I was the only one home for dinner last night but I knew that the rest of the family would trickle in during the evening hungry, tired and looking for something easy to heat and eat! I wanted something “light” and frozen Tilapia tenderloins from Costco thaw out in about 20 minutes so I got going with that. The super easy recipe for Baked Fish with Broccoli was my choice, subbing green beans for the broccoli. This recipe comes from one of my favorite “light” cookbooks, The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great by Pam Anderson. Everything I have made from it has been easy and delicious! Do yourself a favor and check out Amazon for a new or used copy it’s a good resource and you don’t have to be an accomplished cook to use it nor do you have to buy a lot of fancy ingredients to make the recipes.
When I pulled the green beans from the garage refrigerator I saw two zucchini that needed to be cooked. A quick look in the same cookbook resulted in this easy stove top recipe. It was flavorful and filling and a nice twist on a simple vegetable that is very low calorie. It was the perfect side dish for the baked fish and the entire dinner only took about 25 minutes to make. Some nights I need quick and easy!
Quick Tomato-Stewed Zucchini with Basil and Garlic
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomato
- 1 lb zucchini thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Place oil and garlic in a medium size skillet over high heat. When the garlic starts to sizzle, stir in tomatoes, zucchini, dried basil and salt and pepper. Stir to mix, cover pan with lid and steam until tomato liquid has evaporated and zucchini is tender, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.
Servings: 4
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (8.1 ounces).
Amount Per Serving: Calories 77.81,Total Fat 2.94g, Saturated Fat 0.46g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 158.01mg, Total Carbohydrates 12.31g, Fiber 3.37g, Sugar 2.85,g Protein 3.35g
Recipe adapted from, The Perfect Recipe For Losing Weight and Eating Great, Author: Pam Anderson
Nutmeg Notes
Thanks for all the supportive comments on yesterdays post about my weight gain. I am reading a couple books right now trying to decide what my plan moving forward will be. I feel like I need to do something different to shake things up and boost my metabolism. Menopause has changed my body and what use to work no longer seems too. In recent weeks I have tried to count calories, count points (WW) and use portion control without success. The scale isn’t budging- although my clothes fit better. I need a kick start! Cutting carbs even the healthy ones seems to help me get back to a losing weight pattern. As much as I know about good nutrition and as healthy as we already eat I feel like I need the structure of a plan to follow right now. I don’t want to count points on WW even though I have had great success on that in the past, right now it’s not working for me.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Here are some things I am considering.
Helen from Doing a 180, is having great success with the Paleo food plan. Hubby Tom would love it as it is heavy on protein and nuts. I think it would give me a kick start but I don’t think there is enough variety for me . I am still cooking for a family of four. I hate to give up my yogurt. You can read about the Paleo Diet Lifestyle here.
Sharon at Gains and Losses: Life Through Sharon’s Eyes is losing weight and enjoying the food plan on the 17 Day Diet. I bought the book and have started reading it. It goes in 17 day cycles which is appealing. Hey we can do anything for 17 days right? Web MD reviewed the 17 Day Diet you can read about it here and see what it involves. I like that you eat some yogurt and low sugar fruits as well as lean proteins and tons of veggies.
Working out with weights – yes – you have heard me talk about this in the past as I attempt to incorporate this into my life. For a while I am good about it and then slowly I drop it from my routine. I don’t love it like Jody from Turth2BeingFit does. I admire her discipline and she is the poster child for women over 50! When I read about menopause and how we lose muscle as we age the recommendation is to do resistance training and build the muscle back up. Muscle is a calorie burner – hm-mm – helps you to lose weight and maintain your weight once at your goal with out having to starve yourself. I need to do this! I have no excuse not too. We have hand weights and I could find the time. I just need to do it!
Tami
Add Your Thoughts
Have you ever had to switch what you were doing becuase it no longer worked for you?
17 comments
No ping yet
Sharon says:
January 26, 2012 at 9:49 am (UTC -7)
TAMMY, I struggle losing weight, and one key factor is water…Make sure you are drinking the 8 glasses of recommended fuids,(everyday) and it will improve your weight loss..Enjoy all your good recipes…Don’t get discouraged…
Tami says:
January 26, 2012 at 4:01 pm (UTC -7)
Great reminder about drinking water. I find it harder to do in the winter but am working on upping my intake.
Biz says:
January 26, 2012 at 12:16 pm (UTC -7)
I couldn’t do the Paleo diet more than a week – it was really hard to meal plan, but I know Helen is rocking it! I too need to add more strength training – I need to get on that!
And the guy who promoted the Zero Scale and Paleo diet stuff? Is convinced my diabetes will be cured if I just followed Paleo for 21 days. Um, my pancreas doesn’t produce insulin – not sure how staying away from whole grains and dairy is gonna jump start it again!
Tami says:
January 26, 2012 at 4:01 pm (UTC -7)
I need more variety too Biz!
Sharon says:
January 26, 2012 at 12:28 pm (UTC -7)
The 17-Day Diet certainly has worked for me. I hate the word “diet” and don’t do “diets,” but there was something about this that caught my attention and over the past nine weeks, it has totally become second nature to me. Please let me know if I can offer any encouragement or thoughts.
Tami says:
January 26, 2012 at 4:03 pm (UTC -7)
Thank you For the offer of help Sharon. Once I get started I might have some questions for you. You have inspired me!
Jody - Fit at 54 says:
January 26, 2012 at 3:19 pm (UTC -7)
I have so much I could say about perimenopause & menopause!!! I have written plenty!
For me, I had to start changing my food when I hit late 40′s to 50. The 50′s have been the worst though. I refuse to do something like Paleo or other things like that because I am just not going to stop eating certain things. I may cut back but… not saying people don’t love that food plan but it does not get a very good rating in terms of health BUT to each their own.
