It may work for a moment, but then what?

I know dear friends, it is not really about the food.  It is not really about self control.  It is about the pain.  It is about the shame, and it is about anesthetizing all those inadequate feelings that haunt us and make us feel like we are messed up, unworthy failures.  The only problem is, as with any other addiction whose sole purpose is to dull, kill, suppress, it only lasts a little while.  Once a little while is over, then what?  The guilt, the anger, the fear, the shame, they rear their ugly heads again, and before we know it, the cycle continues to live, unbroken, unchanged and stronger than ever.

Food is an addiction to many of us.  But my question to you is who or what is your idol?  What/Who are you trying to hang desperately onto that has failed you?  Who let you down?  What prize possession did you loose?  Perhaps a parent let you down?  Maybe a spouse or significant other wounded you deeply?  Did you loose your job, or your life’s savings?  Who or what abandoned you is who or what you worship, and here is the real problem with that, it is idolatry.  Friends, idols are fickle people and fleeting things.  All of us are sinners bound to let someone down and wound hearts.  Material idols are of the Earth and their existence is very fragile and risky because of their very nature.  So I ask again, when all these things let you down, who/what are you going to turn to, because food, alcohol, drugs, whatever your poison may be, are going to let you down even worse.  It is the bad lesson we never learn, and allow to keep entering our hearts and grip them with tragic guilt and shame.

You see, in this world it is so easy to have false idols, we all have them or have had them.  Why is that?  It is because we rely on other people and “things” to make us happy, fulfilled and worthy.  The harsh reality is, they fail every time sooner or later.  So what do we do?   We create addictions to compensate and fill in for all the idols that have failed to make us whole.

I cannot tell you how many women and men I have sat and listened to cry their hearts out because they desperately want to be thin.  The real reality of that, although a little harsh, is that they are confused.  If you desperately want something, then there is usually nothing that is going to hold you back from pursuing it.  So if this is you, wanting to be thin with all your are, but you are not, again, what is holding you back?  Where is your heart, your treasure?  Where is your worship?

If you are a believer, then you have hope!  You have hope because no addiction or idol is too big for God to overcome if you turn to him and seek his grace and love.  There is no sin from which you cannot be excused, no addiction from which you cannot be rescued, but you have to turn to him, profess your sin, and believe in his grace, forgiveness and deliverance.

The problem is that if you are overweight and do not want to be.  If you keep trying to be thin and failing, you are living like an orphan, and you are not trusting in a God that is the one and ONLY person/thing who will never fail you.  All these other people and things we are trying to hang onto and please are no doubt going to inevitably fail us.

Now I am not dumb, and I know this is so much easier said than done.  Trusting in something you cannot see is a hard thing to do.  Struggling to trust is something we unfortunately have to do on an ongoing basis as well.  Lets face it, being our own savior is much easier.  Being in control is much more comfortable to us.  I can tell you from experience friends, sometimes we are our own idol-we think we can handle it, do it all.  We don’t need anyone else, but that is plain wrong!  Just as others will fail us, we too will fail ourselves.  Sometimes it may even be our own self righteousness that is holding us back.  You know, the thought, I can do it.  I am strong enough, motivated enough, have enough will power.  How’s that working for you?

Search yourself friends.  Start a journal of the idols in your life that have created addictions to substitute for their shortcomings.  Pray for help to remove those idols and addictions unrelentingly.  The first step in any form of progress is identification.  You have to know what is holding you back.  We are not orphans, and we have to stop living like so.  I am offender number one of this.  I need constant reminders and redirection that I have a Heavenly Father who has adopted me, and there is no obstacle bigger than him.

I am not going to get “preachy”on here often, but when it is warranted, I make no promises.  If this is a problem you may kindly not read my blog.  The facts cannot be ignored, however.  None of us are strong enough, we need help.  Help in the only form that will not fail, fleet or deny us can only be found in one person.  Go to him, put your trust in him, and in him you will be strong and you will overcome the bondage that is keeping your dreams captive.  Find your truth, proclaim it, and let it set you free!

Until we talk again friends,

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.~Lao Tzu

This chaotic thing called life!

Dear friends,

The last couple days, I have reclaimed my center, and I sincerely hope I can manage to stay there in regards to my food choices.  The picture above is how I feel.  This small little center of a being, pulled in 9 million directions by a hundred different people.  Ok, maybe just a few people, but many days it feels like a million.  It is funny how two little kids can demand so much of one little mama!

I told a friend recently that January was the new December, and February has been the new May.  With life  is so busy and chaotic, I shutter to think what the actual month of May will feel like.  Everyone I know, self included, is over stressed, over whelmed and over scheduled in our life right now.  These are busy times, and busy over loaded times are precipitators for stress and anxiety.   Stress and anxiety are two main perpetrators of healthy eating.  For many of us we are running from one activity to another, and having to grab meals on the go because we often do not even make it home before 8 PM.

