However here in California, I have never felt any need for it, having enough fruits and sunshine the whole year around. About a year ago though, in the midst of all flu scare, I stopped at the drug store to pick up some multivitamins for my husband and myself, trying to boost our immune systems as much as possible. I remember I spent a good hour and a half in that aisle just reading the ingredients on every bottle and comparing one to another, which in the end led me to two bottles of Centrum, one for men and the other for women.

Within the next couple of days I started to feel changes in my overall condition, mainly by the tremendous boost of energy that I hadn’t felt in a while by that time. My sleep got better, it got much easier to get out of the bed in the morning, and I definitely started to feel less sleepy and drowsy throughout the day, especially after lunch. I started to concentrate more on my tasks during the day, which led to more efficiency. For about the first week, I was even a little bit scared by how much energy I had. It felt as though a whole can of coffee had been compressed into one little pill, only there was no crash later. But after that first week, everything got back to normal again; perhaps I didn’t feel as if I could run a marathon any more, but the overall condition remained on the same level.  That’s when more changes started to show. My digestive process improved. My skin and hair got better. My nails grew much stronger–before they would break for no reason, now I clip them only when they grow too long.

The only thing about multivitamins is that they come in such big pills that it could leave very unpleasant feeling if taken on an empty stomach. It’s advisable to take them with a meal. It has never been a problem for me; I’m usually pretty consistent about it and take mine every day either with breakfast or lunch. My husband however keeps it in his car to take it during his lunch and sometimes forgets about it, which leads to a quite inconsistent intake, in which case I think there’s really no point of taking it. And here’s how I can see the impact of multivitamins on the immune system in the long run: during the past year he got two minor bouts of flu, while I, even though being in such close contact with him, didn’t catch a thing!

So do multivitamins really work? As someone who has been taking them for over a year now, I can confidently say that they do work. And also, I recently found out that in order to get the needed dosage of vitamin C, one would need to eat two pounds of oranges a day. As much as I love oranges I would definitely develop an allergy from such an amount. It’s much easier to have one multivitamin a day!

Yours truly,

– Vita (:

Height: 6’0″ – Still the same :)

Arms: 13″ – Also the same…

Bust: 40″ – Magically gained one inch, 41″

Waist: 33″ – 32.5″

Hips: 41.5″ – Didn’t change (yet!)

Buttocks: 45.5″ – 45″

Thighs: 27″ – 26.5″

Not sure about the weight yet since only Michelle has a scale, and she’s on the East Coast at the moment, so I will check that later with her. So what did I change in my eating pattern that lead me to this weight loss shift? I would like to say nothing, because it just doesn’t feel as I restrict myself. I truly don’t! I still eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I indulge myself with my favorite flan dessert and occasional biscuits with my meals. However there were some fundamental changes made:

For example, my husband and I said big fat NO to sodas or any other fruit drinks. I think he’s even more concerned about it than I am. We started to brew our own iced teas every morning and drink that throughout the day instead.

I definitely started to cut down on portions.

I started to implement veggies more often in my menu.

We always have a tray full of different fruits at home. Great for snacking!

I started to skip on dinner more often because I would have really late lunch on some days.

The whole idea of this Diet Drop Project was to give us one month of conscious eating and see the results. We didn’t want to stress ourselves out with any strict diet plans, we just wanted to analyze our eating habits, and instead of blindly eating whatever comes our way, think about it and make appropriate choices. Did it work for me? As you can see some minor changes started to happen already, and deep in my heart, I know that I didn’t try hard enough. I could have paid more attention and tried harder, but because it was only the trial period, I was still a little skeptical about the results, therefore taking it extremely easy. Now, however, it’s ON! Even a half an inch is enough motivation for me to keep this project going. And of course knowing myself, I should admit it would never happen if I’d be trying to do it all by myself. A support factor plays such a tremendous role in weight loss, it definitely helps to have a friend to start this journey together.

Stay motivated, my friends!

- Vita (:

**Weight numbers will be added on Wednesday.

Happy Friday! Here’s a quick update of some things you can look forward to from us next week:

–Michelle will return from a weekend trip of visiting with her in-laws in New Jersey and will post about vacation eating on the east coast with a bunch of Peruvians.

–Both of us will be posting our first Wednesday Weigh-In since we started Diet Drop. Yikes! The thought of stepping back on the scale makes us both a little nervous but it’s a necessary part of measuring how successful our efforts are as we move toward our weight loss goals.

–We also plan to go to the grocery store together again and pick out an ingredient to use in a dinner (separately) for a new Rashomon-style post.

In the meantime, follow us on Twitter @DietDrop! We’re posting little notes and tips throughout the day on Twitter along with links to the blog and retweets of health-related articles and recipes we like.

Have a great weekend!

Best always,

–Michelle & Vita

When I compare the different outcomes, It’s obvious, at least in my case, that my shopping habits not only reflect my eating habits, but also my moods. Because of this correlation, I’ve decided to give more thought to how I time my trips to the store rather than just focusing on making a detailed shopping list.

Let me breakdown the differences in grocery shopping style. Here are typical examples of what happens in these different shopping scenarios:

Michelle by herself: I keep a notepad and pen in the kitchen junk drawer so that when we run out of things I can just write it down immediately and not worry about forgetting to get more when I go the store. Before I go to the store, I spend about 10 minutes going through the kitchen looking for things we need and looking at the receipt from our last trip to the store to see if I’m forgetting something and to estimate the budget.

My preparation ritual for grocery shopping: My new list, my old list, my reminder about which noodles to get, and my As-Seen-On-TV Quick Carry bag handle.

When I get to the store, a lot of that effort and guidance goes unheeded. I don’t know why but I feel compelled to take my time going aisle by aisle to make sure I don’t overlook something I might need but didn’t think of. So, of course, I end up getting everything on my list and a bunch of other stuff that looked appealing or was on sale. I justify it to myself as a need instead of an emotional desire or weak will power. I leave the store feeling rich with all the wonderful ingredients I’ll be able to satiate us with and recipes I’ll be able to try even though I’m poorer because I’ve gone over budget. And then I get home and snack on the goodies while I put everything away.

Michelle with her husband (whom she loves with every fiber of her being): I enter the store just as I described above, except my husband is already five steps ahead of me elbow deep in the produce section. As I pick out the spinach and glance around at the rest of the section, he has already loaded the cart with the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, garlic, and bananas that are on the shopping list. The distance between us grows, literally and figuratively, as I get the cumin, Knorr, and canola oil, and he’s already picked up the eggs and orange juice, brought them back to the cart, and gone to the other end of the store to get the beef and chicken. Our frustration with each other increases when we meet in the middle of the store and he’s ready to go but I feel a slight anxiety that if I don’t check a few more aisles and the fish counter, we might miss out on something good. He emphasizes that we’ve got everything on the list so we go to checkout. We rush through bagging and he hurries out to load the car. By the time we get home, we’re no longer upset with each other, but it certainly wasn’t a good time. We end up eating a fabulous dinner together and are extremely happy.

Michelle’s Husband by himself: He goes to the store with the list I carefully wrote out. It’s like a game show challenge for him of how fast he can get everything on the list and get home to get back to doing stuff that is more fun. He doesn’t deviate from the list, except to get some beer or wine on the weekend. At least, he doesn’t think he deviates from the list. In his haste, he occasionally gets the tomato-flavored Knorr instead of the regular or the small corn tortillas instead of the flour ones I needed. It’s a minor, irksome, infrequent thing that bugs me more than him. I just adjust my menu plans to suit whatever we have to work with.

Michelle with Vita: We get in the car and chat and laugh all the way to the store. We share a cart. I am armed with my list; she seems to have her plan in her head. We go pretty much aisle-by-aisle together, except for the occasional moment where she runs to get something while I seem to stare, bemused or longingly, at all the cheeses. Vita is really good at pointing out sales on things like meat; I’m not very helpful in the store except to drive us there. Although, in the Korean market, I found these awesome acorn noodles that we have to go back for soon. She also sometimes lovingly slaps me on the wrist for picking up something we’re trying to avoid, like sugary fruit juice or bread. We leave the store with everything on our lists in our budgets and maybe just one extra thing that was on sale, like the salmon we got last week for $4.99/lb. We go home happy, unpack in our respective kitchens, and then meet up for a healthy snack.

