Book Review: Real Food Has Curves

As promised... finally here's my book review of Real Food Has Curves

I really really liked this book! I randomly picked it up at the library when I was browsing for something new to read. What's funny about this book, is that there was absolutely no new information for me. Its really mostly common sense... and yet... I couldn't put it down!

Written by two foodies who write and cook for several different magazines and even Weight Watchers, its laid out in such a user friendly way it was a great resource. I even took notes and made several photocopies some of the 100 recipes inside, for future use. If I had enough money, I would totally buy this for a shelf reference.

Basically, they discuss how we've gotten to eating food that's not really "food" anymore. Highly processed, over sugared, over salted, over fattened food that has helped create the obesity crisis in our country. They offer easy ways to cut out all the crap we eat, and easy ways to bring real food back into our daily menus. They try to teach you how to get back into really enjoying what you eat, savoring, and taking pleasure in all the textures, flavors and aromas, that have made eating such a treat for centuries. Sounds great doesn't it?!

The main key is that they break down (and teach you to do it too) food into these categories. Here's also some examples of each to help you understand.

Food
Fresh pasta
Bone-in whole chicken
Fresh tomatoes
Almost Real Food
Dried Pasta
Boneless/skinless chicken parts
Natural, salt-free canned tomatoes
Barely Real Food
Frozen, cooked pasta
Canned chicken
Flavored, salted, stewed tomatoes
Not Real Food
Canned Pasta
Frozen, breaded chicken nuggets
Condensed tomato soup

I know it seems obvious, but the goal is to eat as much "real" food as possible. The next alternative is "almost real food" and of course, avoid anything deemed "not real food" as it has the most preservatives, added salts and fats and sugars, all usually used as preservatives, and all add unnecessary calories and bad stuff.

Another funny, and yet not surprising fact is that the "average" person only spends 8 minutes a day preparing their meals, down from an average of 72 minutes circa 1975. EIGHT MINUTES! Of course we don't have as much free time as we used to, but this doesn't mean we have to cut quite so many corners. This means that most of us are not cooking our food, or chopping veggies or deboning fresh halibut. Again, they make a plea/recommendation to take the time and effort to cook your own food and prepare. They gave a great example of how many parents use fish sticks as a quick "go-to" solution for their kids dinners. Thinking that they save so much time and money to do so. When on the contrary, they find that making oven-fried breaded fish fillets only actually take 4 minutes longer to prepare (28 minutes vs. 24) cost 20 cents less per serving and have 110 fewer calories per serving. The difference of course, isn't time, but EFFORT.

Finally, my favorite suggestion they give, which I'm going to try, is to try one new recipe or food item per week. Browse your grocery aisles and find some new sauce, oil, pasta, fruit, spice or whatever per week. It makes your cooking experiences more entertaining and engaging. And when you put more thought into what you eat, you'll eat less and less often. I think its a great idea, and can't wait to try some avocado oil, which they recommended as an alternative to olive oil in certain recipes. Sounds fun, right?!

So there you go. I highly recommend you check this book out and give it a read. It makes me really excited to go grocery shopping and spend some time planning fun menus and trying new foods! They also have a blog in which they try new recipes and give hints and tips also. So I recommend checking that out as well :)
Real Food Has Curves

Bon Appetit!

me and my couch: a love affair

They're back. Those dirty little crap-peddlers...

I'll admit it. I was weak. Its hard to say no sometimes.

Oh, and I also bought ice cream.

I've been having a pretty rough couple of weeks. If you read my other blog you know what I'm talking about. To summarize, the job market is rough, my money is running low, and I'm freaking the F out. And of course being stressed out does not bode well for dieting, exercising, or being healthy. I know, its no excuse, but its the truth, and that's what I'm all about here.

So most days, I lie on the couch. I know, I'm pretty much wallowing in self-pity, and that is not going to solve any of my problems. And I know I'd feel better emotionally if I physically worked out some of my stress. But its so counter intuitive, and its just not been happening recently. I know, I suck.

