I have to admit. I am not the kind of weight-loss person that is going to give up any particular food or group of foods. For those of you that can, I say well done and amazing. But, that is just not me. I don’t want to ever say that I can’t have mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese. I don’t want to give up fried foods and sugar. Obviously, I am not going to eat them every day. I may not eat them every week. But, I know they are there if I want them.
Once, in 2012, when Ariel was getting ready to marry Eric, Alice and I went carb free for two weeks in order to lose a few pounds to fit in our dresses. It was a nightmare. Alice gets very cranky without her carbs. At the end of week two, we had both lost quite a few pounds. We’d also lost a few friends. I finally broke down and made Alice some cheesy mashed potatoes. Then, I ate some. Then, I went shopping for just a little larger dress. (Side note: Alice is NOT overweight. She THINKS she is, but she is not. Alice is curvy, but Alice is only a size 9…with a belt.)
The dress shopping was interesting. I decided to try a pair of Spanx. My good friend Ursula took me shopping. I grabbed the Spanx and began to pull them on. They got halfway up my thighs and started to roll. I grabbed those suckers and yanked and pulled and jumped. They slowly moved up about a quarter of an inch. Sweat was pouring off me, and I kept jumping and tugging and contorting. Ursula finally grabbed my shoulders, looked me in the eye and said “Stop! You’re scaring me!! I’m afraid you’re going to have another heart attack.” That was the very end of me and Spanx. I honestly think My Fitness Pal should include putting on Spanx as a cardio workout.
But, I digress. I do that a lot. The real thing refers, in THIS case, to food. I just don’t understand giving up REAL food for chemicals. Case in point, butter. Now, butter has a bad rap. I am not advocating that you go out and slather butter on everything, or cook with lots of butter. I am the Fat Girl Next Door, not Mrs.Butterton. Although, one of my most requested dishes used to be my roasted chicken with a pound of butter. But you know what? I am NOT giving you the recipe. It’s utterly delicious and very fattening. However, I am digressing again. It just seems to me that natural butter would be much better for you than whipped and creamy chemicals. I would rather have a small bit of butter on my toast, than a large helping of chemicals. It’s all about moderation people.
I also don’t understand the fat-free and light salad dressings. Again, chemicals. Even the regular stuff on the shelves is full of chemicals and stabilizers. I have found a dressing I love. It’s Bolthouse Farms Salsa Ranch. It is in the refrigerator section of the grocery store and it is made with buttermilk and yogurt and salsa. Even Alice and Mickey like it. It isn’t fat-free, nor is it calorie free, but 2 tablespoons only have 45 calories and it tastes delicious! Bolthouse has a wide variety of selections and NONE are made with chemicals. They also have Vinaigrettes around 25 calories. You can find all the varieties here: http://www.bolthouse.com/products/dressings
I have also pretty well given up sodas. Cans and bottles full of chemicals that were probably killing me. That;s because I drank a minimum of 36 sodas a week and honestly, it was more like 42-50. I drank at LEAST 6 a day, if not more. I still have the occasional Ginger Ale, because it settles my stomach and I have really battled nausea this week for some reason.
Do any of you, dear readers, have a real food you prefer? If so, I would love to hear about it. I am all about hints and tips and ideas. Hope you are all having a great weekend!
Disclaimer: I have received nothing from either Bolthouse Farms or any butter company. No money, no free butter, no free dressing, no coupons to save money on butter or dressing, no mention of me on THEIR blogs. Nothing, nada, zip. Oh, and nothing from Spanx either. Not that I could get them on. In fact, if Spanx was aware of me, I would probably just be an embarrassment to the company. Nothing like picturing a fat, sweaty, red-faced, older lady jumping up and down and panting to sell your product.
thefatgirlnextdoorblog 
Good for you! Along my year long journey I found so many things that, as I started eating them less and less or not at all (because they were trigger foods for me) that when I did eat them I got violently ill or had abdominal cramping, sometimes for days. Pork and fried foods set me off so bad. Pork also has a little bit of an ethical issue for me, but that’s not the main reason I stopped eating it.
You go! You’ll find your way! Eat those good carbs as often as you can — those generally have a fair amount of protein in them too! And fiber!
I have been lucky, thus far, not to have a trigger. I don’t think I have had anything fried since i started. I did an egg once, but it is it truly fried if you have a great non-stick surface and don’t use any oil or butter? I have made some homemade friend rice, but again, my homemade fried rice has a teaspoon of olive oil and that is all. I have had some utterly delicious, pretty low-cal pork tenderloin. Mainly, though, those old standbys, chicken, fish and seafoods.
I don’t believe in giving anything up completely either. Just have those dishes on rare occasions. When I say no to stuff it makes me want them even more. Good luck to you! 🙂 I have so good clean recipes on my page. Feel free to take a look around.
Thanks so much. I am always on the lookout for new recipes, so I shall be exploring your blog!
Oreos, honey buns, cheese cake, ice cream sandwiches
Yeah, but THOSE are NOTbbb going to help me lose weight.