My Relationship with Food

For as long as I can remember I had a love/hate relationship with food. I have been dieting since I was a teenager. As I mentioned in a previous post I have tried almost every diet in some way or another. The outcome...usually some weight loss followed by a binge event and lots of weight gain and then a struggle to lose it again. Sound familiar? I have a feeling I am not alone.

Starving and deprived is usually how I feel
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Last Saturday was my birthday, I am now 32 years old. At 32 I still struggle with my weight and food relationship like I did at 13. When I had that realization I came to the conclusion it is time to fix my relationship with food. No more diets. No more beating myself up. Time to grow up and learn.

Time to find a better relationship..
the one where I am in tune and honest with myself

My first step was to think back about all my past successes and failures. I found a common denominator. I told myself over and over again "you can't have that". Sometimes it was about steak, cereal, chips, sweet potatoes, low carb, low fat, high fat, you name it. At one point or another a certain food group was kicked out of my life. Until, I had enough and would binge completely out on that food or just any food from restricting intake too much. It was like I was teaching myself a lesson, you can't tell me I can't have something, ha and wow I am so starving!

Usually I eat the salad...
and then wake up in the middle of the night and eat the cakehttps://slimdownwithsandee.wordpress.com/

Well no more, this is me making peace with food. Food is what fuels my body. I am not saying I plan on eating cake and cookies all the time...yuck, or even that I plan on living on steak. I want to find a happy middle group. I want to not feel starved half the time. I want to finally show myself that at 32 I have found peace and balance in myself. I will probably always watch my sugar intake and eat lower than most carbs, but that's is because I know my body can't handle too much. However, I will have a sweet potato when I feel like it, maybe half not whole. I will have an apple, if I get the urge. I will eat my burgers, off the bun, because to me the bun is a waste not because of some diet I am following. I will teach myself portion control so that I can enjoy food without listing them as off-limits. I will not be afraid to go out with friends and eat at restaurants. I will allow myself to taste a cupcake if I want to, taste...not devour!

I love steak, but there is just so much you can eat
before craving other foods

I know I sound like this is easy, but I know it's not. It's been a battle for so long, I know it will take time, patience, and self-love to conquer this. I want this for myself, my future, my health, my peace of mind.

I will keep everyone updated and hope you support my ups and downs of food choices. I won't hide anything or pretend that I didn't eat cheerios a few moments ago (they tasted absolutely amazing). This is me being real with you and myself!!!

DELICIOUS!!
(Mom if you are reading this, stop shaking your head and I love you)

Support from all Over the Globe

Life is crazy, complicated, wonderful, full of joy and lots of surprises, and so many ups and downs. Every day is a new adventure (thank you Debbie for that line). What matters most is how you get through those times, the good and the bad. Some days I wake up and feel like I can conquer the world, other days not so much. But I have the most amazing support team and a lot of them I have never met before...Confused? Let me explain...

Thank you Jack Sparrow for your words of wisdom!

When I first started trying to lose weight my mom told me about this app called Myfitnesspal. It is a free site that lets me track my weight, exercise, calories and other nutritional information that I choose. It even let me customize my goals since I follow more of a low carb diet. I can use it on my computer or on my phone so no matter where I am I can keep track of my daily intake and goals. I was really enjoying the site, and then I discovered the chat boards. People write questions and talk about their experiences, many sounded similar to my feelings. I started becoming "friends" with more and more people. It was neat keeping up with their success and them with mine. 

This app is more than just counting calories
It's a community to help you succeed with your weight loss
and get healthy dreams

Not too long ago one of those not so easy days happened and I was completely frustrated, my usual support team of people I turn to were busy and I didn't even want to bother them with my frustration, so I turned to the site and posted my thoughts and struggle. I didn't expect any replies or answers, but it felt good to vent my frustrations. So imagine my surprise when within minutes I had comments from all over the globe, people who had never met me before or even talk to me on the phone sending me support and encouragement, reminding me why I started my journey for better health and not to give up. It really helped! I was able to take a step back and work through my thoughts and realized I didn't really want the chocolate bar. That was just one time, other times I have asked for suggestions on a fitness tracker, food ideas, and even workout plans. I get just as excited for their success stories and try hard to support and encourage them when they have down days too. It is this really supportive group of people, who come together and have one goal in mind...success! My kind of people! 

Nothing better than going through the
good and the bad with people who believe and never give up!

If you are looking for a good (did I mention free) app/website to track your information I recommend myfitnesspal and I highly recommend you take advantage of the community boards and make friends. These people have nothing to gain by helping you, they just really want to, and you never know who you may help with your story and experiences. 

