Dec 13, 2008 - The Test

Tonight is the first of the holiday parties I am attending. The food at this one is always wonderful and I'm sure that I'll be tempted at all angles.

Breakfast - 2 cups of coffee (one of them I took on the road with me) and a cup of yogurt with 1/4 cup of cereal.

Lunch - Kinda hectic so I just grabbed another yogurt with 1/3 cup of cereal.

Post Lunch - 3pm. Was too hungry to last until the party. Knew that I was going to blow it at the party, so decided to let myself go a bit. Had 1/2 can of black beans with some cheese, a small handful of cheese, and a mini-grilled cheese sandwich. (Wow, that's a lotta cheese). And to finish it off? One of my cookies. I knew that it would keep me filled for a while. (I was right. I could have skipped the party food after that!)

Dinner (?) - At the party, I had a few crackers with cheese as well as figs, blackberries and pomegranate seeds. I had 2 pieces of the lemon torte. (the second picture never uploaded).

Dec 13, 2008 - Betrayed

LOOK at food I ate yesterday. Nothing! I should be 'Terri Hatcher-Thin' after yesterday. And yet, I jump on the scale and I'm .2 lbs heavier than yesterday. FEH!

I'm blaming the gravitational pull of the moon. Or something. Maybe I should go check my cookies to make sure that I didn't sleepwalk and eat them last night. Or, maybe Bob force fed them to me while I was sleeping.....hmmm.

The OXO Mandoline

Since I'm no Top Chef, slicing root vegetables was getting to be a pain. I wasn't able to get uniform slices or slices nearly thin enough.

Today, I bought an Oxo Good Grips Mandoline Slicer. So far I like it. I think with a little practice, I'll be slicing my veggies faster. This little wonder slices, juliennes, waffle cuts, and more. Slicing the onions for the ragout was quick. Sweet potatoes are no longer a problem.

Dec 12, 2008 - The Day of the Red Bear

When I was on Nutrisystems you were rewarded for every 10 lbs that you lost. For the first goal met you were sent a red stuffed teddy bear with a "10" embroidered on it. (See the pic). That first bear took me 3 weeks and $350 in their "food" to earn.

Today, I officially earn my first Snap It, Fatty bear. OK, I don't have a bear to give myself, but I have lost 10.1 lbs since I started last Sunday. Not especially hungry. Not buying 'special food'. Eating more mindfully. I think it's a win-win.

Breakfast - 2 cups of coffee & Flax Oil geltab. Cup of fat free yogurt, 1/3 cup of cereal. (Pic taken in front of Bob who slept on the sofa last night.

Lunch - some ultra thin sweet potatoes baked. Small bowl of pasta with fresh tomato & onion ragout.

Dinner - Small salad w/vinegar. 1/2 sweet potato. (Just read this article about sweet potatoes. They're staying in my diet!)

Dec 11, 2008 - 1.5 Months ahead of schedule

This morning's weigh-in is 225. I've officially lost 8.5 lbs. The goal for this project is to lose 4lbs a month, which means I am where I should have been at the end of January. My deal with Brad is that you can't "carry over" lost pounds, so I'm still obligated to lost 4 more in January.

Once I settle in to eating less (I was hungry again at bedtime last night, but fought that urge), I'm going to start analyzing the nutritional intake. I'm actually eating better foods now than I was before this project, but looking at the pics, I'm not sure that I'm getting enough vitamins and minerals. We'll see.

Breakfast - 1.5 cups of coffee. (yes, I woke up early again and just not in the mood for more coffee.) Flax Oil geltab. 1 cup of yogurt and 1/3 cup of Kellogg's Smart Start Cereal

Lunch - OMG. Lunch was delicious. I came home for lunch which allowed me to cook. Made my favorite ragout - browned onions, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, pinch sugar and 3 roma tomatoes. Threw it over 3/4 cup of pasta noodles. Absolutely decadent. And a side of baked sweet 'taters.

Snack - I eated a cookie. A whole cookie. One thing about my cookies - they stick to your ribs. I ate that cookie at lunchtime and now it's 6pm and I'm no where near hungry. The photo shows it cut in half because my intention was to eat only half. I was possessed by the spirit of Dom DeLuise and now, my cookie is gone.

Dinner - Bob brought home a spinach salad from the aiport that we split. Add to that a 2/3 cup of black beans (pinch of cheddar), and a thin, thin slice of bread.

How To Avoid That Dreaded Holiday Weight Gain

Here we are with the holidays upon us once again. We all look forward to the eggnog, good friends and family, and of course, consuming massive amounts of great tasting food in a short period of time. “The hell with it” you say. After all, it’s the holiday, right? Wrong.

Research published in the New Journal of Medicine indicates the average person gains one pound during the holidays. That may not sound like much, [...]

The article continues here >>>

Dec 10, 2008 - See? It wasn't that bad...

Last night before bed, my belly as asking for a little more food. In the past, I would have grabbed a couple cookies, made some toast or grabbed a sandwich. Yes, right before bed.

Instead, I went to bed a little hungry. Not ravenous - just a little hungry. This morning I asked myself if I was still hungry. No. Actually, I'm not. I think my brain was just a little deprived of stimulation and in the past I would have given it something to satisfy it. That's one more key to success - pushing the plate away at dinner, and not letting up until bedtime.

