Blue Plate Special

Seems the color blue is the latest Diet News that has been all the buzz in the media this week. In case you haven't heard, apparently we fill our plates with portions determined by the color of the plates we are using.

When the plate color matches the color of the foods we are eating, it is difficult to see where the food ends and the plate begins. For example; If you have a white plate and you are eating White Meat and white mashed potatoes with white gravy, or chicken and white rice, those foods are too close in color to the plate and it is easy to over eat them. Makes sense!

For healthier portion sizes that will help toward losing weight and keeping energy levels high for hours rather than the larger portions that tend to plunge energy to the couch, try using plates that offer a color contrast to the foods you are eating. Such as my breakfast bowl this morning; Goat Milk Vanilla Yogurt with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of a layer of healthy whole grain cereals. I tried it first in a white bowl and honestly the yogurt looked very small in portion size until I transferred it into the blue bowl. It looks nearly twice the size. I had a cup of coffee and a Black Beauty Apple to round out my healthy breakfast this morning. Yum!

Researchers say the best color is BLUE. Hence, the diner fave,  "The Blue Plate Special". 

Hmmm. Interesting! Fortunately blue is my favorite color so I have a lot to choose from. Don't be surprised if you see it alot on here. Perhaps, eating out of the blue, will prevent getting the blues on the scales. I love any tip that makes it easier to avoid overeating. Now, if you will excuse me, I am heading to the kitchen to fix me a Blue Plate Special Lunch!

Just might have to put Elvis's BLUE CHRISTMAS on Pandora while eating today. :-)

What's Your Fitlosophy

Everybody basically has their own ideas about how to eat to lose weight, exercise, and take care of their own health. Yet everyone tends to chase after or at the very least be curious about the latest and greatest diet, book, person, TV Show, products, programs, and philosophies that claim to be the magic trick  help we are looking for to change all the things we don't like about the way we look.

After 22 years of studying nutrition & fitness, I am always on the hunt for easier ways to help me do the things I firmly believe in and I definitely believe in JOURNALING everything from what I eat and drink to working out, and of course those ever exciting WEIGH days.
                        [Re-Start weight August 20th, 2011 340. Weigh-Off Nov. 30, 2011 310] =    an average of of 10 lbs a month of FAT GONE BYE BYE FOREVER! Happy Dancing going on!

So, I am always on the hunt for notebooks, journals, diaries, daily trackers, and all kinds of writing tablets to add to my endless collection that was started when I was still in elementary school. I remember my very first little palm size diary that I received for Christmas when I was 9. It was green with a little gold lock and key and I wrote all my secrets and dreams and stories in it. [I wish I still had it. what a great read especially on days when what is most needed is a HO HO HO lotta belly laughing]

My beloved Momma, such a kid at heart she always was, fed and encouraged my writing passions and continued adding to my collection every year. I still have the last one she bought me and after her death, I found more she had purchased but had yet to give me. I have added one or two since then but have not been as excited about any in particular UNTIL I LEARNED ABOUT THIS NEW DIET & FITNESS TRACKER BY FITLOSOPHY,  "Fit Book". As soon I heard about it and checked into it online, I had to go get it. Fortunately I live only 5 minutes from a Super Target Store so I was a proud owner of my very own copy of FIT BOOK within a half hour after I found out about it.

I justified the purchase with cutting 22.00 of my eating/drinking budget for the week and told myself that even the Lord would be pleased with my purchase because there is scripture to support it.
                                                     In Habakkuk 2:2-3, it says,
                                "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run
                                       who reads it for the vision is yet for an appointed time."

So, since I Re-Started my healthy living program I have been journaling it on Facebook and now here on my new official blog, but I also just really like the nostalgia of taking pencil or pen in hand and writing it all down the old fashioned way in a more personal fashion. I love modern technology as much as anybody does. I seem to be glued to my Smart Phone, Laptop, and my iPAD 2 as soon as I get it, I am sure I will be. But to me, nothing compares personally with seeing my own handwriting & my own words, on paper, with pages to turn and a book to hold in my hands and look through. I don't know how you guys feel about it but that just does it for me! I carry it with me and write down what I eat. For example here's a glimpse at my breakfast and lunch today.

So I was especially pumped up when I found about this awesome little gem of a book that helps me write down not only what I eat but also my goals, vision, plans, ideas, hopes, dreams, prayers, oh and of course all the technical and important stuff such as what I actually eat, drink, workout, weigh, and all those necessary measurements and sizes. I mean this little beauty covers it all.

It really is wonderful and because I do not want to have one all by myself, I AM GOING TO GIVE ONE OF THESE SWEET LITTLE BEAUTIES TO ONE OF YOU LUCKY READERS!

To win your very own Fitbook all you need to do is: read this blog and make a comment about my blog that will help me to know in what ways my blog is a help to you. 
You can get a 2nd chance to win by posting a separate comment with a personal lifestyle improvement goal of your own. You can get a 3rd chance by posting an invite to your FB friends and a 4th  and final chance to win if you SHARE THE LINK TO MY BLOG WITH YOUR FB FRIENDS

WIN YOUR OWN FIT BOOK: Starting NOW!
Comment, comment, post, share, and a winner will be chosen randomly next Friday morning.  A video of the drawing will be shown here on my BLOG next Friday Morning! So, start your comments now! Good Luck everyone!

