14 Month Anniversary of Eating Healthier!

I will never forget the day 14 months ago that Earl got the phone call from his doctor's office that changed our lifestyle. He was told that his bad cholesterol was high, the good was low, & his sugar was also high. Nothing was bad enough for meds, but awfully close. It was very easy to convince him that it was time to look at our eating habits. We refuse to think of ourselves "on a diet". "Diets" fail when you get off them. Been there, done that! We had to sincerely make a change.

 Vanity was not the reason for our change in eating, but the results have been amazing. Earl has lost 140 pounds, and I have lost 77! We consider ourselves to be in maintenance mode. We are not really trying to lose any more, but refuse to gain it back! We feel fortunate to have each other for support.

It is rather amusing when we see someone we haven't seen in a while. The really funny thing is that when we look at old pictures, it is hard to recognize those people! First pic is October 2015. Second is July 2014.

We did this totally on our own, no medicine or surgery, and no particular program. The basic idea is watching carbs, avoiding grains, avoiding refined sugar, and avoiding packaged foods. That means we buy lots of fresh or frozen veggies, fresh fruit, and raw meat. It's really pretty simple! We do "cheat"from time to time, but the next day we resume healthier eating. We both feel that our metabolism has changed, and we just don't eat nearly as much as used to.

We both feel so much better, and are amazed the difference this has made! We have both had to buy a whole new wardrobe. We have both gone from the "Plus Size/Big Man's" departments to regular sizes. When we eat out, we no longer have to request a table because of concern that the booth might be too tight. Earl can now easily tie his shoes. I could go on and on.

I do have a couple more ideas for posts on food that I plan to share soon. Here is a simple recipe that we came up with that we really enjoy, and it is goes with so many things!

Most cole slaw is either too sweet or greasy for my taste, so we revised it to suit us. We like this with smoked chicken, smoked pork, ribs, fish; just about anything! I call it "Revved Up Cole Slaw".

Dressing:
Blend 1/3 C bottled Cole Slaw Dressing, 1/3 C Honey Mustard Dressing, 1/3 C Apple Cider Vinegar, about 3/4 C finely chopped Cilantro, and 1 heaping teaspoon red pepper. (The red pepper makes it pretty spicy, so if you prefer, you might use a bit less.) The Honey Mustard and red pepper really give this a unique flavor!

Stir this into a 16 oz. bag of Cole Slaw mix. We have also added chopped bell pepper and a few tomatoes at times. This is really a nice change from lettuce type salad, and it holds well for a few days.

Staying on course is the hardest part! Focus on change, not results!

 

The choices of weight loss plans/programs can be over-whelming! Finding one to fit your preferences and lifestyle is a very personal choice. Starting any given program is relatively easy; staying on course is the hard part!

So many times Earl and I have “gone on a diet”, or tried a “program”, only to give up on it and just resume old habits. But something is different this time. We consider our “clean eating” a lifestyle change and each of us supports the other to stick with it. We are approaching the 8 month anniversary of changing our eating habits, and are amazed with the results! Earl has lost 107 pounds, and I’ve lost 61! We have focused on changing habits, and are seeing the results.

We are basically following the Paleo diet, with just a few tweaks to suit us personally. The main thing is the fact that we are keeping on keeping on! I would like to share a few points that have helped us to stay the course.

·         Leaning on each other has probably been the largest contributing factor. Each of us has been the “support” for the other. This has actually brought us closer!

·         Earl printed a picture of himself at his highest weight as a reminder to not go back there.

·         Plan ahead! We do not keep any junk food in the house. We always keep fresh fruit and salad fixings on hand. I usually have some kind of meat cooked in the fridge.

·         Vary the menu! We continue to find “new ideas” that keep us from getting bored. We recently discovered how yummy spaghetti squash is. In our fridge right now are the remnants of the first pulled pork roast I’ve ever cooked.

·         When going to a social function, go prepared. If it is a potluck, take a dish that fits your regimen. Somebody else might enjoy it as well! Sometimes taking a protein bar or piece of fruit for yourself might serve the purpose.

·         If you allow yourself to cheat, do so in moderation. Then go right back to your plan! We have to indulge in Mexican food occasionally, but we’re careful in what we order. Then we eat extra light for a couple of days.

