Livestrong

As I have mentioned before ... my whole weight loss journey started with a chance stumbling upon a wonderful website called Livestrong.com

It's a sister site to Lance Armstrong's Livestrong.org ... the site set up by his foundation to support cancer victims and survivors. Whatever you think about Lance BOTH these sites are worthy and worth a visit, and for those who are struggling with weight issues or other health related issues or for people who just want to live and eat healthier, I cannot suggest strongly enough to go and immediately sign up on Livestrong and start tracking your calories.

It's FREE ... there is no obligation and the tools and support they offer are INVALUABLE to both help you LOSE the weight but also to KEEP it off. If you decide to join, again there is NO obligation, you get access to a few more fun tools but they are not necessary for you to be successful and the cost to go gold is a FRACTION of what other diet sites may charge you MONTHLY. For instance the cheapest WW plan online worked out to over $60 a MONTH or $85 for 3 months ... Livestrong Gold membership is only $45 ish for a YEAR but like I said ... you do not have to be a paying member, ALL of the most important tools are at your fingertips for no charge.

If you're curious you can go check out my daily food diary found HERE . I track my food daily and I am quite meticulous about it. If you have any questions you can just ask and I'll be happy to help you get started. I also have many of my most favourite recipes listed on the site including nutritional information as do thousands of other members so it's a great place to search for low cal healthy meal alternatives.

Yeah I know this is a shameless plug for a website but it saved my life ... it could save yours too.

IA

Breakfast

The most important meal of the day. I just wish I was a morning person ... I'm not. During my super super obese years I rarely ate breakfast .. maybe that helped contribute to my problem .. or maybe it was all the crap I ate ... or maybe I ate the crap because I skipped breakfast *shrugs* ... who knows ...

All I know now is that I do eat breakfast. I don't exactly eat it when I should, right after getting up, but I DO eat it which is better than nothing ... baby steps, at least it's my first meal if the day.

I pretty much have the same thing every day. I do occasionally switch it up with some eggs or maybe a bit of kashi berry crunch *yum* but in the long run this is better calorie wise for me and it keeps me satisfied longer, besides I like it.

I prefer Scottish Oatmeal because it cooks faster than regular. Bob's Red Mill makes a great Scottish Oatmeal, look for the little bags near the cereal aisle. I switch mine up frequently but I generally only have about half a portion of oatmeal which I doctor up with flax and chia meals, some dry powdered milk, real and fake brown sugar mixed with some maple flavouring or syrup and vanilla. I like to blend artificial sugars with a bit of real sugar/syrup because even a little addition of the real stuff can go a LONG way to making this taste authentic without all the extra calories. I created a *meal* on Livestrong that reflects my current favourite way to prepare this for easier tracking ;)

Lately I started making huge batches of all the dry ingredients and storing it in large mason jars. That way when I want breakfast I don't have to laboriously weigh every ingredient one at a time. I just pour anywhere from 40-60 g in my pot add an appropriate amount of water and bring to a simmer til thick. Much easier but I did have to modify some of the liquid ingredients to use all dry instead which may or may not be easy for you. For the vanilla I found a nice source of powdered vanilla not to be confused with powdered vanilla SUGAR ... the vanilla I use is just the bean with seeds in powdered form nothing less, nothing more. It's potent stuff and kind of expensive but luckily you only need a fraction of what you'd use if using liquid vanilla extract. For the maple flavour I substituted maple sugar, unfortunately I could not find a suitable sugar free powdered alternative so there you have it ... sugar doesn't add that many calories per se I just try and cut back on my all round sugar consumption as best I can usually cause my daily sugar totals are usually higher than I'd like. I DO have a sweet tooth :)

My Oatmeal as prepared with the extra chia and flax and more recently Hemp hearts as well, has about 6g of fiber which goes a long way to help me hit my daily fiber target. Something I often have to struggle to reach even though I eat more whole grains than ever before.

Oatmeal is also incredibly versatile and the variations you can have are only limited by your imagination. Add applesauce and cinnamon, banana or strawberry(puree or whole), cranberries, dried cherries etc.

I've also been known to have oatmeal for an evening snack, I add a Tbsp or to taste of cocoa powder or a bit of chocolate and a Tbsp of peanut butter for a mock peanut butter cup flavoured oatmeal, it was tasty but not exactly as advertised ;)  I have also added pumpkin puree and spices to make a pretend pumpkin pie treat ... like I said the only restrictions are your own taste buds and what you have on hand ... experiment! I mean can you REALLY have too much oatmeal? I'm not sure.

What do YOU have for breakfast?

IA

Most Important Weight Loss Tool

There is no magic pill you can take to lose weight. No secret tricks ... no quick solutions. For me there was only ONE way to lose weight. Eat less calories than I burned. Simple.

