The Diet Plan: Based Off of GAME ON

This diet is based off of the diet GAME ON!  I found it to be a very effective program.  I own the book so if any of you here local want to read it, I will share.  I just have to dig it out of storage.  
Ultimately you can chose whatever diet and exercise program that you want.  However, I will still post updates on eating, and exercise ideas as I find them... ones that work.  So you can do the program that I am doing, or you can opt out and do another!

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Diet
5 small meals each day
No refined sugar
No soda/coffee/alcoholic beverages
No white bread
No white flour pasta
More homemade=less pre-prepared foods
More veggies
One small treat a day
3 Liters or more each day

Meal Directions:  Meals have to be eaten every 2-4 hours apart (no more, no less).  Soda and alcoholic beverages are very high in calories, that makes them a no no for losing weight.  Coffee is okay if you have it plain black with no sweeteners or sugar.  However, that caffeine will dehydrate you anyway.  Every meal needs to include 1 lean protein (size of palm), 1 healthy carb (serving size), and 1 healthy fat.  At least two meals each day need to include about two handfuls of vegetables.  No snacking between meals, unless it is a green vegetable (ie cucumbers, celery).

For meal ideas, click here.

One day a week, you may take a day off from the diet.  You can eat whatever you want, but remember that what you eat will affect your weigh ins.  I promise you that once you get into week 2, you won't want to eat the junk food as much, and by week 3, those unhealthy items might start to even look unappealing!

You may have one small treat each day, not exceeding 100 calories.  This can be used as condiments, or extras.  In the past, I have been detoxing from sugar, so the 100 calories was nice to use on a cookie or a chocolate.

Eating five small meals a day is very effective to ensuring that you are full at the end of the day.  It keeps your metabolism going at an appropriate rate to burn calories.  The first few days take some getting used to, because your body will crave the unhealthy things that you have been consuming.

Choose a day to way in each week.  I am choosing Monday, since that is the day I am starting.  Always weigh yourself when you start a diet.  Also measure your neck, upper arms bust, waist, hips (for women), and thighs.  This a great way to detect progress when you don't seem to be losing much.

Keep a journal of your weight-loss.  This is what I am doing this time around.  I have never written down how I feel about the struggles and the progress.  I think it could be a way to help find binge triggers.  My journal will be on this blog.  If you ever would like to share something with everyone else, please feel free to email me, and I will post it, giving you the credit.

I have followed this diet in the past, and I lost 15 lbs in 4 weeks!  It is a great and healthy way to eat!

If you have any questions, please post a comment or email me!

Happy Losing!

Evelyn Campbell Curtis

Meal Ideas!

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So many of you might be wondering what falls in each category of lean protein, healthy carb, and healthy fat.  Well, I'll tell you.  I don't know everything that there is to know on the subject, but I do know a few.

Lean Proteins
-Fish
-Chicken
-Turkey
-Lean Beef-meaning if there is grissel/fat, trim it up
-Beans
-Protein Powder
Remember healthy meat portions are about the size of your palm.

Healthy Carbohydrates
-Fresh Fruit - no bigger than your fist
-Wheat Bread (Oroweat is one of my favorites) (1 slice of thick bread is enough)
-Wheat Tortillas - 1 tortilla
-Corn Tortillas - 2 tortillas (I added this, because it is good as long as it is not saturated in grease)
-Wheat Pasta - You will have to be careful to not have too much. Most sauces are loaded with carbs                             as  well.
-Potato - dry with salt and pepper is great, or you can use your 100 calories for butter/sour cream
-Honey - 1 TBS = one full healthy carb, so don't over use
-Milk - 8 oz
-Cheese - 2 slices/ 1/4 cuppish
-Cottage Cheese -1/2 cuppish. have it with fruit or tomatoes for a full meal
-Brown Rice - is best, but I have a hard time letting go of white. maybe 1 cup or so for serving size.
-Tomatoes -same amount as fruit serving.
-Yogurt (Low fat or Greek Yogurt)
Anything processed is not going to be a healthy carb.
 You are able to mix and match carbs.  But be mindful that when you have having a sandwich, not to have too many tomato slices etc. 

Healthy Fats
-Olive Oil (1 TBS)
-Avocado (Size of thumb)
-Cheese
-Almonds (5-6)
-Peanut Butter (1 TBS)
-Many other nuts
-Yogurt (I love Chobani Greek Yogurt--it is very filling)
-Cream Cheese
-Cottage Cheese
The cheeses can be healthy fats and healthy carbs, but you have to just be careful with portions.  If you have a sandwich, maybe 1 slice of cheese is a portion.
 I have recipes for a bunch of these ingredients.  So stay tuned for that!

Vegetables

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-Carrots
-Cucumbers - all you can eat. These you can snack on if need be in between meals.
-Celery - all you can eat. These you can snack on if need be in between meals.
-Bell Peppers
-Onions
-Lettuce
-Spinach
-Peas
-Green Beans
-Basically any veggies
I personally like my veggies raw.  I wash them and dice them up and put them into a gallon sized baggie for ease of use.  With at least two meals, you need to have 2 handful size servings of vegetables.

These are definitely not the only options.  These are just my favorites.

Essentially, you can combine these in any way you would like!  You can make up recipes tailored to the available food.  These are definitely all of the choices.  They are many of the foods that I stick with.

