Crafts Help with Weight Loss

I haven't been doing so well in my battle against overeating. I ate a huge amount of Halloween candy.  I knew that if I didn't open the bag, that I wouldn't eat all the "fun size" candies, but I opened it because I love Heath bars that much.  If it had been almost any other kind of candy, I might not have opened it...

This weekend, I have been making Christmas cards.  I really enjoy making paper products, so it's fun for me.  The added plus is that while I am making paper things, I have to keep my hands clean, so I'm not eating while I'm making them.

Added to that, I eat a lot when I'm bored, and while I'm doing crafts, I'm not bored.

Do you love this design?

My goal for the next two months is to keep my weight down below what it was last year.  That will  mean no peanut M&M's.  Those things are addictive.  Maybe I can talk my daughter into putting gummy bears in the glass Christmas trees.  It would be colorful like the M&M's , and I don't like them. Don't think that I should just have more self control.  I know that, but I don't seem to be able to do it.

And the Winner Is...

Foodie that I am, I love cooking, and I love participating in competitions.  As a matter of fact, one of my favorite shows is Top Chef.  Yesterday, I won the Healthy Eating competition at work with this Black Bean and Guacamole Salad.  It's easy and very healthy, but best of all it really tastes good.  There is joy in eating, but it doesn't have to be full fat.

For your enjoyment, here is the recipe:

Black Bean and Guacamole Salad

Prep time 10 min.

Easy

Serves 6

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and ½ inch diced

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained

½ cup small diced red onion

2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (2 peppers)

½ teaspoon freshly grated lime zest

¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon minced garlic

¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

½ bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled, and ½ inch diced (Wait until the last minute to peel.  The lime juice will keep it from turning dark, but not indefinitely.)

Toss all ingredients except the avocado.  Just before you are ready to serve, fold the avocados into the salad. 

Serve at room temperature with Special K chips for a very low calorie, healthy appetizer.

Back on the Wagon

I’m back on the wagon now.  I had a spinach salad with turkey and heirloom tomatoes with Bolthouse Farms yogurt dressing for lunch yesterday and today.  I like having the same thing for lunch each day. I don’t have to think about it.  It can vary as to the type of salad, but it’s almost always going to be a great salad.  Last night we had grilled chicken, okra, and corn on the cob.  The okra was fried, but with very little oil.  I love having fresh vegetables in the summer.

I’ve been watching the Olympics every day.  The athletes are in better shape than anyone in the world.   They are so healthy and perfect in every way.  Can you believe someone said that Gabby needs to do something with her hair?  She is so perfect just as she is.  There’s always going to be some total idiot with a negative comment.

I have been sewing this week, which curtails my ability to eat.  I have to keep my hands clean, and have to keep any food away from the fabric.

I had a wedding this weekend, so I was pretty busy getting the flowers ready for that.  It's hard to eat and arrange flowers at the same time.

As a matter of fact, I probably eat most of the time just from boredom.  If I would keep busy, I would probably be back at goal.

Fallen From Grace

July has been a particularly bad month for me.  I really wanted to look my best when I went to Cancun last week, which was part of the reason I had been trying so hard to begin with.  There were several things which contributed to my downfall.

1.      Quarterly Birthday Celebration

2.      Birthday Celebration

3.      All-Inclusive Hotel

On June 28, we had our quarterly birthday celebration for our group at work, which was a breakfast.  I had very good intentions.  I brought morning glory muffins, which are full of carrots, apples, raisins, and walnuts.  I even used whole wheat flour.  I knew someone was bringing biscuits and gravy, but I made up my mind not to eat them.  I was doing so well.  I got some fruit and a muffin.  The problem was what happened after the breakfast.  All of the leftovers were brought to two tables which are literally three feet from my cube.  I could see all the food when I was sitting at my desk.  I had determined not to eat the high fat items, but one of my favorite things was on that table – CHEX MIX.  It wasn’t like I got the bowl and intentionally ate half of it.  I just got a small handful – several times.

