Diet and Like It!

Reverse Anorexia

I was having lunch with a friend when she told me that she has Reverse Anorexia.  I had never heard of that ailment.  “What exactly is Reverse Anorexia?”  I asked her.

“Reverse Anorexia is when you look in the mirror and know you look great.  Then, you see a photo of yourself in that same outfit and you look really fat!”

We all think we look better in the mirror than we look in photos.  And a fat photo lives on forever.  It can be so depressing.  But, my daughter Jodi has taught me some photo tricks.  Don’t laugh. These really work!  

• It’s better to be looking up at the lens, than to be looking down. 

• Stick your head out like a turtle.  It might look funny when you do it, but will photograph great. Or, you can pose with your hand under your chin, to hide a double chin.

• Most importantly, never, ever, get caught in the forefront of the photo.  Always jockey to be in the back, or behind whoever is in the photo with you.  If there is a group, make sure you are at the end of the line from the camera’s perspective.

Many diets in my personal history have been jump started by a “fat” picture.  But there’s always a silver lining.  In this instance, some of those fat photos gave me the inspiration for Zilch Sugar Free Margaritas!  Life is good, even if all of our photos aren’t.

To Weigh or Not to Weigh

When I told my sister that for years I have been writing my weight in a journal every morning, she almost choked.  “Who’s going to destroy the evidence when you die?” she gasped.

“You are, of course.”  I answered.  I gave her explicit instructions on where the data was hidden, just in case.

There is such controversy on whether to weigh once a day, once a week, or not at all.  I’m pretty sure Oprah says not to weigh every day, but some weight gurus insist on it.  It has been my experience that weighing every morning does play a part in keeping me on track.  And, if I think I am doing really well, I find myself jumping on the scale several times a day.  I have to drag myself to the scale if I had Mexican food the night before.  That’s one reason I invented Zilch Sugar Free Margaritas—so I wouldn’t be throwing sugar on top of the chips and salsa on Mexican food nights.

Flipping back through the weight data pages can be very enlightening, because I make little notes as I go along.  “Countdown to Cruise”; “3-Day Diet”; “Atkins Diet” are all found more than once among the pages.  I can go back each year and see what I weighed before and after each of those diets.  I like to see how long I was able to maintain a loss after each diet venture.  One thing for sure, this weight loss game is for a lifetime—so when you diet, try to like it.

Lose While you Cruise

The most exercise I get on a cruise is walking back and forth between the casino and the buffet. You might find me walking and shopping on shore; but, you will never find me at the onboard gym.  In spite of my lack of aerobics at sea, I always manage to lose when I cruise.    

If you have ever been on a cruise, you know that the moment the ship pulls away from the harbor, the sugary drinks are being hawked by the ship’s crew. Those drinks with their tiny umbrellas are poisonous to my health.  Two of those drinks and I am over my calorie count for the entire day!

On a cruise, there is also an over-abundance of bountiful buffets and five course dinners. I love food too much to use all my calories on a silly umbrella drink. I always pack lots of Zilch Sugar Free Margarita packets in my suitcase.  They’re not only carb and calorie free; they are a lot less expensive than those Bahama Mamas—and just as delicious.

I recently read that in the weight loss game, 85% is how much you consume, and 15% how much you exert. Not to say that exercise isn’t important for long term health; but to lose weight, you have to cut back on empty calories.  Here’s to you health.

For the Lasagna Lover in You

The good news for pasta lovers is that whole wheat pastas don’t taste like cardboard anymore. If you haven’t tried them lately, you are missing out.  When I was a little girl, I always requested Spaghetti and Meatballs for my birthday dinner. So, for me, there is no better comfort food than pasta. I love my mother’s recipe more than anything, but now I serve it up with whole wheat spaghetti.

When I was a young mother, if I wanted to make Lasagna, I had to pull out my biggest pot and spend time boiling up the lasagna noodles and heating up the kitchen before I even began the rest of the recipe. But, I am always looking for shortcuts, and this is a great one for lasagna. I think you will love this heart healthy version of a great family recipe. And, your family will never suspect it is good for them. Enjoy!

1 lb ground turkey 4 cups of your favorite marinara sauce 1 ½ cups water 2 cups Fat Free Ricotta

4 cups Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese ¾ cup Parmesan Cheese 2 eggs, whisked 9 pieces uncooked whole wheat lasagna

Sautee turkey and add sauce and water. Simmer a few minutes while combining eggs and cheeses in a mixing bowl. Pour ½ cup of meat sauce on bottom 13 x 9 pan. Layer 3 pieces of uncooked lasagna over sauce; cover with 1 1/2 cups sauce. Spread 1/2 of cheese mixture over sauce. Repeat layers of 3 pieces lasagna, 1 ½ cups sauce, and remainder of cheeses. Top with layer of 3 pieces of lasagna and remaining sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Remove foil; bake five minutes longer. Careful, last time I did this I burned my knuckles removing the foil! But it was worth it. This stuff is great.

Mother of Invention

Old sayings get to be old sayings because there is a profound truth at the bottom of them.  I am the poster child for “Necessity is the mother of invention”. I think Plato was the originator of that thought, but when I found out that Margaritas have 550 calories of almost pure sugar, I had to put my creative side to work immediately.

I’m a Texan, so I LOVE Margaritas with Mexican Food.  Actually, I love Margaritas even without food, and especially by the pool or at the beach in the summertime.

When I reached my 50’s, for Pete’s Sakes, I knew it was time to find healthier options. People in their fifties get Diabetes, and if they don’t become Diabetic, they can have other health problems from sugar. At the time, I was on the Atkins’ diet. I knew that to stick to this diet, or any diet for that matter, I would have to come up with an alternative to the sugar laden Margaritas that I loved. This was before David Zinczenko of Men’s Health wrote “Eat This, Not That”; but I had the same principal in mind—Drink This, Not That.

I’ve always been creative in the kitchen, so I went to my cupboard, like “Old Mother Hubbard”, and went straight to work with my goal firmly implanted in my brain.  I had to come up with a great alternative. AND I DID!! It was not until years later that my son encouraged me to market my home recipe.  He kept insisting his mother was an inventor.  And, so Zilch Sugar Free Margaritas were born.  To me, it was just a quest for a necessity.