I’m trying to use the benefits of shopping with Vita to make me a better all-around grocery shopper when I’m alone or with my husband. [Side note: I am an excellent, like champion-level clothes shopper. It's food I struggle with, not fashion or resourcefulness.] I think if Vita and I were to challenge our husbands with a grocery shopping contest, they’d win in terms of speed and maybe even budget but we’d win in terms of item accuracy and fun.

Share with us your habits, tips, troubles, or stories about grocery shopping. :)

Stay healthy, my friends!

–Michelle

When I’m away from radio waves, my ears are occupied with my favorite playlists, which go by songs rather than artists, and when I’m sick and tired of the iPod, I’m tuning my Pandora for Ella Fitzgerald or Ray Charles for more relaxed, soulful, classical flow. The only time there’s no music playing from other sources is when my husband is playing his drums. He connects his drum set to the PS and, by eliminating drums from Rock Band, fills in the songs with his own drum addition; that’s when Ozzy, Rush, and Metallica get into play. Although sometimes he plays my favorites–RHCP, Incubus, “Hotel California” and “Cold As Ice”–just for me.

Music makes me feel better, sunnier, and it makes me sing along and dance. Here are five ultimate songs that are guaranteed to make me move. :)

1. Dire Straits ‘Sultans Of Swing’

2. Sublime ‘Summertime’ (this particular version!)

3. Ray Charles ‘Hit The Road Jack!’

4. Journey ‘Separate Ways’

5. Foreigner ‘Cold As Ice’.

Stay tuned, my friends! (:

– Vita.

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I love rain. Love everything about it, the calm warm weather prior to the rain storm, falling asleep listening to the lullaby of rain drops hitting the roof, sleeping in without being able to make what time is it, watching movies all day long under a cozy warm blanket, the ability to wear rain boots… But most of all, I love fresh clean air, which is so wanted and desired in smoggy Los Angeles. I guess people here are so spoiled with sunny weather that couple days of rain is considered a storm, worthy of occupying two thirds of the local news broadcast. Perhaps I’m not a meteorological genius, but I believe it’s a quite a stretch to be panicking about few inches of rain, especially when it should be taken as a blessing, not as a curse.

So you can imagine my spark of excitement when I woke up and saw rain pouring this Sunday. Every morning I wake up, I have a new song occupying my mind, and that day it was “Hey Jude” by the Beatles, which coincidently I consider the perfect match for such weather. I got up to find my sweet husband in the kitchen making breakfast. He insisted on making hash browns to teach me how professionals (!) do it right, since my last batch didn’t come up as I expected and turned out to be big disappointment for both of us. In no way possible was I going to talk him out of making breakfast. It was shaping up to be a great day already!

Michelle and I planned to go to the mall for a dress hunt that day–she needs an evening dress for upcoming big event that she and her husband are going to, and I just wanted to check out some summer dresses. The last time I was at the mall, I had to run through JCPenney, where I noticed that they totally reinvented their inventory, and I just couldn’t resist coming back there for a more thorough look with Michelle. The only thing we hadn’t thought of was what was the closest location of JCP, thinking of it as something that is right around the corner. But as soon as we barely got out of the driveway we realized that we couldn’t remember where it could possibly be in our neighborhood. It’s the same as trying to find Dunkin Donuts in L.A.; anyone you ask sincerely believes that they saw it right there (but dang, they just can’t seem to remember the exact cross street), when the truth is this chain disappeared from Los Angeles a long time ago leaving just a trace of a lingering memory in people’s minds. That was us, two girls trying to find the store, and since both of us still live in the prehistoric age of smart phones (we still have basic voice/text cells) we had to use what people used before they had maps and googles on their phones: we called my husband at home to check it online and give us the directions.

We drove around for about an hour between three locations that we thought this store could be at. It’s nice to be in the passenger’s seat, especially when you don’t have to stress out about the wet road and slow-as-turtles drivers on your way. I always had an admiration for Michelle’s ability to drive shift stick. She drives her little car like a Nascar driver; it’s fun, I have to hold on to my seat from time to time, but it’s still fun! I felt a little guilty for not getting the directions in the first place and remembered that there was one coffee shop on our way, which I wanted to check out for a long time, so the least I could do is to offer a cup of warm yummy coffee to make up for all the troubles. You know how they say that everything happens for a reason? It was absolutely clear to me that all that driving was with a one particular purpose, for us end up at that place. There was something magical about the whole feeling, the warm woody interior with mismatched antique furniture around, pleasant piano music in the background, two chess players concentrating on their game… I ordered myself a hazelnut latte and gave Michelle some room to decide what she would like to order. After the thorough look around I found out that music was actually coming from a real piano situated by the wall, and one of the coffee shop’s patrons was just playing some tunes, something you’ll never be able to see at Starbucks. The chess game was coming to an end when one of the players masterfully check-mated his opponent. I was just staying back and enjoying the strategy while the nice girl at the bar was fixing our lattes. I couldn’t resist to complement them on this nice game and it turned out that these people were a part of a local chess club, getting together sometimes to play a game or two. My husband and I play chess constantly, but no matter how much I love this game I can’t measure up to his ability to play. In fact, I have beat the computer a couple times, but could never beat him. That’s why I thought he might appreciate being able to play with someone more advanced than me and I took all their info. Michelle and I headed out to the patio, where we sat chatting and enjoying our warm yummy drinks by the rhythm of rain drops. It felt as if something magical was about to happen. I didn’t want that feeling to end, my latte to be finished, or the rain to stop. Even the guy, who jumped out in front of our car when we were pulling out of the parking lot, seemed to look like a rain deer with his tall skinny body and wide-opened eyes; he froze for a second looking at us and moved the other direction.

Finally we arrived at the store. We grabbed a couple of dresses and hit the fitting room to try them on. I didn’t like how the summer dresses were hanging on me, and Michelle wasn’t happy with her choices as well, but at least because were there together we didn’t get sour about it. After a little walk around we stumbled across the jewelry counter, and there was that feeling again, that it all happened for a reason. We were not meant to buy any dresses that day; we ended up there so Michelle would find the perfect necklace as a gift for her niece’s birthday, something that she’s been looking for already for a few weeks.

It was a perfect day that ended with the lengua burrito for me. Even though it was very big and I ate it all, I didn’t feel any guilt because it was still just 5.30 in the afternoon and I didn’t eat anything later that evening. A little bit of Animation Domination on Fox in the company of my dear husband, what could be a better wrap-up of the perfect day?!

– Vita (:

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Sunday was a blustery, rainy day in Los Angeles. Normally such dark, ominous, wet weather makes me want to curl up on the couch with a blanket and an old movie. I appreciate rain but I prefer to not be cold and wet. However, Sunday was different. Vita and I had planned to go check out a JCPenney because they’re advertising new rebranding efforts as an always-affordable, no-gimmicks kind of store and we both wanted to look at dresses (I haven’t decided yet what I’m wearing to a big party next weekend). We both thought we knew where there was a JCP near our neighborhood…but we were both wrong.

It was funny. Something about how clean and crisp the air felt and how much fun we were having just being silly made driving around in circles for a while seem like no big deal. Although, I think I might’ve unnerved Vita a time or two with my u-turn habits. We ended up pulling into a little coffee shop that Vita’s been wanting to try for a long time so that we could regroup.

Vita was a sweetheart and offered to treat. I had slept in, skipped breakfast, and was feeling rather enchanted by the rain so I thought I’d skip getting tea like I usually do and really let the treat be a treat: I ordered a large white chocolate mocha latte, to which I added four sugar packets and a splash of 2% milk while Vita chatted with the chess players.