That was bad enough, but on July 12, we planned to do it again for someone else’s birthday.  I moved the tables to another location, hoping to salvage something of my weight loss.  I went to the Bagel Exchange and got bagels with reduced fat cream cheese.  However, when I got to work, someone had moved the tables back, right across from my desk.  I might have done fairly well this time, except someone brought cookies she had baked that morning, and they were still warm.

My daughter and I went on our annual trip to Cancun on July 21.  Our days went like this:  got up in the morning and walked for an hour, which led us to believe we could eat whatever we wanted for the rest of the day.  We had guacamole at almost every meal – hey, when in Mexico…  I was never hungry.  Every time we ate, I didn’t need to eat.  There was so much good food.  Chilaquiles and papaya juice for breakfast, beautifully marbled blue cheese and fabulous salads for lunch, every kind of fresh fruit imaginable, coconut ice cream, sushi, shrimp, steak, you get the picture.  I ate so much that I am really ashamed of myself.

One thing I did learn, if you want to lose weight, using chopsticks makes you slow down considerably.

Since I’ve been back, I have been feeling poorly.  I would not blame it on being in Mexico.  It’s probably just from eating like a total idiot.  Maybe too much fruit is not a good thing, either.  Maybe this is a wake up call.  I should have a good time, but try to eat in moderation.

Motivation

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last.  Well, neither does bathing.  That’s why we recommend it daily.”  Zig Zigler

That’s a powerful statement, if you think about it.  People often say that when you lose weight, you just gain it back.  While that may be true, what if you didn’t lose?  What if when you gained ten pounds, you just said, “I’ll just gain it back, if I lose it”?  Then, when you gain another ten pounds, you just said, “Twenty pounds will take me forever to lose”?  How large will you allow yourself to become?

I recently read an article about Tom Ford.  He weighs every morning, and if he has gained two pounds, he increases fruits and vegetables until he gets back to his original weight.  That is the kind of discipline I want to have.  If I never got more than two pounds from my ideal weight (and only you can decide what that is for you), I would be much happier. 

Motivation is the key for me.  If I’m not motivated to keep my weight constant, I will eat very bad things.  I can consume a 2-lb. bag of peanut M&M’s in just a few days.  I can eat an entire package of Keebler pecan sandies.  I know what it takes to keep my weight constant, it’s just having the motivation to keep it there.

I became a Weight Watchers lifetime member in 2007.  While I have strayed, from time to time, I know that Weight Watchers is the best, most healthy, way to lose weight.  I am ten pounds over my goal weight now.  I am allowed to be over by two pounds, to be able to go to meetings free.  I bet you’re thinking, “You know the program, so why go to meetings?”  It’s the motivation.  I am able to feel the support of the others in my weight loss journey.  I am feeling good about my weight coming off, and that makes me want to achieve the goal that much more.

Lasagne

Not mine, but you get the idea.

I made lasagna last night.  It can be made with considerably less calories than the full-fat version.



Recipe ingredients                                         Substitution

2 cups ricotta cheese                      2 cups low-fat cottage cheese

3 cups mozzarella                            1 cup part-skim mozzarella

¾ cup parmesan

¼ cup parsley

2 eggs

Mix above ingredients in bowl.

1 lb. lasagna noodles (no cooking required)

32 oz. spaghetti sauce                    24 oz. spaghetti sauce (Newman’s Sockarooni) and 8 oz.
                                                        diced tomatoes

1 ½ cups water                                1 ½ cups diced tomatoes

1 lb. ground beef                             ¾ lb. 93% lean ground beef

--                                                      Whole red pepper (chopped)

Saute beef and pepper until soft and brown.  Add sauce and tomatoes.

In a 13 x 9 pan, layer 1 cup sauce, 3 slices noodles, ½ of cheese mixture, 1 ½ cup sauce, 3 slices noodles, remaining cheese mixture, 1 ½ cup sauce, 3 slices noodles, remaining sauce.  Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes at 350.

We didn’t feel at all deprived.  We added healthy ingredients to make up for some of the fatty items.

