Fast Food Fairy Godmother Says, "Some things are just plain WRONG!"

And, foodwise, this one is right up there.

Clearly, evil aliens are among us and have access to commercial kitchens.

If you are an alien, please, don't eat this.

If you're human, you won't be able to put this in your mouth, swallow, and hold it down, so, no problem. I hope.

Quotation for the Fatfighting Day: "Choose your hard"

From Lyn of Escape from Obesity (who so often has wonderful, quotable blog entries):

I would rather be in WalMart having a tantrum that I didn't get to buy the junk foods I crave, it isn't fair, and it sucks, than in that old, fat, 278-pound body having a tantrum that I cannot lose weight, it isn't fair, and it sucks.

Being fat is hard. Losing weight is hard. Maintaining is hard.

Choose your hard.

Oh, Lawdy! Pilates Farting!

Yes, you read that subject heading right.

During my second private training session today, during a particularly brutal abdominal exercise, I tooted.

Sorry. Embarrassing.

Fortunately, NOT stinky. I'd had organic scrambled eggs on organic pita with home-made fresh organic watermelon juice for breakfast, low-fat cream of mushroom soup (from Shape Lovers) with extra organic crimini mushrooms and a pear and a low-fat, sugar free pudding-y dessert for lunch. I didn't eat for 3 hours before class (afraid of reflux, frankly, during those flat on my back moves).

I didn't think about the other exit. Ahem.

Out of curiosity, I googled "Pilates fart" and there were lots of hits. Even YouTube.com has an entry. One instructor has some interesting posts on how to avoid passing gas by 1. avoiding specific foods prior to class and 2. concentrating on doing the abdominal moves precisely, correctly. Trust me. Gonna read those several times. :)

But the one that really cracked me up was this practitioner's report of a work-out post-burrito munching. It's hilarious.

Yes, I am definitely not alone in these embarrassing moments.

My thanks to Liza (my trainer) for being so reassuring about it, so that my social discomfort was blessedly brief.

Again, the session was tough, and one position was simply impossible in the normal manner due to my big belly, so it was modified (instead of pulling legs up straight, I parted my knees and brought them up more spread apart). The modification helped immensely.

It's also evident my balance sucks. I expect that to improve.

I did have that awkward feeling when I first walked in and everyone was slim and the client ahead of me training with Liza was all-out stunningly gorgeous. (Professional model, I was told when I mentioned how lovely she was.) Willowy, a perfect face with prominent cheekbones. I felt like a mangy, fat, old sow.

I know, that's really negative. but I did.

Still, my trainer kept me going and she was great and I paid in advance for 11 more sessions, three times a week.

The Princess Does Pilates

Yep.

I did it.

I finally decided that, unless I wanted to risk actually sprouting roots into my sofa, it was time to move.

I signed up for personal training in Pilates.

Yesterday was my first session.

It was hard.

Real hard.

I worked out on a classic Cadillac:



And I stretched on the Barrel:




The exercises were not painful in and of themselves. At one point, I was feeling some pain and stiffness in my lower back in a position, and Liza immediately got a pad and adjusted it and I was good to go. So, no agony.

Just hard.

As you gals with huge bellies know, doing some moves are amazingly tough, because the belly is an obstacle. So, bending legs up toward chest is, well, not possible. Bending over is impeded. Any good trainer, though, knows how to adjust, modify, and work around limitations.

And, upbeat as she is, Liza just kept saying about the big belly o' mine: It can be eliminated. It will be gone.

I need to hear optimism, since by nature, I tend to be broodily cynical about such things.

My instructor (Liza) is fabulous (and thin, and lithe, like all the instructors. What physiques!) and patient and encouraging and positive and really nice. (That's "Liza" like lee-za, not like Ms. Minelli.) She's co-owner of The Pilates Room in North Miami Beach, FL. She is certified in and teaches Stott Pilates (one of several modifications of the original technique created by Joseph Pilates.)

I had called ahead to ask if they had experience with the morbidly obese and could accomodate such a body type. And, Liza did. You can see her here.

I'm mildly sore EVERYWHERE, mostly in the sides, inner thighs, upper abdominals, back, upper arms, and butt. That's good, no?

This is not cheap, private training. I consider it an investment. I figure I'll try to go 3 times a week until I learn enough about the technique to cut back to 2x a week private and one class a week. Then once a week private and 2 classes a week. We'll see.

It's a nice workout space. Small, mind you (yes, one room), but clean and--very importantly in our subtropical summer--cool. See pics at their site.

Hubby and I discussed the investment aspect (moolah for health), and decided it was worth straining the budget.

I'll let you know how it goes. I'm working to keep a positive attitude, though it's hard to be in a room where you're twice the size of everyone else, sometimes nearly THREE times the size!

Wearing tight, movement-allowing clothing in public (my upper arms bare, egads!) while everyone else looks like a dancer takes a certain sort of courage. I almost chickened out. But I didn't. And that's my victory for the week!

If you are quite heavy, consider Pilates--also called Contrology--as it's low-impact and the focus is on strength, control, and flexibility, integrating mind and body for health. I'm interested in health--not looking like some fashion plate. I just want to move fluidly and tone and feel more in control of my body. This seems to be one of the best ways to get there.

And don't be afraid of the weird equipment. It's there to help you get well.

As I said, I'll let ya know. :)

To learn more about Pilates:

Pilates.com
Pilates at Wikipedia (including a pronunciation guide)
Stott Pilates
Positives and Negatives
Types of Pilates
Overview of The Cadillac
Youtube.com Video of Leg Spring on The Cadillac
Demonstration of The Barrel
Joseph Pilates himself

Canada Day and New Blogs To Read

Happy Canada Day to all the Canucks out there! Now that hubby works for a Canadian tech company, well, I guess he'll keep me abreast of Canadian holidays. :D



For those wanting more fatfighter blog links, I happened upon a couple new enjoyable ones out there:



Thinking Thin--who's struggling like so many of us
A New Decade--with Manuela at the helm
Weight Loss Guru
Marc--who I'm sure wouldn't mind y'all coming by to encourage him as he starts anew
Shanna at Battle of the Bulge 2008, who's sore, like me.

Remember that if you look down my sidebar (at left), going down past the Royal Toolbox and the Magic Links, you'll come to my list of Diet Blog Royalty. Check 'em out!

And for those who are struggling to stay on/get back on the healthful eating/exercising wagon, read the June 27th entry from Diet Girl.

Review of my First Week of Shape Lovers Meal Delivery

Okay, so I've had most of my first week of one meal a day deliveries. My thoughts on this week's menu of Shape Lovers in South Florida?

The soups have been very, very good except for the tomato. Didn't like it. It didn't have a burst of tomatoey-ness, was quite watery, and had some oiliness in the taste. I'm a tomato-soup freak, so I was disappointed.

The other soups rocked! The orzo with meatballs was lovely. The Garbanzo Toledo soup was so good I was licking the bowl. No kidding. I could eat that every day! Yummy pea soup. Thumbs up on the soupies!

I don't do well with reheated poultry, so I've had some trouble with the chicken and, especially, the turkey. This is some sort of genetic weirdness that I share with my middle sister (and only found that out a couple years ago) and not with my other siblings. Middle sis and I gag at reheated poultry. Sometimes, with fresh poultry. It's an oddity.

Most of the time, I can eat chicken or turkey breast fine (not the dark meat, ugh). But occasionally, the funny taste makes me gag.

I had that problem with the turkey fricasse. Hubby did not. He enjoyed it. I did have the potatoes and carrots from the fricasse, and they were lovely--including the light version of Cuban fricasse sauce. But I couldn't eat the turkey.

The chicken napolitana only had the mild weirdness on reheating (I tried to only heat it to sufficient heat so as not to dry out or encourage that funky thing that bugs me). The stuffing was delicious! The curry sauce was nice, if a little skimpy. A couple more tablespoons of the sauce would have been perfect. But I was wild about the lite, veggie-cheese stuffing! Mmm.

The fajita chicken that substituted for the turkey loaf (I requested a substitution) had a nice flavoring (the spices/onion/pepper), but again, I have issues with chicken that's reheated.

The side dishes have been variable: the rice dishes have been adequate. Nothing wrong, but not outstanding. The platanitos dulces (Tuesday's side dish) was OUT OF THIS WORLD. Another bowl licker. I would have that any time. Ripe plantains pureed with some pineapple--sweet and perfect. Sadly, I didn't get the vianditas con almendra (the Wed side), I got sauteed veggies with garlic. They were fine, but the vianditas sounded much better. I guess subbing out of the turkey loaf meant I got a different veggie.

Desserts: Across the board fun! The mamey flan was really tasty and very light. The mousses are simple (really, they taste like a lite Cool Whip with flavorings/fruit). Which is fine. I like creamy. But I've enjoyed the small sweet end to the meals, every one of them was a treat, though I'd give the highest rating this week to the mamey flan.

I haven't had Friday's offerings yet, but I'll chime in again about next week's offerings, which includes a substitution for me on Monday of stuffed pork, as well as their Ropa Vieja on Wednesday (one of my fave Cuban dishes, a shredded beef thingie in tomatoey sauce with peppers and onions). I also have a Spanish Omelette as a sub for next week's turkey on Thursday. So, more variety, protein-wise.

Today, I'm due for a pasta dish and the soup is a light version of the national soup of Cuba--the ajiaco. Can't wait!

The result: I'm down nearly two pounds since Sunday. I would have done better had I not had a pizza feast yesterday. Yeah, I binged a bit. I get one meal delivered, and I make myself two out of my three daily meals, which means my choices can range from very good to crap, depending.

I still have some poundage to go to get back to where I was on the scale back when I went AWOL from this blog, but I'm getting there. One of the things that's a plus about Shape Lovers is that each morning delivery--the knock, the "Good morning to you" and the passing of the bag of goodies-- is a reminder: You're supposed to watch what you eat. Here's something to help you.

It's like a little heads up every day to pay attention. Some days, it works better than others, but considering I'd been on the way up and up and up in the last three months, it's nice to be going the other way: down.

Thanks to those of you fatfighters blogging with consistency and success. You gals and guys are my inspiration!

Sparkly Factoid: Big Breakfast Helps in Weight Loss

Starting your day with a large meal packed with both carbohydrates and lean protein, and even a small piece of chocolate, can help lessen cravings and hunger the rest of the day, which can lead to significant weight loss, new research suggests.

To combat both the addiction cycle and the hunger that inevitably seems to come with calorie reduction, Jakubowicz and her colleagues designed the "big breakfast" diet. In this eating plan, your breakfast accounts for roughly half of your daily calories, and breakfast includes milk, 3 ounces of lean meat, two slices of cheese, two whole grain servings, one fat serving and one ounce of milk chocolate or candy.

--from "Big, Well-Balanced Breakfast Aids Weight Loss"

To get a look at the sample meals in the study, check out the terrific post at Diet Blog.

Shape Lovers in South Florida: Calorie-Controlled Meals

In an effort to get back on track--cause, really, I am just sooooo not feeling it--I just signed up for a different diet meals delivery service: Shape Lovers. The link will show you next week's menu.

It's only one meal a day I'll get(lunch or dinner, as I choose to use it), but it'll be balanced, with diet-friendly portions and calorie counts.

I know. Lazy Princess. Princess spending too much money!

I had to do something, folks.

I just have not felt like cooking lately.

I have not felt like weighing and measuring and being meticulous. I have circles under my eyes from sleeping poorly. My energy levels suck.

I had to do something.

And, yes, I don't want to be tempted to take the easy fat-chick route: gorge on easy delivery stuff like pizza and Chinese.

So, this is something to help me transition. I'll still make the easy meals: breakfast and lunch. Those are usually a snap: I keep 'em simple--soups, salads, oatmeal, eggs, whole grain English muffins, sandwiches, fresh fruits). Dinner tends to be my downfall. I always get loony with that last meal. If I binge, that's the one.

The food has a Latin flair, so that suits me. I grew up eating Cuban food, and I miss it. I consider it comfort food. It'll be nice to have the low-fat versions for a change. I hope they keep to my two restrictions: no ground turkey dishes (I gag at the stuff, seriously) and no seafood dishes. I have a really bad allergy to seafood, as in EMERGENCY ROOM bad. I have to carry around an epi-pen, just in case. I've had bad reactions twice--once for tuna, once for scallops. I learned my lesson.

I haven't had seafood in 10 1/2 years. (Argh!) I cannot begin to tell you how tough that is in Miami, given how much fabulous seafood there is down here and how many great restaurants that specialize in the beauties of the ocean.

It's torture.

I used to eat seafood at least twice a week. Whenever I ate out with hubby, it was generally seafood. Loved shrimp and scallops and corvina and red snapper and my trusty tuna fish lunches. Gosh, I miss the stuff! Especially since seafood is a big frined to the dieter, if it's cooked sanely, not fried or covered in cream sauces or dipped/soaking/slathered in butter.

Sniff. Boo hoo.

Anyway...

I'm hoping between slightly scaled down organic food delivery and this 5x-per-week, one-meal service that I can find my way back to the Major Fat-Fighting Mojo highway.

God, please just take about 3/4th's of my appetite away. That would help oodles. Thanks.

:)


Anyone out there used this service in South Florida? The Miami Herald ran an article some months back and that's how I heard about them. I might report back. Especially if it's tasty.

Oh, and did I mention each meal includes a sugar-free dessert? MmmmmMMMmmmmm. Soup, entree, side dish and...dessert! (I hear their version of mango cheesecake rocks. I hope they have that soon.)

Here's to yet another tool. The price will be worth it to me if it satisfies, especially if readjusting to diet portions kickstarts me in a good way.

I hold the hope. Every day.

Happy weekend to all!

Struggling to Get Back on Track

Dang, I was gone another couple months, huh?

Lemme just spew it out now: I went off the wagon big time. Regained, at one point, 10 pounds!

I lost five of them, and am working to find my balance and groove once more.

It was a bit stressful round here, not knowing if we were going to have a household income, not knowing if we were gonna have to move across the continent (Seattle and San Diego were both possibilities), away from all my family and memories. Budgeting. Home repair woes. Etc. Stress!

But, God is good. Hubby got a good job with a local branch of a tech company. I can continue to buy organic groceries--for now. Hah! With the crazy rise in food prices, I may have to ration even that.

Sadly, I'm not feeling much "weight loss mojo" today. Still, I feel a tiny bit, and that's better than none at all--which is what I felt for two months. But I figure I better start blogging (even if less consistently), so as to start getting out of the inertia that has had me overeating and regaining and skipping my daily infusion of blog support (both in the getting and the giving). I refuse to throw in the towel.

So, sorry for the AWOL status.

I'd like to ask any of y'all who believe in prayer or good vibes or positive thoughts to aim some at our dear fellow fatfighting blogger Lyn of Escape from Obesity blog. She's having a rough time. In fact, it was reading her entry (after being absent from blog-reading for a spell) that reminded me that we do have a community out here, and that we care.

I ask the Lord's blessing on all of us having a hard time--whether it's with jobs, weight loss, family, health, or natural disasters. God, give us strength and perseverance, give us special mercies, help us find peace and a way out of whatever is pressing down on us. Amen.

"Princess"--A Song About Anorexia

"I know a princess, and she died when she stopped eating."

"She's not thin, she's not thin, she's...NOTHING."

It's terrible that this is what happens in the minds of so many women. Not thin = nothing. Hey, I've had days when I've felt that way. But not years and not a lifetime, like some. It can only lead to a certain self-destruction, that sort of self-loathing, self-diminution.

That's why I applaud everyone who sends the message, "Lose weight, but lose it healthfully. Lose it to live longer, not to be a fashionista. Lose it to live more vibrantly, not to fit a predetermined mold. Lose it to gain a life, not lose it."

It's a rough little video, but I think the song is delivered very authentically, and the message is certainly timely.

We're something. Even if we're not thin.

So says THIS Princess.

If the book THORNYTORINX by Camille de Peretti--which inspired this song--ever comes to the US in English, I'll buy a copy.