It was a beautiful, rainy afternoon, made even more perfect by going to such a lovely, independent coffee shop for a mocha. I took this pic with my cell phone.

It was movie-set perfect: an older gentleman was playing an upright piano, people were playing chess, a couple was working on a project on a laptop together, and all the coffee and food in the cafe was organic and/or gluten-free. There were jewel-tone cushioned sofas, a veranda with lots of plants, mismatched pseudo-antique decor, and enough rod-iron frames on the tables and chairs to send me into a tizzy thinking about what great photo subjects they could make.

We sat outside where we were alone except for a man who was writing on his laptop with headphones on, occasionally glancing over at the way the raindrops made the asphalt bounce with life. My favorite thing about rain is the way it changes all the sounds of the city. Traffic noise and conversations are literally drowned out by whooshing and splashing. Raindrops turn every surface into a percussion instrument. And the Disney song, “Little April Shower”, started playing in my head.

I wasn’t feeling any guilt whatsoever about the sugary coffee drink because I figured I wasn’t exceeding my calorie alottment for the first half of the day. A quick search online revealed that there are about 300 calories in a drink like that, not counting the additional four packets of sugar I poured in. It tasted amazingly good. I hadn’t had one in about two years. Feeling warm and energized, we pulled out of the parking lot to head off to the Glendale JCP (but not before one of the chess players darted out in front of my car, giving me quite the scare). With no further obstacles, we arrived at the mall. We scoured all the dress racks and entered the dressing room with four picks each…none of which worked for either of us, unfortunately. Sometimes that’s just the way it goes. Shopping is like gambling: you have to take a chance on a lot of clothes and stores to occasionally hit the jackpot and find a great outfit within budget. I went into the dressing room feeling optimistic because I feel like I am starting to slim down just a bit. One of the dresses was a one-sleeve gold number (note to self: one-sleeve dresses are not right for my body type–ever); one was way too big  and too mulberry so it looked frumpy; and the other two both fit perfectly on top but didn’t fit at all over my hips and thighs even though they were different styles. Go figure. If I had been alone, I might have left feeling discouraged and depressed. But since I was with a good friend, we had a really good laugh over it.

While we were there, we of course stopped to look at all the fun stuff at the jewelry counter. Lo and behold, I saw the exact necklace I had been looking for as a gift for my niece’s 16th birthday. I had been to four stores in the past two weeks (her birthday is this coming weekend) and none of them had any decent-looking pendants with her birthstone. This one was larger, a prettier cut, and had a nicer setting than any that I’d seen and it was under the budget amount we had set! It was meant to be. And what a relief to have the gift taken care of so that I can focus on deciding what to wear to the party. ;)

On the way home, Vita called her husband to see if we should stop and pick up some food for dinner. My husband was working late that night so I accepted the invite (or did I invite myself?) to eat with them. We stopped at a little Mexican restaurant near the apartment and got some wet burritos. Yum! I ate half when I was with them and then I ate the other half later around 9:00. I know it’s a no-no to eat so late when you’re trying to lose weight, but I justified it because I hadn’t consumed very much at all during the day and I figured we must have burned some calories walking around the store for so long. Maybe I’m stretching my justification but I was so happy with how the day went. I was smiling all day long. And smiling and laughing burns calories too.

–Michelle

I also read about a couple of other tricks that you can use to help yourself lose some weight:

• Set a timer for 20 minutes and try to stretch your meal. It’s known that the slower you eat, the better it is for your digestive system and also to fill you up even before you finish your plate. When I was a little kid, my grandpa and I played a little game that I was supposed to chew every bite depending on how many teeth I had in my mouth. It’s a silly game, but he achieved his point of getting me to eat slower. I know that the timer idea may seem a little bit dramatic, but nevertheless it helps to set the habit. For example, it always feels that I eat much slower when Michelle and I have lunches together because we just can’t stop chatting. Although to be completely fair, she eats very slow to begin with. I guess she has her own built-in timer. (:
• Serving more veggies leads to more intake. If you have three or more types of vegetables on your plate, then you tend to eat more of it without even trying. I guess I never realized it, but my husband and I always have green salad with whatever we cook, which makes up for this rule.  I have to admit, I’m a lettuce hater. I don’t eat it not because I don’t like it, but because I sincerely believe that lettuce is a waste of natural resources, and except for fiber, it does not contain anything else; it doesn’t even have any taste or smell. And when it comes to fiber, it can be found in other more nutritious produce. So our salads usually contain cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados (must!), and sometimes bell peppers, all sprinkled with a little bit of olive oil and either vinegar or lemon juice. Some variations include smoked oysters, which usually do not survive till dinner as we both can’t stop eating them right away; or I’d put feta cheese and a hard boiled egg in the salad, but usually I’d make that for lunch for myself.

I hope you find these little tips on how to trick your body into eating less any helpful. It definitely works for me, hope it’ll work for you too!

Yours truly,

- Vita (:

Do you remember the scene from the movie “Along Came Polly” when she took him to the salsa club? 

I’m talking about clubs exactly like that! Los Angeles is full of hidden jewels like a little bar called Mama Juana’s, where my husband and I go sometimes. It’s a small little place with live band playing Latin American music. It’s very easy to just pass by without even noticing it if you don’t know what this place is. You don’t even have to know how to dance; you’ll catch up with it as you go. The trick is to find the right bar or night club and someone to spend time with, whether it’s your boyfriend, fiancee, husband, or just your girlfriends. The cool thing is that many of those little clubs offer free lessons before the actual dancing starts. Usually it’s a 30- to 45-minute drill where they teach you basic steps, then the crowd starts to appear, and later on you are on your own dancing the night away. In fact, that’s how I learned about Mama Juana’s; my girlfriends were going there almost every week for salsa classes and were staying later on to mingle with the crowd because apparently you can always find a partner to dance with right there. My husband and I went there for the first time back when we were still dating. I made sure our little romantic date wouldn’t intersect with my friends being there because as much as I love them, I didn’t want any familiar faces witnessing our tryouts. We both knew how to dance salsa, so we skipped the learning session and went there when the dancing was in the full bloom. We sat at the bar, ordered a couple of mojitos and decided to give it a little time for the drinks to kick in and meanwhile adjust to the situation. I should say that when you go to such a club for the first time, you might feel a little bit intimidated by other people’s skills. But it’s impossible to resist the tunes of live salsa music playing, and whether you want it or not, your feet will drag you to the dance floor! We started out with shy, basic moves, adjusting to each other’s style, but already after the first song he was spinning and twirling me like we had been competitively dancing our whole lives. There’s something very intimate about dancing together, especially Latin dances like salsa. It’s a magical feeling that enriches a relationship with hot steamy passion.

There isn’t really a downside to it. It’s a tons of fun and an awesome idea for a romantic date night. And it’s also a great work out. **Side note, ladies, if you ever decide to go salsa dancing, try to avoid stiletto shoes, which can ruin your evening! The best are ballroom dancing shoes that are strapped around your ankle, something like this (see photo).

All the best,

– Vita (:

Michelle’s Family:

I was fortunate, in a way, that I grew up with a few picky eaters in my family because they never forced me to eat anything I didn’t like or made me clean my plate if I was already full. My mom, for example, is lactose intolerant and has trouble eating many types of vegetables, so she has to get creative to keep up a balanced, nutritious diet. However, she is a wonderful mother, so when I was very little she wanted me to try lots of different foods to learn what I liked.  In order to do so, she pretended to eat lots of vegetables to set an example for me so that I would eat them. I loved broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes, and a number of other things that my mom never ate. It was sneaky, but it worked. My dad also exposed me to various foods because he liked a wider range of veggies and styles of cooking (although I never did try his peanut butter and jelly pizza…still sounds icky to me). Both sides of my family come from traditional American meat-and-potatoes backgrounds. My ancestors on both sides have been in this country since the Mayflower days of the 1600s. A typical meal equation for us has been meat + potatoes + veggie = balanced diet. Dessert was never emphasized but also not discouraged. :)

When I was about 12, my mom and I moved from the Pacific Northwest to Los Angeles. Los Angeles and its accessibility to all types of food from around the world significantly affected how I eat. Because there were so many options and I was making friends with people who were adventurous eaters, all of a sudden I was discovering a love for all kinds of styles of cooking: Thai, Indian, sushi, Mexican, Cuban, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, etc. In fact, it wasn’t until then that my mom really tried Chinese food for the first time. She has since developed an unwavering love for Cantonese food, which we share…on as regular of a basis as we can given that she now lives more than an hour away from me.  All of this exposure to various flavors has served me well in terms of being open to trying new things and being able to select from more options for my own eating habits and experiments in the kitchen.

