Spiced Pumpkin Soup

(makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp butter
  
  


• 1 cup chopped onion
  
  


• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
  
  


• ¼ tsp cumin
  
  


• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  
  


• ½ tsp curry powder
  
  


• 2 crushed garlic cloves
  
  


• 1 cup peeled and cubed sweet potato
  
  


• ¼ tsp salt
  
  


• 2 (14 oz.) cans of non-fat and low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
  
  


• 1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin
  
  


• 1 cup 1% milk
  
  


• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
  
  

Preparation:

• Melt butter in a large-size saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute onion for about 3-4 minutes then add flour, cumin, nutmeg and curry powder and saute for about 1 minute.
  
  


• Add sweet potato, salt, chicken broth (or vegetable broth) and pumpkin and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially covered and simmer until sweet potatoes are cooked through and softened (about 20-25). Transfer from heat and let stand for about 10 minutes to cool.
  
  


• Place half of the pumpkin mixture in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Using a strainer, pour soup back into pan. Repeat with rest of soup.
  
  


• Heat to medium-high heat then stir in milk and cook until soup is heated through (about 5 minutes).
  
  


• Transfer from heat and add lime juice.
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1/6 of recipe (300 g)): 128 Calories, 6 g Protein, 19 g carbohydrates, 3 g Dietary Fiber, 3 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 7 mg cholesterol, 351 mg sodium

The NeighborhoodYour Safe Haven Circle of Friends
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The LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood: an online compassion driven social space evoking feelings of comfort, understanding, knowledge, warmth, acceptance, trust and happiness for those who have undergone gastric bypass, lap-band or any type of weight loss surgery or those struggling with weight control.

Spring Renewal - It's Your Time to Bloom!

Spring Renewal - It's Your Time to Bloom!
Happy Spring to you! I hope your world is renewed and awakening after a long winters rest. Like most of North America our winter has been long and harsh and it has outstayed its welcome. If you squint your eyes today I think you may be able to see a hint of green in the grass!

Spring is such a sweet time of renewal and it seems many  "reminders" pop-up

It's hard to lose weight but it's even harder to be fat

As I struggle to get control of my eating and get my weight back down, I constantly wonder why this has to be so incredibly difficult. I know I'm not alone in these feelings. Almost everyone with a weight problem can relate. It's hard to constantly deprive myself of things I want to eat. For whatever reason, food makes me happy. It's just that simple.

Three years ago I was 240 pounds. I honestly don't know how I was walking around. I don't know how I held a job or how I managed to start going to the gym. Carrying around an extra hundred pounds on my body made life very hard.

Two summers ago I was 152, last summer I was around 166. Right now I'm at 182.2. Down 5.2 pounds from my last weigh-in on Wednesday. I'm still 30 pounds up from my lowest weight in the last three years. I've beaten myself up about this over and over. 

The biggest thing I've noticed about this recent weight gain is how uncomfortable I feel in my own skin. More than anything, I'm embarrassed about the weight gain. How could I let this happen to me? Don't I even like myself? The answers to those two questions are sad. I let this happen to me because I don't care enough about myself to want to take care of myself. Like myself? Silly girl, of course not.

Added to the embarrassment is the discomfort. My clothes don't fit. Everything is tight. Every morning looking for something to wear is a challenge. 

Added to the embarrassment and discomfort is the constant nagging fear that I'm going to end up where I started. Every morning I wake up and my first thoughts are "what did I eat last night?".  If the answer is "nothing bad" then I'm happy. If the answer is "oh darn, I ate that entire box of Weight Watcher Truffle bars" then I'm miserable (that was my thought this morning). 

My workouts the last two weeks have been hard. The more weight I gain, the harder it is to exercise. My body doesn't want to work hard, it just wants to lie down and sleep. Every day I push myself to exercise, but with the added weight on my body, I can really feel the difference. It hurts so much more to exercise at this heavier weight.

The bottom line is that it's really harder to be fat than it is to lose weight. Fat hinders my entire life. Being uncomfortable 100% of the time and hating myself because I'm fat is really no way to live.

