Are Fat People Destined to be Fat?

  By Ellen | April 20, 2012 - 7:08 AM | Maintenance, Weight Loss
23 Comments

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to watch a most interesting segment on 60 Minutes Australia.  If you happen to live in the US, chances are you might have missed it.  I’m sure that I would have, if not for visiting one of my favorite blogs, Lynn’s Weigh.  The title of the story was called ‘The Fat Gene’ (you can watch it here as well as read the transcript) and it reported on a weight loss study that was done in Australia about why fat people remain fat. Lynn was interviewed for the story.  

The only photo of me at my heaviest.
The only photo of me at my heaviest.

 

A group of 50 Australians participated in this study; they were put on a 10 week diet.  They lost a lot of weight.  They were then given the tools they needed in order to keep that weight off in the form of advice about what to eat and how to exercise.  Slowly, the participants regained the weight they’d lost.

According to the researchers, it wasn’t the lack of participants’ willpower but their body’s hormone chemistry that made these people regain their weight.  Ghrelin, a so-called hunger hormone, rose 20% which in turn told the body that it was starving, even after the participants ended the diet.   The researchers go on to say that our weight is predetermined in our DNA. 

Liam Bartlett was the 60 Minutes correspondent. Summing up the researchers findings he said,

“The bottom line of this new science of weight loss is pretty harsh – fat people, despite their best efforts, will probably stay fat and there’s really not a lot they can do about it.”

Playing Devil’s Advocate, he then interviewed Dr. Rena Wing who is one of the researchers of the Weight Control Registry of which Lynn and 10,000 other maintainers are a part of in the United States (I am currently filling out my paperwork to join the study). She felt that Melbourne’s study was sending out the wrong message to heavy people.  With the thousands of maintainers she keeps track of she stated that many people are able to maintain their weight loss.  Lynn was featured as a representative to those of us who have been successful in maintaining their weight loss.  She discussed how she’s been able to maintain her loss for the last seven years: keeping track of her calories and daily exercise.   As a fellow maintainer who has also kept off 100+ pounds for 7 years I completely relate to what she said and I attribute my success to doing the exact same thing as she.  It all comes down to one word: diligence. 

But diligence is not the word that Professor Joe Proietto used.  He was the team leader in the Melbourne University study.  The words he used to describe maintainers like me were ‘obsessive-compulsive’.  He went on to say this:

“These people weigh themselves every day and run marathons. What do you think they are?”

It’s not that I disagree with Professor Proietto’s findings.  As a former heavy person I completely understand the frustration felt by people who, no matter what they do, regain some if not all the weight they’ve lost.  I’ve been there a few times myself.  What I disagree with is the way Professor Proietto presents his findings.  In my opinion, he basically sounded as though he has no faith in overweight people; that not only is it next to impossible to lose weight and keep it off but in order to do so we sacrifice ourselves as sane, well-rounded individuals. 

Labeling maintainers as obsessive-compulsive is a little over the top, in my book. If you watch the segment you’ll also hear words like ‘not normal’ to define us. But…what is normal? It seems like no matter who we are, whether fat or thin, we’re doing nothing but dodging labels (and you know how I feel about labels). 

Taken on vacation in September, 2011
Taken on vacation in September, 2011

I could probably write another several lengthy paragraphs on this topic but I’m not going to.  Instead, I’m going to sit back and read what you have to say on this topic, and end my post by borrowing a very eloquent, very beautiful thought by Lynn, who summed up my feelings in the most perfect way:

 

My former body and the me who occupied it continue to be the source of my determination. I would dishonor she who was me by giving up the fight, because she is the one who thought enough about herself to start that march down the scale. 

Thank you for that, Lynn.  And thank you all for reading today.  Have you seen the 60 Minutes Australia segment?  What are your thoughts on the findings of Melbourne University’s study?

Unjunk Your Junk Food: A Book Review

  By Ellen | April 18, 2012 - 7:53 AM | Food
27 Comments

Want Ads:

WANTED: A guide that is willing to provide healthier alternatives to the standard snacks found at my local grocery stores.  Needs to be able to assist me in understanding how to properly read labels – particularly ingredients and their definitions.   Goal is to have confidence in my ability to better identify unhealthy foods and choose their healthier alternatives.  Needs to be comprehensive and easily understood. Qualified reference resources only, please. 

 

FOUND:  Unjunk Your Junk Food, Written by Andrea Donsky and Randy Boyer, creators of NaturallySavvy.com  Easy to read reference guide.  Gives side-by-side comparisons of popular brands and their healthier alternatives.  Also included:  tips for reading food labels, a list of nutritious ingredients as well as dangerous additives, a back-to-basics nutrition chapter with detailed information on carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber, and vitamins and minerals, and a tear-out chart of which ingredients to avoid.

