[ledom]

I am late getting our winter plan thread up. I have been quiet I know. But I am ruminating and thinking about my winter plan. Of course my first plan is to get the scale to match up with my ticker. That will probably be the first month of winter if I am lucky. I have been off kilter a while but have slowly been getting myself back in the groove of things. Workouts this week have been great. Food has been, well holiday food, though I was really much worse last month around my birthday and Thanksgiving. I scoured the house today of the last of the treats. They are all gone now, delivered to my lovely mother who can control herself around sweets. Wish I had inherited that natural ability! Anyway, I will be back with thoughts on my goals for the new year. Not that much different than any other year, but I am closer to that one particular goal than ever so maybe this will be my year. More later. Hope everyone can hop on and post and I will try to be better about posting too.

[aleka]

Thanks for a new thread, ledom. I also will try to be better about posting. I've been in sort of in a funk lately and lost interest in a lot of things. But, things are starting to look brighter now. I want to start walking again and I have an idea of what type of eating plan I want to do, and I'm mulling things over now. There have been a couple of new diet books out that I've read that have good advice. I don't think I can follow either plan, but I can make use of their guidelines.
Maybe we all can meet our goals in 2007!

[LaDean]

Ledom. thanks for the new thread. i like it. yes i to will try to come in more often also. we can do this. glad holidays were good both your ways. I had a very nice one. yes aleka i to am trying to get my plan together also. i read alot of plans and to use the things from them and fit to me. so lets get our acts together this new 2007 year. our year to do it.. i want to start more exercise also. i love the fresh air for my lungs to. well good luck this new year and HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU. LaDean

[aleka]

Just wanted to pop in to wish everyone a HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!!

[LaDean]

aleka, also wishing you and the others a this i wish is a good year for all of us. LaDean:

[Siena1383]

Hi, all~

I'm not sure what the focus is for these seasonal plan threads, but I'm looking for a place to post what I plan to eat for the week. Please redirect me if I shouldn't be doing it here.

My signature is outdated. My diet fell apart last summer when my knee had a variety of problems that kept me from walking. I love to walk and couldn't get myself to switch to other forms of exercise... anyway, I don't have the heart to adjust that pounds ticker upward, so I'm going to leave it as is as motivation to get back to that point.

Anyway, I don't know that I have a seasonal plan. The diet I like to follow is my own: heavy on vegetables, low in fat, nothing actually forbidden, loosely tracking calories, though the idea is to get in the nutritious stuff before allowing any extras.

Anyway, this week's dinner menu (most of these are multiple portion recipes, which I freeze and take to work for lunch):

Chicken & Eggplant in Garlic Sauce over Rice

Cabbage Roll Casserole (cabbage, onions, tomatoes & tomato sauce, lean ground sirloin, seasonings)

Adas be Sabanigh (a Middle Eastern dish of lentils, potatoes, spinach, onions, lemon, cilantro, and I sometimes mix in a little plain yogurt for creaminess)

African Yam & Peanut Stew (this week's experiment, as I'll be adjusting a recipe, but it'll have onions, carrots, peppers, yellow squash)

Shrimp Tacos (salad greens, onions, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, seasonings, and yes, some cheese)

London Broil, Baked Potato, Broccoli

Tofu Stirfry (bok choy, bean sprouts, celery, carrots, onions and peppers) over Rice

Breakfasts are usually oatmeal (the real kind, not instant) and fruit or a fruit & milk smoothie. But a couple mornings a week I have eggs or low-fat waffles or French toast instead.

I'm actually pretty excited about this week's menu. I plan a menu every week, diet or no. (I stick to it with varying degrees of success, depending on whether I'm up to cooking or not, but I'll cook most of these over the long weekend to start the New Year right.) I notice there are lots of peppers this week, but I love them in most things and actually bought too many and need to use them up.

Okay, that's enough for now.

[ledom]

Hi Siena - you are very welcome to post here. There are no rules and everyone is welcome. Man, I love your menu. It sounds like you are a great cook. I have never heard of Adas be Sabanigh, but it sounds very interesting. I make a few Middle Eastern dishes, I love that kind of food. From time to time I list menus but mine get pretty monotonous as I tend to make the same things over and over. I also like to cook once on the weekend and then have things ready in the fridge for the coming week. I ALSO have an outdated ticker. Jan. 2 is my get serious date. I tend to follow a body builders diet and I have a pretty rigorous workout plan which includes a lot of weights and cardio as well. I love outdoor sports of kayaking and hiking. More so in warm weather than in winter but I keep both up as time and weather allows in the winter. So glad to have you here.

