America the Beautiful 2 - and thoughts on body image

Last night I watched the documentary America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments. If you remember, I've actually watched the original documentary America the Beautiful, and I really enjoyed it!  This one was pretty eye opening as well. 

Now, there are some things that got me frustrated about how Darryl Roberts approached this.  In the beginning it seemed as though he was supporting people being overweight - whether they were healthy or not.  

But as the film progressed I realized that he was actually making a really good point.  Diets don't work.  I'm living proof.  I've been on every diet possible (South Beach, Weight Watchers, Total Body Transformation, etc.), and I've always either gained the weight back - or MORE than when I started.  The people out there who can actually lose weight and keep it off by dieting is a very small number.  He goes on to argue this point, and I definitely agreed with him. 

What annoyed me is how he tried to do the "Raw Food Diet", and how he couldn't even bring himself to eat the food (or even try to enjoy it).  I know that the DIET can be difficult, but I truly believe that most of what that "diet" preaches is probably what we should be eating.  Low sodium, lots of veggies & fruits, low or no dairy, no animals, etc.  I think the reason why he hated it so much was because he was used to eating high sodium CRAP with no nutrients!  Of course it will taste weird at first, because your taste buds and your body have been overloaded with shit your entire life!  Ugh - that was frustrating.  

But many of the other points he brought up were very valid, and very interesting.  Especially the part he brought up about BMI and how that measurement is out dated, and kind of ridiculous in determining if you're actually overweight or not!  I didn't even know that they lowered the original "normal" BMI number that they had in the 70's.  It used to be 28, and now it's around 24 (at the high end)!  If I had been born back then, my weight would have been NORMAL in the 70's, but now I'm considered overweight.  Are you kidding me? 

They also had a great interview with a professional dancer that just happens to be a bigger girl.  She was saying that it's fascinating how our culture loves "thin" so much, that no matter how unhealthy the person, they're OK.  They're not bothered - they're still seemingly "healthy" even if they eat like crap and never work out.  But the heavier person, who is actually healthy - is looked at as unhealthy.  This girl who works out 5x a week, eats healthfully but just happens to be larger is criticized because of her size.  So interesting, and so sad.  

I was obsessed with dieting at one point in my life.  I actually started a blog about one of my other many diet attempts, which is where this comparison picture comes from: 

Yeah, that picture on the left?  I was the thinnest I've ever been - 135 pounds.  I worked out obsessively.  All I ate was chicken, broccoli, and maybe a different vegetable every now and then.  No fruits - fruit was sugar and that's all I saw it as.  

I also smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. 

In the picture on the right (which is basically the size I am now - my natural size), I was practicing Roller Derby at least 4x a week.  I was eating a healthy vegetarian diet, but still enjoying pizza & ice cream every now & then.  I also stopped smoking. 

Yet when I looked at these pictures, I was dissapointed.  I beat myself up over my lack of discipline.  Only because I wasn't "thin".

Now that I've finally learn to love my body the way it is, I know that I was one of the many American women that fell victim to societal judgement.  I'm so glad that I finally learned that I'm beautiful just the way I am - and that I don't have to kill myself with crazy restrictive dieting or over-exercising to be healthy and happy.  

Watching this documentary kind of helped confirm that for me.  I hope that everyone can learn this about themselves in one way or another!!  You are amazing and beautiful!!  Yes exercise, healthy foods, and healthy mind are all VERY important parts of living your life to the fullest.  But being "thin" isn't necessarily the key to it all. 

And there's my two cents, folks! :) 

No Carb Portabello Mushroom Pizza & the Perfect Snack

This weekend was CRAZY (really fun, but pretty darn crazy), and included all of the following: 

- Yoga on the platte river with Katy & Geneva

- Drinking a bit too much at Mile High Spirits 

- A 60-minute massage at Spavia (I finally used this - it was a Xmas gift!)

- Shopping with my momma (her treat - what a gal)

- A surprise concert at Red Rocks with Geneva (Cake with the Lumineres!)

