I was at a BQ party last night and had this incredible Mexican Corn Salad. They shared the recipe with me this morning and I'm adding to the recipes here because it's incredible. Remember that cheese is treated as a condiment and you must eat an equal amount of meat and veggies.

Mexican Corn Salad

Ingredients

• 4 ears of corn, husked
• 5 tablespoons mayonnaise 
• 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1/4 cup shredded Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro plus more for serving
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. Prepare grill for medium heat. 
2. Grill corn, turning occasionally, until tender and charred, 8–10 minutes; let cool slightly. Instead of grilling the corn, you can toast the kernels in a dry large skillet over medium-high heat
3. Cut kernels from cobs and transfer to a medium bowl.
4. Whisk mayonnaise, lime juice, paprika, cayenne, if using, cheese, and 2 tablespoons cilantro in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. 
5. Add corn and toss to combine. 
6. Top with remaining cilantro.

Notes

• The dressing may be made 2 days ahead. 
• Cover and chill. 
• Corn can be grilled and cut from cobs 1 hour ahead. 
• Store airtight at room temperature.

This recipe was modified by my friend, but the recipe and photo originated from Bon Appétit
 

June 30, 2013

How spicy is your life? I'm not talking about your sex life--I'm talking about cooking with spices. Fresh herbs are best, but more often than not, I use package mixed, such as chili mix. There's another option: skip the mixes, which are full of artificial ingredients, and make your own seasoning blends.

Photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos

Years ago I did a lot of cooking with my friends and I learned how to make seasoning blends for my recipes from my favorite cookbook Healthier Eating Guide & Cookbook by George Matelan and Health Valley Foods. In this book, the author suggests using herbs as a way to reduce salt from your diet and add great flavor to your meals. The cookbook included a handful of blend recipes, but I mainly used the fish, chicken, and all purpose seasoning blends.

Having homemade spice blends cuts back on the prep time. Instead of searching the cabinets for five or six spices, opening each container, measuring, putting the lids back on, and washing all the measuring tools, you only have to find one spice mix to open/close and measure for your recipe.

It's time for me to get back to this kind of cooking again. Care to join me? An easy place to begin is to make your next batch of chili with the homemade taco and chili seasoning recipe below instead of a package mix. BTW, how old are the spices in you cupboards? Do you know they have an expiration date? They do!

Homemade Taco and Chili Seasoning
When making chili or tacos using one pound of ground beef, start with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the seasoning blend (below) and adjust according to your tastes.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder 
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 teaspoons black pepper

Directions

• In a medium bowl, combine chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, oregano, paprika, ground cumin, sea salt, and black pepper. 

Store in an air tight container at room temperature.

Yield: about 2/3 cup.

Source for this recipe: My Baking Addiction

June 30, 2013

The past few months I have noticed every time I get into my car, I have to move the seat up!! What in the world!!!

In the past, even when my husband drives the car I have never had to move the seat up, and if so, it was just a tiny bit.

I am getting aggravated and annoyed with him, can not even imagine why he would put the seat so far back lately!!

Today I got into the car and AGAIN, I had to move the seat up. So as I sat there fiddling with stuff getting ready to move my seat up I happened to notice something.

Something that made me smile and laugh out loud!

My stomach wasn't hitting the steering wheel anymore! WHAT!!!!

When my husband has been getting into the car, he is putting the seat back into it's normal position that we always used, AND I AM THE ONE MOVING IT TO A WHOLE NEW POSITION!!

I need the seat closer to the pedals and the steering wheel as NOTHING is getting in the way anymore! (or at least not as much is getting in the way now).

I am actually needing to be closer to the steering wheel as I am not taking so much room up on the seat!!

WHO WOULD HAVE EVER THOUGHT!!!

(I am hoping to start pointing out some NON weight loss changes in a few posts. That may help us to all realize that it isn't just about the weight loss, though that is the BEST part, but for some of us slow losers, we need to look at NON weight loss positives, no matter how silly they may seem)

Oh and by the way, even with the seat up where it is comfortable for me to drive, I want to announce: MY STOMACH IS STIL NOT HITTING THE STEERING WHEEL!!!

June 29, 2013

Would you like to engage more with this site? Have you read a post or a comment that inspired you and you want to say a few words, but you don't know how? Do you have a desire to join this blog in a way that allows you to write a full post with the option to add photos or videos? Do want to know how to get an email so you know when a new post has been put up? If you answered yes to any of these questions, keep reading.

Pen and Paper; photo by Theresa

There are a few ways for you to engage, which I've described here with detailed instructions below for each option.

