High Blood Pressure Factors

So, if you read almost any of my previous posts… you know, I’m trying very hard to lower and control my blood pressure. It was at it’s best in July when I was working out consistently and eating/snacking on a regular schedule. I was also unemployed so I had more than enough time in my day to do that. Since returning to work and adding a 40 mile commute (around 2 hours) each way (so double that)… it’s been hard to squeeze in my workouts. I get home usually at 7pm, and I try to spend some time with my son to put him to bed and play with him or read to him. Sadly some days I can’t even do that. There are a lot of factors that have been making my blood pressure go up…

This commute is literally the biggest stress factor in my life right now… and I hate it. I hate sitting in the car for up to 4 hours a day wasting time, money, gas, and TIME! and I’m not doing anything but sitting. It’s so frustrating, and I’ve been involved in more accidents that I’m willing to admit to since starting – 1 bad one and 2 that shouldn’t even be considered accidents (no damage)… My job is great, I love it. Driving to and from it is horrible. I had my blood pressure tested when I got off the freeway (getting to our work wellness center)… and it was 150/100. That’s what I start my day at. I wake up, get ready, get my son ready, drop him off and when I get to work (some days) my blood pressure is high. At least my work environment is pretty subdued and laid back… I had it tested after work and it was about 130/100… still high but not as alarming. Average should be 120/80. My resting number (100) is usually high because I’m a high-strung person. I’m trying to really learn how to relax.

This month has been really stressful for me. On top of work, being a mom, being a wife, paying bills – my best friends wedding is in a little more than a week – and it’s in Michigan so I’ve had to plan a trip and get all my bridesmaids stuff add looking for an apartment closer to work to the list and you can guess how stressed I am. not that those aren’t both good things – they just involve time and money – both of which i waste when I’m on the freeway… sitting. A lot of people say oh the food you eat – it’s the food… but no. I cut out all that sodium and processed food earlier this year. Occasionally I’ll think I can eat tortilla chips like the rest of the world and I get a instant headache – and I can’t – I know my limits with food. And if I slip – my body reminds me with a headache. So I just stay away from that stuff. It’s not worth the trouble and I just don’t want to deal with it. For me it’s stress. Limit stress… how the heck do you do that? Relax? I don’t know how… that doesn’t involve alcohol… what relaxes me? Think. Painting (no time)… Eating (can’t eat a lot of things because it raises my blood pressure – can’t “indulge”)… Music… Yes that’s good. I’ve been singing along more. It helps me – release. I also have let a lot of negativity go. I am changing my life and changing my ways to be healthier. Also, I got stress ball – it’s at work but I use it in the morning after the traffic. I try not to yell. I feel my blood pressure go up when I get mad or upset. I’m developing a very Zen/Karmic lifestyle. Just thinking and writing about traffic raised my blood pressure a little bit… I feel it. So, I pulled out my stress ball and am taking some deep breaths. I wake up at 5 am every morning… and am out the house with toddler in tow… at 6… I get to work around 8. Lucky me, right? I would love nothing more than waking up and doing yoga, and taking my time getting ready for work and oh yeah letting my son get the sleep he needs. I tell myself that this will all be rectified and my reality when we move. I am putting a lot of pressure on moving because I cannot take this drive too much longer. I have increased the amount of walks I take in a day to at least 2. not to mention I park pretty far from my job and go up and down 3 flights of stairs to my car. But this isn’t enough for me and I wish I could do more. I am still losing weight and inches though – even though I’m not working as hard… I feel somewhat guilty about it. I wish I was making the progress I was making in July. But then – I had all the time in the world and now I feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day.

I guess what I’m trying to achieve with this post is – know your body. Some things that work for others might now work for you. Some things that stress other people out might not stress you out. I know I could try and squeeze some workouts in more days than just the weekend… but what will I be sacrificing? Time with my son? That’s what I don’t have enough of. I’m trying to get rid of this commute. Because I don’t need the stress and I’d like my life back and my money too.

