Shrinking Daisy

Diet Season!!! (A message to all the newbies in 2009)

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | Thoughts | No Comments

It’s January, and it’s here! I can tell by the weight watcher meeting rooms, almost double in some meetings, the overcrowding of my office gym, and the sales in every grocery store on frozen diet meals and rice cakes! I have one thing to say to all of you who’ve got the New Year’s resolution diet bug…. make small changes, they will carry you to the big change you’re looking for!

Last year I was in the middle of losing my weight when diet season hit I’ve never really been a big resolution kind of girl, so it took me by surprise, but what was even more surprising was how short lived it was! By the middle of February many had given up, or gone back to old habits!

But for all of you who’ve just begun, don’t burn yourselves out! You can do it! Pick a small, manageable goal, and work towards it, don’t try to lose 100 pounds in a month, don’t try to exercise 3 hours a day, just make small changes that fit into your life, and gradually you’ll add to them and make more! I know it’s hard to wait sometimes, but remember, in 3 years, you could have had 3 failed diet seasons, or you could have slowly and steadily worked towards your goals, achieved them, and maintained the loss, either way three years would have gone by!

Congratulations on your start, keep up the momentum!!!

Tags: diet season, diets, weight loss, weightwatchers

Stretching and Balancing the French Way

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | Thoughts | No Comments

Stretching and balancing what you eat, this is something I’ve thought a lot about as I’ve gone through this weight loss/maintenance journey, because I love to eat, and frankly, I want to be able to eat whatever and still look great! (Who doesn’t?) I think maybe French women are the best masters of this balancing act.  I, like many Americans had the experience of going on a trip to
France, eating cream, cheese, wine, and every other tempting morsel offered to me in that country, and coming home twenty pounds lighter! How do they do it? How can I do it???

A couple of years ago I read the books “French Women Don’t Get Fat” and “French Women for All Seasons” by Mireille Guiliano.  What she said made a lot of sense to me, and I’ve really tried to incorporate some of her principles into my life.  Basically she said, indulge, but balance it out, either eat lighter later, or move more! Sad that there isn’t a great secret, but I’ve really tried to take it to heart, to make sure I eat the things I really love, and forgo the mediocre for lighter fare, while also taking the stairs, parking far away, actually walking, etc.  I think it makes a lot of sense. 

Another great balancing tip I got from the French is eating seasonally.  Seasonal produce tastes so much more flavorful, that it’s something to get excited about, and it’s limited quality actually makes me want it more, look forward to it when it’s not there, that gets me more excited about lower calorie food, which is great!

Also, apparently on that side of the ocean, what you eat is actually considered part of your “personal style” meaning what you choose to eat, and what you choose to forgo says something about who you are!  I think about that when I’m eating, what do my choices say about me? What do I want them to say? It’s so interesting, and of course I’d love to be as stylish as the French!

This summer I’m heading back to Europe, let’s see what other lessons I can pick up!

Tags: Balance, France, French Women, weight loss

Bread!!!

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | Food Finds, Recipe | No Comments

Ok, so I’ve been striving to eat more cleanly this year, trying to weed some of the junk out of my diet and eat more natural, “real” foods and less prepackaged stuff (Although, I can’t give it all up I confess!) One thing that I have rediscovered on this journey is home made bread! I love handmade bread, but have gotten so busy lately that I haven’t bothered to make my own, and well… you never know how many calories are in that great bakery loaf. I’ve discovered a new method that makes it easy to make it myself, without a big time commitment.

On a public radio show I heard the authors of a book called “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” talk about their book, and give the base recipe for their bread baking method,  so here’s the base recipe:

• 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (about 1-1/2 packets)
• 1-1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 6-1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting dough (I used whole wheat, yummy, and kept those points down!)
• 3 cups lukewarm water
• Cornmeal

In a large plastic resealable container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm (about 100 degrees) water. Using a large spoon, stir in flour, mixing until mixture is uniformly moist with no dry patches. Do not knead. Dough will be wet and loose enough to conform to shape of plastic container. Cover, but not with an airtight lid.

Let dough rise at room temperature, until dough begins to flatten on top or collapse, at least 2 hours and up to 5 hours.

After this you store the dough in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, that’s right, 2 weeks! This amount makes 4 loaves.  Then, anytime you want bread just take out as much dough as you want, gently shape it into a ball, let it rest for about 20 minutes, then cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so.  Put some hot water in a container in the oven to steam the crust and make it crunchier if you like that sort of thing! So far I’ve used it as bread dough and pizza dough, and it’s been amazing and fast both ways!!!

Not only is this bread natural, warm, and totally yummy, but it’s cheap too, you can make a loaf of this for far less than inferior store bought sandwich bread! I’m sold, and I’m buying the book, I hear there’s a killer cinnamon roll recipe in there that I’m just dying to weightwatcherize!

Tags: baked good, bread, weightwatcher recipe, whole wheat