Ordered a caffè americano at Starbucks. Barista asked if I wanted hazelnut syrup. Wanted to tell him about the BelleToday No-Sweets Challenge. =P 8 days

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Living with a Foodie Family

My family and I love food. We have three refrigerators at home (two full-sized and one personal one) just to stock all our food. There's food everywhere, even in the bedrooms (except mine). When guests visit our home, even unexpectedly, they're always well-fed.

When I decided to lose weight, there were many eating habits that were common at home that I had to struggle to undo. I really had to open my eyes, because what seemed like "normal" habits in my family were just piling on the pounds. One of them was snacking from a huge bag of chocolates while watching TV, disregarding portion sizes. The problem is that it's hard to stop when you seem to have an endless supply right there beside you. I rectified that by grabbing a few pieces of chocolate, leaving the bag behind, and avoiding eating while watching TV.

You're probably wondering what my family looks like. My mom's still within a normal BMI, and she looks great for her age, but I still chide her for snacking on junk food. My teenage brothers are growing boys, so it's a given that they'll eat a lot. My dad is over 200 lbs, and I really want him to go below the 200 mark, but he's my toughest customer.

There's a running joke that I'm the "malnourished" one in the family, since I've made an effort to really lose weight. My paternal Lola was diagnosed with diabetes in her 30's, and she still eats more heartily and less healthily than I do—it's frightening, to tell the truth. Believe me, I try to help them out by giving them advice, but...old habits die hard. And I'm really stuck—I love my family and I want them to look after their health, and at the same time, I don't want them to hate me. When I had to go to the U.S. for two months last year and left the rest of my family back in Manila, they enjoyed chicharon every day and took advantage of the fact that I wasn't there watching them. Seriously!

I make it sound as if they're out of control when it comes to food, but there are certain areas where they do keep it in check. When we do have our food trips, even while on vacation, we only keep it to one big meal a day, and then we eat reasonably for the other meals. When we order desserts too, it's always a "boodle fight", where we order just a few desserts and share them. That way, each of us gets a taste of different desserts, and somehow, food just tastes better that way. Also, even if we enjoy good food, my family isn't too fond of buffets, so that limits the temptation to overeat.

While I'm proud that I've managed to lose weight while overcoming the eating habits of a food-loving family, I also feel frustrated and maybe sad that I still haven't influenced the rest of them. You'd think they'd be inspired by my own example, but that hasn't been the case. My youngest brother does ask me for tips, but, well...he loves food too much yet. (Maybe when he starts liking girls, he'll be a bit more serious.) To their credit, they've never made fun of me for being the health-conscious one, although my mom thinks I should stop exercising so I can gain a few more pounds back.

How did I manage to stay disciplined even when faced with temptation every day? Let me tell you, it was all really just sheer willpower. If I can do it, so can you. However, if you have any tips on how I can convince my family to smarten up with their own eating habits, do let me know.

Sunday's workout
- 40-minute brisk walk
Yesterday's workout
- 3,000 on the jump rope
- 4 x 15 double-handed tricep curls with 5 lb dumbbell
- 3 x 15 shoulder presses with 2 x 5 lb dumbbells
- 3 x 15 dumbbell punches with 2 x 5 lb dumbbells

Saturday's meals
Breakfast: Whole wheat pan de sal with peanut butter, coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: (at Pho Hoa) Seafood pho, grilled pork and fried spring roll with fried rice, fresh vegetarian spring roll
Snack: Coffee with low-fat milk
Dinner: Goolai salad of fresh greens, ground beef, tomatoes, cheese, nacho chips with Tex-Mex ranch dressing
Dessert: Valrhona 71% Le Noir Amer dark chocolate

Sunday's meals
Breakfast (at Kopi Roti): Soft-boiled egg, kopi bun, kaya puff, kopi
Lunch (at Pho Hoa): Grilled chicken bahn mi, fresh spring roll with pork and shrimp, breaded tofu
Dessert: (at UCC Vienna Café): Blueberry streusel cheesecake, sticky toffee pudding, coffee with milk
Dinner: Pork and beef ribs, fried chicken, brown rice

Yesterday's meals
Breakfast: Steel-cut oatmeal with peanut butter, 12 oz coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: Beef ribs, ginataang langka, brown rice, banana
Dinner: 1 piece Chickenjoy, 1/2 cup white rice, fresh vegetable lumpia
Dessert: Banana with Nutella

Rak en roll!
130 lbs		100 lbs
	100 lbs

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my diet for today, Tuesday, 8 December

(Average)

