by Kat Featherton
Recently I learned that my cholesterol and my sugar were both high. I knew about the cholesterol, but the sugar was a new one...though I had wondered based on some of the issues I was having that reminded me of when I was pregnant and had gestational diabetes.
So, confession time. Yep, I totally wussed out on my low cholesterol diet and now here I am with more issues. I researched. I asked around. I used what I knew. And yes, it worked, but I wanted more. Finally I went to a nutritionist.
I have lots of information to share, but this is just about the "free" foods. These are the foods that we can pretty much consumer without worry. Luckily, they are also pretty easy to keep prepared ahead of time for those "munchy" moments. Ready? I promise, it isn't going to be as bad as you think.
Cucumbers, celery, and lettuce are the free foods. Eat them all you want because they are mostly water. Now, you are naturally going to get sick of these, so try to spice them up when you can with a few of the suggestions below. Please add your own in the comments so we can all help each other along.
Celery: Chop these into small pieces after you stuff them or leave them unstuffed. This makes them more like "finger foods". Keep in mind that you can stuff them, but you need to account for that in your daily planning. Try natural peanut butter, seasoned hummus, or yogurt.
Lettuce: Though you wouldn't normally think of lettuce as a finger food or snack, you might be looking at it wrong. Try using lettuce as a wrap for tomatoes, hummus, and other spreads.
Cucumbers: Cucumbers make great bite size snacks, and it's okay if you add to them every now and then with some mayo or other dressing. In fact, cucumbers, Italian dressing, and onions make a perfect salad!
How do you make these free foods into appetizing snacks?
Monday, May 20, 2013
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Losing weight with the help of saffron extract.
 |
| Image courtesy of winnond/FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
It's hard to believe that it has been
almost two years since I first began contributing to this blog. My
lord, I was so gung ho then, determined that this was the time that I
was actually going to do it, follow through and reach my weight
goals. I was disillusioned to think that my inclusion in this blog
would give me that push. It didn't work like I'd hoped.
For the majority of that time, I
actually gained weight. A lot of that had to do with my back issues.
I had surgery on a severely ruptured disc last year. You can read the saga on my blog if you wish. The rest of it had to do with my own
state of mind. I kind of gave up on living life for awhile. It was
easy not to worry about weight when I could hide inside my home 98%
of my time.
I tried to get
back into the swing of things. But as there is a strong possibility
that I have a premature degenerative disc condition, low impact
exercise is all I can do. I lost some weight but without hard
exercise, there wasn't much I felt I could do and I felt defeated
again.
My focus has shifted.
My focus for the past three months has
been calorie and portion control. But something else I've realized is
that it's not such a bad thing to take help and by help, I mean a
supplement.
In order for me to quit smoking three years ago, I had to
use something to help me get passed the nicotine withdrawals. I used
the patch and while it didn't do all the work for me, it helped me
with self control. I can say something similar about saffron
extract. It doesn't take away all the hunger but it has done enough
to help me get through the toughest parts. It worked for me for about
six weeks before I noticed that my body seemed to be getting used to
it and it didn't work as well as it had before. Now, since I have a
foothold on self restraint, I only use the supplement to help me
manage when I really have the urge to overeat which isn't often
now. (As a disclaimer, I should mention that you should consult your
doctor before you start taking anything for weight loss help.) But
keep in mind if you do try it, it won't magically do the work for
you. It will still be one of the hardest things you'll ever do. I've
had to learn to simply take it one day at a time. Corny, I know, but
that's exactly how it has been.
I've done a fairly decent job with it
so far. I've lost just almost 20 pounds and have dropped two sizes.
My goal is to kick off another 20 pounds and two more sizes. The
main goal is not only to look and feel better, and get a lower count
on my cholesterol this year, but to see if shedding further pounds
will aid me in my fight against my back pain.
Thanks for reading and may your journey
be successful, whatever your definition of successful is.
Peace, love, and weighing less,
Pamela
You can find Pamela on her websites at
PamelaGifford.com (non-fiction, editing, writing and publishing
services) and at PamelaCaves.com (fiction, poetry).
