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General Weight Loss Tips

Muffin Head

For Tuesdays breakfast I had a blueberry nut muffin with 1/2 cup whole organic yogurt, 1 T all-fruit strawberry jam and 1 T cashew honey butter. 445 calories

Later on in the day I had another muffin: 200 calories

For lunch I made Jamie Olivers/The Pioneer Woman’s Asian Noodle Salad (300 calories per serving)

Isn’t it beautiful?

I added almonds slivers and peanuts to mine.

I had two servings at lunch for a total of 600 calories.

Dinner was a shared frozen pizza. Appetizing eh?

Nothing like a greasy pizza photo taken with the flash. Total calories: 600

Total calories for the day: 1,845

Exercise: 45 minutes of Insanity, burned 400-500 calories

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General Weight Loss Tips

April Continues

Last week I was swamped. Catching up on projects, sending out jewelry, and doing a lot of cooking. I took photos of my food, but before I knew it I was going to bed. I just didn’t have the time and energy to post last week, but there was another issue going on.

This could have been preventable as it was a pattern and I see it now, but at the time I was annoyed and I let it get the best of me. The week before last when I was posting photos of my food everyday, I was also doing something else secretly: I was weighing myself everyday. This is a bad habit and it doesn’t consider the big picture. Logically I know this. But, I was losing. Every day the scale was lower and I was like a moth to a flame.

So Saturday in DC came and we ended up walking close to nine miles. I don’t walk a lot and it just about did me in. The next day I got on my friends scale and noticed that my weight was up. Water retention. And then the next day we walked some more and I ate a very salty Thai meal. And on Monday we drove home. Which caused another spike in my weight. When I travel, I blow up. I KNOW this about myself.

But when I got home and stepped on the scale all I saw was work undone and I was upset and annoyed. I know the lesson of this is: I retain water and that is the stage I’m in: losing water. I also know that exercise and travel always causes my weight to fluctuate.

Instead of being healthy about it, continue doing what I was doing (which was working) I just said “f this” and stopped. Everything. We ate out almost everyday last week and didn’t exercise until this past Sunday. If that wasn’t sabotage I don’t know what is.

Looking back, I wish I would have just shrugged it off, stopped weighing myself, exercise and watch what I was eating, and drink lots of water. It would have gone away and things would have evened out again. So this is my calling myself out on destructive behavior.

This is also me continuing what I set out to do this month: kick ass. And so it continues. Fluctuations are not the big picture. Five pounds up or down is not the big picture. Doing good consistently is.

And now I bring you my eats from yesterday (monday):

I was not hungry until about noon yesterday. Instead I drank lots and lots of water. I came home for lunch where I prepared a plate of rice, onions in masala sauce (trader joe’s), spinach (with dressing and a little feta), and half a slice of tandoori naan. Total calories: 535

Later on in the afternoon I was hit with the baking bug. I purchased a bag of Sucanat over the weekend and was itching to try it. You can read more about it here. What I miss most about being sweet-free is baking. I also miss having a muffin for breakfast and so I’ve decided to add natural sugars into my diet (I’ve been eating honey for awhile).

I loved getting in the kitchen and figuring out a new, healthier recipe for muffins. I can’t describe the satisfaction really, but these are quite good. I used whole wheat white flour, sucanat and my own apple sauce. They are a bit higher in calories than I had hoped, I used vegetable oil and filled the muffin cups pretty full- I like muffin tops, what can I say?

I followed Krissie’s advice and froze the rest for reheating throughout the week and to avoid eating too many. I ate two at 166 calories each.

For dinner I made a pepper, onion and spinach stir fry in a Chinese sauce over rice. This was surprisingly filling and low in calories. I actually calculated it several times to make sure I was correct. Calories: 300 (maybe a little less)

And for a night snack I made smoothies with bananas, milk, frozen mango, frozen cherries, a splash of vanilla and walnuts. About 250 calories

Total calories for the day: 1,417

Exercise: 45 minutes of Insanity, burned about 400-500 calories

Earned my sticker for the day!

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Weight Loss Exercise

Celiac disease – Gluten Intolerance issues


Celiac disease, more commonly known as gluten intolerance, affects one in 133 Americans. This lifelong disease causes intestinal problems when eating gluten, which is the common name for offending proteins in wheat (including durum, semolina, spelt, kamut, einkorn, and faro), rye, barley and oats. Gluten is like poison to people with celiac disease.

Celiac disease Gluten Intolerance issues

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease affects those who are genetically susceptible. In fact, if one member of a family has celiac disease, about one out of 10 other members of the same family are likely to have it as well. Some may harbor the tendency for a while without getting sick, but then stress, physical injury, infection, childbirth or surgery can actually “activate” the disease. The disease mostly affects people of European (especially Northern European) descent, but recent studies show that it also affects Hispanic, Black and Asian populations as well.

How to Diagnose Celiac Disease

Because of the broad range of symptoms celiac disease presents, it can be difficult to diagnose. The symptoms can range from mild weakness, bone pain, and aphthous stomatitis to chronic diarrhea, abdominal bloating, and progressive weight loss. Those with celiac disease who consistently consume gluten can increase their chances of developing gastrointestinal cancer by a factor of 40 to 100 times that of the normal population. Furthermore, gastrointestinal carcinoma or lymphoma develops in up to 15 percent of patients with untreated or refractory celiac disease. Celiac disease should be quickly and properly diagnosed so it can be treated as soon as possible. Testing is fairly simple and involves screening the patient’s blood for antigliadin (AGA) and endomysium antibodies (EmA), and/or doing a biopsy on specific areas of the intestines.

With a strict adherence to a 100 percent gluten-free diet, almost all complications caused by the disease can be prevented. A gluten-free diet means avoiding all products that contain wheat, rye and barley, or any of their derivatives. This can be a difficult task as there are many hidden sources of gluten found in the ingredients of many processed foods. It is important to read labels carefully and become educated on what types of ingredients to look out for.

Gluten Foods to Watch For

Durum flour, couscous, semolina, spelt, kamut, bulgur and triticale, a grain crossbred from wheat and rye, are all names for certain kinds of wheat.
Corn starch, wheat starch, dextrin, malt, maltodextrin, modified food starch, fillers, natural flavoring, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), emulsifier, stabilizer and hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP)

Foods that commonly contain gluten

Most cereals, grains, pastas, breads, and processed foods contain some type of gluten, unless, of course, they are specifically made to be gluten-free. Vegetable cooking sprays, tomato pastes, spaghetti sauces, and veined cheeses, such as roquefort and blue cheese, may contain gluten.

Hidden sources of gluten

Many vitamins and medications can contain gluten in their additives. Always check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking any medication.

Be careful of cross-contaminating foods. This can happen in the toaster, deep fryer, griddle, etc.
Imitation seafood and instant or flavored coffees and teas
Glue on envelopes and postage stamps
Chewing gum
Some lotions, creams, and cosmetics

For more information go to www.celiac.org.

And don’t forget to go to www.foodallergybuddy.com to print your free food allergy buddy cards on your home computer. There is no limit to the number of cards you can print and we are constantly adding new designs.

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