I still have to be careful of portion size, but it was very tasty. I still have 12 lbs. to meet my goal.  I am exercising every day, and having a salad for lunch.  Today I had tuna on the salad.

Grilled Jalapeno Burgers and Corn on the Cob

I’m down two pounds today from last Monday, so I’m feeling pretty good. 

Yesterday, I was really busy, so we had Moto’s.  I forgot to ask for steamed rice.  That could have saved quite a few calories, and I like it almost as much.

Are we seeing a pattern here?  When I am working hard, or too busy to cook, we doen't eat nearly as well as if we cooked at home.

Saturday night we grilled hamburgers (93% lean).  If you make out the patties super thin, then cover them with a layer of jalapenos, then another super thin layer, then seal them all around, they are terrific.  The jalapenos add moisture so the hamburger isn’t as dry.  Super thin means that both patties only equal ¼ pound.  Then I put them on some Arnold’s whole wheat plus flax, thin buns, added spinach, tomatoes, and onions and mustard.  Yumm.  Add some fresh corn on the cob, steamed in the microwave four minutes.  You don’t need butter.  Try it and see how tasty it is just by itself.

My husband has very bad genetics.  He is 6’2” tall and weighs about 183 pounds, which is extremely skinny for a man.  He has high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  Since I want to keep him around for a long, long time, I have to be aware at all times of the fat content in our meals.  We went to classes with a nutritionist to learn more about heart-healthy eating.  Alice, the nutritionist, said that real men don’t eat mayonnaise, because they are still alive. 

Biscuits are another thing she said he should never eat.  We Southerners love our biscuits.  First, take wheat, separate it from the bran, then bleach it.  You are left with super fine flour, which mixed with milk would result in something like a hockey puck.  To make it really tasty and soft, you have to add Crisco or butter – and a lot of it.  Crisco (or any shortening that is a solid until heated) is a trans-fat, which we now know is worse than butter, which is animal fat.  This should be a very occasional treat.  Alice said that the line at Hardee’s in the mornings is directly related to the line at the cardiologist’s office.

Top Chef

I am such a foodie, and one of my favorite shows is Top Chef.  There are usually about 16 chefs chosen to participate, and they have competitions each week, sending one to “pack your knives and go.”  Because I am such a fan, I also love the judges and the host.

Imagine my surprise when the host, Padma Lakshmi, is seen walking sexily onto the set of a commercial eating a Hardee’s huge hamburger, so thick she can hardly get her hands around it, much less her mouth.  I understand advertising is to get people to buy the product, but every week I watch Padma scrutinize the foods that the chefs have prepared.  Am I to believe that she loves Hardee’s?

This is what America is eating.  The burgers are at least 20% fat, plus they have cheese, which is at least 15% fat, plus they probably have mayonnaise (eggs and oil, what do you think?)  I wish our heroes wouldn’t flaunt the fat, making it appear acceptable to eat.

Padma is far from being overweight, so I don’t think she eats Hardee’s thick burgers too often.

This week's going well.  I was careful throughout the weekend, then I weighed two pounds more on Monday than I had on Thursday.  I thought that I must have been dehydrated due to the really hot weather we had the weekend before, but now I'm back down two pounds, so it was just a fluctuation.  Don't let yourself get discouraged.  You know if you have stayed "on plan", and you know that if you keep it up, you WILL lose the weight.

I would be so happy if I could lose twelve pounds in the next six weeks.  There are lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, so I might be able to achieve that goal.

Weight Watchers, Not Like AA

Before I went to a Weight Watchers meeting, I had some misconceptions about it.  I thought that everybody would sit in a circle and say, "My name is Denise Spears and I need to lose weight," or something along those lines.  It's not like that at all.  When you go in you weigh, which is completely confidential, and the leader (in my case, Robin Dotson) is not judgmental at all.  If you gain five pounds, she doesn't make you feel like a worm.  Maybe you make yourself feel like a worm, but she doesn't.  Then there is a program for that day to help you navigate the cruel world of weight loss.

