Workout Clothes (and an Oprah reminder)

If you haven't seen the "Oprah" show I was on in November, it will re-air this Monday, June 2. The show is truly inspirational and I often wondered why I was chosen to be on when there were so many awesome people on the show who lost a LOT more weight than me, all through diet and exercise. Their stories are incredible. I hope you'll give it a look. (To read about my Oprah experience, click here.)

On to the workout clothes section of this entry.

My hands-down favorite workout clothes company is Under Armour. Their stuff is expensive and so I only own three items - yoga pants, tank top and t-shirt - but I wear the hell out of them. When I sweat in ordinary cotton, I get really cold when I'm done working out because the clothes stay wet for so long. I don't know how, but UA dries faster and keeps me warmer.

This morning I decided to work out in shorts since I'll be working out at home. I'd never wear shorts to a gym for the big reason I'm sure you can guess: jiggly inner thigh skin. It's not real attractive and yes, I'm vain that way. A lesser reason for not wearing shorts to the gym is that my legs look like...well...scrawny chicken legs. I'm laughing as I tell you this, so don't think I'm being too harsh on myself. They're long and don't really match my short torso, and with knees like mine (you've all seen the photo, right?), my legs really aren't my most attractive asset unless they're covered with tights or tight jeans and boots. (I swear that's why I got picked for the Oprah show.)

Bras. Oy. I've tried workout bras, but they squish what little boobies I have so flat that they're uncomfortable. I hate feeling bound in. Besides, very few bras in my size (34A or 34B) account for loose skin under the arms. I wish they made bras with wider bands. Why do bra designers assume everyone with a 34-inch chest can be held together with string? Drives me nuts.

Anyway, so I work out in underwire bras, some padded, some not - again, it depends on if I'm going to the gym. I don't like to be all "headlights" at the gym, you know? The underwires are a bit uncomfortable, but not as bad as the exercise bras.

Shoes. I just bought a new pair of Asics. They are wider at the top and fit me snugly in the back, not an easy find in a shoe. There's very little leather or binding straps on these shoes, which is good. My feet have never been happier. I should go back to that store and get four more pairs. You know I'll never be able to find this exact type of shoe again.

So what do you all wear when you workout? Any favorites you want to pass along? Any bra advice? As always, post a comment or send me an email! Thanks for reading!
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Announcing the launch of my new website: “Refuse to Regain: Providing a supportive and educational online community dedicated to helping you maintain your weight loss”. I’ve been working on this along with my website partner, Dr. Barbara Berkeley, for a few months now. The blog is in its infancy and will evolve over time, and one day become a “real” website and not just a blog. Check it out and give us your feedback. Join the discussion board! Ask questions! We’d love to hear from you.

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Getting 'Out' of a Mindset and Adopting a New One

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a question a reader asked a few weeks ago: “What can I do to get out of the mindset of wanting to see immediate results?” I totally relate to that feeling and still find myself wandering into that mindset with other of my life journeys or decisions. Thinking about my answer has renewed my conviction that slower is better. Here’s why.

When I first started losing weight, especially the first 50 pounds, I was highly motivated. Almost too motivated. There were some days I felt so desperate to get the fat off that I’d chastise myself for the following: 1) putting on the pounds in the first place; 2) waiting so long to start doing something about it; and 3) not getting it off faster. I’d get this really anxious feeling throughout my body, like I couldn’t get the fat off fast enough, like a centipede was crawling up my leg. “Get it off me!” I screamed in my head.

I spent way too much time being angry and judgmental, too. I’m sure this will sound familiar: You get on the scale and see you’ve lost a pound or two, so you’re a “good” person. You get on the scale and you’ve stayed the same, lost “only” point something or, God forbid, gained, so now you’re a “bad” person. I still struggle with this. I’m “good” if I eat or exercise perfectly and I’m “bad” if I don’t. I’m always reminding myself that I’m on a lifelong journey of eating well and exercising, not just a day trip.

I’m not a bad person if I don’t feel like going to the gym. Rather than have that emotional knock down drag out and calling myself names, I’m learning to ask myself, “Why don’t I want to go to the gym?” The answer that emerges is never “Because I’m a bad person.” The answer is always something tangible like I don’t feel well or something is on my mind that is distracting me. Those are issues I can deal with. Calling myself a name does nothing more than make me feel worse than I already do. This also works when you see a number you don’t like on the scale. Instead of judging, ask yourself, “OK, what are some of the reasons this is the number I’m seeing?” Work with yourself instead of against yourself.

