I HAVE MOVED

www.mrsratfirelosesweight.com

I will no longer be adding to this post, but have left it up to direct people who may have book marked it.  The new site is a Word Press Site and the tools are MUCH better.  The follow me tools all work, unlike these and I was able to provide a far better organization system.  Please visit me there!

This Blog Is Moving

All Future Posts Will Be A New Address:  

mrsratfirelosesweight.com

I am leaving this one up until I transfer most of the information, and then I will disable the address.  Thank you for following!  The follow this web site buttons work on the next site- these were NOT repairable so I moved to Word Press.   Cheers!

15 Pounds Down

I am registering my May weight loss- 15 pound down, 9 of which were this month.  A new month starts soon and I am looking forward to that.

This is the EASIEST diet I have ever been on- it is hardly a diet at all.  Read info on this blog for more details.

Falling Off the Plan and Back ON

I had two days of overeating that were depressing.  Although my calories never crossed 2400, it was much more than I normally ate.  I was emotionally eating.

The next two days, I continued- after Memorial Day was over, I started gaining my senses. I still did not track the day after, and it made me rather unhappy.  I had taken a full blown detour and broke my own policy to ALWAYS log and track, no matter what!

Now the new day is here. I am logging and tracking again and on my way. That is a good feeling. To start again with clear goal to continue.  This is a marathon not a sprint to the finish.

No one starts a food plan and stays on it flawlessly until every pound is gone.  No one does that.  The key to success is going back on, not concentrating on a failure.

Keep going!

Diet Break…Incorporating a Break into the Diet And still lose weight!

Well it has been almostt 8 weeks or so. I had several days that I binged last month, I recorded it. As of lately, I need one. Not a deadly, guilt ridden crazy stuffing- just higher fat for one than I am eating. I cut it super close yesterday and ate 1900 calories- a 100 more than my outside limit. I normally average about 1500. But I have felt very unsatisfied all day. So I decided to do a break day. I am eating what I want, but recording it. It is not that bad, I am feeling okay with it and satisfied. In month one, my 3 binges were 2300 or so.  Today and yesterday, a bit high but nothing like the old ones.  I can't imagine eating that much now in general.  Right now I set my limit at 1800, had a few breaches.  Month one, I had the limit at 2000 and the first two weeks, it was hit and miss.  It is MUCH easier now to stay on that path.  And what does it mean if I go off, NOTHING.

As my food intake is controlled now, the binge ail not be as deep or as long as the last one. And you know what I say about binges- this too shall pass!

Everyone goes up down and sideways on calories- just just track it no matter what, I do get back on my plan right away.   The old me could take  weeks, months or years  due to the "failure" self talk. There is NO way to wake up one morning, start a food plan and NEVER vary until you lose all of the weight. It is ridiculous and if this is the  expectation, you will be disappointed. If you put more value on this than it is worth- you could end up quite depressed and stuck there a ling time- we all have done that.

Enter your food, even if the food is not standard or on plan food.  No one told you to log and track and only enter what you want. You bite it, you write it.  Expect some on and offs. As time goes no, the off days are fewer and far and you actually enjoy them less, the back on is easy and it is over. The first month I probably had 3 binge days. The second month which is not over, I have had one and a few days I hit the calorie limit. Over the month, this means NOTHING. If you track your food in My Fat Secret, you can open the calendar and see the month view. It will then show what you averaged per day based on the current month.

Happy Dieting! Encourage Each Other- it helps a lot!

15 Pounds Down!

I am at approximately 6 weeks on the plan…4 weeks were just gearing up to get to this diet!  I lost 6 pounds in the first month and 3/4 through this month, I am at a total of 15 pounds down!  I plan to update later today.  Happy Dieting Friends!

Roasted Vegetables…..Recipe

This dish has endless possibilites for combinations.  I use whatever I have on hand.  Basically, all you really need is a pan, olive oil, salt & pepper.  After that, everything is optional!   Today I roasted carrots, green beans and a red pepper. Just allow the hard vegetables to get a 15 minute head start in the oven!

Frozen Peaches, Strawberries & Blueberries…Diet Tip!

