Better for BlogHer Week 6ish

In the interest of full disclosure, I am being provided with 42 Healthy Choice meals, a counseling session at BlogHer, and am being compensated. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

You can read about my previous experiences here:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5

Wow, today is the "official" end of Getting Better for BlogHer with Healthy Choice, but I have no intentions of stopping what I'm doing. This has been a wonderful way for me to focus on myself in a good way. I've been eating better and making sure I get in some exercise regularly.

Since the wee ones have been back at school, I've been doing my three time a week run (and no, I'm not running 5K anymore, but I'll get back there soon enough). I also got a call from a friend of mine asking if I wanted to walk once a week. We're now meeting at a local trail and doing a few miles at a pretty brisk pace, chatting for an hour. It's one of my favorite times of the week. And I've been incorporating some classes into my weekly routine - I've done yoga and soul grooves (I got the time wrong for Zumba, oops!), and I forget how much I really enjoy them.

Some of the meals that I've tried with Healthy Choice have inspired me to remember what foods I love eating, and I've found healthier ways of making them (e.g., the Orange Chicken I made last week). I'm also getting better about eating the smaller, more frequent meals that we so often hear are healthier for us.

I feel better... but not for BlogHer, for me!

The interesting thing is that I have never been an eater of frozen meals. This past week, I went to stock up on my weekly supply of Healthy Choices and stopped to look at some of the other options. Not many of them really appealed to me, but I saw one that looked "healthier" in that it was an Asian-inspired one that wasn't a huge portion and was cooked in a take out container like box. The front of the container touted 180 calories for the option I was looking at, and I was impressed. Then I turned the box around and saw that it had 2.5 servings per container. Ummm really? Really, a small takeout container that is maybe half filled once it's cooked is enough food for 2.5 people to eat for a meal? I don't think so. The previously slender 180 calories ballooned up to 450 calories. Yikes! While there are times when the 230 or 250 calories of a Healthy Choice don't feel like quite enough for me, 450 calories for that option shocked me.

On the other side of the coin, the highly anticipated (by me) Steaming Entrees have arrived in Chicago! I purchased a few of these this week to try out, and I've had two so far.

Honey Balsamic Chicken I loved that this had a ton of cherry tomatoes and asparagus in this dish - although the asparagus was a tad overcooked for me but still crunchy. The chicken was nice pieces, too, but the sauce left a little to be desired. It wasn't bad by any stretch, but it just wasn't quite what I was expecting. I am thrilled that these entrees use fewer ingredients and focus on the ones we can pronounce!

Lemon Herb Chicken This one also featured cherry tomatoes (apparently I love my tomatoes - and they work great in frozen entrees, much to my shock), although they are paired with green beans. The pasta is a whole grain pasta and not as overcooked as some of the others I've had in the Healthy Choice lines, but it still wasn't quite the al dente I prefer. I love lemon chicken, and the sauce on this was a nice lemon blended with chardonnay - which I didn't realize until I'd started eating it. I sorta liked this one and would definitely get it again.

Beyond these two new ones, I've been focusing on some of my favorites - the Cafe Steamers, primarily.

Oh, and did I mention that I have continued to lose weight? Another two pounds in the past few weeks without super "really" trying. Yay!

I have only one more of Tara's tips to share before the end of this series of posts. Move a bit more. Go for a 15 minute walk during your lunch break, walk up and down the stairs a few times, pace while you are on the phone, or get off the subway a stop or two early and walk the rest of the way. This is some of what I frequently forget. It doesn't take a lot of time, but the little things you do really add up. I may not be able to make it to the gym, but I can go up and down the stairs of my house inefficiently doing chores, and that helps. I may miss a run, but I can park further away from the store and walk, then walk to the next store instead of driving to a closer spot in the same outlot. It all helps.

I hope that you've enjoyed learning about this trek with Healthy Choice and Getting Better for BlogHer. I know it's been helpful for me, and I've enjoyed sharing my progress and Tara's tips with you - as well as trying out some of the Healthy Choice options that I might not have otherwise. While I didn't love all of them, I've certainly found some favorites that I will eat again!

Better For BlogHer Week 5ish

In the interest of full disclosure, I am being provided with 42 Healthy Choice meals, a counseling session at BlogHer, and am being compensated. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

You can read about my previous experiences here:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Wow summer ended quickly. I feel like there are so many things that I've wanted to do but just haven't gotten to. I've been really good about eating my Healthy Choice meals, but the official exercising thing hasn't been happening the way it should. Between BlogHer itself and spending a week in Florida and then rushing around trying to get everyone ready for school, I haven't exactly made it to the gym - not that any of this is a good excuse!

