Carnivores Beware!

I like me a good, medium-well done steak. I love chicken. I'll eat pork, too. I've always been a meat eater. And never really thought that much of it. No big deal, right?

Insert book here. Pardon the expletive, but the book is called Skinny B*tch. It caught my attention when I was watching a rerun of The Ellen Show and the books authors, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, were guests on the show. I thought to myself, "Hmmm... I could use a No-Nonsense, Tough-Love Guide for Savvy Girls Who Want to Stop Eating Crap and Start Looking Fabulous!" I was thinking it would be all about how fad diets are bad, carbs and sweets should be eaten in moderation and exercise is key to losing weight and looking thin.

WELL... boy was I ever surprised with this book! Sure, I could definitely do without the expletives strewn about on most of the pages. But overall the information contained in this book was absolutely nothing short of phenomenal! Essentially these writers researched the crap out of the foods Americans tend to eat on a daily basis. It went all "scientific" on what's really hiding in some of our favorite foods. It went on to talk about some very intriguing information about the dairy and meat industries that we as consumers have no knowledge of. The reason for this is the billions of dollars these industries spend in marketing their products. They want us to think that milk really does a body good and meat should be an essential ingredient in everyone's diet.

Let me clarify here that I am NOT currently a vegetarian. The thought of becoming one had never really crossed my mind. Sure, I get totally grossed out like every other person on the planet when prepping meat or chicken or pork for dinner. I sometimes physically gag while removing skin or fat or whatever. But after reading an entire chapter devoted to how that meat, chicken or pork gets from the "farm" to your local grocery store, I was convinced that becoming a vegetarian might be something worth looking into. Seriously, every vegetarian saves more than 100 animals a year from horrific cruelty. If you aren't afraid, click on the video below to see just one example of how the chicken suppliers for KFC are treated.



Watch more videos at KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

Anyway, I'm seriously considering the idea of eliminating meat from my/our daily diet. Of course LO has already beaten us to the punch... she's been refusing to eat meat since the day she started solid foods! But I seriously can't help but think that I'd be focused on what I read in that book if someone were to put a steak in front of me. I'm not about to go overboard and turn our lives upside-down, but I do think there's something about vegetarian and organic foods that I ought to look into.

Do yourselves a favor. Read this book. You should know what foods you're putting into your body and the process that brought them to your table. If only for information purposes. Really. You'll learn about carbs, sugars, caffeine, meat, dairy, exercise and so much more! After all, knowledge is power and you'll definitely find yourself empowered after reading this book! Oh, and I read it all in about 3 hours last night... it's a easy, short read!

What to Eat?

My little baby girl will be 13 months old in just a few days. It's so hard to believe how quickly she's growing up! I have to say one of my most favorite things about her growing up is the increased number of activities she can participate in--just like mommy and daddy. Walking, of course, was the biggest first milestone she reached. Now, if only I could get her to keep her shoes on, she'd actually get to walk around when we're outside! Silly thing! Another big milestone was the transition to "grown-up" food. This has been awesome in one sense, but extremely frustrating in another.

If you know anything about me yet, it's that I love to cook (and bake, of course!). But I'm having a hard time finding things to cook that hubs and I will enjoy but also that LO will eat, too! She is sooooooooo picky! First of all, the girl straight up refuses to eat meat. Any kind of meat. All kinds of meat. If meat somehow manages to sneak into her mouth, those little fingers will go in after it and get it out--pronto! Ugh. She also isn't a big fan of pasta, which both hubs and I could eat our weight in on any given day. So what will the little one eat? Corn. LOTS of corn. Green beans. Mashed potatoes. Sweet potatoes (like they're goin' out of style!). Bread--but only sometimes if she's in the "mood" for it. One thing she could eat her massive 20 lbs. worth of weight in?

Gerber Lil' Crunchies.
Anyway, finding things that LO will eat is only half of the battle. The other question is whether or not it's healthy for her! See, I don't want to start her out this young with the bad habits I've got (cake, anyone?). I want to feed her healthy food and snacks. But it's so hard sometimes to know what the "right" things are that I should be choosing. Like, just because it has a Gerber label on it, does that mean it's the right choice for LO? I dunno.

