. . . I would certainly have them after doing the Sit Tight video by Richard Simmons!
What was he thinking? More specifically, how did the choreography by Anne Czarkowski pass muster with any medical expert? Perhaps it didn't - maybe these videos aren't observed by anyone in the medical field before release? Being a video for the handicapped I assumed it would be.
Anne is one of Richard's trainers in his gym, Slimmons. She's the tall blonde front and center in the first Sweatin' to the Oldies video, and has been with Richard since the opening of the gym, I believe. The Sweatin' videos, which even Richard has admitted lately while on the publicity tours, are still the fan favorite, even at 20 years of age. Perhaps that's because the woman who choreographed them, Dorain Grusman, made sure that the moves were easy enough for everyone of every fitness level to do, that they were repeated enough times that people could do them right instead of changing steps every 4 beats, like this, and many of the other newer (past 10 years) videos of Richard's. Heck, some of the steps changed in a 2-count!
And so fast! I always watch an exercise video before doing it, and this one made my head spin. 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2 and stop, video's over. Huh? I'm still trying to figure out what the heck the move was 10 steps ago!
I realize a video for people in wheelchairs has to focus on upper body work, but do with a bit more slowly and safely, okay? People's necks were whipping around so fast I thought they would get whiplash! And the arm flailing! I thought I was in a revival meeting at times! I can't do those moves with my neuritis and osteoarthritis without harming my neck and back. I need this video to be slowed down to at least half the speed. His original video for the handicapped, Reach for Fitness, not only was do-able sitting or standing by people of any fitness level, but the moves were much slower and simpler to do. If my old tape didn't break I would still be doing that one on my achy days. This one can only be done on days I feel in tip-top shape.
Another $20 tossed into the garbage in the futile pursuit of fitness, another $20 in the pocket of the weight loss industry. I wonder what the return policy is like? When I returned the BlastOff set back to QVC a few years ago I got every penny back, as they had a no questions asked return policy. I hope Richard has one, too. Nope, "damaged or defective" merchandise and replacement product given. Oh, well.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Only 210 More Minutes to Go for the Week
All these studies coming out that say nope, a low cal diet isn't going to do the trick if you want permanent weight loss. What you really need is to exercise yourself into a frenzy. Oh, and if you want the weight to stay off? Well, then you're going to have to keep increasing the amount of exercise you do each day until eventually you'll have to exercise aerobically 18 hours a day (The last 8 hours your body needs to rest or your brain explodes, or use those hours to do weight work and build those muscles up, fuck mental health). You an also eat starvation level calories while doing all this until you'll eventually won't be able to eat any food at all without gaining weight, as your metabolism will have slowed down to keep up with all the exercise.
The more and more I read and just observe as I go through life, the more I realize the only way to be thin is to be born with the right set of genes.
Sure, there are those rare reports - so rare that these people get magazine articles written about them - who lose a hundred or more pounds and keep the weight off, usually until the article gets published. Those are the people who were born at a normal weight, normal to thin their entire childhood and young adulthood, gained weight after some event in their lives - childbirth, medical problem, certain medications, injuries, etc. - and as soon as they started exercising again or stopped eating 10,000 calories of food each day went back to the size they were before the event. The people who were born fat, were fat as children - even while on very low calorie diets throughout very active childhoods - and their young adulthoods will stay fat into their old age, no matter what food plan they follow, no matter how much exercise they do. It's been proven time and time again. Read any weight loss message board or blog and you'll find thousands of us, some who are still trying to lose weight in their 70's and have been trying since their childhoods.
Anyway, all this leads me to this thread on the McDougall forums. How do people do it? How can they get in a few hundred minutes of exercise every week and still have a life? Or joints? I pull a muscle doing a Richard Simmons stretching tape that others have said put them to sleep and have dislocated my shoulder doing a toning video of his. Leslie Sansone's WalkAerobics videos now aggravate my sciatica, and for a long time I couldn't do them - or even walk too far in "real life" - because of Achille's tendinitis and plantar fasciitis. I once blew my knees out falling off my bike, and I was in my 20's back then, and three times broke my left wrist while on roller skates.