The downside of Baggy Clothes

I posted a video a while ago showing how big my pants were after losing 25 lbs. You can read that post/watch the video here. http://wp.me/p3l88T-8T

To date, I’ve lost about 47 lbs. And when I started this journey I was a size 24 pants. Today I am in between a 16 and 18. And while this is very rewarding to me, my budget didn’t allow me to get a brand new wardrobe. I’m a designer and when I was a size 24, I found a really good going out of business sale for my work wardrobe. And now that I’m about 3 sizes smaller… any clothes that I couldn’t hem or take in, I end up pinning them to keep them from falling. I have a bad of shoes and tops to donate. It’s a long process (and expensive one) to replace an entire wardrobe. Some days I feel very frumpy – even though I know I’m not. It’s the clothes. I can’t get rid of everything at once because – I’d have nothing to wear. I’d say this is the downside of losing a lot of weight. Sometimes I feel bigger than I am – because my clothes are so baggy and saggy. I’ve replaced a lot of shirts and sweaters, and have like 2 pairs of shoes that I rotate… but pants are so freaking expensive. I finally found 1 pair of jeans to replace 5 pairs that I threw out!! And I’m torn because I’m still losing weight – so I don’t want to spend a ton of money on clothes that I’ll have to get rid of again. I’m not saying that I’m stopping what I’m doing… just that it’s frustrating and I wish I could wear yoga pants and sneakers to work… but sadly I can’t wear that to an office. Just sharing one of the things I’m dealing with – I have some more posts I plan to post (redundant?)…

There’s so many other things that happen when you lose weight and most of them are positive. But I guess this is more of a money situation holding me back from buying new clothes. But, nonetheless it effects me sometimes. I have some clothes that I kept pre-pregnancy and I love that I can fit into them again. I wish I didn’t get rid of so much – but we were in between housing and didn’t have the space to store my clothes. If we did… I’d have more than enough to wear. I learned my lesson – don’t get rid of clothes that are too small only ones that are too big 😉 There’s no need for “fat pants” if you never plan on being fat.

Feeling Great!

I can finally say that I’m back on track!  I feel so much better. This second Challenge, really pushed the limits of my mental health and my internal well-being. I went through a lot, and I still am. It’s hard not to let things/people/situations get to me and stress me out or get me down. I mean that’s a part of life. I grew up in a sort of negative family where we always looked at the bad things. That outlook made me depressed and life didn’t seem like it was worth living. I started to change how I see things when I moved to California and since then – not everything has been cheery-perfect-sunshine but finding the good has left me a more happy person – and has given my mind a break to focus on more important things.

Dealing with my Cholesterol, and High Blood Pressure have really been so hard. It’s been stressful and as I think of the stress – I can feel my blood pressure go up! It’s important for me to relax, and be optimistic and easy going… part of it is my personality (easy-going) – the other part I have to seriously try to do… but it’s important for my health. Taking different approaches to things will be good for me. Instead of arguing or yelling at my son for coloring on the table…. (thinking about my blood pressure) I’ll just make him clean the table – he’ll do this until he doesn’t color on the table anymore. (magic erasers work wonders with crayon)…

I never would have thought that I’d be worried about this stuff at 28. But our country has a serious problem with obesity. And with Obesity comes: High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Diabetes, High Cholesterol, Stroke & Heart-Attacks. It’s really hard for anyone (not just me) to take responsibility for what they did to their body. Eating habits and not working out and just not caring. I don’t think I really loved myself before. I didn’t care how healthy I was – only that I wasn’t past a certain size. And if my weight fluctuated “oh well – that happened, right?”.

Becoming a parent has made me aware: that my son will look to me and my husband for how to pattern his health/nutrition/wellness among other things. I remember growing up and seeing my grandparents super sick, and then as I got older my parents. I don’t ever want to be like that. This is serious. Why did I only start to care once I became a mother? When you become a parent some switch flicks in your head and it says “I have to be around for this kid – for a long time”. And a lot of issues were found when I was pregnant. Doctors and nurses make you paranoid when you are pregnant – if you eat certain things or too much of this or that – you will harm your baby in someway. And you become a mother when you’re pregnant – that mother’s instinct flips on and you must protect your baby no matter what.

I’ve been doing really good- walking every day, drinking 1+ gallon of water every day, and drinking my 2 Body By Vi Shakes a day. I haven’t been bloated (besides that time of the month), and since I started added Magnesium and Calcium supplements – I’ve noticed a drop in my blood pressure. However eating something with a lot of sodium or getting stressed and/or upset/angry can send it up (and I can feel that change). But I haven’t been getting the headaches! So just that alone makes me fee tons better!

