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Diane Carbonell

Diane

More About The Diet Industry

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Writing the blog about Kristie Alley got me thinking more about the diet industry.  I did a little quick web research and found out that the diet industry really is worth over $40 billion dollars.  Why is it that we are willing to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to pay someone for something we really can do ourselves?  Even when I weighed 300 pounds, I knew what to do.  Why did I keep rejoining diet programs?

For me, the marketing was extremely effective.  Whether it was television, radio or magazine ads, they always made it sound appealing.  These days, the marketing is even more pointed, with the big companies using famous people like Kristie Alley, Valerie  Bertinelli and Marie Osmond to sell their products.  If those celebrities can lose weight while the whole world is watching, surely I can lose weight on the same program in my own little town!  That’s what I would have thought if I had seen those types of ads.  They ads are effective, as according the web, Jenny Craig and NutriSystem have been the big winners in all of this.

Whose the big loser?  The average people who regain their weight after quitting expensive diet programs.  There was a recent study that showed virtually all weight loss plans that cut the calorie intake of its participants will result in weight loss.  The problem comes in maintaining the loss after you reach your goal.  As Kristie Alley has so publicly demonstrated, you can’t go back to butter just because you look fabulous!

According to the web, the average cost of Weight Watchers for a year is about $500 dollars, Jenny Craig runs $100 a week, and NutriSystem ranges from $250 to $400 a month.  The last two plans provide you with a lot of the food you eat, but you still need to supplement with fruits and vegetables.  Like any diet, you can lose weight in the short run by eating prepackaged foods and counting points, but unfortunately it’s easy to regain the weight.  And then, to add insult to injury, you’ve also spent a ton of money!

There is no easy way to lose weight.  It always takes commitment, perserverance and patience.  I’ve been where you are.  I weighed so much I was afraid I was going to become housebound.  I couldn’t fit in airplane seats, nor ride amusement park rides.  I had tried expensive diet plans, but they never got to the heart of my problem.  I would encourage you to try a reasonable plan of diet, exercise and portion control.  When I teach my weight loss class we spend a lot of time talking about the “whys” of overeating, and try to discover strategies to overcome bad habits.  Over and over I hear women tell me that taking the time to not just focus on the foods, but on the “whys” of overeating helped them turn the corner.  Diane

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Girls Who Wear Glasses

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Let me start off by saying that I have nothing against the wearing of glasses.  I know a lot of people whose glasses are stylish and do a lot for their look.  For me; however, wearing glasses was a symbol of how I was feeling about myself during my morbidly obese years. 

When I turned 15 I got contacts and loved them.  I wore them everyday without fail and was so grateful I no longer had to wear glasses.  I faithfully inserted my contacts each day for 10 years. 

After my marriage at age 21, I began gaining weight rather quickly. And believe it or not, by the time I was 26, I had gained over 100 pounds!  Out came the contacts and on went the glasses.  All of a sudden, I had a different perception of myself. 

Because of my weight and low self esteem at the time, I really believed it didn’t matter what I looked like anymore.  Who looks at the fat girl?  Who notices her?  Is she even worth spending time with?  So I kept the glasses on –  perhaps in a misguided attempt to try and hide from the world. 

When you are fat, obese, or overweight, (it doesn’t matter what word you use) it is hard to keep feeling positive about yourself.  When the culture around you screams “thin is in,” and you don’t even fit into movie theatre seats anymore, that is a problem from both a physical and psychological standpoint.  When you feel as though everyone is looking at you, judging you, and finding you lacking, it’s hard to stay positive. When I felt overlooked because of my appearance a little piece of my self esteem fell away. When I felt as though friends weren’t as nice to me as they had previously been, another part of my self-image was lost.

The ten years I lived as an obese woman were some of the most difficult years of my life.  I didn’t feel good about myself physically or emotionally. 

