How I Lost 13 Pounds In A Year-- Day 4

Today's Change: Channeling Martha Stewart-- Cooking at Home

Once I stopped eating pizza and gave up many fast food meals, I realized that I needed to replace those processed meals with homemade ones. So I started looking for simple recipes online, in magazines, and in cookbooks. I even started trying out the recipes on the sides of soup cans-- I was open to anything that was delicious. My grocery list regularly consisted of ingredients from the Campbell's soup line, French's items, and meal stretchers such as Hamburger Helper. Now, I realize that it's not a glamorous list, but as this was my first time to really start cooking regularly I started small. Eventually my menus grew to include fish, lamb chops, roasted pork, and homemade baked breakfast items. Now, a year later, a regular dinner might be homemade chicken pot pie, or roasted salmon. Obviously, it doesn't matter where you start, as long as you do start. Everyone's tastes are different-- cook to yours. Try to create homemade versions of your favorite processed foods so that it's easier to live without them. Try to recreate some of your favorite family recipes. Be ambitious: there are plenty of recipes online for free, and plenty of old cookbooks at secondhand bookstores.

Start by creating your menu for the week: include breakfasts, lunches and dinners. If you plan to eat out for one of those meals, write it down. By accounting for everything up front, you'll have a clear idea of what your diet really looks like. Once it's written, create your shopping list and get started! To make it even more fun, share your recipes by inviting friends or family over to eat with you. Not only will you be forced to stick to your menu plans, but you'll get to share your progress with the people in your life and spend time relaxing and having fun.

How I Lost 13 Pounds In A Year-- Day 3

Today's Change: No more fast food! Except for ONE

This was probably the most difficult change I made. I had given up pizzas but I found that I had cravings in the middle of the day or right after I got off work for something just as flavorful and unhealthy. I usually picked up a fast-food meal about 3 times a week. Sometimes it was fried chicken, sometimes it was burritos, rarely it was a sandwich. I found that my budget could not really support this habit, neither could my waistline. It wasn't so much that I was gaining weight from the fast food, it was that it left me feeling bloated, and it only perpetuated the vicious circle of cravings. The more I allowed myself to have a fast-food meal, the more I craved salty, greasy, fast-food like meals.

So I decided to make a change. I began limiting myself to ONE fast-food meal a week, with the aim to make it as healthy as I could manage. If I was having a really bad week, then I would let myself pick up something greasy. But usually I made a habit of choosing something with veggies. Doing one meal a week was very hard at first. Once I got a craving I would mentally wrestle with myself, trying to figure out if I really wanted to use up my one meal for that week. I usually made it past the first craving and gave in to it the next time. And it was usually Chipotle. After about a month I got used to only going once a week, and it really was not that difficult anymore. Plus I started subbing my burrito tortilla for a burrito bowl with extra pico de gallo and less cheese. Little swaps helped me to feel like I was making progress, and even if it was only 10 calories that I was saving, those 10 calories were MINE!

So. How many calories can you save? Are you picking up fast food every week, or do you drop in to Starbucks regularly for a latte? How about trying to just go once a week, and trading that latte in for a fat-free version, or even just a regular coffee? Remember: it doesn't have to be drastic. You don't have to cut things out of your life completely-- that doesn't work when you're changing your lifestyle, and if it does it's usually very painful. Instead of cutting things out, try to be creative. Can you find ways to save yourself 10 calories there, 15 here? Those are yours! They're little victories, and you get to celebrate them!

How I Lost 13 Pounds In A Year-- Day 2

Today I continue with my next major change that helped me re-vamp my diet and thus, my waistline.

Today's Change: No more late-night pizza!

I had developed a very bad habit of staying up late with Eric and ordering Papa John's when we got cravings for junk food. It got to the point where we ate pizza about once a week, either for dinner or late at night. With both of our jobs bringing us home around 7 each night, we weren't eating until 8 or later and pizza was a very easy fall-back. However, we knew it was starting to really get to us, so we set a goal: no pizza whatsoever for a month. After a month and a half, we realized that we had easily reached our goal, and now we order pizza maybe once every two months. Instead of pepperoni and cheesy bread, we try to order margherita or BBQ chicken with no additional bread. This way we get plenty of flavor and not as much grease.

We also started making pizzas at home using Pillsbury dough. It was much cheaper and healthier, with much less grease. And it was fun-- we would make a delicious salad and have some wine and turn our pizza nights from late-night junk nights into fun date nights!

See if you can do it: Give up pizza (or whatever your major food crux is) for a month and see what you feel like. Do you still need it? Can you satisfy your craving in another creative, healthier way?

