downright amazing!

Cliff and I spent Saturday and Sunday pigging out the way we used to.  I ate ALL the brown sugar fudge that was left in the house.  We had plates piled high with food at our family holiday dinner, and ate too many nuts and sweets afterward.

I weighed 152 when all was said and done; Cliff weighed 216.

We agreed that it really hadn't been all that much fun, the mindless eating.

When we have a steak dinner out... that's fun.

Or when we buy a medium pizza and each eat half... that's fun.

Because then we're aware of every bite and what a rare treat it is.

But when we saunter through the kitchen thinking, "What can I eat now," it's a bummer.  And even worse is the over-stuffed feeling afterward.

Monday we were back on track.  We agreed to limit even healthy snacks until we got our weights were they were before.

Today, for our Wednesday weigh-in, Cliff weighs 211 and I am at 147 1/2.  Only four days after all that brown sugar fudge????  WOW!

We will keep pursuing our latest goals, which is 200 for Cliff and 145 for me.  Hopefully we'll get there by our birthdays.

By the way, ideal weight for Cliff on the charts, counting him as "big-boned", is 161 to184.  I can't imagine him weighing so little; it seems like he'd be nothing more than a skeleton.  But the less he weighs, the less burden it is on his slightly-damaged heart.

My ideal, according to insurance company charts, is 134 to 151, if I am considered big-boned.  Which means I'm pretty much "in the zone".  The less I weigh, though, the easier it will be on my knees.

We're getting there, thanks be to God.

Tags: weight, diets, overeating

back to the plan

Cliff and I went back to our old, pig-out ways for two days, thanks to Christmas.  My weight had already begun creeping up from a low of 147 a few weeks ago, as a result of evening snacking.  And alas, yesterday after the holiday feasting, I weighed 151.5.  (This morning, though, it's 149.  Whew!)

Cliff had gotten as low as 211, very briefly.  Yesterday he weighed 215.

It amazes me how we enable one another when it comes to over-eating.  It's as if I say to myself, "Oh, he's eating chips?  I should get some too!"

Anyway, we now have new motivation after being reminded how easily we slip, and I am aiming for 145.  Cliff is going for 200. 

We've decided to forgo our Tuesday Subway meals for now.  The calories really aren't that bad, but the sodium is.  And there's a certain mindset that comes with eating out, anyhow, that's conducive to overeating.  Oh, we'll still have a Subway when we're on the road going somewhere.  Just not that every-Tuesday lunch-and-dinner-both thing.

true confessions

Cliff and I have spent a whole year staying on track with our eating habits.  Oh, we'd go off the deep end once in awhile by eating out, and eating too much:  But it all worked out, we'd get back on the straight-and-narrow, and everything was fine.

Cliff has maintained perfectly.  I, on the other hand, have gained three pounds; it might even be five by now, after yesterday's indiscretions.

I blame my weight-gain on the long, dark evenings spent sitting in my Lazy-boy, snacking on popcorn or almonds or Simply Naked Pita chips.  All of those are good choices, but they aren't meant to be eaten every day, two or three servings at a time, after supper. 

Yeah, I've been a bad girl.

Yesterday Cliff had "goodie day" at work.  That's the day everyone takes their finger foods, candies, and snacks of all kinds to work to share.  As I thought of him indulging in those "goodies" (remember, he is not the one who has gained weight) I began to feel sorry for myself.  Here it is almost Christmas, and I haven't even made my favorite brown-sugar fudge once!

So, with the granddaughters cheering me on, I made one batch of marshmallow fudge and one of brown sugar fudge.  They licked the pans for me.

Then I got out the summer sausage that was given to us by a neighbor, and started on it.  Of course, it needed some cheese to go with it.  Oh yeah.  When my daughter came for the girls, she brought me the smallest bag she could get of cheese-flavored Topsy's popcorn.  I can't believe I ate the whole thing.  Dear Lord, I'm glad she didn't get a big can of it!

What I'm saying is, my eating has been totally out of control for the first time in a year.  And to think this is how I used to eat every day!

I'm fixing the Christmas dinner today:  turkey, green rice, mashed potatoes, home-made noodles, home-made yeast rolls.  I doubt I'll be in control at suppertime.

But after today, I promise you, those extra however-many-pounds it turns out to be are history.

A wonderful recipe for the holiday season

Do you love pumpkin pie as much as I do?

It's the healthiest holiday dessert that exists!  But you can make it a PERFECT holiday, or any-time-of-the-year, dessert.

Forget the crust.

Take your favorite pumpkin pie filling recipe.

Substitute non-fat evaporated milk for the  regular kind.

For every egg, substitute 2  egg whites.

Add 1/2 cup of flour (ideally 1/2 cup of whole-wheat flour) to the mix.

Spray a pie pan with Pam, and pour the filling in.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.

Serve with a tablespoon full of lower fat Cool Whip.

You'll think you are sinning, but you aren't.
 

Hmmmm

Today is weigh-day.  Of course, I weigh almost every morning, but Wednesday is the one that "counts".  If you have followed my Wednesday weigh-ins here in this journal, you might have noticed a trend upward in my weight.

Today I weigh 150.

I know what the problem is.  Evening snacking while watching TV.

Thanks to sparkpeople.com, I know exactly why I'm gaining weight:  I'm taking in over 2,700 calories per day.  Good grief!!!!

I could tell you how I used to sometimes take in twice that many calories.  I could pat myself on the back for only eating two pieces of home-made fudge every day, and doing entirely without fruitcake and cheese ball and hot hamburger dip and cranberry bread.

But none of that changes the fact that I am taking in more calories than I'm using.

Thank the good Lord New Year's Day is approaching, because I've always found new motivation at that time.  Let's hope it works for me this year!

I find the polls on how much the average person gains throughout the holidays tend to disagree:  there's this one , which says it's five to ten pounds (that's been my experience) and this one that says only one pound, and this one , which estimates seven pounds.

Looks like this year, even doing without my Christmas goodies, I've gained a couple.  And Christmas isn't here yet!

Oh, did I mention Cliff weighs 213?  He's still losing weight.

::sigh::

Things I miss

I'm pushing the upper limits of my weight just now, what with the short days, snow-covered ground and frigid temperatures... not to mention my arthritic knees, which make me want to sit more than I should.  So, I weighed 149 1/2 today.  Yeah, you can say I'm still below 150, which was my original goal.  But it wouldn't take much to put me over 150, and that rather scares me.

Cliff weighs 214 1/2, and is very happy to be wearing size 36 jeans today.

Now, if I'd gotten down below 145, I'd feel like I could splurge a few calories and have some of the Christmas goodies that I really miss.  But pushing the limit as I am, I'm afraid to make any of that good stuff, because all those foods send me out of control quite easily. 

Here's a list of foods I miss during the holiday season:

Brown sugar fudge, my mom's recipe.

Kraft cheese ball... the one where you mix three jars of different-flavored Kraft cheese spreads with some cream cheese, onion, and Worcestershire sauce, make it into a ball, and roll the whole thing in nuts.

Fruitcake.  Yeah, I know, nobody is supposed to like it.  But I do.  Especially my mom's family recipe.

Nacho chips dipped in hot cheese dip, either the easy one where you mix simply mix Velveeta with Rotel, or the hot hamburger dip I've always made in wintertime.

Home-made caramel corn.

Oh, and I always crave Pizza Hut pizza, not just during the holidays.  Once in a great while we indulge (or I should say Cliff indulges me, because he could live without pizza), but it isn't like the old days when we ran to the Pizza Hut buffet at least once a week.  I know, you can make choices like having the cheese left off, and making it vegetarian.  But that isn't what I'm craving.

OK, I'm going to go cry now.   Hurry  up, springtime... come on back!

Our lowest-fat muffins yet

                                     WHEAT BRAN MUFFINS

1 1/4 cups wheat or oat bran
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup Egg Beaters (I use egg whites)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/2 cup raisins, snipped dried apricots, or snipped dried apples

1.  Spray bottoms of twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with Pam; set aside.  In a mixing bowl, combine bran, flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Make a well in the center of the dry mixture; set aside.

2.  In another bowl combine applesauce, milk, honey, egg whites and oil.  Add applesauce mixture all at once to dry mixture.  Stir just till moistened.  Fold in raisins.

3.  Spoon batter into prepared cups, filling each 2/3 full.  Bake in a 400 degree oven about 20 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

126 calories, 2 g total fat (0 saturated fat) 0 chol., 138 mg sodium, 28 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein.  6% daily calcium, 10% iron.

