AOL Success Stories - Submit Yours

I've just stumbled on a great selection of weight loss success stories at AOL's "That's Fit" website. Check it out at That's Fit: Success Stories. They have motivational stories from a diverse range of people of all age groups.

If you would like your weight loss story profiled at this AOL website, please contact Martha Edwards there. They have also put out the call to feature and link to bloggers who have weight loss success stories.

Mediterranean Pizza

(makes 12 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 oz.) thin-crust pizza dough (i.e. Boboli)
  
  


• 1 tbsp olive oil
  
  


• ½ cup onion, chopped
  
  


• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
  


• 4 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  
  


• 1 cup eggplant, peeled and chopped
  
  


• 1 tsp dried basil, crushed
  
  


• 1 small zucchini, sliced
  
  


• 2 tbsp sliced, pitted, ripe black olives
  
  


• 2 red tomatoes (or yellow), halved lengthwise and sliced
  
  


• 1 cup ripe olives, chopped
  
  


• 1 small yellow summer squash, sliced
  
  


• ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
  
  


• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  
  


• ½ tsp sugar
  
  


• ¼ sp salt
  
  


• ⅛ tsp pepper
  
  

Preparation:

• Cook onion and garlic in 2 tsp of the olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium skillet for about 3 minutes or until tender.
  
  


• Add tomatoes, eggplant, basil, sugar, salt and pepper and cook, uncovered over medium-high heat until liquid has evaporated (about In a medium skillet), stirring occasionally.
  
  


• Place pizza dough on a lightly greased baking sheet. Spread the eggplant mixture over the pizza dough.
  
  


• Arrange the red tomatoes, squash, and zucchini over the mixture. Brush vegetables with remaining olive oil.
  
  


• Sprinkle with feta cheese and olives.
  
  


• Top with mozzarella cheese.
  
  


• Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees F until cheese is melted (about 15 minutes).
  
  


• Cut into wedges and serve.
  
  

Make 12 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1/12 of recipe (146 g)): 143 Calories, 5 g Protein, 19 g carbohydrates, 2 g Dietary Fiber, 6 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 7 mg cholesterol, 248 mg sodium

A little about PCOS.

PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and it effects 1 in 15 women. I personally was diagnosed with this seventeen years ago and also know several ladies who have this. It's so common, chances are you or someone you know has it too.

Woman can have one or all of the following symptoms:

• Acne
• Weight gain and trouble losing weight.
• Extra hair on the face and body. Often women get thicker and darker facial hair and more hair on the chest, belly, and back.
• Thinning hair on the scalp.
• Irregular periods.  Often women with PCOS have fewer than nine periods a year.  Some women have no periods. Others have very heavy bleeding.
• Fertility problems.  Many women who have PCOS have trouble getting pregnant (infertility).
• Depression

List from WebMD

It's not the worst thing to be diagnosed with, but it is time consuming to deal with.  Doctors don't understand why a woman gets this syndrome and they know even less about treating it so they prescribe drugs to manage each symptom.  At 20, my medicine cabinet resembled that of a grandparent. Little orange bottles of various sizes lined the shelves and it was overwhelming to not only look at but to keep track of when to take those little pills.

One day I looked at my future and I realized that the various medicines I had perscribed to me were for asthetic purposes.  At that time, I decided I would spare my liver and spend more time either in front of the mirror plucking or finding the right cleanser to control my acne.

Nearly two decades later and I still don't take anything for my crazy symptoms since they have remained topical. I am grateful for this since women with PCOS are likely to have heart and diabetic issues. I hope to continue to avoid such health issues by paying attention to my body now.

As for weight loss, PCOS does make it more challenging, but it doesn't make it impossible. Weight loss efforts can be effective if I put the focus on my exercise and eating and understand there is no wiggle room.  Gone are the days where weight just "accidently" disappeared because I was too busy to eat. I know if I eat a chemical free diet, exercise regularly and get plenty of sleep, my body will respond as I expect it to whether I have PCOS or not.

*I plan on discussing further in future posts. 

LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest: Royal Treatment

Link to the Newsletter Archive: May 2, 2011
From today's LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest Newsletter:

Greetings Neighbors!
Were you among those who enjoyed watching the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton last week? I confess to pulling an all-nighter just to watch it! It seems we are obsessed with all things royal. I cannot help but wonder that while we enjoy watching the

Linguine with Olives, Eggplant and Artichokes

(makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil, divided
  
  


• 4 small eggplants, quartered
  
  


• 1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and halved
  
  


• 1 red onion, chopped
  
  


• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  
  


• 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
  
  


• 2½ cups canned peeled tomatoes with juice
  
  


• 2 tsp sugar
  
  


• 2 tbsp tomato paste
  
  


• 1 cup pitted black olives
  
  


• 12 oz. linguine
  
  


• Salt and pepper to taste (Nutrition Fact calculated without added salt.)
  
  


• Fresh thyme leaves (optional)
  
  

Preparation:

• In a large-sized saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat.
  
  


• Add onion, garlic, lemon juice and eggplant and cook until lightly browned (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally.
  
  


• Stir in tomatoes, sugar and tomato paste then raise heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.
  
  


• Add artichoke hearts, black olives and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes.
  
  


• Cook linguine according to package instructions. Drain pasta and add to a large-sized bowl. Toss with remaining olive oil. Add tomato mixture and toss well to coat.
  
