by Tish MacWebber | May 18, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
It has been a while since I felt up to writing a regular Blog story. I am sorry if you were missing me and my writing, I needed a break. I was on a really good streak there, for over a year. Some people write their Blog stories ahead of time. I usually sit down and pound it out on the keyboard right before I publish. It could be an hour more or less, and I usually come up with a title, topic, and story. This week I am going to share something a little different in Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story. Part 57 Prep Cooking Tips is going to be a top 5 list of my own Prep Cooking Tips!
I have written about the importance of prep cooking in my own journey to become a healthier version of myself. I have found that I am less likely to eat unhealthy if I take the time to prepare healthy choices for my lunches, and sometimes even breakfasts and suppers. Everyone deserves a treat now and then, as long as it is within reason. I tend to give an inch and take a mile or ten. So, I know that prep cooking works, and I must get back into the habit of it.
I had plans last weekend but I got sideswiped by an unexpected injury. I was walking, which is supposed to be something that is good for me. I somehow managed to pull some muscles in my foot. I was in a lot of pain for 3 or 4 days. I am taking fewer painkillers now, and hoping that the weekend is nice. I am going to plan a short walk. I have to build up my tolerance a little more slowly, as it has been some time since I walked for longer than it takes to go get groceries. Now that I am on the mend, it is time to start walking a little more each day. It is a plan.
These tips may seem like common sense to more experienced home cooks. I think that if you plan ahead the prep cooking will go more smoothly than if you don’t.
1. Determine what type of meal you want to cook. Go through recipe books, Pinterest, and websites. Most of your family favourites can be made in bulk and frozen, to reheat or cook when you are ready to eat them. Write down the recipes in a planner for when you are going to eat them if you want to be really organized. People plan meals by the week and month. There are lots of guides for this online, depending on what suits your fancy. Since I am a fan of the Trim Healthy Mama Plan, when I get serious, I will be planning according to their guidelines. You can make this as simple or as complicated as you like. The more effort you put into this, the better results you will get. It is up to you.
2. Now that you have recipes selected, write down your ingredients list. Include everything for each recipe. Then check your cupboards and pantry for the ingredients that you have on hand, and cross them off the list. The remaining items will become the start of your grocery list. If you are feeling like you have extra time, go through the fridge and cupboards and toss the expired items. It will be better to replace them before starting the cooking step, and finding that you need to get more of something that is mouldy or gone bad.
3. Next, you will need to think about utensils, pots, pans and storage. Do you have what you need to prepare and store what you will be cooking? This limits me a bit. We are a household of 2 adults. We live in a mini home. There is not a lot of storage in my kitchen. I have had to become creative with storage methods. I have 2 shelving units and a bookcase in my kitchen. They work for now. I also prefer glass containers for anything that needs reheating later on. So the plastic storage is available, but not used for prep cooking storage, unless it is something that will not be going into a microwave. I also use more Mason jars than I have room to keep organized. They are another way to store soups, salad in a jar, and pantry items.
4. Go to the grocery store to get what you need. This can be pricey the first few times if you are starting from scratch. If you are on a budget, use coupons and flyers. Get as many deals as you can. If you have like-minded friends, TEAM UP! If you have 3 friends to join in, and you all buy enough for 4 batches of a different recipe, then you have 4 meals prepped, and you will have CHOICES! Working together with friends to make homemade healthy meals is a great way to have a productive social gathering! Take turns hosting once or twice a month. Make it a THING, and make it FUN! Have snacks. Get more done faster, including clean up! (This can also be teenagers if they are a part of your family. They won’t be able to help with the budget, but they would be happy to help if it means they get some cookies or a movie night aw a thank you!
5. Don’t Give Up! Start with one recipe, doubled up. Then make something different the next time. Keep building recipes until you have a good variety, and you don’t have to cook for the whole month in one day. Spread out the work over time, and you will have a freezer full of healthy food in a few weeks. When you feel like cooking, make something. When you don’t you have a plan. As long as you keep rotating what you make, it will pay off!
