Disorderly Conduct

A couple weeks ago it was "Eating Disorder Week", or so says The National Eating Disorders Association. Just think about it for a second or three. EATING disorders. We are a nation of 'disorder-ers' from A to Z. Why? Is it because we want to categorize things? Or label things? Or organize things into neat little boxes and packages of thought? Is it because we want an excuse for something not working?

"I have an eating disorder so I am not responsible for being overweight."

It is something like wanting that magic pill to 'fix' us. We want to take a pill and be thin. POOF! Like magic. We all know it doesn't really happen that way. Oh sure, we can take a pill for a while and lose some weight, but if we stop taking the pill, the weight comes back on. Or we suffer from side effects of a pill and get even sicker!

There are no magic pills. I often say it is not as simple as calories in, calories out but it really IS just that. I know there are flaws in how thermodynamics works in the calories in calories out theorems. The problem is that a calorie is not exactly just a calorie. If our calories in are from cakes and cookies and fried foods, our body will react differently than if those same calories are from vegetables and real foods.

I can't make you thin. Your best friend, your mother, your father, your sister, your brother, your spouse, your partner, not even your God can make you thin. YOU are the only one that can do this. Everyone else can help but only YOU can make it work.

I wish I could make folks believe what I say when I am speaking in our weight loss support group. I have a simple message for them, but they are still too often, looking for the magic answer. It is NOT magic! It is a lifestyle. It is a mindset. It is not that hard! So few believe me. I don't blame them. I did not believe those who came before ME with similar messages. I get it now. I hope you do too!

I came across this nifty idea for quick and easy lunches:

Some people make six lunches, six dinners, and even six breakfasts, a week at a time. They eat the same thing day after day. How boring you say? Why? If we take the power of food/eating away and only use food for nourishment, what matters if it is the same thing or not, every day? 

I don't know if I could do this with every meal. I already do have two breakfasts that are pretty much the same, day after day. If I am hungry for oatmeal, I eat oatmeal. If eggs sound better, I have them. Lunches are pretty close to the same too. I love a good salad with chopped chicken. I can cook up a bunch of chicken on a day that I have more time and then not have to cook for the rest of the week. With the basics of chicken and either romaine lettuce or baby spinach, I can make each lunch varied in so many ways! Perhaps I should go into that more on a future posting. I suppose you'd like photos too? I will give it some thought.

One of my faithful readers shared with me that she was having a rough time of it lately too. I didn't mind that she shared her trials and tribulations. Now if I don't mind listening to hers, should I really worry if you, dear readers, are listening to mine? So often, we bloggers write only when things are good. If we are quiet, things might be really bad. We might have gained weight or had a life changing event or just been suffering the mid-winter blues. We feel that no one wants to read about our failures. But is that really fair? Reading that our mentors are struggling and are real people after-all, might actually be helpful. Misery loves company, right? Well, I really do want to keep things on a more positive note here, but I promise I won't shut down and not post because life has become too much of a b@%^h!

I do find this time of year to be a challenge. For me personally, February has always been a rough month. I forget how many years ago I finally figured this out! I am sure part of it is due to the winter blues from lack of sun, or as it has been tagged; SAD=Seasonal Affective Disorder. (another disorder???) Just being aware of this, somehow helps me get through the month.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that maybe I will have to watch what I eat more than those without an eating problem. Maybe I will have moments where I feel angry with the whole wide world for making bad foods taste SO DAMN GOOD! But, the alternative is just not worth it. I think about what would happen if I just stopped watching what I ate and how much I exercised. Is it really worth all this angst to be thin? Why not just be fat and happy? Why? For one thing, I was not fat and happy. I was fat and miserable. Now I am over one hundred pounds lighter. I am not terribly fat. And I am more happy than miserable. I really like not having to carry around all that excess weight. I have reached the point where the thought of going back to the fatter me is more painful than the thought of tracking my food for the rest of my life.

When I get depressed about being different from normal people, I remember that I was not normal when I was obese. People did not see me as normal then. I am seen as being normal now. I like that I can hide the fact that I have to work a little harder at it but, it is worth it...to look normal...to fit in better...and to enjoy life so much more than I knew I ever could! 

One caveat to all this is that most normal people have a burden of their own to bear. It might be as simple as a mole or a physical part they don't like about themselves such as big feet or a crooked nose. Some have eating disorders like bulimia or anorexia. We ALL have our issues. For what it is worth, I am actually able to say I am so proud that I seem to be taking care of my issue and am a better person, a happier person, a healthier person, and a stronger person than I ever gave myself credit for in the past.

Sproing

That is the noise a spring makes when it springs....SPROING! Sorry...Silly Sally seems to be typing a bit, here today.
I know I have not been writing much. I totally missed last week. We've had a minor upheaval here that took up all of my available brain cells. It is all good though! We went to an open house at a charter school in our area and liked what we saw. That was last Thursday. Monday was our son's last day at the public middle school he's been attending. Tuesday was his first day at the new school. Talk about changes! Our son handled this all very well...better than expected actually! It was more nervewracking for "The Mom" who worries too much.

I still don't handle worry and stress very well. In the past I have started smoking sometimes, when under stress. I've wanted to spend days under the covers and not getting up to face the day. The wine in the cupboard gets used a bit more than it should.