I told you last time I wrote that I had fallen victim to my chaotic life, and many stressful circumstances, and I had been derailed from the tracks of healthy eating.  Well, I was determined, come Monday, I would get back on the train.  I so far have achieved my mission, but it has been hard.  It is a struggle every day, every meal and really every hour, because I like to eat to sooth any little bit of disruption that comes my way.  Eating healthy can be one of the greatest challenges of life, especially if we are emotional eaters.

After a few days of being re-centered in my life, and eating healthy, I am feeling so much better.  My pants are starting to be comfortable again, I am less tired, and I am all around happier being me.  The sugar highs and lows are gone, my hands are shaking less, and at the end of the day I am not feeling like I am about to bust out of my skin, sugar and caffeine in excess do that too me.  Really, some days when I don’t exercise moderation with those two evil little things, I feel like I am about to have an INCREDIBLE HULK moment by the end of the day. I am waiting any second to turn green, skin start ripping, and I don’t know what is going to pop out, but I imagine in my mind it will be as ugly and horrific as the green, mean muscle man from the show I watched as a child.

I picked the quote I did to open my message today because it carries a very valuable lesson that I have come to really understand the past year.  Anyone can easily control other people, things, animals, situations, but it is in controlling ourselves that we are presented with the biggest challenge of life.  Controlling what we eat, think and say is so vital to the kind of life we will lead, and the person we will become.  After all, our thoughts, feeling and words become our attitudes and actions most of the time.

So why is controlling ourselves so hard?  Well, on a deeper level, I think it has to come down to loving ourselves.  Once we feel worthy of self love and respect, then we are more apt receive it from others.  One of the first steps in loving ourselves is getting healthy and eating right.  It is just a natural process that when you eat better, you feel better.  When you feel better, you think better. When you think and feel better on the inside, it starts to radiate to the outside in the form of attitude and actions.  I also think at this point we are able to loose some of the obsession with control, in the sense that we don’t have to be so worried about how we look, and what other people think of us, because we feel good.  We feel capable of accepting love and respect because we possess it for ourselves.

Loving people we don’t really care for is a challenging thing to do, but recognize it or not, loving a self that we do not like, is even  more difficult.  If you cannot love yourself freely and fully at this very moment, that is ok.  Start with a simple step.  Can you make a promise to yourself and keep it?  If so, promise yourself that tomorrow morning, you are going to get up and start a new path.  A path to feeling better and living better.  If that overwhelms you, and you don’t know where to start, my email will be at the bottom of this post.I will walk you through it.  Lets formulate a meal plan for you that is going to get you feeling better so that you can start living better, and most importantly, loving better.

We are all worthy.  We were all molded and specially created in the hands of a God who loves us, and created us to love and be loved.  Lets start with self love.  I know this is hard in this busy life we lead, but you have to carve out some me time, plan ahead and be prepared.  If you are a busy mom, remember the ME in mommy!  It is a must and you are a person, too.  Sacrificing ourselves for our kids, our jobs or whatever it may be is not selfless, it is selfish.  You need to be around, and be around in a happy, positive form for those kids, that job, that husband or whatever it is that gets you up each day.

Take a deep breath now, and say a prayer if you pray.  Ask God to help you love and value yourself, and to light a path of a new journey for you to a place of healthier living.  Next if you don’t know where to begin, I highly recommend Weight Watchers.  It is not restrictive, and allows you plenty of food to keep you satisfied if you are eating the right kinds of foods.  I say IF, because you cannot waste all your points on sugar and carbs or you will be starving, and end up over eating.  You have to make smart choices.  Read books, research online, or email me, and find a path for yourself that is attainable.  You can do this!  If I can do it, so can you!  It isn’t easy, I don’t lie, but it is doable.  I think once you get into it, you will be pleasantly surprised how good you feel, and that will be the motivation you need to keep yourself going!

Lets talk if need be friends!

skinnygirlfatgenes@gmail.com

Until we talk again, load up on knowledge, formulate a plan and begin to follow a new path to a happier, healthier you!

Time to get off the culinary roller-coaster!

Dear friends,

I have been on a Skinny Girl/Fat Gene Sabbatical.  Not to be misunderstood, I think a sabbatical usually has positive feelings associated with the term, but not so much in this case.  Sabbatical actually comes from the word Sabbath, and is associated with  renewal, learning, a rest period…you get the point!  Well, I have been having a rest period, and I have been learning,  however, I don’t feel so renewed.

Life has been really busy.  Busy kid schedules, commitments, responsibilities, and busy negotiating and coping with some unexpected bumps that have presented in this chaotic road we travel.  So guess what is always the first thing to suffer when life gets out of whack-the diet.  Why is that?  Nothing new, just the same old horrible habit of being too busy to cook, using food to mask anxiety, and the ever indulgent thought process that when we are traveling, it is a vacation, and vacation is a get out of jail free card for healthy eating.

