Movin slow today

 Hello everyone!  It's been a week.  What am I saying it's been a month!  What topped off this stellar (not) month was this past early Sunday morning when I'm struck out of the blue with excruciating chest pain.  Greater than labor and that's saying something.  After taking my first nitro, nothing, took second nitro and called 911.  Husband goes out to meet them.  I'm taken to the hospital.  3 total nitros and nothing happens.  That is nothing gets better.  It took a shot of morphine to get the pain to subside.  3 hospital days, 1 (once again) clean cath, and just for fun a cardiac MRI later; I finally find out what's wrong with me:  Myocarditis.  Myocarditis is a viral inflammation of the heart.  This one was possibly brought on by my bout with Covid.  What this means is that while I was feeling this horrible pain, my heart was just beating away like nothing was wrong.  So no damage to my heart.  The inflammation was what I was feeling.  As an aside here...ahem.  My cholesterol was THE LOWEST IT'S EVER BEEN!  Sorry.  Just had to throw that in there.

This time I have answers at least.  I can hear the Pro-maskers, Pro-vaxers neener neening me from afar.  Here's the truth of it.  Do I regret not being vaccinated?  NOPE!  Do I wish I had never had Covid?  YEP!  I could have gone my entire life without dealing with this virus.  That isn't the way things went.  Like it or not, vaccines are failing; hence the need for booster shots FOR EVERYONE!  Yea.  I read today that PFizer has recommended boosters for all.  Big surprise, not!  Don't get me started on masks (eye roll).  The fact is, Thanks to China, politics, money, and the stupidity of leaders in general, this virus is out there now and I got a taste of it.  I still, thru this all, feel I made the right choice for me.  So!  I will contend with this too.  This means some changes in my future.  

1)  White sugar, white flour, white rice, processed foods, hydrogenated anything, etc, causes inflammation.  The first three of these are the only things we are still using.  They're now gone; from my diet at least.  Hopefully in the future I'll be posting recipes I can come up with using the alternatives of Whole wheat, Brown or Wild rice, Maple syrup, Raw honey, and Monk fruit.  I didn't eat anything from Sunday evening around 8P.M til Wednesday morning around 3 A.M.  In the beginning it was by Doctors order.  My cath was at 4 P.M.  Once that was over I was nauseous the rest of the time.  Since I've had my appetite back, though, it's been no sugar, flour, or white rice: as promised.  

So why this step?  These things are known to cause inflammation.  That's something I'm actively trying to get rid of.  So out they go so the inflammation doesn't have an ally.

Tried Monk Fruit today in my coffee.  Yes, all is right with my world if I get coffee.  It was good.  Now my taste buds aren't fully back yet, but not too bad.  It has potential.  I do think I'm going to stick with a tiny bit of real maple syrup in my coffee though, and save the Monk fruit for baking.  

2)  Before I even knew my diagnosis, I determined I was getting my life back this time.  I wasn't going to sulk and be afraid.  New eating, and moving!  I was more mad than afraid. I've known for a while I needed to get my health back, but it was on the back burner for a list of reasons (excuses).  Now it's top priority.  I need an outlet for stress.  I need to strengthen my heart.  It's as easy as that.  

So today I'm movin slow, but I'm moving.   I have to take things easy.  While no damage was done to my heart, I did have a tube stuck into it thru my veins sooooo there is that.   

I've been on the treadmill 30 minutes as of this posting; 2mph, no incline and in 7.5 minute intervals.  I also managed to can 7 quarts of potatoes with my son's help and sitting on a stool.  I covered my one lone cool weather crop garden bed with floating row cover.  Floating is the operative word.  It's very light weight.  I've puttered around the house doing little small things.  I'm not supposed to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk.  So I keep that in mind.  When I start to feel tired I stop.  I have my follow up appointment in 2 weeks.  At that time I'm hopeful the doctor will okay more exertion.  In the mean time I'll just keep on keepin on.  I'm very grateful to still be here.

So I improvised and you can too!

Gooood morning all!  I'm in too good a mood today.  Hmm can you really be in too good a mood.  Eh maybe not.  I just know I feel good!  It's raining outside, but that hasn't dampened my spirits any.  I don't know why, but I'll take it.

I think it's endorphins.  I've finished my workout for the day, so that is part of it I think.  You can see my stats below.

Today's post is a frugal kind of post (I love those), and one that over laps with healthy eating and weight loss.

A little back story, Dh and I have discovered a new treat where we take whole milk vanilla Greek yogurt and top it with a little(like a tsp) choc syrup or use it to top a cup of thawed sweet cherries.  Something about the thickness reminds me of cheese cake.  I LOVE CHEESE CAKE!  So, the other day at Aldi, I had it on my list to pick up, as we were out out.  Guess what!  They were too!  Out that is.  Apparently we aren't the only ones that love the whole milk Greek yogurt.  Bummer.

But!  I'm sly I tell you!  Clever, clever girl!  They did have the regular whole milk vanilla yogurt.  Plus it was on sale!  So in the buggy went 4 cartons, 32 oz each.  I normally pay 2.89 for this when I buy it, but it was on sale for 2.28.  Home we went.

Fast forward to this morning.  I took a small sized glass mixing bowl.  It doesn't have to be glass, but that's what I used.  I placed a mesh strainer in the bowl and laid a dampened coffee filter in it.  I took an entire carton of the yogurt and dumped it carefully into the strainer, making sure I stayed on the filter.  I covered the lot, and waited about 2 hours.  Over that two hours, the whey strained into the bowl leaving Greek yogurt in the strainer.  When all was said and done, I ended up with 6.75 oz of whey.  NO I DIDN'T THROW IT AWAY!  We save that stuff.  It's nutrition gold!  You can use it to soak grains like your oatmeal over night.  You can add it to your overnight soaking water for dried beans before cooking (it makes them easier to digest so less...ahem...noise).  You can soak your flours before making bread, add it to batters, add it to smoothies in place of milk.  See what I mean? So that whey is still usable.  But even if it wasn't, by my calculation I actually saved a few cents.  If I don't factor in the sale price, and just use the normal price for comparison; that 6.75 oz is about 20% of the volume of the original yogurt.  I took 20% of $2.89= .58.  I added that again to the 2.89 purchase price for a total price of $3.47.  I think the price I would have paid for the original Greek yogurt I was looking for was $3.89.  So I saved a little bit.  And really I did not much more than let time pass.  Pretty good if I do say so myself!

***Edited to add- I actually prefer this yogurt to the store bought.  It's creamier and much more like cheese cake.

Heart rate limit is 124- went over some and had to adjust periodically.  Max heart rate 127.  Fat burning range for me is 115-118.

Grace Wins by Matthew West- 2.8 speed- 0 first minute then-5 incline
Oxygen by Lincoln Brewster- 3 speed- 5 incline
Overcomer by Mandesa- 3 speed- 5 incline
Feel It by Toby Mac- 3 speed- 5 incline-down to 4 at end
More by Usher- 3.3 speed- 4 incline -down to 3
Move by Toby Mac- 3 speed- 4 incline
Down to the River by Jordan Feliz- 3.3 speed- 4 incline- 2.5
Every good thing by The Afters- 3.3 speed 2.5 speed
Still haven't found by U2- 2.7 speed- 6.5 incline- to 5.5 last minute no incline as I cool down

Easy Chart

So to help a little, I've some what concocted a chart.  This isn't everything, but it's a start.

 A few notes:

* The Raw honey is good for use in items that aren't heated; cough syrup, cold drinks, toppings for toast, etc.  If you want to bake/cook with something sweet, use either the molasses or maple syrup.  They don't lose their nutritional value when heated like raw honey does.  I use molasses in my breads.

* "$" is next to "Best" items that are actually a cheaper alternative than the store bought.

* I know I have some organic items in this chart.  The price of organic is coming down and that's good,  but I wouldn't worry too much about organic or not.  Worry more about good fats, whole grains, more fruits and veggies, and less chemicals and junk.

* 100% whole wheat flour can take some getting used to.  So to start, I recommend a half and half ratio of whole wheat flour and unbleached all purpose flour.

 This is only a partial list.  It's just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.


