Better For BlogHer Archives

New Healthy Choice Steaming Entrees Giveaway

September 12, 2010 by Momstart 463 Comments

If you have been following my dieting journey with Healthy Choice then you know that I truly believe that dieting is hard. Sticking to a routine, following dieting tips, and just re-teaching yourself to eat healthy with proper proportions takes time and dedication and no excuses. It also takes the dedication to yourself. When you tell yourself you can’t have something then you want it more and more, so making sure that you leave a little room for indulgences is really what made the biggest difference for me. With dedication and determination and one Healthy Choice meal a day, I made my weight goal.

Healthy Choice came out with new entrees and I’ve enjoyed them quite a bit. These new entrees by Healthy Choice are Steaming Entrees that you make in the microwave. They steam inside their packaging and are ready to serve.

Healthy Choice Steaming Entrees Options:

1. Honey Balsamic Chicken

2. Rosemary & Sweet Potatoes

3. Portabella Parmesan Risotto

4. Garlic Herb Shrimp

5. Lemon Herb Chicken

6. Chicken Romano Fresca

7. Sesame Glazed Chicken

8. Roasted Chicken Verde

My favorite flavor so far is the Portabella Parmesan Risotto. I love the cheesy mushrooms, yes I’m a fan of a good fungus!

I like the portion size and the fact that I feel full before I finish a meal. Healthy Choice is using real ingredients in their frozen meals. You can actually see the veggies or meat in a good quantity, not too much and not too little. I was honestly surprised with the meals in my journey because I was so used to healthy freezer meals just having no flavor at all. Meals are now healthy and tasty. I love what a little seasoning and proper ingredient combinations can do. I will admit, I don’t like every type of meal that Healthy Choice came out with, but there are so many options that you can eat something different in a 90 day challenge like the one I’ve been participating in. You’re bound to find something you will like.

Enter to Win:

10 Healthy Choice Free Product Coupons

To Enter:

Tell me what you your biggest challenge is in losing weight!

Extra Entries:

Tweet or RT the giveaway using the RT button above, include the link to the post

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This giveaway ends September 27th. All rules can be found under giveaway rules. This is part of a Paid Campaign with Healthy Choice.

Dear Healthy Choice

September 6, 2010 by Momstart 8 Comments

Dear Healthy Choice,

A few months ago you asked me to participate in a journey of learning how to live healthy again. The program in case you have forgotten was called Better For BlogHer. On this journey you sent me instructions on how to live better, what to eat, how much to eat and how to start moving. At first, I thought it was impossible and that even by eating your meals I would not succeed. I was unable to give up my chocolate addiction and snacking with the kids. After I met with you in person and listened, really listened to your tips, I started having success. All of these tips have been successful. I have lost weight, I can fit into my old clothing and I feel better about myself. I feel comfortable and find it easier to run around and play with my children. It is amazing that I am off the floor! We thank you as a family!!

I just wanted to thank you for all of your help!

Louise Bishop

If you want to start your journey in losing weight, try out some of Tara Gidus Healthy Eating Tips:

Don’t make excuses. Being too busy shouldn’t be an obstacle to healthy eating.
Eat light and eat often. Eat only what you need to sustain yourself for a few hours, then follow up with a light snack to tide you over until the next meal.
Shrink your plate and your waist will follow. Eating from a smaller plate will help you control portions, while your brain will still think you had a plate full of food.
S-L-O-W D-O-W-N. Food is meant to be enjoyed, so slow down and savor every bite. Take sips of water and put your fork down throughout your meal to remind yourself to slow down.
Save dough by eating at home. Restaurant meals can have high calories along with high prices. Cook at home to save time, money, and fuel, or bring lunch to work for even more savings.
Track your spending. Not dollars, but calories. People who keep a record of what they eat lose twice as much weight as those who don’t.
Don’t compromise on summer cravings. Instead of completely depriving yourself from foods you love, look for simple ways to make them healthier.
Color your plate. Fruits and veggies are colorful and add nutritional value to every meal without adding tons of extra calories.

Stay tuned, next week we’ll have a Healthy Choice Giveaway!

This is a sponsored post, I have received payment and products from Healthy Choice!

A Little Exercise is Better Than No Exercise

August 10, 2010 by Momstart 11 Comments

While I was at BlogHer one of my meetings was with Healthy Choice to learn more about the Better For BlogHer program. We leaned that there are new flavors coming out this fall and that one of the favorite items that is currently out is the pumpkin ravioli. I’m going to have to go out and try it. I tried the lobster ravioli and was reminded that I only eat seafood at a restaurant that I can not afford to actually eat at because I hate when fish tastes like fish. I’m sure this just means that I’m not really a seafood eater.

I had a one on one with their dietician Tara Gidus and we talked about how I can fight my chocolate addiction and how to just spend a little time exercising.

For Tara, who also loves chocolate, spending money on really nice chocolate and eating one piece of something that is really good keeps her from eating an entire bag of the cheap chocolate. I remember when I did have some Godiva chocolate and the same thing is true for me, I hate spending money on nice chocolate but if it actually satisfies my craving and makes me eat less then I’m going to give it another try.

Two, when it comes to exercise just getting up and doing something is better than doing nothing. I know I’m not alone when I admit that exercising is difficult and I feel like it has to be all or nothing. That’s just not true. Something is better than nothing and something leads to more. The more you move the more energy you will in turn have.

Good News is after all of the walking in New York and eating smaller meals more often, I’ve actually lost weight. I have no idea how much because my husband broke my scale, but I do know that my jeans are too big. This afternoon, I dug in my closet and pulled out a pair of my older jeans that I haven’t worn since I became pregnant with Zoe. I wanted to go jumping up and down I was so excited. Size 6.