Oh, let me say I have enjoyed myself, for brief moments, like last weekend when we traveled to Atlanta for my daughter’s dance competition.  We ate Friday night at Pappadeaux Seafood.  As is always the case, my she devil told me, “You are on vacation.”  ”Enjoy yourself and forget about the steamed shrimp and salad.”  ”Go for the friend shrimp platter instead!”  What was a very hungry, tired and somewhat anxious skinny girl to do with all those fat genes in my head trying to win over my control and sabotage my waistline?  Well, sad to say, I am human, and I went for the friend shrimp platter with fries, two beers, and a dessert of key lime pie! Once I have a big greasy meal, I am never satisfied until I finish it off with something sweet!

Unfortunately, I have been letting my she devil play with my emotions, exploit my anxieties and hold me hostage for far too long.   I have been in a period of life that is a little turbulent right now, it might best be titled, “A Journey Through the Woods.”  As a result of this present journey, my anxieties, fears and sadness have been compounded because I feel physically terrible.  The way I am feeling physically is directly pursuant to my diet, and I am allowing my eating to compound already existing problems and create a viscous cycle of feeling bad, and feeling worse because I ate like crap today, and yesterday, and the day before….

Please don’t misunderstand, that fried shrimp platter, fries, two beers and key lime pie would have been fine, had I not had a Chick-fil-A burrito for breakfast and Mexican Food for lunch!  Furthermore, I had been vacillating between eating good a few days, and totally falling off the wagon for a week for a couple months now, so I was never fully getting myself reset, re-centered and focusing up.  I have essentially been on a ferris wheel, up and down, up and down, and I have been in this pattern long enough that I now feel sick.

I don’t know why I am always amazed how quickly eating bad affects my physical well being.  It is so true, and that is why it is ok to have the periods where we get to this point of feeling sick, to remind us why we need to eat healthy most of the time.  Everything in moderation…gotta keep that in the forefront of my mind!  Truth is, my body is accustomed to me eating healthy most of the time, and when I get off track as bad as I have, it begins to rebel!  What a blessing that rebellion is.  My built in reminder, “Hey sister, you have fat genes-EASY DOES IT!”

It is time for me to take back control friends.  Tomorrow morning, no more see-saw.  I am tired of swinging back and fourth on this culinary roller-coaster.  Time to get back to clean eating at its best, with the OCCASIONAL splurgers. of course!  Have you lost your center?  If so, join me.  Lets refocus, re-center, look up and concentrate on getting happy which starts with being healthy!

I will keep you posted on getting back on track.  Let me hear your battles and triumphs, too!

Until we meet again,

It is time ladies and gentlemen.  It is time for you to take back the thing we all covet.  The thing that alludes us so often.  The thing that like a slippery bar of soap, passes through our hands the harder we try to grasp it.  It is time to take back control!

Did I get your attention?  Good, because here is the good stuff.  We cannot control al lot of what goes on in our world.  I mean, probably we cannot even control even the large majority of what happens in this life.  We can not even control our feelings or emotions, but we can control our reactions to everything that is thrown our way.  Once we realize that it is not so much about what happens, because bad things do and will happen, but it is how we react to situations that defines us.

I have some great news for any of you out there who love control.  Now depending on where you head is at in the loosing weight and getting healthy department, this may be good news, and for some it may not be what you want to hear.  Although we cannot control a lot of what has been thrown at us, one thing in our world we can control is our weight!

Flip the switch to ON and lets get rolling!

When bad things happen, do you want to eat, binge possibly?  Sometimes I do.  This is where our reaction comes in.  We can either choose to give in to our unfavorable circumstances, or we can look ourselves in the mirror and decide we deserve better.  We are better and we are in control of our reaction.   Food will not become our comforter anymore.

A great tip for when you are feeling a little, or a lot, stressed and wanting to comfort yourself with food:  Try a piece of sugar free gum with a glass of cold water.  It is a great stress and hunger buster.  Also, Vlasick, Kosher Dill pickles.  They are very healthy, and the crunch and vinegar in them are also great for relieving stress and false hunger pains associated with emotional eating.

One of my favorite hunger cures.

Another great way to fend off stress and emotional eating.

Commit to starting tomorrow.  I know we are in the midst of the holidays, but if you use the excuse it is not a good time, there will never be a right time.  The right time is now.  Go ahead and get started, then you will be able to enjoy yourself on Christmas, rather than feeling terrible about what you ate.  I bet if you start now, you will eat two times less over Christmas because you will see how much better you already feel.

If you are not sure where to start, try a healthy breakfast tomorrow.  One of my favorites:  Cream of Wheat or steel cut oats with a splash of Almond milk for creaminess and a drizzle of honey or Agave Nectar for sweetness.  Add a side of fruit such as strawberries, blueberries or blackberries too.

