It’s Getting Expensive to Eat Healthy

Okay I don’t know if everyone else out there has the problem of trying to figure out how you are supposed to eat healthier in this economy.  When the food that’s supposed to be the healthiest for you cost more money and you are trying to budget a certain amount of money for your monthly or even weekly food expenses, it can be so easy to just get what’s not good for you.  It is a problem I constantly struggle with because I want to eat certain things that are the better choice but what I usually have money for is the cheaper option which 9 times out of 10 isn’t the better option.  It’s even harder now because as hard as I tried to keep my daughter from developing the same weight problem that I had as kid, she has already begun to pick up more weight than she is supposed to be weighing.  And she is a very picky eater.  Well I found this recipe online that I think is healthy, that she might like, and that isn’t too expensive to make.  I’m going to try it over the next week or so but I thought that I would share it for anyone out there looking for a new recipe to try.  If someone fixes it before I do let me know how it turns out. 

 

Apple-Glazed Turkey

Makes: 2 servings

Prep: 10 mins
Broil: 9 mins 

Ingredients

• 1 turkey breast tenderloin (about8 ounces)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil or cooking oil

• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage leaves, crushed

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon apple jelly, melted

• 4 very thin slices lemon

• Fresh sage leaves (optional)

 

Directions

Preheat broiler. Split turkey tenderloin in half horizontally to make two portions, each about 1/2 inch thick. Place turkey on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, oil, seasoned salt, dried sage, and garlic. Brush mixture on both sides of each turkey portion.

Broil turkey 4 to5 inchesfrom the heat for 5 minutes. Turn turkey; place lemon slices on turkey. Broil for 2 minutes more. Using a clean brush, brush with apple jelly. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes more or until tender and no longer pink (170 degrees F). Slice the turkey. If desired, garnish with fresh sage leaves. 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

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With A New Year Comes A New Attitude

Okay I know that I haven’t posted anything on here in quite some time now and most of it was due to trying to build up the readership and following on my Write 2 Be blog but there was a part of me that just didn’t know what I had to tell you that was anything different.  But recently I realized that is just crazy to think that because as far as my workout and maintaining my health regimen goes, I am always trying to do new things and challenge myself more.  

Sometime towards the end of November of last year I decided to step off of the treadmill (at least cut down on the frequency) and go into the gym with the guys and run suicides.  I know right, me, run suicides.  I remember saying that I would NEVER ever do that.  Well that would be why people say never say never.  So clearly I couldn’t do what the rest of the guys did because they have been running these things for years, this is nothing new to them.  So while they do their ten sets of ten suicides (yes each set) I started off with just one set.  The following week I moved up to two sets.  By the end of December I was running 4 up to three sets and by the first of this year I was up to five.  Now I can run seven sets of suicides and on most days I am in the gym doing them by myself.  

The guys all quit on me.  Well they went back to focusing on all weights, all the time.  But with me, because I still have lots of weight I want to lose, it’s all mostly Cardio all of the time and a little bit of weights.  One of the guys even told me last week that he was proud of the strides that I have made.  You know what?  I’m proud of me too.  I never in a million years thought that I could even run one set of them things let alone have made it to seven and can easily see me getting to ten by, oh say, March (that’s not a promise).  

I have surprised myself by challenging myself which goes to show you what you miss out on when you don’t challenge yourself to do better, to be stronger, and push past the limits that you have set for yourself in your own mind.  Usually the limits are yours, not your bodies.  Until next time…Don’t forget to go past your limits sometimes because you never know what you might be capable of doing! 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

I confess that…I let life get in my way

Last week I did not go to the gym because life got in the way a little bit.  I had promised myself before that I would never let life get in my way when it came to the gym but I suppose it was bound to happen at some point.  There was no detrimental injury that kept me from going like the last time I missed a few days at the gym.  There were just some things that came up that were unavoidable.  Today was my first day back in over a week and it felt really good.  Now I went in there with the mindset that I was going to do two hours of some intense cardio and light weights and sweat my heart out to begin to make up for the days I had missed.  However, I forgot that when you haven’t gone in over a week and you’re used to going everyday it takes more than a day to get back into the swing of things.  I did my best and I felt good afterwards and I suppose that’s all that really matters.  Now during my week off from the gym I didn’t exactly eat the way I should’ve been eating either but I’m going to make sure to get that back on track as well.  It’s funny because even though I had missed quite a few days and in my mind I was wondering how much damage those few days missed was going to do to my weight loss and how much I had gained in just a week, I got a number of compliments on how much I am losing when I went in there today.  It made me feel good and a lot less bad about the missing days but I know that I can’t afford to make a habit out of that.  Well I’m off to go watch The Biggest Loser and see how inspired I can get for tomorrow morning’s workout.  Until next time…Don’t beat yourself up too bad for the days you might be missing in your workout! 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

