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.