Here I am writing my last post on the Better for BlogHer Healthy Choice campaign. How time flies when you are eating well!

Eating breakfast and a good lunch has changed my energy level and my overall health. I feel better.  I don’t weigh myself, so I don’t know the poundage lost, but my face looks thinner and when I look in the mirror I see less of Ursula the Sea Witch and more Mrs. Potts.  Still overweight, but less vicious looking. What? You don’t name your reflection after a Disney cartoon? What is wrong with you!

Here is my list of favorite Healthy Choice Frozen Entrees:

1.  Whiskey Steak

2. Lemon Chicken

3.  Sweet and Spicy Orange Zest Chicken

4. Sweet Sesame Chicken

5. Honey Balsamic Chicken

I would encourage everyone to try a few of these. They taste great, have healthy portions sizes and are well-rounded nutritionally. Having a few of these in your freezer is going to keep you from eating as much fast food or junk food because they are so easy and so delicious.

From an  earthy standpoint I have discovered the following:

Most of the trays are #2 and easily recyclable.

The bottom tray from the steamers is loved by art teachers and Kindergarten teachers everywhere as they make great craft bowls, paint bowls and many other things.

The colander from the steamers can be used as a small colander! Also great in the sandbox.  You can flip it over and put in in the bottom of a planter to use as a drain while planting. Some have even used them to start plants indoors.

The cardboard boxes are easily recycled as well.

The only thing I have had to throw away is the plastic liners and those are very minimum. Not to bad really as far as a meal goes.

Costs are cool:

The price is right, especially with the new Steaming Entrees that are priced under two bucks.  TWO BUCKS! That is less than a tall Cinnamon Dulce Latte and it has more vitamins!  Be sure to get your coupon to save more money as well.

Thanks to all of you who have followed me on this campaign. I have had fun and learned a lot!  Remember to follow @Healthy_Choice on Twitter and Facebook

 

(Disclosure: I have been compensated for participating in the Better for BlogHer campaign and also given coupons for my meals.)

 

BlogHer10 has come and gone and I am not suddenly a size six …but that was not the point of joining the Healthy Choice Better for BlogHer campaign.  I signed up in hopes of getting motivated towards more healthy living as I have backtracked the last two years.

In the past few weeks I have started eating more regular meals, breakfast especially, eating quality food with my Healthy Choice daily lunches  (the Spinach Mushroom is my new fav..sorry Whiskey Steak!), drinking more water and more importantly I have been thinking about my health. I am still a long way from my ideal weight, but I have a feeling of possibility that I have been missing for some time.

I am also eating my meals slowly and trying to enjoy the tastes and flavors of my food.   I am notorious for scarfing down and not tasting anything! It is the nurse in me…eat and run.

I have even been stretching more and getting revved up to start some exercising once the kids are back in school.  I have a few DVDs to exercise to and a stationary bike in the house and neither one excite me much.  With Elle starting school and my days open there is room for a lot of new possibilities for me getting active.

What I want to hear from all of you is:

What is your favorite way to exercise and why?

Any words of encouragement about getting started with exercising?

Remember to check out Healthy Choice on the web and get a coupon as well as some nutrition information.  Also check out the Diet Diva for more nutrition tips.  You can also find them on Titter @Healthy_Choice and @DietDiva

(Disclosure:  I have been compensated for my time participating in Better for BlogHer as well as given coupons for Healthy Choice Meals.)

 

As a participant of Better For BlogHer I got to have a lunch with the  Healthy Choice people while at was at BlogHer10. We got to see the new frozen entrees that are coming out (they look simply fresh!), meet the other blogger participants and we had a session with the Diet Diva, Tara Gidus, for a nutrition consult.

Wow. This short consult was eye opener for me.  As I have mentioned before, I am a nurse. I even got an A in my one nutrition class. I have heard it all really.  I just had not heard it the way the Diet Diva put it.  She really made it clear to me what was happening with my body and why I was gaining so much weight.

She told me that I was on a Sumo Wrestler diet.  ATTENTION was paid after she used the words!  In a nut shell Sumo wrestlers do not eat breakfast.  Eating  like this causes the body to bulk up, hold onto the fat.  I believed her when she told me this, but I looked it up myself anyway.

As the stress in my life has taken over I have found myself not eating breakfast. The most important meal of the day and I normally just have a cup of chai.  I have to stop this. I mean there are no sumo wrestlers around here to start a club or even a tournament. I cannot make a decent living as a wrestler and it just is not healthy. So I will take the advice that I was given. I will eat breakfast every day. I have eaten breakfast everyday since we talked and I continue to eat my Healthy Choice meals for lunch as well.  (Have you tried the Lemon Fish?  Wow!)

Another piece of advice that I am trying to put into the works. Eat enough to have the nourishment I need, yet stay a little hungry. That is when your body lets go of the stored fats.

So to review:

Eat breakfast

Eat regularly

Stay a little hungry.

Watch Sumo wrestlers, do not try to be one.

Check out more of the Diet  Diva and check out Healthy Choice and get a coupon so you can try the Whiskey Chicken.. my favorite by far!

(Disclaimer:  Healthy Choice has compensated me for my time and provided me with coupons so I can try their products.)

