A Flat Belly Diet Weekend

As many of you already know and are probably tired of hearing, I just recently got the new “Flat Belly Diet, Family Cookbook”. So this weekend I wanted to try a few new recipes and get a head start on prepping some of our meals for the week.

Well Saturday started a little something like this. That’s right folks that is dark chocolate you are seeing. This is “Chocolate- Stuffed French Toast”. The recipes makes 4 servings at 416 calories a serving, and it is a meal all by itself. Two things, one I recommend making this a night ahead and putting it in the fridge, it is way better the next day. Two, if you are anything like me and don’t like anything too heavy first thing in the morning I would save this for a Brunch!

So another meal that was a big success for us this weekend was, “Vegetarian Lasagna with Tofu”. This recipes makes 4 servings at 363 calories per serving (again a serving is a big portion). I know there is a lot of skeptics out there about tofu, trust me I used to be one of them. There are ways to prepare tofu to have much flavor and to utilize its texture and this lasagna was just that. All that is in it is no-salt added basil oregano-garlic diced tomatoes, tofu, pesto sauce, baby spinach, reduced-fat Italian cheese blend, and the lasagna noodles. I modified the recipe just a bit. I used the “Plus Omega-3s,and Fiber” lasagna noodles instead of the no-boil noodle. I also mixed the tofu with the pesto sauce so the tofu could absorb that flavor. I was very pleased with the outcome! For a complete meal to help reach my 1600 calorie a day, I paired this with 2 cups of mixed salad greens (18) tossed with 1cup chopped cucumber (16), I cup sliced mushrooms (15), and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (14). Total Meal:426 calories.

I wanted to get a jump start for my week and make sure my family has some quick, healthy choices so I chopped up fresh pineapple, strawberries, washed the blueberries and washed and chopped a good majority of the veggies. One of my biggest challenges has always been eating breakfast. When I wake-up I am not always hungry and really don’t want to spend the time making something. So I get in ruts on eating the same thing every day, like whole grain English muffins with natural peanut butter, or a bowl of oatmeal and fruit. I have noticed I can eat the main dish for a week straight before getting bored or wanting something else, so I looked for some recipes that I can make quick or prep ahead of time and last for a few days. For this week I went with "Lemon – Blueberry muffins" (a serving consists of two muffins each at a grand total of 402 calories). For me I just had one muffin, with a couple of strawberries and 4oz of small curd cottage cheese. This was perfect amount and easy to make. Plus since my muffins are made I have something for the rest of the week. (I love quick mornings without all the calories and grease).


I am also trying to incorporate a snack once a day that’s calorie count is close 400 but that is healthy. I am trying to learn how to hit the 1600 calorie mark, but with foods that my body needs. So one thing that I made was Mango-Pineapple-Avocado salsa. A serving is ¾ cup at 265 calories. I find that this is good to top on a salad, fish, wheat crackers or served with baked chips. (Side note: you can also make a homemade guacamole with mangos and Greek yogurt, Yum! ). A little tip when working with avocados: Most of you know that once you cut avocados that they can turn brown pretty quickly, when putting in the fridge or setting aside either place the pits from the avocados in with your mixture or depending on how you are using them you can spray with cooking spray and that will keep them from turning brown.

On to other fun topics…. Exercise! I had a great weekend in this department. Since the heat has been unreal here in the state of Texas I opted to stay in an to do my thang on my treadmill and spinning bike, but don’t let being indoors fool you. I felt like I really pushed myself this weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday I ran three minutes at a time, with one minute walks for 50 minutes total. I really enjoyed breaking it up this way, and felt that I got a really good workout. Once completing this I spinned for 30 minutes both days.

Since I am upping my workout routine (with having a heel spur) I really felt the need for some new shoes, and since it was tax free weekend I got a great deal on these babies!!! I love them, and would love to wear them all day long but I am going to just use them for my workouts.

Overall I had a great weekend and felt very productive, and this morning was even better when weighing myself to find that I am down another 3 pounds!!! Slow and steady!