After reading parts of the Essential Vegetarian Cookbook, I'm starting to feel what it must be like for a groom watching his once laid-back girlfriend plan the "perfect, and I mean PERFECT!" wedding: still totally in-love but questioning many, many things. Why did I think that I could do this? Can I really make this work? And, why, oh why, did I think that this might be easy?
But, alas, weddings are ceremonial; usually much more than popping a ring on someones finger and declaring eternal love. Committing a year to Diana Shaw will be much more than opening the book at random and cooking a delicious dinner in moments. All of her recipes are from scratch, and when I read Diana's loving words as to why this must be so, just like a budgeting husband-to-be begins to consider silver napkin holders versus platinum, I realize why the small details are important to the person I've committed to, especially when the little things are going into my food, and therefore, my body.
As I begin to look for a full-time teaching job, as a mother of two, I am already feeling overwhelmed and anxious about the year 2010. So many things are about to change, and I desperately need one of those things to be my body. However, I am proud to say, that I don't mean the outside appearance, but rather my insides. Maybe, as I grow to eat healthier and take care of myself, what people see will reflect that inside transformation, but as long as I'm healthy and well-tuned, I don't need to trade my curves for a size 2.
Another blessing about this soon-to-be union is that Diana has graciously included strategies so that busy housewives and working mothers can plan ahead so that the moment before the meal is so well choreographed that it does not have to be stressful at all. She promotes cooking on the weekends and freezing your portions ahead of time. Each recipe comes with a serving size, nutrition facts, and stories and tips from Diana's experience with every dish. I may be feeling overwhelmed at the moment, but I'm definitely looking forward to this culinary adventure.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Fashion Insiders' Diet
Allure Magazine published an article called the Fashion Insiders' Diet in their August 2009 issue. The article revealed how the pretty people do it, how they stay sample sizes while running around in the fashion frenzy of the "it" world. The methods to the madness are all very simple and common sense, but there are some tricks to the trade that I found to be very helpful and creative especially during this time of holiday get-togethers and stress.
The holidays are a time when not only size two fashion buyers are scrambling to find the perfect pair of Manolo's best and running in and out of department stores with a million lists and strict deadlines and food court aromatics teasing the senses into thoughts of refueling with something quick, easy, and greasy. So, here they are, bits of advice from the goddesses of the fashion industry on how to stay slender during times of stress, travel, and parties.
1) Have a routine menu for breakfast and lunch. Fashion insiders very rarely diverged from their daily menu of scrambled egg whites and fruit for breakfast and bright, vibrant, and colorful salads for lunch. The strategy here is the less you think about it, the smaller the chance of choosing anything unhealthy. The more simple the choices, the less risk for reaching for that office doughnut and frozen latte with all the fixings. So, my take on this advice is, have four staple choices within my calorie range for breakfast and lunch. Keep it simple.
2) The routine for breakfast and lunch provides more "wiggle room" for dinner, and when dining out, these insiders eat rich, but very small portions, and they never go to a party or restaurant hungry so to avoid the temptation of being a member of the "Clean Plate Club." One piece of etiquette I always used to follow was to mentally divide your plate into fourths. Eat the first section slowly, while making conversation and drinking plenty of water between bites, and if you're still hungry move on to the second section, but never eat more than half your portion. Another piece of advice that wasn't in the article was to avoid asking for a "doggy" bag unless you have someone at home other than your self to feed. Leave the decadence at the restaurant.
3) When at a party, keep your hands full. Put a clutch in one hand and a drink in the other. Alternate from a glass of wine to a glass of water so you keep your liquid calories under control, and learn how to refuse food politely.
4) When traveling by plane, train, or automobile, take your own healthy food to snack on so that you are not left feeling famished with expensive calorie ridden air food, trolley pastries, and drive-thrus as your only options for nourishment.
