The Diet Destiny Decision(s)

Each time you look in the mirror, see your body as your temple. That truth—refreshed gratefully each day—can positively influence your decisions about how you will care for your body and how you will use it. And those decisions will determine your destiny.

A pivotal spiritual attribute is that of self-mastery—the strength to place reason over appetite. Self-mastery builds a strong conscience.

When we master our appetites within the bounds of God’s laws, we can enjoy longer life, greater love, and consummate joy.

Each day is a day of decision, and our decisions determine our destiny. Choose wisely each day’s decisions for eternity.

Russel M. Nelson

Decisions for Eternity http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/decisions-for-eternity?lang=eng

Typically, I don’t see my diet decisions as symbolic of my spiritual/physical strength. Usually, I’m not considering the eternal implications when I make the decision to eat of forego the cookie. Almost always, the decision is about this cookie at this moment. I’m not thinking about the next time I step on the scale, let alone eternity. I’m just thinking that I want a cookie. I’m sure if I looked at each cookie decision as a representation of my strength or weakness I would eat less cookies.

Addictions rob our freedom. Everyone knows that. But so do restrictive diets. Then again, the diets are actually easier. By turning over the reins of our diet to someone else, we give away our decisions. We don’t have to make decisions. Someone else, some diet program, has already decided for us. And it’s great. And it’s easy.

Until it’s not.

Very few of us can afford to stay “on program” for a lifetime…and eating is a lifetime activity. Every day we are all faced with the decisions of what and when to eat. Dieting/living isn’t about a program or a plan—it’s about daily, small decisions. When we give away those decisions to a counselor, coach, or personal trainer , are we really saying I’m too weak and incapable of making these decisions for myself? What does this do to our own sense of strength?

Maybe by looking at each decision as a way to not only feed our bodies, but also as a way to feed our strength (as opposed to feeding our weakness) we can reach not only optimal physical health, but also optimal emotional health and confidence in our ability to decide.

The Anti-Spread Spread Sheet

Date	Eat Breakfast	No Soda	3 cups of vegetables	1 Treat (or less)	1 slice of pizza (or less)	Drink 70 of water	30 min. exercise	100 push-ups	100 ab workout

This diet plan was designed by son, who is as handsome and as sleek as a rock star. Always health conscious, he wants to rocket his body to some new runners' high. I tweaked his plan just slightly. I replaced his no burgers rule with 3 cups of vegetables, because I eat burgers about once a month...if that. If you want to modify something, do so. For example, no sodas is easy for me since carbination makes me sick. I should change that to something more challenging, but since I'm sort of weanie, I'm letting it stay. We're very loosy goosey so feel free to join our challenge on your own, or if you'd like to participate with our group, e-mail me at kristyswords@yahoo.com

A Taste of Summer

I was introduced to the protein, carb and fat rule. I like how it’s working so far. The goal is to eat every three hours, keeping hunger at bay by following this simple rule. At every mini-meal eat:

A carb the size of your fist

A protein the size of your palm

A fat the size of your thumb

It’s just that simple and yet not. Technically, a vegetable is a carb, but not all carb-vegetables are created equal. Be wise.

This rule translates really well into most of my favorite meals.

 A sandwich

Bread= carb

Chicken breast= protein

Mayo or avocado= fat

Yogurt parfait

Yogurt=protein and fat

Granola=carb

Chili

Beans and tomatoes=carb

Ground turkey=protein

Dollop of sour cream= fat

Breakfast Burrito

Eggs= protein

Tortilla and salsa= carb

Cheese= fat

I’m very excited about how easily that simple formula can be applied to everyday meal choices. Except for brownies. It doesn’t work for brownies…or pies. But that’s okay. I have a weekly two dessert allotment. Because brownies can’t be ignored.

For more helpful and healthly tips, be sure and check out my book romantic suspense novel, Losing Penny, featuring Penny Lee a cooking show diva who loses 50 pounds and gains a stalker. A delicious novel with all the right spices! http://www.amazon.com/Losing-Penny-Rose-Arbor-ebook/dp/B00B8BRPFI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371329879&sr=8-1&keywords=losing+penny

Here’s my new favorite food, stuffed peppers.

Peppers cut in half

Half a pound of ground beef, browned, rinsed and drained (rinse to wash away fat)

Add to meat:

1 can of corn

1 can of black beans

Half cup of cooked brown rice

1 can of stewed tomatoes

Half cup of medium salsa

Simmer meat mixture for about 20 minutes

Fill peppers and top with:

Sprinkled parmesan and cheddar cheese

Bake until the cheese is golden.

Serve with avocado and sour cream.

