A Busy Mom's Weekday Dinner

Okay, so I work outside the home. And with a busy sixteen-year-old son, and a ten-year-old daughter who dances competitively, I need to get dinner on the table, fast. I like to cook, don't get me wrong, but for a weekday dinner, I want something that takes me less than 30 minutes in the kitchen. And the fewer the ingredients, the better.

Many of you know I lost 60 pounds last year. That would've been impossible eating bland, flavorless food. So here's a recipe I grew up with that packs in the flavor, but not the calories.

Soy Sprite Chicken -- BONUS! This recipe only have 4 ingredients, and one of those is the chicken! I should get, like, an award or something like that.

 I get home from teaching about 2:15. I whip up this marinade and get it going then. I try to have dinner on the table about 5:00 - 5:30, so it's a quick marinade that doesn't take hours or overnight, though you certainly could do that.

If you follow my life saga (and it's a saga!) on Facebook, you'll see why I recommend this next step. I mean, no one wants a huge, oily, soyly mess in their kitchen, right?

So use a tupperware or bowl, and use your friend, the ziplock bag. It maximizes coverage.

After a few hours in the fridge, you're ready to grill! I am a habitual over-cooker of poultry! I've never been able to get it right. So I started timing, and then taking the meat off even when I think it's not done. And you know what? It usually is done!

Since I'm a take-all-the-help-I-can-get-from-the-grocery-store type of cook, I whip out my bagged salad to go with this. I actually get angry if I have to eat salad for every meal when I'm dieting, but this chicken is so good, I don't mind it here. And there are a ton of different bagged salad choices now to also up the flavor. (Bonus: this one has my favorite food: BACON!!)

I always add extra croutons! They're pretty much the only bread I get, and yeah. Bring on the croutons!

You can simply slice this and eat it with your salad on the side, or put it ON your salad for a whole new meal! 

Enjoy!

Soy Sprite Chicken:
2 chicken breasts, pounded to uniform thickness, all fat trimmed
1/2 c. Sprite (can use Sprite Zero, or Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. soy sauce

1. Measure the ingredients -- and let the kids help! My daughter makes this marinade while I trim and pound the chicken. Nothing better than cooking with kids!

2. Put the chicken in a ziplock bag, and put the bag inside the bowl or tupperware. DO THIS FIRST, so you don't end up like me with marinade all over your floor, and boots, and yeah.

3. Pour the marinade into the bag, which is securely held in the bowl. Again, kids can do this.

4. Squeeze out all the air, zip tight, and put chicken + marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours.

5. Heat the grill on high -- until it reaches about 400 degrees.

6. Grill chicken on the first side for 5 minutes. Flip. Grill for another 3 minutes, depending on thickness. Discard extra marinade.

7. Remove to plate and let sit for a few minutes while you open your salad and add those extra croutons! You can also add anything else you want, it just requires chopping. Some nights I feel like tomatoes, and some nights I don't.

8. Enjoy!

Dietary Information: I count calories, so that's what I'm looking at here. I don't know about fat and protein and stuff. But I'm sure I could Google it...
1/2 chicken breast: 250
Salad -- read package nutritional information.

I'm looking at a quick, easy, delicious weekday meal that's under 500 calories and done in less than 20 minutes. How much easier can it get? 

What's your favorite, quick, weekday meal? I might need to steal it from you.

How I Lost 50 Pounds

Okay, so this post has absolutely nothing to do with writing. I mean, not really. But my tagline for the blog is "Navigating the publishing world with splashes of real life," so I figured I'm covered to talk about real life too. Right? Right. Okay.

So if you're friends with me on Facebook, you may have seen me post this week that I've finally broken through the lost-50-pounds ceiling. And I have! I'm super-stoked about, and it is so motivating to see the numbers coming down on the scale.

But a lot of people are asking, "How?" or "What's the secret?"

I wrote a post on losing a while back, but I thought I'd expound a little bit.

First of all, there is no secret. I'm not taking a pill, or following a diet, or ordering foods from a company. I meal plan, buy all my own groceries, make all my own meals, every day, day in and day out. (Yes, I am tired just writing that. Ha!)

