Where has February gone?

Wow today is  the next to the last day of February. I have totally messed this month up! I got off of my eating goals about February 18th which was my anniversary. We went to Carabba's for dinner. It was soooo good. That weekend was one bad eating decision after another. Pizza on Saturday, Logan's on Sunday, Fun City and Pizza on Monday...yikes! Stop the madness! I am starting fresh in March. I will exercise if it kills me! I will eat right if it kills me! Why is this so hard? I always start off doing well then I tank. I think the difference this time is I keep trying. I have not given up on myself and I am still doing positive affirmations everyday. The negativity that keeps me down...that keeps us all down...is slowly fading. I still have my moments, but I am constantly replacing the negative thoughts with positive ones and it is helping!!  I feel more hopeful than ever about getting to a healthy place where I feel and look better. Now I will follow up on a few things...I tried coconut water. Well let me just say I couldn't drink it. It was pretty nasty. It had this horrible after taste. I took a few sips and gave it Dave who can stomach almost anything. He grimaced and said it was really horrible. He immediately got some water. I was really hoping I would like it! Oh well, I will just continue to take my vitamin B complex to boost my metabolism and pray it works,  So while I was in GNC buying the coconut water, I sampled their new Omega 3 and calcium supplements. They are both in chewable form and they were both pretty good. The Omega 3 looks like an orange starburst, but it a bit more tart than that plus the texture is different, but for being fish oil it was really good. The calcium is caramel flavored and tastes really good, as well. The Omega 3 soft chews are 19.99 for 50 and the calcium chews are 7.99 for 75 chews. I would gladly pay 20 bucks for the Omega 3 chews because they left no after taste and I wasn't burping fish oil (which is nasty) 30 minutes later. Does anyone shop the Target food aisles? ( I wish we had a SuperTarget!) Target actually has some pretty good snacks that are low in calories and sugars. I found some puffed popcorn that is so good. It comes in two flavors--caramel and jalapeno cheddar. The caramel is 160 calories for 2 1/2 cups and contains 6g of sugar. I know we're not supposed to eat anything that is over 5g of sugar per serving, but this popcorn is so good when you want a sweet treat. The jalapeno cheddar is savory and has 150 calories per 2 1/2 cup serving and only 3g of sugar. Both flavors are only 2.94 a bag.The next time you're in Target, check it out. Alright, I will end this here, but I will keep everyone posted in the coming month about  my progress. I am excited about the Spring coming so maybe I  can get outside and workout. Thanks for reading everyone. Wish me luck!!
Tracie

Apetite Rampage

Hello there! Well I weighed in on Monday and lost .2 pounds.  I wasn't surprised since I went on that eating rampage last week. Nothing I ate left me satisfied and I felt hungry constantly. Hopefully this week I can get off of the eating rollercoaster and back to eating right. Staying in control of my apetite has  proven really hard. I keep having these cravings. Maybe because I have cut my sugar intake down by more than half? I haven't had fast food or Dr. Pepper in 30 days and I feel that this a great accomplishment, but do I still crave it? Yes!! Will the need for these horrible sugar and fat filled foods ever leave my system? Or will I be plagued forever? I sure hope not!! Weight loss is not supposed to be about deprivation but more about eating the right combinations of foods to aid in fat burning. However, some days I feel so deprived! Am I alone, here? Snacking in the afternoon is breaking my calorie bank! Plus to make matters worse, I keep hearing food words when people talk. For instance, I have mistaken booklet for chocolate and "take that" for Big Mac. I try not to think about my cravings or I try to do things to curb my cravings without breaking the calorie bank. If anyone has any snack recipes that are low in calories, please share!! One resource I use is www.hungrygirl.com. Lisa Lillien started the website and what she does is take high calorie, fatty snacks and modifies the recipes to make them healthier and lower in calories. If you have some time, peruse the website for some tasty treats, plus she has a list of snacks that you can buy online or in grocery stores that are healthier than most processed snacks out there. There is a newsletter than you can get by email everyday, too!!  Let me know what you think!! One of my favorite recipes from the Hungry Girl Cookbook is Bacon and Cheese Bell Pepper Skins. These are faux potato skins, but they are soooo yummy. Please leave me a message if you would like the recipe and I'll be happy to email it to you since I'm not sure if I can post it here because of copyright issues. There is also a recipe in the cookbook for Southwestern Egg Rolls (like you can get at Chili's) and they are unbelievably good!! By using these tips and tricks I hope to be able to make better snacking choices going forward. By the way, have you tried that new popcorn at WalMart. It's called Popcorn, Indiana. There are three varieties of this wonderful kettle corn. Cinnamon, Dark Chocolate Drizzle, and Wasabi. I have not tried the cinnamon or wasabi yet, but I will. The Dark Chocolate Drizzle only has 140 calories per 1.5 cups.  It's a nice sweet snack for when the sweet tooth kicks in. I can't wait to try the Wasabi because you can have 2.5 cups for about the same amount of calories. Yummy!! I have one last idea to share with you because I tried it and it worked!! If you must have a sugary snack, eat a couple of small pieces of french bread with a bit of olive oil. You can dip the bread in the oil, but I put the oil on my bread and then bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Eat the bread, then the sugary snack. The bread and olive oil slows your stomach digestion so your blood sugar stays level instead of rising to fast and then crashing which will drain you of your energy. I did this before eating some chocolate I desperately needed (okay...wanted) and I didn't feel that horrible crash that normally happens making me want to sleep all afternoon. Alright, thanks for listening to my rant and my ideas for happy, healthy snacking. I feel better now and ready to take charge of my appetite!!  Wish me luck!!

