I have a few short non-scale victory stories for you today. Small moments in time, glimpses into unexpected but significant changes in my life because of my weight loss. Moments that easily go unnoticed, but today I pause to celebrate them. A comment made by a waitress that would have a whole different meaning if I was still size 30/32. A moment when you, yes you reading this blog, saved me. A moment with me and my little black skirt.
Theresa and Alanna at Johnny's in South Hadley
The Waitress

This is one of those moments that people who have been obese can appreciate, but the humor and the awesomeness may be lost on those who have not struggled with obesity.

Last week I was at Johnny's Bar & Grille with my key-friend Alanna, enjoying great conversations over salt and pepper wings with roasted Brussels sprouts. After we were finished eating, the waitress cleared our table and before stepping away she said something that momentarily rendered us into silence.

"I can't believe you ate the whole thing!"

I was speechless, as I tried to grasp the meaning of what she said: I can't believe you ate the whole thing.

"Wow!" I said to Alanna, "That is not something someone would have said to me three years ago when I was wearing size 30/32 -- it would have had a whole different meaning!"

Alanna said she had too been quiet for the same reason: the waitress saw us as "normal!"

We claimed this as a great non-scale victory!

Before I move on to my next story, I must share these incredible before and after photos of Alanna. One year and what an incredible transformation! 
Alanna September 2013 vs September 2014
Saved by the Blog

I can't tell you how many times this blog has saved me. Really, I'm not kidding! Once in a while when I'm in a grocery store and someone pass me, pauses, backs up their grocery cart, our eyes lock, and they say "Are you Theresa from the blog?"

You know who you are--and thank you for saying hello and chatting for a few minutes! You saved me a few weeks ago!

It is because of those brief encounters that I could tap away (push away) intense cravings. I was on the way back from Rhode Island and all the way home all I could think about was chocolate -- and where I could get some. I was obsessed for two solid hours.

What saved me is that no matter how I played it out in my mind, and believe me I visualized EVERY store between my brother's house (where I left my car) and my house, no matter where I envisioned myself stopping, I imagined one of you would be in that store, our eyes would lock as you recognized me and then you would see me -- holding chocolate -- what would I say?

Oh no, I could not let that happen!

I tapped it away -- I pushed past the moment and I drove home nonstop.

So, thank you for saving me!

Me and My Little Black Skirt

I bought a little black skirt at Lane Bryant at the end of summer. I know, I swore off going back there, but I knew I could get great bargains in my size because when I was a size 30/32 all the best sale items were size 14.

I always hated those women who came into Lane Bryant's in their size 14’s and scored on bargains. This visit I was one of those women! This was an egotistical non-scale victory, but I must admit: I was proud to be one of those women!

A few days later I brought the skirt back. When the sales clerk asked why I was returning it, I told her "because I don't have any tops to wear with it."

"It's a black skirt - everything goes with it!" she said.

The sales clerk's comment haunted me. I kept thinking how sassy I'd felt when I tried the skirt on in the store.

A few weeks later I had to have that little black skirt.

Back in Lane Bryant's again, I looked through the (much smaller) section of summer close-out sales, but it wasn't there. Then I remembered: when I was a size 26/28, there were always 14's mixed in with 26/28's. Sure enough -- there was my beautiful little black skirt -- now on sale for even less than I paid before!

Three years ago I would not have worn this little black skirt. In fact, back then, I didn't wear dresses at all. Today, wearing short dresses and skirts is one of my favorite non-scale victories. 

I wore my little black skirt for the first time when I went to dinner with key friends. The knee length black skirt paired perfectly with a blouse that had been in my closet all along.
Susan, Karen, Theresa at Plan B looking at the very key-friendly menu
The blouse, which I'm wearing in the photo above, is one of many beautiful hand-me downs that I’ve been blessed to receive from key friends -- you know who you are!

I don’t always remember who gave me what outfit, but it was fun when Jill saw me and smiled. I knew immediately that the blouse had been hers.

"I always loved that blouse!" Jill said, "It had always been one of my favorites!"

I've dropped more weight these past few months (yeah!) and it's been great to pass clothing on to other key friends.