Tonight I made Cheeseburger Pie for supper. It is in a 9 x 13 pan. It serves 6 to 8 people. There are 2 of us. When I have it for supper, I have 2 pieces. When I have it for lunch, I have 1 piece. I will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I plan to freeze one or two portions, for whenever I am craving a burger. Sometimes you just want that burger so bad…that it is good to plan ahead and have a cheeseburger pie portion in the freezer ready to heat and eat. When I want a BigMac or a Mozza Burger, I make Big Mac Salad. With cheddar, it is a BigMac SALAD, and with Mozza, it is an amazing Mozza Burger SALAD. No buns makes it a salad! I even put the sesame seeds on top!
BigMac Salad for Lunch
Cheeseburger Pie
In case you aren’t on my Facebook, and you want to know what Cheeseburger Pie is, I am going to share a link to the recipe. It can be found with other recipes on the Trim Healthy Mama website, and if you check out the recipe, you can also take a look at the THM plan and other recipes. They even have products for sale there. I am not affiliated, so I leave things up to you. I love the recipes, and I also am happy that I know it is a plan that does work for me WHEN I WORK THE PLAN!
Here is the recipe for Trim Healthy Mama Cheeseburger Pie
I plan the next Trust Your Gut to be two weeks from today. I am slowing down, but not bailing. I have more stories to share. 🙂
There you have it. Do you Prep Cook? Have you had friends join you to conquer the kitchen? Let me know if you have tried and true favourite recipes that you use, and love.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 30, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
This week in Trust Your Gut I am going to write about defeating inner gremlins. What are inner gremlins, you might be wondering? Inner gremlins are those little voices that whisper negative things to you, kind of like the devil on your shoulder if you prefer that description. I have been doing a lot of work on myself, and this past winter I have been having a hard time. I have difficulty being active in the winter, and I also lack gumption. It could be Seasonal Depression, but it has never been officially diagnosed as such. It does seem to be related to the winter months, and I have noticed a change in this over the last few weeks. I am perking up with the sunshine. Or it could just be an elaborate excuse told by the inner gremlin.
In my journey to become a healthier version of myself, I can honestly say that it has been a lacklustre event since the fall. I have had spurts, but not a long-term plan of action. I think the plans up and talk myself out of them. Or rather my inner gremlin talks me out of them. I want to do things that make me feel better, but I just let lazy Tish win. She is a real pain in the ass. She doesn’t want to put an effort into anything that isn’t absolutely necessary, and she is a real downer. She listens to the inner gremlin and believes what it says. It makes her tired and cranky. Negativity will do that to the best of us. I know in my heart what I need to do, and I just don’t do it. I am perfectly capable of doing anything I want to. I just don’t believe it. Because the inner gremlin tells me otherwise.
Something I am preparing for in my journey as an author is an official author profile picture. I don’t let on that it bothers me. I am in pics all the time. I am morbidly obese. This is something I deal with internally. I don’t want my pictures to show the worst version of me, I want them to show the best version of me. I will take the time to do my hair and makeup, and wear the dress I picked out. I will make myself look nice. That is the plan. But the inner gremlins have been working against me for a while now.
When I moved away from home to go to university, I lived in a dorm for a few years. When I moved off campus, I started a ritual in my bathroom in the mornings. I turn on the water for the shower, and while it is heating I take off my glasses and take a close up look at my face in the mirror. I have been doing this for years. At first, I was just checking to see what I looked like that day and if there was sleep in my eyes or drool on my face from sleeping. Then I started looking and hearing the gremlin whispering, “How do I look today?” Not such a negative thought. It seemed harmless, so I never thought anything else about it.
Until the other morning.
I was taking my morning look, and I heard the gremlin whisper, “How bad do I look today?” I realized the whisper had changed, it was negative and hurtful. It was nasty. I thought to myself, wait a minute. How long has this been what I think when I am looking at myself in the morning? I honestly didn’t know.
This was the first time I had paid attention. I heard it, I recognized it, and I decided that I had to make a change in that thought process right away! I also decided that it was important enough to write about it here, to share this and try to help other people like me.
