Food – Page 3 – Yoga Pants Diary

November 26, 2014

Thinner Thanksgiving #4

Thinner Thanksgiving Tip #4: Be reasonable, Be Thankful

Let’s be reasonable. You know what you need to do tomorrow to be successful. Lighten up where you can, be active where you can and watch your portions. But tomorrow, give yourself a break! You probably won’t do perfect; you will probably eat something you didn’t mean to; you might even feel over full after the meal. However, it’s THANKSGIVING! Enjoy the company and do the best you can with the food. I think if you have a plan before going in, you’ll probably do fine!

If you have shared your diet plan with friends and loved ones, they will be watching you and what you eat tomorrow. If you are toward the beginning of your journey, people will be looking to see if you can do it. If you’re in the middle or end like I am, people will be watching to see how to do it! Use your new health plan as a talking point so that you’re keeping it at the front of your mind but also just enjoying the day. People will expect you to fail, show them you can do it!

Also tomorrow, don’t forget to be thankful. I’m not talking about the regular list of being thankful for friends and family. This year, celebrate and be thankful for your own health. Tomorrow morning, you’ll find me and my reluctant hubby, at a special 9 am workout that my gym is holding. (If you are in the Denver area, Cole Fusion Fitness, 11th and Bannock, 9:00 am!) I’ll be thanking my body by putting it through what is sure to be an insane workout. Why? Because 2 years ago I could have never done something like this! Thank your body for it’s health!

I won’t be posting tomorrow, as it is Thanksgiving. Good luck with your holiday and staying on track. Remember, it isn’t about the food, it’s about the company. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

November 25, 2014November 25, 2014

Thinner Thanksgiving #3

Thinner Thanksgiving Tip #3: Laugh…A LOT!!!!

Today we are on the less seriously side of Thanksgiving. While I do think it’s important to keep calories, activity and portions in check on Thanksgiving, it’s also…..THANKSGIVING! It’s a holiday meant to be spent with family, friends and loved ones. Today is a great day to kind of forget about your serious dieting and see how you’re naturally eating. Just keep it in check.

Time spent with loved ones can be just as rejuvenating and good for your health as a quick stop at the gym. It’s a holiday, give yourself some wiggle room and just enjoy the day. I am concerned about my ability to let it go and focus on the fun of the holiday. This isn’t my first thanksgiving in my new lifestyle, but I’m still worried that I won’t be able to let the food aspect go. I’m going to try my hardest!

There’s definitely something to be said about your mindset on Thanksgiving. I have to say, I’m nervous. I’ve been super careful in all the days leading up to Thanksgiving just to give myself some wiggle room. Have you ever heard that statistic that “People gain between 5 and 10 pounds over the Thanksgiving holiday?” I’ve hear it all the time but I was curious whether that’s actually true. First, what time frame are we talking about? So I looked it up.

Here’s what I found: I read several different sites on this and it is only true for the extremely glutinous! In a few studies there were extreme outliers that did gain upwards of five pounds. However, the actual average is a pound or two. Here’s two of the sites I read:

CNN Mental Floss

So here’s the point of today’s post: Celebrate and Laugh. Try to enjoy your holiday without focusing on every single morsel of food. Fill your plate with what you know you can have and just let it go. Enjoy the time for what it is: Giving Thanks.

Here’s visual of what laughter can do for you!

PS – Don’t forget to thank all of those around you that are helping you on your journey. I myself have a few cards and bottles of wine that I’ll be giving out!

November 24, 2014

Thinner Thanksgiving #2

Thinner Thanksgiving Tip #2: Watch your portions.

Now I know we all know this one. It’s one of the easiest way to visually recognize your calorie intake. However, on Thanksgiving, we tend to go over board even when we know we shouldn’t.

I will be taking a little bit of all the normal fixings at my thanksgiving. However, I won’t be taking as much as I really want. I’m going to follow this cool guide I found here.

