Some of you have indicated you fell off-program over the holidays and I'm sorry to hear this. This seems to have brought out your little mean girl/boy (inner critic) and she's been acting out ever since. She keeps reminding you of your past (i.e., off-program foods that you ate) and how you've slacked off on your exercise routine. She's urging you to have just one bite and telling you that you can start again tomorrow. It's time to tell your little mean girl to hush and stop breaking the rules. It's time to jump back in the river right now!

Little Mean Girl is the voice of our inner critic.
Her negative words fill us with self-doubt.
She thrives best when throwing a temper tantrum.
Hush little mean girl, hush.

Don't wait for "tomorrow" to start again. This program is about change and change happens NOW, not tomorrow, not on January first, and not after x, y, or z - NOW. If you've gone through the sessions with Julie, you have all the tools within you to get back on program. You got this! Don't wait another moment. You can do this.

Focus your energy on following the program rules once again. When we break the rules we break the pattern and this confuses our bodies. Eating something “just this once” that isn’t on program or even if it is but we are choosing to have something in a way that breaks the rules (salad before the meal, veggies alone, yogurt alone, too much yogurt, eating the same thing over and over, etc.) creates a new pattern.

Patterns are essential. Our body likes patterns and wants to follow them. For example, when someone eats sugar, and they “get away with it” then they start to develop a new pattern and the body runs with it and it becomes a new program that the body follows. Then they can’t get back on program because they created a new program and our bodies are following that program.

Each time we choose to eat program foods, the body trusts us more and more. We want our body to trust us because when it trusts us we are rewarded with weight loss.

Hush your little mean girl and get back on program and back to losing weight.

December 27, 2014

This holiday message comes for Key friend Aimee: Remember to gift yourself by loving yourself enough to say, NOT this holiday!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

December 25, 2014

What are you doing during the holidays to steady your course on your weight loss journey? Are you allowing yourself a few "treats" over the holidays or are you setting yourself up for success? Are you willing to shake things up and stay the course? Are you willing to commit right this moment to stay in the river? If you are out get back in now--not tomorrow or after the holidays - now!

Being in the river means you are continuing to lose weight. There may be plateaus on you weight loss journey or times when weight loss slows down. This is part of the journey. If you're not losing weight, make sure you are eating clean. Have you taken an alternative path leading nowhere? There is no an alternative key-plan - you're either on program (in the river) or you're not. Dig deep and ask yourself: am I only eating key-foods? If you the answer is no, or if you aren't sure, clean up your menu right now.

Congratulations to those of you who have stayed the course!

For those who have stepped out of the river: get back in right now! You too can do this! Forgive yourself for whatever you did and move on. Commit to push away cravings EVERY time they come at you, and if you stepped off-program they will come at you strong. They may come strong even if you've stayed the course. Start right now by getting in the river and staying there, so that you too can begin the new year feeling incredible. Feel the power of getting back on program on your own.

Beware: cheese can be just as tempting as all those sugary foods offered to us at holiday gatherings. Just because cheese is not sugar doesn't make it okay for you overeat cheese. Eating too much cheese will plateau us like nobody's business. I don't want to plateau! Do you? No you don't!

Do you need help? Make that call for a refresher and set yourself up for success. Meanwhile, don't give yourself a get out of jail card to go off program just because you're going for a refresher. The sooner you get back in the river, the better your life will feel. Don't give in to those cravings, push them away.

Let's see this holiday season through on key. Are you in? 

December 23, 2014

Roasted Brussels Sprouts are all the rave this year and I for one have made this my favorite veggie recipe for 2014. I am posting this recipe, because I want to make it more often.

 
Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs Brussels sprouts, rinsed and trimmed with outer leaves removed
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut off the stem ends of the Brussels sprouts and remove the outer leaves. If the Brussels sprouts are large, cut them in half. Leave the smaller ones whole.
3. Place sprouts in a medium bowl. 
4. Toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 
5. Arrange the Brussels sprouts on a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.
6. Bake for 15−20 minutes or until sprouts are just barely tender and maybe even still a little crunchy. 
7. Turn the sprouts over once halfway through cooking.
8. Remove from the oven, place in a serving bowl and enjoy this amazing side dish.

WARNING: these are not your mother's Brussels sprouts! They are incredibly delicious, so be sure to have plenty of meat to eat with these or make a smaller amount so you don't eat more veggies than meat.