So there it is, my life in a nutshell. Keep your eyes out for the return of my self-esteem. Should be back here in a few days!! :)

VDay weekend and other diet woes

Okay, I really really suck. Yes, I weighed myself today, and no, I'm not going to share it with you. Its ridiculous. Yo-Yo much?! *sigh* Oh well, its all about making life long changes, no just a quick fix, right?

My main problem is eating out, or eating as a group. And bacon. Please read on!

This weekend Mr. Man and I went to the coast with some other couples for VDay Weekend fun. We ate out almost every meal, which is terrible for diets! The worst part isn't scouring the menu for the ONE or TWO descent menu items that won't blow the bank... Its having to read through all those fatty, super delicious, evil, cheese covered items that you can't have. I'm so weak!!

And heaven forbid if it comes with "salad, soup, or french fries" because we all know what we want to pick. Dirty little bastards.

So. Bacon you say? Oh yeah. We bought breakfast for everyone, which included bacon, eggs and bread for toast. Well it turns out no one wanted to eat at home and everyone wanted chicken fried steak. Well, I myself am not a huge chicken fried steak fan, however Mr. Man and I were left with 2 pounds of bacon (Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day!! like two pounds of bacon) and its sitting in my fridge. So I've had bacon every day for 3 days.

Now I know that the bacon isn't going to kill me, but I certainly know its NOT HELPING.

And thus, we're back to the drawing board again. It also doesn't help I felt like shit for the 2 days we came back and haven't felt motivated to work out. Nice, huh?

Jillian and I have a date set for tomorrow. Oh how I hate her. And yet, don't want to live without her. I've really got to dedicate myself to this, if I want to see any results.

I'm renewed! The 30 days, start TOMORROW!

back to the drawing board

So yes, its been a few days since I've blogged. I haven't had too much to report, other than awesome failures this weekend.

I tried so hard to be good. Seriously. I TRIED. I know, you all think I'm a liar.

I made my own salsa. Made my own guacamole. Made my own buffalo wings. I mean honestly, the food was great!! But still, you're not supposed to eat 4 times the normal quantity. DOH! My bad. Its so easy to over eat when you're basically grazing for 4 hours.

I was really proud of myself though, I worked out BEFORE the game!! Yayyy!!! Success!! So I didn't feel quite so bad pigging out. I was still a little sore from Jillian's ass kicking, so I tried a different video OnDemand. I was something random, and I won't be doing it again, and it isn't really worth telling you about. I did get a good sweat on though, so I felt good about that.

Monday morning -- scale said 184 (I just threw up a little in my mouth)
And today?! -- 182!! Are you kidding me?!? What. The. Fuck.

Back to the beginning. AGAIN. AGAIN!!!

I Jillian'd today. Ate relatively well. I did have mashed potatoes for dinner. But that's ALL I had for dinner. Not super nutritious, but the potatoes were going bad. I just boiled them, mashed them, added some salt and pepper, a little bit of skim milk and 2 tbsp of  real unsalted butter. I'm sure for calories it wasn't bad, although I pretty much had carbs for dinner. WOO!

On another note I'm currently reading a book called Real Food Has Curves which I'm really enjoying. It basically talks about eating REAL food, and cutting out all the processed crap that we eat all the time. I'll write up a review when I'm done!

AND tomorrow is payday, so I'll try to get some real groceries, and make some real meals, and pass some recipes along to you! I have some great ones that I want to try!!

Your "feels like I'm always going to be fluffy" friend,

Every Day

 Its been two weeks since I started The Flex Diet Solution plan.

