Fab Friday Tips, Tricks and Inspiration

Friday.  This one came around fast. I have been reading a lot of interesting news lately but I will try to restrain my reporting to my usual Friday themes.

Trying to change up your whole grain world?  Here's a tip, try red rice. If you don't know about red rice, this Fooducate article will enlighten you to this underutilized super food. But I have my own reasons: It's pretty.  I used both red and black rice with brown this week for our 6 Color Rice and it is so pretty. Best practice though? Cook the red rice separately, then add in if you are doing multi-colored rice; it bled a bit into my brown rice and darkened the whole delicious dish. (I haven't typed up the 6 Color Rice recipe yet, but my starting point was this 7 Color Inarizushi recipe.)

It turns out an apple a day not only keeps the doctor away, but also the hunger at bay. My friend Gina has a trick for eating less at meals, especially potlucks and parties. She eats an apple on her way to the table.  It also bears repeating that numerous studies have shown that diners who have soup as a first course eat significantly fewer calories in the meal than those who do not.

At work today, I checked someone's drivers license and could not help commenting that she must have lost a great deal of weight. She had, indeed; 168 pounds were "lost" and she was not trying to find them! The photo itself, though hugely, inspiring, was not the most inspirational part of this interaction. She mentioned that before losing the weight, she was a diabetic with high cholesterol and sky high triglycerides. All are under control now and she takes no medicine for any of it. Her enthusiasm for life and joy at what she'd done made my day.

That's it for me, folks. It's late and mama's tired. Have a fantastic and fit weekend!

Menu Plan Monday - Eating Fresh and Healthy

School is in full swing and we are back-to-bento. Packing 7 lunches a day takes a bit of pre-planning but my family is happy and prefer Mom's lunches to the school's . . . sweet, victory. We are "winging" it for breakfast since I realized I don't follow my breakfast menus - like - ever. That said, we tried two new things for breakfast that we adored.  The first is this odd looking egg cloud; easy and fun -- just use a light hand with the salt!

The other yummy dish was this morning's cinnamon pancakes. They are 2/3 whole grain and very filling. They are 7 Weight Watcher's points+. (390 kcal, protein - 11.3, fat - 5.6 g, 47.8 carbs, fiber - 3.6 g)  I got the recipe at my meeting (and made only a slight modification):

6 servings 

1 C old fashioned Oats

1 C whole wheat flour

1 C all-purpose unbleached flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. brown sugar (mix all the dry)

Add:

2 eggs,

1 Tbsp melted butter

2 cups buttermilk.

Delish!

Monday:

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner:  Tacos and fixins (both crunchy corn and whole wheat tortillas), Yellow Polka Dot salad (a new favorite!), Blueberry-lemon pound cake

Tuesday:

Lunch - Pork asparagus rolls with sauce, cooked potatoes, strawberries, mandarin orange, green salad with dressing.  (I love these new bentos I found at World Market. The side with the salad closes, then flips over and it becomes a cube. It holds a ton, too, perfect for Dad and The Captain).

Dinner - Chicken Spaghetti, salad

Wednesday:

Lunch - Meatloaf "cupcakes," cooked carrots, pasta with pesto, raw broccoli, fruit

Dinner - Italian Chicken Rolls, zoodles (zucchini shreds), pasta (for some), green salad 

Thursday:

Lunch - School lunch trays today!

Dinner - Salsa Verde Chicken Tostadas (with Slaw) - there are two links here, one for the crockpot chicken, the other for the tostadas with the simple slaw

Fresh fruit salad

Friday:

Lunch: Boiled eggs, broccoli, grape tomatoes, pretzels, grapes, strawberries

Dinner: Shrimp salad, Zesty Zucchini soup, toast and JAM!

Saturday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie (lower fat), pretty salad, fresh fruit

Sunday:

Lunch: Grilled Chicken with Corn and Tomato Salad, crusty bread for the kids

Dinner: "Root hog"

(When I was a child, there was an old saying, "Root, hog, or die!" I know, it sounds terrible, but in my family, "Root Hog" meant we each got to find what we wanted to eat, and eat it.  It might be leftovers, ramen noodles, or a bowl of cereal. "Root hog" happened but rarely and we loved it.)

Linking up to OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday; check out all the great menus!  The "real food" low-fat menus are hard to come by but I get tons of inspiration from what other people eat.

Progress Report

On Wednesday, I passed my 6-week mark since my return to Weight Watchers. To be sure, it was an unusual start with two hospital stays, a surgery, and a vacation all in there. Nonetheless, I have been "on plan" except for a couple of days that I failed to track.

My net loss so far? Plus 0.4 pounds. I know, I'm going the wrong way.