This is another treat the granddaughters love.  Cliff especially likes to have one of these muffins with a teaspoon of natural peanut butter spread on it.

Oh, this is as good as home-made cinnamon rolls!

                     HEART-HEALTHY APPLE COFFEE CAKE

nonstick cooking spray
2/3  cup flour
1/2  cup whole-wheat flour
1  teaspoon baking soda
1  teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2  cups peeled cored & finely chopped apples, such as jonathan or granny smith
1/4  cup fat-free liquid egg product  (I just use egg whites)
3/4  cup sugar
1/2  cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4  cup applesauce

 1  tablespoon flour
1  tablespoon whole-wheat flour
1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
1  tablespoon butter
1/4  cup walnuts or pecans
1/4  cup brown sugar

Lightly coat a 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup whole flour, soda,  and 1 teaspoon cinnamon, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl toss together the chopped apple and egg product; stir in the 3/4 cup sugar, the 1/4 cup nuts and applesauce; Add flourmixture and stir JUST until combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan; For TOPPING, stir together the brown sugar the remaining flour, whole wheat flour and cinnamon; Cut in butter until crumbly, stir in remaining nuts, sprinkle topping over batter in pan.
Bake in 350 degree oven 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean; cool in pan for 10 minutes, serve warm.

202 calories, 5 g fat (1 g sat. fat), 0 chol., 180 mg sodium, 37 g carbo., 2 g fiber, 3 g protein.  2% vitamin A, 2% vitamin C, 1% calcium, 8 % iron.

What a treat this was this morning!  I do believe you could cut back a bit on the 3/4 cup of sugar.  I'll freeze this in 2-serving amounts, saving out a couple of pieces for the granddaughters.

after-Thanksgiving weigh-in

Cliff had to get through a Thanksgiving dinner at work on his own, and he was rather proud of himself.  He only had one plateful of food, not piled high, and one dessert... pineapple pie.

Then we ate an early Thanksgiving dinner at our daughter's on Saturday, and he did the same there.

Yesterday, on the dreaded too-much-food day, we escaped on the motorcycle.  We had a light picnic lunch:  tuna salad sandwich, carrot sticks, and those 100-calorie Chips Ohoy bags apiece.

For supper we each had a cheeseburger and small piece of Oreo dessert and later snacked on some cheese.

Cliff got on the scales this morning and yelled out, "These scales must be having a fit; something's wrong."

He weighed 211... that's 2 1/2 pounds less than he's weighed before on this journey to fitness.  He got on and off the scales several times, to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

He gives me all the credit, but I say he should get at least half.

Weekly weigh-in

Cliff and I are still maintaining our weights pretty well.  We did a bad thing Saturday on the way to Iowa City, though... we stopped at Golden Corral for lunch.  We should NEVER, EVER eat at buffets!  I limited myself fairly well, but Cliff saw his chance and took it.  I did not say anything to him about his second helpings or his three desserts because, in circumstances like that, he gets pretty edgy if I butt in.

My job from now on, as I see it, is to see that we avoid buffets at all cost!

Looking back, we agreed that the food wasn't even that good.

So, on our return home, Cliff weighed 220.  He'd  been under 220 for over a month, and was very disappointed.  It's OK, though:  yesterday on our official weekly weigh-in, he was at 217.

We have one of those digital machines that makes it easy to check blood pressure, and we use it often.  Here's something we wonder about:  The first time either of us checks our blood pressure, the reading is higher than on subsequent readings.  Once we get past that first time, the readings are pretty much the same even if we do it three or four times, and the numbers are always good.

Do we tense up that first time, then relax for the next readings?  And would this happen in a doctor's office, if they took more than one reading?

What's up with that? 

Yippee!!!!!

Check it out:  Kentucky Fried Chicken has decided to get rid of the trans fats!!!   Click HERE.

Weekly weigh-in

Cliff is at 215, I'm 147.  I'd easily lose more weight if I'd stop snacking in the evening; that's a very hard thing to do in fall and winter.

Both of us can tell the calisthenics and weights are shaping us up quite a bit.  Of course, Cliff does some real weight-lifting at work, so he's the one with major changes.  But I can tell a difference in myself, even though it's only twenty minutes, three times a week.

Today we probably won't get a walk in, since it looks like it's going to be drizzly and cloudy.  The days we miss our walk are few and far between.  Cliff takes Sundays off, but I don't.

I haven't been updating this journal very much because I'm simply maintaining, and Cliff's loss is slow, but sure.

Wednesday weigh-in

Wow, Cliff is proud of himself.  He weighed 215 1/2 this morning.  I'm not doing so bad myself, at 146.  I've been there before, but my weight had been edging up lately.

One thing I'm working on now is drinking eight glasses of water a day.  Somewhere, perhaps on Sparkpeople.com, I saw this suggestion:  Put a stack of eight pennies on the left side of your glass in the morning; every time you drink a glass of water, move a penny to the right side of the glass.  This is working for me.

Of course, it doesn't make me any happier about all those trips to the bathroom, but at least I'm getting my water.

I know some people carry their water with them and sip on it, but the only thing that works for me is to gulp down that glassful as fast as I can, as though it were medicine.  Get it over with, I say!

Time to check in

Cliff and I weighed 218 and 148, respectively.  Our weight goes up a pound or two, down a pound or two.  Cliff is still losing weight, just doing it very slowly.  Me?  I'm maintaining.  After our motorcycle weekend, I got on the scales the next morning at home and was 150.5.  HORRORS!!!  I never want to be over 150 again.  Thank goodness it was temporary.

Cliff started doing some dumbell exercises, and I figured I may as well join him.  I use lighter weight dumbells, of course.  We also incorporated some old-fashioned calisthenics into the program.  So now, after our daily half-hour walk, we spend 20 to 25 minutes with the mats and weights.  I'd never do this on my own:  I hate pushups and lifting weights.  But as long as Cliff's doing it, I may as well.

I've decided to switch back to genuine butter for baking, in those few recipes where olive oil won't work.  I know it's high in cholestoral, but at least there aren't any trans fats.  About the only thing left in my house with trans fats is the stick margarine, and once this is gone, I won't be buying any more.

Oh, I want this T-shirt!

So, you think trans-fats are no big deal?

Every day I spend time wondering why huge companies like Nabisco don't stop using trans-fats.  What I didn't realize was that many big corporations ARE doing the right thing, and there are even entire towns that have gone trans-fat free. 

Check it out HERE.

Wednesday Weigh-in

Cliff weighs 220 today; I'm 146.5.  I expect Cliff to be 219 in a couple of weeks.  I, on the other hand, will probably just maintain my present weight.

I notice that since I'm eating an ounce of nuts every day, my fat intake is more than recommended (the experts say no more than 30% of your calories should come from fat).  I'm assuming, though, that since nuts contain good fats, that I'm OK eating them... as long as I maintain my weight.  The health benefits of nuts, especially almonds and walnuts, are amazing.  Click here to read about how good nuts are for you. 

virgin olive oil is better for health

I found the following piece HERE.

Virgin Olive Oil Best For Heart Health
Sep 5, 2006
(WebMD) All olive oils may not be created equal when it comes to protecting against heart disease.

A new study shows virgin olive oil, which contains more antioxidants than more refined olive oil, may offer better protection against heart disease.

Virgin olive oil is made from the first pressing of olives and contains higher levels of a class of antioxidants known as polyphenols than more refined olive oils that come from later pressings.

Researchers say these polyphenols may provide another way to reduce the risk of heart disease in addition to the heart-healthy benefits attributed to the monounsaturated fatty acids found in olive oil.

Recent studies have suggested that the bulk of olive oil's heart-healthy benefits comes from good fatty acids (monounsaturated fatty acids), but researchers say polyphenols may also contribute to those benefits and further reduce the risk of heart disease.

In the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers compared the effects of consuming olive oils with varying levels of polyphenols on heart disease risk factors in 200 healthy European men.

The men were divided into three groups and ate about 1 tablespoon of either virgin olive oil, refined olive oil, or a mixture of the two, every day for three weeks. Then, after a two-week hiatus, they were retested with one of the other types of olive oil.

Researchers found that the virgin olive oil higher in polyphenols increased the level of good, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol more than the other two types of olive oil.

Virgin olive oil also produced another healthy antioxidant effect: It increased the level of substances in the body that prevent the oxidation of bad, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Oxidation of this type of cholesterol is linked to the formation of clots in blood vessels, which could lead to heart attack or stroke.
Researcher Maria-Isabel Covas, Msc, Ph.D., of the Municipal Institute for Medical Research in Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues say the results show "olive oil is more than a monounsaturated fat.