·         Study menus of favorite restaurants so that you have several places to choose from when you eat out. Most places offer low carb or lighter choices on their menu. One of our faves is a certain barbecue place where we just order meat. Yes, barbecue is good without the bread and potato salad!

Hopefully these ideas might help someone, or at least jog your thoughts to come up with ideas to help you stay on track in your plans to live a healthier lifestyle. Just try to find what will work for you personally and keep on keeping on!

 

“Whatever Works” instead of Potato Salad

 

With summer grilling season approaching, I’ve been trying to think of something to enjoy with our grilled chicken or ribs that we love so much. I used to make a big bowl of Potato Salad and Baked Beans. Now that we are watching carbs, both of those ideas don’t sound too appealing.

Now I tried taking cauliflower and mashing it up to sub for mashed potatoes some time back and must admit I was not too fond of it. But I decided to go with that idea and flavor it up to see if I could make an acceptable dish. I realize that some of you will be skeptical, but my hubby and I were quite happy with the result!

Here is my version of “Whatever Works instead of Potato Salad”:

16 oz. package frozen cauliflower

3 eggs, boiled, peeled, and diced (sprinkle with black pepper)

2 Tablespoons Mayo

4 Tablespoons Mustard

4 Tablespoons Pickle Relish

2 Tablespoons finely diced red onion

Dash Paprika

Bring enough water to cover cauliflower to a boil. Add frozen cauliflower. After it resumes boiling, cook for 6 minutes. Remove about one third of cauliflower and cube it, as you would cube potatoes in a regular potato salad. Place rest of cauliflower in blender, add mustard and pulse it till it is creamy like mashed potatoes. Put this mixture into a bowl and add all other ingredients. Refrigerate. Enjoy!

I did not add salt to anything! I was careful to not be too generous with the mayo, but did use a little for creaminess. We always like mustard in potato salad, so that helped add flavor. The only change I might try is to add a little celery for extra crunch.

This made enough for 4 generous servings. I made a rough calculation, using information of each ingredient, and estimate each of those 4 servings to have about 116 calories and 9 g Carbs. Now that is better than potato salad!

 

 

Strawberry Spinach Salad

We have been on this journey of “eating cleaner” for almost 6 months now.  Earl’s total weight loss is 90 pounds, while mine is 50!  We are sincerely not bored with our new way of eating, but are constantly open to trying new dishes that fit into our regimen.

This post will feature what we had for lunch yesterday, a scrumptious Strawberry Spinach Salad. I studied several recipes online before I decided exactly what ingredients to use. The first picture shows ingredients: 6 ounces Baby Spinach, 1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced, ½ cup chopped walnuts, ½ cup chopped onion (I used 2 green onions), 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese (Feta would also be good.), and ½ cup Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing.

Just mix and enjoy! With strawberries coming in season, we will definitely have this again soon!  It was so yummy!

Burger Time!

 

Doesn’t this look yummy! Whatever works! This is how we do it when we are ready for a burger. To be gluten free, I had been ordering my burgers without the bun for years, but Earl never tried it till now.  We grilled big old juicy burgers, but are staying grain free.

We have plenty of veggies on the side.  I even grilled a green pepper, just for extra flavor.  With a dollop of mustard on the plate, it is ready to devour!  We just use a fork to cut everything into bite size pieces. Put some veggie pieces onto the fork with each bite of meat, dip a little mustard onto it, and you have all the flavor of a good burger without the carbs from the bun.

One of the challenges of keeping this a lifestyle change rather than a diet is to keep it varied. This is one of those meals that help us do it.  Who could feel deprived with this colorful plate?

Whatever Works! Solving the Salad Dressing Dilemma

It seems that we are frequently eating salads for our meals these days.  So I am excited to share with you a little tip that we discovered recently!

Studying labels can be so time consuming, frustrating, and just downright confusing.  When buying bottled salad dressing, this has certainly been the case!  When comparing “light” or “reduced fat’ dressing to the “regular”, often the carbs and sodium are much higher. On top of that, I watch out for MSG and gluten.  So, what to do?

I do sometimes make dressing, but Hubby was actually eating his without dressing until we made this major discovery!  Sorry, but I’m not quite that dedicated.  (I also must give him the credit for making the discovery.)

