Carla's Spaghetti Sauce

This has got to be my FAVORITE of all dishes! It's an easy way for me to get in my vegetables, and it tastes so good! I do like a lot of spice, so if you don't, just reduce the amounts and enjoy!

1 lb. 93% or higher fat free ground beef or 99% fat free ground turkey


1 red bell pepper chopped

1 med. to lg onion chopped

1 c. frozen chopped spinach

½ c. green or black olives, sliced

1 med. zucchini chopped (optional)

1 sm. Eggplant, peeled and chopped (optional)

½ c. minced garlic (from jar) or ½ bulb fresh chopped garlic

2 cans stewed tomatoes mashed

1 can hunts traditional spaghetti sauce

3-4 T. dried basil

2 T. dried oregano



In a large saucepan, cook over medium heat meat, onions, bell pepper, eggplant and spices. Once meat is browned, add in zucchini, spinach, olives, garlic. Allow zucchini to soften and add stewed tomatoes and spaghetti sauce, reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-3 hours.

Week Two Down

Hello out there!

Well today marks the end of week 2 for me following the BL nutrition plan. My grand total in weight loss is a big ol' fat ZERO! BUT, I am definitely smaller. I think it's most likely due to 2 things. First, I lost a whopping 14 pounds the first week, and then 3 the following, but then I started taking progesterone this week to combat some large ovarian cysts and promptly got those 3 pounds back. I'm laying money on next week, after I finish the round of meds this month, it will drop back down. I don't know how to post a picture in a blog, but I wanted to share some pictures. I've decided to start taking a picture a week every Sunday, before I go to church. So if I can figure it out, I want you all to see the difference in one week.

APRIL 18, 2010

APRIL 25, 2010

And that folks was one week on the Biggest Loser Nutrition Plan!

Following the Path of Least Resistance

At some point in our lives as fat people, we all feel a certain depth of desperation and rejection. The desperation stems from the rejection of a thin-obsessed society. But let’s face it, thin IS in, and it’s just healthier for our bodies. They perform better with less weight on them. The degree of thinness should not however determine how we are treated in life. Unfortunately though, it does. People can be very cruel to one another, and I find at times, people of size can be the cruelest of all. I’ve auditioned several times to be on the television show The Biggest Loser. I feel that it would really help me to get my weight off while at the same time being able to use my own personal story to help encourage those who are desperately struggling and super-super-morbidly obese and/or deal with disabilities. After a few years of some serious struggles (hurricane Ike was just as diffiult for people as katrina, but not as publicized), I have finally found my way back onto the right path and decided to once again try out for Biggest Loser. I joined Holland "Master Caster" Striplin's fanpage on facebook, and lo' and behold see it's still the same: people of size can be the cruelest and most judgemental of all. Perhaps it's because we all get it so much that we in turn do it to others and don't even realize it???? I don't know, but I do know I do my best to always do right by people. I feel it’s the way we are supposed to be in life, but it’s just a natural part of my character.




Following the path of least resistance can mean a lot of things, but in this case, I’m going to go with what it means as pertaining to weight loss. I’ve had 2 WLS in my life. As I’ve said before, a lot of people think this is the easy way out, but let me just say it is by far one of the hardest things to do in life. First, you have to deal with the pain of surgery. It’s agony! Second, you then have to deal with much smaller serving sizes. Easy, right? Uhm, NO! if you take one bite too much, you are in absolute agony, or if you don’t chew well enough, it won’t go through your lumen. What happens then? Most people will go stick their fingers down their throat and make themselves puke it up. The pain is that bad. It’s like you’ve been kicked in the chest by a linebacker and are sucking fumes at the same time. On top of all this, there is the psychological aspect of simply eating smaller amounts. Humans in general love food. We celebrate just about everything with food. We eat for comfort, we eat when we are happy, sad, angry, bored, and this does not go away just because your stomach is now the size of an egg, which takes you right back to number 2, PAIN if you overeat. Then there is the issue of if you never deal with what got you fat in the first place, you will still find a way to eat or eat the wrong things…what happens over a few years is you find yourself right back at the weight you started at before WLS, or bigger, but it’s much harder to lose it then!



