Freaking Fabulous: Choco-Banana Smoothie

Feeling Frosty?

I know, I know.  I've been terribly slacking on the blogging.  I realized today as I made my Fireball Chili, that it's been a really long time since I've posted anything.  I've been busy.  And by busy, I mean not just with work and kids and summer and life in general.. but busy as in too busy to track my food and assume that because I ran a half marathon I can eat what I want when I want.  My point is, I'd have been a hypocrite if I had been posting healthy lifestyle tips to the interwebs while slacking on the healthy eating.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way...

Have you noticed that Facebook has become the Pinterest and Instagram of the 'older' crowd? Most of what I see posted is recipes, photos of our kids, shared photos of pins from Pinterest, and memes?  I can't tell you how many times a day someone I know will fall for a like-phishing post and share something in the hopes that they'll get a free iPad or Disney vacation.  One of these annoying recipe shares I keeps seeing is a skinny version of the Wendy's Frosty.  I gotta say, I love me a Frosty.  What I don't love is the ridiculous amount of fat/calories/WW Points Plus in said Frosty.  So, I tend to avoid Frosties at all costs.  Tonight, however, I decided to make my own version of the 'skinny' internet version floating around.

Here's what I used:

• 3/4 cup original Silk Almond Milk (1 WW PP)
• 1 frozen banana (I have some on hand for smoothies and other things - I freeze the last couple in a bunch as they're about to get too spotty for my family to like) (0 WW PP)
• 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder (1 WW PP)
• 1 packet of Weight Watchers vanilla smoothie mix (2 WW PP)
• a boat load of ice cubes (like 15-20, depending on how thick you want it.. I lost count)

I tossed all of that into my Ninja blender and I have to say.. it's no Frosty, but it IS delicious.  It's a nice alternative to a thick ice cream shake or something.  The Points Plus value was a little hard to determine.  If you add up the WW PP values of the ingredients, you're looking at 4 PP for the whole thing.  If you use the WW e-tools recipe builder, it says 7 PP because it will take the nutritional value of the banana into account despite all fruit being free.  I counted it in my tracker for the day as 2/3 of a serving when I created the recipe so that it was only 4 PP taken out of my day.

So, if you're feeling like you neeeeeeeeed some ice cream, I'd say you're safe with this versus going to Wendy's and getting a 20 point version that you don't need.  Tomorrow I might try the WW Mint Cookie smoothie mix with the frozen banana, almond milk, and some chocolate chips, since my ice cream of choice is Mint Choco chip.  And yes, before you ask, I DO have a Yonanas maker, but I cannot typically stand bananas, and the Yonanas starts to just be semi-cold, mushy bananas after a couple of minutes, so no, that's not going to cut it for me.

Enjoy!

Confession Time: I'm a Total Hypocrite Lately

Ok you guys, it's time to confess. I've become a total hypocrite. In case you haven't noticed, BH and BH have been eerily quiet with the blog lately. Granted, we've both been insanely busy, which is about 90% of the reason why we haven't been writing. But for me, the other 10% has been because I've been straight up lazy. As I worked at WW yesterday and weighed people in, I cheered on their successes, I coached them through their weight gains.. All while full well knowing I have been eating total garbage like Easter candy and pizza, I have not been tracking anything I've been eating, and the whole time telling myself it's ok because I'm training for some events.
One of these events happened this morning. It was an indoor triathlon, which meant I had to don a swim suit. I just wore this suit a month and a half ago.. And even though it fits just fine, I was shocked to notice it looked like I was totally like 4 months pregnant - except instead of a real baby, it's a food baby. And in reality, I was NOT shocked. I know I've been eating total crap, and I have not been exercising daily - using the excuses I don't want to burn out before my half marathon in June or that I should not lift weights more than once a week because I will weigh too much to work at WW.
My results this morning show that I beat my distances from last year (Yay me!) but I struggled with every event because I'm not as 'fit' as I was a year ago. I haven't been mindful of what I've been eating. Yesterday's Mexican fiesta for lunch, caramel cinnamon bars for snacks, and Thai takeout for dinner weren't exactly fueling my body for an intense 75 minute workout today. Just because I run 12-17 miles a week right now does not make me fit - Active, yes, but not physically feeling awesomely fit and healthy like I did a year ago. My pants still fit, but they don't quite look the same.
So, my friends, I am totally publicly shaming myself to you, telling you that I am a total Weight Watching slacker. I promise to you that I will get un-lazy, and I invite you to call me out on it if you see me eating a mountain of chocolate or 5 cookies worth of cookie dough. I am committing to fight my unhealthy genetics, to regain my health, and to give that food baby up for adoption.

