Diet-to-Go Dinner – Chicken Marsala

Diet-to-Go is an online diet delivery meal plan. It’s similar to other plans, wherein you sign up for a menu style (vegetarian, low carb or traditional, and a styrofoam container arrives a few days later, loaded up with frozen meals for seven days.

I’d never tried anything like this and when I was offered a week of free meals, in return for an online review and some social posts, I was happy to give it a go.

The cooler showed up on the front porch about a week ago. It was packed with seven each of breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with some dry ice and packing material. I labeled each one according to whether it was breakfast (B), lunch (L) or dinner (D), then put half in the fridge and half in the freezer. (I had ordered the low-carb menu, since I’m trying to reduce my intake of sugar and white carbs like flour.)

What type of entrees did I receive? For breakfast, egg dishes like omelets with salsa and green beans; for lunch, a pork chop with two veggie sides; for dinner, chicken marsala with broccoli. The entrees, in spite of being frozen and microwaved, are always tasty. The veggies taste fresh and the portion sizes leave you feeling full all day.

Diet-to-Go Breakfast – Omelet with Salsa and Sausage

I’ve been trying all kinds of “reasonable” diet plans and have been less than pleased with my results. It seems like, the more control I give myself over choosing what I eat, the less weight I lose. On the Diet-to-Go plan, I get a choice over what meals I’ll have that day, though portion sizes and content are set for me.

As the week has gone on, I’ve been thrilled by the quality and taste of the meals, the ease of following the plan – you feel full constantly, so there’s no need to snack, and the fact that even though I’ve eaten out a few times and not completely followed the plan, I’ve lost 2.5 pounds. Easy-peasy.

The best part of the meals themselves is the amount of fresh and tasty vegetables they include. One morning, I had an omelet with cheese and salsa, with a large helping of green beans. It all felt fresh – the salsa and the beans – even though it had been frozen. I would never have known the veggies were frozen, had I not been aware of how the meals were packaged. (BTW – the photos I’ve posted here are my actual meals.)

In closing, I have to say I would recommend Diet-to-Go to any midlife woman seeking to lose some pounds, while eating nutritious, filling and appetizing meals. The experience has been so good that I’m planning to keep going for a few months, to see how much weight I can lose with something more structured than what I had been doing. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

By the way, if you’d like to give it a try, for a limited time only, Diet-to-Go is offering readers a 25% discount on their first week of meals. Simply plug in the coupon code “summer25″ at check-out for 25% off your first order!

It’s so easy to let my attention wander and turn my focus to the myriad of things I do for “work.” I’ve always got five or six projects going on and they take up a lot of my free time. Fortunately, since none of them really feel like “work,” I can’t say I don’t enjoy it.

The challenge is to keep my focus on this effort, so I’m making it a habit to review my efforts and what I’ve learned every week. Here’s what’s happening:

I’ve lost some pounds, though not as many as I’d hoped. Fortunately, the next few months should be more productive.

Check your thyroid. In a routine medical exam in November, my doctor discovered that my thyroid was significantly low. It was ridiculous and because I’m one of those people that just chugs along, too busy to notice subtleties, like dry skin or a puffy face, I didn’t catch it until it had been going on for months. It’s finally back to the appropriate levels and

When we reach our forties, both men and women have declining hormones and they affect several of your body’s symptoms. If you notice any symptoms of an underactive thyroid, even one, get it checked. (You can learn more about the condition here: What is hypothyroidism?)

Rest when you need to rest. I had a muscle injury (piriformis syndrome) that took me out of physical activity from mid-December to mid-February. Exercise is key to any weight loss effort and I just couldn’t do it. I’m sure my calorie burn was way down, since I was pretty much on the couch or in my chair every waking moment. When I was told I could get back to exercise, I did. Taking it easy was what I needed to do at the time, now I’m back to my P90 program and only having minimal issues with nerve pain.

Make a list, then knock out the tasks. One of the best habits I’ve create so far is to better organize my task lists. I’m doing more in a more organized fashion, as I’d committed to doing at the beginning of this effort. And, I’m seeing more results in business because of it.

And, here’s Healthy Habit #16 – Get all of my health maintenance appointments like mammograms, physicals and pap smears done in a timely fashion. No more skipping years!

What have you accomplished in the last few months? How can you improve  moving forward?

I have a girlfriend that’s about twenty years older than me that’s served as an incredible role model since I met her when I was eighteen. These days, at 49, I often think of something she told me years ago.

“When I get up in the morning, I have a choice,” she explained. “I can either get out of bed with my aches and pains and go sit on the couch, or I can get on the treadmill and get a good workout in, after which I’ll feel much better.”

I so relate to what she told me, since I’ve been making my way back to a full workout schedule after my piriformis muscle issue back in December. I’ve been moaning and groaning with ongoing nerve pain since then, though it’s gotten significantly better. With  nerve pain, once the cause is relieved, you just have to wait for the inflammation to heal and it can take several months. The upside is that if you can manage it, you can exercise through the discomfort. I’ve been amazed at how, once I decided not to let it stop me, my body adjusted to regular daily activities and now, increased activity toward my fitness goal. And – even better – I’ve gotten back to my P90 workouts.

Starting back after a 90 day hiatus had me thinking about whether you can ever be “too old” or “too flabby” to start an exercise program. The answer is a resounding NO. My neighbor, who is over 80 years old now, started going to Curves and walking after she had a heart attack when she was in her late 60s. She’s unbelievable, “borrowing” her girlfriend’s dog and walking him for miles, and always on the go. (Another great role model!)

I also came across an excellent article from fitness expert Marta Montenegro here: Never Too Old to Rebuild Your Body Marta shares some research on fitness after 40, plus some great suggestions for keeping your new workout plan on track.

What about you? What are you doing to get, and keep, your fitness plan going strong? 

http://www.poise.com/experts-and-education/articles-and-qa/article?id=1749