 

When The gals over at Naturally Savvy were searching for bloggers to review their new book Unjunk Your Junk Food, I jumped at the chance to get a copy.   You and I have had several discussions recently on this blog about moderation and balance when eating foods that we enjoy with the latest topic being sugar.   Even though I’m cursed with an overactive sweet tooth, I have been steadily trying to change my way of thinking when it comes to choosing which foods to buy.  While losing weight I focused a great deal on calorie intake and therefore scanned the nutrition panel to see if my food of choice was deemed ‘calorie-worthy’.   Things change but old habits die hard.  I still find myself looking at the nutrition values on packaged foods when really, the ingredients list is equally important, if not more so. In essence, I’ve become lazy; too lazy. Trust me, this is not a simple thing to admit.

It’s easy to become dazzled by packaging.  Low-Fat,  Cholesterol Free, No Added Sugar are just a few of the phrases found on packaged food which often has me thinking that I don’t have to look at the ingredients list because the company has done my research for me.   For example, potato chips that advertise the word Light on the packaging doesn’t necessarily mean they’re healthier.  Lay’s Light Original Potato Chips contain Olestra, which is a synthetic ingredient that cannot be absorbed by the body; therefore it’s eliminated with the stool.  In addition, Olestra may inhibit the body’s ability to absorb beneficial fat-soluble nutrients

Another example of misleading marketing is choosing foods simply because I associate the brand with health. Sitting In my cupboard right now is a box of Kellogg’s Special K 90 Calorie Strawberry Cereal Bars.  It has the measuring tape on the front with the phrase, Drop a Jean Size in 2 Weeks.  I thought I was making a good choice simply because Special K is a brand that is associated with losing weight, and weight control means healthier, right?  Wrong.  Having examined the ingredients list for these bars, which I was surprised to find in the book by the way, I see that there are no actual strawberries in this product.  Instead it reads: strawberry-flavored fruit pieces which are made from ingredients other than strawberries.  Added to that: TBHQ and BHT (preservatives), trans fat (partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil), artificial colors and artificial flavors.   The book suggests a much healthier alternative: Barbara’s Strawberry Multi-grain Cereal Bars.  Even though they are a bit larger in volume than the Special K bars (thus containing more calories – 150 vs. 90), Barbara’s has less fat and sodium, no trans fat, no TBHQ and no artificial flavors or colors. 

Overall, this book has been invaluable to me, both as a consumer and as a maintainer.  My goal is pretty simple: to become a healthier version of me as I become more educated about what I choose to eat, therefore I am actively changing the way I purchase food. It is my responsibility to not only look at how I eat but what I eat as well. To say that I am going to eliminate snacks from my diet would be unrealistic because obviously, I’m not going to do that. However, when I do snack I certainly can make better choices about how I’m fueling my body.

Unjunk Your Junk Food is an easy read.  It has clear photos, snapshots of the nutrition panel, and a list of ingredients for each food to which they are referring. They top that off with plenty of useful factoids about such things as gelatin, food-grade waxes and chocolate.  Here’s an interesting one from page 61: 

A Danish study found that organic milk from grass fed cows had 50% more Vitamin E and more Omega-3 fats than conventionally produced milk.  Not only that, but the organic milk had more antioxidants – including 142 % more beta carotene. 

The size of this book is about as big as my hand which makes it small enough to take with me to the grocery store.  Handier yet is a tear-out sheet that contains a Worst Ingredients List.  These are the things they recommend consumers always look out for before deciding on a purchase.  If the food contains any one or more of these ingredients, see if there is another choice available. 

They refer to this ingredients list as The Scary Seven:

  1. HFCS: High Fructose Corn Syrup
  2. Trans-Fats: partially hydroginated oils
  3. MSG: monosodium glutamate
  4. Artificial Flavors
  5. Artificial Colors
  6. Artificial Sweeteners: chemical sweeteners such as Aspartame, Splenda, Saccharine, etc.
  7. Preservatives: polysorbate 60, 65 and 80, TBHQ, Sodium Benzoate, BHA, BHT, Sulfur Dioxide

I would recommend this book to anyone who, like me, indulges in snack foods on occasion and needs a little assistance in finding the healthier choices out there.  For additional information head over to Unjunk Your Junk Food, where you can download sample pages from the book.  Purchase from various book stores or through Amazon.  You can also ‘Like’ Naturally Savvy on Facebook and ‘fan’ them on Twitter for a chance to win some great prizes.

 

*Note* Although I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, the thoughts and opinions shared in this post are my own and not that of the authors or publisher.