"The polyphenol content of an olive oil can account for further benefits on HDL cholesterol levels and oxidative damage, in addition to those from its monounsaturated fatty acid content," they write. "Our study provides evidence to recommend the use of polyphenol-rich olive oil, that is, virgin olive oil, as a source of fat to achieve additional benefits against cardiovascular risk factors."

More studies are needed to examine virgin olive oil versus more refined oil and the risk for developing heart disease.

 

SOURCES: Covas, M. Annals of Internal Medicine, Sept. 5, 2006; Vol. 145: pp. 333-341. News release, American College of Physicians.

Wednesday weigh-in

I weighed 147 this morning, and Cliff weighed 220 and 1/2.  He is so anxious to get under that 220 mark, and I know he'll make it eventually.

I read some new things about cholesterol today:

High Cholesterol Targets More Than Just Your Heart

Preventing heart attacks and strokes aren't the only reasons to limit cholesterol in your diet. Now scientists say dementia and prostate cancer - two common diseases associated with advancing age - may be linked to uncontrolled cholesterol. The good news is that cholesterol intake - and the lifestyle factors that lead to high cholesterol - can be controlled. Cholesterol is a fat-like substance primarily produced in the liver but also absorbed into the blood when you eat animal products like meats, eggs and dairy. Too much cholesterol in the diet can lead to a buildup of plaque in the arteries and increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. Swedish researchers have found that people with healthier lifestyles - who were physically active, had normal blood pressure levels and controlled their cholesterol intake - were less likely to develop dementia. A disease that typically affects older people, dementia is the loss of mental abilities severe enough to interfere with normal daily activities. The two most common types are Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. The scientists found that people with lower cholesterol levels and more active lifestyles enjoyed lower rates of all forms of dementia. Researchers in Italy also report that prostate cancer - the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men - was more likely to develop in older men who also had high cholesterol levels. Men over age 65 had an 80 percent greater likelihood of having high cholesterol. Previous studies have found that men with high cholesterol levels, especially if they were detected before age 50, appeared to have a higher risk of prostate cancer. The same study found a smaller link between gallstones and prostate cancer. Gallstones are solid deposits that form in the gallbladder or bile ducts when substances in bile, such as cholesterol, crystallize. The study found it may be possible that lowering cholesterol through medication and diet may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Although more studies are necessary to identify and confirm cholesterol's role in dementia and prostate cancer, it is becoming clear that controlling cholesterol - along with healthy lifestyle habits (diet and daily exercise) - may be key to preventing many diseases and conditions.

Wednesday weigh-in

Cliff and I weighed in yesterday at 220.5 and 145.5. 

We ate out a couple of times last weekend, once at a buffet at Golden Corral; we both know we need to avoid all-you-can-eat situations, but we sometimes serve as enablers for one another, and this was one of those times.  So when we returned home, Cliff was three pounds heavier.  This seems to happen every time we eat out too much, and I'd love to know if it's the salt, or just the over-eating.  Or a touch of congestive heart failure?  Anyhow, given three days, the added weight is always gone.  The trouble is, the food on that buffet wasn't even all that great!

Cliff says he can feel himself getting stronger from his workouts at the gym at his workplace.  I've been walking twice a day, most days, so I can take in 150 more calories a day.

I do believe the doctor has hit on exactly the right blood pressure meds for Cliff (Lopressor 50 mg, twice a day), because his BP stays around 120 over 60 all the time.  I don't know if it's because of our using less salt, the added exercise, or my weight loss, but my own blood pressure stays in the same range as Cliff's now; it had been creeping up around 140/80 for some time.  So perhaps it will be a long time before I have to worry about blood pressure problems.

diet report

I enter everything I consume onto the Calorieking website.  There's a $39 yearly fee for using the site, which was the cheapest I could find at the time.  When my year is up in December, I'll switch to sparkpeople.com.  That'll be somewhat of a drag, since I have my own recipes and custom foods entered at calorieking; I'll have to enter them all over again on the new site. 

This is my average over the past two weeks.  I can see by the chart that I'm getting careless.  For three or four months, I had kept my fat intake well below 30% of my calories, and protein well above 15%.  Obviously, I'm getting sloppy about what I eat.

Daily Averages
food calories: 2,328 cals
exercise minutes: 53 mins
exercise calories: 245 cals
net calories: 2,083 cals
fat: 68 g
  saturated fat: 20 g
carbohydrate: 259 g
  sugar: 97 g
protein: 72 g
fiber: 22 g
sodium: 1,930 mg
potassium: 2,375 mg
calcium: 1,542 mg
iron: 11.8 mg
zinc: 3.9 mg
cholesterol: 166.8 mg
effective carbohyrate: 203 g

I'm also getting more sodium and cholesterol lately; at least the sodium is still under 2000 mgs.

I'm going to have to get serious here, or I'll creep right back up to eating junk any time the urge hits me... and the pounds will creep slowly upward, too.

Our weights:  mine, 148.  Cliff, 220.5.  He's very excited about his weigh-in this morning, since he's fluctuated between 221 and 224 for the past month, and he finally broke that trend!

Maybe it's because he's been spending his lunch break in the workout room where he works.  They have all manner of fancy equipment, and he's working on upper-body strength.

Cliff and I have taken a daily 325 mg aspirin for years.  After a discussion sparked by comments in my main journal and some online research, we've switched to 81 mg.  I looked back over the prescriptions given to Cliff when he left the hospital, and 81 mg was what they called for.

Thanks, Mrs Linklater, for the heads-up.

Oat bran muffins

This recipe is in a recent version of Better Homes and Gardens cookbook; I actually didn't have any oat bran on hands yesterday, so I substituted wheat bran.  Not only was Cliff happy with these low-cal gems, but both granddaughters love them.  I had to stop them, or there'd have been none left for Cliff this morning.

1 1/2 cups oat bran
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 beaten egg (or 2 beaten egg whites)
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/2 cup raisins or snipped dried fruit

1.  Lightly coat bottoms of muffin pan with cooking spray.  Set aside

2.  In a medium bowl combine oat bran, flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

3.  In a small bowl combine egg, applesauce, milk, honey, and oil.  Add applesauce mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened.  Fold in raisins.

4.  Divide batter evenly among muffin cups to make 12 muffins.  Bake at 400 degrees for 16 to 18 minutes.  Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Serve warm.

Nutrition facts:  133 calories; 2 g total fat; 0 sat fat; 18 mg chol (less if you don't use egg yolks); 154 g sodium (that's the bad news); 29 g carb., 2 g fiber; 4 g pro.

Exchanges:  1/2 fruit, 1 1/2 starch.

I love how Better Homes and Gardens recent versions of their cookbooks list all this nutrition info!

Wednesday weigh-in

My weight today is 146.  I'm maintaining! 

Cliff weighs 222, and his blood pressure is 113/65.  Yes, he's on meds, but that's still great.  He has both a brother and a cousin who are on BP meds and their blood pressure is stays in the 170+ range in spite of meds.  I'm thankful that his stays so low, and that the meds work. 

Folks, I've figured out that one of the main reasons people get too much cholesterol and too much salt is simply that they eat too much.  Yes, I realize any dummy should be able to figure that out, but it just hit me the other day.

Take pizza, for instance.  A medium slice of pizza has 720 mg of sodium.  You could work that into a day's allowance and not do bad at all (my goal is to keep the sodium under 2,500 mg a day).

But Cliff and I used to buy a LARGE pizza at Pizza Hut and each of us would eat half.  Good grief!

Yeah, so if you are watching cholesterol and sodium, the best way to cut back on them is  to stop overeating.

Duh.  Why did this just now sink in?  And would it have made any difference?  I doubt it.

I've learned how many calories I can use

Thanks to my signing up at Calorieking.com last winter, I have kept meticulous track of all my calories, fats, and vitamins.  I checked out my average calorie intake for the previous two weeks before I recently gained a couple of pounds, and the daily average was 2,400.  I was walking a half-hour daily, which burned off 160 or so of those.  So, it appears that if I maintain my present activity level and stay at 2,300 calories or under, I'll maintain or lose weight.

I paid a small fee to join up with Calorieking because I hadn't yet heard about sparkpeople.com, which is pretty much the same program for free.  When my time runs out with Calorieking, I'll switch.

