What have I done? What am I DOING? As I layed down on my bed so that I could squeeze shut my jeans and put on a nice baggy long top to cover up my hips I thought to myself, "this is not fun. In fact, this is the pure antithesis of fun and games to me. I'm miserable that I'm gaining weight back, weight that I was so happy to have lost. And worked so dang hard to lose. And grasped really hard to my little system to try to keep it off. Which wasn't working, which caused me to burn out and abandon the whole darn thing. No system is even worse than a broken system. But what I really want is to lose the weight I already had lost last year and the last ten pounds I really wanted to keep losing to get to my goal weight. I want my clothes to fit again. I want to not pick at myself and make sure nothing looks icky or funky if my clothes aren't sitting just right. I'm having the same thoughts I did when I started my weight loss journey. Frustration, desperation, hope for some clarity, but mostly just confusion and pain. UGHHHHH.
I've heard in two totally different venues this week "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.". I realized that this describes me while playing a game of Angry Birds. When I found out Angry Birds was a game of physics it all made perfect sense. I suck at physics. Always have. And I found myself continually doing the same sort of shots trying to make the stuff crumble. Only when I misfired and found the "sweet spot" that conquered the level for me did I realize "Duh. I need to try different things". It seems basic and yet that is my path to discovery. Angry Birds. It's deep, I know.
So, with weight loss it appears to be no different. The clean eating works for me. It does. My problem is that I get very hungry and I have a very powerful Sweet Tooth that when combined, have the capacity to kill my weight loss success in a very short time. Also, we go out to eat on the weekends. Every weekend. We enjoy it, it's an integral part of our lives. There's just no way to abandon it.
I've tried lots of approaches to lose weight and finally I just needed to be done for awhile and take a break. A girl at my work started doing a shake mix, "a shake that tastes like cake batter" is what she would say. Whatever. I don't need that, I thought. But as I continued to struggle, pretty much everybody at my work started using it. And everybody like it, for different reasons. One gal uses it to not gain weight as she starts night school. One girl is losing weight. One girl is using it as a business opportunity - she wants to win the Black BMW the company gives away. Anyhow, after watching my coworkers shrink, I finally figured. what's the harm in checking it out? After all, my far superior system I am doing isn't working at all. In fact, I'm gaining hard-fought weight back and it's messing with my psyche. I'll go check it out.
So here's the crux.
It's a home party that lasts about an hour. Perfect. I have no spare time. But I can give an hour in the name of a smaller backside.
It's tasty. You get to sample the shake for free at the party. Perfect. They say it tastes like cake batter. To me, it tastes like a liquified cupcake. And if I could eat only one food for the rest of my life it would be cupcakes. This is good news for me! You can easily add your own stuff to change it up - peanut butter, cocoa powder, OJ, sugar free syrups, fresh fruit. Variety is good.
It's affordable. A bag of shake mix works out to be only $1.87 a shake. Cheaper than most meals I would make at home and definitely anything I would buy out.
It's nutritious. Chockful of vitamins, protein, practically no sugar. In fact, diabetics can use these and it doesn't impact their insulin. From a weight loss perspective, that fact is very important as well because spiking your insulin contributes to making you fat as well.
It's portable and "quick". One of my main challenges is I am busy. I don't have a lunch break. I'm often pounding food in my car on my way to my next thing. I need something that keeps, is portable without much fuss and satisfies my hunger and tastebuds. This can be just that.
There's no pressure. I was surprised at the party they just give you information. And then they give you space to do as little or as much with it as you want. I decided I definitely wanted to start using it and see what I can do. And I also felt compelled to be a resource for other people that may want to discover this product. I feel that this is a really good product and I know many people in my life that could potentially benefit from it and why can't we all get exactly what we want in life?
I'm done with regrets, moving in the wrong direction, coulda-shoulda-woulda-ing, and feeling negative because I'm not getting different results when I keep doing the same things.
So, I signed up for the Body by Vi 90-Day Challenge. What's the worst that could happen? Nothing happens. And I'm no worse off than when I started. But if something happens, I could win money, a trip, or even just the body I've been working so hard to have. In my eyes, there's no reason to not try it!
If you wanna see more about what I'm doing, you can check out:
http://melissamcgarvey.bodybyvi.com/
There's four videos that give a nice introduction. I will also have some parties to allow people to try it and get a proper introduction to it like I had. If you are interested in coming to a party, let me know!