Not so simple as I found out but it was pretty darn close.

If I had to identify the single most helpful tool I had during my weight loss I would have to say it was my kitchen scale. Knowing what you are eating is the first step to controlling WHAT you are eating. Measurement by volume is ok for some things ... liquids for example but measurement by weight was absolutely crucial to my success in losing weight.

The scale you get is important. Look for one that has a high maximum weight capability. This is important for Taring (zeroing) out the weight of large pots or volumes when needed to determine the weight of something to be added to an already existing pot full of other ingredients.

For instance when I make spaghetti and there are others eating the same meal it can be difficult to determine my correct share of, say, the pasta, when cooking in bulk, for calorie counting purposes. My son is a twig, he has an appetite like a horse, he wants more than one serving for himself and that's ok ... he is active, he burns it off ... me on the other hand I want a strictly maintained portion ... I am eating a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day from my maintenance so any overestimation on a daily basis can affect my weight loss significantly.

What I do in this case is I weight an EXACT 3 portions of the dry spaghetti pasta. It only takes a second. It's usually 85g dry weight per person so 255g. I cook it as I normally would and when done I drain and give it a quick rinse like I always do. Then I dump the whole lot into a large bowl that was zeroed out on the kitchen scale to get a total weight for the 3 portions. I divide that number by 3 to figure out exactly what a single serving of cooked pasta is and I portion it on my plate. My son can then dig in and take as much or as little as he wants.

Nowadays I know that a serving of my homemade sauce is 2 ladles, about half a cup and I know that serving has about 260 calories. How do I know?

Well I use the website Livestrong.com to log and calculate the calorie counts for everything I eat. It has a MASSIVE database that includes information on every food I eat and if something isn't there I can ADD IT. I can store and log my own personal recipes there and they calculate the calorie counts for every recipe I make depending on what particular ingredients I use and how much of them I use.

In making my spaghetti sauce I have created and logged it soo many times I know that it makes roughly the same volume of sauce each time and I know based on repeated calculations that as long as I start with roughly the same volume of ground beef the calorie count is very consistent over time as well. Knowing that makes it easy.

Make a batch of spaghetti sauce. Tare a LARGE empty bowl and tare it. Weigh entire batch of sauce. Decide what a reasonable serving size is. What I did is I put my pasta on my plate and I put however much sauce I thought was a serving. I did it with the ladle I always use to serve my sauce. Turns out that ladle is about 1/4 cup and a serving for me was 2 ladle fulls. I weighed the 2 ladle fulls to use to calculate how many servings in the entire batch. then I calculated how many calories in each serving. I did this each time I made the sauce for several months but eventually I learned that 2 ladles was a serving and it came out pretty close to 260 calories a serving for the sauce.

Without my scale I couldn't be nearly as accurate. I know it sounds like a lot of nit picking but you have to understand. I have a problem. I have a BIG problem and this is what I have to do in order to solve it.... and it works and it IS working. Now that I have done the initial legwork, portioning out my serving now is very quick and easy. I no longer have to do all the calculations I just make sure the pasta serving is correct and that takes no time or effort, mental or otherwise, and I top it off with 2 ladles of sauce. Calorie count? 310 for the pasta ... 260 for the sauce ... total 570 calories. It a generous serving. It's filling and tasty. I am not deprived AND I am eating the same food as the rest of my family.

Another thing to look for in a scale is the weighing surface. I ruined my first scale by trying to weigh one too many pots right off the stove. It was plastic and I warped the weigh plate beyond repair. My new scale has a flat aluminum surface but glass is probably acceptable as well. Both easy to clean and more durable than plastic. If you aren't dumb like me plastic is fine ... I still miss my first scale.

One last thing to look for in a scale. Check to see that it measures in units of ONE. My new scale doesn't seem to recognize that there are TEN numbers between 0 and 10 and it refuses to give me odd measures ... no 1, 3, 5 ,7 ,9 gram servings for ME. Yeah right ... for a pot of spaghetti that's fine but how about measuring a tsp of cinnamon or sugar ... or SPLENDA.

My new scale has a max weight of 22 pounds ... my old one was only 11 ... and while I have actually appreciated the increased max weight at least once, I miss being able to weight in units of ONE several times EVERY DAY.

Of course you may let your budget be your guide, it is possible to get a scale that meets all your needs quite well, even on a budget! Check your local hardware or grocery store for a budget model and you local cooking store for a more upscale model.

