Honestly, what a bunch of junk.

My husband and I were talking about this yesterday. Was the food at grocery stores always so junky? I haven’t added it up, but it seems to me that a good portion of the food sold in grocery stores isn’t necessary or good for us.

Case in point:

• Cookies
• Cake mixes
• Brownie mixes
• Most chips
• Full-fat ice creams
• Canned food full of sodium
• Boxed meals
• Sodas
• Juices
• Fruit chews for kids
• Pop-Tarts and other “breakfast treats”

I understand the need for convenience, after all, we are all busy. But I get frustrated when I walk up and down the aisles and reallylook at what’s on the shelf. I, like most of you, always heard the recommendation to shop the “outside aisles” of the grocery store and avoid the endcaps. I never used to shop on the perimeter of the store because I loved all the “convenience” aka junky foods. I bought Oreo cereal for goodness sakes!

I don’t know why it struck me so intently this trip. I stopped after I took this picture and looked in my basket. My basket was full of enough food to feed the nine of us for a week without putting any junk into it. (I’m NOT perfect – we do eat junk on occasion, but even the little bit of junk we eat is unnecessary.)

When I think about how simple it is to make a salad, grill a piece of chicken and serve some no-sodium green beans for dinner, I wonder how we as a society got so far away from simple, healthy foods. Was it when it huge factories and automation made it easy to mass produce food or was it due to our increasingly busy lifestyles? In any case, it doesn’t take a lot more time to make an easy meal than it does to bake a tv dinner in the oven or prepare a Hamburger Helper type meal.

Am I the only one who notices this? What do you think about when you think about how much food in the grocery store is full of sodium, fat, sugar and void of nutrition?  Diane

By the way – thanks for all your encouragement on my change in posting schedule. It gave me a chance to get around to your blogs yesterday!

Here’s my motivation for today’s post:

Since starting back to school I find it easy to write posts but difficult to get around to visit your blogs – which I love doing. So I’m going to try posting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a few weeks. I think this will give me more time to check in on you and still teach the kids, cook for the family, exercise, run errands and do other things I need to get done.

A few months ago I wrote a post on balancing your life between family, work, blogging and social activities. I think it’s hard to balance everything perfectly – if not impossible.

I hope you will stick with me moving down to three days a week! I would also like to post a healthy recipe or cooking tip on the weekends, if you are interested in that type of post too.

How do you handle your blogging schedule and have you ever cut back or increased? What was the result?  Diane

After my daughter was born, I weighed about 260 pounds and there was no way that size 12 dress was going to fit. I admit to trying it on and getting a bit sad that I couldn’t even get my shoulders and arms into the dress. I pushed the dress to the side of my closet – keeping the maternity clothes front and center. That dress stayed in my closet for years. I moved the dress from one house to the next, just “knowing” that I was going to be able to wear it again.

I looked longingly at the dress for several years. My weight ballooned up to 300 pounds and the dress (and others like it) got pushed farther to the edges of my closet and my mind. Sometimes I’d pull all those clothes I was hanging onto out of my closet and look at them. I just couldn’t imagine I’d ever be able to fit in them again. They seemed impossibly small when I held them up to my big self in front of the mirror. Truthfully, I held up that dress and my hips, shoulders and thighs were all clearly visible on both sides of the dress. But still – I kept it.

After I lost 158 pounds that dress was too big for me. That was a happy day, but within that happiness was a sadness when I realized that I had held onto all those dresses, pants and shirts so long that the styles had come and gone. I had missed entire eras of fashion – some good and some bad.

I read a quote today from Peter Walsh, author of “Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?” He said:

You should have only three types of clothes in your closet — clothes that fit you, clothes you love, and clothes that always bring you compliments.

I wish I had heard that when I was struggling with obesity. I kept clothes that didn’t fit, clothes I didn’t love, and clothes that no one ever complimented. And keeping those clothes made me feel bad, unorganized and cluttered.

Here’s my philosophy now on keeping clothes that don’t fit you. If you are on your way down the scale, save one or two big clothes to remember how far you have come. Donate, throw away or give away clothes that don’t fit you and are no longer flattering. Keeping old clothes often times either gives you something to fall back on or something to “beat yourself up” over.

Do you have old, out of date clothes hanging in your closet? What are you going to do with them?  Diane

I loved processed foods. The more processed the better. Macaroni and cheese from a box? I loved that stuff. I’d boil the noodles in a pot and then drain them when they were done cooking. I’d rip open the package of “cheese” and sprinkle it on the noodles, stirring in 1/2 stick of butter at the same time. My mouth would water even before I used the stirring spoon to eat the first bite. I didn’t give my kids the boxed macaroni–that was a special treat for me while they slept.