Wearing my ugly glasses were an outward symbol of how I felt on the inside.  During those hard years it began to be normal for me to neglect my appearance in small ways, like with the glasses.  Don’t get me wrong, I still cared about how I looked, but I couldn’t seem to muster up the energy to make the effort to look as good as I could.  So I wore glasses, I didn’t wear make-up very often, and I avoided clothes shopping at all costs.  At the time, I didn’t make the connection between the glasses and the way I felt about myself.  I just went along, wearing glasses, and wishing I could be fit and healthy like everyone else around me.

Looking back, I wish I had not based so much of how I felt about myself on how I looked, but I did.  Wherever you are in your journey, I would encourage you to believe that you are worth any effort it takes to get healthy. For me, putting my glasses back in their case was one thing I did when I started on my journey to lose 158 pounds. I was worth the effort it took to look my best – no matter my size. Diane

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Confession Brownies

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brownie

I’d like to share a little story with you about how we came to call a particular dessert in our house “confession brownies.”  It all started years ago when I would make a pan of brownies early in the day, planning on serving them for dessert that night.  Sadly, there were many times when the brownies didn’t last past lunchtime, as over the course of several hours I would have a corner here, a bite there and before I knew it, and entire row was gone.  Well, then I needed to go ahead and get rid of the rest of them, so John wouldn’t know I had eaten a whole row.  Before I knew it, they were all gone.  I would then race around like a mad woman trying to get another pan out of the oven before John came home so he wouldn’t know I had eaten an entire 9”x13” pan of brownies by myself.  Fortunately for me, he would often remark how nice it was to have the dessert warm.

 

I don’t make the large 9”x13” pan of brownies anymore, because I realized that leftover brownies are hard to resist.  If I make brownies these days, I make the smaller 8”x8” pan, and with a family of nine, the brownies are gone fairly quickly.  I also have learned to control my urge to eat the entire pan, which is a good thing.

 

The name confession brownies came about by accident.  I was making brownies one time late in the day.  This time, I even added chocolate frosting, since the brownies weren’t enough by themselves.  The pan looked beautiful, with the smooth, shiny chocolate frosting glistening as it dried.  Although I tried to resist, I began my usual picking at the corners.  Without even realizing it, I had eaten about half of the row.  On this day I had a problem, because I didn’t have enough time to make an additional pan.  The beautiful smooth, shiny frosting was now a globby mess, as I unsuccessfully tried to resmooth it into the gap where brownies used to be.  The more I moved it around the worse it got.  Slam!  The door opened and closed and John was home.  Yikes. 

 

He said, “Is that brownies I smell?”  I nodded, and he was excited, as were the children.  We sat down to eat dinner.  The whole time I was sitting there I was wondering how I could avoid confessing what I had done.  When everyone had eaten their dinner, I got up to cut the brownies.  As I stood at the kitchen counter looking at the globby frosting I realized you can’t cover up mistakes.  So I bravely walked back over to the table and plopped the whole pan down.  I told the family, “I have a confession to make.”  I explained what I had done, and how I tried to cover up my mistake by moving the frosting around, but it hadn’t worked.  We all had a good laugh about it, and began to call brownies with frosting “confession brownies. “

 

Now, when I make “confession” brownies, anyone who wants to, can confess something without any repercussions.  The kids are usually funny, and tell funny stories on themselves and each other.  It’s become a fun, family time and we all end up laughing and talking at once.

 

The lesson I learned from confession brownies is this.  You may think, as I did, that no one sees what you are doing.  And they might not.  But you see what mistakes you make with your food choices, and the repercussions are both external and internal.  External as your weight slowly creeps up, and internal, as you feel guilt for making bad choices.  I would encourage you to not beat yourself up over poor choices, but rather use those choices as a learning tool to do better next time.   

 

Are you able to look at mistakes as learning experiences? Diane

 

 

 

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Quick Black Bean Soup

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This is a favorite soup recipe of my family. I use organic canned black beans because I don’t always plan ahead to cook beans from dried.

My husband grew up in Key West and every time I make this he says it reminds him of his Nana, who he loved very much.

