Learning that it's not just about being skinny

I’ll admit it, the one thing I have always wanted was to be skinny. I didn’t care how I got skinny, I just wanted to be skinny and slide into size 8 jeans.  So often in today’s society it’s stressed that you should be thin so you can wear the latest trends or be attractive to the opposite sex but you rarely ever hear the importance of being healthy. Though I do believe because of the organic movement more and more people are starting to think about the foods they eat, I still feel that eating healthy is not stressed enough. It’s more stressed to be thin rather than healthy. The two do go hand in hand because when you start eating more of the healthy, natural foods and less of the toxic foods you are going to lose weight.  It’s simple, more fruits and veggies, less processed foods. (Not gonna lie though, I’m still trying to give up my addiction to Diet Coke. I have gone from drinking it twice a day to maybe once a day. I do try my best to only drink it every other day but it’s so hard. Every time I try to give it up, I’ll go 3 days and then cave on the 4^th day.  Damn that Diet Coke and the crack it has floating in it!)

For me, it wasn’t until I lost about half the weight that I realized I wasn’t only living a thinner lifestyle but a healthier one.  I started to notice that I was getting sick less often. I used to get a cold/flu at least five times a year. These days it’s more like two times a year. I rarely ever have that feeling like “I ate so much I’m going to vomit”, anymore.  And best of all, I just feel healthy.  

It’s not just the foods you eat either! You have to get up and get moving! Exercise is so important in getting healthy. The list of benefits of exercise is so long I could keep you here forever reading it. Exercise is more than helping keep the pounds off, it prolongs your life…it makes you feel mentally healthy as well. I try to workout at least 4-6 times a week. The trick is to find something you love to do. For me, it’s Zumba. I could go to Zumba everyday and be happy but I don’t because you have to have variety in your routine to help ward off boredom and to keep different muscles of your body working.

I absolutely love being thinner but what I love even more is the fact that I eat healthier and have come to enjoy working out. I love that my 2 year old knows all her veggies and will eat them because she sees us eating them. I love knowing that by eating healthier foods and exercising I’m not only going to be able to fit into smaller sizes but I’m warding off diseases like diabetes, heart disease and hopefully cancer.

So, as I sit here on Thanksgiving Eve and blog (By the way, my oh my how life has changed. 4 years ago my biggest challenge on this day was deciding which bar to go to. Now it’s getting my daughter to bed by a decent hour so I can relax and enjoy my evening in my pajamas.) Ok, back to what I was saying….

So as I sit here on Thanksgiving Eve and blog, I am thankful for my beautiful baby, my caring husband, the health of my family and I am thankful for learning that it’s not just about being skinny, it’s about being healthy! Happy Thanksgiving friends!!!

Here’s a super easy and healthy crock pot recipe I make quite often. Courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens: Eat Well, Lose Weight Cookbook.

Spicy Bean and Rice Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

4 Medium green, red or yellow sweet peppers

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 (15 oz) can spicy chili beans or mild chili beans

1 cup Reduced fat Colby Jack or Monterey Jack cheese

1 (14.5 oz) can crushed, diced or stewed tomatoes

Directions:

1.     Remove tops from sweet peppers; set aside. Remove membranes and seeds from peppers. In a medium bowl stir together cooked brown rice, undrained beans, and cheese. Spoon into sweet peppers. Pour tomatoes into the bottom of the crock pot. Place sweet peppers, filled sides up, in cooker on top of tomatoes. Replace with sweet pepper tops.

2.    Cover and cook on low for 6 to 6.5 hours or on high for 3 to 3.5 hours

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 290

Total Fat: 8 g

Saturated Fat: 4 g

Cholesterol: 20 mg

Protein: 15 g

Carbohydrates: 42 g

Fiber: 9 g

Sodium: 848 mg

Weight Watchers points plus: 7 per pepper

TIPS: I always add some hot sauce or taco sauce to my pepper for more flavor and moisture. You can also sprinkle 2 tsp of Reduced Fat Parmesan cheese for added flavor to your pepper.

Revenge of the H-Bombs

The summer before 4^th grade I was living the life of any normal 9 year old girl. Playing with Barbies, watching cartoons, riding my bike and running around outside until the sun went down. Shortly before I was to enter the 4^th grade my mom says to me “I think we need to get you a bra.” “What do you mean a bra?!?!? I’m only 9! I still play with Barbies!”  I was so embarrassed!  So began the making of what I now refer to as “The H-Bombs”. I’m pretty sure I skipped the training bra and went straight to a big girl bra. By the time I was in middle school I was wearing a C cup. You can only imagine how awkward this was for a pre-teen. Horny little boys would “accidently’ bump into me and all the other girls looked normal with their little boobies. In high school I was up to a D cup and pretty much stayed there all throughout. By college, and for most of my 20’s I was a DD. By the time I got pregnant I was a DDD and 2 weeks before I gave birth I measured at a G. Seriously, can these watermelons attached to my chest get any bigger?!?!?!

