Category: Food

mommy, i’m still hungry

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I’ve heard that expression about five times in the past five days — usually after dinner, right before bed. The first time it happened, I was caught off guard (this isn’t something Maya has ever said before, especially after a meal) — so I just offered her a banana and we went about our teeth-brushing/book-reading evening routine.

The next time it happened, I checked her daily report card from school, to see if maybe she hadn’t eaten well at school. (Though she’s always been a slooooooow eater, she’s always been a good eater, in that she’ll eat anything … just not necessarily very much). But sure enough, she’d eaten 100% of each meal and snack. And all her dinner plus dessert (which happened to be leftover ice cream cake from Ben’s birthday last week). And milk.

So I offered her one of two choices: a pre-bed cheese stick or pre-bed yogurt. She opted for the cheese stick, and that was that.

But the next morning, she told me her belly was “so so so hungry.” This could only mean one thing: growth spurt. And it’s about hot damn time. Continue reading “mommy, i’m still hungry” →

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Outside influences on body image

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Body image issues can begin anywhere.

Maybe it was your well-meaning dad who suggested you back off from seconds at Thanksgiving one year — and you never forgot it.

Maybe it was your thin older sister who was constantly dieting, making you feel uncomfortable for every bite you took.

Maybe it was seeing your mom pinching her hips in the mirror every morning or stepping on the scale multiple times a day. Continue reading “Outside influences on body image” →

Combating Emotional Eating … Hmmm, No Thanks.

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It shouldn’t surprise anyone — as I’ve discussed it here before on numerous occasions — but for as far as I’ve come in my journey and relationship with food, I’m still an emotional eater. Yes, I just admitted that.  That  issue hasn’t gone away.

The difference is now, I just manage it better … i.e., I move on. I don’t over-exercise to compensate, I don’t restrict to compensate, I don’t berate myself to compensate, and I don’t talk about food  incessantly to compensate. Continue reading “Combating Emotional Eating … Hmmm, No Thanks.” →

Not Down With The Biggest Loser

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I’ve never been a Biggest Loser addict … I get the whole premise of the show and why so many of my friends dig it, but to me, it has always screamed of extreme dieting/restriction, disordered eating (and thinking) and over-exercising. Considering my history, it’s not surprising I’d feel this way. But I know I’m not alone; a lot of other critics have come out and said similar things.

Tonight I happened to flip the channel to NBC and the contestants had apparently gone home for a short time (maybe a weekend? I missed how long). Watching them sitting there with their families at restaurants agonizing over every single calorie and food choice reminded me of my ugly past … and also why I have a problem with the show.

Continue reading “Not Down With The Biggest Loser” →

Sad Stat of the Day: Only 10% of American Kids Have PE In School

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This was the take-away I got from an interview between First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Oz today:

While plugging her Let’s Move Active Schools initiative, Mrs. Obama shared a pathetic stat that a mere ten percent of American kids [in public school] have PE in school.

My jaw dropped. Only TEN PERCENT?! No wonder American kids are so obese; our kids are chained to desks all day, play video games by night, and we can’t even build physical fitness into the school day?! Insane. Continue reading “Sad Stat of the Day: Only 10% of American Kids Have PE In School” →

5 Reasons To Dine Out With Your Toddler

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Note: I originally submitted this to Babble but they said they had too many pieces touching on a similar topic. So on my blog it goes 🙂

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The scenario: Fifteen straws under your chair, spilled milk soaking your lap, repeating “No thank you” til your voice gets hoarse, rice strewn all over the table… these are the things meals out with a toddler are usually made of.

But dining out with your toddler doesn’t have to be the aforementioned nightmare. We go out to eat about once a week with our 2-year old daughter and though it isn’t always a walk in the park, it can be fun, relatively cheap … and even better for your waistline than a date night would be. Confused? Don’t be. You have a couple things working in your favor that can make dining out with your toddler a great experience for the whole family.

Generally speaking …

1)      They have a small appetite – Toddlers are pint-sized people bursting with energy and blessed with quick metabolisms … but aren’t necessarily the best eaters. And even if your kid isn’t picky, chances are he/she isn’t wolfing down every morsel on his/her plate. Today’s super-sized portions of everything mean even kids’ meals could make a couple of future meals for a toddler. Capitalize on this by divvying their meal into smaller portions to start … or try sharing your meal with them and getting an extra side of veggies – which saves money and calories.
Net gain: 1-2 bonus meals … or a savings of $5 if you skip the kids’ meal and share your meal with your toddler.

Continue reading “5 Reasons To Dine Out With Your Toddler” →

Burger? Yes, please

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For me, relaxing the rules means “living.” While most people in this country need more restrictions on their diet/fitness habits, for a small population of us, we need less restrictions/less rules in order to live more.

Which is why today I joined my two pregnant friends for lunch at Five Guys. Yup, you heard me … FIVE GUYS … home of mega-greasy burgers and mega-greasy bags o’ fries (and mega-awesome fountain drink selection — 100+ flavors!). These same two friends and I were all pregnant with our first kids at the same time back in 2010, but this time, I was the odd man out in that I had no cravings to answer to … I was just going along for the ride. 😉

Continue reading “Burger? Yes, please” →

Journaling for Success

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This weekend I had lunch with a dear friend I met online through Weight Watchers several years ago. Since then, our friendship has extended well beyond the realms of dieting and weight loss, and I’ve come to consider her a really awesome friend.

We got to talking about journaling and, knowing that — weight loss, maintenance, or gain, I’ve been a diligent journaler — she asked if I still kept a food journal/tracked my Points. Continue reading “Journaling for Success” →

Willpower, Wantpower … Call it whatever; I don’t have any!

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I plain out admitted to a friend last week that I don’t have the willpower OR the “wantpower” to actually lose weight. I later shared the sentiment with my Weight Watchers chat friends … and hearing myself say it was kind of life-affirming — cheesy as it sounds.

It’s not that I don’t think I’d look better without a couple pounds on me; surely I would! And it’s not that I wouldn’t feel better weighing a little less; again, surely I would!

But I don’t have the where-with-all/desire to diet (other than loosely following WW, going over my Points each week — oops) … to cut out things like sugar and bread and whatnot. I know it would work if I made the effort — but I’m just not there. And I don’t know that I’ll ever go back there. Continue reading “Willpower, Wantpower … Call it whatever; I don’t have any!” →

Choose Happy

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This came through my Facebook news feed and my wheels got turning.

Contrary to what fairy tales and media influences might tell you, happiness doesn’t just “happen.” It’s a choice. A conscious decision.

A choice we make each day when we wake up; a choice we make when we decide how to react to certain information/situations; a choice we make before we go to sleep each night. Much of what I learned during my year of cognitive behavioral therapy was related to this: how we can control not only our actions, but our reactions to situations/people/circumstances.

And though it isn’t always easy, and sometimes it’s wholly appropriate to drown our sorrows in a bottle of Malibu rum (not that I’ve ever done THAT … haha — flashbacks to my earth-shattering at the time freshman year break-up …) or several pints of Ben and Jerry’s (did anyone else see this supremely awkward Daily Show interview with Robert Pattinson the other night?!) …  The thing is, we’re entitled to grieve, mourn, be angry … but when all is said and done, we can still choose the “happy route.”

Continue reading “Choose Happy” →