Spicy Seafood Stew

(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. fresh or frozen sea scallops
  
  


• 8 oz. fresh or frozen shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails intact
  
  


• 8 oz. fresh mussels in shells, beards removed
  
  


• 2 cups water
  
  


• 3 tbsp salt
  
  


• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or olive oil)
  
  


• 4 chopped cloves garlic
  
  


• 1 cup chopped onion
  
  


• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  
  


• 1 tsp ground cumin
  
  


• ¼ tsp ground red pepper
  
  


• 1 cup low-sodium fish broth (or vegetable broth)
  
  


• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  
  


• ⅛ tsp ground saffron
  
  


• ¼ cup chopped cilantro to garnish
  
  

Preparation:

• Thaw scallops and shrimp, if frozen. Rinse scallops and shrimp; pat dry.
  
  


• Scrub mussels. In a large-size bowl, combine water and salt then add mussels and let soak approximate 15 minutes. Drain, rinse and repeat twice.
  
  


• Heat vegetable oil in a large-size saucepan then sauté garlic and onion until they are tender.
  
  


• Stir in cinnamon, cumin, red pepper and cook approximate 1 minute, stirring constantly.
  
  


• Add fish broth, tomatoes, saffron and bring to boiling.
  
  


• Add scallops, shrimp and mussels. Return to boiling, reduce heat, covered and simmer until mussel shells open (approximate 5 minutes).
  
  


• Garnish with cilantro and serve.
  
  

Make 4 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(¼ of recipe (297 g)): 204 Calories, 27 g Protein, 10 g carbohydrates, 1 g Dietary Fiber, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 113 mg cholesterol, 458 mg sodium

Salmon Chowder

(makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped onion
  
  


• 1 cup diced potato
  
  


• ¼ cup celery, chopped
  
  


• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or olive oil)
  
  


• 2 tbsp water
  
  


• 2 tbsp flour
  
  


• ¼ tsp pepper
  
  


• ¼ tsp dried dill
  
  


• 2 (13 oz.) cans of evaporated skim milk
  
  


• 1 lb. salmon fillet, skinned, boned and cut into 1” cubes
  
  


• ½ cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated
  
  


• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  
  


• Salt and pepper, to taste (optional)
  
  

Preparation:

• Heat vegetable oil into a medium saucepan, sauté onion, potato and celery for about 5 minutes. Add water and continue to cook until potatoes are tender.
  
  


• Blend in flour, pepper, dill, milk and salmon. Heat until soup thickens then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until salmon flakes when tested with a fork.
  
  


• Stir in cheese and parsley. Season with salt and pepper before serve
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1/6 of recipe (323 g)): 294 Calories, 29 g Protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 1 g Dietary Fiber, 7 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 66 mg cholesterol, 331 mg sodium

Randy Tobler Show: Welcome

This morning, I had a conversation with Dr. Randy Tobler on his radio show "Vital Signs", on 97.1 FM News Talk in St Louis. Dr. Tobler is an obstetrician-gynecologist with an interest in nutrition, fitness and reproductive endocrinology from a holistic perspective. He asked me to appear on his show after he discovered my blog and found that we have some things in common, including an interest in evolutionary/ancestral health. We talked about the history of the American diet, the health of non-industrial cultures, what fats are healthiest, and the difference between pastured and conventional meat/dairy-- we took a few questions from listeners-- it was fun.

The show is available as a podcast here (3/26 show), although as far as I can tell, you need iTunes to listen to it. My section of the show starts around 8:20.

To everyone who arrived here after hearing me on the air this morning: welcome! Here are a few posts to give you a feel for what I do here at Whole Health Source:

The Coronary Heart Disease Epidemic
US Weight, Lifestyle and Diet Trends, 1970-2007
Butter vs. Margarine Showdown
Preventing and Reversing Tooth Decay
The Kitavans: Wisdom from the Pacific Islands
Potatoes and Human Health, Part I, Part II and Part III
Traditional Preparation Methods Improve Grains' Nutritional Value
Real Food XI: Sourdough Buckwheat Crepes
Glucose Tolerance in Non-industrial Cultures
Tropical Plant Fats: Palm Oil
It's Time to Let Go of the Glycemic Index