What do you think, do I look ok?

This post is written as part of a paid campaign with Healthy Choice for BlogHer, The Better For BlogHer Challenge.

Preparing for BlogHer 2010!

August 1, 2010 by Momstart 14 Comments

I’ve been spending that last week stressing over BlogHer 2010 and not really getting anything done. New e-mail after new e-mail keeps popping in my inbox and I’m left wondering, what do I do? How am I going to be organized enough to get from point a to point b and how will I remember to attend all of my obligations? Am I the only one that feels like I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

I’m trying to find friends that are interested in the same parties that I am so I can hang out with them and have someone to walk around with. I’ve watched too many episodes of Law & Order to walk around New York all by myself. So I think I have Thursday night planned out. Thursday, I’m going to be hanging out with Robyn of Robyn’s Online World and Connie Roberts from Brain Foggles. I hope to stop at Mom Select, The Samsung Event, Team Mom, and The People’s Party.

Then Friday is still up in the air, I need to make some final decisions but Hallmark and Unilever is absolutely on my list. I had to give up a Shopping Spree with ShopAtHome because I already agreed to the Better for BlogHer challenge with Healthy Choice. I really would have liked to do the shopping spree, those lucky girls are going to be in the fashion district with 200.00 from ShopAtHome buying top brands for at cost. I really needed a clone for this trip wth all of the events.

Saturday I have a tentative plan:

ROYO – Mindful Monitization 12:30-1:45
ROYO – Pitch Me 1:45-3:15
Clorox Saturday, August 7 from 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Blogalicious 5-8|
SparkleCorn 7-10
Cheeseburgher 9-12

I still feel So Lost! Anyone want to adopt me for the weekend?

Thankfully, I have a few companies that are trying to help me calm down!

Lands End sent me a suitcase I can use as a carry on.

Ming Wang sent me one three piece outfit that I can mix and match other outfits with.

Healthy Choice has been feeding me lunch every day

If I survive this, I’m going to need a shirt that says, I survived BlogHer 2010 and lived to blog about it.

Better For Blogher with Healthy Choice

July 15, 2010 by Momstart 5 Comments

I can officially say I’m working with Healthy Choice and the Better For BlogHer Campaign. Healthy choice is providing 20 bloggers six weeks worth of coupons to supplement one meal a day with a Healthy Choice meal. In exchange for the meals and monetary compensation, we are asked to share our experience in “Better For BlogHer” with our readers.

I am excited to make some changes in my life and turn many of my habits into healthy habits. This is going to include not only eating healthy but also living healthy. My part in the Better For BlogHer challenge has begun and as you may have read earlier this week, dieting is hard.

To start things off I want to share the most eye opening piece of advice their expert nutrition expert Tara Gidus, “The Diet Diva” has given me so far.

Stop making excuses.

If you are anything like me I’m sure you always have an excuse for not exercising or eating healthy. According to a recent survey, 1 out of every 3 people blame having too many social events on not having time to prepare dinner. I’m always tired chasing around two kids and I use them as my excuse all the time. I don’t want to cook at the end of the day. I’d rather go pick something up. So, I’ve decided to turn chasing them into my workout and them as my EXCUSE for making healthier meals much more often.

I hope that over the course of the next six weeks, you will find more photos of me playing with the kids:

rather than sitting.

This is a sponsored post by Healthy Choice and is part of the Better for BlogHer campaign and I’ve been asked to share my experience with you in exchange for product coupons and gift cards, your experience may be different

My Darn Sweet Tooth

July 13, 2010 by Momstart 4 Comments

I’m being held captive my the ice cream in my freezer. I haven’t posted much about my Better For BlogHer challenge, sponsored by Healthy Choice, because I’ve been failing, well that’s not entirely true, I’m just really hard on myself and my expectations are very high. I want to lose 10 lbs in four weeks, and it’s very hard to do with my overgrown sweet tooth.

All I want is chocolate, cookies and ice cream. Those things are all ok in moderation but I lost my self control when I was pregnant three years ago and have had to re-teach myself what it means to indulge and how to stop. It has been a very hard road for me. I’m not talking about just this past week but since my second pregnancy was over. I really do want to change my way of life and eat healthy and be healthy.

I’ve started by making changes to our meal plan. I’m making more chicken and grilling it. We’ve added rice to the menu and taken out a lot of cheese. I was using cheddar cheese in about everything we cooked. That’s not very healthy and adds a lot of calories. Another change I’m trying to implement is the going out to eat. I actually thought that the salad at the Olive Garden was a healthy choice. One serving of that salad has about 300 calories, Whoa! I was shocked, the dressing that seems to be healthy for you is not healthy. They do make a healthier version if you ask for it, but who does that. We will from now on that’s for sure. I have also replaced my lunch time with a Healthy Choice meal. Healthy Choice says that people who eat Healthy Choice as part of a reduced calorie meal plan with moderate exercise improve their overall health and quality of life. In 12 weeks, participants lost an average of 12 pounds, trimmed 1.5 inches off their waistlines and lowered their cholesterol.

For Exercise, we’ve been playing outside a little more and I have found that chasing kids around the block seems to take a few calories away from you. I’m just not sure it’s enough. I believe I need to actually work out/exercise on my own terms a bit. You know, do enough to actually get my heart rate up. With my sweet tooth desires, I know I need more compensation somewhere.

So Step One was changing the meal plan

Step Two was limit the out to eating

Step Three is to pick up the exercising

Step Four is to find a control on my sweet tooth!

Do you have any suggestions for that last step?