It all starts with a mixture of green peppers, onions, and carrots (if you like them). Sometimes I use the carrots and sometimes I don’t.

Then I rinse the canned black beans using a colander. Now in this picture, I used six cans of beans because I triple the recipe since there are so many of us.

Then it’s a matter of quickly sautéing the veggies, adding the beans, seasonings and cooking until done. Make sure not to skip the pureeing of the beans step because it makes a difference in the thickness of the soup. Also, if you want a vegetarian version of this (which I make if my vegetarian daughter is coming over), just use water instead of chicken broth. You will need to adjust the seasonings if you do this.

And then you are done. It’s thick, rich, and just the right amount of tang.

Print Recipe

Quick Black Bean Soup

This black bean soup uses canned black beans for convenience. It’s tangy, well seasoned, and filling. 
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time35 mins
Servings: 4 bowls
Calories: 180kcal
Author: Diane

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper chopped
  • 2 small carrots peeled and thinly sliced
  • 3 tsp garlic powder, not salt
  • 2 15 ounce cans black beans drained
  • 1 14 ounce can chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • salt to taste
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese for garnish (optional)
  • 1 cup sour cream for garnish (optional)
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar

Instructions

  • Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, bell pepper, and carrots and sauté until tender. Pour in 1 can drained black beans and chicken broth.
  • With an immersion mixer or blender, puree the other can of black beans until smooth. Mix into the vegetable mixture (this adds thickness). Bring ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Add spices, salt and pepper. Stir in vinegar. Cook on low 20 minutes. Taste and add more vinegar or salt and pepper to adjust for personal taste.
    Garnish with Cheddar cheese and sour cream to serve. (optional)

Notes

I like to add a bit more vinegar. A friend of mine who grew up in Miami always added vinegar to her black beans and she said that was her mom’s secret ingredient.

If you have any questions or suggestions let me know in the comments. Thanks! Diane

Finding Your Inspiration

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If you’ve read my blog in the past, you might remember the blog post where I shared that my supposed best friend was not at all happy when I was losing weight.

One of the many ways she expressed her displeasure at my rapidly changing appearance was a snide remark she made when she saw this picture taped to the refrigerator in my kitchen.


My inspiration picture when I was trying to lose weight.


She said, “What’s that picture doing there?”

I said something like, “It’s my inspiration picture.”

She said, “You don’t think you can be that size again, do you?”

I remember standing in my kitchen looking at her dumbfounded. Finally I said, “Well, I’m certainly going to try.”

If you look at the picture, you can see where that it used to be in a frame. When my weight increased by almost 100 pounds during my first pregnancy, I decided to put the picture away. Before I took it out of its shiny gold frame, I held it in my hand and cried a little bit. I thought to myself, “Why had I let myself get so big and fat? Why? Why?” Surprisingly, instead of crumpling the picture up and throwing it in the trash, I put it in a drawer, sighing in resignation over the fact that I’d never look like that again. Or would I?

John asked me one time what had happened to the picture and I just shrugged as though I did not know. But the truth is that I put the picture away because I no longer looked like that, and whenever I saw that picture it reminded me of how much I had changed.

After the birth of my 3rd child. Early 1997.

Every so often throughout the years that I struggled with morbid obesity, I’d come across that picture when cleaning out a closet or a drawer.

When I finally got serious about losing weight I searched through all my bedroom drawers until I found that picture buried under some t-shirts that no longer fit me. I took the picture to the kitchen and taped it on the front of the refrigerator.

I decided it was my inspiration picture.

I knew I couldn’t look exactly like that picture again, but it served as a reminder of the old Diane who had gotten lost under the layers of fat and whose self esteem was in the toilet. Every time I saw that picture I was reminded of how healthy and fit I used to be. I was reminded that the old Diane wasn’t gone forever, she was just hiding behind layers of fat.

That picture filled me with hope.

The picture also helped me when I felt weak and wanted to eat something that I really didn’t need. After all, the refrigerator held the makings for sugar cookies and the pantry was right next to the refrigerator!

