What I really wanted to say to her is this....you are a soul, a spirit, a personality.....you are your talents, your strengths, your fears, your sense of humor, your likes, your dislikes, your love, your passions, your spirituality. The vessel that carries YOU is apple-shaped. You are not your body shape. When you die, nobody is going to cry and say, "I will miss her so much, she was such a skinny girl."
So, can we please stop confusing who we are with what our bodies look like? Can we please stop defining our self worth based on what size jeans we wear? Can we stop being embarassed by pictures of ourselves? I hope so, because I've got a doozy to share with you.....
That's me. Seven years and 50 pounds ago. And that is not baby weight. That is "I weigh more when my baby is 15 months old than I did 9 months pregnant" weight. Have you ever noticed that when someone is really stressed they either gain a lot of weight or lose a lot of weight? What is it about food that it plays such an important role in our lives? I don't know the answers, but I do think that if we can change our perspectives on food we can change the role that food plays in our lives. How many of us reach for a bell pepper when we are stressed? I am guessing most of us head for the pantry and reach for something in a box with the words high-fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, and enriched on it. And that is why we need to eliminate our dependence on processed foods, right?
I want to share with you something I saw on pinterest. Seeing as I have been known to flip the double bird and scream "I hate you" at my scale, I am tempted to do this at home.
I also wanted to share a quote from JK Rowling. You may have heard of her, she's written a few books.
"Is 'fat' really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', 'boring' or 'cruel'? Not to me."
Now, am I advocating we all be fat and happy? Um, no. I am advocating we all be healthy and happy. So, how do we get there? The diet that most of us should follow is this.....eat lean protein, good fat, complex carbohydrates and avoid simple carbohydrates. While I don't advocate strictly counting calories, be mindful of how many you are consuming. You can use a calorie counter like this to get an idea of what you should consume. Here's a breakdown of what you should eat.
lean protein: seafood, poultry, eggs, beans, lean beef, dairy, and soy
good fat (avoid saturated and trans fat): monounsaturated fat (sunflower, saflower, hazlenut, olive, canola, avocado, almond, peanut, cod liver oils; seafood; nuts and nut butters) and polyunsaturated fat (fish, flaxseed, walnuts, legumes, and seeds)
complex carbohydrates: vegetables, fruit, beans, and whole grains
A typical day could be this:
breakfast: 2 avocado eggs, sweet mini bell peppers
snack: spinach smoothie
lunch: quinoa and black beans (see below) apple
snack: celery and peanut butter (ants on a log!)
dinner: grilled chicken breast with spinach and beet salad
Quinoa and black beans
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
- 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
- Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
- Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.
Doable, right? And we're all in agreement, right? We're going to eat right, exercise, and enjoy life!
Does anyone here love to snack? I know I sure do! We eat a lot of air-popped popcorn, and I was pleasantly surprised to read that there are some nutritional benefits of eating popcorn. I recently bought a bottle of butter flavored grapeseed oil from Wildtree. Oh. My. Delish. I pop it on the stove with a covered saucepan. It's so easy and we all love it. So, for times that you really are craving a cracker/chips snack, reach for some popcorn instead!
