My First Four Summer Slimmin' Challenge Meals: And I went for Convenience BIG TIME!

Yeah, I am not in the running to be America's Next Top Chef. In fact, I blissfully swanned through my formative years without learning to cook. In fact, I shamefully confess that I skated right up to age 22 without learning culinary skills, and I only bothered when I met hubby and started experimenting with some light meals for him after our engagement.  I still recall trying to make a custard with my best pal (who also wasn't much of a cook) and calling my elder sister to ask her what the heck a "water bath" was, and I still am not sure what a braising is.)

This is especially ironic since I love watching cooking shows--Giada, Mario, Gordon, The Contessa, Iron Chef, etc--where I have learned SOME stuff...

Yeah, sure, over the years I'd make some boxed stuff--remember those weird pizzas from Chef Boy-R-Dee you prepped at home back in the 70's?--and would do breakfast for my nieces and nephews (eggs and pancakes are easy, right). And I could prep sandwiches and heat up cans of soup.

But all those wonderful down-home Cuban recipes my mom made, I feel a lot of regret at not asking her to teach me. I really do. And I feel a little bummed that my ill health in childhood meant my mom would scoot me out of the kitchen with "don't get your hands wet"--another reason she never let me do laundry, a skill I learned from hubby after we got back from the honeymoon--as she believed it would make my asthma worse. (Old wives' tales.)

Pretty much, I still avoid cooking anything fancy or elaborate. I remember too vividly getting up from our dinner table when we were newlyweds and throwing out the food that came out inedible. I make great veggie lasagna. I'll make simple sauteed chicken or pork. I tend ot eat veggies with minimal heating (steaming, sauteeing, nuking). I have a tiny, inefficient kitchen with nearly zip counter space, which is only a hindrance since I'm just not a nifty, efficient cook. I manage the simplest of meals, that's all.

I've talked to hubby about maybe taking some cooking lessons--I'd have to take vegetarian, cause all the ones I checked on locally that are regular cooking classes, feature a lot of seafood--which I am terribly allergic to and hubby detests--and a lot of meat cuts I refuse to touch . (I have this raw meat icky-phobia.)  So, I've done minimal research into finding a vegetarian cooking class for beginners, but the only ones I saw so far that looked promising were for raw cooking and I don't wanna go that route. My husband just wouldn't eat it. It would be a waste of time and produce.

Anyway, I've kept my meals so far very simple and convenience-based, meaning I am going to take a look at my stock of canned food accumulated over the last couple of hurricane seasons that have gone ignored. (I have to do a look-see every couple years for what canned goods have expired, and it's now early hurricane season and I have to do that.)

So, don't expect any Mario Batalli or Gordon Ramsay or Bobby Flay or Nigella Lawson beauties in my meal plans. Expect "ready in fifteen minutes" type of meals, until I can get those lessons. :D

Here we go:

Breakfast yesterday was437 cals (including supplements)--1 orange, 2 cups coffee with sucralose, 2 slices ww toast, 2 eggs scrambled, 1 slice 2% American cheese, Strawberry-water (I chop fruit into water to give it the fruit essence flavor.)

Lunch:  2 cups organic arugula with 1/8 cup of shaved parmesan, a can's worth of Amy's Chunky Tomato Bisque soup with 1/4 cup skim milk and 1 serving of FiberGourmet Rotini added; 1 cup Rainier cherries, strawberry essence water. Not shown: 1/2 scoop Any Whey unflavored mixed with 1 scoop BSN Dessert Lean cinnamon roll flavor protein (as this meal was not high enough in protein). Total count for this (including protein and supplements)--741 calories.

Supper: Healthy Choice Classic Meatloaf frozen dinner (my SparkPeople stats had me low on iron and folate, so I decided to have something with beef and have romaine), 1/2 cup spinach, 2 cups romaine with garden veggies (peppers, cukes, tomato) with 2 tbsp Annie's organic Sesame Goddess dressing, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 cup watermelon (dang, it was so sweet), and cantaloupe-essence water. This supper was 622 cals.

Breakfast today: 3 egg white scrambled with chopped tricolor peppers and onions, tomato with EVOO (1 tsp), 1/2 cup mango, 1/2 cup papaya, 2 slices ww toast with 2 slices 2% American cheese, kiwi-cantaloupe essence water. I used Herbamare to salt my eggs (adds a bit of celery/herb flavor, which is nice).  This breakfast was 455 cals, including the 9 calories for my supplements.

So, how was your first day and second morning in Summer Slimmin'? Are  you cooking beautiful, produce-filled meals? (You must be better in the kitchen than I am!)

Happy day to you!

Impromptu, Organic Substitute for "Chunky Bar"--all healthful stuff with yummy taste!

I was doing great foodwise today. Had no overt cravings until about a half hour ago. I was eating small meals, watching my F/Vs and nutrients, counting calories.

After dinner, I still had a few hundred calories to use, so I thought I'd have some more fruit, maybe a treat.

But a bit ago, I got this urge for a CHUNKY. Now, I remember I had a CHUNKY craving around early October and after a bite, I threw it away. It didn't taste as good as I remembered. It didn't taste chocolatey enough and it tasted too sugary.