I know that stuffing and green bean casserole are my weakness. Know what you are going to struggle with before the meal. So I know how much I can take and not get out of control. Also, especially watch your snacking! This is where it is easy to rack up calories without thinking about it. If you are the chef, try not to taste as much as possible. If you’re the guest, watch out for the cheese tray and dips! I avoid dips like the plague because I love them and can’t limit myself so I try to have none. If you are showing up as a guest and you are worried about the appetizers they might serve, I always bring a fruit and veggie tray everywhere I go. That way I know there will be something low-cal that I can stuff in my face when I really want a cookie.

Don’t forget to eat breakfast! Never, ever skip breakfast on Thanksgiving day. A lot of people skip it thinking they will be eating so much later that saving these calories now is a good thing. NOT TRUE. Eat breakfast so you aren’t picking at all the dips and apps before the meal has begun. Trust me. Not smart.

November 23, 2014

Thinner Thanksgiving #1

Thinner Thanksgiving Tip #1: Lighten Up!

Thanksgiving is soooo indulgent that there are easy areas to skim on calories that you won’t even notice. (And no one else will either)

Sour Cream – I still eat sour cream even though I know I could switch it for other things. I like it on baked potatos and on chicken nachos……However, on Thanksgiving, you’ll be eating so many different things that cutting this out makes a big difference. Use plain regular or Greek yogurt instead! It’s just as creamy and delicious I swear. If nothing else, at least buy fat free.

Butter and Oil – I understand that some recipes, especially those of the dessert variety, need butter as a molecular component to cook correctly. In those instances, I would look it up. I’m not always sure here. However, resist putting excess butter on top of already buttered items. I buy unsalted butter all the time and use it for everything. If you naturally use salted, here’s a great chance to cut down on a lot of sodium! If you can use other things than butter, do it. I just don’t know what they are 🙂 I think fruit puree?

Salt – Salt is delicious. I was on a low sodium diet for a few years while living in my parent’s house due to an illness in the family. So I don’t really have an issue with sodium and cutting it out. However, I do get salty cravings sometimes! The easiest way to cut out salt at this meal is (unfortunately….) what you brine your turkey in. I usually use salt, apples, oranges, cranberries, onion and herbs. This year I’m going to cut way way down on the salt and see what happens.

Rolls –I know I know I know. Bread is awesome. However, a buttered roll can cost you easily 350 calories. So for a lot of people, this can make it or break it. How many of us have more than one???? I will be having rolls, but just one at my thanksgiving feast. Why? Because I work out and I can! So if you are like me, go for it! If they are really big, just do what I do and steal half from someone else.

Don’t make it! – If there is a dish you don’t think you can handle eating way too much of……don’t make it. If there is a dish you could kinda care less about but it’s “tradition” but nobody really eats it…….don’t make it! I won’t be making sweet potato casserole this year. I only make it because I feel like we have to and I don’t really care. So I’m not going to. I’m pretty sure Pilgrim Police won’t show up at my door. Just saying.

To makeover a few Thanksgiving favorites:

October 9, 2014

Small Things

I have written about small changes several times now and even did a full post including a calorie count. You can read it here: It’s the small things. While I was exploring Pinterest, a favorite past-time of mine, I ran across this chart:

I lost most of my weight in the beginning by making small changes like you see above and the weight DID come off and DID add up quickly. Even though I have gone through it, I was still shocked by the amount of weight you could lose in a year with small changes like these. By the way, if you add them all up, it adds up to 90 pounds.

Now, I don’t know the source of this chart. I don’t know if it is made by medical professionals or Joe Schmo in his basement. However, from my experience the chart is actuate and attainable.

To explore my pinterest, click the P at the top of the page to see what I have pinned or start your own account!

October 6, 2014

Emotional Eating……

This was TOTALLY me today. All day I felt irritable with the world. I just had one of those days where it felt like I should have never left the house. I felt hungry ALL day. I felt like I thought about eating food 98% of my day. I thought about candy and melted cheese several as if they were a mirage and I was in the Sahara.

I have to say that while I never ate any candy, I did eat at Taco Bell tonight. 710 calories worth, you know I checked. So it’s true. I’m not perfect nor should you ever imagine that I am. Everybody needs to just eat the meal they are dying for, within reason, sometimes. Everything in moderation of course. **Footnote: I ate Taco Bell after going to Body Rock class at the gym where I was pretty sure my triceps were just going to melt away. I mean seriously, how many push ups does a girl need in her life? How many squats is too many squats? Are you sure that’s not going to kill me? I hear Frankie saying somewhere: It won’t kill you. You can do another! NAMASTE!

