 Good morning, I'm Mary Ellen from the channel Mary Ellen after 60 and today I am going to talk about my very slow approach to losing weight I want to announce the winners of last week's giveaway Wearing the smoke palette on my eyes today. I am wearing the rose eyeshadow palette on my eyes As you know, I am just going to talk about what works for me. I I am healthy I have a little issue with an electrical problem in my heart With that exception, there is nothing else that's wrong with me. My lab values are great. I Don't I don't have any other issues Before I would ever start any new I call them programs. I say I'm on my program. I'm off my program I'm on my program I would talk to my health care provider because there are different foods that can affect people differently I have a best friend since birth our mothers were pregnant at the same time We lived a block apart and she was about 10 years old and she was overweight and they sent her to the doctor and her doctor told her she just couldn't eat anything white and Which meant, you know, no sugar and no flour and no rice. No, you know anything that was white basically Well, I kind of have adapted that throughout my life when I've been kind of conscious about my weight and on March 6th is When I started making changes and it was before the shelter at home It was after I got some lab work results and although my blood sugar wasn't high It was higher than it ever had been So I knew I wanted to make some changes Right now as we speak as I'm filming this on Tuesday. I don't know the date up there. Anyway I've lost 16 pounds and that may not sound like a lot and it's not a lot It averages out I think it's been 24 weeks and it averages out to about two-thirds of a pound a week once I started losing weight I thought you know what it would really be nice if I lost a half a pound a week and I don't take any selfies I'm I'll put my very first selfie on the screen and that this is really what I look like now Because in that photo I looked a little thinner than I really was It was the angle. It was the clothing But I was in a hotel and they had that great big long mirror and I just took advantage of it and thought well I'll take a selfie. So you'll never see a selfie on anywhere even on my thumbnails. Those aren't selfies. Those are Screen grabs. I'll pause the video When there's something that's halfway decent and sometimes there's not anything that's halfway decent Then anyway, that's that's what I look like. I'm probably about five seven and a half and That's all you need to know, you know, but I am very content with my weight I have absolutely no joint problems and I've never been told to lose weight from a doctor Just like religion food is kind of a religion to some people There is not one size that fits all if you are vegan if you are vegetarian You know, this isn't going to be for you, but these are the foods that make me feel the best and Have the most amount of energy. I I respect how you eat and I hope hopefully you'll respect how I eat at one time Eating the way I'm going to talk to you about how I eat at one time I lost 90 pounds and I kept it off and I'll put a card in this video and I will link it below I talk about it in a video. It's not one of my very favorite subjects to talk about But I was very successful in losing and keeping off 90 pounds when I was well over 50 well now I'm I'm just about 67 years old and I have no desire to lose weight quickly I want to you lose a little bit of weight Let my body adapt and lose a little bit more and basically what I do is moderate low-carbohydrate And a tool that has been very helpful for me and you can buy these anywhere. It is a food scale It's one that you can put your plate on Hit the button. It zeros out. I use this to measure my frozen fruit That that is the number one reason. I also use it when I'm like Measuring out soups to freeze for later or anything like that. I want them to kind of all be the same That's just kind of how I am, but I use my food scale a lot. I don't count any vegetable I do not count the carbohydrates in any vegetable with the exception of Corn potatoes peas. I don't I don't I don't even think about any other vegetable We usually have our first meal anywhere between 11 o'clock in the morning to 1 o'clock in the afternoon And that's just when we get hungry Jim usually has a little snack when he gets up But that's just usually when we have our main meal and I eat as much as I want to eat. I Just want to feel satisfied and I want it to be a nourishing meal because the older I get the more nourishment is important to me. I eat anywhere between 50 and 100 grams of carbohydrates a day. I Try to avoid simple sugar and white flour because I know the effects of Simple sugar and white flour just any simple carbohydrate how it works on your body Physiologically, let's say I hadn't had anything to eat and I was walking by and there was a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies On an empty stomach, I would eat one Well, my energy level would go up and then it would soon plummet and I don't really think it is My lack of willpower that wants me to grab another cookie It's that my it's that my energy level has gone all the way down to the bottom So I kind of think it's a physiological approach to overeating so I don't have cookies in my house I don't have anything