Things were a little messed up today but I did eat all the food if not in the right order at the right time. It was an unusually busy day for me so that threw things off.
Breakfast: Cherry Vanilla Ricotta Cheese Crepes with Fresh Pineapple. All in all a nice dish. A little on the dry side. This ricotta was MUCH tastier than the previous day's breakfast. Consisted of 2 small crepes. decently filling.
Lunch: As usual, The Fresh Diet rocks it for lunch. Antipasto Salad with Prosciutto Ham, Baby Arugula, Roasted Bell Pepper, Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato, & Balsamic Vinaigrette. Yum. Filling. Lots of flavor from the sharp taste of the arugula, to the freshness of the tomato, to the saltiness of the Prosciutto, the creaminess of the mozzarella. All in all, yum!
Dinner: Pork Stir-fry with Red Bell Peppers and Scallions. My 2 side dishes were Whole Wheat Fusilli Pasta and Exotic Mushroom Ragout. Tasty and filling for sure. Could have used some more flavor on the stir-fry itself but not bad in any way. The mushrooms were very flavorful and meaty and filling.
Hors D'Oeuvre: Fruit Salad with Watermelon, Pineapple, Red Grapes and Walnuts. So fresh and tasty. A really welcome snack. It's not really watermelon season right now so that wasn't the most flavorful of the fruits but it was still good.
Dessert: Raspberry Cheesecake. As usual, the cheesecake tastes so awesome. I pretty much will get the cheesecake whenever it is offered because...duh, it's cheesecake!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Day 3 of the Fresh Diet
I don't know what it was about today but somehow the meals were just not satisfying. I found myself very hungry throughout the day which I did not experience on the other days at all. I ate the snack, which I have tried to save until mid-afternoon previously, before lunch because I was so hungry. And even though the lunch was tasty and satisfying, I found myself starving by mid-afternoon. I ended up having to eat some non-Fresh Diet hummus and lavosh (I did try to be judicious in the amount I ate).
Breakfast: Mango Stuffed Honey Wheat French Toast with Raspberries and Banana Ricotta Cheese. The french toast was fine. It was a triangle-shaped piece (so basically a half-slice) but quite thick studded with pieces of mango. The mango wasn't the most flavorful I've ever had but maybe I'm spoiled from growing up in Hawaii where there is an abundance of amazing mangoes. There were about 6-7 raspberries. They were ok. I'm not the biggest fan of raspberries but I ate them and they were fine. I had an issue with the banana ricotta cheese. I was optimistic about this item. Although I'm not a huge ricotta fan, there have been many dishes in the past that I have had where I really enjoyed the presence of ricotta. Given that this item was supposed to be combined w/ banana or banana flavor I was really hopeful since I love bananas. There was no banana taste that I could discern in the ricotta. Also, texturally & taste-wise the ricotta seemed to not match w/ the french toast. The ricotta was grainy where the french toast wasn't. The ricotta had some tang to it where was the french toast was mild flavored and sweet from the syrup. I don't know. For me, I wouldn't NOT get this item but I wouldn't enthusiastically select it.
As I mentioned above, I ate the snack early in the day because I was so hungry...maybe from not eating the ricotta? I ordered Carrot Cake with Pecans and Cream Cheese Frosting. It was pretty good. The cake itself didn't have the texture you normally associate with a full-fat Carrot Cake. This one was more compressed, had less of a crumb or flake to it, and was somewhat spongy. But it was fine-tasting and the frosting was nice.
Lunch: As usual, this Fresh Diet lunch was really good. Another restaurant-quality entree. Today, I had the Thyme Infused Chicken Salad with Arugula, Orange Segments, Strawberries, and Blueberry Vinaigrette. First, this wasn't a "chicken salad" of the mayo-based variety but rather a salad w/ chicken pieces sprinkled on top. The chicken had a nice herby flavored although it was a little on the mild side which was fine considering the greens used in the salad and the tang of the dressing. Beware that the only type of greens in this meal are arugula I believe which had a very strong, grassy, sharp flavor. I enjoyed it but I could see someone thinking that the flavor was a little too strong. The orange segments (I think there were 2 slices) were on the sour side as well which worked with this dish. The strawberries were nice and fresh and because they were chopped up it felt like there was an abundance of strawberries which added flavor and texture to the salad. The dressing was very tasty although I have to say that until I typed up the name of the dish just now I had no idea that it was a blueberry-based dressing.