How I Lost 13 Pounds In A Year-- The Series

*Aside from extremely sporadic bits of exercise here and there, my weight came off simply from changing the way I eat. Hence, this is not an exercise post. I hate exercise. You have to like... move and stuff...*

I used to have metabolism that was faster than a horse that just saw glue-- I could eat roughly 2500 calories a day and not gain a thing. My after-school snack was usually an entire can of spaghettios and my dessert was a bowl of cereal. This absolutely wonderful blessing of eating without consequence continued until my sophomore year of college when I noticed that my jeans started to fit a little tighter. By my senior year I had gone up a size. Finally at a doctor's appointment I realized that I'd gained no height whatsoever as well as 15 pounds.

It was a shock. I never weighed myself regularly and the last weight I'd seen was from my high school days when I weighed 135 and fit into size 3 junior's jeans! Those were also the days when I went up stairs regularly, hauled heavy books, and played sports during lunch period. So I'm guessing some of those pounds were associated with muscles.

Anyway, I realized I had to make some serious changes to my lifestyle. If I wanted to lose the weight and keep it off, I was going to have to make permanent changes that would last, not temporary ones that would cause the pounds to shed and then creep back up. I'm not a fan of exercise, unless it involves playing a sport. I don't like going to the gym, I hate sweating for no immediate gratification (such as hitting a double or getting a point in a volleyball game) so I wanted to start out with changes in my diet.

I'll be posting a different change every day for 5 days. Keep in mind, these are all lifestyle changes, so start with one and then once you have that down, take up another. It's a very gradual weight-loss process so it may seem like nothing is changing at all-- but I promise, you'll feel better on the inside right away, and that will be enough to motivate you to keep at it until you feel better on the outside, too!

Today's Change: I stopped drinking soda. Completely.

Regular sodas are full of sugar, which is bad for your teeth and bad for your weight! So I stopped. I switched to drinking unsweetened tea with Splenda when I craved something other than water, and I only drank fruit juice once or twice a week. I kept soda completely out of my life for 6 months before I started adding an occasional diet soda with no sugar. Diet sodas aren't that great either, though, so I kept my sodas down to about 4 or 5 a week at the most. Even now there are times I will go a month without having a soda. I usually keep a pitcher of water, a gallon of milk, and a pitcher of sugar-free drink mix in the fridge so I have plenty of choices.

See if you can do it: Give up sodas and juices completely for 2 weeks. If you have extras in your fridge or pantry, set them aside for guests. Limit yourself to water, teas, even smoothies. When the 2 weeks is up, try to limit yourself to adding only a few glasses of fruit juice every week. Keep in mind, juice has a lot of sugar, too. You can supplement your beverage flavors with some of the many sugar-free powder drink mixes in the grocery store.

It's Hot Up In This Kitch

I have gotten really good at cooking dinner with very little, on little money. This is partially because I have a limited budget and therefore I'm forced to be inventive, and partially because of the inevitable challenge that arises when the groceries start to run low. The most challenging part is finding something healthy and delicious from whatever is left in the freezer. I usually keep a couple of bags of frozen broccoli on hand, as well as frozen carrots, mushrooms, zucchini-- whatever I think will come in handy. I'll post freezing directions at the bottom of the post.

This is my latest concoction: Chicken and Noodles with Mushroom Sauce

You'll need

2 chicken breasts

whatever seasoning you like

¼ cup chopped white onions

1 clove garlic, smashed

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups egg noodles

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 can Cream of Mushroom

1 Tbsp honey

First start the water for the noodles on medium-high. While the water heats up, season your chicken and place in a skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat.

In a small saucepan, drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil and start to saute the onion and garlic. You want them to get nice and golden.

Cook the noodles as directed and keep an eye on the chicken, turning over to make sure you don't burn it (like I did-- oops). When the noodles are done, drain and drizzle with a little olive oil to keep from sticking. 

When your onions are nice and golden, add the sliced mushrooms and cook until soft. 

Add the Cream of Mushroom soup and the honey, and stir well to combine. Set the heat to low and stir often to keep the sauce from sticking to the pan.

When the chicken is done, shred it and place it in the same pot as the cooked noodles. When your sauce is nice and thick (it will be a little darker from the onion glaze) pour it in with the noodles and chicken, too. Stir everything up and enjoy!

For frozen carrots and frozen mushrooms:

Chop or slice the carrots and place individual pieces on a plate and place in the freezer. Once the pieces are frozen, place in freezer bags and label with the date. Use within 3 months. When you need to use the pieces, let them thaw for about 30 minutes before cooking.

For frozen zucchini:

Slice or shred as needed and place into freezer bags. NOTE: Frozen zucchini works well in soups and baked dishes, but it's not quite as impressive sauteed.