Breakfast	Cheese muffin, 12 oz coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch	Fresh vegetable lumpia, porkchop
Dinner	Pork humba, Chinese kangkong, brown rice, halayang ube
Glasses of water	14

comments

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posted by bellajade on 8 December 2009 at 9:05 p.m.
It's funny, because the sister that I mentioned that is overweight just got a job at Whole Foods as a marketing specialist! Hopefully, she'll get some good habits and tips from working there:)

posted by victoriacastillo on 8 December 2009 at 7:22 p.m.
Wow, thanks, Anna. =)
When I was in the US, I took my tita shopping at Whole Foods (my goodness, I could live there!). I did teach her about healthy food, and even helped her pick out energy bars that she can take to work.... (She insists she doesn't have time to eat at work, and just snacks all day at work.) When I tried to pick out yogurt for her, she complained that the yogurt was too sour, and she didn't like it. Oh, no. =(
You're fortunate your husband and family were already brought up vegetarian! My family won't mind healthy food, but they just have the tendency to overeat and snack.
If I lived and cooked on my own, I'd totally be a flexitarian and limit my portions of meat. The only thing that keeps me from totally being vegetarian is that I just like the taste of meat. For now, that is. ;)
Well, maybe I'm frustrated for now, but I'll just keep on trying, because they're my family after all. =)

posted by bellajade on 8 December 2009 at 6:47 p.m.
Sorry, here's the rest of my comment, didn't see the rest of it on the first one so I tried posting it again but it did it twice:)

While I've tried to educate my family they just don't understand it. Besides I think it is just too hard for them to change the way they eat as they've been eating that way all their lives. In your case I think you should at least attempt to educate your family on the benefits of the healthy foods and the causes on the body of the not so healthy foods. In addition, you should try cooking some healthy meals for your family to taste to let them know eating healthy is still eating good tasting meals.

Although I am only 28, I am still learning and evolving into a person that is always learning about nutrition for I want to live a healthy lifestyle. I am even thinking about going vegetarian, which is going to be hard for me to do, but I am going to do it when I'm ready and my mind is fully into it. I have learned that chicken (which I love) takes longer to digest in your body than other meats like beef and the longer it stays in your stomach it begins to spoil & ferment. So eating meat period is extremely toxic to our bodies! Once you put things into perspective and really learn about what foods do inside your body then and only then will it be an eye opener to start changing your eating habits. There's also raw food eating that I've done some research on too!

Well I hope I helped you out a little bit and I also hope that your family realizes that you are only helping them as you are concerned about their health too. Take care:)

posted by bellajade on 8 December 2009 at 6:46 p.m.
I know exactly what you mean Victoria. My family back home in the States is the same way and you're right it is hard to fight off the temptation of food when it's all around you and everyone is enjoying it. My father, brother & sister are all overweight especially my sister who eats food for comfort which is the wrong thing to do. Whenever we do have get togethers and there's a lot of food involved sometimes I just watch the way they eat and it motivates me to eat healthier, especially when I see my brother going back for seconds or even thirds! The thing about it is that they all acknowledge the fact that they need to loose weight and be healthier but no one is doing anything about it. I am considered the skinny one in the family and they always criticize me too. My husband is actually a vegetarian so he doesn't eat any meat and we have decided to raise our children that way. Besides, the kids never ate a lot of meat anyway when I gave it to them when they were little. So my family always says that I am not giving them enough protein or they need to eat to meat to be stronger. Little do they know that it's far from the truth.

The fact is that people really don't know or are not educated about food and once they do their own research by their own will, only then will they understand the benefits of eating the right types of foods versus the commercialized foods that the whole world is so into which has everybody so overweight. I also think growing up in that type of environment prompts you to eat that way too when you get older. That's why we are teaching our kids at a young age about food and the benefits of healthy foods in their body. My husband always says he eats to live and not lives to eat!!! That is so true because nowadays you see a lot of people living to eat.

While I've tried to educate my family they just don't understand it. Besides I think it is just too hard for them to change the way they eat as they've been eating that way all their lives. In

posted by bellajade on 8 December 2009 at 6:42 p.m.
I know exactly what you mean Victoria. My family back home in the States is the same way and you're right it is hard to fight off the temptation of food when it's all around you and everyone is enjoying it. My father, brother & sister are all overweight especially my sister who eats food for comfort which is the wrong thing to do. Whenever we do have get togethers and there's a lot of food involved sometimes I just watch the way they eat and it motivates me to eat healthier, especially when I see my brother going back for seconds or even thirds! The thing about it is that they all acknowledge the fact that they need to loose weight and be healthier but no one is doing anything about it. I am considered the skinny one in the family and they always criticize me too. My husband is actually a vegetarian so he doesn't eat any meat and we have decided to raise our children that way. Besides, the kids never ate a lot of meat anyway when I gave it to them when they were little. So my family always says that I am not giving them enough protein or they need to eat to meat to be stronger. Little do they know that it's far from the truth.

The fact is that people really don't know or are not educated about food and once they do their own research by their own will, only then will they understand the benefits of eating the right types of foods versus the commercialized foods that the whole world is so into which has everybody so overweight. I also think growing up in that type of environment prompts you to eat that way too when you get older. That's why we are teaching our kids at a young age about food and the benefits of healthy foods in their body. My husband always says he eats to live and not lives to eat!!! That is so true because nowadays you see a lot of people living to eat.

While I've tried to educate my family they just don't understand it. Besides I think it is just too hard for them to change the way they eat as they've been eating that way all their lives. In

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