Last night I had an incredible meal with a few of my friends. We had slow-roasted salmon with cherry tomatoes, topped with an incredible yogurt based sauce, and served with roasted organic asparagus, carrots, and turnips. One friend couldn't make it last night, so I was able to indulge in this fabulous meal once more at lunch today. Of course, I must share the recipe....

Slow-Roasted Salmon with Cherry Tomatoes 

Yogurt sauce:
DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. 

1 1/2 cup plain yogurt (Siggis)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
Kosher salt

1. Mix first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined. 
2. Season with salt. 

Salmon:
Preheat oven to 400°F

6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 bunch dill fronds
1/2 bunch thyme sprigs
1 3-pound piece center-cut skin-on salmon fillet, preferably wild king
Kosher salt
8 ounces small cherry tomatoes

1. Pour 4 tablespoons oil in a roasting pan just large enough to fit the salmon. 
2. Place salmon, skin side down, in bottom of pan.
3. Drizzle salmon with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt. 
4. Place a bed of herbs and the tomatoes on top of the salmon. 
5. Bake until salmon is just cooked through in the center (a small knife will slide easily through flesh), 25-30 minutes.

Use a large spoon or fork to serve salmon, leaving skin in pan. Top with a spoonful of yogurt sauce.

June 07, 2012

Where to start. So many thoughts are going through my head! How about this.....I have a new life.

Size 2X/20 in June 2011             Size 8 in June 2012

And I have Julie Ann Kibe to thank--and one other person, who I will get to in a minute. Well, there are others, and I could go on and on, but I am trying to condense this!

Today is the one year anniversary of my journey on the path that introduced me to Julie. If anyone had told me that in one year I would be where I am, I would have seriously doubted it.

In one year, so much has changed, and I think it has been all positive. One year ago, I was totally out of control, drinking too much, eating too much, never exercising, etc. etc. My doctor was concerned about my blood pressure, my sugar levels, my lack of exercise, blah blah blah. Nothing was positive. I just was going through the motions. Eat whatever, whenever, who cares. I mean, what else is there?

That's what I thought. I agreed with someone who said "it is easier to continue on than it is to change things. Change is hard. It means you have to work."

My dear friend Susan was in a rut as well, overweight, trying this diet and that diet, struggling. When she heard about Julie, she made the phone call. Got in to see her, and she changed before my eyes. So, I got her number, called her, waited for the phone call, and jumped at the chance when Julies lovely receptionist called me.

After waiting (and seeing Susan do so well), I went. (I know some of you have stated that there are too many pictures on this blog, but, please humor me as a few friends have really wanted me to put a before and after picture on this blog. I truly only do this as inspiration for those of you who need it.)

The picture I am posting below is the picture Susan took of me after she so kindly showed me how to get to Julies office after work one day, and then we went out to eat. It was 2 weeks before my first visit with Julie. Months later, she showed it to me, and I was aghast.....

Jennifer in size 2X/20

Yuck. I never want to look like that again! 2x, size 20, whatever you want to label it as.....

Don't think that doing any kind of weight loss is easy. It isn't. But, I can honestly say that Julie's hypnosis made the food stop talking to me. And the alcohol. I decided that drinking was not going to work because it can make you want to eat. That picture was my last drink. I thought that would be hard, but it wasn't.

Change number one! I had energy! I wanted to move! I soon wasn't bloated and tired all the time. Change number two!

Six months later. Christmas time. Goodies all the time at work. Susan and I just let everyone else eat them. We knew what it tasted like! Didn't need to try any of it again. Change number three!!!!! Wow! Change can be good! And worth it! Change is work, but change is possible!

By now, I was close to where I wanted to be, a size 8, and I don't have any newer pictures other than the ones taken at the Christmas party. Believe me, we ate, because our Office Manager, Katrina, looked out for us. Ordered food for everyone at the event, but listened to our needs, and we had a great time! Katrina is also the one who photographed us.....

Susan and Jennifer at annual Christmas Party in December

Katrina also took this photo of my number one supporter, my rock, my love......

My number one supporter: my husband

So, there you go. Inspiration (I hope) to those who need it.

I have never once looked back. I only hope that this path I am on continues, no, scratch that....I am going to continue and use the tools I have incorporated into my life to help me during times that are negative. Believe me, I have had them.

I have learned to not use a negative event to say "I feel bad, so I am going to eat this". I say, "I have worked too hard to get to where I am, that this piece of food is SO NOT WORTH IT!! (That is the greatest change of all...) I am choosing not to use food as a crutch, to use it only for fuel.