IA

Why am I doing this

I spent much of my adult life in denial. Denying I had a problem with my weight and my approach to food. I knew I was overweight, I knew I was killing myself, I knew if I didn't get a handle on it I was in a downward spiral, I knew I ate too much and I knew I was eating the wrong foods. I KNEW it but I pretended to myself that all those problems didn't exist, I was fat but I wasn't THAT fat .. yeah right. I ate bad but I didn't eat THAT bad ... well aside from the processed food and extra unnecessary fats and sugars added to meals ... oh and just ignore the not so secret binging. Looking back now it's obvious to me I had a serious eating disorder ... undiagnosed ... untreated ... but very very serious ... and it was killing me. Even now I still think of myself as totally normal ... no eating disorder ... I am just overweight, it's simple, I can lose the weight and I'll be fine.

I'm NOT fine. I'm not JUST overweight. I have an eating disorder and I will have it the rest of my life.

There I said it. After a year and a half eating a calorie deficit and losing 100 pounds I finally admitted to myself something that was obvious in hindsight. It's a little depressing and a little liberating at the same time.

I am obsessed by food. The taste, the texture. I am also incredibly picky. I am not fond of seafood, I'll eat it but it isn't one of my go to meals, and exotic seafood is RIGHT out. I don't like organ meats. I never used to be able to tolerate mushrooms, in fact I'd gag if I tried to eat one, no idea why, all psychological I assume, I am getting over that though and while I they aren't my favourite food I am cooking with them a lot more these days and am starting to appreciate the wonderful flavour they can give a dish ... just not that thrilled with them in bulk ;)

The thing is, ever since I started this *diet* (I hate calling it a diet) it's a new lifestyle. I seem to have switched some of my food obsession not into eating it (well binging anyway) but into MAKING it. I am experimenting constantly with new recipes and flavours. I am eating much healthier than I have ever eaten in the past. I am watching my portions however, I am counting calories, I am setting goals and I am sticking to them! At the same time I am learning new recipes, some good, some not so good but some GREAT.

My kids have more or less flown the coop. My son lives at home but his work hours are such that he rarely eats dinner at home and my daughter is away at college. A budding great cook in her own right! I love sharing recipes with her and learning new tricks she has tried :) My husband works out of town and only gets home on weekends so for the past couple years I have had a lot of time available to focus on ME. Getting a handle on my weight and weight related health issues. Dealing with menopause and generally getting reacquainted with myself, the self that isn't molded to those around me. Not a mom. Not a wife. Not a daughter or a sister .... just me. It's been emotionally liberating. It isn't that I didn't like being those things I mentioned, I did, and I do ... it just that I was so busy BEING those things I lost touch with who I WAS.

I like to cook. I hate cleaning up but I like to cook. I love the way all those different ingredients go together to make something delicious and healthy. I was a lab technician for many years and I guess for me, cooking is sort of like being in a lab, concocting things, experimenting, a little of this .. a little of that, what does adding this do? Anyway ...I'm having fun. My family gets to enjoy my occasional successes when they come home and I get the benefit of turning my obsession from something harmful into something that is creative and healthy.

This blog is being posted not just for anyone who might stumble upon it, who might be encouraged or inspired by something I wrote but rather, it is being written for me. A sort of public diary and recipe book for me. A way to document and share what I've learned if anyone is interested and a way to express myself, even if it's only to an empty computer screen. All my successes and failures in the kitchen with maybe an occasional rant about the state of the world ;)

Cheers,

IA

Fresh Basil Pesto

This recipe makes a wonderful Basil Pesto comparable to the best (and expensive) commercially prepared Pesto you can find anywhere. It's fast and easy to make, uses relatively few ingredients, you can adjust the sodium content to make it healthier, it keeps well in the fridge, can be used in many delicious recipes, it's fresh and best of all ... it's delicious! I didn't mention this in the instructions but if you pan toast the pine nuts in a dry saute pan over medium heat for a few minutes before pureeing it can add a delicious extra dimension to this. It's totally optional however and I don't bother unless I want something extra special ;)

This is best made in a food processor but if you don't HAVE a food processor (and I don't) making this in a blender is doable (and worth it) even if it IS incredibly annoying and messy, just be careful and NEVER run your blender while trying to push down hard to blend ingredients ... STOP your blender, stir contents, remove stirring utensil, cover and restart. Nuff said.


Ingredients

2 c fresh basil leaves (60g)
4-5 cloves garlic peeled but not chopped
1/3 c olive oil
1/3 c pine nuts or approx 2oz/60g by weight
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese 2oz/60g
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

So the short of it is, if you have a food processor this will be easy, add everything and pulse a few seconds til you have a nice pesto paste...if not ... use a blender with caution. A magic bullet would probably work for this as well, maybe chop the nuts and garlic first as they are a bit harder to incorporate if you add them later. The oil helps a lot while blending but don't go wild on it, you want this to be more of a paste not a sauce.

Nutritionally this is very similar in calories to a popular commercially prepared brand but whereas theirs has 180mg/Tbsp of sodium mine only had about 57mg/Tbsp as calculated using the volumes and brands I personally used in making this recipe. In a taste test I could not tell that mine was lower in sodium at all, and every little bit helps when you are trying to reduce your sodium.


Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories 82
Total Fat 8.34g
Saturated Fat 1.6g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 56.58mg
Total Carbohydrate 0.88g
Dietary Fiber 0.32g
Sugars 0.15g
Protein 2.17g

IA

Chicken Stock

This is super simple so there is no excuse to not have a couple jars on hand for your favourite recipes.

Ingredients:

1.5 Kgs (3pounds) fresh or frozen chicken backs and necks
2 large carrots cut into large chunks
1 large onion skin ON (gives nice color) cut into quarters
2 celery stalks cut into large chunks
2-3 cloves garlic skinned but not smashed or chopped
10 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 liters water

Directions:

Put all ingredients into large stockpot and cover with water about 3-3.5 liters.

SLOWLY bring to a low simmer. As soon as it just starts to have bubbles breaking the surface adjust heat. You do not want to bring this to any sort of hard boil. A slow smooth simmer is what you want ... boiling but just barely.

After a few minutes you will see some scum appearing on the surface. You could just skim it off but this is what I do. I put a strainer over a small pot. I cut a couple layers of cheesecloth, enough to just line the strainer and I skim the scum from the surface of the broth into the lined strainer. That way I can remove the scum but save the broth. It's probably overkill but I am anal that way. Once the scum is gone you are basically done. Simmer this slowly for about 12 hours ... how long is up to you anywhere from 4-12 is acceptable but I recommend 12 for maximum flavour :) If you like you can add a little water from time to time but it probably isn't necessary if you keep it on a really slow simmer.

When done turn off heat and let cool for an hour or so before pouring into your storage containers. I use wide mouth mason jars with plastic lids, but you could freeze in ice cube trays or even ziploc bags if you want.

This keeps for a week or so refrigerated but if you want to keep for longer I'd recommend freezing this. To freeze in mason jars, leave at least an inch head space to allow for expansion, put them in the freezer upright with NO lid (again to allow for expansion while freezing) ... once frozen you can put the lids on but not too tight. Before using, thaw, either in the fridge overnight or at room temperature to help prevent the glass jar from cracking. Glass (even mason jar glass) is susceptible to cracking or even shattering if it changes temperature too quickly from a frozen state so thaw with caution. I recommend wide mouthed large jars if you are planning to freeze this, and I have heard that straight sided jars are preferable to jars with *shoulders*, when freezing anyway, apparently, the *shoulder* CAN be a weak point but isn't necessarily so, just something to keep in mind, if all you have are jars with shoulders I wouldn't bother buying more just for the sake of getting shoulder free jars. I usually keep at least one jar thawed in my fridge at all times so it's ready whenever I need it.

The first time I made this I actually kept it in the fridge for a couple weeks before I used it all up and it seemed fine BUT upon reflection that was probably a stupid thing to do. This stock has no salt (or any other preservative) so the viable shelf life is probably limited. To be safe, if not using within 3 days to a week, I'd definitely recommend freezing.

Just for informational purposes, the slow simmer helps to keep the broth nice and clear since the veggies aren't being battered around by the heavy boil and they maintain their structural integrity while leaching all their wonderful flavour into the broth.
If your broth turns into a jelly like substance when cooled that is a GOOD thing. It's the gelatin from the bones and is very good for you, not to mention yummy in soups and stew etc. The fact that this broth has NO added sodium makes it ideal for reducing in sauces etc., when you reduce broths containing any sodium even if it is a reduced sodium broth to start with, concentrates any sodium in the reduction and that can ruin the end result so starting with a sodium free broth in the beginning and salting to taste later is the better way to go, not to mention more heart healthy.

Why use homemade chicken stock over store bought?

Looks like it's going to be another nice day here in Comox. It's a little chilly this morning though so I had to turn on the furnace for a bit until it warms up outside and manages to work it's way through the trees and to my well shaded windows ;)

This morning, even before having my morning coffee (with splenda and half and half) I dumped the bag of fresh chicken backs and necks that I got yesterday from the country market, into my stockpot ... added my aromatics and set it to start up towards a SLOW simmer. This baby needs to simmer all day so I needed to get an early start. Then I went to grab my coffee ;)

I recently started making my own stock instead of buying store bought for a couple of reasons.

1) While store bought stock is absolutely fine to use, make sure you get as low a sodium content as you can, especially if reducing in a sauce for instance ... homemade is ... just ... BETTER.

2)It's richer in color, more gelatinous and in my opinion, no technical data to back this up, more nutritious. I say that in part because I know what went into it (all good stuff) AND I know what DIDN'T go into it, extra preservatives, salt and who knows what else.

3)Maybe it's my imagination but I think my recipes using it taste a lot richer as well.

