I am so happy to report that I am back in the studio, making a new quilt, working title; Andy's Quilt, inspired by Andy Goldsworthy. At this time, it has a look of some of Jason Pollen's early work, but I had been a longtime fuser when I first saw his work and found a resemblance then. Hey, its all just fabric stips for heaven sakes! Who owns that?
I just put away all the works I have lugged around all this year, teaching and showing, and realized that I have reached the legal limit on quilt storage in my special closet made for holding rolls of quilts. What to do?
Luckily I came up with an idea, and it already has started to work. I put an APB out on the PAQA list (Professional Art Quilters Alliance, www.artquilters.com) detailing my need to unload this work, to some needy office, nursing home, anywhere that wants free artwork for an extended loan. Now this stash includes some prize winners, some published works, some class samples of workshops no longer taught, and of course some bow-wows. Remember, a bow-wow is in the eyes of the beholder.
Yesterday my planted seed already yielded some great fruit. Gerri Macsai, my adopted mother ( another story) lives in an 'elegant building' in Evanston which has a party room that they have turned into a gallery space. She has taken me up on the offer to hang my excess there! I am delighted.
Gerry is also a quilt artist, of exceptional originality and is the mother of fabulously successful children, including Aaron Macsai, jeweler of national acclaim, Gwen Macsai, tv writer, essayist and currently host on WBEZ's Re:Sound, another daughter, merely a surgeon, and me, adopted at my insistence. I figure it's not too late to be influenced by a successful-kid-raising mom. (I'm hardly any bother, really).
As if that wasn't enough, I also got a call from a woman at the Algonquin Public Library, where I have already scouted as a possible hanging site, and she is having the 'proper' person call me today to arrange a show. My friend Anne Lullie has already had a show there, so I know how I will hang mine.
And if that isn't enough to make me happy, I also got the long awaited call from Peter Mancuso, inviting me to teach again at PIQF (www.quiltfest.com) next October! Hurray!! I will be teaching four times in California next year. I love it there and feel that I fit right in with the color of the place. Sigh. All is good.
Then the doorbell rings and it's a woman from the State of Illinois, who wants to know why I haven't filed my state sales tax forms for 2003. Heck I just finally got 2002 straightened out with the state! I explained my retirement, and that I wanted to keep my resale number and yada yada yada, and she whipped out the form, put zeros everywhere, and had me sign it. Tada! I am in compliance. Then she left.
Good thing she showed up on my perfect day!
David Walker (http://www.davidwalker.us/) has begun working on revamping my website and I am thrilled with the results so far. His work is so inventive and we are so in sync on this design. I couldn't be more thrilled. (I will announce it's premiere, sometime in December). He has also started shooting B&W digitals, and they are so great that I can't wait to have some time to play in that vein too. Technique lust rears its ugly head.
So that was all yesterday. Notice I didn't mention my diet. I was pretty diligent and had merely the four ounces of protein and brocolli for lunch, but worked til six and then started dinner, turkey salad (lots of mayo) and had a coupla glasses of white wine, just to finish off the bottle. By the time we ate it was nearly 8pm. I was so ready for bed and that means it all just sits there.
I am sitting on it as we speak.
I will behave today. I will eat before Dave gets home. I hope that will do the trick. Yada yada yada.
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Monday, November 29, 2004
Mitered Square Vest
Mitered Square Vest from the book Dazzling Knits. I used mostly dk and worsted wools for this, but threw in some leftovers sox yarns too. It all seems to work. The pattern called for a shorter vest but when I finished it, I realized I needed another row at the bottom. No problemo. With this kind of knitting, one can easily pick up along the edge and none's the wiser.
When did I get all that gray hair?
Not to mention the wrinkles! If I look surprised it may be just that I never noticed how much more salty my salt and pepper hair color has become. If I didn't notice I assume no one else has either. This may be a good thing to remember. We are all so busy worrying about how we look to each other that we really don't pay that much attention to the other guy's looks.
This is all goes to starting my new regime today. I also weighed in at 5.5 lbs. too much. Thanksgiving was one thing, but then I had to go and cook a turkey just for Dave and me yesterday. Like we needed a whole turkey?
It's 11:15 am and I am about to eat my first meal of the day. RESTRAINT.