I was surfing for info on this earlier this week and I found what looks like a great little book:

I haven't purchased it (yet), but it looks like this will be a great addition to my library! I mean, who would've known that Spaghetti O's are healthier than the ol' blue box of mac & cheese? Certainly not me! Would you believe I've been feeding LO Kraft mac & cheese since she started eating "grownup" food?! Ugh. I mean, really, it shouldn't be that hard. But this book looks like it'll be really helpful in choosing the right things to feed LO for snacks, when we're eating out, or even what to cook at home.

The best part? There's also a version of this book for adults. Guess I'll be adding two books to my library!

Things that Make Me Happy

1. Seeing my daughter's smile when I get her out of her crib each morning.
2. My husband coming home from work early (or on time, or even late--as long as he comes home!).
3. Allowing the lady with only 3 items to go ahead of me in the check-out lane.
4. When they get my order right at the restaurant--any restaurant.
5. Getting my hair cut and straightened.
6. Finding a cute pair of shoes that actually fit my aircraft-carrier feet.
7. The smell of my homemade chocolate chip cookies.
8. The smell of my homemade buttercream frosting (assuming I'm not pregnant, 'cause I can't stand that smell when I'm pregnant).
9. Doing the "little things" to let my husband know how much I love him (i.e. hide a sweet note in his laptop bag before he leaves for work).
10. Helping someone who needs it.
11. Hearing my daughter's laugh.
12. Playing the piano.
13. Girls' Night In at my place! Oh, the fun of junk food, gossip and Dutch Blitz!
14. Planning LO's first birthday party!
15. Shopping with someone else's money (okay, that never happens, but it would make me happy!

What about you? What makes YOU happy?

Weight Watching

As you probably know, hubs and I welcomed our baby girl into the world almost 11 months ago. (Read: I put on a LOT of weight 11 months ago.) I was obviously overjoyed to have our little one in our lives, but I was quite miserable to be carrying around what was probably an extra 40 pounds or so that I certainly didn't need. When I finally couldn't take it anymore, I joined Weight Watchers Online.

Since then (about 5 months ago), I am happy to report that I have lost 25 pounds! I'm feeling much better, am more active, can keep up with LO better and just have a much-improved overall sense of well-being. I'd still like to lose another 15 pounds and will be sure to keep you all informed on my progress.

Anywho, the main reason I'm writing this post is just to share with those of you out there that are considering dropping a few pounds that Weight Watchers is an effective way to do it. Now, I didn't totally jump on the bandwagon or go waaay crazy--in fact, I never even attended a local meeting. The basic principle is to track everything you eat and drink!! It's that simple! Once I started to see how much junk I'd been eating (and drinking--durn sodas!), I realized that I really needed to focus on eating healthier foods and limiting the sweets, sodas, etc.

Now, you may not be interested in paying for a service like Weight Watchers (about $20/month). I'll admit, their online subscription gives you access to lots of tools, recipes, etc. But ultimately the main goal is to track what you eat. I highly recommend Prevention's Health Tracker as it allows you to track your food and beverage intake, as well as track your weight (unfortunately you'll have to step on a scale once in a while to make sure you're going in the right direction!) and exercise (sorry, this actually entails more than sitting on the couch reading blogs--you gotta get up and get active!). And the best part--it's FREE! Check it out! I chose to stop my Weight Watchers subscription at the end of this month and switch to the Health Tracker. The best part is you don't have to worry about calculating points--just balance your calorie, fat and protein intake!

Here's a pic of the "Foods Eaten" section of the Health Tracker (click the image to see it larger:













So that's it! That's my take on Weight Watching. If you decide to drop a few extra pounds--whether by Weight Watchers, using the Health Tracker, or any other means--do keep me posted! I'd love to provide some encouragement to my reader--er, I mean, readers?!