This Mama Cooks! On a Diet

An Update, Rethinking the Diet Plan and Some Crab

There's nothing like a little minor surgery and a new job to shake things up at home and throw off your weight loss efforts and blogging schedule.

Surgery

I had the surgery on my right knee on November 29 and spent the following weekend recovering from a pain killer and anesthesia hangover. Morphine isn't as much fun as people think. In fact, it made me puke in the hall of the recovery room, and on the way home in the car.

I was so out of it that I couldn't read anything more challenging that People magazine...not that I had a copy around the house. I should have stocked up on videos, but just watched bad TV instead. After a couple of days, the pain killers were making me hyper, itchy and up all night. Thank goodness for Benadryl.

Post-Op and PT

At my post-op appointment, I found out that I have arthritis which makes the cartilage under my knee look like - this was the phrase used by my surgeon - "shredded crab meat." I also had a meniscus tear, so the doctor removed it, and a small ACL tear he left alone.

A week later I started physical therapy two times per week. I have a great guy, Mike, who makes me bend and stretch my knee on my own at home. And then he bends and pushes it even more when I'm there. No wonder PT stands for pain and torture.

I've improved very quickly. I can even ride the stationary bike. After overdoing it the other day (one hour on the bike, one hour in line to see Santa, and walking all over the mall) Mike told me to do no more than 30 minutes on the bike a day plus my exercises. He says that for rehabilitative purposes, overdoing it is a bad idea.

So much for trying to get back on my exercise plan to lose weight.

Where Does the Time Go?

Right after my surgery I started a job as a community manager at a major women's social networking site. So between those 16 hours online and the four I have at PT (including driving time), there's now 20 hours I don't have to plan my food, exercise, read diet blogs for inspiration, eat healthfully, etc. Needless to say, it's been hard to keep up with the Extreme Fat Smash Diet.

Add in all the holiday hoopla (school concerts, shopping and more shopping, writing holiday newsletters, etc.) and it's been impossible to blog, too. So my apologies.

Still, even when I'm done with the PT and the holiday stuff (and all those parties and goodies that have been adding on the weight...sigh) I will be working four mornings a week, then immediately rushing off to take my daughter to school three of those days. It's almost impossible to keep on the Extreme Fat Smash Diet Plan, take breaks, and eat every few hours. I know it's a great idea and a good strategy for weight loss and healthy eating, it's just hard to fit into my life right now.

Reynolds Parchment Paper is not just for holiday cookies

Even though you're trying to lose weight - and all your friends know it - you've probably been invited to a cookie swap party. You know, a party where each participant brings cookies to swap with friends along with a copy of the cookie recipe.

I was invited to two cookie exchanges this month, and I couldn't attend either of them because of a my new job (I'm now a community manager at CafeMom.com), and because I was already going out three times that week to parties and a holiday concert. Like I had time to bake let alone go out two more times!

I really dodged a bullet there and was thankful not to blow my weight loss plan. But just in case you're invited to a cookie exchange - and promise only to indulge a little and to give the rest of the cookies to friends, family and coworkers - you may want to check out ReynoldsSimpleSecrets.com.

(You should also check out my 5 Ways to Avoid Temptation During Bake Sale Season post for some tips to get out of baking yourself or eating everything you make.)

Get a Free Cookie Swap Starter Kit from Reynolds

Reynolds Parchment Paper and cookie exchange hostess, Robin Olson have teamed up to give helpful tips and tricks for a successful cookie exchange this holiday season.

Here's the cool part. You can get a cookie swap starter kit complete with Reynolds parchment paper, recipe cards, invitations, a cookie tin, and tips and tricks for hosting your own cookie swap by signing up here. The nice folks at MS&L Digital sent me one and its worth getting.

Extreme Fat Smash Diet uses for parchment paper

But since you don't want to get side tracked on your weight loss journey, give the recipes and invites to a friend, put your arts and crafts supplies in the tin, and keep the parchment paper to make a delicious, low calorie - Pesto Snapper en Papillote (in paper). This would be a perfect meal on either Weight Watchers (only 4 POINTS per serving) or the Extreme Fat Smash Diet.

(Check out Reynold's other en Papillote recipes.)

Pre-Op, Post Thanksgiving Update

Well, it's been more than a month since I re-injured my knee and been off my weight loss, diet and exercise routine. Parties, get together with friends, and holidays didn't help. (Yes, I've gained back some of the weight I lost.) But I go under the knife - well, the orthoscope - tomorrow. Then it's recovery and probably physical therapy, which means finally being able to (slowly) work out again.