If your inner dialogue, aka your inner gremlins, are so smart that they fool you into thinking they are harmless, you are just like me. I didn’t even know that they were waging war on my self-esteem on a daily basis. But they were. And they WERE winning.
That is until they whispered loud enough that I actually heard the message. If you ignore them, or you don’t hear them, they can still do damage. They are there, whispering all the negative thoughts, sometimes too quietly to hear. Other times they do what mine did, and the change is subtle, so subtle that they can be missed. If you overlook them, that is where the danger lies, because you are not defending yourself, and you are not taking them seriously. They are nasty little buggers, and they need to be defeated. In this case, ignorance is bliss for the inner gremlins.
After I had that realization, I made a decision. It is going to take me a while to be able to say that I have conquered the inner gremlins, but I have a plan. I am going to say something positive to myself every morning as I look in the mirror. It will take me a long time of doing this to make it feel genuine, that it is real. I have to start somewhere. I hope that it will help me with my goals of becoming a healthier version of myself. I need to not just say that I am worth it, I have to believe it. This is the first step in a new direction on that path.
#TrustYourGut (Sorry it is a week and a day late)
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 18, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
In Trust Your Gut this week, I’m writing because Something Has Changed! The Shrinker is working! The Shrinker must be working! I am not talking about the scale and the pounds here. I am talking about my metabolism. I feel real hunger again. It can mean different things. My activity level has not increased dramatically. I have started drinking the Shrinker to boost my metabolism. I am choosing to believe that it is what is happening. The only other option is that I am not eating enough. I can’t say I am totally convinced one way or the other on this. I do eat 3 meals a day. I have snacks. I don’t think that is the answer. Which leaves the possibility of the combination of foods I am eating as wrong. I am open to that also.
*Note* My apologies for being so late with this blog post this week. I was having a hard time collecting my thoughts, but I figured it out!
I’ve been eating fewer carbs and more protein. I cannot eliminate carbs completely. I start losing control of my hunger and my sugars when I do that. That is something that makes THM different from protein-based diets like Atkins. I need the balance. I learned today that Keto may be similar to THM. I might look further into that.
I plan some prep cooking on Sunday. It is the best way for me to stay on the plan. It is hard work to live a healthier lifestyle, and that is why it is hard to keep myself motivated. All I can do is my best when I feel up to it, and the rest will fall into place.
Now I am asking myself, what step should be next in my journey? THM experts say to start with one thing, and when you master that one thing, build upon it. I am having such success with the Shrinker, it is time I got serious about my beverages. I am not giving up wine. I am having WAY too much fun learning about different wines, and searching for “the one.” I drink my coffee black, and I also have a lot of fun reviewing the coffees that I try. I am going to go back to the THM basics for this one. I am talking about Good Girl Moonshine, aka GGMS.
With the Shrinker, the oolong tea, cinnamon and cayenne pepper are working together to increase my metabolism. Since I seem to be hungrier more frequently, I can assume that the fuel I am putting into my body is being burned up more quickly. That is what I am hoping is happening. The GGMS has a different recipe, and therefore a different method to how it works.
GGMS in its basic recipe, is water ginger, apple cider vinegar, and optional sweetener of choice. I use Swerve. It is Erythritol, and it does not leave an aftertaste in your mouth. It does leave a cooling sensation, which is different, but not unpleasant. I notice it more when I bake with it, rather than when I put it into my beverages.
People use a variety of different additions to the basic GGMS recipe, to make it their own. My own personal favourite is the Black Cherry Berry Celestial Seasonings tea. I add 4 tea bags to every batch, which is about 1 tea bag for every 500ML of GGMS. That was all I needed to make this beverage tasty.
Apple cider vinegar can have an effect on your teeth. It can weaken your enamel. I have talked to my dentist about it, and as long as I am using a straw, which THM recommends as well as a glass drinking container. It is also important to have water after, to make sure your mouth is rinsed out. You can brush your teeth after rinsing with water if you are really concerned about the enamel on your teeth. I don’t always brush, but I do rinse with water (which most of us do not drink enough of anyway) and because it is supposed to be helpful to losing weight, I don’t spit it out, I drink the water. I am just adding to the benefits this way.
