Then why am I not a size 2?

To those hockey fanatics who read my blog (if any)

I do know that I haven't been blogging much about hockey lately

I will get back to it .... 

 ... but in the meantime

I hate to admit it, but when I'm cruising the Internet I often get caught by pictures of healthy women (like the one below), accompanied by a headline such as 25 Nutritional Secrets to Help You Reach Your Goal Weight!



I'm old enough and wise enough to know that there really isn't a quick fix for my weight problem.  The answer is simple, in that I need to eat healthily (and in moderation) and exercise more.  Yet for the past three months I've been doing that and my weight loss is stalled, in fact, it's slowly creeping back up.  I know I just have to keep at it ... I know my incipient state of menopause is throwing my metabolism off ... I know the weight took a long time to go on and it'll take longer to get off ... I know all these things, but a silly little part of me wishes that there was some magic pill that I could take and the weight would just fly off!  Thus I find myself reading these Internet articles in hopes of finding some secret knowledge that will help me on my weight loss journey.

So I just finished reading through 25 Best Nutrition Secrets  that had originally come from the magazine Men's Health and had been reposted on msn.ca.  This is what it told me ...

1.      Drink a second cup of coffee

2.      Keep serving dishes off the table

3.      Think before you drink (i.e. don’t drink pop)

4.      Practice total recall

5.      Eat protein at every meal

6.      Choose whole grain bread

7.      Eat Fish

8.      Sign up for weight loss emails

9.      Cut portions by a quarter

10.  Turn off the TV

11.  Put your fork down when you chew

12.  Choose rye (not wheat) for breakfast bread

13.  Eat a handful of fruit and vegetables every day

14.  Sip green tea

15.  Work out before lunch or dinner

16.  Hungover?  Choose asparagus

17.  Sleep 8 hours a night

18.  Discover Miso Soup (helps lower blood pressure)

19.  Drink two glasses of milk a day

20.  Take a zinc supplement

21.  Go ahead eat your favourite foods (in moderation)

22.  Choose foods with the fewest ingredients

23.  Snack on popcorn (without the butter)

24.  Or snack on walnuts

25.  Scramble your breakfast

Ok - lets deal with this one by one

1.      Drink a second cup of coffee

I have since oooh about 2nd year univeristy which is about 30 years ago (ouch)

2.      Keep serving dishes off the table

I never use serving dishes simply because it adds to the clean up and I like plating meals

3.      Think before you drink (i.e. don’t drink pop)

I don't drink pop, maybe the odd diet coke, but I've never been a pop drinker

4.      Practice total recall

This one means I'm supposed to think of my previous meal before I eat my next meal ... let's be real, sometimes I don't even remember why I came into a room ...

5.      Eat protein at every meal

Always, even when I tried to go vegetarian

6.      Choose whole grain bread

Always, more grain the better!  In fact I get a lot of attitude from the teens in my house over this issue

7.      Eat Fish

Can't - allergy

8.      Sign up for weight loss emails

I do, but usually delete them before reading them, because they're about as helpful as these 25 points

9.      Cut portions by a quarter

I do - John gets the biggest, then Madie, then me - mine is far smaller than John's, but he's loosing weight and I'm not ... sigh

10.  Turn off the TV

I've stopped watching the past few years except for the odd episode of Boston Legal on DVD

11.  Put your fork down when you chew

Always have ... my mother beat this one into me when I was young

12.  Choose rye (not wheat) for breakfast bread

Bit of a contradiction to #6

13.  Eat a handful of fruit and vegetables every day

Fresh veggies for dinner every day, I could do better

14.  Sip green tea
As I type - even drink the decaffinated version which is even better

15.  Work out before lunch or dinner
I work out 4 to 5 days a week before lunch, plus play hockey (which I really have no control over the time)

16.  Hungover?  Choose asparagus
I don't drink enough to get hungover, but I do love asparagus and eat it regularly

17.  Sleep 8 hours a night
Try to do this with night sweats and menopause - lets put it this way - I'm in bed 8 hours a night

18.  Discover Miso Soup (helps lower blood pressure)
My blood pressure is 90/55 - if it gets any lower I'll be dead

19.  Drink two glasses of milk a day
I drink a glass at dinner and put milk in my coffee at breakfast, plus eat nonfat yoghurt

20.  Take a zinc supplement
When I remember  -  see point # 4

21.  Go ahead eat your favourite foods (in moderation)
Dude!  This is what I've been doing!

22.  Choose foods with the fewest ingredients
I don't buy a lot of processed food

23.  Snack on popcorn (without the butter)
What's the point without the butter?  I'd rather go without

24.  Or snack on walnuts
I snack on almonds which are supposed to be even better

25.  Scramble your breakfast
I thought I was supposed to eat rye (see # 12)

Well when it's all said and done, the previous 25 nutritional secrets weren't really secret to me, I've been pretty much following them all along.  Hmmmmm I guess I'll keep looking for that magic pill ... in the meantime I'll keep eating properly and working out.