It's Just a Number - Week 11

"The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows and the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years."
                                                                                                                               ~Audrey Hepburn

It's just a number or a letter on a label, so why do we as women get so hung up on being a certain size? Instead of the "ideal" number we should be more concerned about how the clothes fit. I personally have jeans that range from a size 6 to a size 12 and they all fit. Although the ones in the middle, the 10's, are the ones that need a belt right now.

Every clothing manufacturer seems to have their own opinion on what is the perfect size 12.

What brought this matter to my attention was my daughter. When she was home for Spring Break she was going through her closet and there were a few pairs of jeans on the floor. She asked me what I thought she should do with these. I asked what was wrong with them. She said they were a little tight, but "I hate to get rid of them because they are 1's". Now no young woman with any even the slightest curves should still be wearing a 1. I know she has always prided herself on being small, and she still is, but at 19 you should no longer be shopping in the Junior's Section.

Embrace your curves and embrace your number on the label. As long as it fits good, that is all that really matters.

SELF-PORTRAITS
The theme for this week at 52 of You was details. Which, in my mind can be anything.

A life necessity is shaving.

All winter I live in my SmartWool socks.

WEIGHT

This week I gained: .5 lbs

Total weight loss: 6 lbs.

If I said that I am not disappointed to be stuck at this plateau I would be lying. I feel like I worked really hard this week and ate quite healthy, but yet the number stays virtually unchanged. I know all that stuff about muscle weighs more than fat, and I know that I am gaining muscle, but still it would be nice to drop just a little bit. I only have 4 lbs. to go to goal weight and I have a feeling they will be hard fought pounds.

EXERCISE

I have a new exercise to do at home using my 1 lb. hand weights, which doesn't seem like much until you are doing this exercise for 2-5 minutes. You have to stand with your back almost touching the wall behind you, stand straight, spine nice and tall, head positioned over shoulders, not out in front of you like a turtle, shoulders back and down. Have the weights in your hands down by your side, palms facing the wall, then bring your arms straight out and up to a 90 degree angle then back down again. It strengthens your neck and shoulders and upper back.

FOOD

I have been in love with the sweet potatoes lately, so I tried a couple new recipes, here is one of them:

SWEET POTATO VEGGIE BURGER

2 cans cannellini white beans, drained

1 large sweet potato, baked/peeled/mashed (about 2 cups)

2 Tbsp. tahini

2 tsp. maple or agave syrup

1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning or Cajun seasoning

1/4 cup wheat flour

salt to taste if needed

Plentiful Panko crumbs

safflower oil for pan

Whole Wheat Buns

Directions:

1. Bake sweet potato. Peel, place in large mixing bowl.

2. Add drained beans to mixing bowl. Mash beans and potato together.

3. Mash in seasoning, flour and any additional seasoning. Your mixture will be quite soft and moist. But you should be able to form a patty. Add more flour or a scoop of breadcrumbs to thicken the mixture if needed.

4. Heat 1 Tbsp. safflower oil in a pan over high heat.

5. Form a patty from mixture and coat in Panko crumbs. Thick coating. Then drop the patty in the pan. Repeat until the pan is filled. Cook until browned on both sides. You could also bake. If baking, use less Panko.

6. Transfer cooked patties to paper towel. Cool for a few minutes.

7. Serve on toasted buns with lotsa toppings

*toppings - I used baby spinach and honey dijon mustard. Glen wanted cheese slices on his.

recipes comes from: http://kblog.lunchboxbrunch.com/2012/02/easy-sweet-potato-veggie-burgers-with.html