The Secret To My Success?

Maybe it was the sticky notes

I have really had a pretty easy time of it I think. I read a lot of the posts in the forums on the quit for life web site and think how much easier it has been for me. I am not sure why but I am grateful. I know part of it is that if I set my mind to do something I do it. I plan and create a process that I stick to no matter what. The process for this was simple. I had seven days to ween myself off of nicotine so that when I hit my quit date I was only dealing with the behavioral and emotional part of the addiction. I used the sticky notes program on my netbook to keep track of my smoking each day in addition to the tools on the web site.

 The sticky notes appealed to me because they were right there every time I was on my computer. As far as cutting back on my smoking each day I found I nice little thought process that helped a lot. Every time I would reach for a cigarette I would ask myself if I really needed the nicotine or if it was just what I was used to doing right then. If I thought about it and decided I didn't really need to smoke I didn't. There was really no pressure because I knew if I really felt I needed it I could smoke. I found as the days went on I needed them less and less. As you can see from the picture of my netbook screen it happened pretty fast. I had actually quit two days early. This brought up another thought. If I was able to quit on the dosage of Chantix that I was currently taking then what was the point of increasing the dose on the eighth? I decided not to. On the eighth when I got to the 1mg pills I got out my pill splitter and split them in half so that I could stay at 1mg a day. This is not to say that I never think about smoking because I do. It just doesn't really get to me because I know that when it comes right down to it I don't really want to. The thought passes rather quickly and I move on just fine.


I think the next use for my sticky notes will have to be to help me keep track of my new diet. changes to my eating habits. Turns out that while I have done very well on the blood sugar thing I have now been dealt the family cholesterol card. I now get the challenge of kicking the fast food habit and learning to eat low fat/cholesterol foods. So, time to set my mind to it, make a plan, create a process and stick to it no matter what. 

Call Me A Quitter (It's a compliment)

Most of you know that I have been working toward healthier living. I changed my eating habits to keep my blood sugar stable and in doing so I lost a lot of weight. I knew there was only one more big change to make and last fall I decided I was ready..... well ready to think about quitting anyway.

I work in retail. In my mind it would be stupid to try to quit smoking right when the busiest, most stressful part of the year was just beginning. I would quit after the holidays. Along comes January. Well I couldn't quit in January. That would be like making a new years resolution and everyone knows new years resolutions don't work. By the time March rolled around I knew I was out of excuses. It was time to get serious. I actually wrote down the information hanging on the wall in the break room about the quit for life program on a postit and stuck it to my computer monitor.  https://www.quitnow.net/Program/  

I think it was the beginning of April when I first went online to see what the program entailed. I got a little freaked out and went out for a cigarette. It took another week before I actually signed up. Turns out it wasn't so scary after all. (I did have to smoke while I waited for a call from my quit coach.) My quit coach asked me some questions and gave me some info to help me start my quit plan. We set a tentative quit date of May 1st. The actual quit date would be determined by when I started my Chantix because you can smoke during the first seven days while it builds up in your system.

I had my Dr. appointment on Thursday. She wrote me a prescription and I figured I would fill it on Friday. I knew I needed to wait until my direct deposit had gone in because I was not sure how much this was going to cost me. I found out on Friday that this will cost me $85 a month. No problem I spend about $90 a month on cigarettes so I will save five dollars a month. The pharmacy didn't have any Chantix on hand though so that meant I  could not pick it up until today.

  I was so excited to finally have my prescription that I had to take a picture of it. I take the first pill in the morning. That means my official quit date is May 8, 2012

Where's my Windows Live Writer?

I am loving my new netbook but I can't seem to figure out how to get Windows Live Writer on it. Now that it is so much more convenient to be on the computer I am hoping to share a little more of what is on my mind. I know that it has been a long time since I last blogged. One might suggest that is an indicator of an empty mind. The reality is a lot of frustration due to an over loaded brain and a couple of teenagers always on my desktop.

Oh My Yummy!!! (and tarter sauce)

I went to my parent’s house on Saturday. I was awake early and since I had been away so long I just decided to go. It was a fun surprise for my Mom and Dad. After hanging out for a bit we went out to lunch. Dad and I got a great fish and chips. (My chips were sweet potato) We both ate half of our lunch and brought the rest home to save for dinner. This is where the trouble began. They had no tartar sauce.

Heather and her family had left to go to a Birthday party at a friends and we were watching the first Harry Potter movie on Disney Channel (they were so tiny) Toward the end of the movie was when I began having a terrible craving for something cakey. I happened to mention this aloud so my Mom (being a bad influence) suggested we go to La Cupcake. We didn’t want my dad to feel bad that we were going without him so we used the need for tartar sauce as our excuse to go out.

At La Cupcake we tried their signature cheesecake brownie cupcake and the pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting. By getting one of each we were able to cut them in half and then we each got to taste both. The cheese cake one was ok but really didn’t fulfill the cakey craving. The Pumpkin one however was exactly what I was after. It tasted great and the whole time I was eating it I kept thinking “I have got to find a way to make this legal.”

That was my mission for today. Well, that and laundry. I spent most of my day on the internet. I knew there had to be a good pumpkin cupcake that was low sugar, low fat and lactose free. I also needed a cream cheese frosting that met the same requirements.

