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.