5) Now this tip surprised me the most. I always thought that people fainting at work due to starvation as a stereotypical norm in the fashion industry, but those who were interviewed for the article said that snacking throughout the day helped them avoid overindulgence later. Now, of course they don't mean raiding the vending machines for snacks; instead, they have nuts, dried fruit, and quartered granola bars to get them through the mid-morning and mid-afternoon slumps.
6) Daily exercise. Simple right? And, if these women who work 12 hours a day can find time, what's my excuse?
7) Occasional treats. Rich and satisfying treats that don't cause the cravings that the diet fat-free substitutes can bring on. Now that I think about it, it's so much easier to take just one bite of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and retire my fork for the night than it is to open just one 100-calorie pack of chocolate covered pretzels and refuse to open the remaining six packets left in the box.
I'm going to test a couple of these tips out and let you know how it goes. I think that the daily exercise (obviously) and the simple/routine breakfast and lunch options would be the most beneficial for me to try. Here goes!
The holidays are a time when not only size two fashion buyers are scrambling to find the perfect pair of Manolo's best and running in and out of department stores with a million lists and strict deadlines and food court aromatics teasing the senses into thoughts of refueling with something quick, easy, and greasy. So, here they are, bits of advice from the goddesses of the fashion industry on how to stay slender during times of stress, travel, and parties.
1) Have a routine menu for breakfast and lunch. Fashion insiders very rarely diverged from their daily menu of scrambled egg whites and fruit for breakfast and bright, vibrant, and colorful salads for lunch. The strategy here is the less you think about it, the smaller the chance of choosing anything unhealthy. The more simple the choices, the less risk for reaching for that office doughnut and frozen latte with all the fixings. So, my take on this advice is, have four staple choices within my calorie range for breakfast and lunch. Keep it simple.
2) The routine for breakfast and lunch provides more "wiggle room" for dinner, and when dining out, these insiders eat rich, but very small portions, and they never go to a party or restaurant hungry so to avoid the temptation of being a member of the "Clean Plate Club." One piece of etiquette I always used to follow was to mentally divide your plate into fourths. Eat the first section slowly, while making conversation and drinking plenty of water between bites, and if you're still hungry move on to the second section, but never eat more than half your portion. Another piece of advice that wasn't in the article was to avoid asking for a "doggy" bag unless you have someone at home other than your self to feed. Leave the decadence at the restaurant.
3) When at a party, keep your hands full. Put a clutch in one hand and a drink in the other. Alternate from a glass of wine to a glass of water so you keep your liquid calories under control, and learn how to refuse food politely.
4) When traveling by plane, train, or automobile, take your own healthy food to snack on so that you are not left feeling famished with expensive calorie ridden air food, trolley pastries, and drive-thrus as your only options for nourishment.
5) Now this tip surprised me the most. I always thought that people fainting at work due to starvation as a stereotypical norm in the fashion industry, but those who were interviewed for the article said that snacking throughout the day helped them avoid overindulgence later. Now, of course they don't mean raiding the vending machines for snacks; instead, they have nuts, dried fruit, and quartered granola bars to get them through the mid-morning and mid-afternoon slumps.
6) Daily exercise. Simple right? And, if these women who work 12 hours a day can find time, what's my excuse?
7) Occasional treats. Rich and satisfying treats that don't cause the cravings that the diet fat-free substitutes can bring on. Now that I think about it, it's so much easier to take just one bite of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and retire my fork for the night than it is to open just one 100-calorie pack of chocolate covered pretzels and refuse to open the remaining six packets left in the box.
I'm going to test a couple of these tips out and let you know how it goes. I think that the daily exercise (obviously) and the simple/routine breakfast and lunch options would be the most beneficial for me to try. Here goes!
Walk Off 10 Pounds This Month: Your Lose-10-Pounds Plan
Walk Off 10 Pounds This Month: Your Lose-10-Pounds Plan
My new challenge. Since it doesn't come with a diet plan, this challenge will fit perfectly with my Essential Vegetarian Guide beginner recipes that I'm prepping in order to get me ready for my Feb. 15th deadline. My start date for the Walk Off Challenge is December 30th since that's pay day and grocery shopping/produce junction day.