Thank you to all my friends on myfitnesspal!

TV/Movie Gathering Healthy Style

I thought with the weekend coming up this would be a fun post to share. I love to have friends over to just hang out around the coffee table relaxing and catching up. I also love when we sit around watching tv or a good movie. Usually these fun events are accompanied by some not so healthy food choices including pizza, chips, dips, fries, and of course brownies and cookies for dessert oh and usually some wine. Fun times, but after all that I usually regretted it the next morning.

In the past if your friends couldn't decide on dessert....you get all three!
Bring on the sugar hangover

Last week I made plans with a friend of mine to come over and watch the NBS show "Chicago Fire". The new season is going to start up soon and we wanted to be caught up with all the story lines. My first thought, awesome TV party time! My next thought...I don't want to eat bad food, but I want it to be a fun time and be a good tv party hostess. What to do...text mom. She came up with some great ideas, off to Shoprite I went.

Chicago Fire on NBC
New season starts September 23, whose watching?

The creative food ideas were flowing...I picked up cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrots, tomatoes and some ranch dip. Healthy, but I needed more flavors and some protein. I added to my cart cheddar and colby cheese cubes, pepperoni slices, and I stopped by the olive bar for kalamata olives and garlic and blue cheese stuffed green olives. I figured to be a fair hostess I would include chocolate chip cookies and Fritos just in case my friend wasn't looking to stay totally healthy that night.

Healthy and nutritious snack choices
Now to make it look nice and get everything ready to be served

It was the perfect spread. We nibbled on everything while watching, a little of this and that. I was able to eat within my calorie goal for the day and stay low carb! My friend mixed it up and did enjoy the fritos and cookies as well.

A little of this and a little of that but most of all lots of  fun for your guests
The majority are healthy snacks that everyone will enjoy, even those not watching their weight.
I also love that I was able to keep it low carb
ENJOY!

So the next time you are planning a get-together remember to find the balance of fun, healthy, and tasty snacks everyone will enjoy!! You will be able to enjoy and still have the button on your pants thank you the next day.

Here's to many fun tv parties!

Easy Cheesy Burger Pie

There are some foods that get you right down to your soul. You eat them and they make you happy and warm inside. My mom would make this dish for us growing up that she called meatloaf. It wasn't until years later when I tried someone else's meatloaf that I realized my mom's dish was not meatloaf, but a million times better. My sister renamed the dish cheesy burger pie, after you read the rest of this post you will understand why.

When I started playing around in the kitchen I wanted to get a few dishes under my belt that I knew I could make, and make well, before really trying out different recipes. I turned to my mom who taught me how to make her delicious, low carb, mouth watering, cheesy burger pie. I could not believe how easy it was to make.

Very few ingredients, BIG time taste!

Ingredients:
3-4 lbs ground beef
** I prefer to use 80% lean ground beef (I like a little fat) **

3 eggs
Shredded mozzarella cheese
** You can use your favorite cheese if you don't like mozzarella **

Salt and pepper to taste

Yup that's all it takes. I know it doesn't sound like much and if you are someone who needs a lot of spices and kick to your meals I am sure you can adjust it to taste the way you love. Me I love the cheese and meat combination flavors and I don't need much else.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a  9 x 13 baking dish with Pam or something so the meat doesn't stick to it.  I also like to put that on top of an aluminum foiled baking sheet just in case it splatters at all the baking dish will catch it and not my oven.

Crack 3 eggs into mixing bowl.
I do this first just in case any shells get away from me

Add mozzarella cheese
When it comes to the cheese, I don't have an exact measurement.
I put in as much I want. So I will leave that to your preference. 

Time to add the meat
Mix everything together.
I use my (clean) hands to get everything good and mixed

Get ready for a delicious low carb and tasty meal

Transfer the meat mixture to the baking dish and flatten out as best you can. Put additional cheese on top of the meat and stick in the oven for about 60 minutes.

Flatten meat mixture in a 9 x 13 baking dish

Add extra yummy cheese on top

About halfway through cooking, check it and see if the cheese on top is starting to get crispy. You don't want it to burn too much, a way to avoid this is to put tinfoil over the top for the remainder of cooking.

Let the drooling begin!
One taste of my cheesy burger pie and your taste buds and heart will be hooked

I love to let it cool off a little and then dig in! You will be hooked. Good thing it is so easy to make, because I make it often.

I hope you and everyone you share this with enjoys my favorite cheesy burger pie.

mmm beef, cheese, side salad and  lot of delicious flavor!