I saw Julie again in January 2012 and I asked her to help me go down one more size. Soon after, I made size 6 (in February), and have started introducing potato into my diet. Not a lot! Just a little.

I do enjoy what I eat, and I am happy to follow Julies "enjoy the river, jump over to the carb side every now and again, then right back in the river" recommendation.

And I exercise! Me! The one who was as sedentary as they come! I use my marked ribbon to make sure that if I go up a bit, then, back into the river I go. Someday, when I am ready, I will try some popcorn or fruit. Or a piece of chocolate. But, I honestly don't want it. Not yet.

For once in my life, I am in control. And I am happy. The past year means a lot to me.

Thank you to Julie, and Susie, and hubby Richard, and everyone else who has allowed me this freedom. And many thanks to Miss Theresa, who started this blog.

My tears tonight are happy tears.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

June 02, 2012

My cousin Sandy finally got in to see Julie and had her second session this week. She is doing good and I am so proud of her!!!

When we talked she told me of one of the visuals Julie told them to use. I have very faint recollection of visuals from her. So I decided to write about it and see what visuals she may have told your classes about and what ones you use.

Julie told them to make a fist. Your fist is the size of your stomach! Figures, the one part of me that has always been small is my hands. LOL!

Anyway, make a fist and then compare that fist to the food you are about to eat. If you are eating with people compare your fist with the amount of food they are eating.

Let me tell you, that visual is quite the reality check for me!!! WOW!!!! I used it last night at a restaurant and today for my first meal. I will say, at first when I was done with my meals, I thought, good grief I am still going to be hungry. But I waited, got away from the table, drank some more water and guess what - it was plenty of food.

So I am really hoping between much less fatty foods, and my fist visual, maybe a new size on the horizon!!! Only time, PATIENCE, and consistency and we will see!!

What visuals do any of you remember?

Do any of you use any visuals?

June 02, 2012

There's a great threaded conversation going on in response to my recent "Off-Program" post, which you may want to read through if you missed all the great replies. I'm posting a great piece of advice from twinglesmomma not to eat too much fatty meat as they slow down weight loss.

In response to a comment about not being able to lose weight, twinglesmomma wrote:

Stop the bacon, the ham, chicken wings, sausage. The bacon, ham, and sausage are fatty meats. Eat those sparingly! I'm talking once or twice a week. Granted, I may or may not sometimes as well. But when I read that, that's the first thing that came to mind. You seem to be eating fatty proteins. When I'm in a pinch, I will eat hotdogs, but that's not an everyday occurrence. Have more lean protein-chicken, turkey, etc. Have beef-steak, burgers, to maybe once or twice a week. And, if you are having bacon, etc, make sure that's your only fat for the day.

This resonated with me, as I too have been eating too much fatty meats. I was not much of a meat eater before this program, so I ate the meats I did like, which included pepperoni, bacon, and ham. Julie told me to be careful of eating too much fat when I talked about pepperoni, it is allowed, but shouldn't be a meal we eat on a regular basis. Many times I've had pepperoni, cheese, and coleslaw for dinner several nights in a row. This is way too often, way too much fat, and more cheese than I should have in one meal. Cheese is to be used as a condiment. I had bacon for breakfast every morning this week and ham has been a regular lunch item for several months now. I have forgotten these fatty meats can slow down weight loss, but now that I have been reminded, my goal is eat less of them.

Time to add fish back into my weekly meal plan. Oh, what weekly meal plan? I haven't been planning much and in fact I've had lunch out every day this week, which is allowed, but I'm leaning on too many foods that are not only fatty, but have mayonnaise. Time get a menu plan and shopping list back into my weekly routine.

I keep going back to thoughts about why I haven't lost as much weight as others who are blogging here, they started months after me and are several sizes smaller. Too much fat in my diet is most likely the reason. I don't beat myself up about losing weight slower than others, as this has been a healthy process for me and I won't negate the great success I've had just because weight is not as dropping as fast as I want. I often look inward to see if there is something I am missing and whenever I ask myself this question, I usually find that yes, there is something else you can change in your diet to encourage more weight loss. This week, it's fatty meats. Thanks twinglesmomma for helping me see what I was missing.

What kind of meat do the rest of you have for dinner? What's on your lunch menu that you really enjoy? Do you have recipes you want to share?

June 01, 2012

On May 28, 2012 Anonymous posted this question about how to get back on program:Help! I went off program this weekend! Do I need to go back in or can I try to fix it on my own?

Are you on or off program, because there isn't a third option here.