Do you have questions about what you should or should not eat?  Shoot me your questions.  I am ready for them.  You are not in this alone unless you choose to be.  I am a few key clicks away, and can’t wait for your questions.

Remember, keep it clean and lean!  Lets get rolling and take back what is yours–control of your body, health and fitness!

“Back on its golden hinges the gate of memory

swings and my heart goes into the garden and

walks with the olden things.”    Author: ella wheeler wilcox

 Every family has those recipes that are associated with home. Those dishes that your mom, grandmother, aunt, uncle… prepared that everyone loves.  Those are your comfort foods. Those are the recipes that are taken to potlucks, passed around and handed down to the next generation. When you smell them cooking it takes you back to that special place.  A place where so many memories were born.

 Did you ever wonder where the term comfort food originated?  Are you surprised to learn that the whole idea of comfort food was born in the heart of a home-a mother’s kitchen?  There are a lot of words associated with mother and comfort is definitely at the top of the list.  I think when you become a mother, your heart is forever changed,  and your soul awakens to a new purpose, a new song and a new existence.  Part of loving and caring for a child, as we moms do, is making sure they are well fed.  In the process of loving them and feeding them, we create many special food centered moments that are the beginnings of many great memories for our children.  The term comfort food originated in mom’s kitchen.  For some it originated in grandmother’s kitchen.  Who ever it was for you, we all have those meals.  Those meals that instantly put a warm feeling in our heart, and take us back to special places of our past.  Memories created around comfort food are some of my most treasured possessions.

Love to feed my kiddos!

 I have so many special comfort food recipes that originated for me in my mom’s kitchen.  She was always cooking, entertaining and feeding the masses.  She was indeed a great cook.  Holidays were always over the top with the food.  No one ever left our house hungry!  The food was always great, and I looked forward to all my favorites at every meal.  The icing on the cake, no pun intended, was being surrounded by so many family and friends.  The way we grew up, a get together just wasn’t a get together if there were not at least ten people involved.  Ten was on the conservative side too.  It was not uncommon for us to have 20 plus people for meals, especially on holidays.  I miss those days so much!  Now getting everyone together is very few and far between because every one is so spread out, and has families of their own.  Below are three people who created so many  food centered memories for me, my mom and both grandmothers.  What legacies they have left in their memories and recipes!

My Mom

My Italian Grandmother, Pete

My Nana

 

What are your favorite comfort foods?  A few of mine are my Grandmother Petes’ spaghetti and meatballs, my mom’s chili and Nana’s vegetable soup.  You may think that comfort food and skinny girls can not go co-exist.  Well, I am here to say, OH YES YOU CAN!  Without comfort food, what is the point of eating, other than to survive?

If we are in a good place, which consists of constantly exfoliating our hearts and minds of excess baggage, then the majority of our days should be days we eat to live, and not vice versa, but we all have those days that we need a little comfort food.  Always consider the holidays as free passes.  Food is such a staple icon of American Holidays, so don’t deny yourself, just exercise moderation.  If you know you are going to have a huge Thanksgiving dinner, eat a smart, light breakfast and lunch.

The good news about comfort food is that not all of it is unfit for a skinny girl.  Nana’s Vegetable Soup for example, is very clean and lean, not to mention yummy!  It is all about imagination friends.  You can take a comfort dish, and turn it into a clean, comfort food, and get all the same warm, fuzzy results.  There are a lot of ways to substitute bad ingredients for healthier ones without compromising flavor in any way.  As a matter of fact, many things that are very good for us, actually boast very intense  flavor such as many spices like rosemary, basil and thyme.

Below is one of my favorite comfort foods: Pete’s spaghetti and meatballs.  I have tweaked the spaghetti recipe to be cleaner and leaner without compromising any flavor!

The turkey meatballs going into their sauna!Ready to enjoy!

The sauce-very healthy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready to enjoy!

Recipe for the sauce:

 Homemade Italian Sauce, (one of many variations in Pete’s recipes)

1 T Vegetable oil

1 large clove garlic sliced

1 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes, do NOT drain

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped

1 tsp. fresh basil chopped

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 to 1 tsp. salt

Heat oil in a heavy skillet and add garlic.  Saute until softened, being careful not to burn.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered 45 minutes, or until thickened.  Stir occasionally.  If you like your sauce real chunky, leave it as is.  I don’t like mine really chunky,  so while it is simmering, I take a potato masher and mash the tomatoes up to my desired consistency.  I also find this releases the tomatoes flavors even more, making for an even tastier sauce.

Pure, velvety perfection bursting with intense flavor!  I love all the colors and flavors going on in this sauce.  I promise it tastes as good as it looks.