In the meantime, I'll be documenting my progress here as I work my way through this 90 Day Challenge. I'm ready for a change!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Status Update & Some Rockin' Protein Brownies
Well, I can not believe how focusless and downtrodden I've been. I mentioned my missing mojo to my doctor during a routine exam and she said it sounds like a Vitamin D deficiency. She tested me for thyroid and Vitamin D. One word of caution - the Vitamin D test can be VERY expensive and I was unaware of this until I got the shocking bill. A couple hundred bucks to find out I'm fine. All healthy which is great news, don't get me wrong. But still my mojo being gone is a mystery. We did take a short weekender to a sunny destination this month and I did find I felt better there. We've had a miserably gray, wet, cold and windy winter here and maybe I just need to give myself credit that not being very excited to get soaked, freezing and wind chapped every time I go for a run is normal and human and quit beating myself up. I ended up forfeiting my bid for my half marathon which happened this past weekend. I just didn't feel up to it. But all day I thought about it and woke up disappointed that I didn't muster up the wherewithal to do the race. That just isn't me.
In an effort to be kind to myself and thus coax my mojo back I got up and went to the gym yesterday. I took spinning class and found I was a beast in that class just like I used to be. I was a little more tired from it, but overall my fitness level has hung in there pretty good. Today I went again. I had planned to do some weights and step class, but found myself in spinning again due to a glitch in my schedule this morning. Being flexible, still making it to the gym and putting in some quality "me" time working out has lifted my mood all day. It didn't hurt that it was actually not pouring today. My plan is to just keep being supportive of myself and try to get back into my swing of things.
Tonight, I made my Rockin' Protein Brownies. Below is the brownie recipe:
Rockin' Protein Brownies
These are yummy clean protein bars that taste like chocolate cake/brownies. Great for a low-fat low-cal dessert or as a snack.
1 cup Oat Flour (I buy bulk at the healthfood store)
4 Egg Whites (the real egg white, not the carton kind)
2 scoops Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (I use Muscle Milk 100% Whey from Costco - it tastes really good in smoothies and baking, but FYI not so great just by itself in water)
1/2 cup Xylitol (I buy bulk at healthfood store)
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
7 oz. Gerber Banana Mixed Berries NatureSelect baby food (any berry baby food will do)
3 Tbsp All Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
4 oz. Water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix flour, protein powder, xylitol, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix really well. Using an electric mixer or a whisk is best as the protein powder can be a little clumpy. Spray a 9x9 pan with nonstick spray or I used a cupcake pan this time as I found the mix doesn't set up very fast. It remains really squishy until the next morning. And then it remains a very soft cake consistency. It was hard to cut and not have crumbs/breakage everywhere, so I'm trying the cupcake method this time for portability.
** Update: Cupcake pan method works great...WITHOUT the cupcake paper. The cake sticks to the paper. If it was just in the pan, it would've been perfect. **
Bake for 20-30 minutes.
The recipe makes 12 cupcakes at approx. 70 calories per, 1 g fat, 8 g carb, 7 g protein. It's filling and decadent without all the nasty ingredients or guilt! Even hubby liked them, which is saying a lot where clean food is concerned!
In an effort to be kind to myself and thus coax my mojo back I got up and went to the gym yesterday. I took spinning class and found I was a beast in that class just like I used to be. I was a little more tired from it, but overall my fitness level has hung in there pretty good. Today I went again. I had planned to do some weights and step class, but found myself in spinning again due to a glitch in my schedule this morning. Being flexible, still making it to the gym and putting in some quality "me" time working out has lifted my mood all day. It didn't hurt that it was actually not pouring today. My plan is to just keep being supportive of myself and try to get back into my swing of things.
Tonight, I made my Rockin' Protein Brownies. Below is the brownie recipe:
Rockin' Protein Brownies
These are yummy clean protein bars that taste like chocolate cake/brownies. Great for a low-fat low-cal dessert or as a snack.
1 cup Oat Flour (I buy bulk at the healthfood store)
4 Egg Whites (the real egg white, not the carton kind)
2 scoops Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (I use Muscle Milk 100% Whey from Costco - it tastes really good in smoothies and baking, but FYI not so great just by itself in water)
1/2 cup Xylitol (I buy bulk at healthfood store)
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
7 oz. Gerber Banana Mixed Berries NatureSelect baby food (any berry baby food will do)
3 Tbsp All Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
4 oz. Water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix flour, protein powder, xylitol, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix really well. Using an electric mixer or a whisk is best as the protein powder can be a little clumpy. Spray a 9x9 pan with nonstick spray or I used a cupcake pan this time as I found the mix doesn't set up very fast. It remains really squishy until the next morning. And then it remains a very soft cake consistency. It was hard to cut and not have crumbs/breakage everywhere, so I'm trying the cupcake method this time for portability.
** Update: Cupcake pan method works great...WITHOUT the cupcake paper. The cake sticks to the paper. If it was just in the pan, it would've been perfect. **
Bake for 20-30 minutes.