- Loadin' up on foods at our local Farmer's Market 

- Coors Brewery Tour

- Tubing in Golden, CO with friends & Kendra from A Grimm Tale

- Catching up on episodes of "Felicity" (just started re-watching it on Netflix!)

- Not getting enough sleep...

I kind of need a weekend for my weekend!  Haha!  Pictures to come... 

But firstly, a new (and delicious) meal that John and I had last week! 

We've been trying to do the South Beach Diet the past couple of weeks.  It's been good, but I've missed fruit SO MUCH.  It's funny that I have been missing that more than bread, rice, and pasta.  Who'd have thunk it?  Anyhew, we really REALLY wanted pizza one night, so I got some Portabello mushroom caps, and we had some low-carb pizza fun.  It was so easy too! 

Portabello Mushroom Mini-Pizzas

Each cap serves 1 person - customize them any way you like! 

- Portabello mushroom caps (1 per person)

- Tomato sauce / marinara

- mozzarella cheese

- ricotta cheese (a couple of dollops, optional)

- arugula

- zucchini

- onions

- red pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Meanwhile build your pizzas!  Place the caps top-side down on a lightly oiled cookie sheet.  Top with sauce, the toppings of your choice (I used zucchini, arugula, onions, ricotta cheese and mozzarella), and sprinkle with red pepper flakes, or Italian seasonings. 

Bake in the oven for about 5-10 minutes, or until cheese has melted. 

Enjoy! 

These were so good - and John and I didn't even miss the bread.  We will definitely make this one again! 

Today we could finally start having fruit again, and thank GOODNESS it's still peach season.  I would have totally cried - I'm not even kidding. 

I had an amazing breakfast of whole-grain toast with part-skim ricotta cheese, sliced peaches, and a drizzle of local honey.  It was everything I hoped it could be. 

For my mid-morning grumbly tummy I had what I am deeming the Perfect Snack: 

 

An organic brown rice cake with a slice of Swiss cheese (zapped in the microwave for 15 seconds), and a locally-grown plum.  DELISH, and perfectly satisfying! 

More fun & updates to come from the weekend!  Hope yours was wonderful. :)

 

South Beach Diet - Shrimp Dinner & Ricotta Dessert

John and I decided to give the South Beach Diet another whirl, just to lose a little jiggle we've managed to gain around the middle. ;)  

I did it once a loooooong time ago - it was successful, but I was so paranoid about gaining weight back that I never left Phase 1.  When I finally caved, I gained the weight back and then some.  So clearly it works - I just have to follow the succession of phases so that I can keep the darn weight off!  Guess there's a reason for them making the rules that way... haha!  

Last night I made a DELISH thrown-together shrimp dinner that I absolutely loved.  It filled me right up, and I didn't miss my carbs at all.  It was much better than just having a salad too. :) 

Here's how I did it.... 

Carb-free Shrimp Dinner
(serves 1)
- 1 cup of uncooked shrimp
- spray oil / olive oil
- handful of spinach
- chopped onions
- chopped red pepper
- minced garlic
- diced tomatoes
- black beans (1/2 cup)
- 1/4 an avocado (diced)
- queso fresco (optional), about 2 tbsp
- hot sauce (optional)
- spices (cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper)

In a medium pan over medium-high heat, sautee the onions, garlic, and peppers for about 1 minute until hot.  Throw in the shrimp and cook until just turned pink (about 3-5 minutes), then turn off the heat.  Add black beans and spices to season (to taste).

On your plate, add the spinach, avocado, tomatoes.  Drizzle with olive oil, then top with shrimp & veggies from the pan.  Sprinkle queso fresco on top, and splash with hot sauce.

John was very jealous that this was the meal I had!  Haha!  Well, if you aren't home, you don't get any! :) 

 

Some of my favorite recipes from the South Beach Diet are the ricotta desserts.  They are SO GOOD and they satisfy my sweet tooth somethin' crazy!  They really do taste pretty ice-creamy.  I made a chocolate one last night... 