     NO                                             BETTER                                                BEST

MARGARINE                                  BUTTER                                       BUTTER

VEGETABLE,CANOLA OIL         EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL     ORGANIC E.V.O.O

WHITE FLOUR                              WHEAT FLOUR                          FRESH GROUND WHEAT

                                                                                                                          FLOUR

WHITE RICE                                  BROWN RICE                              ORGANIC BROWN RICE

CANNED FRUIT IN SYRUP         CANNED FRUIT IN JUICE        $ FRESH OR FROZEN

                                                                                                                           FRUITS 

WHITE BREAD                             100% WHOLE WHEAT               $ SCRATCH WW BREAD 

                                                                                                                       

BOXED CEREAL                           WHOLE GRAIN CEREAL,         $ SCRATCH GRANOLA 

                                                            ORGANIC                                            

SODAS                                           $ WATER, TEA, COFFEE, MILK.......................                      

                                                                                                                    

REDUCED FAT MILK                  $ WHOLE MILK                             RAW OR NON-

OR SKIM MILK                               MIXED HALF AND HALF         HOMOGENIZED 

                                                           WITH WATER                              WHOLE MILK

REDUCED FAT YOGURT            WHOLE MILK YOGURT               $ HOME MADE OR

OR NON FAT YOGURT                                                                            ORGANIC WHOLE

                                                                                                                     MILK YOGURT 

PROCESSED CHEESE                 FULL FAT  CHEESES .............................................                  

  

PEANUT BUTTER                         ALL NATURAL PEANUT             PEANUT BUTTER

                                                         BUTTER, NOTHING BUT                    FRESH GROUND

                                                         PEANUTS AND SALT

CHIPS                                             $ OVEN FRIES MADE FROM       OPT FOR FRUIT OR

                                                            POTATOES WITH PEEL              VEGETABLES WITH

                                                                                                                   YOUR MEAL

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER         SUGAR (JUST COUNT IT!)            *RAW HONEY, MAPLE

                                                        0 CAL VS ONLY 16 PER TSP           SYRUP, MOLASSES 

Steps to better eating without breaking the bank.

" I can't eat healthy!  It costs too much!"  It's true!  In fact I don't think a truer statement has ever been made.  DIET FOOD is expensive!  But food that is just good and good for you isn't so much.  What may cost more, can be replicated very simply at home.  Now I know you may think that takes time you may not have, but it really doesn't.  Many of the recipes I use now, were used when I still worked a full time job.  Now that I'm home, and my outside income is gone, these same recipes and tips have served me well in keeping expenses at a minimum.   So they come in handy either way.

The idea is to use your money to buy the normal food that isn't diet or processed.  Food can be processed and not diet so the idea is to get away from both.  Oh and, BTW, food can be Organic and processed as well.  Diet food examples are easy because they're clearly marked as "sugar free", "fat free", "Diet", "Lean", "Light or Lite", "Low Calorie", etc.  You get the drift.

Everyday processed foods are harder to identify.  Label reading can come in handy in this case, but if you don't have time to label read, here are some things to try and avoid:

1) Soda- I know everyone loves their sodas.  Diet or not, these things are a bad choice. On the diet side, they contain artificial sweeteners (Splenda, Sucrolose, Aspartame, Nutri-sweet).  These things can actually MAKE YOU CRAVE SUGAR!  On the not diet side they contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Both contain artificial color, flavor, etc.  Cheap or not, my advise is to take them off your list.  Replace with Water, Tea, or Whole Milk.  I mix up lemonade to keep in my fridge.  While it does have lemon juice and sugar in it, it has less sugar.  My husband only has a glass in his lunch and one glass with dinner.  We don't drink a lot of it.  I don't drink it very much at all.  By taking these out of your grocery budget you save that money.  Chaching!  Hey!  Use the savings to invest in a food item of better quality!

2) Speaking of milk, the powers that be are finally realizing that full fat dairy is actually better for you than the low fat /non fat dairy; even when it comes to losing weight.  SHOCK!  So you can switch from the low fat/ non fat versions of dairy to full fat dairy without a difference in expense at all.  In fact, if the calories in whole milk make you nervous, mix your whole milk half and half with water.  It's 75 calories per cup to skim milks 90.  The fat is cut in half as well, and you get a milk texture and taste similar to 2%.  You get 2 gallons for the price of one!  Plus you increase your water intake.  It's a win win.  I do this in baking as well. "Cheeses" that I don't buy anymore are: american cheese, Velveeta (or generic equal), anything made low fat or fat free, and Processed American Cheese Food.  What I do buy are the full fat versions of Cheddar, Mozzarella, Monterrey Jack, Pepper jack, etc; hard cheeses.  Soft cheeses I buy are 4% milk fat cottage cheese, and cream cheese.  I JUST EAT LESS.  In addition, eating less makes it go further and saves money!

*** BTW, don't worry about buying organic milk.  All organic milk in the store is "Ultra Pasteurized" which means it's heated so high there pretty much isn't any nutritional value left.  Might as well save some cash and just buy the store brand whole milk.

3)  PLEASE NO MORE HYDROGENATED ANYTHING-  I saw a commercial the other day for a brand of margarine.  The whole commercial was touting the fact that it is now made with sunflower oil.  Like that is all healthy.  Sunflower oil is not solid.  This was.  In order to get the sunflower oil to this state is had to be.......Hydrogenated.  Which turned a not so bad oil into a very bad oil.  I use Butter, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Coconut oil (some).  If you opt to no longer fry foods, and you use sparingly like we do, the additional expense for using these items is very minimal.  So no more fried foods means you can afford a better quality of fat to cook with.  Again EAT LESS

4) Frozen Dinners/Meals-  I don't care if they have "Healthy" or "Lean" in the title, Frozen dinners are highly processed; especially the chicken tenders, kids meals, etc.  They have a lot of filler, hydrogenated fats, sodium.  A better alternative is to cook a meal (one pot is my choice)but make it for two meals.  Serve half and freeze the other half for later.  This time of year it's easy to do that with soups, chili, and stews.  Hey there goes the need for canned soup as well!  I've even made a big pot of spaghetti and frozen half.  I do buy whole wheat pasta.  I haven't figured out how to make it yet. (smile).

5) Label reading- It's sad to say, but this is the best way to make sure what you're eating and giving your family is the best.  When I read a label, I'm looking for the fewest ingredients possible.  I realize some things are going to have more ingredients, but I need to be able to pronounce them and know what they are.  If I'm buying sour cream, the ingredient label needs to say, "sour cream".  Peanut butter needs to say "peanuts and salt".  "Artificial", "Hydrogenated", "High Fructose", any Artificial sweetener, etc, and it goes back on the shelf.  Soy is out too.  If you can't pronounce the ingredients, or don't know what they are; move on.  It's funny, but once I began to read labels, I began to take things out of our grocery budget.  Boxed cereal is replaced by my homemade granola.  Store bought chocolate syrup has been replaced with my homemade equivalent.  The same can be said for all breads, sausage, pancake syrup, biscuits, pancake mix, season salt, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing/dip.  I used to love powdered coffee creamer.  It's out.  I've replaced it with whole milk, and really prefer that.  I even have a recipe for flavored coffee creamer, but in all honesty I either leave it with milk and sugar or maybe add a teaspoon of chocolate syrup or pumpkin pie spice.

6) Lunch Meats are highly processed and preserved with nitrates (a carcinogen).  To get the nitrate free meats is pricey.  Save your dollars and your health.  Buy a turkey breast, a whole chicken, a roast.  Cook them and save the meat for lunches and meals.  Use what you want and freeze the rest.  Much cheaper per pound, and much better for you.

"But I can't make all those things!".  Never fear!  I am including recipes on my page.  Look to the right top of my page and you'll see the recipes.  You can choose from everything from main dishes to desserts.  Click on those and you'll see what I've added so far.  I will continue to add til I get them all in.  If you don't understand any of my instructions, just let me know.  I'll be more than happy to help.

You may not be willing or able to make all of these changes at once.  Pick one.  Just one, and stick to it.  Get that one down and try another one.

I strongly believe the vast majority of chronic and terminal, in some cases, illness can be linked to what we eat and how active we are.  If you're the parents of small children, now would be the time to start so your children can grow up healthier.  Sad to say, this generation coming up, which includes my two grandsons, is the first generation to have a life expectancy less than their parents.  Don't wait to make changes.  Start where you are.  Don't worry about past mistakes.  The body is a fabulous thing, and, treated right, can do wonders.

