Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What Camera do you use?
A: I use a Nikon D80. Usually I am using the 50mm 1.8D lens with each photo – though not all of them. Some have the standard 18mm or 55mm zoom. I try to do minimal editing. If money was not an object, I would choose the Nikon D300s or D700.
A very brief overview, but more specifics, can be found here.
2. How do you make all this and not get fat?
A. Almost everything on this blog is made for other people, other events, or for my husband to take to work. Or frozen and portioned out. I believe it is all about keeping yourself balanced, happy and motivated. Portion control is everything!
Here’s my “weight loss story”: I was a typical, normal 5’8.5″ medium build woman at around 150-155 lbs. Not terribly thin, but not overweight. I had a 10 lb. baby girl in Sept. 2010 and at that time weighed 210 lbs. I gained 50 lbs with my first child as well then lost that too. As most women know, you rapidly lose some weight after giving birth and by November 2010 I was around 168 lbs. but not quickly losing weight like before. I had hit a plateau.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, I started using Lose It! to track my calories and calculated that I needed to consume 1500 calories per day to lose weight. I also exercised using Jillian Michaels’ “Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism,” “No More Trouble Zones, “30 Day Shred,” “Ripped in 30,” and “6 Weeks to a 6 Pack” 5 times per week on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. It took a few weeks, then the pounds just fell off fast. After reading a lot of “Eat This, Not That” books and any Nutrition books I could find at the library, I was able to to spot foods that would be high in nutrition and foods that were low in calories much more easily. I understand that not every calorie is equal. However, I maintained a balance diet and didn’t leave anything out. I drank diet Swiss Miss (15 calories) and ate Chocolate Frozen Yogurt (1/2 cup = 120 calories). By April, I had gone from 168 lbs. to 140 lbs and quit my diet. I stopped tracking every calorie, but I learned a lot from the few months of tracking food as to what I should eat and how much I should eat it.
3. Why are you talking to yourself?
A. Because I’m not The Pioneer Woman and do not have 30,000 visitors per hour on my blog, I can ask and answer anything I want! And that is perfectly okay with me. 🙂