So last night, I sat down to dinner with my husband…this time made cajun crawfish, lumpy sweet potatoes (another bad side dish) and our spaghetti squash and turkey meatball leftovers which I devoured and must say that even on day two, it tasted quite delish. But I digress. Anyway, we got on the topic of my weight loss mission and I told my DH that I had a fabulous idea for a new post – Are Your Friends Making You Fat? And at first, he was a bit squeamish because he doesn’t want me picking on our friends – don’t want to risk pissing anyone off but then he added that there’s actually a show on TV that already covers this topic.
And lo and behold, I googled the word he gave me, Diet Tribe and I discovered there’s a show on Lifetime about five friends who have vowed to lose weight together. My only beef with this new show is that these friends appear as if they’re single – although I haven’t read all their bios so don’t want to jump to conclusions. But when you’re a parent and you’re chowing down on your kids’ food and then finally getting the chance to kick back with friends over a glass of wine and some fried dough with powdered sugar, it’s as if you’ve been transported to a fantasy land where all your cares and troubles melt away. Unfortunately, in my instance it all melted onto my thighs.
And so, I’d like to just take on the topic of Are Your Friends Making You Fat in the most constructive way possible. What I’ve found, without a shadow of a doubt is that the answer is abso-friggin-lutely. Back in the summer, I distinctly remember gaining at least 6 pounds after we spent several days away with good friends and savored bottles of wine, great food and conversation – thankfully the chats were calorie free but the rest of the stuff caused a significant weight gain. Fast forward to the holidays and surprisingly, the exact same thing happened. But this time, in addition to spending time with our good friends and enjoying incredible dinners and mouthwatering desserts, we were also invited to holiday parties that led me to where I am right now – squeezing into tight jeans that were swimming on me last year. All I can say is, thank goodness for stretch denim.
So how do I deal with socializing with friends without gaining a significant amount of weight? Simple…when they reach for the bread basket, I’ll pretend that if I touch a roll I’ll get an electric shock if I lay a finger on the raisin pumpernickel. No, really, I mean it. And when they order two bottles of wine – I’ll have one glass instead of three. And when they order fried dough…I’ll take one little piece instead of five squares – that’s fair – I can’t deprive myself of everything!
So what’s your strategy for dining with friends who might unintentionally sabotage your weight loss plans? Share your story now!
Shedding LBS. With My Weight Loss Coach
So it’s Monday and that means only one thing – seriously buckling down and focusing in on shedding some serious poundage this week. I even tried out a new game on my Nintendo DS called My Weight Loss Coach. It’s pretty fun to do – you select whether you’re a girl or a guy, and they coach you through your day and even give you a pedometer to record the number of steps you’ve taken during their challenges. In fact, at one point, it told me to walk 500 steps and so I spent several minutes confusing my cat as I waltzed around our coffee table to reach my goal.
Of course, I haven’t picked up the pedometer since Saturday but guess what? My kids did. My son and daughter were having a competition last night – who can walk the farthest? While my daughter clocked over 2000 steps, my son was determined and managed to log more than 3000 paces on the pedometer. If only I had my son’s energy – between basketball, skateboarding and the pedometer, I’d be a fitness superstar by now, rather than a flabby blogger.
My burning question is, how many calories can you burn while typing? I think it’s probably about 10 calories an hour – but at this rate, it’s not going to cut it. So today, after I spend the morning at jury duty (I’ve been a juror for what seems like a lifetime), I am going to come home and do my Wii Fit or strap on my pedometer and start walking!
Now I know I haven’t actually shared whether I’ve gained or lost weight yet, but I promise I will release my status by Friday on my Blog Talk Radio Show. In the meantime, I’ve got to bolt so that I don’t get thrown in the slammer because I got caught up writing my latest weight loss essay and was late for jury service.
So my final thought for the day fellow losers – and I mean that in the kindest sense of the word – Nothing tastes as good as thin feels – that’s a favorite quote I got from a Weight Watchers leader back in the eighties. Simmer on that one for a while before you put that piece of chocolate in your mouth (unless of course it’s a Weight Watchers candy!)
Have a weight loss tip to share? Then what are you waiting for? Comment now!
Day 3 – The Girdle Chronicles
Making Spaghetti Squash…
It’s day three of my self-imposed weight loss and fitness plan and today we decided to try our hand at concocting some nutritious eats for dinner. And so, after a 15 year hiatus, I brought back a dish I used to make back before I had kids…spaghetti squash. While I have to preface this by saying that making spaghetti squash can be a total hassle, it is easy to do and it’s filling if you add some protein like turkey meatballs and tomato sauce. So here’s my simple recipe for spaghetti squash.
Spaghetti Squash & Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
1 – Spaghetti Squash
1 Pot
Directions: Boil water with spaghetti squash in it. It’ll take at least 30 minutes for the spaghetti squash to get soft. After a half hour, drain the pot and cut the spaghetti squash in half – length wise.
Once the squash is cut in half, clean out the middle of it with a fork – remove the seeds and discard them. Once the seeds are cleaned out, you can then start scraping the squash with a fork and suddenly, little strands will start to appear that look surprisingly like spaghetti! (but it’s crunchy). Put all the strands back in the pot and then place either homemade or ready made tomato sauce (I used Ragu light – I know, I’m such a great chef) and turkey meatballs.