On an entirely practical level, making these changes will actually save you money!  Promise!

I'm supposed to eat what???

So, I want to say first and foremost, the staff at the hospital was beyond great!.  So nice, so helpful, so considerate.  I have no complaints at all with their care.  But as the stay progressed, what was apparent were the contradictions between what we're told to eat for health, and what was available.  Not just with what I was given, but what was available.  This is a hospital!  I mean really?  There is a popular restaurant in this hospital, and though the same restaurants in public have healthy alternatives, this one did not!  You'd think they would have made a point of this one having more healthy alternatives than the public ones.  Just my opinion.

The day I was admitted I did get a dinner; baked chicken, green beans, and brown rice; all with no salt.  UGH!  I got really sweet tea cause it is the south, and i'm not diabetic soo..., a dinner roll (made with white flour)and MARGARINE, and lemon pudding made with lord knows what.  So I can't have salt, but I can have margarine, and highly processed other foods.  The chicken, rice, and beans were fine, but I would rather have the salt and get rid of the margarine.  Full disclosure, I ate the pudding.  I mean why not?  I was starving!  Past midnight I was to eat nothing til I had my heart cath the next day.  The nurses were great in allowing me a late night snack prior to midnight; boxedcereal with skim milk, or peanut butter graham crackers.  I figured the lesser of two evils was the peanut butter and graham crackers.  My cath was supposed to be in the morning, but it got bumped to afternoon.  They gave me a snack, and again I had to choose graham crackers and peanut butter (you know the processed kind with hydrogenated oil).  I was hungry though, so I took what I could and was grateful for it.  I had my heart cath and it was clean, no blockages.  Yay!  I can have what I want to eat!

"NO!"  I'm told. I'm told I'm still on the cardiac diet.  I did still have a heart attack.  So my dinner when it came that night was....wait for it.... baked chicken, brown rice, and just to change things up, carrots!  Again, no salt, again, margarine and sweet tea.  The day I was discharged was the first day I ate breakfast.  Eggs (good), cantaloupe (also good), then it went down hill from there.  There was the ever present margarine; two of them actually.  I had white grits, white french toast, skim milk, pancake syrup (which was High fructose corn syrup mixed with various chemicals, and , oh yea, salt), and coffee with soy creamer.   I ate the eggs and the cantaloupe.  Just about everything else I had been actively avoiding for years.  Check out this article with Health line.  See if the list doesn't look familiar.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-foods-that-cause-inflammation#section6


We are told by the medical powers that be, not to eat hydrogenated foods, but given margarine.  We are told to eat whole grains, but given refined flours.  We are told to avoid High Fructose corn syrup/ highly processed foods, but there they are!  BUT NO SALT!  Can't have that.  You're heart attack has now relegated you to a life of tasteless food.

Now they were consistent putting skim milk on my plate.  This is where what they recommend and what I believe part company.  I stopped eating low fat a long time ago.  I eat full fat cheeses, yogurt, milk.  I just eat less!  Check out this article in Medical News Today.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322452.php

In fact, full disclosure, we've begun to drink and use Raw milk and/or non-homogenized milk.  It's what we choose to do.  We buy local and know our farmer. We had a friend that recommended the raw milk because of it's cholesterol lowering properties.  Ironic huh.

The very nice cardiac rehab counselor was in the room that morning when my breakfast came.  She appreciated my dilemma.  With a chuckle she said "unfortunately, dietary guidelines haven't caught up with current info".  In some ways I agree,  but looking at my tray that morning I thought "some of these dietary guidelines haven't kept up with dietary guidelines"!  I assured her that though I ate full fat, I ate less and kept my fat intake under a certain range.  She was fine with that.  So that is what I'll continue to do.

This is what we choose to do.  You have to do what works for you, but be informed about what plan you are going to follow.

Back to Basics

Frustration had set in this week as I began to try and jump back on the wagon.  I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.  I would start out great and by afternoon would be foraging for something to eat.

Nothing I was eating had artificial sweeteners; so that wasn't it

I was eating foods I've eaten many times before and never had a problem.

It was rainy and cold a few days and that's always frustrating, but I had problems on sunny days too.

What was it?

Then yesterday happened.  Once again I started out my morning recording my breakfast.  Never give up right!?  I'm always doing fine until afternoon, so likewise my day went fine up to the point of lunch as well.  I was recording what I had for lunch when I realized I hadn't had any kind of bread up to that point.  My plan was to have hamburgers last night for dinner, but up until then, no bread, rice, or pasta.  This gave me pause.  Hmmmm...

When I first started out on this journey, breads, rice, pasta were last on my list to eat.  I have nothing against them, and don't totally exclude them.  This isn't a low carb diet, but they're too many calories for the benefit I receive from them.  They were supposed to be a treat not a mainstay.  Over the past month, and even since the Holiday season, these items (including cookies, crackers, and anything else made with flour), had crept further and further into my diet.  This past month even more so because of the lack of grocery money.  Needless to say, I've been eating lots of bread products.  They had become a mainstay.

Here's the thing: 130 calories for a 2 oz hamburger bun that's mostly air; compared to 130 calories of nutrient dense foods like fruits, veggies, lean meat, etc.  Which do you think provides more food?  That same amount of calories would be in 4 oz of pork loin or chicken, 7.5 oz of cherries, 6 oz of whole milk vanilla yogurt.  Get my drift?   Well, I remembered too.  Immediately I removed the hamburger bun from my menu for the day, keeping everything else( the pork loin hamburger patties, the toppings, etc).  Because of that removal, instead of just a hamburger alone for dinner; I had my Bun-less burger on a bed of raw spinach (with all the toppings), and had baked carrot fries (very good) on the side.  Instead of cookies for dessert, I had my "Banana split" which is a sliced banana topped with 2 oz of vanilla whole milk yogurt and a drizzle of real (homemade) chocolate syrup).  So I went thru an entire day without breads, rice, or pasta.

 Know what?  I got to the end of my day feeling very full and satisfied.  Better yet, I was in range for calories, carbs, protein, fats, and fiber!  No munching!  No foraging!  No cheating!  No feeling deprived.  I mean, I look back over my day and I had 2 cups of coffee with milk and sugar!  I had buttered popcorn!  And I had my chocolate fix.  Still no diet foods, no artificial anything.  So guess what I'm doing today?  You betcha!  Same thing.  I already have my menu planned for the day!  Wanna see?

Breakfast

2 cups of coffee with 1 tsp sugar and 2 tbs whole milk each
2 eggs cooked in 4 gms butter
140 grams (that's 5 oz) cherries topped with
2 oz of vanilla whole milk yogurt

Morning snack

140 grams strawberries topped with
2 oz vanilla whole milk yogurt
1 tsp choc syrup

Lunch

Chicken stir fry with
5 oz of broccoli
5 oz of cauliflower
4 oz cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped onion
Plus all the spice, soy sauce etc
212 gms (7.5 oz) fresh cantaloupe

Afternoon snack

3 TBS popcorn
4 gms butter

Dinner

4 oz ground pork "Taco meat"
1 cup fresh spinach
.5 oz cheddar cheese
1 tbs sour cream
1/4 cup salsa

Dessert

Banana
2 oz Vanilla whole milk yogurt
1 tsp choc syrup

Total calories :  1365 out of the 1550 I'm allowed
Total carbs :  164 in range of 135- 235
Total fat:  42 in range of 27-56
Total protein:  92 in range of 60- 127
Total fiber: 25 in range of 25-35.

Tell me I don't have enough to eat!

Getting in shape cheaply.

I hear this soooo often " It's just too expensive to eat healthy!", or "I can't afford to workout".  Shoot!  There are articles posted by the "They" everyone talks about (in hushed tones) yet no one knows (she said as she glanced about furtively) that say the exact same thing!  If I hear one more time how it's cheaper to buy a cheese burger at McDonald's than to eat healthy I'll scream!  Especially when you are buying burgers for a family.  It sounds good though.  Ya know?  It's a nice little justification of being over weight.  "Poor me, I'll always be fat and unhealthy because I don't make lots of money".  Ya know what I say to that?  TOOWY!  Yes you heard me.  I will not mince words!

