I was cleaning and rearranging my kitchen a bit last night, and thought I would share with you some light bulbs that flashed!

I have more counter space! Yep. All the cannisters of spaghetti, minute rice, grits, flour, sugar, and brown sugar are gone.

I replaced them with my food processor, which was stored under the cabinet for 7 years. Why was it stored? Not much need to process Hamburger Helper, Mac n Cheese, and mashed potatoes! :P

More cabinet space too! All the canned veggies, cereals, canned fruits, spaghetti sauces, muffin, brownie and cake mixes, gone.

I do notice my refrigerator is *crammed* to the gills with fresh veggies, condiments like mayo and mustard, salad dressings, butter, meats and cheeses.

Cleaning up is easier. I am not using as many pots and pans, and the foods I am eating now are not the "stick to the pan" foods like I used to have. Potatoes seemed to be the worst, but adding fats to cook with was not something I ever used to do. Odd, huh?

Then, after I had cooked a nice meal, cleaned the kitchen, and rearranged everything, about 3 hours in all, I realized that not once did I have to sit down! Never once was I out of breath, and the real beauty of it? I even broke a sweat! I can't remember the last time that happened when I wasn't asleep!

Used to be I had to sit the whole time I cooked, I sat while I washed dishes, and when I would clean, I had to sit every 15 minutes or so! I find myself less and less having to ask people to do things for me, and this is such a great relief!

I now work out almost every day.

Sometimes I even feel like exercising twice!

I feel like I am getting my life back.

Just thought I would share.

Fantasia,

Your message gave me goosebumps. That is SOOO wonderful. And just think. It will keep getting better and better. Way to go...


Jane

Thank you for putting a smile on my face so early in the morning! It is so true-every word of it. Vonnie

Fantasia!
You are awesome! Again, another great post!

I too replaced my kitchen counter tops with appliances instead of carbs. However, I do have my cooking oils out. I am thiking of buying some cool bottles from Pier One to put them in. (I use olive oil, walnut oil, sunflower oils and peanut oil. ) Before Atkins, I would probably buy a small or medium size bottle of vegitable oil one a year. What a big difference!

And you are right! Clean up is so much easier! I also cook a lot more in the oven, such as making roast, etc. It is great because as it cooks, you have more time to do other things. No more being a slave to my kitchen!

You are really doing great on this program! You should be so proud of yourself. I think one of the best things about Atkins is one of the least talked about and that is self realization. When you realize where you were before and where you are now... wow, that is what makes this such a great plan. What a feeling of accomplishment! You go girl!

I never used to cook much, but now I cook every meal! I still don't like doing the dishes, but I'm realizing that cooking is fun and I like experimenting! My freezer and fridge has never been so jammed packed!

That looks great in a kitchen!!! Some oils come in really nice looking bottles too. I keep my oil on a tray near the stove with some bulbs of garlic, pepper grinders etc. I think it adds a nice look anyway.

I cleaned out my freezer last night. Must be this spring cleaning thing. No, Im cleaning out my body lol! I had all these stir fry veggie mixes but have found that all of them have pasta or carrots etc in them. One night I picked all the carrots and noodles out and after a half hour of this nonsense I just decided to make my own mix. So out with the mixes in with the bags of broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, etc. I can make my own mix in less time it took to pick out all the bad stuff.
Now, for the pantry! Thanks for the inspiration! Jules

Fantasia,

What a great post and thread!! My kitchen is also a lot cleaner and less cluttered, I'm eating better than I ever have, and I spend a lot less time cooking. Like someone else pointed out, roasts take care of themselves - complicated grain/bean/veggie dishes made from scratch do not.

I especially appreciated what you said about not having to sit down while you cook and clean anymore. I still have to do a fair amount of that, but it's less than it used to be, and I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to at all.

--Ruth

The crows really appreciated having all the stuff I put out for them from the freezer...

I cleaned out my sauces/oils cupboard yesterday. I had a whole shelf of hot sauces, and most of them were sweetened with sugar or fruit (mango, peach, etc.) It's interesting how many hot sauces uses tamarind pulp as a flavor enhancer. I looked it up and found it was a whopping 75g per cup.

The remaining oils, vinegars and hot sauces are going to see a LOT more use now. (And I found a natural foods store close by that stocks ume plum vinegar! Yay! I don't have to go to downtown Seattle for it!)

The freezer is getting a makeover too. All the frozen pizzas and zap-dinners are being swapped out for bags of veggies and shelves full of MEAT!

I think a lot of the good feeling from this WOE comes when you realize just how good it feels to eat whole foods and what you are NOT missing in the box-n-frozen genre.

What you said is right on the spot! Our fridge is also crammed! Our meat drawer used to be practically empty and now it full of stuff. I'm thinking that I need to go through the freezer and toss out all those veggie mixes that have carrots in them. I have quite a few bags full of frozen peas and corn. I think I'll keep those because my kids still love em. Used to be my favorite, but not anymore! I'm finding that I'm starting to enjoy some of the greener vegetables now that my taste buds aren't addicted to sugar! What a great feeling knowing that I'm eating so much healthier. It keeps me going through these days of no weight loss. I still need to clean of the counter in my kitchen that has the dreaded bread machine... I love fresh, homemade bread. I haven't made any yet for the kids b/c I don't want the smell in the house. Poor guys, they've been having to store bought. I suppose I'll have to break down someday and overcome that battle.

-Cait

Yeah, we're definitely doing better. Less ready made freezer meals and less drive through! What a great feeling! So Scott, have you already cleaned out those frozens? I thought I still saw some in there last time I looked!

-Cait