Jennifer responded to this post:

Hi Anonymous-The question that you posed is a tough one. From what Julie told us in refresher classes was if you go off program, you really need to go back and see her. Especially if you ate sugar. You need to also figure out why you did it, and if you did it willingly. If you ate flour and sugar, then I would get a refresher asap. She wants you to use the tricks she has taught us (I don't wanna want it, self-hypnosis etc.) so that you don't willingly go off her program. Good luck!!!!

What I remember most about this is that you want to do three days of meat, meat, meat, to get the sugars out of your system and break the desire for sugar. Jennifer is correct about telling yourself "I don't want to want it" to help you break the cycle of eating sugar. This is something we need to teach ourselves, so we don't have to always go back for a refresh. Eventually we will stop seeing Julie, so I would try this method and see if you can get back on program, but you may want to schedule a refresh and if you are able to get back on-program before the refresh, you can always call and move the refresh to a later date.

Also--call the office and ask them for advise.

What experience in getting back on program do others have that they're willing to share?

May 30, 2012

Inspiration is a wonderful gift that comes to us in many forms. I am inspired by Linda's recent post still can't believe it, in which she writes about her lifelong struggle with her weight and her recent triumph.  I'm inspired by my friend who wore a beautiful polka-dotted dress a few weeks ago, which I hope is too big for her soon enough that I can wear it before summer end.

Shoes by Ariat. Photo by Theresa.

Feeling inspired about my own weight loss, I wanted  new sandals to wear this summer that will match my new (upcoming) wardrobe. Last weekend I found two new pair that have incredible support and I love how they look. They are nothing like the styles I've bought before. (BTW, when I added the link above to Ariat I found these sandals marked down from$125 to $93 - I bought them for $60!)

Last night I went to the movies after work to get out of the heat and after leaving the theater I read Linda's  post. I was so inspired that I went into JCPenney's to try on clothes. I tried on two tops in a size I'd never seen before (PXL). I was happy that I could slip them on and off without feeling like I was going to split them open in the process. I didn't buy them because I didn't like how they looked on me.

In fact, I didn't like most of the clothing options at JCPenney's. As my body changes, so does my clothing style. I'm not sure what my new style is, but I'm really looking forward to reaching the sizes Linda just bought and discovering my new wardrobe style!

Like Lynn, who commented on Linda's post that she goes shopping in her closet; I too shop in my own closet. These days I'm finding less and less clothes to wear in my closet, which means I'm dropping weight once again. Yeah! When I look in my mirror, I see that my clothes are either too small or too big. I move the later into the eBay closet (which is really full now) and put the small ones back in the closet.

Inspiration feels good and it's contagious. What inspires you? Share a story with us about your recent experience with inspiration.

May 30, 2012

I was 6 pounds when I was born, and by the time I left the hospital I was 5 lbs something ounces. I was a normal sized baby.

I was also the first girl born in my father’s family in 50 years, and in Italian that meant major celebration! I think they were stuffing polenta into my mouth before I even left the hospital.
I didn’t stay normal sized for long. By the time I was in school I had to shop in the ‘Chubbette’ department in Sears. In 2nd grade I made my first communion. I couldn’t wait to get a ‘stick out princess bride’ white dress for that day! I longed for that dress. Then we went shopping for the dress and guess what, the Chubbette department didn’t sell those types of dresses. My dress was so UGLY, but for my size I was lucky I got something. My disappointment was so intense…
I could never just buy an outfit from the store without trying it on. When I was an infant, my mom could go to the store and just buy off the racks for me, 6 months, 12 months and so on. When that changed I have no idea, but from the time I was in school, I had to try on everything before I could buy it to make sure it fit. Thus set the way for my life.

Then yesterday happened...

I went with my oldest daughter to Savers, they were having a 50% off sale. Savers is a great store, kind of like Salvation army, but even better!! The store was packed worse than a store on Black Friday. But we went with our game plan in mind. It never occurred to me that the line for the fitting room would be longer than the cashier lines!!!

I grabbed shirts size large, with the intention of trying them on. My daughter was grabbing skirts for me to try on. Now skirts in my lifestyle are hard to come by. We belong to a church where we dress very modestly and long modest skirts are a main staple in my closet and are VERY hard to find. Yesterday we grabbed 2 in sizes 15/16 and 1 woman’s large - 13/14. The 13/14 looked big and I figured it was a misprint but I figured I’ll try it on… Headed to the changing room and realized I didn’t have hours to wait in line. What do I do? Panic set in. I can’t buy anything without trying them on, I just can’t. They won’t fit!