Already, I'm feeling somewhat convicted about shopping at produce junction vs. shopping local organic. I'll have to price what I pay now at produce junction to what I'd pay at the local farmers' market and make a comparison. Unfortunately for us, money, not environment, is the deciding factor. I would love to grow my own, but our association in our townhouse community forbids it. Ah, to break free.
My new challenge. Since it doesn't come with a diet plan, this challenge will fit perfectly with my Essential Vegetarian Guide beginner recipes that I'm prepping in order to get me ready for my Feb. 15th deadline. My start date for the Walk Off Challenge is December 30th since that's pay day and grocery shopping/produce junction day.
Already, I'm feeling somewhat convicted about shopping at produce junction vs. shopping local organic. I'll have to price what I pay now at produce junction to what I'd pay at the local farmers' market and make a comparison. Unfortunately for us, money, not environment, is the deciding factor. I would love to grow my own, but our association in our townhouse community forbids it. Ah, to break free.
Back to the beginning
It took 3 months to take off ten pounds and three months to pack them back on. I am seriously upset with myself. Which is a dangerous place to be considering all the holiday junk food lurking in the kitchen cabinets. I promised myself that I would never come back to this place. Why is it that I don't keep the promises that I make to myself, but every promise I make to others I view as unbreakable and sacred? I can't dwell on this. It won't get me anywhere but somewhere I don't want to be. I'm letting it go. New start.
Food
Okay. Here's "the thing." The thing is that I don't want this blog to be all about how I am or (more the case these days) am not succeeding in my goals towards weight-loss. I want to have fun and to do that I think I'm going to have to do more than pour my heart out about my long-time struggles in the plus-size world. And what better way to start my journey than to reassess my relationship with food? I love food. I love the smells, the textures, the colors. I love reading recipes. Food can connect generations, it can be a social event, it can communicate across cultural barriers, and it has always been more than just nourishment to the body.
So, after watching the movie Julie & Julia and realizing that I need to reconnect with my love of fruits and vegetables I've come up with a project. I want to cook through the entire Essential Vegetarian Cookbook by Diana Shaw in one year. The book is 600 glorious pages regarding health, nutrition, gardening, living green, and party-hosting. Though I'm not going back to being a strict vegetarian, it will revitalize my mission to treat my body as a temple instead of a fast-food dumping ground.
Since I'm terrible with deadlines and lofty ambitions, I am going to set the date for February 15th to give me ample time to prepare and read up on the recipes I will be attempting. This way I can ease my way into it, instead of barreling ahead full force and burning out after two weeks.
I am going to try to figure out a way to balance this project with my reviews of weight-loss challenges found in popular fashion magazines. Maybe I'll alternate months of cooking through Shaw's Essential Guide and the magazines. Not sure, but I'll try to figure it out along the way.
So, after watching the movie Julie & Julia and realizing that I need to reconnect with my love of fruits and vegetables I've come up with a project. I want to cook through the entire Essential Vegetarian Cookbook by Diana Shaw in one year. The book is 600 glorious pages regarding health, nutrition, gardening, living green, and party-hosting. Though I'm not going back to being a strict vegetarian, it will revitalize my mission to treat my body as a temple instead of a fast-food dumping ground.
Since I'm terrible with deadlines and lofty ambitions, I am going to set the date for February 15th to give me ample time to prepare and read up on the recipes I will be attempting. This way I can ease my way into it, instead of barreling ahead full force and burning out after two weeks.
I am going to try to figure out a way to balance this project with my reviews of weight-loss challenges found in popular fashion magazines. Maybe I'll alternate months of cooking through Shaw's Essential Guide and the magazines. Not sure, but I'll try to figure it out along the way.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
"Do you know that you have a big butt?"