I always have bags of unsweetened fruit in the freezer.  When eat it, I just spread it out an a paper plate and eat it piece by piece, frozen!  It is delicious and low calorie. Fruit is packed full of nutrients and makes a wonderful snack, it also takes the edge off the sweet tooth!
Strawberries: 76 calories a cup, Peaches: 61 calories a cup and Blueberries, 81 calories a cup.

Steamed Rice…A Kitchen Staple...

I try and eat gluten free.  My only breach is the breadcrumbs I use on fish or chicken when making my oven breaded Talapia or Chicken.  I do not have a medical reason for avoiding gluten, however, after reading "Wheat Belly", I decided it was better to go without it.  The 'Wheat Belly' diet promises you will lose all of your weight by simply eliminating gluten.  For myself and other people I know, that was not enough to knock off the weight.  I do think the book is brilliant and chock full of actual medical data.  However, I did not experience the magic weight loss from eliminating gluten- even when I did it completely at length.

I use rice in my diet on a regular basis.  I prefer a rice steamer and use chicken bullion water to steam it in.  I store the rice in the refrigerator and use it for, Spanish Rice, Rice Pilaf and Fried Rice.  Steamed rice is very useful. It is drier than boiled rice, it does not stick together and holds extensively as a staple for carbohydrates in the refrigerator.

Parmesan Tilapia or Chicken Breast … EASY recipe...

This is my GO TO recipe when I have a taste for breaded fish or chicken. I keep the fat down by using a Misto Sprayer of Olive Oil with either. If you want less fat,  eliminate the Parmesan Cheese all together. It is delicious without it!  I only use the lemon zest on the fish, I have not tried it on the chicken yet. I do rinse all chicken with lemon before cooking to freshen it.  I like recipes that are simple, quick and can use multiple ingredients items. This fits the bill!

The Little Engine That Could, Loses Weight!

"I think I can, I think I can, I really think I can. 

And I can do most anything if I just think I can!" 

Positive thinking is a habit of which can be learned.  Do you talk to yourself in a destructive manner every time you make and error or eat a potato chip? This habit will destroy anyones dreams.  

Through your "30 Days To Start A Diet"  you need to be particularly careful of this habit and start to break it.  I have never seen anyone succeed on a diet by beating themselves up at every flaw. Or succeed at  anything,  for that matter.   How can you take care of someone you are always criticizing?  You cannot think, that when your weight is gone, you will be happy. Until then, you do not deserve it.  You just hooked another train to your already tired little engine. 

Olympic Skaters think much differently than you do.  They have fallen hundreds of thousands of times. They get up, and try again.  They win or they learn. That is how they make their way to the podium. One day at a time.

Shanghai Chicken Or Shrimp- Easy Stir-Fry... Recipe

This is my Go-To recipe for quick stir-fries.  If using a very large wok, you may have room to push veggies a side instead of removing to cook meats.  The oil is 2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons over a pound and ½ of food…if that is too much, reduce and add water to the wok in its place if needed. Best if you use oil as noted. Tip:  Invest in a digital second timer for stir-fries!  

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail… Recipe

Delicious, Low Fat, Low Calorie…... Super Simple!

Scale Is Not Budging!….What Am I Doing Wrong?

Well, you may want to put your scale in a sunny place, water it weekly and soon, it will start to blossom!  Or, maybe putting on a wig and stepping on it backwards…maybe it will not recognize you.

But the best way to deal with this is understand it WILL happen. Weight goes up, down and sideways in any given day. This is a FACT of the human body…that is a FACT not FAT!

It you record a early morning weight and then have breakfast with liquids, you can go back to the scale, and it has gone up!

I really only care about the weight in the Big Picture.  I weigh myself when I want, but I do not let it tamper with my head! 

I am IN week 7 and have lost 10 pounds.  I will update at the completion of week 8!  

30 Days To Start Your Diet…Step by Step...

Is This YOU on a Diet?  Read On, I have a better idea with NO CRYING Guarantee!

Are you planning to "Start Your Diet Tomorrow" ?  Do you have your latest diet ready to roll?  So…let me understand this. Tomorrow morning, you are going to peel open your eyes, slash your calories and fats in 1/2, give up foods you are accustomed to, start preparing ALL of your food while currently, you use restaurants and processed,  start measuring and weighing, scraping all sugar, butter, fatty foods, junk foods, fast foods, and all high calorie foods.   Have I got that right?  This all starts TOMORROW as you have just clipped a new diet out of a magazine or bought the newest craze bestseller!

