I'm Just Hopeless

Just what is it with me and food?!! I can't wrestle that over-eating gremlin to the ground and keep her there.

I sit on the couch, watching the US Open and eating nearly a can, a can!, of peanuts. Sure they were dry-roasted, but a freakin' can of them! My 'fat clothes' are getting snug and I mindlessly pork away.

Dear, oh, dear.

I'm the reason why I'm overweight. No one made me do it. I did it.
~Neil Cavuto

Yes and, you know, I can't use the nice words anymore because I used to chicken out by using them. I used to call myself plus size, used to call myself chubby. I used to call myself overweight.
~Star Jones

It's National Blueberry Month!

Who knew blueberries were so good for you?! For years I thought of blueberries as a buffet or plate garnish...they looked pretty and added a pop of color but what else were they good for. I never ate too many of them until my nutritionist implored me to give them a try. Eat 3/4 cup a day, he decried.

So I did, and discovered how much I really liked those bitty fruits. Blueberries proved to be versatile: of course added to cereal, part of a fruit salad and stirred into yogurt. But then creativity came into play: adding them to cottage cheese with a sprinkling of walnuts or making a salsa for poached halibut...yum!

The added bonus was how good they were for me, chock-a-block full of antioxidants and vitamin E. Who know? Not me! Hey, munch a handful today for your health, and for just the sheer joy of it!

According to Cynthia Kirkeby, July was proclaimed National Blueberry Month by the United States Department of Agriculture on May 8th, 1999. Blueberries are grown in 35 states in the US, and the United States produces over 90% of all of the blueberries in the world. They have been used in soups, stews and more, for centuries. According to Ark-LA-Tex, the Native Americans taught the pilgrims to use blueberries in many ways. Blueberries were dried in the sun and ground into a powder. The powder was used to make a pudding called Sautauthig, and it was used to season meat as a “spice rub.”



Sautauhig - Blueberry Cornmeal Mush

1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup cornmeal or quick cooking grits
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
2 cups fresh, frozen or canned blueberries or 1/2 cup dried blueberries (see note)

1. In a 2-quart saucepan heat water and milk until bubbles form around edge of pan.
2. Stirring constantly, slowly add cornmeal or grits and salt until well combined.
3. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer, until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in maple syrup or honey until well combined.
5. Gently stir in blueberries.

Yield: about 6 regular servings or 12 tasting-sized servings (about 4 3/4 cups)

Source: The US Highbush Blueberry Council

Confessions of a Closet Eater

My experiment for the last two weeks has yielded big time results!

What was the experiment? To eat only in the company of others, not alone.

The results? A seven-pound weight loss!

Food logs revealed that I was a closet eater....mindlessly snarfing down bags of gumdrops and handfuls of M&Ms...when no one else was around! I work at home out of a home office, so the eternal opportunity exists to eat and eat. And, wow, was I ever maximizing that opportunity...as my expanding waist line could easily attest.

My experiment required that I eat nothing unless someone was else was present, and that eating occur only at the dining table. No secret snacking. No spoonfuls of leftovers while cleaning up the kitchen. No clandestine frig raids. No munching while driving.

This is working well for me...you might want to give it a try to control that mindless eating gremlin that lurks so close to the surface.

And another thing to try...the amazing online food log offered by Nu4You, a San Francisco based nutrition firm owned by Manuel Villacorte. He is shaping me up (and doesn't even know that I am blogging about this!).

Thud...Thud...Plop!

Did you hear that?! That was the sound of me....falling hard off the weight loss lifestyle wagon...again. Let's see, that's how many times? No, let's not count 'em, too dismal, too depressing a number. What's in my favor is that I do eventually climb back on. Sustaining the momentum is the tricky part for me.

I know this sounds totally wacko but it's like there are two women living in my brain.

One savvy gal totally gets it: can quote nutritional info right and left, can assess a proper portion size with the same savvy as sniffing out a fake Chanel handbag, has a heart monitor, has a fitness routine created by a personal trainer, can fill out a daily food log like nobody's business. That gal has her own section of my closet filled with lovely form-fitting clothes that hug her toned body.

Oh, but it's that other gal who is the total bad influence. You know, the kind your Mom told you to stay away from. This gal is a food and fitness slob. She'll down a whole bag of gumdrops and have the nerve to feel virtuous since they are fat-free! She piles on the extra cheese on an extra cheese pizza and takes delight on getting lots of calcium that day. She muffles the shouts of savvy gal with oversize shirts and elastic weight pants. Her voice is the siren song of wicked indulgence, and when she sings, I sing with her and sit on top of savvy gal so we won't hear her shrieks of portion control, too much fat, watch out for the sugar!

Please please tell me, dear friends. Is there an army of evil, wicked chubby bunny twins out there?

Always Placing Myself Last

Why, why, why do women continue to put themselves last??? Why do we perpetually place ourselves at the bottom of the priority list? We know we shouldn't do it, but over and over, time and time again, we put our needs last. Family, work, community -- we make time for them.

All the while knowing, in the back of our mind, that we need to be doing something for "me." Something like exercise. Something like taking the time to chop veggies for a healthy snack. Something like making time to think, to reflect, to plan. Something like reading that good article in Prevention or Health.

I have promised myself over and over to make/take time for me....yet I continue to repeat history and place myself last time.

Has anyone found the magic potion to cure this "I-am-last" disease?!

History Repeats Itself, DagGoneIt!

....but with my tacit permission (which I am loathe to own up to).

Over a month has gone by and I've let my fitness goals slip. No entries in the blog is a sad visible sign. The blue jeans feeling tighter is another sign. The empty gumdrop bag hidden in the trash can is an even sadder sign.

This quote by Samuel Beckett sums up where I am: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. "

Off to try again!

What's a Skinny Sister Got to Do with Bread?

My delightful sister and I are alike in many ways. We're both professional women with families, over-achievers, love to laugh, buy shoes and purses, fiercely independent, long to write a book and enjoy entertaining. The biggest difference between us? About 100 pounds and 10 dress sizes.

My sister is one of those women who, when dripping wet, is a size 4 -- and thinks she is fat. There's no wattle on her neck or upper arms. There's no root beer belly. No pudding thighs. No squish over or under the bra strap. And a piece of bread hasn't crossed her lips in years.

At a whopping size 6 she decided she was simply unbelievably enormous. She declared war on her weight so she could get back to a more acceptable size. (I was in one of my "skinny" phases at the time and thought she had lost her mind. She looked lovely as a size 6...a size I would have killed for. A skinny period for me is size 10-12.) She also declared war on grains and starches, and the war continues to this day.

Declaring war on grains and starches was part of my current diet plan. Hey, if it worked so well and so long for little sis, well, it was good enough for me. That was until my nutritionist blew me out of the water. He assigned, yes assigned or maybe mandated is a better word, that I eat 4 servings of grains and starches a day. I'm taking his word for it since he is the expert.

But those super skinny lovely arms of my little sis and the fact that she has not eaten bread for years and years keeps haunting me. Isn't she on to something? What do you think?