How did this sad chubby girl….

Me as a Chubby Child

And unhappy, frumpy 28 year old…

Before Losing 28 Pounds on Weight Watchers 20+ Years Ago

Finally arrive at happy, healthy and slim?

Martha at 50 Happy, Healthy and Slim

Well, it certainly didn’t happen overnight!

The process is similar to what I experienced with my chronic low back pain and sciatica more than a decade ago. For what seemed like forever I was in misery, slithering out of bed onto a heating pad to begin my day, limping around and attending yoga classes regularly in search of relief. And then one day, after months and months, I woke up and realized my back no longer hurt. I’m not sure how long the pain was gone before I became aware of it.

The same thing happened with my weight.  After decades of struggle I woke up one day and realized I was slipping into clothes smaller that I had ever worn and seeing a number on the scale I had never thought possible. I was finally free of the food anxiety that had been my constant companion for decades.

And truthfully I am still trying to piece together exactly what happened, so bear with me as I try to make sense of it all.

I remember reading a famous yoga teacher’s comment that if you just kept doing your yoga practice what needed to come into your life would and what needed to leave would, without struggle and strife, but I’m not sure I ever really believed it.

And it’s not as though my road to food freedom was without effort. I could fill a book with all the things I’ve tried:

• Subsisting on salad, fruit and cottage cheese
• Hours of step aerobics and cardio equipment
• Personal trainers
• Gym memberships
• Weight Watchers
• Diets  and more diets (South Beach, Atkins, Sommersize, Fat-Flush, Flat Belly, Sugar Busters, etc.)
• “Slimming” herb teas
• “Fat burning” supplements
• Yoga
• Walking
• Nutritional counseling
• Healthy cooking classes in conjunction with The Natural Gourmet Institute
• A year of nutrition school at IIN
• A 20-week Psychology of Eating tele-course
• Self-hypnosis
• Reading countless books on emotional eating, intuitive eating, mindful eating

What Finally Worked for Lasting Weight Loss?

I cobbled together my own customized weight loss approach. The major components include:

1. Yoga. I credit yoga for making everything in my life better. Change begins with awareness and yoga helped me wake up and pay attention to my body and my mind in a whole new way, both on and off the mat.

My yoga practice helped me reconnect with my body’s hunger and satisfied signals allowing me to be a much more conscious eater.

I learned to stop fearing my hunger and befriend it instead, which was a huge step for someone who ate all the time to prevent feeling hungry. I let myself get hungry and learned that it wasn’t life threatening. Now I like to feel hungry before I eat. I welcome it. By learning what hunger felt like I was able to learn what it felt to be satisfied and not stuffed. I rarely eat past full any more. In the past, I most always too much which left me feeling bloated and miserable for hours.

Yoga also helped me develop self compassion, patience and persistence, qualities that are integral to making lasting changes. I’ve let go of the need to be perfect and have instead focused on doing my best. And I’ve learned how to move that little voice in my head with her constant negative chatter way into the background, where she can do very little harm.

Thanks to yoga I move more. I do yoga regularly. I teach yoga. And because I realize how much my body enjoys movement, I walk nearly everyday.

Yoga Makes Everything Better

2. Weight Watchers. I credit Weight Watchers with opening my eyes to the importance of portion control, setting goals and becoming accountable. I needed structure before I could find freedom, if that makes sense. I needed a program to bring order to my very disordered way of eating. I remember a yoga teacher saying once, “From strength and structure comes flexibility.” I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but I’ve come to believe that true freedom is a byproduct of discipline, true flexibility a byproduct of strength.

Keeping a food journal, becoming aware of my patterns, learning what a reasonable portion looked like and trading in my highly processed, refined carb heavy diet for a healthy balanced one were necessary steps for me.

I’m glad I did Weight Watchers back when it was a selection-based program because I learned about the number of servings of starch, protein, dairy, fruits and vegetables that were reasonable for me.  Through it I learned that my body responds extremely well to small amounts of starch – 3 to 5 servings a day. I’m not sure this balanced approach to healthy eating is so clear with the Points approach.

3. French Women Don’t Get Fat. My relationship with food changed forever the first time I went to France. Reading about the eating philosophy espoused in this popular book helped me embrace the concepts of slowing down and savoring my food and choosing “real” food over “diet” food that I was introduced to in Paris. The more I have weaned myself from low-fat, low-sugar, low taste, low-satisfaction, processed food, the more my cravings have subsided.