I also loved frozen dinners. I’d stand in the grocery store aisle looking for the frozen dinner that promised the most food. Two big pieces of fried chicken, starchy mashed potatoes, fried apples and a chewy brownie won my heart time after time.

I had a good relationship with boxed cookies, chips and chocolate cereals like Cocoa Puffs.

Honestly, the only thing I really liked from scratch were desserts. I’d eat the boxed ones, but I usually made my own sweet treats.

What a difference every year that has gone by since I reached my goal weight makes. Instead of eating more and more processed foods, I eat less and less. I confess to being somewhat of a food snob and enjoy the real thing instead of a boxed imitation.

I never would have thought it possible. Do I still eat processed foods? YES. But I try and make better choices. Healthier cereals replaced cocoa puffs, Greek yogurt replaced white chocolate mousse yogurt flavors and real homemade dinner replaced frozen meals. One thing that helps me in maintenance is I never feel like I have my eating and exercise down perfectly. I often think about how to improve the choices I make to stay healthy and strong.

I was wondering what has changed for you with regards to processed foods? Diane

Getting started on my weight loss plan involved some preparation. I had to rid the house of trigger foods, plan my exercise program and practice eating the proper portions. I also hunted through old photo albums, and as a visual incentive of my goal,  taped an old picture of my thinner self on the refrigerator. One day, while at my house, she commented, “You don’t really think you can be that thin again do you?” I looked at her and said, “Well, I’m sure going to try.” She made a face, and went on with her previous conversation. I thought about her comment the whole rest of the day. I wondered why she would say that, and what her motives were. I eventually decided that she didn’t mean anything by it, and went on with the process of losing weight. At 50 pounds there wasn’t a big difference, but by 100 pounds the difference in my appearance was startling and surprising to those who saw me. Everywhere I went people would embarrass me with their effusive comments, and often times, my friend was with me.

As I got thinner and more fit, my friend’s comments to me became more pointed and mean spirited. I felt such confusion. We had been friends for so long – why was she acting like this? When I finally started changing my lifestyle that last time I deliberately choose to only tell her and my husband. I didn’t want to tout to the world the fact that I was once again trying to get healthy. I choose to share my struggles with her and she wasn’t being supportive. It just didn’t seem fair. In the past, I may have let her disapproval of me throw me off track, and I probably would have turned to food when hurtful comments were said. This time, I was strong enough within myself to realize the problem was hers, not mine. I didn’t let her own personal issues cloud my goals and objectives, and in some ways her attitude made me a stronger person.

When I finally lost the 150 pounds she was the one person who never said, “Good job.” It was hurtful and painful, and even though we struggled on with our friendship for several more years, we eventually drifted apart. That experience taught me a lesson. Don’t assume that your friends will be happy for you as you change your lifestyle and get healthy. Looking back, I assume she was jealous, although she was a normal size herself. Perhaps she liked the “fat Diane” better than the “thin Diane.” I share this story to make you aware of the fact that people in your life who you are close to may not be comfortable with a new and different you. I was the same person I had always been inside, but with some added self confidence. As you journey through your weight loss experience don’t be upset if you hear comments that aren’t supportive and encouraging. Try to do as I did – take the comments with a “grain of salt” and keep moving forward towards your set goal. Don’t turn to food for comfort if your friend doesn’t support you – look within yourself to find the strength to continue on.

Have you ever been surprised by other people’s reactions to the new you?   Diane

On any given night of the week, you could find me ensconced on my couch, watching some random television show with a bag of something in my lap. It may have been chips, it may have been cookies or I may have been eating ice cream directly from the container. Dip the spoon in, eat, dip the spoon in again until the entire half gallon was empty.

I felt safe and secret. If John were home, he often ate with me – but I definitely ate more than he did. I figured John knew what I looked like so it didn’t matter if I ate six cookies in a row. If he wasn’t home, I ate even more though. When we had friends over for dinner and they stayed late to play board games, I thought about food the whole time they were at our house. I almost couldn’t wait until they left so I could eat some of those brownies I had been saving all day long.

The minute they walked out the door I headed to the pantry to rip open the tupperware container and eat a brownie or two. I was on auto-pilot.

When I began losing weight, I knew that my favorite time to eat needed to change. I know a calorie is a calorie, but I also knew that eating 1,500 calories after dinner wasn’t going to help me lose 158 pounds. So I did the hard thing and stopped eating after dinner.

And guess what? After dinner wasn’t my favorite time of day anymore. At first, it seemed boring to simply sit and watch television, talk with John or read a book without some food in my hand. Over time though – I began to get used to not eating after dinner and just simply enjoy the time when the house was quiet and the kids were sleeping.