For our basic salad, we start with a bed of chopped romaine with a little baby spinach.  Next we sprinkle chopped red bell pepper.  They are so flavorful and give some crunch.  A few slices of cucumber are nice.  Sliced or cubed avocado is a must-have! Chopped tomato is good, but with our amazing discovery, not a necessity! 

So, here it is – our amazing discovery!  Instead of salad dressing, use salsa!  YUMMY!  Here is a chart comparing the salsa and a dressing we have in our fridge.

2 T Salsa: 10 Calories 0 gram Fat 240 mg Sodium 2 Carbs

2 T Honey Mustard Dressing: 90 Calories 6 grams Fat 270 mg Sodium 8 Carbs

So it’s easy to see how subbing salsa reduces calories, fat, sodium, and carbs! (I might mention that the numbers on some bottled dressing are much higher than those I used here.)

Here is a picture of my salsa dressed salad.  (I did use about 1 T Blue Cheese dressing along with the 2 T Salsa, just because I like the added creaminess.  Hubby is using only the salsa, with no added dressing.) This is just another example of what is working at our house to keep us on track with eating healthier.  Whatever works!

Green Chile Stew

In the past, I used this Green Chile base that I get at HEB, adding chicken and white navy beans.  We would add chips & cheese.  It was one of our favorite winter meals! Yes, I am using some packaged ingredients here, but it is an example of how a favorite recipe can be modified.

 I revised it by filling it with lower carb veggies.  It is so full of veggies that chips aren't needed!  The first pic shows ingredients: Cookwell’s Green Chile base (From HEB.  If this or something similar isn't available, you might try using chicken broth, diced green chiles, and some cilantro.  I think that combo might work, though I haven’t tried it.), 1 can chicken broth, about 1 ½ # boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces, 1 onion, chopped, 1 # sliced zucchini, 1 #sliced  yellow squash, 1 # baby carrots, minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil. 

I have this wonderful 12” deep skillet that I love!  I used 1 Tablespoon Olive oil in the bottom & got it hot, added 1 clove minced garlic, 1 medium onion, chopped, and the 1 ½ # chopped chicken breast; season lightly with black pepper. Cook on a medium-high heat, stirring till chicken is thoroughly done.  Place contents into deeper pot, leaving juices in skillet.  Then add 1 Tablespoon olive oil to juices.  Get it hot and add sliced zucchini & sliced squash; season lightly with black pepper.  Cook on medium-high heat till veggies get a little brown.  Add about ½ of the canned broth; lower heat to medium, place lid & allow to cook just till veggies are done.  While that is cooking, cook carrots with about ½ cup water, covered in microwave.  When all veggies are done, add to deeper pot with chicken mixture.  Add rest of chicken broth and Green Chile base.  Rinse Green Chile base jar about half full of water, & add to pot.  At this point, everything is fully cooked, so just cook long enough to blend flavors. 

Notice I have not added any salt to the fresh veggies or chicken! Cooking them in the hot olive oil with garlic just brings out the flavor, and no salt is needed!

 

Just look at those glorious veggies!  This is a hearty meal!

It is OK to sometimes break the rules!

It is OK to sometimes break the rules.  IT IS OK TO SOMETIMES BREAK THE RULES!

 

 

 

I have always been a rule follower.  I am the one driving the posted speed while others zooms past.  I was such a stickler for rules at work that I literally wrote books for new managers in my last job.  So it was a long time coming for me to start tossing out rules regarding weight loss.  I finally realized that it is futile to attempt something for a few weeks, knowing that at some point I would revert back to old habits.  So I decided to figure out what would work in our household for me and my hubby to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

That decision itself goes against the assumption that you must be following a certain program or spending money on products to be successful in weight loss.  IT IS OK TO SOMETIMES BREAK THE RULES!

That first taste of breaking the rule made it easier.  We’ve all heard that you should weigh in once a week, not daily.  We find that it keeps us more personally accountable to weigh every day.  IT IS OK TO SOMETIMES BREAK THE RULES!

Some of the concepts that we are following suggest eliminating caffeine. We have eliminated many things, but don’t mess with our morning coffee!  IT IS OK TO SOMETIMES BREAK THE RULES!