 I’ve always been pretty self conscious of my boobs but one would never know it. I make jokes about them, I laugh when others make jokes, I don’t hide them behind bulky sweaters, though I don’t flaunt them either. I can’t even tell you how many times I would meet somebody, usually a Male, and they would make eye contact with my chest instead of my eyes! Downright insulting! I never considered getting a breast reduction in my 20’s because I figured I would walk into the doctor’s office and the surgeon would say, “Go home, lose some weight, then come back and see me.” I was just too self conscious about my body. So many women would say, “You’re so lucky.” Thank you for the compliment but no offense, I am not lucky. I don’t really know how back aches, saggy boobs, wearing ugly bras (because the selection of cute bras with full coverage and support for big boobs is non-existent), and wardrobe issues makes me lucky. Oh and I forgot to mention the fact that I have to spend anywhere from $50-$80 on a single bra.

When I started losing weight 2.5 years ago, my boobs SLOWLY started getting smaller. Down went the numbers, 44…40…38…36, etc. However the cup size, well that hasn’t really budged too much.  I am now a 32 H, that’s right an H! They literally are H-Bombs!  So what I have on my hands ladies and gentlemen, is not big boobs because I was overweight all my life, but big boobs because that’s just how I was made. They still get in the way, especially now that exercise has become a big part of my life. Finding a good sports bar is just pure torture, and running, forget about it! I’m just lucky I don’t give myself a black eye when I do jumping jacks! My back aches haven’t gotten any better, almost worse now that I don’t have a thick waist to help support my chest. So now the question is do I get a reduction? My husband says “It’s like slapping God in the face”, that’s his way of trying to tell me “Don’t take my toys away!”  I’m extremely terrified to go under and have surgery performed so we’ll see what I end up doing.  I won’t be making any decisions on that until after we are done having kids. In the meantime, I’ll still hang on to the hope that my H-Bombs will explode and reduce their size with the last 12 lbs that I would like to lose.

FITNESS TIP: According to the American Council on Exercise, The Bicycle is the most effective abs exercise you can do. It helps target the “six pack” and “waist” area.

1. Lie face up on your mat and place your hands behind your head, lightly supporting it with your fingers.
2. Bring the knees in to the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the floor without pulling on the neck.
3. Rotate to the left, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee as you straighten the other leg.
4. Switch sides, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee.
5. Continue alternating sides in a 'pedaling' motion for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.

Dear Weight Watchers, where have you been all my life?

I walked into my first WW meeting exactly a year ago and can honestly say it has been the best decision I have ever made pertaining to getting healthy and losing weight.  I have officially become that person who refers to all food by its “Point Value”. “How many points are in that soup?” “I shouldn’t eat that slice of pie, it has too many points in it.” “Damn, I only have 2 points left for the day.” I am pretty sure I drove my husband crazy in the beginning with this “point” business, but it has become such a norm in our house that even he refers to food as points now. One of the things I love about WW is that it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle (No, Florine Mark did not pay me to type that!). Up until WW, everything I did to lose weight was a diet, a temporary thing. Even though I have a degree in Health Education I never stopped to really think about the foods I was eating, or more importantly, the amount of food. Shortly after joining WW it was like a light bulb went off.  Everything that was being said by the leader and everything written in those WW Weekly books you get as a member made so much sense! “Fill up on fruits, veggies, lean proteins and whole grains.” Duh, I learned that in my nutrition class back at CMU! But, why did it take joining WW for me to finally get that through my food loving brain? Maybe it’s the way they presented the information or maybe it was because I was finally serious and ready to lose weight? Who knows! All I know, is that I was in heaven being able to eat carbs again and still lose weight. And not only lose weight, but feel full and satisfied. Another great thing about WW is that they do a lot of the research for you! You have these handy dandy books that list a ton of popular restaurants and food items. Another awesome feature is the calculator that computes points for you, which can also be found as an app on smart phones. WW really does make it easy but you have to be willing to take a few moments and study. The best thing about spending the last year measuring out all the food I eat, knowing what ingredients are in the foods I eat,  writing it down in a food log and learning what a healthy portion size should be is the fact that it’s with me for life. It’s all stuff I’ve learned and practiced over the course of the last year and when you see results from your hard work it makes it all worth it!

You are probably asking yourself, do I have to join WW to lose weight? My answer is absolutely not! (Florine, is definitely not going to pay me now that I typed that). It’s all about portion control and the foods you eat.  However, if you feel like you could use a refresher on Nutrition 101 and need help being held accountable then you may want to consider it. Weighing in once a week totally holds you accountable! I went to meetings for 6 months and then decided that I could continue to lose weight on my own. However, I made sure I had a friend who I checked in with once a week when I weighed myself at home. Finding someone to hold you accountable is important (I’m sure I will blog about that another day). So, here I am today...137.5 lbs (64 lbs down so far) and I'll admit it, a total Weight Watchers groupie.

NUTRITION TIP: Toast a Deep Chocolate VitaTop Muffin for a healthy, fiber filled, dessert. 3 Weight Watchers Points Plus Value.

At my heaviest

2.5 years later