Layers

I know I said I would post more yesterday but the day just got away from me.  I promise to post more soon but in the mean time, I want you to read this paper towel analogy.  I didn't write it but found it on the web.  I LOVE IT!!!  Seriously, we tend to get so caught up in not having enough progress when we are trying to lose weight.  We get frustrated that the scale isn't moving like the biggest loser scale does.  I don't need to tell you how unhealthy that is do I?  Every day that we try is a day that we are moving forward.  If you take a step back, it does not give you the right to turn around and run.  The next meal is a new start.  Anyway, I'll get off my soap box and let you read on.    But first I have included a recipe I found for cinnamon protein bread.  It is SO Yummy!  You can have 2 for a light 100 calorie snack or 4 for a 200 calorie complete snack.  Jamie Eason has some great recipes.  I got this one from her on bodybuilding.com.  You can make it in a loaf pan if you prefer or cut the slices bigger.  Delicious and Healthy!!  Nothing like the smell of fresh baked cinnamon bread that you don't have to feel guilty about eating.

Nutrition Facts:

Makes 16 squares
1 square = 55 calories, 1 g fat, 8 g carbs, 5 g protein

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Ideal (Xylitol)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups oat flour + 2 scoops vanilla whey protein
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup Ideal (Xylitol) or ¼ cup Stevia in the Raw
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (Almond Breeze)
• 1/3 cup or 1 4oz jar of baby food applesauce and ¼ cup low sugar vanilla yogurt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 X 8 inch Pyrex dish with non-stick spray.
2. In small bowl combine: (set aside)

• 1/3 cup Ideal (Xylitol)
• 2 tsp cinnamon

3. In a large bowl combine: (whisk together)

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour + 2 scoops vanilla whey protein
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup Ideal (Xylitol) or ¼ cup Stevia in the Raw

4. In a medium bowl combine: (whisk together & add to lrg bowl)

• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (Almond Breeze)
• 1/3 cup or 1 4oz jar of baby food applesauce and ¼ cup low sugar vanilla yogurt 

5. Pour a shallow layer of batter into the loaf pan (about 1/4 of the batter).
6. Sprinkle heavily with half of the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining batter & cinnamon/sugar on top.
7. Draw a knife through the batter to marble. Bake for 24 to 28 min. Let cool for 10 min. Bread will be dense.

Paper Towel Theory To Weight Loss

Let's assume you go out and buy two rolls of paper towels, each with only 84 paper towels on it.  You put one aside, and keep it for future reference (your before/ picture).

The other one represents you (I'll call your paper towel you "Sally"). The core represents the lean Sally. The towels represent the fat that is covering the lean Sally. For sake of argument, let's say that Sally wants to lose 21 pounds of fat, so (84/21) each sheet represents a quarter-pound of fat lost. Let's also assume that Sally loses her fat equally during each day of the challenge.

Each day during the first week, you tear a sheet off of Sally, representing the fat she has lost for the day. Next, you put Sally next to the full roll (" Lucy") for comparison. No noticeable difference!!! Even at the end of the week! This can't be working for me!

But, being a good Sally, you continue to follow your workout schedule. At the end of weeks two and three, you continue to compare Sally to Lucy, and still notice very little difference. That stinkin' fitness program MUST be a lying!

But Sally is determined! She works hard! Three more weeks go by, the sheets peeling off day after day, before Sally gets up the courage to stand next to Lucy again. Holy Moly! Sally is skinny! OK, not skinny, but less huge!!!

By the end of the 12-week program, Sally is down to her lean dream, or somewhere near it. Sally is happy. We are happy. Lucy - well she's not so happy.

The lesson to be learned is that fat, like paper towels, comes off in sheets. When you are heavy, you are big around. And when you are big around, that fat is spread over a MUCH larger area - just like that outside towel sheet. The closer you get to the lean you, the more each lost pound of fat shows, because it is spread over a smaller area.

While the outside sheet may only cover 1 layer of the roll, the inside sheet may go around 4 times. That last sheet looks like it gives you 4 times the results of the first sheet, but in reality, the results are the same - your perception is just different! And you'll never see the inside, if you aren't patient while the outside is coming off!

In light and love,

j