Oh, Cliff has already lost two of the three pounds he gained.  I had a feeling it was mostly water weight from too much sodium.  As hard as he tries, he just doesn't eat as well when I'm gone, and I was at the fair for three days.  Then the next day after my return, we went to a family reunion, where of course, we loaded up on salt.

 

poor Cliff

Cliff has gained three pounds in the past two weeks.  I knew I shouldn't have left him to his own devices while I went to the fair (actually I had plenty of healthy things here for him). 

Thank the good Lord, I'm back down to 147.  I was a bit worried, after all the fair food I ate last week.  But of course, I spent many hours at the fair walking.

My weight seemed to be creeping up lately, so I started taking two half-hour walks daily instead of just the one with Cliff.  Evidently that has turned things around.  I notice, though, that I'm getting into the habit of constantly wanting to snack, and that's what usually starts me gaining rather than losing.  It's something else I'll have to watch.

Quaker has a new instant oatmeal called Take Heart that Cliff absolutely loves.  It has all kinds of soluble fiber and added antioxidant vitamins E and C.  Sounds great, right?  But for SOME unknown reason, Quaker decided to also add some sodium.  Now, 105 mgs of sodium isn't a lot for a single serving of anything, but it shouldn't be there.  Oatmeal in its natural state has virtually no sodium (4 mg per serving).

I've tried taking regular old-fashioned oats and making them taste like the "Take Heart" oatmeal, but so far, no luck.  Cliff says it just isn't the same.  I'll keep working on it, though.

It's so frustrating to me, seeing sodium put in foods where it wouldn't even be missed if it were left out.

 

Wednesday weigh-in

I chose that mood because I am frustrated at myself:  I gained weight this week.  I'm up to 148.5, which is two pounds heavier than last week.  And I do know why this happened.

I was keeping my calorie intake at around 2,200, on average, up until the last couple of weeks.  I notice my average for the past two weeks, though, is over 2,400 calories.  The other part of the problem is that, on these 100-plus degree days, I don't move around much.  Yesterday I went into our bedroom, the only room in our house with air conditioning, at 4 PM, and stayed there watching TV the rest of the day.  You don't burn a lot of calories lying propped up on a bed.

Cliff, on the other hand, is still losing.  He's 221 1/2 pounds.  He takes in more calories than I do, but he's also moving around... heat or no heat.  Not only at work, but here at home too; he always finds himself some project or other to keep him busy for four hours, until time to come inside and eat lunch and get ready for work.

His blood pressure numbers are great, too.  Go, Cliff!

Well, now what?

 Caffeine can cause your blood pressure to rise and your heart to beat irregularly, but Cliff's heart surgeon said a couple of cups of coffee in the morning wouldn't hurt him... just stop at that.

Cliff likes coffee with every meal, even in this hot weather.  So I bought Folgers decaf to use at all times except in the morning.  I also bought decaf Diet Coke and decaf tea, feeling quite proud of my resourcefulness.

Today I decided to study up on caffeine, and the decaffeination process.  You'll never believe it:  The process used to take the caffeine out of coffee may actually cause decaf coffee to make your bad cholesterol higher, which is, of course, bad for the heart.  Here's one source of this information.  The chemical used is a solvent, which doesn't sound all that great either.  Would you drink nail polish remover?

Wait until I break THIS news to Cliff.  I wish I'd found out about this before his last doctor's appointment; I'd have gotten an expert opinion.  I could call and leave a message for the nurse, and have her call us back... but I doubt it's all that critical.

I'm thinking I'll let him drink his decaf until his appointment in December; then we'll see what the doctor says.

The same chemical is used to decaffeinate tea, too.

Sometimes you can't win for losing.

The American Heart Association

I love the AHA website.  There's a gold mine of information there, and I've learned a lot from it.  I especially like this little online book.

But when I look at their list of foods that carries the heart-healthy check-mark, I scratch my head in confusion.  Does Healthy Choice pay them a kickback or something?  Next time you're at the store, check out the Healthy Choice frozen dinners and entrees.  They're LOADED with sodium!

 

on limiting sodium and cholesterol

Once Cliff started recovering from heart surgery, I made it my job to figure out just how much sodium and cholesterol is considered too much.

For sodium guidelines, click HERE.  And I see HERE that we should strive to keep consumption of cholesterol under 200 milligrams a day.

I do very well with the cholesterol limits, often staying under 150 milligrams, even.

The sodium is harder; I've compromised a bit, because I want to be realistic about it.  Actually, none of the doctors has said a lot about salt to us; perhaps that goes back to their beliefs that nobody is going to follow their guidelines anyhow.  If Cliff had kept going to his cardiac therapy sessions, they had a nutrition class during every session.  But I'm sure I've gotten just as much information browsing the Internet as I'd have gotten at therapy with Cliff.

Anyhow, I like to keep sodium under 2,000 mgs for Cliff, and I believe our average probably is lower.  On days when we eat out, I'm sure it rises.  But on other days here at home, we have much less.

Sodium occurs naturally in some vegetables.  For instance, an average raw tomato has 13 mg (click here).  To me, that doesn't seem a big concern. 

Something that makes me angry is this:  General Mills advertises Cheerios as being "heart-healthy", and even the American Heart Association endorses them; but a small serving has 230 mg of sodium, only 30 grams less than the 31 Fritos I had with my taco salad last night!  Oh, by the way, in hunting up all this information, I learned that Frito-Lay long ago removed  trans-fats from their products.  I hope a few others will follow their lead. 

10 Diet Myths That Won't Die

I found the following on an AOL site, so rather than link to it, I copied and pasted, because I was afraid my non-AOL readers wouldn't be able to follow a link to it:

From downing your weight in water to loading up on grapefruit, there's a long list of tricks and tips that promise to help you drop those extra pounds. But how do you separate diet fact from fiction? Our experts take a look at the most pervasive diet myths and put them to rest -- once and for all.

1. Myth: Calories eaten after 8PM turn to fat.

Fact: This is an urban legend that is no more true than the notion that alligators are roaming the sewers of New York City, says Liz Neporent, trainer and author of 'The Fat-Free Truth.' The fact of the matter is if you eat more calories than your body burns in a day, the excess calories will be stored as fat. Whether you consume them during 'Good Morning America' or 'Letterman' doesn't matter; there is no intrinsic connection between calories and the clock.

2. Myth: To jump-start your diet, you should fast.

Fact: Not so fast! Skipping meals for extended periods of time is actually the best way to sabotage a diet. Though fasting may temporarily help you lose weight, it's predominantly water weight, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, of the Northwestern Memorial Wellness Institute. Fasting is not recommended because not eating for extended periods can cause fatigue and dizziness. Ultimately, fasting usually accomplishes two things, says Blatner. "It makes you hungry and leaves you feeling deprived." Once you become over-hungry, all common sense is lost, and you're bound to make high-calorie, high-fat choices in that state of mind. Furthermore, feeling deprived tends to lead to binging when you do eat again. So, in fact, the more you don't eat, the more likely you are to overeat in the end.

3. Myth: Low-carb (high protein) diets are the most effective route to weight loss.

Fact: Before you ban bread altogether, consider this: Although preliminary research suggests that obese people can lose more weight on a low-carb diet than on a conventional low-fat diet, the benefits appear to be small and may be short-lived, says Neporent. One yearlong study comparing low-carb dieters to low-fat dieters found that low-carbers began regaining the weight they lost after six months. By the end of the year, they were no better off than the low-fat group. What's more, the dropout rate among both groups was extremely high. It really is about the calories and striking a balance between what you consume and what you burn. To do that for the long haul, you have to choose a diet that is sustainable. And permanently cutting out entire food groups (especially ones that include tasty, crusty bread) doesn't qualify.

4. Myth: Eating white foods is bad for you.

Fact: Don't judge a food by its color. Some of the best foods for you are actually white, says Cynthia Sass, RD, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. The color of a food has nothing to do with its nutritional value and it's not always an indication of how processed the food is either, she says. Think bananas, pears and garlic, all of which pack a nutritional punch and are also naturally white. Instead of focusing on the color of the food, you need to consider what else it delivers in deciding whether to eat it. Find out what nutrients and vitamins it has. And look at the list of ingredients to determine how highly processed it is. Even a processed food, such as cake mix, doesn't have to be a diet wrecker as long as you eat it in moderation.

