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What do you think is the best way to lose weight?

We don’t all know the best way to lose weight, which is why most of us are walking around here overweight. I want to get the best weight loss tips I can so that I can make this a lifestyle change instead of a temporary pound reduction, you know. I don’t want to just look cute for the summer and then in the winter be in the same situation.

The best way to lose weight when I was younger was move around a little more but at 32 years old it’s a little different.  I don’t know the best way to lose weight for everyone because I don’t think there is one that will suit everyone, but I think there are some key things that I feel should always be followed whether trying to lose weight or not.

These things are 3 big factors when finding the best way to lose weight for you:

Never, ever, skip breakfast. This one is really difficult for me because I have never been a breakfast person. When I was growing up breakfast wasn’t important, so this is definitely taking some getting used to.  I try to make sure I have something filling like eggs and turkey bacon. Lots of people like oatmeal but I have this thing with textures and things like oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat, jello, pudding, etc. don’t sit too well with me.  I can’t do mushy stuff (yeah, people say I’m weird)! So, just make sure that you eat in the morning.

This weight loss tip is the best way to lose weight for “EVERYONE”, and that is to GET UP AND MOVE! I to have used the excuse “there are not enough hours in the day”, “I have no time to work out!”

Unfortunately, sometimes that lazy bug gets me and I don’t want to do anything but what I did was started doing squats while doing dishes or sit ups while watching one of my shows.  They say this is supposed to get easier; I’ll keep you posted because that hasn’t happened yet.

OK, so the last weight loss tip I’m going to share is going to scare some of you, it scared me! It may even sound a little crazy but the best way to lose weight and motivate you is to weight yourself every day. Yes, I said it! Every day because it’ll help you keep up with your progress, and you will see a pattern emerging. You’ll see when you have good days and when you have bad days.

Anyhow, that’s enough for now. Stay tuned, next time I’m going to show you “as of now pictures”

Did you like my tips? Let me know

Mac Daddy’s Veggie Mac

Greg Opperman, Winner of 2010 Vegan Mac Daddy Competition

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

For the Veggie Beef

Vegetable Oil (optional)
1 cup TVP (available at the Artichoke Co-op)
2 cups water
2 tablespoons mild chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 veggie broth cube (or equivalent)
Sri Racha hot sauce (aka Cock Sauce – optional)
1/2 package fresh Sage leaves, finely chopped (reserve other half for the topping)

For the Mac & Cheese

1 pound rotini pasta (the multi-colored kind is best)
8 ounces peas
8 ounces corn
1/2 cup vegetable oil (Earth Balance works, too)
1/2 cup white flour
4 cups almond, soy, or rice milk (unflavored)
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes (available at the Artichoke Co-op)
1 1/2 tablespoons turmeric
1 1/2 tablespoons madras curry powder (or any run-of-the-mill curry)
1 tablespoon garam masala
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 veggie broth cube, or equivalent
A healthy squeeze of yellow mustard
1″ chunk of fresh ginger, chopped
Several cloves of garlic, minced (depends on your preference – I use about 4-5 big cloves)
Salt to taste

For the Topping

1/2 package fresh Sage leaves, finely chopped
Panko bread crumbs
8 ounces Earth Balance or other butter substitute (8 oz = 1/2 a tub)
Paprika (optional)

Instructions

1. Veggie Beef

Coat the bottom of a medium-sized saucepan with vegetable oill place on medium heat. The more you add, the better the beef will taste. If you’re concerned about your health, you can skip it altogether. Add the remaining ingredients, stir thoroughly. Bring to a slight boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, allowing the TVP to absorb the flavors. If the TVP is tasting bland, add more spices to compensate. The beef will provide the majority of the spicy kick in this dish, so I like to make liberal use of the chili powder and Cock Sauce. The veggie beef will be done when all of the water is absorbed, but if you need more time, add more water and continue to simmer.

Note: This veggie beef recipe also works great as an easy meat substitute in other dishes. Use it in tacos, lasagna, or wherever else you need a little bit of texture in your meal. Experiment with other spices.

2. Make the sauce

Pour 1/2 cup of vegetable oil (or vegan butter, if that’s your thing) into a large pot on medium heat. Allow the oil to heat, then mix in the flour, stirring constantly. Once you’ve got your roux (that’s the oily flour goop you just made), add 4 cups of your milk of choice, as well as the veggie broth. Add soy sauce, mustard, turmeric, curry powder, garam masala, ginger, and garlic. Mix well, and bring to a bubble, allowing the flavors to blend. After it bubbles, add nutritional yeast and mix thoroughly. Now that you’ve got your sauce, taste it. If you feel like it’s a bit lacking, punch it up with more curry powder or garam masala. For a cheesier flavor, add more nutritional yeast. Add the peas, corn, and veggie beef, cover, and continue to simmer on low heat. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

3. Get the pasta going (and some sage butter)

You do know how to cook pasta, right? Put on a big pot of water, bring it to a boil, dump the pasta in. You’ll want the pasta a little ‘al dente’, or tastefully undercooked, so shave a minute or two off of the regular cooking time. Meanwhile, in a small pan, melt your butter with the remaining chopped sage on medium-low heat. When the butter begins to bubble and brown (about 5-8 minutes), pour it into a bowl. Toss breadcrumbs in the butter mixture, enough to lightly coat each breadcrumb. If you haven’t forgotten about your pasta (don’t), take it off of the heat and drain it.

