My Chunky Blog

Well, my computer crashed and I ended up moving also. We’re in Montana now. The best part of living in Montana is that we are in an apartment and now I can stock up on food. On the boat we had very little storage space to store food and I found I was shopping every couple of days. In the apartment, I only have to shop once a week. I get the fliers from the stores and plan my shopping according to what is on sale. This week we had chicken and pork chops. Potatoes were also on sale for $1.99 for a 10 pound bag. I am going to make frozen mashed potatoes with them.

Frozen mashed potatoes

Boil the potatoes like you were going to make normal mashed potatoes. For 5 pounds of potatoes, add one cup of sour cream instead of milk. Add 1 stick of butter and any seasonings you like. Let them cool and then put them in freezer containers and freeze.

To make the potatoes once frozen, take them from the freezer and microwave them. This usually takes a little while. I usually start by microwaving for 5 minutes. Take them out and check on them. They will start looking watery and pretty scary. Just stir them and continue microwaving. When they are heated all the way through they will look like normal mashed potatoes and taste just as great.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I’ll be posting left over ideas later this week so keep an eye on the blog. I always have the problem of overeating on Thanksgiving (and any other holiday too). I found that grabbing a smaller plate helps to keep this at bay. A smaller plate will make it look like you have more food than you really do. Be careful not to keep going back for more. Stick with one plate. If you must have seconds, pick a healthier choice, like vegetables and try to only eat one dessert choice. Make it a smaller serving too.

If you completely bomb on this and eat your bodies weight in food, don’t worry. You can always start again the next day. It isn’t the end of the world. It’s a holiday, so don’t beat yourself up over it.

This year, I’ll be eating at my parents house with family. My sister-in-law, Megan, and I will be the ones cooking. So you probably won’t see a post from me for Thanksgiving day but I will update the day after.

Until then, have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving

Dotchi

I started this blog with “I am going to post every day!” running through my head. But yesterday was tummy hell. I woke up to Tuesday nights dinner kicking my butt all the way to the bathroom. I had to convince myself not to hurl and spent most of the day eating bland food for fear of re-tasting it an hour later. I wasn’t a happy camper. During one of my visit to the porcelain gods, I had an idea of what to post here though. So the day wasn’t completely lost. And I caught up on sleep so I felt better this morning.

Are you eating enough fiber? Yes, that was my idea for a topic. You didn’t think I was going to brag about the benefits of puking up everything you ate for the last 3 days, did you?

So, back to fiber. Are you eating enough? You should! Fiber is good for you in many ways but the best is that it keeps your poopy pipeline moving nicely. Anyone who has ever been constipated knows how miserable it can make you. They probably also learned the benefits of fiber very quickly. I know I did. So how do you get more fiber?

Eat a salad! They are good for you. I don’t want to hear any complaining! Eat salad.

Eat more whole grains like, brown rice and whole wheat bread.

I can’t tell you the wonders of Raisin Bran cereal. When I was a naughty teen and snuck out at night to goof off with friends, we usually ran to the nearby parks… like a bunch of idiots. After all, if you sneak out of your house at night, going to a well lit park where every cop driving by can see you, is pretty stupid. Well, this one friend of mine, we’ll call him Adam, brought some raisin bran cereal with him to much down on a bowl while we… uh, swung. Yea. That’s it. We were swinging.

Anyway, he munched down on his hearty cereal of bran flakes and raisins. If we were smarter, we would have known that aside from hanging out in the middle of the night in well lit areas, bringing a heaping bowl of fiber with you and consuming it would be the next stupidest step. Within 20 minutes Adam jumped up with a look of abject terror and sprinted off through the trees toward home.

We finally caught up to him back at the house, along with his wide awake parents standing on the porch waiting for us. I guess when nature calls, scaling a wall, balancing across some roof beams and climbing back into a window just won’t do. He used his key and woke everyone in the house.