The picture did not defeat me. Instead, it inspired me to look and feel the best that I could. It inspired me to keep walking every morning and to keep making healthy food choices.

It still inspires me to maintain my 150 pound weight loss.

I’d like to put a challenge out there for you.

Find something that inspires you and post it on your blog or display it somewhere in your house. It doesn’t have to be a picture. It can be an old sports trophy, an item of clothing, or even a letter from someone you love.

When days get tough you can look at your inspiration item and find encouragement and motivation to continue on your path.

Do you already have an inspiration picture or can you see where this might be a good thing?  Diane

Family Life Update

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It’s been a wonderful and hectic last four weeks. Christmas happened.

I got a lot of nice gifts including this great sweatshirt that says “If it’s snowing, I’m not going!” (Which, by the way is 100% true!) But the best gift was having everyone over for the day.

Here’s the whole crew!

All seven kids, two spouses, and one granddaughter over for Christmas – totally blessed! You probably can’t tell but both girls are expecting!

And then before I knew it the calendar turned over to 2019. It all goes by so quickly. I got involved with school, robotics for the two younger boys, 4-H for all the school aged boys, and started talking about college graduation with my oldest. Time flies.

Both the girls are expecting, so John and I will have three grandchildren soon. Grace (on the left) is due in April with a little girl and Rachel in June with a boy.

And the five boys keep me busy in various ways.

My oldest son (in the green) is an engineering major in college and graduates in May. My next oldest son (who is 6’6″) in the burgundy shirt is a history buff who loves Call of Duty and karate. He graduates from high school on the same day as his brother does from college. (Yikes!) My next oldest son in the ugly Christmas sweater is a math whiz and is always cooking up things for the others to do. My 2nd youngest son (sitting in the gray shirt) is a sweet child who likes to read, keep the peace, and play Legos. Finally, my youngest son is also a math whiz, loves to play with his brothers, and is full of energy.

And of course, I’m very blessed to still be in love with my husband John after almost 32 years of marriage. I know, I got married when I was like 12 or something. 🙂

I still homeschool the younger four boys. In fact, this is my 19th or 20th year of homeschooling. I guess that makes me a veteran of some kind.

And now it’s mid-January. Some of the kids are doing robotics and that is a lot of fun.

They won an award for their first competition!

In the midst of the busyness I realized I missed reaching out to people to share my life, my family, how I stay healthy, and see how you all are doing. So to that end, I’ve restarted my website and will be putting up archived content as I have time.

Remember to follow me on Instagram (follow me @diane_carbonell) as well as Facebook!

I hope you will follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe to article updates. Look out for some exciting opportunities to connect further soon! Diane

7 Habits of Highly Successful Losers

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Although I’ve never read the entire book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I did pick it up at our library and skim through it one afternoon. The book made me think about how modeling our behavior on proven, successful models helps us in a lot of areas.

For example, rather than reinvent the wheel every time I need to teach one of my children a new math concept, I use tried and true methods that have worked for thousands of kids before. 

When it comes to weight loss, there are tried and true habits that can work no matter what your dieting philosophy is, no matter your gender, no matter how much weight you need to lose, and no matter your age. Of course you need to find your own eating plan that works for you and the exercise regimen that fits in with your lifestyle, but there are certain habits that successful losers tend to have in common that you can learn from and apply to your own life.

I came up with a list of seven because I have seven kids and I like that number. 🙂   I also based the list on what the National Weight Control Registry found helped successful losers not only lose weight but also maintain their weight loss for years. I am a member of that registry and I can tell you that their research tracks very closely with what worked, and continues to work, for me.

The List

  1. Do some form of exercise most days of the week. 

    A highly successful loser does not just focus on food, but also incorporates some form of deliberate exercise most days of the week. Personally, I exercised seven days a week while I was losing and still exercise most days of the week 20+ years later. It doesn’t have to be a killer workout every single day, but it should be challenging. Remember that fitness builds upon itself so if you are just starting out, do not expect to be able to do as much as someone who is more accustomed to working out.

