Hey Friends!



Start spreadin' the news: [Our Resolution] is coming to NYC!!!



I wanted to let you all know that I am finally speaking in New York City and I have to say that it's nice to be home!



I'll be speaking at the ADA’s Diabetes EXPO at the Javits Center on September 26, 2009 at 11am! The event is FREE for the public, and I would love to see you there! Please RSVP at www.ourresolution.com.





I will be joining members of the [Our Resolution] team to talk about the options folks have to battle their Type 2 Diabetes. I'm really lucky to be able to share my story with you all. In addition to sharing my personal experience, I'll be joined by one of the best bariatric surgeons in the world, Dr. Franceso Rubino and Dr. Judith Korner, a wonderful endocrinologist and obesity guru. They will be able to answer any questions you have about Type 2 Diabetes, obesity and bariatric surgery.



Come join us! I'll be signing books after the workshop at the Covidien booth -- my gift to you all -- so please come on down!!!(sounds like The Price is Right game show--ha!!).



For more information, please check out www.diabetes.org and click on EXPO!





If you cannot attend -- NO SWEAT! The [Our Resolution] team will air this workshop LIVE on the Internet! I will send the link to you as soon as I can. And if you have question, you can ask them during this webinar, or send us your questions or comments to us at the website for a whole year -- I'll be waiting :)







Have a great week and check back tomorrow for more details.



With love and respect,



Stacey

IT'S NOT ALWAYS FEAST OR FAMINE

Can you go to a feast and not feast and still have fun? The answer is a resounding YES! My whole life I have been a black and white thinker and with dieting it was always on or off with nothing in between . Do you know what that way of thinking has done for me? It kept me over 500 pounds for many years. When I got well, I decided to let go of the all or nothing thinking. I don’t stay away from events that I want to be at just because they have a lot of food. I plan ahead. As you get to know me you will notice I use the word "plan" a lot. Even though it’s been seven and a half years since my bariatric surgery there are so many activities on my list of things I want to do and I have not gotten to them all. My boyfriend knows if he helps me cross one thing off my list there will be extra “lovin” in store for him. This weekend he took me to a Manhattan festival that has been around since before I was born. It's called the San Gennaro Festival or Feast. Growing up I would hear about it, but I could not go because it involved a lot of walking, which I could not do. I knew it was a food orgy which lined about two miles worth of streets with tempting and fried Italian food and desserts. They even have fried Oreos now Also there were a
lot of other fun booths, shopping and rides. My plan was that we would eat our dinner there and I would walk as long as I had to in order to find the healthiest choice. In a sea of fried foods, I chose to have a stuffed artichoke , one soft shell crab and a single bite of a famous Italian dessert called zeppole. This was a major victory for me as I had really thought it out. We went on a fun ride, shopped, held hands, and walked away the calories. At the end of the night I realized my memory would be more about the fun than the food. This was an important epiphany for me. So get out there and do the things you love but PLAN,PLAN,PLAN. I wanted to also remind you I will be speaking in New York city on September 26th at a very important event. For details go to my homepage. I would love to see you there. TTFN( a friend recently taught me this)--- it means ta ta for now in computer talk.
All my best wishes for you…… Stacey P.S. Keep blogging to me. I love hearing your thoughts

Beware of holidays

I seldom talk about topics from my book, "Winning After Losing", but this is an exception and I find it timely and valuable. Are you one of those people (like I used to be), who says, "I'll diet after the holidays?" If you are, then please say out loud or write on a sheet of paper what your weight is today. Now, I will tell you what you are up against.

September-------Rosh Hashanah (lots of food)
Yom Kippur---you fast for a whole day and then eat twice as much in the evening for the Break-Fast ( and break it we do)
October----------Halloween----Boo
November-------Thanksgiving and all the trimmings
December-------Christmas and Hanukkah
January----------New Years and New Years Day
February--------Valentine's day and 50% off candy the next day
March------------St. Patrick's day
April--------------Easter and oh those peeps
May--------------Mothers Day
June------------Fathers Day
July-------------Independence Day and all those barbeques

My friends, that leaves you with August----the only month without a holiday that you can take care of yourself and eat healthy. For "after the holiday" dieters that can mean serious trouble. Holidays do not have to be just about food. You can maintain your weight and even lose a few pounds if you are a planner.

I talk about "the winners circle" in my book. Those are the folks who keep the weight off from five years to a lifetime. They do nothing without planning ahead and it really seems to work for them. It does not mean that you have to go without but it does mean that there are limits and times when added exercise is necessary even if it is only walking after a holiday meal.

The first year after bariatric surgery, I had no holiday meals at all and I really did survive. By year two I was ready and it went well. There are many strategies one can implement to survive the holidays, but mine was simple. I made one rule. I would allow myself to eat whatever I wanted, as long as there were no second helpings. I filled one normal sized plate (not piled to the ceiling) full of food.

Stick with other family members and friends who share your common goal as a support system. You don't have to add another ten or 20 pounds to the number you said out loud today.

Good luck to all of you and let's stick together.

All my best wishes.

Stacey

STACEY AND NEW YORK CITY

It is important to let you know that the first 300 pounds I lost I dined out for 50% of my meals. My reason is it was easier for me to eat out than deal with leftovers. I had a whole procedure. Usually, I never asked for a menu because seeing one was too enticing. When I went to a restaurant, I always knew beforehand what I would order. When the waiter came to the table I requested a takeout box with the food order. Before eating, I divided the meal into two portions and took one home. All sauces and dressings were on the side.
My New York haunts pre-surgery were places I could go and eat in the car like McDonald’s on Tenth Ave. – it’s the only drive through in New York City! I would go to the window and order about $40 worth of food, eat half in my car and would sneak into my apartment with the rest.
Since I crave sweets, I would get out of the car to go to specialty cupcake stores – they were my target places. I did not go to most restaurants because I could not fit in the seats. For my last binge before surgery, I insisted my friends take me to a restaurant called Cowgirls on Hudson Ave., where southern cooking is the specialty. I had to go because they have a dessert called baked potato that was my favorite. It looks like a huge potato but it is made all from ice-cream and cake. The appetizer I loved was a bag of Fritos cut open topped with sour cream chili and guacamole. Drum roll, please…..and for the main meal it was chicken fried steak.

Fast Forward
Today, I eat in several places over and over again – where I have no problems with ordering special. I love Houston’s on Park Avenue South. I order the very best peel and eat shrimp and get a great veggie burger – no bun – topped with onions and tomatoes. My current favorite food is an egg white omelet which I eat four times a week. A whole egg has 80 calories and an egg white has only 15 and still has a lot of protein. I get three different fillings each time – mushrooms, onion and peppers. It is very filling and delicious! I get whole wheat toast with jelly – no butter or margarine – as jelly has ZERO fat. Two places that I frequent to get omelets are Visage on 2nd and 7th and Velselka on 9th and 2nd.

Please share with me how you eat healthy when you eat out!

Warmest wishes… Stacey