The Chatty Gourmet

As a nutritionist, I think Wendy is doing a stellar job and her "one day at a time" attitude is really going to get her far! When is comes to losing weight I think one of the most important things to remember is not to overwhelm yourself and always be good to yourself. Way to go Wendy!!

This week Wendy writes...

Another week of ups and downs but I am feeling so much better.

 Monday got up: walked 3 miles felt great breakfast peanut butter banana and muffin.YUMMIE  my clothes are finally fitting but I am still at 150; with all my healthy eating and exercise I think my flab is finally turning to muscle.

 Tuesday morning woke up and had the Oatmeal breakfast (love this) just add raisins brown sugar and  3 tablespoons of  skim milk wow full
Off to yoga and then beach with dogs walk
I brought out my inside out cheese burger to the beach and sat to the beach. Wow can I tell u how great that cheese burger tasted on the beach could this really be diet food

 Wednesday morning I got up a devoured the German Crepe apple pancakes then packed another burger to go off to beach again with my sister.  If I was able to take a picture to let u all see everyone faces when they smelled my great hot lunch that I prepared in only 60 seconds in microwave, you would have laughed.  They all stared at their cold sandwiches & then looked back at my burger. I think I saw one of them droolingJ  I also had a plate of cut fresh veggies with dip, what a great side. Every person had to take a bite of my burger.  

Thursday :

I am thrilled I can fit in a pair of my summer plaid short skirts which I could not fit into o 4 weeks ago
What a great day!!!

 Friday another day another diet; feeling good.  Stay Tuned

When first speaking with Wendy she made it very clear that she was not going to hide anything, she wanted to share her journey in full detail. She wanter this to be as real as possible so that she may possibly reach out to someone going through the same or similar situation as her. Actually, knowing that we are going to share everything motivates her to the max, she doesn't want to let anyone down, especially herself and her fans. So, here is her latest blog and weight stat. 

Starting Weight 158lbs  

Two Weeks into the diet weight: 150lbs

             How did I get here again? How after close to 39 years of struggling I let myself get this fat again? The sad part is I can remember the day last year in April when my favorite regular jeans were too tight. After that day something deep inside of me gave up! I let every excuse I could find rule my life for the next 8 months. Until, today when by the Grace of God, with the help of my 2 great friends and the help of Susan's Healthy Gourmet I got the strength to start again on the diet journey I had failed so many times before! I clearly have to accept that my weight is going to have to be something I must find a way to make peace with. As a child it was my choice to compete in a sport in which you must be thin and be weighed in at least 3x a week. My life is stressful and I suffer from depression; this makes everything I do so much harder. I need to find a way to stick to the diet this time; I also need to learn how to take care of myself. Wow, this is way harder than I thought...

STRESS!!!! Is adding to my depression, yet the one yoga class I did make made me feel so much better. Why is it I cannot get myself to yoga? I know it makes me feel better. I am not on this diet to get super thin, I am only trying to get back to feeling healthy. My normal weight 128, this is where my body works. I feel so stressed and scared, most of all I feel so alone. I keep telling myself I am not alone I have the two best girl friends a person could wish for and all I keep thinking is how I don't want to disappoint them yet again! Is that what they really feel or is that what I feel?

On the turnJ Today I got up, went to yoga and felt great. Then I came home to only cry for the rest of the day! Lonely and I am so scared to write this but I think my real problem is, I don't love myself.  Why did I let this happen again, I keep beating myself up over the weight gain. I really just need to focus my energy on the diet and the exercise. Some days it is so hard to see the light at the end of tunnel.

For 3 years I loved my body and I thought I loved myself and just when things are about to go really great I do something, I gain a ton of weight and give up. Thank goodness the food is so good or I think I would have already given up on this diet too.

