If the rain would stop I would walk! I've been doing fantastic, walking, eating well, smaller amounts, things are looser clothes wise but most of all things are well health wise.

I'm starting to trust my body to adjust itself and the self hypnosis is a great way to keep a focus on that trust.

My writing is absolutely taking off. I'm over 50,000 words with my novel and it's really coming together. It's hard to say if it's the hypnosis or the satisfaction of doing what I love for a couple of hours a day but I'm very balanced and focused these days and that's a great thing.

I still drink a lot of water each day and tea at night. I've taken to forgiving myself if I eat a cookie or a piece of pie and moving on. I am not bing-y and I am not really thinking about food at all. It's good.

Good healthy food, exercise, work that satisfies the soul and self-awareness and appreciation...all part of the recipe for success!

Namaste





My Writing Blog

I know there is a question on everybody's mind. The big question. Are you losing any weight? I should answer this for you but there is the rub. I don't know. I don't weigh. I know I'm doing all the things I should be doing. I'm listening to my weight loss hypnosis download regularly, I'm walking weather permitting, I am cooking fresh food and eating a lot of raw. I have not had a binge on anything baked although I have had these things occasionally. I've eaten ice cream but not too much and every day I feel better and better. So the answer to the big question is still, I don't know. And even more important, I'm not all that concerned about it which is an amazing shift. I am no longer preoccupied with the idea. I've let go of the need I have to lose the weight. I do feel like I'm slimmer. My clothes are starting to fit and I know my silhouette is trimmer. So that's it. No weigh ins for me, no updates, no numbers to report. All I can report is a decrease in my obsession with weight and food and an increase in my zest for life.


Affirmation: I am happier, I am healthier, I am grateful.

Namaste

Last night I had a yoga class. This morning I did sun salutations. It's an amazing practice. During yoga we had a short discussion about holistic medicine vs. western medicine which treats disease and focuses on one aspect without taking into consideration the whole person.

The example was a study of Vitamin D. It said that children born in September tended to have stronger bones because their mothers often had more natural vitamin d having gone through summer and gotten vitamin D from the sun. This makes sense, unless you use sunscreen which then blocks the vitamin D. The holistic approach would be to make sure that everybody has a way of achieving the benefits of the sun no matter what time of year. The western way would be to recommend supplementation of the diet with vitamin D for everybody across the board although some might not necessarily need it. And to use sunscreen to block the sun's rays and then add artificial vitamin D.

I'm all about the holistic approach. I believe all systems of the body work in coordination with the others and that all elements of the person, mind, body and spirit also work with each other and to maintain a balance of these aspects of a person, if we are working to fix something, everything must be considered.

I consider weight loss to be a perfect example of where the focus is on one thing, the body. But a person who is out of balance in one area is also likely out of balance in another. I know that most people who are feeling the emotional results of an unhealthy body need to focus on the emotional aspects at the same time they focus on the physical. Fixing the physical will not fix the emotional because often it's the other way around, the emotional aspect is the cause and the physical issues are a manifestation of spiritual and emotional imbalance.

So the fix is to allign yourself so that you are working on all of the aspects of you at the same time. I'm doing yoga for the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the practice. I'm looking for a sport to participate in because my spirit enjoys physical play. I like to run for meditative reasons as well as physical. Everything is connected.

So to go into a weight loss program where the focus is almost entirely physical, eat less, move more(good advice yet they don't stand alone) is not likely to work. There needs to be a complete holistic approach that shifts the paradigm from working on a specific problem to working on the whole human.

Affirmation: I am a whole person. My body needs strengthening as does my mind and spirit. As I work on all three together I feel all things balancing and trust that the healthy coordination of all of the systems and aspects of me will be the best approach to my imbalanced eating.

For free yoga classes join Yoga Today

Namaste

We have had a lot of rain in the past two days but this morning dawns bright and sunny and warm. As I pulled out of my driveway to drive my daughter to school I couldn't help but be amazed at the miracle that has happened! The grass is a rich green suddenly, in two days, it has transformed from a drab beige carpet with a few green sprinkles to full blown green shag. The leaves on the trees suddenly have burst open and are starting to fill up the gaps between the grey branches to make shelter for the birds that are chirping loudly in the morning outside my bedroom window.