Now that the wee ones are heading back to school, I'm refocused on getting my whole self healthy again. I went to the gym for th first time since ummm the end of July this week, and I was afraid of what would happen when I stepped on the scale. I haven't been eating poorly - and the Healthy Choice meals help ensure I am not overeating (too often).

The surprising result? I had actually lost a pound and a half over the four weeks of sloth-ish-ness and "big" events that kept me from my normal routine. Personally, I am giving a lot of credit to the Healthy Choice meals, as that is not my usual result from avoiding the gym!

But for now it's time to get back on track and once again get to my 5K running. I also want to focus on doing classes at the gym again. While they've gotten rid of my favorite belly dancing class, they have added Zumba and still offer Soul Grooves and various yoga classes. I'm looking forward to some of the variety and aim to do a Zumba class for the first time ever this weekend.

So far as the Healthy Choice meals go, I'm really starting to do some repeats, but I'm ok with that. I have pretty much written off the complete meals though. I'm finding a little too often that the veggies end up in the dessert or main course instead of their own container, and the desserts are consistently too sweet for me. The other options though are definitely ones that I will continue eating - not daily, but regularly - going forward, especially when I'm short on time trucking the wee ones from one place to another!

Chicken Balsamico This is a complete meal, and it was one of the better ones, I thought. The balsamic sauce is so-so, but I loved the rice pilaf it was served with (better than the overabundance of potatoes many of the beef entrees include, in my opinion). I'm a huge fan of anything whole grain, and the rice was flavorful and thankfully not overcooked, which was one worry I had. The broccoli was again soggy, even though I have begun removing the film cover to try to reduce the amount of liquid the veggies are sitting in. The apple cranberry crisp is again one of the better desserts, as it is a bit more tart.

Marinara Manicotti Formaggio I was also a fan of this entree. You have two rolls of manicotti in a tomato sauce that wasn't overly salty. It was sweeter than the sauce I generally make myself, but not bad. I spooned the sauce over the noodles midway through the cooking cycle to keep the noodles from getting hard and drying out, and that seemed to work well. I enjoyed the filling of the manicotti - rather flavorful, unlike some of the other Italian dishes I've tried - but the broccoli fell into the same category as the above. This dessert was a caramel apple crisp, and I was surprised to find that I actually liked this one and didn't find it overly sweet. I'm not sure why this was a difference for me, but I'm not going to complain!

Ravioli Florentine Marinara This is one of the Select Entrees that includes just the entree without any sides - and I'm fine with this. I don't need dessert with every meal. After not being thrilled with a couple of the other pasta entrees that I've tried, I really liked the ravioli. I think having the filling keeps it from being overcooked, and the filling itself was a great mix of spinach, ricotta, Asiago and Parmesan. It was "sprinkled" with mozzerella, and sprinkled was definitely the operative word. I'd prefer to either not have the mozzerella at all or to have more of it.

The rest of the meals I ate were repeats that I've already discussed.

And now for Tara's tips!

Don't compromise on summer cravings. Instead of completely cutting yourself off from foods you love, look for simple ways to make them healthier. I've tried to do this a lot where I add flax seeds to something, make something from scratch versus buying it already prepared and the like. And I have to say that I feel better when I do!

Fight back. Foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and yogurt contain nutrients and substances that can boost your immune system to fight off pesky germs that can make you sick. I am a firm believer in this. I love finding whole grains everywhere, and in my family we take probiotics and Vitamin D regularly - especially in the winter - in addition to eating as many nutrients as we can. I know I feel better when I do, and I think we get sick less often compared to when we don't do this.

Until next time....

Better For BlogHer Week 4ish

In the interest of full disclosure, I am being provided with 42 Healthy Choice meals, a counseling session at BlogHer, and am being compensated. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

You can read about my previous experiences here:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

Wow did I have a blast at BlogHer. While there, the Better for BlogHer bloggers had a lunch with Healthy Choice to learn about some of the new things they're doing, and I'm absolutely loving it.

Do you remember in Week 1 where I said I felt bad about creating so much trash from the packaging? Healthy Choice is launching a new line of entrees called Steaming Entrees. Much like the Cafe Steamers that I love, these are steam cooked, and they don't include the dessert and side like the Complete Meals do. My favorite part? The packaging is recyclable! Yay!

Additionally, these new products that will be available beginning in September (and earlier in some markets) include fewer ingredients - meaning more foods that are recognizable, which again makes me feel better about eating them. I can't wait until they're available in Illinois!

