WOW!!!

Last evening daughter Mary showed up with a jar of the Cherry Chocolate Chunk Refrigerator Oatmeal.  She had made two and brought me one to sample.  I had it this morning for breakfast.  The nutritional information is as follows: 274 calories, 8g fat, 55g carbs, 8g fiber, 12g protein; Weight Watchers PtsPlus: 9 .  At first this seemed a little high to me.  But if you subtract the 8g fiber from the 55g of carbs, you have 43g carb.  At 15g of carb per exchange, I was basically eating 3 carb exchanges.  This would have been equal to 1 serving of cereal, 1 serving of milk, and 1 serving of fruit - a well balanced breakfast.  Mary had substituted Truvia for the honey in the recipe.  She used fresh bing cherries, and dark chocolate chips.  She used black cherry lowfat Greek yogurt, and mixed it as instructed.  What did I think????  It was delicious, almost like a sweet dessert.  But it is a legal breakfast.  So now, I need to decide which flavor to make next.  Have a great weekend. 

Healthy Is as Healthy Does

I've recently been introduced to a new website: http://www.theyummylife.com.  Some of the recipes had been pinned to Pinterest, and I found them there.  These refrigerator oatmeals looked so good to me, and I've decided to give them a try. These oatmeal recipes use oatmeal, greek yogurt, chai seeds and assorted other flavors and fruits.  I have recently rejoined Weight Watchers, and the recipes include the Weight Watcher points as well as the other nutrition facts.  So far, I've looked at 14 different flavors, and choosing which to make will be a hard decision.  

As I was checking out the website, I came across recipes for these Healthy Breakfast Bread Puddings.  I think they look Yummy, and they have less than 150 calories.  I'm planning to try both of these, and I think The Yummy Life is one of my new favorite websites.

I Am A Diabetic

There, I've said it out loud.  They say that the first step toward solving a problem is to admit that there is a problem.  Yep, I'm a diabetic.  As hard as I have tried to deny it, I can't any longer.  I've tried to live my life the last few years as if I weren't a diabetic.  But, I need to face the facts - I am a diabetic.  And as soon as I start living like one, my life will change.  I know what I should be doing to bring my diabetes under control, but my sweet tooth is the biggest one in my mouth.  I just don't seem to be able to say goodbye to sugar.  Oh sure, I use Splenda and I drink diet soda.  But I still eat cookies, brownies, and donuts.  Today, that changes.  I need to find things that are diabetic-friendly that will also satisfy my giant sweet tooth.  I'm thinking that sugar-free chocolate pudding, sugar free jello, and whipped cream might just do the trick.  I've heard all about cutting out white foods, foods like white flour, white pasta, white potatoes, and white rice.  And today, I heard Dr. Oz say it again on The View.  The GI Diet (I recently purchased the updated version) follows these same principals.  So, I'm about to give it another shot.  I've heard it said that, "If at first you don't succeed, try try again."  So, I'm about to try and try again.

A New Journey

At the beginning of the year,  I posted about a new journey.  Well, let's just say that the path was rocky and covered with brush.  My numbers haven't come down, my weight hasn't come down, and it seems my life is all about food.  And I hate it.  This past week, I had a headache everyday thinking about diets, what I need to eat, and what I need to buy.  But no more.  I'm tired of thinking about food, diets and all the clutter that goes along with it.  So, starting today, I will begin a new journey to a new life.  No more playing Russian Roulette with my life.  Richard Simmons always said that you don't need a DIET because it has the work "DIE" in it.  But rather you should go on a "LIVE-IT"  so that you can live.  I've decided that I'm going on a Live-it, and food isn't going to be my every waking thought. Wish me luck!

I'm also going to start keeping a journal - not a food journal, but a Life Journal.  A journal where I can write my good thoughts and the bad ones.  I can keep track of how certain foods and activities made me feel.  And try to figure out what makes me happy, and what makes me grumpy.  Do you journal?  If so what do you write about?

I'm Still Buzzin'

Yep, I'm buzzin.  But I'm still frustrated with my numbers.  I've tried counting carbs, no change.  I've tried counting calories, no change.  I've tried using my exchanges, no change.  Do you see a frustrating pattern.  So my new plan is just to eat whatever I want whenever I'm hungry.  No, I'm not crazy.  And I'm not going hog-wild.  But I'm going to eat more often, smaller portions, and what food I crave - minus the sweets.  More veggies, more fruits, more protein.  And I may try to eliminate the white foods - potatoes (I love them), white bread, white flour, and sugar.  But I'm so tired of thinking about food constantly.  I'm so tired of planning, cooking half the day on Sunday to make foods for the week.  I'm so tired of feeling like YUK.

And my battle cry will be. . . I will persevere, I will not give up.

The Word of the Month

I've decided that I need a word for the month.  And for the month of March it is "MOTIVATION".

Dictionary.com describes it as:

mo·ti·va·tion

   [moh-tuh-vey-shuhn]  Show IPA

noun

1.

the act or an instance of motivating,  or providing with a reason to act in a certain way: 

2.

the state or condition of being motivated: 

3.

something that motivates;  inducement; incentive: 

While talking with daughter Mary yesterday, we started to discuss diet and exercise.  And she questioned, how do we motivate ourselves to move, when we've become such sedentary people?  We know what we should do, but where do we get the motivation to do it?  Mary is starting to student teach today, so she will be moving.  But I've got to admit that I've become a "Lazy Boy potato".  Most of my waking hours are spent sitting in my Lazy Boy, my throne if you will.  

Over the past few weeks, in an attempt to bring my blood sugars into a normal range and begin the tedious task of losing weight, I have been analyzing and re-analyzing what I eat .  And what I have found is that it isn't so much what I eat.  Oh I admit that I don't follow my recommended food choices to the letter, but I don't binge or over do the sweets.  But my biggest problem is that I sit. . . and sit. . . and sit.  For hours at a time, I sit. I get up, use the "facilities" and then I return to my throne and I sit!  and sit! and then sit some more!  As my health and physical abilities have declined, Rod has taken over more and more of the household tasks.  So, now that I have identified the problem, how do I fix it?  How do I force myself to begin taking back my life?  Where do I find the motivation to get up off my a$$ and move, regardless of how painful or tiring it is?  I got my pedometer out this morning and had great intentions of starting to keep track of my steps, but it was dead.  And I just had the battery replaced, but I didn't use it.  So once I get a new battery, my plan is to keep track of my steps and try to increase by some each day.  Even 25 steps per day will make a difference.  I live in a rural area, with hills on all sides.  So walking outside is not possible at this time.  And I don't have the money for a treadmill, so that's out of the question.  What I do have is a Wii game system and the Wii Fit software!  Have I ever used it?  Nope, but I did watch it once.  Unfortunately that doesn't make a difference.  I don't want to exercise with an audience.  Do you remember the dancing hippos in Disney's Fantasia???  

Can you say Shamu on dry land.  Last week on Good Morning America they showed this video:

And I immediately thought of myself.  If this big guy can be forced to do sit ups, maybe I should seek out his trainer.  Of course it probably involves food rewards!  Perhaps this could be my motivation, and then again . . . . So, this month, I will be on the hunt for motivation.  Wish me luck!

Slow and Steady . . .

I'm on my way.  When I weighed in this morning, I had lost another 2.8 pounds.  Yipppeee!!!  I've added a new ticker to my page so that I can see how I'm progressing.  I have a renewed excitement.