5. Myth: Drinking lots of water will help you lose weight.

Fact: If your daily drinking habits consist of sweetened teas, juice drinks and sodas, then replacing them with water can result in consuming fewer calories, which can lead to weight loss. But simply upping your water intake will not, unfortunately, help you shed pounds, says Sass. Though drinking water may make your belly temporarily feel fuller, you have to remember that hunger is not simply a function of your stomach -- your body is crying out for nutrients in food, so filling up on water won't satisfy you for long. Of course staying hydrated is important for maintaining your overall energy and body functioning, but contrary to popular belief, drinking it in excess won't boost your metabolism or flush away fat.

6. Myth: When you're on a diet, drinking juice is a no-no.

Fact: Juice gets such a bad rap these days, but the truth is, juice isn't inherently bad for you, provided you're actually drinking juice -- not a juice drink. Juice drinks are loaded with added sugar and preservatives. So check the label to be sure you're only reaching for 100 percent juice. The caveat? Because juice is much more concentrated than fruit, you need much less of it. Limit yourself to 4-ounce servings of juice, Sass says. Of course, whenever possible, you should choose whole fruit over juice, because fruit contains fiber, which fills you up, and is left behind when you extract the juice.

7. Myth: All sugar is bad for you.

Fact: When it comes to the sweet stuff, not all sugar is created equal. Food labels don't distinguish between added sugar and sugar that was naturally in the food to begin with, says Sass. For example, most dieters wouldn't consider eating canned fruit because of the grams of sugar listed on the label. However, if it's packaged in its own juice, then you're just eating the sugar that was already in the fruit. Lots of good-for-you foods naturally have sugar in them, such as low-fat milk, says Sass. Instead of looking at the grams of sugar on the nutrition label, read the ingredient list. Foods containing items like high fructose corn syrup should be kept to a minimum.

8. Myth: Exercising on an empty stomach burns more fat.

Fact: If only it were that easy. The real deal? When you do aerobic exercise, your body is burning fat as well as carbohydrate stores from food you've recently eaten, says Sass. So if you skip your pre-workout meal or snack, you won't have carb stores to burn. But that doesn't mean you'll burn all fat (a physiologically impossibility). Instead, your body starts to burn its own muscle for fuel. And less muscle means lower metabolism -- not the goal of any dieter. Not to mention that exercising on empty means you'll probably be too tired to go all out, which translates into burning fewer calories during your workout than if you had properly fueled up beforehand. Ideally, you should have a meal three or four hours before a workout, or a snack one to two hours before exercising.

9. Myth: Drinking liquid meal replacements will help shrink your stomach.

Fact: No way ... liquid diets are strictly for babies! Any shrinking that happens from a liquid diet is likely to be in your imagination -- not in your stomach, says Blatner. Why? "Your stomach is a muscular organ that will stretch temporarily when you eat, and then return back to its normal size." There is nothing you can do to shrink your stomach, she says. As you diet, over time you may get used to eating less, but that's not because your stomach has actually shrunk.

10. Myth: Eating grapefruit will help you burn fat.

Fact: That eating grapefruits will help you lose weight is one of the most persistent among diet myths -- and just when you think it's gone, it resurfaces and becomes all the rage again every few years. "It's ridiculous," says Neporent. "There is no food that has intrinsic "fat-burning enzymes" that magically melt fat from your body. There was one study that demonstrated the effectiveness of this diet, notes Neporent. However, it was small, isolated, and there is some question as to whether the citrus industry sponsored the research. If you want to eat grapefruit as part of a well-rounded diet, go for it. They're rich in lycopene -- an antioxidant that protects against heart disease and breast cancer, says Keecha Harris, DrPH, RD, and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. Incorporate it and other lycopene-rich foods such as tomatoes and watermelon into your diet each day, she says.

--Jennifer Fields

Wednesday weigh-in

Cliff is amazed:  He's two pounds lighter than he was last week, weighing in at 222 1/2 pounds.  I'm 146 1/2, a loss of a half-pound.

Why is Cliff so surprised? 

1.  Because we ate at the Mexican place... TWO DAYS STRAIGHT!  But we split a meal, both times.

2.  We had SPAGHETTI (Cliff's favorite food in the whole world) twice.  Ah, but I made the sauce from scratch (no salt except what was in the half-pound of Italian sausage I added) and I controlled portions.  The portions, however, were quite generous.  Cliff's idea is that anything that good has to add pounds.

3.  We ate taco salad last night; Cliff's ideas about that are the same as his attitudes about spaghetti.  Again, I controlled portions, right down to counting the Fritoes (we each got 31).  I used a lower-sodium taco seasoning, and ground turkey instead of beef. 

We're still walking every day, and enjoying life to the fullest.  Cliff goes back to work Monday.  I am so thankful for his health, and I intend to do everything in my power to keep his heart problem-free.  We've been given a gift, and I don't intend to take it lightly.

Chicken Breasts Dijon (yum)

I fixed these for lunch today; of course, there's enough left for another meal AND enough to chop up in some salads.

                               CHICKEN BREASTS DIJON

6 small chicken breast halves (about 3 pounds), skinned and boned.
1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon vegetable oil (of course I used olive oil)
2 tablespoons dry white wine
freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons mustard seed

Heat oven to 400.  Remove any excess fat from chicken.  Place chicken,meaty sides up, in rectangular pan, 13X9X2, sprayed with Pam.  Mix mustard, oil and wine; brush over chicken.  Sprinkle with pepper and mustard seed.  Bake uncovered until chicken is done, about 30 minutes. 

I didn't have any mustard seed, so I put 1/2 teaspoon of ground mustard in the oil, wine and mustard mix.  And I simply used ordinary black pepper.

1/6 recipe is a serving:  270 calories, 7 grams fat, 46 grams protein, 120 mg cholesterol, 2 g carbs, 230 mg sodium.

This has Cliff's seal of approval, and he hasn't always liked things Dijon.

Wednesday weight loss report

I'm down one pound, to 147; that's 41 pounds lost since last December.  Cliff is now 224.5, a pound and a half lighter than his last weigh-in, and 52 pounds lighter than before Christmas.  Not bad, coming off vacation, eh?

The doctor didn't want Cliff on his motorcycle for six months after surgery, but he's been going for short spins for three weeks or so.  His sister called yesterday evening and invited us over for a "healthy meal".  She's been making a real effort to cook and eat for good health, lately.

Cliff said, "You want to take the motorcycle?"

I almost said no, then I thought to myself, "If he's going back to work in a few days, he ought to be able to ride his motorcycle, and I shouldn't be afraid to ride with him."

It was nice to have the sense of "back-to-normal" that riding the Gold Wing gave us.

Besides, check out what I found HERE, and scroll down to "when to resume usual activities".  This is put out by the Society for Thoracic Surgeons, and says at three months you are back to normal.  Cliff's brother, Phil, went back to work three months after his heart bypass.

Now I realize that one should give heed to his own doctor, and not what he reads online or hears elsewhere.  But since Cliff is at the point of doing what he feels like anyhow, this article does make me, personally, feel better about it.

I love 'em!

Ritz has come out with a lower-sodium cracker.  I mean, REALLY lower sodium!  Once you start de-salting your diet and have gotten used to it, you'll thank heaven for these babies.

When I put some of my Smuckers non-hydrogenated, natural peanut butter on a Ritz, I'm in heaven.  Of course, you have to limit yourself.  That's the hard part.  I see on their website they also have a no-salt-added variety, but I have yet to find that in my store.

Natural peanut butter simplY has no additives to keep it from seperating, so when it seperates it will have have oil on the top; then you have to stir it.  The simple solution is to keep it in the refrigerator, where it won't seperate at all.  I figured that would make it hard to spread, but it doesn't.

Why avoid hydrogenated foods?  Transfats!  Read this, from the American Heart Association. 

HYDROGENATED FATS

AHA Recommendation

The American Heart Association urges you to read the labels before buying an oil or margarine. We recommend that consumers choose spreads that have liquid vegetable oil as the first ingredient and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon. The fat content of most margarines and spreads is printed on the package or label.

Select liquid and soft tub margarines are low in both saturated fats and trans fats (some are trans-free). These are preferable.

Trans fats result from hydrogenation. They increase total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, which increases fatty buildups in arteries and raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Right now trans fats are included in the saturated fat category on food labels. As of Jan. 1, 2006, trans fats must be listed separately. Many food manufacturers have already begun labeling their products for trans fats and more are likely to do so.

I have a  feeling that, as people become aware of what foods are bad for them, and read the labels, trans fats will begin disappearing from many processed foods.  I can only hope.

What sort of meals did we have away from home?