I was able to try them when I was in Florida this past week. And yes, I ate my Healthy Choice Entrees while in Florida. Since that was one of the markets that received the Steaming Entrees first, I was able to try one out.

I also discovered that the price issue I have with Healthy Choice is a Chicago issue with Dominick's and Jewel (especially). While those markets charge mor than the suggested retail price per the Healthy Choice website (Jewel is the highest), the Publix in Florida charges are far more reasonable price, as does Wal-Mart back in Chicago - although I rarely go there unfortunately. I've also seen that Costco now carries the Cafe Steamers in a four-pack at a pretty good price.

I haven't been running while on vacation, but eating the Healthy Choice entrees makes me feel like I'm at the very least keeping myself stable, which is important to me.

Some more thoughts of the items that I've tried (and yes, I've started to recycle because I like some of them and some options just aren't interesting to me - plus my Dominick's carries a very limited selection, hint hint).

Sesame Glazed Chicken This was the Steaming Entree that I tried out while in Florida. It was actually quite good and comparable to the Cafe Steamers type of food. I love that they're using the brown rice for these, and the veggies were nice and crisp. The sauce was light and not as heavy or as overpowering as some of the Cafe Steamers (where I have to pour out some of the sauce). That said, this is not a ton of food. It's great to eat, but then a few hours later, I do need to have something else. That's the point of these, though - they encourage eating the small healthy meals.

Grilled Whiskey Steak This was a Cafe Steamer, and it wasn't bad. I liked the flavor of the whiskey sauce - really, how can you not with that name? Shhh, I did pick out the mushrooms, but the other veggies were good and not overcooked. I would have preferred more meat and fewer potatoes, but it was still ok. That said, I am not the hugest fan of the beef dishes. I like my meat more tender than what frozen dinners can provide.

Beef Bourbon Dijon This was an interesting flavor. It's not something that I would have come up with on my own, but it actually worked out ok. I liked the dijon mustard giving it some extra flavor (which seems like it makes up for eating fewer calories in my mind). On the downside, I had some of my vegetables mixed into my dessert, which is really not where I want my veggies. And again, the peach crisp was a little too sweet for me - but my sweet tooth isn't all that sweet.

Fire Roasted Tomato Chicken Another Completel Meal, I enjoyed this one. The pasta was cooked a little more than my preference (but I've already shared how I like my food much more al dente than most Americans), but the sauce was actually really good. Unlike some of the other pasta sauces that were somewhat tasteless, I really liked the roasted tomato sauce that had much more flavor to it. The apple cranberry crisp was ok - not as sweet as some of the others - but I would have liked more and bigger cranberries. And I'm probably the odd one out on that, too!

Sweet And Sour Chicken I love Asian food, if you can't tell from the majority of the choices I seem to make in my Healthy Choice entrees. Sweet and Sour Chicken is one of my favorites, but not one I can eat regularly if I want to be healthy. I couldn't wait to see how Healthy Choice took this one on. I felt like the peppers were really overcooked for me, so I didn't eat them, but the chicken and sauce were quite good and comparable to what I've had in many restaurants. That alone will have me buying this one again. The broccoli was again a little overcooked, but it tasted pretty good dipped in the sauce (shhh!).

I also have some more of Tara Gidus's tips to share with you again this week:

Eat light and eat often. Eat only what you need to sustain yourself for three or four hours, then follow up with a light snack to tide you over until the next meal or snack. This is exactly what the Healthy Choice meals do for me. I eat one, and three hours later, I'm ready for something like some carrots or grapes or something not super heavy. Yay!

Make it a family affair. Take the whole family out for a walk or a bike ride after dinner to enjoy the summer evenings. This I definitely need to do more of. While the wee ones and I play outside, we don't do a lot of exercise things as a family, and this is a habit I need to get into - but a later bedtime is needed for us to do this, too, so it's a Catch-22.

Rise and shine. Breakfast is a no-brainer to kick-start your day. Feel more energetic and fuel your brain by simply giving your body the food it desires. I always eat breakfast - except in the rare instances that I forget - but I need to do better at eating earlier in the day rather than eating as I'm rushing out the door after I've done all my morning chores and gotten everyone else fed and dressed, etc.

Until next time!

Getting Better for BlogHer: Week 3

In the interest of full disclosure, I am being provided with 42 Healthy Choice meals, a counseling session at BlogHer, and am being compensated. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

See my first post in this series here and my second post here.