Last week sometime my husband made dinner – it was hamburgers and fries – I didn’t eat the fries (I did a baked potato instead) because I knew my blood pressure would go up. But I did eat the burger… and I had a headache shortly after (I wasn’t taking the calcium/magnesium then)… So I asked how much salt did you put on this? He said “none, I only used Lawry’s” … I said “baby, that’s seasoned salt”… Then he made a good point, “Throw it out, if you can’t eat it.” So that’s my advice to you. If you can’t eat it or shouldn’t eat it… don’t have it in your house. I threw away perfectly good and usable food. I would’ve got in so much trouble growing up if I did that… but I’m the adult now – and I’m the one who shops so why am I bring this crap into our house where it can be mistakenly used in cooking? I think about the episodes of the Biggest Loser when the contestants go home – and they throw out everything in the cabinets and refrigerator and they say “I can’t eat this.” Those words have never rung more truer in my mind. We are at fault for eating poorly. We are at fault for not working out. It’s my fault I got up to 286 pounds. But it’s my responsibility to change myself and I am.

Health isn’t just about fitness – it’s about mental and internal wellness too. Looking nice and being a certain size is nice. It’s flattering when people cheer me on, or tell me I look great and it’s a confidence booster – but for me my real results are my numbers. Not the ones on the scale. My blood pressure readings, my cholesterol count, my BMI, and my measurements. I donated blood yesterday and felt good doing it… It has a lot of health benefits, but it’s a good deed too. They took my blood pressure and other vitals before I gave blood and my blood pressure was 128/82… Not horribly high – and it’s still not in the ideal range – but it’s lower than my reading last month (132/88)… I’m on my way and so are you!

Getting it right, with research

So you know those eureka moments you have in life, where you’ve totally figured something out!? I had one of those yesterday and I have to share it with the world (that’s where my blog comes in).

I figured out why I have been so tired!!! My husband thought I was depressed, I thought I was in the early stages of pregnancy… But neither of us were right. My high blood pressure was to blame. High Blood pressure is known as the silent killer. Because 2/5 people have it and don’t know it. I had no idea high blood pressure could cause fatigue. I could barely stay awake these past 3 weeks let alone work out. I blamed getting up at 4am and running around after work. I could not get enough sleep- that’s why I felt pregnant if you’ve ever been- you know the feeling. When I’m depressed, I don’t want to do anything so that’s why my hubby was worried. But nope. I knew it caused bloating/swelling and headaches but I never knew until I decided to google it. Thank you google for all that you do.

I’ve also looked up how to combat/control it with food. It’s not just what your not eating people. Yes avoid salt/sodium… But you need to include potassium, magnesium and calcium!!! I’ve decided to take thes supplementally and try to balance out my diet. There are foods I have to avoid eating too much of because of the sugar content (don’t want to develope diabetes/empty calories/trying to lose weight) like bananas, potatoes, and oranges… But these foods are rich in potassium! I decided to do an experiment. I woke up this morning and felt my feet were slightly swollen and I had a slight headache – my blood pressure was high. My shoes fit tight. We stopped to get gas and I got an orange juice. 840 grams of potassium. Drank it. And when I got to work and put my shoes back on- my feet were no longer swollen. The potassium helped lower my blood pressure within an hour. I wouldn’t do this everyday- because citris is a trigger food for my IBS and OJ has too much sugar in it for me… But I’m considering an alternative like Trop 50. Everyone is different and I’m not a doctor or health professional. But I’m defienatly going to try adding these supplements while on my weightloss journey. I can’t eat bananas, oranges, and potatoes everyday. I was sharing a banana with my son until he got sick of them (me 1/3 him 2/3)… And I went through a 2 week phase where all I wanted to drink was orange juice… I believe that craving was my body trying to tell me something was wrong and I just didn’t know what.

I also came up with a list of rules that I’m going to abide by for my new eating habits. (Another post)… It will help me increase my good cholestorol, lower my bad, low sugar, and will help combat my high blood pressure. This has been super complicated. It required me to do a lot of research about what vitamins and minerals are in the foods I plan on consuming and when to consume them. For example- if I want some orange juice- I should drink it before I work out. The little bit of sugar will burn off while I’m working out but the real boost I’ll get is from the potassium and calcium lowering my blood pressure. I won’t feel like I’m over doing it or be extremely exhausted afterwards. Working out lowers blood pressure in the long run- but it’s hard to get moving when your body is working so hard and pumping your blood so fast it makes you exhausted. Think about it? It’s like taking a ballon that was already blown up, deflating it and trying to blow it up again but bigger- it’s going to pop!!