It's basically a 1/2 a cup of part-skim ricotta cheese (honestly I'll probably only use about 1/4 or 1/3 a cup next time - this was a bit much!), some vanilla extract (or almond - I used a combo of both), unsweetened cocoa powder, no-calorie sweetener (I like Truvia), and 5 (yes, I had to count only 5 of them out) chocolate chips.  

I know it sounds a bit strange, but it's really yummy!  

So far we're doing pretty well!  The first 2-weeks is the most restricting, and honestly I'm glad I have a buddy doing it with me (since we live in the same house & all).  I hope we can keep it up and lose the weight for good!  It's not like we have a ways to go, it's just something like 20 pounds for each of us.  We're stayin' positive! :) 

First Hike of the Season! (and Insanity progress)

Yesterday Stacey & I went up to Frisco to do a hike up to Lilly Pad Lake!  

It was such a beautiful day - the boys went snowboarding at Breckenridge's last day of the season, and we decided to do our first hike of the season instead.  We brought some snacks, and hit the trail. 

I absolutely love this hike.  It was one of the first ones I did with my family when we first moved to Colorado, and this is probably the 4th or 5th time I've done it.  It's only about 1.5 miles to the lake, so 3 miles roundtrip.  And the scenery is just gorgeous! 

The weather was PERFECT too!  Not too hot, with a bit of a chilly breeze (but not too chilly).  It was gorgeous, and I had an awesome time. 

When we got to the lake we stopped for lunch.  I brought a sandwich (on a Rudi's Organic sandwich flat - only 1 Weight Watchers point!), with romaine lettuce, ricotta cheese, mushrooms, mustard, and roasted red peppers.  I also had an apple and some granola.  YUM. 

Stacey on our little lunch break by the lake! 

For some reason there were a lot of downed trees on the path this time - I think from the thunderstorms and wind that have been whipping through the area lately.  So we had to climb over some trees & such - it was quite an adventure.  Stacey decided to ride one like a cowgirl.  Hilarious. :) 

Our little dirt path of happiness. 

I drove home afterwards - it wasn't a terribly hard hike, but I was pretty exhausted!  My legs were still tingling from the walk - it was a great workout. 

Of course I had to come home and do my Insanity workout afterward - that was rough!  Haha!  But I totally did it. ;)

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Speaking of which, as far as my progress with the INSANITY workouts go - I'm just over 2-weeks in (17 days to be exact)!  It's still hard as heck, but I'm pushin' on through.  I took my measurements, and my weight after beginning a couple of weeks ago - and I've got some great news! 

I'm down 5 more pounds (WOOT), which means I'm now down a TOTAL of 15 pounds since the beginning of the year.  YEAH!  

I'm also down a 1/2 an inch around my chest, a 1/2 an inch around my waist, and a FULL INCH around my hips!  Holy moly!  After 2 weeks!! 

Now again, I am combining the workouts with eating right - I've started Weight Watchers again (basically picked up from when I used to do their Core plan), and that's definitely sped up my results.  Remember, eating makes up 70% of your weight loss - the other 30% is activity! 

I think the best part about this so far is that my clothes are fitting me better.  My jeans don't pinch, and my t-shirts are starting to hang looser around my tummy.  It's AWESOME! 
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After my crazy workout, I finally got to relax.  I watched Inception for the 4th time (LOVE that movie!!), and when I found out The Cutting Edge was on Netflix - I had to watch that one too!! 

I'd totally forgotten how great this movie is.  It's kind of a classic from my childhood!  It's actually really witty - some of the one-liners still crack me up.  I may need to watch Blades of Glory again too, just because of how much fun I had with this one! 

Hope you all had an AWESOME weekend! :) 

 

Insanity!! It's, well...insane, really.

I wasn’t going to bring this up before, ‘cause I wasn’t even sure if I was going to do it full out.  I started doing the “Insanity” workout videos 10 days ago, and they’re kicking my BUTT!  I thought I was in relatively good shape before, but man, I was wrong.

