Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Buzz Blog Post! #1...

All righty then – recently I’ve gotten quite a few questions about my own weight. They’ve been coming for a while, but they have recently really escalated. They all pretty much follow the same pattern – “how can you cook like you do and not weigh 500 pounds?”!


On top of this is my own slow weight loss. I was never all that big, but two things had me weighing quite a bit more than I wanted to. The first was four kids – that one is obvious. The second was some medical problems that had me on heavy steroids for some time. Those two together had me up at a size 8 or ten. That’s not horrible, except that I’m a very small framed person – so I was carrying a good 40-60 pounds more than I needed to, depending on how far away I was from the birth of any one of my kiddos.

All these questions – plus three other events – have led me to do some serious research recently. Event #1 was the revelation that I had a fan following my Foodie Fabulousness who has slowly lost over fifteen pounds and dropped 20 cholesterol points this year. Revelation #2 was my Daddy’s diagnosis with Type II diabetes, and his request that I help him figure out what he could eat. And finally, I had a buddy ask me for some help with his own weight. He’s a big guy, and has a strenuous job, but really had no idea how to control his increasing weight gain, which had become a concern for him. These things all coalesced into some serious thinking about not only Bombshell food – but serious nutrition issues, and how to bring them all together.

Now I know a lot about nutrition. I am NOT a nutritionist – by any means. I am a cook. Not a chef, not a dietician, not a nutritionist. But I know a good bit. Mainly because health issues in my own past and that of one of my children led me to consult heavily and make some choices/changes based on that. Combine that with a serious budget, a desire my children all grow up knowing how to make good food choices, and some necessary creativity with availability of supplies, in addition to a serious obsession with food, technique and taste, and I’ve found myself in a unique position.

I know how to control my own weight. I know a lot about food, why it works and how to cook it. I’ve used this knowledge for years to work around limitations or requirements already. Mainly those have been budget or availability of ingredients. If I couldn’t afford it or couldn’t find it – I could make my own or figure a substitute that would be just as good. So – why can’t I do that with requirements for health issues?

With that in mind I talked to a nutritionist today – and told her what I wanted to do. I want my Daddy and my Buddy Buzz to accomplish what they want (controlling blood sugar and managing healthy weight loss). She gave me the few missing clues I needed to make a lot of information really come together. And honestly – those goals are exactly the same. Healthy eating and good choices are the same for almost everyone. There are a few more restrictive dietary concerns such as gluten issues or food allergies, but for the most part the information in this bit o’the blog will be applicable for everyone. So – this blog is for two important people. But I think it’s going to be valuable to others – so we’re going to share the journey. So while this part of the blog will ‘really’ be for Daddy and Buddy Buzz – it’s also what I’ve done, what I’m trying to teach my children, what my first fan picked up for his own improvements, and what I hope will pass along to more of you. A lot of it was stuff I already knew – but she gave me the few clues that will make it possible.

Ready? Good. Here we go.

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