That memory didn't stop me from wanting one.

So, I scrounged around in my kitchen for:

1. organic, unsalted peanut butter that I got from a local farm
2. organic Thompson raisins
3. organic raw cocoa powder

I smooshed a couple teaspoons of peanut butter, a teaspoon of raw cacao powder, and tossed in some raisins to my taste--about 12. I stirred it up and I'm eating it off the spoon. Under 120 calories.

It's not pretty visually, but the flavor is AMAZING. Using quality ingredients makes a difference. The burst of the flavor combo on my tongue is delightful. It's got a CHUNKY vibe, but better--more chocolatey, more nutty, more raisiny. And this is much more healthful than a candy bar--all the components are good for me, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, no bad oils, heart-healthy fat, minerals, vitamins.

But for my craving tongue, the most important part is: Ahhhh. Yum.

I'm sure there are all sorts of ways to make this prettier and tastier, but for something that is treating the craving without falling into a candy stupor, I can't complain.

The Micro-Awareness Upside of Tracking Food: What Ae You Lacking? What are you overdoing?

After tracking my food intake for a couple weeks, I noticed something interesting--and slightly distressing: I am consistently ranking way, way low on zinc, and often ranking low on folate. I almost never make the recommended minimum for potassium, and I wouldn't make magnesium without my regular supplementation (and from what I've read, few Americans do make it to minimums on these two nutrients). Also, I just about always go over the recommended maximum for salt\--no surprise-- and often go over for cholesterol, easy if I have two eggs in the AM. I sometimes don't make the minimum for calcium (now that I've drastically reduced pizza, takeout Italian, and cheese enchiladas!) without a pill.

I have started using my nutritional report to see what supplements to add to dinner or my evening snack. I was already long accustomed to taking calcium and magnesium and vitamin D--I am after all female and don't want osteoporosis. I'm asthmatic and pre-diabetic, so I've taken magnesium supplements for about 10 years for those particular conditions.

Since Sparking my nutrition, I've consciously been trying to add even MORE potassium to my diet via foods, but even on really conscientious days, even with 11 or more fruits and veggies, I don't make the 4500 mark (though I can get real close). So, I'm gonna start tweaking. I have high BP, so this is important. And I need to wean myself of my sodium addiction (that is gonna be tough.)

So, supplements take care of adding calcium, magnesium, Vit D, and, as needed, when I fall short of B12 or some other B (I have stress B complex that I use on hard exercise days).

So, what about zinc and folate?

Foods highest in zinc and my issues:

Shellfish and oysters--can't eat them. I have terrible seafood allergies. I end up in the E.R.

Pine nuts--hate them in anything except pesto sauce (which can only be eaten in moderation, as it's pretty calorie-rich)

Brewer's Yeast--Hey, I used to take that as a kid (my sister was into it in the seventies). A possibility, as long as I am not sensitive to it these days. (I am hyperallergy-prone.)

Wheat Germ--excuse me, ugh. Have tried many times to eat this. Ick.

Wheat Bran--well, I do eat whole grain bread, just not as much as my "eat what I want" periods. Weight loss = less food= fewer nutrients. Geesh.

All Bran Cereal= I'd rather take a pill. Another Ew.

Pecans--Like em in salads, but again, oodles of calories.

OK sources and issues:

Liver--you have got to be kidding? My mom used to force me to eat this in my kidling years, and I would gag unless there was a layer about an inch and a half thick of onions on top to mask the nasty texture/taste. I'd rather take a pill than eat even one forkful of liver.

Cashew Nuts: Love them! But again, high calorie price.

Parmesan cheese: Adore it. Use it regularly. But it's not a huge huge source, unless, I guess, I gobble a wedge.

Fish: Um, I really hate going to the ER.

Eggs: Eat em almost every day, gotta watch the cholesterol a bit. Not a great source, unless I eat like 10 eggs.

OK. I understand now why I keep getting low on this one.

Onto folate...

Foods richest in folate and my issues:

Brewer's Yeast: OK, I'm really gonna have to research and try this again (as long as there isn't a connection with Candida or anything else for my immune system). Two birds with one brewer's spoon.

Lentils: Oh, I like lentils. I didn't like Dr. McDougall's version, but I could try to find a great recipe and freeze batches or use them in salads or as an appetizer on bread. Yeah, maybe this could work.

Edamame: I have to limit soy products (I love tofu and soymilk, but the thyroid does not.)

Romaine: Eat it frequently.

Pinto Beans: Like.

Okra: Like a lot sauteed with tomatoes and onions.

Black Beans: I am Cuban-born. Need I say more? We'd kill for our black beans.

~More good sources--spinach, kidney beans, asparagus, broccoli, fresh o.j., papaya, whole wheat bread, etc.

All right, folate is doable. Lots of my fave foods on earth and lots of foods I eat regularly are on here. Have no idea why I'm lagging here. Maybe I need to see if the foods list at Spark is not listing folate properly. I eat some of those foods many times a week.

Still, the point is that this is making me more aware of choices. So much so, that I like to leave a 100 to 200 calories for an after-dinner snack to make up "voids" in my day's nutrition.