I've made some observations over the years about our relationship to water. I have been to many diet support groups and what seems overwhelmingly common is that something has happened culturally to interfere with our taste for water. We don't "like" it. Yet, like the green grass that needs it to spring forth from dormancy, water is our very life source.

Yesterday on the radio there was a discussion on diet and a very good point was made by the commentators. We apparently get 90% more calories from liquid sources than we did 50 years ago. Back then orange juice was a weekend morning treat and milk was only taken with meals, not as a daily thirst quencher. But then along came sugared flavours for water(Kool aid, Tang etc.), fun yes, but absolutely devastating to the teeth of the children who consumed them and their weight as well. From that there was a progression from the occasional pop as a treat to people consuming soda pop in place of water. When people decided to let go of sugary drinks they switched to "diet" soda. All of this resulted in a preference to have much of our water flavoured and/or bubbly or both. Or we justify juice because it has vitamins but to excess it's just as devastating. It has interfered with our taste for water and interfered with our health.

The radio show also made the point that liquid calories do not satisfy the hunger as solid food does so you become hungrier faster. So it's a double whammy, less pure water, diminished preference for pure, clear water, and more calories.

I have almost completely switched to pure water. I do drink a carbonated plain water occasionally with slices of lime for a treat, coffee in the morning and I also occasionally will have orange juice or milk(once or twice a month). I haven't given up anything but what I'm regaining is a taste for water again.

I think it's imperative to work at regaining the love for the taste of pure clear water. I think we need to attach positivity to it again and rewrite the messages that are symbolic of our preference for the sugary tasting drinks and apply them to our life source, water!

I wonder how many of us would throw cola on our front lawn to make it grow? I think we'd be concerned the acid would burn the grass, yet we throw this kind of thing into our bodies regularly.

Start enjoying water daily. Don't suffer through, make it a habit, a delicious habit. Talk yourself into it, identify yourself as a water lover and make it true!

Affirmation: I love to drink pure, clear, life-giving water. It is necessary and good and I appreciate every drop in my mind as my body appreciates every pure droplet it needs to keep me alive and well.
Namaste

Our bodies have an intricate balance of fluids flowing in our bloodstreams and other systems and one of the key elements to this balance is the hormone interplay. Women, in particular, have a cycle that plays havoc with the ability to have a sense of control. I've know this is the week to watch for yet, somehow, when I found myself wandering around the house, looking for something baked to put into my body I didn't make the connection between what I wanted and the impending start of my menses.

I know what I wanted. I wanted something sweet. Baked. I tried chocolate, didn't do it. I tried popcorn, still not it. I would have had a couple of cookies and called it quits however I had nothing in the house. I finally last night, said out loud to my husband, as I was making my nightly tea, "I really want a cookie" and he said "oh, I have some chocolate chip cookies and some cinnamon buns in the truck". OK, sweetheart,love of my life, soul-mate, man of my dreams, a little advice, I'm pmsing here, please don't hold back the cookies! So he(quickly) brought them in, and I had one cookie and two cinnamon buns(tiny ones, don't panic!) and that was it. Craving satisfied. The remaining cinnamon rolls were left for the children and I could not be bothered this morning.

I know from experience that the sugar cravings will subside after today for another three or four weeks and I also know it's better to have exactly what you want, once you've identified it, than to try to satisfy it with other things. They key is to indulge, not overindulge in the treats. In trying to satisfy my cravings I sampled ice cream, smarties, cheese and crackers, popcorn, cheese and crackers again and then eventually, a cup of tea and the sweets I wanted all along satisfied me.

Sometimes it's better to give yourself permission to eat a little of what you really want. I think that depriving yourself completely of the treats, labelling things bad or good, is detrimental to your overall attitude and that impacts your overall health.