Before I move on to the Every Day goals/rules, lets review my progress with the Today goals/rules, which were:

1. Commit yourself by taking a photo. Check!
2. Write a blog. Check!
3. Weigh yourself daily. Check! Although I really do have a love/hate relationship with my scale. Seriously, one day it'll be 175, then 172, then 181. Sometimes all in the same day! WTF mate? I can't figure out. Today's was 179. That's why I haven't been posting about my weight "officially" because its so all over the map. I might start using my mom's just to see if I really fluctuate that much. So for now, "official" weigh ins will be once per month.
4. Keep a food diary. EPIC FAIL! Big big fail on this one. Although I am doing a pretty good job at remembering what I've eaten through out the day, doing mental checks before I eat again When did I eat last? How much did I eat? But I really need to get better at this. As we all know the photo food diary has been about 2 for 10, so I'll just try to focus on a private food diary.
5. Drink 6 glasses of water a day. Fail. Although I have been better at drinking one glass per day, because before I drank NONE. Almost never. So, a small start is a good start, but I'll try to do better. I promise.
6. Take a multivitamin. Fail. I'm about 3 for 7 on this one.
7. Eat more apples. So-So. "More?" Yes. But I'll shoot for 3 a week.
8. Eat greek yogurt. Check! I love it with fruit.
9. No eating after dinner (cut off is 8pm). Check! I'm really proud of myself on this one.
10. Sleep at least 7 hours per night. Check! I've never had a problem with this one. McGriddle Pants does not function well with less than 7 hour. Or 8 for that matter. I likes my sleep :)

NOW this means its time to choose my "Every Day" goals/rules for my life. These are the things that can take up to 20 days to fully implement into your weight-loss routine, but will then become part of your "Every Day" plan (which of course is the next step).

1. Eat breakfast every day.
2. NO BAGELS!
3. Don't eat and drive.
4. Don't eat while watching television
5. Eat beans once a week.
6. Make vegetables your main course (Meatless Monday!)
7. Substitute quinoa for white rice.
8. Cut out sugar-sweetened beverages.
9. Drink green tea (at least 1 cup per day)
10. Don't eat from the restaurant bread basket.

Onward and Upward!! Or, downward, since I want the scale to go DOWN. Hehee!

i think my body is telling me something

So please tell me if anyone else has this dilemma...?

I've been trying to be good with my exercise. Tuesday I did my Jillian Michaels. Wednesday I was a little sore, so I went on a 2 mile walk. Thursday, still a little sore, did an hour long yoga program on my OnDemand, which I must say, kicked my ass!

>>side note>> yoga can be really tough on your wrists and elbows. yikes!

So here I am. STILL SORE. Sore in different places. Sore in some of the same places. Which is good.  

Buuuut, do you work out sore muscles? Are you supposed to work out if you're sore? Or, are you supposed to be taking an off day? I can never remember how this works.

Some websites say don't work out, that your muscles are recovering. Others say its good, and you can get faster, better results if working out when sore.

What are your thoughts?

back in the saddle!

Home made waffle, almond butter, blueberries, V8 and coffee

Breakfast!! It was YUMMM!

Have you noticed I tend to only remember to take pics of the healthy stuff? Uggghhh. Notice how I didn't show you the club sandwich with fries I had for dinner last night. I WAS good, and ordered it without bacon and mayo, but I did eat most of the fries. FAIL. Oh well.

The good news is I did work out yesterday! TWICE! (sort of). It was super sunny and I thought, Hey! I'll walk the dog! In actuality, it was like 30 degrees outside, so we walk/jogged about a 1/2 mile and came back cause it was c-c-c-cccold! And I completed my Day 1 of Jillian Michaels Death March 30 Day Shred. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The cardio was pretty easy, but it was a couple of the lunges that killed my right knee, where I've been having pains, and some of the rows were killing my elbow too.

BUT OTHER THAN THAT... all went well. I am mildly sore today, but I do want to work out again, so I'll probably try a yoga program and walk the dog (for longer than a half mile, this time I'll remember my jacket). I mean, after all, the dog really could benefit from losing a couple of pounds too ;) He's my extra motivation!