I also know that there are supplements I can take, but I'd rather get it from food. Since my 20's, when I first started learning about nutrition (at college, in a class on it, and later on in my own readings to try and improve my chronic conditions), I always believed the food itself, the way God created it, supplied more than science even knew, so it was the better way. Supplements were merely aids, to fill up gaps that imperfect choices make. Not something to utterly rely on to make up for crap eating all the time.

I still believe this. I think back on how much we know now compared to the sixties and seventies about what's in stuff--tea, coffee, fruits, veggies, chocolate, etc. How color is indicative of benefits. And we'll learn more.

Even if you aren't feeling the mojo to reduce calories or diet right now, I recommend you do some nutrition tracking with a free online tool to find out where there are nutritional holes in your diet. You don't want to find out LATER, when your bones are Swiss cheese, that you failed to get enough calcium and Vitamin D and magnesium. You don't want to up your risk of HBP cause you eat too much salt and not enough potassium. You don't want to risk stroke or x or y condition cause you failed to ingest vitamin this or mineral that.

Do a tracker for a couple weeks. It might be a revelation.

So, let's see, gotta make up a new shopping list. :)

But, it does make me stop and consider. So, I did a web search to remind myself what foods are rich in these.

Slept Too Few Hours, Woke up Crazy Hungry, Here's My Big Breakfast Lowdown

Well, I just had a breakfast blow-out.

Fortunately, it was on healthful foods, and not super-fatty/big meats/fried/sugary ones, like say a Denny's Grand Slam.

First, let me say I fell asleep on the couch watching the election results. ZzzzZZzzz. Woke up about 4.5 hours later and had to take some meds. Then read my local paper and thought, "Geez, I'm hungry. But I'm still sleepy. But I'm coughing, so maybe should stay up." This went on for hours. I did some reading. I kept thinking, "Geez, I'm hungry."

Anyway, chopped up some veggies, heated up some Mama Lupe's low-carb, high-fiber tortillas. Whisked up one egg with a couple egg whites. Ground, scooped, and brewed some killer good Ademe Bedane coffee from Terroir (who have some of the best beans I ever brewed), heated up the skillets, sauteed my veggies with Pam Olive Oil (organic)--spinach, zucchini, green peppers, onions, mushrooms--and got the low-fat cheddar and fresh salsa for garnish. Made me two breakfast tortillas (which would normally run me 450 calories for both, over 10 grams of fiber, more if you count the fiber in the two cups of coffee I slurp up).

But then I had this spasm and heated up leftover slow-cooker oatmeal (from earlier in the week) and threw some canned lite peaches and a 1/4 cup skiim milk on top. Had a cup of coconut water, too, as I was bloated from the ham I had last night.

So, I can't say I didn't fuel up! And I got 4 of my fruits and veggies in, 6 plus to go. (In the past, whenever I've lost weight and lost it consistently, it was o nly when I stuck to 10 to 11 fruits and veggies per day and counted points/calories while journaling. It's the journaling that taught me I do best when my produce intake is quite high, ideally 11 F/V's per day. That's a lot of planning, shopping, cooking. I know what's ahead of me if I wish to succeed. F/V's. Lots of them.)

To be honest, though, I had planned yesterday to have a good breakfast so I could just have soup or protein mix (I love that Dessert Lean in Banana Pudding) and keep my tummy unfull for my late afternoon training session at the Pilates studio. I don't do well exercising with any real food in my stomach. The reflux acts up.

Breakfast totalled out to 614 calories (about 12 points), with 86 grams of carbs, 18 of fat, and 45 protein.

This leaves me, at miximum, about 1300 calories for the rest of the day, which is a lot (dieting-wise), though not a lot from what I'm used to (non-dieting-wise). I have to get used to less food, and I know it's gonna be trying. I'm not good at reducing food intake. I feel deprived and cranky. So, I need to work on my mindset and patience...

If you haven't had a healthful breakfast yet, go on. Do it. Remember your fruits/veggies and fiber. And WATER! (I am sooo bad with water.)

I wish all fatfighters a happy, healthy Wednesday!

What Have You Done Today To Make You Feel Proud?-- That "Biggest Loser" Song

I made a healthful breakfast this morning, including 3/4 fresh juice and an egg-white scramble with 5 servings of veggies (zucchini, spinach, onions, green pepper, mushrooms). I made hubby a fresh and healthful lunch to keep him shiny and handsome.



And I'm gonna start writing again after ages of not doing so. It's National Novel Writing Month, so why not? A good time to jump back in.



I'm feeling good, and I want to feel proud at the END of this day, having done my best to eat for health and move for health and think affirmatively.

We need a change

Do it today

I can feel my spirit rising

We need a change

So do it today

'Cause I can see a clear horizon



What have you done today to make you feel proud?

So what have you done today to make you feel proud?

--song "Proud" sung by Heather Small

Dr. McDougall Right Foods--Are they Right For Your Diet?

Because I'm restarting my eating plan, I've spent a mini-fortune in food--both at the supermarket and ordering stuff online for the cupboard/pantry. I tend to shop from Amazon and Netrition.