I was very active as a child, always running, climbing, biking, playing ball, and since we had no car, walking every where I wanted to go. Our school had calisthenics in the schoolyard every morning for at least 15 minutes before the bell rang and again before the bell after lunch. Gym class brought more formal exercise, and because I was fat, my parents had me do workouts with Jack LaLanne every morning before school and repeat them again after dinner (Yep, on a full stomach. Well, as full as it gets on 1000 calories a day, which is the diet I was on for just about every year of my childhood, from toddlerhood through adolescence and continued into my adult life with the occasional dip into the 800's when the doc and my mom got frustrated because I wasn't losing). I stayed fat. When I hit high school and no longer had the time to do all that exercise, and PE class consisted not of calisthenics but sports and the President's Physical Fitness Test, I did gain a bit of weight, but not that much, probably 20 pounds, mostly because I was rebounding from yet another stint at less than 1000 calories and going through puberty (which didn't hit until the winter of eighth grade).
I was an active young adult, first working as a nurses aide (now known as health assistants or something) while going through nursing school, then as an LPN working the occasional 16 hour shift in ICU-CCU, while going to school for my RN and degree, then working as an RN, still doing the occasional double shift, but also running a household and caring for my m-i-l who had Alzheimer's and leukemia. And this was when hospitals weren't as automated as they are now. We washed bedpans, we shook down mercury thermometers, we hand-cranked beds and flipped mattresses every day, we delivered all the patient food trays, lifted them in and out of beds without hoists or lifts. Nursing was very demanding physical work! Not like it is now in the two hospitals I recently visited people at. Not only was everything electronic and computerized, but nurses, even the aides, no longer did a lot of anything physical. Lifts and hoists to move patients, bedpan wrappers so when the patient is done you just tie off the plastic bag, specialty people coming in to do things the nurses used to do themselves. In one hospital the nurses didn't even give out meds, there were med technicians who did all that. The nurses mostly stayed in the nursing station working on computers. What happened to nursing care? The gentle reassuring touch that told the patient everything is going to work out all right?
I lost all train of thought. All I remember about it now is that there always were fat people, there always were skinny people, and no matter what one does, there really isn't any way to turn one into the other permanently. Just take what you got and be happy with it.
The more and more I read and just observe as I go through life, the more I realize the only way to be thin is to be born with the right set of genes.
Sure, there are those rare reports - so rare that these people get magazine articles written about them - who lose a hundred or more pounds and keep the weight off, usually until the article gets published. Those are the people who were born at a normal weight, normal to thin their entire childhood and young adulthood, gained weight after some event in their lives - childbirth, medical problem, certain medications, injuries, etc. - and as soon as they started exercising again or stopped eating 10,000 calories of food each day went back to the size they were before the event. The people who were born fat, were fat as children - even while on very low calorie diets throughout very active childhoods - and their young adulthoods will stay fat into their old age, no matter what food plan they follow, no matter how much exercise they do. It's been proven time and time again. Read any weight loss message board or blog and you'll find thousands of us, some who are still trying to lose weight in their 70's and have been trying since their childhoods.
Anyway, all this leads me to this thread on the McDougall forums. How do people do it? How can they get in a few hundred minutes of exercise every week and still have a life? Or joints? I pull a muscle doing a Richard Simmons stretching tape that others have said put them to sleep and have dislocated my shoulder doing a toning video of his. Leslie Sansone's WalkAerobics videos now aggravate my sciatica, and for a long time I couldn't do them - or even walk too far in "real life" - because of Achille's tendinitis and plantar fasciitis. I once blew my knees out falling off my bike, and I was in my 20's back then, and three times broke my left wrist while on roller skates.
I was very active as a child, always running, climbing, biking, playing ball, and since we had no car, walking every where I wanted to go. Our school had calisthenics in the schoolyard every morning for at least 15 minutes before the bell rang and again before the bell after lunch. Gym class brought more formal exercise, and because I was fat, my parents had me do workouts with Jack LaLanne every morning before school and repeat them again after dinner (Yep, on a full stomach. Well, as full as it gets on 1000 calories a day, which is the diet I was on for just about every year of my childhood, from toddlerhood through adolescence and continued into my adult life with the occasional dip into the 800's when the doc and my mom got frustrated because I wasn't losing). I stayed fat. When I hit high school and no longer had the time to do all that exercise, and PE class consisted not of calisthenics but sports and the President's Physical Fitness Test, I did gain a bit of weight, but not that much, probably 20 pounds, mostly because I was rebounding from yet another stint at less than 1000 calories and going through puberty (which didn't hit until the winter of eighth grade).