These videos are probably the hardest workouts I’ve ever done.  It’s like doing a boot camp class 6 days / week!  The last time I went to a boot camp I couldn’t walk like a normal person without wincing in pain for about 5 days.  Same thing here – but I had to keep going!

I gotta say – it has been hard already getting up and doing these workouts.  Every time I hit snooze I think “I don’t want to get up and deal with Shawn T and his crazy workout!”  But once I get going (getting started is the hardest part), I really get going.  I want to hit it hard, and I want to finish strong.  I’m sweating like crazy, but I feel amazing when I’m done!

The plan goes for 60 days total, which seems like a lot since I’m only 10 days in!  But the payoff?  I’m ready for it.  I’m already seeing little results just over a week into it, which is kind of nuts when you think about it.  I’m down 4 pounds already since starting!  WHOA!!  That means only 16 pounds left to reach my goal.  Hellz yeah.

This program boasts crazy results (you've HAD to have seen the infomercial by now - it's on all the time), and I have a feeling it has a lot of basis to go on.  This is tough stuff, I'm not going to lie.  But the fact that I'm already feeling stronger, I have more energy throughout the day than I have in a very long time, and that I'm already dropping some pounds... that's pretty awesome! 

See what they're doing in that picture?  Those are jump squats.  They SUCK.  Haha! 

Anyhoodle, I'm going to stick with this, and see what happens.  I've been combining this with Weight Watchers to hopefully reach my goal weight!  I am basically doing the old Core plan that I did before, and tracking everything on a sheet I customized for myself.  

Yay for getting a toned, lean body back!!  I'm sick of being self-conscious about my figure (my tummy is the part I hate the most), and I want to feel strong and confident again.  This is the way I'm gonna do it!  WOOHOO!! 

Weght Loss - Tracking Idea

While strolling down Pinterest lane the other day, I came across a pretty rad idea!

What a great visual motivator!!  As you might know, I'm a very visual person - hence the reason why I started my "money I'm NOT spending" tracking sheet for my Spending Fast (and the reason why I love Pinterest so much). ;)  I need a little bit more than the average bear to actually motivate myself - I need to SEE where my money is going.  So this is going to work in a similar way for me!

I decided to whip up a couple of my own, with re-used jars I had in my cabinet.

Now, I don't really have that much to lose.  In my New Year's Resolution for this year, I originally wanted to lose 40 pounds.  Well luckily I'm still down my first 10, which I just discovered this morning (WOOT!), and I decided that 20 more pounds would make me very happy = 30 pounds total.

To be honest, 40 was kind of a pipe dream, and I don't think it would've been terribly healthy for me either.  Right now I'm at 170 lbs, and am still very insecure about my tummy pooch (everyone has their most hated area - that is mine for sure).  The lowest I've ever gotten weight-wise in my adult life was about 143, and I was struggling to stay at that weight.  I'd rather have a few extra pounds on me and be happy, ya know!?  :)

I set the lil' jars on my window sill in my bathroom (between all of my pretty little plants).  Just so that I would see them every day, and remind myself to check in on how I am doing!  I also didn't have anything cool like pretty marbles - I had to think "what do I have that can be counted.... PENNIES!" so that's what I used.

Looking at it now though, 20 pennies look pretty pathetic!  Ha!  I'm going to have to try something else when I get home. ;)  I have a lot of wine corks saved that I was going to use for a project, so maybe some pretty painted corks will do the trick.
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And they TOTALLY did!  Ha!

Yes, that means that I lost 1 pound over the weekend too.  :)  WOOHOO!

I just took some corks that we'd saved, and cut them in half.  Then I used some colored markers to doodle on them to make 'em a little prettier.  I think they turned out great!

I'm making little changes in my life to take the extra weight off.  I'm trying really hard to make good choices with every meal.  Here's hoping I can make it stay off this time! :) 

My Weight Loss Plan (Keep it Slow & Steady!)

