Carb Talk

I eat carbs. I lose weight. People tell me they're going to remove ALL carbs from their diet. I don't. I embrace the goodness of complex carbs and I feel better from doing so.

I think it's important to understand carbs and how they interact with our bodies.

First, there are two kinds; Simple and Complex.

Here's a clip from the Documentary, Fed UP:



And this video from Healthy Nation Food explains in simple terms the difference between what is considered SIMPLE/BAD vs. what is considered COMPLEX/GOOD carbs.

Simple carbohydrates are sugars. All simple carbohydrates are made of just one or two sugar molecules. They are the quickest source of energy, as they are very rapidly digested.
 Some food sources of simple carbohydrates:

• Table Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Corn Syrup
• Honey
• Maple Syrup
• Molasses
• Jams, Jellies
• Fruit Drinks
• Soft Drinks
• Candy

Complex carbohydrates may be referred to as dietary starch and are made of sugar molecules strung together like a necklace or branched like a coil. They are often rich in fiber, thus satisfying and health promoting. Complex carbohydrates are commonly found in whole plant foods and, therefore, are also often high in vitamins and minerals.

• These whole plant foods are great sources of complex carbohydrates:
• Green vegetables
• Whole grains and foods made from them, such as oatmeal, pasta, and whole-grain breads
• Starchy vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and pumpkin
• Beans, lentils, and peas 

Source: http://www.nutritionmd.org/nutrition_tips/nutrition_tips_understand_foods/carbs_versus.html  

Some of my go-to complex carbs:

Brown rice

Quinoa (cooks just like white rice, 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water; easy)

Ezekiel bread (sprouted flourless bread)

Whole rolled oats (I like bobs red mill)

Whole wheat

Sweet potatoes

Lentils

Split Peas

Nuts

Spinach

Corn on the Cobb

Squash

Sweet potatoes are amazing and pretty easy to make:

Sweet potatoes: Heat oven to 400° F. Pierce each sweet potato several times with the tines of a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes.

For me the strategy was to embrace the carbs in my daily diet. Avoid the bad ones or the simple ones, and switch to complex. They’re higher in fiber which is good for my digestion. There are many choices so I don’t feel limited at all. And I can still have BREAD! Woo Hoo!!!!! That’s good news to this carb-junkie. Now I can have it all, and you can too.

What new complex carbs are you going to try first???

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Married 12 years - Happy Anniversary!

It's September 14, 2015, and today is my 12th Wedding Anniversary.

Today I'm sharing my wedding photo.

I was a size 26. I was a BIG BRIDE. And I HATED the way I looked. I am smiling, but inside I was crying. And yes, the night before walking down the aisle, I ate an entire package of oreos!!!

True Story!!!

I look back and see where I was, and how far I've come.

Here's me in my wedding dress back in November 2013, in honor of being married 10 years. I had lost a bunch of weight already, and the dress was HUGE on me.

And I know every one of you can have the same success, so I'm hoping by sharing I somehow offer you motivation and support. Change CAN happen, and it's glorious when it does.

12 Years Happily Married, and Healthier then Ever!

Do you have a motivational and/or inspirational story to share? i'd love to hear it! Share in the comments below.

#MondayMotivations
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Turkey Kielbasa with Bell Peppers

Yes this is dinner tonight. yes it's easy to make. yes it's healthy. and yes it's delicious!!! 

For those of you that asked, here's my recipe for this amazingly tasty and easy to make dish.

Turkey Kielbasa with Bell Peppers

6 Servings/167 calories per serving*

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 medium green, red and/or yellow bell peppers, cut into strips
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 (16-ounce) turkey kielbasa sausage ring, cut into 1/4-inch diagonal slices
1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs (basil leaves, sage leaves and/or parsley)
Optional - Freshly grated Parmesan cheese*
*Parmesan cheese is not in the calorie per serving total below, if you add the cheese, add it in your food logs to account for it.

DIRECTIONS:

Melt coconut oil in 4-quart saucepan until sizzling; add garlic. Cook over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add peppers; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until just tender (5 minutes). Stir in tomatoes and sausage; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until heated through (4 minutes). Stir in herbs.

I like to eat this over Quinoa, but it works over spaghetti squash and zoodles rather well. Some like to have over whole wheat pasta. And my kids like spaghetti! It's really versatile, so anything goes.

*Again, remember, the above calories per serving is only for the meat and peppers mixture and does not factor your cheese or your "noodles".

There you go. Wicked easy, and super yummy! Happy cooking!!!!!

-Barbara

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This is what it REALLY looks like when you lose 135 pounds

I've lost soooooo much weight, and a lot of people tell me they'd like to lose too, but are worried about the excess skin. Truth is, the skin stayed. It's still with me. It's likely going to stay with me for the rest of my days or until I save enough money to pay a nice surgeon to remove it for me. Not likely, as that's insanely costly, and no one's making any donations. ;)

This is what it REALLY looks like when you lose 135 pounds

Anyway, here's my thoughts on my excess skin. I can stuff it into my clothes. I can hide it fairly well. I have pictures (you've all seen them) where my workout pants are high waist-ed so you don't see the skin flap. My muscles are growing, and I'm toning up nicely. But look closely, and you're going to see my skin wrinkles and what not.

I get to live with this.

Let that sentence sink in. I-GET-TO-LIVE!

Had I not lost those 135 lbs, I might not have gotten to live. So LIVE with this, IS SOOOO OKAY!

Would I like to see the skin go away? Totally! I'm over 40. I get that skin elasticity is a phenomenon for younger folks. I understand that at my age, eating the dark greens and dark oranges will help but not with any significance. I understand that to really make this skin go bye bye I'm looking at a skin removal surgery. And maybe that might still happen. Unexpected things happen all the time.

But until that day comes (not holding my breath), I will be proud of my new body. Skin flapping in the wind and all. I worked DAMN hard to get this saggy baggy skin suit. So I'm going to embrace it, in all it's wrinkled glory.

High Waisted Workout Pants... Skin tucks in nicely

Long Workout Tops, hides skin nicely!

Gravity is not my friend... but it WON'T STOP ME from getting the workout in!

On August 2, 2015, I decided it was time to take some more unedited pics of what I look like, skin and all. I made a slideshow which you can see below. I've taken loose skin pics before, mostly to show my doctors and get advice on next steps. But never with my face. So today I got brave, and took them with my face shown.

I will NEVER be bikini perfect again and honestly? I'm okay with that. I think all those weight loss programs out there give us the impression that that is something obtainable, so we make it an unrealistic goal. I lost weight. I kept the skin! I'm not going to be walking around in a bikini.

Again, it's important for me to remember to love the body I'm in, it's the only one I get. And also to remember, had I not lost this weight, I probably would not be alive right now. Or if I was, probably not much longer. So I'm LUCKY. I get to live a long and healthy life, skin and all.

Maybe it IS a badge of honor of sorts. I worked really hard to look like this. Whether you like it or you don't, you have to admit, I did work very hard, and I did lose a lot of weight and I did manage to extend my life so I can now enjoy my family, my kids, maybe their kids one day, and I have every intention of being that "Granny" that's still kicking butt and raising hell at age 95!

***Warning***, some of the images are really difficult to look at (at least for me they are).

🚫🚫🚫ETA: FYI... If you can't tell from my post, I have ZERO interest in wraps, lotions, potions... But thanks all the same! 🚫🚫🚫

You can see the slideshow here: Loose Skin August 2015

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