Growing up I was a bigger kid as you can see from the photo below.  Because I had this eating addiction so young, I would hide what I was eating.  I loved anything frozen.  Especially Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies and Hostess Snowballs and Twinkies.  I couldn’t imagine eating these things now.  When I am alone at home now, which is allot, I would be lying to say that I don’t think about it.  I am human.  I know all too well how wonderful these foods that are so bad for us taste.  I enjoy weird things now.  I smell birthday cake.  I looooove birthday cake.  My sister in law kindly jokes about how doing this will scare the children.  I caught myself this weekend at a roller skating party breathing in a few deep breaths of my sons piece of the ice cream cake that he was given.  Will things ever become stressful for me in my personal life that I will just figure, to heck with it and reach for that Flake chocolate bar that has been sitting in my freezer.  I wont get rid of it but I also wont eat it.  Trust me my brother is hovering like a vulcher waiting for me to hand it over or disclose where I have been hiding it this whole time.  Who knows if it is even good.  I find myself now sometimes overindulging in a couple things but those things are on Dr. Agaston’s approved list.  I am also guilty of having my nightly frozen ricotta cheese when I am not even hungry.  But my family and ice cream go way back.  I dont think we know how to make a single or double scoop bowl.  We are only able to prepare moutain ice cream bowls.  I associate ice cream and fast food with a comfort zone that was enforced by both sides of my family.  Like I said, I dont ever partake anymore but I do hold those memories close to my heart.  This idea sickens me that I think this way.  I hate to associate my life with food when I fight so much to preach otherwise.

Like any alcoholic or drug addict I will always be just one Whoopie Pie away from losing it.  Maybe that it a good thing.  Sort of like when I quit smoking and I kept the patch on as sort of a security blanket.  I guess we all use what we can.  Whatever works right?

This Christmas I have plane tickets to go to St.Louis to see my family.  I am really excited.  Also, my baby sister is getting married while I am there too.  I love my family I do and I cannot wait to see them.  I am sure that I will be blogging abut the eating challenges I am sure I will encounter along the way.  It will be a struggle I assure you.

I took my son to the doctor today.  It was scheduled as a basic checkup and flu shot.  He has not been to the doctor since since starting school, he is 9 now.  I am blessed that my son doesn’t get sick and we haven’t had any emergencies.  So today I pick my son up early from school and went for the appointment.  The nurse weighed my son and marked his height, 91lbs. and 4′7″ tall.  I thought that this was perfect.  All this time I thought that my son was a little heavy, but I was relieved now.  Then the doctor came in.  The went through the routine and then it came to question time.  So I asked, “How is my son on height and weight?”  I was told, “well, he’s a little on the heavy side.”  This made my heart sink.  I don’t want my son to go through what I did.  His doctor basically said what we all know, watch fried foods, increase vegetables and make sure that he is getting at least 30 minutes of activity a day.  Whats weird is that I have been trying to start this with him lately already.  I explained that I eat by the South Beach Diet Plan already.  I have already begun to limit his potatoes, switch his rice from white to brown and increase the amount of vegetables he eats.  I was told that this was great and that we were already on our way.  Great!

After getting home, I googled South Beach Diet Plan for children.  This is what I found:

South Beach Diet A to Z: Kids on the South Beach Diet

Kids on the South Beach Diet
Before putting your child on the South Beach Diet, be sure to talk to your pediatrician who can tell you your child’s ideal weight. She may want to look at the diet if she is not familiar with it.

If she says it’s ok, Dr. Agatston says kids should do Phase 2 of the diet. Be sure your child’s meal plans include extra calcium from dairy foods. Adding several servings of low-fat dairy products is important for a growing kid’s health. Low-fat milk, cheese, cottage cheese, and yogurt are all excellent choices.

Please note that pre-teens and teenagers should also refrain from doing Phase 1 of this diet and instead follow Phase 2.

Jennifer R. Scott
Weight Loss Guide About.com

This makes allot of sense to me.  Now we can make our meals for our whole family.  We no longer have to make one meal for the kids and one meal for us.  I will try to add within the next few days some kid friendly recipes for you on the Recipe page.  Welcome to a whole new phase, South Beach for Kids!

Last night I was speaking with a friend and they called someone I love and care about a “fat ass”. I really hate name calling especially by people who have no idea what they are talking about. This person has never been big and nobody in their familyhas been big.  There is so much that you must live with being bigger.  There are  insecurities, promising to quit eating so much, trying to wear clothes that I thought fit and then crying when I cannot get them on. I was teased and made fun of by my brother for so long. Now everytime I look in the mirror I see that girl.  I remember a time in particular wanting to wear this mini skirt and I couldn’t zip it up. I cried and got a really wide belt of my mothers to make a sort of makeshift girdle. It didn’t work. I remeber wearing the baggiest of t-shirts and wanting to wear more. I was ashamed. I tried to diet. It didn’t work. When I was younger family members would make comments, not including my brother. I would cry and swear that I would lose the weight. It never happened.  It took a long time to find out what I should do.  I have tried pills, starving, and alot of other diets.  I have always worked out but I liked to eat too much.  I had to find a way to change  my eating habits for life. 