And I'm looking forward to it.

Exercise has helped me feel better physically, especially my back and hips. I slept better, too, when I was able to work out. Since I haven't been able to exercise - though hobbling around can be extremely exhausting - my insomnia is back. And gaining some weight back makes me uncomfortable in my skin.

Here are my goals for the next few weeks:

1. Get back on the Extreme Fat Smash/Celebrity Fit Club diet starting Monday. This should give me enough recuperation time so I'm able to cook up things for myself as well as make a grocery run.
2. As soon as I get the o.k. from the doctor, start exercising again.
3. Cut back on the diet Red Bull and diet Rock Star drinks. They're becoming addictive.
4. Magically forget that there's all that delicious cheese in the refrigerator.
5. Remember that we never got out the shrimp I bought for Thanksgiving due to aforementioned cheese.

Speaking of shrimp, how about a shrimp Extreme Fat Smash Diet recipe to get you motivated?

Extreme Fat Smash Turkey Tacos

With only a couple weeks to Thanksgiving, you probably have turkey on your mind - and in your refrigerator. So how about trying an Extreme Fat Smash turkey dish to stay on your diet and to keep losing weight this holiday season?

Cook up these Turkey Tacos using either ground turkey meat or the equivalent in leftover white meat. If you're doing Weight Watchers, half the recipe as this dish has 12 POINTS. (Ick!)

If you've signed up with Weight Watchers Online, you may want to recalculate the recipe using 1 small corn tortilla and half of everything else. Try eliminating the kidney beans as there is plenty of protein from the turkey, and add more veggies - sauteed pepper strips would be perfect! Add some salsa, too.

Turkey Tacos

Ingredients:

• 2 whole wheat tortillas (you may want to try corn or low carb tortillas instead to decrease calories and POINTS)
• 1 Tbsp. shredded low fat cheddar cheese (if you can, skip this to lower calories and POINTS)
• 1 Tbsp. light sour cream (if you can, skip this to lower calories and POINTS)
• 1/4 cup dark red kidney beans
• 1 Tbsp. diced jalapeno peppers
• 1/2 cup shredded iceburg lettuce or cabbage
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning mix
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and ground turkey and cook until brown. (If you're using leftover white meat, cook onions until translucent then add the chopped up turkey meat to heat up.)
2. Add tomatoes, chilis, taco seasoning and undrained kidney beans. (I've been told that the "juice" in canned beans can give you gas, so you may want to drain and rinse the beans, then add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.)
3. Cover pan and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Warm the tortillas in oven or zap them for 15 seconds in the microwave. If you're using corn tortillas you can gently warm them up in a pan or right on top of the burner. (We have electrical burners and this is what my husband does. When I try it, I ended up burning them.)
5. Fill tortillas with meat mixture. Top with shredded lettuce, shredded cheese and sour cream before serving.

Nutritional Information:

Calories 546
Fat 18.2g
Carbs 66.1g
Fiber 7.7g
Protein 42.3g

Weight Watcher Points = 12

• Click here for a full list of my Extreme Fat Smash Diet recipes.

For more Thanksgiving ideas, check these out:

• Giving thanks for holiday books (Thanksgiving)
• Giving thanks for pumpkin pie
• The Thanksgiving panic continues - keeping the kids busy
• The Thanksgiving panic - it's all about the pie
• Giving thanks for my readers and pumpkin empanadas
• More praise for pumpkins
• Thanksgiving leftovers

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Extreme Fat Smash Eggplant Curry

I love eggplant and was excited to see this recipe when I was going through the Celebrity Fit Club recipe list. I was intrigued that you cooked the eggplant in the oven, then peeled and diced it up. This was similar to how the squash was done in the Weight Watcher's Curry-Apple Butternut Squash Salad. I love this technique because peeling squash and eggplant is such a pain. Cooking it first makes it incredibly easy.

My family also likes curry, so maybe I could make this for them and add some cooked chicken breasts to it. Or maybe some shrimp. Mmmmm.

