Now it's on to healthy weight and life style. The topic du jour: How to let myself be ok with being thin, how to not freak out and feel like a moving target, how to be ok with being a less big version of me. Again, geeking out. When I googled "mind body connection weight loss" I got this:
See that middle set of photos? Same guy (well, ALL the photos are the same guy but the middle two are the ones I find most interesting ). His name is Jon Gabriel and he spent years on every diet on the planet trying to figure out how to lose weight. He was an EXPERT on weight loss. Unfortunately, like myself, he was also an expert on weight gain. He started doing TONS of research, going to school to learn about how the human body works, super duper geeked out on the topic of healthy living. He realized there's a MASSIVE connection between mind and body, and some people's mind simply tell the person, "Hey um...you don't want to be thin. There's danger in that." I watched the movie "Hungry for Change." This is where I first came in contact with this guy, and with the idea that mentally, I have sometime against being thin. I thought about it for a while, originally thinking it was a crock of crap because I want to be thin and fit more than I want pretty much anything right now. But then, when watching the film for a second time, I heard a line and it made me cry. "How will I keep myself safe in this new, fit body? What will I do to protect myself?" and it made me cry, and I didn't want to think about it. Anytime something makes me cry and I want to avoid thinking about it, it's a pretty good sign that I NEED to be focusing on it, because usually, it's the one big thing I have avoided thinking about.
So anyway, it's time to find a copy of this guys book (and maybe a few other on changing long held, unhealthy beliefs) and get cracking. More work to be done. I have to succeed at this.
OK PASTA RECIPE!!!!
In an effort to cut sugar our of my diet, I started looking for a pasta sauce that has less sugar than the usual. It's a sneaky hidden ingredient in the stuff. I just ate some of Newman's Own, and since I don't eat sugar on a regular basis anymore, I could taste it right away. SUPER SWEET! Not what I want on my whole wheat, ground flax seed noodles. I am also not eating canned tomatoes or tomato paste. The lining of the cans has a chemical in it that has a strong link to cancer, and I prefer to avoid knowingly and purposefully ingesting the stuff.
When I was in college, I had to stretch a bottle of pasta sauce out for as long as possible, so I would get creative. I tried lots of things. I often did something similar to what I am posting here, but I usually ended up with extremely overcooked veggies, the skin on the tomatoes were unsavory, and I ate it because I didn't have any other option, not because I actually liked it. I would mix it in with about a quarter cup pasta sauce, hoping it would be edible. I have learned a couple things about cooking since then, and although I still like the idea, have realized how to fix the afore mentioned problems. After eating my dinner tonight, I had this thought, and I THINK (haven't actually tried it yet but I am going to soon and will post results) that is will be good.
Get some healthy noodles. Cook them. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and toss. Set aside.
Get some veggies (yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, asparagus maybe, peppers for sure.) Also get fresh basil and oregano and maybe rosemary and mint too.
Boil the tomatoes and do that cool trick where you dip them in cool water and the skins peel off really easily. Cut all the veggies up into smaller, bite sized pieces. Cut up or just pull apart the herbs. Boil some water. When it's really rolling, toss in the veggies (minus the already cooked tomatoes), NOT the herbs, and let them cook for only about 2 minutes, so they are still pretty crisp and fresh. Strain them.
Put all veggies, noodles and herbs in a big ol' skillet. You may need to add a touch more olive oil. Add salt and pepper. Heat til warm and yummy smelling. Don't heat too long or it will turn into a big, mushy mess. Top with grated parmasean cheese. Eat it up yum!
Feel free to add meat. If doing so, cook it in the skillet with some of the herbs, salt and pepper BEFORE you add the veggies and pasta. You really only want them in there long enough to get some of the flavor of the basil etc etc, not to cook them more. The fresher the better.
I am excited to to try this no sugar, high veggie content alternative to pasta sauce. I think it will be super yummy.
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