Surviving life without sugar, artificial sweeteners and diet soda. Conquering addition for a better healthier me.
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The scale has always been a friend and a foe depending on what it read. My one year commitment is not about fast weight loss. My focus is on lifestyle change and as long as I’m going in the right direction, that’s what matters. I’m down 15 pounds thus far. I have cut out sugary foods, anything artificial and processed food. That really leaves healthy eating as my only option. At 25 days, I reach for a grapefruit or a small handful of raw almonds without thinking twice.
Being Prepared for Dinner and Passing up the annual dessert competition.Every Thanksgiving we have a dessert competition and we take it very seriously. The entries are always amazing and delicious. This year, I am committed to change, change each day, and that includes Holidays. Being prepared is key to success. I was completely aware of what I would be facing so I prepared myself by thinking through what was on the dinner menu and knew exactly what I could have based on what was being served. I knew there would be turkey, salad and vegetables on my safe list. I called ahead to find out how things were being prepared in order to bring what I would need to stay safe. Even on a strict eating plan, you can have Thanksgiving without feeling deprived. As I inquired about the food preparation, I learned that the sweet potatoes were being prepared in a way that I would have to pass on, so I brought my own baked sweet potato. It was very simple to do. If your serious about change, you will do whatever it takes and bringing your own food is a great alternative. I would never ask anyone to change what they are preparing to fit my needs, so bringing what I need is the smart choice for me. This Thanksgiving, I was lucky because I only had to bring a sweet potato and I was able to put together this very healthy bountiful Thanksgiving Dinner. Yes, it was way to much food. My eyes were bigger then my stomach. .jpg "Josephine-Donatelli-Heathy-Choice-Thanksgiving-Dinner-on-my-blog") Photo by Josephine Donatelli
Annual Dessert CompetitionOh yes, the dessert competition did not disappoint this year. As a bystander, I can only say that all the entries looked amazing. Each entry was bite size: .jpg "Josephine-Donatelli-Dessert-Competition-on-my-blog") Photo by Josephine Donatelli I successfully passed up the Dessert Competition by bringing my own dessert. I prepared a “Raw” dessert dish that my sister Rosalie shared with me. Blueberry Banana Pie with and a Raw Almond and Date crust. Birthday’s and Planning Ahead!Ok, everyday can offer you challenges especially when your a stress eater. My daughter turned 14 and we had a small party of 15 people. Some family, neighbors and friends. I was keeping it simple and serving pizza and ice cream cake. An hour and 1/2 or so before the pizza’s were coming, I put a large sweet potato in the oven. While everyone was helping themselves to the pizza, I unwrapped the sweet potato from it’s foil and began to eat it. It filled me up. While I served the ice cream cake, I felt satisfied. I have learned that I can’t even taste what I shouldn’t be eating so I washed my ice cream coated fingers instead of licking them and I got through this very difficult day easily. DAY 7 … A LITTLE SWEET SUCCESS.I shot a double Bat Mitzvah for my dear friend Lee’s two grand daughters. While I was too busy to eat durning the affair, my challenge occurred back at her house at an after party. Lee’s niece, Chef Stef was visiting from Long Beach California. She brought some of her Award Winning Shmookies. I actually made it through the evening without trying one of her award winning creations but after everyone went to bed, I had to use the microwave to heat a heating pad for the tendonitis that I have in my right bicep, and right in front of me were her chocolates. I tried one. But only ONE! I didn’t let that trigger me into a sugar coma which is what I normally would do. Sweet Success!
Day 1 November 14th… my 53rd birthdayAfter getting bumped from our flight home, we walked the airport looking for some lunch. Today was to be the first day I would take on my one year challenge to eat well and transform myself into a healthier, better ‘me’. As I looked at the menu, I told the waitress that I was sugar free, and eating only whole foods. She pointed to a dish that had chicken on a skewer and vegetables. I asked her if I could get the vegetables steamed plain and she replied that she could only give me plain spinach leaves as a substitute. I asked her to just bring the chicken and a salad with olive oil and vinegar on the side. When the salad came drenched in dressing, I asked her to please take it back and bring me one without dressing. Something so simple but so important. Below is the dish I described above. I will be posting lots of pictures and videos as my journey continues. Romano’s Macaroni Grill in the Orlando Airport Florida. .jpg "Romano") Photo by Josephine Donatelli
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Inspiration Strategies Support Josie ~ Once Upon a Time Rosalie Donatelli ~ Integrative Nutrition |
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Blueberry Banana Pie? Sounds like you could give them some competition yourself! Couldnt you enter your pie without sampling all the other stuff?
Sounds like you are doing wonderfully! Your Thanksgiving dinner looked fantastic and very healthy! I didnt take a pic of my dinner, but thinking back to it… it was so bland next to yours. Yours was colorful and looked so good. I had turkey (white), stuffing (brown), corn (yellow), rolls (tan), like I said, bland, bland, bland! I bought sweet potatoes & stuff to make green bean casserole and since Im the only one to eat that stuff, I didnt get around to making it! I really need to start thinking of myself and cooking what is healthy for me. Well, it would be healthy for everyone… but that’s up to them if they want to eat it or not! Keep up the good work!
That Thanksgiving dinner looks so clean and healthy. I would love that myself. It’s quite a lot of food but nothing there will hurt you in the long run.