• Post a comment to blog posts.
• Sign up to receive new posts via email.
• Become a follower - so you can post comments to blog entries as an individual rather than as "anonymous."
• Become a contributor - so you can share your story and photos.
• Share your story and photos - without becoming a contributor. 
• Silence is golden - you don't have to do any of the above - simply read without engaging.

Post a Comment

This feature is below each post.

You may post a comment to blog posts even if you are not a member of this blog; your name and email will not appear with your comment if you are not a member, "Anonymous" will appear instead of your name or email.

Beneath each blog post you will see the option to "Post a Comment" and then there's a text field for your comment. If you leave an anonymous comment, it will not link back to your blogs, Blogger profile, or Google profile in any way.

Write your comment in the text field, select Anonymous from the "Comment as" menu, and then select "Publish."

All comments are moderated by me before they appear on the website.

Receive New Blog Posts Via Email
 

This feature is in the left side-bar.

Add your email address to the Follow by Email box, located on the left side of the page. If you're viewing this site on a hand-held devise, and you don't see the left navigation, scroll to the bottom of the page and select "View Web Version."

Become a Follower

This feature is in the left side-bar.

Select Join this site, located on the left side of the page. If you're viewing this site on a hand-held devise, and you don't see the left navigation, scroll to the bottom of the page and select "View Web Version."

You will have the option to add your name, a photo, and to indicate if you want to follow this blog publicly or follow privately. After completing the options, select Follow this Blog. You will then see a congratulations notice indicating you are now following the Friend of Julie. Select Done. If you didn’t add an image, a silhouette will appear; you may add an image later, or you may choose not add include an image.

Become a Contributor

This feature is in the left side-bar.

To become a contributor, send me an email by selecting my name under the list of Contributors, located on the left side of the page. If you're viewing this site on a hand-held devise, and you don't see the left navigation, scroll to the bottom of the page and select "View Web Version."

After I receive your request to become a contributor, you will receive an email from Blogger that will read something like this:

The Blogger user Theresa has invited you to contribute to the blog: Friend Julie. To contribute to this blog, visit: http://www.blogger.com/i.g?inviteID=(your URL will be unique)

You'll need to sign in with a Google Account to confirm the invitation and start posting to this blog. If you don't have a Google Account yet, we'll show you how to get one in minutes.

Learn more about how to use Blogger. 

Share Your Story and Photos

If you would like to share your journey, but you don't want to become a contributor, you may send me your story and photos and I'll post it on your behalf. Or, if you would like to become a part of my Heroes Series, I would love to add your story!

This feature is in the left side-bar.

To share your story, send me an email with your name and email address, by selecting my name under the list of Contributors, located on the left side of the page. If you're viewing this site on a hand-held devise, and you don't see the left navigation, scroll to the bottom of the page and select "View Web Version."

I'll email you and then you'll reply to that email with your story and photos.

Silence is Golden

It's perfectly fine to just read my blog and not engage by adding comments or writing your own posts. Lots of you do this and I'm happy that my journey is helping you or perhaps entertaining you. Keep doing what you're doing and I wish you the best on your weight loss journey.

Trouble?

Let me know if you try one of these steps and you are not successful and I'll troubleshoot for you. To reach me, post a comment anywhere and an email will come to me with your question. Include your email so I can respond to you. Your comment won't be posted.

June 28, 2013

Today I want to be somewhere other than where I am, which is not very zenful of me, as we only have today and this moment. In this moment I am a size 16/18. I'm frustrated that I'm not a size 12. There - I said it aloud: I want to be a size 12. This is not true either. I want to be a size 10--I want to be one size from my goal. These thoughts, these frustrations, are keeping me out of the present moment, and from reaching my goal.

I wore that pink shirt today and wow - what a difference!

Before I expand further on my convoluted thinking, I want to tell you I was able to move away from this negative thinking by looking back at these before photos. My progress cannot be ignored -- I have lost of ton of weight. But there was something that I had to work out before I could move forward and that discovery is what I want to share today.

I've been measuring my path against others who are at their goal size and wondering why I'm not there yet. Oh yeah... today I am the size many of my key friends were when they started but a few moments ago (or 2 1/2 years ago), I was a size 30/32. Today I am a 16/18. I should be celebrating my size 16/18, not agonizing over it! But I've become accustomed to my new size and I've forgotten that I started a lot bigger than I am today.

I was looking at others progress and crying "boohoo - how come I haven't lost that much?" I was feeling sorry for myself because last summer's clothes still fit, "boohoo - how come they aren't falling off me yet?" Well, last summer they were skin tight and this summer they are quite loose. All my thoughts were on focusing my energy in the wrong area. I needed to focus my energies on where I am and visualize where I want to be. That visualization will inspire me to reach my goal, not to serve as a noose around my neck.