As my sauce is cooking, I am boiling a big pot of pasta.  I probably used a half pound for this amount of sauce.  If you need more, just double your sauce.  Be sure and let your water come to a boil before adding the pasta.  Also, it isVERY IMPORTANT to liberally salt your water after it is boiling, and before adding the pasta.  This is your only opportunity to flavor you pasta, and it really needs to be done at this point.  Also, be sure and do not over cook your pasta.  Pasta is meant to be AL DENTE- one of Pete’s favorite words.  This means the pasta should be slightly firm and chewy, but not hard.  A trick Pete taught me is to take a piece and throw it at the backsplash.  If it sticks, it is done- AL DENTE!  I used a multi grain, whole wheat pasta in order to be more health conscious.  There are so many good multi-grain pasta options now days, and you are not sacrificing flavor while fostering healthy eating habits.  Be sure and reserve 1 to 2 cups of your pasta water to add to your sauce.  The starchy water adds a great depth of flavor to the sauce.

Meatballs-oh so amazeballs!

Next, at Pete’s house, there was no such thing as a bowl of pasta without meatballs.  These are the yummiest, easiest meatballs to make.  It requires you to use the best tools you own-your hands!  The little mess, however, pays off at the table later!  The recipe is as follows:

1 lb. ground chuck, use lean meat or substitute turkey like I did.

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp.  pepper

1 to 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, depending how much you like

1 egg, beaten

12 crackers finely crumbled, (I use whole grain saltines.  Put them in a baggie, seal it and use a pastry roller to get them very fine)

2 T milk

grated parmesan cheese-amount to your desire.  I use about 1/8 to a 1/4 cup.

Incorporate all ingredients with you hands, being careful not to over mix or your meat will be tough.

Form into balls to your desired size.  I make them a little smaller than a golf ball and it makes about 18.  Put them on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 12 to 15 minutes.  I then broil them on high for about two minutes to get a nice crust on them.

After the meatballs are cooked, I combine them with the sauce and pasta on a low flame to incorporate all the parts.  Serve with a nice green salad, and you have a nutritious and satisfying meal.  Of course, a good loaf of garlic bread only makes it all the sweeter, but if you want to eat “clean”, opt for whole grain or wheat bread and skip the butter!  There are also some great butter alternatives if you just have to have it.  Try, I can’t believe it’s not butter.

  It has been a sweet time of reminiscing about old times and much loved people.  I have so many wonderful memories of Pete.  She and I always had so much fun together.  She is forever etched into my heart, and no matter where she is, her memories will always be alive in my mind and my cooking.

I hope you can bring special memories alive of someone you love by cooking one of their recipes in the near future.  It is not the same as being with them, but it is the next best thing.  Sometimes when we can’t have what we want, we just need to make the most of what we have!  Cooking Edible Heirlooms is a great alternative!  Suddenly cooking dinner will not be a chore, but a pleasure.  you will find yourself in a happy place, and your mind will be so preoccupied with great memories that dinner will be done in a flash.  Now as for the cleaning up…well that may be where the good memories stop!!!  (Insert laugh!)

Happy eating to all my skinny girl~fat gene friends.  Please take a few culinary strolls down memory lane to warm your heart and brighten your smile.  Don’t let dinner be your chore, make it your pleasure!  Until we meet again, keep your special people and places alive in your kitchen, and as always, keep it clean and lean!

We all have a she devil-God love her!

When we are going through hard times, when we carry unresolved emotional baggage or we we are just plain unhappy for reasons we cannot understand.  The Devil is always right their waiting to jab his or her horns in the door.  Many of us are emotional eaters-I am!  We have it all wrong in our heads.  Not sure why, but we have this thinking process that when we feel sad, hurt or anxious, food makes it all better, and briefly it  does-I tell no lies.  What we have to start understanding is immediately after we cram our faces in a desperate attempt to find comfort, peace and happiness, we have just made things worse.  Why?  Because we have added to our anxiety and guilt for overeating.  So now we are not only upset about the original sitaution, but we are mad at ourselves for feeding our “she devil.”  Our she devil wants us to be emotional eaters.  You know her, that voice in our head that says I really want to eat that gallon of ice cream right now, and I will feel a lot better.  She wants us to turn to food instead of God, a friend or an apple!  I promise you when you are felling desperate for comfort, an apple with a little low fat peanut butter, a quick prayer and a brisk walk out in the fresh air will do you a lot more good than that gallon of ice cream!

Listen!  We are all going to mess up.  We are all going to binge sometimes.  Frankly, I think we have to fail sometimes in order to know why we want to get back up.  Also, if we never allow ourselves a few parties in our mouth here and there, then we are setting ourselves up to fail due to deprivation.  So tell yourself right now, I am human and I am going to make mistakes, but what matters is what I do in reaction to my mistakes.  Now breathe and smile !

Smile!

A smile confuses an approaching frown.  ~Author Unknown

So, let me tell you a personal story of my own failures and triumphs, because in this life we are going to have our ups and downs.  It is acknowledging them, and using them to help others that helps us grow and understand our own selves better.

