Well, Nancy has been fixing me fabulous meals for 36 days and the count? Down 13 pounds! Yee haw!

Last night we had the most delicious Tri-tip on the rotisserie with corn on the cob and a baked potato. I only made it through half of the corn and 1/4 of the potato. Then we had popcorn and a movie night. I figured with all that food I would be up on the scale, but I was a full pound down! So cool. I’m still not getting consistent exercise and so I need to re-commit and get moving. That is my goal for this coming week. Thanks for following us on the blog.

August 25, 2011

You Can Be a Loser, Too! Yes, Nancy Miles and I have decided to collaborate on a new book about how we both have handled our weight issues. It all began when someone asked me a couple of months ago what was my favorite thing to do. I thought about it and discarded reading and movies, which I had always claimed were my favorites, and I took a really close look at ME and realized that it was really good food and long naps. I was shocked and dismayed, but the evidence of this answer was clear in my weight gain and lack of muscle and muscle tone.

How did I get to this point? Well, the story really began on December 1, 2008.

I was sitting at my desk tweaking the design on a new cookbook called In Good Taste by Nancy J. Miles. As I was working, Nancy looked up and said, “You have visitors.” Approaching my door were two Highway Patrol officers. My heart leaped because I know they don’t come to report an accident, they come to report a death. I answered the door and the words in my head came out of my mouth, “Please don’t let it be my children.” It was not.

My sweetheart and the best man I have ever known was on his way in his UPS truck to his route in Tooele when a dump truck loaded with mud turned directly in front of him. He did not even have time to touch the brake and was only able to swerve slightly. The impact was so great that it stopped the large UPS truck and it’s trailer in the intersection. If Al did not die instantly, it was almost so, I was told.

The shock of that day continues in my life to today. That accident changed all of my future plans—all of them. And it caused me to become apathetic about myself. Unconsciously, I decided that I no longer had to exercise or care about what I was eating. Consequently, my weight skyrocketed to a number that caused me to gasp when I addressed the scales on August 5, 2011—198.5. At 5’3”, that was a mighty large number.

I’ve tried over the past two years to address this problem with the HCG fad diet and with Weight Watchers with only minimal success and no staying power. I actually got down to under 160 at one point only to regain it all and more. So I was ready to take an entirely different approach

Now to back track a little, remember my dear friend and co-author, Nancy Miles, was sitting there with me on December 1^st . . . little did we know that in a year she, too, would be a widow. Her loving John was diagnosed with cancer and survived for five difficult months before succumbing.  But Nancy did not react the way I did. In fact, just the opposite. She worked hard and successfully lost her weight and kept it off with Weight Watchers—so I approached her with my idea.

I knew she needed a little extra income and so I caught her in a “weak” moment. My proposition was I would pay her every week to prepare my meals and monitor my weight loss. At first she wasn’t interested (probably realizing in advance how much work it would be), but then she was intrigued and had a great idea to write a book in conjunction with our “project.”

The book will be called You Can Be a Loser, Too! It won’t be a book just about weight loss but how including people you care about in your endeavors can lead to greater success, specifically, if I am to lose this weight it will not be just because I want to lose it for myself, but because of the hard work Nancy is going to, I cannot allow myself to waste her time. The loyalty factor here is even greater than my own personal need. So let’s see how I do.

So Day 1 happened to occur on Friday, August 5^th where I weighed in at 198.5. By Day 18, I was down to 188.5—a loss of 10 pounds in 18 days. Our goal is to lose 8 to 10 pounds per month, which we feel is a healthy weight loss. Nancy is providing me with lunch, dinner and snacks. I do breakfast on my own.

Days 1 through 19 have been surprisingly easy. My typical breakfast (since I don’t care for breakfast foods) is a small pizza round (make from scratch by Nancy and frozen), brushed with fresh garlic and olive oil, with 3 or 4 thins slices of pepperoni, and a small amount of mozzarella, heated in a Ready-Set-Go (a terrific little cooker you can get at Bed Bath & Beyond for peanuts), to which I add sliced tomatoes. This is a delicious and very satisfying breakfast that I have most mornings about 9 am. I add to this a large glass of ice water and it takes me through the morning to lunch with no cravings and no hunger.