Even though these foods were accessible and I continue to love them even more, the meat-and-potatoes (or pasta) style is still my go-to comfort food. It really wasn’t until I went to college that I started eating rice on an almost daily basis. Rice and ramen noodles–cheap, salty, and they’ll sustain you. When I met my now-husband back then, he opened up the world of Peruvian food to me. I LOVE the flavors…and that they put rice AND potatoes in many of their dishes. Now that I can cook things like lomo saltado and Peruvian arroz con pollo, I have learned how to use aji amarillo and aji panca pastes, cumin, cilantro, and other ingredients in ways I never expected. My husband does not consider anything a meal unless it has meat in it, which is a little weird to me. When I was growing up, sometimes we’d just have spaghetti and meatless marinara sauce and that was fine. Some of my friends are vegetarian (which I couldn’t do but understand) and even my dad became a vegetarian later in life. So, cooking for my husband and myself has required some adjustments to how we both think about what a meal is. And sometimes I’ll bake myself a potato in the microwave to go with my dinner because my husband can eat rice every day and not think about it but I end up going through potato withdrawal.

With all of these options, I now have to be more thoughtful about the choices I’m making about what I eat, especially as my body’s metabolism slows down with age. I do seem to have a problem making decisions sometimes. If I have to choose between item A and item B, I’ll usually try to find a way to have a little of both. This little problem can, at times, become a larger problem if I’m depressed because “a little of both” is a slippery slope that can lead to binge eating a lot of both. If I’m having some anxiety over something and I find myself wanting to fill an emotional need with food, I try to stop myself from getting carried away by thinking about what my body really needs to function healthily versus what my emotional need really means. Keeping my big-picture goals for making my body healthier in the forefront of my mind and approaching meals with a pragmatic attitude feels like work, but seeing little signs of progress makes it all worth it. And the more I credit myself for those baby steps, such as choosing broccoli over fries or noticing my jeans fit better, the more I feel motivated to stay on top of my goals and be more active. Physical activity also is a big part of staying healthy. As a kid, I could eat practically anything I wanted because I was a competitive athlete and could skate off all those calories. When I took a break from skating in college (I’ll do a separate post on skating soon), I started to see my weight yo-yo dramatically based on my level of exercise. Since I’ve returned to skating, I have definitely felt healthier but I notice I need to do even more to work off the calories as an adult. I’ve also been more aware of all the diets I’ve seen the women in my family try over the years and how weight yo-yo-ing and emotional eating can be shared or inherited traits (but that too is best saved for a separate post). At least we know we’re not alone even if it feels like we are sometimes!

Share with us how your family’s eating habits have affected your perspective on food and dieting!

Stay healthy, my friends! ;)

–Michelle

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Vita’s Family:

Eating habits are known to be developed in childhood within family’s customs and values. My childhood overlapped with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the creation of a whole new economic and social structure of Russia, which for the first few years resulted in a pretty dark economical depression. As a kid, of course, I couldn’t possibly comprehend the whole situation; to me the world was just a huge playground, however I can’t even imagine how tough it was for my mom, or any parent in that case, to raise a child in that time. Now I can see where all the eating habits I have got their start.

Family Rule #1: Take all you want but eat all you take! It was considered very rude to leave anything on your plate. Either finish it all or next time don’t take so much food, better to put less and have one more plate than to be rude! I guess this rule had its roots in another one…

Family Rule #2: No food could be thrown away! If my mom made a pot of chicken soup for example, we had to finish all leftovers no matter how many days it would take. Although our family consisted only of three people, so she never cooked large amounts. It would last for a maximum of two days. Nevertheless, there was no such a thing as asking for another dish for dinner just because you are tired of eating chicken soup again. And any leftovers, like rice or potatoes, were used to make hash browns or rice pancakes in the morning. The same rule applied to any groceries. We bought produce based on its life span, never in bulk, and usually just enough for a couple of days.

Family Rule #3: Make the best of what is available! With a kind of uncertain economical situation back when I was growing up, no one had the luxury of weekly menu planning, more than to have a craving for a juicy steak for dinner. Dinner was usually planned right there at the grocery store based on availability and what was on sale. Therefore, being picky about your dinner was total nonsense. I ate all my veggies and I asked for more! Before I came to the United States, I had never heard that people can’t eat this or that particular food. For example, tongue: what a yummy full-flavored meat, my absolutely most favorite type ever! Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found out that Mexican cuisine uses tongue in practically everything. Lengua tacos, lengua quesadillas, lengua burritos…I’d have that for breakfast, lunch and dinner if only I wouldn’t gain a single extra pound from it!

There are also a few specifics of Russian culture that stuck with me forever. For example, Russian cuisine does not use many spices; salt, pepper, and bay leaf are pretty much it. Of course, people use different spices based on the recipes, but when it comes to original Russian cuisine dishes are not spicy at all. I remember once reading somewhere that the amount of spices people eat correlates with the geographical location of the country they live in: the closer you live to the equator, the spicier the food is. I believe it mentioned something about mountains as well, that food tends to get spicier with elevation level of the country. It makes total sense for Russia, I guess lack of spiciness could be explained by geographical location. And even though I’m always open to trying any type of new food, one thing I can’t possibly tolerate is a spicy food. As much as I tried to adopt little by little, I always have some sort of allergic reaction, and it isn’t a pretty picture to see me like that somewhere in a restaurant. I remember having this reaction in a Thai restaurant when I decided to try one of their soups. I particularly specified to make it extra mild, with just a trace of spiciness in it, but little did I know that Thai mild is as mild as a bowl of chili peppers. Poor waitress, I still remember the look on her face when she was ready to call an ambulance on me.  Not a pretty picture…

There is also a rich selection of dairy products that are being produced in Russia, some of which I don’t even know what they are called in English since I’ve never seen them here. Have you ever heard of kefir, sort of a liquid yogurt? A traditional Russian milk product, which is rich on probiotic minerals, works miracles on the digestive system. Buttermilk, cottage cheese, sour cream, these are only a few of the dairy products that are widely used in everyday intake, not to mention all the sub-products of it. Statistically, U.S. produces a little more than twice as much milk per year than Russia, of course considering that the population is twice as much as well. However it feels to me that dairy products are not as popular here than they are in Russia. It makes me sad though because dairy products are rich on calcium and vitamin D, not to mention that they are a great snack. I only wish there would be more availability of it here.

I would like to point out that those times, that I described earlier in my Family Rules, long passed in Russian history. In no way possible do I want to leave an impression that the country is still in an economic wreck. That was only a short time after the collapse of an old regime, which Russia recovered from pretty fast. Just to be clear, there are no lines for rationed food and no bears riding bicycles. :) I only mentioned it because my childhood happened to overlap with those times, therefore shaping all my habits with it. I might even write separate post about the way Russia is now, though it has nothing to do with the weight loss subject.

Yours truly,

– Vita (:

Then, one day…

…Vita and I were chatting outside for a minute and I didn’t want the conversation to end so I invited her in. We talked for a long time and I felt a kinship with her style and attitude. She is a kind, warm-hearted, witty woman and how lucky for me that she lives 20 feet from my door. Since that day many, many months ago, we have become close friends (even closer now that she is also working from home) and I noticed that my overall mood and energy level was steadily increasing the more I socialized during the week (weekends just aren’t enough human contact for some personality types, like mine). [Side note: I am not in any way discounting how wonderful my daily life in my marriage is. But with my husband at work all day, bless his heart, I wasn't doing enough to supplement that social interaction.]