Basically, I subscribe to this principle: Eat less, move more.

That's really general to what I do. I am eating less, but not only that, I know exactly how much I'm eating. Down to every last calorie. I count calories. For a couple of months there, I was guesstimating, and I wasn't losing weight. So I went back to strict calorie counting, where I write down everything I eat.

This is not has hard as you might think. I email it to myself. In general, I eat 200 calories for breakfast, 300 for lunch, 100 for an afternoon snack, and 500 for dinner. That's 1100 calories/day. No more.

I do move more, but it's more specific than that. I do weight training twice a week, for 20 minutes. It's not hard to fit into my morning pre-work routine, and I listen to something uplifting while I do it. I go to the gym for carido 5 days a week (if my schedule allows, but never less than 3 days. I'm not that busy! It's usually 5 days/week) and I work out for 45 minutes.

I walk on the treadmill (with an incline) because running is only what happens when dogs are chasing me. If I'm bored of the treadmill, I get on the elliptical. I think I'm going to add a water aerobics class this summer for even more variety.

And that's what I do.

I personally think the key is in what you eat. I could probably reduce the exercise and still lose weight. But for me, the exercise MOTIVATES the good eating.

I'm not really sure what "Paleo" or "clean eating" are, but I think that's what I'm doing. I eat low-fat proteins, fruits, vegetables, eggs, and cheese. I eat very, very few carbs (bread, rice, muffins, cereals, granola, etc.). The only sugars I take in are from fruits.

Is it hard? Absolutely. Sometimes I just can't take it anymore, or I really need a treat. I have a stash for these days, and I am disciplined in how I eat them. (This means I eat the chocolate caramel covered pretzels, but I count the calories.) Sometimes I drop off the program for a week or more. And that's okay. I'm not on a diet. I'm living my life.

See, I'm an emotional eater. Eating makes me happy when I'm sad, distressed, stressed, overworked, mad, happy, joyful, celebratory, etc. No matter the mood--even if it's good!--eating makes it better. I have a little bit of an anxiety problem, and eating has always soothed that. Eating for family celebrations is awesome.

I'd like to eat everything, everyday, forever. The problem is, I weighed a lot. I could still do everything I wanted to do, but my quality of life was suffering. I didn't do some things because I was too tired, or didn't feel good about myself doing them.

One of the best posts I've ever read about losing weight went up by a friend of mine, Tristi Pinkston, a few weeks ago. Pretty much everything she says, I could ditto. I felt her post deeply, because it could be mine.

In the end, if you want to lose weight, you have to be doing it for yourself, for your own increased quality of life, for your own better health. You have to be dedicated to it, because it takes time away from writing, from work, from family, from friends, from everything. I do it, because I think my health and myself are worth the time away.

Maybe I didn't think I was before, or maybe I was just being lazy. I remember a time at critique group when we were talking about losing weight, and I remember thinking, If I wanted to lose weight, I could--and would. I don't need to. I'm fine the way I am.

I was lying to myself. I didn't know it then, but looking back, I can see that I wasn't being truthful with myself, rationalizing away the fact that I wasn't healthy or happy.

I don't know if I'm a ton happier now, because well, eating makes me the happiest. Ha! But I'm definitely healthier and I enjoy my life more, so that has to count for something.

And there you have it! How I've lost over 50 pounds. I hope to keep going, maybe lose another 25-30 pounds.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

An Essay on Losing

Okay, so normally I stick to pretty writerly topics. Or if it's not such a topic, I spin it that way. This post is probably not going to go that way, but you never know.

Today I want to talk about losing. Weight, specifically.

See, today is February 4, and exactly three months ago today, on November 4, 2013, I began a new lifestyle. I decided it was time to get healthy and drop some weight.

Stats:
In the past three months, I've lost:

• 35 pounds
• 3 dress sizes

Things I've Learned:
1. Living is easier. Every pound I lose makes living easier. Specific things that I've noticed becoming easier are probably simple to those who don't struggle with their weight.