When Claire grabs something she shouldn’t put in her mouth, like one of the dog’s rawhides, I take it away and immediately give her something she can put in her mouth. She’s usually quite happy with the exchange if she notices at all. When she crawls toward electrical cords, I tell her “No” and move her to another part of the room that is safe. This often times makes her mad and she’ll turn around and head back in the direction of the cords. We go a couple rounds before I get her satisfactorily distracted with a toy.

That’s kind of how I view “getting ‘out’ of a mindset”. We have to replace destructive thoughts with tolerant ones. It takes a conscious effort to change our self talk from negative to positive, but being fully aware of what we are saying and how it affects our behavior will turn our weight-loss journey into more than just a “Get it off me!” race to some goal we think will make us happy. By being happy in the process of losing weight, by being accepting of our bodies and what they do for us, by appreciating that we’re taking good care of ourselves by eating well and exercising, and forgiving ourselves those times when we don’t, we’re learning to love ourselves as we are in the moment.

There’s a reason, other than the baby’s physical growth, why pregnancy is nine months long. It gives parents time to prepare for the huge lifestyle change that occurs when a baby joins the family. It’s like that with weight loss, too. Every milestone, sometimes every five pounds, comes with a change to our bodies, and we need time to adjust to and appreciate that change. I didn’t start appreciating those changes until I settled my mind down a bit after losing 50 pounds. I bought some new clothes because I was still wearing the old ones, and seeing my body in well-fitted clothes helped me enjoy the body that was emerging.

This journey takes a lot of deep breaths, a lot of patience, and a lot of attitude adjustments. By being your own best friend, by standing beside yourself instead of always running away from who you are in the moment or standing over yourself like some mean coach, chastising your mistakes, you can appreciate who you are and see more clearly who you want to become.

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It's Finally Spring!!

I’m digesting the bugs I inadvertently feasted on during my 15-mile bike ride through Cook Forest today. They were everywhere, slamming me from all sides, but that’s wasn’t a problem. It’s warm, I was on my bike, and all was right with the world. So what that I found a bite on my thigh when I was in the bathtub earlier this evening? No matter. It was a fabulous ride. I only had to stop twice to sit on a hard rounded surface to rub my right butt cheek muscle because I was tightening up, a sciatic problem I developed this year. Go figure. I rode 15 miles in 70 minutes – just a shade off 13 mph; a nice pace, nothing that makes my thighs yodel.

People were on the river canoeing, fishing, swimming, and sunning themselves on the rocks along the shore. I love to watch people lay out their picnic table food, play volleyball and bocce ball, sit around in the sun while kids climb the jungle gym and play in the sand. It’s energizing being out in the buzz of life around a river. Never mind that Memorial Day weekend is the “official” start of summer. In my book it’s finally spring.

I grow mostly perennials in my gardens, but I love sunflowers, basil, violas, petunias, dahlias, pansies and dwarf grasses that only live one season, so they get bought and planted in one big weekend gardening bonanza. That weekend is usually two weekends ago, but it’s been so cold and we’ve had two frosts so this was my first opportunity.

Rather than feel behind, I’m just sucking up the time and enjoying my deck and porch starting now.

It’s kind of like having a bad day or week or month of food or exercise choices. You can’t do anything about the time that’s gone. You start from now and go forward. Every moment, every breath, every decision.

It’s spring! Are you making the most of it? Planting your garden? Riding your bike? Soaking in the energy around you?

You might ingest some bugs along the way., maybe pick up a bite or two, but damn….isn’t it worth it?

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Back From Da'Burgh

Sorry I've been incommunicado this week. My son-in-law was out of town and so I was in Pittsburgh with my daughter and granddaughter, doing Grammy Lynn stuff - you know, buying Claire lime green sandals and orange sandals and pink sandals and dresses to match. We also bought a new bath book, "Caps For Sale," and few books for a friend's new baby. Claire recommended her favorite Sandra Boynton books.

I did well with holding her and getting her in and out of her stroller. My wrists held up well and I made sure to not tax them to the point of pain. It’s not easy when I want to hold that kid all the time and kiss her cheeks. She’s just so addicting!