At this point, I almost feel as if I am confessing.  So I guess the next confession is that we rarely actually eat breakfast.  We leisurely enjoy our coffee and a nice glass of orange or apple juice. Now to this juice, we add 1 or 2 Tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar with the mother.  (Yes, that is what it is called!) I read about the use of vinegar for health, but was persuaded to try it when our son told us he was using it, and saw benefits.  Some of the purported benefits are boosting metabolism and curbing the appetite. I honestly think it is helping us.  Anyway, after drinking our coffee and juice, we just aren’t hungry.  (Besides, we don’t usually get up till after 8 AM, so it is soon lunch time!) IT IS OK TO SOMETIMES BREAK THE RULES!

We have been really big on eliminating sugar. We do, however, usually treat ourselves once a day. On these cold wintry days, we indulge in a mid-afternoon treat of hot cappuccino.  We look forward to it, and I think it has helped with the craving for sweets. It has 120 calories, but if it keeps away the cravings, that's ok!  IT IS OK TO SOMETIMES BREAK THE RULES!

 

 

 

My whole point is that there is no one size fits all on how to achieve weight loss to contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Try to find what will work for you!   IT IS OK TO SOMETIMES BREAK THE RULES! WHATEVER WORKS!

Instead of 'Frito Pie' - "Whatever Works!"

All Texans crave hot chili whenever the temperature starts dipping down into the 30’s!  We traditionally enjoy it served over rice, crackers, or Fritos.  So how can we enjoy this wonderful concoction and remain grain free?

Faced with this dilemma, we used our “Whatever Works” mode of thinking, and opted to try it on a bed of lettuce.  We were amazed!

Sorry that I did not get pics of the chili when I made it. I used my normal recipe, but modified it to be more carb friendly. In the past, I used about a 1 ½ # of ground beef and cooked a pound of dry pintos, added to the chili.  To reduce carbs, I omitted the beans.  I added a can of fire roasted tomatoes.  I am really trying to not use canned veggies, but fire roasted tomatoes are good!  I did add a little extra meat.  (Next time I might try ground turkey, but I am trying to use what is in the freezer.)

The first pic shows the bed of romaine lettuce, topped with chopped red bell pepper.  This adds some crunch, & they are so flavorful

 

 

We spooned hot chili over that, adding about 1 ounce sharp cheddar cheese, and garnished with jalapenos. I also cubed an avocado and added that to the side.  Avocados are full of nutrients, and we love them! I’m sure there are some out there who may not be able to handle the idea chili on lettuce, but we loved this!  Remember – “Whatever Works!”     

 

 

Citrus Kale Salad

Lunch today was one of our favorite salads.  This is our version of a recipe I found on the net a few months ago.  I have certainly broadened my horizons!  There was a time when I would not have even tried goat cheese!

The first pic shows ingredients:  9 oz. pk Taylor Farms Sweet Kale Salad Mix (From Kroger), 15 oz. can Mandarin oranges (drained), 4 oz. Goat Cheese, crumbled (feta would work), about ¼ cup sunflower seeds. 

 

 

Note: Cheese will crumble easier if placed in freezer about 10 minutes.  Place salad mix in large bowl.  (If this isn’t available, a kale-spinach mix will work, but we really like all the ‘stuff’ in this package.)  Add the few cranberries & pumpkin seeds that come with the kit.  Place the drained oranges on top.  Add the crumbled cheese and sunflower seeds.  Stir in the poppy-seed dressing that comes with salad mix. This makes enough for 2 meal sized salads.  Approximate calorie count in each is 430. 

 

 

This has so many different flavors/textures that it is one of our favorite meals! This is just one of our new dishes that help us stay the course, and it is working!

Whatever Works! Cleaning up our Eating Habits

Earl and I have never been ones to go to the doctor unless we felt it really necessary.  His main health issue has been high blood pressure.  He has kept it under control with medication and never thought much about diet.  It seemed to be a pretty easy fix to just take these pills every day.