The moral of the story? For optimal health, be like Adam. Except for the sneaking out of the house and going to a well lit park in the middle of the night. I mean, eat your fiber.

I was reading Becca’s Buzz  and this week the topic is sure to get our taste buds working overtime! You may have more than 5 for this specific meal, just pick from your faves to share try not to drool onto your keyboards! Be sure and leave a comment on Becca’s page so she knows you participated.

Fresh fruit!

Top on my list of favorite things to eat for breakfast is fresh fruit. Whether it be an orange, apple, banana or peach; fresh fruit is is a great way to start your day! Fresh fruit is part of a healthy diet and always gives me energy. The book Skinny Bitch suggests eating fruit before anything else or on an empty stomach. So eating fruit at breakfast just makes sense to me.

Oatmeal

I love oatmeal. It is filling and can be prepared so many ways. My favorite oatmeal is peanut butter oatmeal. Just add a tablespoon of peanut butter to your hot steamy oatmeal and enjoy a breakfast that will keep you full until lunch! I only need to take two bits and I am stuffed!

Trio Bars and Lara Bars

Trio and Lara bars are delicious for busy mornings. They are fast and convenient in that they are already made and they come in a variety of flavors. My favorite Lara bar flavor is Pecan Pie and my favorite Trio bar flavor for breakfast is Strawberry. If you haven’t tried these yet, you just MUST.

Yogurt or Smoothies

Yogurt comes in so many flavors that you might have a hard time deciding what flavor you want for breakfast. My favorite is strawberry banana! If I want a little more, I can add it to a blender with ice and fresh fruit and touch of honey for a travel friendly drink. Just pour it in a cup and drink as you go!

Eggs and Bacon

It’s the best breakfast I can think of for a weekend. Eggs can be prepared so many ways. Boiled, poached, scrambled, over easy or made into an omelet. The bacon can be served on the side or in the egg. For those of my friends on a low carb diet, this is the best breakfast and the most versatile.

Now that you know my favorite five, tell me yours!

I refuse to weigh myself every day! I am not going to ruin my every morning by stepping on a devise that will announce “Dang! You’re fat!” Nope nope nope! I won’t do it. And you should not do it either. Why? Because that number you are seeing is not the important thing. Yes, it is a helpful tool. But, let me tell you a story:

My husband joined the Navy and went off to boot camp. When he entered boot camp, he weighed 192 and wore a size 36 waist pants. They ran them, made them exercise and made them eat healthy and did whatever it they do in boot-camp.  When they finished six weeks later he wore a size 34 (or was it 32?) so he definitely slimmed down a lot. Two or three manly pants size is something to be proud of. When he stepped on the scale for the last time before leaving, he weighed… drum roll please… 192 pounds.

Every time you lose fat, you will lose weight. But if you gain muscle mass, which weighs more than fat, you will either gain weight or stay the same. So while you are standing there sobbing over the Krispie Kreme Donut counter, just remember that if you are the same weight, you might be slimming down anyway.

Stop looking at the number so intensely and look at how your clothes are fitting. If they are fitting better or if you lose a pants size, then who cares what that number is!? Start worrying about your clothes, not your weight.

Here are some easy steps that you can use to help you get off the scale!

Hide your scale!

Put up your scale and only take it out once a week or every other week. Make a date with your scale. Tell yourself this is a happy occasion.If your number goes down, cheer! If your number stays the same or goes up, Flex your muscles and be proud. Prance around yelling “I AM HERCULES!”

Your next outfit

Pick out a pair of pants, a shirt or something else that you can barely get into. Hang it where you will see it. A lot. Make it a lovely wall hanging in your living room, hang it from the fridge, do whatever you need to make sure you see it. When you weigh in each week or every other week, try it on and see how close you are to your goal.

Get Real

About goals: Don’t pick a goal that is unrealistic like “I’m going to lose 30 pounds this month!” Pick something real, like “I’m going to eat healthier and walk more.” The weight (like I said above) is not your main goal… it’s slimming down. Try for something like “I will be 1 size smaller by the end of next month.” Get real. That fat did not find you overnight. It’s not leaving over night. I can’t stress this enough… SLOW AND STEADY!