What about you? What non-scale victories have you experienced?
November 07, 2014
Meat Bagel
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ onions, finely diced
  • 1 tbsp of butter
  • 2 pounds of ground pork
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp ground pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
  2. Line a baking dish with parchment paper.
  3. Sauté onions over medium heat in butter and sauté until translucent. 
  4. Allow onions to cool before adding them to the meat.
  5. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients including cooked onions. Mix well enough to evenly distribute the spices.
  6. Divide the meat into 6 portions. 
  7. Using your hands, roll each portion of meat into a ball and then indent the middle and flatten slightly to form the appearance of a bagel.
  8. Place the each meat bagel in the baking dish.
  9. Bake for 40 minutes or until meat is fully cooked.
  10. Allow the meat bagels to cool. 
  11. Slice the meat bagel just like a regular bagel. 
  12. Fill meat bagel with your favorite toppings, such as tomato slices, lettuce, onions etc. 
  13.  
Recipe and photo source: Ditch the Wheat
November 07, 2014
Wow - I can eat Spaghetti Pie and lose weight - how amazing is that? I encourage you to modify this recipe to suit your taste, as I have done. I used a mixture of sausage with sage and hamburg, but you may prefer the original recipe, which only calls for Italian sausage. I also skipped the suggestion to use pizza sauce and instead finished off a jar of opened tomato sauce. Make this your way, but any way you make it, as the texture is different from anything else in my usual menu. Plus, it's a good idea to expand our menus and not make the same foods again and again.
My slice of Spaghetti Pie
Prep time: 25 min.
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 25 min.

Ingredients
  • 1 large spaghetti squash
  • ½ pound Italian sausage 
  • ½ pound hamburg
  • ½ onion, diced 
  • 3-4 pieces of garlic minced or chopped(optional, I love garlic and couldn't resist adding it)
  • 1 cup of your favorite tomato sauce (pizza sauce or any kin of tomato sauce)
  • fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon dried basil)
  • Italian spice blend (or your favorite blend of Italian spices)
  • salt and pepper, to taste (optional - I did not use either)
  • 3 eggs, whisked 
 Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place whole spaghetti squash on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the skin of the squash gives when you press on it. When it's done, set aside to cool.
I baked two spaghetti squash so I have one to make Lemongrass Shrimp Soup tomorrow
3. After the squash has cooled enough to handle it, discard the seeds and then place the spaghetti threads into an 8×8 baking dish.
Use a fork to remove the squash in spaghetti-like threads.
4. Place a large fry-pan over medium heat and cook Italian sausage, hamburg, and onion. Break meats into pieces as they cook.

5. Add the chopped or mince garlic to the pan as the meats cook.
Chop 3-4 pieces of garlic
6. When the meats are no longer pink, place the meat in a colander to drain the fat and then return the meat to the pan.
Cook the meats until no pink remains.
7. Chop the basil (if you used fresh basil) and then add to the pan with tomato sauce, and spices, then mix everything in the pan well.
Add fresh chopped fresh basil and other spices to the meat mixture
8. Add sausage mixture to a baking dish and mix well with spaghetti squash threads.

9. Add whisked eggs to the baking dish and mix everything together until you can no longer see the eggs.

10. Remove mixture from the edges of the dish before you put it in the oven, as the egg batter and stuff you see in the image below burned and made the dish a pain to clean.

11. Place dish in oven and bake for 1 hour or until the top of the mixture forms a slight crust that doesn’t give when you press on it in the middle of the dish.
I didn't wipe the mixture from the edge of the dish and later it was hard to clean.
11. Let dish rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Second time around I wiped the mixture from edges of the dish - much easier to clean.
When I made this dish a second time, I kept an eye on the oven and when the top started to burn I covered the dish. It came out less crunchy than the first time and I'm torn as to which way I like it better. I also used less squash and I sprinkled in a little bit of corn. I liked the extra texture the corn added and having less squash it gave space for the egg flavor to be present.

This is one of my new favorite recipes now. When you make this dish, think of the flavors you like on pizza and use those ingredients so this dish comes out really flavorful!