In July, while on a wonderful family vacation in Destin, my family received some devastating news.  It snuck up on us like a thief in the night, very scary, unexpected and devastating.  I was in a fog forever it seemed.  When something so shocking and confusing happens, you feel like this isn’t even your life and you are in a bad dream.  Well guess what folks, reality eventually sets in, and sometimes reality really bites!

After realizing that this was not something that would be quickly resolved, and that it was going to be lingering around recking havoc on our family, I felt physically sick for a period of about two weeks.  I could not eat, and really did not want to eat.  So, I quickly lost 6 lbs.  This wasn’t  entirely awful because I did indulge heavily while at the beach, and honestly probably gained 5 lbs there.  The problem was, as my anxiety and fears kept increasing, my “she devil” made her move.  She knows I can be an emotional eater, and suddenly sweets and unhealthy foods were all I wanted.  I was feeling on some level, even though my head knew it was wrong, that eating cheese puffs, (lots of them), boxes of sugary cereal, butterfingers and ice cream would make my problems all better, and on a temporary basis, it did.

I am a hard learner!  It wasn’t long after going on all these binges, mostly before bed, when my anxiety is the worst, that I had gained that 6 pounds back plus some extra.  I personally love the idea of a weight threshold.  I think all smart eaters who are serious about staying fit should set a threshold weight to never exceed and stick to it.  You see, once you exceed that threshold, it makes turning back a lot harder.  I give myself a three to four pound cushion for things like weekends or vacations.  Once the party is over, though, I know it is time to get off the train, it is leaving and I don’t want to weight it down.  Plus, the ride back home is often long and hard.  So, do some research about a healthy weight range for you.  You can google healthy weight ranges for men or women and it will give you a range based on you age and height.  Find a number in that range you are comfortable with, get there, and set it as your threshold.  Try your best and stick to that threshold like white on snow.

One day during this mess, I finally pulled myself out of bed and decided to quit giving in to my “she devil” and kick her to the curb.  These awful circumstances were going to be around for awhile, and I needed to take back control of my emotions, and my eating.  If for no other reason, just to feel better physically.  I also had to realize that food was not fixing my problems, only compounding them

Now, if you read me regularly, you know I like clean eating, and for the most part I follow that principal of eating.  I felt, however, that my life was in such chaos that I was going to need a more structured eating plan at the time.  That is what staying fit is about, finding what works and when it is not working any more, tweak it to make it work for your current circumstances.

As I said, I felt I needed more accountability and structure or my circumstances, and my “she devil” would conquer me.  So I turned back to Weight Watchers online which I used many years ago after my second child.  Weight Watchers has revamped their program, and you get more points than you previously did, and most fruits and vegetables are free-this was appealing to me.  In addition, Weight Watchers gives you an objective system for keeping up with your points to help achieve success. So I dug deep back into my Weight Watchers vault from the past and remembered all the things I loved to eat when I was on the plan.  I am proud to say, it worked very well for me, and I am now back under my threshold.

One thing I love about the new Weight Watchers System is that you can follow the program and still eat very clean, but at the same time it gives you room for a little daily splurge here and there.  At this time in my life, I am needing a little splurging.  We are dealing with a lot of stressful issues, and I have found that if I give myself that daily splurge, (even though it is a mini Butterfinger and 4 Gingersnaps), I am totally satisfied, and there is no desire for binging.

I cannot say it enough, as your life and circumstances change, so needs your diet to change.  If you don’t mold your eating patterns to fit into where you are in life, then being fit is going to be hard.  Just remember, whatever plan you are following, keep it as clean as possible, keep it as lean as possible, and most importantly give yourself a little room for a treat here and there.

If you are struggling to shed weight, I strongly suggest you take a look at the new and improved Weight Watchers System.  You can do it online or go to meetings.  You have to decide if you can be accountable enough to only yourself.  I also like The Five Factor Diet, which you can pick up the book in book stores, and of Course The Eat Clean Diet (Tosca Reno), which of course is a lifestyle, not a diet.

Let me hear about what works for you.  Is there a time when you have really struggled and been a victim of your “she devil” and the emotional eating she loves to feel our heads with?  How did you turn it around?  Are you still trying to turn it around?  I would love to chat with you about it.

You can also find me on Twitter @by_by_fat_genes.

connect with me on Twitter!

So here’s to kicking that pesky devil to the curb, and setting yourself free.  It is never to late!  There are a million excuses why it is never a good time, but the truth is that the only good time is NOW.

Set yourself free girls and guys.  Let me hear from you!

Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor. ~Marge Kennedy

You can have your pizza and eat it too.  All of it!

I love pizza, who among us dosen’t?  If you answered me, you are just strange!  Pizza is really the total package because it covers the gamete of the food pyramid, BUT…it is sooo fattening!  For a skinny girl with fat genes like me, pizza has to be an occassional indulgence, or does it?  That is the beauty of food, and all the things available to us today.  With a little creativity, you can have your pizza and eat it too!