These two hats are my weekend knitting output. I got the pattern from my friend Frieda, www.friestyle.com. She was wearing her version, ever so tasteful, on Friday on our mad After Thanksgiving Shopping Spree, and I realized that I needed one too. My short hair was not keeping my head warm. Turns out, she had given me the pattern eons ago and when I found it I was happy to see that I had everything necessary to make one, right here in my vast stash. I have two coats that I wear in the cold, one red and one black, plus a new black and white knitted Dale of Norway cardigan, which doubles as a car coat. I had a purchased black tam, but really didn't feel it was cute enough to satisfy. Now that I have these I am delighted to have found a simple and quick remedy.
Here's the pattern, from memory.
Gauge: 3 sts per inch using whatever yarn and needles will acheive that gauge. I used 10.5 circular and dp needles and used Lambspride worsted, doubled for the black one, carrying along an eyelash until it ran out. You will need about 130 yards of your preferred yarn. The red one uses Lambspride worsted (not doubled), but with Moustache carried along, which is pretty much like Funny, only I got it on sale, so it was more expensive initially.
Cast on 70 stitches, in the round, and knit until it measures ten inches. Divide into five sections of 14 sts on dp needles and decrease (K2 tog) at the end of each needle until there are only 5 sts. remaining. Cut yarn leaving a 5 inch tail and thread thru the remaining sts. Tie off and wear!
Couldn't be easier.
I knit while watching a great film on dvd (www.netflix.com). Andy Goldsworthy Rivers and Tides, Working with Time. It is about the process and art of Andy who sculpts with natural materials, such as ice, stone, leaves and sticks. I was so inspired that I must go and make a quilt like his work. Don't I have any ideas of my own? Yes! My great idea is to steal his idea. You can rest assured that my quilt will be made from fabric and if I didn't tell you that it was his sculpture that inspired it, you would not guess.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Getting back to making art
Thanksgiving is over, and I've done my obligatory frenzied shopping, cleared a space to work and now that my studio is all cleaned up, I guess I have no reason not to jump right in and make something!
How black and white it looks at this stage, ready for my art-mess-making to enliven it.
Where will I begin?
The color red
RED, the crayon we all fought over in kindergarten. Blood red, tomato red, fire engine red, red sails in the sunset, red baiting, red sox, Red Rose, Red Rover, Red letter, red cross, red light...
I could go on and on.
For me red symbolizes so much. It is an unequivocal color; lighten it and it becomes pink, a totally different color. Darken it and it becomes the color of dried blood, also not the same. Purity is a red color, and vice versa. It says "I'm confident". Non-whimpy! Pure red is triumphant, overcoming, declarative.
When I am at my most secure, I wear red. When asserting my identity, I choose red as my self expression. I am currently knitting a vibrant red hat. My tea this morning was brewed in a red teakettle. My shoes are red, as well as the towels in my bathroom. I like shopping at Target because of the red bullseye symbols all over the store. Where is the red in my studio? It's all black and white.
Why haven't I used red more in my artwork?
I am challenging myself to do this. Make a work that uses red as its subject.
Time passes.
I just looked back through my collected works and see that red is used liberally, but never just by itself. I seems that it would look just flat without the contrasting colors of turq or green.
Nevermind.
I could go on and on.
For me red symbolizes so much. It is an unequivocal color; lighten it and it becomes pink, a totally different color. Darken it and it becomes the color of dried blood, also not the same. Purity is a red color, and vice versa. It says "I'm confident". Non-whimpy! Pure red is triumphant, overcoming, declarative.
When I am at my most secure, I wear red. When asserting my identity, I choose red as my self expression. I am currently knitting a vibrant red hat. My tea this morning was brewed in a red teakettle. My shoes are red, as well as the towels in my bathroom. I like shopping at Target because of the red bullseye symbols all over the store. Where is the red in my studio? It's all black and white.
Why haven't I used red more in my artwork?
I am challenging myself to do this. Make a work that uses red as its subject.
Time passes.
I just looked back through my collected works and see that red is used liberally, but never just by itself. I seems that it would look just flat without the contrasting colors of turq or green.
Nevermind.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
The No Will Power Necessary Diet
Buy an ounce scale.
Read labels, as everything has sugar in it.
Do NOT skip meals.