Yes!  SRSLY.  So let me borrow their premise for one person.  Just one.  Okay.  Let's see how cheap it is.  A Cheeseburger from McDonalds value menu is $1.  Assuming you only eat 1 burger at lunch and 1 burger for dinner with no fries, just water to drink, and it's just you.  For breakfast we'll choose a sausage biscuit cause they're only $1.19 and we have to watch our pennies.  Now I'm also assuming these choices.  In fairness to Micky "D"s", they do have healthier choices.  The yogurt parfait and 2 bags of apple slices will cost you $2, But that might be more than budget.  So I'll take the absolute cheapest version of this scenario.  I have $3.19 x 1.07 (for sales tax in my area) which comes to $3.41.  We won't factor in the travel expenses it takes to make daily trips to the restaurant to eat your meal.  So $3.41 x 7 (days)= 23.87.  Times a month (30 days) and you have $102.40.  What can I do with $102 dollars for a month of meals for one person at home.

Breakfast

Eggs- 2 a day for 30 days is 5 dz- $5
Apple- (since apples are what is offered at McDonalds, we'll go with that, though there are cheaper food options)- 30 lbs for the month. I'm figuring 3 medium apples a day for snacks and such.  FYI still cheaper than McDonald's 2 pks of apple slices for $1. - $30

*** some cheaper options would be Bananas at .55 lb, or get whats on sale.  Go half and half  Banana's/ Apples and you are only at $23.25 for total fruit needs with $8.25 of your total in bananas FOR THE MONTH.

Now before you say "That's not a lot for food.  might I point out that you're only getting one sausage mcmuffin for breakfast at 400 calories.  I've just given you in snacks and such 359 (not counting if you mixed in some Bananas.

Lunch/ Dinner

Chicken -  7 fresh whole chickens.  Estimated 4 meals per bird maybe more.  $35.00
Carrots- 25 lb ORGANIC whole carrots- bought in 5lb bags $18.45.
Potatoes- 20 lbs bought in 2 10 lb bags - $8


Option A

Eggs $5
Apples- $30
Chicken- $ 35
Carrots- $ 18.45
Potatoes- $8
Plus 7% sales tax = $103.20.  OH MY GOODNESS!  I went over by .80.  Sorry to break the bank.

But!

Option B (should you mix in Banana and apples (highly recommend just for variety anyway)

All of the above, but replace half your apple weight with banana weight-  $95.98.  Under budget!  You could splurge and by a little something extra like 1 pound of butter in which to roast/cook all your stuff.

Now I know the menu I have set before you is unrealistic, but how realistic is the McDonald's menu I started with.  Who goes to McDonald's and buys a cheese burger and nothing else.  In actuality, my menu can be more realistic.    Especially if I have a pound of butter to cook my eggs in.  I only need 4 gms.

I can cook up and debone just one of  those birds, reserving the broth (seriously reserve the broth).  Put the broth in the fridge over night.  In the morning remove AND SAVE the fat you skim off the top.  Keep the fat in the fridge.  Want something good?  Melt a little of that fat (not a lot!!!) and use it to roast your potatoes and carrots in the oven with a little salt.  The broth can be frozen or used immediately by taking some chicken, potatoes, and carrots and making a soup or casserole (if you have the makings).

Banana's can be frozen then blended in the blender with a little water and make the best tasting banana soft serve ice cream.  Make sure you get bananas that are a little ripe.  They are sweeter and usually marked down cheaper than .55 lb.  More savings!  You can use those savings to add something else to your cart.

Look for meats marked down or on sale.  Right now turkeys are .59 lb.  Do you know what I can do with turkey!  The same stuff I can do with chicken.  You can totally switch it out.

Replace some of your chicken with dried beans and lentils.  Very cheap per pound and very good for you.  You can soak them over night, add a tsp of salt per cup of dry beans and cook during the day.  Cook a bunch at a time and freeze what you aren't using.  Again, with the savings from this one thing you can add something else, maybe fun, to your cart.

My grocery budget for the month is $350-$400 dollars.  That includes pet food for a dog and cat, Chicken feed, all cleaning, and toiletries.  Plus I keep a pantry in case of emergencies.  I make my budget low because I grow a lot but not all of our veggies.  I also make a lot of stuff from scratch.  I purposely kept the menu set before you minus anything that has to be grown.  In fact the menu contains items I have to buy myself.  There's nothing on this menu I grow or make from scratch.  That being said, my budget is for 4 grown adults, 3 of which are men.  Multiply the Mcdonalds menu I started with and I would have a $410 budget to start with.  I can do a lot with that.

There's nothing special about me.  My trick is education.  In a google world, anything you need to know is at your finger tips.  In addition to that, many of the things I do now came from those old ancient paper filled things called books.  Available in any library or thrift store.  In fact, find cook books from the 40's and you can get a lot information on making due with less.  Rationing during WW2.  My other trick is "Want to".  A willingness to do what it takes to save money and eat right.

My prices came from Kroger, a grocery store higher priced than Walmart or Aldi, but less than a convenience store.

I end with the caveat.  Yes McDonalds is cheaper than buying highly processed, really bad for you diet foods in the name of healthy eating.  It is not cheaper when you eat honest to goodness real food in normal portions that you cook and prepare yourself.

Well this has run on longer than I thought.  Sorry.  I'll vent about workout routines later.  So how do you keep costs down when buying groceries?

Navigating food land mines.

Our oldest son celebrated his 24th birthday this past week.  All their lives our children have been able to choose what foods with which to celebrate their birthday.  Doesn't matter how old they get, as long as they are still home, the rule still applies.  I don't have many of these birthdays left before they start getting their own place.  So the rule is firmly in place...for now.  For his birthday, he chose pizza (of course), Homemade chocolate chip cookie cake with frosting (Like you get at great american cookie), and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  Yea, don't judge.  It only happens rarely.  When Dh heard his choices he simply stated "It starts".  What he is referring to is the three month span we have each year where all the kids have birthdays, plus he has a birthday.  This is the same three month span that includes Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all the subsequent parties involved.  I know we aren't the only ones who have to deal with these mind fields this time of year.  So I thought this would be a good time to address the elephant in the room.

(Sigh).  That above picture is pecan pie cheese cake.  I mean really.  How cruel can people be!!!!  Two things I love combined!  Anyhoo.


Some things to help you during this time of year.

OPTION #1)  Plan on trying at least something.  You know you will anyway, and by giving yourself permission, you take away it's power and your guilt.  Leave room in your calorie level to try a bite or two of something.  Notice I said bite.  No,  you can't fill a dinner plate with everything your eyes devoured.  Do a walk through first, not eating or touching anything, but just getting an idea of what's there.  Go back to the back of the line or better yet, your seat.  Think about what you saw up there.  There will be a few items calling your name.  You know what they are.  Get a SAUCER or small bowl.  Try A BITE of the things you want THE MOST.  This is a one time trip to the buffet table for desserts.  Just like you can nickle and dime your self to financial ruin, you can taste and nibble yourself back your original weight.

Option #2 )  Give yourself the day off.  Try and do as little damage as possible, but enjoy the party in anyway you like.  With this knowledge.  YOU WILL BE BACK ON TRACK BY NEXT MEAL.  Notice I didn't say next day.  I said next meal.  My family has their parties in the afternoon.  My next meal (If I have one) would be dinner.  That means my choices for dinner will be on track.  More than likely something healthy ( veggie and lean protein heavy) to apologize to my poor digestive system.  You never want to look at these things as a personal failure and give up.  One party will not totally derail you.  It may set you back a little, but not anything you can't handle.

 If you're facing a season full of parties, food gifts, etc.  Try the first option and then stay away from the temptation.  If you can't keep from temptation( or you choose not to), you can assume you will gain about 1-5 pounds from Oct to Jan 1st.  I'm not saying this to discourage you.  I'm saying this to give you the worst case scenario.  Which isn't the end of the world!  With a three month vacation, this is what you're looking at repairing.  Face it and move on.  You say "Okay, need to get back to getting the weight off again".  I had to last year, and I did.