I didn't think Weight Watchers would even take me.  My BMI has never been above the normal range.  I am 6'1/2" tall, so I can really weigh a lot.  Unless you are dangerously underweight, they let you decide if you are overweight.

It started with a sports injury.  I began going to health counselling to try to get back to the point that I could run 2.5 miles again.  We talked about personal training, nutrition, and weight loss. 

Weight Watchers is, by far, the best diet I have ever done.  They don't like to call it a diet, but a lifestyle change, but any plan for eating is a diet, whether for weight loss, or not.  I started in 2007, and have been tracking my weight since then.  I opted to go with the Core Plan.  The new points plus system doesn't have that plan now, but the new plan incorporates so many of the same features.  Core is basically eating fresh fruits and vegetables and low fat meats.  Those are the foods I love,  and what America should all be eating.  It has none of the processed foods.  If everyone could be happy eating these foods, we wouldn't have an obesity problem.  I was allowed 25 additional points for items not on core, like the Weight Watchers giant fudge bar (soooo good).

I lost 25 pounds and became a lifetime member by keeping the weight off for six weeks, and could continue being a lifetime member as long as I didn't gain more than two pounds.

So, you're thinking, why didn't you?  As Dr. Phil would say, "What was it about the weight loss that you didn't like?"  I loved it, but I love eating carbs so much that I put the weight back on.

These are the foods that are my biggest downfall:  chips and salsa, wheat thins, and Quaker oatmeal squares.

I am trying really hard now to get back what I lost.  It isn't easy, but, as I told Robin, I know what it takes.

Working Hard

Yesterday was the busiest day for me.  It was the first day of the month, so month-end accounting close at work.  Then, I had a wedding rehearsal, immediately after.  I had told my husband that I would be home about 6:30, but he forgot, or was hungry, so he ordered a pizza.

I was so looking forward to fish tacos, but I was hungry and tired, so I ate pizza, too.  If I keep this up, I won't meet my goals.

Also, at lunch, I had a salad.  The person making my salad gave me a huge piece of French baguette.  I ate it all.  Such is life.  I had the opportunity to leave part of it.

Watermelon

I stepped on the scales today, and was up one pound.   That is very discouraging.  I ate really well yesterday, and I had two exercise classes.  On the new Weight Watchers program, fruit is free.  I cut open a watermelon last night, and used my ice cream scoop to make balls.  The remaining bits in the hull, I ate.  Then, I ate a bowl full, then another bowl.  I don’t think they meant that much, when they said free.

Watermelon season isn’t very long.  You have to grab it while you can.

Can I Get Into These Pants?

I’m in love with Bolthouse Farms new yogurt dressings.  I am having Caesar Parmigiano today.  It has even less fat than the blue cheese.  I am pretty much of a foodie, and these were advertised in Bon Appetit.  It’s not like they were endorsed by Bon Appetit, but they must have thought that the readers of that magazine might be their target. (My daughter, an economics major and advertising exec, tells me some of these things.)

I am wearing new pants today.  Actually, I bought these in the fall, and couldn’t wear them.  I wasn’t even tempted to send them back.  I knew that I would get serious and lose the weight.  These are the Logan fit (straight through the hip and thigh) by Banana Republic.  Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not straight.  Maybe, someday, I’ll even be able to wear the Sloan fit (fitted through the hip and thigh).

Pants are the best measure of weight.  Skirts and dresses seem to fit pretty well when you’ve gained 10 or 15 pounds.  Pants aren’t that forgiving.

Cereal

I love cereal, but I don’t eat it because it is a trigger food for me.  That means if I pull the trigger, I’m dead.  I will eat too much of that food because I love it so much.