I confess that…

I was starting to give in to my own weaknesses 

Okay so I was feeling guilty before when I had to miss two days out of the gym and I had made peace with knowing that I was doing so to preserve my mobility.  But when I watched the Biggest Loser the other night I, once again, felt guilty and questioned whether or not I was using my problem with my knee as an excuse.  

Here is this woman on the show, in her forties, with a knee injury so bad that her cartilage around it is starting to wear away, and she has to walk on crutches.  She had to be reduced to doing workouts that either don’t involve using her legs at all or where she can get away with just using one of her legs.  Now everyone on the ranch working out on the other teams were all thinking what I was sitting at home thinking.  She was either going to end up gaining weight or losing a really low amount of weight because she was injured, how much could she have realistically lost.  Well she lost 16lbs, more than she had ever lost since in any given week since she had been on the ranch.  I was blown away, as were the rest of the people on that ranch, with her achievement.  This woman lost 16lbs and her injuries are way more severe than my little hurt knee and here I am thinking that this is a time for me to actually take a break.  

What was I thinking?  Now yes I know that everyone’s bodies are different, and no one person’s pain is more or less than another person’s.  We don’t all go through the same things the same way but she’s older than me, more injured than I am, and I am taking a break from what exactly; the extended quality of my life?  See how this show can be a blessing and a curse all at once.  In one instance you are mad because the people on the show make it look so easy to do in months what people on the outside of that ranch have to work months, sometimes years, to do.  But in another instance you can not be anything but impressed and inspired and motivated by the people there.  

This woman just motivated me to not let my pain or whatever weaknesses I do have be the reason that I don’t push myself to do more and do better.  We’re only given this one life to make the most of with whatever we’ve got so I’ve got to kick things up a notch.  How, you say?  Well I haven’t quite figured that part out yet but when I know, I’ll let you know.  Until next time…Don’t let your weaknesses cripple you!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

I confess that…

I feel guilty that I need a break 

I am feeling bad today because not only did I not go to the gym today, but I didn’t go yesterday either.  I had an issue with my knee that just wouldn’t go away and it felt like if I were to try and walk two miles on it, something was going to go terribly wrong and I might not be able to go to the gym for the rest of the week either.  I know it sounds like an excuse but I really do have bad knees coupled with arthritis and my knee felt so stiff over the weekend and Monday morning that I thought it would be best to rest it.  If I kill myself (or in this case completely injure my body) then what good is trying to lose weight?  So I am allowing myself a two day break and as guilty as I feel about it I will have to be okay with it.  Everyone needs a break every once in a while right?  Well I guess I’ll go back to resting my knee.  Until next time…Remember to take your breaks when you need them!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

I confess that…

I feel broken down when I should be feeling stronger 

I thought that when you are working out in order to lose weight that it is supposed to make your muscles stronger as well as remove the fat (slowly of course).  You are supposed to gain more strength and as the fat melts away you’re supposed to be able to move around better.  Well I am finding out that that is not always true.  In the beginning of this journey I did feel stronger and more mobile but it seems that the harder I push myself and the more that I am physically able to do while actually working out, the more my body feels like it’s falling apart after the workout and throughout the rest of the day.  I feel more pain in my knees and in my feet and my ankles than I did before I could do half the things that I do in the gym now.  I couldn’t run on the treadmill when I started working out and now that I can run on the treadmill, it makes my knees hurt worse when I get off.  I just don’t get it.  The weight is coming off (a little too slowly for my taste), and the at the actual moments that I work out in the gym I feel strong, almost like there isn’t anything I can’t do.  But as soon as I drive myself home and get settled then comes the pain.  Don’t let me actually lie down for a little bit of rest, once I get up I can barely walk cause my feet hurt so bad.  I asked someone in the gym for advice and told them what was going on and they tell me that yeah the working out helps with the weight loss and it does eventually build you up stronger, but the key word is eventually.  They said while it’s melting away the fat it is also breaking down your muscles as well.  The advised me to start taking protein shakes because that would help to restore the muscles and improve their mobility as well as other healthy benefits.  Now why didn’t anyone tell me before?  I might have actually thought that it was worth the $20 to spend at the GNC store to buy something that will keep me from feeling broken down after actually working out.  So the first available $20 that I get, guess what I am going to go out and get?  That’s right, the protein shake.  So my tip to all of you today that might be having the same problem as I am (cause I really hope I’m not the only one with this issue) is to go get you some Whey Protein Powder and they also come in different flavors so it doesn’t have to taste nasty.  Oh the things I still need to discover about the road to healthiness.  Until next time…Keep working, even through the pain, it’s still worth it!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