Breakfast was always cereal, usually shredded wheat with banana.  Why?  Because it's virtually sodium-free, not to mention it's a whole-grain cereal.  So when breakfast is shredded wheat with skim milk, we're way ahead of the game.  If we have a bit too much salt eating lunch out, it averages out all right for the day.

One meal a day, usually the noon meal, we bought out... and got whatever we wanted.  After all, it's vacation.  The day we were in Silverton, Cliff had a hot roast beef sandwich with potatoes and gravy, and I had a  Reuben sandwich.  One day, our meal out was a Subway Spicy Chicken Terriyaki sub.  Great on the calories, terrible on sodium.

The only meal we ate out Saturday was a medium Pizza Hut pizza, delivered to our motel after a days hard driving and riding.  And yes, we ate the whole thing, dividing it exactly in half.  Sunday we split a 16-ounce steak and each had a sinfully huge baked potato loaded with butter and sour cream, then followed that with a piece of coconut cream pie, also shared between the two of us.

Most evenings in the motel, we enjoyed a huge salad.  It was rather difficult hauling all the makings of salad around Colorado with us, but we pulled it off.

The thing about our eating plan is this:  We can have anything we want to eat... we just can't have it often.  And knowing we don't have to say, "I can NEVER have steak, pie, ice cream or whatever..." makes it easy for us to stay on track most of the time.

 

after our vacation

I'll wait until tomorrow to post our weights:  let's just say the news is good.  We ate fruit as our snacks, all the way across Colorado, along with the 100-Calorie Packages of snacks by Nabisco, which are true life-savers for Cliff.  Most of their salty varieties are higher in sodium than I'd like; but Frito-Lay has brought out 100-calorie packs of lower-sodium Cheetos that aren't bad.  No trans-fat in any of them.  I'm still waiting for someone to get the trans-fat out of vanilla wafers.

We consumed two cantaloupes, pounds of grapes, a half-dozen apples, and probably twenty bananas during our week in Colorado.  I'm especially happy about the bananas, because I just read an article at HeartCenter Online about how potassium somehow balances sodium levels.  We always take along individual fruit cups (in its own juice) and individual cups of applesauce (unsweetened for me, but Cliff likes some sugar in his).  Oh, and we munched on carrot sticks, bell peppers and celery a lot.

One thing I read on HeartCenter that I didn't like:  temperature and humidity have a definate relationship to heart attacks.

Anyway, we're consuming massive amounts of fruit around here, and loving every bite.

Wednesday diet report... on Friday!

My son arrived last Saturday evening, and I've been having a virtual cook-a-thon and bake-fest, trying to make sure he got a taste of his favorite foods while he was here.  He headed back to Georgia this morning.

Cliff and I got somewhat off track with our eating:  he had much more meat than I usually have available for him to eat, and probably considerably more sodium.  I made chocolate chip cookies, and couldn't resist eating one while they were warm, and one more later.  However, Cliff didn't have a single one.  And the morning I made cinnamon rolls, neither of us had so much as a taste.  Well, OK, I had a piece of one somebody left in the pan, but it was only a bite.

The good news is that Cliff and I weigh exactly the same now as we did when Jim arrived.  I'm happy with that.

There'll be no Wednesday diet report next week, because hopefully we'll be on Colorado.  While I may have a laptop along, I won't be taking scales.  I don't foresee any problem with eating properly while we're on vacation.  Breakfast is easy when it consists of cereal, milk and fruit.  Most of our suppers will be a salad.  We'll buy lunch out, but we'll split meals.

At least, that's the plan.

Trans Fats

I've been reading up on trans fat today; it seems that most doctors are naming "trans-fatty acids" as the biggest culprit in our diets.

Here's are some clues to help you avoid them:

the categories of foods that are likely to have trans fats: 
• Fast foods - fried chicken, biscuits, fried fish sandwiches, French fries, fried apple or other pie desserts
• Donuts, muffins
• Crackers
• Most cookies
• Cake, cake icing, & pie
• Pop tarts
• Microwave popped corn
• Canned biscuits
• International and instant latte coffee beverages parents are more likely to use

To read the entire article from which this information came, click HERE.  If you read it, you'll see that yes, trans-fats even harm children.

getting back on track

Cliff and I both slipped this past week.

Cliff went to Minnesota with his brother, to a car show.  He had no choice but to eat every meal out, at the greasy spoons Phil seems to love.  He was able to eat cereal and fruit at the motel though, and he did make wise choices about the amount of food he ate; although he picked up 1 1/2 pounds, I know that will be shed by next week.  Yesterday his blood pressure was 20 points higher than it's ever been since his surgery (the top number was still under 140, though).  Salt obviously does raise blood pressure.  Today it's 126 over 72, after a day of having less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium.  I try to keep sodium intake under 2,000 milligrams a day.

While Cliff was gone, I ate the pizza I'd been craving.  BOY did I eat pizza!  Saturday I bought two pizzas and some breadsticks for myself and my daughter's family; when they went home, they left pizza behind.  So I had pizza for lunch, and supper, and for breakfast the next morning... all I could hold.  Yeah, I'm a hog.  But I don't think I'll be craving pizza again for a while.  I still managed to be 1/2 pound lighter than last week though.

So, today I weigh 147 1/2, and Cliff weighs 227.

experimenting with oil pastry crust

I've been picking blackberries every other day for the last week from a small patch of tame berry vines we put out several years ago.  I used some of them to make a pie last weekend:  Cliff and I each had a piece, warm, with ice cream.  We sent the rest to my daughter's house so we wouldn't be tempted.

I've always made pie crust with lard or Crisco.  Neither of those is heart-healthy, so today I tried my hand at making a berry pie with an oil crust.  It's in the oven right now.  Hopefully it'll be passable, because I don't like Cliff consuming hydrogenated oils.  Or cottonseed oil.  Therefore, no Crisco.

I found the oil crust harder to handle than my old Crisco crust, and, judging by the scraps I put in the oven to test, not as flaky.  I can live with it, but I'm wondering if anyone has a good oil pastry recipe she wants to share, or tips for rolling it out successfully.  If so, let me know in a comment or an e-mail, please.

And I'm still going to have just one piece of pie, save one for Cliff when he gets home tomorrow, and send the rest home with my daughter.

Wednesday weight-loss report

I'm down a pound and a half from last week; I weighed in this morning at 148 pounds.  Hey, I just realized, I've lost 40 pounds since December!

Cliff, after being at a stand-still for so long, is finally losing, little by little.  He's 225.  Yes, he's been there before, but only very briefly.  From his morning weigh-ins, we can tell he's actually losing now.  He has some size 40 overalls, some almost new, that I found stored upstairs from six or seven years ago.  Also a pair of size 38 jeans.  These are too small for him, but I imagine ten or fifteen pounds loss will get him wearing them, so he has that for his next goal.

Cliff has always eaten pretzels as a crunchy snack, but of course they have too much salt for someone trying to take care of his heart.  I had searched the grocery shelves trying to find something crunchy and crisp, yet good for him, that he'd like; and I finally found it.  Quaker makes some wonderful rice snacks in both salty and sweet flavors, and they really fill the void.  We haven't tried all of them yet, but I like the Ranch, and Cliff likes the caramel corn.  I wouldn't say they're cheap, but we think they're worth it.  Check out Quaker Quakes.  I can't wait to try the other flavors.  Stick with the sweet varieties to limit salt, because there's a goodly amount of sodium in the others.

Wednesday diet report, after vacation

I had our diet strategy all figured out for our weekend at Branson:  We'd eat whatever they served us on the showboat cruise, and the rest of the time I'd fix us healthy stuff in the camper.  It was a great plan, but somehow the vacation spirit took hold of me.

I guess we didn't do all that bad; the only other unhealthy thing we had while we were in Branson was blackberry cobbler with ice cream.  As soon as we were served, I realized we should have ordered just one serving, and split it.  But it was so delicious, I was secretly glad we didn't do that. 

Our other little pitfall presented itself because it seemed easier to fold the camper right after breakfast, rather than drive ten miles to Branson, then back for lunch, then load the camper.  "We'll grab something somewhere to eat," says I.

Well, once we headed home, wouldn't you know an Olive Garden presented itself, and we really backslid.  Oh, we split one meal between us, but that "Tour of Italy" is huge; so we had plenty.  AND we had the hot artichoke-spinach dip.  Yeah, and all the time I was eating, in my head, I kept hearing the old country song, "It don't feel like sinning to me."

Monday morning, we weighed as we do every day:  Cliff had gained six pounds, I'd gained four.  ACK!!!!