I went to Trader Joe's with my friend Carol yesterday morning. I haven't been there in at least two months. I have a new food find. It’s the Food For Life Ezekiel 4:9 Organic Cinnamon Raisin bread. It’s whole grain, 80 calories, no fat, 2 grams of fiber and a nice amount of potassium. Low sodium, too. Toasted, it’s the only way I’ll eat raisins. I tried a slice this morning with a little Land ‘O Lakes light butter (1/2 teaspoon at the most) and it was the perfect pre-workout food! Very yummy.

I feel a bit off this week in terms of exercise. I haven’t done a cardio workout in three days. Today I hit the elliptical for at least 30 minutes, but I’m trying to not feel guilty or regret that I missed the chance for a cardio workout on Tuesday. I made the choice to stay in the house with my daughter and granddaughter in case they needed me instead of go to the gym for an hour. I know I made the right decision, but I still, after all these months in maintenance, go into a sort of panic mode, that “Oh my god I’ll gain 170 pounds TOMORROW if I don’t work out TODAY!”

Irrational, yes, but very real and something I have to deal with, think about, work out in my head. Staying present, being mindful…

How do you talk yourself down from those high places? What are your coping mechanisms?

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Another Food Combo You Probably Already Knew About

I just finished a bowl of oatmeal. Not earth shattering news, I know, but usually I just eat oatmeal straight up, no fuss (except for last week's Choco Monkey Oatmeal from Hungry Girl's website). Today, I added 2 teaspoons of real maple syrup, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a quarter cup of lite vanilla soy milk, and it was fabulous! Who knew? Probably all of you reading this ;)

I actually woke up thinking about maple syrup this morning. I crave it sometimes, like when I get a peanut butter itch or a hankering for real cream in my coffee. I laid in bed thinking how I might work maple syrup into my breakfast without making pancakes or French toast. That's when I imagined the oatmeal/syrup/cinnamon/soy milk combo. It tasted wonderful in my head and equally so for real.

I blame my friend Gail Gedan Spencer over at The Skinny for my syrup craving this week. She told me that on Mother's Day her husband made her pancakes. When I asked if she used real maple syrup, she said, "Yep, had the real maple syrup -- my son has never met Mrs. Butterworth."

I used to do sugar-free or "diet" syrups until I wrote an article last year about maple syrup producers here in northwest Pennsylvania. I toured a maple farm and got to taste several kinds of syrup. I vowed then and there to never go back to "fake" syrup. You might get more "syrup" for your calories with the fake kind, but you don't need much of the real stuff to make a big impact on your food.

I used to experiment with food combinations, but I stopped when I joined Weight Watchers three years ago. I got so dull. That's why I've been printing recipes from the PB2 (powdered peanut butter) website at Bell Plantation all week, trying to find ways to incorporate peanut butter into my otherwise boring food life. Thus the reason I finally figured out peanut butter and bananas work well together.

One other food combo (actually, this is a condiment combo) I've had a yearning for lately is ketchup, mustard and chopped onions. My mom used to make sandwiches with that condiment combo when I was a kid. Here’s what you do: Take whatever lunchmeat combo you want and a slice or two of your cheese of choice and place them on one side of a good hoagie or other thick bun. In a bowl, combine equal amounts of ketchup and mustard and add two or three tablespoons of chopped or diced onions. Slather that on the other side of the bun. Put both bun halves under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese melts and the bun gets toasty. Slap it together and call it a sandwich! I plan to make that tomorrow, only I'll use a whole grain bun and low-fat cheese only. It will still be very yummy, even without the salami and bologna I used to use, because the warmed ketchup/mustard/onion combo makes the sandwich.

What are your favorite food combos? Let's see if you convince me and the others who read my blog to try your suggestions. Leave a comment or send me an email!

Before I go, my intestines called and said, “Stop feeding us fiber yogurts!” I can eat 15 grams of fiber in one sitting when it's a combination of veggies and beans, but give me 8 grams of fiber in Fiber One yogurt or 5 grams in Benefiber yogurt and I need to be quarantined for the rest of the day! What the heck kind of fiber is in that stuff? I'm going back to normal yogurt from now on. Have you had “problems” with these new yogurts?

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Announcing the launch of my new website: “Refuse to Regain: Providing a supportive and educational online community dedicated to helping you maintain your weight loss”. I’ve been working on this along with my website partner, Dr. Barbara Berkeley, for a few months now. The blog is in its infancy and will evolve over time, and one day become a “real” website and not just a blog. Check it out and give us your feedback. Join the discussion board! Ask questions! We’d love to hear from you.

