Day 62.
Who says you have to start at Day 1?
My name is Stacey, and I'm a mother of three daughters (ages 14, 13, and 11). I am 90 pounds overweight. Wait. Check that. On Day 1, I was 90 pounds overweight. Today, I am 58 pound overweight.
I didn't want to start a blog about how our household lifestyle change can work...unless I knew it would work.
Look left. Yum. Grilled chicken with mango-pepper salsa (recipe below). We have meals like this everyday. Each week I lose weight. So do the others in my family who wish to do so.
Here is a cheat sheet of what we are doing:
* We went grocery shopping and bought fresh food. We ditched most of the process foods (which, most importantly, includes quickie frozen meals, boxed and canned meals and side dishes, and high-fat snacks).
* We cut up veggies and fruits within the first day of shopping so they're easy to grab and add to meals or have as snacks.
* Our meals are all recipe-based. We use numerous low-fat cookbooks, Cooking Light magazine, and various Web sites.
* Half our plate each meal is veges, 1/4 is starch, 1/4 is meat.
* I quit caffeine. I'm the only one in the family to do this. I endured 4 days of horrific withdraw headaches but lost 10 pounds in the first week. I have one diet caffeine-free Coke a day and the rest of the day is ice-cold water. Get past those first few days and you're body feels so much better with you drinking water.
* We exercise. We use the Wii Fit. We walk. We have a 10-minute abs CD. It started out with working out 3xs a week for 30 minutes, after about a month it jumped to 3xs a week for 40 minutes, next week, it will increase to 4xs a week for 40 minutes. In July, it will be 4xs a week for 50 minutes. In August, it will be top out at 5xs a week for 50 minutes.
What makes this work for us is accountability. My family and friends know I am doing this. I periodically post something about how it's going or how I hate to exercise on my Facebook. I want feedback from family and friends. I want people to ask me how it's going. Call me out on this.
Plus, since this is a family lifestyle change, I have the support of my hubby and girls. We eat healthy together and exercise together. We are making the change together.
Numerous people have asked me about what we are eating. Most of this blog will be recipes...along with my successes and failures.
Come along for the ride. Join us. We are always looking for people to exercise with. And give these recipes a try. Who knew food could taste so damn good?
Grilled Chicken and Mango-Pepper Salsa
Salsa
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped mangos
1 1/3 cups chopped red bell pepper (about 1 large)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
Chicken
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 skinless chicken breasts (when cooked, should be about the size of your palm)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1. Prepare salsa and let sit for 30 minutes in fridge.
2. Combine lemon juice, paprika, and garlic cloves in baking pan. Mix. Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and let sit 15 minutes.
3. Turn grill to medium-high heat.
4. Remove chicken from marinade (discard marinade). Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
5. Spray grill with cooking spray (or foil, if you choose to use it). Cook chicken until done. Serve with salsa on top.
(Recipe comes from Cooking Light, with some adaptations from our family.)
I crave pizza. 