You can find the Shrinker and the GGMS recipes on the Trim Healthy Mama Website, under the Recipes page. Check it out! I can honestly say that I know I feel better, and I start the scale going in the right direction when I am following the plan. If you are more curious, I recommend their books as well. They have several out now, and that includes recipe books. One thing I have yet to try in my healthier lifestyle is to make a recipe that includes okra. That is something I plan to figure out when I get a chance. Trying new foods is an adventure, and I love spaghetti squash, so I’m up for trying new foods on occasion. Sometimes I am surprised, and I like them. Do you eat okra? Do you have any tips for me? Leave a comment below, and it may help me get over the nerves of trying a new food.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 9, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
In this week’s Trust Your Gut; Push It Real Good, I am pushing myself. I am my own worst critic, and sometimes I am really hard on myself. When I fall off the wagon, it’s not usually a small thing. I don’t do anything the easy way, and I don’t tend to minimize things. When I get back on track, I tend to go all out. Until the next slip up.
I have been working harder to stay on the plan. The scale reflects it. FINALLY! I am happy to say that I am down 3 pounds. That is worth celebrating! A few changes do make a difference. I made it to Zumba twice, and I just finished about 30 minutes of shovelling heavy snow. There is another storm, and I am home first, so I get to shovel as much as I can before my husband comes home. I cleared the steps and walkway and made a path to the street. That took me 30 minutes. At that time, my thumbs usually start getting cold. I learned the last time that if I ignore them and keep going, it will be a painful experience as they warm up. I don’t know if it is caused more by poor circulation, or if it is a side effect of diabetes called diabetic neuropathy. I used to think it was just the one thumb, and although that one does seem to be affected more by the cold.
Diabetic neuropathy can be very painful. I have had nerve pain, and my new doctor is wondering if I am experiencing it because of diabetes. I can’t say for sure. I hurt my thumb that is really sensitive to cold temperatures, years ago, and I always thought that it was a side effect of hitting my thumb. Now I am not so sure, as they were both bothering me tonight.
I also have pain in my right thigh. Not all the time, but it can bring me to tears when it is bad. I have discovered that it is coming from my hip flexor muscles. I have had physiotherapy and acupuncture to try and release whatever is causing it. It is a pinched nerve, so I try and stretch the muscles when I can. I would not wish nerve pain on my worst enemy. Just another reason to keep pushing myself. When I lose weight, the thigh problem may go away. That would be wonderful.
I am a little down this week, as my blog has not been getting as many views as it used to. I don’t know what to think. I do know I am going to keep writing, and hopefully, it will turn around. If you are reading this, thank you. I need all the support I can get on my journies, and I hope in some way I can help people with my writing. The only way to know is to keep on blogging.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 2, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
This week, in Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; #53 Me vs the Bathroom Scale. It’s Complicated, I am going to share that yes, I did get on the scale. It was not a good thing that I saw. Not the highest number ever, but certainly not a good one, either. A teeny tiny voice tried to tell me that it was muscle because I went to Zumba yesterday. I know better. It is because I have been into things that I shouldn’t be.
I am my own worst enemy. I know what I need to do to fix my weight issues. I choose the wrong things and I am not happy about it. I don’t have guilt, per se, but I do the same thing over and over again.
I was on the right track last week. Then I ran into hormones and temptations. I saw the results of that when I got on the scale this morning. it was not a good number.
In my defense, I am not perfect. I am allowed to make mistakes. I am human. They add up though, and I see the results when I get on the scale. So how do I deal with it? There are really only 2 options.
I can do nothing, be miserable, get that happy out of whatever I am eating that is not healthy because I am eating my feelings, not the food that I put in my mouth, or I can change. Change is hard. I have been known to make changes rather suddenly in the past, though, and I am not entirely afraid of change. Let’s look at it in terms of beverages.