Another thought. We are all born with counter will. Counter will is that thing that children have, you see it in 3 year olds a lot, where they will say and do the opposite of what you tell them. Well it doesn't go anywhere. How many of us like to be told what to do? I don't, I've got a well-honed counter will going on. It's immediate. I will do the most kind, wonderful, generous things for people who ask. Tell me to do something and my first instinct is to do the opposite. There is something to be said for presentation.

The same goes for the messages we send ourselves. "Don't eat cookies" immediately triggers counter will. The thought that follows is "I want cookies and I'll do whatever I want".

Yesterday's challenge wasn't counter will for me necessarily, I just didn't have cookies in the house. But often it is and I thought it worth mentioning. In order to avoid the pitfall of counter will, don't send yourself the shouldn't messages regarding food. Give yourself permission to eat whatever you want whenever you want and then find tools to change what you want and when you want it.

So what a switch! What a paradigm shift! In order to set myself up for success to lose weight, I need to have cookies in the house. I just need to only eat them when necessary. I actually practiced that a lot last week. I baked a batch of cookies and the jar was only emptied two days ago. Today I'm baking more. And the truth is, I did eat one occasionally, but not every day, and only one or two. They didn't call to me as the have in the past.

Affirmation: I am learning new, kinder, gentler, accepting messages that allow me to make decisions about food in a normal natural way, accepting that the nature of my body is fluid and that I will have fluctuations in the desire for different foods on different days and I'm learning to be in tune with them.

Namaste

Now that I seem to have cravings and compulsive eating coming under control it's time to start thinking about what I'm eating. I am not going to weigh, measure or limit myself however I do think I am doing myself a huge injustice if I don't take this opportunity to use some common knowledge to take advantage of this new information that seems to be coming to me.

First of all, I am drinking a lot of water. I am thirsty a lot and I'm going with that. I'm not sure if I'm thirstier than I ever was or if I used to mistake some of my thirst for hunger. Either way, it's water I want now and that's what I'm giving my body.

Diet is everything. What you put into your body is very important. I believe, personally, because it makes sense to me, that optimum nutrition comes from eating food as close to the source state as possible. Food at its source is raw. I think that most of our diet should consist of raw foods. Nuts, vegetables, fruit, anything that has not been processed in any way should make up the bulk of our diet. It is my goal to eat raw food with every meal and snack. Salad at lunch and dinner and fruit with snacks is an easy and culturally normal way to go. Alternatives include green smoothies and cold, uncooked soups. There are lots of raw foods that find its place in a diet that is mostly raw.

The most basic processed foods are those that are cooked. I will eat cooked foods. I have in the past tried to eat raw but the feelings of deprivation were too much and it's not natural to me. When I cook it will be local green vegetables, soups, casseroles and such.

Other processed foods, pasta, cereals, baked goods will drop to the bottom of the list, even those without added preservative to avoid excess refined flour and sugar. Occasional indulgences are fine but I don't need this every day. But occasionally I want some sweets and I'll have some. I will have ice cream on a hot day if I wish. I won't deprive myself again of things I love.

Junk food has to be very rare. I've never been a big junk food junky. I am very proud that the one junk food treat I over indulged in for years, diet pop, has been permanently removed from my diet for the past 6 months. That is proof right there you can do anything you want if you want it bad enough and then do it.

So it's time to clean it all up now. I think I have a good basic set of tools and with some expert shopping, some prioritizing, I will see great changes in the immediate future.

Affirmation: One day at a time, one moment at a time I am seeing success in my attitude towards food. I require, I deserve the best for my body and I am gaining the tools required to provide this to myself.


Namaste

I have promised someone this recipe a couple of times now so I thought if I shared it here I could redirect her to the post so my promise is fulfulled and my blog is updated at the same time.

This recipe is courtesy of the PCRM: Physicians Committee for Responsible medicine

Serving Size: 12

1 large eggplant(or 12 1/4 inch slices)
1 medium onion, chopped
10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach--thawed/squeeze dry
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder(I substitute fresh garlic, 1 clove)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2tbsp whole wheat flour(I use 1tbsp ww flour and 1tbsp nutritional yeast here for a cheesy flavour)
2 cups marinara sauce

Slice eggplant lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices..one per serving

Spray a frying pan with cooking spray and brown eggplant on each side until tender and lightly browned. It needs to be tender like a pasta consistancy. I find putting a lid on the pan helps in cook through better. Set eggplant aside.

