My House is Quiet….a new normal for one of my favorite people…..

The hubs is out of town, thankfully the DD went back to school this morning and the dog is curled up sleeping in the crook of the sofa. It is a bit windy, chilly, rainy and dreary outside. I am thankful for a hot shower I just had and a nice good cup of coffee.

I am almost finished with my bible study prep for tomorrow but needed to take a break as the word were beginning to blur together.

I was surfing around the internet this morning and came up on all the latest news about my beloved Paula who has recently been diagnosed with type II diabetes. My heart goes out to her. I know that with this will come a lot of ridicule and nay saying about her. I will say I am not surprised given her love of all things southern, butter, mayonnaise, sour cream, potatoes, sweet tea and the like.  It certainly will be interesting to see how they handle this from the perspective of her television show.

From my perspective I can only imagine the changes that are going on in her life. I do not have diabetes, however I have had a struggle with maintaining a healthy weight all my life. My weight verses my desire to enjoy a good meal. Try as I might the battle to come up with tasty alternatives to delicious dishes while cutting out the fat is very difficult. No matter what the diet experts say the fact remains fat equals flavor. You take out the fat and you take out the flavor. Granted there are some small changes that you can make however sometime there is just no substitute. You take the skin and the bone off the chicken breast and toss it on the grill and see what happens….y’all know what I’m talking about! D.R.Y. and Y.U.C.K!

Unfortunately I have yet to find a sugar substitute that did not leave behind a massive headache as an after affect as well as just tasting awful. Sometimes you really are better off getting the full fat version and just cutting down on the portion. When the fat is removed they have to pump up either the sugar or salt content to make it palatable. Check the carb content on any Fat Free whatever and see if it isn’t loaded down with carbs to compensate for the loss of fat! 

I have learned a few tricks.

First, you can almost always cut back on the oil required for a recipe, sometime by as much as half. The Focaccia bread I just made a few days ago called for a full cup of olive oil….no wonder it was delicious. I am sure it will be just as delicious with half that much oil.

Second, my afternoon latte’s actually work better made with skim milk. Skim milk or 1% milk makes for a much frothier foam than the fattier 2% or higher fat content. Go Figure…..it just works better!

Lastly, and I hate to even admit this. Y’all I think I may have the tiniest bladder know to man, but when I maintain my hydration, drinking lots of water, I am not near as hungry. One of the things I learned in First Place is that sometimes when you are feeling hungry, what is really happening is you body is sending you a signal that it is thirsty, Your body or growling tummy may tell you it’s hungry when in fact what you really need is a tall glass of water. I hate that but it really is true.

Why can’t they make Doritos flavored water, or Oreo flavored water.

Y’all I could whine about this all day.

There is no such thing as good fat free ice cream or fat free half and half, there just isn’t! I question exactly what they have to do to fat free half and half to make it fat free half and half. I mean really if I can’t pronounce it or I don;t know what it is then why do I want to be stirring it in my coffee…..

Here’s a thought…..just learn to like black coffee………I feel a shut up coming on!

I mean seriously folks, let’s get real here!

I’m feeling your pain Paula!

Good Luck as you move into a new normal.

Blessings

R

On a more positive note, I am starting to get some relief from the exercises the doctor gave me to do for my bum knee and Plantar Fasciitis. I hate it when doctors are right don’t y’all. Exercise really is the best thing for so many ailments…hate that reality too! Hopefully I will be back in the walking saddle very soon. Now if only I could convince my husband to join me…….