Email I Received....

Hi Everyone!!

It's a rainy, hazy/lazy day here in Durham, NC!! I hope everyone is doing well. I wanted to share my response with you to an email I recently received from someone who said she, "went of the diet." Here is my response:

"Remember...there is NO going "off" the diet. This is a journey. You are never bad or good. On or off. You just have a few diversions on your journey. It's like taking the wrong road on the way to Disney World...you just get right back on the highway and head south!!!
You're doing great!! You're great!!! Always remember that!!!!

Keep me posted...Warmly, Susan"

Please....everyone....always remember that this is YOUR journey...there is no beginning and no end. Be kind to yourself. When you take a wrong path, for a meal, a day, a week or a month....just BREATH!!!! Get back on track and within ONE day, ONE meal you will start to feel better!!!! TRUST ME!!!!

Email me with any questions!!! Warmly, Susan

Monday, April 17th!

Hi Everyone!

I've gotten such amazing email from everyone telling me how good you are doing! It's so wonderful to be a part of people getting healthy!!!!

For the people that are having a little more difficulty, my suggestion is to write a "grateful" list. What are you grateful for today, tomorrow etc. Change it every day or as often as you would like. You would be surprised as to how amazing you will feel!!!

Here's another easy and yummmmmmmmmmy recipe:

Golden Raisin and Pecan Salad

1 Package Mesclun Salad Mix
1 red pepper, cored, halved and cut into thin strips
1/4 cup thinkly sliced red onions
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup no salt pecans
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

You know what to do!!! Just mix it all together and enjoy!!!!!!

Until next time......Warmly, Susan

Amazing news!!!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone!!

I have such amazing news...but I can't tell you yet!!! LOLO!! Don't you just HATE it when people do that!!! I will hopefully be able to spill the beans in a few days!! I'll keep you posted!!!

Today I went on a 4 mile hike. I remember the first time I went on this hike. It was so amazing to feel the freedom to walk again!! Just being in the outdoors and listening to the birds is such an amazing feeling. As I was getting bigger and bigger my life was getting smaller and smaller. I stopped doing things because I physically couldn't do them. But even when I wasn't that heavy I didn't want to do things because I didn't feel good about myself. So you see, my 300 pounds can feel like someones 20 pounds. It's all relative.

The fact that I can understand what so many people are going through is amazing. I've been 10 pounds overweight to 300 pounds overweight. I know all the lies we tell ourselves. I know all of the gimmics that we say to ourselves. But the bottom line is....in order to be healthy we have to be honest with ourselves. We have to aknowledge that there is a problem and that you will stop at NOTHING to fix it. YOU ARE WORTH IT. YOU CAN DO IT. PERIOD.

Keep going...and keep me posted!!! Warmly, Susan

Here's another one!!

Everyone knows how much I LOVEEE pasta!!! So I just couldn't resist!!!

Shrimp Scampi Fettuccine

1 box of fettuccine
1/4 cup of italian parsley
1 1/2 pounds peeled shrimp, fresh or frozen
1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and then sliced
1 small red, yello and or green bell peppe, seeded and diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup no salt butter
1 lemon, zested and juiced

1. Cook pasta in water according to the directions on the box. Do not salt the water. When finished toss with 1/2 of the parsley. While that is cooking......:)

2. In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook shrimp, zucchini, peppers and garlic in butter for about 3 minutes or until shrimp is opaque, remove skillet from heat.

3. Stir in 3 tablespoons lemon jice, 2 tablespoons zest of lemon and remaining parsley. Season with pepper to taste. Spoon over pasta and ENJOYYYYYYY!!!!

I eat pasta every day, sometimes twice a day! I love it!! This is just one recipe that I modified to make it a low sodium treat!! Be careful though...it makes 8 SERVINGS!! Now, back in the day...that was good just for me! But come on now everyone!!!!......1 serving each please!!!! LOLO!! :)

Let me know how you like it! I'll keep 'em coming! Warmly, Susan

Recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone!!!

A lot of people have asked me about a salsa recipe! I love salsa also. Get a few no salt tortilla chips or just put some on a potatoe or even on pasta!!! YUM!!!!

Here's a great recipe for salsa:

Cilantro-Lime Salsa

10 roma tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup cilantro chopped
6 tablespoons lime juice (fresh limes is best...more if you would like)
3 tablespoons white vinegar
½ cup parsley chopped
½ cup olive oil
1 jalapeno, minced

Mix all ingredients in a nonmetallic bowl. Makes 2 ½ cups.

ENJOY!!!!! Let me know what you think!!!

Keep me posted! Warmly, Susan

I missed everyone!!!

Hi Everyone!

I'm sorry for not writing sooner. I had a family emergency that has taken up almost the last 3 weeks of my time, not including all of my emotional energy.

I received a call at 2:00 a.m. just about three weeks ago that my mother's heart had stopped and she was rushed to the emergency hospital. She had gone into septic shock from a urinary track infection undetected at the nursing home where she lives. Septic shock is extremely dangerous. It is what Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets died of in 24 hours. The nurse who called me said to get up to New York as fast as I could and if I had funeral arrangements it might be a good time to bring them up. Needless to say, my life was turned upside down. Within 20 minutes I had a flight up to New York at 6:55am and I was at the hospital by 9:00am by my mother's bedside. My sister met me there, and we had to make the hard decision as what to do. We are both extremely close with my mother, and even though she is 78 years old, you are never prepared for a call like that.

There was one full week of not knowing if my mother was going to live or die, then another week of wondering if she would ever get off the respirator. I'm happy to say, that with all of my family and friends prayers, she is miraculously doing great. Even the doctor's don't know how she survived such an infection at her age.

Please accept my apologies for not getting back to you all. Things are good now and I'm BACK!!

This is a great opportunity to speak about lifes stresses and how we all use food, or don't, to deal with stress in our lives. Out of the three weeks that this was going on, I thank G-d!, only turned to food once. Now all of you know that took a lot of courage and strength not to turn to food EVERY DAY!!! But I used the tecniques of breathing and realizing that food is NOT going to make my mother live. Don't misunderstand me...it was a CHALLANGE every day not to turn to food as my drug to deaden the pain of what was going on. I am NOT sitting here saying it was easy...I just breathed. I mean REALLY!!!! It was a struggle...every minute!!! But in retrospect, it made me so much stronger and I'm so much happier that I was able to have that strength. The one time that I did...it did what I wanted it to do and that was make me so tired that I just fell asleep and didn't have to "deal." Pizza, chocolate chip cookie, tuna sandwich, more cookies, eggplant hero...NEED I SAY MORE!!! I'm human...it's ok because the NEXT day I was back on track. Frankly, I felt horrible the next day, which actually gave me an incentive to stay on track. (Gotta look at the positives!!!!)

So the moral is.....FOOD IS NOT GOING TO MAKE ANYTHING BETTER IN A BAD SITUATION. EVERRRRRR!!! It seems that way in the short run, but in the long run it is only destructive!!! Here are some tips:

1. Breath. Breath again and then Breath again. 10 times.

2. Turn to items that are lower in sodium.

3. GET BACK ON TRACK ASAP!!!!!

4. Finally, and most importantly....THERE IS NO BEGINNING AND NO END...IT'S A JOURNEY. You're not "bad" if you stray and eat things that aren't healthy....YOU'RE HUMAN! No Shame!!!!

Now everyone go out and go for a walk!!!! I'm glad I'm back and I'm glad my mom is too!!!! :)

Keep me posted everyone!!!!! Warmly, Susan