Dinner: Grilled Jumbo Shrimp with Lemon Pepper, Garlic Sauce. The sides I selected were Roasted Sweet Potato and a Parsnip & Pear Puree. Again, this dish wasn't horrible. It just wasn't great. The shrimp, I don't believe, were actually "grilled" in the sense that one first thinks of. There certainly wasn't any smokiness or char or even marks that would let you know that the shrimps were grilled. They weren't exactly HUGE jumbo shrimp but they were decently meaty. I saw the pepper flakes but certainly didn't really taste any lemon from the lemon pepper. Also, the shrimps weren't cooked originally in the garlic sauce. The sauce came in a little cup and I poured it over the shrimp prior to reheating. The sauce certainly helped with the flavor a little but didn't taste like garlic sauce to me. My impression of The Fresh Diet is that they rely on creating intensely flavorful dishes so you don't miss out on any fat taken out and so you don't mind a smaller portion size. The shrimp could have used a more intense flavor IMHO. The roasted sweet potato was fine. There didn't really seem to be any other flavor beside what a plain roasted sweet potato would taste like which was ok with me but I could see this side dish being improved if it had some sort of flavoring. The parsnip & pear puree. At first, I kind of enjoyed it. The texture was creamy and smooth. The dish, despite the pear, has a fairly strong parsnip flavor. After awhile, it was too much for me. Parsnip has a sharp flavor and a whole scoop of it was a bit much.
The dessert though, as seems to be the way with The Fresh Diet, is excellent. I had the Cherry Vanilla Cheesecake and it was lovely. Creamy, sweet, satisfying, everything you'd want a plain piece of cheesecake to be. The cherry flavor wasn't that strong but the vanilla flavor was there. And I just want to say, that however The Fresh Diet makes their crusts, they are better than most regular non-diet crusts!
Breakfast: Mango Stuffed Honey Wheat French Toast with Raspberries and Banana Ricotta Cheese. The french toast was fine. It was a triangle-shaped piece (so basically a half-slice) but quite thick studded with pieces of mango. The mango wasn't the most flavorful I've ever had but maybe I'm spoiled from growing up in Hawaii where there is an abundance of amazing mangoes. There were about 6-7 raspberries. They were ok. I'm not the biggest fan of raspberries but I ate them and they were fine. I had an issue with the banana ricotta cheese. I was optimistic about this item. Although I'm not a huge ricotta fan, there have been many dishes in the past that I have had where I really enjoyed the presence of ricotta. Given that this item was supposed to be combined w/ banana or banana flavor I was really hopeful since I love bananas. There was no banana taste that I could discern in the ricotta. Also, texturally & taste-wise the ricotta seemed to not match w/ the french toast. The ricotta was grainy where the french toast wasn't. The ricotta had some tang to it where was the french toast was mild flavored and sweet from the syrup. I don't know. For me, I wouldn't NOT get this item but I wouldn't enthusiastically select it.
As I mentioned above, I ate the snack early in the day because I was so hungry...maybe from not eating the ricotta? I ordered Carrot Cake with Pecans and Cream Cheese Frosting. It was pretty good. The cake itself didn't have the texture you normally associate with a full-fat Carrot Cake. This one was more compressed, had less of a crumb or flake to it, and was somewhat spongy. But it was fine-tasting and the frosting was nice.
Lunch: As usual, this Fresh Diet lunch was really good. Another restaurant-quality entree. Today, I had the Thyme Infused Chicken Salad with Arugula, Orange Segments, Strawberries, and Blueberry Vinaigrette. First, this wasn't a "chicken salad" of the mayo-based variety but rather a salad w/ chicken pieces sprinkled on top. The chicken had a nice herby flavored although it was a little on the mild side which was fine considering the greens used in the salad and the tang of the dressing. Beware that the only type of greens in this meal are arugula I believe which had a very strong, grassy, sharp flavor. I enjoyed it but I could see someone thinking that the flavor was a little too strong. The orange segments (I think there were 2 slices) were on the sour side as well which worked with this dish. The strawberries were nice and fresh and because they were chopped up it felt like there was an abundance of strawberries which added flavor and texture to the salad. The dressing was very tasty although I have to say that until I typed up the name of the dish just now I had no idea that it was a blueberry-based dressing.
