2011 Four Rules Refresher Course

In the spirit of the New Year we are taking a closer look at the Four Rules - starting with Rule #1 Protein First. In short - Protein First means it should be the first nutrient we eat at any meal and it should account for the highest percentage of nutrients eaten over fat, carbohydrates and alcohol. (More detail on this in the articles below)

Before surgery most of us were taught the Four Rules

Fruit Crisp

(makes 8 servings)

Ingredients:

• 3 large apples, unpeeled, cored and sliced thin
  
  


• ⅓ cup sugar
  
  


• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  


• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  
  


• ¾ cup rolled oats (regular or quick)
  
  


• ¼ cup butter melted
  
  


• ¼ cup raisins (optional)
  
  


• ½ cup walnuts (optional)
  
  

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
  
  


• Combine the apples, sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and 1 tbsp of the flour in a large-sized bowl. Stir well to coat the apples with dry ingredients. Transfer mixture to a greased shallow baking dish.
  
  


• Combine the remaining flour, nuts, and oats in the same bowl. Stir in the melted butter, and mix the ingredients well. Sprinkle the oat mixture over the fruit mixture.
  
  


• Bake the crisp in a preheated oven for 40 minutes or until the crisp is lightly browned. Serve warm.
  
  

Make 8 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving( ⅛ of recipe (116 g)): 221 Calories, 3 g Protein, 33 g carbohydrates, 4 g Dietary Fiber, 10 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 12 mg cholesterol, 48 mg sodium

The gym and a snow day

This will be a short post because I have a cat in my lap, with his head draped across my left arm. It's my cat Mickey (a.k.a. Mickey Mouse), a white and orangeTurkish Van. He's a cat that thinks he's a dog that's named after a rodent. Anyway, it's hard to type and keep my arm still so as not to disturb him. He looks annoyed here because I woke him up to take his picture.

My toothache finally subsided last night until 2:30 a.m. when the Vicodin wore off (it's only good for four hours). I woke up in agony. I took two more Vicodin and went back to sleep.

Since my toothache didn't come back, I made it to the gym by 6 a.m. and worked out for an hour and 45 minutes. My lungs burned so bad while I was on the StairMaster that I thought they were going to catch on fire. After my strength training I went home and was so nauseous that I threw up, and I hadn't eaten anything since the night before at about 9 p.m.. Maybe too much too soon.

Pictures through my office window today at 12:30 p.m., and then twenty minutes later. The sun came out and about an hour later it was all melted, but it was beautiful while it lasted.

Tomorrow's goal...to set some goals. :)

Toothache from hell and pictures from my day

I woke up this morning thinking I either have bronchitis or maybe pneumonia. Every time I cough, my lungs burn and hurt, and my throat is raw from all the coughing. I even thought about canceling my delivery aircraft flight but since it was very last minute, and it's considered a great opportunity and an honor, I took a shot of DayQuil and headed off to the office. I skipped the gym because just showering and getting dressed pretty much sapped all my strength.

The day was sort of fun. We took a bus from Sea-Tac up to Boeing Field. We were able to take pictures of our brand new aircraft, and we took off for an hour and a half sightseeing flight around Puget Sound landing back at Sea-Tac. It was cloudy but there were patches of open sky.

The best part of the day was when we got to 15,000 feet they let each of us take a turn sitting in the Captain's seat with our hands on the "steering wheel" (I think it's called a "yoke" but I'm not sure). Then the Captain took our picture. That was really cool. Unfortunately, we were warned to NOT post the pictures on the internet. I'm not sure why exactly, but we were told it wasn't allowed.

The only pictures from my day where you can't see the name of my company (!):

Me holding up the aircraft

A view from the window. Notice the sunshine on the engine, where it was

sparkling clean and shiny. The entire aircraft had a new car smell, or I guess,

a new airplane smell.