4. Assemble, Bake

Pour the pasta into the sauce and mix well. Make sure to dredge up enough peas, corn, and veggie beef from the bottom to create an evenly delicious spread. Don’t worry if there’s way more sauce than solid ingredients – the juicy liquid will reduce in the oven, and your veggie mac will come out perfectly moist. Fill a large baking pan or casserole dish with your veggie mac, making sure the liquid fills up to the top of the pasta. Generously sprinkle your casserole with an even coating of paprika, then cover entirely with breadcrumbs. Place on the top shelf of oven; bake at 400 degrees. After 30 minutes, turn your oven up to ‘Broil’; Broil for about 5 minutes, or until breadcrumbs are golden-brown. Remove from oven, and enjoy!

How do you measure success?

How do you measure success? Usually people measure success by possessions or power. Sometimes people measure success by beauty.  Well, at this very moment I measure success by weight and I’m doing a good job of it. I really don’t want this blog to become a place to complain but, I’m not achieving success. I actually thought that blogging about weight loss would be a little more cheerful. I thought I was going to start this journey and tell you all about the great progress I’m making. Plus, I was supposed to show you pictures of my wonderful new body. I’m getting a reality check! I wish I could figure out the secret to success. Why do we have to measure success anyway? Why can’t we just be happy as we are? What does it mean exactly to measure success? I’m starting to learn that success has a lot more to do than what you own. It’s about how you feel about yourself and how you are going to make yourself happy. It’s about health and family. Should we measure success by the way we look? NO, Of Course not but we do it any. I know I definitely do because as I sit here typing this I am feeling down on myself, feeling ugly, feeling unsuccessful. If I had to measure success at this moment I would say that I have failed, if I haven’t totally failed I am on the way. I need some success tips.  I’m finding out all these things and I haven’t even dropped a pound since the beginning of 2010.

I’m trying to let the journey begin……

It’s Time To Achieve Personal Goals

I want to lose weight, I want to take care of my body, that is my personal goal. I want to succeed with my dreams,  this also is my personal goal. I know I can do this. I will never give up on my personal goal of a life of love, happiness, health and wealth. I know this journey will be tough at times but I can make it through, all I have to do is look ahead and never turn back. This is the only life I have and I want to live it to the fullest and make the people that I love, happy, this is a personal goal. Hopefully going through this journey will help me identify some of the things that make me, me. Watching the Biggest Loser, you see not only the visual transformation of their body but you see the growth and appreciation they start to gain for there life and health. They discover feelings they have pushed down hoping that food would make those feeling go away. I sit here trying to peel away the layer in myself to see why I’m allowing myself to fall in to this abyss of “gaining weight”. I want to lose weight! Why can’t I stop it? It’s becoming my drug, now I know what a addict feels like. Like an addict I find myself sometimes sneaking, in my own house, to eat food (mainly because I know I’m not supposed to be eating it). I will buy snacks (chips, candy bars, cupcakes) while I’m out shopping or running errands and make sure I eat them before I get home so no one knows I’m eating that stuff. It’s really starting to become a little embarrassing. It’s starting to hinder me from achieving goals I know I can obtain, my personal goals.

On top of the humiliation and not achieving my personal goals, I feel for not being able to control my eating I notice the change in my body. All my cute clothes are packed away because I can’t get in them anymore. I have been holding a brand new pair of black shorts that I bought a year ago. Yes, I said 1 year ago. All I have done is get further and further away from my goal weight. My personal goal was first 15 pounds, now my personal goal has turned to 20-30 pounds. I keep telling myself, tomorrow, tomorrow, but tomorrow has become a lot of tomorrows, you know what I mean? So, I was supposed to start this journey as my New Year resolution however, this is no longer a resolution. This has become a promise to myself, my children, my spouse and to all of you joining me that I will lose this weight no matter how long it takes.

I haven’t reached the point of being obese, however, I do see the bad effect having extra weight can have on your body. For instance, sometimes when I’m sitting down I can hear myself breathe a little harder, my knees hurt, when I sit for long periods of time my feet will swell and I just feel unhealthy. I’m not insured so going to the MD is out of the question. I’ve got to do this on my own, I want to lose weight, I want to feel good about myself again. I have to reach my personal goal!

Until next time….

Do You Wall Climb?

Ok World,

Does anyone wall climb? I’ve personally never done it but it looks pretty hard to wall climb. When I see beginners start to wall climb, they start off great and their off, they get about a quarter to halfway through the wall climb and start to waver because they are just high enough where they can’t jump down but have a ways to go before they get to the top. Then their weight starts to get heavy, you all know what comes next, they jump! I am already off to a bad start (as I guiltily sit here eating Goldfish crackers).

It’s sort of been one of those situations where you get off to a good start (like beginners do when they wall climb) and then you start to waver.  I made a promise to myself this year that I need to fulfill, I want to lose weight, I need to lose weight, because I’m starting to feel uncomfortable with myself.

For the life of me I think losing weight is like trying to wall climb. I get the whole understanding that the more you do it the better you get but, GOOD LORD! Is it natural that we all can be soooo distracted by something that just taste good? I think not! Something is wired wrong up there because the more I tell myself I don’t need to eat something, the more of it I eat. So….back to the wall climb, totally not a good start. However World, this does NOT mean failure for me, there is always stapling of the mouth. No Really, it just means I need to try a little harder. Wish me luck!

I’m Having A Little Weight Problem..

Me and my friend Delia Robinson

Hello World My Name is Vivian,

Welcome to My Journey To Thin, I want to lose weight and this is my voyage to correct my little weight problem. That’s me on the right, I know in the picture it doesn’t really look like it but I do have a weight problem. The weight problem is hidden under the sweater. I’m a little excited, nervous, anxious and scared to be starting this journey because I want to lose weight. Of course, every year I recognize the need to lose weight like everyone else in America but this year it really has to change.  So I decided to record it.  This will make me more accountable if I have America cheering me on. I know in no time my weight problem can be corrected because again I want to lose weight.  I hope you all will get to know me and at the same time you can share your journey.

Let the journey begin………