Is it just me or does any food taste better when you dip it in ranch dressing? Grilled cheese, broccoli, pizza, cheeseburgers… I could go on but at the mention of the word ‘cheeseburger’ my stomach just growled.
I’ve tried turkey burgers, ground chicken burgers, veggie burgers and even some strange black bean mash burger my vegan step-mom sent me her recipe for. None of them tasted like a cheeseburger. None of them satisfied my craving for cow and cheese.
I. Want. Cow.
So, what did I do? I went and got a McDonald’s cheeseburger. The guilt was heavy, (and to be honest, who knows if it really was cow I was eating?) but inside I enjoyed my greasy hunk of meat and overly processed dairy product.
WHY DON’T I HAVE ANY SELF CONTROL?
I THOUGHT MY BRAIN WAS THE HEAD OF THIS BODY, NOT MY STOMACH!
SCREW THIS, I’VE ALREADY HAD THE BURGER… MAY AS WELL HAVE SOME FRIES, A SHAMROCK SHAKE, AN APPLE PIE AND SUPER-SIZE THE BITCH.
*sinks into a shame spiral of binge McDonald’s eating*
Damn them! They forgot my ranch dipping cups! 😦
Later that night, with my belly full and my heart racing from all the cholesterol bombarding my arteries, I wished I could simply stick my finger down my throat and rid my body of the internal torture I was putting it through. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I had never been able to force myself to purge. So, the calories and cholesterol stayed.
At age 27 I feel like I’m 60 years old. When I stand my knees crack and my hips hurt if I stand for more than 4 hours. I’ve taken to swallowing 100 count asprin bottles within a 2 week period of time and have stomach issues because of it. This is no way to live whether you’re 60 or 27. In my youth I was a hardcore athlete known for my soccer skills. People always thought I would go on to play professionally (this was right on the cusp of women’s soccer breaking out into the limelight). My senior year of high school I was T-bones by a garbage truck a week before classes started. The accident knocked every one of my verebrae and both hips out of place. Now, 10 years later, I still have issues with my spine hurting and my left hip popping out of place. The accident became my excuse to give up and because of it I’ve gained over 100 lbs. I lost my soccer dreams as well as the ability to stand for a full 8 hour work day without being in pain to the point I couldn’t walk.
I always thought to get back into shape I had to lose weight first, but to lose weight I’d have to start working out… which meant getting in shape. For me it became a sick cycle of excuses that spun around and around for nearly 10 years.
People heavier than me have done it, and I’m sick of making any and every excuse as to why I can’t do it, too. The simple fact is, those who have done this wanted it more than I want it.
Well, now I want it!
Starting now I’m going to start a period of trial and errors where I actually put that ‘Healthier’ board of Pinterest to work and see what in it works for me (that I can implement into long term use) and what simply doesn’t (and axe it before it gets me down and makes me feel like a failure- causing me to go back into naughty habits).
Hopefully those of you who have read this far are up for a challenge, because if you don’t want to change then you won’t. If you DO want to change then you are going to get up, go through your pantry RIGHT NOW and make up a box of food to take to your local food bank/homeless shelter. Then, you’re going to do a sweep of healthy recipes and make a list of 6 you want to try. A breakfast, lunch and dinner menu to last you one week. 6 recipes will be enough for you to rotate meal plans every other day so you don’t feel like you’re eating the exact same things.
**Grocery shopping tip: Try to stay along the walls of the grocery store as most stores have their veggies, meats, dairy along the walls… when you go down the isles is where you get in trouble (most meat departments even have fresh spices right there for you).**
My Week 1 Meal Plan:
Breakfast: (courtesy of Gordon Ramsay via Twitter)
Recipe 1:
3 ripe bananas cut into chunks and left to freeze for one hour
One vanilla pod scrapings
250 ml pomegranate juice
500 ml low fat (all natural) yogurt
1-2 tsp honey
Blend in a blender and serve in a chilled glass.
Recipe 2:
1/2 cup of quick oats oatmeal
1/4 cup of fresh or (previously frozen and thawed overnight) raspberries (or any other berry you prefer) *if you get frozen berries be sure to look on the packaging for the ones that say ‘no added sugar’
1 banana
(I tend to do my oatmeal with half water and half milk so it has just a little more flavor to it)
Lunch:
One cabbage leaf
Mix up:
1 diced green bell pepper
1/2 red onion
2 roma tomatoes (less seeds, more meat)
tear up 2 cups of spinach leaves
1/4 cup of black olives (if you like… they’re fattening so they add that little big of ‘I’m spoiling myself’ to the mix)
And 2 cans of drained tuna
Mix up with 2 shakes of McCormick Perfect Pinch Garlic and Herb (it’s salt free and msg free plus it adds a lot of satisfaction for those who, like me, are addicted to salt. **I seriously put this on almost anything to give it a little kick. It is one of my MUST HAVE staples for home cooking**
Once the salad is all mixed up let it refrigerate for at least an hour or two (overnight is best) so the flavors can meld and the spinach can calm down a bit. Serve 1 cup of salad on a cabbage leaf (cabbage is much sturdier than lettuce and I find it is much better for wraps like this), roll it up and enjoy.
Simple veggie stew:
1 bottle of Bolthouse Farms veggie juice (if you can find it, our stores have stopped carrying that particular flavor) or carrot juice
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced white onion
1 bag chopped cabbage (or 1/2 of a whole one)
3-4 diced roma tomatoes (try to get all the seeds out if you can)
The juice is already full of flavor so you don’t need to add any spices to this if you want, I sometimes add a couple cloves of fresh garlic.
Bring to a boil and let simmer until the cabbage has lost some of it’s firmness. the veggies taste best with a little bit of crunch left to them.
**If you’re not a fan of carrot juice try adding 1/2 can of tomato sauce as well as the bottle of carrot juice.. just be careful as it has a lot of sodium**
Supper:
1/2 cup (cooked) brown rice
1 cup green beans and julienned carrots
1 chicken breast browned then simmered with fresh garlic, onions and peppers (to serve over the rice) **for more of a ‘sauce’ add 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth**
1/2 inch thick pork chop (with all the fat cut off the sides)
1/2 baked potato (or sweet potato if you like those… I personally don’t)
1/4 cup of pinto beans
** If you’re a butter fan and need it for your potato, put the extra dollar into the heart healthy brands, if you want to try it my way sprinkle the top with the McCormick Perfect Pinch Garlic and Herb spice and mash up with a little bit of skim milk (usually 2 tbsp will do it)
Now that there is a meal plan it’s time to make a list. You have everything you need to get started for week one and for most of these recipes you can buy in bulk and freeze what you don’t need immediately if there is a sale (like the chicken, pork chops and the finished soup). Other items are staples you should probably have on hand anyway (like dried pinto beans, quick oats, McCormick Garlic and Herb spice ((LOVE THAT STUFF!)), and chicken broth (which you can freeze in ice cube trays to make portioning easier and only use what you need without worrying about waste).
This week one is off to a good start… at least in planning. There’s nothing to lose except something I hate about myself. I hope you guys stay with me on this journey and join in, too. The more the merrier!
xoxo
Abielle
Flab to Fab- The Diaries of a Cupcake Hoarder 