The recipe makes 12 cupcakes at approx. 70 calories per, 1 g fat, 8 g carb, 7 g protein. It's filling and decadent without all the nasty ingredients or guilt! Even hubby liked them, which is saying a lot where clean food is concerned!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
MOMENTUM CHALLENGE
Well, the half marathon is behind me. My mind was a steel trap, but my time came in the 2nd slowest I've ever had. Reasons - I didn't train barely at all. Also, the weather sucked. But it was great motivation to never have that experience again. And so, I press on.
I'm challenging myself to get back on track for my goals and realize all the things I posted on my dreamboard for this year. Some of my hopes? To finally lose the last of the weight I want to lose. To run my first full marathon in under 4:30. To get my body fat percentage in the teens. To finally get my healthy lifestyle all dialed in so I don't feel like such a student of my body every single day.
The challenge is simple (in theory. always, in theory. application is a bit more complicated).
Clean food. Always. Until goal. (and after too, but total diligence especially until).
Exercise. Lots of it but modified to be more on track with reaching my running goals and less about just having fun doing countless hours of random group cardio classes. This should help avoid the overtraining issue I've had recently as well.
I have a target date in mind for the weight loss piece. My fitness guru at the gym told me it's best to get any weight loss stuff out of the way prior to getting marathon training fully underway because I will need to eat more while training and that can be counterintuitive while dieting down. Also I guess the muscles can bulk up a little to prepare themselves for the endurance I will be asking of them.
TARGET DATE: APRIL 3 - the date of my next half marathon. If I'm lean I'm more likely to be fast. Also, after that date I'm in full-on marathon training mode so will be onto my next challenge, Operation 4:30.
TASK: Get to goal weight: I need to lose 27.5 pounds of fat. Somebody please report these findings to my backside. Perhaps it will get on board with my plan, but I doubt it. I'm expecting a fair fight. I intend to win this time, sucka!
DISCLAIMER: Now, I'm a realistic girl and realize that my goal as stated above would imply I plan to lose 1/2 a pound a day which is not realistic or altogether healthy. My real task is to STAY ON PLAN, no strays, until April 3 and see how far I can get. If I'm not at goal by April 3 it is certainly not a failure. I'm just trying to get my momentum back in the right direction!
SUPPORT: If you see me running water-buffalo style like I do down the street or sweating profusely while turning purple like Barney the Dinosaur whilst at the gym, please humor me and give me an encouraging word, will ya? If you see me eyeing something very dirty like a piece of cake or something fried, by all means, help a girl out by discouraging me, not encouraging me, okay?
Alright, so the countdown is on. It's on!
I'm challenging myself to get back on track for my goals and realize all the things I posted on my dreamboard for this year. Some of my hopes? To finally lose the last of the weight I want to lose. To run my first full marathon in under 4:30. To get my body fat percentage in the teens. To finally get my healthy lifestyle all dialed in so I don't feel like such a student of my body every single day.
The challenge is simple (in theory. always, in theory. application is a bit more complicated).
Clean food. Always. Until goal. (and after too, but total diligence especially until).
Exercise. Lots of it but modified to be more on track with reaching my running goals and less about just having fun doing countless hours of random group cardio classes. This should help avoid the overtraining issue I've had recently as well.
I have a target date in mind for the weight loss piece. My fitness guru at the gym told me it's best to get any weight loss stuff out of the way prior to getting marathon training fully underway because I will need to eat more while training and that can be counterintuitive while dieting down. Also I guess the muscles can bulk up a little to prepare themselves for the endurance I will be asking of them.
TARGET DATE: APRIL 3 - the date of my next half marathon. If I'm lean I'm more likely to be fast. Also, after that date I'm in full-on marathon training mode so will be onto my next challenge, Operation 4:30.
TASK: Get to goal weight: I need to lose 27.5 pounds of fat. Somebody please report these findings to my backside. Perhaps it will get on board with my plan, but I doubt it. I'm expecting a fair fight. I intend to win this time, sucka!
DISCLAIMER: Now, I'm a realistic girl and realize that my goal as stated above would imply I plan to lose 1/2 a pound a day which is not realistic or altogether healthy. My real task is to STAY ON PLAN, no strays, until April 3 and see how far I can get. If I'm not at goal by April 3 it is certainly not a failure. I'm just trying to get my momentum back in the right direction!
SUPPORT: If you see me running water-buffalo style like I do down the street or sweating profusely while turning purple like Barney the Dinosaur whilst at the gym, please humor me and give me an encouraging word, will ya? If you see me eyeing something very dirty like a piece of cake or something fried, by all means, help a girl out by discouraging me, not encouraging me, okay?