Fit-spiration

So, let me just say I love Pinterest. Also, if I ever need some fitness inspiration, I can usually find it there. I guess social media is just a big reminder that we aren’t alone in this world, and most of our situations aren’t 100% unique. Someone has been what you went through or what you are going through. I found this picture yesterday and that was my reminder that I’m not alone in this.

 

 

Also, I didn’t do my workout video. But we went for a walk as a family.  Today is either hiking or a workout video. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, the comments, the likes and the follows.

Also, if you would like to follow my fitness Pinterest board – here’s the link.

 

R.I.P. Hotsauce & other things

I’ve decided to give up the bottle… Of Hotsauce that is. This is a big deal because I love Hotsauce. But I know it’s crammed with sodium. I’ve decided to make my own chile (my grandpa’s recipe) and either make or buy only fresh salsa. I love hot and spicy food and I can’t live without these, so I need healthier/lower sodium alternatives.

I also want to say that today I really wanted to eat extra… But I didn’t. That is because I was so tired and wanted a pick me up that food would provide. I went to bed at 12:30 and had to be up at 4… It’s 11:30 and I’m still not fully awake. I’ll be glad when our car is fixed and I can resume my regular schedule.

I believe this is part of the reason I’m unmotivated and been eating more- including my poor choices… It’s hard to stay awake let alone move when you are falling asleep standing up… Yesterday I got my hair cut, and my stylist said I looked great (she knows I’m on a weightloss journey)… And I said thank you but took a minute to think that just because people say that doesn’t mean I should stop what I’m doing and get comfortable. In my head I thought, I’m still not where I want to be… And that needs to be my mindset.

Also I noticed that food is very accessible at work (and cheap or free)… I used to not have cash on me because of vending machines at work – or avoid the cafeteria. But I’m in a department that has a little snack table and people bring in treats all the time… Also Friday bagels at my old job are Friday donuts at my new one… I never liked bagels but donuts seem to be harder to resist since I craved them during my pregnancy… I guess I just have to remember there’s no nutritional value in a donut.

Also the cafeteria, has home cooked amazing food and snacks at wholesale prices and you don’t need money- only your badge to deduct the food cost from your payroll… I’ve been eating more eggs- when I’m hungry- not horrible but I should really substitute for egg whites. I need to think of my cholestorol. I also have been drinking pop (soda) more… Because it’s there and fizzy and like $.60… Not good reasons… But they were justified in my head at the time. I don’t think I can say goodbye completely to pop… But I do think I will limit it to once a week (8oz only) and only if I crave it. More like a treat than something that I know won’t actually quench my thirst because its a dehydrant. I haven’t been doing horrible on my water intake- somewhere between a half gallon and gallon- but not good since it’s been in the 90’s and 100’s for 3 weeks… I’m most likely retaining water.

And instead of falling asleep on the couch when I get home- I’m going to make myself do a biggest loser workout. I’ve been neglecting my DVDs.

We decided to move, and that we’ve been batshit crazy for commuting so long. We’ve been wasting time sitting in traffic for 4 hours a day and spending basically rent getting to and from work in a month. We’re moving to Orange County because we work there… And no matter how much cheaper Riverside and Corona are than OC we’re spending double because of gas and tolls. So come December… I’ll have 4 more hours in my life and 400 more dollars in our bank. I plan to get a quick workout in before work when this happens.

Overwhelmed & Unfocused.

So the title of this post has been just that. I’ve been overwhelmed with life, and unfocused on my goals. I’m not proud of myself. I’ve been trying to visualize my goal – but life is getting in the way of that. I haven’t had much time to do anything – I’m not in a routine. Don’t get me wrong – I was, but we had a setback and now we are down to 1 car again… bleh. In life – there’s always going to be setbacks, but it’s hard not to let these things effect our routine – you just have to roll with the punches.

One thing I am not proud of is… I’ve been eating way too much! yes. and I’ve been only doing 1 shake a day. I haven’t lost any weight since my last recorded weigh-in. I’ve gained some weight back – which is weird because my pants fit me looser? So maybe it’s muscle, but I’m not going to pretend to be totally naive about it… Also, when your head isn’t right (and I’ve mentioned this before)… you can’t commit 100% to something. Especially something like a lifestyle change. As much as I’m not willing to admit this- I have to accept it- the fallout with my sister has left me very confused and sometimes something will make me think of her or my nieces and I just get mad about the whole situation because I don’t understand it.