Eggplant Curry

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 fresh whole eggplant, unpeeled
2. 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3. 1/2 tsp. cumin seed (if you don't have any, substitute 1/4 tsp. cumin powder)
4. 1/2 cup fresh white onions, sliced (yellow or red onions should work well, too)
5. 1 garlic clove
6. 1 Tbsp. ginger root (substitute 1 tsp. of ginger powder if you don't have the fresh stuff)
7. 1-1/2 tsp. curry powder
8. 1 fresh red ripe tomato (small 2 2/5")
9. 1/4 cup low fat plain yogurt (I used non-fat since that's what I normally eat
10. 1 Tbsp. diced jalapeno peppers
11. 1/2 tsp. salt
12. 1 Tbsp. cilantro

Directions:

1. Dice tomato. Mash garlic and ginger together to form a paste.
2. Preheat oven to 450ºF . Place eggplant on a medium baking sheet. Bake 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender. Remove from heat, cool, peel, and chop.
3. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Mix in cumin seeds and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender.
4. Mix ginger garlic paste, curry powder, and tomato into the saucepan, and cook about 1 minute. Stir in yogurt. Mix in eggplant and jalapeno pepper, and season with salt. Cover, and cook 10 minutes over high heat. Remove cover, reduce heat to low, and continue cooking about 5 minutes.
5. Garnish with diced cilantro to serve.

Extreme Fat Smash Tomato-Curry Lentil Stew

This is a recipe that you need a lot of lead time for as it takes over 45 minutes to cook. However, it was worth it - not only was the dish yummy but it was very satisfying (must be all that protein). If you're doing Weight Watchers, this recipe has only 3 POINTS because it's full of fiber and has barely any fat.

Tomato-Curry Lentil Stew
Preparation time: 60 mins
Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup dry lentils
• 1/2 cup water PLUS (I ended up using about 1 1/2 cups of water.)
• 2-1/2 oz. diced tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp. chopped yellow onion
• 1 celery stalk (I didn't have celery in the house, so I substitued a half of a yellow bell pepper, diced. It worked out very well and added some nice color to the dish.)
• 1/8 tsp. curry powder
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 dash salt
• 1 dash ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Chop celery and mince garlic.
2. Combine lentils and water, bring to a boil.
3. Lower heat to simmer, add tomatoes, onion, and celery. Add 1/2 cup of hot water.
4. Cover and let simmer 45 minutes. Check every 15 minutes to stir, and add water if necessary.
5. Add spices last 15 minutes to taste.
6. Taste and re-spice if necessary before serving.

Time Saving Tip: Make up a batch the night before (while you're eating dinner and cleaning up, for example) and reheat the next day.

Nutritional Information:

Calories 210
Fat .1g
Carbs 40.3g
Fiber 8.1g
Protein 15.5g

Weight Watcher Points = 3

• Click here for a full list of my Extreme Fat Smash Diet recipes.

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Week 18: SNAFU

SNAFU - Situation Normal All F*cked Up. I've injured myself once again, the third time since I've started the Extreme Fat Smash Diet. What is wrong with me?

Another boo-boo

I had thought I was nearly healed from July's knee injury, so I ventured out to a light aerobics and stretching class with my mom's club. Within three minutes - I was only moving my hips back and forth - I had reinjured my right knee badly. (I heard it "ping" - yeck!)

Friends had to help me out to the car and my husband and daughter helped get into the house and up to bed. I can barely walk and have to use a cane. But I'm quickly getting better and hope to be walking normally by the end of the week.

I wonder why I injured myself so easily. I was tired that day (my husband has a cold and his coughing has woken me up every night this week until I started wearing ear plugs to bed). Even so, I had worked out for an hour on the stationary bike and was looking forward to the class.

Maybe my right knee is just weak and I need to have surgery and/or physical therapy. I'm not looking forward to my next orthopedist appointment.

My weekend with the Little Chef

I've been on painkillers and anti-inflammatories (left overs from my back injury) since Friday night. I've also been icing my knee. Except for a trip to the hairdressers (my stylist is so popular that it's impossible to reschedule an appointment) I've been stuck in bed with a book, the TV remote, and my laptop.

It hasn't been so bad though. I realize once again what a lovely little girl I have. Lucie (a.k.a. Boo Girl) has been a super helper. She's my own Little Chef. Yesterday, she brought me dinner in bed (her father and brother were out fishing). She made me a cream cheese sandwich on multi-grain bread, and put it in a brown paper bag along with a couple of snack bars. Not a bad effort for a four year old - she even cleaned up the kitchen on her own.

It was fun hanging out in bed with Lucie watching reruns of "America's Next Top Model" while snacking on our sandwiches - even if we got crumbs all over the bed.

Week 17: Delaying the inevitable

Well, it's Wednesday and I usually post on Sunday with my weekly weigh in. As you can see, I've done everything I can to delay reporting in. I didn't have a good week, and now I wish I had one of those Weight Watcher's "free passes" where they let you skip a week's weigh in.