Alright, so the countdown is on. It's on!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Mojo Found, Half Marathon Looming, Healthy Dinners Abound
Here I am, mojo in tact. I found it somewhere around the holidays. It was a combination of an ionized bracelet, a classical cd that is designed to motivate you subconsciously and the fact that I was in the mood for all things holidays this season. Or just the mental benefits of knowing I was doing something to find my missing vitality. Either way, it came back with a vengeance and I was thrilled to see it again. Like a long lost friend.
But even though I'm feeling better mentally and emotionally, I still feel a little fatigue physically and lacking my conquer-the-world-daily attitude that got me to the gym 6 days a week. Still looking for that...I have a half marathon on Sunday and to be honest, my training has been lackluster at best. I'm thinking I could be low in some vitamins (due to lack of knowledge for my activity level and what my body requires under such duress) and also perhaps a little overtraining in all of that. And breaking my training routine has shaken my confidence. It's been cold as all get-out around here lately and the roads have been frozen, so to make matters worse what long runs I've done I did on the treadmill. I ran 8.5 miles this morning on my treadmill at a good effort pace and I feel just fine, so it really is just mental. I've run 4 half marathons and I work out harder than most on an almost daily basis, so I need to be okay with the fact that straying from my plan is okay and the outcome is up to me mentally, not really so much physically. I have almost a week to get my mind straight.
On the upside, I've been cooking. Yes, me. The girl who admittedly is missing her domestic gene in a big way. The thing is, I actually like to cook, as long as the subject matter isn't too disgusting to handle pre-cooking. I just don't have a lot of spare time. I work crazy hours and cooking takes even more time. But I'm making an effort and am building my repertoire of clean dinner recipes.
My latest endeavor is Clean Beef Stew, taken from the October 2010 issue of Oxygen magazine. It was very easy to make, it takes a long time to cook (90 minutes). The meat was a little tough, but the stew tasted really good and believable, for a clean recipe. Perhaps I cooked the meat too long? Will do some further investigating when I make this recipe again.
Makes 6 servings
323 Calories, 7g Fat, 27g Carbohydrates, 6g Fiber, 37g Protein
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled
1 1b carrots
1 medium yellow onion
2 lb top sirloin
3 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbsp oat bran
1½ cups low-sodium beef broth
1½ cups water
Pinch chopped parsley (optional)
Preheat oven to 325.
Chop vegetables and meat into large chunks.
Combine soy sauce and oat bran in a large baking pan.
Add meat, tossing to coat. Add vegetables, broth and water. Cover and bake for 1½ hours. Top with chopped parsley, if desired.
As I find recipes that are clean and really tasty, I'm adding them to a custom cookbook I am making for myself on Tastebook's website. My cookbook will be entitles "Eatin' Clean in a Dirty World" and so far I'm up to 8 recipes, 2 of which I've shared on here so far. This is a fun endeavor, because when my cookbook is compiled, I'll have up to 100 clean recipes bound in a nice book and they will all be recipes I will make and enjoy. Also, since I've already entered recipes into Tastebook, for now, when I need one of them I can just log into the site and read my recipe off my phone. Efficiency!
So, what now? Well, after my half marathon on Sunday I plan to revamp my workout plan to start conditioning myself for the full marathon I signed up for late this year. Also, I will be committing myself to some sort of Clean Eating Challenge, details of which are still TBTOAP (to be thought of and posted).
For now, my plan is to fuel up, rest up and move my feet like the wind via masterful mind control on Sunday!
But even though I'm feeling better mentally and emotionally, I still feel a little fatigue physically and lacking my conquer-the-world-daily attitude that got me to the gym 6 days a week. Still looking for that...I have a half marathon on Sunday and to be honest, my training has been lackluster at best. I'm thinking I could be low in some vitamins (due to lack of knowledge for my activity level and what my body requires under such duress) and also perhaps a little overtraining in all of that. And breaking my training routine has shaken my confidence. It's been cold as all get-out around here lately and the roads have been frozen, so to make matters worse what long runs I've done I did on the treadmill. I ran 8.5 miles this morning on my treadmill at a good effort pace and I feel just fine, so it really is just mental. I've run 4 half marathons and I work out harder than most on an almost daily basis, so I need to be okay with the fact that straying from my plan is okay and the outcome is up to me mentally, not really so much physically. I have almost a week to get my mind straight.
On the upside, I've been cooking. Yes, me. The girl who admittedly is missing her domestic gene in a big way. The thing is, I actually like to cook, as long as the subject matter isn't too disgusting to handle pre-cooking. I just don't have a lot of spare time. I work crazy hours and cooking takes even more time. But I'm making an effort and am building my repertoire of clean dinner recipes.