This last time it was the wine. That adds up to several hundred extra calories in the course of a week, so I am up in weight again. I know better. Wine is all gone now. Even though you get a price break for buying a case at a time I don't think I will be doing that again. At least not until Christmas!

In my defense (or trying to rationalize my sins) I recently discovered a wine that I had only been able to get back in California, was available here. I bought some before Christmas and have enjoyed it a bit too often since then. So, like any 'treat' that is too tempting, I will only buy some wine every so often and never by the case. It may be cheaper in the pocketbook to buy it by the case, but it is way too expensive on my hips that way!

You might say I should have the willpower to not imbibe. That is your problem. I deal with my issues my way. Not having easy access to a treat or wine or smokes or chocolate IS my way of dealing with temptations. It works pretty good for me.

In other news:

• The Fat2Fitradio.com podcasts have started up again! It is like having an old friend back too. See a link to that website to the left of this blog.
• I have been enjoying a few new web sights too. One of them has some great ideas for foods. It is all based on healthy eating and is called Green Lite Bites. I tried a recipe for butternut squash pizza! YUM! She has a lot of great ideas for packing lunches too.
• Did you know that there are only a few calories difference between a ground chicken patty and a lean ground beef patty? Yup, that is right! We buy the 97% extra lean ground beef and regular ground chicken. The difference, depending on where you count your calories at, was within ten calories. In some cases the beef was listed as having fewer calories! 
• I made some banana bread with yogurt and applesauce instead of oil. It turned out good too! I find the cakes are spongier, but it is worth it to have the treat without quite so many calories, once in a while.
• I had salmon tonight. The guys had those oven cooked fish fillets with beer batter breaded crust and box mix mac n cheese. Do you know there are more ingredients listed in the SALMON than in the mac and cheese??? No more boxed salmon. Fresh from the meat department, hopefully the fish will be not only the main but also the ONLY ingredient.

I am still walking and doing yoga a few days a week. I want to get back to weight training soon. 

That's all the latest from my house. What's new with you?

"It's CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!!"

Captain Obvious is a silly name we use in our family. When something puzzles one of us and the other two see the obvious answer, we will tease and say (in very dramatic voices) "Look!!! It's Captain Obvious!!!" It is sillier when you hear it in person.

I don't like it when I miss something obvious. The first time it happened (when relating to food) was when I realized that just because a food is labeled "Natural" it really doesn't mean a dang thing.

Now the wool has been pulled over my eyes again. We have Kroger stores in our area. I can tell the difference in taste between organic and non-organic chicken. Organic chicken is insanely expensive. (I am about ready to raise my own in the back yard!!!)

Anyway, Kroger's new Simple Truth line sounded like a great deal! Finally a fast and easy way to tell non-organic from organic! Just look for that pretty lime green packaging and you can tell the organics right off the bat!

Oh..... but no grasshopper...it does not mean that at all. Case in point. There are six packages of chicken below. All were marked down in price for quick sale. I was tickled to find both breast strips and boneless, skinless thighs the day I bought these. You can see the prices were from a few dollars per package to over six dollars per package! I was willing to pay the prices though, since they were such a bargain!

(singing) "One of these things is not like the others...one of these things just isn't the same"

Over the past few weeks Krogers has really been promoting their Simple Truth line of foods. I began to wonder how they seemed to have all these new organic foods available! Where had they been all my life? What a wonderful thing, to have affordable organics through the store brands! Then I thought to myself, "How do we really know if these foods are really organic?" There are SO MANY different products coming out in that Simple Truth line. My skeptical brain wanted me to do the research...so I did. The picture below has a circle on one of the packages:

You can click on the photos to see a larger version, but the circle is around this symbol:

If the product doesn't have that symbol, it cannot say it is certified organic. What pisses me off more though, is the green packaging. All six packages have the same size green symbol from Krogers. One says Simple Truth and one says Simple Truth Organic. "HEY, IT'S CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!!"

Shame on you Krogers, for fooling me with this one. You won't get me again...well, not on the fact that your new Simple Truth line is not all organic. It is only organic when it says it is organic AND has that USDA symbol on it.

I do know about cage free, vegetarian fed chicken, that is all natural. Those terms don't mean a dang thing. First off, chickens are not vegan. They eat bugs, worms, and would even scavenge on meat chunks if available...heck they will peck at each other till they kill off the weaker ones!  I know this for a fact. I used to raise chickens on a farm as a kid and on, well into my adulthood.

Cage free doesn't mean they are running through the grassy meadows with the wind blowing in their feathers and the sun shining bright. It just means they are not in a cage. They will be in a large building on the floor though. Many egg layers are caged. Meat birds are generally in crowded conditions so they don't move around too much.

And natural? What does an unnatural chicken look like? Is it purple? Does it have horns coming out of its head? The word natural is not a regulated word. Anyone can use it.

So dear readers, unless you grow it yourself or go to the farm yourself, you really don't know what you are getting. Read the fine print. Look for the USDA logo if you want certified organic. Or get to know a few farmers. I still think I should get a few birds for the back yard. Cock-a-doodle-do!!!