Now I still don’t eat after dinner. For me, it’s that I’m not hungry between dinner and bedtime. I have known lots of people who eat a healthy snack after dinner and I think that’s a good thing. It just wasn’t a good thing for me to eat one unhealthy snack after another after dinner.

Now my favorite time of day to eat is in the late morning. I eat oatmeal or whole wheat toast, drink some hot tea and enjoy talking with the kids. How things change!

What’s your favorite time of day to eat? Has it changed?  Diane

I don’t ever think about the fact that I’m unusual in keeping my weight off this long, but sometimes people make me feel as though I do something “magic” that they cannot do. I wanted to share today some truths about my life in maintenance to encourage you in the fact that you can maintain your weight once you reach your goal.

There is no magic formula to maintaining my weight. I balance calories and exercise just like I did when I was in the weight loss phase. I do not count calories officially, but I do pay attention to the calorie content of foods I eat. If I know I’m going to eat a brownie for dessert, I eat a very light lunch and skip the bread at dinner. If I eat more than I normally do due to hormonal or stressful days, then I cut back on my food intake for the next day or two.

I weigh everyday. I know this isn’t for everyone, but it works for me. In maintenance, weighing everyday helps me see that I’m within that 3-5 pound range I allow myself to float in. If I hit the top number, I take action immediately and cut out the extra food I’ve been eating. The scale jogs back down and I just continue on with life

I am satisfied with my weight. This is a big one for me. Could I be thinner? Yes, I could probably lose another 10 pounds. But for me, this weight where I have stayed all these years is fairly easy to maintain, whereas if I lost another 10 pounds, I think it would be a struggle to easily maintain. Again, this is a personal choice.

I rarely eat junky foods. You notice I said rarely! I do eat dessert and chips on occasion, but it’s not an everyday thing. Most of the time I make pretty good choices.

I continue to exercise six days a week. Exercise is like the “get out of weight problem jail” card for me. The calories I burn give me the flexibility to eat a little more without worrying about my weight. I also love feeling strong and fit.

I developed my personal mantra of “Never Go Back.” I never want to struggle to walk through the mall because of my weight, get stuck in chairs or avoid social situations solely because of my weight.

I wanted to encourage you that there is no magic in maintenance. The same things you are doing right now to get to a healthy weight are exactly the same things you can do to maintain your weight for years. That’s why picking a weight-loss plan that is sustainable and practical is so important. Can you do it for the rest of your life?

What are your thoughts on maintaining your weight? Diane

I’m taking today and the weekend off to remember a family loss.

Blessings to you all,

Diane

I was wondering how you answer the question: Who Are You?

What defines you and makes you unique?

Let’s make it fun and define ourselves in just a few words.

I’ll start:

I am a:

Wife

Mom

Independent

Thinker

Christian

That took me a few minutes to decide on just a few words to describe myself. Some of those adjectives and titles helped me on my weight loss journey. I wanted to be around for my husband and my children and they were primary motivators for me. I am independent, so I did my own thing to lose weight. I like to think about things, and I certainly thought a lot about weight loss. And my faith helped me get through really tough times.

Want to join in? Who are you?  Diane

Complacency can occur in all areas of our lives. I’ve gotten complacent at housework, jobs I have had and weight loss. Complacency at weight loss caused me quite a few problems. The very first time complacency got me was way back in high school. I lost 20 pounds over the summer before my junior year and after I lost the weight I thought I had conquered my love of Oreos and fast food. But NO! I had not and promptly gained the 20 pounds back.

When I got married, I experienced a feeling of complacency. I was married, I was happy and didn’t realize the effect overeating was causing on my health and eventually my weight. I was complacent until I started to outgrow my pants and had to keep buying bigger and bigger sizes. I lost a bit of weight, got complacent again and gained it back. The same cycle happened during my morbidly obese years as well.

One thing that helped me avoid continued complacency during my final, successful weight loss was always thinking ahead to what was next for me.

I learned the importance of setting realistic goals and kept pushing myself forward. I set easy goals like walking one more minute, watching my caffeine consumption or fitting into the next size down pants. I also learned to fight the fear that I feel triggered some of the complacency. I believe I experienced some fear when my weight hit certain milestones. When I got below 250, I felt nervous. 200 pounds found me just as nervous but very excited. After both those milestones I had to remind myself to set some new weight and non-weight related goals.

I’d encourage you to think about the role complancey may play along your journey. Not just your current journey, but journey’s you have experienced in the past. Don’t let complacency or fear stop you from reaching your goals. 

Have you ever thought about complacency and planning what’s next to help you stay focused?  Diane