So, here’s to a girl who wants to be skinny, but can look at food and gain weight.  In honor of all you girls who love your pizza, here is my version of a skinny girl’s pizza.

1 piece Flatout Bread—found on bread aisle or deli section of grocery store (I like the light Italian, or multi grain with flax)

Love this product! So many options.

1/4 cup pizza sauce—check your labels and use the lowest sugar one you can find

red onion diced or cut into rings

pineapple bits

canadian bacon (low fat and a good source of protein)

1/4 cup 2% milk shredded cheese-any variety

green bell pepper chopped or cut into strips

baby spinach leaves if desired

Note to reader:  Use any ingredients you want, just keep them clean and lean

Any veggies you like work, and if you do not like canadian bacon, try low fat turkey sausage, low fat pepperoni, or ground turkey seasoned with taco seasoning.

The flatout bread is your canvas, and you are the painter so create!

Cook at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and warm.  I then like to crack my oven door and broil for a short time to get the crust crispy.  If you don’t like a crispy crust, skip the broiling.

Below are some of my samples of some skinny girl-fat gene pizzas-Yummy!

skinny girl-fat gene pizza using light turkey sausage-so good!

My fav! Hawaiian skinny girl-fat genes pizza.

  We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are. ~Adelle Davis

Eat the colors of the rainbow everyday-and I don’t mean skittles!

      I love snacks, and as a matter of fact, my body needs snacks.  Part of a balanced, healthy diet is snacking.  If we only eat three meals, then our body will not have the fuel it needs to keep our metabolism going.  Also, not eating enough of the right things can keep you from shedding unwanted pounds.

    A typical day for me is:  breakfast, AM snack, lunch, PM snack, dinner, and a after dinner treat if needed.  With a minimum of six small meals, and sometimes seven, I cannot use hunger as an excuse to eat.  Any other excuse to eat besides legitimate hunger is just a bad one!  So, on a typical day for me,  below are some of my favorite snacks to keep this fat gene girl living in a skinny jean world.

    1.  A small handful of nuts and organic dried cranberries.  I love sweet and savory food, and the only thing better is to mix the two-yummy!  I love the Planter’s pre-made can of nuts that is The South Beach Variety.  I like these because they are lightly salted, and I know I am getting all the varieties that are best for my body.  There is also a digestive health variety and a heart smart variety.  Any of these are probably all fine.  Just read your labels.  Every morning I fix a snack size baggie with a mixture of my nuts and organic dried cranberries.  I carry it in my purse all day.  That way if I get in a bind and need a little fuel, I have it right there.  Now, I caution you about this.  This does not mean eat the whole bag.  A small palm full should be your guide.  If you eat larger portions you will not loose the weight, and you are only going to train your stomach to need more.

    2.  A whole wheat tortilla warmed and spread with a tablespoon of low fat chunky or creamy peanut butter or almond butter.  You can have it just like this, or add HALF a sliced banana to it with a DRIZZLE of Agave Nectar.  I only recommend this as a morning snack because of the carbs and higher glycemic index of the banana.  Also, maybe try this as a morning snack after you had a breakfast with few carbs and more protein.  This is a sweet, creamy and delicious snack that is sure to not disappoint!

    3.  A low fat cheese stick.  I love the Sargento Colby Jack mixture.  Also, I LOVE the low fat jalapeno cheese flavors.  These are so good and make a great snack for on the go when you cannot prepare something.

    4.  Another one of my most favorites is a piece of reduced fat whole wheat bread, (try NAtures Own Whole Wheat Reduced Fat@ only 40 calories a slice).  Toast the bread and spread with a tablespoon of hummus, (I love the roasted rep pepper flavor, but any one you like will do).  If you like cheese, add a thin slice of your favorite reduced fat cheese, (I use low fat swiss), to the top and enjoy.  This is definitely a creamy and decadent snack that I adore!  Be sure and toast it to melt the cheese!  Also, if you had a breakfast heavier in carbs, and you plan on having a sandwich for lunch, you may want to skip a snack that has bread in it too.  Use this for days you had a protein breakfast and are planning on a salad or something minus bread for lunch.

5.  I alos love herbal, decaffeinated teas.  These are good for those night time cravings and they come in many different flavors.  I really like the peppermint favor.  It tastes clean, fresh and it really does a good job of satisfying my cravings.

6.  A Starbucks Tall, Skinny Vanilla Latte–what a dream.  This is definitely one of my favorites, and I especially love it on a chilly day.  It is a great way to satisfy a sweet craving and not cramp compromise your waistline.  Starbucks makes a lot of different flavors and any of he skinny varieties are fine.   Just keep it small, and only one!