The only workouts I’ve been doing are walks and hikes – and maybe it’s a good thing that those hikes burn so many calories…? I’ve fallen into old habits. I’ve been trying to eat to make myself feel better. I know that food can’t feel the hole that my sister left in me. No matter how good it tastes or smells… I shouldn’t overeat. If you’ve ever been an emotional or compulsive eater… you’ll always have the ability to relapse. My goal isn’t to be skinny or fit into a certain size. I just want to be healthy for my height. I don’t want to be diabetic, or have high blood pressure or cholesterol. That’s my goal. I will never be “skinny” and I wouldn’t want to be… I don’t have a small frame – being thin would look awkward on me. Toned, fit, healthy, athletic – those will all look good on me. I have a great frame for those things. I see the Special K commercials – and I love them. One of the best Ad Campaigns out there. “What will you gain when you lose?” And the commercials talk about clothes not having a size – and having awesome descriptive words instead. Women and the media stress too much about size and numbers on a scale… I’m not saying I don’t care about weight- I think I’m conscious about it… but my goal isn’t to be a number and I like the ad’s because of that. I think more women should have a goal to be healthy for their height instead of a certain number… besides weight or lack of weight looks different on everyone.

I’m going to try to build my momentum back up to where I was in June. I have to shake this negativity and this confusion… and get back on track. I was doing really good. And now I feel slumpy and lethargic. And that’s because of the food I’ve been putting into my body, and because I haven’t been using all the energy that my body is storing. I also noticed – that my injured knee that put me on this weight-loss journey – has began to hurt again… probably due to the lack of exercise. Maybe I should take that as a sign? It may be my “Prodigal Knee”? I’m going to ease back into everything… starting with 2 Body by Vi Shakes a day… TODAY! My second challenge ends at the end of this month – and I know I’m not going to meet my goal of being under 200lbs. But I’m going get as close as possible to 200lbs as I can.

For the Love of HIKING!

So I’ve synced my Nike+ Account with my MapMyWalk account. Here’s the date for July. My Nike+ Fuelband is the “Walk” and the “Hike” is recorded from my phone while hiking. I’m able to keep track of how many calories I’m burning daily (an average). I’ve also added some details to 2 awesome hikes my family did.

 

Blood Pressure & Cholesterol

So I know I’ve talked about my blood pressure before and mentioned trying to keep my sugar down. Because I am obese, I am at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease and stroke. Basically, my life is at risk. Every pound I lose, I am closer to being healthy. I’m not there yet, but I am well on my way. I just want to share some numbers with you. I had a health screening at work March 18, 2013. I think that was the day everything clicked in my head and it got all the gears working in my head. What was I doing to myself? And What would happen if I didn’t do anything about my health? Those were the plaguing questions on my mind. Would I live to see my son graduate from college? Married? My doctor was so scared when I was pregnant that I would have a heart attack or a stroke (Preeclampsia- high blood pressure while pregnant)… I did not understand the seriousness. My father has heart disease (Aortic valve stenosis), diabetes, high cholesterol and a number of other health problems related to these. He was diagnosed with diabetes first. My mom has diabetes, and high blood pressure. Both of my grandmothers had diabetes, and they died too young – I barely got to know them. I look at my sons precious face and I want to be around, and healthy to see him live his life and be the person he’s going to be. I don’t want to make life hard for him. I don’t want to be on medications, or in a wheel chair… that’s where I was headed.

March 18, 2013

Weight 286 lbs

BMI 48

Total Cholesterol 181 (Optimal is under 200)

HDL Cholesterol 28 (Optimal should be equal or greater than 60)

Total/HDL Ratio 6.4 (Optimal is less than 4.0)

Blood Pressure 131/90 (Desirable 119/79 or below)

Fasting Blood Sugar 83 (Normal is less than 100)

 

June 15, 2013

Weight 250 lbs

BMI 41.6

Total Cholesterol 185 (Optimal is under 200)

HDL Cholesterol 36 (Optimal should be equal or greater than 60) (Good Cholesterol)

LDL Cholesterol 95 (Desirable should be less than 100) (Bad Cholesterol)