[aleka]

Hi Siena,
Welcome! It's nice to meet you. It sounds like you enjoy cooking and your menu sounds really tasty. I tend to cook and eat the same things over and over. I like what you're doing for an eating plan, which is on the idea of something I would like to try. I'm leaning towards eating whole foods, nothing processed, eating when hungry, and stopping when satisfied. I also like to walk for exercise. I had been walking quite regularly, but for one reason or another I stopped haven't been able to get back into the swing of things. But, starting Jan. 2nd I'll be back out there walking again, as I have found a walking partner and we can keep each other motivated. I'll be looking forward to your posts.

[LaDean]

Hi, siena, WELCOME... so glad you joined us. your menu's sound good yes. its fun to share our menu's as we get different idea's and all. i get to eating same things alot to. so thanks so much for sharing. yes that is a good idea to fix it ahead like that. we are retired so i tend to just fix when were hungry. but when i do plan ahead works out better. i love exercising and have gotten behind with mine. but this new year i will get with it again. i walk the dog but going to add my walk to that. then i ride my exercise bike some. and starting after first of year start line dancing again. love my dancing. i loss 33 lbs and have kept it off for 2 years now. but i need to lose some more. so loss on the atkins. but cannot face it again. so now its watch portions for me eat what i want. and allow for with calories and carbs i watch. well good luck to you sounds like your doing good. LaDean

[Siena1383]

Thanks, all, for your welcomes!

Ledom, I actually am not a great cook. Not naturally talented, and can mess up even when following a recipe I've made for years. <sigh> I tend to be better at bowl-type meals, so I make a lot of those.

Aleka, I actually don't like to cook, but I like to eat, and the best way to get the food the way I want it is to cook it. Especially when I'm trying to lose weight.

LaDean, the reason I try to make food ahead is because I just can't wait when I'm hungry. In fact, I had the best of intentions to diet yesterday and it totally fell apart. By the time I ate, I was starving and ate all wrong. This morning, too.

But I re-started my diet at noon and made the shrimp tacos. Will make the chicken & garlic sauce for dinner (before I get too hungry!!) and the cabbage roll casserole & adas be sabanigh today for tomorrow's meals and to freeze.

Ledom, I couldn't tell you what adas be sabanigh stands for, but it's a much tastier dish than it sounds from the ingredients. Also tastes better than it looks (at least, better than mine ever looks). If you're interested, I can post the recipe.

Btw, one of the reasons I'm so pleased with this week's menu is that I tend to eat the same things a lot, too. Some of the things I'll make this week will have 4-6 portions, so I'll be eating them again and again. But they're different from the things I've been making lately, at least.

Everyone's exercise plans sound good, too. I will walk as I'm able, will do yoga stretches and I've resolved (which is optimistic, because I haven't done it yet) to do my Pilates, Susan Powter, t'ai chi and qi gong exercise videos. Maybe posting here will make me more accountable.

[Siena1383]

Oh, me again.

After signing off, I kept thinking about how all three of you said you make the same things over and over. So I wondered, what do you all make? And when you're not dieting, do you still make the same things? A different set of things, but repeated over and over? Please share.

I had to pull my recipe for Adas Be Sabanigh out of my humongous, messy recipe collection, so I figured I'd post it.

1/2 lb. lentils, washed and picked over
1 cup sliced or minced onions
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped (I use pre-minced)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
10 oz. spinach, either a box of frozen (thawed) or freshly steamed
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chunked
salt & pepper
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Place lentils in a saucepan, pour in enough water to top the lentils by 1-2 inches, and bring to a boil.
2. Cook, covered, about 20 minutes. (They won't be done, but they'll continue to cook in Step 5.)
3. Meanwhile, saute the onions and garlic, then stir in the cilantro.
4. Add the spinach, and saute 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Add the potatoes, lentils, and enough of the lentil cooking liquid to cover. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
6. Lower the heat and simmer 1 hour or until thick and soupy.
7. Stir in the lemon juice.

I often serve this over rice (yes, rice and potatoes in the same dish) and stir in plain yogurt.

[ledom]

[carolr3639]

Happy New Year, everyone.

[LaDean]

Hi, carol. same to you. have missed you. glad to see you back. this new year we are all going to do this.. good luck to all. LaDean

[carolr3639]

I had a little trouble finding it so just searched the words. I've been forgoing sweets and trying to eat more veggies but my DH likes to cook and is sabotaging me. ha! He's so funny. He tells me not to eat certain things and then feels bad when I don't eat his baked goods. Hope I can resist temptation. On the sad side, I saw a man die yesterday. We always go to a fun gym day on Jan.1 where some play basketball, others volley ball and others board games. After one round of bball a 55 yr. old man had a heart attack. Such a shock. We didn't know him too well but his wife and 16 yr. old daughter were there, too.