We're going to pretend that I wrote this post before BlogHer. Why? Because BlogHer has quite probably undone the majority of the good work I've been doing for the last few weeks. I ran only once - the BlogHer 5K - although I did an absolute ton of walking, which is good. My water intake? Not so great. My sleep? Ha! I think "sleep when you're dead" was mentioned more than once. And the food and drink I ingested? Let's just say there was no Healthy Choice on a daily basis. I ate one (Sweet and Spicy Orange Zest Chicken) when I got home, and I started to feel a bit better.

So: enter the time machine. We're going to pretend this is last week when the information I present on progress, etc. is actually valid. And no, I'm not planning to run tomorrow, either. I apparently mildly sprained my ankle at BlogHer somehow, and it's still swollen. While it doesn't hurt, I'm guessing it would be a bad idea to try to run on it right now.

So, the big news? I can definitively tell you that the weight of two wet towels, a heart rate monitor, and toiletries is not nearly as much as I would like to believe they do. That's the bad news. The good news is that I know this because when I weighed myself on the scale, I was under the 155 barrier with all my accoutrement where I promised I'd find out what I "really" weighed. Whoo hoo! How awesome is that?

I'm not saying that this is all due to the Healthy Choice meals I've been eating, but I think it has something to do with it. One of the tips from Tara Gidus (the nutritionist with us!) is to eat smaller and more frequent meals. With the Healthy Choice entrees generally being between 200 and 300 calories, that means I'm eating another snack after a few hours rather than three straight meals (most days).

Add that to making sure I really am drinking my 100 plus ounces of water a day (I love my 40 ounce water bottle!) and getting more sleep - I've been focused on being in bed by 11:30 or earlier and sleeping well - I think this has made a huge difference. Here's hoping that progress continues!

I ate more varieties of the Healthy Choice meals again this week - including some of the all natural entrees - that I hadn't tried before. Again, some were better than others, but they were all pretty decent.

Creamy Basil Pesto: Again, I like a lot of flavor with my food. That includes lots of garlic and basil flavor in my pesto. The pesto in this was a little bland for my tastes. I can make better pesto in a few minutes with some frozen basil - but maybe next time I'd add a little more basil of my own and some garlic, and I'd love it. The broccoli and tomatoes in this dish were pretty good, though - and not as overcooked as I find the broccoli in the complete meals dishes. Then again, I also cooked this slightly less than the recommended time.

Sweet Sesame Chicken: This was another Cafe Steamer, and I've been a huge fan of the Asian ones to date. I liked having the little sesame seeds crunch in my food - a variety of colors and textures always helps make me feel full faster. The chicken was great, and as usual, I didn't have any nasty bits to it. The chicken in the dishes have been pretty impressive. I somehow missed the mushrooms in the dish, as I'm not a huge mushroom fan. The sauce tasted mostly of mushroom rather than anything else, so I ate as little of that as possible. My husband ate all the mushrooms and some sauce and rice, and he pronounced it good though.

Roasted Beef Merlot: I realized that I've mostly been eating chicken dishes, so I branched out with this beef dish. The carrots were great - I love cooked carrots with beef - and the sauce was pretty good. I was a little disappointed with the beef, however. There wasn't as much beef as I had hoped - far more potatoes than beef, and the dish with everything is still only 230 calories. Worse for me is that the beef was rather tough. Maybe I'm spoiled, but I was hoping that it wouldn't be too chewy. I'll try other beef dishes, but this is in the maybe to no category.

Lobster Cheese Ravioli: Mmmm. I'm not a huge lobster fan just by itself, but give me a good lobster bisque where it's more subtle, and I'm in heaven. The lobster ravioli had pluses and minuses. I liked how the pasta wasn't overcooked, and the zucchini and garlic in the sauce were a really great addition. The sauce for the ravioli - a vodka sauce - was the first really flavorful pasta sauce I've had with Healthy Choice. The ravioli themselves were a little disappointing though. While some had great ravioli flavor and pieces in them, others were completely lacking any lobster in the ravioli. I'm still undecided as to whether I'd get this one again or not.

Chicken Pesto Alfredo: Yep, another pasta dish, this time with chicken. This was definitely not one of my favorites. It had the same flavors of the pesto as the Creamy Basil Pasta, which meant there weren't quite enough for me. And since this was a flat and not filled pasta, it got too overcooked for my tastes. If it hadn't had the chicken, I probably would have cooked it less, but I didn't want undercooked chicken. I'm learning on the veggies and pulled off the plastic from there after the first cooking, so those turned out much better. This one had a blueberry crisp for dessert, so it wasn't as super sweet as some of the others I've had, and I really liked it. I'm definitely aiming for the berry desserts going forward.