How to make turkey meatballs:
One container of ground turkey
Two eggs
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
Parmesan cheese
Directions: Mix everything together, roll the concoction into small meatballs and then place on a broiler pan. Then broil the turkey balls in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Once the balls are broiled, you will then put them in with the spaghetti squash. Also – you can also turn the turkey into a meat sauce – crumble up the turkey balls and put them in the spaghetti squash and tomato sauce and bam! You have spaghetti squash with turkey meat sauce.
Add a little parmesan cheese, and there you have it…spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs. While I don’t have the exact Weight Watchers point count, I do know that it’s pretty low since the squash is like 0 points. Anyway, if you have a better recipe, please feel free to share it.
Will let you know in the morning if I’m any thinner. And with that, I’ve completed day three of my diet.
More to come tomorrow!
Related Post:
The Girdle Chronicles Day 1
The Girdle Chronicles
Earlier this fall, I wrote a post about the fact that I was forced to wear a girdle after spending the entire summer eating bad food and drinking way too much wine. I vowed after that fateful day in September when I couldn’t squeeze into a new Ann Taylor Loft dress without it fitting badly in all the wrong places that I was taking a stand and heading back to the place that taught me how to eat right and lose weight the old fashioned way, Weight Watchers.
And so, I joined again, went to a few meetings, lost 3 pounds, gained back two and never returned. Every week, I had another excuse about why I couldn’t make it and now, nearly three months later, I’m up nearly 10 pounds, my Wii Fit called me fat and I’m ready to take lose weight for good this time.
I plan to chronicle my weight loss journey on this brand new page, titled The Girdle Chronicles. On this special section dedicated to weight loss, fitness, healthy recipes and more, you will hear why I have been obsessed with my weight for most of my life. And hopefully, as I share my triumphs and my many falls off the weight loss wagon, you will find a place where you too can relate, laugh and commiserate.
Related Posts:
The Girdle Chronicles
My Wii Fit Called Me Fat
My Life Through Facebook
Our Latest Blog Talk Radio Show
Kim and I are back for our New Year’s show with a special guest, Julie at Cool Mom Guide. Julie is kicking off her Wii Fit Mommies forum on her site and will be hosting an event on Twitter tomorrow night for moms looking to get back on the wagon, grab that balance board and get in shape. Plus, we share lots of shout outs to some amazing moms (and a dad too)! But no need to read about it…listen in right now!
Selena Gomez…Tween Role Model
Check out Selena Gomez’ video for 2008 – you can tell this “Wizards of Waverly Place” star is down to earth and has great friends and a loving family who support and loves her and she loves them right back. Let’s hope there are more teen stars like Selena for our kids to look up to in 2009!
My Wii Fit Called Me Fat
I never thought this would happen – especially since I’ve struggled with my weight for what seems like a lifetime and I’ve been conscious telling my kids never to tease others about their looks, but last night, my daughter teased me because I was overweight.
Now let me backtrack a bit and explain. You see, early yesterday morning, I decided it was time to get back on track with weight loss and finally hopped aboard my Wii Fit (after a 237 day moratorium). At first, I started doing a few of the exercises but then I stupidly decided to do a body test on myself right in front of my two kids and guess what? After my BMI was calculated, my Wii called me Fat! My kids had a rip roaring time with that news. Actually, my son insisted it was wrong (gotta love little boys) and my daughter, on the other hand, became the food police the rest of the day.
When her friend came over to visit and she brought over a tin of chocolate covered pretzels, I asked the girls to hand me one and my daughter looked me straight in the eye and said, “Mom, do you really think you should be having that? I mean, the Wii said you need to lose 7.7 pounds!”
I dismissed her comment and grabbed a pretzel stick lathered with chocolate and oreo filling and continued about my business of the day…responding to several old friends on Facebook.
After our guests arrived for our mini New Years Eve shindig (we thought we were having 12 adults and lost six due to weather, illness and let’s just call the other category “Other.”) As a result, my DH went all out…ordering food for a third world nation and rather than cancel half the order, he kept it intact and we found ourselves eating sliders, penne with Vodka sauce, chicken piccata, steak, spinach, pigs in a blanket and more for 5 hours straight. Add several glasses of wine and I’m sure by now the Wii will say I now have 9.7 pounds to lose.
Back to last night. So I’m in our sunroom chatting with my friends when my daughter walks in and remarks that I was having a very large glass of wine and shouldn’t I be watching what I was eating and drinking because the Wii said I was overweight.
Say what?!?!?! At that point, I gave my daughter an exasperated look and sent her out of the room and then remarked how rude that was…knowing I was going to deal with her at some point in the night. But I didn’t have to do it myself…my DH came to the rescue after I filled him in on her comments and the next thing I knew, she was being read the riot act about the importance of not teasing others (especially their moms) about their weight.
When I went upstairs to have a private chat with her too, she gave her side of the story. “Mommy, I never thought you were fat. I think you’re skinny. It was just the Wii that said it. I never meant to hurt you – I’d never do that, ever!”
And in that instant, I realized that my daughter really wasn’t trying to be hurtful. She thought the Wii Fit news about my weight was funny and decided to share it with friends and family.
I guess now it’s up to me to prove the Wii Fit wrong. So it’s day two and while I’m not going to be checking my BMI this morning, I do plan to kick some tuchis (pronounced too-chis) on the slalom and super hula hoop game. Nobody calls the girl formerly known as Stubby Beth fat without getting their ass kicked on the road back to sveltesville.