Oddly, I'm not discouraged. My restrictions on exercise lasted most of the first 4 weeks, we're under tremendous stress at home with summer ending and all the kids dribbling back into school, and, truthfully, my medicines have changed 3 times. I think it could be worse.

I think this is the first time in my entire weight loss journey of 8 years in which I could honestly say, "It's not all about the scale." I am doing a great job providing the family with healthful food and beautiful food too. I know I am eating the things my body needs. I feel great, for the first time in months, and I feel happy about what I'm eating too. I did start exercising last week and it's going well because I feel well.  There just isn't that much to be unhappy about.

This week, I'm experimenting with using only my daily points and not my flex points, although I have used 8 because of forgetting to log a food one day. I am staying the course and feel happy about it. I like that Weight Watchers allows me any food; that freedom helps me keep to my personal health guidelines and stick to what's in "my box." I have managed to "cook ahead" a bit to ease the pressure of school lunches.

I am encouraged, actually, that I managed to navigate all the obstacles of the last few weeks and remain, basically, the same weight. I have accepted that my life is always in a little bit of flux and I cannot wait for everything to fall into place.

I'd love to hear from some of you about what is working for you in your own weight loss or maintenance journeys, especially from my loyal 5 followers!   Cheers!

Thank Goodness it's Friday! Tips, Tricks and Inspiration

I lost 5 lbs. this week. Normally that would be cause for celebration but it was the 5 pounds I gained the week before due to my weigh in falling in the few hours I had between two hospital stays. That said, I could honestly say that I was in my points range for the whole 3 weeks so far and I stayed on plan, even in the hospital. I will stay the course and see how I do this week.

Thank goodness it's Friday. I went back to work yesterday and while I did okay, I was beat when I got home. So I only have today and tomorrow morning and then some time to rest.

I have a simple tip for this week: Eat more watermelon! I read these fun facts about watermelon on Fooducate and realized my over-the-top love for this fruit is actually justified. I'ts a good source of Lycopene, and Vitamin C and it's a "filling food." The article offers some alternate serving suggestions at the end but to me using watermelon as an ingredient is akin to grinding up steak and using it as an ingredient. It's already perfect the way it is! I'm not too much of a purist though, a fat slice with a little cayenne and salt is the perfect snack.

You've tried logic, so now you want to know how to trick your teens into giving up sugary sodas. A new study had a surprising finding: If you label the soft drink cooler with the amount of exercise it will take to burn the calories from the soda, a lot fewer teens will choose the drink. Who knew teens were logical? Read the details in this brief article by The Salt on NPR.

While looking for something else, I stumbled across this government publication on the benefits of losing weight. If you have a metabolism like mine and weight loss comes slowly, it's helpful to have a little inspiration to keep working at it. Take a look at it and see which of the many benefits would mean the most to you right now.

I am focusing on small changes now. For instance, I am committed to journaling  my food, no matter what I eat. Knowing I will be logging it later helps me make a good choice in the moment. What small changes are impacting you right now? I want to hear from you!

Fab Friday Tips (Produce), Tricks (Lettuce) and Inspiration (Thriving through a Family Reunion)

Well it's Friday and it has been quite a week. More on that later!

The tip of the week is to buy your produce for several days and prep it all at once. For instance, chop bell peppers into both strips and chunks and put them in sandwich bags, about a pepper's worth of strips or chunks per bag. Wash the grapes and divide them up into kid sized bags. You get the idea!

The trick this week is one taught me some time ago by the indomitable Pam Tischler.  It is a sanity saver and makes your lettuce last -- crisp and ready -- up to a full week. Here's how you do it::

Throw the head of lettuce into a clean sink of cold water.  Pull the leaves out and gently spin dry them.  Then lay them out one leaf at a time onto paper toweling. Gently roll the towels back up, replace into your produce bag, close with a tie and throw them in the vegetable drawer. Or use a big zipper bag if you are not as cheap as I. When you are ready for a leaf for a sandwich or several for a salad, unroll and use as many as you need.  Isn't that cool? Trust me on this, it saves twice as much time as it takes and you won't wind up letting half the lettuce spoil because it's ready to use.

My Weight Watcher's buddy truly inspired me this week. She joined just before heading off to a family reunion where she did none of the cooking and had no input into the menu. Yet she managed to stay on program enough to lose weight. Give her a hand, ladies and gentlemen! It is truly amazing. One trick she and her hubby used was to keep a bag of apples in their cabin. As they hiked to each meal, they ate an apple so when they got there, they weren't ravenous. She also saved her calories for the things she really loved (read, "homemade") and passed up the more ordinary fare, like cake from the bakery. We weighed in on Wednesday and Thursday, she was off to the beach for a family vacation. I wish her as much self-control this week!

