Let's get ready to battle!!! At my workplace, which is a hospital, they have some great incentives to keep their employees healthy. And I have decided I had better take advantage of it. I have had some crummy lab results the last couple of times, not to mention feeling crummy way too often. So, tomorrow is the start of a 10-week challenge called the Battle of the Bulge. It is a weight loss competition; I am planning to use it as a jumpstart to some healthier habits and if weight loss is a side effect, more the better. And if I win any of the prizes that is great, but there are over 4000 employees, so I am not pushing that hard for a fit bit and $100. Sorry y'all.
When I was at home and we had one income, I had to be as frugal as possible. That came down to lots of flour and baked goods, which is not good for one's blood sugar. I had to supplement our meat supply with cheaper meats and processed meats like bologna or hot dogs occasionally. Yes, we had our "pasture-raised" chickens, our rabbit meat, our eggs and goat milk. We had some produce from the garden. But for that first year, there wasn't really enough to sustain us. It may have been my lack of confidence to produce more or just the luck of the draw with the weather. So the chemically-laden additions did my body no good, nor anyone else's for that matter.
Now that I have a small income and less time for making buttermilk biscuits and homemade breads, I can afford to be a little more loose with my grocery budget for the sake of quality.
Another incentive, is getting my lab work and going to my "wellness checks" which allow me to get all my labs done for free and go to their little gym for free. They have a few classes after work and a few weight machines. There are dumbbells and balance balls. There are lots of cardio machines. It was initially a cardiac rehab facility so there are lots of low impact machines, such as stationary bikes.
The hospital also offers a $15 produce box every two weeks. Pay on Monday and pick up on Wednesday. I got one box last week. It contained: 6 red delicious apples, 6 oranges, 2 heads of broccoli, 1 pineapple, 1 pound of fresh green beans, 1 personal watermelon, celery, cherry tomatoes and 4 ears of corn.
I spent several hours today doing some meal prep. I have told the family that I am taking these next 10 weeks off from cooking supper for them. (The daughter cooks Tuesday, son Wednesday and hubby is supposed to on Thursday, but that never seems to pan out for him. So it won't be a huge change for them.) I have offered that they can have anything that I prep and put in "my" refrigerator but MUST let me know if they take the last one of anything, or the second to last would be even better. Today I prepped:
Brown rice, aldi blend of grains (red quinoa, jasmine rice, brown rice and farro), baked salmon, boiled eggs, cut watermelon, pineapple, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes,and broccoli. I roasted green beans with garlic and coconut oil.
I made a large batch of Detox soup. I used the recipe from Clean&Delicious on YouTube found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu-hUHYTv00 The soup is in several jars in the fridge that will last me all week. Daughter did take some with her to work last night, but she and I will probably be the only ones to eat it, which is fine by me. I made some chocolate chia pudding. I made some salsa-ranch chicken in the crockpot for the family to eat throughout the week-see, I am cooking for them, dern it! I made my oat jars that I always make with the yogurt granola topping for breakfast. I will be making smoothies twice a week to make use of my Omega juicer (awesome!). I will be stopping at the store and getting some romaine and feta so that I can make my greek-style salads to use up the red onion and black olives I have opened. I might make up some salad jars.
As I said, I am not really in this challenge for the prize other than healthier habits and feeling better. I am allowing myself a cheat day. This cheat day is going to be pretty consistent. Sunday will be Farmer's breakfast and homemade pizza day. I am not going to go crazy such as having 6 biscuits with gravy or 12 pieces of buffalo chicken pizza, but a pizza and a side salad for supper shouldn't cause me to revert back to old habits, should it? However, I am going to remain strict with my sugar intake, particularly table sugar and other added sugars in boxed and bagged foods. Those are the devil!
I will update you on how this goes, successes and failures, lessons learned, etc.
Well...let the games begin.
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