As Vita and I have spent more time together, I have been more energetic, more willing to exercise, less depressed, more optimistic, and more inclined to see other friends and be spontaneous. As wonderful as Vita is, it’s not just that it’s her specifically, but it’s the interaction that I’m emphasizing. Being around a friend and personality like hers

These are little caricatures that Vita drew of the two of us when we were first discussing ideas for Diet Drop. They make me smile.

helped me realize what a rut I’d gotten myself into, and, more importantly, helped me see how much I wanted out of that funk. Loneliness is a strange emotion, which I equate with something like a fog. It’s a subtle strain on our emotional health that should not be ignored because such isolation can leave you outnumbered against the negative voices in your own head that discourage you. The lonelier I got, the more I stayed in, continuing to eat and feel hesitant to get out. But the more I got out, the less uncomfortable I was in general about pretty much everything. I rearranged the furniture and positioned my desk by a brighter window. I was happier more often. I started experimenting more with recipes and going to local businesses. It’s a funny phenomenon: when there are more people to share with, it seems like there is more to share, literally and figuratively.

A few days ago, Vita and I went running errands together and stopped at Subway for a sandwich. If I’d been alone and bummed out, I probably would have loaded it up with everything and ate the whole footlong. But I felt light and happy that we were out and about. I got a turkey sandwich with a bunch of veggies–no bacon, extra light mayo–and I only ate half (my husband loved that the other half was waiting for him as a snack later). It’s little changes like this (which are the result of the bigger changes I’ve been describing) that are adding up to actual physical results. I’m not just happier, I am starting to see a slight difference in the heavier parts of my body. I can see that I’m starting to lose weight in my face and arms (why is it always the heaviest part, my hips, which lose the weight last? argh!). It’s progress that makes me feel even more optimistic.

Vita and I drove home from Subway talking about this blog. It’s our proximity to each other and our growing friendship that makes doing this blog such a unique support system. We are telling this story with both our voices because, as I’ve described in this post, our friendship really is helping us lose weight and feel more positive and stronger about accomplishing our goals and being more active. I’ve never felt this good about the process of losing weight before. I hope you have or find a friend to buddy up with so that you can enjoy the same results!

Best always,

Michelle

PS: Stay tuned for a post about our latest trip to the grocery store together. :)

The night had a shy start, and the first round of songs was carefully selected for our singing ability (cue “Don’t Stop Believing”). When first glass of wine started to kick in, I dragged Michelle up to sing “Hotel California” with me, and that’s when all borders were broken for me. I never thought karaoke could be so much fun, although somehow it felt as though I sing much better when I’m alone in the car. (: The guys were singing Metallica, Rolling Stones, and Guns N Roses. Michelle and her husband performed “Sweet Home Alabama,” which I thought was very cute and “Ghostbusters.” Michelle did the entire “Waterfalls” song and rap by TLC. There was also Boston, Journey, Incubus, and my personal favorite, Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing,” and, with enough alcohol by the end of the night, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are the Champions.” Four hours of super fun singing; I can’t believe we haven’t done it sooner!

Your truly,

– Vita (:

Butter is one item I consider a necessity in cooking. Regardless of any dieting goals, I will not change my use of butter in the kitchen because I will not sacrifice flavor.

Butter is a necessity in cooking good food.

I would rather eat one bite of a cookie or meal made with butter than a whole plate full of something made with margarine. It’s just not the same. [Side note: I am not a fan of Paula Deen.]

Butter enhances other natural flavors so perfectly. It can be used sparingly or efficiently to provide flavor or serve its purpose (making a white sauce creamy, for example), so it’s not like you have to feel too bad about using it. Macaroni and cheese is another example: The original Kraft recipe calls for nearly half a stick of butter. But you can use a third of that amount and still get a great-tasting sauce. Use margarine though, and the sauce will not have the right consistency or flavor at all.

I think I use the most butter when I’m cooking potatoes. When I make mashed potatoes, I pour in a splash of milk, some salt and pepper, and then I just keep adding a little slice of butter as I’m mashing until the flavor is right. I end up using about a half a stick or so. When I fry sliced potatoes in a skillet, I use a little canola or vegetable oil in the bottom of the pan to keep things from sticking but I throw in at least three tablespoons of butter to get the flavor right (the way my grandma and mom’s fried potatoes taste). We only have these types of potatoes once a week or every two weeks though because my husband prefers rice. Sometimes I’ll just bake myself a potato in the microwave to get a break from all the rice. And then I put a bunch of butter on it. :) I do eat the potato skin as well because it has a lot of nutrients in it and I love the way it tastes.

I also put a little pat of butter with a dash of salt and pepper in with vegetables I steam, boil, or roast to enhance the natural flavors and to help cut the bitterness of some veggies (such as asparagus or broccoli). I use it a little of it in marinades, too, in order to get a good consistency that will also help the seasonings stick to the meat (fish or poultry, in particular) throughout cooking. Sometimes, in a pinch, like if we’ve run out of vegetable or canola oil, I’ll even use a bit of butter to cook our eggs in the morning. And, finally, there are just some things that you can’t make without butter: any baked goods, white sauce, bruschetta/garlic toast, etc. My husband once saw how much butter I was putting in the potatoes I was cooking and, to him, it looked like a lot. “Whoa, are you sure you want to use that much butter,” he asked me. “Are you sure you want it to taste right?” I retorted. To prove my point, one night I made potatoes and veggies without any butter. He never questioned my use of butter again. :)

–Michelle

Sidebar: Seasonings I Love to Use

The following is a list of seasonings (besides regular salt and black pepper) that I love to use when I’m cooking. It’s a wonderful feeling to know exactly how you are creating specific flavors in your own kitchen and making a meal come to life. You can get great deals on seasonings by buying them in packets or little bags at smaller chain grocery stores and farmers markets where spices can cost a third or less than what the bottles of seasonings cost at larger stores.

Cinnamon (use for baking, apple cider, oatmeal)

Garlic salt (meat tenderizer, bruschetta, pasta)

Seasoning salt with no MSG (anything, especially homemade popcorn)

Cajun seasoning salt (anything)

Ground ginger (beef and chicken marinades, chow mein, stir-fry, roast)

Celery seed (I grind it up and use it with fish, meat marinades, and pasta)

Chili powder (meats, marinara sauce)

Sesame seeds (great garnish)

Dried greens: marjoram, parsley, oregano, rosemary, thyme, basil, chives, and savory (all good in meat marinades, marinara sauce, with fish, etc.)

Knorr (a great go-to for enhancing soups, sauces, and marinades)

Vinegars: white, apple cider, red wine, and balsamic (marinades)

Aji panca and aji amarillo (for Peruvian dishes; my husband is from Peru and you can’t make certain recipes correctly without these pepper pastes. The best ones are from Amazonas Imports brand, not Goya.)

