A Few Words of Introduction

I don't know about you, but I have gotten tired of the same old boring healthy food. I love to cook and bake, and I enjoy trying new things, but with it comes the butter, the sugar, and numerous calories and fat grams. I spent the entire holiday season this past year in the kitchen.. the lamp table that is now my rear end will attest to that.

I hated the thought of "dieting" or even "lifestyle changing", and I was not looking forward to planning meals. There don't seem to be enough choices, and I am not a fan of bland food. I love foods with lots of flavor and richness, so losing weight is going to be quite a task, when thinking of all the work I will have to put into making these permanent changes to my diet. I can't put anything into my mouth these days without scouring the labels for the number of calories, protein grams, fiber, sugar, and fat. Making the choice to eat a healthy snack for 100 calories or less and getting the nutrients I need versus eating a "100-calorie pack" of something with absolutely no nutritional value... it's not that easy. See? Work!

With this blog I hope to accomplish two things:

First - find some great healthy recipes and snack ideas, prepare them, try them (which includes serving them to my family) and then share them with you. I have a large family, six members to be exact, with a wide variety of tastes, preferences, and tolerances. Healthy eating has not been favored around our home as of late, and my last weigh-in on the big grocery store scale said it is time to make some changes.

Second - I hope to be an encouragement to anyone who is overweight and needs to lose weight for health reasons. Yeah, it would be great to look hot in a bikini (or speedo), but realistically, most of us would probably be grateful to be able to fit into jeans in the teens or single digits. I hope to appeal to those who are motivated by the prospect of not having to take high blood pressure medication, being able to jog a mile and not feel like they will die after 30 seconds, and of improving their overall quality of life.

My mission: To help others (and myself) look forward to mealtimes while trying to lose weight. My goal is to blog several times a week, posting recipes for healthy meals and snacks, tweaking recipes that maybe weren't healthy to start with, and being creative with the food I prepare. I will be tracking my own progress at the same time.

And just so you know, anything I post is directed at ME as well as my readers!

Feel free to let me know you've checked out my blog. Follow! :)