Best $90 I ever spent-my conversation with Emily

Skype.

It's an amazing thing.

From the middle of ranch country in Texas to Israel. A guide, a mentor.

Today I had a 1 on 1 video conversation with Emily, the blogger of triumphwellness.com. I admit I was nervous, thinking about how it might go-similar to meetings with doctors and nutritionists where I left feeling less-than. Bad. To blame. "you need to diet." "You need to excercise HARD" "you need to eat chicken until"..and so on, only this time I would feel extra inadequate not being a full vegan. As my fiance' said "you're not a vegan-you don't make me feel guilty for eating stuff.you lead by example and it helps me. :' )" sniff.

It wasn't like that.

Emily has a gift.

In 90 minutes, she was able to dig deeper than anyone I had seen for help before.

She was kind. And gentle. And nuturing. And she said "many of my clients think they have a metabolic problem but its usually an issue with pasta. I really believe your metabolism IS broken."

OMG.

She BELIEVED me. She listened. She probed.

Emily asked "and when you were at your ideal weight last, what is the first thing you remember?"

I had nowhere to hide. The raw emotions came flooding back. Divorce. A huge house that I could no longer afford. 2 dying dogs that I eventually had to put down. Hurricane Ike. Fear of looters. Fear of my ex coming to seek revenge. Fear of a new job. Fear of a new city. The incredible LONLINESS.

My throat caught.

I didn't feel SAFE then. No protection. I buried myself in weight lifting and work for protection. I listened to my music that gives me strength. Chevelle. MCR.

I know today that things have changed drastically. I'm happy at home and work. I have a wonderful man who I love more than life itself. A great, challenging job, family, friends, condo and great medical care.

I asked "Is it possible that my brain and body don't know this yet?".

"Possibly. Is there another area of your life that doesn't feel safe?"

Work. A good-ol-boy place that will eat you alive unless you are tough as nails.

I had struggled with bullying for years there. Now things are changing for the better and I still have fear. "What if I get promoted? (Stress on top of my health stuff)? "What if I don't? (Never rising above, paving the way for ladies in this tough business)? Conflict. The weight of the world.

The weight.

Its haunted me most of my life. Chubby kid. Anorexic teen. Sibling comparison pressures and on and on.

All this written on the front and back of an envelope on things to try, what to do.

Solutions:

*Crocs for my feet to wear at my work gym
*workout just 20 min/day every day-dont have to get gross and sweaty.
*try chickpea omelette for breakfast
*try dandelion tea @ work instead of coffee
*try EFT-a kind of accupressure tapping technique
*I may always have to track my food but I am grateful for the tools available to me.
*create a mantra for myself and write it to have by my bedside

"My inner core is a thin rod of steel. It's now safe to let the scale go down to expose the steel core that will always protect me. I am loved. I am safe."

*check back in in 2 weeks.

Thank you, God, for Emily today.

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Sensa v. Tortilla Girl...

Arturos in Old Town Spring, TX. A favortite haunt from the days when I lived here.

The breakfasts are to die for. Slow-cooked pork, chorizos, amazing flavors.

I decided to play it safe and order what I was familiar with pointwise. 2 eggs, bacon and flour TORTILLAS!! 4 + 2 + 11=17 (brunch here people..)

You know what I mean-those soft, delicious pancakey-tasting discs from heaven (and Mexico).
Confronted with a "warmer" of those I will "just have 1 more" and "just 1 more" if they're in front of me. At 4 points for a 6" small one, I just can't afford that.

I went to church this morning, so, upon seeing the "warmer" I prayed...

And sprinkled Sensa.

It lended a weird texture but kept me to 2.8 small ones. Notice just the little bit left. Also, the fattening refried beans and potatoes stayed put.

I think I'll order Sensa Month 2 and see what happens. It seems to work on fattening foods. Within a minute or so of remembering to put it on, I wasn't ravenous.
And that's a big deal for Tortilla Girl...

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Sensa vs. Fuego

There's this amazing restaurant in TX called "Fuego". It is my kryptonite.

I usually inhale the shrimp taco and wonder who took my food after ("blast them!").

Tonight I tried salty Sensa on my taco. Lo and behold, while I ate most of it, I DID slow down and leave a bit behind.

I would say that for me, it stops the inhaling of certain foods.

I will use it when I am powerless against the fuego...


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Year end cyber bully

As 2012 comes to a close, I've learned a few things:
1. That this food challenge is hard and sad
2. That I'm really hard on myself and a bit of a cyber bully to myself
3. That WW really worked for the first 11-14 lbs
4. That French and Asian foods agree with me
5. That I now hate chicken
6. That low-fat made me fatter
6. That my fiancé' loves me no matter what .
And that doing my blog via iPad is a challenge
And that 7 comes after 6.....
So, I won't make any resolutions here that are tough and Marine-like. I won't go to any more nutritionists because my body is truly not of this planet.

What will I do?
Continue to do WW online via the iPhone I will be getting soon.
Continue to increase my exercise by doing a variety of things.
Eat food that is Parisien or Asian and tasty
Drink red wine
Drink light beer
Invent
Dream
Taste

Love

"Veggie Burger" Epic McFail...

Veggie burger. What do you imagine?

Boca burger or bean patty of some kind, yes? It IS, after all, nearly 2013 and these things exist in regular grocery stores...

But no.

This is a veggie burger Mc edition:
Soggy
Lettuce-special request
Tomato-special request
2 pickles-special request. They are yellow btw

Helllooo?...

It was inedible.

Sonic came to the rescue with a decent Jr. Deluxe.

Epic McFail!


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Sensa and Sensibility

Another product I saw on Dr. Oz.

Sensa sprinkle powder for weight loss. 1 side is salty, the other, sweet.

Although it may have some allergens, anytime I get the chance to experiment, I'm intrigued and find it my scientific duty to investigate and report back.

I've heard that it works on some people and not others. Skeptical, I sprinkled it on something salty and fatty.

In about 30 seconds, I didn't feel differently but I THOUGHT differently. "Hmm, I've had enough of that food".

I tried it again on Holiday luncheon food: trout with crab, mashed potatoes, veggies. It seemed to work on the potatoes-normally I inhale them. I ate them slowly and was satisfied with half. That's the first time it has ever happened between me and mashed potatoes...

Now to the coup d'etat: cheesecake.

I sprinkled the sweet side on it and voila. 3 tiny bites felt like I had eaten 3 big pieces.

Yesterday, I thought I would give Sensa a real challenge: Sonic Jr. Burger and fries. I was hoping after 3 bites I would have had enough. I felt satisfied @ 2/3 into the burger. Most of the fries. Normally I inhale both and want more and more and feel deprived until my stomach catches up.

20 min later I ate the rest of the burger and fries. But I DID NOT try to scam any of my bf's fries, so that's a big improvement.

So, so far, I think it could be useful:

Helps me not absolutley INHALE food and wonder who took it. I feel satisfied after eating a few bites instead of ravenous and wanting more or deprived.

Next I will try it on chocolate brownies, pizza and Nit Noi "Hurry Curry".

*Definitely worth a try!


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Wholly Shirataki, Batman! Noodles!!

I love noodles.

Always have.

Made me a chubby kid.

And now, I have found possible noodle nirvana:

Shiritaki noodles, also known as Konjac root yam noodles.

Entire bag has 10 calories. 10. Omg.

Noodle Heaven:
1 bag "yam" noodles (made from Konjac root yam), drained.
+
1 tsp chili oil

Heat noodles. Add oil and salt to taste.

:p

Be careful when choosing the chili oil if you have soybean or peanut allergy. I had to choose the peanut one.


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