The Wedding Cake and the Visitor

The Wedding Cake and the Visitor

I belong to a group blog—thirteen amazing romance writers sharing their stuff three times a week. For the month of June, we’re all sending a few of our favorite characters to a wedding. (Meaning we each write a story snippet involving a character or two from one of our books and send them to a wedding on Main Street.) I decided to ask Penny, from my novel Losing Penny, to bake the cake. To read my blogger friends’ posts click here http://authorsofmainstreet.wordpress.com/. To read my post, which will go live tomorrow on the same site, just read on.

The Wedding Cake and the Visitor

Temptation lurks around every corner and sometimes attacks in your very own kitchen—Penny knew this, had written it as gospel in her heart, but even after months of relentless calorie counting and hundreds of hours logged on the elliptical, one little whiff sugary goodness could turn her knees to butter.

Tess, who pretended to be her friend but kept company with the enemy, held out a spoon weighted down with frosting.  “You have to taste this.”

 Penny gripped her spatula and her willpower. “Just a spoonful of sugar makes the boobies hang down.”

“Boobies will hang anyway. It’s what they do.” Tess laughed and wiggled the frosting under Penny’s nose. “You’ve already lost so much weight, how much damage can a smidge do?”

Penny sniffed at the offending spoon and returned to creating spun sugar roses. “That smidge is a whopping 150 calories.”

“How can you decorate an entire wedding cake without even taking a lick?” Tess asked.

“How can you profess to love me and still tempt me?”

“How can you be such an amazing cook and stay so thin?”

Penny sighed and put down her spatula. “All I have to do is close my eyes and picture myself at my brother’s wedding, wearing the beige dress that makes me look like a giant pralines and cream ice cone.”

“Ah, the dress from hell—or Dairy Queen.”

“Same thing,” Penny muttered.

“It can’t be that bad,” Tess said. “Rosalynn loves you, right?”

“I thought she did until I saw the dress.”

Tess licked her spoon and settled down on a stool in front of the three foot high, nearly completed wedding cake. “I’m glad my brother isn’t getting married. This wedding is enough stress. Thanks again for helping out.”

Penny smiled at her creation. If she couldn’t eat, she could do the next best thing—bake.  “Anything for Samantha and Greg.”

“Unless calories are involved.” Tess popped another spoonful in her mouth. She licked her lips, closed her eyes and murmured, “Yum.”

“Yum is right.” Penny bumped her hip against Tess and pointed her spatula at a tall, blond and blue eyed man standing in the courtyard. He looked lost and Penny fought the temptation to rip off her apron, bolt through the door and ask him if she could show him the way to where ever. “Who is that?”

Tess peered through the window and Penny elbowed her. “Don’t look!”

“How can I know who he is if I can’t look?” Tess asked.

“Okay look, but be fast and remember I tapped-tapped him first.”

Tess casually stood, went to the window and tweaked the curtain. “He’s visiting the new guy in 2B.” She resumed her spot on the stool, her back to the window.

Penny tried to focus on the cake, but for once sugar loaded calories had lost their appeal. The visitor of 2B glanced her way and their eyes met briefly. Embarrassed, Penny filled her pastry bag and drew a series of repeating hearts around the base of the bottom tier. When she looked up he was gone. Penny sighed, put down the pastry bag and returned to the sugar spun roses, promising herself that one day she would attend a wedding in a dress she loved.

And she would bake the cake and eat it, too.

Penny and Tess are introduced in Losing Penny, a novel that sizzles with romance, suspense and lip smacking recipes. 

The Food Mood Connection Experiment

For one month I’m going to keep a journal of everything I eat and how it makes me feel.

We’re all familiar with the term emotional eating: (Health.com) -- Anyone who's sought solace in pizza or a pint of ice cream knows that food can be comforting. But experts still don't know exactly why we gravitate toward fatty or sugary foods when we're feeling down, or how those foods affect our emotions.

So for one month I will be both the scientist and the lab rat. Without censor or fudging, I will track my own personal food and mood connection. Maybe I won’t find a correlation. Maybe I will.

Love this article: Food and Mood: 6 Ways Your Diet Affects How You Feel

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diet/articles/2011/08/31/food-and-mood-6-ways-your-diet-affects-how-you-feel

And this one: Feeling Sad? Seven Instant Mood Boosters

http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/070711/11sadnesstip_2.htm

And: What to Eat to Feel Happier

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-women/2010/02/03/what-to-eat-to-feel-happier

If anyone wants to join me in my food mood connection experiment, please chime in. The more lab rats the better. No one likes to eat alone.

Food Mood Journal

Day:

Goal:

Food/Time	Mood

Thoughts:

The Necessary P Words

The P words:

Patience

Persistence

Plan

Party (I threw party in there for fun, because I really do believe that when I’m feeling successful, it’s like there’s a party going on in my head.)

