January 2, 2008
New Year, New Plan
I love the symbolism of the New Year, focusing on new beginnings and starting fresh with new goals. In years past, I’ve always set the same intentions to lose weight, eat a balanced diet, work out at the gym on regular basis and spend time doing the things I love. But every year, my resolutions are fuzzy memories by the end of February.
As a wife, mother and working woman, I find it difficult to take care of myself because I’m always taking care of others. I’m constantly running through my mental list of things to do, and by the end of the day I’m too exhausted to make a healthy meal so I grab a handful of chips and a slice of left-over pizza instead. Exercise simmers on the back burner until the laundry is done, the scattered toys are put away and the child is sleeping. By the time I finally go to bed, I lie awake and worry about the million things that must be done the next day.
But this year will be different. I’ve declared 2008 “The Year of Dana”. No longer will I put my needs behind those of my husband and son. Yesterday I rejoined Weight Watchers (for the fifth time), tomorrow I meet with a representative at the YMCA to talk about getting a membership, and I’ve started blogging about my progress. (I’m not quite ready to reveal the URL, but once I get into the swing of it all, I’ll share the new blog with you.)
The first step to better health was to clean out all the kitchen cabinets and get rid of all the junk food. Then I went grocery shopping. I stocked up on fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and poultry, whole grain breads and pasta, and low-fat dairy products. My husband was sad to see nothing fatty in the grocery bags. You know, like delicious, cheesey, garlic bread. Oh, how I will miss thee! (Okay, so I was sad that I had to give that up for awhile.) I can’t believe how expensive it is to eat healthy foods. The grocery bill was at least forty dollars more expensive than usual — it’s probably because of the ten organic oranges I bought at $1 a piece.
Tonight, I made Chicken-Teriyaki with Broccoli, a Weight Watchers recipe, and it was delicious. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
* 1 sprays cooking spray
* 2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
* 1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
* 4 medium scallion(s), chopped (green and white parts)
* 1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth
* 2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
* 2 cup cooked brown rice, regular or instant, kept hot
* 4 cup broccoli, fresh, florets, steamed*Instructions
* Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add garlic and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add chicken and cook until golden brown on all sides, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
* Add scallions and cook until soft, stirring, about 2 minutes. Add broth and teriyaki sauce; simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce reduces slightly, about 5 minutes.
* Spoon 1/2 cup of cooked rice into each of 4 shallow bowls; spoon about 1 cup of chicken mixture and 1/2 cup of broccoli over each serving.
Notes
* *To steam broccoli, place florets in a microwave-safe dish, add about 1/2 inch of water and cover dish. Microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes, until tender-crisp. Or to steam in a saucepan, set broccoli in a steamer basket or colander over simmering water, cover and steam 4 to 5 minutes, until tender-crisp.
Right now, I’m blogging while sitting on the sofa (YAY! WIRELESS!!) and watching Basic Instinct. I’ve seen this movie a thousand times before, but nothing else is on television. I’m going through withdrawals from my regularly scheduled programming. I miss Private Practice…and Grey’s Anatomy. Isn’t the writer’s strike over, yet?
I’m thinking about going to bed early tonight. I read an article that lack of sleep can lead to weight gain and obesity. If this is true, it totally explains why my ass is so big.
Let’s make a toast to the New Year. I’m raising my glass (of water) to health, happiness and prosperity in 2008!
Happy New Year!
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January 3rd, 2008 at 5:26 am, mammacheryl Says:
Good luck Dana! I’m very proud of you. I wish I had the energy and the initiative to get started on something like that. I have a hard enough time making the effort to put pants on every day.
January 3rd, 2008 at 8:50 am, Dana Says:
If I could walk around pantless, I would. I prefer being lazy in a long night shirt all day, too.
Except, I have to make sure the curtains are closed so the neighbors don’t know what a dork I am. Heh.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:42 am, Violet the Verbose Says:
Happy New Year! I admire your new resolution - to make this year about taking care of yourself. I need to see if I can do that too - ’cause lordy, I’m practically under the rug here!
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:27 pm, mom2amara Says:
The Year of Dana. I love it!
Good luck to you! I’ve been secretly blogging too about my ups and downs at the gym. So I know what you’re going thru!
January 4th, 2008 at 8:15 am, Elizabeth Says:
That’s an excellent New year’s resolution! Could I add your URL to my New Year’s Resolution Blogroll?
May 8th, 2008 at 12:57 pm, The Dana Files » Why Getting My Workout Isn’t Working Out Says:
[...] last few months I’ve been slacking when it comes to my exercise regime. You may recall that my family has joined the YMCA and for the first three months I went to aerobics, yoga and Butts ‘n Guts classes [...]