in my home that would tempt me if there is something I want I will eat it last week. We were in the next town over and decided a whopper sounded good So I had a whopper. I had a whopper with cheese. I ate both pieces of bread I don't know when the last time I had wheat and I know I haven't had wheat for the next 10 days I'm really sensitive to wheat a lot of people are some people aren't But if I don't eat wheat wheat, I don't have like I said, I have no joint pain If I would eat wheat the way I used to eat wheat 10 years ago I would have terrible pain in this joint right here and my right hip would hurt Once I stopped eating regular flour My pain went away and some people say it's gluten Well, I don't I don't eat enough rye or barley. Those those are the other two It's it's wheat barley and rye that are considered gluten So I don't eat enough of the other to know if they bother me or not It's truly a very simple approach to to eating, you know, it's not much different Than my friend who's doctor told her when she was 10 years old not to eat anything like if I want a potato though I will have a potato. I just won't have a potato and an apple and You kind of know what I'm talking about But my goal, you know, you'll see all these videos how quick you can lose weight Well, what's important to me is how how well you can keep it off, you know I don't think it's too hard to lose weight. It's much harder. I believe to lose weight slowly In last week's video, I had mentioned that the belt bars were back Well, I happened to love the belt bars. I ordered my first. I'll put my invoice in here I took my name off, but I ordered my very first ones in October and I waited until I got an email That they were having a sale and I placed another order and I think that was in February Then I placed another order. I believe in March and one in May And that's when in the video and I'll link the video below I talked about the built bars how much I liked them I contacted the company and I asked them if I could get a discount code for you and they obliged And I put it on my video and they were completely sold out. So unbeknownst to me They were changing factories. They were changing formulation and you couldn't buy one anywhere And I think you can only buy them online, but I'm not sure about that What I liked about them, they had good protein. They didn't have a lot of carbohydrates. They had five they had fiber and I understood most of the ingredients that were in there and they tasted delicious Well, in late July, I got an email from the company and they said they're about ready to go out and they did offer Me another discount code, but I want you to know if you use my code and you've never Ordered from them before I do make a commission But I like these so well that I wanted to talk about them I think what they're meant for are people that are bodybuilders Well, I may not be in the gym pumping muscle, but I do like something that tastes good That is healthy for me and you might you need to check it and look at the ingredients They're very careful about listing the ingredients It seems like they're anywhere from 130 to 170 or 80 calories most bars have between 17 and 19 grams of protein and if you count net carbs They usually have four or five or if you if you do total carbs It's 10 or 11 and they're full-size bars and that they're delicious. This was the caramel brownie They sent me a box that had every flavor in it I will tell you there was only one that was iffy and That was the plain coconut the coconut with almonds was delicious. I'm just not a true I don't really care for I Don't care for fake coconut scents and I don't care for fake coconut taste. I love real coconut I love Bakers coconut whatever angel flake of course if you can get a piece of real You know fresh coconut. It's even better But I haven't found anything that I did not like You know, I had told you in other videos that about once a month I crave ice cream. Well, I haven't craved ice cream since I've had these and I've eaten one every other day And you know, I'm gonna talk about the cost because cost is important to me. I placed an order using my own 10% off and I think it was for 18 bars and it was $34.91. I believe The cash back program be frugal and I always have links to those below Offered 15% cash back. So I'm gonna be getting that cash back from be frugal there was 34 cents tax and this made the price for 18 bars less than $30 and I think it was around like a $1.64 a piece and for that much protein I'm very very pleased with it. I Kind of like to have one every other day just because it's something for me to look forward to and it keeps me out of The other stuff the things that sometimes you crave Here is a belt bar. I just opened it I'm not gonna go into details because if you're interested you can look and see if It's right for you, but this is the size of the bar pathetic I Haven't tried this flavor yet But they're a nice size bar and when I was speaking about the energy protein This is what they look like they look like this and It's meant to take with you when you go someplace. It has 15 grams of Protein 90 calories the one I tasted was peanut butter and honey and it was delicious But I think these are like for bodybuilders, but they're also I think kind of smart to have in your home If you can't get a whole a protein at some