The D words:

Discouragement

Depression

Doubt

Drudgery (Because when I’m discouraged, depressed and filled with self doubt, everything is drudgery, and not even a brownie will make it better—okay, maybe a little better—but just for a short  moment. If the one brownie turns into a brownie feast—I will not feel better. Not even a little bit.)

What is the difference between a P word and a D word? One letter. The letter P is spelled pee and the letter D is spelled dee. (See below, from Ask.com) P is formed with your lips and D is formed with your tongue (go ahead, try it.) They are practically the same word—and they’re both letters. Small differences make all the difference. Like the difference between the healthy choice and the not so healthy choice. One small unhealthy choice won’t kill you, but multiply the choices by hundreds and thousands and they just might.

So the next time you are faced with a food decision, keep in mind the P words necessary for losing pounds and remember, everyone wants to party. No one wants to be a drudge.

Protein, Carb and Fat Rule

I was introduced to the protein, carb and fat rule. I like how it’s working so far. The goal is to eat every three hours, keeping hunger at bay by following this simple rule. At every mini-meal eat:

A carb the size of your fist

A protein the size of your palm

A fat the size of your thumb

It’s just that simple and yet not. Technically, a vegetable is a carb, but not all carb-vegetables are created equal. Be wise.

This rule translates really well into most of my favorite meals.

 A sandwich

Bread= carb

Chicken breast= protein

Mayo or avocado= fat

Yogurt parfait

Yogurt=protein and fat

Granola=carb

Chili

Beans and tomatoes=carb

Ground turkey=protein

Dollop of sour cream= fat

Breakfast Burrito

Eggs= protein

Tortilla and salsa= carb

Cheese= fat

I’m very excited about how easily that simple formula can be applied to everyday meal choices. Except for brownies. It doesn’t work for brownies…or pies. But that’s okay. I have a weekly two dessert allotment. Because brownies can’t be ignored.

Here’s my new favorite food, stuffed peppers.

Peppers cut in half

Half a pound of ground beef, browned, rinsed and drained (rinse to wash away fat)

Add to meat:

1 can of corn

1 can of black beans

Half cup of cooked brown rice

1 can of stewed tomatoes

Half cup of medium salsa

Simmer meat mixture for about 20 minutes

Fill peppers and top with:

Sprinkled parmesan and cheddar cheese

Bake until the cheese is golden.

Serve with avocado and sour cream.

Recipes to Try

Breakfast: Super Seed Oatmeal

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick or instant)

1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla soy, hemp or almond milk

1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup frozen blueberries or mixed berries, thawed

1/4 cup raisins

1 tbsp raw sunflower seeds

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 tbsp ground hemp seeds

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

Cook oats according to package directions, using soy milk instead of water. Mix remaining ingredients together and stir into oats.

Dinner: Goji Chili Stew

Serves 6

Ingredients

3 cups diced plum tomatoes or 1 (28-oz) can no-salt-added or low-sodium plum tomatoes

1 lb frozen broccoli, thawed and chopped

10 oz frozen chopped onions, thawed

2 1/2 cups corn, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup goji berries

2 large zucchini, diced

4 oz chopped mild green chilies

4 tsp chili powder, or more to taste

2 tsp cumin

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans or 1 (15-oz) can no-salt-added or low-sodium pinto beans, drained

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans or 1 (15-oz) can no-salt-added or low-sodium black beans, drained

1 1/2 cups cooked red beans or 1 (15-oz) can no-salt-added or low-sodium red beans, drained

Directions

Cover and simmer all ingredients, except precooked (or canned) beans, for 20 minutes. Add beans and heat through.

Dr. Furhman's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

Serves 12

Cake

1 2/3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp baking soda

3 1/2 cups pitted dates, divided

1 cup pineapple chunks in own juice, drained

1 banana

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup raw beets, shredded

3/4 cup raw carrots, shredded

1/2 cup raw zucchini, shredded

3 tbsp natural, nonalkalized cocoa powder

1/2 cup currants

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/2 cups water

2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Nut Icing

1 cup raw macademia nuts and/or raw cashews

1 cup vanilla soy, hemp or almond milk

2/3 cup pitted dates

1/3 cup brazil nuts or hazelnuts

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.

In blender or food processor, purée 3 cups of the dates, pineapple, banana and applesauce. Slice remaining 1/2 cup dates into 1/4-inch pieces.

In large bowl, mix sliced dates, beets, carrots, zucchini, cocoa powder, currants, walnuts, water, vanilla and flour mixture. Add the blended mixture and mix well.

Spread in a 9 x 13-inch nonstick baking pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the icing, use a high-powered blender and combine all icing ingredients until smooth and creamy. Spread on cooled cake.