Inspiration for this dish came from the recipe Almost 5 Ingredient Pizza Spaghetti Pie by paleOMG's. I modified this recipe to meet my taste buds and you should do the same!
November 07, 2014
Lemongrass Shrimp Soup with Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients
  • 1 medium spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds) 
  •  ¾ pound shell-on medium shrimp 
  •  2 tablespoons vegetable oil 
  • 4 scallions, white and pale-green parts only, thinly sliced 
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, tough outer layers removed, thinly sliced 
  • 1 3" piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced 
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 
  • 8 cups chicken broth 
  • Kosher salt 
  • Cilantro sprigs
  • sliced Serrano chiles
  • lime wedges
Preparation
  1. Preheat oven to 375°. 
  2. Pierce squash all over with a knife to vent. 
  3. Roast on a rimmed baking sheet, turning every 20 minutes, until tender (knife will easily slide through), 60–90 minutes.
  4. Let cool slightly. 
  5. Halve lengthwise and scoop out seeds; discard. 
  6. Scrape flesh with a fork to remove in long strands. Spread out on paper towels to drain.
  7. Meanwhile, peel and devein shrimp, reserving shells. 
  8. Place shrimp in a medium bowl; cover and chill until ready to use. 
  9. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium-high. 
  10. Cook shrimp shells, stirring occasionally, until bright pink and browned in spots, about 30 seconds. 
  11. Add scallions, lemongrass, ginger, and garlic, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. 
  12. Add broth and bring to a boil. 
  13. Reduce heat and simmer until flavors marry and come together, about 30 minutes. 
  14. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean medium saucepan; discard solid.
  15. Bring broth to a boil. 
  16. Reduce heat, add chilled shrimp, and simmer until shrimp are cooked through, about 2 minutes; season with salt.
  17. Divide squash among bowls and ladle shrimp and broth over to cover. Despite the name, spaghetti squash is still a vegetable and can get mushy when overcooked. Simply ladle the hot broth over the noodles when you are ready to eat.
  18. Top with cilantro and chiles and serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.

Original recipe and photo source: Bonappetit
November 07, 2014
This Kalua Pig recipe is easy to make but it needs to cook for about 16 hours in a crock pot. It's well worth the wait. Kalua Pig is popular in Hawaii where a whole pig is smoked in a sand pit with sea salt, banana leaves, and a special wood. This simple recipe is great for those of us who don't have access to banana leaves or access to a sand pit. The smoked flavor in this recipe comes from liquid mesquite smoke, which you can find in the store next to barbecue sauces.
Kalua Pig
Ingredients
  • 3 lb lean pork shoulder blade roast
  • 1 tbsp liquid mesquite smoke
  • coarse sea salt
Directions
  1. Remove all fat from the pork.
  2. Using the tip of a knife poke all over the pork.
  3. Rub sea salt all over pork. 
  4. Place pork in a crock pot. 
  5. Drizzle the liquid smoke all over the pork.
  6. Set crock pot to low and cook about 16 hours.
  7. Remove pork from crock pot and place on a large platter. 
  8. Remove any fat you may have missed.
  9. Shred pork with two forks. 
  10. Discard liquid reserving a little as needed to keep pork moist.
Kalua Pig

Recipe source: Skinny Taste.com

November 02, 2014
With tears, I post this.

In my heart I have so much thankfulness, and, am so grateful to Julie!

In my life, this transformation is nothing short of a miracle.

3 years ago today, I walked into Julie's office for the first time.  In tears, with great fear and doubt.  I was heading to an early grave.  I had given up.  I was well on my way to becoming bedridden, one of those people you read about that they have to take out a wall of the house to get them out.  I felt so helpless..., so lost, so misunderstood, WHY...

Then came my appointment with Julie:


I am not at my goal size yet, but I know, without a doubt, I WILL get there!
October 24, 2014
Have you ever given someone a compliment, say for example about the blouse they’re were wearing, and they immediately retorted with “This old thing? Look at the stain on it…” Moments earlier you thought it was a beautiful blouse and now all you can see is an old blouse with a stain. The blouse didn’t change—your perspective changed. When you look in the mirror or see photos of yourself, do you see the incredible transformation you’ve gone through or do you only see flaws? If the later is the case, it’s time to change your perspective. It’s time to see the new you.
Have I forgotten I used to be a size 30/32?
It’s time for me to change my perspective too. I had a fabulous dinner with a wonderful key friends last week and the next day I realized I had been harsh about how I looked in photos.

Before dinner, I took selfies with two friends and then I leaned over to share the photos. That’s when my little mean girl (my internal self critic) first came out.

“I don’t like this photo.” I told Karen.

The next morning I started thinking about my little mean girl and I started writing…

Have I forgotten what my life was like three years ago when I was a size 30/32? Why would I ask others to look at my flaws? Do I really want validation that I’m flawed?

And who invited my mean little girl to dinner?

That’s when I realized—it was me—I invited my little mean girl. I’m the one who started the negative conversation. It’s moments like this that I remember why I took so many photos of myself along my weight loss journey and why I encourage you to do the same. It’s moments like this that we can look back and see how much we have changed. Look back and be in awe of who we are today.

I searched my computer for a photo of me when I was bigger to put next to the one I told Karen I didn’t like. Looking at these photos side-by-side (the photo above), I reflected that there have been many times during my weight loss journey that I looked at photos of my larger self and thought, “I don’t know that woman.” I’ve also looked at current photos of me and thought, “I don’t know that woman.”