I have been drinking coffee quite regularly for a few years. I added it in when I gave up Diet Coke. That used to be my main source of caffeine. As a diabetic, we are told to drink diet pop instead of regular pop. The experts say that it is better to drink it because the aspartame is better for a diabetic than sugar. Sugar is bad, and there is a lot of sugar in regular pop. (If you aren’t used to the term pop, it is what we call soda in Canada). I am not writing to slam diet Coke alone, I am slamming aspartame. I have been in better health without it. It was a personal choice, and in reality, if I can’t have Zevia (pop sweetened with Stevia), then I should be drinking water, or cashew milk, or a THM beverage. I do drink regular pop sometimes. I have found myself excusing it because I am eating unhealthy, so the healthy pop is a waste, I will just have regular pop. Like that makes any sense at all. In my morbidly obese mind, I have concocted this reason to do something that is unhealthy for me to do and attempted to justify it. I need an intervention. What the what? As I write this, I am shaking my own head. Nope, that does not make sense.
Coffee. I used to put things in my coffee. Then one day, I started drinking my coffee black. I knew it was healthier to drink the coffee straight up. Since adding the Shrinker with the oolong tea, I am actually noticing a difference in my alertness after they are both in me. So I have made some changes that are having a positive impact, and they were decided upon rather quickly. These decisions I have no regrets about.
How did I handle the number on the scale today? Badly. I had takeout for lunch, and a bottle of wine this evening. It was good wine, at least. I now am getting ready to chase it with an electrolyte-rich beverage because I do have to work tomorrow, and I want to be functional. (Rapido Red Italian wine is really good for the price I paid. It was on sale) I have started drinking Bio-Steel from GNC for Zumba, and I really like it. It is a sugar-free sports drink. It is sweetened with beets, and it is pink. So I am having a Bio Steel “chaser” before bed. Hey, I can start making better choices now, I don’t have to wait for Monday or tomorrow.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Feb 23, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Me and my Chin. My chin is something that I am focusing on a lot these days. It is puffy. I almost wish I could blame it on having the mumps, but nobody wants to have the mumps. Although as I am sitting here, I am noticing that my glands may be a little swollen…lol. Nope, not the mumps. Fluid retention is much more likely what I am dealing with. I don’t know anymore if it is a 12-pound chin anymore. I do know that it is not a chocolate chin. I am not indulging like I was before. That being said, things do sneak in, and I have less willpower when it comes to certain sweets. I am working on that. I am going to have to ask someone to stop bringing so many home. If they aren’t here, I won’t be into them.
It has dissipated, some. It is not affecting the shape of my face as much. I know that what I am doing is working. I did some prep cooking last week, and I ate my healthy lunches for most of the week. I slipped today, but have lunch planned for tomorrow to get back on track. It is OK to be human, and go off the plan on occasion. It is not good to do it all the time. That is how someone like me gets into trouble.
I had a change come over me last week, and it was for the better. I was trying again. There was a week or two where I just wasn’t trying, and now I have this chin problem. I am very aware of it, and it is something I want to disappear. I want it to not be puffy. I need to refocus again this week and think of my chocolate rewards. Chocolate diamonds.
I think I will weigh in before next week, to see where I am at. I either weigh a lot or avoid the scale. I have been avoiding it of late, so I think it is time to see what is happening. I have made my fresh start, and there is nowhere to go but…down. I refuse to go any higher on the scale. I hope it is nice when I take the step onto it. If not, well, that really won’t be too much of a surprise.
I haven’t been to Zumba as regularly as I have wanted to be lately. Transportation issues are the main reason, sometimes if I have the car there is a storm. I don’t like asking for rides when the weather is so iffy. I will be asking more in the spring. I am really hoping that we can swing another car soon.
I wouldn’t be lying if I said that I wasn’t excited about a discussion I had with my husband earlier in the week. He is finally ready to consider getting a dog after our vacation. I really hope that it works out because I need a reason to become more active. Sadly, I am not motivated to do it if it is just for me, I need a reason. A dog would be that reason. I would have to go for more than one walk a day. That would help me to become healthier. It would fill my heart. Finally, it would make me happy to do something I have wanted to do for a long time. Have my own dog. Even though I am certain that it will like Roy more than me. He has a way with animals. I just love them like my family.
