Different

Every week I like to try at least one new vegetarian recipe.  This is one I cooked up last night  It's called cheesy eggplant burgers. I LOVED it!  The family, on the other hand, not so much.  I guess I can't really blame the kids as it is a little out there for little kid taste buds.  Jeff is very picky, so I can't really expect much there.  BUT....for someone with a wide pallet, this is perfect.  It is really like bruschetta with eggplant.  It does have Gouda cheese which was a first for me.  Not something I will do often as that cheese is  expensive.   Anyhoo...I wanted to share as I thought it was delish. Sorry...I couldn't resist but take a couple bites before I snapped the photo.

http://www.recipe.com/cheesy-eggplant-burgers/

Is it possible?

The other day while on facebook, I read a post from one of my friends (one of my blog readers, in fact) about trying to do without sugar.  When I started my radical diet change at the beginning of the year, I knew that sugar was one of the things I was going to have to cut back on.  I did without dessert for two weeks, but I never gave up my sweetners.  It did help.  I didn't crave sweets as much, and it helped me regain control of a part of my life that was wildly out of control.  I can't say that I never craved more sweets, but eventually I was able to add dessert back into my diet and was able to limit myself to one tiny piece of chocolate after lunch and supper.  I can't say that I didn't want to eat the whole bag after that one tiny bite of heaven, but I was able to exercise self control. 


This summer has been so good to us.  Part of it's enjoyment has come from the fact that I have allowed myself a little more than my one chocolate after each meal.  Andy's frozen custard, bake sale goods, birthday cakes and icecream.  Next thing I know, I am sitting down one evening (last night to be exact) and gorging myself on a huge brownie.  It was so good (at least for the whopping 2 minutes that it took to eat it).  Then I felt so yucky afterwards.  I was overly full and I felt guilty for having splurged so big.  I mean, why couldn't I just have eaten one bite and stopped?  After all, I wasn't exactly hungry when I ate it. I thought to myself, if I'm not careful those pounds that I lost so easily are going to creep back up on me.

I started thinking about those things people say that when you do a radical diet change you have to retrain your taste buds, in a sense.  I do believe this is true.  I used to HATE vegetables.  I idea of becoming a vegetarian would have seemed laughable to me.  Now look at me.  I love them.  I crave them.  They weren't all good at first, but the more I forced myself to partake and cook them, the more enjoyment I got out of them.

I did a little research on retraining your tastebuds last night to see if it is really possible to train yourself to not desire treats.  What I discovered was what I pretty much already knew, but it motiviated me to give it a try.  Afterall, my vegetarian idea started as an idea of just doing one vegetarian meal a week.  It was so easy, I wondered if I could do it an entire week.  It was still so easy and fun that I decided to do it mostly full time with the occasional fish meal.  So if I could do that, why not challenge myself to give up sugar, at least for a long enough period of time that it no longer felt like a necessity.  I desire to live life without craving sugar. 

The articles I read said the first two or three days will be the worst.  It suggested that too fully conquer the cravings for some can even take as long as 5 months.  (Sigh, Lord I hope that's not how long it takes me).  BUT....it also said that eventually your tastebuds will readjust and suddenly things that tasted so bland will be bursting with natural flavors that you never noticed before.  What once seemed so boring will taste so wonderful and exciting.  Now that sounds good doesn't it? 

Then what will be it be like when you do allow yourself one splurge after this great reinvention of your tastebuds, one might wonder.  One woman said that it tasted so rich and overboard that she had one bite and that's all she could handle.  I suppose it stands to reason that if fruit was like heaven, something that had a lot of added artificial sweetners would feel a little overpowered.  One bite of custard, one bite of a brownie, one bite of a candybar....can you imagine that type of self control?  I can't.  Unbelieveable....That's why I want to find out if that really is true.  The thought of seeing a serving of fruit as a wonderful dessert and knowing I'm being healthy doing it,  sounds so good doesn't it?   So really my motivation for this is to be able to experience food the way God intended it, in it's natural form.  Doesn't that sound like a good reason to go about a good diet change?  Forget the weight loss benefits, I want to enjoy food the way it's meant to be enjoyed.  I want to control what goes in my mouth, not let what goes in my mouth control me.  So here's to my little experiment.  Wish me luck.

