Shrinking Natalie

Blog reader, Susan, asked:

"Hi Natalie! Would you be willing to post a few sample menus inmaintenance so we could see them side-by-side with your losing-mode menus? I think that would be helpful and interesting to a lot of people"

Here you go!

                            Losing Menu    ...

Meg (Sunandsand7 on the WW boards) recently emailed me and pointed out that I have been neglectful of this blog. I was in England on a two week vacation with my husband (I added a picture to the album of us!), and then had family in town, and then just had to deal with getting back into my normal schedule.

Rest assured, I have been a decent WWer. I still attend my weekly meeting...

I found this interesting post on the Runner's World website:

"Try High-Tech Meditation For Weight Loss

We allrecognize that we don't always eat because we're hungry; sometimes weeat for "emotional reasons," for lack of a more precise term. In thisstudy, Italian researchers used "new technologies" like mp3 players andvirtu...

And the results are in, slightly late (ok, really late) to the question of how we take care of our selves:

• Spa/massage/salon (25%, 10 votes)
• Outdoor exercise (18%, 7 votes)
• Reading/writing/journaling (15%, 6 votes)
• Shopping - my personal favorite (15%, 6 votes)

The stories of Mischa Barton being hospitalized then committed to the psychiatric ward have been circulating around the internet for almost a week now. What's new is that according to People.com, a major contributing factor to whatever is troubling her was the scrutiny she f...

I have not been globe-trotting. I have not been sick. I was not locked up in jail. Nor did I break all my fingers in a freak fly fishing accident.

So, why in the hell, do you ask, have I neglected this blog?

I do not have a good excuse. I have been delinquent; enjoying the summer with friends...

Ingredients

1 flour tortilla

1/8 cup reduced fat, shredded Mexican Cheese

1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

1/4 cup chopped sweet onion

1/8 cup chopped poblano pepper

1/4 cup sweet corn kernels

I got my butt out of bed at 4:50am today to go for a hard and fast 2 mile run. Here is the conversation I had about 1.5 miles in....

Mind: Alright, now do a hard sprint to that street sign, then I will let you easy jog the rest of the way home.

The results from last week's poll: Do you regret being overweight?

• Yes, but that's ok, it motivates me (38%, 16 votes)
• Yes, all the time (35%, 15 votes)
• Sometimes (17%, 7 votes)
• No, I've come to terms with it (10%, 4 votes)

Thank you for all your ...

There is an interesting article in the Daily Mail today about Body Dysmorphic Disorder - when you can't see your body the way everyone else does. I would argue that everyone, to some extent, cannot see their body in a true light. But this article higlights the severe end of this disorder.

I think many of us struggle with this issue during the process to lose weight. That's why I...

I have been slacking on the job, and have not changed up the poll in awhile. My apologies!

The results from the last poll, what is your favorite summer fruit, are:

1. Watermelon (24 votes, 39%) - I love mine with salt! Which I thought was normal (because my whole family eats them with salt) until friends pointed out I was an odd duck.

We are all familiar with the scrutiny celebrities receive when they gain and lose weight. We are all probably guilty of reading these tabloid stories, and dissecting the accompanying photos. But is this obsession with celebrity weight a symptom of a larger social phenomenon known as weight discrimination - or weightism?

I made a great new food discovery: Healthy Choice meals with dessert!

So far, I have tried the Country Herbed Chicken with gravy, roasted potatoes, steamed vegetables, and a cherry crisp - for JUST 4 POINTS!!!!!!! Yes, all that f...

Ingredients

1. 2 cups cooked whole wheat pasta (rotini, wagon wheels, or elbow)
2. Aidell's Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Sausage (3 links chopped into rounds)
3. 1 cup of sliced eggplant
4. 1 cup of chopped red bell pepper
5. 1/2 cup of chopped sweet onion...

Blog reader, Beth, is completely and utterly correct in her comment on yesterday's post. And it really helped me shift my frame of reference. I need to be thankful for how lucky I am. As much as the things going "wrong" in my life have bothered me this week, I am blessed beyond comparison. The five things I am most thankful for are:

How do you snap yourself out of a negative mood?

It all started yesterday at work. I write grants. I received not one, not two, not three, but FOUR declinations (a fancy way of saying "no") from foundations I had sent grants.

Then the sky opened up, and unleashed holy hell on earth during my ...

I was on vacation in Maine at the end of last week for a friend's wedding. It was the first real vacation I have taken since being on the Weight Watcher program. Up until now, I just had short business trips and holidays with my parents. Well, vacation is a whole other beast, for sure. My whole schedule was shifted, not to mention that it was a wedding with old college friends, so drinking was priority numero uno on everyone's list.

I ran my second official 5k this past weekend: Tommy's Run for a Reason to benefit the Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood disease. It was the first annual race, so there weren't many competitive runners. So, guess what? I actually crackd the Top Ten! I had a personal record of 26 minutes 32 seconds and placed 9th overall in the women runners. I know the race wasn't competitive but it was nice to be in the front of the pack...