Green Smoothies & Sothwestern Tacos!

I've been eating healthy for about 2 weeks now. I've done SO many diets over the years and this time I'm not dieting, I'm changing my lifestyle. I'm done using my body as a garbage disposal for food with no nutritional value. I'm sick of putting tons of chemicals, byproducts and substitutes into my stomach & expecting my digestive system to know what to do with it. It's time for a change.

I've got a couple tools on my side, most notably, MyFitnessPal. I'm counting calories (& watching fat, sodium, etc.) using this smart phone app and it's super convenient tracking tools. I'm getting a realistic picture of every morsel of food I put in my mouth. I had no idea how many calories I was consuming daily. Now that I'm able to track my meals I can really understand WHY I'm overweight. 

The time has arrived for some serious changes in the Breen household. I'm making it happen. I want to feel more energized, more healthy, more comfortable in my own skin. I'm glad that my husband has signed on for the challenge as well. He's my partner in all that I do and his participation may well be what makes or breaks my success with this lifestyle change. So far he's had a hard time adjusting but it's always tough when you start out. 

My day starts with a green smoothie. I learned all about these thanks to Pinterest, a friend and quite a bit of google searching. Basically, it's (sometimes) fruit and green vegetables. I know it SOUNDS gross.... The idea of mixing spinach and fruit and then drinking it nearly made me gag. But I was determined not to knock it before I'd tried it and I'm glad I did! After my own "taste test" I've come to the realization that green smoothies are nutritious, yes... 

But they're also easy AND delicious. I'm someone who normally skips breakfast all together because I don't have the time to sit down to a meal or cook and I don't want to start my day worrying what I should prepare. There's so little effort required in green smoothies. They're easy to prepare, can be consumed on the go and do not require stopping at a drive thru window! I plan my smoothies out ahead of time with a recipe list on the fridge. Then I just wake up, throw it in my Ninja blender, pour it in my Smoothie cup and head out the door to work. I have an hour long commute to work, so it's nice to use that time productively! Woo!

Today's breakfast was the Berry Breakfast Smoothie:

3 handfuls of spinach

1/ 4 cup of halved strawberries

1/4 cup of blueberries

3 tablespoons of light plain yogurt

1 teaspoon of honey

1/2 cup of almond milk

4-5 ice cubes/1cup of ice

Mix it all together in a blender (I've got a Ninja and I LOVE it!) and enjoy! It's pretty refreshing and actually surprisingly filling! I love that I can drink it on my commute to work as well. No hassle breakfast? Sign me up!

Getting my hubby on board hasn't been quite so easy though. He took one look at the green liquid I was offering him and chuckled "No thanks." But after I FINALLY got him to try one he was sold. This from a guy who wouldn't eat spinach if I begged before. Success! 

Tonight's dinner was from a recipe I found on Pinterest: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/plans/diets/the-lose-10-pounds-in-30-days-diet-dinner-recipes-under-500-calories/?page=2

Steak & Pepper Tacos got a nod along with "It's good." from my husband. 2 tacos are about 550 calories according to MyFitnessPal. But because we were both pretty below our calories and pretty hungry we decided to add some brown rice. I mixed some salsa in with the brown rice and added it into the taco with the peppers/steak. It was delicious and even though I added a pinch of cheese to mine, the whole meal was still under 800 calories. Not bad! Especially since we're both completely full. This will most definitely be a repeat on our dinner schedule!

We also managed to get a 1 mile walk in this afternoon. It was almost 60 degrees in Buffalo today (Great January weather! Haha) so we took advantage of it! We were able to take all of our Christmas decorations down too! We're trying to make a point to exercise more and although we were super busy today it felt good to make an effort, at least. We've discussed joining a gym together, but I'm thinking we're more likely to just buy an elliptical or treadmill and do the exercise in our own home. I also have a few aerobic DVDs that I'll probably use once in awhile. I'm pretty excited to get this ball REALLY rolling. I've lost a little over 4lbs so far and just that progress alone makes me feel like we're starting off on the right foot. 

Until next time! :)