I, on the other hand, gained 5 pounds! On Tuesday, I wound up back in the hospital and got sprung Wednesday afternoon so that I could check into a different hospital on Thursday for a fairly urgent procedure. While in the first hospital they pushed the fluids through IV and drink because my blood pressure was very low and they were trying to bring it up. As a result, I carried all that liquid to the scale in my veins Wednesday night. I was surprisingly nonchalant about it. I had  forgone the delicious sausage gravy and biscuits the hospital served and taken an small egg-white omelet and fruit for breakfast. I'd had a large salad for lunch and was well within my points range for the week. No point in getting upset about elements beyond my control. I'm home from both hospital stays now and if my recovery goes well, I should have a good showing on the scale this week!

Work Space

Did I mention I went back to Weight Watchers? A friend wanted to re-join and I seem to have leveled off, weight wise, so I said I would go back with her. The inspiration and support makes a difference to me. I lost 0.4 pounds last week, so I'll take it.

There are two things I love about Weight Watchers and always have. One, you can eat literally anything; you just assign a points value to it. I can certainly have an ice cream dinner if I wish to, but I'll definitely temper my consumption because a cup of ice cream is 10 points. That is a third of my daily allotment. Yikes.

The other thing I love is the practical help they give you. This year's focus is on routines and spaces. At our meeting last week, I committed to myself to take charge of my work space. I am tired of being hungry at work! My workmates often eat out and so I join in but try to make a healthy choice and I wind up being hungry. Therefore, something had to give.

 Thursday, I dropped the Littles at day care an hour earlier than I had to and went to the grocery store on my way to work, confining my purchases to my lunch time stores. We have some free cupboard space in our office kitchen and I can usually make space in the fridge by throwing away old stuff, so I wasn't worried about space. I was going to take a picture of my stockpile but I got intimidated carrying everything in and chickened out!  Here's what I purchased:

Pantry food:
Dr Kracker (a favorite whole grain snack)
Regular snack crackers, thin ones
Almonds (in a can so they stay fresh)
2 bananas

Freezer food:
A loaf of whole-grain bread (we have a toaster at work)

Fridge food:
Non-fat greek yogurt
Raspberries
Grape tomatoes
Good cheese (an ounce will do me!)
Turkey diced and packed in two ounce cups

Utensils
A good knife
Lidded plastic containers (for leftovers)
Water bottle for my desk

Drinks
Unflavored sparkling water
Diet soda
Izzy-esque 4 pack (love those but they're so expensive)

That day I had an absolutely delicious 8 point lunch. And it was so filling. Really good cheese (Double Gloucester), a couple of crackers, a piece of toast, raspberries, turkey, grape tomatoes. I ate and ate.  Every few days I will replenish the meat, cheese and fruit and I will be set for a long while.

No more being fat and hungry at work! What ideas do you have? I dare you to take a picture of your work space pantry!

Fun Friday! Tips, Tricks and Inspiration!

Woot, woot! It's Friday.  I am posting late after a fun day with the kids but it's still Friday, so it counts, right?

My tip of the day is actually a question: Why are you taking a multi-vitamin? I have eschewed them for myself, finally, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I am still giving them -- irregularly -- to the kids. There is so little evidence that vitamin supplements do what we want them to and yet, inexplicably, millions of us take them. Check out this interesting Fooducate article and let me have your thoughts, please.

Do you have any tricks for eating out?  My favorite trick used to be to get a to-go container when the meal was delivered and put half of it away to take home. The down-side to that is that if it is as tasty as I hope it will be, then I will actually eat that half the next day. In fact, I have moved restaurant food to the category of "occasional treat" and therefore, taking it home to eat again, I am still  eating it and even though the calories are more reasonable, does not really fit with my larger goals. Now, I split a meal. I like it not only for the calories saved, I am very much enjoying the aspect of choosing my meal with someone else; quite often I wind up with quite a different meal then I'd have selected on my own. There is a sweetness in sharing that brings intimacy to the meal. I love it!

I have been inspired by Hunt, Gather, Love  (a Paleo Diet blog) for some time. I am not a person who has embraced Paleo, but there are aspects of it that appeal to me. So I was surprised by her April post entitled, "Breaking up with Paleo." Her reasoning made sense to me; for me, I just can't understand why if all this beautiful food grows on the earth, why should I avoid it?  I have successfully avoided most breads for months now consuming processed starches about once a week and as an exception. Otherwise, we mostly shop and eat from the outside aisle and serve a lot of potatoes, rice, oatmeal, legumes and grits as starches. Since I started restricting breads and processed grains, I know I do experience a "sugar crash" after I eat them and I also know that it does not happen for me after potatoes, rice, oatmeal, beans or grits. I do not think I'm willing to live without them even temporarily so Paleo is out for me. I love the "purity" of it though, and will keep learning from the Paleo community.

I hope you've found something useful here. Have a wonderful weekend!