Heat 1/4 cup of water in the frying pan and cook onion over medium high heat until all the liquid has evaporated. Add 2 tbsp of water and let it evaporate again. Add spinach and all the seasonings. Stir in the flour and cook 3 minutes longer. Set aside to cool

Preheat oven to 350F. Place a spoonful of the spinach mixture across the center of each slice of eggplant; Then, beginning with the narrow end roll the eggplant aournd the filling. Arrange in a baking dish seam side down. Top with the marinara sauce. Cover and bake 20 minutes.

Per Manicotti with marinara:42 calories(YES you read that right!) 1g protein;9g car;0g fat;40mg sodium.


I like this with a nice big garden salad and Italian dressing with a little red wine.

You could also cheese it up with some parmagiano or other cheese. I don't normally though.

The problem with baking cookies is the cookie dough. I just made some with the express intent of not eating too much. And I didn't. But boy was it hard. It takes a really concerted effort for me to not eat it by the spoonful. I had no problem sitting down and eating two cookies with my tea after dinner and putting one back when I realised I was full(that's rare for me too) but not eating the cookie dough was hard. I think it would have gotten the better of me if I hadn't promised myself I was going to write about my day here. That accountability is invaluable at times.

So what is it that makes us unable to turn off that switch? You know the one, the switch from "just a taste" to "complete and utter pigginess". My switch gets stuck and I will eat more and more even though I know it isn't necessary, there will be future cookie dough to snack on and there really isn't any need to eat it all right now before they go in the oven.

Icecream is another one of these foods for me that have a broken switch. I have a great deal of trouble eating just a serving. I love the taste of it but after a while it's not about the taste anymore, it's about it satisfying something else other than hunger.

I'm on a mission to find out what is wrong with the wiring on that switch. Why it doesn't just go off, why moderation on certain tempting foods is almost impossible for me. There isn't anything wrong with cookie dough. It's fine to sample it. It's crazy to eat a lot of it.

I hope to fix this switch but I think I have to start by investigating what makes the switch stick. I will be exploring this further in days to come. I welcome your thoughts on this.

Today I'm thinking about moderation. Moderation is key, I believe to success in maintain a healthy body weight and a healthy lifestyle. I think it's important to discuss the idea of moderation because the opposite of moderation, excessiveness is what leads to much of the weight gain we experience. I believe we should practice moderation in many aspects of our life but for our purpose today we'll focus on food.

How many of us ever have one serving of potato chips? One serving of potato chips is not a lot of calories. It's not a lot of chips either. It's enough chips though. I don't think there is anything wrong with potato chips if eaten in moderation. What happens though is we eat the whole bag, many many servings. We leave it around, we two or three, we go back to them. We can't stop, they sing to us, they beg us and we succumb to the temptation. Either buy a small bag, eat them and move on or buy a big bag, take out a serving, enjoy every last crumb and move on. Practice doing this and eventually this is how you will live.

I went to a party last night. My goal at the party was to practice moderation. I knew there would be food. My cousin, whose birthday it was, is a chef. I set my goal to eat whatever was appetising, to try small portions of what I wanted and to move on. I did quite well until they sat something in front of me that made my heart skip a beat. I knew it was a test. It had sugar, my weakness. It also had some good things, apples and cream cheese so I could convince myself easily it wasn't a terrible thing to eat.

It was a long ceramic dish, The bottom of the dish was spread with cream cheese. This was topped with caramel sauce, the kind you put on Sundaes and then sprinkled with skor bar bits. Beside it was a bowl of quartered apples. It was absolutely delicious as most simple things are. I though, now I really am getting tested. I tried not to over-think it but I really liked that dessert. I had 6 or 7 pieces dipped in the cream cheese and stopped. I thought that was a nice moderate amount. It was. I didn't feel deprived, I didn't feel stuffed and I knew for all the sugar in that confection there was some good as well, apples and cream cheese. It feels good today to know I enjoyed a delicious dessert just enough.

