So, we are having a blizzard. Everyone panicks! I get worked up and nervous too. But I noticed something with the last few bad storms we have had since I started my Key program.

The food items I stock up on are are not my past normal survival foods, and my behaviors are different too!!!

Being stuck in the house used to mean, baking all kinds of stuff. I won't make a list, but I can tell you baking during a snow storm is FUN!!!

Being stuck in the house used to mean tons and tons of snacks!! Snacking while snowed in is fun!!

WAS FUN!!!!

Now I noticed, yes I still go to the store. Why? Well, I love to watch people. I Love to see what they are putting in their carriages to help them survive the storm.

But I noticed, my carriage is alot different from theirs.

I will still have milk in it, but no snacky things. No breads, no soda, no alcohol, no JUNK!!

hmmm, what has changed.

my whole food attitude has changed. Food is not an obssession with me anymore. I still like to eat, but all that food noise is quiet! So quiet, sometimes I have to really listen to know that I should eat.

I still get excited about some foods, I LOVE shrimp and lobster. I LOVE a good steak!! That can get my mouth watering.

By focusing on all the stuff I CAN eat, I pay no attention to the stuff I CAN NOT eat. I put them from my mind, and if they rear their ugle heads, I tap them away!!

I still LOVE being snowed in and it is still fun!!! I LOVE doing nothing, I love reading, spending time with my family, watching it snow, talking to my parents in Florida as I watch the snow and they tell me how hot it is!

But the food stress is gone! No more eating as much as I can to make the storm worthwhile.

I still prepare stuff ahead of time, but it is Key friendly, not poison!

Stay safe everyone! Enjoy your time snowed in!! But most of all, enjoy yourselves in a healthy new way!! A KEY way!!!

February 08, 2013

I went shopping yesterday as I needed to get some stuff for our vacation that is coming up.

One thing I desperately needed was a new bra.

There is a store at every mall I avoid like the plague!!! I hated walking by this store! My husband would try not to let me see him looking at this store, and I would cringe every time I would see the sign.

Do you know what store would make a fat lady just want to curl up and die?

Victoria's Secrets!

I keep hearing about how they fit you for bras and their bras are so good and so on and so forth. Would never listen because no fat lady in her right mind would ever walk in there!!

Well, yesterday my friend convinced me to go in and get measured. She has told me over and over that I would more than likely fit into one of their bras. Again, my mind is saying "now way!"

Well, the next thing I know, I am in their store yesterday getting fitted for a bra!

Guess what?

I walked out of that store with one of those little pink bags announcing to the world that I had bought something at Victoria's Secrets!

Now granted, I will never never be able to wear any of their other items, no way, but I fit into their bras!

How great is that!

I proudly swung that bag as we walked through the mall!

And then, you know what?

I got two, YUP two bathing suits!

Absolutely unheard of in my past!

Especially liking them!

WHO IS THIS PERSON walking around saying they are? ME!

But that is another blog post (with NO pictures)! LOL.

February 06, 2013

The comment was posted to What to Eat" and since that blog entry is a year old, I'm posting it here so more of you will see it. Thanks Anonymous!

Apparently, Siggis yogurt is from grass fed cows. (...remember that whole "free-range" is better for us). That was why we can have Siggis and no other yogurt. I would swear, in our class I remember her saying it was the only kind of yogurt we could have. AND we had to eat it with meat.

Other food ideas:

• Taco meat on salad
• Taco meat on cauliflower crust pizza
• Tuna fish mixed w/ mayonnaise & onions or relish.
• Tuna stuffed fresh tomatoes - great in the summer.
• Zucchini lasagna (no pasta in it)
• Zucchini 'fries' and carrot stick 'fries' (baked in over in olive oil and seasonings of your choice)
• Zucchini & yellow squash sauteed with onions and a little butter.
• roasted cauliflower (w/garlic) (have also added onions at times)
• On the go - - take slices of salami, turkey, ham, or roast beef in a baggie w/ raw carrots or celery or radishes or peppers...etc
• chicken breast grilled (after marinating in good seasons dressing, teriyaki, or bbq sauce)
• chicken rolled around a bit of cheese and slice of ham... sauteed briefly on both sides to hold shape then baked (no bread crumbs. Season the outside of the chicken breasts before cooking.)

I run out of ideas too and it feels like I'm always having the same thing over and over. I am always looking for new ideas/recipes. :)

February 05, 2013

Even though I know I am down 5 sizes, I have discovered, not only do my eyes not see it in a mirror, I still am thinking like a FAT person.

Let me explain:

When I was at my heaviest:

we would go to a restaraunt, I would panic if the waitress was sitting us in a booth. I won't fit!

we went to people's houses for suppers, I would quickly scan the room and see what chair I could sit in without breaking it.

I am still afraid to go up our attic stairs as the stated heaviest safe weight on them is 250 pounds.

I am nervous about going on an airplane as I have needed seat belt extenders, and then if I am stuck in a middle seat I will overhang on the 2 outer seats!

Now I really know deep inside, all those things won't happen anymore, but it is very hard to convince my mind of it. I still try to hide in a store if I see someone I know, I don't want them to see all the weight I have gained.