Stress Eating... Nom Nom Nom



The scene at the hospital cafeteria.  This was for FOUR of us.



Recently, my dad underwent an emergency surgery. He's had a myriad of health issues over the last three decades, so it was nothing new for my mom, my sister, and me. What should be new, however, is how we handle the stress of these situations.

Many of us overeat in times of stress as a means of coping with the crappy times we are facing. As my dad was being wheeled off to the operating room, we passed many signs for the cafeteria and we realized we hadn't had dinner. So we went and got dinner... Enough dinner for 8... But there were only 4 of us there. I tried to be good and counted all of my points and tried to steer clear of the fried, greasy comfort foods the cafeteria had available. Despite my salad from the salad bar, I still ended up with a few not so healthy choices on my tray, and a few more in my purse for the long night I knew we were in for.



The next day, my dad was out of imminent danger, but I had eaten way too much that night and I was feeling gross. I went to the gym and literally ran the fastest 5 miles I've ever done. I realized that the stress (and my disgust with my overindulgence) was amping up my run. The next day I ran my fastest treadmill 5k ever and I felt great afterward. My weigh in today was surprisingly good, which I attribute to luck and my turbo speedy runs.

I don't know why we turn to food in times of crisis. It's comforting, sure, but we end up so much more upset after stress eating because we are disgusted with ourselves. What I should have done in that cafeteria was stop and assess what I was doing. I should have walked around the halls of the hospital or played a game on my phone or pulled out my weight tracker or done anything else that would have helped me clear my mind without snacking. I ran the stress off over the next couple of days and felt infinitely better. We need to remind ourselves that food will not solve our problems. Food fuels our bodies, it should not be used as a temporary solution for our problems. Next time I'm faced with a crisis, I'm grabbing my running shoes, not a bag of popcorn.

Perceived Failure Vs. Real Failure

First of all, I've said it before, but I should say again: NONE of our views or opinions are those of WW.  Well, they might agree with me on stuff, but I am not speaking on behalf of WW ever.  So just know that.  Anyway, with that being said... I started working for the big W last week.  I've had a particularly stressful few weeks recently both with work and life in general, and I'll admit, I've been sort of stress eating.  I'm still tracking my food and activity, BH is still tracking, but we are pretty sucktastic when it comes to being 'Viva'.  And we know we aren't alone in our perceived failures.

Today, As I was checking in members for our meeting, almost every single person that stepped on the scale said something along the lines of "I've had a horrible week," or "I know I'm up this week."  And you know what? ALL of them, except ONE person were down.  Some of them were down 2-3 pounds when they thought they had been terrible.  What impressed me more than their successes was that despite their perceived failures, they came in and faced the scale.  This is what I've found to be the key to my hitting goal this time compared to all of my failed attempts at WW in the past - just keep going.  No matter how I think I did in a week, I did not miss a weigh in.  I didn't skip a week because I didn't want to see a gain - that's a slippery slope and usually the beginning of the end.  I needed to know what I was facing in the next week and I either wanted to celebrate my success of a loss, or get smacked in the face with a gain if I had been slipping so I could pick myself up and do better the next week. 

One of today's meeting members, despite being down .6 pounds this week was disappointed with her results.  She was saying how hard she'd been trying but that she wasn't seeing results that she wanted.  My mentor (trainer) and I both knew that she had just come in from a doctor's appointment, so we asked her how her testing had gone - cholesterol, blood sugar, etc.  She said, "well, it's all looking really good and I'm a lot healthier."  We had to remind her how fantastic that is - that the scale isn't reflecting all of her success.  We gave her some tips on how she can have a better week next week (she's not drinking enough water, just coffee!), and told her that if she is really as diligent as she'd been leading up to today and added in more water, she'd have the success on the scale that she'd been looking for.