That is a tall order.  The chances of you waking up tomorrow and living on cabbage soup for 7 days is highly unlikely.  So put down your calculator- you know, the one where you estimated losing about 30 pounds this month on your new diet!  Chuck the new best seller. Gather up all of your Diet Books and burn them in the yard!  We are not turning a new page, we are THROWING OUT THE BOOK!

Omlette In A Jar…Recipe

Omlette In A Jar…..

Pans, shams!  This recipe only requires one jar and cooks in less than 2 minutes! 

                            

Do I Have A Metabolic Disorder? A Quick Review of Mitochondrial Disease

What is Mitochondrial Disease?

Mitochondrial diseases result from failures of the mitochondria, specialized compartments present in every cell of the body except red blood cells. Mitochondria are responsible for creating more than 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. Cell injury and even cell death follow. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail, and the life of the person in whom this is happening is severely compromised. 

Diseases of the mitochondria appear to cause the most damage to cells of the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscles, kidney and the endocrine and respiratory systems.

Depending on which cells are affected, symptoms may include loss of motor control, muscle weakness and pain, gastro-intestinal disorders and swallowing difficulties, poor growth, cardiac disease, liver disease, diabetes, respiratory complications, seizures, visual/hearing problems, lactic acidosis, developmental delays and susceptibility to infection, insulin insensitivity, kidney disorders and life threatening electrolyte imbalance. 

If your mitochondria of the cell is not processing correctly, you simply do not have enough usable energy to sustain the body. 

Mitochondrial Disorders are one of many diseases of the metabolism.  

Two Sites That May Help:

https://www.fodsupport.org

http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/conditionCategory/food-nutrition-and-metabolism

Do I Have A Metabolic Disorder? FOD Explained

You might. There are MANY disorders or diseases that are categorized as Metabolic Disorders.  I am not a doctor, so I certainly would not know all of them.  However, most of them are Genetic, they are complicated and getting testing is difficult.  There is a shortage of physicians to evaluate these disorders and test as well.

Did you know that most MD is considered a metabolic disorder?

There are many disorders, including a huge family of disorders called Fatty Oxidation Disorders or FOD.  They can be fatal and present many symptoms, including an intolerance to exercise as the person goes into what is called, a metabolic crisis.  There could be many less drastic responses to running out of useable fuel. Severe fatigue, muscle spasms, seizures, collapse, severe overheating, electrolyte imbalance that can be fatal, liver and heart failure, to name a few.  One of the common ER protocols for these patients is to administer D-10 which is a different form of a glucose solution; this provides immediate calories into the system to save the patients life.  In cases where the episodes of Metabolic Crisis have become frequent,  some FOD adults and children have ports installed for this purpose.

Food Entry Tip- Decimals or Fractions Both Work!

Just a quick tip if you are using, My Fat Secret to log and track all food and exercise.  The site allows you to use decimals or fractions when putting in portions.

For example, you just ate some boneless, skinless chicken breast.  You entered that in the search box on the food diary and many selections came up.  Open one and view the drop down menu of portions all all of the foods to pick the most accurate.  However, none of the measured amounts matched your consumption.  What do you do?

If the portion was 4 ounces, and you ate 3/4 of it, you can either put in .75 in the serving box or 3/4 and the item calculates itself.  This is particularly handy if the portion is in a fraction, such as 1/4 cup.  You only used 2/3 of that and you do not want to do the math!  Enter the fraction and it calculates on its own. Almost ALL of the foods have it calculated into grams instead.

This is just one example of how convenient this site is for your tracking.  A German Shepherd to do it!

Keep tracking, if you have any questions- please ask!

http://www.fatsecret.com/Default.aspx?pa=m

One Day At A Time…CHOOSE HAPPINESS!

What choices have I been making to choose happiness? I choose to keep logging and tracking on My Fat Secret, cooking healthy, eating healthy, sharing my pain or happiness with others and allow them to so the same.

I choose to set time for myself every day where I can organize my affairs, and help ward off stressful situations. I also try to spend time with myself in ways that will feed my spirit, not just keep myself entertained until I go to bed. 

I give to service to others, but remember that I need to take care of myself, for when I am not strong; I have no strength to give.

One Day at a Time….