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2ndhelping
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48 weeks ago @ Second Helping - Second Helping Toolbox... · 0 replies · +1 points
Be sure to check the \"Food\" section on the menu. You\'ll find a selection of our recipes, divided by type.
51 weeks ago @ Second Helping - Jedi Speak for Fatties... · 0 replies · +1 points
Wow Greg, I've been chewing on your posts for two weeks now. You brought up some amazing points.
I never actually thought about the approval aspect of maintenance. For me personally, and this is unflinchingly honest, I'd just like people to stop getting in the way of not only my goals, but more importantly, their own.
I'm not one for using highly social justice-type terms, but Fat prejudice is a very real thing; post-fat prejudice exists just as strongly. Sometimes I feel it when I speak with people; the *need* people have to regain your weight, or fail in some way, astounds me.
My personal answer was to become a loner, but especially since I started Second Helping the more that "I'll be nice about it, but I'm doing my own thing, thanks" has started to thaw.
I don't usually think of this in terms of acceptance, but of empowerment. Thanks for the post! LOL, it'll probably be another two weeks while I'm chewing on it some more! -- RL
I never actually thought about the approval aspect of maintenance. For me personally, and this is unflinchingly honest, I'd just like people to stop getting in the way of not only my goals, but more importantly, their own.
I'm not one for using highly social justice-type terms, but Fat prejudice is a very real thing; post-fat prejudice exists just as strongly. Sometimes I feel it when I speak with people; the *need* people have to regain your weight, or fail in some way, astounds me.
My personal answer was to become a loner, but especially since I started Second Helping the more that "I'll be nice about it, but I'm doing my own thing, thanks" has started to thaw.
I don't usually think of this in terms of acceptance, but of empowerment. Thanks for the post! LOL, it'll probably be another two weeks while I'm chewing on it some more! -- RL
53 weeks ago @ Second Helping - Second Helping Toolbox... · 0 replies · +1 points
Missed ya man!
I largely agree with you; they're not food (unless you have my homemade ones. Yum!). They're a tool for when you're caught in the moment and in want of better options.
I think of most things on a checks/balance system. Remember how nothing comes good, fast and cheap? With food, I liken it to the same thing: good/non-detrimental/fast/cheap. In each moment, I decide which ot the 2-3 is most necessary. .
But I'm down with the old-timey food practices. If you look at most classic cooking philosophies, they have wonderful weight management applications. You mentioned one. Even something as simple as "if you can't taste it, you don't need it in the dish" is endlessly useful.
I largely agree with you; they're not food (unless you have my homemade ones. Yum!). They're a tool for when you're caught in the moment and in want of better options.
I think of most things on a checks/balance system. Remember how nothing comes good, fast and cheap? With food, I liken it to the same thing: good/non-detrimental/fast/cheap. In each moment, I decide which ot the 2-3 is most necessary. .
But I'm down with the old-timey food practices. If you look at most classic cooking philosophies, they have wonderful weight management applications. You mentioned one. Even something as simple as "if you can't taste it, you don't need it in the dish" is endlessly useful.
53 weeks ago @ Second Helping - From the Editor
C... · 0 replies · +1 points
I'm with ya there on the more systems the better. Especially perspectives on weight maintenance/post-weight issues can vary so greatly.
And I'd shudder to think that I"m only forum specifically dedicated to post-weight issues. Sparkpeople's AT Goal team is solid, and I have tons of respect for the Three Fat Chicks maintainer's forum, among others.
But no, I can't think of any. Can't wait to get it going!
And I'd shudder to think that I"m only forum specifically dedicated to post-weight issues. Sparkpeople's AT Goal team is solid, and I have tons of respect for the Three Fat Chicks maintainer's forum, among others.
But no, I can't think of any. Can't wait to get it going!
55 weeks ago @ Second Helping - Play with your Food
Zhara, you're easily becoming my favorite Second Helper. :-)
And thanks. If my weight loss taught me anything about cooking, it was how to work around obstacles. My maintenance taught me how to face them.
A while back I talked about the idea of classifying everything around macronutrients -- it's something both Angela and I do in our kitchens. Ie, not think "ham" or "turkey" or "tofu" but "protein."
If you think of food in that way, from a cooking perspective it opens up a world of possibilities. Just switch out proteins: smoked turkey meat or marinated tofu into a chicken dish, and adjust things around until you have something completely different and yet somehow linked to the foods of old. There's a big world beyond ham ... it's a way to not only stay engaged with your food, but also actively thinking about what you're putting in your body in a fun manner.
Love your blog, also!
And thanks. If my weight loss taught me anything about cooking, it was how to work around obstacles. My maintenance taught me how to face them.