The only way to truly fail at your weight watching endeavors is to give up.  If you are actively trying - even if you're only tracking WHAT you're eating, not the amount or PP value, that's still something.  If you just show up to weigh in, not even staying at a meeting, that's still something.  BH and I have to remind ourselves that we are still exercising, we are still tracking, we are still trying.  Sure, we might be disappointed with our lack of will power because we are eating our kids' goldfish crackers or too much pizza or drinking too much wine or whatever.. but we are still trying.  We have to remind ourselves that we can't be having real failures if we are still trying.  We have to be kinder to ourselves than we have been.  Would I tell a member that their efforts aren't good enough?  NO.  So why are BH & I being so mean to ourselves?  We are all our own worst critics.  It's time to start treating ourselves, yourselves, as you would your best friend.  Encourage yourselves like you would your best friend.  Start making a healthy lifestyle a priority, treat yourself right.  I guarantee you'll start to see results if you do.

Winter Blahs, Cabin Fever, And The Munchies

Dear Wintertime,

We are so over you. You, with your cold weather and your shitty driving conditions, and your dreary, dark, short days.... Sure, the first real snowfall of the year is pretty, but after that, you suck. We don't get to run or bike outside with the warm sun on our faces (and if we do run outside, we risk frostbite, chapped faces, and broken ankles). You force us to sit inside with food and cupboards filled with cookbooks and baking supplies, desires for comfort foods, and cabin fever. Going to the gym and running on treadmills like hamsters and riding spin bikes in classes next to grunting, sweaty guys isn't the same as a run outside on a 75 degree day. Don't tell us we should go outside to enjoy winter sports. If you've met either of us, you know we aren't coordinated to even stay upright on cross country skis, let alone risk death by skiing down a hill. The only outdoor exercise we do is shoveling, and that is NOT fun. No, even Major League Baseball players rupture their spleens shoveling that diarrhea you call snow.

No, Winter, we don't like you. You flip some sort of switch in our heads, telling us that we want to eat everything in sight, because we might have to hibernate and live off of our fat reserves for another 6 months. In the past week alone, I've baked a cake ("for my kids" with homemade frosting that was "tested repeatedly for quality"), cookies ("for my friend".. Never mind the dough I accidentally ate), pancakes, waffles, and not to mention comfort food dinners like tater tot hot dish. I've been buying snacks like the Unreal Candy and popcorn to munch on, because my favorite fruits aren't very good during this time of year.

Winter, you're lucky we have unlimited texting, because we constantly text each other with our perceived weight watching failures, since we can't stop munching on crap food because you are depressing us. If we could send you a bill for our cell phones and for therapy & anti-depressants, we would.

And the cruelest thing you do to us? After you're done with us, we feel a little chunkier. When your much nicer sisters Spring and Summer arrive, we feel too flabby to wear season appropriate clothing and we roast hiding our extra L-B's under long sleeves and pants because your bitch ass force fed us for months.

So, you evil bastard, we ask that you leave us and our weight watching efforts alone. Make way for our favorite fruits an veggies to grow and taste good and not be all smooshy and gross. Let us get back on our bikes and let us walk our kids to the park without bundling them up in 48 layers. Let us get back to craving fresh crunchy salads and not calorie laden casseroles. You're no longer welcome here.

Respectfully yours,

BH & BH

Freaking Fabulous: Unreal Candy

Aside from just trying to lose/maintain weight, we've also been trying to live healthier lifestyles in general.  We try to eat more nutritious/whole foods, we exercise, we drink more water.. yadda yadda.  Our freaking fabs aren't just finding foods that are less WW Points Plus, but also, finding healthy substitutes for the junk that we crave - like the sour patch grapes when we want some candy or the turkey pepperoni and the wraps Tracy makes when craving pizza.  We are not paid in any way to endorse these finds, we just love them so much that we feel that our readers really should be made aware of them (if they aren't already.)

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday.  Neither of us wishes to discuss the amount of points we consumed yesterday, but we will be proud to tell you we counted them.  Well.. Tracy counted all of them.. I got lazy after I had some wine.  Oops.  As I was saying, yesterday was probably one of those days that we all use as an excuse to eat, and in an attempt to at least be healthy about what we were consuming yesterday, I came across the most amazing candy yesterday.  It's not sugar free.  It's not fake.  It's not full of artificial junk that could potentially be bad for you.