1. Brew coffee at home. As I mentioned before, I used to be a real coffeeholic, drinking 3 to 4 cups of coffee in the morning which were followed by a few cups of coffee drinks in the afternoon. To save my family some money, I decided it would be cheaper to invest in the coffee maker. Ironically, once I got into the habit of brewing coffee at home, I actually started to cut down on the number of cups I drank. Currently, I drink not more than two cups a day.
2. Regular coffee instead of latte. Once I found out that every coffee house has a variety of flavored sugar, I decided to substitute all those fancy-shmancy drinks with regular coffee, only flavored! Now I ask them to make me a coffee with a little bit of hazelnut sugar. Tastes great, costs half as much!
3. Sugar, sugar, sugar! Did you know that if you don’t specify an amount of sugar, Starbucks will make your venti iced coffee with SIX pumps of sugar?! Six pumps! Enough to wire up a hamster for a whole week. My trick is to ask for a 1 to 2 pumps of [hazelnut] sugar and water the coffee down with milk, which makes it taste much smoother.
4. Brew your own iced teas! Have you ever tried the passion iced tea from Starbucks? Oh my, I got instantly hooked on this amazingly refreshing drink! However it was still sucking up the money from my wallet and since I became very cautious about sugar intake I decided to brew it at home. You can find passion fruit tea, or whatever flavor suits you the best, at any grocery store for $5 to $6 for a box of 20 to 30 sachets. One bag of tea will be enough for a pitcher to last through the whole day. I add two tablespoons of sugar to the pitcher, which I consider nothing since it’ll make 8-10 glasses of tea. So in the end, three of those large teas from the coffee shop are worth of a month’s supply of yummy iced tea drinking. Did you know that if you’d calculate all those iced teas that you’d make at home for the price of what coffee shops are charging, it’d add up to $700 worth of your own home-made iced tea per month? Something that you have paid only $6 for! Awesome, isn’t it?! (:

Once again, if you are into coffee and trying to lose some weight, you might want to reexamine your everyday coffee routine. Every coffee house has a nutrition guide brochure, so face it, get familiar with it, and see how much calories you are actually consuming throughout the day and what you could have been eating instead. Could you imagine my surprise when I found out that all those drinks I was consuming in a day were equal to a whole cheese pizza or four servings of lasagna? Four full dinners! In one day! And on a top of all that coffee, I would definitely have my regular meals… Now it makes me absolutely speechless, but it’s never too late to start fresh.

Yours truly,

– Vita

When I was talking to Vita about this problem, she said, “The only person you always look skinny and hungry to is Grandma.” Ha! So true. My grandparents think I look beautiful and they don’t think I should worry about what I eat. And, while they do take care of themselves, they definitely indulge when on vacation because they want to keep enjoying life’s little pleasures in their retirement years. I appreciate their perspective, but I can’t share it longer than a week at a time. I don’t have enough time to exercise enough to burn off that many cheeseburgers in one week. And it’s not like I could skip eating or order a salad (no salad at In ‘N’ Out). Ok, I need to accept more responsibility here: there were a couple days when we ate out that I could and should have had a salad instead of potato soup with cheese and bacon on top. I gave in to temptation. And I could also have said no to some of the desserts…but it’s really hard for me–I mean really really difficult–to turn down my Grandma’s strawberry shortcake.

What is it about our culture that makes us feel obligated to eat what others eat in situations like these? Certainly, I’ll admit that I wasn’t fighting it hardly at all because I knew it was just one week. But it made me think about how I can make better eating choices when out with friends or family in the future without feeling guilty or like I’d be hurting they’re feelings by not indulging with them. I don’t have it figured out yet, but I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

The good news is that we did spend two different days at different flea markets, which meant that we walked for nearly five hours on each of those days. That was good exercise! And we had a blast shopping for great bargains on fun stuff. Plus, when you’re at an open-air market, you can stop at a fruit vendor stand and have fresh fruit for breakfast while you walk around. Yum! (Where do you think Grandma got the strawberries?)

I miss my grandparents terribly right now since they just traveled back to their home state. But my body actually feels relieved to be not eating so much yesterday and today. Since I had a full week of falling off the wagon, I’m going to give myself at least one more week to re-stabilize before I do a weigh-in to check on my progress.

I’d like to hear readers’ thoughts on vicarious vacation eating so please share your stories or struggles with us.

To your good health!

–Michelle

Michelle and I started this Diet Drop project 19 days ago when we decided to drop straight diet plans and instead focus on a conscious look at the food we eat, hoping that once we have more critical outlook on our menu it’ll help us to create healthier habits and consequently result in fewer pounds. So does it work for me? It certainly does. I am watching what I eat. I have food on my plate in front of me, I look at it, admire it, inspect it from every angle and then I eat it. Did I lose any pounds? Not yet. Well actually I didn’t weigh myself since we started, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t. My stomach got flatter though, and that’s a plus! The bad news is that I fell off the wagon a few times–there was a pizza involved, and a flan, and brownies with chocolate ice cream on top… Here is the good news though: 

1. I started to take smaller portions. My plate nowadays looks at least 1/3 of what it’d look like before.

2. I totally got rid of any sodas, juices (unless it’s freshly squeezed), and vitamin waters from our fridge. I substituted them with iced tea. Every morning I brew a whole pitcher of tea, refrigerate it, and drink it throughout the day. Works great!

3. I started to substitute such side dishes as rice and potatoes with a steamed, stir-fried, or stewed vegetables.

4. I definitely developed a conscious outlook on everything I eat, especially if it’s not the healthiest food. If before I’d eat it without any trace of guilt, now a piece of pizza would be followed by the whole lecture in my mind of what I could have eaten instead. And to tell you the truth I hate when someone lectures me, especially if it’s my own consciousness.

So here it is, even if I fall off the wagon once in a while, I still think that the whole experiment is working pretty good toward development of much more healthier future habits.

Yours truly,

– Vita.

Even though this blog is dedicated to the weight loss, I think it’s very important to feel confident and beautiful no matter how much you weight. That’s why I wanted to share this recent article in the Plus Model Magazine, that seemed to stir up lots of talk and controversy around the world. This article features a plus size model Katya Zharkova, 28, in a nude photo shoot with a “traditional” skinny model, comparing them side by side and promoting the idea of natural ladies’ forms and curves. I highly encourage everyone to read the whole article, and get familiar with the current statistics it reveals. Yes, getting yourself back into shape and loose some weight is important, if you already started the weight loss process than obviously you had your reasons and motivations for that. However stressing yourself out during the process is not healthy at all.

So I say, Good job Katya, you rock!

– Vita.

However here in Los Angeles, the concept of healthy eating shifted in the past years toward over exaggerated obsession with organic and vegan food. I don’t think I would be able to describe it better than this little clip from awesome TV show Portlandia, enjoy!

Of course, I agree, you can’t call it a healthy food, even if it’s home made, if the ingredients are full of corn products and steroids, and unfortunately there’s no way to avoid it nowadays. There are so many documentaries and research has been done on this subject that it’s virtually impossible to pretend no more that we never heard of what’s going on. But I also think that it’s quite a push to hunt for organic oranges or bananas and pay $3 per pound for it when we live in one of the most polluted cities in the US. It’s as if partying, drinking, smoking, popping and snorting all night long is harmless, but the drinking water must be filtered though! There has to be sense and balance in everything. As for example, I had a friend who’s been on a chunky side for as long I knew her. One day I see her at the party after about a year since we’ve seen each other last time, I extend my hand to introduce myself as I thought it’s someone else. She was one third of her previous size that I couldn’t even recognize her. Very awkward situation, I’ll tell you, but apparently she was quite flattered. ”What’s your secret?”, I asked her later in the evening. “Instant noodles!”, she answered. She said she was saving money for certain cause, and therefore couldn’t even afford to eat anything else. You probably saying Wow in your mind right now, but with her being only 25 years old she looked 25 years older. Is this a price of such an unhealthy weight loss? Unfortunately in her situation she had no choice, but I would think twice before I’d do it myself though. To me, weight loss has be healthy and fun, without hurting myself and others around me.

Stay healthy my friends!

– Vita (:

I know this goes against the usual “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” adage but this is one of the rules I am dropping.

One way I try to compromise in order to get some nutrition in the morning is to drink half a glass of 100% juice (I don’t drink any juice that’s not 100% because I don’t like those sugary fake juice drinks–read labels closely people!). I drink it even before I brush my teeth. This way, I’m getting the benefits of the juice at a time of day when my body needs it most and I’m not eating anything that will upset my stomach or routine.

There are a couple days a week when I do actually want food by 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. In those cases, I’ll eat a small bowl or oatmeal or a couple of eggs if I’m by myself. But for me, breakfast is usually more of a social meal. I enjoy it most when it’s more like a brunch with friends or family late in the morning. Vita is great at making breakfast out of whatever she has in the fridge. My husband makes really good omelettes. And when my grandparents come to town to visit, we have a tradition of going out for eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, hash browns, etc. (and not eating again until dinnertime). When I’m by myself though, I keep it very small.