Well, I know enough about calories to realize you don't gain that much weight from two pig-out meals and a blackberry cobbler ala mode.  Cliff was beside himself, after having finally made some progress with his weight loss last week.  I explained to him that it takes 3,500 calories over one's maintanance calories to make a pound.  No way did we have more than 7,000 excess calories which would amount to two pounds gained.

Sure enough, today I am actually a half-pound less than last Wednesday.  I weigh 149 1/2.  Cliff is at 227 1/2, which is a gain from last week, but considering he weighed 231 Monday, I'd say it isn't bad.

Must be all the salt  in eat-out meals that made such a huge, overnight gain for both of us.  Or the fact that our entire digestive tracts were full, for a change.

 

Wednesday diet report

Well folks, are you ready for the big announcement?  This morning I weighed exactly 150!  Five more pounds to go, and I'll be at my goal.  Cliff has finally started knocking off a little weight himself now.  He's 225.

Oh, and I bought myself three pairs of sizeTEN shorts.  It's a funny thing about that, though.  I've weighed less than 145 before, and never got under a size 12.  The folks that market clothes seem to have changed the sizes over the years, probably because we women feel better if we're in a smaller size.  I know I've always worn Lee jeans rather than Levis because a 12 in Lees is equal to a 14 in Levis.  Not now, though.  I'm a Levis woman, except for horseback riding; then it's Wranglers.

Here's one of mine and Cliff's favorite quick and easy recipes.  I buy the no-salt-added black beans, but so far I haven't found Ro-tel tomatoes with no salt.

SPICY BLACK BEANS AND RICE

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained (and rinsed, if they're the salt-added kind)

1 14-ounce can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

2 cups hot cooked brown or long-grain rice

1/4 cup chopped onion (optional)

1.  In a medium saucepan cook the 1/2 cup onion and garlic in hot oil till tender but not brown.  Carefully stir in beans, undrained tomatoes, and ground red pepper.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

2.  To serve, mound rice on plate; make a well in each mound.  Spoon the black bean mixture into wells.  If desired, sprinkle with the 1/4 cup chopped onion.  Makes 4 servings.

280 calories, 8 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 cholesterol, 620 sodium (less if you use no-salt beans), 47 g carbo., 7 g fiber, 11 g protein.  12% iron

This is from a 1996 Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.  I've said it before, but it bears repeating:  all the more recent editions of Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks have lots of low-fat recipes, and list nutrients.  

My knock-knees, which are the main reason my knees are bad, sure do show up when I wear shorts, but at least I'm comfortable. 

Why?

Why is there so much salt in processed foods?  Especially tomatoes?  I've found I can cut the sodium in any recipe at least in half, if I buy "no-salt-added" tomato products... IE, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, etc.  Canned beans (kidney, garbanzo, pinto) are bad, too, and offer "no-salt-added" varieties.

And WHY is it so expensive to buy heart-healthy products?  I finally found (with the help of a friend) a heart-friendly peanut butter.  It's Smuckers Natural.  And it's expensive.

I've learned that any sort of pickles is heavy on the sodium.  Sausage?  Forget it.  In two patties, there's more than half the amount of sodium anybody ought to have in a day.  At least there's a lower-salt bacon, so Cliff can have his beloved bacon-and-egg-and-cheese sandwich once a week.

Things I'm thanful for?  Campbell's Healthy Request soups; Hunt's "no salt added" canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Things I wish for?  fast-food, low-sodium entrees.  And I DON'T mean a handful of salad.  Come on, McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway:  figure out a way to give us just a couple of low-fat, low-sodium items.  It isn't that hard.

Thank God my husband likes any kind of food when he's hungry, and that he is as intent on staying healthy as I am on keeping him healthy.  Believe me, we are getting our daily quota of fruits and veggies.

Wednesday diet report

Cliff weighs 228 today; I'm 151.5!  When I first started this weight-losing thing in December, my rather hazy goal was to get "anywhere under 150".  It's hard to believe I'm so close, now, to that goal.  I finally selected an exact weight to shoot for:  145 pounds.  I'm actually pretty content with how I feel right now, but any weight I lose is that much that my very compromised knees won't have to carry.  If I should happen to drop below 140, I think I'd actually eat a few fattening things to keep from losing more.  There's such a thing as being too thin..

Now that we're both eating for Cliff's health, it's much easier not to cheat on our diets.

Any time a recipe calls for one egg, I use two egg whites and dispose of the yolks, which is where all the bad stuff is.  They aren't wasted, though:  Sadie gets them!  And now she's learned to detect the sound of an egg cracking from in the other room, and shows up at my side as fast as the speed of light.

Cliff seems so very back-to-normal now that it's almost as though he never had open-heart surgery.  He tells me his chest hurts "a little less every day".  He's incorporating a couple of our steep hills into his morning walk now, and building up strength fast.

We'll see the heart doctor next Tuesday, before noon.  I'm anxious to hear their report.  I expect good news.

cholesterol 101

When it comes to counting calories, I'm good at it; I've done it, off and on, for so many years.  And of course, everything that comes pre-packaged has the calorie count right on the label (although you have to watch the serving size, making sure your idea of a serving is the same as the company's that processed the food).  I learned long ago that you can consider most any piece of fruit to be 100 calories, on average.

Cholesterol was something new to be learned, because it really had nothing to do with weight loss; but it isn't too hard to figure out:  If it comes from an animal in any way, it'll have cholesterol... i.e. milk, eggs, meat, poultry.  The more animal fat in a food, the higher the cholesterol content.  Poultry is preferable to red meat; fish is preferable to poultry.  I might add that, in this house, we lean toward skinless poultry simply because of the high price of fish. 

I found some good resources here and here.  Thank God for the Internet; I can't imagine trying to make all these lifestyle changes without being able to Google up the information I need.

To see how cholesterol affects the arteries, click here.  Here's a quote from this site:  "Typically the body makes all the cholesterol it needs, so people don't need to consume it. Saturated fatty acids are the main culprit in raising blood cholesterol, which increases your risk of heart disease."

Well, that's just dandy.  Now I have to attend "saturated fatty acids 101" and learn how to limit those.

Wednesday diet report

I'm a pound lighter than last week:  154.5.  It's really coming off slowly now.

Cliff and I were both a little concerned with his weight.  He has to weigh every morning, first thing.  One thing we were to report to the doctor was any weight gain of more than three pounds in a day, or five pounds in a week, because such a gain might signal congestive heart failure. 

He had hovered within a pound of 229 ever since coming home from the hospital, for over three weeks.  Then, after a day in the hot sun with the haying, Saturday morning he weighed 225.5.  That would have been a good thing, except that the next day he weighed 232.  We debated on whether to call the doctor, since maybe the weight loss was a fluke.  We decided to give it one more day; it was 232 again.  He didn't feel as well for a couple of days, either.

This morning he's back to 229.  Whew.  And take my word for it, he's feeling frisky.

My theory is that he was trying to exercise too hard.  He'd decided to go back to walking in the pasture instead of on the boring track at the park, and was doing some of the extreme slopes at a much faster pace than he'd been walking on the track.  Too much, too soon, I'd say.  So his heart rebelled.  We're back to walking at the park for awhile.

Actually, he ought to be losing weight, and I'm sure he will before long.  He isn't getting more than 2,200 calories, most days. 

A week from Tuesday we'll see his cardiac doctor.

Wednesday weigh-in day

Cliff and I both seem to be at a stand-still with our weight loss.  I actually gained a half-pound, up to 155 1/2.  Cliff has been stuck at 229 for over a week.

We've probably both lost enough weight that we need to reduce our caloric intake a little more in order to lose, or else exercise more; but so far we haven't had the resolve to do that.  Cliff feels like he'll lose more when he's able to be more active, and he's probably right.

Meanwhile, we are eating the right things, single portions.  So we can't go wrong.  We may not lose weight for awhile, but we're being good to our hearts and our bodies.

Excuses

It’s always fun to see weaknesses or problems that I don’t happen to have in other people. Somehow it makes one feel so superior, so much stronger, never mind that I have a whole set of weaknesses of my own.

When it comes to gaining unwanted or un-needed weight, I’ve never felt the need to make excuses. I knew I was gaining weight for the simple reason that I want to eat what I want, whenever I want. I’m undisciplined and spoiled, and I am the first to admit it.  I like immediate gratification.

Since I don’t do the "excuse" game, I find great pleasure in watching others play it.

"Oh, my blood sugar gets low and I simply have to eat or I’ll get sick."  (It isn't a diabetic saying this, by the way.)