I really gave up on myself eating-wise last week. (Working out went well. I only missed one day.) There were three opportunities where I over-indulged:

• I hosted Boo Girl's playgroup and made egg-free pumpkin and chocolate chip cookies...and ended up eating lots of leftover cookies while watching Ken Burn's The War (The documentary is wonderful but mortifying and absolutely depressing.)
• I went to bunko on Friday night and didn't bring my own food. Instead, I indulged in wine, oatmeal cookies and lots of mini-Mounds bars.
• The family attended a friend's bacon themed party. It was fun and I loved what I made (bacon wrapped water chestnuts and bacon wrapped dates stuffed with cream cheese - good lawd!) However, I had a "bacon hangover" all the next day. I could only imagine how hard my liver was working to process all that pork fat.

So maybe I should be happy that I "only" gained a pound this week. (I'm now at 152.) But I'm not very happy with my behavior. I've got to work more on avoiding temptations.

5 Things Dieters Need in Their Kitchens

(For more Five Things/Ways advice articles, click here.)

Some of these may seem obvious if you like to cook. Sadly, many people don't and they rely on instant food or take out (probably why they gained all that weight!) Relearning how to eat and cook is part of successful weight loss. So before you start your diet, make sure you have these items on hand in your kitchen:

1. Measuring spoons - Get several sets to place around your kitchen. I have a traditional round set in a drawer by the refrigerator and the set of 6 RSVP Spice Measuring Spoons by the stove. The skinny retangular shape of these spoons makes it easy to measure spices right out of the bottle. I also use the large tablespoon one to measure out my Cream of Wheat each morning. It's the only measuring spoon I have that fits right into the hole in the box.

Amazon carries a huge selection of measuring spoons. If I had to buy new ones, I'd get the Nigella Lawson Measuring Spoons. Her six-piece set features a 1 dsp., which is equal to 2 tsp. - an amount that often comes up on Extreme Fat Smash recipes - and a pinch spoon.

2. Measuring cups - When it comes to portion control, most people are way off when they guesstimate. You really need to use your measuring cups faithfully to keep to your diet goals. Again, I like to keep a couple of sets around the kitchen. I also have two large Pampered Chef measuring cups - a 1 quart and a 2 quart - that can be used as mixing bowls. They're similar to the Pyrex Prepware 4-Cup Measuring Cup with Lid and can be used in the microwave or to store food in the refrigerator. Check out Amazon's large variety of measuring cups.

Fat Smash Frittata

I finally got a chance to try the Fat Smash Frittata that I've been promising to blog about for a couple of weeks. It showed up as a breakfast dish last Sunday when I searched for egg dishes, even though I'd only seen it as a dinner option before.

I had hoped to pick it last week, not realizing that it wasn't a Extreme Fat Smash Diet Cycle 1 recipe. (For information on Extreme Fat Smash diet cycles, click here.) This got me into a panic. What was I going to do with all that organic spinach I bought?

Luckily, the spinach was still good, as was the frittata. Next time I'll make it with a spicier cheese, or maybe add a little hot sauce to the egg mixture. I'd also like to try it with another veggie, like roasted peppers or brocolli.

Fat Smash Frittata
Preparation time: 20 mins
Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 2 Tbsp. 1% Milk
• 2 pieces Yves Veggie Cuisine The Good Slice Soy Jalapeno Jack Cheese Substitute (I didn't have this, so I used two slices of reduced fat Swiss instead. Next time, I'll try to find a low fat cheese that has more flavor. The Swiss added a wondeful gooey texture, but no taste.)
• 1 cup boiled spinach (I used fresh baby organic spinach and steamed it in the microwave using a GLAD SimplyCooking microwave steaming bag.)
• 2 Tbsp chopped yellow onion (I used a red onion just for color's sake.)
• 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Beat egg whites together with milk and seasonings of choice. (I used a dash of salt and pepper.) Set aside.
3. In an ovenproof saute pan, saute onion in olive oil until translucent.
4. Add spinach and toss until hot.
5. Spread onion and spinach mixture evenly over bottom of pan.
6. Tear pieces of cheese and lay on top of spinach.
7. Pour egg mixture over top, and cook on stovetop, uncovered, over medium-low heat until egg mixture is about 1/2 set.
8. Transfer to oven and bake about 10-15 minutes, until puffy and eggs are cooked through.

Nutritional Information:

Calories 227
Fat 9.6g
Carbs 11g
Fiber 4.6g
Protein 25.5g

Weight Watcher Points = 5

• Click here for a full list of my Extreme Fat Smash Diet recipes.

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