A few years ago I began to develop stomach pains.  They were horrible and crippling pains.  I started to look at what I was eating.  This is how I stumbled on the South Beach Diet Plan.  I was eating so much, more than I had in a long time.  To my surprise the pain went away.  I never did find out what it was but its gone now. 

Now that I am older I still see that chubby girl above and its hard not to.  It is a health problem.  It should be treated as such.  Those that are alcoholics, smokers and drug addicts think that they have a higher ground but it is the same.  Food is an addiction for some.  I hope that those of you out there that struggle everyday with a food addiction will find relief.  I know that I am not a doctor but I want to preach healthy eating.  Remove your scale and begin to base your happiness on how you feel.  When you begin eating healthy you will begin to feel better.  Promise.

✦I have so much to write about. I have begun to add for you the food lists and sample menus for the phases of the south beach diet plan. I hope this will help a bit, as the other site did not have that drawn out for you.✦phase one is basically the strictest detox phase. within the 2 weeks you will try to reduce your cravings for sugars. in this 2weeks you will cut out all alcohol, breads, rice, potatoes and sugar. I know that it sounds daunting but believe me you will feel so much better. I actually loved phase 1 and find myself going back to it alot. you can do this. there are alot of foods and great recipies that can be made with the approved foods listed on this phase. during this phase it is reported that you can lose. between 8-10lbs. who doesn’t love that? what’s great is that you will never feel hungry and unsatisfied. snacks are mandatory and for good reason. Controling your blod sugar will help you stay on track and not feel famished and aarving like most diets do. The whole thing is to never be hungry. vegetables are unlimited. I even find myself now rarely craving carbs and really enjoying the amount of veggies. please feel free to begin your journey with me and start feeling better almost immediately. if you’re interested on keeping you resluts with me please email me on the site or @ saveabun@hotmail.com. I would love to track your progress an also allow others to see that this can be done. I look forward to hearing from you!

I am so happy to bring you the new and improved Saveabun.com.  I am back and with more ideas for you and making you feel better.  I plan to add a gardening section.  Given the state of the economy I know that vegetables are expensive.  I don’t have to tell you.  So I believe that I will learn to garden with you and together we can make a healthy lifestyle more convenient for both of us.  Please feel free to give me comments and criticism as much as need be.  We can learn together.

I would also like to add some brave people to my site that would like to share their journey to a healthier lifestyle.

Thanks again for hanging in there with me!  See you soon!

June 5, 2009

So yesterday I went to the gym just like a good girl.  I ran my three miles and did my sit ups.  In fact I have been really super good as far as the excercise thing goes this week.  I am more sore that  I have been in awhile.  But that is OK, this is the way that it is supposed to be.  Well, I dont know about the pain but I should be staying on top of the excercise though.  Well here is my pickle that I am in, when I got home last night after the gym I had a frozen yogurt (I had been craving all week).  All of the sudden I got so sick.  I dont think it could be the running.  That is nothin’ but good fo ya!  But I think that frozen yogurt within 2 hours or running was not so good.   Let this be a lesson to us all.  We have thought for years that you have to wait 2 hours after eating to swim.  It is the other way around now.  After excerise you must wait two hours to eat or you will pay dearly.You know it would be nice to wake up one day and have not one stomach issue.  I dont know how or why it happened but I am determined to get to the bottom of it.  I have an appointment next week with a specialist.  We will see what happens though.  They will probably look at me, take my pulse, and say come back in a month.  So stupid.  Everytime I think that I have the culprit that is doing this to me I am wrong.  Well just trial and error I guess.  Or maybe it is just me finally getting old.  LOL

How bad is white flour?

 Is white processed wheat flour really a nutritional no-no? I love salad-filled tortillas for lunch — do I HAVE to go whole-meal?

Answer :

There is much evidence that the American penchant for “whiter than white” flour strips vital nutrients from our diet. Even though most flour products have nutrients added to them — enriched or fortified foods — many health professionals believe eating whole grains is beneficial.

Whole-grain products are less processed, and therefore contain more of the natural nutrients of the grain. They are often also higher in fiber. Since most Americans consume only 1/3 of the recommendation of 25-35 grams of fiber a day, that is an important consideration. A high-fiber diet has been shown to prevent diverticulosis, help lower cholesterol and possibly protect against certain types of cancer.

I encourage people to make sure most of the grain products they eat regularly contain whole grains

So I have had this site for awhile and I havent done anything.  I am thinking about how to make this site exciting.  I have actually started to feel not as enthusiastic with my whole new eating plan.  It just seems like I have reached a plateau and it isnt working as well as it did in the begining.  I dont want to start eating like I was before.  Dont get me wrong.  I dont think that I could ever do that again.  I seem to lose my self in endless seas of mixed nuts and containers or ricotta cheese.  Help me to find the excitement that I once knew.

I have begun to insert more whole grain carbs that I usually have had before but I find I am less hungry and I have eliminated morning snack.  But for some reason I just cannot stop wanting to munch in the afternoon.  I usually try to stick to Cottage Cheese or the mixed nuts.  For some stupid reason it seems like a guilty pleasure.

So today I still stuggle with never ending weight battles that most will never understand.