Fast, Easy Dinner Recipe

I saw this recipe posted on Facebook the other day and decided to try it out.
It was easy to make and tasted delicious! I bought the pesto instead of making it (because making it would have made for more than the advertised four ingredients). I think that next time (and there will be a next time!) I will add some crushed red pepper for a little spicy heat.

I served it with a salad of baby spinach leaves, chopped apple, chopped walnuts, craisins and Panera's Fuji apple vinaigrette dressing. It was mighty tasty!

The unhealthy guy in me will probably try a variation using a ground beef and Italian sausage to make a patty. I'll probably pre-bake the patties for about 20 minutes before adding the other ingredients and finishing up per the chicken recipe. I'll serve 'em up on a bun for some awesome pizza burgers (adding a little pepperoni is also an option).

I suppose a more healthy person could use a veggie burger patty and make it a vegetarian pizza burger.

Let me know if you try this!
Enjoy!

John <><

One Step at a Time

It's been a good week on the health front.

In the year+ since I dropped all of that weight I managed to put a good deal of it back on. It didn't happen all at once, but as I became less watchful of my diet it slowly crept back up. Even though I did occasionally indulge in less healthy foods, I think I was mostly guilty of just over indulging. Too much of a good thing isn't good when it comes to overeating.

This week I've been paying close attention to my food amounts and have done well. I'm also getting back on the walking daily. I've managed my 10,000 steps 4 out of the last five days and plan to keep it up. I am still a believer in eating for weight management and exercising for good health. The goal is to be back under 200 pounds by 2016.

I threw together a very tasty salad to go with dinner last night -- baby spinach leaves, 1/2 a chopped apple, chopped walnuts, craisins and Panera's Fuji apple vinaigrette dressing. You should give it a try. It was delicious.

I've got another recipe I'm working on for a healthy snack. I'll post it as soon as I get it worked out. I've tried a few variations and think the next one will be my final one.

I plan on making some granola soon. I have a couple of recipes in mind. If you have a favorite that you use, please share it with me.

Be well,
John <><

Not Exactly a Grand Re-start

It's the first day back from vacation and it's been a month since I took a break from walking and running. I said that I would get back at it when we returned from Mexico but it wasn't anything in the way of a big start. I managed some walking and a little running while gone, but not much more. So now I'm back and ready to get started.

My activity today was 90 minutes of mowing and yard work, a couple of miles on the bicycle (to remind myself that the hills around here kill me) and an easy 1 mile after dinner stroll with Chris.
Like I said, no big deal.

I still have another hour or so left of yard work for tomorrow and an evening baseball game to watch so I'll get some stationary cycle time. I'm going to get a walk in tomorrow after my morning coffee and may try for a little road work cycling just to build up some strength and endurance.

Diet wise, today was a good day. I'm going to watch the intake a bit more closely for the coming weeks, both for quality and quantity. I'm going back to drinking more water. It is more difficult to keep to drinking water at home than when I was working. I generally had a couple of half liter bottles each work session. Now I just don't think about drinking water during the day and so I drink a lot less between meals.

My step counter is just a few steps short of 12,000 for the day. I'll go ahead and get that in but will be happy with a 10,000 daily step goal for a while.

It's hard to believe there are just over 100 days left in 2015.
Let's finish well!

Be well,
John <><

Back on the fitness track...

So day one of the return to fitness was an easy day. I managed 45 minutes of light work on my Pro-Form XP indoor cycle while watching the St. Louis Cardinals make a comeback victory over the Nationals. I followed the ride with some light stretching and called it a day. I'll probably do more of the same tonight (makes me feel better about sitting and watching the game) along with some circuit training on the Weider weight machine and with some dumbbells.

Next week's workout will prove to be more of a challenge as we'll be travelling. I'm sure that I'll manage with walks, short runs, body weight exercises or something. Going to try to keep at it everyday with something--even if it's only a 30 minute walk.

Yesterday was a pretty good food day, as well. Diet shouldn't pose too much of a problem next week. Dietary discipline is easier for me than motivation for exercise.

Although I've never been one to exercise with a partner, it is nice to know what others are doing and to encourage each other through contact on social media fitness apps. I have a few friends on RunKeeper and am often encouraged (and amazed) by their steadfast running routines. I think that I'm the only walker in that small group so I am probably less of an inspiration to them than they are to me.
I spoke with a former co-worker yesterday that has started walking and taking the stairs at work. That's also a good motivator for me to get back to walking. I think I'll get out for a short walk today -- maybe just 2-3 miles.

I know I'm not going to be anybody's posterboy for fitness and health. I'm just trying to be a little better at living today than I was yesterday.

Be well,

John <><

September

It's September and I am happy to put August in the history file. I took the month off from walking and running to let my heel recover from a minor bruise of strain. I hadn't intended to be completely idle, but with very few exceptions, I was.

So...
Back to tracking walks and runs on RunKeeper.
Back to tracking meals on MyFitnessPal.
Back to being health minded all of the time...
...even on our Mexican beach trip.

I haven't set daily step goals or walking/running distance goals because of the week+ long vacation, but I am planning on some daily fitness activity...beginning with today.
Life goes on.

John <><