To be clear: other than usual work stress I am not going through some sort of emotional trauma. I just have normal woman-hate-the-world-syndrome. But today I just couldn’t make a better choice and I think that’s ok too. Sometimes life just happens. Since I know how many calories I burn in a Frankie Class, I know how many I can eat. Granted, I also have to account for the high sodium content. I believe that as long as I’m being honest with myself about where I am and my choices, it will be moot. Now this isn’t about forgiving my poor choices like they don’t matter or reasoning with myself because I feel guilty. When I have a takeout meal nowadays, I’ve already made sure that I’ve balanced it with something else. I’ll always wish I ate less fast processed food no matter if I do once a year.

During my weight loss journey over the last 16 months (holy cow, really?!?) I feel like I have: 1. Decreased my fast food intake by 70 – 80%, 2. Figured out what to eat when I DO eat fast food, 3. Understand the pit falls and errors when eating fast food. (Possible future blog? Look for it.) So while I do wish I never had the craving for fast food, it’s inevitable for me. And if you have a problem with the hunger beast who is quiet for the first time all day, you can deal with her.

September 23, 2014

Hungry in the Morning

I have never been a big breakfast eater or really feel motivated to eat in the morning. I usually never felt hungry and would feel full and heavy when I ate in the morning. I didn’t know this was abnormal.

A month into my gym membership the owner, Frankie Cole, sat down with me to talk nutrition. He knew my fitness and health goals and wanted to give any advice about my eating habits. I had recorded what I ate for two weeks and then we looked at it together. One of his first questions was: Are you hungry when you wake up in the morning? I said, “No. Who is?” without missing a beat. He apparently is hungry every morning the minute he wakes up. Here’s how he explained it:

Any calories you eat at the end of the day when you are done with your usual activity (may it be daily work or a late night work out) you are not going to burn many calories. You do not burn calories while you sleep. Therefore, if you eat a huge meal at the end of the day and dessert, you’re body doesn’t burn those calories and they just sit there. Through the night, your body then considers them ‘left over’ calories and stores them. If you eat a light meal for dinner and cut off your eating at a certain time, you’ll wake up hungry the next day.

This took me a long time to figure out and agree with. I decided to cut my eating off at 8:30 since I’m usually in bed at 10:00 or so. After a few days, I would wake up hungry in the morning. My morning meal then helped to fuel me for the morning instead of making me feel heavy. Turns out Frankie was right. I now wake up hungry or get hungry within the first 30 minutes of waking up. It helps me get started and on track for the day. Some mornings I’ve even planned what I’m going to eat that day before my feet hit the floor. It gets me focused on my choices right away.

Are you waking up hungry? Are you wanting to eat breakfast? If not, then look at how you are eating at night. This will definitely help with weight loss!

September 7, 2014August 27, 2015

It wasn’t worth dying for.

I have posted a lot of different reasons for changing the way I eat, exercise and basically saved my life. So here’s a list all in one convenient place. I encourage everyone to make their own lists and write it out with a writing instrument that makes you feel like a kid. Just because it will make you smile! Trust me on that.

10. Seats – I was embarrassed when I couldn’t fit in seats. Now, I would say that I did fit in the average seat 80% of the time. Movie seats, most restaurant seats, and chairs found in the average home were fine. However I could not fit in roller coasters, barely air plane seats, bus seats were uncomfortable, and booths were usually awkward. It was embarrassing to ask my husband to pull the table toward him. I was sick of it. It made me feel huge to not fit where I was supposed to fit. Was I really that big? Uh…….yes apparently. Duh.

9. Food – When living in such an incredible place like Denver (whoop!!) you get exposed to a whole new palate of food compared to living in the Midwest. I kept finding that I was unsure or didn’t like most of the awesome ‘local trends’ because my palate was akin to grease, ranch dressing, and milk shakes. (In case you haven’t noticed I will be observing the Oxford comma in this post. Why did it have to die? Back to the point.) So basically I was missing out on entire pages of menus and new fad restaurants because they didn’t serve food like you’d find in the MW. And how do the states rank on the Healthiest in the US scale? Colorado is 8th healthiest. Illinois is 30th. So yeah. Again I have to go with Duh.