 

A life change...possibly

 I have been meat free (with the exception of sea food) for 6 months now....until today.  I accidently bought spicy chicken patties two weeks ago.  Jeff doesn't care for chicken patties and the girls don't like spicy.  I could have taken them back, but Walmart policy is to trash all returned food items.  It doesn't matter that the seal hasn't been broken.  I can't bare the thought of trashing perfectly good food.  There are too many starving children around the world. That, to me, would be wrong.  Therefore, I ate chicken for the first time since December.  I have allowed myself seafood mostly because it is SOOOO healthy and also because it gives me an option at some restaurants that don't otherwise cater to the vegetarian.

When I set out on this journey to be meat free, I mostly was just doing it to perhaps make a tiny statement to the food industry about the treatment of the animals that are being produced for food.  I have no quams with the idea of eating meat.  I do, however, take issue with unsafe food handling and inhumane treatment of the meat we eat.  That movie Food Inc., as you all know, did a number on me.  Anyhoo, I really didn't think I could do vegetarian, and I guess since I still eat seafood I am not a true vegetarian.  However, it proved to be easier than I thought to eliminate beef and chicken from my diet.

Our tastebuds have tried foods like we have never tried them before.  I've had probably as many failed recipes as I have had winners, but it feels good to cook up food that I know is doing good things for our bodies.  It is actually a little easier on our pocket book as well.  And the best part is, I was able to loose all the weight I set out to loose at the beginning of the year with minimal effort.  I feel good, I like the way I look, I fit in a size of clothing I never thought I'd EVER fit in again.  I eat just about as much as I want, I still get my little sweet fix, and my tummy feels full and happy.

With all those perks, why wouldn't I continue my path of semi vegetarian eating? There are just too many pros that outweigh the cons.  Granted, I am stuck having to finish off this package of spicy chicken patties, but for the most part, I don't see myself changing my diet at all for the next year, or two years, or three. I am not willing to say this is absolute.  If there is one thing I have learned as I age, it is that no matter how passionate we may be about something, we can change our minds.  We'll see.  Perhaps I'll tire of the extra work being mostly vegetarian can be.  All the cutting and preparing veggies can be burdensome.  The stress of having to cook them up when you don't feel like it because you know they will go bad if you don't get to them in time.  That does get old, I must admit.  

Anyhow, just having a reflective day since it was the first time I ate chicken in 7 months.  Wanted to share.

Carrot fries

I tried these today.  Awesome!  So so easy.

Ingredients

• 1  pound carrots
• 1  tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4  teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4  teaspoon salt

Directions 1. Slice carrots into 1/2-inch-wide sticks using a crinkle cutter (I  didn't use a crinkle cutter). Toss with olive oil, dried thyme, and salt. Bake at 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until soft, on a parchment paper–lined pan (I just used some nonstick spray)

Week 10: score and moving on

Ten weeks in and I weighed in at my exact goal this morning.  I only had a half a pound to go, and that's all I lost.  I was a little disappointed it wasn't more, but can't complain that I actually made it.  I have to admit part of my disappointment was because I had cheated and weighed myself yesterday after having a fever most of the night.  I know that usually when people are sick they loose a bunch of weight.  I was curious.  The scale showed 1.5 pounds lighter than it did this morning.  Guess it was all water weight from all that sweating I did. 

