More on Exercise

I've been finding that the more weight I lose, the more motivated I am to exercise. My new goal is to exercise 5 days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes per day. Part of it is that I know I'm getting closer to my goal weight but I still have a high body fat percentage, so I want to get that into a normal range as well. Part of it I think is just that it's easier to move around without all those extra pounds dragging on me! My son is only 24lbs, but when I carry him for long, my arms get tired. How did I manage with nearly four of him on my body carried around all day long?

It also helps to give myself a real incentive to exercise, so that I don't say I'm tired and make excuses. I love to read, so I bought myself a few brand new books. Normally, I'd just zip right through them. Instead, I made a rule that I can only read them while I'm exercising on the elliptical (and at the correct speed!). It gets frustrating because I really want to know what happens, so it keeps me going for ten more minutes or getting on every single day. If you don't like to read, maybe you can watch parts of a movie while you work out, or listen to your favourite music. Some kind of reward that you get while you're actually exercising. It definitely makes me enjoy exercise more and keeps me coming back!

I've still got lots of Select meal reviews to share with you but I just made an awesome lunch recipe that I wanted to write about. If you like broccoli, I highly recommend you give this one a try!


Cream of Broccoli Soup (Lunch):



Cheesy Broccoli & Bacon Soup:

1 pkg Nutrisystem Cream of Broccoli Soup
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 cups raw broccoli, steamed
1/2 cup milk
1 slice turkey bacon
1 tbsp shredded cheese

Combine the broth and milk in a pot over medium heat. Stir in the Cream of Broccoli soup and stir well to get rid of the powder chunks. In a separate pan cook the slice of turkey bacon and cut it into little pieces. Add the broccoli and bacon to the pot and stir; allow to simmer until flavours blend or about ten minutes. Just before serving, stir in the cheese.

This was SO good! I like the NS Cream of Broccoli Soup as is, but this was delicious and it makes an enormous bowl of soup. It's also easy to modify- if you want a vegetarian soup you can either use veggie bacon or sub out the bacon for more cheese. The total for the milk, bacon, and cheese must fit the dairy/protein stats of up to 100 calories, 3g fat or less, and 7g protein or more. 1/2 cup of fat free milk is 45 calories, my turkey bacon is 30 calories per slice, so that leaves me 25 calories' worth of shredded cheese. Always check the nutritional information on your own add ins to make sure the stats still fit.

This counts as a complete lunch plus a free food (the chicken broth). If you want more veggies though, since broccoli is unlimited, go for it! This might be nice with a salad on the side.

Disclosure: This post was written by me and was not edited by anyone. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any way. Nutrisystem Canada is providing their food and program to me free of charge for my weekly updates. I was not compensated for writing this post.