At each meal have four ounces of protein, which can be 8 oz of fat free sugar free yoghurt
or two eggs any style
or 4 oz of 2% cottage cheese
or 4 oz of deli meat
or a 6 oz can of tuna drained (water packed)
or 4 oz of meat or fish of your choice
Breakfast
4 oz of protein and one fruit
(I like a banana and 5 strawberries)
Or 4 oz of cottage cheese and an 8 oz can of pineapple
Lunch
4 oz of protein and two veggies
Dinner
4 oz protein and three veggies
NO SUGAR, NO STARCH*, NO NUTS,NO CHEESE.
NO BOOZE (at least for the first 25 pounds)
You may have 1 t of oil or butter with each meal and if you are having a salad and then up to 2 T salad dressing.
*No starch means, no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, popcorn, corn, peas and beans. These all convert to sugar in the body and result in making you hungry.
Do not skip meals, and try to vary your veggies so that you are getting different colors, not just green. Carrots, tomatoes, broccoli for example. Green beans and yellow beans are fine, but stay away from starchy beans, like pinto, garbanzo, kidney etc.
For the first month, make a meal plan and stick to it. This means writing down everything that you will eat for that day. You will learn the diet better if you have to think ahead.
Try to analyze why you got fat in the first place. Self indulgence? Masking depression? Frustrations? Fear? etc.
Make the necessary changes in your life to remove those reasons, as if that were that easy!
My best wishes for your good health and feeling fit.
Being Counted
I voted for Kerry and Obama, which took no courage, merely common sense. I live in the most conservative county in Illinois, the only one that went solidly for what's his name, Alan Keyes. We still see Keyes placards on major highways in the area.
I joke that we live on Main Street under the name of Johnson, and no one would suspect that we are radicals. Being a Democrat in this town makes us radicals. So when I rented the dvd Fahrenheit 9/11, I expected to be riled slightly, but knew it would be preaching to the converted. O, if it were only so.
We watched the film and got more and more upset as Michael Moore presented Bush and his minions in various scenarios, with restraint and soft spoken narration. Interviews with soldiers in terrible situations, Iraqi family members standing before their bombed out homes, fat cats in white tie and tails, (his 'base'), toasting Bush, veterans in hospitals with missing limbs, and a mother, who encouraged her son to join the military to serve his country and garner education benefits, who wept bitterly when he was among the many killed in Iraq; all these scenes added to my revoltion.
A clip of Bush declaring the end of major combat on board that carrier, dressed in his flight suit, was such a disgusting act, especially considering how premature it was, and because he was in effect taking credit for a non-existent victory. This was so sickening that I thought 'It can't get any worse'. Wrong again. There was a shot of a host of young military men and women as they stood behind him during another victory speech, looking so familar that it recalled for me a newsreel from WWII, with the beautiful young men of the Third Reich standing behind their leader. True believers, or merely patriots being swept up in a fervor of falsehoods, locked into a role, doomed to carrying out the machinations of this bafflingly outrageous lie.
There must have been faithful Germans during that time that were totally against the regime, outnumbered and fearful of speaking out. We know that many left their country, and others worked against the government to their own demise. As an innocent, years ago, I wondered where I would have stood had I been in their shoes. Would I have stood by and watched, keeping my mouth shut, going along with it all, being a patriot? I would hope not.
But now I am in a similar place. I can understand not leaving my country, this being my only home, where I work, near my family, my friends, all that I cherish. But I can't let this regime speak for me, send young people, most of them altruist, immature, under-educated and under-employed, to bomb Iraqis, who as far as I can tell had nothing whatsoever to do with Osama Bin Laden, didn't back Saddam and don't have anything to do with oil profits for the Carlisle Group, the Saudi royal family or the Bush royal family.
I can not allow anyone to think that because I am an American that I agree with the actions of my government, that I believe the Iraqis don't love peace as much as we do, that we have any business doing what we are doing in that country to those poor people.
I feel helpless and ashamed. I blame Bush for these feelings.
I'm all for moral values, and especially those which call for peace, truth and responsibility. I don't believe we need to live in fear of the enemy abroad when we have a much bigger enemy right here, in the Whitehouse.
I joke that we live on Main Street under the name of Johnson, and no one would suspect that we are radicals. Being a Democrat in this town makes us radicals. So when I rented the dvd Fahrenheit 9/11, I expected to be riled slightly, but knew it would be preaching to the converted. O, if it were only so.