Although I have a strong family history of Diabetes, my only health issue has been arthritis.  At age 58, I was under the care of a Rheumatologist in the Houston area.  I was on Prednisone, Methotrexate, and Enbrel, just to keep functioning.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with those drugs, they are all some pretty powerful stuff.  In the fall of 2008, I broke out in Shingles.  They became so severe, and my immunity was so low because of the drugs, that I was hospitalized and put in isolation.  I came home after about a week, with an IV, and under home health care.  One of my nurses casually suggested some reading material, which led me to study about other options for my RA treatment.  Meanwhile, the Rheumatologist instructed me to resume the medication after I had completed the IV treatment.  After a couple of weeks, I found myself back in his office with a fungal skin infection.  I was told that if it didn’t clear up after finishing up a prescription, I would need to go back into the hospital.  I went straight home and read on the net that people had died from this infection while on some of these drugs. I decided to change doctors!

I sought out a doctor who was experienced in using a more natural approach.  I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and began diligently following a Gluten Free diet.  I’ve been pretty content with this regimen for several years now.  I am confident that gluten had definitely been a contributing factor to inflammation that caused the arthritic pain. In looking back, when I was at my worst, I was living on gluten rich foods.    But this summer when my doctor suggested bumping it up to the Paleo diet, I was not very accepting.  I had already given up so much to be gluten free!  She was very adamant that she felt it would be beneficial, but I was not readily accepting to jump on that band wagon. 

All of this has had an influence on decisions of how we began a new lifestyle in our daily eating.  Earl decided he really wanted to avoid salt and build up his good cholesterol & reduce his bad cholesterol.  I decided to avoid all grain, including my old staples of rice and corn that had been a part of my gluten free diet.  We both wanted to eliminate sugar.  This sounds very restrictive, but we decided to enjoy what we could eat rather than what we were missing by changing our diet.

When asked what we have done to lose weight, I like to say that we are just eating “cleaner”.  Fresh fruit and vegetables are our best friends!  I am cooking a lot of fresh or frozen veggies.  I have gone from using “a stick of butter and a cup of sugar” in my veggies to cooking them in a little olive oil seasoned with garlic.  They don’t even need salt!

Earl has cut his blood pressure meds in half!  I have eliminated 3 pills a day that I was taking for arthritis.  “Whatever Works!” – We’re taking less medication! These pics were taken on our 5 month anniversary of eating cleaner.  My weight loss is 43 pounds, and Earl's is 75.  It's working!

Whatever Works!

I have been inspired to start this blog because so many friends are curious just what exactly my hubby and I have done to accomplish a pretty dramatic weight loss in a relatively short time.  I am not endorsing any certain diet or program.  I’ve tried many of those, and have never had much success, at least not for long. Each of us has our individual strengths and weaknesses, and one must take those into consideration when planning a weight loss.  You are doomed to failure before you begin if you attempt a regimen which is not a good fit for you personally.

I’ve been married to my husband, Earl since 1967, and we do most everything together.  We are so much alike that I truly believe God meant for us to be together.  One of our common bonds is the love for food.  We like just about everything, but I guess we have always had the tendency to over indulge, because we both have always battled weight issues.   We both recently retired, and found ourselves to be the heaviest we have ever been.  I had accepted that was just the way it was, and feared that we would both face health issues because of it as we aged.

I distinctly remember the day that we began this weight loss journey.  It was on our 47^th anniversary!  We had already had our anniversary dinner the weekend before, because I was working part-time and didn’t want to go out after work.  When I came home, I was surprised that Earl had not eaten anything at all during the day!  He had a bag of chips by his chair, and there were sandwich fixings in the fridge.  We even had 2 flavors of ice cream in the fridge!  But a call from his doctor’s office about his lab work   seemed to kill his appetite.  His sugar was elevated, his bad cholesterol was high, and his good was low.  He was so distraught about the possibility of adding more medication if he could not get it under control.

Now I don’t claim to be a nutritionist, but I do feel relatively knowledgeable from my years of working in management and admin in school food service.  So I assured Earl that we could tackle this together and figure out a way to eat healthier and lose weight.  It really was not difficult.  We like almost everything, so it is easy to keep coming up with new ideas without going back to our old way of eating.

I was raised in rural east Texas, and it was engrained in me to “add a stick of butter and a cup of sugar” to everything.  So I did.  It tasted good, but not so good for me.  I’ve just had to change my way of thinking.

So, in the past 5 months, I have lost 43 pounds, and Earl has dropped an amazing 75 pounds!  We are feeling great, and are very positive about continuing this journey.  We are sharing our story in hopes that we may help someone else who is struggling to  find ”whatever works”!