Food Journals

When I did do well with food logs, I used fitday.com.  The last time I used it was when I was on a low carb, low fat and low calorie diet. I know, it was totally crazy but I lost a lot of weight until that day I ate Chinese food and there was no turning back :)

It was during this time that I realized what people with eating disorders, meant when they said that they had control over their eating.  I used to plan out my food everyday and fitday was a neccesity to me.  I stayed under my calorie limit and at that time it was about 800-900 a day. During this time, I ate virtually no carbs at all.  I even measured the carbs in my vegetables.  I can barely eat tuna to this day because one week I ate tuna for 2 meals a day for a week because my weight loss was stalled.

Anyway, I am going to go back to using fitday. At least they have a iPhone app to make things easier.  I may try to do the same thing with my daughter.  We can do hers online and she can participate as well.  We would be able to print her food logs and give to the nutritionist every week.  It may make things easier.

I really think that she is too young to keep track of her food.  I can see, as we do now, talking about the best choices and having her involved in the decision. But at 11, I don't think it is on her mind or even should be on her mind to write everything down.  If she was older, yes but at 11, I think it is too much. What do you think? I think it is good enough that I write it down and we can just go over it, if needed.

We just wouldn't be able to do it Thursday because it is no electronics day in the household. What was I thinking? I won't even be able to call anyone because we only use cell phones and not a house phone.

Do you track your food intake? If so, what do you use to do it?

Stir Fry vs. The Turkey Burger and 1 lb. Loss

First of all, my daughter lost a little more than a pound yesterday! So she made up for the 1 pound gain last week.  I was worried because of Spring Break and the kids being with my parents for a few days. But she did great! She actually had quite a bit of activity with my parents.  My mom took them to a place to play laser tag and bounce on the bouncy houses, she even took them sandwiches so they wouldn't eat pizza! They also went bowling and she went to her program exercise classes. Take a look at my silly babies after hanging with Grandma and Grandad.

On to our eating, if you read earlier about my B-A-D Turkey Burger experience. I have redeemed myself with the Stir Fry I made yesterday. It was pretty good even though I couldn't eat much because, it seems, that brown sauce makes me sick. Yeah, TMI.

The family liked it. I got it from the below recipe.  I had all the ingredients but didn't actually have the Stir Fry sauce so this was probably the 2nd recipe I saw and I had most of the stuff to make the sauce.  I used red and yellow peppers, frozen string beans and corn and a few carrots. The husband and son don't like broccoli.  I made brown rice, as well. I had to add more water, soy sauce and ginger because I had more chicken.  Also, I didn't use cornstarch or oil because I didn't have any. Can we all say "Modified Recipe" *lol* Either way, it turned out nicely.  I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com.

I will try the Turkey Burgers again since Wendy gave me some ideas and I think I will try the ranch dressing mix next time. Maybe next week.  I am going to have to use the practice of trying things 10 times before I say I don't like it. 

Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients

• 4 (4 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup sliced celery (1/2 inch pieces)
• 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1 small onion, cut into wedges
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules

Directions

1. Cut chicken into 1/2-in. strips; place in a resealable plastic bag. Add cornstarch and toss to coat. Combine soy sauce, ginger and garlic powder; add to bag and shake well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil; stir-fry chicken until no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add remaining oil; stir- fry broccoli, celery, carrots and onion for 4-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add water and bouillon. Return chicken to pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

It's My Fault She's Overweight

One day last week, I was talking with the mother of another little girl in the program.  Her daughter is 7 and reminds me of my daughter when she was 7.  She's a sweet little girl. They started the program a week before we did.  She asked how it was going for us and I told her it was going fine but we are having some struggle with changes.  She agreed and told of what her family was struggling with, eating out, too much butter, still eating that big Sunday breakfast, etc.  But like my family, she is making the changes because we have no choice.

She then made the statement "I guess it's my fault and all parents fault that their kid becomes overweight. So I have to make the changes." I then agreed with her.  I do think it is my fault.  Granted I am married and my husband and I both have a part in it but I am the main person that deals with meals. I do feel that it is my responsibility and a parents responsibility to feed their child properly.  I believe that there is a cycle, you usually feed your child the way you were raised. It is not that way for everyone but most families, it is. I was not paying enough attention to how I was feeding her and this is the result.  I am now trying to "break the cycle" with her and my son (who is not overweight).  Luckily, I have a supportive family that is helping with the process.

I do not agree with the parents that say it isn't their fault that their child is overweight.  Our child did not drive themselves to the fast food restaurants, we could have baked and not fried, we could have said "no" to that extra helping of cake, we could have been more active, etc. Even if children are "pre-disposed" to being overweight, it is no excuse to not do better when you know better and we ALL know better in 2011.  So, if my daughter does not succeed in living a healthier life while she is 11 years old, then it is my fault.  I am taking this seriously.  I am not perfect at it and it is hard to say "no" when she wants something else besides seconds on vegetables but I know that it is necessary to "break the cycle" that was started. I know blaming the parents is always a hot button issue, but who else is there to blame?

It almost broke my heart the other day when my daughter said she just wanted to be in the 90's. At first I didn't know what she was talking about so I had to ask. She said she wanted to weigh in the 90s. I, again, explained to her that we are working to be healthy and that her weight will go down and she will get to a healthy weight and not to focus so much on the number because everyone's weight will be different.  I can tell her this but I don't know how much she understands. I hope she understands enough.