We watched the film and got more and more upset as Michael Moore presented Bush and his minions in various scenarios, with restraint and soft spoken narration. Interviews with soldiers in terrible situations, Iraqi family members standing before their bombed out homes, fat cats in white tie and tails, (his 'base'), toasting Bush, veterans in hospitals with missing limbs, and a mother, who encouraged her son to join the military to serve his country and garner education benefits, who wept bitterly when he was among the many killed in Iraq; all these scenes added to my revoltion.
A clip of Bush declaring the end of major combat on board that carrier, dressed in his flight suit, was such a disgusting act, especially considering how premature it was, and because he was in effect taking credit for a non-existent victory. This was so sickening that I thought 'It can't get any worse'. Wrong again. There was a shot of a host of young military men and women as they stood behind him during another victory speech, looking so familar that it recalled for me a newsreel from WWII, with the beautiful young men of the Third Reich standing behind their leader. True believers, or merely patriots being swept up in a fervor of falsehoods, locked into a role, doomed to carrying out the machinations of this bafflingly outrageous lie.
There must have been faithful Germans during that time that were totally against the regime, outnumbered and fearful of speaking out. We know that many left their country, and others worked against the government to their own demise. As an innocent, years ago, I wondered where I would have stood had I been in their shoes. Would I have stood by and watched, keeping my mouth shut, going along with it all, being a patriot? I would hope not.
But now I am in a similar place. I can understand not leaving my country, this being my only home, where I work, near my family, my friends, all that I cherish. But I can't let this regime speak for me, send young people, most of them altruist, immature, under-educated and under-employed, to bomb Iraqis, who as far as I can tell had nothing whatsoever to do with Osama Bin Laden, didn't back Saddam and don't have anything to do with oil profits for the Carlisle Group, the Saudi royal family or the Bush royal family.
I can not allow anyone to think that because I am an American that I agree with the actions of my government, that I believe the Iraqis don't love peace as much as we do, that we have any business doing what we are doing in that country to those poor people.
I feel helpless and ashamed. I blame Bush for these feelings.
I'm all for moral values, and especially those which call for peace, truth and responsibility. I don't believe we need to live in fear of the enemy abroad when we have a much bigger enemy right here, in the Whitehouse.
Friday, November 26, 2004
The Biggest Shopping Day of the Year
I've gone from 'Let's JUST EAT' to 'I'm Never eating again!'
There was a promise that I would show the after of the roast beef, but it was devoured before any cameras could be whipped out. Yummamente! Everything was delicious and the company was delightful. Frieda's family is so outgoing and appreciative, and we had so many laughs. It was a perfect day.
The night however was restless. After a few coffees with Bailey's, we switched to straight Bailey's and you know where this is heading.
I decided that we needed music in the bedroom, along with zillions of candles. So I brought up my boombox****, (it's red and matches my new Tommy Hilfiger red down comforter) the remote control, and the Andrea Bocelli Romanza cd. Good music to lie and bed and commune to.
Adults only moment...
Afterward, we blew out the candles, and without my glasses I tried to turn off the boombox from the remote. I hit every button several times before discovering I was holding it upside down. Finally I got the thing right and it went silent.
At precisely Midnight, the boombox lit up and began to play the Bocelli! I leapt out of bed and again pushed every button until it went dark and silent. At that point I realized that my head was gigantic and pounding, so I went for water.
Big gulps of head-clearing water and back under the covers.
While I was out, Jet the pet found his way in and set up camp between Dave and me.
Minutes later, head still pounding, I felt an urgent need of a haircut. (reference: NPR's Car Talk; Tom and Ray Magliozzi; euphemism for needing a bathroom break).
Returning to bed I was lulled by the gentle zzzz's emitting from Dave and the rhythmic purring from Jet. Regular breathing became snoring and tossing and turning soon followed, arousing Jet who preceded to jump on my lower abdomen, resulting in another urgent haircut.
I remembered that I left a bottle of ibuprophen in the bathroom and finding it in the dark was simple. Opening it was not. Eventually I downed the necessary two with great swallows of water, followed moments later by another haircut trip.
