New Year, New Plan

"Hello, my name is Anita and I'm addicted to sugar."

I really could go to a meeting and say that line, you know.  As I mentioned a few weeks ago I have finally decided to get serious about taking off the extra 35-40 pounds that I haven't lost since giving birth to Handsome Man.  Considering that he's now 18 months, that's probably a good plan.

In the process of denying myself my favorite drug (sugar) I have realized several things.  And although this is supposed to be a blog about food and most of you don't really care about my personal issues, I'm going to indulge myself and tell you anyway.  Assuming you choose to read on, of course.

First of all, I have realized that the way I eat isn't the problem: it's the symptom of the problem.  The same can be said for being overweight.  Obesity is more of a symptom, than a disease.  I'm sure your doctor would argue with me, but your therapist wouldn't.  I've been self-medicating with food since I was a teenager.  It's a family habit.

When I lost weight before on Sophia's Plan, I was amazed by my success, but I was still obsessed with food.  What I could eat, what I couldn't eat, researching every restaurant known to man to know what the caloric content of their food was, and even eventually learning how to indulge my addiction in much smaller (and therefore healthier) doses.  People who were around me a lot got sick of hearing about it all the time.  At first I couldn't stop talking about it, and then when it was obvious I was losing some serious weight, other people I knew couldn't stop asking me about it.  It was a constant focus for me, though unintentional.

So where does that leave me now?  Well, now it's time for me to remove the clutter in my diet and in my life.  I deserve better than this, and so do my husband and kids.  It is also time for me to replace my obsession with food with healthier and more productive behaviors and habits, such as composing music - my true love.  It doesn't mean that I will never post another recipe on this blog again, but it does mean that I won't be posting as often.  If you're a follower or subscribe to this blog using a blog reader program, you'll get notified when I update.  If you're not, I hope you'll check in from time to time and see what's new.  Either way, Happy New Year and God bless!

Back to Basics

This past Sunday at church I was raving to some friends about the yumminess of some cinnamon twists that I had made for breakfast that day. One friend responded, "See, this is why I can't cook anything off your blog!" In other words, she was telling me that it's all too fattening. It startled me.

Since then, I've been thinking about what she said. Although I have posted some lower-calorie recipes lately, she's right. A lot of what I've been posting are the "special something" that you want to make and have every once in a while - muffins, pies, cakes, even some of main dishes like the chicken pot pie. If I ate this stuff all the time I'd be as big as a house. Unfortunately for me, I have been making them a lot more often then usual. I can't blog about them if I don't have pictures, and I can't get pictures if I don't make the recipe, right?

I realized that since I've started posting regularly on this blog this past summer, I stopped losing weight. In fact, not only did I stop losing, but I have gained about 10 pounds back. Huh? I am SO no into that. And all this time I've been telling myself that it is because I haven't started running again since summer vacation. Although exercise is a big factor in weight loss for me, a huge part of my weight loss will also be affected by what I am putting in my mouth. And since I have a big sugar addiction... there's no eating "just one bite" of anything sweet.

And so, I am going back to basics. I realized that I have been too concerned with posting what is "yummy" instead of what is "good and nutritious" on this blog. "Yummy" implies sugar and fluff, not sustenance. Yet if I look back at my goals for this blog, they have more to do with feeding my family healthy food - not "yummy" food. And "good and nutritious" can be "yummy", too! It's just hard to realize that when you're trying to decide between a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin and a fresh apple. I don't need to clutter the blog with sweets and fat. There's plenty of those recipes out there to be found if you're looking for them.

And so, though I will still do an occasional post on something sweet (in part because I've already got several recipes and pictures ready to go) or something full of carbohydrates (like bread and pizza), I'm going to focus on good, healthy dishes, utilizing lots of veggies. We are heading into the biggest weight-gaining season of the year, and the last thing any of us need are more ways to eat junk food.

As an added bonus, my sister Gwen is going to start posting recipes on this blog with me. She is also on a journey to regain control of her eating habits and live a healthy lifestyle. Maybe by lending one another support we can all be successful.




(Photo of fruits and vegetables courtesy of http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/kryder/phealthy.html)

"Whatever" Night

Do you ever have one of those days? I spent the afternoon looking in my fridge wondering what the heck I was going to cook for dinner. I'm tired of cooking the same old foods to use up the same old groceries that I have in my fridge. Whatever.

The fact that I now do this "food blog" makes it even worse! Aren't I supposed to somehow have this magical creativity that will allow me to make a healthy gourmet dinner that my family will love out of leftover hot dogs and zucchini? Whatever.

That's right - whatever!

"Mommy, what's for dinner?"

"Whatever."

My kids love "whatever" night. It means we scour the fridge for our favorite leftovers, and I cut up whatever fresh veggies I have that need to be eaten. Tonight it was red peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, and lettuce. That's enough for a salad, right? And don't forget the leftover hot dogs. And taco meat. And rolls.

As we sat down to dinner, I overheard Horse Lover tell The Monkey, "I love whatever night!"

Mission accomplished.