This morning, I can’t even stand the idea of eating anything. But I’m looking forward to lunch. :)

–Michelle.

1. By drinking more water, you help your body flush toxins from your system.

2. Drinking cold water with ice gives your body a mini calorie-burning boost.

3. Staying hydrated improves your overall health, energy, and immune system.

4. Choosing water over soda keeps me from drinking those sugar calories I love so much and makes me feel a little better about how I’m progressing toward my weight loss goals.

5. It keeps my mouth occupied (get the innuendo giggles out of the way). As someone who loves to snack, having a special water cup or bottle that I can sip from or chew ice from is great for satisfying oral fixation cravings. And, I have realized that I feel fuller in between and during meals when I’m drinking more water.

6. It’s cheaper than soda and other drinks (even those flavored waters or electrolyte-infused drinks cost more than they should and have excess calories, salts, and sugars in them that I don’t want).

The best way I’ve found to keep myself drinking water throughout the day is to avoid buying bottled water. Instead, I choose and designate a special water bottle or cup that I can reuse. With the launch of this Diet Drop project, I invested $3.50 plus tax on a new water cup that has cheerful colors.

An inexpensive and easy way to increase your daily water intake and help you lose weight is to find yourself a special water cup or bottle that makes drinking more water more fun and consistent.

It is BPA-free, sweat-resistant plastic, which means it has no chemicals in it that could eventually seep out and it won’t get condensation build-up around the outside when it’s full of ice water. This is great for me because it means I don’t have to worry about condensation pooling around the cup on my desk next to my computer. Also, it comes with a straw made of the same material, and I love straws. The screw-on lid makes it easy to take it everywhere with me, too. I constantly refill it throughout the day with filtered water from a jug or tap and then I just hand-wash real quick in the evening (it’s not dishwasher safe).

About four years ago, I was the size I am now and I lost about 25 pounds by exercising more, eating a little less, and drinking a LOT more water. I was using a different water bottle but it worked the same. ;) I could tell that the increased water intake was a significant contributing factor to the weight loss at the time. Unfortunately, after I lost the weight, I didn’t stay consistent with the new habits. So, here I am again. But if it worked once, it can work again. It makes me feels so good. The only downside to drinking so much water is that you end up having to “go” more often. I don’t mind a few extra trips to the ladies’ room though if it’s helping me drop some weight. At least it gets me up from my desk. Every little bit of calorie-burning helps, right? Additionally, one way to help your body adjust to the extra water in your system is to eat more leafy greens and fiber, which is a healthy choice anyway. And, as silly as it sounds, my bright, special drinking cup makes me smile.

Drink up, friends!

–Michelle

Since I do not have a scale at home, I usually rely on whether my favorite jeans fit or not. For example, ten years ago, when I was 18 years old, I was a size 10, which with my six foot height looked pretty all right. A few years later I remember having jeans of a size 14, but then dropping to a 12, and staying at this point for a few years now. I guess my biggest victory would be going back to size 10, as I seriously doubt I can push it to a size 8. The last time I had jeans size 8, I was probably still a developing teenager of 15 years old. It would be the same as trying to get your size nine foot into seven-and-a-half shoe. It’s not gonna happen!

In fact, this whole experiment is all about NOT stressing yourself out about the weight drop. Finding a comfortable and healthy scenario of weight loss and sticking to it for as long as it takes is a key. For Michelle and myself, time is not an issue; we do not have any upcoming wedding dresses to fit into, and preparing for summer season in California is useless, as it feels like summer practically all year long. I guess our philosophy is that we need to change the mindset of our eating habits, and the outcome should be more than rewarding.

Now for the measurements. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be, but I guess it’s like jumping into the deep end of a pool, you just need to take a deep breath and do it.

Height: 6’0″

Arms: 13″

Bust: 40″

Waist: 33″

Hips: 41.5″

Buttocks: 45.5″

Thighs: 27″

These are my starting measurements at the beginning of our Diet Drop experiment. My next milestone would be minus five pounds without any time frame, you can read about my planned milestones and rewards here.

Yours truly,

– Vita (:

The combination of waiting for weight to drop and actually acknowledging what my current weight is makes me feel discouraged. In the past, I would have let myself feel that way for a long time. But now, as I’m writing this, I’m sitting in Vita’s kitchen and we’re about to have a terrific healthy breakfast together of eggs, avocado, tomatoes, onions, and turkey bacon. There’s no way I can stay in a discouraged mood! One thing I’m really trying to be better about is waiting between servings to avoid getting seconds. I have a terrible habit of eating because things taste good. With the launch of this Diet Drop project, I’m trying to be much more consistent about eating a portion for a meal and then waiting at least 15 minutes to determine if I really am still hungry for more or not. That little grace period makes a huge difference.

Okay, enough stalling. Here are my current numbers. This is really difficult to admit but instead of dwelling on how hard this is to say in print, I’m going to focus on how drastically these numbers will change (I hope) in the coming months.

Age: 28

Height: 5’8″

Weight: 200 lb

Arm: 13″

Bust: 39″

Waist: 35″

Hips: 44″

Buttocks: 47″

Thigh: 29″

Wish me luck! I wish you all luck too!

–Michelle

If I’d be asked to describe myself in three relevant to weight loss points than it probably would be this, I’m 28 years old, I’m six feet tall, and I’m Russian. You may ask why these points per se? Allow me to elaborate :)

Well, first of all, age is known to play a major role in weight loss. At a younger age, it’s much easier to lose weight because your metabolism is like a workaholic on the Red Bull who dreams of promotion, and even though I think that at the age of 28 my metabolism is still pretty functional, I already started to notice signs of slowing down and a general feeling that it is not the same as it was even ten years ago. What happened to a good old days when you could party all night, having shots after shots after shots, dancing on the highest heels, go to sleep at 5:00 a.m. and wake up two hours later fresh as ever and run to class?  Nowadays I have to watch what I’m drinking, vodka and tequila shots got substituted with daiquiris and mojitos, and the volume of alcohol got carefully cut down to avoid the curse of headache and puffy eyes in the morning. Staying up passed 12:00 a.m. seems like an unnecessary sacrifice now that the thought of a fluffy cozy bed is more appealing than any good time out. And having anything less than eight hours of solid sleep is simply unacceptable. Not that I’m complaining, not at all, it’s not in my nature! :) However I realized that it’s very important to listen to your body and be prepared for changes ahead, make these necessary adjustments in everyday habits now so that I won’t wake up ten years from now surprised that it’s even harder to lose weight.

Now, as I mentioned before I am six feet tall. All my life I have heard the same phrase, “Well, even if you gain a few pounds it’s still won’t be noticeable because you are tall!” If you live with this assumption all your life the border line of your weight perception gets blurred out. You tell yourself after a while that you are still tall, and this “little excess” weight you are carrying around is excusable due to your height. That is a real unfortunate vice of a tall girl.

And last, but not least, a variable of weight loss is my having deep Russian heritage. And to me Russian traditions go, contrary to popular beliefs, not into drinking vodka, but into food. I can’t help myself, but I love eating. I enjoy it, everything about food excites me. I can spend more time in grocery supermarkets than I’d spend in the department stores shopping for clothes. I get more excited if I see great deal on the roast beef rather than 75% off deal on the pair of new shoes. I can spend an hour in the spices section, or even couple hours in the dinnerware store. I hunt for new recipes and love the whole process of food preparation. I was brought up by my grandma’s traditions, and boy did she cook! I could call her forty minutes in advance telling her I’d stop by for a lunch between my classes and when I’d come over I’d see dinner table with at least five different main dishes ready! I don’t know how she did it on such a short notice, but the table would be full of appetizers, main courses, desserts, and snacks to take to go. I’d eat just a little bit and be full already, and yet she’d still pack the whole bag of left overs that I’d be eating another week. She was diabetic, and since she was not allowed by her doctors to eat much, especially sweets, I think that’s why she just enjoyed cooking and seeing other people enjoying the food she made. I definitely got the food appreciation from her. I remember when I was a little booger kid she was teaching me her little secrets of cooking, how different ingredients combined can create magic, and one can balance and compliment another. Needless to say I knew how to cook since I was in the tender age of 10, and by 15 I had been already cooking most complicated Russian recipes, however there wasn’t a single time in my life that I could proudly say I topped my grandma’s recipes. I also was fortunate enough to marry a man with a 100% Spaniard heritage,and  that’s where our traditions of food appreciation meet. What do we do in our spare time together? Cook! We tune into our favorite classic rock radio station and we cook. He loves my borsch and baking; I love his paella and sea food.