At what point do we let go of the larger self that we once were and embrace the self we are right now?

This exact moment is as good as any.

Choose to change your perspective: to live in the present moment.

Stop looking back—see the wonder of who you are today.

You are far more than a number on a scale or the size of your clothes.

It doesn’t matter if you’re just beginning your weight loss journey, still losing weight, or at you goal: stop being mean this moment.

Negative self-talk goes beyond ourselves—it projects onto others what we see in ourselves and encourages them to judge us as well.

What are we asking of others when we speak this way of ourselves? Are we asking them to join in being mean to us?

Join me in embracing who you are today, in focusing on how great you feel right now, and in silencing your little mean girl.

There is more to this group selfie than just me. When I step back and look beyond myself in the photo, I see that there aren't any mean little girls here, only a group of vibrant women having fun.
Key-friends enjoying a night out.
That group selfie was just one moment in time. There were eleven of us gathered for dinner and it was a lovely evening with a group of key friends who all have incredible stories of weight loss and transformation through the key program.
Nine key-friends and our waiter.
You can read the weight loss stories of these nine women (and many others) on this blog. It is my hope that in sharing our stories, you too can join us in your own transformation to a healthier body and mind.

Ask any one of us and we'll all tell you:
If I can do this—so can you! You have to want to want it. You can do this!
October 23, 2014
Megan's weight loss journey has taken her from a size 22/24w to a size 10/12. This isn't the only change in her life, not that her weight loss isn't incredible enough on it's own. Megan changed her attitude. She became an avid runner. Megan no longer suffers from acid reflux or the daily pain she had carrying so much weight. Megan makes time in her life to train for 5k runs and half marathons. Megan made this transformation while working full-time and raising her family. Here's a peak into her transformation...
Megan two and a half years ago and today
Megan
My journey began 2 1/2 years ago. For me, I changed immediately after that first session. The change wasn't physical; it was my attitude, that inner voice was singing a different tune for once! I actually had hope. I believed that I could do this. I didn't see a change in size for a good three months. I was OK with that.
Megan experienced more than physical changes - her attitude changed too.
Over the first year, I celebrated small victories:
  • No more acid reflux.
  • No more pain all day long.
  • Being able to paint my toe nails and cross my legs.
  • Fitting in a restaurant booth.
  • Fitting in an airplane seat and being able to fasten the seat belt.
All these things that skinny people take for granted – I could finally do!

 Over the last year, I have not dropped a size. While I am disappointed, I have never wavered. I have had to think about what I have accomplished during this time since I haven't gotten any smaller.

 Over the last year, I have run:
  • Five 5k's (3.1 miles)
  • Two 10k's (6.2 miles)
  • One 7-mile road race
  • Two half marathons (13.1094 miles) - I'm running the second half marathon this Sunday.
Megan before her 7-mile road race; August 2014
And I'm disappointed that I haven't dropped a size?  If I stay this size forever it will be OK with me. I have never been this active in my life and stuck with something for so long!
Springfield Biggest Loser Run - a proud moment for Megan.
I came home from my run this morning disappointed. I said to my husband "I was supposed to run nine miles, I ONLY ran 8!"

 He looked at me like I was crazy.

 I had just run eight miles and I'm not happy about it???

 I needed to put this in writing to remind myself that I HAVE CHANGED – even if I'm not an 8 or a 10. 
I first met Megan after I finished the Hot Chocolate 5k Run in Northampton in December 2013. She recognized me from this blog and introduced herself. I asked her what size she was and she replied that she was a size 12. My response was "if this is how good a 12 looks, then I'm good with being a size 12!"
Megan and Theresa; Hot Chocolate Run December 2013.
Megan's change in attitude is one of the keys to her success, but this isn't something she did only once, she changed her attitude again and again along the way. Keeping herself in check and seeing where she was being too hard on herself was another factor in her success.
Theresa and Megan April 2014
Megan and her husband, who has lost 10 inches from his waist on this program, are running a 5k in early December. I'm training for this run as well. I'll meet them at the start line and then I'm on my own from there. This how this weight loss works too: some will finish sooner than others. This journey is not about how long it takes to reach your goal size - it's about reaching your goal size. This is not a race, but exercise will help you reach your goal sooner. Keep moving forward, stay committed, stay the course (on program), and you too will be a winner (reach your goal).

You don't have to run a marathon to lose weight, in fact you don't have to run at all, but exercise helps transform your mind and body. Find a form of exercise a part of your life helps tone your body. This is your journey and you get to choose what form of exercise works for you.

October 09, 2014