"It’s stress! When I’m under stress, I gain weight."

"I don't lose weight on my diet, but I lose inches."

Here’s one that cracks me up, and I’ve heard two different women say it: "My doctor says the reason I’m overweight is that I don’t eat enough." Well, alrighty then; if you say so.

"I can’t eat potatoes; they make me fat."

Come on folks, do some research. The only thing that makes a person gain weight is taking in more calories than she burns, whether those calories come from a candy bar, bacon, or fresh fruit.

I know lots of people who have had great success with the Atkins diet; many of them seem to think calories don’t count. But if they were to do the research and write down calorie content of everything they eat, they’d find out it’s still about calories.  I do think it's great how well Atkins works for certain people, though.

Click here for an excellent website on calorie control.  Get educated, folks.  Throw out the excuses. 

 

Spicy Lentil Stew

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced onions, a clove of chopped garlic if desired
1 ½ pounds (4 cups) drained cooked lentils (reserve 2 cups cooking liquid)
2 cups drained canned tomatoes, chopped
1 cup tomato juice, or one can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder, or to taste
1 teaspoon salt (I don't add salt these days)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf

In 2-quart saucepan, heat margarine until bubbly and hot; add onions and saute, stirring occasionally, until tender.  Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine; bring mixture to boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and flavors blend, 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.  This makes four 1 1/2 cup very generous servings, 401 calories each (counting 1/2 cup rice). 

The worst thing about this recipe, which I found in a Weight Watchers cookbook, is that it requires you to cook the lentils first, then measure them.  Because a one-pound bag of lentils costs less than 90 cents, I just cook the whole bag and either toss what I don't need, or adjust the ingredients a little to make up for the one cup or so extra. 

You won't find a recipe much lower in fat than this one.  It's a sort of vegetarian chili that Cliff and I enjoy served over a half-cup of cooked rice.  It's what we're having for lunch today, along with a baked sweet potato.  It freezes well, I've found.  Of course I use salt-free tomatoes and sauce nowadays and add no salt, so I'd assume it's low in sodium.

Cliff needs a new belt!

Both granddaughters were very excited, seeing how loose Cliff's belt is. 

It's that much less weight to burden his heart!

Almond Strips

This is way too high in sodium, and it really requires more effort on my part than I like, early in the morning.  But I'll do it as an occasional treat for Cliff, who considers this recipe "sinfully good".  Eat while warm, because it's not good after it's been cooled and stored.

Almond Strips

This is a reduced-calorie versioin of an old favorite, the Danish Puff. 

4 graham cracker rectangles, 5x2-1/2 inches each
3 tablespoons reduced-calorie margarine
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 egg white
2 tablespoons chopped toasted almonds

Heat oven to 350.  Arrange graham crackers with long sides touching on ungreased cookie sheet.  Heat margarine and water to rolling boil in 2-quart saucepan; remove from heat.  Quickly stir in almond extract and flour.  Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute; remove from heat.  Add egg and egg white; beat until smooth and glossy.  Carefully spread over graham cracker rectangle, being certain topping comes to very edge of graham crackers.  Sprinkle with almonds.  Bake until topping is crisp and brown, about 30 minutes; cool.  (topping will shrink and fall, forming a custardy top.) 

Drizzle with Powdered Sugar Glaze:

1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 to 2 teaspoons warm water

Mix all ingredients until smooth and of desired consistency.

Divided into four servings:  230 calories   fat 8 g   protein 4 g    cholesterol 0 g    carbohydrate 32 g    sodium 250 mg

 

low-sodium breakfast

I've loved dry cereal since I was a child, and it seems to me to be the easiest way of controlling calories and fat at breakfast.  Since I've started watching sodium content, though, I found out most cereal is loaded.  A serving of Cheerios has more sodium than a serving of potato chips, for instance.  Dang it, I love Cheerios.

There are two breakfast cereals that are almost sodium-free:  Shredded wheat, and puffed wheat, either sugar-frosted and plain.  Cliff was never a big consumer of breakfast cereal, but he will eat spoon-sized shredded wheat.  However, I couldn't really picture him having it every single morning when we started this new way of eating.

Then I began keeping frozen fruit around.  Sam's Club has big bags of frozen strawberries, and also blueberries, for around $8.  Suddenly a plain old bowl of cereal is a gourmet treat!  I asked Cliff if he thought he'd tire of shredded-wheat-with-fruit for breakfast, and he said he couldn't imagine doing so.

So the only sodium in our breakfast comes from the skim milk...130 mg.

Hearty Rice Skillet

1 15-ounce can black or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups loose-pack frozen mixed vegetables
1 14 1/2 ounce can of stewed tomatoes, cut up
1 cup water
3/4 cup quick-cooking brown rice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed, or dried dillweed
several dashes hot pepper sauce, or a pinch of cayenne pepper to taste
1 can tomato soup
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or chedder cheese (2 ounces)

1.  In a large skillet stir together beans, vegetables, undrained tomatoes, water, uncooked rice, thyme, and, if desired, hot pepper sauce.  Bring to boiling.  Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 12 to 14 minutes or till rice is tender.  Stir in soup; heat through.  Before serving, stir in almonds and sprinkle with cheese.  Makes 4 servings.

329 calories, 9 grams total fat (2 grams saturated fat) 8 mg. chol., 1,206 mg sodium (way too much, but we'll keep sodium low the rest of the day) 53 g carbo., 7 g fiber, 18 g protein.

This recipe is from one of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbooks.

This is another one of Cliff's favorites; we're having it for lunch today.

To toast nuts, seeds, or coconut:  spread them in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes or till light golden brown, watching carefully and stirring once or twice so food doesn't burn.

BROWNIES

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 egg white

2/3 cup flour (I substitute whole-wheat flour for half the flour in all recipes)

1/3 cup cocoa

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

½ teaspoon baking powder

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray square 8X8 inch pan with Pam. Mix brown sugar, margarine, vanilla, egg and egg white. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread in pan.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool and cut into 2" squares. Makes 16 brownies.

Calories, 105 Fat, 5g carbohydrate 14 g cholesterol 15 mg

I make these often; one brownie with 1/4 cup of ice cream is heavenly, and one of Cliff’s favorite desserts.

Wednesday diet report

Cliff and I started on a healthier way of eating in mid-December, 2005.  When we started, I weighed 188 pounds, and Cliff was 277.

Three weeks ago, our weights were 160 and 237.  On that day, Cliff was in the hospital, preparing for totally unexpected coronary bypass surgery. 

Now we've cut salt out of our diets as much as is humanly possible and eating red meat no more than once a week.  We're limiting cheese, and have switched from 1% milk to skim.  I read labels until I'm sick of reading them, watching for trans-fatty acids, sodium, and cholesterol.  We're eating more fruits and vegetables that we've ever done in our lives.

Today I weigh 155 pounds, and Cliff weighs 227.  Wow, he's lost 50 pounds in five months!

My knees appreciate the break I'm giving them, and I'm sure my horse does, too.

Oh, for the statistics on the relationship between salt and blood pressure, click HERE.

Chicken Jambalaya

1/3 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green sweet pepper

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 14 ½ ounce can of chopped tomatoes

1 ½ cups chicken broth

2/3 cup long grain rice

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 to ½ bottled hot pepper sauce, or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

2 cups cubed, cooked chicken

1. In a large skillet cook celery, onion and sweet pepper in oil till vegetables are tender but not brown.

2. Stir in undrained tomatoes, chicken broth, uncooked rice, basil, garlic powder, pepper, hot pepper sauce, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or till rice is tender. Stir in chicken or turkey; heat through. Discard bay leaf. Makes 4 servings.

354 calories, 12 grams total fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 68 mg chol., 610 sodium, 32 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 27 grams protein. 15% vitamin A, 37% vitamin C, 22% iron.

The sodium is high in this, but I imagine they assume you are using salted canned tomatoes and salted chicken broth.

I often buy the 10-pound cryovac bags of chicken legs and thighs and divide it up for later use.

I boil some of the chicken, remove the skin, debone it, and freeze that in 2-cup amounts for this recipe and others. I also save the broth and freeze it in freezer bags, because it’s so much better than the canned stuff, and I know it isn’t salted.

This came from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, one of the last two revisions; they've added lots of low-fat recipes in recent years. We’ve eaten it fairly often whether we’re dieting or not, because it’s so good!

I’m sure a true Cajun would laugh at the recipe, but since I’ve never tasted real jambalaya, I don’t know the difference.