Back in bed, Dave is whistling and gurgling . Experience has taught me that the only way I will ever be able to get back to sleep is to get him a drink of water...
I do.
He stops.
I sleep.
Another haircut.
OK, so it's 5am and time for Dave to get up and go to work. Jet agrees that the night is over, and I should get out of bed too and let Popeye out. Jet is deaf and his compensating meow is so loud that we worry the neighbors will complain. Popeye refuses to ask for anything for himself, he's from Minnesota, and relies on Jet to articulate his needs. Fifteen meows and I'm outta bed, holding the front door open wide and the dumb cat just stands there, waiting and sniffing
while the cold wintry air floats over my bare feet.
I surrender.
That's it for me. I'm awake and ready to face the busiest shopping day of the year.
****http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008W7LF/ref=e_de_a_smp/102-7107026-1006521?v=glance&s=electronics&vi=pictures&img=14#more-pictures
There was a promise that I would show the after of the roast beef, but it was devoured before any cameras could be whipped out. Yummamente! Everything was delicious and the company was delightful. Frieda's family is so outgoing and appreciative, and we had so many laughs. It was a perfect day.
The night however was restless. After a few coffees with Bailey's, we switched to straight Bailey's and you know where this is heading.
I decided that we needed music in the bedroom, along with zillions of candles. So I brought up my boombox****, (it's red and matches my new Tommy Hilfiger red down comforter) the remote control, and the Andrea Bocelli Romanza cd. Good music to lie and bed and commune to.
Adults only moment...
Afterward, we blew out the candles, and without my glasses I tried to turn off the boombox from the remote. I hit every button several times before discovering I was holding it upside down. Finally I got the thing right and it went silent.
At precisely Midnight, the boombox lit up and began to play the Bocelli! I leapt out of bed and again pushed every button until it went dark and silent. At that point I realized that my head was gigantic and pounding, so I went for water.
Big gulps of head-clearing water and back under the covers.
While I was out, Jet the pet found his way in and set up camp between Dave and me.
Minutes later, head still pounding, I felt an urgent need of a haircut. (reference: NPR's Car Talk; Tom and Ray Magliozzi; euphemism for needing a bathroom break).
Returning to bed I was lulled by the gentle zzzz's emitting from Dave and the rhythmic purring from Jet. Regular breathing became snoring and tossing and turning soon followed, arousing Jet who preceded to jump on my lower abdomen, resulting in another urgent haircut.
I remembered that I left a bottle of ibuprophen in the bathroom and finding it in the dark was simple. Opening it was not. Eventually I downed the necessary two with great swallows of water, followed moments later by another haircut trip.
Back in bed, Dave is whistling and gurgling . Experience has taught me that the only way I will ever be able to get back to sleep is to get him a drink of water...
I do.
He stops.
I sleep.
Another haircut.
OK, so it's 5am and time for Dave to get up and go to work. Jet agrees that the night is over, and I should get out of bed too and let Popeye out. Jet is deaf and his compensating meow is so loud that we worry the neighbors will complain. Popeye refuses to ask for anything for himself, he's from Minnesota, and relies on Jet to articulate his needs. Fifteen meows and I'm outta bed, holding the front door open wide and the dumb cat just stands there, waiting and sniffing
while the cold wintry air floats over my bare feet.
I surrender.
That's it for me. I'm awake and ready to face the busiest shopping day of the year.
****http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008W7LF/ref=e_de_a_smp/102-7107026-1006521?v=glance&s=electronics&vi=pictures&img=14#more-pictures
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Wretched Excess
Nigella Lawson, http://www.nigella.com/ buxom British cooking wench on the Style cable network was being interviewed on my local NPR station, WBEZ, about her new cookbook Feasts, and she opined that the best thing about Thanksgiving was that it was a feast about feasting. I so agree. One may stop and think about what one is thankful for occasionally during the season, but what one really focuses on is the great big meal one will eat.
OK, enough of this 'one' bidness. I'm talking about me and food again.
I love the prospect of making lucious vittles and watching my guests get stuffed, groan and moan, and then eat some more. I love setting the table and having a real dining room with seating for 8, finally after all these years.