Say CHEESE!

Take pictures of yourself. Quit being so camera shy! You don’t have to post your pictures for every one to see it. Stuff them in your sock drawer, hide them in the back of your Bible… just take a picture. Wear something that is not loose and baggy. I am not saying to wear only undies… but you will want to see from week to week and month to month where you are losing weight and how you are starting to slim down. I’ll be posting my pictures here. You can hide yours. If you don’t have a trusted friend to snap photos for you, stand in front of a mirror with your camera. No cheating! Turn on the lights. Come on! It’s not the end of the world. You can do it!

If you won’t listen to me…

If you simply cannot follow my advice you feel the need to weigh yourself daily, Click Here for Weight Commander. It is a program where you can enter your weight every day and it will show you trends. I gain weight on Tuesdays, for example… and lose weight and Saturdays.

I stopped entering my weight daily. I enter it weekly now. It’s nice to see the line sliding down but I am happier with the weekly entry so that I don’t obsess.. And it has a nice feature for women only also. I never realized how much weight I gained during my monthly curse until I used this program. The first time I went in to adjust my weight for my period, I noticed I had gained nearly 20 pounds during that week and that it all dropped off by the end of it. Gives you something to look forward to, Ladies

PLUS… there is a panic button. If you weigh yourself daily like I did, you’ll be using it a lot like I did. Not to worry though, that panic button holds lots of great advice. This program has so many perks you just have to try it. Read the linked page for all the wonderful stuff and send Micheal Marder a huge thank you if you love it.

Support

This is one of the hardest things to do alone. Find some support. If you don’t have support, email me and I’ll see about starting a yahoogroup for it or something like that. I love helping others help themselves.

Most importantly, if you are not losing weight and you have tried everything, see a doctor to make sure you don’t have a condition that is keeping the weight on. You need to check with your doctor before you change your diet or start an exercise program of any kind. Don’t beat yourself up if the weight clings to you. Keep going! You will get there one day!

Since I am telling you to post pictures, I ran into the bathroom and snapped a couple with my cellphone, cropped them and changed it to black and white to hide my blotchy skin. Here they are for you to oogle over.

It is small, but it is a picture!

From My Chunky Blog Photos

This is my next picture… I tried to make it a little bigger for you.

From My Chunky Blog Photos

Don’t make me do this alone! Go snap a picture. Hey, at least your picture isn’t going to posted for the world to see! Leave a comment when you have your picture taken!

Until Next time,
Happy Health!

Welcome to Today.com. This is my first post. I am just the coolest thing since cool whip! I know you are probably thinking that cool whip isn’t the cool… but I disagree. It’s a lovely topping to most desserts and the best part is that it can go with almost any diet. Maybe not Vegan, fruititarian or raw… but I did say almost… The regular version comes with only 25 Calories, 2 carbohydrates and 1.5 grams of fat. Who could ask for a better sweet tooth calmer?

For a snack place a dollop on your plate and enjoy! Or you can freeze it and make Cool “ice cream” Whips. Mixing in a pureed strawberry or a few slices of mashed banana makes a delicious flavored popsicle! And if you like, drizzling a small amount of chocolate over top makes a yummy chocolate treat. And all without killing your diet!

I am trying to lose weight and this has tamed my sweet tooth many times! If you want, you can follow this blog to watch my struggle with weight loss. It should be fun. Go ahead! We’ll laugh together. I can laugh at myself. You better laugh at me also! If I can’t laugh at myself, I’d sit down and cry.

So here are my ugly stats:

Height: 5’9”

Weight: *cough* in pounds. Oh fine! 240 last time I checked.

Diet: None really, just trying to eat healthy.

What else do you want? My butt is big. Does that help? I’ll try to get some courage to post pictures soon. Until then… Happy Health!