Thanksgiving Time to Celebrate with Friends,Fun and Food

I am redoing an earlier blog in honor of Thanksgiving Day and the upcoming December Holidays. There is no need to make your holidays a time to gain weight unless you really need to. Put food last on your list.The First Thanksgiving was a celebration of survival. We are going through challenging times, so let us celebrate our survival. Make friends and fun your cornerstone this holiday season.What can you do to make sure you stick to your eating plan? We can overeat and try to compensate for it the next week, We can plan ahead and allow for some of those extra calories. Or we can loudly proclaim, "I am on a diet" and make everyone, including ourselves, miserable. Or not!

The USDA website has a podcast with a few suggestions on what you can do at a party.
1.  Fill up on fruits and vegetables
2.  Put no more than 2 items on a plate at a time.
3.  Get your food and move away from the table.
Their research has show that when you follow these tips you are more likely to eat less, and to eat healthier.
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/multimedia/archived-podcastindex.html, See podcast "Holiday Parties--- Made Healthy."

By putting two items at a time on a plate, you can take your food away from the table, enjoy it and if you want go back for more, it's okay. My suggestion is that you wait a few minutes before going back to give time for the food to settle.

Another idea if you are going to be the guest, prior to the event, talk to the host/hostess and find out what they are planning on serving. Then, you can offer to bring something that you know that you can eat and enjoy.

If that is not possible, do not go to the party hungry. Eat a health snack before you go. Remember the purpose of the party is not about eating, but about having a good time with friends and family, celebrating the occasion.

Watch what you drink. If you drink alcoholic beverages yourself to one or two and then drink water. Colas are another area to watch carefully, Limit the number you drink, even if they are diet drinks. They are not healthy. If you are drinking fruit juices, remember they have calories as well. Don't go overboard. When in doubt, drink water with a squeeze of lemon or lime. Nobody will know the difference.

One of the things I sometimes do is to reduce my calories earlier in the day so that I can enjoy myself at the party. It is really about planning, and being careful about what we eat. It is better to go and eat less and have a good time, than to overeat and live with the consequences.

Don't let the eating get in the way of enjoying your friends and having a good time at the party. You can do it. Remember we are really trying to develop a new lifestyle, not let the old one regain control.

Have a safe and happy holiday. Eat right, and celebrate your freedom from overweight.

Thank you for reading this. I invite any comments or questions you may have.

Learning to Make Better Choices

I can make better choices. I can learn how to make healthier choices. Every day we make decisions. Some of them are better than others. One of the keys to turning your life around is to learn to make better choices. When we consciously choose to make better decisions, we change our habit patterns. It generally takes 30 days to change a habit. No wonder it is so hard to make changes. But we can do it.

For most of my life, I have chosen to drink diet cola, eat chips and dip, and many other things that brought me to my overweight state of being. I would choose the large size at fast food places and restaurants. I was a meat and potato person, and seldom would choose fruits and vegetables. You get the picture. I do not like where those choices got me. I have to learn to make better decisions and I am.

These are some of the things I have learned.

1.  Take things one meal at a time. Watch my choices at every meal. 

2.  Develop practices that will help me make those better choices. For example, when I go to the market and buy meat, I cut the meat into portion sizes. I have a scale and weight each portion and write the amount on the freezer bag I put it in. Each freezer bag has one portion of meat. I have never been one to plan a week's menu at a time, but this also helps me in varying my diet. I do not over fix as I have in the past.

3.  Buy vegetables and fruit in smaller quantities.  Large quantities often go to waste, so while I may pay more in the long run, I am throwing less away. It takes planning and deciding what will work best for you. Today, in urban areas, grocery stores are all around us. It is a matter of finding one that you like and where you can get what you need.

4. Stock up on fruits and vegetable in that I will eat. I am not big on salads. I find most of them boring with so much lettuce. But recently, I have been purchasing cabbage and using that as a basis for my salad. I also use apples combined with chicken for a salad. I get the apples that are presliced, that way I do not have to use the whole apple if all I want is to add a half apple to my salad. I found that if I buy too much, it just goes to waste, so I try only to get what I can eat in three or four days. While it does mean that I am going to the market more often, I find that I have less food to throw away at the end of the week. It is about making choices that works for your life style.


This week, look at your choices. Did you make good choices? or do some of them need improving? Remember the way of the tortoise is slow and steady. We succeed one step at a time, one meal at a time, one day at a time.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Getting Started Again

I am a tax professional and I really love my job. Since last July, I've lost 30 pounds.
Every year from January to April 15, my life is devoted to taxes.  During that time my eating habits go down hill. This year I only gained back six pounds. Not bad after gaining 20 pounds the previous year. So now I'm getting started on my weight loss journey... again. I can do this. It may take longer, it may be slower, but I can do it. Like the moral of the Hare and the Tortoise, "Slow and Steady Wins The Race."

I also learned some things about how to stay on the path.

1. Exercise is important. Before I started my journey, I was a couch potato. I did not get enough exercise. Now I work with a wonderful trainer, Amanda Espinoza twice a week. What a difference it has made in my life.
2. Portion control is essential. I find that I must measure my food. It is really easy to get carried away if I don't.
3. The body, mind and spirit are connected.  I also have excess baggage (mentally and physically) that I need to let go of and I do not intend to find it again.
4. Quality vs Quantity. I'm trying to eat more fruits and vegetables to my diet.

My journey is one of exercise, portion control, and cleaning up the mess. I find that I tent to start things slowly, but gain momentum as I go along. I watch the Biggest Loser Show and while  I want to lose pounds as quickly as many of the contestants do, I am not on the show and I have a life. I am going to dance to my own tune. I will be my own pace setter. I will celebrate my accomplishments and be kind to myself should I falter.

I hope you will join me on your own journey to turn your life around after 60. If you are under 60 more power to you. The sooner you get started the sooner you will finish. Let's Go!