Chicken Balsamico: This was a pretty good one, and I think I'll get this complete meal again. The chicken pieces were as tender and yummy as always, and I liked the balsamic sauce. It was a bit tangy and savory, which is something I enjoy. There was also a whole grain rice pilaf, which I hadn't seen before. While I've had better pilafs, this was pretty good. The apple cranberry crisp was pretty good, too. While it was sweeter than it would be were I to make it myself, the cranberries helped it from being overpoweringly sweet like some of the others have been. This is a definite buy again.

Pumpkin Squash Ravioli: I wasn't sure how this one was going to be. I'm not a huge squash fan, but everyone always raves about pumpkin squash ravioli, so I figured this would be a good place to try it. And you know what? I really liked it. The filled pasta didn't get overcooked (yay!), and the apples and asparagus that were included with the dish were a great complement to the pasta. The asparagus was (not surprisingly) a little more done than I'd hoped, but I love asparagus no matter what, I think. The butter sage sauce was nice and light - and I ate this all up. I'm definitely getting pumpkin squash ravioli again.

Whew! That's a lot of food when I look at it all in one place.

As I mentioned before, Tara Gidus provided some Healthy Eating Tips. I shared some of them last week, and I have more to share this week. Following them really is important, and I think they're helping me, too.

Shrink your plate, and your waist will follow. Eating from a smaller plate will help control portions, while you still think you had a plate full of food. I absolutely do this. I always use a salad plate to eat dinner, and I frequently use the wee ones' little bowls instead of our full sized ones. I also use smaller forks and spoons and prefer them. Less food fits on there, so you feel like you're eating more than you are - the mind is an easy thing to trick sometimes!

Save dough by eating at home. Restaurant meals can have high calories along with high prices. Cook at home to save time, money, and fuel or bring lunch to work for even more cost savings. Oh I can't even begin to say how much eating out sometimes scares me. I know BlogHer eating totally sabotaged everything I've accomplished. Have you ever seen some of the calories in meals sometimes? Three and four thousand aren't unheard of, and that's more than twice what I'd eat in a day. When I do eat out, I generally eat only half or less of it and take the rest home - and I also eat smaller meals at other times in the day, knowing it's going to be a heavy calorie day.

Color your plate. Fruits and veggies are colorful and add nutritional value to every meal without adding extra calories. This is something I need to do better. My mom was never good on veggies growing up, and I'm just not always in the habit - one nice thing about the Healthy Choice meals is that they always include veggies. Whenever I eat them, I remember how much I really love them. I need to get much better about prepping them when I bring them home and just having them out and ready to eat.

The kids are in sports, why not you? Join a tennis, rowing, or racquetball league. You will have fun, get fit, and socialize at the same time. I absolutely agree with this. And my church women's softball league is proof that you don't need to be good to do it. It's all about having fun - and there are plenty of leagues like that. There are people who play who've never played before, some who are terrible, and some who actually can play, but we all have fun no matter our ability. Plus, it's a great stress outlet and a nice way to spend time with adults!

Need an energy break? Move major muscle groups instead of reaching for a cup of joe. Do a set of lunges right near your desk and feel the oxygen pulse through your veins, supplying energy to your brain - a natural pick-me-up that is better than coffee! I'm not a huge coffee drinker - generally just when I'm absolutely exhausted in the morning, mostly because caffeine affects me for 15-18 hours after I've drunk it! But getting moving is so right. I'll try to get my heart rate up while still sitting in my chair, but blinking doesn't always work. I do find that doing a quick circuit around my house or something similar makes a huge difference.

Drink Up! Just a small amount of dehydration can leave you feeling sluggish, cause a headache, or make you feel hungry. Women need about nine cups of fluids a day from food, water, and other beverages. I am a firm believer in this and walk around with a 40 ounce water bottle all the time. The more I drink, the better I feel - and I'm one of the unusual people who loves drinking just plain filtered tap water. Fortunately, this one is generally an easy one for me!

Wow that was a long roundup. There will be more coming - more progress (I hope!), more tips and more thoughts on the meals. I'm enjoying my journey with Better for BlogHer, and I hope you're enjoying hearing about it, too.

Getting Better for BlogHer: Week 2

In the interest of full disclosure, I am being provided with 42 Healthy Choice meals, a counseling session at BlogHer, and am being compensated. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

See my first post in this series here.

I am one week into my Better for BlogHer challenge from Healthy Choice. As I mentioned last week, I am replacing one meal a day with a Healthy Choice meal and doing my best to follow Tara Gidus’s tips (and yes, I’ll be sharing some today).