Photo Credit: Eckhard Pecher via Wikipedia

 

As I have mentioned before, my life with four girls can lead me to not eat well and sometimes not eat at all.  That is why I have been loving the last two weeks of participating with Better For BlogHer.  Every day I know what I am eating for lunch. I know it will be quick, delicious and healthy.  I don’t have to settle for left over kid’s lunches or forget to eat until dinner time.  I have it in my freezer ready to go.

This has made such a difference in me.  I’ m not as grumpy since I have eaten and I’m not run down because I ate and I ate real food.  We all know that veggies and proteins can be pick me uppers in the late afternoon, and I can really tell.

I have also be drinking more water, less pop (soda in some areas of the US, coke in the south!) and just all around been eating better. I guess you could say that my diet is starting to come into my stream of consciousness more.  I have yet to throw in more physical activity, but give me a bit more time and my four girls in school and I know that will start up again.

A few things about Healthy Choice meals:

*Did you  know you can go 90 days without ever eating the same Healthy Choice meal twice? That right there solves a big mommy problem of food boredom!

*Healthy Choice offers more than just frozen dinners…including ice cream!

*Healthy Choice has a great website to help you start making better and healthier choices.

*Healthy Choice has dramatically reduced packaging and continues to try and find new ways to recycle and decrease packaging in their meals.  I am keeping all of my bowls to use as paint bowls for my Girl Scout troops and for the art teachers at school, the colander part of the Steamers package works great in sandboxes as well!

*You can go here for coupons! Coupons make the world a better place!

(I am am being compensated for my time and recieved my meals for participating in Better For BlogHer with Healthy Choice.  I am really liking the meals though, I promise!

 

Late tonight  I will be on my way to New York City with friends for a busy and fun filled weekend. We are going to BlogHer 2010!

BlogHer 2010 is a conference for bloggers put on by BlogHer. This is my first time attending and as you may tell, I am a bit excited over it!  The BlogHer website is a great one to read blog post by others all around the country, the world really. There are contests (I won $100 a couple months ago) and many thought-provoking posts as well as light-hearted ones to make you laugh. 

The conference offers several different sessions on how to set up and write your blog as well as improveing your content and getting a following.  I am looking forward to these sessions, but I do have to admit that the parties and gatherings is what I am excited about.  On Saturday I get to have breakfast at the Scholastic offices and there is an HP party that should be a lot of fun.  As a participant of Better For BlogHer I will get to meet with the Healthy Choice people and speak with a nutritionist.

Did I mention that we got chosen to drive a new Chevy Traverse to New York?  Yes!  We get a free rental with On-Star use and a navigator (I am a little nervous about driving in downtown NYC) to help us find our way.  We will be tweeting about our trip along the way.

A few days with friends in the big city.  A perfect summer break for mom right before the crazy get ready for school time begins.  Yes, you read me right.  School is starting in a few weeks.  That means buying of the school supplies and making sure my kids have tennis shoes that still fit is about to rock my world.  I’ll take another month of summer please!

 

Like many busy moms  I do not take great care of myself.  I KNOW what I should be doing, yet I do not do it. I am a registered nurse, I passed Nutrition in college with flying colors.   I encourage my children to live healthy lifestyles.  Why am I not living healthier?

If you asked this question to other moms like me they will most likely say the same thing : TIME and LACK OF ENERGY!

In our endless days of parenting, housework, blogging, working and trying to  maintain a social life we fail miserably with self-care.  This is true, but I think I have used this as an excuse as well.  There are many other moms out there far busier than I am who find the time to exercise and eat right.  I  need to find that achievable balance.  I don’t expect to be bikini-model-thin. I just want to fit into my clothes, not loose my breath so easily and feel BETTER.

My plans were to get my big butt moving with Elle (my youngest) started Kindergarten this August.  Self-imposed deadlines are never good I have found.  But in recent preparation for BlogHer 2010 (yeah!) I came across an offer from Healthy Choice that I could not refuse.  Getting Fit For BlogHer Challenge is a program put on by  Healthy Choice.  I will get nutrition and lifestyle tips while eating some yummy Healthy Choice everyday.  Over the Challenge time I will be writing several posts stating my progress with healthier eating and letting you know how the meals are.  This makes me commit to working on improving my health.  Win-win!

The cashier asked me if I liked Healthy Choicewhen I was buying the meals I will be eating for the challenge.  (It amazes me how the cashiers tend to comment on my purchases, but that is a whole other post! ) I told her I truly do like the meals.  In the past when I was working in the hospital scene I would take a Healthy Choice lunch to eat and have always enjoyed them.  As a nurse you never get a full lunch break and are often called away.  I loved having a quick and tasty meal ready for me to inhale!  This was several years ago and I am looking forward to seeing what is new for lunch.

Follow me along on my challenge.  I’ll be sure to share all I learn and pass on what my favorite meals are!  Check out Healthy Choice on Twitter and Facebook.  Let me know what meals you like best and how you stay healthy while being extremely busy.

(Disclosure:  I am being compensated for this challenge and received coupons. I was not asked to give a good review, just to write about my experience.)

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