The toothache from hell
Tonight I have major, excruciating pain in a lower molar. I had my first crown about a year ago, and it's hurt from the beginning. Tonight it started throbbing and the pain kept getting worse. On a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is when you would rather just die than to keep feeling the pain, about an hour ago it was at least an 8. I'm a wuss when it comes to pain, but boy does this ever hurt! I've taken two aspirin and two Vicodin and the pain is now down to about a 7. I hope I make it to the morning when I can get in to see the dentist.

The only positive here is that I have no desire to eat. None. The thought of trying to chew anything makes me cringe. I can't remember the last time I had a toothache. Probably when I was a kid. I never had tooth pain, until this crown, which was probably the biggest mistake I've ever made. The darn tooth didn't even hurt until the crown. I forgot what tooth pain felt like, and let me tell you, it is miserable.

At least the Vicodin fixed my sore throat and cough. Its weird it's not doing much for the toothache.

Weight this morning...183.4. Not good. Working on it the best I can, but with the cold and now a toothache, I haven't been in the gym in four days, nor have I been tracking my food. Hopefully I'll be well soon and get back on track. I haven't given up and the Big Climb in in 29 days!

Fruit Compote with Honey Yogurt

(makes 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups unsweetened apple juice or cider
  
  


• ½ cup plain, low-fat yogurt
  
  


• 1 tbsp honey
  
  


• 1 slice (about ¼”) fresh ginger
  
  


• 2 ripe pears
  
  


• 2 Golden Delicious apples
  
  


• 2 tbsp sliced almonds
  
  


• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  
  


• ½ cup dried apricot halves
  
  


• 6 pitted prunes
  
  


• Julienned strips of lemon zest
  
  

Preparation:

• In a large heavy saucepan, Combine apple juice and ginger and bring to a simmer.
  
  


• Peel, quarter and core the pears and apples and toss with lemon juice. Add to saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until pears are just tender.
  
  


• Add apricots and prunes and then cover, cooking for 5 minutes on low heat.
  
  


• Transfer the fruit to a serving bowl.
  
  


• Increase heat and boil the apple juice mixture, uncovered until it reduces to 1-¾ cups. Cool liquid slightly then pour over the fruit.
  
  


• Stir the yogurt and honey together in a small-sized bowl and set aside. Toast the almonds in a small skillet over low heat about 2 minutes or until golden
  
  


• Drizzle the fruit with a spoonful of the yogurt and honey mix. Garnish with strips of the lemon zest and sprinkle with the toasted almonds.
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1/6 of recipe (274 g)): 206 Calories, 3 g Protein, 47 g carbohydrates, 5 g Dietary Fiber, 2 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 21 mg sodium

Day 43: Last night I vlogged about a few things...

I mostly blog about my weight loss efforts here, but sometimes I like to talk about the things going on in my life. I made a vlog last night about a few things I've been busy with. I thought I would share here since it's part of my journey. My natural reaction to stressful things is eat, but when I started to write, I found the substitution I needed so I wouldn't be eating my stress. Writing has been a wonderful outlet for me, and has saved me many calories. :)

Citrus, Ginger and Green Tea Sorbet

(makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
  
  


• ¾ cup water
  
  


• 1 green tea bag
  
  


• 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
  
  


• ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
  
  


• ½ cup water
  
  


• ¼ cup honey
  
  


• Snipped fresh mint for garnish (optional)
  
  

Preparation:

• Add the ginger and water in a small-sized saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat then turn off. Add tea bag and allow to steep for 2-3 minutes. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the liquid into a freezer-safe medium-sized bowl (non-metallic) and discard the solids. Let cool for 30 minutes.
  
  


• Stir in the orange and lemon juices, water and honey and mix thoroughly. Cover and freeze for about 3-4 hours.


• Using a wooden spoon, break the semi-solid mixture into chunks. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour back mixture into freezer bowl, cover and chill for 2 hours before serving.
  
  


• Use an ice-cream scoop to serve the sorbet topped with fresh mint.
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1/6 of recipe (78 g)): 68 Calories, 0 g Protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 0 g Dietary Fiber, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 mg sodium