I will let you know if the scale was good, bad, or ugly next week.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Feb 16, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
Trust Your Gut is Starting Fresh this week! As you might know, if you read my Blog post yesterday, I had a bit of bad news, and I was struggling to deal with it. I was upset and had my moments to deal with it, and like I wrote yesterday, I focused on the good things in my life, rather than dwelling on the bad news. I am happy to say that it worked. Did it ever!
The old me would have dwelled in the negativity. The old me would have scrounged the house for junk food or anything that remotely resembled junk food. The old me would have wallowed in a pity party for one, and she might not have even let a new day snap her out of it.
With that one story yesterday, I changed my attitude. I had 4 pounds of ground beef in the fridge, and a whole chicken, all ready to cook. When I am trying to do better, I plan to cook, and sometimes the food spoils before I get to it. I decided yesterday was going to be a cooking day.
Roy, my husband, does not always like to eat on plan with me when I am making healthy food. It is challenging, as sometimes I have to cook different things. Sometimes we compromise, like when I make spaghetti sauce, he has regular pasta, and I now prefer spaghetti squash. I really do, because I do not get sleepy like I do after eating regular pasta. I like eating food that is healthy and tastes good. Trim Healthy Mama, or THM, is a plan that has an abundance of recipes for making healthy food that tastes good.
I am still drinking the Shrinker 5 days a week. I need to make some GGMS for the weekend. I need to have something other than pop to drink. I like the Shrinker. The last batch I made did not get consumed quickly enough. I have a glass pitcher with a spout to make it in. That is another plan for the weekend. If it is easily accessible, I am more likely to drink it. I have shared the recipes before, and the originals can be found at the THM website, under the recipes tab. There are also quite a few food Bloggers for THM, and Pinterest is loaded with THM recipes.
I cooked all of that meat last night. I took my disappointment, frustration, and discouragement, and turned into something productive. I cooked 1 pound of the beef and made Hamburger Helper for Roy. He had that last night for supper and today for lunch. I cooked the other 3 pounds together. I cooked it with a package of onion soup mix. (So good!) I scooped about a pound and set it aside for Big Mac Salad. I took the remaining 2 pounds and made Cheeseburger Pie. Before I started this, I used my favourite rub to get the chicken in the slow cooker. You can find it here. Tonight, we will be eating chicken for supper. It is ready to go! Roy will probably make a chicken sandwich for work tomorrow.
I have leftovers to heat and eat, for the next few days. I am proud that I did something productive last night. I needed to distract myself, and I did just that. Most of what I made is on plan too, with a few compromises for Roy to have something to eat as well. All in all, I think I am on my way to snapping out of the winter blues as a result of it. It is lighter in the morning and the evening, and it is making a difference in how I feel. Bring on Spring! This is why I called this week’s story a Fresh Start! I am ready to get things going in the right direction again!
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Feb 12, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
Trust Your Gut this week is a review of sorts. It will be a review of what I have learned so far. I wanted to make it a special edition, because of the number it has in the title. I also want to share what this category has done for me.
It is helping me to write Trust Your Gut every week. I know that other people read it, and can relate to some of the things that I write about. Those are both good reasons for me to keep going.
I have challenged myself to lose 50 pounds by July. It is harder than it sounds. I have to really focus if I am going to reach my goal. Getting back on track by going to Zumba tomorrow (I am writing this really late on Sunday, and I can make it to Zumba tomorrow, depending on the weather) is going to be a big help. I am not always able to make it twice a week right now, but I am hoping that will change. Nicer weather means I can start walking. That is why I want to get a dog. It will force me to walk.
