First week of "changing our ways"

So we have completed our first week of our new way of eating in this house. It was MUCH easier then I thought it would be. My lovely hubby lost two pounds. He thought that he should have lost more but I reminded him that it isn't good to loose weight too quickly and that 1-2 pounds a week is good. He said he was surprised that he hasn't been hungry. I have been making him breakfast every morning. Either oatmeal with grated apple, pumpkin seeds (and a little sugar) or two eggs with two pieces of whole wheat toast and sliced tomato, or plain yogurt, sweetened with honey, topped with granola and frozen blueberries. All of these are about 450 calories. I have him eating 5 times per day at 450 calories (approx) each meal. Based on his height and weight he gets to eat 2250 cals per day and still loose weight!! (men, not fair! I only get 1600 calories if I want to loose weight).

Lunch is easy for him because he brings in frozen lean cuisines or something like that and they are all around 400 cals each. He needs to eat twice at work so I send him with a sandwhich, piece of fruit and granola bar, plus he drinks coffee and tea. The nice thing is he isn't coming home starving. What has been shocking to me is realizing how much calories are actually in things we eat. And how much smaller our portions should be. It's no wonder we are gaining weight! For instance last night I made pasta with bolognese sauce. It's something I make once per week because it's cheap and my kids love it! So just the pasta alone is 300 calories for only 3/4 cup. Then depending on how much sauce you use that is another couple hundred calories. We would usually have a caesar salad and sometimes garlic bread with it too! Easily this meal can be over 800 calories. So we cut the salad and garlic bread and we used salad sized plates and ate smaller portions. We certainly were not hungry when we were finished, but both Mike and I said we could have kept eating! I guess we will have to get used to stopping eating when we are satisfied and not continuing on until we are stuffed!

Since Mike is eating 5 times per day that means he can have a snack before bed (contrary to popular belief this does not make you fat, it just depends on what you eat. Eating often will speed up your metabolism). I am only eating 4 meals per day at 400 cals each (in the hopes of loosing a few pounds myself, I lost 1 pound last week). But I cannot sit there and watch him eat at night so I have been having a chai tea latte every night. I make it with 1/2 cup of milk and a small shave of dark chocolate on top. It works out to be 90 cals and it's just perfect at night!) Mike has one too but he also has a bowl of whole grain cereal with sliced banana's or a smoothie or a muffin.

The other change we have made is including what's called a MUFA at each meal. It stands for monounsaturated fatty acid, a type of heart-healthy, disease-fighting, "good" fat found in foods like nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanut butter), olive oil, canola oil, avocados, olives, even dark chocolate. "Numerous studies show that a diet rich in MUFAs is linked to a reduction in LDL cholesterol, the kind that clogs up arteries, and a boost in HDL, the kind that sweeps cholesterol out of the arteries and clears it from the body. They can also lower the risk of heart disease and improve insulin." Studies also show that eating MUFA's at every meal can shrink belly fat. You can read more about MUFA's here

So it's pretty easy to include these things into our meals because we LOVE this stuff!. Salad's with olives, guacamole, dark chocolate (in moderation). I have always used olive oil so that was easy. I just add nuts and seeds to oatmeal, nut butters on toast, tapenade instead of mayo on sandwiches.. ect.

Happy Sunday everyone!!!!
xo Sebrina