Asparagus Served Cold. Dog Reads Blog. What Kind of Monday is This?

  By Ellen | April 16, 2012 - 8:13 AM | Anything Goes, The Dogs
30 Comments

Good Monday, everyone – and thank you all for sending such kindness and love over the Internet this past Friday regarding my post on Emmie.  My husband, who read it last night looked up from his computer and said, ‘You really have some wonderful people out there reading your blog’.   I just smiled and nodded in complete agreement, very aware of how lucky I am.

In addition to your comments on Friday I also received something special that I wanted to share with you. Cindy, a very kind reader and fellow golden owner sent me this photo of her dog Bonnie, who also happened to be reading my blog on Friday – I am totally flattered, by the way:

 

photo
photo

Isn’t this the sweetest photo?  Bonnie also has her favorite TV shows and loves to sneak peaks from her owner’s IPad as well.  Many thanks to Cindy for allowing me share Bonnie’s photo with you. 

 

Speaking of Friday, for Emmie’s little celebration I bought her something I’d never seen before.  It’s called Lickety Stiks and looks like a bottle of roll-on deodorant, but it’s a chicken flavored treat.  You just unscrew the cap and the dog licks the treat right off the roller ball.  I thought she was going to sprain her tongue she licked so fast and I wish I’d taken video to show you but she was in the zone and I couldn’t bear to set the thing down to get the camera. 

 

My weekend in part was spent reading and writing a review for a book that I received from NaturallySavvy.com  Five minutes after I started reading, my first thoughts were:  I can’t believe how uneducated I am on the ingredients stuffed into packaged foods.  How embarrassed I am because of what little knowledge I have about trans-fats, high fructose corn syrup and preservatives and what they can do to one’s body.  I could write on and on about this but let’s just say that I have learned a lot over the past couple of days.  I’m feeling more confident in the way I’ll grocery shop in the future.  In other words, the light bulb has been turned on.  I’m just finishing up my review and hope to post it on Wednesday. 

 

Before I lose any more street cred, let’s quickly move on to a food that I do know a bit about:  asparagus.  April is the prime month for fresh asparagus, so if you haven’t picked up a bunch now is a good time.  I never really enjoyed asparagus until I went to my mother’s house a couple of years ago and saw how she served it: cold.  I’ve been preparing it that way ever since.  No recipe necessary, either.  Just heat in a bit of water on the stove until barely tender, rinse under water until asparagus is cold, then serve drizzled in balsamic vinegar.  I didn’t think I’d like cold asparagus but it sure tastes good on a hot summer day. 

This photo is a prime example of why I could never run a foodie blog.  It looks as though these beautiful vegetables are laying out all over the counter; I promise they’re in a glass dish.  If only I’d thought to place them perfectly on some vintage dinnerware.  Sigh.  Oh well, you get the idea. 

 

Hope you all had a good weekend.  Looking forward to seeing you back here on Wednesday. 

XO,

~Ellen

One Year Anniversary of a Former Rescue Dog

  By Ellen | April 13, 2012 - 8:25 AM | The Dogs
24 Comments

If we weight loss/maintenance/healthy living bloggers aren’t writing about exercise or proper eating habits, we can be found writing about our desire to create a happier, healthier lifestyle for ourselves. If you were to ask the average person what would make them happy, I think you’d pretty much get the same answer: having a fulfilling and satisfying life.   There are plenty of obstacles that can get in the way, but once the opportunity is there, once that door opens -  all kinds of wonderful things can happen. 

Today, I have a success story to share with you.  Tonight at our house, we’re having a private little celebration and our guest of honor is Emmie. One year ago today, she came to live with us.  Emmie has quite the shy personality and she’s not one to brag, but I think that she’d secretly love having today’s post dedicated to her accomplishments over the past 12 months, and who better to share them with than you, our blog family.   

 

Day One:

Emmie was born sometime in 2007, but she began living her life at age four.  That’s how long she lived at a puppy mill facility in Missouri.  Her job: to have as many puppies as often as possible.  Because she lived in a cage, her back legs and hip muscles had degenerated and atrophied.  By the time she came to us she could not walk far, nor do any jumping or running.   

 

After Three Weeks: 

She loved every minute of our daily walks, and we saw improvement in her stamina within a few short weeks. When she came home though, she zonked out for hours, many times before we’d even have the chance to remove her leash.  It was also within this time that she had her first encounters with birds, squirrels, fresh air, leaves beneath her feet and car rides with the window rolled down. 