4) It just makes me feel so darn good knowing I am doing this myself ... I dunno, it makes me feel competent or something .. sad but true lol ... it feels healthier as well and that also makes me feel good .. it's a win win ... totally satisfying in a culinary sort of way!

5) It's so darn easy to do, why WOULDN'T you make your own stock. It takes all of 5 minutes to dump the chicken in a pot add the aromatics, fill it up with water, set the stove and walk away to do whatever for the rest of the day. Yeah it takes 12 hours to simmer but you aren't standing BY the stove for those 12 hours ;)



I'll post the complete recipe in a bit.

Guilt free chocolate pudding

There's something liberating about writing a blog you know no one will likely ever see. For me I guess it's sort a of perfect harmony. I can say what I want and get stuff off my chest without worrying about it overmuch. I can keep myself motivated (and busy) which helps in 2 ways to keep me from reverting to old habits which could result in a binge. Doubtful after this long but I fear old habits are never too far absent and complacency is the first sign of failure looming. Lastly I have a place to post my recipes and recipes I've stolen and made my own (thanks foodwishes) where someone MAY just happen to find them and maybe appreciate one or two. If you want REAL recipes worth stealing however check out the foodwishes website, link in the sidebar. Chef John rocks and his site is worth more of a visit than this dump.

That said, here is my recipe, that I personally created for a rich chocolate pudding made from scratch with ZERO added sugar or fat (unless you WANT to add some anyway)
Note: Depending on what kind of milk you use there will still be SOME sugar and fat in this of course ... I did say ADDED sugar or fat ;)

What I found out AFTER I created this recipe, is that a few hundred thousand other good cooks had figured it out before me *shrugs* oh well that doesn't take away from the fact that I did this WITHOUT the knowledge that they had already done so. Ok yeah I knew but I never bothered to google their recipes ...

On to the pudding ....

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Splenda Sweetner
• 1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
• 2 cups 1% Milk
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 3 tbsp 100% Pure Cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a saucepan and stir well. Slowly add milk stirring constantly to remove as many lumps as you can. Don't worry rest will disappear as it cooks.
2. Bring pudding to a slow boil over medium low heat, stirring frequently. Once pudding has thickened, remove from heat add a tsp vanilla and pour into 4 x 1/2 cup serving dishes or 3 larger cups for a more generous and satisfying treat.

Some might want to add butter or a tempered egg yolk to this at the very end stages before serving to make it a bit richer but I wouldn't bother it is plenty creamy without so why add all that extra fat and calories ... but you could if you wanted :)

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 half cup
Calories 99
Total Fat 2.85g
Cholesterol 5mg
Sodium 245.84mg
Total Carbohydrate 14.58g
Dietary Fiber 2.13g
Sugars 6.13g
Protein 5.7g


IA

PS: Of course there are all sorts of possible variations to this, I saw one person added a T of instant coffee to make it a mocha, since I didn't try that I have no idea if that is too much coffee or not enough, another user said to add a handful of mini marshmallow and crushed almonds to make it rocky road ... and yet another suggested adding a bit of real chocolate (semisweet) to make it even richer ... you get the idea. Me? I like it simple and only 99 calories.

Vancouver Island Diet

All my running around recently to find quality meats from reliable sources raised and butchered locally led me to the Vancouver Island Diet webpage. A site I have been to before but since I had not yet made the commitment to trying and eat better and practice what I preach with regard to trying to support local business and producers of quality food.

I have provided a link on the sidebar to their website for any who are interested.

While I am not committing 100% to eating only food produced and grown on the Island, I will go out of my way to seek it out over and above imported foods, not only because it's better to support local endeavours but because the less distance a food travels between farm and plate, the fresher and better tasting it is.

For example, I refuse to buy strawberries unless the scent of them draws me in ... if I can hold a plastic package of strawberries up to my nose but I CAN'T smell strawberry ... I know they are going to taste as good as they don't smell .. in other words, like cardboard.

Shopping for quality meat locally ... success!

So my visit to the local meat packer was a success ... sort of .... well yeah it was.

Yes they have good quality meat available in the Comox Valley and yes it is antibiotic and hormone free ... I think ... they said yes but they also looked a tad confused by my question ... or surprised ... or I dunno ... but it did sound like the answer was definitive so I'll take them at their word. The selection however was a bit skimpy, even though what they were offering on this particular day did look nice. It probably depends on any given day what cuts you will find ... not all that convenient I suppose, if you are looking for a particular cut, although, I suppose they might be able to find whatever you are looking for it you ask, even if it's not in the display case. I prefer to pick and choose my meats by sight however, I am not real fond of asking for a cut and having it handed to me without my being able to gauge it's quality for myself.

