154.4

By Belinda

I must confess to being sorry to see 154.4 on the scales this morning on my official weigh in day. For the past two days I was 153--and yesterday I had been pretty faithful. But maybe it was the fruit flan I had after supper.

However I am not discouraged because I am generally making overal changes to the way I'm eating that I know I can live with. I'm packing for England (I leave tomorrow for two weeks) and I have packed a supply of rice cakes and high fibre cookies. When I get there I'll go to Sainsbury's and stock up on Ryvita and some fresh veggies, fruit, fish, nuts, cheese and fish (I know, I'll go easy on the cheese) and I will be ready to withstand the call of the fish and chip shop. Just thinking of my fat addiction makes that a pretty obvious place to avoid.

Our son and daughter-in-law, Pete and Sue, visited this afternoon with our four grandchildren. I noticed in church that Pete looked clearly trimmer this morning. I had noticed a distinct pulpit bumper a couple of weeks ago. He has lost 11 and a half pounds with the aid of Sue, his personal dietician and trainer. :)

She has cut off white bread and has him eating whole seed bread and protien and lots of vegetables. The next step for Pete is exercise. Since he works on the 16th floor of an office complex she has instructed him to start this week walking up four flights of stairs. The ultimate goal? You guessed it!! Pete will be 40 on May 23rd, so this is a great investment in life long health and wellbeing.

Today we all enjoyed a nice family roast beef dinner with all the trimmings, but also lots of vegetables--cauliflower, carrots, corn and acorn squash.

I got out for 4 walks with Molson last week and started to jog part of the way. The first time I tried it my legs felt like lead and my feet as though they were stuck to the floor, but I am amazed at the difference a week can make. I have far more stamina and strength in my legs already. I will keep walking in England, although I will sorely miss my furry walking companion.

So, friends, another week begins. For me this is the start of week 4 and I have lost 4 pounds so far. 12 more to go, and a lifetime of health, vitality and fitness.

Susan's Bulgur Bean Salad

This is delicious. Susan gave the recipe to me many years ago, and I went looking for it on Wednesday evening when I had a salad to prepare for a pot luck lunch. I doubled the recipe; used sliced radishes instead of celery; cherry tomatoes halved, and added 8 oz snow peas, trimmed and blanched for two minutes before adding. Oh, and I used cider vinegar instead of wine. It was delicious! I was so happy that there was enough left over for my lunch and supper today. Alas, it is all gone now and I need to buy more bulgur--a whole grain, medium glycemic index food featured in middle eastern cooking, which I love. Anyway, enough of my chattering--here is the recipe:

Bulgur/Bean Salad

1 Cup bulgur
1 Cup water

Soak bulgur in water for one hour or more.

Mix together:

1 cup garbanzo beans (chick peas) (1/2 large can)
¾ cup kidney beans (1/2 small can)
1 cup celery finely chopped (approx 2 large stalks)
1 cup sweet peppers finely chopped
½ cup onion finely chopped
1 or 2 tomatoes chopped (or cherry tomatoes, halved).

Dressing:

¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 ½ tablespoon Splenda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 tablespoon dried parsley or ¼ cup fresh parsley
2 tablespoons “good” oil


Mix it all together with the soaked bulgur and allow to marinate overnight in the fridge.


Susan Stewart

Fat Addiction

By Belinda

For breakfast on Sunday, I had a serving of the creamy hot rice cereal I love, with milk and a little maple syrup.

As I got ready to leave for church I thought of the fact that I wouldn't be home until around 1.30, and I noticed a couple of cookies in a plastic bag in our snack cupboard. I had two bags of these cookies, two in each bag, home made and delicious, I was saving them for a treat. I almost popped one of the bags into my purse, for a snack on the way home from church, but something stopped me.

Somehow I knew that they are my poison--that thing of which one is one too many, and a thousand is not enough; that crisp buttery thing. I knew that eating just two of them would trigger something in me that I didn't want, so I put them back, and later on I put both bags on the table in the hallway, to give to my granddaughters for a snack for school.

I really think that I have a fat addiction and I decided to consider donuts, pastries and the like, things that will rarely cross my lips day to day, because eating them is like drinking beer is to an alcoholic. I thought, "Others may; I cannot."

So I'm sticking to cookies (when I eat them) and other foods, that are high fibre and low gi.

Week 3 155.4

By Belinda

I think that last week's Sunday weight must have been a scale error! It does happen sometimes. Anyway, since I started the process of making a permanent lifestyle change two weeks ago, I have lost just under 3 pounds. Oh, I wish it was 6 by now, but I have been eating differently and exercising more.

Yesterday Molson and I walked up to the top of a steep hill--a 5 km walk. We did 3 walks last week and I'm aiming to up that this week. I also got out our 5 pound weights and did an arm workout yesterday.

If it wasn't for the fact that I'm writing here, I would probably throw in the towel at this point because it is discouraging to be losing so slowly, but I am committed.

This morning I read about an Olympic gold medallist, Zatopec (1952), who said that he had trained for 14 years for the games. Dr. Richard L. Ganz writes, in his book, The Secret of Self Control: No matter how much it hurt, he had determined to keep at it until  he achieved his goal. His gold medals were merely the result of countless steps. "Countless steps;" those words resonate.  Each choice is a step in one direction or the other.