This past week, I've ordered lower sodium Amy's soups, Just Tomatoes brand dried items (cherries, strawberries, mixed veggies, apples) that I add to oatmeal and soups and just snack on, and pecans from amazon.com. From Netrition, I ordered my fave higher fiber/lower carb pasta--DREAMFIELDS linguine, lasagna noodles, penne, and elbow-- as well as lower carb/higher fiber tortillas and pita breads, GG crispbread, and unsweetened Almond Breeze in vanilla and chocolate.

Today, I placed an order with Glaser Organic Farms (a local operation, way south of me in Miami-Dade country). This is organic stuff, lots of raw stuff, too, including raw hummus, their own extra virgin olive oil, peanut and almond butters, lima beans/split peas/lima beans for soups, fresh coconut water, light agave nectar, and spinach-basil pesto.

One of the lines of foods that I try to keep in my "dieter's pantry" is Dr. McDougall's Right Foods. I order them from Amazon.com in bulk. I'm gonna post some about it after seeing this blog entry today over at Slim Shopping. Jennifer got a nice batch of soups from Dr. McD.

Man, wish they'd send me free food. :) Especially the maple oatmeal (which I haven't tried) and some of the other soups.

Anyway....These are vegan foods, mostly soups and cereal items. I've tried the following:

Peach Raspberry Oatmeal with Barley
Instant Apple Cinnamon oatmeal
Spring Onion soup
Miso Ramen soup
Split Pea soup (both the regular and lower sodium)
Tomato Basil with Pasta soup.
Pad Thai Noodle

(I have some Chicken Pilaf in the pantry, but haven't tried that one yet.)

The lowdown: These tend to be nicely conservative in calories and have a healthful array of ingredients. You usually just add water and steep. Convenient, low-cal, healthful. Yep, that's why it's in my pantry for when I'm on plan.

Tastewise: The split pea in a cup is the best instant of this type of soup that I've had. I've ordered the case twice. The Apple Cinnamon instant oatmeal is better than the Quaker and McCann's versions of the same flavor. Way, waaaay better. Tastes fresh and apple-y. The Spring Onion soup is quite pleasant, with Thai-rice style noodles that are fun to slurp. The Miso Ramen has a nice miso broth but the noodles suck. I guess ramen does better when it's got fat. I ignore the noddles, use the packet for broth, and add tofu and scallions and mushrooms. (And yes, there are instant miso soups out there, but I have a severe seafood allergy and can't risk the bonito flakes, etc. So this vegan miso is safe for me to consume, even if I ditch the noodles.) The Tomato BAsil with pasta is fine, but it needs a lot of steeping/cooking and maybe additional microwaving. If you follow the instructions, it has a really hard/crunchy texture. Gotta cook it way longer, unlike the other soups.

The one big, huge fail (other than the ramen noodles in the Miso Ramen) was the Pad Thai Noodle soup. Didn't taste one darn thing like Pad Thai (one of my favest of foods). Bland. Lots of rice noodles, though, so for some, it's probably okay.

All in all, I've been pleased with the ones I've tried from Dr. McD. If you want to see more reviews or nutritional info, visit their site or amazon. They make way more products than I've listed/tried.

Sparkly Factoid: Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure

Just 30 calories per day of chocolate may be enough to help reduce your blood pressure. As far as serving sizes go, that’s about a Hershey’s Kiss worth.

But you have to eat the right kind of chocolate, according to Joseph Maroon, MD, author of The Longevity Factor. He recommends nonsweetened or minimally sweetened dark chocolate that’s at least 70 percent cocoa.

--from "Give Your Blood Pressure This Daily Treat" at REAL AGE site

Holding in the lower '70s, new raw yummies, and organic club experience

Okay, so I'm fluctuating in the low'70s, which is better than fluctuating in the mid or high '70's as I had been all year. Today, 272, which is actually a relief, since I had steamed dumplings, Ma Po Tofu, and Egg Drop Soup yesterday for dinner, meaning oodles of salt. I think without the salty Chinese food, I might have stayed a pound or more lower. The fruit I had for a snack must have helped balance the sodium, too. I normally go up 3 lbs or more with Chinese food.

So, today, I got up very late--5:30 pm. I've been going to bed in the AM when hubby is getting ready for work, and sleeping till some time in the PM. The asthma started its summer excacerbation last month, on and off, depending on how stormy. Started getting wheezy last Thursday and had a bad weekend, but a bit better in the past two days, though not normal. So, I've been trying to eat more "whole" for the nutrients to fight the immunological and respiratory weakness.

So, today, for my first meal, I had pear juice (no sugar added), raw bell pepper soup (very refreshing, sort of like a non-tomato gazpacho), and raw vegan "angelhair marinara), which was surprisingly delicious. My new fave raw entree from VEGGIEMUNN. The raw sauce was perfect and the angelhair way of making strings out of the yellow squash was even nicer than the thicker raw pasta primavera that had been my fave of theirs previously. That one (the latter) had no tomatoey sauce, but a veggie blend and herb one.

