29th Jan 2009
If you’re like me you are busy. Sometimes my head spins when I think about all the differnt jobs I have that make up what I do during the day. So lunch is not always a priority - and it should be. On many plans lunch is this 3 course meal and who the heck has time for that! Maybe Oprah - but not the rest of us poor suckers. We have to get up and make our own lunch - after we put a load of clothes in the washer and make up the bed and make sure that the bills are paid and - it goes on and on! So I do something that might not be a full lunch but if it will help you in any way I thought I should share it.
I don’t eat health bars anymore. I treated them like candy bars and ate too many at a time…but fruit, now that’s a thing I can eat a lot of and no guilt. And my new favorite food is the pear. So I make sure I have fresh pears (and I eat any kind) in the fridge at work but to make them more like a real lunch I take a wedge of Laughing Cow cream cheese (My favorite kind is the Garlic and Herb) and as I slice a slice of the pear I slather the cream cheese on it almost like it’s a cracker and it is WONDERFUL!!! And so low in calories and so good for you - I have been known to eat 2!
If you like apples - same thing! And I usually eat a 100 cal pack of popcorn as a snack during the day too. So although this may not sound all that interesting - it is delicious and much better that not taking anything to work and just going to a convenience store and buying a “candy” power bar.
Next time you’re in the grocery buy some things like this you can take in a large quantity to work and then when you have no lunch - eat this. And trust me…I eat it now because it’s so delicious and I prefer it. Give this kind of lunch a chance and you will too.
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13th Jan 2009
…seem to be everywhere! There’s a very good one on Lifetime called Diet Tribe, where 5 friends are trying to lose weight together. The great thing here is that even if you don’t identify with one person completely you can find bits of each one of the five to identify with. There are parts of all of them I sure do recognise in myself. Check it out and see what you think. It comes on 10:00 pm out here on the West Coast so you’ll need to check your particular timezone to see when it airs. And it’s on Lifetime.
I didn’t see a new episode of Ruby this past week. I don’t know if the last one was the season finale or not. I can’t imagine that it was because it didn’t end like one, but my DVR didn’t record anything so don’t know what’s up with that. I enjoy the show so hope it comes back on or is renewed.
Oprah is in the second week of her new diet program on losing weight if you’ve fallen off the wagon - Oprah got me back on board big time yesterday with her follow up from last week. (I thought last week’s show was all right, but it didn’t ‘hook’ me) I know the statistics regarding how many people keep their weight off after they’ve lost it, so it was NO surprise to me to see a Biggest Loser winner on her show yesterday who has gained 100 pounds back. Oprah and the guy who won the Biggest Loser talked about how hard it is to keep it off - and if I could only speak to them both I would tell them to come join me in the new way I eat. I don’t kid myself anymore about if I will or won’t overeat - I KNOW I will. (Oprah will and the Biggest Loser guy will too. And this is merely the truth of how we in the overweight community behave at least 99% of the time and no slam on them what so ever. They are truly doing the best they can with this struggle.) So I overeat what will not hurt me, meaning my low fat and sugar free equivalents of my old southern favorites. I think I could help the girlfriends on Diet Tribe too and if they EVER allow Ruby to cook and eat food other than a prepackaged meal - I could help her too.
Oprah talked about loving yourself and that love is a way out of this. That’s a big discussion in overweight circles and so did need to be discussed. I’m not sure how you crack through not loving yourself but maybe Oprah will have some guidance there. I ‘think’ I love myself, but how do I know? It’s like when you meet that certain right guy but hold back because your saying “Is he the one I want to spend the rest of my life with?” Sometimes love needs a push, even if it’s to love yourself. Just do it. What have you got to lose (besides weight)?
None of us got fat because we are not compelled to abuse food, but if the food we will still abuse is not so bad then is that acceptable? Are we expected to go against who we are? Overeating and abusing food is so much a part of my life, it’s like saying even though I’m right handed I now have to be left handed. I can try to write with my left hand, but it won’t work for long. Eventually I will go back to my right handed ways.
And I am too old now to live with guilt. Judgemental eyes and someone who has never had weight issues telling me that I need to stay the straight and narrow course for the rest of my life. When doctors tell us overweight people that we will die if we don’t lose weight - does it ever occur to them that life without food is hardly worth living. I refuse to live like that. I am going to eat. I know that as well as I know I’m going to blink or breathe. I just changed how I prepare food…so now I can literally have my cake and eat it too! It’s just sugar free!
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5th Jan 2009
…about a weight loss commercial I saw yesterday. Valerie Bertinelli is looking into a camera and crying because she says that she woke up on New Year’s Day not needing to make a resolution about her weight. She’s so overcome that she waves her hand at her face as if to try to stop crying but cannot.
I’m very glad for Valerie. It must be ten times as bad to have weight issues when you’re famous with every bite you eat scrutinized. But is she getting paid for that ad? Is this her job now, to sell the overweight community by crying and telling them she has a way that they (meaning all of us) will never have to think about food or weight issues again if they call Jenny?
If she didn’t wake up thinking about her weight on New Years day then I’m thrilled for her. Maybe she is one of the lucky ones who will not have to think about this everyday of her life. I woke up on New Year’s just like any other day - thinking that I hope I’m good to myself today. I sure want to be but make no promises any more. I am who I am - a RFP (recovering fat person). And I’m a RFP who cannot afford prepackaged food. I have to shop the grocery sales and cook for myself.
Valerie is an actress who lost weight and is now a spokesperson for a weight loss product. If this is how she makes her living then I can handle that. But crying into a camera, when she must know that millions cry every night thinking that they are failures at the weight loss game seems weird to me. And out of those millions who cry there are those who cannot afford Jenny Craig and therefore will feel even worse because they think Jenny holds the brass ring and they can’t afford to reach for it - so once again they are on the outside looking in.
It’s January and I get that the weight loss industry is in full swing. But think before you spend money on these plans. Maybe Jenny is right for you. Maybe it’s Weight Watchers or Nutra System OR maybe it’s buying a calorie book and making your own plan. But please don’t get caught up in somone else’s emotions caught on tape. Feel your own feelings about this. Think and take your time to decide what is best for you..
..so you have no mixed emotions - only strength to deal with your food demons. And if you don’t ever wake up free of the food demons, just know that you are not alone and you CAN deal with them. They are NOT stronger than you.
Happy New Year,
Kitty Stallings
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