Tackling the Weight

Well, I’ve finally decided to tackle my weight issue. (URGH!!)  I’ve had ongoing knee problems for five years so this is nothing new. But the day of my parent’s birthday party last month I basically spent 6+ hours on my feet which is an extreme amount for me to be on my feet. Since then my left knee has been especially PAINFUL!!! The right knee recovered in two weeks, but it's six weeks later and the left one still hurts whenever I walk or stand on it. I need to lose weight!!!

I’ve managed a successful diet twice in my life and both times I used Weight Watchers coupled with an exercise that I can enjoy. The first time (when I was 40) my friend and I spent our lunch hour doing a step class together five days a week in conjunction with Weight Watchers.  That time I lost my 70 smoking cessation pounds and kept them off for over a year, but as soon as the exercise stopped, the weight came back on. Then 10 years later I discovered Curves and used that successfully with Weight Watchers to lose 50 pounds. However, before I reached my weight goal, my son died and I lost focus. So here I am ten years later with those fifty pounds back on and then some.

Taken today in Door County... Forsythia blooming (and it's 30 degrees!)

Since I’m up in Door County right now, I’ve got the condo pool handy, so last week I started going to the pool and doing water aerobics and water walking. So far I've managed two days with at least 30 minutes and then a day off and then two days more. Yes! The walking and stretching and aerobics in the water has already started to help with my knee pain.

But I know that I need to cut back on the food as well. So I weighed in (ouch!)  and started a food diary. I hate the whole process, but I really need to lose some weight (big sigh).

OK... so I also decided to try to increase the dietary fiber portion of my diet. I did a web search for lentil recipes and found this one at the Huffington Post, but I didn’t have all the ingredients so I kind of took this as a starting point and used what I had on hand. I really enjoyed it... never really thought about sautéing lentils before. I’ve always used them in soups and stews.

Lentil Onion Mushroom Spinach Carrot Sauté with Beer

First I cooked one pound of lentils in 2 cups low sodium chicken stock and four cups water with garlic, dried onion, a bay leaf, some Old Bay Seasoning, and a tiny pinch of salt.

While the lentils cooked, I chopped the vegetables:


Then I sauteed them in a 12" skillet with the following:

1 tbs olive oli
1/2 of a large red onion chopped
2 cups chopped mushrooms
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup shredded carrots

I cooked the above for about six to seven minutes until the onions and mushrooms were brown and the carrots were soft. Then I added:

2 cups cooked lentils
dash tumeric
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
tiny dash of salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash Chicken Grilling spices
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup beer

Of course all these measurements are approximate. I really just shook a bit of each of the spices in. I cooked this mixture for a few minutes and then added:

2 large handfuls of salad greens (I used Organic Girl Super Greens) and cooked until the greens wilted. I ate it with a piece of whole grain toast. Yumm. First time I’ve ever really enjoyed lentils as a main entree. Plus is it also good cold.

I hope you try this. It's actually quite yummy (this from a carnivore). K