BTW, it's much easier to withstand the temptations of high sugar items if you don't have any artificial sweeteners in your system.

Also, try and get a workout in the day of the party.  It will help mitigate the damage and it will also help you steer clear because you don't want to reduce all your hard work to nil.

So what did I do when faced with all that junk food for my sons bday?  Option #..........2.  Yep!  Enjoyed the fun and back on track now.  I have a weigh in on Monday and whatever it says, it says and I will move on from there.

So what tips and tricks do you have?

A day in the Life

Good Morning!

I hit the ground running this morning.  Woke up about 5 am to begin my day.  So far I have cleaned the master bath, made our bed (husband was out of it by this time), vacuumed our bedroom floor, and made hubby's lunch for today.  Now I'm sitting with my wonderful cup of coffee.  My breakfast for today is

2 Eggs scrambled in 4 gms butter
140 grams of blueberries
3 oz plain whole milk yogurt
1 cup coffee
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbs whole milk (for coffee)

Calories: 337,  Carbs: 28,  Fat: 18,  Protein: 18,  and Fiber: 4

Lest you think this 337 calories is low and thee is no way I won't be hungry before lunch, you are right.  At 10:30 I will have a snack of:

102 gms banana (a small banana)
2 oz french vanilla yogurt
6 gms of chocolate syrup

Calories: 165, Carbs:35, Fat: 2, Protein: 3, and Fiber: 3

This puts me at 501 calories before lunch.  Right where I want to be!  Yay!

It's a rainy day today so my workout will be the treadmill, a combination treadmill/ step workout, or crazy cleaning the house (Which it does need).  Since I really need to sew, it's probably going to be one of the structured workouts.  I do get a greater calorie burn in a shorter time.  I have a custom doll outfit to make for an order due next week.  So I need to get to that.

I'm not dreading the treadmill today though.  Hubby showed me I can watch Youtube videos on the Roku.  I've been binge watching Bethel Church Senior Pastor Bill Johnson lately so that will definitely hold my interest.  Highly recommend him.

Good Afternoon!

Well I did 30 minutes on the treadmill, Dusted my living room, swept and mopped my living and dining room.  That plus cleaning my bathroom and vacuuming our bedroom this morning plus general running around I counted 15 minutes of heavy cleaning.  I think I'm safe with 15 minutes, though it was more than 15.

For lunch I'm having

354 grams of carrots, roasted (3 large carrots)
144 gms of potatoes, roasted (2 small)
3 oz chicken breast cooked (4 oz raw)
I roasted the veggie in the oven with a little 4gms of oil.  Not hydrogenated oil.  Use olive or sesame.
1 glass of lightly sweet tea (about 1/4 cup sugar to 2 qts tea)

Calories: 404, Carbs: 64, Fat: 6, Protein: 26 and Fiber: 12

This is a lot of food.  More than I will eat for only lunch, so what's left will also constitute a snack later.  LOVE roasted veggies.  All Veggies are better roasted with the exception of zucchini.  It still gets mushy.

Up to 905 calories so far.  I get 1200-1550.  The higher end if I move (Which I did) so I have about 600 ish left.

Glad to say I have been sewing!  Almost done with this order.  Then let's just hope it fits the doll.


Good Evening!

Back again!  I did have a homemade sure nuff chocolate chip cookie this afternoon!  I weighed it out and a 1 oz cookie is 139 calories.  Sooooo good!   Life is too short to not have real chocolate!

Dinner was Vietnamese fried rice (without the frying part, and hold the rice.  I made rice for the rest of the family).

My part was:

4 oz pork loin
chopped onion
cauliflower, brocolli,, and carrot frozen veggies.
Added soy sauce, salt pepper, and garlic powder.

Calories : 210, Carbs :16, Fat: 3, Protien: 29, and Fiber 3

Can't go without a SMORE for dessert!

1 graham cracker
1 large marshmallow
8 gm choc chips
Zap in a microwave and Voila!

Calories : 132, Carbs : 30, Fat : 4, Protein : 2


So my total for the day was

Calories: 1386, Carbs: 192, Fat: 40, Protein: 78, and Fiber: 24.

So there you have a day in the life of Me!  Now to bed!

Good Night!

All diets work.....hmm

Good Morning!  It's a glorious fall day here in Ga.  Not only because our highs today will be in the 70's (joy!), but I'm down another 2.2 lbs!  I'm officially 20 lbs away from my goal.  I've never been this close before.  Feels kinda weird!  Good weird though.  Don't get me wrong, it's coming off at a s-l-o-w pace, but it is coming off.

So my topic of choice today is the statement my doctor made about how "all diets work.  It's just a matter of calories in vs calories out.".   I do agree with her on that statement, with this caveat, all diets work if you can stay on them.

You see there is no magic combinations of foods that cause weight loss.  All carb, No carb, eat this with that, etc.  It is calories taken in vs calories expended in energy.  If you take in more calories than your body needs, regardless of type or combination, your body stores it for future use.  How is it stored?  Why fat cells! So, yes, any diet that limits calories so you use more in energy, will work....for time.  Problem is many diets are hard to stay on.  "I'm cutting out all ________( enter food here).).  Once you take an item away in totality, it won't be long before you cheat.  Most people cut out what they eat too much of anyway.  Now I can hear you guys saying "But you took out bread!'.  To which I answer "nay".  I limit bread, rice, and pasta to when I really want it and am willing to count the calories.  Goodness!  I make my bread.  I would be nuts to never try it!  This is a lifestyle change so unless you're going to cut these things out for eternity, the weight will be back on.  If you are taking a pill to lose weight; then once you stop taking the pill, the weight will come back on.  Even if you have weight loss surgery, be advised, you have about 18 months and then you are back to needing to count and measure or, you guessed it, the weight will come back on.  Just a little FYI.  Your stomach is made of a transitional tissue which  means it stretches.  I have seen people eat their way back to their original weight.

In addition, many people, rely on sugar free /fat free items to help them thru a diet.  This is actually detrimental to a diet.  This is one of the things on which my doctor and I were in agreement, the fact that artificial sweeteners make your body crave sugar!  It craves simple sugars like cookies, cakes, cokes, candy.  I have a cup (ahem or two) of coffee every day.  I have 2 TBS of whole milk and 1 tsp of sugar in my cup of coffee (she said as she took a sip).  Total calories for my joy here?  36.  36 calories.  That's it!  Sugar is only 16 calories per tsp.  Many times it doesn't take a full tsp to sweeten something.  Read your labels next time you're in the store.  Many times there aren't many calorie differences between the sugar free and the sweetened, between the fat free or the full fat.  Speaking of full fat!  Fat is what helps you feel satisfied!  Don't take that away.

If you need to keep within a calorie range like I do, then do this for example

Instead of- 1 cup of blueberries + 1 container of fat free sugar free yogurt = 170 calories

Try - 1 cup of blueberries + 3 oz of french vanilla whole milk yogurt = 165 calories.

Or if you are a wild child, try -  1 cup of blue berries and 4 oz of plain whole milk yogurt = for 155 calories.  You actually have the calories left over to add a tsp of your own sugar.  Try it without sugar first to see if you like it unsweetened.  Try it!  Seriously, whole milk yogurt is a whole different animal than non fat yogurt.  I will actually take 1/2 of an apple chopped, 1/2 cup blueberries, 4 oz plain WM yogurt, mix it together and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon.

Either way you do it, I promise it will stay with you much longer.

Anyway, My point is to

A)  Allow all things (except diet foods Please!).  Nothing is off limits as long as you are willing to spend the calories on it.
B)  Eat real food!  Your body will thank you because it knows then what to do with what you're putting in it!  NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS, NO NON/ LOW FAT UNLESS GOD MADE IT THAT WAY.  Try to eat as little processed food as possible.
C)  Be active!  May sure your activity counts for something.  You do not get walking points for getting up to turn the tv channel.  Whatever you choose, you need to be MOVIN!  Not movement.
D)  Realize this is a lifestyle change.  My weight is coming off at a snails pace now, but it's coming off and not going back on.  That's a first for me.  I will always measure, and record.  Any diet that tells you otherwise is pulling a fast one because you won't be able to maintain once you're at your goal. Then you will be right back to them for "help".  It's their plan see.  This I believe.
E)  Realize life happens.  If you have a day off, let it go, but get right back on the next day.

and lastly, make sure you get as much for the calories you eat as you can.  That includes as much nutrition, and enjoyment.  I don't want something that "tastes just like", or "Isn't that bad".  Life is too short!  You need your fat, proteins, carbs, fiber, fruits and veggies!  Don't forget those!  Very important!