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Separate Meals

Announcing the launch of my new website: “Refuse to Regain: Providing a supportive and educational online community dedicated to helping you maintain your weight loss”. I’ve been working on this along with my website partner, Dr. Barbara Berkeley, for a few months now. The blog is in its infancy and will evolve over time, and one day become a “real” website and not just a blog. Check it out and give us your feedback. Join the discussion board! Ask questions! We’d love to hear from you.
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That announcement will begin all new blog entries for the next few weeks, so you’ll have to skip on down to the “meat” of the blog down here for awhile. I’m just so happy about our new site, and with new readers finding this blog every day, I want to make sure I have my bases covered and not miss anyone. It’s my party, right? LOL

OK, on to the question of the day from Debbie (and reiterated by Tawanda and anonymous): “While you were losing weight, did your family eat what you were eating? Did you cook separate meals for them or did they fend for themselves?”

When I started Weight Watchers in February 2005, my kids were already grown and living on their own. It was (and still is) just my husband and me, but my stepsons visit often.

Back then, I was still eating meat and had modified many of our favorite meals to make them more calorie friendly. Larry, my husband, wanted to lose 20 pounds so he ate what I ate and lost the pounds in a few months (and has maintained that loss for three years!). When I started changing to more vegetable- and bean-based meals, I would often add to Larry’s meal with a separate piece of meat like a chicken breast or lean hamburger, something simple.

Now that I’m a vegetarian, I often make two separate meals, like maybe three or four times a week. Sometimes the meal intersects. For instance, the other night I made a really tasty spinach and lentils recipe for both of us with a side of poached fish for Larry. Tonight we’ll eat the same thing when I make spinach manicotti with my homemade sauce made with roasted roma tomatoes. We’ll probably have broccoli and some kind of bread or toast with it.

I often make separate veggies. He’s a straight up steamed veggies kind of guy. I like roasted, or if I do steam them, I add parmesan cheese or Mrs. Dash to mine.

I use the crock pot a LOT when I cook for Larry. Last night I made him barbecue ribs using an old family recipe that translates well to slow cooking. I also made him “half baked potatoes,” too. (Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut russet potatoes in half lengthwise. Pam a cooking sheet and set the potatoes cut side down on the sheet. Top each with a teaspoon (or more if you want) of margarine or butter, then bake until the bottoms are brown and slightly crisp, about 60 minutes.) He wanted steamed cauliflower while I wanted roasted zucchini, onions, squash, carrots and red peppers.

I don’t spend much more time cooking separately for Larry because I plan in advance and try to utilize many of the same ingredients for his meal that I’d use for mine. And as I said before, he eats the same thing as me a few nights a week or often our “side dishes” will intersect.

I also like to cook ahead. I set aside time on most Sundays to cook soup or stews – some for Larry and some for me. I freeze them in single-serve containers so Larry has a healthy lunch to take to work with him.

Now that it’s grilling season, Larry does a lot of the cooking. We’ll experiment this year with vegetarian dishes on the grill along with his once-a-week beef fix.

When my stepsons visit, I cook what I know they’ll eat. I use low-fat meats and I make sure they eat veggies and fruits. I sometimes sneak some soy in and they have no idea. Heck, they’re 15 and 16. They shovel food and hardly taste it!

One of their favorite meals when they’re hear is pizza made with Flat Out wraps. We use low-fat cheese and turkey pepperoni and they love it. I make my own little pizza with the same sauce and cheese, so it’s no extra work at all for me.

One more example (OK, two). This week I made my favorite “comfort” veggie dish, Vegetable Paprikash. Larry likes chicken paprikash, so I made the entire meal, scooped out my portion, and added chicken to Larry’s portion. Simple. Same thing with the fried rice I made Tuesday. I made the entire thing vegetarian, took out my portion, and added pieces of chicken to Larry’s. Again, no real extra work. I just cooked a chicken breast in a little olive oil in a pan on the stove while the brown rice cooked.

One important note about holidays. I cook the traditional meats for our family holiday meals – turkey, ham, that sort of thing – and I make traditional side dishes using their original full-fat recipes. I add sides to our menu that I enjoy, too, and I might make myself something completely separate, but I love cooking, especially the big holiday dinners. I just make sure I send all the leftovers home with the kids! No sense in keeping temptation around. I’m a HUGE stuffing fan (as many of you have read here before).