So what do I think so far? I have to admit that I’m pleasantly surprised. There are three different types of meals for me to choose from, Café Steamers, Complete Meals, and Select Entrees. I’ve been doing my best to try a different flavor each day so that I can see what I like and don’t like. So far, it’s mostly been in the like category.

I will admit that I definitely prefer the Café Steamers to the Complete Meals (I haven't tried the others yet). The complete meals come with veggies on the side and a dessert, and while this is a great idea for dinner, I actually find that I don’t need these. Both types of meals are in the 300 calorie range, but the serving size is large enough that I can eat one and not feel hungry twenty minutes later.

The Café Steamers taste fresher to me, which I love. They also have quite a few Mediterranean and Asian inspired options, which I love. I’d rather have a spicy meal with lots of flavor like that than the more traditional meat and potatoes type entrees that the Complete Meals offer (barbeque chicken, chicken parmigiana, fajita steak, spicy shrimp diavolo, etc. The Complete Meals taste fine, although the desserts are a little sweeter than what I make at home, but I just prefer the Café Steamers; it’s a me thing.

To give you a rundown of my thoughts of each meal, I’ve had:

Chicken Margherita: I liked it. It had a little more sauce than I needed, and I’d probably pour a little out before putting the main food into the sauce, but it had great flavor. I do wish that the Café Steamers had their chicken chunks more into bite-sized pieces than the larger chunks they do, but that might also end up drying out the chicken. It’s definitely not a deal breaker.

Roasted Sesame Chicken: I actually really liked this one - or at least the sesame chicken part. I loved the crunch of the sesame seeds and the taste of the sesame sauce with the brown rice. The mixed veggies with this were ok, but they were more steamed than I would make them at home (I like my foods pretty al dente). The gingersnap peach dessert was a little sweet for me and very gingery flavored. It was ok, but definitely not my favorite part of the meal.

General Tso’s Chicken (not my spelling choice): This was another Café Steamer, and while it wasn’t exactly like the food I’d get from a great Chinese restaurant (for one thing, it wasn’t fried!), it had some really nice flavor and spice to it. It wasn’t super spicy – and I probably would have been ok with more heat to it, but I know I’m probably in the minority when you look at mainsteam America – but I really enjoyed this one.

Sweet & Spicy Orange Zest Chicken: I continued with my theme of Asian-inspired Café Steamer options with this one. Again, it wasn’t the fried chicken from a Chinese restaurant, but I really liked it. The chicken chunks are nice pieces of chicken (one of my main complaints from certain Chinese restaurants!), and the sauce has a great citrus flavor that I enjoyed. I accidentally bought a second one of this flavor, but I’m not bothered by that in the least! I also appreciate how they have a variety of vegetables mixed into each of these entrees, which makes them healthier and helps to ensure that I’m getting my daily dose of vitamin V (vegetable).

Sweet & Tangy Barbeque Chicken: This was another of the Complete Meals. It had chicken chunks that were really moist bathed in a decent barbeque sauce. The side for this one was corn niblets – my favorite – and it also came with an apple crisp XXXX. I actually left a bit of the dessert behind for two reasons. First, I didn’t need it because I’d gotten enough food with the rest of the meal, and second, it really was too sweet and syrupy for my tastes. When I make an apple crisp, I tend to make almost all apples with just a little syrup being created. But again – that’s the way I cook and eat, and I know I’m in the minority when it comes to not preferring very sweet desserts.

Balsamic Garlic Chicken: I went back to the Café Steamers, with a Mediterranean inspired choice. The balsamic garlic sauce for this was really good, and it actually wasn't too heavy or too much for me, which I'd worried about a bit. The pasta wasn't the al dente I make, but it was still a good fit. Interstingly, the chicken bites here were much more bite sized, which I appreciated. I liked the variety of veggies in this one from the spinach to garlic to red peppers.

Chicken Pad Thai: Ok, so I took this one out of the microwave and I was confused. It smelled like chicken curry, not pad thai (and I love pad thai - yes, I make my own). I had my husband smell it without telling him what I was thinking, and he told me it smelled like yellow curry chicken. Aside from my disagreement with the labeling (and granted, closer examination of the box showed that it was "chicken pad thai with a light curry sauce" - ummm curry = Indian and pad thai = thai. Once I adjusted my thinking to curry, it was really good. This one, I enjoyed - lots of great crunchy vegetables, and a decent curry. I was looking forward to pad thai though, so it would be great to have a "real" one someday.