8. Run – I live in a big(ger) city now and in this big(ger) city weird people are everywhere and weird stuff happens. Dan and I got into an altercation one night when a guy was trying to get into our building. I had been going to the gym for some time and I was able to defend myself easily. Before I don’t think I could have done anything. So I wanted to be able to run if anything ever happened that was seriously bad. You just never know. Paranoid? Probably but Denver has some seriously weird people. It’s the best place ever!

7. Clothes – When you are plus sized, you can only shop at so many stores. All of these stores seem to carry the exact same items, in the same fabrics, and often times even in the same colors. I wanted to wear things I saw other girls wearing. I couldn’t even find boots that would fit my midwestern-corn-fed-morbidly-obese-calves. Regular was too small and extended calf was too big. I wanted to wear things I saw on pinterest and even make my own clothes because I’m a super huge dork. Do you have any idea how much money you save when buying fabric for a body that’s 45% smaller? You guessed it, 45%. Ha!

6. I didn’t care – The long here-s-a-little-hint-i-don-t-care er I’m an adult the longer I realize that high school never ends. And in this said high school that we are all calling life, I decided I was done caring what people thought. I know this sounds backwards. Why would I lose weight if I stopped caring? Well, I was mostly terrified about losing weight because I knew my skin was already screwed. I gained my weight in batches that hung in weird places on my body. As I lost the weight, I knew those places would deflate and hang. More on how I feel about my skin another day…..back to the point. I decided I didn’t care how I looked when I lost weight. When you feel like you can accept what you’re going to look like after you lose the weight and you don’t look like a Victoria Secret model, it makes it easier. This is something you have to learn to do several times throughout your journey.

5. Health – I know what you’re thinking. 5???? Number 5 is health???? Shouldn’t it be higher or maybe even number 1? The fact is that I am fortunate enough to have so many other things in my life that are worth more than my own health. My number one goal was always to get healthy, not nesccessarily skinny. There are lists and lists of diseases and health risks associated with obesity. You can see them HERE if you are unaware, but in this day and age I don’t know a single overweight person that doesn’t know MORE about being heathy than a skinny person. I knew the risks and decided they weren’t worth it. I had been fairly lucky so far and I didn’t want to Press My Luck! (No whammies, No whammies!)

4. Time – The older I get, coming up to the big 3-0 this year, the faster time seems to go. Months fly by like I remember weeks or days going as a child. Holidays are less exciting but, being a teacher, I still live for summer breaks. Each day I get to spend about 2 hours with my husband before the bed calls our name. When I look at my life, I just want more time. I could no longer live with the fact that I would most likely die early for such a dumb reason as obesity. By controlling my obesity, I am able to get more time on this Earth to spend with those that I love.

3. Baby Maybe – The hubby and I are hoping to have children soon. We have always planned on having children in our lives. When I got diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome my dream of having children was all but out the window. One of the most successful cures of PCOS is to lose weight. If I couldn’t give my child a healthy environment for the first 9 months, what could I hope to give them after that? I want my child to crave healthy foods and not ask for a Happy Meal for dinner each night. In order to do that, I had to make sure I was showing them the model of a healthy lifestyle.

2. Dan – Of course Dan ranks high on the list. As I said above, I want as much time with Dan as I can get. He is my best friend and my absolute partner in life. How could I continue to make these choices when they would inevitably cost me my life with him. I wanted him to have a wife he was proud to carry on his arm. I 100% know that Dan loved me at every weight. He always wanted me to be healthier for myself but never pushed me to lose the weight. I gave him a list of things I needed him to do for our marriage. He accomplished everything on that list to ensure our future family together. In turn I promised I would get healthy. It took me a few years but I kept true on my promise. I’m now proud to be his wife and feel like we are a much more equal partnership.