A while back I talked about the idea of classifying everything around macronutrients -- it's something both Angela and I do in our kitchens. Ie, not think "ham" or "turkey" or "tofu" but "protein."
If you think of food in that way, from a cooking perspective it opens up a world of possibilities. Just switch out proteins: smoked turkey meat or marinated tofu into a chicken dish, and adjust things around until you have something completely different and yet somehow linked to the foods of old. There's a big world beyond ham ... it's a way to not only stay engaged with your food, but also actively thinking about what you're putting in your body in a fun manner.
Love your blog, also!
56 weeks ago @ Second Helping - Second Helping Toolbox... · 0 replies · +1 points
Honestly, this is one of the reasons I got seriously into cooking. At the risk of sounding snooty, I finally realized I could do better myself than what was being offered to me. I view most protein bars on the market as \"tools\" moreso than \"food.\" Food is what I cook and post on Second Helping. Bars are just my last resort for Making It Work.
I\'m also used to being completely let down by the food industry offering \"smart\" choices (hardee har har) but when you look at the label, as imperfect as food labeling might be, you realize they\'re junk.
Zahra, if the bars in Europe are a letdown, seek out \"The Instinct Diet\" by Dr. Susan Roberts. She has some wonderful snack recipes that are simple, chocolate-laden little fiber bombs.
I\'m also used to being completely let down by the food industry offering \"smart\" choices (hardee har har) but when you look at the label, as imperfect as food labeling might be, you realize they\'re junk.
Zahra, if the bars in Europe are a letdown, seek out \"The Instinct Diet\" by Dr. Susan Roberts. She has some wonderful snack recipes that are simple, chocolate-laden little fiber bombs.
75 weeks ago @ Second Helping - Play With Your Food: <... · 0 replies · +1 points
Yep, they can be pretty spiffy. Purees in general are tremendously useful in ways beyond simulating mashed potatoes, and we'll get into that. Thanks!
85 weeks ago @ Second Helping - Strength in Numbers
Beautifully put, John.
Well, I learned this the hard way personally; since I began Second Helping, I REALLY learned it. Maintainers, unless folks who've bucked the trends push and push hard, are more or less on their own so far as society and the diet industry is concerned. It's not a matter of any individual element of the diet industry; from the lack of research, not having lived through it, or outright fear of stepping beyond the normal "fat pant" conversation, EVERYONE'S afraid to broach the subject.
Obviously, that's something I'm trying to change, both in this site and in behind-the-scenes stuff.
But food is no different; to pull off what I have in my own life, I had to completely dismiss the idea of target marketing because no one is targeting folks interested in maintaining their successes. So I looked at the gourmands, the chefs, the food network folks and thought: how can I apply what they're teaching? Even if they looked like I did, how I can they be useful to me? What do I ignore or adopt? So I looked at the principles of their teaching knowledge and then figured out ways. Suddenly, I became a "healthy gourmand" or foodie. That was never my intent. Little old me? I was just trying to find food that wouldn't bore me out of my mind or make me want two pizza and a fast food parade.
I was just trying to meet my goals and survive while doing it; I never counted on rediscovering food in a manner I couldn't have EVER imagined in my 350 days.
That's what kills me about the catch 22 of weight loss marketing and the folks suffering or ignored because of it: the point's not being a "bitter weight loser," it's that there's an amazing life available to people that has NOTHING to do showing off how great you look. It's not about how you look, but about what you do, and finding an entirely different relationship to food is such an integral part of that for me.
Well, I learned this the hard way personally; since I began Second Helping, I REALLY learned it. Maintainers, unless folks who've bucked the trends push and push hard, are more or less on their own so far as society and the diet industry is concerned. It's not a matter of any individual element of the diet industry; from the lack of research, not having lived through it, or outright fear of stepping beyond the normal "fat pant" conversation, EVERYONE'S afraid to broach the subject.
Obviously, that's something I'm trying to change, both in this site and in behind-the-scenes stuff.
But food is no different; to pull off what I have in my own life, I had to completely dismiss the idea of target marketing because no one is targeting folks interested in maintaining their successes. So I looked at the gourmands, the chefs, the food network folks and thought: how can I apply what they're teaching? Even if they looked like I did, how I can they be useful to me? What do I ignore or adopt? So I looked at the principles of their teaching knowledge and then figured out ways. Suddenly, I became a "healthy gourmand" or foodie. That was never my intent. Little old me? I was just trying to find food that wouldn't bore me out of my mind or make me want two pizza and a fast food parade.