I'm excited to keep trying new choices. Unfortunately my local grocery store isn't the best - not only do they sell the entrees for more than the recommended cost per the Healthy Choice website, but their selection leaves a ton to be desired. Tomorrow I am headed out to a different store to see if I can find some of the other options I'm intrigued by: grilled whiskey steak, roasted beef merlot, chicken teryaki, fire roasted tomato chicken, marinara manicotti formaggio, etc.

I have to say that these meals have been perfect. Somehow, I thought that being a stay-at-home mom would give me more time. It hasn't. I am home less now than I was when I was working. The quick meals like this - filling, well-rounded, and yummy - are perfect for when I'm running in and out of the house. I've eaten one in the eight minutes I had between dropping Mister Man off from Tae Kwon Do and running to my softball and between the gym workout and getting Little Miss to gymnastics.

And the benefits? I don't know if it's the meals I'm eating (with more protein and fiber than I usually do, I think) or just coincidence, but running this week has been awesome. My 28 minute run on Monday? I felt so good I kept going and ran for 35 minutes. My 30 minute run on Wednesday? I did 31 minutes, and only because I was pressed for time (yeah, that whole gymanstics thing!). I've finally gotten through my barrier of running longer distances, and I'm so excited.

And the scale at the gym (granted, it's a different scale because my regular gym is closed for remodeling, but same model at two other locations)? I've actually finally lost some weight. It isn't a ton, but I was at 156.4 today - another pound and a half, and I'll find out what I weigh without the two wet towels, toiletries, and heart rate monitor. Whoo hoo!

I have some tips to share with you, too, as promised. Tara Gidus is the nutritionist working with Healthy Choice, and I received some healthy eating tips that I'm trying to take to heart. I'll share some this week and the rest over the coming weeks.

Don't make excuses. According to a recent survey, being too busy is an obstacle to eating healthy, with nearly one out of three people having too many social events (30%) or not having time to prepare healthy meals or snacks (29%). Uhhh yeah. I fall into that category. I do great for awhile, but then I go the excuses route and go for the quick and easy - and not so healthy! This is a good reminder that I'm accountable and need to stay that way.

S-L-O-W D-O-W-N. Food is meant to be enjoyed, so slow down and taste every bite. Take sips of water and put your fork down throughout the meal to remind yourself to slow down. This is another one I need to focus on - uhhh did you see above where I talked about the 8 minutes I was in the house to cook and eat a meal? When I have time to sit down for a meal, I am pretty good at this one. I enjoy food, and I'm a slow eater. But too often I'm running around and fueling without focusing on the food. Huge difference.

Track your spending. Not dollars, but calories. People who keep a record of what they eat lose twice as much weight as people who don't. I can so vouch for this one! I used SparkPeople a couple years ago and was so healthy and fit and actually lost weight. I tracked everything I ate. And that also meant that when I was at Costco walking past the samples, I thought hard about whether or not I wanted to write that down later - or figure out how to write it down! All those little things that "don't count" really add up during the day. I need to go back to the nice folks at SparkPeople - and yes, it's free!

Get enough sleep! Not having enough sleep can throw off your hormone balance and contribute to gaining weight. Ummm yeah. It's now 11:27. And I'm not off to bed yet. I really need to work on this one. I used to set a lights out time of 10pm where I would go up to bed to unwind by then at the latest. I've gotten away from that lately, especially this summer. I need to ensure I'm getting enough sleep again.

On that note, I'm headed to bed. Wish me luck in this next week - I can't wait to see what foods I try and how I progress on this journey to Get Better For BlogHer!

Better for BlogHer

In the interest of full disclosure, I am being provided with 42 Healthy Choice meals, a counseling session at BlogHer, and am being compensated. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

I have been lucky enough to be chosen as one of the Healthy Choice Gets You Better For BlogHer bloggers. So what does this mean? It means that I am working to get my act together over the next six weeks to be more fit and healthy.

Healthy Choice has sent me forty-two coupons for Healthy Choice meals for me to use, replacing one existing meal with my choice of Healthy Choice meals every day for the next six weeks (granted, I will be taking a break from this while actually at BlogHer. While at BlogHer, I will have a one on one nutritional counseling session with Tara Gidus.

I have to admit that, selfishly, I am really excited for this. Like many women, I would love to be able to wear whatever I wanted - and not have people cringe as I walk by. I'm not quite there yet, although I know it's possible - I may not ever be comfortable in a bikini, but I can at least be lean and healthy!

Two years ago, a friend of mine got married, and I was the maid of honor. She had us wear satin dresses, and fortunately I learned about this well in advance. I spent the next five months working really hard to lose weight in a healthy way, and I did.