French Women Don’t Get Fat

I love to celebrate with food, but in a happy, healthy, balanced way. Food used to be my primary source of joy. I was out of balance. Now I have lots of sources of pleasure and joy in my life, and food, while wonderful, is no longer primary.

4. Mindless Eating. This book changed the way I look at food forever and may have had the biggest impact of all. I’m not sure that it would have been as strong an influencer decades ago. And since there is no going back, I’ll never know for sure.

The book helped me see that I’m not broken, I’m merely human. By following it’s suggestions,  I’ve found easy ways to manage my “mindless eating habits” with dozens of strategies including using smaller plates and bowls and keeping trigger foods out of sight. By embracing the belief that, “The best diet is the one you don’t know you are on,” I have been able to lose those last few pounds in a way that has felt easy and effortless, and dare I say, fun?

What Makes My Weight Loss Different This Time?

I’ve lost weight and gained it back dozens of times before, but this time feels very different. I’ve already kept the weight off through life-challenges that would have derailed me previously, including the death of my dad that was preceded by nearly a month spent in his hospice room which was situated just across from the kitchen where goodies were always available and volunteers made regular rounds offering freshly baked cookies.

I finally feel like a normal eater. I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am not. I rarely eat past full. My cravings have disappeared. I am comfortable throwing food away. I can co-exist with chocolate, cookies and ice cream. A pint of ice cream can last in the freezer for weeks and sometimes forms ice crystals before it is finished! (This still astonishes me when it happens.)

I am still facing menopause, something that I was really worried about several years ago. Now I believe that millions of women all over the world make this transition easily and naturally. I hope to be among them. And if not, I’m cautiously optimistic that I have the tools to cope with whatever life has in store.

I’m far from perfect. I still get tripped up at times, but never for long. Food has lost its power over me. I am free at last.

Related Posts

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How I Became a Weight Watchers Lifetime Member

They are both incredibly easy (because they begin with a box of brownie mix) and delicious. I found the recipe in a fun cookbook, The Ultimate Shortcut Cookie Book: 745 Scrumptious Recipes That Start with Refrigerated Cookie Dough, Cake Mix, Brownie Mix or Ready-to-Eat Cereal by Camilla Saulsbury.

Kahlua White Chocolate Chunk Chewies

Each two-cooking serving has 186 calories and 5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus, but you may find that they are so delicious, you only need one to satisfy your chocolate craving.

Enjoy!

Kahlua White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Kahlua White Chocolate Chunk Chewies

 

Save Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

13 mins

Total time

23 mins

 

Incredibly delicious cookies are super simple too since they begin with a box of brownie mix

Author: Simple Nourished Living

Recipe type: Cookies

Serves: 24

Ingredients

For the Cookies

• ¼ cup Kahlua or other coffee liquor (I used Patron XO Cafe)
• 1 tablespoon instant coffe or espresso powder
• 1 package (about 20 ounces) brownie mix (I used Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate)
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 4 ounces white chocolate baking bar, chopped into small chunks

For the Kahlua Coffee Icing

• 2 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee liquor
• 1 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoons instant coffee powder
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted to remove lumps

Instructions

1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the cookie sheets with silicone mats or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the Kahlua and coffee powder until dissolved. Add the brownie mix, melted butter, and egg and stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are just moistened and everything is well blended. Stir in the white chocolate chunks.
3. Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake one cookie sheet at a time in the center of the oven until the edges are set and the center is just barely set when lightly touched, 10 to 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for about 1 minute on the cookie sheets and then transfer the with a spatula to wire racks to cool completely.
5. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, being sure that your cookie sheets are completely cooled before using them. (I sometimes run the backs of the cookie sheets under cold water to speed up the process.)
6. To make the icing, in a small bowl, combine the liqueur, espresso powder, water, vanilla, and pinch of salt in a medium bowl until dissolved. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth. Add more water a little at a time, if necessary, to achieve a nice drizzling consistency.
7. When the cookies are completely cool drizzle them with a little Kahlua icing.
8. Makes 48 cookies

Notes

Nutritional Estimates Per Serving (2 cookies): 186 calories, 7 g fat, 29 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 1.4 g protein and 5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus

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Slightly adapted from The Ultimate Shortcut Cookie Book: 745 Scrumptious Recipes That Start with Refrigerated Cookie Dough, Cake Mix, Brownie Mix or Ready-to-Eat Cereal

More Weight Watchers Friendly Cookie Recipes

Chocolate Topped Peanut Butter Oat Cookie Bars
Skinny Chocolate Coconut Cake Mix Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Espresso

Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bar

I found the recipe for these yummy crunchy peanut butter granola bars on Laine’s Recipe Box which she got from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, a book I purged from my collection a while back because I rarely opened it. After making and tasting these crunchy granola bars, I’m experiencing serious remorse for not holding on to it longer. “What other recipe treasures are contained within it’s pages?” I’m wondering.

Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bars

This recipe makes 16 crunchy peanut butter granola bars, each with 203 calories and 5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus.

Do you have a favorite granola bar recipe?

Enjoy!

Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bar

Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bars

 

Save Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

A crunchy peanut butter granola bar filled with peanuts and oats

Author: Simple Nourished Living

Recipe type: Granola Bars

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• ¾ cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, chopped coarse
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup honey
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter

Instructions

1. Position an oven rack in the center of your oven and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil and coat the foil lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place the peanuts in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, and toast, stirring often, until fragrant and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the oats and oil to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer the toasted oats to the bowl with the peanuts and stir in the salt.
3. Add the honey and brown sugar to the skillet and simmer gently over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the sugar is fully dissolved, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla, cinnamon, and peanut butter until well blended.
4. Working quickly, stir the hot honey mixture into the peanut-oat mixture until thoroughly combined. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan and pack very firmly into an even layer. (I used the bottom of a measuring cup to pack the mixture down.)
5. Bake until the granola bars are golden, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
6. Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the whole slab from the pan using the foil.
7. Cut into 16 bars. Place the bars on a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Nutritional Estimates Per Serving (1 bar): 203 calories, 9 g fat, 26 g carbs, 2 g fiber and 5 PointsPlus.

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Adapted slightly Laine’s Recipe Box

More Weight Watchers Friendly Granola and Granola Bar Recipes

Nigella’s Breakfast Bars
Best Healthy Homemade Granola
FREE Granola Bars Recipe ebook
Healthy Homemade Granola Bars

For years I had the kind of demanding full-time jobs that barely allowed me to grab a quick bite at my desk, so I am especially grateful that my life now allows me the freedom and flexibility to pause in the middle of the day for a nourishing meal. Eating a relaxed, savory, more substantial lunch makes it easy and effortless to have a lighter dinner. Talk about a win-win.

The Coronado Cafe

There was a time a few years back when eating out so often would have caused me angst. While I had gotten pretty good about managing my meals at home, I found navigating restaurants a challenge. But my goal has always been to learn to eat like a “naturally thin” person. And “naturally thin” people eat out.  So, I decided to practice eating out in a way that would allow me to stay happy, healthy and slim. And so far it’s working. I believe that “What we practice we become.”

The Saturday before Mother’s Day I got to enjoy lunch out with both Mom and my sister, who came up from Tucson and wanted to try a place she hadn’t been to before. So, I suggested 3 places and let Mom choose. She opted for Coronado Cafe, a restaurant she had never been to either. Located in a converted bungalow, it’s a charming, homey place serving up tasty comfort food.

Mom & Brenda at the Coronado Cafe

Mom ordered curry shrimp with pasta:  bow tie pasta in a light creamy curry sauce with huge, plump shrimp.

Curry Shrimp Pasta

Brenda opted for the roast chicken sandwich with green chiles, bacon and melted provolone on toasted focaccia with a side green salad, which she declared, “Delicious.”

Roast Chicken Sandwich

I had the salmon wrap, with oven roasted tomato, applewood bacon, mixed greens and garlic aioli with a side of potato salad, which was light, yet tasty and satisfying.

Salmon Wrap

What was the PointsPlus value of my lunch? I’m not sure. The truth is that I’m not routinely tracking these days. I’ve told myself that as long as I weigh in every month at or under goal I don’t have to. Instead my focus is on tuning into my body, eating when I’m hungry, eating what my body wants, and stopping when I’m no longer hungry. The more I practice this, the easier it gets and the better I get at it.

I ate half the wrap and most of the potato salad and brought the rest home. Eating out gets a lot more economical when you routinely end up with two meals for the price of one

Do you find eating out a challenge? What are your favorite strategies for eating out successfully?