As you can see, cooking always have been part of my life. Although I have to mention two details, first, I have never had a sweet tooth. I’d rather have a whole dinner plate than a piece of cake. Doesn’t mean I don’t eat it, I do enjoy dessert once in a while, like a flan or a red velvet cupcake. But these types of cravings only happen once every two or three months. You see, in my family every cup of coffee or a tea was accompanied by 2 to 3 spoons of sugar. When I was about 12 years old, my father sat me down, put a plate in front of me and asked me, “How many cups of tea do you drink a day?” “About 4 to 5,” I answered him. “There it goes”, he said, and started to pour 15 tea spoons of sugar onto the plate. Soon enough, I saw a pretty substantial hill of sugar in front of me. “There,” he said, “that’s how much sugar you intake a day!” After that dramatic experiment, sugar disappeared from my every day eating habbits, unless it is in some sort of sweets once in a while. But since we are talking about unhealthy habits, I have to admit, I do smoke. Even though I do admit it’s the most unhealthy thing I could do to myself, which I do work on breaking, this particular habit helps me not to eat between my meals. It never even crossed my mind before I started to discuss my habits with Michelle, but cigarettes do substitute snacks between the meals. I usually have a very, and I mean VERY generous breakfast. I consider everything with eggs a breakfast. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s last night’s dinner’s leftovers, I will break couple eggs over it and eat it all. :) That usually lasts me without any snacks till the lunch, and that’s when I’d have something substantial as well, but the trick this time is to eat the food without feeling sleepy afterwards. That’s a challenge! And my big vice is to have a dinner somewhere around eight in the evening, no matter how hard I tried it’s physically not possible with our schedules to have dinner earlier.

I guess that’s how I can characterize myself in this weight loss battle. I’m still young, but started to be aware about my body’s behavior; I smoke, and do not like sweets; I’m tall, and for a long time I thought of it as an excuse for indulging myself in eating; I’m Russian and I love good hearty soul food; and I’m married to a man who shares my passion for a food. Yep, that’s all me.

– Vita :)

My weight has yo-yo’d up and down all my life, especially in the past few years. I have tried several types of diet plans but usually it’s my self-esteem that drops, not my weight. You see, I have been living with dysthymia, a form a clinical depression, for many years and it makes it more difficult for me to not get emotional or have anxiety about things like weight loss and achieving goals. The root of my depression is best left for another post on another day, but the good news is that my emotional and psychological health is the best it has been in a long time and that makes this a good time to tackle this weight loss objectively and with a new outlook and attitude. Having my dear friend, Vita, on board with supporting each other through each day’s mini-battles (bread or no bread, chocolate or salad, etc.) makes it easier and even fun! Through our discussions and the therapeutic nature of keeping a blog and journal about what we’re going through is really helping take all the pressure (self-imposed and from society) out of the weight loss equation.

Like Vita, I have noticed a significant change to my metabolism in recent years. We are both 28 years old and we’re facing this as a new challenge. Gone are the days of our early 20s when we could just drink more water and cut out sweets and see a few pounds drop off. Now, even as I’m adjusting portion size, increasing my exercise, etc., I’m not seeing results yet, and it’s frustrating.

[And as a side note, I want to add that women face very different weight loss hindrances than men do. Women's weight--especially water weight--fluctuates throughout every single month. Because of that--and our mutual distaste for scales--we're only going to check our weight and measurements once a month or every couple of months. For me especially, it's important to not get hung up on the numbers but to instead focus on health and toning my shape.]

I was a competitive athlete (figure skating) growing up with a rigorous training schedule that kept my weight down throughout my youth. Unfortunately, when you go through puberty, you have to re-learn how to do everything with your new body. I became bulimic when I was a teenager and because of that and knee pain, I stopped skating for almost nine years. That’s when the bad yo-yo-ing started. Without a regular exercise regimen, my weight was all over the place. I kicked the eating disorder and made progress on my emotional health but I have never been satisfied with my weight or physical shape. I have a natural hourglass shape that is exaggerated, especially on my lower half, whenever I gain a few pounds. Dropping weight around that lower half is the most difficult.

I picked up skating again a few years ago and it really is the best full-body workout I’ve ever experienced. (And even my skating coach has told me to lose the weight now because it’s only going to get harder and harder with age.) However, it is an expensive sport, so I supplement it now with yoga, stretching, and hiking. However, at my age, that’s apparently not enough now. So that’s when Vita and I started sharing recipes, no-bread-for-a-month goals, and ideas for this anti-diet diet blog. I dislike diet plans because things like calorie-counting and strict meal plans tend to set off emotional or anxiety triggers that take me back to my guilt-ridden eating disorder days. I am optimistic that I will have more success with this attempt to drop weight because we’re focusing on healthy eating choices and Vita and I are able to help each other with consistency without getting hung up on silly idiot diet-saboteurs like guilt or self-deprecation.

I am very blessed to have a friend like Vita and even more blessed to have a loving, supportive husband who appreciates me and loves my body no matter what shape it has been. But the fact remains that I am not happy with my body shape or weight. I am down to only one pair of jeans that fit. In the past, that would have sent me spiraling into a severe bout of depression. But now, I’m looking at it as a good challenge to tackle head-on and I’m looking forward to being able to wear those smaller clothes again. Just two years ago when I got married, I was about a size 10. I am now back up to about a 15. I say “about” because sizes on women’s clothes are not regulated and are rarely consistent even within a single brand. I’m currently wearing clothes, comfortable, that range from a size 13 to 16. I am glad that I learned a long time ago to discount clothing size and to just focus on fit. That said, I felt much better with the way my smaller clothes fit than I do now with my more limited selection in my closet. Getting to wear my favorite jeans and dresses again–without struggling to get into them or trying to hide my love handles–is my motivating factor right now.

My hope for this blog is that Vita and I can drop the weight we want to and share what we learn in the process for other people who want to drop a few pounds and hate dieting as much as we do. Stay tuned for angry rants about craving bread, helpful healthy recipes, and progress reports (the good, the bad, and the ugly).

Thanks for reading!

–Michelle

Let us introduce ourselves: We are Michelle and Vita. We lived next door to each other for a year before we realized that we were destined to become best friends. Since we both work from home sitting at computers all day, we’ve found ourselves frustrated with weight gain sneaking up on us. The other day, we went to the ice rink together (Michelle figure skates for fun exercise and Vita is a photographer) and then stopped at the grocery store on the way home. While we were picking up some snacks and coffee, we started talking about friends of ours who were giving up certain foods for Lent. “Yeah, I should give up bread for a month,” Michelle said. “Let’s take it further than that,” said Vita.

During the next week, we’ll share with you our starting weigh-in numbers and our separate profiles describing our separate reasons for disliking certain diet methods. Some dieting methods, for example, cause negative emotional responses (Michelle won’t count calories), while other methods seem to set you up for failure (super-strict meal plans bring out the rebel in Vita). We’ll also be posting daily updates on what we’re eating (including recipes), how we’re exercising, and whether we’ve fallen off the no-bread-or-dessert wagon. You’ll get the good and the bad, and hopefully you’ll find problems and solutions you can identify with. Every day is filled with a different set of choices of what to eat depending on what you’re doing that day. And every setback is a challenge to maintain a good sense of humor and self. We’ll keep this up as long as it takes to reach our weight-loss goals, and we hope you’ll enjoy coming along for the ride.

Yours truly,

Michelle and Vita