New Year, New Cook (hopefully...)

Can I just say that I wish I had known it was going to be this cold before Christmas so I could've asked for ski wear and a marshmallow jacket?

My Georgia-winter clothing is not sufficient enough to sustain me from the highs of only 45 degrees, with the wind blowing at 15 MPH. And my decorative scarves are doing nothing to keep my neck warm.

But they sure do look cute!

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about it being cold! I enjoy the cold, but only when I'm prepared to go out into it without feeling like my body hasn't turned into a human Shake Weight.

It's a good thing I'm used to this Georgia weather, or else I would go nuts trying to figure out whether I need to dress like a beach bum or like poor Randy in 'A Christmas Story.'

 

 

Oh, that kid and his inability to put his arms down cracks me up every time I watch this movie, even if I have seen it 1,000 times.

 

 

******

 

As I had mentioned before, I want to start living a healthier lifestyle in 2014. I knew there was no point to start anything until after the new year, just because I have very little self-control when it comes to Christmas goodies.

 

It is now January 16th, and there is no longer any excuse. I have got to get my butt back into shape.

 

My birthday is next Sunday (woo hoo!), and I really wanted to, at least, be a little bit smaller and a little bit darker than I was at Christmas.

 

Doesn't look like I'm going to achieve that.

 

Don't you just love having all of these glorious plans of what you're going to do to better your lifestyle, then let it all fly out the window when it comes time to actually put the plans into action?

 

I will say that I really have tried to monitor my cooking a little more. I attempt to limit how much red meat we eat, start altering little things such as buy the reduced-fat or fat-free instead of the regular, and cook more meat and veggies instead of so many casseroles.

 

Of course, I still cook casseroles, and most of them have some good ole ground beef in them. I think Chris and I would die if I stopped cooking that completely. But, I've started to become more conscious of what I'm putting into our bodies and minimizing all of the processed and not-so-healthy foods.

 

I'm kind of stuck, though.

 

Chris gave me a healthy cook book for Christmas that I really enjoy, but it's going to take some time and practice to be able to do some of those recipes. I also ordered a Cooking Light cook book, but I haven't received it yet. So, that leaves me with modifying recipes in my other cook books, and Pinterest.

 

Those don't exactly tell me what I should be cooking and how I should shop for it.

 

Especially when it comes to fish.

 

We buy the frozen, pre-packaged salmon fillets from Sam's, and we really enjoy them. I know they're not the healthiest fish out there, but I don't know whether it's better to buy other fish packaged and frozen the same way, or to buy fresh and freeze what I don't use, or if I should only buy fresh and never freeze.

 

I just don't know!

 

Growing up, we ate catfish, brim, bass, crappie, and other pond/lake fish that my family caught. My dad would skin them, cut into fillets, throw some batter on them, then into the Fry Daddy they went. Definitely not healthy, but that's pretty much the only way I ever had fish. This broiling and baking is completely new to me, and I'm a little lost.

 

Fish aside, I know chicken is great to eat (when prepared correctly), but it's not Chris's favorite. And, to be honest, I get a little burned out on it too.

 

So, what else is there? We don't exactly have to have meat every meal, but I don't really know what to cook without it. I'm also not sure about buying organic. I know it's more expensive, but is it worth it? Is some worth it, but some not? What do I need to look for and where's the best place to buy it?

 

Help!!

 

I am open to any and all suggestions, I just want to have more healthy options that I can cook on a busy schedule.

 

******

 

With my birthday coming up, I wanted to do a little kick-start to getting healthy, so Chris and I are going to do a little detox this coming week. I found it on Pinterest, so we shall see how it goes!

 

If you want to check it out for yourself, I've included our plan at the bottom. Hopefully it works well, especially since I need to get rid of all of the junk I enhaled over Christmas and New Years. It'll be nice to have my clothes fit a little better like they used to!