I'm back!!! But not without a problem, advice please,,,

Ranchetta · January 2013

I joined MFP last year and I lost 25 pounds from Feb - May 2012 by working out and tracking what I ate. I've gone through some "stuff" since Jun 2012. I stopped working out and stopped tracking what I ate. Now, you guessed it, I'm back where I started, almost. I've lost my muscle tone that I gained and have gained back the 15 of the 25 pounds I lost. I'm starting to feel tight, stiff, and "old". I'm not "old" I'm 43!!
Here's where I need guidance, I'm now living in a travel trailer. I can only "cook" in the microwave, crockpot or grill (outside). It's winter, cold and snowy outside, I live 15 miles from town, and don't go into town everyday. There is a recreation center in town that I can utilize when I do go to town which is about 2-3 days a week.
I need guidance on healthy recipes and healthy eating.
I need guidance on highly effective exercises that I can do in a very small space. I have a space about 4.5x5' that I probably can use to work in. Floor exercises would be a little difficult to do but I might be able to master it. All of my exercise equipment is packed away and space it limited so the more I can use my own body as resistance the better.
I'm determined to loose my weight back and continue on with my goals. I've seen the difference between the way I was feeling and the way I'm starting to feel and I want the healthy feeling instead.
Any suggestions help is welcome!!! Thank you in advance!

4mydogs · January 2013

Congrats on your previous weight loss, that is awesome. You have some challenges but they are all workable issues. As for food, the crockpot is a miracle machine. You can do a whole chicken, pork roast, and eat it hot one night, shred it for salads or tacos or waraps. HKeep fresh veggies on hand for snacks as well as easy pack protiens such as lowfat cheese sticks, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, peanut butter. Make a chili, soup or stew with lots of veggies in the crockpot each week. Google healthy crockpot recipes there are tons of them. Also the microwave can cook a sweet potato. healthier frozen meeals such as Amy's or Kashi (just watch the sodium), fish, shrimp, and any leftovers that you have from the crockpot. Also salads and wraps with lots of veggies and protien are great, just plan a menu that you can use items for mulitple meals.

As for excercises look at bodyweight training like squats, pushups, lunges, fill milk bottles with water and do biceps and triceps, back and shoulders. Walking one of the best excecises to start with and you can do walk/run intervals for 20-30 mins, that is a great starting point.

The best advice I have is don't make limitations where none exist, you can eat healthy and you can excercise, you just need to plan and commit to do it, like we all do to make a lifestyle change,

msbunnie68 · January 2013

Does your travel trailer have a decent size fridge or freezer compartment?

As for the microwave -that is also a little miracle machine. You can cook veges, pasta, and rice in it. See if you can dig out the manual for the microwave and start reading as the manual usually contains the instructions how to cook in it. If you can't find it, have a look at the model number and google the instruction manual for it.

Your crock pot will cook everything else that you may be hestitant cooking in your microwave. You can roast meats/do soups/chillis/casseroles/curries/make pasta sauce/use it to heat water to blanche and freeze fresh veges if you get too many.

On the days you can grill, most veges can be wrapped in aluminium foil and tossed on top of BBQ grill and cooked to yummy perfection. Potatoes are great this way and you don't need to oil them up.

Canned chick peas/canned lentils/canned beans may work well for you (you can always cook the dried version in your crock pot if you like)

As for exercise...try to look for incidental exercise you can add to your everyday chores - squats while you are cleaning...if it is snowing then get out there and clear your path/perimeter or your trailer. Walk/bike it whenever you can (save money in running the car). If all your equipment i packed away...then cans/milk containers make ok hand weights. Lay on your bed area to try to do leg work/push ups.... run outside and try jumping rope (brrrrrrr) only find a patch that isn't icy

I hope you get a positive turn around soon. x

MyOwnSunshine · January 2013

I would grill or crockpot healthy meals that are meat and veggie-based and eat lots of fruit.

For exercise, I would buy the book "Convict Conditioning" and supplement it with Couch to 5K walk/running program.

chubbygirl253 · January 2013

I took up jogging and love it! And I use my crock pot 4-5 days a week.

drbaska · January 2013

You're definitely not old! Because if you were, that would make me, at 45 way old! LOL! There are some great web sites with low cal crockpot cooking, and I'm on an Eat Clean Get Lean plan myself - so glad to help with suggestions. I'm also doing a 30 day fitness challenge which basically consists of push ups, jacks, planks, squats & lunges. I'm sure you could do that in your small space - the challenge is designed to get increasingly more difficult as the month goes on. :-)

Ranchetta · January 2013

Msbunnie, yes we have a full size fridge/freezer in the ATV hauling compartment in the trailer. Plus I have a full size chest freezer in the storage trailer. Thank goodness!!!