 Recipe and photo source

December 19, 2014

Key-friend Jill made an incredible Zucchini Pizza for our holiday gathering in November 2014. A handful of my key friends, who I met over the years through this blog, started a tradition three years ago to gather each November for good food, good friends, and a good old fashion Yankee Swap. This recipe is so incredible, your non-key friends will never even know they're eating zucchini. The texture of this dish is more like a casserole than a pizza, but oh my--it does taste like pizza!

A slice of heaven--I mean pizza

February 19, 2015 update: I made this recipe for dinner last night and it tasted like a slice of heaven. I put all the zucchini noodles between two towels for about 45 minutes to remove the liquid, but there were still juices at the bottom when I served this. This wasn't a bad thing and it didn't ruin this dish. I'm not sure if the pizza sauce was the cause or if I need to dry out the noodles for a longer period of time.

The prep time on this dish is 2 1/12-3 hours. It took me 3 hours, but that's because I spent an ridiculous amount of time trying to open a bottle of olive oil. It was brand new bottle and for the life of me I couldn't remove all the foil to open the jar.

Ingredients

• 6 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup freshly grated asiago or Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 3 tablespoons Italian parsley
• 3 tablespoons chopped basil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound sweet sausage
• Olive oil
• 1.5 cups marinara or pizza sauce
• 3 oz pepperoni finely chopped
• 6 oz grated mozzarella cheese
• Any additional pizza toppings

Directions

1. Place the shredded zucchini in a strainer or on paper towels.
2. Let stand for 20 minutes and squeeze as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible. I put the noodles between two kitchen towels.
3. Let stand another 15 minutes and squeeze out the moisture a second time.
4. While you are waiting for the zucchini, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
5. Combine the zucchini, eggs, cheese, black pepper, granulated garlic, parsley and basil.
6. Spread the zucchini mixture into a greased 13x9 baking dish.
7. Bake zucchini uncovered for 25-30 minutes until the edges are brown and the top is starting to turn lightly golden brown in spots.
8. While the zucchini bakes, brown the beef, sausage, and pepperoni in a small amount of olive oil.
9. Spread the sauce over the baked zucchini mixture.
10. Top sauce with the beef, sausage and pepperoni and any other toppings.
11. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and Italian parsley.
12. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and heated through.

Key-friendly foods at our holiday gathering November 2014

This is me, serving up some of that Zucchini Pizza

Zucchini Pizza tastes like pizza, but you need a knife and fork to eat it

This really does taste like pizza!

December 19, 2014

During the holidays I like to make some of my favorite key-foods for my friends and family and this bacon and egg muffin recipe (this is a mock muffin - there is no bread in this recipe) is a dish that I can make anywhere and anytime because you can add whatever ingredients you have on hand. Of course it you don't have eggs, you're out of luck!

Bacon- Egg Muffins

Sometimes I make a quiche with a crust and then cut off the crust for my piece before I sit down to eat it. It's so much easier to say on program if I don't add a crust at all. Another option is to make both a quiche with crust and these muffins, which makes everyone happy.

Also see my similar recipe sausage egg muffins.

Ingredients

• 6 - 9 eggs (6 eggs for a flatter "muffin" or for a taller 9 eggs)
• 12 slices bacon (uncooked)
• 1 cup cheese
• 1 cup meat (optional)
• 1 cup vegetables (onions, peppers, and corn are my standards)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Line each spot with a bacon around the edges.
3. Whip eggs in a large bowl.
4. Mix in cheese, veggies, and meats.
5. Evenly pour the egg mix into each tin.
6. Bake about 25 minutes or until bacon is cooked.
7. Pop out and enjoy!

Recipe above is modified from is modified from this Bacon Egg Wrapped Cheddar Egg Bites recipe.

December 19, 2014

When was the last time you ate a pickle? There are healthy reasons why we should eat pickles, although having pickle juice to prevent muscle cramps is a big enough reason alone. Did you know that when you're craving cheese and crackers a pickle will satisfy you just as much? Or that pickles can cure hangovers?

Photo source

Many of us learned from Julie that pickle juice is a natural remedy for muscle cramps. I don't know about you, but man oh man I've had some wicked bad muscle cramps. Muscle cramps are often caused by mineral deficiencies: night cramps indicate you probably need more magnesium and day cramps suggest more potassium.

I hadn't thought about this, but pickles are a good item for us to bring to holiday parties, along with some protein, because they provide a good crunch and a good chew. When you're tempted by the cheese and crackers at your next holiday party — reach for a pickle instead.