I guess they are more geared toward supplying restaurants and local food markets more than retailing themselves. I was probably expecting too much. When I asked about chicken backs and necks to make my home made chicken stock for instance, they said "Oh yes we have that" .. the nice lady then went into the back and came out with a 20 pound box full of them ... for $17. Good deal, but my freezer is already full and I only wanted 3 pounds ... so I thanked her and bought a few chicken breasts. I must confess, they do look like nicer chicken breasts than I usually buy from the big grocery store.

On the way home, I saw a small country market grocer that I had never shopped at before beside the highway so I stopped in. Glad I did. As a store it was pretty standard for a small grocer ... until I got to the meat counter. The nice folks who work there were buzzing all over the place and were more than happy to answer my questions. The lady gave me some reading material about their meat suppliers ... all local, including some beef from the meat packers I had been to earlier but it was more than that. I learned about their pork supplier ... all pasture raised pork, grass fed no hormones or antibiotic, humane living and butchering practices ... I am sold. Their chicken is also relatively local, island raise anyway, and the same deal, pasture raised chickens able to scratch in the dirt and eat bugs the way chickens were meant to do for the most part although there is a little grey area left for me according to what I saw on their website. It's possible some of the *free range* chickens they produce might still have been confined to a barn even though they weren't specifically confined in a cage ... I dunno ... some of the stories I have heard about so called "free range" chickens still curdle my brain ... sigh, well it did sound like MOST of their chickens came from small family farms where the chickens were allowed outside. I guess that will have to do.

I also finally found some honest to god REAL roasting chickens .. the kind I was moaning about yesterday ... I guess they were there all the time, I just never bothered to go looking for them, and you WON'T find them at your local big box grocery store no matter how nice it looks. Big fat birds that had my mouth watering for the taste of roasted chicken ... I'll be going back real soon to get one for a nice Sunday dinner next time the family gathers together for a weekend.

I ALSO found bagged in the freezer section 3.5 pound bags of both chicken AND turkey necks and backs. I never even THOUGHT about looking for turkey bones ... oh and in the pet food aisle? In a little chest freezer beside the bags of Alpo? Beef soup bones and even lamb bones ... I guess they sell more of them to dog owners for snacks but they assured me they were absolutely what I wanted to make beef or lamb based soup. I am in heaven.

Trying to decide what to have for supper tonight

So the fridge is bare and I need to get something for dinner. I am going to go visit a new meat packer in town I found out about the other day. I hear they sell locally produced meats from family farms (not factory farms) Pasture grazed beef and pigs and free range chickens ... antibiotic and hormone free. After what I have learned about factory farms lately I am having trouble looking at the meat counter in my local grocery store without shaking my head in disgust and I buy the antibiotic/hormone free meats as much as possible. The pickings tend to be rather slim though .. I guess I should be happy they offer any choice at all however. More power to the people!

I am old enough to remember when chickens sold for roasting were BIG enough to feed a family of 6 quite nicely for a special Sunday dinner ... now all I see are these anemic small roasters that remind me more of big quail than actual chickens ... when I was young my mother used to get a capon occasionally which was extra large, tender and juicy ... but I haven't seen anything larger than pigeon for decades and I have never seen a capon for sale. I have no idea where she got her capons and she is no longer here to ask but I am assuming perhaps our local butcher or maybe the mennonites ... sigh ... I was so oblivious of what she did when I was growing up ...

Recipe for the day, Mock Chicken Paprikash for 2

Note: this is NOT the traditional chicken Paprikash as taught to me by my German Grandmother but is instead, something I concocted tonight that SIMULATES it, in a sort of vague twisted way out of the meager ingredients I had on hand. That said, this didn't turn out half bad and I quite enjoyed it once I stopped comparing it to the real deal ;) On it's own this was quite good and I will likely make it again. It was quite satisfying for the calories and while not exactly good for you it isn't exactly bad for you either ;)

Ingredients

300 g Chicken Breast Raw (about 1.5 large or 2 small breasts)
1 medium Onion, Sweet
1 tbsp Paprika (I used Hungarian paprika, end dish had a mild bit of heat to it but not too much)
2 Garlic Clove
1 1/2 cups No Salt Added Chicken Broth (I used my own homemade stock with no added salt)
170 g Trad. German Egg Noodles - Spaetzle
1 tsp Olive Oil
3 tbsp Sour Cream
1 tsp Chicken Base-Better Than Bouillon (Optional)
Salt to taste

Directions

Saute onion in oil until it begins to turn golden, add garlic and cook additional 30 seconds. Add in chicken meat and cook until almost done then add paprika, salt and chicken stock. Simmer until sauce is reduced and is thick and rich (maybe 30 minutes or so). Taste and if it needs flavour add a little chicken demiglace. I usually add a little "Better Than Bouillon" chicken demiglace made with real chicken but if you don't have that, a little chicken bovril or oxo would do. Just before serving stir in sour cream.