I was just trying to meet my goals and survive while doing it; I never counted on rediscovering food in a manner I couldn't have EVER imagined in my 350 days.
That's what kills me about the catch 22 of weight loss marketing and the folks suffering or ignored because of it: the point's not being a "bitter weight loser," it's that there's an amazing life available to people that has NOTHING to do showing off how great you look. It's not about how you look, but about what you do, and finding an entirely different relationship to food is such an integral part of that for me.
87 weeks ago @ Second Helping - Second Helping Toolbox... · 0 replies · +1 points
Oh, I whole heartedly-agree. Methinks I'll reword that as that wasn't the implication I was headed for at all.
It's like this: yes, therapy and its accoutrements have their use and place.
But I also found that folks take the MOST disempowering stance on maintenance possible -- the Sisyphus routine. I actually stopped therapy as I began losing weight, because I found the act of tweaking my exercise/eating and losing weight provided me many of the same benefits: when I was confused or frustrated, truths revealed themselves and worked through just in the process of getting my workout complete.
In a confusing unclear world in which nothing is what it seems -- ESPECIALLY in weight loss -- the "mechanics" of maintenance provides a solid ground. That's something to take comfort in. Not to mention strength -- and I'm don't mean muscles.
So there's more available to you than just therapy in terms of derailing depressive symptoms -- you can take the case the exercise/eating itself helps you build a life that no matter what happens doesn't mean anything about who you are and what you can accomplish. As someone who's dealt with abuse issues, that lesson means the world to me.
And actually discussing the complicated challenges that weight loss inadvertently creates -- lose skin, dealing with old and new relationships, etc. helps drag them up to the light so you can see them for what they are. Ergo, Second Helping.
It's like this: yes, therapy and its accoutrements have their use and place.
But I also found that folks take the MOST disempowering stance on maintenance possible -- the Sisyphus routine. I actually stopped therapy as I began losing weight, because I found the act of tweaking my exercise/eating and losing weight provided me many of the same benefits: when I was confused or frustrated, truths revealed themselves and worked through just in the process of getting my workout complete.
In a confusing unclear world in which nothing is what it seems -- ESPECIALLY in weight loss -- the "mechanics" of maintenance provides a solid ground. That's something to take comfort in. Not to mention strength -- and I'm don't mean muscles.
So there's more available to you than just therapy in terms of derailing depressive symptoms -- you can take the case the exercise/eating itself helps you build a life that no matter what happens doesn't mean anything about who you are and what you can accomplish. As someone who's dealt with abuse issues, that lesson means the world to me.
And actually discussing the complicated challenges that weight loss inadvertently creates -- lose skin, dealing with old and new relationships, etc. helps drag them up to the light so you can see them for what they are. Ergo, Second Helping.
88 weeks ago @ Second Helping - Strength in Numbers
@Birdie The depression -- or even just emotional reactions, to put it in neutral terms -- is a big part of why we focus so much on the murkier effects of weight loss here at SH; dealing with loose skin, the comments people make, etc. That has little to do with maintenance/eating/exercise per se, but I remember being floored by these things as I hit goal. And when I say floored, I mean binging like crazy and then relosing the weight.
Besides, the whole "willpower" things is highly overrated. *Laughs* Personally, I lose more "willpower" fights than not. It's helpful in breaking a binge cycle, sure, but as a lifelong MO? No thanks. Structure and realizing a variety of goals -- not just related to your body -- help keep me going. And both of those are fueled by a motivation to prove my low expectations of myself -- not to mention society's low expectations of everyone -- wrong.
Cultivating my foodie sense also helped immeasurably on the willpower front ... even in emotional situations and I start wanting some bad French Quarter pizza, what stops me isn't "Oh, I must maintain my vigilance and abstinence in the face of most vile sin." It's "Jesus God, that's just horrible food! If I really want to cut loose, why not one of the finer restaurants in the city? I'd rather wait out and go to Slice."
Besides, the whole "willpower" things is highly overrated. *Laughs* Personally, I lose more "willpower" fights than not. It's helpful in breaking a binge cycle, sure, but as a lifelong MO? No thanks. Structure and realizing a variety of goals -- not just related to your body -- help keep me going. And both of those are fueled by a motivation to prove my low expectations of myself -- not to mention society's low expectations of everyone -- wrong.
Cultivating my foodie sense also helped immeasurably on the willpower front ... even in emotional situations and I start wanting some bad French Quarter pizza, what stops me isn't "Oh, I must maintain my vigilance and abstinence in the face of most vile sin." It's "Jesus God, that's just horrible food! If I really want to cut loose, why not one of the finer restaurants in the city? I'd rather wait out and go to Slice."
Invention