One of my favorite lunches that Nancy has prepared is a ham and cheese Panini. This little sandwich is so good that I had to go out and get my own Panini maker ($40 with a coupon at Bed Bath & Beyond). Add a couple baby dills, 20 Rice & Bean Chips (Sam’s Club), and some fresh watermelon and that is an excellent lunch. Lots of chewing satisfaction, too.

One of the reasons I have a weight problem is that I love trash meats—bologna, hot dogs, sausage—and they are always a no-no when watching your weight. But Nancy figured a way I could still have some—Cabbage and Kielbasa is my favorite dinner. I can have all the cabbage I want, but only 5 or 6 slices of the Kielbasa. But that’s no problem. I discovered I enjoyed every one of those little slices completely.

Since I’m not a big snacker, I wasn’t concerned about what there was to “much” on, but Nancy has given me a variety of things to eat when I get “bored” or a little hungry. I especially like the almonds (20 of them), and celery and carrot sticks. I add a little 6-ounce can of tomato juice and it’s like a mini meal. Satisfying and tasty.

Well, this is a very long blog post, but I want to at least give you a little background as to how and why this began. As I keep up on the blog, I will fill in some more details. My greatest hope of success does not come from what I am actually eating, but from the experience in a complete sense. Nancy is determined to help me and I am determined not to fail her. So wish us luck!

Karen

PS Nancy wanted me to post my “before” photo but it gagged me so badly that I couldn’t. Forgive me?

On my quest to find Karen alternative options for eating each day, I found this yummy cereal Crunchy Nut at Costco. Great replacement for your sugary breakfast cereals. It’s delicious dry as well. Good alternative to kids cereals when you need a snack on the go.

As a part of the food I am supplying for Karen in her pursuit of losing 50 pounds, I make her pizza rounds that she uses for her breakfast. 5 days into our book, “You Can Be a Loser Too”.

Try my Creamed Baked Corn, a favorite of my book producer and friend, Karen Christoffersen. It's delicious.

Two 16 oz packages frozen white corn
1 cup heavy whipping cream, not whipped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp flour
•	Boil and simmer corn and whipping cream for 5 minutes.
•	Stir in salt and sugar.
•	Mix together melted butter and flour and add to the corn. Stir until thickened.
•	Transfer to a baking dish.
•	Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika.
•	Place under broiler and brown.

Today, I am celebrating being apart of the BookWise Blogger Book Party. I am offering a special one day deal on my cookbook. Don’t miss this!

Buy one copy of In Good Taste for $19.95 and receive one free book, plus shipping and handling.

• Hello everyone! I am signing my cookbook, In Good Taste, on July 22 from 1-2 pm at the Barnes and Noble at  Fashion Island, 401 Newport Center Drive in Newport Beach. Come and say hello if you’re in the area!

One of Nancy’s friends is a new Young Women’s President in her church with 28 young women, many of whom don’t know how to cook. She came to Nancy and said, “Nancy, I need thirty books because not only are your recipes family-tested and delicious, many are basic need-to-know recipes that these young women will use all their lives. I want to give them each a book and teach a lesson, perhaps every other month, on a new dish or have them prepare a menu for a family dinner–something to get them interested in cooking so they can experience that wonderful feeling that comes when you know someone is loving what you prepared for them to eat.” Nancy told her she could also get them started on their family history recipes so that they can preserve recipes they and their parents and grandparents love. There are just so many great things you can do with a really great cookbook. And hey, when was the last time you saw someone take their old cookbooks to GoodWill? Never. Right? Right. So buy those young people in your life who need to get in the cooking groove a new cookbook. You can start with In Good Taste!

Susan Neal featured In Good Taste on her website!

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