So I consider that a success in moderation. Little bits of the things I love and then stopping.

There will always be another cake. Why do we feel compelled to eat the whole cake then if another is coming down the pike. Why do we feel pulled to over-eat something when there is an abundance in this counry?

I think we were raised by a generation of parents who directly or indirectly were affected by the famine of the Great Depression and somehow the idea that every meal might be our last one has seeped into the collective psyche of our society.

My mother-in-law once told my daughter to eat everything on her plate and I corrected her immediately "no, she doesn't have to" and confused by this idea she asked "she doesn't?" and I said "No, we have an epidemic of obesity in our society, we are nowhere near a shortage of food, they don't have to eat everything on their plate, just eat until they are satisfied". She agreed and moved on but I could see she hadn't really ever considered that. I consider that.

We've gotten these messages through society and it has led us to eat to excess because somewhere deep inside we've adopted the idea that we have to get what we can right now. It's an incorrect and dangerous thought process that we need to alter.

We need to practice moderation, not deprivation. We have to practice and with practice we'll get better at it.

So make that today's goal, that you will eat smaller amounts, single servings of the things you like, and move along. Exercise, get out and walk, do as much as you want, don't be excessive in that either, just move and be active.

Practice moderation regularly and things will slip into place after a while and the habit of excessive eating will become a distant memory.

The very first step in a healthy diet is identifying what are healthy foods. Someone told me the other day that how she identifies them to her kids are by referring to them first as living or dead. Living foods are fruits, vegetables, beans, etc. Anything that is right now alive or able to be alive. She says that most of our diet should be living foods. She and her family eat salad twice a day with lunch and dinner.

Then there the dead foods. Which doesn't mean they are bad,just not alive. Everything else, that is not alive is in this category. Meat, eggs, milk fall into this category.

I think that there is a third category. This one I call processed foods. These are foods that you buy that are already prepared. These are not terrible foods and there are some processed foods that I happily eat(pasta is an example)and there are some that should be only eaten in limited quantities, highly processed to the point of being unrecognisable to its original form. I think Pringles, there's so little potato in those chips there is a debate as to whether they should be labelled potato chips at all.

And of course there is the 4th category. Foods we consume which are not food at all, serve little to no nutritional value and provide nothing but calories. Commonly called "junk" food, I prefer "fun" food. Soda pop, and candy fall into this category.

Of course the problem with weightloss is not that we don't know what to eat. It's that we choose not to eat it. However we want to categorise the food, the food is not the problem. The problem is the inability we have to stay away from it.

I'm a night time eater. So I think that's where I have to focus my energy. I am a night owl, I have tons of energy and ambition to work at night however with two little girls in bed I don't get to expend it there and that leads to the boredom that leads to the overeating.

I know this about myself and now the next goal is to work on ways to avoid the trap I fall into every evening.

This is a beginning. Just a beginning so bear with me as I figure out ways that work for me. I welcome you to share what works for you as well.

So winter has done it to me. I've hybernated like the bear but unlike the bear I've added weight instead of living off the weight and it is March and I feel like a slug. I've decided to blog about my journey back to the healthy me I was last November when I was still running and walking daily, watching my food intake and just generally happier.

Winter does it to me every year. I believe I suffer from a mild form of Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD) which causes a certain amount of depression and frustrations. It also causes a lot of boredom which leads to nothing else to do but bake and eat. I was so determined going into this winter that I would not fall into the trap again, I would buy the gear and get out there in the snow. But I didn't because the truth is I hate being cold and wet, I hate the work that goes into getting two kids and myself dressed to go outside. So, I'd dress them in their snowsuits, open the door to the back yard and they played happily by themselves while I made cookies.

But spring is here. And I've gained 15 lbs that must come off but even more important I can feel the impact the extra pounds have on my health, my hip hurts more, I get out of breath more quickly, I can only run short intervals and I was up to 5k last fall. Time to get out there, time to make the time and get my health back.

Only this time, I'm taking you along for the ride.