Sometime in 1999 or 2000, I saw an episode of Oprah where two doctors had written a book on Carbohydrate Addicts.  The entire concept made sense to me because I knew that the primary reason I was overweight was that I eat too many carbs.  I bought the book and began the diet.  It was very rigid.  All during the day you were to have no carbs, except for a one-hour period when you could have them.  The theory is that when you are constantly snacking throughout the day, your body thinks it’s getting a meal every time and turns on something (it’s been 12 years, I can’t remember exactly) to burn the sugar, but it is only getting a snack and it doesn’t react properly.  They went so far as to say that if you were planning to go to the movies and have popcorn, you had to make sure to eat your carb meal right before you went so that your popcorn could be consumed in the one-hour period (that must have been before theaters starting having commercials, along with previews).  They also said that when you ate at another person’s house you should ask them if you could have your dessert with your meal because it might drag on longer than an hour (how rude is that?). 

I realized right away that I could have almost nothing I had been accustomed to eating, no fruit, which is one of my favorites, no potatoes, no corn, not even beans or deli meat.  I would sometimes have to drive across town to get Dr. Atkins bars because I would be so hungry, but could think of nothing to eat.  I stayed on that diet two years and lost 25 lbs.  You are thinking only 25?  When you are literally starving, you can consume quite a lot of carbs in a one-hour period, plus my body knew it was starving and slowed my metabolism to zero. 

The results of this diet were that since I had no carbs for fuel, I would burn fat.  My legs looked better than they had looked in years.  But your body doesn’t completely burn the fat, so you have to drink huge amounts of water to flush out the remainder.  The result is that you have bad breath.  Did I mention that you are also not allowed breath mints or gum – even unsweetened?  The book says that your body can’t tell the difference between sugar and Equal, Splenda, etc. 

Every day your body takes in carcinogens (cancer-causing), which you are able to get rid of by eating lots of fiber and drinking lots of water.  Oh, that’s why you need to have those!  On the Carbohydrate Addicts diet, there was almost no fiber.  They even went so far as to say that if you weren’t losing at a rate you hoped for, you should eliminate broccoli.  When you aren’t going to the bathroom enough, you have the potential for keeping those carcinogens in your body.  In 2002, I started to have some severe medical problems.  I had a tumor growing on one of my ovaries.  It turned out to be non-malignant, and I narrowly escaped ruining my life over a ridiculous diet.

During the testing of the medical problems, I had to drink about two quarts of water and have ultrasounds.  On my way to work, I would go right by Perkins.  I started eating banana nut muffins – not a good idea at all, but they are so good.

Saturday, my husband picked up some cereal for me.  He means well.  I told him to get Kashi chewy trail mix (that’s a granola bar, pre-packaged so I don’t eat more than I should).  He couldn’t find them, so he got Kashi Mountain Medley.  At least, it doesn’t have the clusters, which I would be tempted to eat right out of the box.  The pieces are small and only meant to be eaten with a spoon. I put a ¼ measuring cup in the box and am allowed two of those.  That isn’t the amount of cereal I would eat if I just poured.  It is wonderful.  It has some things you have to chew a long time, so it makes it seem like more food.  The only problem I have with it is that one of the ingredients is evaporated cane crystals.  Come on.  We all know that’s sugar, so quit trying so hard.

One of my favorite foods is Quaker Oatmeal Squares.  I can eat those like popcorn, and can go through a box in two or three days.  I cannot have those in my house.

Did I mention that I was not allowed cereal for the two years I was on the Carbohydrate Addicts diet?  That’s hard for someone who doesn’t eat eggs.  I went to Cracker Barrel once, when I was on vacation, and could only have bacon.

Let's eat healthy, and not be ridiculous!

Chocolate

I was just in a meeting where there was a large plastic bucket full of candy.  It wasn't near enough for me to take one, but I kept looking at it.  It had Reese's in it, which I would have loved.  Actually, if I am going to eat chocolate, that would be the way to do it, because then I would have just one.  If I buy a bag of minis, I start out only eating one or two, but I keep coming back.  Pretty soon, I start to think that it would be better if I ate them all just to get rid of them.  Does that make any kind of logical sense at all?  I had made up my mind to have one, but when asked if I wanted any, I said no, thanks.  That's as good as getting a star at Weight Watchers!  I'm eating my salad with nothing bad, except the raisins.  They are energy dense, so if I had the equivalent of grapes, it would be so much more food.  I made a good decision today.  Don't think I'm a saint.  I don't always make good decisions.