 

After Six+  Months:

I may have been Emmie’s trainer, but Brulee was her official teacher.  She learned how to do what dogs do, all by watching him.  He was extremely patient with her and taught her how to run and dared her to keep up with him.  He showed her the important things in a dog’s life, like sticks, treats, swimming, and getting scratched on the tummy. 

 

Emmie Today:

It’s been a challenging year for Emmie but for my husband and I, watching her evolve into a healthy, happy dog has been one of the most rewarding experiences we’ve ever shared.  She is finally beginning to feel like this is truly her home and that she will live out the rest of her life here, with us. 

 

Some Words of Wisdom, according to Emmie: 

 

1.  Take time to appreciate the small things, for they are someone else’s biggest joy.  I particularly love watching the birds in the yard every morning.

2.  Be grateful for every day that you are able to exercise your body; notice the way it feels like pure freedom.  If searching for a new exercise, I recommend Squirrel Chasing as an easy yet effective workout routine. 

3.  See every day as a new and exciting adventure, because it is!  I pass by the same rock every day at the park and it smells different every single time!

4.  Strangers are just friends that you haven’t met yet.  Just remember, it is not okay to sniff their crotches for identification purposes (at least that’s what I’m told) 

Sad smile
Sad smile

 

Happy Anniversary, Emmie.  And to everyone reading – have a great weekend.  Appreciate the small things. 

 

XO,

~Ellen

Food Week Finale, and a final thought about sugar.

  By Ellen | April 12, 2012 - 7:57 AM | Food
23 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I bellyached yet again about my inability to find a decent sugar substitute for my morning tea lattes (you can read that post here).   Until recently I was perfectly happy with my latte concoction: black tea, unsweetened almond milk, and a pump of Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup with Splenda.  I think what triggered my insistence on finding another substitute was realizing the amount of syrup I was consuming within a relatively short period of time.  Normally I buy them in bottles of three on Amazon because there is no place locally to get this particular brand. One day I noticed that I was running low on a bottle and went to the cupboard to retrieve another.   ‘Didn’t I just place an order?  How can I be so low, already?’ It was disturbing how much I was going through. 

So, I started scanning my grocery shelves and trying out new sweeteners.  I tried to get used to using other sweeteners, truly I did.  But everything had an aftertaste and I found myself pouring my tea down the drain rather than drinking it.  When I exhausted the brick and mortar stores, I ventured to Amazon and found a company named Amoretti and noticed the high ratings for their beverage syrups.  This was a company that I’d never heard of before. 

I contacted them for more information on their products and a representative emailed me, suggesting this might be a good alternative: 

Willing to give it a try, I went to Amazon and purchased a bottle.  When it arrived and I looked at the nutrition label I was a little disheartened to see that even though one serving is 15 calories, the company recommends using 1 tablespoon to any hot or cold beverage.   I cannot afford to drink my calories away each day, so I decided to measure out a single serving (a teaspoon instead of the recommended tablespoon) and added it to my tea.  It was……perfect.  Not too sweet, with a hint of real vanilla flavor – and zero aftertaste.  It was the perfect blend I’ve been looking for, and my latte is still under 50 calories so I’m a happy camper.  Many thanks to Ms. Sheli, Amoretti’s Representative, who was very helpful during our correspondence.

 

My Thoughts About Sugar

There is a lot of confusing information circulating around the Internet regarding all sweeteners.  I find this quite maddening as you well know.  First, something is labeled as a healthier alternative to sugar.  But before long, the same product is considered toxic.  For those of us who with a sweet tooth, we don’t know what to do or where to turn. 

While communicating with Ms. Sheli, she asked if I’d seen the recent 60 Minutes story regarding the toxicity of sugar.  I hadn’t, but immediately went to CBS’s website to watch and was thankful that she’d mentioned it to me.  It was very, very interesting.  If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it here.  It may give you an entirely different perspective about sugar as we know it.   

Now that I’ve been introduced to what researchers are finding out about sugar, here’s my conclusion:  I think it’s sufficient to say that if you’re like me and looking for a healthy substitute for sugar, you’re not going to get an All Clear with a firm handshake from any reputable source.  Instead you may have to be content with a Use Your Best Judgment and a pat on the back.  From all of the extensive research I’ve found, this seems to be the consensus:

ALL sweeteners should be limited or better yet, restricted -  natural or not.  If indulging in something sweet, choose fruit.  That’s very good advice, but it’s not very practical to squeeze orange pulp or pureed mango into my tea or my occasional cup of coffee.  Therefore I have to choose one of three paths: 

1.  Don’t alter my eating habits.
2.  Decidedly limit my sugar intake.
3.  Remove any and all sugar from my diet. 

Is it feasible to give up all sugar from your diet?   Wait….don’t answer that. It’s a loaded question. 