I was disappointed they didn't have the Mango Lassi raw pie this week. Last week, I got one, and it was so amazingly good, I wanted to order a bunch this week if available. But they made a puree/pudding in the Mango Lassi style, and it just wasn't the faboo thing that the pie was. The pie had actual slices of mango in the spiced sauce (with cardamon and rose water). The texture makes a big difference, plus the pie just is more mangoey. If you're in the South Florida area and like raw foods, you might want to check out VEGGIEMUNN, and try the Mango Lassi raw pie!

Yesterday, I picked up my organic coop box (full share and an added two shares of fruit, as I love fruit, especially summer fruit). So, I'm loaded for produce to fight the summer respirator blues. I plan to have nectarines, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, grapes, watermelon, and a mango later with my next meals/snack. I have kale I can roast and fresh green beans to saute. I also have tasty sweet onions that I can put into an omelette for dinner, along with organic spinach and zucchini. I might make a smoothie out of the berries, so I can get some calcium.

It's been interesting being part of an organic food coop. It forces me to try new stuff, since you don't pick and choose. They do. I never had fresh peas, or beets, or kiwi. (I still don't like kiwi.) Most of the stuff I get is useful to me, and hubby has a very limited produce palette, so it's mostly for me. I do find I enjoy it more in summer, as the fruit is terrific. before that, you mostly got berries, pears, and apples. I also get to meet new people, which I don't normally do, being so much of a recluse.

I did fine with Pilates on Monday, despite not being 100% respiratorily. My trainer commented on the improved upper body strength, which I did notice myself, so that felt good. I'm officially into my second year at this form of exercise, and I wonder how much better my strength and flexibility will be next summer. I hope I can be at least 25 lbs lighter then, too. I don't set big goals anymore. I never make them, so forget it. Too stressful.

Now, if only hurricanes can stay away, and my bronchii can buck up, my summer may not be unpleasant. :)

Hope everyone out there is well.

My Biggest Dieter's Mistake and Slacking Off Issue Right Now: Not Cooking

I am totally NOT giving it 100%. I'm not even giving it 80%. Shoot, I'm barely hitting 55%.

And my biggest step backwards, my hugest slack-off, from when I was losing--and even maintaining--is...not doing grocery shopping, meal planning, and home cooking.

Without question, this is my big hurdle to tackle this week. Without this, I might as well admit I'm gonna fail.

I've been back into getting take-out, eating out. This spells disaster. It has. I'm stuck at just nearly 8 pounds from my best during this blog's existence. And it's not budging. I thought I could do it with judicious eating out. I can't.

It got especially bad when I was sick (hey, now there's an excuse to order pizza or have hubb go to the local Mexican restaurant or Kabob place). And as I was coming back home after driving through Taco Bell post Pilates (talk about ruining a good deed with a bad one), I told myself this had to stop. I had to get my cooking mojo back on.

So, I committed to myself to go get groceries either later today (if I can get my second wind, as I feel mighty pooped) or after my ultrasound appointment tomorrow. But no later.

I have to admit. I have NO excuse not to grocery shop and plan and cook meals. It's just plain laziness. It's just bad old habits taking over again.

No. Gotta kick the take-out habit. Trying to regulate it (ie, promising to choose only healthful options) isn't working. I gotta just make my food. I have to control what goes into my meals. I have to turn that stove and oven back on. I have to stock that freezer and fridge and the fruit bowls. Period.

And you know, I'm not the only one who needs to do this. Read this a few minutes ago at Diets in Review:

Since 1965, women have gone from spending 13 hours per week cooking meals to the meager 30 minutes per day now, and in that time the number of overweight women has more than doubled, to 65 percent. Biggest Loser cookbooks author Devin Alexander pointed out that “Twenty minutes in the kitchen will save you three hours on the StairMaster.”

Yes. We've become a nation of eater-outers, not home-cookers. Let's be real. At home, you have to measure out the oil and butter and dressing and cheese and portion the meat and chicken and tofu or whatever. You just don't get this plate, like magic, from the Kitchen Fairy. You can't say, "Well, maybe this mashed potato isn't so bad, or these veggies weren't doused in too much butter." At home, you can't fool yourself. You know exactly what's in there, cause YOU put it in there.

I love to eat out. As I told hubby yesterday, after we left the gynecologist (where he held my hand during the painful exam), when he commented how he likes buffets cause he serves himself (and he has VERY little food at buffets, cause his appetitie is pretty small for a tall feller, and they definitely MAKE money off him, cause he never eats 10 bucks worth!), I like being served. I LOVE having someone bring me yummies and take away dirty plates and ask me if I want coffee and dessert.

It makes me feel like an Empress. Or, okay, a Princess. :)

I think a small part of it's 'cause my parents were not eater-outers. Eating out was this amazing thing to me. I'd see sidewalk cafes in NYC when we visited Manhattan and it was so alien. A thing only special people did. Not poor people like us.

I never sat down in my first Chinese restaurant until I was 16, and that because a friend's dad invited me out to eat with his family. I found it astonishing. And it's the same today. I get this wild thrill at heading to a sit-down restaurant and having whatever my heart desires.

