One of my new favorite (healthy) recipes: Ricotta Sandwich Filling

This is probably the most simple, yet delicious recipe I've found for lunch. The original recipe is as follows.

• 32 oz Fat Free Ricotta Cheese
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 large onion (chopped)
• Cilantro, Hot Sauce and Salt all to taste

Now, there is one thing I'm not a big fan of in this recipe, only because of my attempt to reduce it's usage. The olive oil. While the amount of olive oil compared to the amount of ricotta cheese is minimal, I've decided to put my own twist on this.

I removed the olive oil and salt and the filling taste great the way it is. However, sometimes you need a change, so here are a few things you could mix into a sandwich for a little extra flavor.

• Garlic Salt
• Cayenne Pepper
• chopped/diced tomatoes
• diced bell peppers

When you have made your filling of choice put it on some wheat bread or even in a whole wheat tortilla and you have yourself at least one component of a healthy lunch or a snack. The calorie estimate from Sparkrecipe.com for this is as follows. Just make sure this will change based off of what ricotta and components you put into the mix. To see the recipe page for this filling go here.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 16
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 67.8
Total Fat: 3.5 g
Cholesterol: 10.0 mg
Sodium: 60.1 mg
Total Carbs: 5.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.1 g
Protein: 4.7 g

Week 2 Results

Well, week 2 is down. I have to be honest...I was no where near as active as I would have liked. My current goal is to lose 2 pounds per week. When I weighed myself on Friday it looked like I had lost about a pound. (I really need a digital scale instead of the measurment wheel.) So, I didn't reach my target, which is mostly due to my lack of exercise. However, the one pound is better than none. I am going to make sure I go to the gym today!

I'm still working on trying to balance out my diet a little bit. I'm trying to reach my calorie goal more so my body doesn't start holding on to excess carbs/fat because it feels it's not getting enough intake. I have to say, the digital scale I bought is insanely helpful though! It's interesting to see the difference between some labels measurments and the scales. I had some pasta sauce last night and the label said a serving was 3/4 of a cup. I wanted 2 servings for my pasta but when I measured it out on the scale, I got 2 servings in one cup. So, if you don't have a food scale, it's definitely worth it!

I'm going to try to post on here a little more often rather than just the once a week. Hopefully with some nice little recipes and such. Stay Tuned!

Week 1 Results

Well, it's been a few days since my last post. I was caught up in the wonders of one of my favorite times of year, Halloween. I avoided all candy! The only fight was with a few beers at the party, but it's ok. I used to drink way too much, like a few drinks a night too much. I drank light beer (still extra calories) vs my typical bourbon and gingerale so it was a lot less calories and sugar.

Anyway, I've completed my first week using the BodyBugg and I did pretty well. I wasn't able to meet my calorie intake goal everyday because I've been eating extra healthy. I was feeling full and had an average of 1761 calories consumed where my goal is 2250. Maybe I need to adjust my eating a little more to ensure I meet the 2250 goal, while still burning a extra calories. For workouts last week, I actually only worked out Monday - Wed. I did a little running and than some other exercises that utilize your body weight. I got those from a diet book I have called, "The Belly Off Diet." It's something from Men's health. I'm trying to use their workout regime because it breaks you into everything at a good pace, especially if you haven't exercised in a while. I'll list a few of the exercises in another post later on.

Anyway, my week one weight loss was rather high. I actually lost 10 pounds in my first week. My recorded average deficit was 1715 calories. However, after recording my updated weight the BodyBugg system said it was 2500 calories. So this can mean either two things, I can't record my food to save my life or I just lost a lot of weight somehow. I know I can record food, if anything I recorded under what was actually eaten just because of some things I wasn't able to get full nutrition info on. The last time I tried a diet change like this, I lost some extra weight at first as well. I think it's some sort of a "Detox" weight loss. If anyone has any input, feel free to comment.

I feel like I'm doing good, there has been one or two instances where some of the food I had wasn't the healthiest, but overall I'm getting into the routine. For now, I will leave you with this. My wonderful Halloween costume.

The Before(Current) OMG RUN AWAY Picture

So...it wouldn't be weight loss tracking with out the standard before picture. I warn you it's not pretty!

Food, Servings, and Grams Oh My!

Well, after a few days of using my BodyBugg and reading websites/forums I noticed something. I can read serving labels, use as many measuring cups, and convert stuff through google as much as I want but it doesn't mean I'm accurate. The BodyBugg system takes everything in grams and that's what nutrition labels give in a serving size as well. I decided to buy myself a nice little scale that measures in grams. Funny side note: In high school I used to work at Staples and every time someone would come in looking for a scale in grams we would joke about how they're just going to use it for drugs. We never even thought about food. Anyway, I did a little searching around Amazon because I didn't want to spend a fortune, but wanted something sturdy. I ended up ordering the Escali Primo Digital Multifunctional Scale. It has a whole lot of favorable ratings so I'm hoping it works for me as well. I can post some info about it once I get to use it a bit.

Welocome to 'I've been Bugged'

Welcome! I'm making this blog as a reference for myself and to potentially help anyone else who's trying to lose some weight. Before I get into the details of this blog, let me give you a little back story.

My name is Jesse and I live in Bloomingdale, IL. Over the past few years I've eaten what I wanted, drank too much, and followed a non-existent workout routine. It was a wonderful time and I don't regret it, but the outcome was not so great. I now weigh 260 pounds and have the gut to show for it. I always told myself I would not let myself become obese and if I continue the trend that I'm on, I will most definitely end up that way. This is only part of my motivation...the other part is that I want to look and feel good. Most of my extended family are all healthy with a well balanced figure while I show up to our yearly beach vacation looking like an unhealthy mess. I'm not happy with my weight and how it makes me look and it's time to take accountability for my past slacking and do something about it.

There is one final thing that motivates me. I'm a youngish single guy and I want to find that special someone at some point, but my dating luck has been horrid. At first, I was thinking that maybe my weight was unattractive, when really my thought process was what made me unattractive. I started to get so concerned over not being the "hot in shape" guy that it made me nervous and unhappy with myself. Those feelings of course distracted me from a real successful date with good communication. I need to be happy with myself before I can be happy with someone else. That is my realization and final point of motivation.

Anyway...enough about me. This blog is here to document my progress and share different aspects of my journey. Things that might help others like recipes and different work outs I find myself doing. The main reason I'm starting this now is because a few days ago I received a wonderful piece of technology called the BodyBugg. If you're not familiar with it you can read about it here. This is going to be the backbone of my journey and help guide me to where I want to be. I've heard great success stories from people who have used this little gadget along with former co-workers who swore by it. I figured it'd be a great thing to help me and keep me motivated. With that, I leave you to check back here as often or as little as you'd like. I hope this blog will help motivate you and maybe even give you some tips as time goes on.