My latest endeavor is Clean Beef Stew, taken from the October 2010 issue of Oxygen magazine. It was very easy to make, it takes a long time to cook (90 minutes). The meat was a little tough, but the stew tasted really good and believable, for a clean recipe. Perhaps I cooked the meat too long? Will do some further investigating when I make this recipe again.
Makes 6 servings
323 Calories, 7g Fat, 27g Carbohydrates, 6g Fiber, 37g Protein
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled
1 1b carrots
1 medium yellow onion
2 lb top sirloin
3 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbsp oat bran
1½ cups low-sodium beef broth
1½ cups water
Pinch chopped parsley (optional)
Preheat oven to 325.
Chop vegetables and meat into large chunks.
Combine soy sauce and oat bran in a large baking pan.
Add meat, tossing to coat. Add vegetables, broth and water. Cover and bake for 1½ hours. Top with chopped parsley, if desired.
As I find recipes that are clean and really tasty, I'm adding them to a custom cookbook I am making for myself on Tastebook's website. My cookbook will be entitles "Eatin' Clean in a Dirty World" and so far I'm up to 8 recipes, 2 of which I've shared on here so far. This is a fun endeavor, because when my cookbook is compiled, I'll have up to 100 clean recipes bound in a nice book and they will all be recipes I will make and enjoy. Also, since I've already entered recipes into Tastebook, for now, when I need one of them I can just log into the site and read my recipe off my phone. Efficiency!
So, what now? Well, after my half marathon on Sunday I plan to revamp my workout plan to start conditioning myself for the full marathon I signed up for late this year. Also, I will be committing myself to some sort of Clean Eating Challenge, details of which are still TBTOAP (to be thought of and posted).
For now, my plan is to fuel up, rest up and move my feet like the wind via masterful mind control on Sunday!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Where's My Mojo?
I have a problem. I'm in a rut. Since about Labor Day-ish. I woke up one morning without my Mojo. My usual moxy - sunny attitude, lots of smiling and laughing, oodles of self confidence (or contentment at least), gazelle-like intensity in my work, at the gym and in life in general. .
Sad thing is I've yet to find it. What the heck happened to it? How do you just lose your mojo? Perhaps if I knew I would know how to get it back.
I knew something was wrong during my last half marathon. About 10 miles in I literally couldn't figure out what I was doing there. Not a disoriented demented sort of a deal but literally like, what is the purpose of all this? It was hard for me to finish that race. I blew it off as we all get our mental "walls" during things like that and I figured that was mine. But it's crept into pretty much everything. Now my eating wants to slide, I'm tempted to blow off the gym. This is how people gain their weight back so easily. So quickly. How does the momentum shift so suddenly and with such force?
The key is to not numb myself to the frustration that is a lost mojo. I think that is what happens. I tune it out and wake up 50 pounds later only to be shocked and disappointed at what I let happen to myself. I'm not going there again. But I have got to figure out a way to stop the slide.
So, the reward signs are posted and the hunt for the mojo is on. In the meantime, I am literally writing myself a prescription for a clean diet and exercise. A holding pattern until I have the resources to charge ahead again. Get through it and trust the mojo is doing an Eat, Pray, Love sort of a deal and is coming back, better than ever.
If you see it, send it home, would ya?
Sad thing is I've yet to find it. What the heck happened to it? How do you just lose your mojo? Perhaps if I knew I would know how to get it back.
I knew something was wrong during my last half marathon. About 10 miles in I literally couldn't figure out what I was doing there. Not a disoriented demented sort of a deal but literally like, what is the purpose of all this? It was hard for me to finish that race. I blew it off as we all get our mental "walls" during things like that and I figured that was mine. But it's crept into pretty much everything. Now my eating wants to slide, I'm tempted to blow off the gym. This is how people gain their weight back so easily. So quickly. How does the momentum shift so suddenly and with such force?
The key is to not numb myself to the frustration that is a lost mojo. I think that is what happens. I tune it out and wake up 50 pounds later only to be shocked and disappointed at what I let happen to myself. I'm not going there again. But I have got to figure out a way to stop the slide.
So, the reward signs are posted and the hunt for the mojo is on. In the meantime, I am literally writing myself a prescription for a clean diet and exercise. A holding pattern until I have the resources to charge ahead again. Get through it and trust the mojo is doing an Eat, Pray, Love sort of a deal and is coming back, better than ever.
If you see it, send it home, would ya?
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanksgiving Update
Well, I did it. Everything I set out to do to be clean and careful on Turkey Day worked out. I ran 5 miles on my treadmill this morning and after eating an apple, walked into Thanksgiving with a 500 calorie deficit. That helps! I ate my two crackers of crab dip and did all the things at dinner I said I would. My dessert cookies turned out to be delicious.