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Simple Diet Changes that Got Fast Results
by Kathy Foust
After some pain and numbness, I finally decided to go to the doctor to see what the deal was. Five scripts later, I was re-evaluating my lifestyle. I made some changes and honestly, it hasn't been hard and I already feel better.
I was losing weight before, but it was not on purpose or in a healthy way. And, I basically felt like shit all the time. Even my attitude sucked and I was doing things that just are not like me. It was time for a change. In a way, I set out to detox everything.
I burnt a bridge or two with people who really didn't care about me. Heck, they probably don't really care about themselves, so at the time, I kind of fit right in. During this time, I was asked about a couple of situations where the right thing to do was the hard thing to (as usual) and I actually picked the right path.
And finally, I also changed my diet. I'm not on a "diet" because I was already having some tempting thoughts remniscent of my anorexic days and a diet for me always leads down that path.
I'm going to try to track my progress here by showing what I am eating and the results. I think that's what most of us want to hear, isn't it? It's a "fine, you changed your eating, but what are you actually ingesting?!" kind of thought process. So here goes.
I started this Tuesday. My clothes already feel looser, and I feel better, but the biggest indicator for me was my seat belt. I never have it super tight, but it does fit me. When I drove today, I could have put a couple of books between my waist and the seat belt.
Tuesday
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs and 1/2 of a grapefruit with 1-8 oz. glass of cranberry juice
Lunch: 1/2 peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread with 1-8 oz. glass of cranberry juice
Dinner: 1 hamburger patty with wheat bread, lettuce, and mustard.
snacks: I left grapes on the counter to munch on all day.
Wednesday
Breakfast: 1-8 oz. glass of cranberry juice and a handful of blueberries.
Lunch: skipped lunch
Dinner: Small portion of tuna casserole, large portion of asparagus 1-8 oz. glass of cranberry juice.
snack: 1/2 peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread
Thursday
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs in sweet peppers, topped with 1/4 onion and 1/4 tomato. 1-8 oz. glass of green tea.
Lunch: One tomato sandwich (2 slices of tomato on whole wheat bread)
Dinner: 2 bowls of chicken and dumplings which included chicken, dumplings, peas, green beans, onions, and sweet peppers. 1-8 oz. glass of green tea.
Snack: 6 oz. smoothie consisting of banana, kiwi, plain yogurt, and strawberries.
Friday
Breakfast: 1 banana
Lunch: 1 sandwich of turkey and colby jack cheese on some awesome 6 grain bread 1-8 oz. glass of green tea.
Dinner: Plan to have leftover chicken and dumplings.
Snack: Planning a smoothie for later, banana, blueberries, and plain yogurt.
I know on some of these days it seems like I am not eating a lot and I know you should never skip meals. But the truth is that in the beginning of the week I was not feeling well, so I didn't eat much. After that, I just ate when I was hungry and only until I wasn't hungry anymore.
After some pain and numbness, I finally decided to go to the doctor to see what the deal was. Five scripts later, I was re-evaluating my lifestyle. I made some changes and honestly, it hasn't been hard and I already feel better.
I was losing weight before, but it was not on purpose or in a healthy way. And, I basically felt like shit all the time. Even my attitude sucked and I was doing things that just are not like me. It was time for a change. In a way, I set out to detox everything.
I burnt a bridge or two with people who really didn't care about me. Heck, they probably don't really care about themselves, so at the time, I kind of fit right in. During this time, I was asked about a couple of situations where the right thing to do was the hard thing to (as usual) and I actually picked the right path.
And finally, I also changed my diet. I'm not on a "diet" because I was already having some tempting thoughts remniscent of my anorexic days and a diet for me always leads down that path.
I'm going to try to track my progress here by showing what I am eating and the results. I think that's what most of us want to hear, isn't it? It's a "fine, you changed your eating, but what are you actually ingesting?!" kind of thought process. So here goes.
