Eating Well!

I stopped dieting and I lost 2 lbs... I wasn't really dieting, but following weight watchers and tracking my food and adding up points every day was feeling like a diet. I decided to take week 7 off. Over 6 weeks I lost 9 lbs. and I thought that was really good! So I said, I don't care if I don't lose anything this week, I'm going to take a vacation from tracking food points, and instead focus on eating well and exercising, and see what happens. I lost 2 more lbs... I did make an effort to add 10 points to my usual, average exercise weekly points, and since I was already in the food habit of watching point-values via types of food and portion sizes, it all seems to have come together. This is a feel-good moment, for sure.

I am however, also kindly reminded by weight watchers, that losing more than a lb/week can be unhealthy and have other consequences. They tell  me to make sure not to lose too quickly. This seems crazy because for a year I have been battling to maintain my weight instead of continuing to gain more. But this also means that I am, after 7 weeks, into something new and my body has decided to go along willingly. I realize that it does take time to discipline yourself as well as work consistently to alter eating and exercise habits, and for your body to adjust. I mean I have generally, for years now, always eaten healthy. And I usually get regular exercise. But what I've learned is that these were never as consistent as I thought; I was in the end eating too much and often over-snacking, or eating the wrong things too often (more often than I realized). Also it is true that aging requires fewer calories, and adjusting to that in itself is a major challenge. And exercise should be consistent, consistently; it's not just for weight loss, but for whole and long life wellness.

I've also discovered even more great recipes, and a lot of easy ones filled with veggies and good stuff! Once or twice a week I try to cook a real dinner, and also have healthy leftovers and other easy-prep stuff (soup and salad are standards) so I don't have to really cook every night. This is a luxury I realize since I don't have kids or other people to cook for every night. But I do also like to make large batches of things that I can freeze or have fresh leftovers available... In any case, here are two awesome recipes I found, both of which can be eaten alone or in combination with other stuff like sweet potatoes, chicken (or chicken sausage, which I had with the stuffed mushrooms and it was so excellent), salad, cucumbers in yogurt, asparagus... you get the idea.

Tempeh Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

	5 item(s) bell pepper(s), (preferably red and/or yellow) (medium)
	3/4 cup(s) quick cooking brown rice, uncooked
	2 tsp olive oil
	8 oz tempeh, diced
	1 cup(s) onion(s), diced
	1 cup(s) zucchini, diced
	15 oz canned tomato sauce
	2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
	2 tsp minced garlic
	1 tsp italian seasoning
	1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut off tops from 4 peppers. Remove seeds and set hollow peppers and tops aside. Dice remaining bell pepper; set aside.
  
• Bring 3/4 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add rice; cover and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes until tender.
  
• While rice cooks, heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add tempeh and sauté over medium-high heat until golden, about 4 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.
  
• Add remaining teaspoon oil to skillet. Add diced bell pepper and onion; sauté until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini and sauté until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in cooked rice, tempeh, tomato sauce, cheese, garlic, Italian seasoning and pepper. (Note: Look for tempeh in the refrigerated section of your grocery store near other soy products.)
  
• Fill peppers with tempeh mixture and cover with pepper tops. Place in a shallow baking dish and bake until peppers are tender, about 30 minutes. Yields 1 stuffed pepper per serving. (Note: Store stuffed peppers for up to 3 days in the fridge.) 

creole-style stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients

*I used mini portobello mushrooms, regular portobellos would be yummy too, and easier than filling a bunch of small mushrooms...

	1 spray(s) olive oil cooking spray
	1 pound(s) button mushrooms, about 24 large mushrooms
	1 tsp olive oil
	1/4 cup(s) onion(s), chopped
	1/4 cup(s) sweet red pepper(s), chopped
	10 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
	2 1/2 slice(s) whole-wheat bread, chopped into bread crumbs
	1 tsp Creole seasoning, or Cajun seasoning
	1/4 tsp ground turmeric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a jelly roll pan with cooking spray.
  
• Remove mushroom stems from caps and finely chop stems; reserve caps and set aside.
  
• Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Sauté mushroom stems, onion, pepper and spinach until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in remaining ingredients until well-combined.
  
• Stuff each mushroom cap with 2 tablespoons of filling mixture. Place mushrooms, stuffed sides up, on jellyroll pan. Bake, uncovered, 15 minutes; serve warm. Yields 2 mushrooms per serving. (Note: The mushrooms can be stuffed in advance, covered, refrigerated and then baked later in the day to save on last minute preparation time.)