Diet Motivation

Motivation is different for everyone.

Originally, mine was to lower my cholesterol
and Triglycerides.

Once the first 10 pounds came off, I was
still motivated by the fact that I had
some serious health issues related to
being overweight.

As my heart rate, blood pressure, glucose
levels and cholesterol and Triglyceride
levels started to normalize, I got excited!
That became an even bigger motivation, I
could get healthy with diet and exercise.

Now I've lost 57 pounds with 36 to go.

My clothes hang on me. My seat belt seems
much longer than it used to. Even my
shoes are a little loose on me! Who would
have thought my feet had fat on them?

And when people see me who haven't seen
me in a while, the look on their faces
is priceless.

I had begun thinking that I would never
lose the weight. It's a shame it took
health problems to motivate me.

But now it's the "I know I can do this"
that keeps me going.

What motivates you?

Cool Salad for Hot Summer Days

It's HOT!

And it's hard to get motivated
sometimes to prepare a meal that
is healthful and nutritious.

Who wants to be stirring a pot
over a hot stove or have the
oven on competing with the air
conditioning to see which one
can run your electric bill up
the highest?

Chilled foods can not only
be great for you, they can help
cool you down. And they won't
destroy your diet!

Here's one of my favorites:

Tomato and Avocado Salad

Ingredients:

1 Large Avocado

Large ripe tomato or
Two ripe Italian (plum) tomatoes

Fresh Raw Corn cut from the cob or
small can of Shoe peg corn drained
and rinsed

Red Onion

Fresh Lime

Fresh Cilanto (optional)

Ground Cumin (optional)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Dice the Avocado and Tomato
and place in a small bowl

Mince the red onion fairly
small and add to the mix.

Add in the Shoe Peg corn
or fresh corn and a little
salt and pepper.

Drizzle about half a teaspoon
of Olive Oil over the veggies.

Sprinkle half a teaspoon of
Ground Cumin over the mix.
(Optional)

Add a handful of finely chopped
Cilantro. (Optional)

Squeeze the juice from half a
lime and gently mix all of it
trying not to mash up the
avocado too much.

Chill for 30 minutes

This is a great heart healthy
alternative to the boring salads
we're all used to.

It can be added to some many
dishes as an edible garnish
or eaten as a stand alone salad.

One of my favorites is to warm
a Whole Grain Flour tortilla.
Add a few slices of grilled
chicken breast and a big plop
of Avocado/Tomato salad and maybe
even a dollop of fat free sour
cream.

Wrap it up like a burrito and
DIG IN!

It's amazingly delicious and again,
a heart healthy alternative to high
fat Mexican dishes.

Time Away from the Diet - Fruit Salad Recipe

I took a month to not diet quite
so hard and just maintain my loss.

Generally, I stick like glue to the
diet, but I was feeling burned out.
I was missing foods that I love!

So for the past month, I mainly just
kept to calorie counting and not
eating as healthfully as I should.

I ended up losing 3 pounds anyway.

But a recent knee injury and shoulder
injury kept me down for about a week
and preparing good food was just not
a viable option.

The result? I gained 4 pounds!

I was down 45 pounds from where I
started, and now I'm only down 41.

Not to be discouraged, I am hopping
back on the healthier choices.

So, I'm about to make this amazing
Fruit Salad. It's great, give it a
try. Very easy to prepare. And fruits
are abundant right now.

Simply chop the following
Fresh Fruits:


Pineapple

Banana

Apple

Peach

Strawberries

Orange or Tangerine

Grapes (I prefer the red seedless)

Just chop these into a size
that suits you and place in
a large container. A plastic
container with a lid works best
for storing.

Now, you can squeeze a little lime
juice in the mix to keep the
bananas from turning brown. Or,
if you and your family are going
to eat it all now, put in a container
of Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt!

Chill before serving for a
cool Summer treat that beats
the heat!

THIS IS SO YUMMY!

And it's good for you.

If you're going to need to store
some of it a day or two, just go
with the lime juice and add the
yogurt when you're ready to eat.

You can add just about any fruit
you like. I have made it with
mangoes, green grapes, kiwi, pears,
and a few others. Just add what you
like in the way of fresh fruit.

You can also use Mandarin Oranges
if you can find them. Even the
canned ones are good as long as
they are packed in JUICE only.
No syrup.

I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Summertime Fare

Well, it's hot here in SE Texas
and it certainly feels like summer
when you're out in the scorching sun.

Hot weather just screams Potato Salad!