My sister hosted T-giving and was gracious about the fact that I BYOB (brought my own slice of whole grain bread). Also, my dessert cookies were determined to be good tasting by not just me but my husband, mom, sister and niece. And so, I survived! And it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It really, REALLY helped to have a plan in place beforehand. I'm not sure if I would've walked in with no plan that I would have made such good decisions. I would've been overwhelmed with the smells and feelings of holiday celebration. Crisis averted!
So, now, about these dessert cookies. The recipe comes from the November 2010 issue of Oxygen magazine:
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 20 cookies (not 24 like the recipe says)
1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well (I couldn't find unsalted almond butter so I went to the health food store and churned some up in their machine, actually I sent my husband to do it which could be a blog post in itself)
3/4 cup Sucanat (a derivate of sugar, it stands for sugar cane natural, grainy texture by itself but great for cooking)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 oz. dark chocolate (70% cocoa or greater), broken into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together first five ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
* I should note the cookies will be extremely soft and mooshy at this point. They harden up once they cool, so it doesn't mean they are not done if they are squishy.
Let cool on baking sheets for five minutes (10 is better). Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.
110 calories, 8 g fat, 1.5 g sat fat, 10 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 2 g protein, 55 mg sodium, 10 mg cholesterol
What makes these cookies good is that they are clean. There is not one ingredient that will spike your blood sugar out of control and they are filling because they have protein in them. Also they are gluten free for those of you who are sensitive.
The magazine makes a special note to say researchers have found that the dark chocolate's antioxidants may bind with the protein in milk, so think twice about drinking milk while eating dark chocolate if you are eating it for the antioxidant benefits.
They taste enough like a "real" chocolate chip cookie to pass as a dessert you could share with others. My family seemed to enjoy them and noticed that they were very filling for a dessert item.
I would definitely make these again.
My sister hosted T-giving and was gracious about the fact that I BYOB (brought my own slice of whole grain bread). Also, my dessert cookies were determined to be good tasting by not just me but my husband, mom, sister and niece. And so, I survived! And it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It really, REALLY helped to have a plan in place beforehand. I'm not sure if I would've walked in with no plan that I would have made such good decisions. I would've been overwhelmed with the smells and feelings of holiday celebration. Crisis averted!
So, now, about these dessert cookies. The recipe comes from the November 2010 issue of Oxygen magazine:
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 20 cookies (not 24 like the recipe says)
1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well (I couldn't find unsalted almond butter so I went to the health food store and churned some up in their machine, actually I sent my husband to do it which could be a blog post in itself)
3/4 cup Sucanat (a derivate of sugar, it stands for sugar cane natural, grainy texture by itself but great for cooking)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 oz. dark chocolate (70% cocoa or greater), broken into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together first five ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
* I should note the cookies will be extremely soft and mooshy at this point. They harden up once they cool, so it doesn't mean they are not done if they are squishy.
Let cool on baking sheets for five minutes (10 is better). Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 15 more minutes.
110 calories, 8 g fat, 1.5 g sat fat, 10 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 2 g protein, 55 mg sodium, 10 mg cholesterol
What makes these cookies good is that they are clean. There is not one ingredient that will spike your blood sugar out of control and they are filling because they have protein in them. Also they are gluten free for those of you who are sensitive.
The magazine makes a special note to say researchers have found that the dark chocolate's antioxidants may bind with the protein in milk, so think twice about drinking milk while eating dark chocolate if you are eating it for the antioxidant benefits.
They taste enough like a "real" chocolate chip cookie to pass as a dessert you could share with others. My family seemed to enjoy them and noticed that they were very filling for a dessert item.
I would definitely make these again.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Doppelganger Drama and Stuffing Myself Like a Turkey
So, about the time I embraced my Facebook account, it was "Doppelganger Week". I didn't know what a doppelganger was and I sure as heck wasn't sure why all my friends suddenly greatly resembled celebrities in their profile pictures. Figured it out. But I couldn't for the life of me figure out who my celebrity doppelganger might be. I do know that I apparently have a doppelganger that lives in Salem because for years I have been mistaken for this alleged girl...I wonder if I met her if I would think we looked alike. To others, we look identical.
