Today I met with my personal trainer for the first time. I have discovered that I have a problem with motivation and accountability when it comes to fitness. I researched several different personal training options, including the sessions offered through my local gym, and ended up choosing to go with a private gym for training.

The sessions are pricey so I’ve chosen to meet with the personal trainer one time per week and then she will provide me with a workout plan for the coming week and hold me accountable when we meet again. She was awesome and I think that her training style will be a good fit for me.

Today was just the basics - we met, took the lovely measurements including body fat and then tested my heart rate, strength, flexibility and balance. I was stronger than she thought and my flexibility and balance are fine.

I am glad that I finally took this step. I thought I could do it on my own but evidently I just need a little push. I’m hoping to have the time to continue to chronicle my journey here on this blog.

Photo by kzulo

Just a quick note that I’m still here! The end of my school semester found me spending much more time on homework than I had planned. In addition, my freelance writing has really taken off so I’ve been working on articles for other people and have neglected my own. I’ll be weighing in this week and I’m hoping for some progress; I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit - eep!

This happens to me sometimes, I get ambitious and bite off more than I can chew. Funny how I’m using that metaphor on a weight loss blog, but it happens in all aspects of my life evidently. I have so many little projects, plus my studies, plus my parenting, plus plus plus that I’m going to switch from Recipe of the Day to Recipe of the Week.

If you have a recipe that you’d like to submit, drop me a comment!

So today’s source of information comes from the That’s Fit blog. One of today’s post is titled “Dig yourself out of the diet pits” and here’s an excerpt:

Why is it that the American diet has taken such a nosedive, steering us swiftly into a health crisis characterized by more diabetes, more heart disease, more cancer? Our life expectancies are down, our health costs are up, and we’re fatter than ever.

It is a great post and ends with one of the most motivational, and compact, statements I’ve seen to date. Definitely check it out.

I have no clue where this recipe originated as it has been in my Recipes folder for years.  This is another egg-free breakfast food but it is relatively low-cal.
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Today’s recipe is courtesy of deecol32 at allrecipes.com. 

Raspberry-Glazed Rosemary Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl, stir together crushed rosemary, sage, and oregano.
3. Rub one side of each chicken breast with herb mixture. Place chicken herb-side up in a baking dish, and pour broth over the chicken.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
5. Place raspberry preserves in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat for 20 to 30 seconds to soften. Stir in honey mustard and rosemary.
6. Spread about 1 tablespoon of preserve mixture over each breast. Bake 10 minutes more.

NUTRITION INFORMATION
Servings Per Recipe: 8

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 240
Total Fat: 1.6g
Cholesterol: 68mg
Sodium: 85mg
Total Carbs: 28.1g
    Dietary Fiber: 0.2g
Protein: 27.5g

The original recipe can be found here:  Raspberry-Glazed Rosemary Chicken

Today was my first weigh in. I started this adventure on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 (yes, tax day in the United States) and plan to weigh in once per week. In the past seven days I have lost 1.2 pounds. Now that isn’t the two pounds per week that is my goal, but two pounds per week is the average that I must maintain to reach my goal of being Thin By 35. I am happy with the weight loss considering the amount of effort I put into it. Admittedly, I was a bit lazy over the past week.

However, seeing the scale move downwards has helped to motivate me. I will work out this week. I will eat well this week. I will make wise choices this week.

My daughter is allergic to eggs and finding interesting breakfast recipes that actually taste good has been quite a challenge. Today’s recipe is courtesy of Steph_40135 at Recipezaar. This recipe also works for families that are milk free.

Ingredients
1 cup white flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons margarine
3/4 cup water
1 egg or 2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries

Directions

1. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together into medium mixing bowl.
2. Melt 2 1/2 Tbsp margarine in frying pan until melted; Be sure to tip the pan side to side to coat/grease all over.
3. Pour melted margarine in a small bowl, add water and egg (if you want to add egg); Mix well.
4. Mix blueberries with dry ingredients, just before adding the liquids.
5. Stir liquid mixture into the dry ingredients until it is thoroughly moistened; It is OK if this batter is lumpy.
6. Cook the pancakes over medium-high heat on the stove-top (or 375F on electric frying pans); Cook pancakes until the tops are bubbly and the bottoms browned; Turn the pancakes over to cook other side (Approxiamtely four minutes per side).
7. Serve hot with margarine, honey, brown sugar or maple syrup.
8. Actual cooking time will depend on the size of the pan you are using; I have a small frying pan, so I have to do these individually; My mom has a griddle large enough to cook them all at once.

Now these might not be the ideal pancake for weight loss, but this is still a recipe I wanted to share knowing how difficult it is to find good egg-free breakfast alternatives.

The original recipe can be found here: Blueberry Pancakces, Milk-Free, Egg-Free

I subscribe to several Google Alertsfor fitness and health-related terms.  I often find motivation for blogging and keeping up with my fitness program through these blogs.  Today I’m going to highlight a few outstanding posts by others in the Health & Fitness blogosphere.

How Not To Fall Into Weight Loss Scam at MunFitnessBlog.com - Quoted from the post:

According to the statistic in year 2004, about 4.8 million consumers in the US were the victims of weight loss scams. In fact, this amount of victims are more than the foreign lottery scam. Therefore, it is good that you know what the common weight loss scams are out there so that you will not fall into any of them.

How To Manage Cravings While You Diet at Battling Obesity -  The author lists several ideas manage cravings while you are on a weight loss plan.  These ideas include:  avoiding the temptation to skip meals, keeping healthy snacks on-hand, drinking lots of water and understanding that moderation is key.

Green Your Diet - 30 Ways, 30 Days by Eco Women - Much media attention is being paid towards become more Earth-friendly, aka green.  I think that it is fantastic that people are now starting to step up and take notice, we only have on Earth after all.  Jennifer at Eco Women has a fantastic post that lists 30 ways to green your diet in 30 days.  A couple of my favorites include eat like your grandmother and shop at a local farmer’s market, co-op or CSA.  Thank you Jennifer for such a fantastic post!

These are just three of the many fantastic fitness-related blog posts that have shown up in the last 24 hours in my email inbox.  If you have a favorite post that isn’t listed here, please comment and let me know the link.

I’ve decided to start a recipe of the day feature here at Thin By 35.  I’ll be browsing the web for the best in nutritious recipes and posting them here to share with you.  Today’s recipe is Banana Bread courtesy of Dr. Andrew Weil.

Ingredients

1. Heat the oven to 350° F. Lightly oil a loaf pan. 2. Mash the bananas and mix with the honey, canola oil and vanilla extract.

3. Stir together the whole-wheat pastry flour, baking soda and salt. Add the nuts.

4. Blend the two mixtures and spoon into a lightly oiled loaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until center is set.
Serves 12

Nutrients Per Serving

The original recipe can be found here:  Banana Bread at AskDrWeil.com

Today’s issue of The Oklahoman, featured online at newsok.com, has an article by Bryan Dean detailing the mayor of Oklahoma City’s plan to have the entire city go on a diet.  Evidently the Mayor launched a new website on 12/31/2007 called thiscityisgoingonadiet.com and is encouraging residents of Oklahoma City to register on the site and subsequently track their weight loss.
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