Yesterday my wonderful neighborhood Home Depot came through with the perfect centerpiece florals for me, and at a fabu price. Poinsetta plants, in 4.5inch pots surrounded by red foil, for $.99 each. I bought a dozen. My dining table is crammed with six and I will liberally sprinkle the remaining six on surfaces around the room. That's what I call wretched excess.
Then the darling husband, and aforementioned meatcutter, came home with a superb Black Angus Rib Roast. Omigod! Nine pounds of beautifully marbled goodness. I took a picture of the before and will promise to include a picture of the after, before it is all devoured.
There is more than enough wine on hand for this dinner (Baron de Rothschild Mouton Cadet Bordeaux, 2002) and two bottles of Bailey's for imbibing at dessert. As requested I found an Eli's cheesecake with four quarters in different flavors. Six guests, four slices of cheesecake? Well, I'm not havin' any. My vice, my desire, my passion is Pumpkin Pie, with Cool Whip, or vice versa.
Cream: Whipping Cream, Sour Cream, half and half. I have found a way to include this sensual liquid in almost everything on the menu. Look out arteries, here it comes. It's in the Mushroom Bisque, and the Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and the Horseradish Creme sauce for the roast beef, and in the after dinner coffee.
Where's my girdle?
I'm using my white damask table cloth and white/goldthreaded placemats, with gold chargers on the placesettings. It seems a shame to use stainless flatware with this set up but the gold flatware I got from Target last year rusted after one use, and went right back to the store. Now I can't get up the oomph for buying another set.
I can only hope that my guests will overlook this faux pas. Now that Martha is incarcerated, this whole society has gone down hill.
OK, enough of this 'one' bidness. I'm talking about me and food again.
I love the prospect of making lucious vittles and watching my guests get stuffed, groan and moan, and then eat some more. I love setting the table and having a real dining room with seating for 8, finally after all these years.
Yesterday my wonderful neighborhood Home Depot came through with the perfect centerpiece florals for me, and at a fabu price. Poinsetta plants, in 4.5inch pots surrounded by red foil, for $.99 each. I bought a dozen. My dining table is crammed with six and I will liberally sprinkle the remaining six on surfaces around the room. That's what I call wretched excess.
Then the darling husband, and aforementioned meatcutter, came home with a superb Black Angus Rib Roast. Omigod! Nine pounds of beautifully marbled goodness. I took a picture of the before and will promise to include a picture of the after, before it is all devoured.
There is more than enough wine on hand for this dinner (Baron de Rothschild Mouton Cadet Bordeaux, 2002) and two bottles of Bailey's for imbibing at dessert. As requested I found an Eli's cheesecake with four quarters in different flavors. Six guests, four slices of cheesecake? Well, I'm not havin' any. My vice, my desire, my passion is Pumpkin Pie, with Cool Whip, or vice versa.
Cream: Whipping Cream, Sour Cream, half and half. I have found a way to include this sensual liquid in almost everything on the menu. Look out arteries, here it comes. It's in the Mushroom Bisque, and the Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and the Horseradish Creme sauce for the roast beef, and in the after dinner coffee.
Where's my girdle?
I'm using my white damask table cloth and white/goldthreaded placemats, with gold chargers on the placesettings. It seems a shame to use stainless flatware with this set up but the gold flatware I got from Target last year rusted after one use, and went right back to the store. Now I can't get up the oomph for buying another set.
I can only hope that my guests will overlook this faux pas. Now that Martha is incarcerated, this whole society has gone down hill.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The No Willpower Necessary Diet
The No Willpower Necessary Diet
Buy an ounce scale. Read labels, as everything has sugar in it.
Do NOT skip meals.
At each meal have four ounces of protein, which can be
8 oz of fat free sugar free yoghurt
or two eggs any style
or 4 oz of 2% cottage cheese
or 4 oz of deli meat
or a 6 oz can of tuna drained (water packed)
or 4 oz of meat or fish of your choice
Breakfast 4 oz of protein and one fruit (I like a banana and 5 strawberries)
Or 4 oz of cottage cheese and an 8 oz can of pineapple
Lunch 4 oz of protein and two veggies
Dinner 4 oz protein and three veggies
NO SUGAR, NO STARCH*, NO NUTS,NO CHEESE.
NO BOOZE (at least for the first 25 pounds)
You may have 1 t of oil or butter with each meal and if you are having a salad and then up to 2 T salad dressing.