I hope this answers your question adequately. Let me know if you want any more details.

Have a great day everyone! I’ll update again on Sunday, if not before.

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A Skin/Cellulite Rant + My New Food Love

Thanks, everyone, for your input on my last blog about my image being used in places I didn’t authorize. Roni, I may take you up on your offer and send YOU after them if I get no satisfaction! LOL

I was bored in line at the grocery store yesterday and looked through a celeb magazine showing photos of skin/cellulite on stars (women, OF COURSE. Why are men always spared those photos?). The magazine, as usual, branded these loose skin and cellulite issues as “problems” – horrible and wretched and “how can they stand to live with themselves” type of problems. I thought to myself, ‘It’s just skin! How is that hurting them or hurting me or hurting anyone else?’

Then I thought about how air-brushed our celebrity culture is and wondered if most people believe that air-brushed and tons of makeup is reality? Is that what we are all to aspire to?

I have skin issues. Not as many as some people who’ve lost a lot of weight, and I don’t think of my issues as a problem, but I’d be pissed if someone took a photo of my stomach or my inner thighs when I was unaware and plastered it on the cover of a magazine and called it “ugly” or labeled it “bad.” What’s bad about it? What’s so awful terrible about our bodies that other people are so offended?

Fat or thin, we all have things we don’t like about ourselves, but making peace with our outside appearance is better than labeling ourselves as inferior or not worthy or somehow flawed because we aren’t air-brush perfect. I like to think how I conduct myself, if I’m kind and show love and compassion, is more important than how much loose skin I have or if my face breaks out once in awhile.

There’s a balance between body and mind that these magazine editors aren’t getting. I may not always like how I look, but I don’t ever think that my appearance is more important than the person I am inside.

OK, rant over. On to my food discovery.

My new favorite pre-workout pre-breakfast: half a lite English muffin, toasted and topped with half a sliced banana and 1 tablespoon of PB2, a powdered peanut butter made by Bell Plantation that has only 2.5 grams of fat in 2 tablespoons – a MIRACLE food in my book.

I used to think people were nuts to combine peanut butter and bananas. (Wasn’t that Elvis’s favorite sandwich? See why I thought it was a nuts thing to do? I love Elvis, but he was a bit odd.)

Anyway, I was in the mood for PB2 and an English muffin on Sunday, but I also wanted some fruit and bananas were all we had in the house (except for prunes and I wasn’t in the mood so early in the morning, you know?). I thought of Elvis and all the other people I know who rave about peanut butter and bananas and I tried it. And I loved it. And now it’s my new favorite pre-workout pre-breakfast. It will get me through 45 minutes on the arc trainer, a brisk 10-minute walk and a 15-minute ab workout this morning before coming home and having a “real” breakfast. Probably a spinach omelet. Not sure yet.

What will you feed your body today and more importantly, how do you FEEL about your body today?

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Photographs and The Internet and Your Opinion Needed

Hungry Girl has done it again. Nothing any restaurant could serve for Mother’s Day brunch can compete with Choco Monkey Oatmeal (click and scroll). I once told my kids that since adopting my new way of eating back in 2005, I no longer “celebrate” with food, but I take it back. I’m celebrating motherhood with a big bowl of chocolate oatmeal right now as I type. It’s fabulous (both mothering AND the oatmeal).

As some of you have noticed, I changed my blog photo. I also used a new one in the comparison shot on my web journal Lynn’s Journey. My friend Pam is a photographer (and she’s on WW and nearing goal – Go Pam!!) and I asked her to take my official “after” photos. I should have done this sooner, but I had no idea a year ago that I’d get so many requests from the media and health professionals for before and after photos of little old Lynn in Podunkville. Besides, I hate being photographed and so I dragged my feet. Now that I’m launching a weight maintenance blog site with my website partner, Dr. Barbara Berkeley (I’ll be making that announcement here very soon), I knew I had to stop procrastinating and just do it. So last Wednesday, Pam came over with her two little boys and her camera and she shot me in three outfits.