It seems like I've been in a 16/18 for a very long time. I looked back at my earlier posts and guess what - I have been this size for a very long time because clothing sizes are way out of whack. I wrote in Nov. 2011 that I was a size 20W, which would mean I've only dropped 2 sizes in a year and a half. The clothes I wore in Nov. 2011 are long gone because they were way too big for me. My body has changed drastically, even if the size on my clothes reads the same.

Things started to turn around for me when I realized there are many lessons on this journey for me to learn; living in the moment is a big lesson. You see, there will come a time, when I am in my size 10's and I'll want to be somewhere else - in my size 8's. Once I'm there learning how to maintain my weight I'll wish I was beyond that lesson, I'll wish I already knew how to maintain my weight, that I wouldn't have to go through the up and down in my size 8 process.

I tried to talk to others about these thoughts and they gave me incredible positive feedback about my success. I wasn't looking for that. I wanted to express what I was experiencing, but I wasn't finding anyone could relate. So, I express myself here in the hope that this makes sense to you.

I started working through this issue a couple weeks ago, and I started writing this piece last week, but the deal breaker for me, the transformational moment, happened tonight when I put these photos from 2006 to yesterday side by side.

Today I choose to live in the present moment and in this moment, according to my clothing labels, I am a size  16/18. Today I choose to give up comparing my journey to how others are doing on their journey.

Do what it takes to get out of your own way on this journey. Do whatever it takes to reach your goal!

June 27, 2013

Recently I was involved in a thread of conversation about maintenance. Usually I stay out of these kinds of conversations, as I'm not in the maintenance phase yet. But I will be there soon enough, so this time I leaned in to hear the questions and concerns of my friends who are on maintenance. As I listened, it occurred to me that even in maintenance, we must continue to trust the process of this program.

At our goal size, will we still ask "do I look fat in this photo?"

One woman said she just wants to get through learning how to maintain her weight, to be done with the phase of gaining and losing weight, she just wants to be done with this phase. Others said they sometimes struggle with this too.

This sounded familiar to me. I have said this about my weight loss journey. I have often thought "I just want to be done" with the weight loss and be at my goal size. "How long is this going to take?" I wondered and sighed, "I just want to be at my goal size." It will take as long as it takes and spending time on these thoughts doesn't change anything. I tap away these kinds of thoughts, which, if one isn't careful, can become an obsession. When these thoughts arise again, I remind myself this is part of my journey and I tap them away.

What if we treat the maintenance phase of our journey the same way? What if we accept the urge to rush through a phase, be it the weight loss or maintenance phase, as part of our process. What if we tap away those thoughts to rush through this phase?

Questions, doubts, fears - these were part of the journey even before you arrived to where you are today. Why should this be any different now? I imagine maintenance to be the final frontier. The final phase of self-doubt. The phase where we (get to) let go of our self-doubt and negative thoughts. The phase where we learn what once and done really means.

Learning maintenance will take as long as it takes, just as taking the weight off did: at various time frames for everyone. Visualize this to be your truth: you will learn maintenance and one day you will own it.

A day will come for each of us when we will say "I got this" and our doubts, our fears, and our obsessions (which we all have to work out for ourselves) will be behind us. Trust the process that this too will be your truth.

If we trust this process, we only have to do this once and then we're done. If you are at maintenance, you have done everything you learned, you have reached your goal size, so trust the process that you will learn how to maintain your goal size--in the same way you learned to take off your weight. If you are in the weight loss phase, trust that you too will reach your goal.

Julie suggests we visualize ourselves at our goal size - this is part of the process. Apply the same to maintenance: visualize yourself maintaining your goal size for the rest of you life. Visualize: once and done.

Trust the process.

June 15, 2013

This is the first week of a six week mini triathlon challenge that I'm doing at work. I did this last year and it was a great way to encourage me to keep exercising no matter what, because I want to reach my goal for the challenge

Stationary bike workout summary day 1.

My work-out buddy Aime and I are kicking it up this year going for the gold, which means in the next six weeks we will each do a total of:

• Run/Walk: 26 miles
• Bike: 112 miles
• Swim: 2.5

It's almost the end of week one and I feel like I'm already behind schedule, but I'm determined to get a gold medal this year. The "prize" isn't the point. I don't even know if there is a prize. The point is it's summer and it's time to challenge ourselves physically.

Three days in and I found myself already grumbling: Swimming is the hard part...getting my hair wet and then going back to the office...there will be some lunches I can't get to the pool...blah, blah, blah. I getting out of my own way and just do this. No excuses! Make it happen. Get it done. Hooha.

In one of the first three session I went to, I remember Julie telling someone "if you don't exercise, it's going to take you a really long time to lose the weight."