7.  Raw veggies and hummus.  I love hummus, and I love it on raw veggies.  Pick any that your like and a 1/4 cup of hummus.  You will feel so fresh and healthy after eating this snack-I promise.  I especially love my hummus with carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and bell pepper strips.  Hummus comes in multiple flavors too, and this will help prevent boredom.

These are my top 7 favorite snacks that help me stay thin and keep my cravings at bay.  I want to hear what yours are.  Share the love friends!  Until next time friends, happy healthy eating!

Writing With A View!

     Wouldn’t it be great to look out as this view to write everyday?  Well, this view was my privilege last week, and this post has been in the works all week.  Unfortunately, I never could get past the title!  The view was so beautifully breath taking, and there was such a cool, pleasant breeze everyday, that I was way too distracted to write.  So I guess while a view like this is a wonderful luxury, it would not be conducive to productivity, for me anyway.-:)

    My family, along with my niece’s family, vacationed in Destin, Florida last week.  We had so much fun, and the weather was perfect!  I have vacationed on many beaches including Hawaii, Mexico, and The Bahamas to name a few.  No where have I ever enjoyed such beautiful beaches as Destin has to offer.  The sand is literally like sugar, and the emerald waters are crystal clear, cool and clean.  I will be including highlights from our trip via pictures throughout this post.

Sweet Cousins!

Cousins!

    This trip was all about cousin bonding.  Boy did they have a lot of fun!  The giggling was abundant, smiles plentiful, and 24/7 entertainment was in full force!

    Now on to FOOD.  I love Mexican Food.  Growing up in Texas, how could I not love Mexican food?  It is everywhere, and it is sooo good!  I also love family traditions.  One of my family’s traditions is every Friday night during the school year, we go to the same Mexican Restaurant here in Birmingham, Cocina Superior.  It is as close to Texas Mexican Food as I can get.

    There is a myth floating around out there that skinny girls can’t enjoy Mexican food.  Well, that is simply not true!  You just have to know what to order, and exercise some moderation.  If you are having an all out cheat day, ENJOY!  I can almost bet with certainty that you are gonna leave feeling miserable, though.  Since I like to eat Mexican Food so much, I had to figure out ways to enjoy it while making it more figure friendly for a skinny girl with fat genes.

    Here is my “Go to Mexican Food Routine.”  No chips!  Sorry ladies and gentlemen.  I know they are good, crunchy and salty.  They make you feel so good while you are eating them, but all the while all that salt, sugar and flour is bloating your belly and expanding your waistline.  Sometimes, I will give in and have a few chip (2 or 3) but I do mean a few!  My husband makes fun of me, but here is my compromise.  I love the salsa, too.  Salsa is actually very healthy and good for you.  I politely ask for a spoon and my own bowl of salsa, and I eat it with a spoon.  I am every bit satisfied and I am not going to leave feeling miserable!  Call it weird if you want, but finding what works is a big key to success in anything.

    Next, I have my meal down to a science too.  I always order chicken fajitas.  Sure, I could order a salad, and have on occasion, but who wants to eat salad at a Mexican Food Restaurant?  This girl sure doesn’t!  I ask for my chicken fajitas prepared with no butter-make sure they understand that, even if you have to repeat it several times.  Also, no rice and skip the tortillas.  NO TORTILLAS, I know!  That is no fun, but honestly, compare how you feel after eating them to how you feel not eating them.   I think you will see the trade off is a good one.  I get a plate and top my chicken with the grilled onions and peppers, (love them!), lettuce, beans, shredded cheese, (go light here), salsa, a little guacamole and tomatoes.  I cut it up and enjoy it and I never feel deprived or unsatisfied.  This allows me to leave feeling full, but not greasy, bloated and uncomfortable.  Oh, one more thing…do yourself a favor and skip the margaritas.  I usually opt for water or un-sweet tea, but if I must have alcohol, I go with a low calorie beer.

    Occasionally friends, go enjoy Mexican your way, but really pay attention to how you feel afterwards.  Then try it my way and compare how you feel.  I promise once you feel the difference, and see it on the scale, you will look at this as a good thing-not deprivation.

    One of the biggest parts of being successful at loosing weight is being able to eat the foods you love in a way that is going to still help you achieve your goal.  Don’t think you have to give up good food to be thin.  Don’t think you have to go hungry or never eat out to be thin.  Think how you can be creative and have what you love along with the benefit of feeling good and getting healthy.  It is all possible, you just have to get creative!  Are there some things you have to give up-YES!  After going without them, however, you will discover that you feel so much better that you really don’t miss them at all-I promise!

    I would love to hear from you about how you take your favorite foods and restaurants and get creative for the purpose of healthy eating.  Share your ideas friends!

    Until next time, here’s to kicking those fat genes to the curb in favor of clean, satisfying and healthy eating!  Go enjoy you some Mexican Food this week.  Just remember the SGFG, (skinny girl fat genes), way!

You will be jumping for joy because you feel so good!