Food as an investment

I will be the first to stand up here and say I do have the occasional junk food.  M&M's are a weakness, and I do snag a chip here or there.  As a general rule, though, my outlook on food has changed over the last 18 months.  I should say improved over the last 18 months.  With the knowledge that "I need to get my protein,  get my veggies, fruits, etc"  came the need to get more bang for my buck.

I know if I eat something with white flour, as good as it tastes, it won't last.  I will get hungry sooner.

 If something is going to have a lot of calories, I want to make sure it has more nutrition as well.  For example:  Sometimes I'll substitute peanut butter on toast as opposed to just butter.  Not always, but sometimes.  Gram for gram, peanut butter gives me a little more protein, a little less fat, and a few less calories.  Along those same lines, if I'm gonna pay for something, I don't want any fillers in it.  Hence I buy all natural peanut butter.  Have for years, even before the weight loss journey.

 I stay away from highly processed foods.  I try to eat as close to the natural form of food as I can.  Now as stated in the beginning of this post, I do periodically have my candies, and such, but as a general rule I eat unprocessed.  Even though I have my occasional bite here and there, there are things I stay away from:  Sodas, ramin noodles, lunch meat, boxed cereals(boxed anything except maybe pasta), american cheese, margarine, anything hydrogenated, anything made of soy, etc.

Fat is important for body functions.  Fats help with the absorption of certain vitamins, help with brain development, workouts, etc.  Check out this article from Medline.  You need fat!  Good fats; butter, olive oil, sesame oil, coconut oil, (real) lard (not the hydrogenated stuff).  I don't care what the diet gurus say, natural fats, which include saturated, are the best.  Your body knows what to do with it.  Trust me on this.  Just, as in everything, In moderation.  That doesn't mean frying chicken all the time or deep fried Oreos.  It means a little is good.  It also means it will help you get and stay fuller.  Stay away from ANYTHING hydrogenated.  I don't care if it says organic, all natural, etc.  Out it goes: corn oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, shortening, margarine.  Say BYE!  Also say Bye to whatever foods have these types of fats in them.  Cooking sprays, I don't use them.  It makes whatever oil you're using waaaay more expensive.  Just coat your pan or cookie sheet with one of the above good fats and off you go.  I usually use butter, lard, or bacon fat to coat my pans.  Yes I have bacon.  I brush the oils on with a pastry brush, or toss my veggies in a little (bout 4 gms)olive oil or sesame oil before I roast them (just about all veggies are good roasted).

Full fat dairy is AWESOME!  Even before I started losing weight, I had switched to whole milk.  I'm on the verge of trying raw whole milk.  Just have to go get it, but for now I use whole milk.  If calories are a concern, dilute it half and half with water.  It will still taste like 2% but only have 75 calories per cup which is less than skim.  FYI, Skim milk is a product of processing milk.  It's naturally blue in color.  Ummmm Ewww.  I use only full fat products including cheese (american cheese is not cheese.  Just sayin), Eggs (the whole thing.  Egg whites are nasty alone).  I'm not saying go organic or any of that stuff, but I do read my labels to make sure I'm only getting sour cream, or yogurt, and not a lot of filler.  See?  So try this.  Instead of a 6 oz carton of fat free/ sugar free yogurt for 90 calories.  Have 2 oz of french vanilla whole milk yogurt (57 calories) and 1 cup of berries or other fruit.  Mix it all together and voila!  The amount of calories will depend on the fruit, but it's way more food than a 6 oz carton of yogurt and the calories are still only around 130 at the highest.

SUGAR.  Yes, I do eat sugar.  I have sugar in my coffee.  I have sweets.  I like sugar.  I also use molasses, and maple syrup.  Raw honey is only used when making cough syrup or in unbaked items.  Raw honey not only loses it's benefits when heated, but it's glycemic index changes and it becomes no better than table sugar.  Molasses and maple syrup retain their goodness in baking.  I make my bread with molasses now.  While I do like my sugar, I have reduced it's use in my scratch baking.  I love my sweets, but In Moderation.  What I don't use is anything artificial.  No splenda, sucrolose, nutri-sweet, aspartame, etc.  Zip, zilch, nada.  Bad, very bad stuff AND studies are now showing that using products that contain this stuff can make you GAIN weight.

In the midst of all this great stuff you fill in with meats, veggies and fruits.  Find ways to incorporate them into your diet.They are the most important part of this.  If you just eat the fun stuff, it doesn't work see?

Portions and calories are important.  Don't let anyone tell you different.  Find your calorie range and stay there.  If you use these tips, I promise you, you will be satisfied.  Like I've said before, getting your calories from real food is way more filling and satisfying than the same calories in empty processed foods.  So what do you think?

Come over to the dark side. We have cookies!

Hi!  Got a minute?  Have a seat.  Want coffee?  Go ahead.  I'll wait.....

So yea, Hello.  Nice to see you.  Can we talk?  Really talk?  I have to share something.  That's what this blog is about.  What I have to share isn't the latest diet program.  It isn't the latest fad, or the latest product on the market to force your body to go against its programming and allow you to drop pounds.

What I have to share is freedom.  Freedom from feeling like a failure.  Freedom from tasteless food.  Freedom from artificial "fisher price" food as my mom calls it. I used to be there.  Seriously.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page.  On the left you will see the "success" of what the world said I should do to lose weight.  On the right you will see the real success of lost weight when I started to do things in a way that works with my body.  It's not a special plan.  It's not a big secret except the powers that be keep saying I'm wrong.  You see that woman on the right made a decision about 18 months ago to never diet again.  If I lost weight it would have to be on my terms, eating real food, and it would need to fit my life and not the other way around.  You see I'd spent the vast majority of my then 48 years dieting and gaining weight.  I had reached the point where I never wanted to try again because each time I tried, I failed to keep it off and then beat myself up.  Every time.  I couldn't face that again, so I didn't try.  Finally I gave it one more shot, on my terms.  Funny thing is, "on my terms" went against everything the diet gurus said.  I don't eat sugar free/fat free anything unless God made it that way naturally.  I eat sugar!  I eat butter, full fat dairy, any type of meat I want (or can afford), Chocolate!!!!!  I have coffee with cream and sugar (bless it).  I eat out, I have snacks, cookies, etc.  I eat whatever I chose.  Here's the thing.  In moderation.  It really is calories in vs calories out.  It's portion control.  News flash guys.  No diet will be successful if you aren't learning portions.  You have to weigh and measure, I don't care what the diet companies say.  It's become such a habit now that it's second nature to me to measure what I eat and record it.  I use sparkpeople to record my food for the day.  It's a little labor intensive to get everything in initially, but once that's done, it's a breeze to use.  Lest you think I only eat junk, I should say I eat real food, just less of it.  I get 1200-1550 calories.  1200-1550 calories of real food is way more satisfying then the same calories in highly processed diet food.  I eat all of the things I listed above, but I also make sure to get plenty of fruits and veggies too.  Here's some examples :

Breakfast:

2 eggs cooked in 2-4 gms of butter
2 oz whole milk french vanilla yogurt
1 cup blueberries
Coffee with 2 TBS whole milk and 1 tsp sugar

Snacks (I have one in the mid morning, and one either mid afternoon or after dinner ((or both if I have the calories))

Medium apple/ 3/4 oz cheddar cheese or
Medium apple/ 1 tbs peanut butter
Strawberries with yogurt and chocolate syrup

Lunch

4 oz chicken breast
7 oz roasted carrots in a little olive oil

Dinner

Taco salad with taco meat (ground turkey or beef whatever is on sale), tortilla chips, salsa, cheddar cheese, sour cream, lettuce (or fresh spinach), and tomato.