What's For Lunch?

When I have tried really hard to lose weight, I weigh every day.  I want to see those results as soon as I can.  It makes me more motivated.  However, I only chart the one on Monday morning.  If my weight fluctuates during the week, I don't count that.  I weigh in before I have eaten anything, naked, and with my hair dry.  You can never be too careful.  ;-)  I have been tracking my weight six years, and I can see on the graph where I started to gain, and I can remember why.  The end of the year always seems to be a really bad time for me.  The middle of the year is always the best.  Who wants to be caught looking fat in a tropical paradise?

My daughter and I love to go to Cancun for a week each year.  We get up in the morning and walk for an hour (the sand is too loose to run, but we could run on the sidewalks).  Then we slather up with sunscreen and have breakfast, which always includes guacamole.  They serve us freshly-squeezed juices, even kiwi juice.  We average having guacamole three times a day while we are there.  I know it's supposed to be eaten in moderation, but how often do you have a chance to eat really fresh guacamole?  Then, we sun and read, eat, sun and read, eat.  We get in some swimming, but it's a really leisurely vacation.  When we come back, it's back on plan.

With the long weekend, I feel good that I have lost another pound today.  My goal now is to lose thirteen more pounds. 

One way that I make sure that I stay on track is that I bring my lunch to work.  It's almost always a salad with turkey cubes.  I am trying to concentrate on eating tuna a couple of times a week.  I really like tuna, and it has omega-3.  I have found a new dressing that I like, Bolthouse Farms blue cheese yogurt dressing.  It has none of the heavy mayonnaise that most blue cheese has.  There are other flavors, if you don't like blue cheese.  Just to change it up, I also love Maple Grove Farms fat-free poppyseed, or if I'm making a tex-mex salad, salsa for a dressing, and black beans instead of meat.

I also bring all my gym clothes for the week on Monday, so I won't be caught without anything to exercise in at lunch.  We have great group fitness classes here at Eastman.  If you don't have a facility where you work, you probably would have to work out before or after work.  At lunch time, I get pretty sweaty, but I just bring baby wipes and deodorant.  It's worth it, because it forces me to bring my lunch.

On the Way Down

I have lost 14 lbs. since November, and that should be cause for a celebration, but I know that I shouldn't have gained that weight to begin with.  I feel ashamed and embarrassed that I allowed myself to get that large.

When I was a child, I was always taller than any kid in my class, except the boys who had failed a couple of years.  I was so skinny.  When I was 13, I was 5'10" and have no idea how much I weighed, but I wanted my legs to look bigger, because it was the sixties, and we were wearing mini skirts.  I would eat three hamburgers at a time, trying to gain weight.  It really didn't work, but I probably began a very bad habit of eating too much.

By the time I graduated from high school, I weighed 135 lbs., and was pretty happy with that.

Since then, I have gained and lost several times.  I am now 57 years old, and my metabolism has slowed, so that if I want to be thin, I have to be really careful.

For lunch today, we had a Mexican feast.  Keep in mind, Mexicans don't eat all the cheese that they serve in the restaurants.  They serve that to us because they know that's what we want. 

Last night, I slow roasted two pork tenderloins with tomatoes, habanero, garlic, cumin, thyme, orange and lime.  The flavor is wonderful.  We had that with corn tortillas and caramelized onions (no oil needed, just saute' in a non-stick pan. (Corn are less fat than flour.  Think about the difference between wheat and corn.  Corn naturally will stick together, but wheat has to have shortening to make it stick together.)  I like the flavor of corn better, also.  We had a salad with spinach and mango - no need for dressing, as the mango is very wet.  We had black beans and pumpkin, both superfoods for their healthiness.

If you would like the pork recipe, it's from one of my favorite chefs, Tyler Florence, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/braised-pork-tacos-recipe/index.html.

I want to share healthy eating ideas, along with weight loss tricks.  Hope you enjoy!