I confess that…

I sometimes wonder, does my weight hold me back 

I was thinking yesterday about my weight loss journey and how much size plays a part in people’s lives, mostly in terms of a person’s health.  But I was more so thinking about whether or not size really plays a part in the aspect of love.  Is my weight the reason that I am not married yet?  Is it the reason why the word love is used towards me but the actions are never there to back it up?  I mean I would like to think that people would love a person based solely on a person’s heart and their character and personality and the chemistry between two people.  I would like to think that but I don’t think I am that naïve anymore.  

I remember in high school there was this guy that I was friends with and that I grew to like on a level more than friendship and his actions in many ways demonstrated that he felt the same way.  I remember over hearing him tell one of his buddies that he would love to go out with me and date me if I were to lose a little weight (yes my weight problem goes back that far).  I was hurt and I was crushed, not just because he said he wouldn’t want to date me, but that he was so shallow and superficial to not date me on the basis of my weight.  I know that was high school but things really don’t change that much once people grow into adults.  

I hear constantly on these weight loss shows and when these overweight celebrities lose weight that they want to lose weight so they can fall in love because no one is ever going to love them at that size or that they finally found love once they’ve loss the weight.  I found myself thinking yesterday if I was to lose weight at a quicker rate somehow, would that enable me to find love faster, or rather find someone who is willing to love me from the inside out.  Why is it that a person who is overweight has to lose the weight for people to suddenly see them for who they are?  A person is not what they look like and they shouldn’t be treated as if they would be any better of a person if they were to lose weight and all of a sudden look more appealing to the eye.  

Now I started this weight loss journey because I wanted to be healthier and I want to make sure that I am around for a very long time for my daughter, but I can admit that I would like to look really hot in a dress or wear certain clothes that they seem to only make for a certain size woman.  However, this journey is showing me more and more that I am beautiful, both inside and out, but also that I wouldn’t want someone who was only coming around because I suddenly loss weight.  I wouldn’t want someone to just start showing their love for me because I look a certain way.  If they can’t love me from the inside first then why would I want anything to do with them?  

I wonder about all of these celebrities and people on weight loss shows that suddenly find love after the fact of them losing weight.  What if they were to gain any of that weight back or, heaven forbid, all of it?  Would that person still stay there?  Would they somehow find a reason that the relationship isn’t working out?  I don’t like the phrase that beauty is only skin deep because I think that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface of our skin.  We are what is inside our hearts, not the circumference of our bodies.  Until next time…Instead of waiting for someone else that can love the skin you are in, love the person you are underneath the surface of your own skin!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

