How To Lose Weight And Find Your Waist

If you are totally disgusted with yourself and your Bread Butt and Pasta Belly, then read on...you can escape your pudgy little self and actually start to discover something that feels like a waist.  Remember waists?

I absolutely adore Horrockses dresses from the 1950's - the lines of the dresses demanded waists, but still allowed a soft plumpness in the shoulders and hips.  The dress above is one of my favorites, and not least because the fabric features small plates of...food.  I am a die-hard foodie, always have been.  But even if I won a Horrockses dress in the lottery, I couldn't wear it because right now, I don't actually have a waist.

But I am getting it back.

I'm 5'2", and until 2005, enjoyed a fast metabolism and petite little figure.  But then I moved to Coastal North Carolina and opened a fabric store in downtown Shallotte.  When I emerged from unpacking 700 bolts of fabric and started looking around for a place to eat lunch, my heart began to sink.  There was nothing, absolutely nothing that even closely resembled what I was accustomed to eating.  No Latino/South American, no Thai or Indonesian, no Greek or NY Deli style food in sight.  Everything except for The Purple Onion was Southern Cooking, buffet style.  Eat all you want.  And I did.  It was fast and cheap. 

I went from 115 pounds to 140 pounds in seven years.  Then I sold the store and moved back to Atlanta, and literally dove into the international food scene.  I was ravenous.

Last month, we went to Washington DC and I caught a glimpse of myself in a store window.  Wait.  That couldn't be me, could it??  It was.

As soon as we got back to Atlanta, I pulled our old electric steamer out of the cabinet and headed to the Farmer's Market.  And in the first week, I lost 8 pounds.  This morning, I was at 128, down 12 pounds from a month ago.  It wasn't hard at all, and I'm starting to wear belts again for the first time in years.  I can't believe that by simply changing the way I was eating, my body instantly started to return to itself. 

This is what I'm doing:

First, foremost, and last,  I'm adhering to the Calories In, Calories Out rule of thumb.  I try to never eat more in one day than I can burn up before I go to bed.  And, I started walking every day for an hour.

I Cut out white stuff.  Like white rice, white potatoes, pasta, refined sugar, breads.  And I cut down on salt.  I started drinking a lot more clear water - once I was hydrated again, my body quit hoarding fluid and started to flush it out.  I had forgotten that little trick!

My fridge is loaded at all times with Fresh Vegetables, Tofu, Eggs, Crisp Salad Greens, and Blueberries.  For protein, I eat only Chicken or Fish.  No Red Meat.   

Image from Easy Recipe Collection.

Image from Megabeth.net

I steam Broccoli Florets, or any of my veggies, just until fork tender, sprinkle with a little sea salt and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil...the real dark  green, expensive stuff.  Yum, yum.  

Image from Baby Food 101.

Rough chopped cabbage is exquisitely sweet when steamed - I take it out of the steamer just as it is getting tender, and then either serve with sea salt and that yummy drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil or...

My other favorite condiment:

For lunch, I always eat tons of steamed veggies and boiled or roasted Chicken Breast meat...and I never get hungry.  For dinner, Grilled Salmon or Shrimp over a bed of Baby Salad Greens or Spinach, punched up with dried Cranberries, fresh Pineapple chunks, a toss of Gorgonzola crumbles, and anything else lurking in the salad bin.  I use a LOT of fresh herbs and seasonings...fresh ginger, basil, thyme, cracked black pepper, etc.  If it is full flavored, my mouth is happy!

Now that I've got you interested, just let me just throw this in...one whole cup of steamed Broccoli has 40 calories.  One cup of Cauliflower has 28.  Yes, 28.  The Cabbage?  31.  Squash has a whopping 30 calories.  And the yummy diced Sweet Potato that would be forbidden on a fad diet has about 170 in a whole cup, and trust me, you won't eat a whole cup. 

The absolutely essential Extra Virgin Olive Oil adds about 120 calories per tablespoon.

These are the rules if you want to find your waist:

Remember:  Calories in, Calories out.