Dinner: Grilled Jumbo Shrimp with Lemon Pepper, Garlic Sauce. The sides I selected were Roasted Sweet Potato and a Parsnip & Pear Puree. Again, this dish wasn't horrible. It just wasn't great. The shrimp, I don't believe, were actually "grilled" in the sense that one first thinks of. There certainly wasn't any smokiness or char or even marks that would let you know that the shrimps were grilled. They weren't exactly HUGE jumbo shrimp but they were decently meaty. I saw the pepper flakes but certainly didn't really taste any lemon from the lemon pepper. Also, the shrimps weren't cooked originally in the garlic sauce. The sauce came in a little cup and I poured it over the shrimp prior to reheating. The sauce certainly helped with the flavor a little but didn't taste like garlic sauce to me. My impression of The Fresh Diet is that they rely on creating intensely flavorful dishes so you don't miss out on any fat taken out and so you don't mind a smaller portion size. The shrimp could have used a more intense flavor IMHO. The roasted sweet potato was fine. There didn't really seem to be any other flavor beside what a plain roasted sweet potato would taste like which was ok with me but I could see this side dish being improved if it had some sort of flavoring. The parsnip & pear puree. At first, I kind of enjoyed it. The texture was creamy and smooth. The dish, despite the pear, has a fairly strong parsnip flavor. After awhile, it was too much for me. Parsnip has a sharp flavor and a whole scoop of it was a bit much.
The dessert though, as seems to be the way with The Fresh Diet, is excellent. I had the Cherry Vanilla Cheesecake and it was lovely. Creamy, sweet, satisfying, everything you'd want a plain piece of cheesecake to be. The cherry flavor wasn't that strong but the vanilla flavor was there. And I just want to say, that however The Fresh Diet makes their crusts, they are better than most regular non-diet crusts!
Day 2 of the Fresh Diet
Breakfast: Whole Wheat Pancakes with fresh Blueberries & Mango Yogurt. Delish. 2 pieces of pancake that when put together equal the size of one regular pancake. Nice, soft, fluffy, and tasty. A handful of fresh blueberries. Again, I didn't have time to eat the yogurt until lunch so needless to say I was quite hungry within an hour of this meal. When I finally did eat the yogurt it was good. Not as fruity as I would have expected (or liked) but good. I would get this meal again.
Lunch: Oh wow! This was awesome. I had an Asian Flank Steak Sandwich on Whole Wheat Roll with Szechuan Style Slaw and Peanut Sauce. There was so much meat! I mean a ton so you really got the feeling of indulging. I heated the sandwich up and then added a bit of the slaw to it and drizzled the sauce on the meat. Super flavorful. The slaw I also ate as a side dish and I while I ate the whole thing since I'm sure it's good for you, I wasn't in love with it flavor-wise. Not bad, not good, just ok. Also, when I see "szechuan style" I think "spicy" which I love but this wasn't spicy to me at all. The sandwich though was a winner. I would happily eat this on a regular basis.
Hors D'Oeuvre: I ate this on the fly before going out to meet up with a girlfriend because I wanted to get full before I left the house. :) I had the Mini Veggie Egg Rolls with Peanut Sauce. Very tasty. I am sure they would have tasted better fresh or if I had re-heated them in the oven rather than the microwave but they were still good. They had a nice chewy consistency that really made you feel like you were eating something satisfying and the sauce was very flavorful.
Dinner: I ordered the Turkey Chili Con Carne with Roasted Butternut Squash and Whole Wheat Fettuccine Pasta. It looked great but as I alluded to above, I was going out with a girlfriend to a restaurant so I didn't eat this. I am saving it for the weekend (I elected to receive meals only M-F) along w/ the dessert of Key Lime Cheesecake...although my husband might try to steal that!
Lunch: Oh wow! This was awesome. I had an Asian Flank Steak Sandwich on Whole Wheat Roll with Szechuan Style Slaw and Peanut Sauce. There was so much meat! I mean a ton so you really got the feeling of indulging. I heated the sandwich up and then added a bit of the slaw to it and drizzled the sauce on the meat. Super flavorful. The slaw I also ate as a side dish and I while I ate the whole thing since I'm sure it's good for you, I wasn't in love with it flavor-wise. Not bad, not good, just ok. Also, when I see "szechuan style" I think "spicy" which I love but this wasn't spicy to me at all. The sandwich though was a winner. I would happily eat this on a regular basis.