When I was putting together my menu for a party I had last weekend, a jar of pickles was on my shopping list, but somehow I didn't buy them. This weekend I'm sticking to my instincts and bringing pickles to the party I'm going to. I know there will be plenty of protein, because they're serving three pounds of my meatball recipe.

Myths About The Christmas Pickle

This morning my friend shared a link to a story about the myth behind The Christmas Pickle, and while these stories are funny, there is truth behind these myths: the alkalizing effect of the vinegar in pickles helps to restore balance. So it makes sense that when (in one of these stories) the evil innkeeper put the boys in a pickle barrel they were miraculously bought them back to life. 

After reading this article, I realized I'd moved away from eating pickles on a regular basis, mainly because of the '30-day toss foods in a jar from your refrigerator' rule (refrigerated foods begin to break down after 30 days). I disliked tossing pickles, so I stopped buying them. I love pickles and it's time to bring them back. (After posting this one of my key friends informed me to wash the lid of the jar in the dishwasher for three cycles on hot. She said Julie told her group to do with the tops of tomato sauce jars. Thanks Magie!)

As far as the concept that pickles cure hangover (see Keep a Jar of Pickles Handy), I've never tested this theory and I won't need to. Drinking too much vodka, the only alcohol option on program, can lead to making poor food choices. In my opinion, no amount of pickle juice is going to help you get back on program after drinking too much and eating foods not on program. No amount of pickle juice will resolve the guilt you'll feel the morning after. Plus, if you do this on New Year's Eve, what a horrible way to start the first day of the New Year.

Did you know that pickle juice can be re-purposed? After you eat all the pickles, add the remaining pickle juice to mixed veggies, green beans, etc.  I haven't done this, but it's worth exploring. And for those of us who have experienced leg cramps, anything we can do to prevent those cramps is a bonus!

English Christmas Pickle (source)

December 19, 2014

During the holidays it's more important than ever to stay focused on reaching your goal size. It's time to pull out your "before" photos to remember how far you've come on your weight loss journey. Do you remember when you pushed away food cravings even though it was tough? It felt great right? Push away those holiday temptations and stay steady on your journey. You've got this!

Dec. 2009 vs Oct. 2014

Looking back to a photo of me in one of my favorite blouses in 2009, it's so hard to imagine that I did not realize just how obese I was. I am shocked at my size in the photo on the right from Oct. 201, but I'm shocked by how much weight I've lost. I struggle with keeping this in perspective some times, but I'm working on this. Looking back helps me keep my perspective.

Dec. 2011 vs Nov. 2014

In the photo above I'm wearing a red winter coat that I had bought the winter of 2011, ten months on the key program after losing a lot of weight. I felt terrific in this red coat. When I look at the 2014 photo of me in my new plum colored coat, I see a thinner me than I've ever seen before. Woohoo! Talk about a change in perspective: I never before felt thin wearing a winter coat! This is a step in the right direction.

12/13/13 celebrating my birthday with my brothers

Looking further back in time,  the photo above is from ten years ago. On 12/13/04, I celebrated my birthday feeling really good about myself, as I had lost a lot of weight that year. In the year ahead, I gained back all the weight I had lost and then some. It's easy to forget about all the diets we went on and failed at. Success feels so much better! We can take this weight off one time and be done with dieting!

12/13/14 celebrating my birthday with my brothers

This weekend, on 12/13/14, I once again celebrated my birthday with friends and family (something I like to do once every decade). Who would have thought that ten years later I would be happier and healthier than ever before? Not me! What a difference in my life today compared to ten years ago. I feel a hundred times better than a decade ago! I have energy that I never dreamed possible in 2004.

During the holidays temptations are high. Remind yourself that not eating x, y, or z, is just for now, it's not forever. Focus on the people in your life and not the foods being offered. Stay the course and allow yourself to reach your goal size and stay there!

However you celebrate the holidays this year, my wish is that you give yourself the best gift ever: to stay your course on your weight loss journey. Let now be the time for you to stick to your promises and become the healthiest you've ever been before, so that you too can look back at photos in years to come and feel really proud of your weight loss transformation.

May you find peace and joy this holiday season and may you ring in the New Year feeling proud!

Friends and family help set up his little tree

At my birthday party on Saturday, friends and family helped me set up this little Christmas tree with the mini Hallmark ornaments, a gift from my parents many years ago. This morning as I write this post, I pause to remember the wonderful gathering of friends and family over the weekend and ten years ago, and I  remember friends and family who are no longer with us, including my parents and my oldest brother David. 

December 16, 2014