Precook spaetzle according to package directions, drain and toss with sauce and cook a minute or two to infuse the noodles with the sauce flavour before serving.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories 595

Total Fat 20.23g
Saturated Fat 1.32g
Cholesterol 150.24mg
Sodium 614.03mg
Total Carbohydrate 70.7g
Dietary Fiber 4.03g
Sugars 2.39g
Protein 47.2g

Today

Flash forward to today

I am still heavy but I am now 100 pounds lighter! I only weigh 220 pounds ... a loss of 105 to date. I started menopause in the spring and went on maintenance calories for the summer cause I figured that a year on a constant calorie deficit can be hard on your body and I wanted to give it a breather before trying to lose any more. Well summer is over and I have to start again ... I am going to posts recipes and thoughts here in a continuing effort to stay motivated.

As to how I feel ....

Swelling is gone
Rashes are gone
I have gone from a 5X to a size 1-2X
My house is starting to shape up and I am tackling the basement next lol
I can shop without fear again in fact I love shopping
Last christmas I spend the entire day walking around downtown Victoria and even went to the large mall there ... did the whole thing too!
Back no longer aches while walking
I can walk for miles until my hip starts bugging me ... it's been through a lot and I AM getting older .... still ... sheesh
I am enjoying getting back into my garden, when time permits anyway :)
I am rekindling a love for REAL food. I am having a blast trying new recipes and cook mostly from scratch these days.
I am happier
I no longer think people are judging me, talking behind my back, feeling sorry for me ... whatever.
I am starting to think I might have a future after all.

All this without a fad diet, or spending a metric ton of cash to join a weight loss program.

It was simple, I ate what I wanted, when I wanted. I educated myself. I started to experiment with really good recipes, but knowing what went into them helped me determine what a proper portion should be. I don't go in for diet foods for the most part but I do use a sugar substitute (splenda) to help cut back on my added sugar intake for those things that eat on a regular basis that would normally have called for the use of sugar. I wasn't a huge fan at first but quite frankly now, I don't even notice the difference.

Real food, real flavours, no tricks ....

How did I do it?

Well that's a really long story and it will come out in my posts over time, but basically after a bit of initial experimentation with goals and such I settled on eating 1500 calories give or take a day. I tried to move more, which was very hard at first as I had no stamina AT ALL, I didn't go all ballistic exercising but I did buy a treadmill and I tried to use it at least 3 times a week. At first I could only manage a minute or two at a REALLY slow walking pace but now I can walk at 3 mph for an extended length of time ... I generally only go for about 30 minutes though as it just gets too boring.

As far as food, I gradually made changes so I could fit more bulk into my diet by reducing the calorie dense things I was eating that really added no flavour ... not sure why I was eating them really ... like I stopped adding butter to my sandwiches ...instantly halving the calories so I could have a bigger sandwich .. stuff like that. Some things I would not compromise on however, and those things I just learned to measure well and to reduce quantities a little to try and keep things in line ... like mayo in my tuna salad ... I am NOT going to sacrifice flavour for diet .. no lowfat/nofat crap for me .. thank you very much ... I just learned how to enjoy my tuna with a reduced amount of mayo and I sometimes only have half a sandwich paired with a half bowl of soup to help keep calories in line while still enjoying my favourite tuna salad for example.

I started eating more whole grains and brown rice instead of white flour products or white rice. This was one change that actually surprised me ... I had no idea I actually liked the whole grain products even more than the pasty white junk I had been eating my whole life ... way more flavour and texture ... a better choice all the way around ... didn't even have to get used to it .. I liked it right from the start and wouldn't go back even if I could.

Stay tuned ....

The Awful Truth

In March of 2009 I was surfing the web when I came across a website called Livestrong. It is a calorie counting website that allows you to input and track the foods you eat on a daily basis to see how many calories you are consuming on any given day. You can set your own calorie goals and track any activities you do as well for more accuracy. Did I mention that it was FREE?

Well ... I tried it. I started to punch in what I had eaten that day ... it wasn't a pretty picture ... but it was sorta fun exploring the site and all the neat tools and gadgets it offered to help keep you motivated. I joined something they called the LOSE WEIGHT dare and I started to read what other people were saying/doing ... wow ... a lot of them were struggling just like me.

Now I was a 50 year old woman (at the time) and grossly overweight, how much I did not know, because I avoided the scale at all costs. It was like, if I didn't know how much I weighed, it didn't count .... or something .... all I knew was that my feet which used to swell only in the summer were swollen BAD all year and my ankles had started to itch. I had chronic rashes where people shouldn't have rashes (TMI I know but this story is REAL not make believe) I was having increasing difficulty walking even few lousy feet and shopping had become something I feared ... a lot. Going to a mall was RIGHT OUT ... walks with my husband ... NOT A CHANCE. My life was one big icecream tub and bags of chips ... I was killing myself and I didn't even know why. My house was a mess cause I couldn't do the housework ... and I had to take the stairs one at a time in BOTH directions and it took me a good 5 minutes to catch my breath if going up.