Thanks everyone for all the tips and encouragement it kinda gets to me sometimes that I can't do the workouts I used to do in my apartment because of space. But I think I'm going to make a point to go to town an extra day to use the Rec center so that I can space out my workouts there. And as soon as some of this 8" of snow melts I'll walk. We live about 1/4 mile off the main road and I won't have to worry about traffic, maybe the occassional rabbit but I think the dogs will take care of that for me

I've been finding crockpot recipes on Pinterest alot, but need to find a way to calculate the nutritional values in them. I also need to learn how to round out the meal, like if I make a main dish of say chicken n noodles what can I put with that to make it balanced? I need to learn more about nutrition.

Again thank you all and I hope I can keep in contact better this time

MyOwnSunshine · January 2013

My favorite healthy, easy side dish is fresh fruit. My husband and daughter are picky eaters and don't like veggies much, but everyone will eat fruit as a side dish. I buy melon, grapes, mixed fruit bowls from Costco... healthy, easy, quick and no clean up.

NCchar130 · January 2013

I've been finding crockpot recipes on Pinterest alot, but need to find a way to calculate the nutritional values in them. I also need to learn how to round out the meal, like if I make a main dish of say chicken n noodles what can I put with that to make it balanced? I need to learn more about nutrition.

You can just enter the ingredients under the recipe tab and then divide out by number of servings to get the nutritional value. It's a wonderful tool!

Good luck!

SueInAz · January 2013

Msbunnie, yes we have a full size fridge/freezer in the ATV hauling compartment in the trailer. Plus I have a full size chest freezer in the storage trailer. Thank goodness!!!

Thanks everyone for all the tips and encouragement it kinda gets to me sometimes that I can't do the workouts I used to do in my apartment because of space. But I think I'm going to make a point to go to town an extra day to use the Rec center so that I can space out my workouts there. And as soon as some of this 8" of snow melts I'll walk. We live about 1/4 mile off the main road and I won't have to worry about traffic, maybe the occassional rabbit but I think the dogs will take care of that for me

I've been finding crockpot recipes on Pinterest alot, but need to find a way to calculate the nutritional values in them. I also need to learn how to round out the meal, like if I make a main dish of say chicken n noodles what can I put with that to make it balanced? I need to learn more about nutrition.

Again thank you all and I hope I can keep in contact better this time

Get out there and shovel some of that snow. That'll burn a lot of calories and make it easier for all of you to get around.

You can put the ingredients for the recipes in the Recipes section here of MFP and then by entering the number of servings you'll know the exact amount of calories per serving. It's actually very easy and helpful, especially if you end up making the same recipes often.

dmpizza · January 2013

Thats a very very small space. My wife does some Cathe kickbox videos that dont take much space.

Best of luck to you.

Eleanorjanethinner · January 2013

Homemade soup is easy, warming and filling (and much less sodium than pre-made).

With crockpot receipes (like soy chicken and noodles you mention) you can either add lots of veg to the recipe (i.e. chopped onion, chopped peppers, leeks, peas or whatever you like that would go with the meal) or just cook lots of veg and serve on the side. Our basic standby is half a cup of frozen peas each zapped in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

If you're not used to eating veg, it's probably easier when they're in the meal rather than seperately.

Also, I recommend swapping some meat for legums like half the amount of mince in a chili and add red kidney beans instead. Beans are very high in fibre, lower in fat than meat and filling.

And potatoes are filling and low cal too - you can 'bake' potatoes in the microwave or crockpot (not quite as nice as an oven, but okay) and add healthy fillings like baked beans, tuna and sweetcorn etc. (Keep the cheese to a minimum).

As for exercise - any time you can, get out and walk (or shovelling snow if a good idea). It's free and needs no equipment except warm clothing. Two or three times at the rec centre in town is a great start too.

Best of luck!

shadowfeet33 · January 2013

Easy recipe w/ very few ingredients...if I can do it anyone can LOL...fajita seasoning on 2 chicken breasts & put it in a saucepan, crock pot, whatever w/ can of Rotel and a cup of chipotle salsa. that's it. after an hour it pulls apart and you can put it on anything...salad, potato, corn tortilla, by itself. You will do great!!

I'm back!!! But not without a problem, advice please,,,

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