I have had to cut back on calories gradually year by year. I am not super low but I used to be able to eat at least 2200 a day… I also cut back on certain types of carbs. I eat mostly veggies & some sweet potatoes. I do eat more protein than other women but I balance it out. It is what it is… I have to do it. I even work out like crazy! I could eat less & work out less OR be lees lean but that is not for me right now.
I will not give up my bread BUT I have changed over to super clean bread but I still like it.
If you want to email me Tami – feel free. I fight it every day!
Tami says:
January 26, 2012 at 4:28 pm (UTC -7)
Jody I only considered the Paleo diet for about a minute! I did want to tell people about it since Helen has had such success with it after a long plateau
The 17 day diet starts out with lean protein, veggies, yogurt and fruit, healthy oils and eggs and green tea. Every 17 days you add some foods back in as you work your way through the 4 cycles.
I can relate to you having to cut back on calories and carbs as I get older I am having to do the same thing. I also am finding that I have to exercise on a regular basis just to keep my metabolism up. Gaining weight happens much faster and easier than ever before and losing weight is a slow process.
I am trying to figure out what is going to work the best for me. As we age we have to change things up and make adjustments as our bodies change.
I love that you have been able to keep your bread and cookies in your food plan. We all have to find the balance that works for us.
Thank you for reaching out and your offer of help. I might need some pointers with the weight workouts. We have hand weights for me to work with. It’s a start!
Roz@weightingfor50 says:
January 26, 2012 at 3:50 pm (UTC -7)
Whatever plan you choose Tami, I know you’ll succeed. Have a wonderful Thurs.
Cammy@TippyToeDiet says:
January 26, 2012 at 6:07 pm (UTC -7)
I change things up fairly frequently, mainly because I get bored.
Strength training makes all the difference for me. Not only do I enjoy doing it, but I appreciate the boost to metabolism..
Marisa @ Loser for Life says:
January 26, 2012 at 6:17 pm (UTC -7)
Ugh, this weight thing is so frustrating, Tami. For some reason when I lost all my weight, I thought it would magically stay like that! I mean, I knew I would keep working on a healthy lifestyle but, I didn’t realize how much of a daily struggle it would continue to be. It’s frustrating how our bodies change as we get older and things we “know” work don’t work anymore. I see and feel the changes myself. And there is so much “noise” in my head right now about how to deal with those changes! It is truly exhausting.
Whichever plan you choose, I think it will be a fun way to switch up your routine. Look at it as a “food experiment” rather than a diet plan!
Tami says:
January 27, 2012 at 7:14 am (UTC -7)
Marisa I can relate to everything you said. You said,”there is so much “noise” in my head right now about how to deal with those changes! It is truly exhausting.” I feel the same way! I love your idea of looking at doing the 17 Day Diet as a “food experiment” that is brilliant. Isn’t if funny how just changing the wording makes such a difference in how we feel about such things?
Thank you for the support!
Jan says:
January 27, 2012 at 1:36 am (UTC -7)
I believe insulin response (to carbs and starches) is the root of all evil. OK, over simplification, but for most of us, the contined release of insulin results in fat storage and inflammation. I consider my diet primal-ish because I have not given up dairy completely. I do eat Greek yogurt. I use heavy cream in my coffee. I have cut down on cheese consumption. This approach has certainly narrowed my eating from the standard American diet full of bread, other grains, and sweets. But it kick started my weight loss after contined plateaus. Menopause sucks for many reasons. Change in metabolism is one of them.
Tami says:
January 27, 2012 at 7:18 am (UTC -7)
“Menopause sucks for many reasons” yes it does! What has happend to my metabolism in the past year is crazy. I sometimes feel like a slug. I am super sensitive to carbs and starches so I am really looking forward to seeing how by body responds to this change in my diet.
Good to know that cutting out the carbs, starches and most of the dairy was a kick start to your weight loss. I am hoping for the same result!
Have a great weekend Jan.
Martha@simplenourishedliving says:
January 27, 2012 at 9:50 pm (UTC -7)
Hi Tami,
I love Marisa’s suggestion to treat it whatever you do as an “experiment.” I’ve been working to figure out the “weight” thing for 35 years now. When I finally shifted my thinking and behavior away from trying to force my body to respond the way I wanted and toward learning and understanding and experimenting what my body was trying to tell me, it all go so much easier.
I also found Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink a big help. I finally understood that most humans in the Western world are living in an “All You Can Eat” world, but with bodies designed for “feast or famine” conditions. The book offers dozens of ideas for how to trick your body into being satisfied with less.
Since adopting some of his suggested techniques and turning it into a playful game, I have been able to lose weight in a way that feels effortless. At 48, this seems like a miracle.
Good luck with your journey!!
Tami says:
January 28, 2012 at 5:50 am (UTC -7)
Martha that is so interesting. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences. I will have to read that book. I would say that losing weight effortlessly at 48 is a miracle! We have to keep trying and tweaking what we do as our bodies change. I like your approach of turning it into a playful game. Attitude is so important and yours is spot on!
Andrea@WellnessNotes says:
January 30, 2012 at 12:21 pm (UTC -7)
Yes, I definitely have had to change things lately. Lifting heavy weights definitely works for me, but I don’t always do it consistently… Lately, I have been doing lots of barre workouts, which use your own body weight and do build muscle, but I know I still need a couple of “heavy” lifting days a week. It truly makes a huge difference for me.
I’ve had many unpleasant and quite severe perimenopause symptoms, and I sometimes wonder, “What’ll be next?” I guess we can just take it one day at a time, be aware, make the best choices we can, and stay flexible.
I know you decided on the 17 Day Diet. Good luck!