I started this Tuesday. My clothes already feel looser, and I feel better, but the biggest indicator for me was my seat belt. I never have it super tight, but it does fit me. When I drove today, I could have put a couple of books between my waist and the seat belt.
Tuesday
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs and 1/2 of a grapefruit with 1-8 oz. glass of cranberry juice
Lunch: 1/2 peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread with 1-8 oz. glass of cranberry juice
Dinner: 1 hamburger patty with wheat bread, lettuce, and mustard.
snacks: I left grapes on the counter to munch on all day.
Wednesday
Breakfast: 1-8 oz. glass of cranberry juice and a handful of blueberries.
Lunch: skipped lunch
Dinner: Small portion of tuna casserole, large portion of asparagus 1-8 oz. glass of cranberry juice.
snack: 1/2 peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs in sweet peppers, topped with 1/4 onion and 1/4 tomato. 1-8 oz. glass of green tea.
Lunch: One tomato sandwich (2 slices of tomato on whole wheat bread)
Dinner: 2 bowls of chicken and dumplings which included chicken, dumplings, peas, green beans, onions, and sweet peppers. 1-8 oz. glass of green tea.
Snack: 6 oz. smoothie consisting of banana, kiwi, plain yogurt, and strawberries.
Friday
Breakfast: 1 banana
Lunch: 1 sandwich of turkey and colby jack cheese on some awesome 6 grain bread 1-8 oz. glass of green tea.
Dinner: Plan to have leftover chicken and dumplings.
Snack: Planning a smoothie for later, banana, blueberries, and plain yogurt.
I know on some of these days it seems like I am not eating a lot and I know you should never skip meals. But the truth is that in the beginning of the week I was not feeling well, so I didn't eat much. After that, I just ate when I was hungry and only until I wasn't hungry anymore.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Viibryd, Anxiety, and Other Fun Stuff
by Kathy Foust
I went to the doctor yesterday because I had been having some of the symptoms I had last year. Numbness in my lips and hands, pain in my arm and so forth. I knew something was wrong, but I thought I had my cholesterol under control. I also needed to have a chat about some peri-menopause issues.
I came home with 3 scripts. That makes me not a happy camper since I much prefer to do thins the natural way if I can. It would have been 4, but I was already beyond the limits of what I was okay with.
The good news is that I lost weight. She has to tell me this because I won't look at the scale, even more so since last week when I found myself pondering the use of some of my former anorexic habits. Sadly, sometimes the only thing keeping me from going that route is the fact that I prefer for my teeth the remain in my head.
The bad news is that the stress is finally catching up with me. My blood pressure has never been so high. My doctor was probably a bit shocked because she knows quite a bit about me and what my life is like right now is nowhere close to as stressful as it formerly was, though I know the key areas that cause it.
Then there is the peri-menopause. Yes I am 38 and in about my fifth year of this little road trip through hell. My mother died in the the beginning of her and she was 30, so if I hear one more person tell me I'm too young, well it's just not going to be pretty.
These mood swings...omg they are like rapid cycling bipolar, but only for a week. It's horrible. It's also a good thing I am single because for a few days that man would be very happy, but have very little rest. And for the next few days, he wouldn't be able to do anything right. Yeah, I tend to keep to myself that week.
Of course, the vitamin D is still low. Why? I am out in the sun all the time now. My body just does not process (or create) vitamin D or A correctly. So I get acne, but won't have many wrinkles. And I feel like there is a cell phone going off in my pocket all the time. What a weirdo!
Of the things she gave me, the viibryd is the one that concerns me most. It's an antidepressant with antianxiety qualities. My mood swings happen for one week or so, so I was already leery about this method and she had already given me something for the anxiety. So, I did some research. I look up viibryd reviews and I was not impressed.
Most of the women my age who take this start off with diarrhea. The former anorexic in me is cheering about that part. But within a couple of months, sometimes weeks, they start gaining weight and losing their hair.
Wtf? Really? How will that not make me depressed? Peri-menopause is bad enough without all that. I can't see how I will possible feel better if I am cleaning handfuls of hair out of the tub drain and not able to fit into my pants. So no, I don't think I will be taking it. In fact, there is a review from a doctor who suggests that this is not given to patients as he has not seen improvement in any of his patients using this.