Hors D'Oeuvre: I ate this on the fly before going out to meet up with a girlfriend because I wanted to get full before I left the house. :) I had the Mini Veggie Egg Rolls with Peanut Sauce. Very tasty. I am sure they would have tasted better fresh or if I had re-heated them in the oven rather than the microwave but they were still good. They had a nice chewy consistency that really made you feel like you were eating something satisfying and the sauce was very flavorful.
Dinner: I ordered the Turkey Chili Con Carne with Roasted Butternut Squash and Whole Wheat Fettuccine Pasta. It looked great but as I alluded to above, I was going out with a girlfriend to a restaurant so I didn't eat this. I am saving it for the weekend (I elected to receive meals only M-F) along w/ the dessert of Key Lime Cheesecake...although my husband might try to steal that!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Day 1 of The Fresh Diet
So far so good. Last night when I went to bed it felt a little like Christmas Eve as I anticipated my first delivery of The Fresh Diet. I was a little worried because sometimes delivery people get confused between my house which is on a STREET and a neighbor who has the exact same house number and street name but lives on a PLACE. I was also worried because I changed my delivery location to my back gate rather than my front door since I didn't want my loud, overprotective dog to wake the house up at 2:00AM if that's when my delivery person arrived.
Delivery went off without a hitch. When I woke up in the morning I went outside and there was my cooler bag right where I was expecting to find it. Excitedly I brought it back inside and inspected the contents. The cooler bag, which is provided by The Fresh Diet, is seriously heavy-duty. The zipper on each bag is zip-tied which I wasn't expecting but it makes since in that it assures you that no one has tampered w/ your food since your bag was put together. I would think this would be especially important to people in apartment buildings or condos where others could possibly access your bag.
Once I opened my bag, I took everything out to look at . In hindsight I should have taken photos which I will try to remember to do tomorrow. Each meal is packed in nice quality plastic take-out containers. The Fresh Diet provides you with breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack (sometimes called an hors d'oeuvre), and dessert. Also in the bag are 3 good-sized, hard plastic, ice packs. A menu for the day w/ any instructions for re-heating is also included.
For breakfast Day 1, I selected Whole Wheat Cinnamon Waffles with Fresh Banana & Pineapple Cottage Cheese. I was also given a little container of syrup. There were 2 waffle pieces which combined would be slightly larger than a typical frozen waffle. They were thicker than a frozen waffle would be though. The banana almost made me laugh b/c it was seriously a chunk about 1/4-1/3 the size of a whole banana. The downside to the banana is of course that they turn brown when they've been cut up. It didn't affect the flavor too much so I went with it. I will say I didn't eat the cottage cheese. I went into this with cottage cheese on my list of foods I don't eat which The Fresh Diet solicits from you. I ordered this breakfast even though it had cottage cheese because I was trying to be open-minded and I thought that having the cottage cheese mixed with pineapple which I love would help. I fished out a piece of pineapple from the container of cottage cheese (which is maybe about the size of a shot class or so) and tasted it...yeah, cottage cheese is not for me. Too salty or something. And I don't think it helped that the pineapple was obviously canned pineapple. The waffles were excellent though although it would have helped if my morning hadn't gotten so hectic that I only had time to eat about 1/2 my waffle...I saved the rest and had it with my lunch. I know that's not the way the food is supposed to be eaten but what else is a busy mom supposed to do? ;) I don't know if I would order this again just because I would be missing out on a substantial portion of the meal since I don't eat cottage cheese but the waffle itself was good.
Lunch was delicious. Seriously. I ordered the Grilled Wild Mahi Mahi on Whole wheat Ciabatta Bread with Lettuce, Tomato, & Thousand Island dressing. It was about the size of a 1/2 sandwich. The bread was very thick and studded with seeds and such. The piece of fish though was nice. I'm from Hawaii and I take things like fish quality seriously and I was pretty happy with this fish. I choose to heat the sandwich as suggested on my menu card but I could totally see eating this as a cold sandwich. I drizzled the dressing on the fish and on the lettuce. YUM. It did feel weird not to be eating the sandwich w/ a side like fries or chips but I persevered! :)
A little while before picking up my daughter from the school bus I decided to eat my Hors D'Oeuvre which was Mushroom Crowns filled with Cajun Shrimp. The afternoon time is usually the time of day when I eat the most b/c I often have to skip breakfast (which I hate doing but having to get 3 kids out the door takes a lot of time!) and I often can't eat lunch until almost 2:00PM or later. I heat the mushroom caps (there were 2 of them) in the microwave according to directions. I was a little skeptical since the filling looked a little like mush but I have to say that those mushrooms were really tasty! And the mushrooms were surprisingly filling as well. In the same container as the mushrooms was a few pieces of spring salad, arugula mix. I ate those w/ a little of the dressing I had leftover from my sandwich. Again, yum!
