Working on my family to eat healthy

I am trying to get my family to eat healthy, so I am now using all DD recipes for dinners.  It's a start.  My pantry is full of pistachios, almonds, dark chocolate, and walnuts.  My frig is full of fresh fruits and vegetables along with cheese sticks and low fat cheese spreads.  My boys actually prefer La Tortillas (one of the brands DD recommends) for their sandwiches rather than bread. Awesome!

This evening I made the Pineapple Chicken from the DD Cookbook, page 139.  I served it with brown rice and broccoli.  I don't think I cooked the sauce to the right consistency, and my family does not enjoy scallions so I omitted them and added parsley on top.  The portion below is a little bigger than I would eat, but this was my hubby's.  Again...it's a start for them to eat healthy as well.

Eating out doesn't have to be difficult

Last night I went to my 25th High School Reunion.  Shout out to Owings Mills High School...Go Eagles Go!  We were meeting friends for dinner before hand at the restaurant/bar where the event was taking place.  I used to be so nervous before Digest Diet...going out to restaurants.  The salt, the calories, the salad dressing, the headache!  I was always afraid I would send some waitress running to the kitchen crying because I had to have my dish my way. Have you ever watched When Harry Met Sally?  Well I am now Sally.  Either the waitress is thrilled with me or prays I never return. The Digest Diet program has really assisted me.  Now I haven't bought the dining out book yet...any comments on it if you have purchased it?  I just read the first book over and over and try to stick with the program even when I am in public.  It worked!
So proud of myself.  On the restaurant menu I saw Spinach Salad - Yay for me!  (FYI - DD has a wonderful Spinach Salad recipe in their cookbook page 197 (Old School Spinach Salad) that I highly recommend). The restaurant served the salad with a bacon dressing and croutons - I don't think so.  So I kindly asked the waitress to take out the croutons and the dressing which I replaced with oil and vinegar. It was delicious!  Now since I am looking back...not exactly 25 years; more like four years.  I am finally beginning to see the difference.

                                                              Movies with Hubby 2009

                                                       My Son's Middle School Graduation 2013


In the beginning I couldn't see the differences.  The scale was moving, but in the mirror I saw the same girl.  If it wasn't for the love and support of that handsome man in the top picture I probably would have given up.  He has loved me in good times and bad times and truly in the thin and the thick.  In order to succeed in anything, you must have good support systems.  My first is my faith in Jesus Christ, the second is the love and encouragement of my wonderful husband and family, and then the wisdom of the Digest Diet.  I am sure that Liz Vaccariello, the author of the book and Editor-in-Chief of Reader's Digest would agree that support systems are important (after all she found scientifically speaking that laughter is a fat releaser).  With support systems in place, you feel secure and happier which I believe helps you along your journey, no matter how difficult it can be.

In the beginning...

In the beginning there was a very frustrated girl.  She tried and tried and tried to lose weight and just when she began considering extreme weight loss measures, she found by chance, The Digest Diet.  February 6, 2013 her journey began.  She laughed at what she read in the book.  It appeared to be so simple. But from her failed past attempts with other diets, she knew that losing weight was never simple.  Well it is now June 27, 2013 and she is 52 pounds down and at a weight she has not seen since 1994. And guess what?  Her doubt in Digest Diet has now been replaced by excitement, hence this blog. 

This girl is me. Janice Hancock, 43 year old woman who has struggled with weight all my life.  All the weight loss programs I have been on have sometimes been expensive. My husband and I could have literally taken a trip to Europe on all the diets, shakes, and weird contraptions I have invested in over the years. I found Digest Diet by chance on a website looking for another diet program to purchase.  I thought, what do I have to lose but weight and it certainly was not the price I was going to pay for weight loss products I had in mind.  The book actually makes sense when you read it...and please read it.  This program has changed my life and my way of eating.  I am not hungry for sweet or salty foods and it isn't because I am taking meds or drinking a special shake.  No...I am eating whole foods, real food that my body needs and enjoys.

I would like to note that I am writing this because I really want to encourage others like me who have struggled for so long.  I am not being paid by Reader's Digest (maker of this wonderful book), and I don't work for them. I just really believe in this program and the wealth of knowledge the book contains.  My journey is far...so very far from over.  Yes, I have lost 52 pounds, but I still have over a hundred to go.  Writing that left me breathless for a bit and overwhelmed...but it is what it is.  For the first time in my life I believe that I can do this and I hope that you will not only follow me on this journey, but participate as well!