If I were asked such a question I would immediately say no, I don’t think I can, because as I live my life right now I couldn’t imagine it without my mild indulgences.  After all, I’ve been using sugar or some form of it for the past 42 years.  However, if you were to ask me whether it would be feasible to limit my sugar intake I would say Yes. I can do that for my health. In the end, it’s all about responsibility; being aware of what you are feeding your body, and finding what works for your own unique needs.    For me, that currently means I am no longer dependent on Splenda.  For now, my sweetener of choice will be Amoretti’s Blue Agave French Vanilla Nectar.  It’s not a perfect choice in the eyes of the 60 Minutes Specialists, but I feel this is a better choice than what I’ve been using.  I may not be moving in the fast lane to perfect health, but at least I’m moving in the right direction. 

 

Did you see the 60 Minutes interview on Sugar?  What are your thoughts about natural sugar being considered a toxin to your body?

Food Week: Gnu to Me

  By Ellen | April 11, 2012 - 7:37 AM | Food
22 Comments

Fiber has always been a staple in my diet, even before I became aware of it’s benefits when starting to lose weight.  From the time I was a child, my mother obsessed on the importance of a high fiber diet and she made darned sure that her kid had plenty of it.  “How about a nice glass of prune juice?” my mother would ask.  To this day I’m sure she wishes that she’d dealt with a more obedient daughter.  ‘Prune juice?’ she’d imagine me saying. ‘Really?  Don’t mind if I do!’  Instead, it always came with defiance.  And so it went with breakfast as well.  Rarely did I get kiddo favorites like Lucky Charms or Count Chocula.  Instead, she and I sat down with a big bowl of All Bran before I went to school.

The absolute worst however, one of the few things that still actually makes me gag to this day, is psyllium husk.  She would buy it in bulk and add a heaping teaspoon to a small glass of orange juice and then hand it over to me.  There is no time to be defiant when dealing with psyllium husk.  If you don’t drink the concoction immediately, the whole thing turns into a gelatinous mass and you practically have to eat it out of the glass with a spoon. “Ellen, it’s very important to get enough fiber into your diet,” she’d say.  Rest assured, I did. 

It’s funny, because I always felt that she was being unfair.  When I get old, I’m never eating fiber! I’d think to myself while chewing away at my sticks n’ wigs cereal.  If my 10 year old self could only see me now, singing the praises of fiber.  She’d be so disappointed. 

But here I am, and it’s the praises of fiber that I sing today.  In the form of these, which are new-to-me:

 

Gnu Foods Fiber Bars aren’t new to the market, but these three flavors have recently been introduced:  Blueberry Cobbler, Carrot Cake and Blondie Bars.  They just rolled into stores pretty recently, and now sit alongside all of the other flavors:  Banana Walnut, Chocolate Brownie, Cinnamon Raisin, Espresso Chip, Lemon Ginger, Orange Cranberry and Peanut Butter. 

I get on a Gnu kick every so often and used to eat them pretty frequently.  Some flavors I liked better than others (Oatmeal Raisin? Yes!  Espresso Chip?  No.)  I don’t care for the Chocolate Brownie, either; maybe my hopes are just too high, being the chocolate snob that I am.  But the new flavors above are all good. Very good in fact, with Carrot Cake probably being my favorite.  You can buy these separately, or get them in boxes of 5, which is what you see in the photo above.  Many times their website has a better deal on prices than what you’d find in the stores. 

The stats on these bars are pretty good, too.  No trans fats, no refined sugars or high fructose corn syrup, and 6 whole grains.  Each bar has between 130 and 140 calories each and contains 12 grams of fiber.  Take that, prune juice!

 

 

My second find was like discovering a gold mine:

I actually came across these by accident.  I was searching for some water filters on Amazon and this pasta by Fiber Gourmet was their deal of the day – too good of a deal to pass up (as of this writing, each box costs between $3 and $4 depending on how many you purchase and is less expensive on Fiber Gourmet’s website than on Amazon).  Two other things sold me besides the price: 2 ounces of this pasta has only 130 calories, compared to regular pasta which has between 200 and 210, and the fiber count in one serving is a whopping 18 grams!  And, it tastes exactly like regular pasta.  I cannot tell the difference.  The macaroni and cheese is nothing like homemade, but I have yet to find boxed mac and cheese that is.  However, if you’re watching your calories, you can add whatever you want to the mix (like, real cheese) and still have a very satisfying, calorie-friendly meal.  I like the penne pasta better because I can add my topping of choice without being skimpy on the sauce. Definitely a winner.  And again, Mom is happy that I’m getting my fiber.  