By the time dinner rolled around I was pretty hungry. I was a little worried that the Fresh Diet dinner wouldn't be enough. I selected the Flounder Fillets with Mango BBQ Sauce. The 2 sides I selected were Spanish Style Brown Rice and Sauteed Mushroom Medley (can you guess that I'm a fan of mushrooms??). Heated the fish and sides not at 100% power but at 50% power. I've found that doing so makes food, especially protein, less likely to dry out. I drizzled the sauce all over the fish and ate. There was a moment early on where I was worried the fish would be a little too fishy tasting but I think it was just an off bite. The rest of the fish was very nice and the mango bbq sauce was very tasty. I don't know how "Spanish" the rice was---could have used some more spice!---but it was a tasty brown rice dish. The mushroom medley didn't look beautiful but it was really flavorful and meaty.
I have to confess that I "cheated". I supplemented with some hummus and whole wheat pita. I was really worried that it would be too much of a shock going from what I had been eating to the amount of food provided by The Fresh Diet without doing so gradually. I wonder if it was necessary though because I feel overly full now and I still have my dessert to eat.
The dessert was Honey Almond Cheesecake and it was just awesome. Really really awesome. I think the idea was to make the dessert small but intensely flavored so you really felt like you were getting something decadent. It was seriously yummy.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my Day 1 choices. I would definitely make some of them again. My husband read my post though and laughed and told me never to write this much again for a blog post though! Will do better I swear! Stick with me!
Delivery went off without a hitch. When I woke up in the morning I went outside and there was my cooler bag right where I was expecting to find it. Excitedly I brought it back inside and inspected the contents. The cooler bag, which is provided by The Fresh Diet, is seriously heavy-duty. The zipper on each bag is zip-tied which I wasn't expecting but it makes since in that it assures you that no one has tampered w/ your food since your bag was put together. I would think this would be especially important to people in apartment buildings or condos where others could possibly access your bag.
Once I opened my bag, I took everything out to look at . In hindsight I should have taken photos which I will try to remember to do tomorrow. Each meal is packed in nice quality plastic take-out containers. The Fresh Diet provides you with breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack (sometimes called an hors d'oeuvre), and dessert. Also in the bag are 3 good-sized, hard plastic, ice packs. A menu for the day w/ any instructions for re-heating is also included.
For breakfast Day 1, I selected Whole Wheat Cinnamon Waffles with Fresh Banana & Pineapple Cottage Cheese. I was also given a little container of syrup. There were 2 waffle pieces which combined would be slightly larger than a typical frozen waffle. They were thicker than a frozen waffle would be though. The banana almost made me laugh b/c it was seriously a chunk about 1/4-1/3 the size of a whole banana. The downside to the banana is of course that they turn brown when they've been cut up. It didn't affect the flavor too much so I went with it. I will say I didn't eat the cottage cheese. I went into this with cottage cheese on my list of foods I don't eat which The Fresh Diet solicits from you. I ordered this breakfast even though it had cottage cheese because I was trying to be open-minded and I thought that having the cottage cheese mixed with pineapple which I love would help. I fished out a piece of pineapple from the container of cottage cheese (which is maybe about the size of a shot class or so) and tasted it...yeah, cottage cheese is not for me. Too salty or something. And I don't think it helped that the pineapple was obviously canned pineapple. The waffles were excellent though although it would have helped if my morning hadn't gotten so hectic that I only had time to eat about 1/2 my waffle...I saved the rest and had it with my lunch. I know that's not the way the food is supposed to be eaten but what else is a busy mom supposed to do? ;) I don't know if I would order this again just because I would be missing out on a substantial portion of the meal since I don't eat cottage cheese but the waffle itself was good.