Anyhow, I'm glad I made it.  I'm thrilled it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  I can't believe I have been meat free for two whole months (with the exception of one frozen pizza).  It's nice to feel better in my own skin.  Overall, this has been a very positive experience.  I am closing my weekly weigh ins for now on the blog since I do consider myself in a healthy weight range now, but I do plan to move forward with my diet by loosing another five pounds.  Hopefully I can get that done by my birthday.  What's crazy is that if I do loose another 5 pounds I'll actually be the exact weight my driver's license says I am.  I remember looking at that number these last few years thinking there was no way I could ever get that low again.  How nice it will be to go in to renew my license and tell them not to change my recorded weight.  Awesome!

Week 9 weigh in

Well I was a little surprised when I stepped on the scale this morning.  I'm down another 3 pounds. My second biggest weight loss in one week to date since I started.  I guess last week's disappointing weigh in motivated me quite a bit, although last Saturday I cheated....a lot.  The girl's and I went to Chucky Cheese and I ordered a small veggie pizza.  They are soooo expensive, but their pizza is sooooo good.  I really didn't want to carry a take home box, my diaper bag, and Brennan back to the van and then let it sit in the van for who knows how long until we were done with our errands and on our way back to Branson.  I certainly couldn't bring myself to just leave leftover pizza at Chucky Cheese, especially pizza that tasted that good and was so expensive.  That left me with only one option, eat everything the girls didn't eat.  Kadyn had two pieces, Brennan had one piece, I (gulp) had the rest.  At least they were small pieces.  Anyhow, I digress.

So needless to say, I was very happy to see it didn't thwart my efforts to loose this week.  This leaves me with only .5 pounds to go until I reach my goal.  Seeing as how my deadline to reach my goal was supposed to be May 13th, it seems I have plenty of time to make a new goal and reach it.  So...today I want to declare that I will loose yet another 5.5 pounds.  This would put me at my college weight (my early college days anyhow).  I felt good during that time, I was confident in my own skin.  I don't see a need to go beyond that unless my body just decides to do that on it's own.  I certainly don't want to look wafe like, but I figure as long as I'm not walking around hungry all day, I'm still healthy.  It'd be nice to be a little lower so that if I do have a splurge I have some room to wiggle.    I really want to have a big ol' Andes frozen custard but I don't want to screw up all my efforts this close to my goal.

Although I'm not working out, I can tell my endurance on everyday things has gone way up.  Not carrying around all that extra weight really does make a difference in energy levels.  I even feel lighter on my feet.  It's amazing how differently I feel with only having lost 16.5 pounds.  This may not feel like a lot to some people, but it certainly feels like a lot to me judging how differently I feel.  I have gotten sick about 3 times since I started my diet.  Two of those times the sickness was very mild.  I kept thinking I would get worse but it just stayed mild and then left.  I often wonder if my new vegetarian diet has made an impact on how well my body reacts to being sick.
 

I have two pairs of stretchy jeans. I LOVE stretchy jeans, and dislike them somewhat too.  They are so comfy.  I put them on and they are snug.  By the end of the day they are loosened up quite a bit which requires me to put on a belt.  Lately, I've had to cinch up my belt so much that the fabric is starting to bunch up and look silly.  I've had to roll up the bottoms and yank them up all day long.  It's almost time to go down a size.  I'm so thankful I didn't throw away my skinny jeans.  I almost did after Brennan was born. I remember holding them up thinking I'd never be that skinny again.  I told myself I wasn't allowed to even try them on until I reach my goal.  Here's hoping I get to try them on next week.

Week 8

Bummer!  My loosing streak is done.  I gained .5 pounds.  I'm not going to say I hit my wall just yet.  In order to say that I would have to have had a week where I did everything right.  This week was not one of those weeks.  Last Friday after my weigh in I went on a date night with Jeff.  I had a three course meal.  I had a choice of dessert.  Instead of taking one tiny piece of cheese cake.  I took two little mini cupcake sized cheesecakes and a wineglass of chocolate mousse, strike one.  All week I have made courses that include veggies, so instead of filling my plate with half all veggies and the rest main dish, I filled my entire plate with the main dish, strike two.  One night I actually splurged and went back for a tiny second helping, strike three. 