Sit-down restaurants are like small vacations. Drive-throughs are me just not wanting to do any work. Either way, they both are about self-spoiling. For me, anyway. Luxury. Not wisdom or self-control. Indulgence.

My parents never modeled this. This is just ME. Spoiling myself. Acting all rich, right? No...They were homey types, simple folks who worked very hard at low-paying work and who watched pennies like hawks watching field mice. Cooking at home was economical. No takeout, except for a walk to the bakery to get bread. That's what poor folks did and do, especially poor immigrant folks who have a hankering for their ethnic flavors, do. Eat at home.

For me, eating out is a huge luxury. It's what rich people do. What my parents could not do.

It's crazy how much money we waste eating out. Really shameful. We could be putting that towards retirement or paying off our car note. Seriously.

It's a bad economy--a perfect time to figure out how to eat well without spending a fortune. It's a challenge, but not insurmountable. For the $5 or $6 bucks that cafeteria or eat-out turkey sandwich costs plus whatever beverage you get and maybe that bag o' chips, you can make two to four lunches at home (depending on what you eat).

So, the Princess needs to haul her fat butt to Whole Foods and get what she needs for a week of meals. I love eating out too much to nix it altogether. But man, even if I reduce it to once or twice a week, that's better than what I've been doing. Every single dinner and most lunches out. Crazy. Foolish.

Oh, man. Back to the basics.

~

TBL's Daniel Gives Thumbs Up to WINNING FRIED CHICKEN Recipe

So, here it is. I intend to try it out:

WINNING FRIED CHICKEN

Cramps Sucks, But One Hopes An Organic Food Co-Op Does Not :)

I hadn't had a period since August of last year. So, I made an appt for my first gyno exam in YEARS--I know, my bad--for next Tuesday.

Guess what?

Yah. My errant period decided it wanted to come...yesterday. With major killer cramps. It was like being 17 all over again, back when each month brought is day or two of weeping and taking painkillers and lying in the dark with a heating pad. With the occasional rush to the bathroom for all the Number Twos that those cramps push out.

Even my husband got spooked from all my moaning, and tried to comfort me, only to have me holler at him, "I NEED ALLEVE! NOW!!!"

He had to go out at 9 PM last night to CVS and buy some. Why? I'm not someone prone to bad enough pains to warrant keeping track of analgesics. The lone bottle of Tylenol had expired in 2006 and the Motrin I got after dental surgery a couple years ago was nowhere to be found.

I am now the owner of a bottle of Motrin, a big one of Alleve, and one of Tylenol. I'm set for next month or whenever Aunt Flo wants to come be a fricken b*&^% again.

So, lovely. I'm about to head to Pilates with a squishy uterus and a sore abdomen (both from Monday's workout, which was a toughie, and from all that cramping). But I am going. I missed too many workouts those weeks I was ill, and if we have to work around my ouchie ladybits, so be it.

Now, to a happier subject: The organic foods delivery service that I was using last year--and that got hit with economic woes and shut down--well, the lady who ran that is starting up an organic food co-op. A box of 35 pounds of fresh, organic produce will be about $45. I decided to sign up. While I prefer choosing what I get (instead of a "surprise"), and while I miss the convenience of having my groceries brought to me, this is an option that at least makes sure I get a certain amount of really good quality organic fruits and veggies. I did much better in my eating when I had the organic groceries delivered. This is one step to getting back to that.

I'm also committed to trying more of the farmer's markets around town. Josh's in Hollywood was great, but they are a Sunday market, and Sundays are tough when there's church and family stuff. Saturdays suit me better. I have a few I can check out.

Anyone have experience with a CSA or an organic food co-op? How about in South Florida?

Let me know how it went or how it goes. :)

Dr. Oz's Ultimate Health Checklist

A gazillion bloggers will probably put this up, but I want to also, in order to have it here, handy for me to read as needed. Or print as needed (no pics or funky code, just the list). If it helps you, too, then I am doubly happy:

DR. OZ'S ULTIMATE HEALTH CHECKLIST

1. Schedule a Check-Up. Dr. Oz told Oprah’s audience that people who have a family doctor are healthier, and pointed out that while many do not have health insurance, you can find free and government-funded access to quality health care providers.

2. Know the Five Ingredients to Avoid. Check food labels for this simple list of ingredients, and pass on foods that include them in the first five ingredients listed (meaning they are highest in concentration).

* High Fructose Corn Syrup
* Sugar
* “Enriched“
* Trans-fat (may be indicated by the word “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated”)
* Saturated Fat

3. Add Healthy Foods to your Diet. Make an effort to meet these nutritional goals each day and week.

* 3 grams Omega-3 daily. Sources for this healthy fat are fish, soybeans, nuts, flaxseed and others.
* 5-7 servings of Antioxidants daily. Sources for this cancer-fighting agent are blueberries, red beans, pomegranates and pecans.
* 25 grams Fiber daily. You’ll want to chose whole-grain options, like brown rice and whole grain cereals and pastas.
* 1 Tbs. Olive Oil daily. Extra-virgin or regular olive oil both work. Dr. Oz suggests this is why the Mediterranean Diet is praised for working so well.