I am however, going back to a more vegetable rich diet and attempting to switch coffee for tea again. My hope is that my system will at least have a better shot on a healthy diet. And since one of the scripts is vitamin D and the other is for anxiety as needed, I think this might be a good start and I don't have to feel bad about abusing my body with pills.
I went to the doctor yesterday because I had been having some of the symptoms I had last year. Numbness in my lips and hands, pain in my arm and so forth. I knew something was wrong, but I thought I had my cholesterol under control. I also needed to have a chat about some peri-menopause issues.
I came home with 3 scripts. That makes me not a happy camper since I much prefer to do thins the natural way if I can. It would have been 4, but I was already beyond the limits of what I was okay with.
The good news is that I lost weight. She has to tell me this because I won't look at the scale, even more so since last week when I found myself pondering the use of some of my former anorexic habits. Sadly, sometimes the only thing keeping me from going that route is the fact that I prefer for my teeth the remain in my head.
The bad news is that the stress is finally catching up with me. My blood pressure has never been so high. My doctor was probably a bit shocked because she knows quite a bit about me and what my life is like right now is nowhere close to as stressful as it formerly was, though I know the key areas that cause it.
Then there is the peri-menopause. Yes I am 38 and in about my fifth year of this little road trip through hell. My mother died in the the beginning of her and she was 30, so if I hear one more person tell me I'm too young, well it's just not going to be pretty.
These mood swings...omg they are like rapid cycling bipolar, but only for a week. It's horrible. It's also a good thing I am single because for a few days that man would be very happy, but have very little rest. And for the next few days, he wouldn't be able to do anything right. Yeah, I tend to keep to myself that week.
Of course, the vitamin D is still low. Why? I am out in the sun all the time now. My body just does not process (or create) vitamin D or A correctly. So I get acne, but won't have many wrinkles. And I feel like there is a cell phone going off in my pocket all the time. What a weirdo!
Of the things she gave me, the viibryd is the one that concerns me most. It's an antidepressant with antianxiety qualities. My mood swings happen for one week or so, so I was already leery about this method and she had already given me something for the anxiety. So, I did some research. I look up viibryd reviews and I was not impressed.
Most of the women my age who take this start off with diarrhea. The former anorexic in me is cheering about that part. But within a couple of months, sometimes weeks, they start gaining weight and losing their hair.
Wtf? Really? How will that not make me depressed? Peri-menopause is bad enough without all that. I can't see how I will possible feel better if I am cleaning handfuls of hair out of the tub drain and not able to fit into my pants. So no, I don't think I will be taking it. In fact, there is a review from a doctor who suggests that this is not given to patients as he has not seen improvement in any of his patients using this.
I am however, going back to a more vegetable rich diet and attempting to switch coffee for tea again. My hope is that my system will at least have a better shot on a healthy diet. And since one of the scripts is vitamin D and the other is for anxiety as needed, I think this might be a good start and I don't have to feel bad about abusing my body with pills.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Lifestyles and Health
I've a sort of plan for the weight loss thing. It's called basic common sense (or at least for me it is). I haven't been writing much on here because I've been more worried about other things. But lately, I'm more excited about getting in shape.
We planted a garden. The lack of rain makes it hard to say whether it will do as good as I want it to, but the lack of chemicals put in it makes it easy to say that whatever does come out of that garden is going to be super healthy! I've been trying to eat chemical free foods and I have found that you either need to eat organic or not. Don't try to combine organic with chemical filled foods because you won't like the result.
Something else that is on the backburner is the smoking issue. It doesn't make a lot of sense to try to eat healthy, and then pollute my lungs with smoking. When the time comes, I'm going to seek out every resource I can find. I do't need lectures or anything like that. I need some positive motivation. I've been looking around already and found www.beatingsmoking.com. It's all about taking a positive approach to stop smoking. It's also one of many resources I'll be using.