Today's book is Container Gardening. Yes, the snow has just started to fall but I'm already thinking of next Spring. I have a large back yard with which we do very little. But my front porch is my own little Giverny. Each Spring, I head out for new plants and arrange them in pots on the front porch. Colorful flowers, interesting textured plants, and an assortment of veggies take over the porch. It's a great place for me to watch the world go by. I picked up this book 2 years ago and it's a simple no-nonsense guide to plants and containers.

Breakfast - 2 cups of coffee. Flax Oil. Cup of low-fat, low-sugar vanilla yogurt with 1/3 cup Heart Smart cereal (YUM!)

Lunch - The rest of last night's salad. (Hint: to warm up the chicken and tomatoes without drying them out, put them between sheets of parchment paper and put on a Foreman Grill for a few minutes until hot. That way you don't over cook or damage the food.)

Snack - 1/2 of a cookie. I've had this one hanging around from decorating last week. It was too ugly to give as a gift, so I left it out. After lunch, I threw away the other 1/2.

Dinner - 1/2 handful of shredded cheddar. 3/4 cup of tomato soup. 1 cup of beans. (yes, leftovers from yesterday. But no sweet potatoes!)

Dec 9, 2008

Oooh, I'm sleepy today. Got to bed late last night and paying the price today. I'll nap before seeing mom later tonight.

Update at 10pm. I'm hungry. I won't lie. I think I ate too little at dinner. I don't want to eat just to eat. I'm certainly not starving. This is the first time in the past 9 days I've been hungry. Considering I'm going to bed in a few minutes, I'll ride it out.

Breakfast - 1 cup of coffee. You would think I'd drink more with less sleep. Yogurt and banana.

Lunch - 1 cup of fab tomato soup. 1 cup of black beans & pinch of shredded cheddar.

Dinner - 1/2 of the salad shown. Mesculin greens, onions, tomato, pecans, blue cheese, light mustard dressing.

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Tucker Shaw Writes Back

Remember the inspiration for this little project, the book Everything I Ate by Tucker Shaw? (that handsome man on the left is Tucker)

I found Tucker and emailed him the following:

Tucker,

If you're the same Tucker Shaw who wrote "Everything I Ate", I owe you some thanks.

Exactly a week ago, I picked up your book. I love quirky little books and the cover grabbed me right away. Even before I bought the book, I was madly flipping through pages like some sort of voyeur; stealing peeks into your gastronomical adventures.

I thought, I should do the same thing. I should photograph what I eat so that I could determine why I am the size I am. I know that I'm a snacker. I know that when I'm bored, I grab a candy bar, or a pastry or anything to fill me up. I thought that if I posted the pictures of everything that I consume, I would be held accountable for my actions - especially if I posted them on a website.

Last Sunday evening, I told a friend who lives 2,000 miles away about it, and he loved the idea. That same day as purchasing your book, "Snap It, Fatty" was born (www.snapitfatty.com). I vowed to take pictures of everything that I ate and bet my buddy that we would lose 4lbs a month. In just the past week, I've lost 7 lbs simply by being more aware of what I eat.

So, thanks. You've put me on the road to awareness and hopefully to a healthier body.

Nick Vannello
Cleveland, OH

Today, I hear back from Tucker:

Well, sir, you've made my day. You know, my impetus for the project was different from yours, more anthropological than personal, but the outcome is the same: I never, ever eat without noticing anymore. And it goes beyond food, too. I don't just notice the cupcake, but I notice who gave it to me, and I notice their intentions, and I notice how it makes me feel, and I appreciate all of the above even more.

I'll be keeping tabs on Snap It, Fatty, and I have no doubt that it'll be a hit! Oprah's gonna love it.

Best to you, and good luck with your project. Keep me posted.

Tucker

Pretty cool, huh? Just goes to show ya that you never know when you're going to inspire someone to do something wonderful.

Dec 8, 2008 - Retuning my Mind

So, I'm in the shower yesterday all aglow about the weight loss this week and thinking, "Well, I'm sure that this success is just about over. Any day now, I'll start gaining weight back and I'll be back to where I was."

Then I caught myself and put those ideas to rest right there. I think we stand in the way of our own success too often, and instead of just appreciating "the now", we are sabataging ourselves with something that hasn't happened yet. And we keep focusing on that negative until it becomes a reality, just so we can say, "I told you so."

Not this time.

Today's book was given to me by my friend Lora several years ago for Christmas. I love this book. It's Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit. Broken into chapters and lessons, it details how Twlya approaches a new project and through exercises, shows us how to think like her. I'd love to make the book into a workshop.

Breakfast -1.5 cups of coffee. Flax Oil. Sinus Meds (I'm sniffly).

Lunch - 1/2 of the Bourbon Chicken and Rice pictured here. Took the other 1/2 home. Diet Coke

Snack - A piece of the snowflake cookie. Gave the rest of that cookie to a friend.

Dinner - The rest of the Bourbon Chicken from lunch. (I didn't take another picture since it was the other 1/2 of lunch. I didn't eat the rice.) 3 slices of sweet potatoes. (My love of yams is unnatural).

The flash diet: Taking photos of meals helps slimmers lose weight

Apparently, the research agrees with what I'm doing. Read on:
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Flash diet: A study found people who kept a photographic record of everything they ate lost weight

You've heard of the crash diet - now here comes the flash diet.

A study has shown that slimmers who take photographs of their meals stick more carefully to their diet than others.

By having pictorial evidence of how they have been feeding themselves, dieters have a guilt trip about the quality and quantity of what they are eating.

These photo diaries also make it easy to keep a tab on the number of calories consumed, scientists say.

Read the rest of the story...