But when you're watching calories and
fat?

Here's a great Potato Salad Recipe
that won't undo all that you've
worked so hard to do.

Ingredients

* 2 pounds potato(es), new (tiny)
* 1 cup(s) dressing, low-fat mayonnaise-based
* 2 stalk(s) celery
* 1 large onion(s), chopped
* 1/3 cup(s) pickles, sweet, (or dill) chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper, black ground
* 2 egg(s), hard boiled, chopped
* 1 1/2 tablespoon milk, fat-free
* pepper, black ground, to taste


Preparation

1. In a large saucepan, combine potatoes
and enough water to cover potatoes. Bring
to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer
for 15 to 20 minutes or just until tender.
Drain well; cool potatoes. Cut potatoes into
quarters.

2. In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise
dressing, celery, onion, pickles, the 1/2
teaspoon salt, and the 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Add the potatoes and egg, gently tossing to
coat. Cover and chill for 6 to 24 hours.

3. To serve, stir enough of the milk into
salad to reach desired consistency. Season
to taste with additional pepper.

Nutritional Info (Per serving):

Calories: 86, Saturated Fat: 1g,
Sodium: 254mg, Dietary Fiber: 1g,
Total Fat: 3g, Carbs: 14g, Cholesterol: 27mg,
Protein: 2g

Exchanges: Starch: 1,
Fat: 0.5
Carb Choices: 1

And The Biggest Loser Is...

Helen!

Yep, Helen lost over half her body
weight and is the New Biggest Loser!

Is that women 3 seasons in a row now?

Haven't been able to post for several
weeks due to a computer virus, but
I'm baaaaack!

To recap, I lost 10 pounds which was
my first goal so that I might lower
my blood sugar.

Then I hit the 25 pound mark which
really put my blood sugar back in the
right range and lowered my resting
heart rate.

When I had hit 36 pounds a trip to
the doc revealed that I had cut my
triglycerides in half but still need
to keep lowering them. The weird thing
is that my cholesterol was up slightly
and I really don't get that.

Now at -40 and counting, I'm really
getting psyched. Even if my pants
(which were two sizes smaller) did
fall off when I was cooking dinner
the other night.

It was funny and gave me a good laugh.

Another Day, Another Pound

I weighed in at my usual morning hour
today. Lost one pound over the last week.

I guess that's better than gaining a
pound. I've lost 32 pounds so far and
seem to be at a plateau. The dreaded
plateau!

Guess it's time to beef up the workout.

The weight loss so far seems to have
eased some of the pain I have from
Osteoarthritis. I'm hoping that keeps
up.

A trip to the doctor yesterday revealed
several good things from the weight loss
and exercise.

My heart rate was 67! That's down from
98 so that's awesome.

My blood pressure has always run low, but
after packing on pounds it was showing up
at normal. Normal is fine, but it's just
not me. Yesterday my blood pressure was
106/71, and that's a little more like
what I am used to seeing.

My blood sugar is still stablized and I'm
going to fast tonight to get a new
cholesterol reading tomorrow morning.

I started taking a cholesterol medication
several weeks ago but had an allergic
reaction. Now I'll see if all that oat
meal, cheerios, Omega 3 and Red Yeast
Rice combined with the diet and exercise
have lowered it. Keeping my fingers crossed.

What Price Flat Abs?

We all want a flatter stomach, but is this
going too far?

Sleepless in Dietland

Sleep is very important to losing weight!

The Big 3 in Dieting:

1. Eat right (we'll get into that)
2. Exercise (YES we know!)
3. Get a good night's sleep

There have been a couple of studies that show a link
between sleep and the hormones that affect weight loss.

The two hormones Ghrelin and Leptin have been identified
as those that have an impact on our eating behavior.

Ghrelin affects our feeling of being hungry. Leptin
has the important job of telling us when to stop eating.

Being sleep deprived results in an increase in both
hormones that leaves us feeling hungry and never
feeling full. Sounds like a recipe for disaster!

I have been plagued with insomnia for years. Both
the problem of "falling to sleep" and "staying asleep".
I've also had sleep apnea for a long time, but the
weight gain has made that worse.

Last night I completed a sleep study for the apnea
where I was fitted with a mask for a CPAP machine
(Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) I wore one
of these at the sleep lab last night. At first it
seemed very uncomfortable and I thought "no way",
but I slept better last night than I have in years!
I'm hoping that my own CPAP gets here soon so
I can start getting more rest.

Now if I could just find a way to lose weight
in my sleep. Dream on!