point. You never know This I know I will not use This is zero calorie water and it has a ton of vitamins and stuff and they come In packages like this and they're meant to mix with water I Will give these to my grandsons because I don't I don't take vitamins I try to eat well The only supplement I take and I have taken for probably 12 years is biotin And even though I have a thyroid problem. I'm my doctor is fine with it I know biotin sometimes can mess up lab results it with your thyroid But I haven't started doing collagen and I probably should do that But I just feel good without my vitamins, you know, so again one of these days I might do that But just not right now So how I incorporate this in my day is I don't eat anything after 5 p.m. I go to bed very early I think a lot of you know But I usually eat start eating about 1130 and I try not to eat anything after 5 These bars do not make me crave sugar and I appreciate that fact So some of you have asked for meal ideas, so I'm going to go ahead and film I'm going to go ahead and insert some photos of some of my favorite meals. I do not use recipes I just fix things to taste. I don't have a recipe on anything I didn't include any breakfasts because breakfast is pretty easy Everybody knows what they like for breakfast, you know, like I eat yogurt I try to get the kind that doesn't have much sugar and I add my own fruit to it Of course, you know, there's there's just a lot of easy breakfast things and online Just go online and see if that this is something you're interested in There's just so much information out there Now I want to show you some of my meals that I have prepared With the exception of dressings for our salads, we eat very little processed foods Jim does eat differently than I do, but I do not cook separate meals In the 80s, I started substituting cabbage cabbage for any recipe that called for pasta I like the flavor of cabbage better than pasta and it is a staple for me I buy at least one head a week and often stir fry the whole head and then put it in the refrigerator To use as I need. There are a lot of things I can do with it Sometimes I add cheese and it's kind of like macaroni and cheese, but only with cabbage I can add shrimp or other vegetables. I also brown and season ground beef and Usually when I season something it's with onion and of course salt and pepper and garlic And I freeze it in see single-size servings for a quick easy meal for me This is browned and seasoned ground beef over a bed of cooked cabbage and topped with cheese The next one is also browned and seasoned ground beef with cheese and onion coleslaw and a measured serving of bonitos and Bonitos are chips that the ones I like the best are the ones that are made from great northern beans The next one is a just a frozen Asian mix vegetables and Then I added shrimp This is roast beef green beans with onions and I stir-fried the green beans roasted radishes and Coleslaw and this coleslaw was bagged. I made from bagged a coleslaw and I don't like it as much as shredding my own coleslaw This is a salad. It's my least favorite lettuce. It's iceberg, but because I'm on Coumadin, I have to sometimes watch my greens and sometimes I don't I have my lab work done every month And so I eat lettuce according to what my lab values are I have browned hamburger tomato jalapenos cheese and salsa and some sour cream This is a hamburger patty with Thousand Island dressing I have broccoli and cheese and a whole avocado and I try to eat an avocado every other day I try to make that a goal. I think it's super healthy for me And I just enjoy it when I have avocado in my salad often. I don't need to have a dressing But that's not always the case The next is sausage patties. I have romaine lettuce. I top them with hard boiled eggs I've been fortunate throughout my lifetime To eat eggs that were free range that came from a farm a local farm Although these Yokes aren't as golden as they usually are. They're usually just a bright bright gold and I just really appreciate good eggs and On top of this salad. I did use ranch dressing The next one is romaine lettuce. It has shrimp red onion black olives and avocado And I didn't use a dressing with this one and the next one I used too much dressing This is a lunch and size plate and it's butter lettuce and it's a hamburger patty split into and I think I have onion avocado, harvati cheese and Thousand Island dressing and that's just a few of the things that I eat and hopefully it'll give you a few ideas And now I want to announce the winner of last week's giveaway The first name that popped up did not want to be entered But I wanted wanted her to know that she was the first one and Her name is fire inspector 1923 but she wanted to pass her winnings on to someone else So the winner of the it cosmetic smoke trio and the other items is Cindy pass Congratulations, Cindy The winner of the bare mineral rose palette and the other items is Missy D congratulations Missy I Want to congratulate the winners and just make sure you leave a comment below and I will let you know how to get in touch with me It is all good. You're appreciated more than you'll ever know and I will see you in my next video Take care. So one of these I can I can eat Good morning and announce the winners of my last It was after I got some lab So the other three put the video