…speaking of fiber, if you’ve never had high fiber foods before, there are two things you should know:

1.  Women should get 25 grams per day.  Men need 38 grams.

2. …and this one is very important: Please add them slowly into your diet. 

A good example:  My husband’s co-worker came into work one day complaining of major stomach upset: a deep gut ache, cramping and serious gas.  He spent half the morning hunched over in the restroom.  The culprit?  A box of fiber bars he’d grabbed from the cupboard.  He’d eaten 4 of them on his way to work.  ‘I thought they were just plain cereal bars!’ he moaned.  He’d eaten his daily amount of fiber in one sitting.  Not good for him.  Not so great for my husband either, he will gladly tell you. 

How closely do you pay attention to your fiber intake?  Have you ever had any issues as a result from overindulging in a high fiber food?  I could share a story or five, but I think you’d be more grateful if I didn’t. 

Winking smile
Winking smile

Friday will be my last Food-Week post.  My search for a sugar alternative is over!  See you then, and have a good Wednesday.

 

XO,

~Ellen

New-to-Me Food Week

  By Ellen | April 9, 2012 - 8:13 AM | Food, recipes
29 Comments

I’m typically the kind of gal that can eat hot cereal and Greek yogurt for breakfast every morning for months.  I’m so predictable that if I’m invited out for breakfast, you’d probably find me ordering the exact same thing.   Lunch is the same way; I’m perfectly happy with a turkey sandwich and could eat one every day for weeks on end and not get tired of it.  I’m boring that way, I guess. I often wonder if other maintainers eat this way.

Over the past several weeks I’ve been trying new-to-me foods like a crazy person.  Or, more realistically, like a normal person that appreciates a little variety in the things she eats.   I decided to condense everything down to the best new food finds and share them with you this week. 

 

I should mention that my decision to experiment with all of these new foods began a few weeks ago with my excitement over catching this sign out of the corner of my eye while driving through town:

I can’t tell you how excited I was to learn that my town is FINALLY opening a Whole Foods Grocery Store.  We have very little choices around here other than a couple of mainstream big-named giants, so this is my present all wrapped in brick-and-mortar.  They expect to open sometime this Fall.

I had to share the big news of our new store and eagerly bragged about it while posting a comment over at LauraLivesLife.  Several days later I received a package on my front porch from Whole Foods.  After my immediate confusion (did I order something and forget?) then kid-at-Christmas excitement (this box is so hard to open – why is there so much tape?!), I found these:

 

 

Laura was kind enough to give me a head-start on the Whole Foods experience by sending some of her favorite things.  The best part of my goodie box was that if I’d come across any of these items on my own while shopping in the store I wouldn’t have ever thought of placing them in my basket.   It was then I realized that I have another comfort-zone issue that needs dealt with, and that issue has a name:  NFFS, or  New-Food-Fear Syndrome.  (I thought it would look more menacing if I made it scary large!  Did it work?) lol

Because of my feelings of inadequacy around the kitchen, I tend to buy what I know unless I’m specifically looking for something in particular.  Unfamiliar foods intimidate me. So, I decided to begin my recovery program immediately and start behaving a bit more daring around the kitchen.  Laura’s thoughtful gift was a perfect way to begin. 

I was thrilled – and a bit hesitant. What does one do with a mung bean? 

Luckily, there were recipe cards (whew!) and here is the first one I used – with most of the ingredients already from my package.  Oh, if all cooking could be that simple. 

1/2 cup truRoots Organic Quinoa

1/2 cup truRoots Sprouted Mung Beans

1 bunch of kale, steamed

Grilled chicken, salmon or tofu (optional)

1 avocado

Cook quinoa and mung beams according to package directions.  Divide quinoa evenly into 2 bowls and top with mung beans, kale and chicken (what I used).  Garnish with avocado and serve at the table with liquid aminos, organic sprinkle seasoning, and lemon wedges.

 

The kale was the only thing I had to buy at the store.  Everything else I already had, and this new and unfamiliar concoction was really delicious.  Oh, and fyi – mung beans have just the right amount of texture; almost crunchy but not quite, and is a great compliment to the softer quinoa.  The Bragg Liquid Aminos and the Organic Sprinkle are going to become staples in my cupboard. The Liquid Aminos is a fantastic alternative to soy sauce and I have used it on vegetables, meat, on rice and tofu.  One half a teaspoon has 0 calories, is gluten free and has no preservatives.   The Organic Sprinkle is like an herb garden in a jar; it contains 24 herbs and spices including rosemary, onion, garlic, thyme and basil.  Thanks to Laura, I will now be able to walk into Whole Foods with a small but solid grocery list. 