In the end, the path of least resistance truly is finding a well-balanced, nutritionally solid meal plan and sticking with it. You WILL stick with it if you like it and feel sated. You also need to deal with the issues that got you fat to begin with. It’s painful sometimes but very cathartic. Forgive if you need to forgive, whether it’s others or yourself, and let go. That in and of itself is so incredibly healing! Once you’ve done that, commit to being good to yourself. Find that plan that is right for you and go for it! Most importantly, don't forget to Exercise! It’s like milk,

IT DOES A BODY GOOD! And most importantly BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

SPICY CHILI MANGO-TANGERINE CHICKEN

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced


1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

½ green bell pepper, diced

2 T. canola oil

½ t. chili flakes

Dash cayenne pepper

Dash cumin

1.5 T. light soy sauce

1 T. lemon juice

½ c. tangerine juice

1 t. honey

Zest of 1 smarty tangerine

1 smarty tangerine, sectioned

1 yellow mango, diced

1 T. minced garlic

1T. flour

¾ c. water



Sweat onion and bell in sauté pan with oil (add in garlic after a few minutes) and remove from pan once they become clear. Add chicken to pan with chili flakes, cayenne, cumin and cook. Add in tangerine sections and mango and allow to soften. Mix tangerine juice, zest, honey, lemon juice, water, soy sauce and flour together and add in vegetable mixture to pan and allow to thicken....server over warm rice.

This recipe serves either 2 smaller portions or one larger portion

My Story

I think I realized I was fat for the first time when I was 5 years old. I clearly remember sitting on the table at the doctor's table listening to him tell me "Carla, you're fat" and thinking why is this fat man telling me I'm fat???? At 5 years old, I weighed 100 pounds. The last time I was under 200, I was 8 years old, and I remember stepping on the scale and weighing 177 pounds. From then on, I just got bigger and bigger. Finally, when I was 23 years old, I underwent stomach surgery to lose weight. The day I had it, I weighed 510 pounds. How does a person get to that point At 23 years old, I had no clue, so I had what would turn out to be my first of 2 stomach bandings and in one year, I lost 300 pounds! It was so awesome! However, there was a problem. I couldn't eat! Everything I ate came back up, caused me tremendous pain and the doctor blamed me!!!! So that begins another journey...




I went through 9 years of not being able to keep anything down except ice-cream. Because of all that ice-cream, it started packing some pounds back on. I gained back up to around 360. At that point, I moved to Italy. It was my time in Italy that made me realize that exercise is key to my weight loss success. In the 2 months I was there, I lost 70 pounds. I did nothing different except walk everywhere and climbing stairs. It taught me something to this day I know is going to have to be a huge part of my life. I had always exercised before that, but I guess I just didn't exercise enough. I was able to maintain my weight for long periods when I exercised faithfully. When I moved back from Italy, a tragedy happened that sent my weight through the roof.



I never thought that I would EVER again weigh over 500 pounds, but on October 30, 2002, I was rear-ended by an 18 wheeler. My back was broken from T7-T11, and I was paralyzed for a few months. I had to learn to walk again, but it was so strange to walk when I couldn't feel my legs. My balance was horrible. I'm thankful that the paralysis was not permanent, and my doctor told me that in fact, the excess weight was what not only saved my spinal cord from being completely severed, but also my life. I had always looked at being fat as a curse until that day. It's still a difficult and frustrating thing to be so large, but it's no longer something that makes me feel like dying. I think I had to learn to accept myself for who and what I am before I could ever truly be successful in any weight loss journey. Several months after the accident, I had the banding removed and got a life-threatening case of pneumonia and within 2 months had gained to 540lbs. I decided to be re-banded by another doctor hoping to lose that weight. So on October 8, 2004, I was re-banded and hoped to surpass my original weight loss where I had weighed 210 pounds. It didn't work. I lost maybe 60 pounds, and then it stopped. AND THEN **dah dah dahhhhhhhhhhh** I was inspired by The Biggest Loser! They have a nutrition plan that is the bomb! It is so well-rounded and nutritionally sound. I had always thought I would never lose weight eating like that. I believed I needed a radical fad diet to get those pounds off, but nope, that isn’t the case! It is the best plan ever, and one I highly recommend!



I would love to be able to be accepted onto the biggest loser ranch, but for now, I will commit myself to following this plan and exercising. I’ve come from a place of practically no hope to actually believing in myself. The proof is as they say in the proverbial pudding, and so I challenge you today to commit to yourself to make those changes, strive towards your goals and reach your dreams!