I had a friend once who never tried anything on. She would get it home, try it on and then either bring them back or stick them up in the attic for someday when they fit. No way was I going to do that.

I was literally panicked. I looked very carefully at the bundle of clothes in my arms. Finally my daughter said, without having any clue of my fear, “mom, just buy them, you can always bring them back”. UGH!

So against my better judgment I bought them.

I didn’t look at them yesterday because I knew there was no way they were going to fit. I didn’t try them on at the store!

Today I pulled out the bag. I argued with myself. No way did I want to try them on and find out they didn’t fit, I would be depressed and discouraged. So again, I looked carefully at my purchases.

While I fought in my mind what to do, I decided, oh well, lets get this over with.
Now, you must remember I am 54 years old, overweight ALL my life except my infant years. Made fun of in school teased, ridiculed. NEVER bought anything from a store with out trying them on from a young child and up. Shopped the Chubbette department and all those specialty stores… Even my wedding dress wasn't what I had dreamed of...

They fit! OH MY GOODNESS, they fit! Everything I bought fit! I actually bought clothes right off a rack and they fit!! I have put on each thing at least 3 times since I got that bag out this morning to make sure I am seeing this right.

Now, some of you may laugh and say this woman is off the wall! LOL!!!
I may be off the wall but I bought them right off the rack without the middle step!!!!!!
OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, WHAT ARE THOSE STRANGE NUMBERS IN MY CLOSET????????????????????

By the way, I didn't pay those prices for my clothes, they were half price off the ticket prices!!!!!! Whose closet am I looking in?? sizes in the teens?? MY CLOSET????? YES!!!!!!!

May 29, 2012

This Memorial Day weekend, I paused to think about my parents and others in my family who have passed on, including David, my oldest brother, who died from skin cancer almost a decade ago. Unlike my brothers, I did not follow the family tradition of visiting the family graves this year.

As a child, my parents took my brothers and I to the graves of our relatives, where we spent time visiting relatives who were gone long before we were born, and where we met other relatives who were there to do the same, then we went to my grandparents house for a family gathering and cookout.

In my grandparents backyard, my brothers and I played with cousins we hadn't seen all year and we watched grandpa shuckle and eat raw clams. Unlike my cousins and my brothers, I did not indulge in raw clams. I preferred the steamed ones that were dropped into a giant pot of boiling water, which sat on top of an open fire pit, until Grandpa deemed them perfect for eating.

This Memorial Day weekend, I joined my brothers and their families in Rhode Island. There were kids in their early 30's and grandchildren from one year old to "oh my goodness, you're going to high school this year?" The later is the eldest of my brother David's grandchildren.

We didn't have clams this year. Instead of Grandpa's open fire pit, we cooked on a gas grill. Our menu was a variation of  Grandpa's: hot dogs and hamburgers, baked beans, a variety of salads, chips, and cupcakes that looked like mini hamburgers. The later did not tempt me in the least, especially since the heat caused them to melt. Besides, I was never a cupcake-kinda-girl.

Baked beans were my challenge this weekend. Specifically: avoiding tasting them as they cooked. I kept asking others to taste them; I relied on them to tell me if there was enough flavor. But there was a moment when I was alone in the kitchen and I tasted the beans a couple times. I realized what I needed to do was get out of the kitchen and I did just that; I did not go back for more. Truth be told, they were rather tasteless, especially when I think back to how incredible grandma's baked beans were; she slow cooked them and no amount of doctoring up canned beans come close to the flavor of grandma's.

In the big picture of life, tasting those baked beans won't take me off-program. It's not the end of the world, but they are not on program and I was disappointed in myself. I have a whole new appreciation for my friends who are on this program and on a daily basis cook non-program foods for their family. I get how difficult that must be, especially compared to my solo meal preparation.

Back home today, my plan is to go shopping for organic meat and veggies. This week, I'm going to  mix up my meals a bit more and try new recipes, including some old favorites that I haven't had in a while, like meat crust pizza. Lately, I've been eating the same foods, which goes against what the program teaches us: variety is essential.

Another plan is to get back into the gym tomorrow. I've been out of the gym for two weeks now. My Achilles heel still on the mend, so I'm going on the bike and the rowing machine instead of the treadmill. BTW, here's the stretching exercises my doctor suggested for Achilles Tendonitis. Another valuable lesson I've just learned: the importance of stretching!

How was your Memorial weekend? What kinds of challenges did you encounter at family or social gatherings? Tell us about your success stories too!

May 28, 2012