I was an active young adult, first working as a nurses aide (now known as health assistants or something) while going through nursing school, then as an LPN working the occasional 16 hour shift in ICU-CCU, while going to school for my RN and degree, then working as an RN, still doing the occasional double shift, but also running a household and caring for my m-i-l who had Alzheimer's and leukemia. And this was when hospitals weren't as automated as they are now. We washed bedpans, we shook down mercury thermometers, we hand-cranked beds and flipped mattresses every day, we delivered all the patient food trays, lifted them in and out of beds without hoists or lifts. Nursing was very demanding physical work! Not like it is now in the two hospitals I recently visited people at. Not only was everything electronic and computerized, but nurses, even the aides, no longer did a lot of anything physical. Lifts and hoists to move patients, bedpan wrappers so when the patient is done you just tie off the plastic bag, specialty people coming in to do things the nurses used to do themselves. In one hospital the nurses didn't even give out meds, there were med technicians who did all that. The nurses mostly stayed in the nursing station working on computers. What happened to nursing care? The gentle reassuring touch that told the patient everything is going to work out all right?
I lost all train of thought. All I remember about it now is that there always were fat people, there always were skinny people, and no matter what one does, there really isn't any way to turn one into the other permanently. Just take what you got and be happy with it.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Longevity Soup
Five ingredient recipes are beloved by everyone, and if they follow the rules of The McDougall Plan, so much the better. Dr. McDougall has a nutritionist in his employ named Jeff Novick. Now, not everything Jeff says is 100% McDougall, like his insistence on people popping their daily foods eaten into something called the CRON-ometer, a nutritional information database developed by the CRON - Calorie Restriction for Optimal Nutrition, the people who believe that eating a super-low calorie diet prolongs life, which, ironically, is a higher calorie diet than what most doctors put their fatties on. He wants you to make sure your daily foods cover all those micronutrients, like selenium and folic acid, and that the calorie count stays fairly low - he insists normal healthy adults can live on 1200 to 1500 calories a day, even have enough energy to bike a few hours and do an hour or more of other aerobic exercise. Dr. McDougall, in every one of his books, tells us not to count calories or go bat-shit checking every little nutrient, that as long as we eat a diverse diet within his guidelines we have everything covered except for B-12, and for that he recommends a B-12 injection every three years.
But one of the things Jeff did that I do agree with is post his file of 5-ingredient recipes. Today's soup comes from that file. He calls it Longevity Soup.
Longevity Soup
1) 1 can whole tomatoes, 1 can pureed
2) Your favorite beans (I use kidney or garbanzo)
3) 1.5- 2 lbs of Your favorite frozen veggies plus 1 lb of frozen collards
4) Your favorite starch (potato, sweet potato, rice, barley) cooked separate then added
5) your favorite seasoning (I use fresh ginger, garlic)
I used a bit more tomatoes - 2 giant cans of crushed and a 15 ounce of diced. I added a small bag of mixed frozen vegetables as well as 2 giant chopped carrots and spinach instead of collards. Instead of adding a starch into the pot I'm making a loaf of bread to go with the soup. And garlic. Plenty of garlic. I also added 2 giant cans of water. It looks and smells fantastic!
The bread, on the other hand, has more ingredients than the soup. It's a new-to-me recipe and I'm making it for the first time, so let's see how it goes, shall we? I'm omitting the oil and using dried parsley and celery flakes and had to add a bit of liquid (I used water) to moisten the dough as it kneaded.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Veggie Bread
Recipe By :Sandra L. Woodruff
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : ABM breads Whole Wheat
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
1 teaspoon yeast -- instant, bread machine
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon oil -- or lecithin granules
1 tablespoon honey -- or barley malt
3/4 cup buttermilk -- non-fat, OR
3/4 cup non-dairy milk and 1 teaspoon
vinegar
1/4 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup celery -- finely chopped
2 tablespoons green onion -- finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley -- minced
Put everything in your machine according to the manufacturer's
instructions, on the whole wheat setting if you have one.
Source:
"Smart Bread Machine Recipes - Healthy, Whole Grain, and Delicious"
Copyright:
"1994"
Yield:
"1 pound"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving: 97 Calories; 2g Fat (14.8% calories
from fat); 4g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 1mg
Cholesterol; 178mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0
Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
But one of the things Jeff did that I do agree with is post his file of 5-ingredient recipes. Today's soup comes from that file. He calls it Longevity Soup.
Longevity Soup
1) 1 can whole tomatoes, 1 can pureed
2) Your favorite beans (I use kidney or garbanzo)
3) 1.5- 2 lbs of Your favorite frozen veggies plus 1 lb of frozen collards
4) Your favorite starch (potato, sweet potato, rice, barley) cooked separate then added
5) your favorite seasoning (I use fresh ginger, garlic)
I used a bit more tomatoes - 2 giant cans of crushed and a 15 ounce of diced. I added a small bag of mixed frozen vegetables as well as 2 giant chopped carrots and spinach instead of collards. Instead of adding a starch into the pot I'm making a loaf of bread to go with the soup. And garlic. Plenty of garlic. I also added 2 giant cans of water. It looks and smells fantastic!
The bread, on the other hand, has more ingredients than the soup. It's a new-to-me recipe and I'm making it for the first time, so let's see how it goes, shall we? I'm omitting the oil and using dried parsley and celery flakes and had to add a bit of liquid (I used water) to moisten the dough as it kneaded.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Veggie Bread
Recipe By :Sandra L. Woodruff
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : ABM breads Whole Wheat
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
1 teaspoon yeast -- instant, bread machine
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon oil -- or lecithin granules
1 tablespoon honey -- or barley malt
3/4 cup buttermilk -- non-fat, OR
3/4 cup non-dairy milk and 1 teaspoon
vinegar
1/4 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup celery -- finely chopped
2 tablespoons green onion -- finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley -- minced
Put everything in your machine according to the manufacturer's
instructions, on the whole wheat setting if you have one.
Source:
"Smart Bread Machine Recipes - Healthy, Whole Grain, and Delicious"
Copyright:
"1994"
Yield:
"1 pound"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving: 97 Calories; 2g Fat (14.8% calories
from fat); 4g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 1mg
Cholesterol; 178mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0
Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
It All Comes from Eating Too Much
Remember that line from Winnie the Pooh? Rabbit says it to Pooh after he gets stuck in the rabbit hole. I, like Pooh, love to eat. I'm not that much of a honey-lover, but give me a ring of kielbasa and mashed potatoes and I'm in culinary heaven.
Mmmmm, kielbasa!!
(Gee, remember the episode of Scrubs when Dr. Molly Clock, played by Heather Graham, uttered those famous words?)
I think I know what I'm making for our anniversary dinner tonight. We pretty much decided against pizza last night. Right now we have so much leftovers in the refrigerator that we'll still be eating them over the weekend, so my husband suggested instead of making our traditional anniversary pizza tonight we'll work on the leftovers. At the time I agreed, but I don't want leftovers! Come on! 31 years of marriage and we celebrate it with leftovers?!?! If he doesn't want pizza, fine, but maybe phallic shaped meat would be more symbolic. I'll concede defeat with the leftover bread.
Yes, I am a food lover. I eat when hungry; I eat when happy or sad; I eat when nervous or relaxed; I eat to celebrate or to mourn. But mostly, I eat because I love the taste of the food. And what's so wrong about that?
So tonight we celebrate. If we're lucky, besides celebrating Thirty-one-derful years of marriage, we'll celebrate getting the kid's ultrasound results (Yep, still waiting) and getting our Rosie back from the garage without too big a dent in our credit card (Still waiting for that, too). Unlike 31 years ago, we'll be celebrating with our son and will most likely spend the night like every other night - watching Jeopardy, 21, then popping a DVD in the machine, maybe Kung-Fu Panda or hey, what about a Dr. Clock episode of Scrubs?
Mmmmm, kielbasa!!
(Gee, remember the episode of Scrubs when Dr. Molly Clock, played by Heather Graham, uttered those famous words?)
I think I know what I'm making for our anniversary dinner tonight. We pretty much decided against pizza last night. Right now we have so much leftovers in the refrigerator that we'll still be eating them over the weekend, so my husband suggested instead of making our traditional anniversary pizza tonight we'll work on the leftovers. At the time I agreed, but I don't want leftovers! Come on! 31 years of marriage and we celebrate it with leftovers?!?! If he doesn't want pizza, fine, but maybe phallic shaped meat would be more symbolic. I'll concede defeat with the leftover bread.
Yes, I am a food lover. I eat when hungry; I eat when happy or sad; I eat when nervous or relaxed; I eat to celebrate or to mourn. But mostly, I eat because I love the taste of the food. And what's so wrong about that?
So tonight we celebrate. If we're lucky, besides celebrating Thirty-one-derful years of marriage, we'll celebrate getting the kid's ultrasound results (Yep, still waiting) and getting our Rosie back from the garage without too big a dent in our credit card (Still waiting for that, too). Unlike 31 years ago, we'll be celebrating with our son and will most likely spend the night like every other night - watching Jeopardy, 21, then popping a DVD in the machine, maybe Kung-Fu Panda or hey, what about a Dr. Clock episode of Scrubs?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Half Asleep
I wish my doctor would believe me when I tell him my thyroid is low and I not only need another lab test but an increase in my meds. I'm so tired I'm napping every afternoon and still falling asleep in front of the tv, some nights as early as 7 pm. I can't do the amount of exercise I need to do, even want to do, because I get part way through and experience severe muscle aches and tiredness as well as loose my "umph." Exercise isn't effective if you're just going through the motions without putting any effort into it. But the doc says I've been stable for 3 months and he feels there's no need for a test, no need for a med increase. Although even LabCorp finally dropped the reference range, my doc is one of those who feels any TSH level under 10 is fine and dandy. It doesn't matter if a patient has a TSH as low as 1.x and still feels like shit. His prescription is to eat less and exercise more. He gave me the same orders when I first complained about my chronic fatigue and hypoglycemia 25 years ago. Ah, an old story on this blog, not worth rehashing again.
Our main car, a 1996 (?) Toyota Corolla, is still at the garage as they try figure out why the brake lights stay on even though the brake isn't being depressed and the headlights aren't turned on. They already changed all the fuses and did a few diagnostics, but I guess it's going to take a while. A few years ago our other car, a Toyota Camry Wagon LE, had rear lights that wouldn't light, the opposite problem. It took four different garages before the cause was found and even then it was only partially fixed - the lights now come on but the inside light doesn't. That was the car that was hit twice in the left front bumper as well as was involved in the fireball when it was parked next to the garage when the gas station we had it at (for those electrical repairs) exploded. Aside from a few minor dings and discoloration in the back tinted windshield from the heat of that of that fire in 2003 the car is going as good as new.
Soup and homemade bread for dinner yesterday and today again. Butternut squash soup and bread yesterday, minestrone soup and sun-dried tomato bread today. Tomorrow is our 31st anniversary - pizza!
Gotta go get my Amazon order in. MXC discs 4 and 5 finally came out today, as well as Scrubs season 7. I still didn't finish watching season 4 on DVD. As soon as those discs were delivered the episodes started playing in constant rotation on Comedy Central. But MXC - a.k.a. Most Extreme Elimination Challange? We've been waiting for these discs for ages and will watch them at least a dozen times, then start with season one and watch them all over again.
Our main car, a 1996 (?) Toyota Corolla, is still at the garage as they try figure out why the brake lights stay on even though the brake isn't being depressed and the headlights aren't turned on. They already changed all the fuses and did a few diagnostics, but I guess it's going to take a while. A few years ago our other car, a Toyota Camry Wagon LE, had rear lights that wouldn't light, the opposite problem. It took four different garages before the cause was found and even then it was only partially fixed - the lights now come on but the inside light doesn't. That was the car that was hit twice in the left front bumper as well as was involved in the fireball when it was parked next to the garage when the gas station we had it at (for those electrical repairs) exploded. Aside from a few minor dings and discoloration in the back tinted windshield from the heat of that of that fire in 2003 the car is going as good as new.