4. Take a Multi-Vitamin. This should be part of your daily routine. Here are Dr. Oz’s vitamin tips.

5. Know Your Numbers. At your check-up, learn these numbers, and make it a goal to optimize them.

* Waist size - measure at belly button, total inches should be less than half your height.
* Blood pressure - optimal is 115/75
* Cholesterol - LDL (bad) should be <100; HDL (good) should be >40
* Resting heart rate - <83 beats per minute (athletes average about 40)
* Blood sugar
* Vitamin D - find out if you have a deficiency. Darker skinned people are more susceptible.
* C-reactive protein
* Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)

6. Find a Health Advocate. Always bring a relative or a friend with you to the doctor to better understand your treatment.

7. Get Organized with Your Health Information. Keep updated copies of insurance, medical records, allergies, etc. so that you can play a more active role in your care and treatment.

8. Know the Medical Tests You Should Have. These will vary for men, women and by age, but talk with your doctor to learn if you need:

* Mammogram
* Pap Smear and Pelvic Exam
* Dental check-up (2x/year)
* Vision check-up (1x/2 years)
* Bone Density
* Hearing

9. Exercise. Dr. Oz wants us to keep our bodies actively moving, and recommends the following:

* Start walking. Aim for 10,000 steps per day, start with 30 minutes/day (about 3k steps)
* Elevate your heart rate for 60 minutes every week
* Flexibility 5 minutes/day
* Strength training 30 minutes/week

10. Sleep! Your body requires the rest that comes from a good night’s sleep. Practice these tips to catch your Zs:

* Get 7-8 hours sleep each night
* Keep the room dark and cool
* Create a routine
* Make the bedroom for sleep and sex only
* No caffeine four hours prior to bed
* Do not keep a TV in your bedroom
* Take a calcium and magnesium supplement


~~
hat tip to Diets in Review

The Princess's Bad Eating Pattern and Beeeyoootiful Produce Bonanza!

Good, good...all to hell.

That's my pattern of eating. I do a virtuous breakfast. I do a decent lunch. Then at dinnertime, I go nuts.

This is not a new pattern. It's old and ingrained and very, very, very hard to break.

But I gotta.

So, yesterday I was having my egg white omelette for bkfst, coffee (black, Splenda), a carrot juice. Lunch was a nice salad with fabulous herb chicken (grilled) and mixed greens with artichoke hearts in balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Then comes dinnertime. I feel like this crazed monster in the kitchen. I go and heat up some onion broth and add, not a discreet amount of cheese. No, I add a huge wad of cheese--it would choke a rhinoceros-- and croutons. Then, as if that wasn't enough to clog every artery in my body, I have a dessert hubby bought unthinkingly, cause he knows I adore Napoleons--when they are fresh. Only when fresh. This one was fresh.

So, I told him, flat out--do not buy me desserts, sweets, candies, etc. Just don't. I know you love me and just want to please me, but I cannot resist a fresh, flaky, cream-filled Napoleon that's sitting in the fridge calling my name. I can't have that in the house. It's like the Siren Song to me. Tie me to the mast!

I did give myself a head-start on a more healthful week of meals:



Today, after meaning to for weeks, I skipped sleeping (am just about to nod off as I type here) in order to go to a farmer's on the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk in South Florida called Josh's Organic Garden.

Unbelievable.

It was a wonderland of gorgeous, fresh, fragrant, vividly colorful stuff. Anyone who likes greens would have had an instant veggiegasm. It was piles of fresh--and I mean picked YESTERDAY locally--greens and assorted garden veggies and fruits. I took four canvas shopping bags and filled them all to the brim with arugula, spinach, lettuces, peppers, strawberries, bananas, tomatoes, carrots, celery, pears, apples, tangerines, grapefruit, broccoli, cauliflower (so beautiful white ones, like an alien bridal bouquet), potatoes, onions, cucumber, zucchini, mushrooms, and assorted herbs. ALL ORGANIC. ALL FRESH.

If any of you live near enough Hollywood, Fl so that you can get to it, it's on the broadwalk, you can see the beach right there, the ocean, the air smells wonderful. You'll find it almost right behind the Ramada resort, just on the corner of Harrison and the beach promenade. You won't be sorry. The produce is lovely. The fresh juices and smoothies are superyum.

Yay, I now have a lot of good, healthful stuff in the house. FINALLY!

To add to and round out my bounty:

On the drive home, I stopped at Whole Foods to get eggs, cheese, Ezekiel bread, whole wheat nan, organic tortillas (wheat for quesadillas and corn for breakfast and dinner tacos), those raw fruit pies I like (mango and mamey), and, happily, I stocked up on my beloved Gardenburgers. I hadn't had one in months, so I'm looking forward to my Gardenburger with a slice of cheese on Ezekiel bread lunch sandwich. One of my fave homemade sandwiches. Hubby got beef stew from the deli, and I got a vegetarian dish (the Indian lentils).

So, what did I eat today?