Tracie

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Hello everyone! February 3rd was the start of the Chinese New Year. I read my Chinese horoscope (I'm a dog, imagine that) and it said that if I start an exercise regimen within the first week of the new year then I would be more likely to stick with it. So I started yesterday. I did cardio via my stepper. I went for 15 minutes and that was enough. The video I have is supposed to be for beginner beginners, but I felt it was more fast paced than it should have been. I know how stupid that sounds since cardio is usually not slow paced, but I thought it would give me more time to learn the steps before killing me. I'll stick with it and before ya know it I'll have a job teaching step aerobic classes. You can stop laughing now. :)
So, I wanted to share how my eating has been this week so far. I don't know if it's the snow and the stress of driving in it, but I have been so hungry. I have been wanting to eat everything in sight. I have not, though. I have restrained myself, but a feeling of unsatisfaction has been with me night and day. I don't know what to do about this feeling. I am not sure what will satisfy me. Today, I have decided to not count my calories and have a free day.  I have not overeaten at all, but I am about to bake browines so I am in the danger zone now. Hopefully I can just eat one. Although one browine is only a 2x2 sqaure. I am thinking that maybe I am having sugar withdrawls because I have been trying to cut refined sugar out of my diet. This has been a really hard process, but I am plugging along. I am hoping that one day all of this torture will be worth it. I will be healthier and happier.I have some tips that have worked for me that I want to share. Also, I have a few things that I want to try. I will promise to try all of these things and report back to you. I think that having a variety of options available helps to curb cravings. Dr. Oz and other experts believe sugar is killing us more than fat. They say that sugar causes problems with high blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin resistance which causes diabetes. So there are a bunch of sugar substances out there that you should not eat. For those of you that are interested you can visit http://www.doctoroz.com/challenge/sugar-detox   and look at the hidden sugars area. I have found that cutting all these things out are impossible. The main reason why is because the Atkins shakes and bars have become a staple of mine and they contain some sugar substances like maltose. I have to be to work by 5 am and you are supposed to eat within thirty minutes of waking up. When I get to work, I drink an Atkins Milk Chocolate Delight shake. These are really good. They contain 160 calories, 10g of fat, 15g of protein, and 1g of sugar. I don't like the strawberry or vanilla, but the dark chocolate ones are good too. There is a mocha one, but I haven't tried it because I don't like coffee. The trick to these shakes I think is the high  protein content, plus they are very convenient for an early morning breakfast. I think the liquid helps to fill me up, too. Plus I drink a bottle of water right after. So by 5:30 am I am done with my breakfast. Then about 8:30 I have a light snack. I usually eat a piece of fruit like an apple or orange. I also eat some string cheese or I have a wedge of laughing cow cheeese on some multi grain wasa bread. You can get wasa bread at Wal Mart and it is like a big crunchy cracker. At 11:30 I have lunch. I eat whatever I want that is within 400 calories. By the time I get home I have half of my calories left and can have a good afternoon snack around 3:00 pm to help me fight hunger until dinner. My afternoon snack is usually about 250 calories and most of the time I have some nuts and half of a protein bar by Atkins. The protein bars are actually good. I can stomach them. My favorite is one the double chocolate caramel bar. However, there are other Atkins bars that are not protein bars. So make sure the protein content is at least 9g. If you want to try the bars for free you can join right now at www.Atkins.com and they will send you three free bars to try. Also, special K protein powder for water is good. The only flavor I like is the pink lemonade. I put the whole thing in one bottle of water. It is really sweet, so if you don't like the sweet you could use a half of a packet. The trick to this protein powder is to put in the water at least an hour before you want to drink it. It doesn't dissolve into the water instantly so letting it sit for a bit ensures you won't be drinking chunks of protein powder which is gross. If anyone has tried the Special K shakes can you let me know how they are?A couple of things I want to try are 100% pure coconut water (sold in health stores like GNC), Rocco's 88 calorie brownies, and psyllium tablets. I hear that vita coco is the best with nothing added, but coconut water replenishes electrolytes and has less fat and sugar than energy drinks like gatorade. Coconut water helps to detoxify the body, but coconut water is said to speed up metabolism which burns more fat and therefore aids in weight loss. See my previous post about the brownies. Psyllium tablets should be taken with a whole glass of water and is basically the same type of fiber found in broccoli and other vegetables. The tablet acts as a natural appetite suppressant and expands in the stomach like regular fiber causing the stomach to slow down the digestive process. If you have any tips that work for you or tips you want to try, please share with me. Like I said, I think it takes a variety of things working together to help aid weight loss. Thanks for reading!! Wish me luck in the coming week and pray for my safety if I have to continue to drive on icy streets.  I weigh in on Monday and I will let you know how that goes. Talk to you soon,
Tracie