Lunch was delicious. Seriously. I ordered the Grilled Wild Mahi Mahi on Whole wheat Ciabatta Bread with Lettuce, Tomato, & Thousand Island dressing. It was about the size of a 1/2 sandwich. The bread was very thick and studded with seeds and such. The piece of fish though was nice. I'm from Hawaii and I take things like fish quality seriously and I was pretty happy with this fish. I choose to heat the sandwich as suggested on my menu card but I could totally see eating this as a cold sandwich. I drizzled the dressing on the fish and on the lettuce. YUM. It did feel weird not to be eating the sandwich w/ a side like fries or chips but I persevered! :)
A little while before picking up my daughter from the school bus I decided to eat my Hors D'Oeuvre which was Mushroom Crowns filled with Cajun Shrimp. The afternoon time is usually the time of day when I eat the most b/c I often have to skip breakfast (which I hate doing but having to get 3 kids out the door takes a lot of time!) and I often can't eat lunch until almost 2:00PM or later. I heat the mushroom caps (there were 2 of them) in the microwave according to directions. I was a little skeptical since the filling looked a little like mush but I have to say that those mushrooms were really tasty! And the mushrooms were surprisingly filling as well. In the same container as the mushrooms was a few pieces of spring salad, arugula mix. I ate those w/ a little of the dressing I had leftover from my sandwich. Again, yum!
By the time dinner rolled around I was pretty hungry. I was a little worried that the Fresh Diet dinner wouldn't be enough. I selected the Flounder Fillets with Mango BBQ Sauce. The 2 sides I selected were Spanish Style Brown Rice and Sauteed Mushroom Medley (can you guess that I'm a fan of mushrooms??). Heated the fish and sides not at 100% power but at 50% power. I've found that doing so makes food, especially protein, less likely to dry out. I drizzled the sauce all over the fish and ate. There was a moment early on where I was worried the fish would be a little too fishy tasting but I think it was just an off bite. The rest of the fish was very nice and the mango bbq sauce was very tasty. I don't know how "Spanish" the rice was---could have used some more spice!---but it was a tasty brown rice dish. The mushroom medley didn't look beautiful but it was really flavorful and meaty.
I have to confess that I "cheated". I supplemented with some hummus and whole wheat pita. I was really worried that it would be too much of a shock going from what I had been eating to the amount of food provided by The Fresh Diet without doing so gradually. I wonder if it was necessary though because I feel overly full now and I still have my dessert to eat.
The dessert was Honey Almond Cheesecake and it was just awesome. Really really awesome. I think the idea was to make the dessert small but intensely flavored so you really felt like you were getting something decadent. It was seriously yummy.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my Day 1 choices. I would definitely make some of them again. My husband read my post though and laughed and told me never to write this much again for a blog post though! Will do better I swear! Stick with me!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Tomorrow is the Big Day!
I'm very excited and a little nervous because I begin receiving my Fresh Diet meals tomorrow.
I should state straight off that I have no affiliation with The Fresh Diet http://www.thefreshdiet.com/. I heard about them first through Groupon and got on their mailing list because I found their concept interesting. At the end of 2011 I received a mailing that offered an almost 50% discount if I signed up for 31 days. 3 free days would also be included. I decided to go for it because I wasn't likely to see a better offer.
Signing up for this program cost a lot of money and as a single-income family, we do not have a lot of cash to spare. However, I have reached a point where I know I need to do something radical to get my weight and health back on track. Like a lot of people, my weight has crept up as I have gotten older, had kids, and my life got busier. I'm in my mid-30s right now and I know it will be easier to make these changes now rather than when I am older. I also know that if I don't make changes now, I might not have a "later" to make changes. Loving my 3 kids as much as I do, the thought of not being there for them or being a burden to them is too much too bear.
Similar to a lot of people, I have issues with portion control. I'm also not very good at incorporating healthy food items, like vegetables, into my diet. I don't necessarily mind eating them, I just don't know how to prepare them. As a busy mom of 3, there were also way too many days where I was just so exhausted after working at my children's preschool, or just didn't want to deal w/ hauling 2-3 kids out of the car to go to a "healthier" restaurant to get lunch, that I would rely on drive-thru, fast food, even though I knew it wasn't a good choice.
I came to the conclusion that I would be better off if someone other than me decided what I would eat! The reason I chose The Fresh Diet meal-delivery plan was b/c I really wanted to stick w/ the plan so I needed the food to be good. Good in a way that I couldn't cook easily myself. There were cheaper meal-delivery plans out there but they seemed to rely heavily on frozen or dehydrated foods. I worried that this would end up making me feel depressed after awhile as I would still be preparing meals for my kids and husband using "real" food.
