) allows me to us any of their facilities in Texas. I work right next to one, and I live about 10 minutes from another one. There is even a third one located about half-way between my place and my ex-wife, so we can meet in the parking lot after I am done when it is my turn to have our son.

Whaen I started going to the gym, I was at 229-230 lbs, depedning on the scale I used. I try to do about 1 hour of cardio on the elliptical trainer, and I also trying to get some weights in. For the latter, I signed up with a personal trainer, and I am going to start that on a more serious level in two weeks.

At the same time, I am also trying to adjust what I am eating. I have been trying to eat somewhat helthy for a few years now, and I lost some weight doing that. The biggest chnage, however, was something I decided last week. I will stop drinking soda, or at least just have one on occasion. I switched from regular soda (mainly Coca-Cola) to diet drinks back in late 2002 or early 2003. That (combined with some marital problems at that time) caused me to lose about 40 lbs in a few months.

I have a slight problem when it comes to giving up sodas. I need the caffeine. What I did is to have hot tea in the morning, and I also purchased some Crystal Light mixes containing caffeine. I can recommend Wild Strawberry and Natural Citrus Splash. They are currently on sale at Kroger, two boxes of 10 packets for $5.00 with their card.

So today is my 7th day with no sodas of any kind. This morning I was also down to 220 lbs.

 I saw that Gayle shared a recipe for Almont Pork Tenderloin, and I thought I would share two of my favouite ones. One is lean and healthy, the other one not so much so. See if you can spot which one is which...  But both are tasty.

Rosemary Chicken

1.5-2 lbs chicken breast/tenderloins (about 3 chicken breasts)
1 can chicken broth
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 cloves crushed fresh garlic, or 1-2 teaspoons crush garlic from a jar
rosemary leaves (about 1 tablespoon is good)
salt, black pepper

Mix everything but the chicken in a pot and bring to a boil.

Trim any fat off the chicken and cut in smaller, bite size, pieces Put chicken into the pot.

Bring back to a boil and let it cook for 7 minutes.

Serve with rice of your choice and a mixed sallad.

Flying Jakob

2 lbs chicken breast/tenderloins (about 3-4 chicken breasts)
cayenne pepper, paprika powder
1 banana
1/2 cup salted peanuts
1 pint heavy whipping creme (or for a leaner version, creme fraise)
1 bottle Heinz chili sauce
2-3 tablespoons bacon bits

Trim chicken breast from fat. Dust with cayenne pepper and paprika powder, possibly some salt.

Bake in owen until done (make sure not over done, better go a minute or two too short).

Cut in small bite size pieces. Put in oven safe deep dish.

Slice banana over it, distribute slices evenly. Sprinkle peanuts evenly over it as well.

Whip the cream, mix in chili sauce and stir/mix well. Pour over chicken. Top with bacon bits.

Bake in oven, 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Serve with rice and a sallad.

Enjoy!

 Found a list on the Mens Health magazine over the 20 worst food items in different categories.

The "winner"? Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing with 2,900 calories, 182 g fat and 240 g carbs.

This weapon of mass construction is the caloric equivalent of eating 14 Krispy Kreme doughnuts, before your dinner arrives. Even if you split this "starter" with 3 friends, you'll have downed a meal's worth of calories.

You should also look at some other bad items. It is scary! For example, the number 2 on the list (worst starter), Chili's Awesome Blossom: 2,710 calories, 203 g fat, 194 g carbs, 6,360 mg sodium

It takes a special talent to turn a single oversized onion into the fat equivalent of 67 slices of bacon, but the line cooks at Chili's manage this horrific feat with the help of a thick batter, a calorie-loaded dipping sauce, and a vat of bubbling fat.

Good thing I never eat those anyway. However, as you seen in a previous posting, I recently realized how bad the burritos at Chipotle are.

The Chipotle Mexican Grilled Chicken Burrito makes the list, as "worst mexican entree" with 1,179 calories, 47 g fat, 125 g carbs and 2,656 mg sodium.

 For the last few years, I been a big fan of Chipotle, a chain of burrito restaurants. The burritos are good, they meat is from animals raised without hormones and antibiotics, same with the sour cream. The beans are ecologically grown, etc. In short, I been feeling good eating there, and I also thought the food was reasonable healthy.

Last Saturday I went to get a haircut, and happened to pick up Men's Health or some similar magazine. They had a tip; have a bol (bowl) at Chipotle instead of a burrito, skip the sourcream and cheese and add double tomatoes. They said that the tortilla by itself was 300 calories!

I looked onthe Chipotle website, but no nutritional information. But I found a site that had it, Chipotlefan.com. I added up what I usually get in my burrioto: Tortilla, rice, pinto beans, barbacoa meat, tomato, corn, hot sauce, cheese and sourcream. 1136 calories, 42 grams of fat!

Ouch!!

So today I tried their bol (a paper/cardbord bowl with the ingredients put in). Rice, pinto beans, barbacoa meat, tomato, hot sauce and lettuce. 521 calories, 13 grams of fat. Much better, and it tasted great. Next time i will skip the beans, that will bring me down to 413 calories, 12 gram of fat. That's less than a double cheeseburger at McDonalds (440 calories, 23 grams of fat), but more food and healthier.