My ex-husband stop by today to visit and he just told me I look thinner. I was shocked and happy that he made the effort to recognize my weight loss and that he offered the praise. GREAT DAY

I so want to break 150. I am going on walk now and I know that one will not cut it, but hey one is better than none. I have not been a big veggie eater in last 2 yrs but the eating all night after taking bedtime meds was not helping. Now I keep the cut veggies out and I spray them with 1 tsp of low fat Chinese chicken salad dressing from Far East only 15 calories per tsp I just use one spray over veggies, beyond great!!

This year were are lucky enough to join the weight loss journey with Wendy Nan Rees!! For those of you who are not familiar with her work with animals, this following blog is all about her. We will be keeping up with her progress on our our blog every week. Currently she is enjoying Susan's Healthy Gourmet meals and incorporating her love for yoga into her daily activities.

Wendy Nan Rees has been involved in the pet industry for over 25 years. Her career began when she founded Lip Smackers, Inc., a company dedicated to providing healthy all-natural treats to consumers concerned about their pets’ well-being. The Lip Smackers bakery still operates today out of The Pet Care Company located in Hermosa Beach, CA.

Wendy has come full circle with her new book “The Dog Devotional: 365 Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Living a Rich Life with Your Dog”. It is a collection of many of Wendy’s most popular tricks and techniques she has used over her 25+ years as a Pet Lifestyle Advisor™. It is one of the most comprehensive “How to” dog books that has come along in many years. While reading this book you will be able to pick up on Wendy’s enthusiasm. The real secret Wendy is teaching us here is that we are giving back the unconditional love that our dogs offer us.

It is the latest in a long line of books, published by MS. Rees. Her most recent book The Natural Pet Food Cookbook: Healthful Recipes for Dogs and Cats, published in 2007, is a collection of fifty recipes which rely on natural ingredient, which also includes information about holistic pet care. It is available many places and is one of the few books sold by Whole Foods.

Other books include: No Barking at the Table: Canine Recipes Most Begged For. The book was so well-received that No Barking at the Table 2 and No Catnapping in the Kitchen were not far behind. Moving in a different direction, Wendy then published The Name Game, a collection of over 100 celebrity essays along with over 1,000 suggestions of pet names. This fun book offers pet owners an entertaining and unique take on how and why people name their pets. A percentage of the proceeds from The Name Game go directly to PAWS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with HIV/AIDS to care for their pets.

Wendy’s success as an author and dog-treat creator is no less amazing, due to the fact that she was born with severe dyslexia and ADHD. Wendy and her family were told that Wendy would not graduate high school. However, whenever Wendy is presented with obstacles in her life, it kicks her driving engine into gear and she charges ahead to prove all the naysayers wrong.

Her previous successes led to numerous television appearances and newspaper and magazine articles. She was the “Pet Lifestyle Advisor™” on Animal Planet’s Petsburgh, USA and has also appeared on The Home Shopping Network.  Wendy also wrote a monthly column called “In the Kitchen with Wendy” for Your Pet Magazine.

Not one to rest on her success, Wendy focused on her entrepreneurial side, helping to create Cedar Green ®, a line of all-natural odor eliminators created with pet owners in mind. The signature product is Freshen Vac; a heat-activated natural odor eliminator that can be used in vacuum cleaners, dog beds, any home air vent and in cars.

In 2000 Wendy was diagnosed with breast cancer, which forced her to take a break from her career to focus all her energy on her recovery. Today, Wendy is happy to say she is cancer-free and working on her worldwide internet radio show called Wendy's Animal Talk. You can hear Wendy every Tuesday at 1PM PST at www.healthylife.net . Wendy also writes two weekly pet tips for the web site www.lovetoknow.com where she provides dog and cat advice.

You can use many words to describe Wendy Nan Rees - author, cancer survivor, inventor, and entrepreneur. And while each of these terms is accurate, they are only part of a truly inspiring and creative woman, who uses her talents to innovate an industry that she has loved since she was a child—the world of pets. Wendy lives in Los Angeles with her dogs Senator, Cappy and Little Man.

Check out our blog every week to keep up with Wendy's weightloss success with Susan's Healthy Gourmet! Here's to your health Wendy!