  


• Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately garnished with fresh thyme.
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1/6 of recipe (399 g)): 380 Calories, 17 g Protein, 63 g carbohydrates, 9 g Dietary Fiber, 9 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 571 mg sodium

White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Pizza

(makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), chopped
  
  


• 1 (15 oz.) can Great Northern or Navy beans, drained
  
  


• 1 package (10 oz.) thin crust pre-made pizza crust (such as "Boboli")
  
  


• ½ cup shredded, reduced fat, Mozzarella cheese
  
  


• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  
  


• ¼ tsp dried oregano
  
  


• 1 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
  
  

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  
  


• In a small bowl, place sun-dried tomatoes and pour boiling water over them enough to just cover and let stand for about 10 minutes until soften them. Drain well then chop into thin strips.
  
  


• Place beans, garlic and oregano in a blender. Cover and blend until smooth.
  
  


• Spread bean paste over surface of pizza crust.


• Sprinkle with sun-dried tomatoes, cheese and basil.


• Place pizza on a (ungreased) cookie sheet or pizza pan and bake at 425 degrees F until cheese is melted (about 10 minutes).
  
  

Make 6 Servings:

Weight loss recipes Amount Per Serving(1/6 of recipe (143 g)): 261 Calories, 14 g Protein, 42 g carbohydrates, 5 g Dietary Fiber, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 6 mg cholesterol, 419 mg sodium

Finding joy in food / 183.6

I've been following this young lady's blog for the last couple of years. She follows a vegan diet and eats very healthy. She maintains her prefect healthy weight through eating natural whole foods.

What amazes me is when you look at the food she prepares it doesn't look at all like "diet" food. She uses wholesome ingredients and never mentions calories. She eats real food.

Since obviously what I've been doing isn't really working for me lately (like the last year or more), I thought it's time I take a different approach to my eating. Instead of constantly going for the totally non-fat, sugar-free, lowest calories food, I'm going to try eating more whole foods and fewer processed foods.

I'm going to stay with Weight Watchers and will still count Points and track my food, but I want to eat different food. A woman (or man) cannot live by chicken breasts and Brussels sprouts forever.

I attended two Weight Watcher meetings this week, one on Wednesday (at-work meeting) and one today. The topic for both was the same, about having a variety in your food. If you eat the same thing you'll get bored and start overeating, trying to compensate for the boredom. I'm living proof of this statement.

This is exactly where I've been for the past year. I couldn't even remember the last time I tried a new food. My breakfast for the last three years has been the same almost every single day. A couple of times I'd try oatmeal (yuk!), and immediately would go back to my same boring (although delicious) breakfast.

In case you're wondering, my breakfast was a healthy egg McMuffin type meal: one egg, 28 grams 2% sharp cheddar cheese, 4 thin slices Canadian bacon, 1 sandwich thin. PointsPlus = 8. Full of protein and cheesy goodness, but after three years, extremely boring.

After Wednesday's Weight Watcher meeting, I tried Fiber One pancakes. Thursday and Friday I had a mashed banana added to the Fiber One pancake mix and sugar-free pancake syrup (Smuckers). It was okay, but not fantastic. I didn't like the sugar-free syrup, although it tasted okay, I try to stay away from artificial sweeteners and usually have Stevia if I must have something sweet. It just didn't seem healthy. Processed Fiber One mix and sugar-free syrup, not exactly natural or a whole food.

Today I decided to break away from my usual practice of figuring out the Points before I eat. I know, scary idea isn't it? Breakfast today was really breakfast/lunch at 12:30 p.m. so I knew I had a lot of Points to play with (I get 29 a day and still have 44 of weeklies to use this week, plus all my activity Points).

I saw a recipe on Angela's blog that looked and sounded wonderful. Spiced-up Stacked Pumpkin Butter Pancakes For One.

I couldn't make them exactly as she said because I couldn't find the Kamut flour at the nutrition center of my local Fred Meyers. Instead, I used Bob's Red Mill Organic High Fiber Pancake and Waffle (a combination of several different types of organic whole grains). I added only a teaspoon of baking powder to make them fluffier, but not as much as Angela added since the mix already contained some baking powder.

I purchased my first jar of Nature's Way EfaGold Coconut Oil, pure extra virgin. I cringed when I looked at the calories, but I was determined to make the recipe as close to Angela's as I could. You can read about the benefits of coconut oil here. I've been reading about it on several blogs but sort of blew it off. I mean, it's an oil and very high in calories. However, I eat olive oil since it's healthy and it's high in calories too. I think it's time I try something different in the oil department.

Angela has a Pumpkin Butter recipe that I'm going to try, but this morning I didn't want to take the time. Instead I purchased R.W. Knudsen's Organic Apple Butter (one PointsPlus per tablespoon).

I made the pancakes using the Bob's Pancake mix and substituted the store-bought apple butter for the pumpkin butter as the topping. I added one tablespoon pecans on top of the apple butter and had one egg on the side (for extra protein and I'm a big egg lover).

This meal was fit for a king. I'm not kidding you when I say this was the best pancake I've ever eaten in my entire life. The total PointsPlus for everything was 14. That's a lot for one meal, but it was my breakfast and lunch together, and it was delightful. Worth every Point.

I'm going to stop by the health food store and pick up some Kamut flour, but I doubt it can beat the pancake I had today. I also plan to whip up the Pumpkin Butter. I'm not sure if the Points will be that much different than the store-bough Apple Butter, but I'd like to try it anyway.

Since I put away the book by she-who-shall-not-be-named I feel 100% better about myself and my life. Looking back at the past and dwelling on unpleasant situations really doesn't work for me. I'd rather look towards the future. I'm feeling very positive and happy today (it helps that the sun is shining).

Taking joy in our food isn't a bad thing. In fact, I think it's a much  healthier way to look at food, rather than think of it as the enemy. We need to grab our joy where we can find it, as long as it's good for us and healthy. I really believe it's okay if that joy is in our food.

~Diana

Picture from this morning, on my way to Weight Watchers

 Beautiful sky

Close up of the flowers that are just starting to pop out on our tree int he front yard.