Week 4 - The sodium chronicles

At my week three weigh-in of the Biggest Loser at work, I came in two pounds under the last time I weighed in. I can not weigh-in daily because it's frustrating to see the scale NOT move. In talking with my doctor, you should lose more than one pound a week so I was happy with those results.

A few weeks ago, I started having ankle pain in the ankle that I twisted over the summer. Turns out, I tore the muscle and the scar tissue is causing the pain after I run. I was ordered to three weeks of physical therapy and to back off on the running. FABULOUS. PT isn't so bad though I get to lay down for 30 mins while my ankle gets massaged, then scrapped and then fun exercises. YAY! I usually feel pretty relaxed after but after running lately, my ankle hasn't been in pain at all. I just have to remember to do stretches and just take it easy when I run. I was hoping to add .5 mile this week but I decided not to push it. Maybe next week?

The physical therapist also recommended I don't spend all my energy running and add something to the mix. I've been intrigued by the water running class and gave it a shot. It's harder than it looks but at the same time was pretty low-impact on my ankle. The instructor and swim mates were welcoming and the next day I was so sore. Maybe I can run down the Deschutes River during the triathlon?

I'm beginning to doubt my triathlon abilities. I know it's in July but I'm getting pretty scared -- mostly of the swimming part. Good thing time is on my side!

As for food, I've been doing pretty well and the weekends are really really hard though but I allow for some fudging but in moderation.

We'll see!

The hand still gives me the creeps

I divorced Hamburger Helper in 1997. As a poor college student who lived on her own, I ate a lot of hamburger helper, ramen noodles and often crashed my grandmother’s house for dinner (she lived down the street from me). One evening, I ate some Hamburger Helper while studying and then got violently ill. I threw up all night and missed work and school the next day. Horribly dehydrated, my aunt took me to the doctor (this was about a year after my mother died) where it was discovered I had E Coli poisoning. Though I’m pretty sure it was the meat that I got sick from, I swore off Hamburger Helper in any way, shape or form.

Fast forward to being married 10 years later – my husband brings home a box of Hamburger Helper. I can’t even be in the room with it I’m so scared from that stuff. My husband is sad. His days of Hamburger Helper are over. I’m a good cook so he’s pretty much ok with not having Hamburger Helper but I think he secretly longs for it.
Since we’re eating better in our house, I found this recipe on EatBetterAmerica.com for "Healthified" Mexican Pasta Skillet which I knew my husband would love and devour. At first he was a little skeptical and made sure I was not making it with ground turkey (I have snuck ground turkey in many meals and he hasn’t noticed the difference but if he sees it, he won’t eat the leftovers the next day). This dish cooks up pretty quick and I questioned not pre-boiling the noodles but it all worked out. Anyway, he loved it and even devoured the leftovers (which he never does). He also told me to put it in my regular rotation of meals to make.  Yay for being a good wife and finding a healthy alternative to Hamburger Helper I can actually stand to look at and eat without having flashbacks of that bathroom with the god awful pink toliet!

Here is the recipe! Now if I could only get my toddler to eat it!

[caption id="attachment_648" align="alignleft" width="275" caption="Mexican Pasta Skillet"][/caption]

"Healthified" Mexican Pasta Skillet

prep time:30 min

start to finish:30 min

makes:6 servings (about 1 1/3 cups each)

1	lb extra-lean (at least 93%) ground beef
1	jar (16 oz) Muir Glen® organic mild salsa
1	cup Muir Glen® organic tomato sauce (from 15-oz can)
1   1/2	cups water
2	cups uncooked regular or multigrain elbow macaroni
1	cup Green Giant® Niblets® frozen corn
1/2	cup shredded reduced-fat sharp Cheddar cheese (2 oz)

1.	In 12-inch skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain.
2.	Stir in salsa, tomato sauce and water. Heat to boiling. Stir in macaroni and corn. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until macaroni is tender.
3.	Sprinkle with cheese. Cover; let stand 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Week 1 - The sodium chronicles

As you remember, I'm divorcing sodium to lower my blood pressure and lose some weight. This is something I can not fail at because if I do, I'll have to be chained to blood pressure meds and I really don't like spending my time in line at the Fred Meyer Pharmacy. Week one of logging my calories/sodium intake went well on Livestrong.com. My first day back at work after our vacation started with a weigh-in for our company's Biggest Loser challenge. I was happy that I was at least down 10 lbs from last year.

For the most part, I stayed on course with keeping my sodium in-take in control. One day I went over because I didn't realized that the low sodium burrito I was eating was actually two servings. Seriously, who splits a burrito? (OK, I have been known to split a mondo sized breakfast burrito but this burrito was not small). I did have pizza this week as well. I didn't eat half a pizza, just two slices. That's an improvement, for me.

The biggest hurdle has been getting my husband to realize that we have to plan meals out and can't just wing it. I'm getting a lot of  "I don't want that" and I have to gently remind that well, I need to watch my sodium in-take in order to keep the blood pressure down. He then becomes supportive.

Today is my cheat day. I try hard NOT to go completely overboard. I started the day with a vanilla mocha from Thump and then some awesome cinnamon rolls that my friend Jen made. That was followed up by a mimosa. Did I mention that after that I went to Costco and indulged in a hot dog?  The rest of the day will be relatively low on the sodium spectrum.

The other hurdle ... finding gourmet low sodium recipes.  I love Everyday Food Magazine BUT they don't put the sodium content on their nutrition contents so I have to enter all the ingredients into a calculator and divide it by the servings to figure it out. I did send them an email and got back a lame response. So far, EatingWell.com and EatBetterAmerica.com and the South Beach Diet cookbook have become places for safe recipes. If you have any suggestions for places to find gourmet recipes that are low in sodium, I would love to know.

As for exercising, I think I need to visit a physical therapist. In July, while running the river trail, I twisted my ankle. I spent a month not running and walked instead.  Since I'm back to running, I've developed some ankle pain. I am hoping that my new shoes will correct the problem but if it doesn't I hope I'm not sidelined again. I want to do a triathlon so I need to figure out what to do to keep running. I have developed this love of running and I don't want to abandon it.  This week I've run/walked 11 miles. I need to change it up and I'm interested in trying water running and I do have to start spinning which I'm dreading.

Well, onto week 2.