Ah, the voice of truth that comes out of the mouths of babes. A four year old infomericalist in training asked me if I knew that my butt was big and then continued to point out all of my physical flaws after I attempted to share with her the Good News of Jesus Christ in Sunday school this morning. She then proceed to tell me all about this amazing strawberry cereal diet, she has already lost an amazing 4 pounds, and in my opinion, if she lost anymore she'd be as thick as vapor.
After a day of contemplation, two glasses of white wine, and a whole lot of belting Whitney Houston's "I'm Every Woman," I came to a realization and ordered pizza. The latter was due to depression disguised as acceptance and could-care-less-ness, and the former was a statement: "hell, yes, little girl who will remain in my head as the voice of reason, my ass is fat." Unfortunately for me, my addictions and gluttonous sin are as obvious as my waistline. If only I were skinny and addicted to exercise, raw food, and love-making the world would be a better place.
Another realization I came to this morning was that everyone in life will make their parents a scapegoat to blame for their flaws, even the non-genetic emotional dispositions to need explanation because the fact that we are human is never a good enough reason for anything. That little girl may grow up blaming her parents for her future failed attempts at replacing Susanne Somers on QVC. I blame my parents for my emotional eating. Which is total crap.
It's not their fault. They gave me ice cream when I was eight years old after a bad day. So what. They don't do that now. I do. It's all me. It's my decision.
I'm so exhausted from making empty promises (another thing that's not their fault, despite their 'you can do anything you put your mind to' lectures and promises of bright futures ahead). I'm tired of cheap optimism and sick of looking forward to the day I find redemption and break free from the body in which I have chosen to hide while I sit on the couch and dream some more. I think I am going to take it slow this time. No lofty promises, but no more quitting either. I deserve to give myself a chance. I know at least that much.
I keep having this same realization over and over again in my blog, and I'm sure if anyone actually reads this, you, my poor readers are sick of it to...
Okay, okay: Take it slow Katy. Goal for the week: sign up for one weekly fitness class at the Y and go for an entire session. No wimping out. No "Biting off more than I can chew" (especially in the dairy and baked good department. ha ha.) I can do that. Simple. Get some guts to get rid of the gut. Dammit. Why does this scare the hell out of me?
After a day of contemplation, two glasses of white wine, and a whole lot of belting Whitney Houston's "I'm Every Woman," I came to a realization and ordered pizza. The latter was due to depression disguised as acceptance and could-care-less-ness, and the former was a statement: "hell, yes, little girl who will remain in my head as the voice of reason, my ass is fat." Unfortunately for me, my addictions and gluttonous sin are as obvious as my waistline. If only I were skinny and addicted to exercise, raw food, and love-making the world would be a better place.
Another realization I came to this morning was that everyone in life will make their parents a scapegoat to blame for their flaws, even the non-genetic emotional dispositions to need explanation because the fact that we are human is never a good enough reason for anything. That little girl may grow up blaming her parents for her future failed attempts at replacing Susanne Somers on QVC. I blame my parents for my emotional eating. Which is total crap.
It's not their fault. They gave me ice cream when I was eight years old after a bad day. So what. They don't do that now. I do. It's all me. It's my decision.
I'm so exhausted from making empty promises (another thing that's not their fault, despite their 'you can do anything you put your mind to' lectures and promises of bright futures ahead). I'm tired of cheap optimism and sick of looking forward to the day I find redemption and break free from the body in which I have chosen to hide while I sit on the couch and dream some more. I think I am going to take it slow this time. No lofty promises, but no more quitting either. I deserve to give myself a chance. I know at least that much.
I keep having this same realization over and over again in my blog, and I'm sure if anyone actually reads this, you, my poor readers are sick of it to...
Okay, okay: Take it slow Katy. Goal for the week: sign up for one weekly fitness class at the Y and go for an entire session. No wimping out. No "Biting off more than I can chew" (especially in the dairy and baked good department. ha ha.) I can do that. Simple. Get some guts to get rid of the gut. Dammit. Why does this scare the hell out of me?
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