It’s like ripping off a Band-Aid. If you have your picture taken quickly, it doesn’t hurt. The photo session only took 30 minutes, and because they were digital, I could see the results right away. Not bad, I thought. High praise from a woman who’s spent much of her life hiding behind the camera or poised behind people or objects when the camera is pointed in her direction. Now I have photos that don’t include my couch in the background or me with other people. I wish I had them a few weeks ago when First for Women contacted me asking for after photos. I’m pretty sure they’ll use one of me in California on vacation. I’m such a newb!

I need your opinion. I got an email on Saturday from a lady in New Zealand who told me she read my story in a New Zealand health magazine called Dash. I had no idea. I emailed the editors and asked if they’d send me a copy of the magazine. If they respond, I’ll ask them how they found my story and if they got permission from that source. However, if something’s online, is it automatically public domain?

Last night, a few Weight Watchers board members emailed me to say my torso was being used on an ad on Facebook for some weight-loss “miracle tea”. The company used a photo of me from my website wearing a brown shirt and leggings. They cropped off my head and boots and show only my middle with the caption “Get Rid of Belly Fat” or something like that. Can a company do that? Use my torso without my permission to sell a product I’d never use?

I’m afraid to find out where else I’m showing up these days. I won’t Google myself anymore because the last time I did, I read some really unkind things about me in some jerk’s blog shortly after the CNN piece came out. Maybe that’s not good policy, though. Maybe I should Google myself. You think?

Well, the Choco Monkey Oatmeal is gone, but it was a filling 3 WW Points and will keep me going on my bike ride and walk later this morning. Thanks for listening to me. I always appreciate your feedback. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who mother people and pets and gardens and most of all, yourself. Be good to yourself today.

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Answers to Questions & A Few Comments

From wine to couscous to exercise, the advice and tips and experiences you write about in your comments and emails continue to motivate, amuse, teach and make me think. What a gift you all are to me! Thank you!

I want to address three emails and comments I’ve received in the last week, starting with must-haves at the grocery Store. Joy asked me about this and I thought it would be a great opportunity to ask you what your “must haves” are.

Here’s what my grocery list looks like most weeks. Some things, like onions and potatoes, I don’t buy every week because I buy them in bulk and they keep. These are just the things I can think of in order of how I select them aisle for aisle in the grocery store:

Spinach
Mushrooms
Edamame
Shredded carrots
Strawberries
Asparagus
Red leaf lettuce
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Baby carrots
Green beans
Peppers (mostly red)
Cilantro
Broccoli sprouts
Bananas
Apples
Blueberries
Melon
Potatoes
Onions
Brussels sprouts
75% reduced fat Cabot cheese
Fat-free sour cream
Yogurt
Eggs
Sugar-free pudding
100% pure pumpkin
Pam cooking spray
Cherry scented prunes
Dried beans (all types)
Brown rice
Whole wheat couscous
Whole wheat egg noodles
Whole wheat pasta
All kinds of mustard
Boca burgers and “meat” starters
Frozen spinach and other veggies
Hummus
Lite 100% whole grain English muffins
Werther’s Original Caramel Hard Candies
And tonight I bought some FF, SF vanilla frozen yogurt

I also love green tea, PB2 (dried peanut butter at www.bellplantation.com), fruit spread, pita, corn tortillas, (I know I’m forgetting a ton of stuff), whole grain crackers, Shredded Wheat ‘n Bran….

What’s on your list that’s not on mine?

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Shelly asked me how the refried bean recipe turned out using dried legumes. It went GREAT! Tasted fabulous! I was glad to regulate the sodium content and heat. It makes a great sandwich spread and dip.

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Finally, icatch22 wrote this in response to my blog about how I need to eat/chew something when I’m on a writing deadline: “I saw your story on CNN and tracked you down. This blog reminds me of a conversation I had the other day with an herbalist colleague of mine the other day. I mentioned to her that I used to love chewing gum. During school and college, I chewed gum all the time! I never smoked, but needed that oral fix. She told me a theory that when you stimulate the roof of your mouth, you are actually connecting to the part of the brain for learning. Not sure if that's true, but it may explain the oral fixation when you write.”

I LOVE this theory! Thank you icatch22!

And thank you again to all of you awesome readers of my blog. You are my friends, my community and I am so very grateful you are here and listening and responding.

