Empty Nest – Good for my diet?

As of this month I am officially an “Empty Nester”. I have son in his third year of college. My youngest son is only a senior but decided to move to another city to play hockey. So the empty nest status came a year earlier than I expected. I have been reading many articles on empty nesters. “They say”... this syndrome usually effects women more than men. Claiming we don’t know how to fill the time and void in our lives and we turn to food. You lose touch with your regular schedule, your social group may change, and you can feel isolated. Our metabolisms slow down, hormones are changing, and we are losing muscle mass. WOW, I’m getting depressed just reading all these facts.
Now I know its only been a week since the boys have left the house, but I am not feeling these side effects at all. Don’t tell my boys but I’m kind of enjoying myself. I miss them dearly, but there are some positives. For instance, I do not have to have chips, sugary cereals or ice cream in the house anymore. There isn’t anybody asking me to make them pancakes at 1:00PM, as they get out of bed, or a toasted cheese sandwich in the middle of the day. I can exercise anytime of the day, and not feel guilty about not being home with them. I Love The Biggest Loser cookbooks, so I have been trying new healthy recipes without having to cook seperately for them. Usually when I try a new healthy recipe, I will cook them a frozen pizza just in case they wont eat it. This is the latest dinner recipe I made. I thought it was a little dry, but good and filling.


 
BENCH PRESS BELL PEPPERS
2 large green bell peppers
1 lb of extra lean ground turkey breast
3 tablespoons of fresh minced garlic
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 large egg whites, slightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped mint (I didn’t use this because I didn’t have it)
3 ounces reduced fat feta cheese crumbles


Pinch of salt


preheat over to 375. Cut tops off of peppers and boil for 5 minutes. Cook turkey and garlic in a pan, chopping turkey to bite size pieces. When dine transfer to a bowl and add the rice, egg whites, mint, feta and salt. Mix well and spoon not the bell peppers. Put peppers in a ceramic baking dish and add a little water. Bake for about 20 minutes.  

            


311 calories, 38 grams protein, 30 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams fat, (Not bad for a meal)




Thank goodness for facebook. It keeps me in touch with my boys. Below are pictures I found of them on their pages. I guess if you are this active you can have ice cream once in awhile. Since I don’t think I will be doing any of these things in the near future I will stick with my healthy eating habits!