    2. Eat breakfast.

    Eating breakfast is an important habit of highly successful losers. The vast majority of people who lost weight and have kept it off eat breakfast. I admit to not being a breakfast lover, but I do eat something healthy by 10:00 in the morning. That’s after my coffee of course. 

    3. Portion control reigns supreme.

    Calories may be king, but portions are co-king or an equally ruling queen. Control your portions to lose weight more easily. If you combine portion control with either calorie counting or calorie awareness, you will be surprised how fast you get accustomed to recognizing what a healthy portion of your favorite foods actually looks like. I am still very aware of portions and occasionally measure foods to make sure I haven’t developed a “super-sized” eye for foods such as pasta, rice, or nuts.

    4. Stick with basic, whole foods.

    You may know people who have lost weight using prepackaged diet meals, but I wonder how many of those people you know were able to maintain their weight loss. When you stick with basic, whole foods, you make it easy to avoid manipulated foods that are full of unhealthy ingredients while at the same time teaching yourself how to make and enjoy real food that you can rely on for life.

    5. Have a method to keep track of calories/nutrients.

    I watched fat percentage, other people count calories, count macros, and still others count points. Whatever works for you – have a way to regularly monitor your intake to ensure you are eating enough calories and getting the proper nutrients. I used a simple paper journal when I wrote down my food intake but now there are really great apps such as My Fitness Pal or others that take the hard work out of monitoring what you eat.

    6. Deal with emotional eating issues.

    This is huge and something that must be addressed for success. Now, granted, the person who gained 10 pounds in college may not have a lot of emotional issues surrounding food, but if you have a substantial amount of weight to lose or have been overweight for a long time, there very well may be emotional issues that you need to deal with. Ask yourself what emotions drive you to eat and then develop strategies to cope with the emotions without relying on food. (Easier said than done – I understand.)

    7. Have a support system in place. 

    A support system can be one person or it can be a whole bunch of people. It all depends on what works for you. My main support was my husband John and that worked for me. I’ve had people in my weight loss class who became each other’s support system and it was a joy to watch. Going it alone is often difficult and may make the whole process more difficult.

    I know this has been a long post but there were seven habits I wanted to cover. I’d love it if you would add your own important habits to this list for my benefit and the benefit of other readers.

    In your opinion or experience, what habits are most important when losing and maintaining weight? Diane

Vacation Success: Day by Day it Stays the Same

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We got back from a short vacation at the beach the other day, and as I posted on my Facebook page, I didn’t gain a single pound.

Here’s a picture of all the family busy doing something on the beach. I, of course, was taking the picture!

The vacations I’ve taken these past 15 years in weight maintenance look very different than the vacations we took when I was obese. When I was obese, vacation time meant vacation from chores, vacation from work responsibilities, and vacation from any semblance of healthy eating.

I headed off to vacations back then with the car loaded full of “vacation snacks” such as Rolo candy, Reese’s peanut butter cups, cookies, chips, and chocolate covered raisins. I chose these snacks because they were easy to eat in the car, although we did have to eat the chocolate quickly because it could melt. 🙂

Once we arrived at our destination, I would eat whatever I wanted with abandon. Restaurant meals with 900 calories were not unusual and desserts after the kids went to bed were the norm.

Oh, and did I mention that 90 percent of the time when we went on a little vacation, I was also dieting?

Vacations were one more reason to quit or temporarily postpone my diet.

So what changed when I lost 150 pounds? Well, in short, I realized that vacations were for rest and relaxation, but were not a total vacation from healthy eating or from regular exercise.  As a bit of proof: Here’s a rather far away picture of me walking last week at about 6:30 a.m. before it got unbearably hot. (I’ve tried walking on the beach but find it hard to go fast!)

Here are some of the things that have changed for the better:

When we go on vacation now I pack a healthy variety of snacks for each car. (Yes, we are such a big family we take two cars on vacation!) Raisins (not chocolate covered), homemade granola bars, fruit, and homemade goldfish crackers are the choices. No chocolate, no chips, no junk food in the car.

