I Won!

Whoop! Whoop!

Jumping up and down.

Whoop! Whoop!

 

Okay, I won a coupon for ice cream but, I’m not kidding; I was excited. I was participating in PastaQueen’s on-line Tweet for Treats Twitter Contest and I was Thursday’s winner!

Jennette Fulda, a.k.a PastaQueen lost 200 pounds by eating healthy and exercising consistently. She didn’t use surgery, diet pills, fad-diets, or expensive gimmicks. I wrote about Jennette in this blog post.

If you find irony in a former obese woman giving a nutritionist a coupon for ice cream, keep reading I’ll turn this into a Healthy Discovery.

To be fair, Jennette didn’t personally select ice cream to give away. Companies send her things to give away because of her blogging popularity and success. The past couple days Jennette has been running a “guess what I’m eating right now” contest on Twitter. The first person to Tweet the correct answer wins a coupon for ice cream.

Twitter is a cross between blogging and text messaging; only you have to say what you want to say in 140 letters or less. I have a Twitter account and you can follow me here.

I’m still learning how to use Twitter. I sent my first Twitter reply when I responded to Jennette’s contest.

Jennette’s Tweet: What am I eating? It’s chunky and my kitty wants some too.

My Tweet: Cottage Cheese.

Jennette’s Email: Hey, you won! You were the only correct answer. Send me your address and I’ll send you your coupon.

I won! Whoop, Whoop. I never win things, but since I did win ice cream, let’s talk about that.

One reason I like Jennette’s memoir so much is, she is not restrictive and rigid with her diet, yet she still lost a massive amount of weight, 200 pounds! She eats healthy whole food the majority of the time and she exercises regularly, what a concept. Jennette is also realistic. If there is a birthday celebration, she has a piece of cake. If she eats junk food one night, she goes back to healthy eating the next morning. I support this approach. Eat whole real food at least 80-90% of the time, and then allow some space for life’s curve balls (travel, celebrations, mood, etc).

I always say if someone eats something like, oh let’s just say for the sake of argument, I. C. E. C. R. E. A. M. Will that ice cream make them unhealthy? No.

If that same person eats only ice cream every single day, month after month, will that make them unhealthy? High probability, Yes.

My philosophy:

1. Eat healthy, at least 80% of the time – Limit and avoid refined sugars, high fructose corn syrup, trans-fats, artificial sweeteners, products that have ingredients you can’t pronounce.

2. Eat whole real food – If you can hunt it, pick it or gather it, you can eat it.

3. Eat a variety of colorful vegetables, adequate protein and good fats every single day.

4. Eat 3-5 times each day. Stay hydrated with water.

5. Don’t be an orthorexic.

6. Finally, when and if a coupon for free ice cream arrives in your mailbox, like mine did today, Enjoy. Whoop! Whoop!