 

Does anyone else shop at Whole Foods?  Even though the Grand Opening is a few months away, it’s never to early to start a grocery list.  Anything I should add to mine? 

Friday Faves

  By Ellen | April 6, 2012 - 8:09 AM | Anything Goes
12 Comments

Today it’s all about visual entertainment.  You can thank Pinterest.  Hopefully I’ve included a little something for everyone.  Here are my favorite pins of the week:

 

To make you chuckle:

 

To put on your wish list:

Hanging Human Birdhouse Design
Hanging Human Birdhouse Design

 

 

To enhance your Creativity: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barefeetsarah/5656834245/sizes/z/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barefeetsarah/5656834245/sizes/z/in/photostream/

a dress made from rubber gloves.

To encourage you to think:

Thank you for this one, Karen!
Thank you for this one, Karen!

 

 

To make you say, ‘Wow!’

Photo by Thomas van de Wall. Artist Gesine Marwedel.
Photo by Thomas van de Wall. Artist Gesine Marwedel.

 

 

To show you that beauty isn’t easily defined:

 

 

To soothe the eyes:

http://wishflowers.tumblr.com/
http://wishflowers.tumblr.com/

 

And finally……

To give you words to live by:

 

Have a good weekend, everyone.  See you all next week.

 

XO,

~Ellen

Lazy Like a Daisy

  By Ellen | April 4, 2012 - 10:16 AM | hysterectomy
18 Comments

Every Spring I experience a motivation within me that no other season can produce.  This year is no different, and home improvement stores/greenhouses are partially to blame.  My husband and I went to a few of those this week and while he was picking out grass seed, I made my way toward the garden and patio department.  Seeing tulips and hyacinth in full bloom was all it took for me to want to run home and search for my gardening gloves. 

I’m burning up with a spring fever baby, and the only thing that’s gonna cure me is some pots of posies.  Or daisies.  Or something of that order.

I started looking at flowers, wondering what to plant along the creek this year; it took a few minutes before I was reeled back to reality.   By that time my husband was standing next to me with his bag of seed. 

“What’s the matter?” 

“I’m not going to be able to plant any flowers this year.  I won’t be able to take care of them.”  I said, surprised that I’d forgotten this very important appointment in my local operating room.

My surgery isn’t until early June and I’m already beginning to see how challenging this is all going to be.  Three days in the hospital.  Two to three weeks before I’m allowed to drive again, and no lifting for six weeks.  It’s going to nearing the end of July before I’m fully back to work.  What’s funny to me  – not ‘ha-ha’ funny but funny strange – is that since I’ve stopped reading about my surgery on the Net, I’ve had two different women approach me to let me know that having an abdominal hysterectomy was the worst pain they’ve ever experienced.  Then they saw the blood slowly drain from my face they quickly back peddled. ‘Um…well, I’m sure that won’t happen to you, though. You’ll be just fine……’  Why do people do that?  It’s not very helpful.

Anyway…… 

So, normally I plant a sea of flowers along the creek bank every year. It is the one area of our property that reminds us of why we accepted the challenge of our time consuming yard, our labor of love. This year however, we’ve got a different set of priorities.

My husband may think he’s Superman but even a superhero can’t do it all.  Generally speaking, it takes both of us working together just to maintain our yard, but for a while he’s going be doing that and the housework as well. 

Oh, and how could I forget his most important and precious job of all:

Tending to these two.  (What…did you think I meant taking care of me?)

 

Look at those worried faces!  Poor pups.

 

And these are some messy dogs, let me tell you.

I know that things will work themselves out.  It’s just going to take a little time and some detailed planning.   I need to find some things to do that will keep me occupied while recuperating; things that will leave me feeling like I’m accomplishing something (even if in reality I’m only distracting myself).  Not an easy task for someone who is normally on the move from dawn until dusk seven days a week. 

 

Luckily, my husband came up with a good idea to help fill my flowerless void.  He bought me one of these:

 

 

and several of these:

Looks like I’m going to have a deck garden this year!  What a great idea.  No water to lug around; no weeds to pull.  I’ve chosen lettuce and sweet basil and several types of zinnias, which the butterflies and hummingbirds LOVE.

 

For those of you who’ve been incapacitated for several weeks either by injury or surgery, what on earth did you do to keep yourself busy while you recuperated?   

What do Maintainers have in Common?

  By Ellen | April 2, 2012 - 9:34 AM | Maintenance, Weight Loss
38 Comments

I came across a very interesting article the other day in the health and fitness section of the Herald Tribune.  The article was written by Barbara Peters Smith and was about maintainers who are taking part in a study, specifically how they have been able to keep a considerable amount of weight off for more than a year.  Dr. James Hill, the director of the Colorado Center for Health and Wellness is the scientist featured in the article. He helped create a registry that is now tracking almost 10,000 participants. The article, which you can read in it’s entirety here, states that with the people he’s researched, there was little similarity in how they lost their weight. What they were seeing was a common link in how they’re keeping it off.