So...my battle plan is to get back on course and ration my plates with more veggies, NO SECONDS, and perhaps cut my chocolate intake to one tiny piece at night and no tiny pieces after lunch.  Drip, drip.  I love me some chocolate. 

Here's hoping I see the results I want to see next week.  I can't give up, I'm way to close to my goal.  It sucks to be this close and have a set back, but at least it wasn't a big one.

Week 7 weigh in

Down another 1.5 pounds.  I was very tempted to weigh myself mid week but held off.  I didn't feel like  I lost anything so was surprised that I was right on track.  I was able to ration my chocolates from valentines so no falling off the band wagon, but it was tempting.

I am only three pounds away from my goal and I am way ahead of schedule.  However, my feelings about it all have surprised me.  At first I was so pleased to see my body shrinking that I felt I could be really happy with my goal weight.  For so long I saw my body grow and get bigger. It was easy to overlook the minor flaws that I still had as the weight started coming off.  Then I began to get used to the new image I saw in the mirror and I started to see those flaws again.  Suddenly, I began to think my goal weight would need to be adjusted.  Although my self image has improved drastically, I can't help but think I should keep going once I get there.  I feel fortunate this process for me has been relatively easy.  I refuse to let myself become obsessed with my weight, but I figure as long as I'm happy and the process remains relatively easy, there really is no reason I can't try to get the body I long for.  I wonder if it is actually possible to get back to that weight I loved back in the beginning of college.

I do think my wall is coming soon.  I think the only way for me to break it is to start adding exercise in my lifestyle.  This is so difficult, but spring is just around the corner, so I'm hoping I don't hit that wall until then.  Exercising will be so much easier when it's nice outside.

So anyhow, there's where I'm at with all of this at the moment.  I certainly hope I don't hit my wall before I reach my goal.  I think my perspective on this all might change quite a bit if that happens, but for now this is where my thoughts have been lately.  Praise God for helping me stay motivated and exercising self control.  For me, once I started seeing results it became easy to say no to over eating and sugar.  Go me!

Week 6 weigh in

Down another pound.  I suspect that since I am getting very close to my goal, the loss is going to start slowing down.  We'll see.  Anyhow....still can't complain as it still falls into my goals for loss total each week.  Go me!  For this entry I thought I'd share one of my favorite vegetarian recipes and a new one we tried last night that was very good as well.  I have several, and maybe you've had these before, but they were new to me.  So here they are:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-Enchiladas/Detail.aspx

http://www.recipezaar.com/TVP-and-Cashew-BBQ-Vegan-Delight-53938

Week 5 weigh in

Dear Body,

I just want to thank you for boosting my self esteem.  Your slow but steady transformation has been fascinating to watch.  I apologize that I haven't been able to exercise you much.  I promise when spring arrives we will make a better effort.  Despite this you have managed to loose yet another 2 pounds leaving me with only 5.5 more pounds to go until I reach my goal and a total loss to date of 11.5 pounds.  At this rate, I expect that perhaps I may reach my goal well before my deadline.  Thankyou! 

I hope that you like that I haven't starved you.  In fact, it's very rare that I even get hungry.  I hope that you like that I have fed you lots and lots of vegetables and good healthy food.  I hope that you like that we no longer eat meat, although I have felt you crave it this last week a time or two (thankfully the cravings haven't been too bad).  I hope that you like that I have cut way back on my sweets intake (yet another craving you have thrown my way this week).  We have increased our caffeine intake, I hope that's OK.  I'm proud of you for coming through for me and hope you are proud of me for the changes I made for you.