Small, Dark and Handsome

It was a dark and stormy night—literally—in 1995 when I found myself in a car with my mother, headed to the SPCA. I was wearing my favorite dress, a pink and white tie-dye cotton dress. I wore that dress every chance I got. We braved the weather that night because there was a kitten waiting for me, a solid black male kitten who was old enough for me to take home. I was 6 years old, so my memory is a little foggy on details, but I remember sitting in the back seat next to one of those cardboard crates they use for adoptions, and he wouldn't stop meowing! It was thundering a lot but I couldn't pay attention because inside that little cardboard crate was someone who would change my life.

When we got home, the dogs (who were not much shorter than I was) were eager to sniff the box. Our other cat, Gypsy, was disinterested. She probably knew that this new kitten would be a daily annoyance to her well-established turf. My mom and I carried the crate back to her bathroom, where we opened it up so that Bentley could see his first glimpses of his new home.

He was so tiny! I remember sitting there in the small bathroom with the pale green tiles, terrified that he would claw my legs as he sat up on my lap. He was extremely curious. Right away we saw how interested he was in the shower, something that never changed. Even in his last days, he loved getting in the shower while it was running, and he, weirdly, loved to drink the water that gathered around the drain after it was turned off. Bentley also loved scooping the water out of the dogs' water bowls and playing with the water in the toilets. He was an absolute mess.

In a short time Annie was born and Bentley became her personal stylist. He loved to lick her head and he would swirl her hair up into the funniest little curly-cues. This was also the time when we discovered that any loose ribbons left out would be eaten by Bentley and appear later in the litter box. It was quite colorful...

I remember how every time we went on family trips he would love to climb into my suitcase while we were packing, and when we finally got home, he trotted to the door to meow loudly and demand we make up for all the attention he missed out on while we were gone.

He said good morning to me every day, and he laid with me for a few minutes every night before I went to sleep before he would leave and roam around the house in the dark during the night. In the early morning hours he would always find his way into my parents' room where he would snuggle with my mom, sometimes on her head.

Bentley never scratched or bit or hissed, unless he was playing with the other pets, or growling at the mailman. He only had love for us. He was the sweetest little cat anyone has ever known, and he was my first true love.

 

When my mom and I took him to the vet on Monday, March 5, 2012, it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I also knew that it was the right thing for him. It would have been so easy to be selfish and keep him around longer for my benefit, but it would have caused him pain and shame and in the end, it would have caused more hurt than good for everyone. Being able to hold him close and tell him I love him, being able to let him feel loved and special every second of his life, was both the most painful thing and the greatest gift.

I'd always thought about his place in my life as a special place that no other animal or person can every occupy. But now I realize that it was my place in his life that was the greatest gift of all. I'll miss you forever, Bentley.

Food and Memory

Last night I made stuffed bell peppers for dinner. While this may seem like just another recipe post, there is a story behind this recipe:

As a kid, my mom frequently made a Cuban meal called pico dillo. I'm not actually sure if that's how it is spelled, but either way, it was delicious. It's a mixture of ground beef, garlic, onion, tomato sauce, olives and raisins. It's usually served over rice.

It was my Abuelo's favorite meal, according to my dad. Abuelo has always been my favorite family member. He was always patient and smart. He was so funny. It's from him that I inherited my unending stream of bad puns. When he passed away it was devastating, but I believe he sees me every day.

So last night when I was making stuffed peppers, I realized that the filling was extremely similar to pico dillo. It smelled amazing and the whole time I was cooking, I felt like my Abuelo was with me. This has been an incredibly difficult past year and I am struggling daily to do what I need to do to succeed at school and at work. But last night, feeling close to my Abuelo, everything was a little bit easier.

Here is what you'll need:

2 large bell peppers

½ pound of ground beef

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup cooked white rice

1 8-oz. Can of tomato sauce

1 large clove garlic, smashed and minced

¼ cup chopped onion

salt

1. Get the rice going. (I cook 1 cup dry rice with 2 cups water in the microwave. I cook it uncovered on High power for 5 minutes, then covered on 50% power for 15 minutes.)

2. While the rice starts, cut off the tops of the bell peppers and take out the seeds. Chop up the good parts of the tops to include in the filling and set aside. Place the peppers in a pot with water that just covers them, and bring the water to a boil. Boil the peppers for 3 minutes. When they're done, set them in ice water for a few seconds, then drain on a paper towel while you make the filling.

3. In a pan, cook the onion, garlic, leftover peppers and ground beef with a tablespoon of olive oil until the meat is cooked through. Season with salt. Pour the tomato sauce in the pan and remove from heat. Once the rice is cooked, you'll put this in the pan, too, and stir everything up until it's mixed well. 

4. Preheat the oven to 350, and place the drained peppers in a shallow baking dish. Fill them up with the filling. Any leftover filling can be set aside for another meal-- it's delicious on its own.

5. Bake the peppers for 20 minutes. When they're done, use tongs to place them on plates, and enjoy!