It is crazy. I wonder when my mind will catch up with reality. I know I have lost weight, I see my size tags, and people tell me all the time. But my mind won't accept it.

To many years of failure, of gaining it all back, my mind won't let me see what is really happening. It is a constant battle to get rid of those 'first reactions' of the past. But I am working on it, and I am bound and determined, someday, I will see it and my mind will let me accept it!

Crazy stuff isn't it!! I had no idea how powerful our minds are until I went to see Julie!! Absolutely amazing to me!!

I have learned so much from Julie, food wise, mind wise, just absolutely mind boggling!!! But again, I am SOOO THANKFUL for her!!!

Where would I be today if I hadn't gone to see her? I can tell you, I would be a bed ridden person closing in at over 300+ pounds, on my way to dying young, to unhappy with myself to go anywhere or do anything.

So for me to fight with my mind because I can't see or accept the positive changes, well, I will take that anyday compared to where I could have ended up!!!

February 04, 2013

Turkey and Pickle Rolls

1. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on a slice ham.
2. Place a small pickle slice near the center of one edge and roll the ham around the pickle.
3. Slice rolls into bite sizes.
4. Add toothpicks to keep them together.

 

February 04, 2013

A group of us gathered yesterday, at the New 2 You Family Boutique in Sunderland, Massachusetts, and shared an incredible array of dishes. It was inspiring to be in a room full of people who have been successful on this weight loss journey.

Group photo by our hostess Julie.

Julie and Rick were our fabulous hosts. Julie took photos of us and our dishes. I'll post the recipes and then add links to them on the recipe page. This may take some time, but I too want to have access to those recipes.

Collage of some of the photos taken by Julie.

 Here are just a few of the dishes...

Top left: deviled eggs
Top right: turkey & pickle roll ups
Bottom left: spaghetti squash (does not include real pasta)
Bottom right: squash soup with Kale

February 03, 2013

This is how good this French Meat Pie Variation was - it went fast~

Ingredients

• 2 lbs hamburger
• 1 pound breakfast sausage (sage)
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh nutmeg (1/2 tsp if dried)
• 1 chopped onion
• pepper to taste
• butternut squash
• butter

Directions

1. Make mashed butternut squash by roasting the squash until soft.  
2. Put in food processor with butter.  
3. Set aside.
4. Brown the sausage and hamburger.  
5. Add onion and spices; simmer 10 minutes.  
6. Put meats in a casserole dish, top with squash and bake 30 minutes at 350.

This dish was served at the 2/2/13 pot luck.

February 03, 2013

It has been a while since I have written on here, time has a way of flying by before I noticed. Time to slow down and 'smell the roses', so time just doesn't keep flying by.

Thank you to the people who were looking for me! Those words meant a lot more to me than you will ever know, I appreciate that tremendously.

One thing I am very pleased with is after almost 16 months on program, I have not strayed once. Did you hear that - NOT ONCE! Now if anyone knows me at all, you would realize that this is a major miracle!

I don't mess with the program at all! Like I once wrote in one of my blog posts: "If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It" (June 28, 2012).

We are going on a 'honeymoon' in March. We like to do that once a year if we can and have done this for 4 or 5 years now. We go with other couples to places that are relaxing and tropical. It has been almost 2 years since we were able to do this. We couldn't go last year due to one of the couples' son was getting married during when we like to go, and we had a grandchild due.

So, 2 years ago, while planning the trip I was panicking! I had to go shopping because NOTHING fit! Everything was too small. It was horrid, humiliating and depressing!!! I couldn't find any skirts I could fit into, and horrors of all horrors, had to sew 2 of the same skirts together to make one that fit!! My dear friend was the only one who knew about that as she gave me one of the skirts. (I am sure my dear husband knew because of course the colors weren't exactly the same and it was quite obvious to me, but he never said a word)

My friend was having trouble finding stuff to wear too, but no where near as bad as I was!!!! It was 7 months after that last trip that I had my first appointment with Julie.

So now we are leaving in a few weeks. And guess what? I have to go shopping before we go! YUP, nothing fits me again, it is all TOO BIG!!!! I can't even imagine this! This is a dream come true for me! My husband has no problem with me buying clothes now! ( I am so thankful for Savers, great prices for on the weigh down!) I need a new bathing suit. Gulp! Still don't like wearing bathing suits, but guess what, I don't dread it this time. I think I am going to look for some exercise shorts that come down mid thigh and will hold me in, but not strangle me, and get a longer bathing suit top. This is so funny! I am actually looking forward to bathing suit shopping!

I have a couple summer skirts I can take in and use for the trip and I will have to get some tops, and a new bra! My new ones from a few months ago are to big already!

Got to get suntan lotion, and won't need as much because there isn't as much to cover!!!

And remember I told you about that skirt I had to make out of 2 skirts to go on my last trip? Well I burned it!

I may be loosing very slowly, maybe slower than others, I don't know. But at this point it doesn't matter, you see, I got to burn that stinking double skirt so who cares?

February 01, 2013