My sweet husband and I are finally embarking on a journey to healthful habits. Over the past couple of years our health has plummeted. I mentioned earlier my new overall cholesterol level is 222...up from 198 just 6 months ago. High cholesterol is just one of a few health concerns that run in my family from both sides, so I really need to be careful now. After the birth of our third daughter, I was able to get my weight back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. It's actually kind of interesting that each pregnancy I started at the same weight, gained the exact same lbs (37), and got back to the exact same pre-pregnancy weight. But, since last summer, when I did get back to "normal" I have gained about 6 lbs. It may not seem significant but to me, it has changed the size of clothes I wear and I am seeing things I don't like. I want to be in good physical condition, don't get me wrong here, I'm not being vain. I just want to be of good health and fit the clothes I have. I don't want to have to go buy a new wardrobe over 6-10 lbs!

So, today was day #1 for us. Our initial goals are to drink water all day, limit coffee & other caffeine, eat mostly vegetables at meals, and limit snacking. We also are trying to do more physical exercise than in the past. We have a treadmill in the basement, but it rarely gets used down there. We would love to buy an elliptical for our living room but haven't yet done that. Eric has ran outside but it is so hard for him to get the motivation to do that. I enjoy riding my bike and will do that as often as I can.

I plan to weigh myself every Sunday and take my measurements just for the fun of seeing progress. I really only would like to lose maybe 5 lbs and build my muscle back up so feel more able to play around and be a little stronger.

Here are the menus we plan on having over the next two weeks...

For breakfasts we are having either a whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter, fiber one cereal, or oatmeal. For lunches we are having large romaine & spinach salads topped with dressing & raw sunflower nuts, assorted side veggies, yogurt, and maybe a fruit.

Monday ~ Grilled Trout, Rice, & Veggies

Tuesday ~ Chicken Noodle Soup, Bread

Wednesdsay ~ Chopped Steak, Veggies

Thursday ~ Baked Chicken, Rice, Veggies

Friday ~ Lentil Joes, Veggies

Saturday ~ Cilantro Lime Chicken Cacciatore, Rice, Veggies

Sunday ~ Leftovers

Monday ~ Curried Chicken, Rice, Salad

Tuesday ~ Chicken Fajitas, Veggies

Wednesday ~ Marinated Grilled Venison, Potato Wedges, Veggies

Thursday ~ Chicken Paprikish, Veggies

Friday ~ Turkey Meatballs, Noodles, Veggies

On a much lighter note. I made pizzas last night. I made the girls' pizzas in the shape of a heart and let them put their own sauce, cheese, & pepperoni on it. Emma stole most of the cheese, even off of Bailey's pizza. Emma has fingers like a spider...very sticky.

The big pizza just looked so pretty, but the crust in the middle basically disintegrated or something because when I tried to scoop out a slice of pizza from it the middle fell out. Oh well, it was delicious!

I thought  Bethany's recipe for homemade noodles looked so yummy. My mom makes homemade noodles for our Holiday dinners and they are outstanding but she has a noodle maker. So, I can't wait to try this hand-rolled and cut recipe.

Monday ~ Mini Cheddar Loaves & Vegies

Tuesday ~ White Chili & Bread

Wednesday ~ Venison & Pancakes & Cantelope (don't ask  I married into it)

Thursday ~ Chicken & Dumplings & Vegies

Friday ~ Baked Teryaki Chicken Thighs & Vegies

Since all three kids and my sweet husband love granola bars and my oldest daughter could eat about 3 at a time just by herself I embarked on a journey to find the greatest recipe I could for granola bars. It took a while and some disasters but I found one on allrecipes.com and I tweaked it for our tastes.

Ingredients

• About 4 cups of rolled oats
• 1 cup rice krispie cereal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 2 cups of your choice...we love butterscotch chips but you could add, chocolate chips, dried fruit, raising, nuts, sunflower seeds, etc.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. (I use my large bar stone from Pampered Chef)
2. In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients.
3. Press mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes.
4. Let cool for about 10 minutes and cut into bars. Let cool completely before removing from pan.