At this point, I plan on sticking with the diet indefinitely.  I figure at some point you'll settle into a weight you want to be.  If it's above my goal we'll have to have revise the plan a little to keep moving forward.  If it's below my goal, awesome!  I know you can't get smaller forever right?  As a big reward for being so diligent for me, I would like to treat you to a nice new outfit or two.  My clothing all fits very nicely now and hopefully will fit nicely when I reach my goal.  I'm not sure I can afford an entire new wardrobe, but I do believe I have some skinnier jeans stowed away somewhere.  I can't wait to go to the pool this summer and not be embarassed.  I may actually fit in my suit this year. 

Anyhow, just a big thankyou letter from me, your owner.  We make a good team!

Week 4 weigh in

Weighed in this morning.  Lost one pound.  This is the least amount lost in one week to date, but still lines up with my overall goals so no worries.  Only 7.5 more pounds to go before I reach my goal.  I've lost a total of 9.5 lbs.  I wondered if this week wouldn't be as good. I made a dish with cream cheese.  Yummy!  It was well worth it.

Last night I made a barbecue tofu dish.  Sounds gross, but it was so yummy.  I finally figured out how to cook tofu correctly, so it had a more meaty texture and stayed together better.  I must say, I'm getting quite good at vegetarian cooking.  I just love it.  I can't believe I've been meatless for an entire month....well almost.  I did allow myself shrimp last week and salmon this week.  I feel OK eating fish. It is so good for you, and the movie Food Inc. didn't go into the fish market, so I'm going to plead innocence is bliss when it comes to seafood.

My new favorite dishes this week included a fresco salsa, cream cheese/black bean pinwheels, barbecue tofu sandwiches with caramelized onions, and a tomato/avocado/feta salad.  It's been a yummy week.  What's even better is that I have so many leftovers, I never have to cook separate things for myself during lunch (I cook meat for the kiddos).  I even have enough left over to freeze half of what I make, so I'm getting well stocked with quick vegetarian meals I can pull out of the freezer for days, if I don't feel like cooking.  Now all I have to do is convince my youngest to eat beans and then I'll have it made. 

Week 3

Week three weigh in, to my surprise, down 2.5 lbs for a total to date of 8.5 lbs.  I really didn't feel like I lost weight, but the scale says otherwise.  I caved on the sweet tooth and allowed myself one chocolate covered cherry each night.  Then there is the night we went out to eat at chiles.  I tried to eat sensibly and ordered the shrimp tacos, but there was also an appetizer and dessert.  I couldn't help myself.  I was going to only eat half my meal, but the thought of reheated shrimp didn't sound very appetizing. Maybe I just lucked out because I was at the end of a certain girl time (if you catch my drift).  Anyhoo...I was pleasantly surprised.  I did decide, however, to ditch the measurements.  Each week they have been up and down.  I don't understand how it could go up when I am consistently loosing weight. I concluded I must not always be measuring myself in exactly the same places.  It's too hard to be accurate on that.

Eating meatless continues to be fun, yummy, and easy.  So far my favorite meatless meals have been white bean chili, vegetarian spinach verde enchiladas, TVP quiche, and stuffed feta peppers.  Other meals I have made that aren't wonderful but have potential with a little tweeking include sweet and sour crockpot tofu, tofu lasagna, tofu parmigiana, and black bean burgers.  I find it weird that I don't crave meat, although I think I may want a big burger this summer.  Mostly, I just miss sweets.

So in a nutshell, the last three weeks have really been pretty easy and I am pleased with my progress. It's been so easy, in fact, I keep thinking my luck will run out and I will hit a wall that I can't seem to break.  It doesn't seem normal to be on a diet that is actually easy to do.  Yea!  Hope it stays that way.  If only all we ever owned was salad plates, I may have never had all this weight to loose in the first place.  I don't overeat and since my plate looks full, I feel like I'm eating a lot.  It seems so simple, I'm not sure why I never thought of it before.