I actually weighed less than I did in high school - while still healthy - and I was in great shape. At my lowest point ever (it's possible that this was an aberration and I didn't *really* weigh myself properly), I weight 138.6 pounds. For someone who is almost 5'9" and not small boned, I couldn't hope for any more. While I would be "nice" to weigh less, I don't think it would be healthy for me. A more realistic goal would be to get to 140 pounds and maintain that.

And I was at 142 pounds for a good long while, and that was really comfortable for me. Now? Not so much. I have shirts in my closet that I was able to wear for that summer, but the next year? Let's just say that I'm really not comfortable with any extra flab hanging out that could otherwise be hidden.

That's not to say that I just gave up and went unhealthy. I am a fairly healthy eater and cook from scratch for the most part - which is why I put up recipes every week on my regular blog - and I exercise. I do a dance class on the weekends when I'm not carting the wee ones around, as well as yoga, and I'm back to running on a regular basis. In fact, I'm thisclose to completing the C25K program and running my first 5K, which means I'm running pretty strenuously three times a week.

So what's happened to my weight? It's creeped up, bit by bit. When I was down at the 142, I was so close to actually being a size six - a size I completely skipped growing up. And I've gotten really close to needing to revamp my wardrobe completely.

Right now, I actually don't fully weigh myself. I play games with myself in that I weigh myself after working out at the gym, after having taken my shower, while I'm still wet, with two towels one, and my heart rate monitor still strapped on. I know it isn't an accurate weight, but it at least allows to to know how the trend is running.

So where does all that put me? Yesterday, it was 157.2.

That is so frustrating to me because I eat well, I drink my water, I work out, and yet I am not seeing the results I would expect. When my heart rate monitor is telling me that I'm burning 700 or so calories three times a week while running and instead I gain a pound, it almost makes me want to give up. At least when I don't work out, I don't gain weight!

This is where Healthy Choice comes in. Tara has provided several tips that I'll be sharing over the next several weeks that I plan to take to heart. Starting today, I am also switching out one meal a day with a Healthy Choice meal. I'm going to continue running - and once the wee ones are back in school, I'll be using some of that "free time" to get to the gym even more often to vary my routine. And lastly, I am going to go back to a free website I used when I lost that weight before to track what I'm eating and what I'm burning to ensure I'm being honest with myself.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the results will be, and I hope you join me in my journey! Once I have my "fully-loaded" weight below 155 - just over two pounds from now - I plan to figure out what my real weight is, sans wet towels and wet hair and toiletries and heart rate monitor. Wouldn't that be sweet if they weighed 15 pounds? I'm not that much of a dreamer to believe it's even a third of that, fortunately.

The fun thing with the Healthy Choice challenge? Transitioning the one meal a day has a ton of benefits for me.

I like to eat a variety of foods, but I'm also somewhat picky. Healthy Choice has so many options that I could eat a different meal for ninety days straight. While my grocery store doesn't carry all ninety of the options, I have plenty to choose from. I selected my first two today - Chicken Margarita and Sesame Chicken.

The first is one of the cafe steamers and what I ate for lunch today, and the second is a more "traditional" frozen meal that I will have tomorrow for dinner. I am not typically a prepackaged meals person, and if it weren't Healthy Choice meals that are ... healthier, I wouldn't be doing this. I love that my meal had 17 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. While the 560mg of sodium is more than I usually eat in a meal (and I can tell right now!), even eating this, I probably won't break 1500mg for the day.

The meal feels like a complete meal to me. The sauce tasted great, although I could actually have used a little less of it. Next time I get this one, I'll probably pour out a little of the sauce after cooking it. For 300 calories, I'm feeling pretty good. I had a handful of blueberries to round it out, and I felt like I ate a complete meal.

While it was cooking, I could smell the roasted garlic heating up (ummm yum - whole cloves of garlic!) which really whet my appetite. The only part I wasn't thrilled with was the spaghetti. I like my spaghetti long and very al dente. While this wasn't completely overcooked and mushy, it was cooked more than I prefer. It was also in pretty small pieces, maybe five inches in length - but neither of those would keep me from eating it again.

My only other "complaint" is that the containers aren't recyclable. With the cafe steamers, there is a steamer basket and the bowl that I have to throw away - which I wouldn't were I making this myself. I'm going to feel guilty with the amount of trash I'm creating over the next six weeks, but fingers crossed Healthy Choice will be able to find a recyclable plastic to use at some point!

Wish me luck as I begin my journey with Healthy Choice. I'll be checking in every week or so, and I can't wait to see the results. My biggest goal is to banish the lines that appear in my face when I smile, and putting on those t-shirts gathering dust in my closet would be a wonderful added bonus!