Anywho, this week my husband and I were watching "Rules of Engagement". And my husband blurts out that he is looking at my doppelganger - the wifey one, Megyn Price. The one from Grounded for Life. I had to take my hand and fish my jaw up off the floor. HER?! Seriously?!? WHY?!? I don't think much of her (maybe because she's me?) and was even more shocked that I just don't see it at all. Before copping a serious girl-itude I decided to sit with the information for a bit...and while I was sitting I frantically Googled her. Whenever she comes up the words "smart" and "hot" follow quite often, okay, my feelings are becoming a little more lukewarm to the idea. My mind is churning and I admit to myself, I have a tendency to not see myself clearly. EVER. I either think I am way better, but usually way worse than I currently am but rarely am I dead on. The only thing that really sets me straight for a brief time are photographs/videos and comments made by my husband. He knows me better than anybody, he knows my personality, feelings and struggles and he's very honest with the best of intentions and doesn't let the fact that sometimes I freak out at the comments sway him in his honesty. I appreciate that. So, I take it in. Megyn Price. My Doppelganger. Shocking but I'm trying to make peace with it until...he then says "well, she's a bigger gal and so are you". Sorry, girl-itude took over at this moment before rationalization could. I believe I started to foam at the mouth while my eyes became as big as saucers and my head started to rotate around on it's axis. "WHAT. DOES. THAT. MEAN"??? What he meant was that I'm not a 4'8" waif but a 5'7" fit girl. But I was already in full-on doghouse-flipout mode and there was no going back. That killed an hour in the name of proper self-perspective. Ah the joys of being an estrogen driven super freak. I need to work on seeing myself a little more realistically and also not turning into said estrogen-super-freak every time a comment about my physical being is on the table and being horrifically misconstrued by me and my warped perspective. Yikes.
Now to the real task at hand - preparing for Thanksgiving. Here's the deal. On a typical Thanksgiving I would eat a family's worth of servings of my sister's amazing crab dip on buttery Ritz crackers as an appetizer. Then, although I'm really too full to then have a Thanksgiving dinner, I would then proceed with modest amounts of turkey, larger amounts of mashed potatoes, yams, rolls & jelly and whatever else wandered onto the table. And don't forget dessert. A very healthy serving of dessert. Stuffed like the turkey on the table. And if I was currently on a too-restrictive diet at the time, then much, much more of the above food in the name of a cheat day. I'm sick just thinking about being that full. So full it hurts to move.
So, all my posts regarding clean eating and leaning out by all means do not mesh with the above scenario. Thanksgiving is not my privelege to cook this year, but even if it was I wouldn't subject my poor family to turkey, plain sweet potatoes, lots of vegetables, and perhaps a clean dessert of some kind if you could call it dessert. As much as I want to live my edible life a certain way, I certainly don't get preachy with others about it. To each his own, ya know? My problem is how to take care of myself on this food focused day. I'm thinking it through, making a plan and whatever I decide I'm making a promise to myself to stick to it in the name of my goals.
Turkey is fine. No skin, I don't like gravy anyway and I prefer white meat. Nada problem. Mashed potatoes are out. That's one of my favorites. It's going to smart a little. Candied sweet potatoes are coming to the party. I could eat a potato as plain as possible and try to avoid the candied part. That's going to smart a lot. Scrape the yummy stuff off so I can eat the plain tasteless part? Awesome. Stuffing, don't care for it, thank goodness, a gimme. Rolls and my sister's homemade jelly. I won't do it. Because even the wheat muffins are white bread in a tan disguise. Hmph. I'm tempted to bring a piece of my own whole grain bread just to have a sampling of the homemade jelly. I might budge on that one as long as I bring the bread. Crab dip. What the heck am I gonna do about that blasted crab dip?! I eat it twice a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel physical pain when I imagine not having any crab dip. So, I'll compromise. I'm bringing reduced fat Ritz crackers (unclean, but with the dip it makes the "perfect bite" and if I'm going to do it, let's do it right). I will have two. One for fun and one to bank in the memory. And no, the crackers will not be piled to the ceiling. Lastly, dessert. Nothing on the dessert list is even remotely clean. But as I sit here and think about it, nothing on the dessert list is something that I will feel really disappointed if I can't have. That's interesting, because I always would eat dessert and usually a lot of it. And yet it's not that high on my priority list. I probably will want to have something and I don't want to look exclusive of the group by not partaking. My solution is to bring a clean dessert to contribute and then just eat that. I've decided to try a clean cookie recipe: "Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies". Clean and easy to control the calories and nutrients. Plus, since it's not a pie, it doesn't compete with the other desserts and could easily be sampled by others if preferred or just skulk away in a Ziploc into the night.
So, I feel good about this plan. The important thing is to stick to it. I will get to have a couple of unclean treats, food I truly look forward to. I will eat clean otherwise and just not waste my appetite on food that really doesn't matter that much to me. I work way too hard busting my tail in the gym to just throw it all away on food that doesn't matter. This is a huge step in the right direction for me and I'm determined to stick to it.
Wish me luck...