The thing is that you can't just change your diet. Fad diets get boring and you end up going right back to old habits. When you do, you tend to gain back all the weight you lost and then some. You have to actually make a commitment to change the way you live your life. I know that's the only way that's going to work for me because in my world, it's all or nothing. This is my life, not some trial period. I don't want to just be around to see my grandkids in the future I want to be able to enjoy them and be active with them.
We planted a garden. The lack of rain makes it hard to say whether it will do as good as I want it to, but the lack of chemicals put in it makes it easy to say that whatever does come out of that garden is going to be super healthy! I've been trying to eat chemical free foods and I have found that you either need to eat organic or not. Don't try to combine organic with chemical filled foods because you won't like the result.
Something else that is on the backburner is the smoking issue. It doesn't make a lot of sense to try to eat healthy, and then pollute my lungs with smoking. When the time comes, I'm going to seek out every resource I can find. I do't need lectures or anything like that. I need some positive motivation. I've been looking around already and found www.beatingsmoking.com. It's all about taking a positive approach to stop smoking. It's also one of many resources I'll be using.
The thing is that you can't just change your diet. Fad diets get boring and you end up going right back to old habits. When you do, you tend to gain back all the weight you lost and then some. You have to actually make a commitment to change the way you live your life. I know that's the only way that's going to work for me because in my world, it's all or nothing. This is my life, not some trial period. I don't want to just be around to see my grandkids in the future I want to be able to enjoy them and be active with them.
Monday, March 26, 2012
The movies that changed my eating habits.
by Pamela Gifford
I'm a little behind the times when it comes to entertainment. I'm a busy mom, after all, and my kids are just now coming to an age where I can sit and watch something (relatively) scream-free. But now I'm in school and time just isn't on my side much these days. I miss going to the gym, I miss my kids, I miss life in general. But that's what happens when you go back to school full time as an adult, non-traditional student who has young children.
If it wasn't for school, my psych class and my physical sciences class specifically, I don't think I would be sitting here able to say that I've lost enough weight that I can get my "semi-skinny" pants on. (Still can't button them but it's a major accomplish for me to be able to say that I can get them all the way up!) To focus in, it was the films I had to watch in class, Super Size Me and Food Inc., that got my attention.
Super Size Me is a film about what happens to a man who goes on an all fast food diet.
Food Inc. gives us a look into how our food is processed. This film has almost (almost) single-handedly made me a vegetarian and I still may end up soon giving up meat altogether.
If you haven't seen these films and you're still struggling with eating issues (notice I said eating issues, not weight issues, because sometimes they are not one in the same), then maybe you should sit down and watch these two films. I think they may be available for free checkout in some libraries.
They have certainly helped me. Maybe they can help you, too.
You can find Pamela on her Creative Services website or her fiction website. Debut novel coming out this year!
I'm a little behind the times when it comes to entertainment. I'm a busy mom, after all, and my kids are just now coming to an age where I can sit and watch something (relatively) scream-free. But now I'm in school and time just isn't on my side much these days. I miss going to the gym, I miss my kids, I miss life in general. But that's what happens when you go back to school full time as an adult, non-traditional student who has young children.
If it wasn't for school, my psych class and my physical sciences class specifically, I don't think I would be sitting here able to say that I've lost enough weight that I can get my "semi-skinny" pants on. (Still can't button them but it's a major accomplish for me to be able to say that I can get them all the way up!) To focus in, it was the films I had to watch in class, Super Size Me and Food Inc., that got my attention.
Super Size Me is a film about what happens to a man who goes on an all fast food diet.
Food Inc. gives us a look into how our food is processed. This film has almost (almost) single-handedly made me a vegetarian and I still may end up soon giving up meat altogether.
If you haven't seen these films and you're still struggling with eating issues (notice I said eating issues, not weight issues, because sometimes they are not one in the same), then maybe you should sit down and watch these two films. I think they may be available for free checkout in some libraries.
They have certainly helped me. Maybe they can help you, too.
You can find Pamela on her Creative Services website or her fiction website. Debut novel coming out this year!
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