Week two weigh in

Second week I weighed in.  Lot another 1.5 pounds, -.5 inch thighs, -.5 waste, -.0 hips.  I'd call that another success.  Certainly isn't a 4.5 lb loss like last week, but I'll take it.  It still meets my goals for the week.  This brings my total loss to 6 lbs, 2 inches thighs, 2 inches waste, and 1.5 inches hips.  Sure wish I could see the difference in my thighs, that's what I'm most excited about losing, but it still only seems subtle right now.  The biggest difference to me seems to be my waste.  It's beginning to feel like I'm getting the waste line I was so familiar with before kids.  That has been encouraging.

One of the hardest things so far have been the lack of sweets.  I miss them. We have a box of chocolate covered cherries that were given to us over Christmas.  I've been allowing Kadyn one piece each day.  I keep thinking one piece a day won't hurt my diet too much, but then this little voice reminds me that once I get that taste in my mouth, I'll find another excuse to have another and another and another.  I don't want to deprive myself forever, after all sweets are one of God's greatest gifts to me.  But I told myself I would wait until I got half way to my goal and then only allow one tiny piece of chocolate a day.  I have been satisfying my sweet tooth with a couple cups of coffee and artificial sweetener for now.  Our coffee bill has gone up, to say the least, and I have gotten a bit more productive with the extra boost of caffeine.  I've never been a caffeine person before.

The only other hard part so far has been not being able to step on the scale daily.  When you gaze in the mirror at your naked body it's hard to see if anything is happening as each day only brings very subtle changes.  You want to step on the scale to make sure it's working.  However, in my experience daily weigh ins can show fluctuations.  One day you will be up, then the next day down.  It can be discouraging that the diet isn't working and make one want to give up.  Therefore, allowing only one weigh in a week, I think, reflects the true progress of my efforts.

The thing that I have been the most pleased with is that there has been absolutely no counting of calories and no logging of food.  I eat only what I can fit on a salad plate and no more.  I try to make at least half of that plate veggies and the rest equally divided with protein and carbs.  This, of course, is harder to do with dishes where all the ingredients are mixed together,but it is working, so I don't care really.  I allow myself on healthy snack a day.  That's all I really need.  I figure if I don't feel hungry the rest of the time, there's no need to force myself to eat a snack I don't need. 

In other news I will be meeting with another prospective daycare client.  She is a mother of two girls 2 and 5 years old.  I was only needed to fill one more spot as I filled my first spot with a one year old boy last week, but the idea of having a 5 year old playmate for Kadyn seemed easy and exciting.  If Kadyn had someone to pal around with all day that would make this easier.  Also, a five year old would be very easy to care for and she could join Kadyn in her perschool lessons.  Of course, she would only be here until school started in August, so it would only be short term, and we could use the extra money.  She no longer naps, so I wouldn't have to worry about having a room for her to sleep in.  I felt awful for her mother who almost broke down on the phone explaining that she might be getting a divorce and currently stays at home with the girls. I also have friend who I have recently discovered is finding herself in the same situation.  We had a lengthy emotional conversation about it last Tuesday during a playdate. Suddenly, I quit feeling disappointed that I was going to have to start daycare again and more like the luckiest person in the world.  I am still getting to live out the dream of staying at home with my children and I am in a wonderful marriage to a wonderful man who is so supportive of my desire to be at home with the children.  My kids get to have a playdate every day at their house, and I get to do my passion of teaching everyday during preschool time.

Yes, daycare isn't looking so bad after all.  The prospect of having girls to join the daycare just makes me so happy!  I know girls.  I can do girls.  And after learning of this mother's dilemna I actually feel purpose in doing this.  I desire to make her transition easier and less stressful.  I want to help her out. 

Anyways, nothing is set in stone.  It may not even happen.  But if it does, I will know it is God's doing; we have been praying for another girl for Kadyn's age.  As I've been saying all along, I have opened up the doors for it to happen, it is God's job to fill the openings with the right people.

Well that's a wrap.  Until next time.  Adios!