What Tina Maria Ate Thursday Dec. 1, 2011

THE ALLERGIST ATE MY BREAKFAST -

Well, not exactly! I had a very early morning new patient appointment with my new Allergist and I was running late so I didn't have time to eat. Oops! Plus, I desperately needed to grocery shop as there was barely any food in the pantry or refrigerator. So, I skipped breakfast I waited to eat until I left the Docs office and by then it was lunch time.

After the long session of being poked with hundreds of needles and waiting to see if my arms would produce mosquito-bite-like red bumps it was determined that I am not allergic to any foods enough to diagnose a food allergy. I am, however, allergic to a lot of other things so I have an inhaler, a daily allegra, and the Epi Pen.

Because I had a early afternoon meeting clear across town on the other side of Nashville to pick up Hannah's Christmas Presents, I ran for a quick but well-rounded lunch at a Chinese Restaurant down the street from the Medical Plaza.

I selected a variety of veggies, noodles, crab, salmon, and a couple of spring rolls. So good!

            Then there was a few bites of Flaky Pastry Crusted Apple Pie for dessert. Not bad!

Followed by the traditional Fortune Cookie ~

I ate and quickly headed out on a 45 minute drive North to buy my first Christmas Presents of the year and of course they are for the sweetest little niece. I am so excited.

Speaking of Christmas, while I was at the Dr. Jack and his brother Phil surprised me by bringing in the Christmas Tree. So, this weekend, we Deck The Halls and set the Christmas tables for our Christmas party later this month. Here is a Pix of our ChristmasTree 2008.

   Blue & Silver was the theme. This year, all-out multi-colored. Pix will follow this weekend.

IT'S BEGINNING TO SOUND A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS IN MY HOUSE

The late afternoon was filled with errands including a much needed trip to Whole Foods for essentials that I will blog about later and then home to meet with my friends, Kaylen and Bekah and of course, Jack, and cook up some dinner together. Bekah filled the house with the aromas of of scented candles as the three of us cooked up a good ole fashioned [with the exception of one new fangled healthy recipe we're all crazy about] dinner to the beautiful Holiday Sounds of Christmas Classics that Kaylen cooked up on Pandora Radio. Click below to sample a treat from our dinner music. ENJOY!

Bekah made incredibly tasty Deviled Eggs, Kaylen mixed up our newest favorite healthy food, GARLICKY KALE SALAD, [more about that later including the easy to fix and easy to love recipe] while I ran to another grocery store to pick up a Rotisserie Chicken and Jack's favorite Peas which I cooked up with Chicken Stock and a pat or 2 of REAL BUTTER [cannot stand artifical butters or artificial anything] and I was thrilled with the Manager's Special of the day; Fresh Rotisserie Chickens for 2.49. I bought the last 2. It will make delicious chicken sandwiches tomorrow!

We finished the night with a pot of fresh brewed coffee, more Holiday tunes and small slices of Razzleberry Pie. So good I almost ate a second slice. I told myself I can have it tomorrow and now I have something tasty to look forward to. Besides, 1 of any dessert is plenty! But if you've ever had Razzleberry Pie then you understand how difficult it is to have only 1 slice!

Bedtime called for a marathon of Hallmark Holiday Chick Flicks plus Jack! He loves them as much as any woman does. He's not so much into Lifetime type movies, but LOVES those sappy heartwarming Hallmark movies. After Jack left to go to his house I fell asleep midway through the final drama and finally dragged myself off to bed at 1:30 a.m. with sugar-free plums dancing in my head.

I am happy that I did some healthy things for my body today by going to the Allergist and eating lots of healthy veggies and lean meats.

Hope you all had a healthy day, too! REMEMBER, YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!!

PURSUE YOUR PROMISED LAND!

HUGS ~
Tina Maria

Dinner

Dinner simple country style Green Beans & Yukon Gold Potatoes cooked with chicken stock I had saved in the freezer from the last time my Dad and his wife visited and she made her special chicken and rice. Is there anything better than homemade stock for making tasty, healthy, low fat veggies and side dishes? Um, I'm thinking, NOT. So, I took that little pot of gold and made a delicious pot of these.  

What I Ate Today Wednesday November 30, 2011

Here We Go

Welcome to my Blog! I am SO EXCITED to share my journey from Egypt the land of fat and flab  to The Promised Land flowing with Milk & Honey.

My Promised Land includes being healthier, stronger, more fit, somewhere between a size 8-14, & at a healthy weight. Currently I weigh 310, down 30 Lbs. from 340 since August 20, 2011 [YAY ME] and on my weigh to reducing at least 140 more with a target goal date of Dec. 31st, 2012. 13 months and one day away! [I can do it, I will do it, I am doing it] And this Blog is my way of creating extra accountability, support, encouragement, and uniting fellow journeymen toward FREEDOM!

Each Day I will upload Photos of what I ate for the day. Each week I will upload a video of my weigh-off so we can all see how well what I am eating and working out, is working for me!

So, here's What I ate today!

Breakfast - Poached Eggs with Toasted Ezekial Bread topped with Fig Preserves & Four Fruit Jelly. In my Coffee mug is Seattle's Best Gingerbread Flavor with Pumpkin Spice Creamer. It was SO good!


Lunch - since last Sunday Nov. 10th I have been under allergic reaction mode - apparently to some of the wonderful healthy foods I started eating in August to help me lose weight and reach my healthy goals. So, because I am still recovering and don't feel much like cooking, my friend Jack brought me some soups to easily and quickly heat and eat. I chose This one for lunch today.