You have to walk or do something physical every day.

You have to drink lots of water.

You have to get real about what you are eating.  Every day.

Go get a Digital Scale and weigh yourself Every Day.

Get enough sleep.

And once a week, eat something out of bounds...like a Grilled Salmon BLT with French Fries - it will trick your metabolism and rev it up.

Don't eat a bite after 8:00 P.M. if you can possibly help it.

And have those 2 glasses of wine every night-you've earned it!

Beach Cottage Mahi Bowl Meal

The Beach Cottage renovation is virtually finished, and now all I have to do is find everything I packed away and try to integrate the old with the new.  Not to mention figuring out how to get used to operating the new equipment. 

We've never had gas cooking out here on the island, so after 28 years of preparing meals on an electric stove, here we go!  As promised, here is a recipe and photos of the yummy Mahi-Mahi that was presented to me by the Captain, and cooked up on my new gas range:

We actually call Mahi-Mahi by the East Coast name of Dolphin...in the Keys, they call it Dorado sometimes.  This is what the fish looks like, so that you don't confuse it with the Dolphin mammal, aka "Flipper"!

This is my oldest son with a big Bull Dolphin, aka Mahi, caught on an Ocean Isle Fishing Center boat.

Mahi recipes are all over the map, as it is a very sweet tasting fish which people love, and it also freezes beautifully.  We always freeze the filets or chunks in quart Zip-Loc bags, with the fish surrounded by water.  When I thawed out the fish for our Mahi Fish Bowl, I simply put the bag in fairly warm water until the fish/ice block could be removed from the bag.  Then I let the block sit in lukewarm water until the pieces could be pried apart without breaking.  Once they were pliable, I cut them into strips or chunks about 2 x 3 inches each.  


Mahi takes awhile to cook through, so it is easier to get a consistent texture if you cut it up into small pieces.  Like this:

This photo, used on several sites, shows the dark red bloodline - I ALWAYS remove the bloodline.

When we want to just chill out in front of the TV and watch Deadliest Catch, we've found that the best way to eat is simply out of a Bowl.  That is, everything piled into one bowl, so you can curl up in your favorite spot and not be spilling something off a flat plate when the Time Bandit takes a rogue wave.  


Keep it simple - a couple of main ingredients, with condiments or accents piled on the side, and all presented on top of steamed rice is about all you'll need, other than soy sauce and, for me - always - Rooster Sauce!  I can't eat without it.

This stuff is HOT.  It's made by a company named Huy Fong, out of California.  How it started is quite a story, and you can read about it Here.  The image came from their website, Huy Fong Foods.

But, back to the recipe.  Here are the ingredients for the Asian Flour:
     Self-Rising Flour - about a cup or so.  Sometimes I cut it with some cornstarch
     Sea Salt - you can sprinkle this on the fish, but I  just put it in the flour-not too much!
     Garlic Powder - to your taste, but not too much or it will overpower the Mahi
     Ginger Powder - about a teaspoon
     Black or Regular Roasted Sesame seeds - about a quarter cup
     Assi Brand Coarse Pepper Powder - a heaping tablespoon, at the minimum

You can get this at any Asian market - I use it in a lot of my cooking...including Pinto Beans!

For the oil, I use 2/3 Peanut Oil, 1/3 Olive Oil.  Just get it hot, dredge your Mahi in the flour, and slip it in.  Turn once after the first side has turned golden.  You know it's done when a fork inserted in the fish will turn easily...don't overcook, but be sure it is done through.  Some fish is good on the medium rare side, but not Mahi.

Here is my new range, going full blast on our Mahi Bowl Meal:

Meanwhile, just oven-blast some fresh broccoli:

Thaw out some frozen Tobiko (the roe of Flying Fish-available at Asian Markets) if you like, 

and re-hydrate some Seaweed or buy Seaweed Salad at your local Asian Market.  Scoop out some fresh steamed rice, put it in the bowl and top with your Mahi and other condiments.  

Turn on Deadliest Catch, pour the wine, grab your chopsticks and go!