What's for dinner?

I was asked what foods I ate while losing weight. Here are some of the foods I eat each week:

WATER! its getting hot out, check if you're thirsty before you check if you're hungry.

1. "Crystal Light PURE" there are a few flavors (lemon, berry). They taste SO MUCH BETTER than regular Crystal Light (YUCK!) Easy to carry in car or diaper bag.

To save money, I make at home: 8 cups of water + 1/4 cup sugar + 1/4 cup Lemon juice from a bottle = 6 points per day, and ALL of my water. 

2. I'm weird, I like plain carbonated water. Most people think I'm crazy. Arrowhead makes a raspberry lime carbonated water that is like $1.19. 

3. Coffee Bean "No Sugar Added" Vanilla powder in my decaf instead of milk and sugar. It's fast, tasty, and then I'm not over pouring milk into my coffee.

GOOD FATS, be less hungry:

1. Carl's Jr has a Guacamole Turkey burger that is less expensive than their other stuff, and a few hundred less calories. I LOVE GUACAMOLE. It wont stuff you full like a regular burger, but you won't be hungry for a few hours. 

2. Also, Avocado: eat your healthy oils every day, it will make you feel less hungry. I never feel like I'm dieting if I get to eat avocado every day. I share with the boys (helps them poop), and that keeps me from eating the whole darn thing myself.

3. Emeralds Cocoa Roasted Almonds. Its an extra point for the cocoa, but I'm sick of plain almonds. If you're still hungry after one serving, it's actually time for a meal, not just a snack ($5 at Target. expensive, but tasty, easy to keep in the car, and fill up the the lid - it is a serving-size of almonds).

4. Almonds: plain are gross, roasted are usually also salted. If you look, in some stores you can find roasted unsalted almonds, I really like those. 

FRUIT Make a smoothie at home:

Costco frozen fruit, $10 per bag. I like the berries best, here is the smoothie I usually make:

1 1/2 cup berries,
1/4 plain greek yogurt (greek yogurt is VERY filling, but it tastes and has texture like sour cream - so dont expect it to taste like Yoplait).
2 splenda, or even 2 sugar.
a squirt of lemon juice (complements the berries VERY nicely)
water (enough to make it blend to the consistency you like, I make mine thick like sorbet and eat it with a spoon).

When you feel like it, add a spinach leaf or two: it makes the smoothie smell earthy, but not taste too different. Also, I make my smoothie thick. William calls it ice cream, I pour some into a dixie cup for him.

If it's the end of the day, and I haven't had healthy oils yet, I put two teaspoons oil in my smoothie (can't taste it).

FIBER is filling:

I tend to need a lot of fiber (to make up for the stupid milk habit). Costco sells giant 2-packs of bread (we do almost all shopping at costco) I get white bread for the boys and ian, and I get high-fiber bread for me in their 2 for $6 pack. I forget the name but one of them has 2-3 grams more fiber per slice than the others (healthy nut or multigrain or something, the wheat isn't that high in fiber).

Peanut butter and breakfast cerial are high in sugar and calories, without being filling at all: I started making Egg Mc Muffins at home. I got a plastic thing for microwaving eggs, I use it EVERY MORNING. I make a 3-egg muffin, and I took out one yolk at a time, until I liked eating the eggwhites. I eat the muffin with mustard, and Canadian bacon. My BFF can't stand eggwhites without yolks, she'd rather buy egg beaters. She (cooks for 7) mixes egg beaters with regular eggs to cut back on yolks.

After losing weight, what do I do next?

I gained 30 lbs after my first kid from postpartum depression and medication side effects. It took me three years, but I just lost the last pound. Most of the weight loss came from figuring out WHY I was eating (to meet unmet needs), and then just kicking my dairy addiction. I honestly thought I'd never reach that goal.

The work wasn't over when pound number 30 disappeared. Thirty pounds is kind-of-a-big-deal. And yet, I can still look in the mirror and feel unhappy. Its time to tackle the other reasons that I'm not comfortable in my body, since "fat" isn't rational anymore. What the hell have I been so afraid of for so long? I'm tired of thinking I'm too weak, too ugly, too manly, too old, or too unimportant to take care of Me. I'm tired of telling myself "I'm not" and I can't."

I've learned a few things even after all of this weight loss:

1. "This isn't fat, its FLAB!" Even the larger muscles that used to be easy for me to build are pretty flabby now. I need to exercise! Uggh! My two least favorite words are 'exercise' and 'practice.' I need to find an activity and a goal that don't feel like the E word or the P word.

2. "Zumba isn't exercise!" I've been doing Zumba for the last 9 months. I suck at dancing, but I can go to a Zumba class and pretend that I can dance. The moves don't hurt my joints at all. Just don't tell my brain that I'm doing cardio, I'm enjoying the serotonin from the adrenaline rush! I've gotten the hang of all the steps, but couldn't bring myself to add in the requisite loose tank-top and butt-shaking.
I need to get over myself and deal with all of the reasons I don't feel feminine enough to dance the ways that women all over the world have been dancing for centuries. - Its not exercise; its an organic antidepressant prescription and butt-shaking group therapy!

3. "I (used to) <3 Pilates." Its pretty easy for me to lift weights, but it doesn't take long for me to bulk up like a man! The toughest muscles for me to build have always been the smaller support muscles, but my knees, ankles and wrists stop hurting when the small muscles are developed enough to support my frame. Pilates tones all those shapely, feminine muscles. Its not like I'm already dead; my frame still needs that support, and I should still like Pilates...  I haven't done a Pilates class since 2003 at Cal Poly. I started Pilates back up this week; it has been 10 years, yay me! - I (have always and will always) <3 Pilates!

4. "I should have listened to my brother 10 years ago." He's been a personal trainer, and a yoga instructor. I finally went to a yoga class. I'm not "old," I've just neglected my flexibility! The instructor who just told me to burn my abs for 40 minutes is now instructing me to lie down and close my eyes for the last 10 minutes; well, she's the boss! The nap is actually restful since someone ELSE is watching the kids at the gym daycare. -Go the gym for a group nap.  What a perfect way to make sure I take care of ME. W00t!


I smell a new goal in there somewhere! Time to identify that goal and plan out how to get there.

Excuse me, have you seen my soap box?

In the last three years, I have slowly lost 30 pounds; people are starting to notice. Friends have started to ask me diet, and exercise questions When someone asks me a question, my answer usually ends up being a thousand-word email. I have found that diet and exercise questions are usually just therapy questions in disguise. It is time to stop crowding my friends in-boxes, and start posting this stuff in a blog. Welcome!