Are We Really Ready to Get Healthy?

Hey y'all. Well, it's finally Friday!!  Yay!!  I have so many things to do this weekend, and resting is not one of them. It's been an extremely long week and I've not been in a terrific mood the past two days, so I welcome the break.  I'm looking forward to concentrating on the things in life which make me the happiest this weekend!

On another note, yesterday's post mentioned several of the cookbooks I have collected.  I forgot to mention one of my favorites.  I have every one of Lisa Lillien aka Hungry Girl's cookbooks.  My love of Hungry Girl started after one of my co-worker's gave me a copy of one of HG's cookbooks.  I read through it and found lots of recipes I thought my husband and son would enjoy. The next thing you know I had all of the HG cookbooks. I then subscribed to her daily emails, began recording her TV show on the Cooking Channel, following her on Twitter and became a fan on Facebook.  Can you say stalker?  I told you I LOVE Hungry Girl! Here's a link to her site: http://www.hungry-girl.com/

On another website featuring fat chicks there has been some debate about the healthiness of Hungry Girl's recipes.  However, in this fat chick's opinion (for what it's worth) I think Hungry Girl is terrific.  She does use a lot of processed foods, and artificial sweeteners. Also, her daily emails are filled with promotions for various products, mostly highly processed foods. 

I love her anyway.  Why?  Well, when I weighed 347 pounds I wasn't eating anything even remotely resembling healthy foods.  Let's face it, I wasn't eating anything low calorie. Even when I went to Subway, I frequently ate a foot long Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sub, with 2 (yes, TWO) bags of regular chips.  The sub alone has 760 calories.  I usually polished this off with 2-3 cookies.  In one meal I was eating more than I eat now in an entire day!  Complete craziness!

People like Hungry Girl provided this fat chick with some alternative lower calorie food choices. I know myself and honestly do not believe I would have ever stuck to my eating plan without these options.  If I felt deprived or cheated out of all the comfort foods I have depended on over the years, I knew I could never make this a permanent way of life. I like having options, including healthy and some not so healthy choices. Hungry Girl provides lots of choices.  Usually I am able to look at a recipe and decide right away whether my family will like it or not. My instincts are usually spot on, although occasionally I am surprised.

Am I suggesting Hungry Girl provides all of the answers to your weight loss problems? Absolutely....NOT! As with anything else in life, everything should be done in moderation. A lesson I learned almost too late!

Although many people in blog sphere wholeheartedly embrace healthy eating, apparently the rest of America is still on the fence.  Consider the NBC TV show, "America's Next Great Restaurant". Soul Daddy was the winner.  Originally my family thought the concept was terrific and the food looked great.  (Who wouldn't like fried chicken and waffles?) Jamawn Woods, the person behind Soul Daddy's, originally was serving authentic soul food and my family was wishing for smell-a-vision or scratch n sniff TV.  That was until Chef Curtis Stone, started pushing a healthier version of his menu. I was disappointed in the fact they didn't offer varying options of the same type of foods.  For instance, why not offer fried chicken AND baked chicken.  I think they would have had greater success! (Of course, they didn't ask my opinion!)

By the time the finale aired, Jamawn had ditched the fried chicken for baked chicken, and seasoning the collard greens with turkey instead of bacon. (I don't think that even qualifies as authentic soul food!) Chef Bobby Flay was visibly disappointed when he realized fried chicken was no longer on the menu!  (Yay Bobby!)  Anyway, Jamawn and his Soul Daddy concept won the competition.  He opened three locations across the nation, New York, Minneapolis and LA.

Listen up Curtis:  Although the entire country needs it, apparently we're just not all ready for healthier versions of our favorite foods. This is evidenced by the fact that after just one month in business, Soul Daddy has closed both it's New York and LA locations! http://www.tvguide.com/News/Soul-Daddy-Closes-1034267.aspx.  What a shame!!  I wonder if he had gone ahead with his original menu if the outcome might have been different.  I guess we'll never know for sure.

The only thing I learned from the show is Steve Ells (one of the investors) is the founder of Chipotle's.  I think this factoid was mentioned in every single episode.  In one breath they said they were not looking for the next Chipotle's, however they kept comparing all the other restaurant concepts to it.  (By the way, America's Next Great Restaurant has been cancelled, too, after just one season!)

I believe it's important for each one of us to examine ourselves.  Look closely at our habits, likes and dislikes. Research all of the available weight loss plans and make your decision based on what you believe will work for you.  When it comes to losing weight there's not a one size fits all!  Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, but in the end you have to do what you believe is right for you. You may listen to advice of others, but ultimately you're the one responsible for your success or failure!

Until tomorrow....have a wonderful today!!