Body Back: The Food

Last week I shared my first post about my experience with the Body Back program.  I am doing the 6 week Body Back program and sharing my thoughts over the course of the program with you here.  Last week I kicked it off with the reasons why I am doing the program and today I wanted to talk about the food.  For me changing my food habits is the hardest part because I love to cook and eat.  I also have been pregnant or breastfeeding for 3.5 years straight so I have been eating distorted  portions for a long time and developed bad habits.

 

The Program

The body back program encourages healthy and clean eating.  It doesn't involve any gimmicks but rather encourages lifestyle changes.  The Body Back booklets that I received as part of the program include healthy swaps as well as multiple breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack recipes.  Last week we tried two of the recipes: Crockpot Chicken Verde and Caprese Chicken.  Both were very good and even my husband loved them but the Caprese Chicken was AMAZING.  When we at the leftovers from the Caprese Chicken, my husband agreed with me that he could even eat it another night!  I look forward to trying some of the other recipes.

 

 

My Food Goals

I had two food related goals (other than just general healthy eating) that I set for myself.  The first for me is that I love to have a little something sweet after lunch.  At work we have snack drawer full of candy and other snacks and I love to pick out a few tiny candy bars after lunch.  Now if I crave something sweet after lunch I am trying to eat a piece of fruit.  My second food goal was to take time for breakfast.  I normally just eat a quick bowl of cereal before leaving the house but I wanted to choose something with more protein to start my day.  To accomplish this goal I have started making mini omelets in a muffin pan.  I will make enough for the week so that I can just put 2 in the microwave and have a quick and healthy breakfast.  To make them yourself just fill the muffin tin with your desired veggies, pour scrambled eggs over the top and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

 

 

Homework

In addition to eating fruits, veggies, etc. we also learned about other food related health issues (e.g. GMOs, artificial sweeteners, etc) and were challenged this week to select three things from our pantry that contained one or more of the items and get rid of it (and not buy it again).  I took it a small step further and decided to identify replacement items for what I was throwing away.  The homework was actually a little hard for me as we eat pretty clean.  There are other items I could throw away but I wanted to focus on items that we use regularly instead of the hand full of items we have in the kitchen that are leftover from a random recipe.

 

I chose to get rid of: syrup (sodium benzoate), Pam cooking spray (soy) and bread crumbs (partially hydrogenated oils).  I replaced them with real maple syrup, olive oil and home made breadcrumbs. 

Overall I am really happy with the food aspect.  I thought I would be hungry all the time but making good food choices actually has me satisfied most of the time and everything tastes delicious.  Plus my husband is already asking for the Chicken Caprese again so I know the meals are sustainable.

 

In return for my honest review I have been provided complimentary membership in the Body Back program. All results and opinions are my own.

 

Trying to Get My Body Back

I am excited to have a little something different to share with you over the next 6 weeks, my adventure with the Body Back program.  It is a 6 week program and I will be blogging about it throughout the program but today I want to cover why I am doing the body back program.

 

Our Instructors results - stay tuned for mine!

I've been attending Stroller Strides classes for the past year and I love it because its the perfect way to fit in a workout and not have to worry about childcare (especially the scary gym kind).  As most of my readers will know, I have two little girls that are 2.5 years and 14 months (17 months apart).  I thankfully lost all of the weight I gained with my second child by the time she was 9 months old but I am still holding onto the 10 pounds I didn't lose from my pregnancy with my first daughter.  After losing the initial weight I have hit a plateau and I knew that something dramatic needed to happen to get over the hump.  Thankfully the Body Back program was starting up and I knew this was exactly what I needed to get to my goal so here are the main reasons that I will be doing Body Back.

My first class - you can do anything for one minute!

 

1. Like I briefly mentioned before, I had hit a weight loss plateau and it seemed like my own efforts were not enough.  People kept telling me that the last weight would drop off after I stopped nursing my baby, but even though we are down to just night nursing it's still holding on. 

 

2. The program encourages exercise and healthy eating.  My mom always says that these are the key to weight loss/management so I knew that this program could work for me.

 

3.  Other than eating healthy there aren't a lot of food restrictions which is perfect for me.  I LOVE food and I don't think I would survive 6 weeks let alone 6 days on too restrictive of a diet.  The program also provides some meal suggestions and a lot of info about healthy eating.  I have tried out some of the recipes on my family and we all agree that they taste great.

 

4.  I love that the program is in a group exercise setting.  I have a hard time exercising on my own so I love that we not only exercise in a group but also have each other for support through the program.

 

I am really hopeful about the results I will see in 6 weeks and I hope you will follow along with me for the journey.  I took before pictures and will take after pictures when it is all done and I will share them here when the program is done.

 

In return for my honest review I have been provided complimentary in the Body Back program.  All results and opinions are my own.