An apron should be part of your weight loss tools

I read an interesting article about the contestants on the show "The Biggest Loser" . For one thing they all have to cook for themselves and there is no list of scheduled meals . They are given a calorie allowance, a list of forbidden foods, and then left to their own devices. For many of them this is a revelation, as they have lived on a diet of fast food. The article goes on to say that one of the biggest factors in the obesity epidemic today is we spend too little time cooking our own meals at home.

I think the article fails to mention one other critical factor. Those that do cook at home all too often rely on things like prepared canned soups, foods in a box or frozen entrees like pizza, Lean Cuisines and more. Even most contemporary recipies call for things like a can of condensed soup, a cup of katsup and other such things. One reason is cost, another is all of our supremely erratic schedules filled with ten thousand must do/must attend things that leave the modern family scattered in sixty different directions at dinnertime. How can a dinner schedual survive when laid over the activity;/work scheduals of 4 or more people ? There is so much unnecessary pressure on parents to provide their children with the shining childhood of every opportunity under the sun that our very lives themselves become compromised in the exchange. We do not have a bumper crop of world class athletes, Mozart's, Picasso's, Chess Pros and such, but rather an epidemic of burned out children, financially and emotionally stressed parents and a nation of obese people.

One of the more critical tools in leading a healthy life is the ability to cook for yourself. Unless this fundamental skill is mastered, you are left at the mercy of fast food restaurants and people who will put garbage in a box with a pretty label that says it is good for you ( Look mom, it's vitamin shaped and sugar fortified !). In that same vein unless you know how to repair a garment, wash a garment and use an iron you will be in sad shape as well. Good old Home Ecc classes could be the thing that will become much more important in light of our growing wastelines and shrinking wallets.

Nuff said on that- on to yesterday's log
exercise- 3 hrs 20 min
wall washing 3 hrs ( or the Fearmaster)
walk 10 min
bike 10 min( I wanted to do more than just cleaning this week for one of my goals)



Breakfast-
1/2 cottage cheese, 1 tsp olive oil,2 T ground flax,20 grapes,17 almonds
water,coffee



Lunch-
Grilled chicken chef salad (3 oz grilled chicken, mixed greens,1T crasins
1 T seed mix, garlic balsamic vinegar)
1 c nonfat yogurt with 1 T dark cocoa powder and 1 T splenda,
apple, Diet cherry 7Up


Dinner-
4 oz Grilled Honey Dijon Chicken breast (2 T Dijon mustard, 2 T honey, 1 tsp garlic, 1/4 c lemon juice- marinate for at least 1 hr) , 3/4 c barley, 1 c spinach , tossed salad with fig infused balsamic vinegar, Diet Cherry 7Up with antioxidents
( my son is fasicinated by this- he just learned what antioxidants are and so he has a zeal to get as many as he can. We get more than enough water in this house so diet soda is allowed at meals only)

Snacks
morning- fat free cheese and 1 c celery sicks
afternoon- sugar free pudding and sugar free jello,100 cal almonds
evening- apple, fat free string cheese, TLC bar

water 14 (112 oz)
Fruits 3
veg 7
lean protien 2
dairy 4
healthy fats 2