Breakfast at Cora's

Cora's is a national treasure; the opposite of a "greasy spoon." It is a place where you can meet a friend for breakfast and munch on delicious and healthy food while sipping on black coffee and green tea respectively, which is exactly what I did on Friday morning before starting work.

Irene had already said that meeting there would fit in with her new eating regimen, so I had a heads up that something was afoot, but I had no idea that I was about to get a huge inspiration boost.

Some time in mid January she decided to get healthy and lose some unwanted pounds. So far she's down 33 pounds and is looking terrific. By the way, Irene did give me permission to share these details.

I quote, "You can say what you want, we all need to encourage each other, kind of like a "Fat Busters Fraternity." Maybe I should change the name of Stopping the Slide to The FBF! I thought of that this afternoon when someone sent me a Dilbert cartoon where Dilbert says:"We've been doing great since we redefined success as a slowing of failure!" I think "Stopping the Slide" was what I wanted to do when I started this journey, and this blog helped me do that, but I'm a bit more into actual success at this point! :)

Irene is sticking to roughly 1000 calories a day; not rigidly, but by being aware of how much she's eating and aiming for that amount.

We talked about our favourite healthy food discoveries and Irene had some great ones:

• Fresh tilapia (a fish) from Loblaws, coated in a small amount of breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese and quick fried.
• Salmon from Costco, topped with Cross and Blackwell Mango Chutney (Loblaws or No Frills sell it)and a little bit of goats cheese, baked in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes then turn off the oven and leave it for five minutes. Yum!
• Irene gave up coffee for water or green tea with Stevia sweetener.
• Catalina dressing (the lowest cal. dressing) with lots of salads

Irene has upped her exercise, taking her dog Moses out in the morning, riding a recumbant exercise bike and she also bought the Lesley Sansone Anniversary set of 3 DVDs on Amazon.

Another Irene tip: "I also recommend Kosher pickles as a snack (zero calories)."

Way to go Irene!

Step Back!

Hey Everyone,
I was indeed, 154 on Sunday, but then was 154.6 on Monday and Tuesday mornings and this morning was 155.4. I didn't want to mislead any one. :)

Yesterday I went for a 3.5 km walk. That's two walks so far this week. And I am being faithful in eating carefully within a reasonable range of 22 WW points (probably 25-30.)

Just checking in to let you know how it is going. I really am trying to work out a way of being that will be permanent. I've lost weight before, but always crept back up. I'm not obese, but I'm not at my best. I want to be at my best and live that way day to day. This involves a change in eating that is forever and building in regular exercise always.

Yo!!!!! Fat Free and No Sugar Added.

Okay, I made it up the stairs.  I'm 8 pounds down on the beginning of the 11th day.  I'm happy.  I have a lo-o-o-o-ong way to go, but I'm not focusing on the destination.  I don't have a goal other than to "nourish my body as best I can today".  The scales will take care of themselves.  (I hope.) Maybe when I'm alot further along on the journiey I'll think about setting some more concrete and long term goals, but I'm not going there for now.

Anyway, 8 pounds is great, but I have even greater news!!!!

Yoplait 0% "Source" yogurt - the "Exotic" collection.  It comes in a carton with a bright aqua-marine lid and a slightly different look than your regular plastic round yogurt containers.  My favourite flavour is "Pineapple-Coconut-Banana" - oh, my mouth is watering right now thinking about it.  It is absolutely creamy-delicious.  A total comfort food in my books.

The best part?  It's only 35 calories per 100gm which means you can eat one half of the entire carton and still have consumed only 105 calories!!! It's made with fortified skim milk and is sweetened with "sucralose" not aspartame - more good news. 

Flavours:  Pineaple-coconut-banana;  Peach-passion fruit; Mango-pineapple; and Melon Trio.

Get to the grocery store as fast as you can.  And then - enjoy!  Guilt-free!

Thank You Week 2 154

By Belinda

Dear friends,
Just being accountable here is helping; thank you! This is Sunday; one week from the Fresh Start, and to my surprise I weighed in at 154 lb. That's just a smidge over 4lb less than last Sunday. And for the first time, I have broken a pattern. It's been a while since I was that low on a Sunday.

I exercised twice last week; two walks with Molson. This week I commit to adding at least one more walk.

Using Weight Watchers tools, this week I relearned appropriate portion sizes.

My friend Susan gave me a turnip on Thursday, with an amazing tool to peel it with, made by Pampered Chef. I discovered that I love turnip--and it is a vegetable you can eat as much of as you like with impunity. I bought more on Saturday.

And  click on the link below to view the photo album of my boss's, 30th anniversary celebration on Thursday, when I resisted the fish and chips on the menu and had Greek Salad.

From 2010-04-16

It was a great first week and I go forth with hope in week 2.

By Belinda

156.8, after cell group and a celebration lunch yesterday. And this is where the weekend begins and I typically end up on Monday at the high end of my weight teeter totter.

I resisted fish and chips and had a Greek salad with chicken breast for yesterday's lunch, and last night I cooked the turnip Susan brought  me as a gift and loved it! I didn't grow up eating turnip but I will be eating it from now on. Turns out that turnip is a very good choice--NO points--just the butter I mashed into it.

By Belinda

155.2 this morning. Just keeping track! Today is a lunch out and cell group dinner tonight. I will do my best to not give in to momentary pleasure that will sabotage my long term goal. Stay tuned on how that goes.