I confess that…

I am so glad I am not that woman 

Okay I know that I have an issue with my weight.  That I eat for comfort.  That I sometimes eat to sooth my worries and anxiety.  I am not delusional enough to think that, even in my successes of losing a good amount of weight, I am out of the danger zone of having major health issues.  So when I see someone who is more than triple my weight, and I mean my weight when I started this weight loss journey about a hundred pounds ago, my heart gets heavy with sadness at the fact that they clearly can’t see the risk they are putting themselves and their loved ones through.  On the Dr. Oz show today there was a woman who weighs around750 lbs. (yes I typed that right) and she wants to be bigger.  She had the audacity to sit there with a straight face and tell him that she did not have a problem because all of her numbers as far as medical tests were on the level that they should be and that she was proud to be that size.  However, the numbers say that she has a body mass index of 128 (normal range is 18.5-25) which is in a category that hasn’t even been created yet on the BMI charts.  Her glucose is 156 and normal blood sugar is supposed to be under 100 so despite the fact that she says she doesn’t have diabetes, she is well into a state of being diabetic.  She said she would do something if her 2 sons expressed to her that she needed to do something but despite the fact that they said they are scared that she is going to die and leave them she says they don’t really have a problem with her weight.  What’s more is that she told Doctor Oz that she did not need his help.  You can’t help those that don’t want the help and that are not willing to help themselves.  It frustrated me because here I am over here trying my best to lose weight, sometimes literally killing myself (at least that’s what it feels like at the time) trying to do whatever I need to do that is going to work.  And here this woman is just willingly committing suicide by food.  I used to put off doing anything about my weight because I didn’t like the idea of trying to conform to what society thought I should look like, or the idea that people considered beauty to be something that lied in what the number on the scale says.  When I realized that it wasn’t about what society thought the standards of a beautiful woman should be, but rather the health that was beginning to suffer because of the weight, that’s when I woke up.  I just hope and pray that this woman that was on Dr. Oz starts to take her health seriously and gains control of her weight and  that she wakes up sooner rather then later, at the very least, for the sake of her children.  Until next time…Always remember, the numbers don’t lie. 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

I confess that…

I don’t think I’ll ever really get to that safe place 

Okay I think that I have done something bad.  I made the mistake of thinking that I was in that safe place on my weight loss journey.  You know that place where you know you are consistently working out at the gym (or at home) and you are keeping your meals pretty healthy, both in portion size and in the method you cook, and you think “hey I can reward myself just a little for all my hard work at maintaining this healthy lifestyle”.  I hear trainers on the biggest loser say all the time that you want to eat healthy but you also want to incorporate the foods you like into your diet to make sure that it doesn’t become a chore; something to the effect that you are allowed to reward yourself every once in a while for your good healthy behavior.  Well I think that I might have been taking a little too much advantage of that adage and rewarding myself a bit too heavily lately.  Now I haven’t been consuming large amounts of cakes or pies or cookies (okay a few Oreo cookies, but who’s counting) or ice cream (oh yeah there was that one bowl, or two, the other week-not in the same day of course) but even though the snacks I chose are healthy, I feel like they may have been consumed in abundance.  So I think I have to somehow sit down and rework my plan, workout, meals, everything because per advice that I have gotten from one of my gym buddies, you have to adjust your plan every so often to go along with the progress that you make and I have gotten so used to doing something that I thought was working and I have gotten a lot relaxed in my diet.  I think I might have to go back to the beginning of this journey when I put myself on a strict diet and carefully monitored what I ate.  I just don’t want to get back off track all because I felt that I was in that pocket of safeness.  When you are a person trying to lose weight and become a healthier individual, especially when you have struggled with it for most of your childhood and all of your adult life, you have to constantly monitor and stay on top of how you are working out by always asking yourself, is your workout doing enough, is it causing injury, is your body too used to your workout and you need to adjust it?  You also have to stay on top of your eating habits as well by making sure you are cooking your food in the healthiest way, asking yourself are you eating too much, are you eating enough, that you are snacking on the right snacks.  I guess when it comes to living a healthier lifestyle you just can’t ever be too safe.  So I guess I have some planning to do.  Just when I think I’m on the right track I realize I still have so much more to do.  Until next time…Don’t get too safe in your plan. 

                                                     

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

I confess that…

I never knew losing weight would change that! 

I’m not exactly comfortable in being this open with all of you out there so this blog post will probably be a short one, but nevertheless this blog is about coming out of my shell.  There’s something else that losing weight has done for me that I never even thought about when I started this journey.  When I said in the previous post that I have a lot more confidence now, I didn’t just mean in my everyday life as far as believing in my talent and my ability to accomplish goals.  I had no idea just how much my sex life could change during the process of me losing weight.  Now I have never had any complaints in that area beforehand but since I have been losing weight the compliments have gotten a thousand times better.  The feeling of being able to do things I couldn’t do before (not going to go into details) or being way more flexible than I was before has done wonders.  More so, the confidence gained has spilled over into this area of my life as well because my confidence in the bedroom makes me more willing to try different things that I never thought I could do before.  Better sex is definitely an added bonus to losing weight and that much more of an incentive.  I just wanted to share that and now that I feel completely exposed, I’m going to end this post and hope that there is at least one person out there that understands where I’m coming from and exactly what I mean.  Until next time…what are your added bonuses?

                                                    

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress