Take Two

     I fell off the face of the blogging earth, but I'm back to try this again. Needless to say in the time that I wasn't blogging I was busy not getting thinner. I could provide all kinds of excuses for that, but no one wants to hear those, not even me.

      So here I am again trying to get healthier again, but it does feel different this time. Somehow it doesn't feel as difficult or overwhelming as it normally does. I think I owe this to several different things. First, my husband is on a diet as well so being able to eat balanced meals with him at home makes a HUGE difference. Second, my co-workers and I are doing a "Biggest Loser-esque" weight loss challenge. It really helps not having someone ask if you want Chinese takeout twice a week. We are able to keep each other motivated and encourage each other to do the best that we can. Third, I have started working with a Reproductive Endocrinologist in regards to getting pregnant, and I really want to get healthier to help with conception and have a healthy pregnancy. (I find out soon about my glucose screening and bloodwork, so any prayers in regard to those are greatly appreciated!)

     We have been doing our challenge for 3 weeks now and so far I've lost around 10 lbs, which sounds much more impressive (at least to me) when I say that I have lost 3.69% of my body weight. :o) For some reason that sounds so much larger than 10 lbs...... That loss has been mostly due to dietary changes with some walking, but I'm ready to challenge myself a little more with the exercise portion. I actually did some strength training with dumbbells last night, so hopefully I can keep going with that.

     Hopefully I will be updating with more good news next week!!!
 

Why does the reward have to be food??????

   Something has been driving me crazy lately, and it's the linked lives of food and reward. We do something well at work, we get a box of cookies. We meet a goal at work we get lunch (usually pizza or something else notoriously fattening). Someone reaches a milestone we take them to dinner or out for ice cream. Sure these things are meant as treats, but lately it seems like its a constant everywhere I turn. And I also know that the people who dole out these rewards believe that they are doing something nice, and they are, BUT wouldn't it also be nice to just get a $5.00 gift card to wherever?? Or hell, give me a $2.00 gift card.
   Now I'm sure some people I know would say that it's up to me to just not have the treats. And these people are most likely thin people who don't have the food issues I have. These people don't understand the struggle to just not have any. If I could just not have any I'm sure I would be several lbs thinner..... Along with that struggle there is my need to want to save money, and a free meal really appeals to the part of me that's trying to pinch pennies. Why spend $3.00 - $8.00 on lunch when I can spend absolutely nothing!
    And finally if these sound like excuses just remember this.... I'm not complaining Lord I'm just explaining!!!!

Farmers Market Challenge

I went to the Historic West Main Street Farmer's Market yesterday and two things happened. One of them was a fantastic idea and the other was that I made a comment about spinach balls (more to come on those later) to the Mayor before I realized he was the mayor. Nice..... Anway, my idea is that each time I go to the farmers market I'm going to purchase one thing that I've never eaten before. Yesterday's pick was rhubarb. It was the only thing available this time of year that I've never had before so it was a pretty easy decision. The only problem with this is that my only two known uses for rhubarb are pie and preserves, so it didn't seem like the healthiest item to choose. Oh well, it's all about trying new things so I did. I made a rhubarb pie.

It may not be pretty, but it tasted great thanks to the 1 1/3 cups of sugar that were involved....I did do some searching later and came upon a recipe for rhubarb braised chicken thighs that I would like to try to see how it works in savory applications, so hopefully they will have some more next week. But for now here is the recipe I adapted for Rhubarb pie.

Ingredients:
2 pie crusts ( I used the premade ones)
4 cups rhubarb (chopped)
1 1/3 cups sugar
6 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 tbsp. butter

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Mix together the sugar and the flour until well combined.
• Place first pie crust in the bottom of the pie plate and sprinkle with 1/4 of the sugar flour mixture.
• Fill with the chopped rhubarb and then cover with the rest of the sugar flour mixture.
• Dot the top with the butter then cover with the second crust.
• Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake on the lowest rack for 15 minutes.
• Turn down the oven to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 45 minutes.

Fat People are Stupid

     I feel like people often assume many, many things about people who are fat. Some commonly held stereotypes are that fat people are stupid, lazy, smelly, poor, or do nothing but eat all the time. There are lots of things wrong with all of those statements, but for my first post I wanted to focus on the notion that fat people are stupid.

     Don't fat people know that if they just stopped eating so much they wouldn't be fat? Fat people must be stupid because you would have to be to know you are making yourself fat and keep doing it right? Um, wrong. Making the issue that black and white negates all of the many factors that contribute to someone becoming, and possibly staying, overweight. If asked I could create a meal plan that any nutritionist would no doubt be thrilled with. I read magazines dedicated to health and can spew off facts about diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and superfoods. The disconnect comes when taking that meal plan and applying it to my life AND ensuring I wouldn't abandon it for the amazing General Tso's at the restaurant right next to work. So please stop believing fat people are stupid, it only makes YOU seem ignorant.