Dessert

Smore
chocolate chip cookie

I don't get as much pleasure from eating bread products.  At least not enough to warrant the calories used.  I do eat bread, rice, pasta, etc, just when I'm in the mood and want to count the calories for it.  I had a small slice of homemade bread with a little butter on it this morning in fact.  Pick and choose your battles.  Eat what you enjoy the most, but make sure you get your veggies and fruits in first!  If you can't tell, I try and get a lot of protein each day.  That helps me stay satisfied longer.  If I have oatmeal, muffins, etc for breakfast, I'm starving in a couple of hours.  I do have those things, but very rarely.  Usually on the weekends when we eat breakfast later.

  It's about real foods, real activity, real success that is available to everyone.  You don't have to buy anything.  No supplement, no program.  Just life.  I'm hoping this can become a place where we all can share whats working or not working for us.  I'm tired of being thought of as less because I weigh more.  I was tired of feeling like I had no will power when in fact the problem was the food I was putting in my body.  I will share articles here as well as my own story.  I hope you tune in and feel free to add to what I'm saying.

As a parting remark, if you have Netflix, they have a documentary called "Hungry for change" that is very eye opening when it comes to the diet industry and weight loss.  Very Eye opening.  Funny thing is I started my weight loss journey before I ever saw this.  It just reinforces what I have discovered.  Thanks for reading.

Eating as nature intended...and on a budget

Long ago I began the process of moving our family to a healthier way of eating.  It all started with Rubic being diagnosed with multiple allergies, both environmental and food, but primarily corn.  Corn especially in the form of High Fructose corn syrup.  That stuff could set him off in hives faster than anything.  In my enthusiasm to help my son I spent all of our grocery money at a health food store, and received very little food as a result.  It was just too expensive.  So I then thought I would just have to read labels to get all the allergens out of his diet.  This also began my foray into ultimate scratch baking.  Anyway, It was while reading labels and baking something that made me about give up.  Corn is in baking powder.  I know right!  I didn't give up entirely, but I did have to moderate my expectations some.  HFCS was the main culprit.  I had to make sure that was out, but the other stuff I just had to do the best I could.  Money was tight.  Whole corn products seemed to have less effect on him, so HFCS was my primary focus.

15 years later, I'm still not where I can do everything I would like, but I have made progress and feel we are in a better place now.  Eating organic has become "all the rage", and so you really need to be able to get the most bang for your buck if you're going to try it.  While his allergies opened my eyes to better eating options, It's been a work in progress.  Changes have been made in steps rather than all at once, and that is my first point.

1)  Small changes over time-  Ours started with trying to remove High Fructose Corn Syrup out of our diet.  I wasn't worried about organic or all natural at the time.  I was just wanting to buy items my family would eat that didn't have that stuff in it.  If I could, I avoided corn in general, but primarily HFCS.  Funny though, while trying to remove the HFCS, I found we were eating items on a healthier scale.  If I bought boxed cereal, it was rice, wheat, or oats.  Nothing sweetened because that meant HFCS.  It was a minuscule  change in the big scheme of things, but a change.  Then I began to read about margarine and how it wasn't such a good idea.  We switched to butter.  I buy it when on sale and stock up (Usually around the holidays).  Dh was dealing with high blood pressure and cholesterol.  We switched to Extra virgin olive oil (I buy it at Sams).  Both butter and Olive oil are more expensive.  You can't fry with Olive oil so, guess what, we ate less fried foods.  Each small step we took led to another small step we tried.

2)  Make your own-  In my effort to not only get HFCS out of Rubic's (and my families) life as well as save money to afford the changes I was making; I began to do a lot of scratch baking.  There were items my kids liked that I wanted them to enjoy, but the store version was not a good option.  It's a real eye opener once you start to read labels.  Boxed cereal was replaced with homemade granola.  Cookies, granola bars, bread, Chocolate syrup, etc; are now made at home.

3)  Learn -  This can be used multiple ways.  Learn a new skill:  canning, bread making, gardening, and cooking in general.  Also, learn about the food you purchase and how it affects you and your family.  Look up those unpronounceable ingredients.  In a world of google,  information is at your finger tips.  As I have learned about what goes into the foods we buy, I have felt compelled to make the changes where I can.   On that same note, and not to only make it look like I'm picking on processed food, Just because something says "organic", "whole grain", or "all natural", doesn't mean it's good for you.  If you buy organic boxed macaroni and cheese, you are still dealing with powdered cheese, white pasta, etc.  My main pet peeve right now is Kroger's "Simple Truth" chicken.  You really need to watch the label.  Their "simple truth" chickens are labeled "organic"or "all natural", but the labels are identical and both types are in the same bin.  Both are priced higher than the other brands.  The organic I can understand, but all chickens are"all natural'.  Good Grief!  You need to know about what what you're buying, especially if your dollars are precious and you are trying to spend wisely.  Be an informed consumer.

4)  Grow what you can-  I have been gardening pretty much since we have lived here (bout 20 years).  My garden has expanded from just a garden to a garden, fruit trees, blueberry bushes, blackberry bushes, strawberries, and herbs.  When I first began gardening, I used pesticides because that's what I knew.  Over the years I have made a move away from pesticides in favor of companion planting, or scheduling my planting in such a way as to mitigate the damage from pests.  I've moved away from using commercial fertilizers to using compost and chicken manure.  Having chickens has provided us with farm fresh eggs, and a better garden.  While I don't (yet) grow everything we eat, I do grow a good chunk of it.  What I have grown in the past 2 years has had no pesticides or commercial fertilizers.  While I am not certified organic with a label and everything, it's good enough for us.

 5)  Buy local.  You can call your county extension office, or just google where the nearest farmers market will be.  We have several in our area.  Prices tend to be the same here in Georgia as the prices are set by the Dept of agriculture.  That is up to a point.  If you're buying a large amount to can or freeze, many farmers can set their own price.  It's worth it if you will put these items up.  Also, they will tend to reduce their prices near the end of the day.  You can also google local produces of honey, milk, eggs, etc.  Just keep an eye out.  If someone offers you eggs or veggies, or even plants, thank them very much and enjoy your prize.  What they have given you is priceless.

Here are the changes we have made over time.  This list might help some of you in starting out.

1)  No more HFCS-  there are alternatives just as cheap.  In fact many companies are moving away from using it now.  Never assume it isn't in something.  Read your labels.

2)  No processed foods-  Three exceptions; turkey bacon (Einstein likes it and it's cheap), powdered coffee creamer, and chips for Dh lunches.

3)  Butter replaced margarine, and olive oil replaces other oils.

4)  No more American Cheese-  I buy Cheddar, Mozzarella, or other hard cheeses.  No low fat or nonfat cheese.

5)  No artificial sweeteners or anything with them in it.-  we use Stevia or sugar or a mixture of both.  True confessions.  Once in a blue moon I still succumb to a Diet Dr Pepper.  But that is more the exception than the rule.  Rare, maybe 2 a ear if that, but I want to be honest.  But I know it needs to be never.

6)  Whole milk, and whole milk products-  No more skim milk or other non fat dairy.  Skim milk used to be the waste from milk processing.  It is blue normally.  Chalk is added to whiten it.  YUCK!  I can't afford organic and if I could I would opt for raw milk (Unpasteurized).  That is only sold in Georgia for Ahem pet consumption(eye roll).  I buy whole milk and mix half and half with water.  Reduces fat and calorie content and tastes like 2%.

7)  Whole wheat flour- I use mostly in baking bread in about a 4 to 1 ratio with all purpose.  It's used entirely in cookies, crackers, and quick breads.

8) Farm fresh eggs- some what free range with our chicken tractor, but not totally because of predators and my garden.

9)  Pesticide and chemical free fruits and veggies from the garden.  If I buy organic, it has to be a price I can handle.  I also don't buy organic for things where the peeling is discarded (like bananas).


Changes I want to make:

1)  Buy more organic meats when possible.  Eventually I want to raise pastured chickens for meat.  We thought about this year but there was a bird flu out break close to Georgia and we decided to wait rather than bring any new birds into our yard.  Those organic whole fryers I bought a few weeks ago made the best broth and the most flavorful and tender meat.  Sold me!  I just can't afford the prices all the time, but when I can, I will.

2)  Try and begin to use raw milk when possible.  I'm hopeful when we do this, the powdered creamer can go.

3) Master the art of bread making where no white flour is used.