I’ve compiled my own special weight-loss plan out of a few different ones – including low-carb diets (which work, but don’t last - trust me, I’ve learned from experience), some of what I’ve learned from Weight Watchers (portion control, etc), and every other diet I’ve tried in my life. 

This plan is designed for vegetarians, however I truly believe that eating meat is not a way to be healthy.  If you DO eat meat, chose grass-fed organic, and limit the serving to once per day.  You’ll reduce your carbon footprint, drop weight, and your cholesterol!

I’m not a doctor, or a health expert, and I’m not trying to be.  This is just something I set up for myself to follow, that I feel like will be the right way for me to lose weight.  I’ve been on many diet plans in my life, and not one of them has worked for me.  Sure I lost weight, but every single time I gained it back.  Tailoring a plan that is restricting but also allowing for real life and longevity is what is going to make this work for me.  I love food, and I don't want to live my life giving up my favorite things.  I don’t want to gain the weight back ever again, and this is how I will do it.  

It may not cause me to lose 20 pounds a month, or drop weight quickly & drastically as some "diet plans" claim to do - in fact, it probably won't do that!  But this is not about rapid weight loss - this is about PERMANENT weight loss, and the only way to do that is to keep it slow & steady over a longer period of time.  It took me a long time to put on the weight, and it's going to take a long time to take it off.  I don't mind so much about that as long as I keep it off, and in my opinion, slow & steady wins the race.

As always, please consult your physician before starting any diet / weight loss plan.*
*me covering my ass.

Beth’s Slow & Steady wins the Weight Loss Plan

Buy organic / local foods whenever possible.

NO refined sugars, refined carbohydrates  (white anything – rice, bread, fried foods, tortillas, pasta, etc)

NO starchy vegetables (potatoes, yams), or high-fat fruits (avocado)**

ONE serving of “good carbs” per day (½ cup of brown rice, ½ cup whole wheat pasta, 1 slice of whole wheat bread, etc)


UNLIMITED vegetables, beans & legumes (eat as much as you want to feel full!)

1-2 fruits every other day (NOT every day!) – to limit fructose (sugar) intake

LIMIT alcohol to 1 glass of beer or 1 glass of wine 1-2 times per week.  Choose red wine whenever possible.  No fruit juice or soda.  Don’t drink your calories!

UNLIMITED unsweetened tea & water.  Coffee is okay once / week, with limited soymilk & natural sweetener (like honey or maple syrup). 

NO cheese!  No excuses!  Eggs are okay, but try to limit your intake to 1-2 eggs, only once or twice per week.


NO oil!  Use non-stick spray for cooking instead, and use water or vinegar in salad dressings instead of oil.

LIMIT salt / sodium intake. 

ONE “Flexible Day” per week. 
I don’t want to call this a “cheat day”, as that implies that you are free to make horrible choices the entire day.  That is not a good way to have a long term plan if you think that way!  You want a burger?  Have one!  But substitute a side salad or veggies instead of French fries.  Dying for the fries?  Get the burger without the bun!  Want an enchilada smothered in cheese (my big weakness)?  That’s great!  Just order one instead of two, or get it a-la-carte.  You want a plate of fettuccine alfredo?  Awesome!  Just limit your portion size.   **This is also the day you can have your avocados and your potatoes!

Since exercise is so important, I’m going to workout no less than 5 times a week (6 whenever possible), with 1-2 days of rest (not in a row).  This will be cardio mixed with strength training and flexibility (yoga mostly). 

One thing I’m going to remind myself during this whole thing is that every day is a new start.  I eat poorly & drink too much one night?  Meh, it happens.  I’ll probably feel like shit, but the next day is a new one – and it’s never too late to start again.  Sure I might indulge a bit on vacation, but I can still make good choices while I’m away.  And I can make good choices when I get back – that’s what matters. 

This is what I will be using as my guidelines – I hope it helps you reach your goals too!
Feel free to follow my weight-loss adventures at this blog. :) Ignore the part about it being a 90 day challenge... this is for a lifetime, baby!