I was extremely curious as to what all of these maintainers were saying about their ability to keep their weight off and whether any of them shared my own thoughts and experiences on the subject.  Here are a few things that I learned about the study participants, and I thought I’d throw in my two cents as well.

 

 

 

According to Dr. Hill, men generally make the decision to lose weight because of a health event in his life.  The decision for women to lose weight is a bit more emotional. 

My thoughts:  I agree with most of these findings.  While I’ve personally known men to make the decision to lose weight based on a major health scare, I’ve also known men that lost weight in order to capture the attention of other women.   As for women, I think there is a host of emotional reasons for wanting to be thinner but I think that more women these days are wanting it as much for health reasons as they are for wanting to fit into that little black dress. 

Dr. Hill states that two-thirds of the participants failed at maintaining at some point prior to their ultimate success.  ALL of the participants said that maintaining is a constant challenge, and 98% say it’s worth the effort. 

My thoughts:  That number doesn’t surprise me in the least.  How many of us can say when we decided to lose weight that we did it right the first time?  Trial and error is how we learn and the more we learn, the better we are at understanding what our bodies need in order to keep the weight off for good.  My thoughts on maintenance being a constant challenge?  Um – yes.  One hundred times yes, it is a constant challenge  (you have been paying attention to my occasional whine-fests, right?)  And yes, I do agree with the fact that it is worth the effort.  Unless I’m feeling despondent and frustrated (again, see whine-fest).

Dr. Hill asked his participants whether it gets easier over time to keep the weight off.  Most of them say ‘no.’ Apparently it takes 3 to 5 years on average before they feel comfortable in saying they’re confident that the weight will stay off.  Not because of better biology either, says Hill;  but because it takes a long time to master their new behaviors.

My thoughts: If the title of my blog hasn’t already given away that answer, I agree that It never gets easier to maintain.  For me, that is just the simple fact of it.  There will always be hurdles to overcome and old habits still tend to die hard.  I am currently going into my 7th year of maintaining.  I’m still not feeling terribly comfortable in saying that I’ll never gain the weight back.

I’m not trying to sound pessimistic, I’m just stating the fact that life marches on, and even though I do what I can to keep our lives in balance, I’m subject to the same kinds of change as everything and everybody else.  I think it’s more about acceptance at this point in my life. While I do still worry about gaining,  I try to stay focused on the here and now of it all.  I’d love to be able to say I will never be heavy again!  but I just don’t think that’s a fair assumption.  All I can do is make a point to nurture the best parts of me every day while continuing to make better choices along the way.

Interested in knowing what else these maintainers have in common? 

 

  1. Their diet is primarily low-fat. My diet mainly consists of low-fat options as well.
  2. They engage in a high level of physical activity. Walking is their main exercise of choice and they do resistance training.  My activities are very similar.  Walking, resistance training and yoga. 
  3. They don’t watch very much television.  I don’t watch much t.v. either.  When I do, it’s always at the end of the night when I’ve done everything else that needs to be accomplished for the day. 
  4. They are always watching their weight. Um… yes.  Yes. And yes.  It would be nice to give these thoughts a long-overdue vacation, but don’t know if that will ever happen.
  5. They weigh themselves frequently.  I used to do this. I have been trying to refrain from using my scale because my emotions were too controlled by what I weighed.  I’m sure I’ll never give up the scale completely and I do believe it’s a useful tool to have, but until I can learn to use it in a way that builds me up instead of making me feel bad about myself, I’ll continue to struggle with it. 
  6. They don’t take a day off. To me, this goes hand-in-hand with the statement, ‘They’re always watching their weight.’  Even though I still indulge, I’m no more than one thought away from making mental notes about what I’m putting into my mouth. 
  7. They eat breakfast.  Again, something that I do without fail, although I tend to eat a later breakfast than most people – usually around 10 AM or so. 

 

Had you ever heard of the National Weight Control Registry before I mentioned it here? I had no idea it existed.  Started in 1994, it is the largest prospective investigation of long-term weight loss maintenance.  The study is ongoing and if you want to be a part of it, there is only one requirement:  you must have lost at least 30 pounds and have been able to maintain that loss for at least one year.  If you fit these requirements and want to make your voice heard, click on the link above and join in the study. 

 

Whether you’re dieting or maintaining, how do your thoughts compare with these thousands of long-term losers?  Is there anything that you would add to the above list that has worked for you?