Picking something up off the floor is easier.
Getting out of bed is easier.
Grocery shopping is easier.
Getting out of the car is easier.
Walking up the stairs is easier.

There are so many things that are easier about living that I'm sort of mad at myself for not making this change earlier.

2. You know, sometimes I think we tell ourselves that we're happy the way we are, that we're okay, that we'll be fine, that changing what we eat and how much we move is just too hard.

I've learned that it is hard, but that it's absolutely, 100% worth it.

3. If you can make a decision to drink juice for every meal, or follow a "diet" program, you can make this change in your life. I'm not doing anything more than making a decision--using the strength and willpower I've always had to reach for an apple instead of a tots + a cherry limeade.

That's all that is required for this lifestyle change. Reach for a better food. That's it.

What I've Done:
1. I count calories -- but only in my head. I don't write them down anywhere, but after a few weeks, I know the caloric cost of everything I eat. I'm not aiming for a certain goal -- I'm eating when I'm hungry.

2. I eat when I'm hungry (like I just said). But instead of eating a lot of high-sugar and/or high-fat foods, I make that reach for something else (see #4 below).

3. I eat small portions, several times a day. A string cheese satisfies me now. An apple + a string cheese fills me up.

4. I eat all kinds of foods, without restriction or guilt. This is a LIFESTYLE change, not a diet. I refuse to deprive myself of things -- and then feel that inevitable sense of failure. So I eat cake, and cookies, and carbs -- on occasion.

In my "everyday life," I am reaching for high-protein, low-fat foods. I eat a wide variety of meats, dairy products, fish, and eggs in this category. I eat fruits and vegetables in all varieties. I eat whole grains sparingly -- a couple times a week.

I only eat sweets, rice, potatoes, and pasta on special occasions. And they are delicious! I love them. When I eat them, I enjoy them -- without guilt. This is my LIFE, remember, not a DIET.

I count the calories of the things I eat. One square of Dove chocolate = 40 calories.

Which leads me to...

5. I can only eat one bite and be satisfied and/or happy.

6. I go to the gym 3 - 5 times/week. I workout for 45 minutes. Period. I'm not going to lie. I don't like it. I don't get any of the endorphins people talk about. No adrenaline rush. It is pretty much 45 minutes of time I know I need to be on the treadmill, so I do it.

The only thing I feel is pride that I did it. I still don't like it. It's easier now, which is very motivating, so I keep doing it.

So there you go. An essay on losing--which in this case, is a very good thing.

Thoughts? Lay them on me!

I'm the Biggest Loser

So my school is doing this Biggest Loser thing for the new year. I figured since I am F-A-T (and that's not phat, which would be totally yanno, phat), I decided to sign up. The teacher is charge is hilarious (more on that in a sec). We get points for drinking water, eating veggies, not drinking soda, the works. I'm gonna have to squeeze in 30 minutes of exercise time every day. Can't let the team down.

Which team? That's right--we were organized into teams. The names made me spew my Weight Watchers soup. "Bringing Sexy Back" was my favorite. Sadly, I didn't get put on that team. My team is "Team Lose-A-Lot." I guess that's okay, but it just doesn't have the same ring to it, you know?

Anyway, here's the funniest part. We got a list of "rules" for the Biggest Loser. "If you starve yourself, you are out." That's pretty good. Nuthin' like trying to keep the teachers alive.

This one is my absolute favorite. I wish I could be this witty. "There is no fighting, gossiping, name calling, bickering, accusing, punching, kicking, blackmailing, pulling hair, whining, putting weight-gaining drugs in other people's food, cheating, tripping other players so as to stop them from exercising, arguing, evil conspiring, giving evil looks, stealing significant others when the contest is over and you look dead sexy, taking weight-loss pills, etc."


Can't. Stop. Laughing. "...stealing significant others when the contest is over and you look dead sexy..."

The contest starts today and I'm going to kill it. Kill. It. It doesn't hurt that I've spent the last year gaining as much weight as possible and am now the size of a small blue whale. But, you know, baby steps.