Triglycerides 217 (Desirable should be less than 150)

Total/HDL Ratio 5.1 (Optimal is less than 4.0)

Blood Pressure 122/78 (Desirable 119/79 or below)

Fasting Blood Sugar 75 (Normal is less than 100)

These results show that my sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol are lowering… and I’m taking steps in the right direction. I feel good comparing these numbers. I’ll have another set of numbers to compare at the end of August. I need to work on lowering my LDL cholesterol. I have raised my HDL cholesterol I am still in the optimum range- but at this point it’s a balancing act- lowering LDL and raising HDL. I’m still at risk for heart disease at this point. I think my biggest problems right now are cheese and red meat. I enjoy steak and ground beef- even though I get extra lean- it doesn’t help my cholesterol… Cheese… Oh how I love thee… let me count the ways… I would say Cheese is my Frenemy right now. I try to reduce it, I try to cut it out… but I love it. If you know, does reduced fat cheese or skim-dairy taste the same? I suppose I’ll be blogging about it soon. haha, I’ll let you guys know.

I feel like this weight-loss journey has become a number game. Pounds, calories, body fat percentage, BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar… I’ve become good at documenting these numbers and comparing them to track my progress. It’s very validating. I’m also learning how to live a healthy life. I’ll be around much longer to see my son grow up.

I do want to mention, that there are tons of testimonials online (YouTube or Google) – for ViSalus Products and the Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge about lowering High Blood Pressure, and Lowering Cholesterol, and helping people with diabetes. I’m not saying these shakes are magic- there’s not magical cure for anything- but getting the proper nutrition and losing weight – lowers your risk for these diseases. It’s kind of a no-brainer. I’ve included a chart to compare the nutrients/calorie comparison- it also breaks down the cost for the Body by Vi Shakes vs. what you have to eat to get the nutrition that is in a Body by Vi Shape Shake. For more information visit http://naomisilas7.bodybyvi.com/challenge

Southwest Chilli Recipe (with pictures)

So, I’ve been making this chilli/stew/soup for a few months. I originally got the recipe from my husband’s boss’ wife, also I realized later that I pinned it too. Here’s the link to the website I pinned. This website described it as “Weight Watchers Taco Soup”. The recipe I was given was also titled taco soup. I think the word “taco” or “Mexican” is loosely and over/misused. I renamed it Southwest Chilli. I also made some changes.

http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/beef/weight-watchers-taco-soup.html

This recipe calls for lots of cans. Cans of beans, corn, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, as well as taco and ranch season packets. How is this supposed to be healthy!? I don’t understand the point thing with weight watchers. I know that vegetables and fruit are 0 points… but you know how much sugar is in some fruits?  I’ve made the original recipe without the taco seasoning (substituting my own blend) and without the ranch, but it’s super salty! Like seriously! I would have major headaches afterwards because my blood pressure was high. I understand weight watchers is supposed to help you lose weight, but I don’t think the program is very nutritious and doesn’t address other health issues people who are overweight or obese may have. But maybe I’m just biased because the Visalus Shape Shakes are super nutritious and they help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and have less than 1 gram of sugar in them…?  Anyway back to the chilli. I’ve made this several times, I even rinsed and soaked the beans and corn to help get rid of the sodium… still got headaches and my husband also felt “funny, like his blood was pulsing”…. We have been trying to reduce our sodium intake, high blood pressure runs in both of our families. So I decided to make it with fresh beans, and corn. I’m posting the modified recipe. I did not get a headache, and my husband felt fine and ate 3 bowls of the healthy Southwest Chili I made.

The biggest difference was the cook time. When I made the original recipe- it was done in about 30 mins. This version I used the Crockpot and my cooking time was about 5 hours. But I’ll talk about what I did and how you could probably cook this in 45 mins.

The original recipe called for 2-3 cans of kidney beans, 1 can of pinto beans, 1 can of corn, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, onion, ground beef, taco seasoning and ranch seasoning.