Anywho, this week my husband and I were watching "Rules of Engagement". And my husband blurts out that he is looking at my doppelganger - the wifey one, Megyn Price. The one from Grounded for Life. I had to take my hand and fish my jaw up off the floor. HER?! Seriously?!? WHY?!? I don't think much of her (maybe because she's me?) and was even more shocked that I just don't see it at all. Before copping a serious girl-itude I decided to sit with the information for a bit...and while I was sitting I frantically Googled her. Whenever she comes up the words "smart" and "hot" follow quite often, okay, my feelings are becoming a little more lukewarm to the idea. My mind is churning and I admit to myself, I have a tendency to not see myself clearly. EVER. I either think I am way better, but usually way worse than I currently am but rarely am I dead on. The only thing that really sets me straight for a brief time are photographs/videos and comments made by my husband. He knows me better than anybody, he knows my personality, feelings and struggles and he's very honest with the best of intentions and doesn't let the fact that sometimes I freak out at the comments sway him in his honesty. I appreciate that. So, I take it in. Megyn Price. My Doppelganger. Shocking but I'm trying to make peace with it until...he then says "well, she's a bigger gal and so are you". Sorry, girl-itude took over at this moment before rationalization could. I believe I started to foam at the mouth while my eyes became as big as saucers and my head started to rotate around on it's axis. "WHAT. DOES. THAT. MEAN"??? What he meant was that I'm not a 4'8" waif but a 5'7" fit girl. But I was already in full-on doghouse-flipout mode and there was no going back. That killed an hour in the name of proper self-perspective. Ah the joys of being an estrogen driven super freak. I need to work on seeing myself a little more realistically and also not turning into said estrogen-super-freak every time a comment about my physical being is on the table and being horrifically misconstrued by me and my warped perspective. Yikes.
Now to the real task at hand - preparing for Thanksgiving. Here's the deal. On a typical Thanksgiving I would eat a family's worth of servings of my sister's amazing crab dip on buttery Ritz crackers as an appetizer. Then, although I'm really too full to then have a Thanksgiving dinner, I would then proceed with modest amounts of turkey, larger amounts of mashed potatoes, yams, rolls & jelly and whatever else wandered onto the table. And don't forget dessert. A very healthy serving of dessert. Stuffed like the turkey on the table. And if I was currently on a too-restrictive diet at the time, then much, much more of the above food in the name of a cheat day. I'm sick just thinking about being that full. So full it hurts to move.
So, all my posts regarding clean eating and leaning out by all means do not mesh with the above scenario. Thanksgiving is not my privelege to cook this year, but even if it was I wouldn't subject my poor family to turkey, plain sweet potatoes, lots of vegetables, and perhaps a clean dessert of some kind if you could call it dessert. As much as I want to live my edible life a certain way, I certainly don't get preachy with others about it. To each his own, ya know? My problem is how to take care of myself on this food focused day. I'm thinking it through, making a plan and whatever I decide I'm making a promise to myself to stick to it in the name of my goals.
Turkey is fine. No skin, I don't like gravy anyway and I prefer white meat. Nada problem. Mashed potatoes are out. That's one of my favorites. It's going to smart a little. Candied sweet potatoes are coming to the party. I could eat a potato as plain as possible and try to avoid the candied part. That's going to smart a lot. Scrape the yummy stuff off so I can eat the plain tasteless part? Awesome. Stuffing, don't care for it, thank goodness, a gimme. Rolls and my sister's homemade jelly. I won't do it. Because even the wheat muffins are white bread in a tan disguise. Hmph. I'm tempted to bring a piece of my own whole grain bread just to have a sampling of the homemade jelly. I might budge on that one as long as I bring the bread. Crab dip. What the heck am I gonna do about that blasted crab dip?! I eat it twice a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel physical pain when I imagine not having any crab dip. So, I'll compromise. I'm bringing reduced fat Ritz crackers (unclean, but with the dip it makes the "perfect bite" and if I'm going to do it, let's do it right). I will have two. One for fun and one to bank in the memory. And no, the crackers will not be piled to the ceiling. Lastly, dessert. Nothing on the dessert list is even remotely clean. But as I sit here and think about it, nothing on the dessert list is something that I will feel really disappointed if I can't have. That's interesting, because I always would eat dessert and usually a lot of it. And yet it's not that high on my priority list. I probably will want to have something and I don't want to look exclusive of the group by not partaking. My solution is to bring a clean dessert to contribute and then just eat that. I've decided to try a clean cookie recipe: "Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies". Clean and easy to control the calories and nutrients. Plus, since it's not a pie, it doesn't compete with the other desserts and could easily be sampled by others if preferred or just skulk away in a Ziploc into the night.
So, I feel good about this plan. The important thing is to stick to it. I will get to have a couple of unclean treats, food I truly look forward to. I will eat clean otherwise and just not waste my appetite on food that really doesn't matter that much to me. I work way too hard busting my tail in the gym to just throw it all away on food that doesn't matter. This is a huge step in the right direction for me and I'm determined to stick to it.
Wish me luck...
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