I also pack our lunch to not only save money, but to eat healthy while on the road. Sometimes we stop and eat at a rest stop and other times we pass out the lunches and keep on driving. Either way, I feel good about what I’m feeding myself and my family.

While we are at our destination I do my best to plan what we will be eating. Sometimes we are at the mercy of our hosts, but oftentimes they ask me what the kids will eat and I simply give them a list of the meals and foods we normally eat. And then, of course, I also offer to help prepare them because most folks aren’t comfortable cooking for a crowd!

If we go out to eat, I still choose carefully and avoid the pre-food restaurants love to bring to the table. I focus on the time with family and friends and less on the food.

I also plan for exercise and have found there are very few destinations where I cannot find a safe place to walk or a decent gym to work out in.

I made the switch in my head from vacations being a time of “vacation” from healthy eating to simply being a vacation from some of life’s responsibilities.

Healthy eating is part of who I am and I don’t need to take a break from it.

Now, some of you may be wondering if I have any “food fun” while on vacation. The answer is “Yes,” if I want to. Sometimes I will have a dessert that I love and other times I don’t. But I never feel deprived.

Weight loss success and continued weight maintenance on vacations comes down to your attitude and making smart decisions. I’d encourage you to really plan ahead for vacation time and decide in advance how you will handle restaurant meals, car snacks, and even meals at friend’s houses.

How do you handle vacations? Has it changed for you? Diane

As Big As a Football Player!

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I’m not a big sports fan in general.  I didn’t participate in organized sports in high school, although I did attend the football games because I was in the band.  During my college years I became more of a football fan as our team, Florida State, was on the way up, and it was exciting to be in a stadium full of tens of thousands of people.  Once married, John and I went to the FSU games when we could afford it, and always had a good time cheering, drinking diet cokes and eating cheese nachos.

Once the children started coming along we rarely went to the games, but we did watch them on TV.  As I gained weight over the years, I always kept my actual weight a secret from John.  After all, he probably didn’t notice that I was a “bit” bigger than I used to be.  But one fall day, John and I were sitting on the living room couch watching FSU play, and the commentator said, “On the defense is “so-and-so”, who is 6′3″ tall and weighs a whopping 285 pounds.”  I couldn’t help it.  The words came out of my mouth – “I weigh more than he does.”  John whipped his head around and said, “No you don’t.”  I insisted I did and we both sat there, astonished and silent.  I can’t speak for him, but I’d wager that he was shocked.  I was shocked that I actually said it out loud.

I was also so upset when I realized that I weighed more than a famous college football player.  How could that have happened?  That guy was HUGE.  His neck was gigantic, his shoulder were enormous and his legs looked like tree trunks.  Surely I wasn’t that big.  And although he and I were similar in weight, that’s where the comparison ended, because I wasn’t nearly in the shape he was in.  I was all soft and fat, whereas he was all muscle.  Instead of it making me upset enough to finally get on with losing weight, the realization that I was bigger than most of the FSU football team sent me off the couch to the pantry for fortifications.  I made some chips and cheese for halftime, and later washed it down with diet coke and ice cream.  After all, I reasoned, I couldn’t do anything about my fatness that day, so I might as well enjoy the rest of the game.

But I was wrong, because I could have done something about my fatness right then. But I chose not to. I chose to sit down and eat more and more food, hoping that I’d be able to drown my currently reality in chocolate. I couldn’t.

As the years went by I often thought of that afternoon, and it became something I tried to joke about.  But every time I made a joke about it, I lost a little bit more confidence in myself.  Day by day I’d realize that I was still bigger than that huge guy, and day by day I’d do nothing except eat.  It would be several more years before I finally got serious about my weight.  I’m so glad that so many of you aren’t waiting for another day or another year to make a change. Every day that you live is another day to improve your health and make better choices.  Even small amounts of weight loss are beneficial to your physical and emotional health.  Diane