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 6 hours (Crockpot)
Ingredients:
1 lb of either lean ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken (I’ve made the original with all of these – different times)
1/2 green pepper chopped
1/2 large onion chopped (or 1 small onion chopped)
3 tbs of Minced Garlic or 3 Cloves of Garlic chopped
1 6 oz can of Tomato Paste (No Salt Added)
1 8 oz can of Tomato Sauce (No Salt Added)
1 14.5 oz can of Diced Tomatoes (No Salt Added)
1 small can of Salsa (or substitute fresh salsa)
3 tbs of Extra Light Olive Oil
4 Cups of Water
2 Cups of Beef Broth (or Vegetable or Chicken depending on your meat)
3/4 Cup of Pinto Beans (I used dried for the crockpot)
3/4 Cup of Kidney Beans (I used dried for the crockpot)
1/2 Cup of Black Beans (I used dried for the crockpot)
1 Corn on the Cob (cut the corn off the cob)
Seasonings to taste (Garlic powder, Onion Powder, Cumin, Paprika, Crushed Red Pepper, Oregano, and Black Pepper)

Step 1. Put ground meat into the crockpot with onion, garlic, green pepper, 2 tbs of olive oil, 1 cup of water and season (I don’t measure my seasonings- but I like to season the meat so that the flavors marinate while cooking) I turned my crockpot on high because I put my lean ground beef in frozen (you can reduce the cooking time if your meat is thawed- obviously).

Step 2. I added my tomato sauce, paste and diced tomatoes. I mixed the ingredients together. My ground beef was still mostly frozen, I began to break it up while mixing. I used No Salt Added, by doing this, I cut down the sodium from 220 mg per can to 20 mg per can. I also did not add any salt to my recipe- AT ALL! I very rarely cook with salt.

Step 3. I added the beans. Then covered with water- about 3 cups. The beans have to expand because just used dried beans. (You can soak your beans overnight in water so they expand and that will cut your cooking time down several hours- I forgot to do this, and so I opted to cook this in the crockpot. You can also cook this on the stove top in a large pot.)

Step 4. Add Salsa, and Broth. Mix. I was still breaking up my frozen ground beef at this time.

Step 5. I like a lot of flavors, so I added more oregano and pepper, as well as 1 tbs of Olive oil. I really wanted the flavors to infuse and marinate.

Step 6. I cut the corn off the cob and added it. This was my first time ever using fresh corn like this, I’m super proud of myself. I’ve been staying away from canned, but have been using frozen. I could do this and just freeze the kernels as well- it would be cheaper than buying frozen corn- especially since it is in season right now.

Step 7. At this point the frozen ground beef was completely broken up and cooking (30 mins prep time)

Step 8. 1 hour into the cooking time, I checked on the chili and added more water (didn’t measure – at least 1 cup) because the beans were really absorbing the water, I also added some cilantro. I checked on the chili every hour (checking the tenderness of the beans) and stiring.

Step 9. 4 hours later (after the initial hour passed)… Done! and Enjoy!

I garnished my bowl with avocado and cilantro. You could also use light sour cream, shredded cheese or chopped onions, or all of these or none! My husband enjoyed his with crackers, and I mixed some brown rice with my son’s. This is a very versatile recipe that you can change and make your own. But we all definitely tasted the difference with the fresh ingredients.

By using dried beans instead of canned I reduced the sodium in this recipe by about 300 mg of sodium PER CAN! A total of 900+ mg of Sodium for just the beans. Add 200 for the can of corn and 220 per can of tomato product. The 1 place I didn’t reduce the sodium was the can of salsa- which was about 160mg. I didn’t have fresh, so I used the can, I think that even jarred salsa has less sodium. But Total Sodium I reduced from this recipe was 1700+ mg… THAT’S A TON OF SODIUM!!! No wonder I had instant high blood pressure after this! Just because the original recipe was labeled “Weight Watchers” It was not healthy. The amount of sodium was just outrageous in that recipe. I didn’t include the amount in the taco seasoning or the ranch seasoning because I don’t buy those and couldn’t tell you how much is in each of those- but I’m guessing at least 200 mg each. I’m sorry but SALT is NOT a SEASONING to me. Salt may enhance other flavors, but if something is mainly salt- that’s not flavorful. Also, I use Onion powder and Garlic powder – not garlic salt or onion salt- that’s again adding salt to the mix. The main message that I’m trying to get across is that you want to be in control over what you’re adding. You could easily throw this chili together with presoaked beans and defrosted meat in 45 mins. Or put everything in the crock pot while you’re at work (I’m thinking of doing this in the future- also investing in a plug in timer- so I can set a specific time to turn on and off- so it doesn’t overcook… maybe not a good idea if you have pets though).