The idea is to start where you are making small changes as you can, and adding new changes when you can.  It's taken many years to get to this point in my grocery buying, and I still have things to change.  You can make the changes too.  A little along.

Not all calories are created equal.

Something I have realized in my weight loss journey.  Not all calories are created equal (hence the title of my post).  Now I know calories from veggies and fruits are better than calories from junk.  That isn't what I'm talking about.  Most people get that.  I have discovered 1200 calories of real food are different than 1200 calories of fat free sugar free diet foods.  Seriously, they are.  Now I'm not quoting some study or recommendation from the powers that be.  No, this is only the observations of a woman with vast dieting experience.

 Based on my weight and weight loss goals, I get 1200-1500 calories a day.  1500 if I move and 1200 if I'm a slug.  It's been that way every time I've dieted.  I've used Sparkpeople before you see.  I've used weight watchers, and other plans too.  Each time I felt the diet food was my crutch.  It helped me get to the end of the day; or so I thought.  Instead, by the end of the day, I would be ready to eat the paint off the walls.  It was only through sheer will power I would get through the day without falling off the wagon so to speak.  Most times I wouldn't be successful, and would eat, and eat, and eat; scolding myself as I put something else in my mouth. You see it was all my fault.  I was weak.  I felt like an addict and wondered if I was actually addicted to food.

Now I know that none of that was true.  I wasn't weak.  I wasn't addicted, and Diet foods were not a help to me.  You see the human body is an amazing thing.  It is like the coolest computer ever.  It knows what it needs to function.  Not just carbs or protein, etc.  It knows what vitamins and minerals, etc it needs for any given task.  It relies on us to give our bodies what they need. It also relies on us to give our bodies what they need in a manner they recognize.  When our bodies don't recognize a component we ingest, they STORE IT!  Fat is the extra anything that comes into your body.  It's the stuff you didn't need to begin with.  Fat isn't just extra calories.  It is the extra whatever not needed by the body.  The body saves it for later.  The flip side of that coin is the fact that your body WILL get what it needs.  It will trigger you to eat until it gets what it wants.  So if you are filling your body with unrecognizable highly processed diet foods, you will have a mighty hard time staying on track.  I know.  I've been there.

Since I've started getting my 1200-1500 calories through real food; whole milk/whole milk products, Butter, Lean meats, fruits, veggies, Sugar, CHEESE (glorious cheese, NOT AMERICAN), I have discovered I'm not hungry!  I get to the end of the day.  I am in range for calories,fat, protein, and carbs, and I'm satisfied.  In fact I have discovered I will get full faster and eat less anyway.  Notice my list of foods I eat.  I'm not "low fatting" this thing.  I keep my fats in range according to sparkpeople by making sure the high fat stuff is tempered with lean meats or fruits veggies. etc.  But when I eat something that is supposed to have fat in it, I eat the full fat version.  Just less of it and I count it!

Time to break with the powers that be and go by logic.  Tamp down those voices in  your head that say you can't, you're not strong enough,  Try the old fashioned portion control and calorie counting with real food and see how you feel.  If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.  To each his own.  But I bet I'm not wrong.

Something to be said for the Real McCoy!

For years (like forever) I have always thought, if I was going to try to lose weight, I would need to be buying low fat, non fat, sugar free stuff.  I thought I would need that crutch since I was needing to cut my calories.  My vocabulary began to contain phrases like "tastes just like real" whatever it was I was replacing at the time.  I have to admit one of the things I did enjoy was Publix Sugar Free Orange Sherbet.  It tasted sooooo good.  Draw back?  It had so much fiber in it that if you ate more than the 1/2 cup serving in a day you would end up with a lot of......ahem...gas, and multiple trips to the bathroom.  That was the most benign issue to have with some of the foods I chose.  Should the food you choose to eat have a disclaimer?  Some foods actually do.  You know the famous Olestra ingredient in the low fat potato chips?  That's another one that gives you serious bathroom issues if you have more than one serving in a day.  Did ya know Aspartame was created by a guy trying to develop a new paint thinner?  Did you also know that skim milk was originally a waste product from milk processing?  It isn't even really white.  Yea, they add chalk to it to get that color.  Yum.  Which bring me to my next point.....

2) Eat real food!- I eat normal everyday foods.  With a few exceptions.  I mix our lemonade with Stevia.  I have two grown sons and they will go thru the lemonade.  To cut the sugar down I use half and half Stevia/Sugar,or just straight Stevia.  Our iced tea, however, is made with sugar.  I use 1/2 cup sugar for a gallon of tea.  Not Southern sweet tea, mind you, but it's how I like it.  It is the same tea I grew up drinking.  Turkey bacon is a staple at our house mainly due to cost.  It's much cheaper than the real thing,but my oldest son actually prefers it to real bacon.  I also make our sausage from ground turkey.  I don't care for the really lean ground turkey.  It's too dry.  I use the 85%.  I make our sausage this way due to cost as well.  With those few caveats we eat only the real thing; Butter, sugar, whole milk, whole milk yogurt, peanut butter, real cheese, etc.   I do count the calories. and I eat a smaller serving.  I even buy regular potato chips!  We just have a 3/4 oz serving compared to the 1 oz they recommend.   Remember the whole portion control thing?  Well here is where it's needed.  However, I must say I would rather have 3 oz of sugar sweetened whole milk french vanilla yogurt than 6 oz of the nonfat artificially sweetened stuff.  Like I stated in the last post, I use a free website called sparkpeople.com, but the internet is full of free diet/calorie counting websites. Just remember with great power comes great responsibility (totally stole that from the Spiderman movie).  Yes you can have any food,  but count the calories and in moderation.  Don't forget your fruits and veggies!  I try to balance something not so low cal with things very low calorie and nutritious.  For example, I stated before how I have eaten Chic Fila 3 piece chicken tenders a couple of times.  They are 350 calories for the serving.  Not so low in calories.  Not bad, but still pretty high.  However, I balanced that treat with fruit.  Fruits and veggies are great fillers to round out a meal when you are eating all this wonderful stuff  IN MODERATION.   I have discovered two things.  I absolutely love' frozen bananas and roasted carrots.  Not mixed together mind you. I love them so much so that I've started to buy 12 lbs of carrots at a time because I know that will be my go to veggie.  I buy about that in bananas.  My son informed me he was eating all of my frozen bananas, so I have to stay ahead of him.  DH told me if I ever serve him regular cooked carrots he will be disappointed.  Never fear!  I have a recipe!  Here's how!

Roasted Carrots:

1 lb bag carrots peeled and cut into chunks or sticks like fries
1 tsp oil.  I use very little, but you go by your taste.  This works for us.
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss the carrots in the oils til the oil is distributed on all the carrots pretty well.  Spread one layer on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until fry like consistency; kinda crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Frozen Bananas

Spread chunked ripe (don't use green ones they aren't as good.  Use the ones with a few spots) bananas in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Freeze.  Put some in a bowl and eat.  Reminds me of eating a ice cream Popsicle.

 Because I'm eating real food, my body knows exactly what to do with it and I'm satisfied.  That's the one thing that has amazed me the most!  Technically I'm eating less over all food, but I'm not getting hungry or light headed.  I don't feel like I'm not gonna make it to the next meal or that planning what I eat is an all encompassing task.  Many times I'll come in from outside not knowing what to fix for lunch.  Sometimes I will cook something, but often I just end up with a PB&J (see I do have bread), Apple w/Peanut butter, or Apple w/ Cheese stick.  One day I just measured out Chocolate Granola with a banana and some vanilla yogurt on top.  Be still my heart!  Good times.  I have a freedom never before allowed to myself.  There is nothing off limits as long as I count it.

I believe one of the reasons for my success is making sure my breakfast is high protein.  I have noticed if I have pancakes, coffee cake, or other bread for breakfast I will be hungrier than if I stick to Eggs, Turkey Bacon, Yogurt, or Turkey sausage with fruits and veggies.  I save the pastry breakfasts for weekends when we eat breakfast later,

I hope I'm not running on and on.  I have all this stuff in my head and putting it on paper can be a little daunting.  Especially since I'm so excited about it all.  I feel like I've struck gold, and I want to share. I've been waiting for almost 4 months and the flood gates are finally open!  Brace yourself!
More to follow!