The Heavy Man's Diary: Day #68 - Cooking Healthy at Home is the Way To Go

A few weeks ago, I made one of the best decisions of my mission so far. I decided that it was time to stop buying my meals everyday and to start food shopping once a week so we can cook all of our meals at home. At first I thought it was going to be difficult to keep up with cooking every night and to make sure that all of my meals were prepared for the next day. But so far, it has actually been quite easy. I made a deal with Patty (My Fiancee) that she would do the cooking and I would clean the dishes and make sure that the meals for the next day were ready to go. And once we got into the swing of things, picking out meals for the week, putting together the shopping list, going food shopping every Sunday, and cooking our healthy meals during the week has become second nature.

By preparing our meals on a daily basis, it has actually allowed me to get more work done in the office during the day. My work load is going to be getting heavier as the days go by leading up to December. I am very happy that I can easily go into the frig at work, pull out a serving of left overs from the night before and pop it right into the microwave. Not to mention, when I was buying meals everyday at work, it would take time away from being productive and of course I was throwing money right out the window. That is money that could be going into the bank and towards the wedding. I did the math when I started bringing my meals to work and I estimated that Patty and I will be saving at least $150 dollars a week by cooking our meals at home.

The recipes that Patty and I cook at home are all from http://www.weightwatchers.com/. And let me tell you, I have done a few diet programs in my time and I have tried the pre-maid diet meals. They are nothing to get excited about. I think the reason why I have been so successful with the Weight Watchers recipes is because they taste very good and they all use ingredients that are very healthy for you to eat. I am extremely happy that Patty and I decided to go this route and the fact that she has become really good at preparing these recipes makes it all that easier to stay on the right path.

A friend of mine sent me a text message the other day. She said that all the meals I talk about every night on my posts sound very good but she also wants to know how to make them. And one of the main reasons of my mission is to not only help myself but to help other people as well. So, keeping to the mission, I will be posting my recipe of the week every Friday. I hope you all can give it a try.

Recipe of The Week

Chicken Cordon Bleu
(This was the first recipe that Patty and I ever cooked for my mission)

Servings - 4
Preparation Time - 15 mins
Cooking Time - 40 mins

Ingredients
4 sprays cooking spray or enough to coat chicken
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, four 4-oz pieces
3 oz Boar's Head Smoked Ham, or other brand, four 3/4 oz slices
3 oz low-fat Swiss cheese, four 3/4 oz slices
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup honey mustard
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs, Italian -style

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray
-Arrange 1 slice of ham and 1 slice of cheese on each chicken breast
-Starting from shorter end of chicken, rolling up chicken into a tight pinwheel. Tuck in ends and secure with tooth picks
-Place flour, honey mustard, and bread crumbs in 3 separate shallow bowls. Place chicken in flour and turn to coat. Next, place the chicken in the honey mustard and turn to coat. Finally, place chicken in bread crumbs and turn to coat.
-Transfer chicken to prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Bake until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 40 mins. Remove tooth picks and serve.

With that being said, let's get to the details of the day:

Meals of the Day (The Heavy Man = 39 Points)
(I am currently following the Weight Watchers Points System)

Breakfast - 2 eggo nutrigrain waffles with a cup of Light'n Fit and a serving of strawberries = Points 4
Snacks During the Course of the Day - 2 Weight Watchers chocolate chip cookies, 1 Weight Watchers mini carrot cake, and 1 large pear = Points 6
Early Afternoon - 1 serving of homemade Beef & Veg Cheese Casserole (Weight Watchers Recipe) = Points 7
Late Afternoon - 1 serving of homemade Beef & Veg Cheese Casserole (Weight Watchers Recipe) and 1 Boca veggie burger with a slice of Weight Watchers american cheese on a slice of nutrigrain bread = Points 12
Dinner - 1 serving of homemade Turkey Meatballs (Weight Watchers Recipe) with a serving of whole wheat pasta and tomato sauce = Points 9
Dessert - 1 Weight Watchers ice cream bar = Points 2

Total Points Eaten Today = 40 Points (1 points over my daily limit)

Exercise

Today I executed my Legs and Shoulder routines: Leg Press (4 sets x 12, 10, 8, 6 reps), Leg Extensions (3 sets x 8, 10, 12 reps), Leg Curls (3 sets x 8, 10, 12 reps), Military Press (4 sets x 12, 10, 8, 6 reps), Dumbbell Lateral Raises (3 sets x 8, 10, 12 reps), Plate Front Raises (3 sets x 10, 12, 15 reps), Calve Raises (3 sets to failure), and Reverse Flyes (3 sets x 15 reps). Tomorrow I will be doing cardio and my core body routine.

Day #68 - Weigh-In = 265.2 lbs