It was exhausting just surviving and trying to hide all this (who was I kidding) from my family was equally exhausting.

But then we come back to March 2009 and a chance encounter with a random website while sitting on my butt surfing the web with a bag of chips in one hand and an ice cream scoop in the other ....

Sooo I woke up on the second day looking forward to tracking what I ate for an entire day to see what I was consuming ... I was curious. I was also READY to lose weight, I just didn't realize it yet. I played around with the weight graphs and charts to see *what if* .. I started to fantasize about how it would be to be 50 pounds lighter ... 100 pounds ... I couldn't quite imagine it. Before I knew it the day was over ... I had NOT had the usual binge session with chips and ice cream or whatever ... in fact my calories were only about 2000 or so ... and I wasn't hungry. I had been too busy playing online to think about snacking.

Next day .. I decided I needed a benchmark .. soo ... I got on the scale. Then I cried ... and cried ... I KNEW I was heavy but I did NOT know I weighed more than 300 pounds.

325 pounds to be exact .... and the date? March 25 2009 or 3/25 2009

I weighed the same as the date.

Just some random thoughts about energy use and lightbulbs..

Hello again world, it's been awhile. I thought I might try this blog thing again and see if i can stick with it this time. Probably not but who knows.

I saw a story today about Germans buying up and hoarding their old incandescent light bulbs in advance of a European Union ban on their use that made me sit up and take notice.

Several years ago my husband and I decided to make the switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs in all of our light fixtures. With the added benefit that they need to be replaced much less frequently than incandescent light bulbs they are also MUCH more energy efficient. Today I learned just how BAD our old light bulbs were in terms of their energy use.

Did you know that incandescent light bulbs WASTE 90-95% of the energy they use?!? I knew they were bad but I didn't know they were THAT bad! That's right only 5-10% of the energy they use is actually converted to light. The rest melts away in heat radiation. I was shocked at how inefficient these dinosaurs of the light bulb world actually are and kinda proud that I made the switch ages ago!

Now that isn't to say that I don't have a few quibbles with my new fluorescent bulbs ... I do. For one thing they are slow to warm up and when you first turn them on they sometimes tend to be rather dim. It usually doesn't take TOO long to warm up however, and when they do the light they produce is quite bright enough to satisfy. Unfortunately I do have a couple of bulbs in the house that are extraordinarily dim when you first turn them on and it can take some time to reach their full potential which can be very annoying at times. For instance there is a bulb in my powder room that is SO dim when turned on you would swear that it wasn't on at all. Folks have learned they need to pre warm the bulb for about 5 minutes in there if they want to use the room and actually see what they are doing. Having a sit down in a semi dark room adds to the ambiance I suppose if that's what you're looking for (reading a romantic novel perhaps? *chuckle*) but for most it's just plain annoying ;) Not all the bulbs are as bad as that one however, and I suspect it's a bit of a lemon but I figure I'll live with it until it eventually blows so I guess it's not THAT annoying after all :)

Another beef I have is the size. I bought a tri-light the other day for $14 egads! and when I got home I found it was about a third too big to fit inside the harp thingy that holds the lampshade on. ARGHH so back to the store to buy a energy guzzling heat wasting incandescent. Eventually the bulbs may get smaller or I'll buy bigger harp/shade(s) for my lights ;)

The cost is also an issue for a lot of folks altho I think that is a bit misleading. The fluorescent bulbs last a lot longer than the old style bulbs so paying up front while a bit of a shock MAY not be as much of an issue as it first appears. However I don't know whether it really does come out cost neutral in the end or not. I usually just chalk it up to the cost of trying to reduce my energy footprint as best I can and move on from there.

Is there a moral to my story? I suppose buried deep inside there might be, but I was just reflecting. No pun intended ;)

IA

Slippery Slope

Wavin in the wind.

Ok. This is my personal home away from home. Dateline Comox. Its Saturday and I have pretty much wasted the day away playing with this blog thingy. Its kinda fun but I have no idea what purpose it really serves as no one is likely to ever see this but then again it's fun so ....

Its a grey day today. Rain off and on but mild. I guess Mount Washington is still closed due to lack of snow. I am sure the skiers are upset but I am not a fan of the cold so this mild weather suits me. Nothing much to rant about today.

Talked to Peter over the internet today after getting the microphone to work. Amazing really. I sent a rather vague email off to microsoft asking for help and they got back to me within 24 hrs with a simple email that actually worked to solve the problem. Still shaking my head, was expecting a long drawn out ordeal with no satisfying conclusion.