My plan will be to blog about the meals that I receive from The Fresh Diet. I am hoping that this might help anyone who is looking at meal-delivery plans. I'm also hoping that other people who are on the same weight-loss journey as I am will tune in to this blog so we can support one another! I'm doing the meal-delivery plan for now but I know I can't do it forever. I also know that to see true results and receive life-long health benefits I will have to incorporate exercise as well. A goal of mine for the last few years has been to have myself and my family participate in the Pat Tillman Shadow Run in Washington, DC. (http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/pats-run/race-info/shadow-runs/). Maybe 2012 will be the year we finally get to it!
Feel free to leave comments or ask questions. I look forward to getting to know all of you!
I should state straight off that I have no affiliation with The Fresh Diet http://www.thefreshdiet.com/. I heard about them first through Groupon and got on their mailing list because I found their concept interesting. At the end of 2011 I received a mailing that offered an almost 50% discount if I signed up for 31 days. 3 free days would also be included. I decided to go for it because I wasn't likely to see a better offer.
Signing up for this program cost a lot of money and as a single-income family, we do not have a lot of cash to spare. However, I have reached a point where I know I need to do something radical to get my weight and health back on track. Like a lot of people, my weight has crept up as I have gotten older, had kids, and my life got busier. I'm in my mid-30s right now and I know it will be easier to make these changes now rather than when I am older. I also know that if I don't make changes now, I might not have a "later" to make changes. Loving my 3 kids as much as I do, the thought of not being there for them or being a burden to them is too much too bear.
Similar to a lot of people, I have issues with portion control. I'm also not very good at incorporating healthy food items, like vegetables, into my diet. I don't necessarily mind eating them, I just don't know how to prepare them. As a busy mom of 3, there were also way too many days where I was just so exhausted after working at my children's preschool, or just didn't want to deal w/ hauling 2-3 kids out of the car to go to a "healthier" restaurant to get lunch, that I would rely on drive-thru, fast food, even though I knew it wasn't a good choice.
I came to the conclusion that I would be better off if someone other than me decided what I would eat! The reason I chose The Fresh Diet meal-delivery plan was b/c I really wanted to stick w/ the plan so I needed the food to be good. Good in a way that I couldn't cook easily myself. There were cheaper meal-delivery plans out there but they seemed to rely heavily on frozen or dehydrated foods. I worried that this would end up making me feel depressed after awhile as I would still be preparing meals for my kids and husband using "real" food.
My plan will be to blog about the meals that I receive from The Fresh Diet. I am hoping that this might help anyone who is looking at meal-delivery plans. I'm also hoping that other people who are on the same weight-loss journey as I am will tune in to this blog so we can support one another! I'm doing the meal-delivery plan for now but I know I can't do it forever. I also know that to see true results and receive life-long health benefits I will have to incorporate exercise as well. A goal of mine for the last few years has been to have myself and my family participate in the Pat Tillman Shadow Run in Washington, DC. (http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/pats-run/race-info/shadow-runs/). Maybe 2012 will be the year we finally get to it!
Feel free to leave comments or ask questions. I look forward to getting to know all of you!
Why Refresh?
I am starting this blog to share my journey as I work to improve or "refresh" the way a lot of things in my life operate: the way I eat, my health & fitness, the way my home looks and runs, and my relationships with my children and husband. Instead of constantly being dissatisfied with things in my life I want to be active in creating the life I want my family & I to live. We don't need a whole new life---we just need to refresh the one we have!
I have been inspired by some other blogs I've learned about over the last 6 months. I've also been inspired by ideas I've seen on Pintrest (http://pinterest.com/). Don't worry, if I refer to something I learned from another site I will be sure to include a link or other way for you to get to the original source. My plan is to incorporate some of the great ideas I've learned as I refresh my life and take whoever wants to come along on the journey with me. I hope you want to join me! Let's make 2012 as refreshing as possible!
I have been inspired by some other blogs I've learned about over the last 6 months. I've also been inspired by ideas I've seen on Pintrest (http://pinterest.com/). Don't worry, if I refer to something I learned from another site I will be sure to include a link or other way for you to get to the original source. My plan is to incorporate some of the great ideas I've learned as I refresh my life and take whoever wants to come along on the journey with me. I hope you want to join me! Let's make 2012 as refreshing as possible!
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