For breakfast, I had a freshly made smoothie of fresh berries, bananas and apple at Josh's Farmer's Market. Hubby had fresh-pressed apple juice. For lunch I had whole wheat nan, a cup and a half of the lentil stew, and a cup of papaya slices. Mmmmm.

It's so nice to have fruits and veggies once again in the house.

I do need to get some organic chicken breasts and pork tenderloin for some suppers, and maybe some lean ground beef for homemade tacos (I got some locally produced guacamole made by Glaser Organics, who specialize in raw vegan foods made on a farm way south of me). I was in a hurry at Whole Foods (and so tired), that I rushed and just got a few essentials. Not meat this time.

Now, if I could just tame that night gorging monster. It really is my major time-of-day weakness for overeating.

So, how are y'all doing? Did you get to the grocery store for good food? Did you go anywhere pleasant this weekend? Are you resting enough? Any other night overeaters out there?

Happy Sunday. Let's make this a healthful week.

Oh, and remember that this week Oprah focuses on helpful stuff on her show, including weight loss (as we all know, by now, due to her regaining 40 pounds) and finances. Might be worth a look.

Regain, Recommitment, and Retracing Steps to Better Habits--aka/WHERE IS MY FIRE?

The news is not good. But, hey, I knew it was coming for weigh-in day.

I've never been big on consistency when it comes to things like diet and exercise. I was always one of those, "Oh, let me go on a diet," then last no more usually than two days or two weeks or, at most, two months. Then, blam, back to old habits.

Well, I've managed to exercise regularly for nearly six months now. But the food consistency is eluding me. And for dieters, that is the NUMBER ONE issue. If the food isn't controlled, exercise away, but the loss will be negligible to nil. Eat enough, and exercising can't stop regain. We've seen that even on The Biggest Loser. It's the calories, stupid. :)

Well, I got on the scale after a month plus of just being a slacker. The result: 276.4.

Holy crap. I regained like 5 pounds. In a month. I wasn't even all-out bingeing. Just not vigilant.

Shit.

Okay, enough of the potty mou--er, keyboard.

I wish I could find the internal button one pushes to get to that BLAM moment that makes on commit intensely. I haven't. So, I've been semi-committed, half-heartedly in the fatfighting game.

And it shows. While I don't LOOK bigger, and in fact, look smaller due to the exercising, I am still firmly stuck in the 270's, which is making me a crazy woman. Really, I'm so sick of being here.

So, why don't I get out of here in the downward trajectory?

Cause I am not on fire. It's all about having this ongoing flame inside that ignites whatever is in a person that makes them consistently do something--be it pursue a career, keep a marriage going, train for a marathon, etc.

This week, I'm gonna be all about rescheduling the activities that got me down from 299 to begin with, cause these activities have gone by the wayside:

1. getting fresh groceries
2. preparing meals at home instead of getting take-out
3. keeping a food journal
4. drinking lots of water
5. praying about my weight journey

Every single one of those has gone kaput one by one over the last couple of months. And the results show it.

What works, works. When you stop working it, it stops working, and regain results.

The same sort of slack happened to Oprah:

In Oprah's case, she admits to stopping her exercise sessions, her meditations and going back to eating higher calorie foods.

Oprah regained 40 pounds.

I'm guessing the same thing happened to Kirstie Alley--stopped the Jenny Craig regimen, started adding her own comfort foods, gave up the working out, vigilance diminishes bit by bit until, what, all gone. She was looking big again this past summer. I have no idea if she's up or down as of this post. But she probably has regained as much more pounds than Oprah.

I had a setback when my organic grocer closed their business (temporarily, I hope, but who knows with this economy). I sort of just started doing delivery and takeout--which means DANGER.

So, that has to stop. Tomorrow, I have to go shopping (which I hate) and get the produce I need to make better food choices.

I have to start making meals again, the way I was when I was losing and holding on. I can control the ingredients at home. I can't in a restaurant.

I've totally slacked on water. I have actually had says when I had NO WATER AT ALL. This is bad. It's too easy to confuse thirst with hunger. Plus, not enough water contributes to bloat and makes number twos uncomfy. Ya know what I mean?

I do notice that when one domino goes, like a food journal (which is a tuchis-painer, but so necessary for me, anyway, to be accountable and aware), the others follow. It's like this cord connecting all the good strategies, and if one part topples, the pull on the others is nearly irresistible. Boom. Boom. Boom. All down.

Weight up.

I have had the BECK FOR LIFE book lying around for weeks. I was supposed to review it for amazon (got it free). So, I want to start into that and apply the system. I don't FEEL like it. I FEEL like napping rather than working out. I FEEL like shoving a pizza in my face instead of an egg white veggie omelette. But we obese folks don't do well following our feelings. They are often self-destructive.

So, here I go again. Five pounds up.

My mood is not dark. It's just a big sigh of frustration that I didn't nip this closer to the bud. So much easier catching 2 pounds than 5, right?

I really need to get my fire mojo back. Where is it? Where did it go? How do I find it again?

Ah, well. The quest starts again this week.

I'm getting to the point of trying the Portion Doctor's plates.
Although, really, how overpriced are those? And kinda homely.

Let me go find my food journal. It's buried under a pile of unfolded laundry, I think?