It is wise to cut out butter and sour cream consumption.  Unless you use them as your 100 calories.  When I eat a baked potato, I have actually become accustomed to eating it dry with salt and pepper.  It takes some getting used to, but with plenty of water to drink with it, it is delicious.... you can actually taste the potato, and as an Idaho girl, that is important to me.

If you have any questions or if I left anything off, just email or comment!

Happy Losing!

Evelyn Campbell Curtis

Coming Soon!

Grand opening of You Are What You Say You Are will be:
Monday, October 3, 2011!!

You Are What You Say You Are is for me to have someone to be accountable to about my own weight loss, and maybe even to let you become accountable to someone too.

This is an interactive blog.  I do not know everything about losing weight, but I am willing to try any healthy, natural ways of losing weight.

Who's with me?  Do you know someone who might like to read along?  Pass this along!

All are welcome to read, comment, and give tips!

Happy losing!

Evelyn Campbell Curtis

Pray. Read. Pray. Repeat: Daily for best results

Raising kids, what a job.  I have wondered how do I make sure that they know... anything?  How do I get through to them, in a way that the lesson I am trying to teach actually sinks in?  These are the concerns that I have been contemplating more recently.  I would imagine that every parent has this or similar questions at some point in their process.  Unfortunately, it seems to be a trial and error kind of experience.  Big T and Little H have always been so different... even Baby K is going to be different than both of his sisters, meaning that I have to find different ways to deal with behaviors and issues that come up along the way.

I guess it would be very boring if there was a 'one size fits all' handbook for raising children.

...Well, I'm going to retract that last statement, because as soon as I typed it, I knew better.  In a way, there is a 'one size fits all' manual.  But it comes with a formula.  Here is the formula:

   Praying

   Reading the scriptures

+ Praying

------------------------------

   Answers

The scriptures are our handbook to raising children.

This topic brings to mind a talk that Hoss had me watch with him a few weeks ago.  It was given during the LDS April 2011 General Conference by Lynn G. Robins of the Seventy.  His talk is titled,
What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?  He posed the classical question of thought, "To be or not to be [...]" his response, "is actually a very good question."  Robins stated:

Many of us create to do lists to remind us of things we want to accomplish. But people rarely have to be lists. Why? To do’s are activities or events that can be checked off the list when done. To be, however, is never done. You can’t earn checkmarks with to be’s. I can take my wife out for a lovely evening this Friday, which is a to do. But being a good husband is not an event; it needs to be part of my nature—my character, or who I am.

Or as a parent, when can I check a child off my list as done? We are never done being good parents. And to be good parents, one of the most important things we can teach our children is how to be more like the Savior.

So, how do I be a good mother?  How do I teach my child what he or she needs to know?  How do I disipline my child in a way that he or she will correct the behavior, and know that I love him or her?  What do I do, when my child seems so out of control that I do not know how to fix it?

I need to be a good parent.  A good parent is a good leader.  Maybe that is a good starting place.

I found this little bookmark that I made for the 16-18 year old young women when I taught them a lesson at church, on being a righteous leader.  It really seemed to be conveniently placed where I would see it today.

1. Be Faithful: Joshua 1:5  How can I improve my faith?  Pray and study.
2. Be Diligent: Joshua 1:7  Never give up on what you are seeking.
3. Meditate Daily: Joshua 1:8 Pray daily, read scriptures daily, take the time to listen for promptings.
4. Be Obedient: Joshua 1:16  You will receive an answer to your prayers, but you have to act.

Notice how 3 out of 4 of these things on this list are 'to be' guidelines.  Like Elder Robbins said, the 'to bes' are never checked off your to do list.  There is always more faith to be gained, more diligence to acheive, and more obedience to be acted upon.  We are taught by Isaiah, "precept upon precept; line upon line" [...], here a little, and there a little (Isaiah 28:10)."  We can never give up on these 3 very important principles, and add to them as we go.

An experience:

I recently had an experience with my Little H.  She is a very determined little girl, and our confrontation was in discussion of a choice that she had made that was not okay.  Her rebutle was that she did not like it when I disciplined her, or yelled at her.  It makes her feel bad.  She continued to talk and even yell at me.  I knew that I could not respond in the same manner, because it would hurt her further.  I didn't know how to respond.  So I just sat there, said a little prayer in my heart for guidance.  As soon as I had finished the prayer, I knew that I needed to hug her.  She didn't hug me back, but I just held on to her tight.

I continued to be guided by the Holy Ghost, and I apologized for yelling at her.  I continued to tell her that when she makes a wrong choice, I need to make sure she knows that.  I then told her that when we make wrong choices, there are consequences to those actions.  That is why you get disciplined, to show you the consequence.  I hugged her some more and asked her if we could say a prayer.  She didn't want to.  So I had the thought to say, "Well, how about I say a prayer..."  then further inspiration, "Then you can say a prayer."  She agreed.

We both took our turn and prayed, I hugged her once more, gave her a giant kiss on the cheek and sent her happily on her way.  She changed her tone and attitude from that point on.

There are so many instances where I wish that I had responded to her this same way.  I have a lot to learn about being a good mother, But I do know that if I'm not applying that first formula, then I am going to have a much more difficult time with it.

I have wonderful children, and they deserve the best... since I fall short of the best, I need to be working extra hard toward achieving the honor of being their mother.

And that is what I have learned in the last few months.