Tea

One of my favorite weight reducing tips is drinking tons of herbal tea. When I am eating to excess, and not thinking about eating healthy, I seldom pick up a cup of tea. But, when I am concentrating on eating good whole foods, and managing my portion control, tea becomes my new friend. There is something peaceful and comforting to it. When I sit down to read, or work at my computer, I love to pour a cup of hot tea to join me. When I was younger i would have a glass of wine at night after work. As I have gotten older, I find that the wine not only makes me too tired, but it makes me too complacent to make good food choices. Drinking a hot cup of herbal tea instead is a suitable replacement because it is not only relaxing, but it adds zero extra calories. I've even been able to get my husband to join me!

Breakfast

Back to the business of weight loss:

For me, the most important meal when trying to get back to losing weight is breakfast. Breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day. Even though there are some "experts" that advise making breakfast your biggest meal of the day, they obviously are  not people with a "fat" brain. Sure, I can see the logic of having a large meal in the morning, and a small snack for dinner. You have all day to burn off the calories. But, unfortunately, that is not how we fat people roll. Eat a big breakfast and that means you've "ruined" it for the rest of the day. You might as well eat everything in sight and start again tomorrow. For me, if I eat a healthy low calorie breakfast, I am much more inclined to eat a healthier lunch. Then,  if I am 2 for 2, dinner can go either way. If I am prepared, dinner usually turns out to be a success also.

Cotton Candy

This is a picture of a plate of cotton candy served at Sammy's Wood Fire Grill. Is it possible that dessert options like this is what helps to create our obesity problem in the United States? Granted, the pretty pink mound of sugar sitting atop the plate like a billowing cloud of sweetness did attract me for a half a second; but really?! Who could possibly eat that much sugar and feel good afterwards? Evidently, the people at the next table! I'm just glad I had the sense to stay away.

Emotional Eating

I have learned two things about myself during this whole weight loss process.

1)      I am an "emotional eater".

2)       I am very emotional.

Basically what this translates to is……… I have fallen off of the wagon.  (Rolled off, if you will.)  I let good times, bad times and any time interfere with my weight loss goals.

When celebrating happy events, it’s hard not to combine the celebration with food and drink. During sad or stressful times, I mindlessly eat.  I use the excuse that I deserve some bit of happiness.  Often, during those times, I just don’t care anymore.  This is not to say that being thin is an impossible task for me. It’s just taking longer than I had hoped.  I need to recommit. I will get my weight loss books out again and move forward. By the way, my dear husband made this delicious spaghetti for me. How could I hurt his feelings and not eat it?

 

Mandoline

I have owned a mandoline slicer for about 5 years. I tried to use it when I first got it, but I couldn't figure it out and then I forgot about it. The other night when Lynn made the beautiful radish appetizer using her mandoline it reminded me to try using it again. I spent about an hour last night trying to put it together. I gave up and went to bed. Throughout the night I kept thinking of different ways to put it together. Finally, this morning I tried it again. Voila! Success! I started slicing all sorts of fruits and vegetables. They taste different when sliced thinner. I'm excited because it is making me want to find new ways to eat my vegetables. Here is a picture of my mid morning snack. Radish salad with a hint of aged balsamic vinegar.

Chicken Soup

I attempted to resurrect the chicken soup this morning. I skinned the chicken, removed the bones, added a carton of chicken broth, sliced carrots, onion, parsley, celery, and more spices to the slow cooker. I thought for sure that I was going to come home to a great meal. I didn't. It looked like a big pot of watered down broth. I then added two passilla peppers. Unfortunately, this didn't help much. I called cousin Costa in Charleston  for advice. After a few politically incorrect Democratic jokes, I was no closer to dinner than before. He suggested corn starch as a thickener, but I decided to try to salvage it on my own. In a  separate  pot I added orzo, with a teaspoon of butter. After I browned it, I added a small can of V-8 juice.  When it softened I added it to the soup. The last words from Tony, before he fell asleep, after eating 3 bowls of soup was, " that was the best soup I have ever had."

Roast beef and Arugala

Yesterday I started the day with the intention of creating a low fat chicken soup for dinner. I put a couple of chicken breasts with bones in a pot of water. I added carrots, celery, onion and spices. I simmered it all day. At about 4 in the afternoon, I realized it wasn't going to pass the test with Tony. It looked like a light chicken broth  that should be served to a convict on death row, not a hard working husband. I quickly went to Whole Foods and bought a couple of delicious sandwiches. I decided to postpone the chicken soup for another day.