HEALTHY LIVING: the September challenge
The challenge is simple and goes like this: “No carbs for dinner, but plenty of water all day!”. New month, new goals. Easy as that! But, obviously it needs some explaining:
Ever since returning from our trip to Dubai & the Maldives back in May, I have slowly watched the scale go up a bit (I blame all those summer BBQs) – in total I have gained 3kg over the past 4 months. It’s not really a big deal to me – I am, and have always been, pretty comfortable with my body, my jeans still fit and I know I live a healthy life that includes lots of fruit and vegetables, as well as regular exercise. BUT those 3 extra kilos are definitely not necessary – let’s just say I could do without them! And, since Mike and I just booked our next vacation over New Years Eve, I now have something to look forward to (in terms of wearing a bathing suit and such). That is why, for the month of September I have decided to skip the carbs for dinner and drink at least 2.5 liters of water every day.
For me, personally, both of those goals can easily be met without any major changes in my daily routine. I now have a pink glass bottle by “equa” (thanks to Miss Ketch’em Bunnies for the gift) that I always carry in my purse, which makes drinking enough water easier – and I simply avoid carbs for dinner. Like I mentioned before, I am pretty lucky because I actually really enjoy “healthy” food. I love salads, veggies, soups, fruit smoothies, … and can easily go weeks without touching a burger. Also, I cook at home a lot, which makes it easy to control the things that I am eating (ie. no preservatives!). For everyone that needs a bit of inspiration for dinners without carbs, here is what I have had so far:
– Sunday: homemade Chili con Carne (just make sure to get lean minced meat – I don’t like pork, so I always get lean beef)
– Monday: zucchini boats (filled with some leftover chili and sprinkled with a bit of cheese, then baked in the oven)
– Tuesday: barbequed lean chicken breast with a side of grilled veggies (bell pepper & zucchini)
– Wednesday: for tonight I prepared pumpkin soup that I’ll have after an event I am attending today
– Thursday: tomorrow I am going out to dinner with the girls, even though the place is famous for their pizzas, I will stick to a big salad and some lemon soda instead of alcohol.
There are almost 4 months left until we leave for our vacation, so that should be plenty of time to get back to my pre-summer-weight! Are there any goals you are currently working towards? What are they?
Hiya doll, great post…really inspiring and interesting to see your no-carb evening meals. I always struggle to come up with different ideas and get bored of eating the same meat/fish and veg every night!
i’ve just started weightwatchers this week and am hoping to lose a couple of stone before my holiday to Thailand next year
definitely keep us updated on your progress
xoxo
Love your post! I’m seeing my boyfriend soon after 4 months of long distance relationship, so that will be my goal. Maybe you could do a post on what you eat for lunch? What keeps you fill till dinner? How do you incorporate carbs? As I am working like you do, this would really interest me, plain bread with some cheese is often so boring.
I really like your “philosophy” of no carbs in the evening! for me it is not that difficult because i have my main meal for lunch, in the evening i mostly enjoy light and small things just like a yoghurt with berries!
Love your post!
🙂 Anna
a-dash-of-anna.blogspot.co.at
Sounds like a plan! I should start eating healthy food too!
http://vformat.blogspot.com/
I don’t have any goals but I think that no carb in dinner policy could be a nice goal… I’m going to try it!
Again, you are such an inspiration!
xx,
E.
http://www.theslowpace.com
that looks so delicious! great post!
xx
http://cashmereandstuds.blogspot.de/
Definetely agree for me its more kind of a luxury to eat fresh fruits and veggies than having a pizza or a steak 🙂 but I could not resist when going out and meet my girls and not have a cocktail or something else delicious 😉 greets
September challenge? I’m in! I blame pies and cake with all the delicious summer fruits. I’m already eating pretty healthy, but my cake addiction has gotten a bit out of control lately 😉 So for me it is: no sweets, no cake, no cookies. Kinda difficult when you’re dealing with food all day…Time to come up with home delicious low carb recipes.
http://foodlovin.wordpress.com/
Great idea!I also have to lose 4kilos and that is a really great plan.You can also publish some extra recepies,maybe vegetarian ones:)
Since I have a fructose intolerance, diagnosed in july, I had to chance my eating habits 🙁
I love fruits, vegetables and pulses and now I have to avoid most of them . But I am allowed to eat pumpkin, zucchinis and meat and therefore your recipes are a good inspiration for me.
Haha, my name is also Barbara and I also just got diagnosed with FI. :/ I handled it pretty well in September and lost some weight because I cut out eeeeverything, that could possibly contain Fructose or so. But now…argh…have to start again! But it’s not easy since I can’t really eat beans and also a lot of veggies.
No fruits after 11, quinoa insead of pasta&rice+lepantos veggie ice instead of any other ice cream vienba shop 😉
Sooo, where are you guys heading to? South east or west ?
[…] post about Detox (see here) and Vicky’s post on her healthy eating september challenge (see here) I was inspired to improve my own lifestyle habits. Not only to prepare for fall but also for all […]
Danke für die guten Anregungen!
Gibt es die Trinkflaschen auch in Geschäften (in Deutschland) zu kaufen? Die Versandkosten mit fast 9€ sind leider sehr hoch…
Hi Kathi,
da ich die Flasche von einer Freundin geschenkt bekommen habe weiß ich leider gar nicht ob es sie direkt in Geschäften auch zu kaufen gibt. Kann mich aber gerne mal umhören 🙂
xox Vicky
Das wäre super lieb. Habe bisher leider noch nichts genaueres rausbekommen…
Hallo Kathi,
die EQUA Trinkflaschen kannst du auf Amazon.de bestellen. Und alle Wiener können sie jetzt auch im Shanti Yogastore auf der Lindengasse kaufen 🙂
Liebe Grüße,
Anja von EQUA
Hallo Vicky, ich würde mich riesig freuen wenn du etwas mehr über dieses Thema postet bzw. wie es dir bisher mit der Challenge geht. Lg
Liebe Vicky,
ich kann Dir das Buch Vegan for fit von Attila Hildmann empfehlen!
Auch wenn man nicht Veganer ist, findet man darin herrliche Low Carb Rezepte mit ganz viel Gemüse und Vitalstoffen! 😉 Perfekt für das abendliche Carb-Cutting.
Alles Liebe,
Verena.
Zuerst einmal: Ich lieebe deinen Blog!!!!
Du hast mich mit deinem Post inspiriert-ich werde das mit den Kohlehydraten jetzt auch ausprobieren 🙂 Eine Frage noch: Isst du zu Mittag dann “normal”?
Ganz liebe Grüße, Kathi
[…] the last fitness/health related post seemed to catch a lot of your guys’ attention, I wanted to give you a quick update. I know a […]