Soup and homemade bread for dinner yesterday and today again. Butternut squash soup and bread yesterday, minestrone soup and sun-dried tomato bread today. Tomorrow is our 31st anniversary - pizza!
Gotta go get my Amazon order in. MXC discs 4 and 5 finally came out today, as well as Scrubs season 7. I still didn't finish watching season 4 on DVD. As soon as those discs were delivered the episodes started playing in constant rotation on Comedy Central. But MXC - a.k.a. Most Extreme Elimination Challange? We've been waiting for these discs for ages and will watch them at least a dozen times, then start with season one and watch them all over again.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Thanksgiving Already?
It's coming very soon. The first harbinger was all the sales in the grocery store and the "seasonal" aisle filled with pumpkin pie fixings and stuffing boxes. Then yesterday's newspaper had photos from the annual testing of the Macy's Parade balloons. And of course, all the Christmas commercials on tv and songs on the radio. Last night my fingers got twitchy and I almost pulled out my Brian Setzer Christmas album! Ack!
All this means I have to seriously start thinking about what we're going to eat that day. My husband said pizza, the kid prefers burgers or mac & cheese, I wouldn't mind a traditional turkey dinner but nobody wants dried out meat, so I suggested Bryanna's soy and seitan vegan turkey loaf, but my son wants nothing to do with either tofu or seitan and my husband reminded me that it makes a three pound loaf and only 2 of us would be eating it.
So, I may just do what I did other years and make up a bunch of side dishes. Everyone enjoys mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted carrots and Brussel sprouts, peas, stuffing, and biscuits. I might even make up that mac and cheese. Yeah, who needs a dead bird.
All this means I have to seriously start thinking about what we're going to eat that day. My husband said pizza, the kid prefers burgers or mac & cheese, I wouldn't mind a traditional turkey dinner but nobody wants dried out meat, so I suggested Bryanna's soy and seitan vegan turkey loaf, but my son wants nothing to do with either tofu or seitan and my husband reminded me that it makes a three pound loaf and only 2 of us would be eating it.
So, I may just do what I did other years and make up a bunch of side dishes. Everyone enjoys mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted carrots and Brussel sprouts, peas, stuffing, and biscuits. I might even make up that mac and cheese. Yeah, who needs a dead bird.
The previous post asked if I will ever get back to 100% McDougall compliance, and I can honestly answer "No."
Life is too short, food tastes too good.
I live to eat, not eat to live. If all I wanted to do was eat to live I would eat the protein/enzyme slop they fed Neo in the Matrix movie. I go out of my way to find new recipes, to try new foods, to avoid repetition in my meals. If I'm served a bland meal, I'll finish it, but look around for something different to eat also, Dr. McDougall recommends eating bland foods and chosing the same 5 or so meals to serve over and over, to avoid stimulating the taste buds. I go bonkers eating the same things three days a week - pizza on Friday, spaghetti on Saturday and burgers on Sunday. I purposely make my pizza different every week, choose a different sauce and protein addition to the spaghetti, and different burger toppings, just to mix it up a bit. I don't even like eating the same "holiday" foods each year and have had Thanksgivings where we had mac and cheese and pizza on Christmas, just to avoid getting into a food rut.
I've found that no matter what food plan I choose to follow, my weight stays about the same. Looking over my off-line journals I've been within the same 10 pound weight range for almost 20 years. One year I was up 20 - that was the year I first injured my neck and had foot problems, both of which resulted in not being able to exercise or even *move* without pain. Two years later I was down 20 from where I am today, but that was the result of a starvation diet, eating 800 calories or less each day and still not being able to exercise as much as I had prior to my injuries. To this day I still can't do much exercise without injuring myself, aggravate an old injury, or cause a CFS flare-up which would put me in bed for a week. My weight isn't back to my all time high, just to where it was before I hurt my neck. I go up and down 10 pounds, sometimes within the same month. It's not going anywhere so I really should just accept it and not obsess over it, but after 55 years of weight loss diets, it's hard to stop.
Life is too short, food tastes too good.