1. It wasn’t worth dying for – In the end, this is my number one reason. Eating Big Macs and brownies is NOT WORTH IT. In the moment of consuming a Big Mac, it seems like not such a big deal. And of course, one high fat and sodium meal once in a while is fine. However, I was consuming meals like this on a consistent basis. In the end, 10 minutes of pleasure for that meal is not worth dying for. NONE of the reasons on this list were worth dying for. When I die, I want my headstone to say something like the picture above, not “She really loved french fries.” Really take a look at yourself and how you are treating the only body that you will ever get. Most people don’t consider that their diet could kill them. In this day and age we blame cigarettes, drugs, cancer and heart disease. However, being a healthy weight eliminates or drastically decreases your chances of TONS of different diseases. IT’S NOT WORTH IT.

September 3, 2014

It’s the Small Things

When I started my weight loss journey, I never intended to lose 125 pounds. I knew I was over a 100 pounds over weight according to the BMI chart. I NEVER considered that getting to healthy weight was an option for me. I could only focus on 10 to 20 pounds at a time otherwise the mountain seemed insurmountable. Each time I got to my next goal, I just wanted to keep going.

In the beginning, small choices are definitely the way to go. Small choices each day add up to a lot. Here’s some changes that I considered ‘easy’ because of my natural eating habits. Some of these might seem impossible for you. If so, switch it for something that DOES seem possible. Below are some cuts I made that I would have naturally eaten otherwise. See how it adds up:

Monday: Skip bread on sandwich at lunch (save 150 calories), baked chips for regular (save 100 calories), fruit instead of cookies (save 200 calories), sugar free popsicle instead of ice cream after dinner (save 200 calories)

Tuesday: veggies and hummus instead of chips (save 150 calories), flatbread homemade pizza for takeout (save 400 calories), espresso and half and half instead of a latte (save 150 calories)

Wednesday: half a bagel instead of full (save 200 calories), salad for lunch instead of a sandwich and sides (save 300 calories), Skinny Cow candy instead of a candy bar (save 150 calories)

Thursday: Diet pop instead of regular (save 300 calories), single cheeseburger instead of a Big Mac (save 500 calories), applesauce for dessert instead of cookies (save 150 calories)

Friday: A wrap instead of deli sandwich (save 250 calories) ground turkey tacos instead of beef (save 250 calories), banana and peanut butter instead of dessert after dinner (save 200 calories)

Week’s Total: Saved 3650 CALORIES! WHAT?

For those of you wondering, there are 3500 calories in a pound. So with simple switches like those above, I was able to drop at least a pound a week in the first phase of my weight loss. My body was so full of sugar, grease and gunk that I instantly had more energy and would get hungry before the next meal. These were all things I COULD do so I wouldn’t focus on the things that I thought I couldn’t. For those also wondering, here’s what a pound of butter looks like:

Think about what it feels like to look at that picture above and realize that’s what you LOST this week by making simple changes. Now imagine 5 or 10 or 20 of those. Crazy Right?

August 15, 2014March 29, 2015

Changes Are Coming

Hey guys, today will be my last DAILY post for a while. I’m hoping to keep posting twice a week but I will be going back to teaching full time starting Monday. With it brings a lot of anxiety for me. I, of course, am very anxious to meet the kids and am unsure how the year will go. I’m also anxious about getting back into a routine for eating.

I have to say, I thought I would do much worse over the summer. I’ve lost 12 pounds over the summer but my real goal was to hopefully not gain! At the start of summer I was really nervous about not having an eating schedule and being stuck in the house. Of course my eating schedule varied from day to day but I made sure to stay active throughout the summer. With so many birthday parties, cook outs and events, it was often hard to stay true. BUT I proved to myself that I could do it. While I was hoping to be at my optimal goal weight by the start of school, I don’t think that was ever realistic. My weight loss has slowed A LOT since the beginning and it’s true that the last pounds are the hardest by far.

I am excited to get back into an eating schedule. I’m a very orderly person and like having a schedule. It’s hard for me in the summer to be motivated to do my regular ‘stuff’ when I have all the time in the world to get it done. School provides an easy eating schedule as I can only eat at my designated times. I’ve already scheduled out when my snacks and meals will be in my day. Even though I’m sad that summer has come to an end, I’m happy to have the stability of school back. Have you set an eating schedule for yourself? Do you work in both snacks and meals during the day? Take a look at when and how you’re eating and try to make just one easy change a day!