I am in my winter slump. It does seem to be a rough winter this year. I have not been able to snap out of it like last year. I know what I have to do, and I just don’t. That makes it hard to get anything done, and hard to stay focused. I am not happy about it. I just have to work through it. It is hard to explain. I know that I don’t like going outside in the winter any more than I have to. I am terrified of falling down on the ice, even with all the extra padding I have built in. I survived 1 fall this winter and was quite sore for a few weeks. I wanted to hibernate.
I did talk to my doctor this past week. My sugars have gone up, and I basically knew that, as I had stopped trying so hard. I read today that the clock moves forward in 4 weeks. That means spring, and it means I will start coming out of the slump. My new doctor was wanting me to understand that I need to get back on schedule for bloodwork every 3 months. I am feeling better about that now that I have found that my new doctor is a really nice person, and wants to know about my life, not just about the health issues I have. She is really working towards building a healthy relationship with me as a person, and I really feel good about it.
She asked about bariatric surgery. I am still in the hell no camp, personally. I know it is not going to be easy to lose weight to become healthier, but I can still move. A friend told me that if I am not able to move anymore it will be too late. To me, it is at that point that I will need help because I am not able to help myself. My friend had a point, but I do not want to take that step.
When I get to the point where I have the excess skin after I have lost the weight, then I will ask for help with surgery. That is something that will make the journey complete, so to speak. It will mean that I need the help at that time. Now I just need to focus and do the work to get me there.
I learned that I need to work harder at committing to becoming healthier. I am roughly back to where I was a year ago. I have changed slightly, in either direction, but I have not lost a significant amount of weight. I have to work harder. I know I can get results if I just work on it. So I know what I have to do, to move forward and to keep writing my story.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Feb 2, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
Trust Your Gut this week is going to focus a little on Type 2 Diabetes. Sometimes, I don’t feel well. When that happens, I take a guess at what is going on.
Let’s take today, for an example. I stayed a little later after work to run to the grocery store and to get some wine. Then I got a ride home. I shovelled the driveway, steps and walkway. There wasn’t a lot of snow, it wasn’t heavy, and it wasn’t too cold or windy. Half an hour later, I come inside. I take off my layers and am I glistening. Yay me for doing some exercise. Then I noticed that I was perspiring from my scalp.
That is not good. I had a reason, but from my scalp usually means a low. So I was going to treat it, but I thought, well I should know how low it is so I know how to treat it.
It is a good thing that I Trust My Gut. I wasn’t having a low, my blood sugar was high! I was surprised and glad that I checked. I knew I didn’t feel confused. I wasn’t weak, or faint. I was a little out of breath from exercising with the snow and shovel.
The lesson this week is that it is ALWAYS better to check first. I could have been adding to the problem, instead of solving it. I did have carbs at lunch, and that was what was going on. So it makes sense, even though I thought that it was the opposite. I had been exercising, and I was overdressed, so I was really warm.
Tonight I am going to make burgers. I am craving burgers, and this way I can control what I am eating. There is no extra junk in a burger if you make it at home, just a tasty meal that helps to avoid the lazy route of getting fast food. Now don’t get me wrong, I am still working on the plan, but sometimes it is good to have a regular meal. I got some buns, and cheese slices. I haven’t made homemade burgers in a while. I also grabbed frozen fish burgers last week, and I will keep 2 buns for the last 2 fish burgers. Just to have something different to eat.
Cheeseburger pie and Big Mac Salad will always be in my meal rotation, now. I have decided to make taco salad for SuperBowl Sunday. We ate chili last week, and I suspect the Nacho Queen (yours truly) will make some nachos over the weekend. I love to have a plate of nachos as a meal. When I don’t know what I want, there had better be nachos I can make. I am eating the blue corn nacho chips these days, sometimes even the organic ones if they are on sale. They are great with an avocado dip I get as a treat sometimes. I go on kicks and eat them every other day sometimes, and other times I go a month or two without them. When I have all the ingredients, it is an easy, filling meal to make.
Well, I am off to make supper, Roy will be home soon. I want to get ahead of the prep cooking someday and get some cheeseburger pie in the freezer. It is a really good idea to have it ready for that next burger craving when you don’t want to go off the plan…
#TrustYourGut