Trisha Yearwood Weight Loss Story in People Magazine

Image Source:  People

I’m a total sucker for magazine covers featuring weight loss stories. I love to read the inside scoop on how celebrities and/or regular people, like you and me, slim down and lose weight.  The most recent one to draw me in at the checkout counter was Trisha Yearwood on the cover of People. Did you see it?

As I stepped out of line and began to give the article a quick scan, I realized that her experience sounded a lot like mine…

“I don’t think you can name one diet I haven’t done. I’m that girl who buys every magazine where somebody’s lost 30 lbs.,” the Grammy-winning singer tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.

“I guess a part of me didn’t want to hear that it’s just really hard work!”

Over the last four months she has dropped 30 pounds using a plan she designed herself that was low in fat and sugar 90 percent of the time, with 10 percent allocated to indulging in moderation.

Sound familiar?

The more I read these stories, the more I see a common theme, at least in those that resonate with me.

In the article, Trisha talked about the things that used to trip her up:

• Portions that were too big.
• All-or-nothing thinking. She said that one trip to an In- and-Out Burger would leave her reeling, telling herself she had blown it and may as well eat 20 more burgers.
• Over indulging.
• Not trying hard enough.

So, how did Trisha Yearwood lose the weight?

• Slowly, steadily, gradually.  For example, she switched from cream in her coffee to a lighter coffee creamer and eventually to almond milk.
• Smaller portions.
• Not forcing herself to give up all her favorite things all at once. She made room for indulgences in a moderate way. How could she not? She writes cookbooks and has a cooking show dedicated to Southern comfort food, for goodness sake.
• Finding exercise she loved and committing to doing it regularly. She discovered Zumba and goes to classes at least three times a week.

Looking back, she says she realizes when she tried before she wasn’t doing the right things and wasn’t trying hard enough! Isn’t that the truth! It’s really as simple as that. As we look back, it is easy to see where and how we kept ourselves stuck in our weight struggles. The key is to keep trying until you get unstuck.

You can be a cookbook author and food network star and slim, trim and healthy. Trisha is now living proof!

Are you someone who is drawn to weight loss success stories?

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Tabbouleh Soup

This tabbouleh soup with lentils and bulgur has all the ingredients you would expect to find in tabbouleh – bulgur wheat, tomatoes, lemon juice, parsley, and mint – along with lentils for added heartiness.

Talk about a delicious, nutritious bowl of soup.

This recipe for tabbouleh soup with lentils and bulgur cooked up really thick, so I added quite a bit more water to thin it. The word “stoup,” Rachael Ray’s term for a cross between a stew and a soup, came to mind when I lifted the lid to give it a stir toward the end of it’s simmer.

I have enjoyed this soup several days in a row for lunch. I shared some with Mom, who also thought it was good, though she commented that she needed to add some salt to season it to her liking.

When I saw her comment I laughed, as I too needed to add both salt and lemon juice to satisfy my taste buds. A good reminder to taste as you go, and then again just before serving, adjusting the seasonings as necessary to please your palate. For me that usually means a little more salt and pepper, and often a squeeze of lemon juice.

Do you like tabbouleh? If so, do you have a favorite recipe for it?

Enjoy!

Tabbouleh Soup with Lentils and Bulgur

 

Save Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

All the ingredients of a great tabbouleh and lentils turned into a hearty, satisfying soup

Author: Simple Nourished Living

Recipe type: Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed
• 1 cup fine or medium bulgur
• 6 cups water
• 2 cans (about 15 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, divided
• ½ cup packed fresh mint leaves, chopped, divided
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. add the onions and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, salt and pepper and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
2. Stir in the lentils, bulgur and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and partially cover with a lid. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes. If the soup appears to be getting to thick add more water to thin to desired consistency.
3. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice, half the parsley, and half the mint. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining parsley and mint and the lemon juice.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt, pepper and lemon juice, if required.

Notes

Nutritional Estimates Per Serving (generous 1 cup): 212 calories, 3 g fat, 38 g carbs, 8 g fiber, 11 g protein and 5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus

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5 Easy Steps to Healthy Cooking: 500 Recipes for Lifelong Wellness

More Weight Watchers Friendly Soup Recipes

Slimming Garden Vegetable Soup
Skinny Easy Artichoke Soup
Skinny Zucchini Soup Recipes
Shredded Cabbage Soup
Weight Watchers Lentil and Swiss Chard Soup