No starch means, no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, popcorn, corn, peas and beans. These all convert to sugar in the body and result in making you hungry.
Do not skip meals, and try to vary your veggies so that you are getting different colors, not just green. Carrots, tomatoes, broccoli for example. Green beans and yellow beans are fine, but stay away from starchy beans, like pinto, garbanzo, kidney etc.
For the first month, make a meal plan and stick to it. This means writing down everything that you will eat for that day. You will learn the diet better if you have to think ahead.
Try to analyze why you got fat in the first place. Self indulgence? Masking depression? Frustrations? Fear? etc. Make the necessary changes in your life to remove those reasons, as if that were that easy!
My best wishes for your good health and feeling fit.
Buy an ounce scale. Read labels, as everything has sugar in it.
Do NOT skip meals.
At each meal have four ounces of protein, which can be
8 oz of fat free sugar free yoghurt
or two eggs any style
or 4 oz of 2% cottage cheese
or 4 oz of deli meat
or a 6 oz can of tuna drained (water packed)
or 4 oz of meat or fish of your choice
Breakfast 4 oz of protein and one fruit (I like a banana and 5 strawberries)
Or 4 oz of cottage cheese and an 8 oz can of pineapple
Lunch 4 oz of protein and two veggies
Dinner 4 oz protein and three veggies
NO SUGAR, NO STARCH*, NO NUTS,NO CHEESE.
NO BOOZE (at least for the first 25 pounds)
You may have 1 t of oil or butter with each meal and if you are having a salad and then up to 2 T salad dressing.
No starch means, no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, popcorn, corn, peas and beans. These all convert to sugar in the body and result in making you hungry.
Do not skip meals, and try to vary your veggies so that you are getting different colors, not just green. Carrots, tomatoes, broccoli for example. Green beans and yellow beans are fine, but stay away from starchy beans, like pinto, garbanzo, kidney etc.
For the first month, make a meal plan and stick to it. This means writing down everything that you will eat for that day. You will learn the diet better if you have to think ahead.
Try to analyze why you got fat in the first place. Self indulgence? Masking depression? Frustrations? Fear? etc. Make the necessary changes in your life to remove those reasons, as if that were that easy!
My best wishes for your good health and feeling fit.
Red and White till it comes out your ears
Our counter top is twelve feet long and then turns a corner making an eating counter. One can never have too much counterspace.
The other side of the same room.
My first posting
Hi Reader,
My name is Melody Johnson and I wanted to start a blog as a way of sharing my passions, which include knitting, cooking, gardening, movies, and shopping. I already have a regular website, www.wowmelody.com but needed something that could change daily, at my whim.
Today will be a good day since it involves both shopping and cooking. I am having the big Thanksgiving Day dinner here and this will be my menu.
Starters:
Mushroom Bisque
Homemade Tamales, a family tradition
Shrimp with cocktail sauce provided by Frieda Anderson (www.friestyle.com)
Entree:
Angus Beef Rib Roast with extra roasted back ribs, for gnawing (my husband Dave is a meatcutter, so this cut will be perfect)
Horseradish cream sauce
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Fresh Green Beans with sliced Carrots, with sauteed pecans
Dessert:
a little Pumpkin Pie with my Cool Whip
Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies provided by Frieda
Cheesecake, which this time will be purchased.
I plan to share pictures of this feast, so visit again.
Melody
My name is Melody Johnson and I wanted to start a blog as a way of sharing my passions, which include knitting, cooking, gardening, movies, and shopping. I already have a regular website, www.wowmelody.com but needed something that could change daily, at my whim.
Today will be a good day since it involves both shopping and cooking. I am having the big Thanksgiving Day dinner here and this will be my menu.
Starters:
Mushroom Bisque
Homemade Tamales, a family tradition
Shrimp with cocktail sauce provided by Frieda Anderson (www.friestyle.com)
Entree:
Angus Beef Rib Roast with extra roasted back ribs, for gnawing (my husband Dave is a meatcutter, so this cut will be perfect)
Horseradish cream sauce
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Fresh Green Beans with sliced Carrots, with sauteed pecans
Dessert:
a little Pumpkin Pie with my Cool Whip
Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies provided by Frieda
Cheesecake, which this time will be purchased.
I plan to share pictures of this feast, so visit again.
Melody
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