Category Archives: tools

Tools – Instant Pot

Comment 1 Standard

Losing a good amount of weight requires time, dedication, will power, and a whole lot of help.  I write a lot about different tools that have helped me on my journey to losing 60 pounds, and this one is NUMBER ONE.

I remember a scary incident when I was little with a pressure cooker.  It blew up and left beef stuck to my Grandma’s ceiling…lol  I never thought about using one before, probably because of that, and then I starting seeing those infomercials with that crazy annoying dude and I started getting curious.

So I started researching and decided to go with the Instant Pot.  It was love at first site, and after I realized how flippin’ easy it was to use I was hooked.

It is a new way of cooking, so there was a learning curve, but once you get the basics down the possibilities are endless.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind:  You might see all these “5 minute chicken!” and “10 minute Pork Roast!” things flying all over Pinterest.  I hate when bloggers do that because people get discouraged when it isn’t just 5 minutes.

Your pressure cooker has to come to pressure, which honestly can take 10 minutes sometimes.  Some recipes need to come down from pressure on their own, which can take 15 minutes.

No, this is no time traveling wonder that will always have your dinner on the table in 5 minutes, but it will make making dinner much, much easier.

And more delicious.  The flavors are infused by the cooking method making things taste better.  Also once you have your prep done you can just walk away and let it do it’s thing, like a slow cooker but your dinner will be done in a half hour instead of 4 hours.

Continue reading

Tools – Activity Trackers

Comments 4 Standard

The most asked question I get about my weight loss is….drum roll please…

Did you exercise?

The answer to that question is not a simple one.

I hate hate hate exercise.  I know endorphins and all that are supposed to happen, but I HATE IT.

That’s not to say that I hate activity.  If I have a hiking trail or a nice bike ride I’m a happy camper.

I don’t like to run unless there is danger, and it better be some pretty serious danger to boot.  I get bored by workout tapes, and I work so much it is hard to get to a class.

My mindset on exercise changed up a bit when I started wearing a fitbit.  I use the Fitbit Charge 2 Heart Rate + Fitness Wristband, Black, Small (US Version) that has a heart rate monitor. Back in March I noticed this screen:

20170819_055412

This is what my screen says now, and trust me it didn’t say that five months ago.  I wish I would have taken a screen shot of it, but I was so shocked by it that I just wanted to not look at it ever again.

It said I was fair to poor for my cardio fitness.

Wait, what?

Continue reading

Tools – Wildtree

Comments 6 Standard

There is no doubt in my mind that trying new and different cooking spices and techniques have been a big part of my success thus far.  Being on a “diet” can leave you bored and with bad cravings.  It is important to switch it up to avoid that.

The image that society places on overweight people is that they are “lazy” or “lack discipline”.  As someone who sometimes works more than 70 hours a week I can guarantee you that I am not lazy.  It takes a lot of discipline to work that much too.

No, it’s been my experience that most people I know that are overweight or obese are not either of these things.  They simply take care of everyone else before practicing self care.  They are at the bottom of the totem pole, so things like eating right and exercising are not at the top of their list.

As I say in my Disclosure Statement the purpose of this blog is not to make money, but if it can not cost me money that’d be great 🙂  I’ve agonized over writing an actual post about Wildtree.  You see so much predatory behavior out there – People praying on vulnerable people that just want some help to get their life under control.

I most certainly do not want to be one of those people, but I also know how much Wildtree has helped me in my weight loss endeavors.

I fell in love with Wildtree back in 2014, but really started using their products when I ramped up my weight loss efforts this last winter.  It helped me get organized and avoid the dreaded boredom that can come with being on a “diet”.

It is a business for me, but I use their products every single day.  I always provide an alternative to the products I use on this blog, and I’ve tried them, but it’s usually a lot more delicious with my Wildtree.

Their oils cannot be beat.  The Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil is so versatile and delicious that I use it almost every single day.  It adds another level of flavor and ups your game in the kitchen.  The spice blends make it easy to make more complicated dishes without using many ingredients because it’s prepared for you.

Continue reading

Weigh in 7/8/17 – Err Kind Of oh and Tools!

Comment 1 Standard

So I didn’t weigh in at my meeting this week – I was AWOL.  I’m in the middle of a 14 day stretch at work, so I had to miss my meeting.

I did weigh in at home, which is an event all unto itself.  You see my scale is a bit possessed.  It never ever ever matches what the scale says at my Weight Watchers meeting.  It is anywhere from a half of a pound under to almost a full pound.

So according to my scale at home I lost 2 pounds this week.  Taking into past consideration that could be anywhere from a half a pound to a pound and a half, so I’ll split the difference and say I lost a pound.

Which means I am 7 pounds to goal!  Wow.

I must say I was pretty impressed with myself and how far I’ve come.  It made me think about what is so different this time around?

Seriously, when I lost a ton of weight on Weight Watchers before….If I knew well in advance that I wouldn’t have to weigh in for two weeks…Well let’s just say it would have been a couple of day feeding frenzy followed by very strict under-eating of points for the rest of the time.

Continue reading

Tools – Apps and Plates

Leave a comment Standard

There are a lot of tools I have in my weight loss arsenal that help keep me on track.  Since I love love love cooking one of my favorites is the Copy Me That app.

cp

Basically if you see a recipe you like you open it up in the Copy Me That browser and it will copy it in recipe form.  Even disorganized, jacked up recipes like I write for my page 🙂

You can add tags to find different types of recipes easily.  I like it better than say Pinterest for my recipe collections because there are no click click click to just get to the recipe already.

Just search Copy Me That at the Apple or Play Store.  It’s free !

Another tool I use sends me back in time.  Back to a time when the average American dinner plate was 9 inches.  My Mother was a dish hoarder.  Like every new color scheme that came out she had to have it.  She also saved them all, so when she passed and we were going through them I wondered why there were so many salad plates and no dinner plates.

That’s because the plates before the mid 80’s were the dinner plates, not the salad plates.  Compared to our plates now they look like salad plates.

Cooking Light has a really interesting article on this here if you’d like to read more.  I’ve swapped out my big honking Fiesta plates and use the salad plates that come with the set and it helps big time!