What about you? Are you ready to set a challenge for yourself? Is there someone who will join you for X number of weeks to either help you (and them) get moving and stay committed? Anyone with a dog who you can volunteer to walk?

If you haven't done any exercise, set a specific amount of time to walk in one direction and then turn around. If 5 minutes is all you can do - start there. One has to start where they are. If you're already exercising, is it time to add other types of exercise to your routine?

It's summer folks - get outside and start moving.

June 14, 2013

Today's hero story is from Jill. I met Jill in July of 2012 when she was just a newbie to the program, when a few key friends decided to meet up (see photo of that gathering below).  Jill has come a long way in the year since she started her journey. She's one of my heroes. Here's her story...

Jill in April 2012 (left) in June 2013 (right)

Jill
Started: June 8, 2012
Current size: 8 and working to reach my goal size 6 soon!
Largest size: 18/20W and 1X-2X

This is Jill when I first met her (07/27/12) - wearing purple on right.

A few years ago my mother told me about a friend of hers that had lost all this weight with hypnosis. I filed that information away with all the other self-help advice and didn’t give it much thought. Months later my boss was noticeably losing weight and when I asked her about it, once again hypnosis came up. When I figured out that my mother and my boss were talking about the same person, my interest was piqued and I made the call. Finally, this very kind hygienist told me about her weight loss and of course, she also went to Julie. I’ll never forget her big eyes behind her mask expressively telling me to drop everything and see Julie when I got the call. We all ask for signs or maybe ask a higher power for help. Was I waiting for a choir or neon sign? Meeting Jennifer helped me to know I had made the right choice. I truly feel I was guided to Julie’s door.

May 2012 - size 18/20W

If you graphed my weight gains and losses over the years it would look like a very bad stock market report. I gained and lost weight in college. I gained weight when I started working, then I lost it before I got married. I had two children and gained and gained. I lost significant weight after my second daughter was born only to gain it back and more. My last attempt was around the time my husband turned 40 as I was hosting a huge party for him. Of course I lost it for the event and then gained back more than ever. Waving my white flag of defeat, never wanting to diet again, I’ve spent the last 5 years well over 200 pounds. Feeling unable and uninterested in failing yet again I settled in to my world of 18W and 1X-2X clothes. To make things worse, I know I gained about 20 pounds eating all those “last suppers” during the 5 months while I was waiting to see Julie. I had become a mess.

I saw Julie on June 8, 2012. I was very nervous and really felt like this was my last chance. At 44, I was tired of decades of yo-yo dieting. I was tired of wasting hard-earned money on diet programs and even therapy. I had convinced myself that I’d always be an emotional eater. How could this woman in West Springfield know more about me than I already did? Eventually, I told the mean voice in my head to shut up and I went into the session with an open mind. I enjoyed the sessions with Julie and feverishly scribbled down everything I could remember about the eating plan that first night. How could I go forward without lists and papers? I had a lot of deep-rooted connections with food and the early months after the 3 initial sessions were not as easy for me as others. We went on a family vacation about 2 months after I started and I felt deprived that everyone else was eating ice cream and having snacks. I remember Julie saying not to feel this way, but I often allowed myself to wallow. It truly took me this full year of experiencing all the vacations, holidays and social events to understand that I did not die without those foods. I survived my summer vacation and started getting a better attitude.

August 2012 - size 15W and XL top

I felt like Julie was helping me with the bread and pasta cravings right away, but I still wanted the junk food. Unbelievably, I have not strayed from the program, but I can’t count how many times I was close during those first 6 months. I made it through my birthday in October without cake and Christmas without cookies. I would have never believed those events could exist without sugar. But just like after the Grinch stole all the goodies from the Who’s, life went on without treats!

December 2012 - size 14

Then there was a long and cold winter. My body was very happy right where it was and I accepted a plateau of about 3 months. I had asked Julie to be a size 12 and I had surpassed that!

January 2013 - size 12 (left)  early February 2013 - size 10

Everyone was so kind to me and I was going through clothes sizes like crazy. I understood this way of eating so much better by now, but still struggled with wanting to go back to old habits and old foods. Trying to push it away like Julie taught us helps and I try so hard to remember that nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

These are my latest pictures, which prove that this life-changing way of eating and looking at food truly does work. I am grateful to have met Julie and all the people I have found on support websites.  I am more energetic, optimistic and so much happier than I was a year ago. This week is my one year “Julieversary” and I hope this was informative to anyone who is considering the program or living one day at time on the road to food freedom.

May 2013 - size 8

Congratulations on your incredible success Jill and thanks for sharing your journey with us.

Read more Hero stories... or share your story - send me an email by clicking on my name (Theresa) on the bottom of the list of contributors in the left column of any page.

June 11, 2013