You Are What You Eat

With Christmas now a big box of fond memories to store away, you are probably right there with me with all your new stored Real Estate.  Talking tummy and hiney, here.  

Every year we spend Christmas at the beach, and tradition demands that I gather these ingredients from our local beach grocery:

You can see the Real Estate

accretion products piled up

here on my counter top 

overlooking the 

Intracoastal Waterway.

As the oven heats up, I am mixing like mad,

doubling up on the chocolate chips

and the walnuts, of course.

Love walnuts.

The best part

about all this work

is

you get to lick the extra dough

off your fingers when it piles up

on the spoon 

and you have to scrape it off.

Heaven.

The wait while they bake is excruciating...

And then, out of the oven

comes this loveliness.

I like to eat them while the

chocolate is still warm

and gooey

and fragrant.

And then I have another.

Because I can.

There are always paybacks for too much of a good thing, and it's now time to start paying...

because my bathroom scale has Nuclear Alerts going off when I just pass by it...

I don't even have to step on it to hear the sirens going off.

So, this is what I'll do to soothe the scales and zip my pants up again:

It's back to Brazil...this time for their Dietary Guidelines, not for Fajas.

1.  Eat Fresh, never processed Veggies and Fruits.

Include some dried beans, in moderation.

2.  Eat Fresh Fish that comes from a reputable source.

Eat roasted, grilled, or boiled chicken, made at home.

3.  Drink lots of clear clean water.

4.  Walk.  A lot.  Climb stairs.  Stretch and pull and twist and shout.

5.  Cook At Home so I can keep my food additives under control.

6.  Don't eat anything out of a box or bag - no processed foods.

7.  Eat Apple Slices, Celery Sticks, Carrot Sticks, Citrus Fruits for snacks.

If you want to take a look (and you should) at Brazil's down-to-earth guidelines,

you can view them HERE.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing recipes and tips 

with you to rope in that Extra Real Estate

without using a Faja!

Back to Weight Loss After Vacation

We've been on the road for a week, which really Got My Attention on how hard it is to eat sensibly while traveling...or working.

On the Interstate, Husband insists on "Grab and Go" dining, 

which precludes a salad or anything with a fork.  

That means this:

or this:

and God Help You if you suggest anything different - it simply doesn't fly with a

 goal-oriented driver like my Husband.  You can toss the buns, but after about the third meal of this, you realize you are only saving about 200 calories.  One gets discouraged...

We visited his uncle, (who owns Andy Griffith's boyhood home in Mount Airy!) who loves Thai food, and there was nothing for it but to order up...there are no photos of that meal, but suffice to say that oil was a HUGE ingredient.

Once you get to the Beach, the Sunset Ceremony is a very special tradition that we cherish, whether with a house full of friends and family or just the two of us.

Which requires drinks to toast the sunset with.  Which puts dinner later than usual, and means you go to bed on a full tummy.  Lovely tradition, but honestly, a Diet Disaster!

We're back home in Atlanta now, and I'm getting some ribbing about serving "Roughage", but we are seeing instant results.  The extra pounds are slipping off.

Which means this:

Never give up on your new eating plan...even after a week of really bad food and sitting in a car for days, which will put a couple or three pounds back on you - never give up on your new body.  Just resume your sensible eating plan, and the pounds start melting off again.  

I promise.

Calories in, Calories out.  Don't eat more than you can burn off in a day.

Drink a lot of water.

Get back on your walking or workout plan.

Step on that scale religiously, morning and night, to track your weight.  If you have to, get extreme for a day to dump those regained pounds.

After this trip, I am seriously thinking about developing a line of Yummy, Fresh, and Convenient fast foods that could be stocked in the bigger Gas Station chains.

Like this:

Image from Live In The Now

Image from Neat Pins

  

Now.  Doesn't this look more appetizing than fried potatoes served in a cardboard box??

  Anyone want to go into business with me??

Oh, yes... this means Husband has to drive, so I can properly use my fork....