I live to eat, not eat to live. If all I wanted to do was eat to live I would eat the protein/enzyme slop they fed Neo in the Matrix movie. I go out of my way to find new recipes, to try new foods, to avoid repetition in my meals. If I'm served a bland meal, I'll finish it, but look around for something different to eat also, Dr. McDougall recommends eating bland foods and chosing the same 5 or so meals to serve over and over, to avoid stimulating the taste buds. I go bonkers eating the same things three days a week - pizza on Friday, spaghetti on Saturday and burgers on Sunday. I purposely make my pizza different every week, choose a different sauce and protein addition to the spaghetti, and different burger toppings, just to mix it up a bit. I don't even like eating the same "holiday" foods each year and have had Thanksgivings where we had mac and cheese and pizza on Christmas, just to avoid getting into a food rut.
I've found that no matter what food plan I choose to follow, my weight stays about the same. Looking over my off-line journals I've been within the same 10 pound weight range for almost 20 years. One year I was up 20 - that was the year I first injured my neck and had foot problems, both of which resulted in not being able to exercise or even *move* without pain. Two years later I was down 20 from where I am today, but that was the result of a starvation diet, eating 800 calories or less each day and still not being able to exercise as much as I had prior to my injuries. To this day I still can't do much exercise without injuring myself, aggravate an old injury, or cause a CFS flare-up which would put me in bed for a week. My weight isn't back to my all time high, just to where it was before I hurt my neck. I go up and down 10 pounds, sometimes within the same month. It's not going anywhere so I really should just accept it and not obsess over it, but after 55 years of weight loss diets, it's hard to stop.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Spending Like There's No Tomorrow
Unfortunately, it's all stuff we need. Fortunately, all of what I ordered helps lower my grocery store bills.
First was my twice-yearly Mail Order Catalog spending spree, where I bought more vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, cHreese, and a few pieces of Primal Strips. This replaces all the meat and cheese (and boxes of mac & cheese) in our house. I know Dr. McDougall is against soy-based meat substitutes because of the isolated soy proteins and plain old protein itself, but with my hypoglycemia I need to have readily available protein foods when the shakes hit, something that can be carried in my purse or coat pocket. It's better than grabbing a Slim Jim, right?
Next was Spices, Inc., where I stocked up on dehydrated tomatoes, peppers, and a few other items. Great for tossing into pizza dough to add flavor and nutrition, and some times the only veggies I get into my boys.
Then came something for mama that would help her eat less, further reducing grocery store bills. Another exercise video from Richard Simmons, Sit Tight. On days my arthritis and sciatica act up I use that as an excuse not to do any workout, not even Mindful Movements. Now I'll have a workout specifically designed to be done from a chair for those painful days.
Lastly, my annual SAF yeast order from the King Arthur catalog. I adore this yeast and nobody in my city even sells it in those expensive little packets, much less in bulk. Our city fathers banned warehouse stores, too, so even the cheaper brands are unaccessible without an hour's drive, so each year I order 2 pounds and keep them in the freezer.
With winter rapidly approaching, not to mention another Depression, I'll feel much better once my pantry is stocked up again.
First was my twice-yearly Mail Order Catalog spending spree, where I bought more vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, cHreese, and a few pieces of Primal Strips. This replaces all the meat and cheese (and boxes of mac & cheese) in our house. I know Dr. McDougall is against soy-based meat substitutes because of the isolated soy proteins and plain old protein itself, but with my hypoglycemia I need to have readily available protein foods when the shakes hit, something that can be carried in my purse or coat pocket. It's better than grabbing a Slim Jim, right?
Next was Spices, Inc., where I stocked up on dehydrated tomatoes, peppers, and a few other items. Great for tossing into pizza dough to add flavor and nutrition, and some times the only veggies I get into my boys.
Then came something for mama that would help her eat less, further reducing grocery store bills. Another exercise video from Richard Simmons, Sit Tight. On days my arthritis and sciatica act up I use that as an excuse not to do any workout, not even Mindful Movements. Now I'll have a workout specifically designed to be done from a chair for those painful days.
Lastly, my annual SAF yeast order from the King Arthur catalog. I adore this yeast and nobody in my city even sells it in those expensive little packets, much less in bulk. Our city fathers banned warehouse stores, too, so even the cheaper brands are unaccessible without an hour's drive, so each year I order 2 pounds and keep them in the freezer.
With winter rapidly approaching, not to mention another Depression, I'll feel much better once my pantry is stocked up again.
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