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Eating Healthy (These Days) On A (Tight) Budget

I confess I haven’t paid much attention to the price of food until recently. Our grocery budget – around $125 a week – allowed me to buy what I wanted to support the kind of diet we’ve adopted. Nothing fancy, mind you, but an occasional higher-priced fish or a free-range chicken (for my husband) made its way into my cart, sometimes an unusual bread or cheese or organic something or other. Lately, however, the price that comes up at the end of checkout is significantly higher than $125. I’ve started to notice why and am trying to do something about it.

For instance, a bag of triple-wash Dole lettuce makes two Lynn-style salads. A bunch of red-leaf lettuce makes three to four. The bag costs $2.88. The bunch is $1.60. The cute little grape tomatoes in the plastic containers cost $2.49 for three servings. For $2.49, I can get four large slicing tomatoes for 6-8 servings. Better yet, I’ll raise my own grape tomatoes this year and harvest hundreds of them for a few months for only the cost of a few tomato plants (around $2). Then there’s the frozen fruits and vegetables vs fresh fruits and vegetables debate raging in my head. A box of frozen spinach is around $1. A bag of fresh spinach is $2.90, both offering around two Lynn servings. Fresh blueberries are $3 for a half pint. Frozen, I can buy a bag of berries for $2 that yields roughly three cups.

Beans. A can costs around $2.50 and offers roughly three to four servings. A bag of dried beans is less than $1 and offers around 13 servings. Ergo, I’m learning to cook with dried beans. In fact, there are pinto beans cooking in the crock pot right now that will be turned into refried beans later this afternoon.

I started making my own salad dressing because store-bought were so high in sodium. Now I’m realizing the economic benefits of making my own. (New favorite homemade dressing alert! Tangy Tomato Dressing. Recipe below.)

Organic isn’t in my budget anymore. This isn’t the best example, but it’s one that came up this week while shopping: a jar of organic tarragon is $4.99 vs a jar of regular old tarragon at $2.49. As much as I want to support organic farmers, and as guilty as I feel saying this, my choice comes down to economics.

I did some web surfing today to find healthy yet economic recipes and found this site from the Food Stamp Nutrition Connection. The Recipe Finder database gives nutritional information as well as the cost per recipe and serving. These prices are not based on current food prices, but they are a pretty good ballpark figure. Add 5-10 percent to what is quoted and you’ll know roughly what you’d pay now.

It’s a resource for nutrition educators, however, their recipe database is an excellent source for anyone looking for economical and nutritious meals.

Here’s this blog’s question: Have rising food prices impacted your food choices? What changes have you made to eat healthy within your budget?

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As promised, here’s the new dressing recipe I found and have fallen in love with:

Tangy Tomato Dressing (from the “SuperFoods Rx Diet” book)
Makes 8 servings (2 tablespoons each), 33 calories per serving

½ C diced fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes, drained
1 T red wine vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T chopped fresh chives
1 clove garlic, minced
½ T lemon juice
½ T hot sauce
Water (they recommend a half cup, but it makes the dressing a little runny)

Place all ingredients in a blender. Puree until smooth. Allow flavors to meld for 10 minutes. Refrigerate the leftovers.

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Riddle Me This

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to notice this, but when I work out, especially if I’ve had a longer, sweatier workout, I’m not hungry during the day and don’t feel like eating much. When I take a day off, I’m ravenous.

I had a heckuva time getting the workout mojo going this morning. My plan was 30 on the elliptical, 20 minutes for abs and 20 minutes for strength training – my typical strength training routine that I do three times a week. I was feeling fatigued (the lilacs are blooming and it was raining, a double whammy hitting the arthritis and my head), but I trudged through 15 minutes on the elliptical, promising I’d do another 15 after the abs and arms. But a funny thing happened on the elliptical the second go around. After minute nine, I did what many of you told me you do: I told myself “Five more minutes. You can do five more.” Then after five minutes, I did another five, then another and another until I’d gone 30 minutes! I could have gone longer but I had the rest of my day to live so I finished up and showered.

I’d eaten a banana and a small container of yogurt at 7 a.m., so I had a salad and a homemade whole grain blueberry muffin around noon and then went grocery shopping. I ate an apple in the car. It’s now 3:15 and food just isn’t appealing. I feel fine. I just seem to get this way after a good hard workout. Yesterday, my day off, I counted the hours until dinner!

Does this happen to you? What are your theories surrounding this phenomenon. I know I could look it up online, but I’d rather hear your opinions before I do. You guys explain things so much better than medical websites.

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