By altering a couple of recipes I came up with something that in my opinion was way better than the one I had on Saturday.

Sugar-Free Pumpkin cupcakes

• 4 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups Splenda
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, Splenda, oil, apple sauce and pumpkin with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture until thoroughly combined.
• Spray cupcake pan with non-stick cooking spray or use paper cup liners. Fill the cups a little more that ¾ full. Bake for 15-20 min.

Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 (8oz) package Tofutti milk free better than cream cheese
1 (8oz) tub Cool Whip Free Whipped Topping
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add Cool Whip, Splenda, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Makes 12 servings

In order to keep it lactose free I went with the Cool Whip. Unfortunately that meant some corn syrup. Considering the amount of protein in the recipe vs. sugar I decided the little bit of corn syrup was probably ok. This way my Dad can eat it too.

With the major success on creating such a wonderful tasting cupcake. (I could hardly keep the kids out of them long enough to take pictures.) I will definitely be making them for Thanksgiving.

And to think it all started with tartar sauce.

A Sweet Success

Blueberries with Lemon Cream

 

Serves: 4

Total Time: 10 min

 

 

 

Ingredients

· 4 ounce(s) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)

· 3/4 cup(s) low-fat vanilla yogurt

· 1 teaspoon(s) honey

· 2 teaspoon(s) freshly grated lemon zest

· 2 cup(s) fresh blueberries

Directions

1. Using a fork, break up cream cheese in a medium bowl. Drain off any liquid from the yogurt; add yogurt to the bowl along with honey. Using an electric mixer, beat at high speed until light and creamy. Stir in lemon zest.

2. Layer the lemon cream and blueberries in dessert dishes or wineglasses. If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

 

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/blueberries-lemon-cream-recipe-5726

Round Table at the not so round table

We had a family meeting and decided that “round table at the not so round table” was the perfect name for it. Just crazy enough to fit our crazy family. We discussed our new plan for eating healthy and how and where to look for recipes. We will be putting together a family cook book with the recipes that we like. Chicken feta salad will be our first entry.

Melaina thought this should be called “OMG! Mom can prepare food!” It is a variation on the recipe that I posted in my last entry.

Chicken Feta Salad

• Organics spring mix
• Del Monte no sugar added Mandarin oranges (snack pack. one was just the right amount)
• half can pitted black olives (I cut the olives in half because I hate when my food rolls away from my fork)
• crumbled feta cheese (I think i used about a cup of this)
• dry roasted pistachio kernels with sea salt (I used about a cup)
• canned chicken (one can)
• red wine and olive oil vinaigrette dressing

Obviously I didn’t use any measuring cups so amounts are just a guess. It tasted amazing and Jeremy was happy to find that salad actually filled him.

The kids are now in on the other computers looking for recipes for their nights to cook. Melaina gets to find some fish recipes because Jeremy has requested fish Fridays. They all seem pretty excited about the idea of eating better. Well except Ashton but at least he won’t be standing in the kitchen saying he can’t think of anything to cook because I am now making them plan ahead so we can make sure we have the proper ingredients.

Eating Healthy

Melaina has been complaining she wants healthy food. Jeremy has already begun to cut carbs. My Mom and Dad have been doing great on changing the way they eat. I think it is time I do the same.

I have started with the most difficult and the most regularly consumed item in my daily routine. I quit the Dr. Pepper. That meant giving up caffeine as well cause I don’t do coffee. I’m not stressing on the caffeine thing really. If I have a cup of tea fine. I just really needed to eliminate the high fructose corn syrup that is a main ingredient in soda. I can’t switch to diet because aspartame and I have never gotten along.

Now obviously this is going a long way toward controlling my hypoglycemia and will help put off the inevitable diabetes. I am however aware that there has got to be more to do. For instance I need to get rid of the simple carbohydrates and replace them with complex carbohydrates.  No more processed foods and I should eat more fish and chicken. At least salt is not a huge issue for me. quite frankly I don’t really like it and never add it to my foods. I actually prefer the natural taste of things.

So, here is the stumbling block I have just come too in starting this new food adventure. I have to learn to plan meals and shop accordingly. I need to find good healthy recipes that are not too overwhelming for someone who has always hated to cook. I may find after awhile that some recipes that scare me now will be no big deal in the future.

Basically I have all these great ideas and a bit of knowledge about what I can and can’t have but no clue on how to put them together or how to start.

Focus on the positive! Water doesn’t taste so bad after all. An apple makes a great desert. White cheese is better than yellow and I LOVE feta cheese.

Oh think I found something good: Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges and Kalamata Olives Recipe by Jennifer Meier

Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges and Kalamata Olives

Photo by Jennifer Meier

This salad is light and refreshing. The salty but mild Feta pairs well with the Kalamata olives and is a tasty contrast to the oranges.

Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges and Kalamata Olives serves 2-3

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 head butter lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 2/3 cups shelled, unsalted pistachios (either raw or roasted)
• 1/4 lb. Feta, crumbled
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• 2 Mandarin oranges, peeled and separated into wedges
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Preparation:

In a bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, salt and cumin together until well mixed

In a large salad bowl, toss the lettuce with pistachios, Feta, olives and orange wedges. Drizzle the dressing on top. Toss again and serve.