I was strolling along (KID FREE) at Target yesterday before the game, taking my sweet time grocery shopping without having my kids whining, fighting, and throwing stuff in the cart, and I noticed something new.  I know my local Target like the back of my hand, so when something crops up that's not part of the normal scenery, I tend to take a second glance.  Sitting there, on the end cap, with what seemed to be a glowing aura around the display and the faint sound of angels singing, was candy.  But I'd never seen this candy, so I took my aformentioned second glance. 

It was called UNREAL Candy, their tagline is 'candy unjunked.'  I figured out the Points Plus value of the ones I thought about buying - the chocolate caramel nougat bars and the peanut butter cups - 2 PP per serving (5, if you accidentally eat two servings, 7 if you accidentally have 3... you get the idea).  Granted, the servings are small, and they really aren't that different than normal candy points values... BUT! for those 2 PP, you are NOT getting artificial sugars, you're not getting corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils,  GMOs (genetically modified organisms), gluten, or preservatives.  And? THEY'RE GOOD.  My husband ate them.  He ate a lot of them.  And he LIKED them.  My kids gobbled their pb cups up.  And I didn't feel bad giving my family a bunch of garbage. 

Yes, I know it's still candy.  There's still sugar, there's still fat, you still need to exercise moderation when eating it.  In the contact area of their website, it states:

Is UNREAL™ a “healthy” candy?

We don’t consider candy to be “healthy” for you. It’s a delicious treat that we love. What we’ve done is give people a better choice, so that when they go looking for candy, they have the option to avoid the junk.

That's exactly what I'm talking about - you can at least feel good knowing that there are some less-bad-for-you candies that are still delicious.  Go find some - NOW.  You're welcome. 

Birthday Blues?

My birthday is Monday. I'm not telling you this for an onslaught of birthday wishes, or for sympathy. I'm telling you this because it's my pathetic excuse for the gluttony that has already started today. Saturday. Not my birthday.

For some reason, I've declared that I'm taking today off from WW. I started my day tracking the homemade pancakes I made for my family for our weekend breakfast. Then I got to my in-laws house... Their house is a magical place filled with candy, donuts, and all the pop you could drink. I got there, and popped a few chocolates into my mouth. When my husband gave me the judger face he gives (I usually ask him to), I told him "screw you, it's my birthday weekend." Then we had (mass quantities of) Chipotle for lunch, washed down with a real sugar Coke. Then I accidentally had two powdered sugar donut holes for dessert. I justified this knowing that I will be going for a long run this afternoon, and I want the caffeine to stay up late... But we are also going to a casino this evening for some birthday fun... And casinos usually mean you're having a buffet for dinner. Moo.

So what is it about my "birthday weekend" that makes me feel like I have an excuse to eat the equivalent of a month's worth of garbage food? Is it the sadness over my early 30's being behind me, and embarking upon my mid-30's? Do I feel entitled to an extra 100 WW Points Plus as a birthday gift? The new pants I bought the other day don't leave much room for the extra birthday calories - it's not like birthday calories don't count.

Basically, I'm ratting myself out to you all for a few reasons.
1: Maybe I can exhibit self control at the buffet later. I don't need to get 'my money's worth' of desserts. No reason I need 3 plates worth of food...

2: I'm letting y'all know that it's ok to be human and fail at weight watching every now and again. You just need to start again tomorrow. There's no reason to eat like this every day. My pants will still fit next week so long as this kind of piggery doesn't happen on a regular basis.

3: By me writing this all out, I can really see what I'm doing and ask myself why I'm eating a ton of shit food.. is it worth it? Does it make me happy to eat it, even though I know I'll be furious with myself later? Chances are, no, I won't be happy eating more than one dessert tonight.

I've now armed myself with a little bit of logic that will hopefully fight off the urge to get that buffet refill. My cousin is meeting us later and joked that I should blog about surviving the buffet, to which I replied "there will be no survivors." Maybe now I can prove myself wrong. If not... Well.. Happy birthday, Mar... Here's five pounds to lose. I'd rather give myself the satisfaction of comfortable fitting pants, thank you.

Freaking Fabulous: "Sour Patch" Grapes

Let me start off by saying, I'm typically not one for candy.  My vices are usually salty crunchy snacks and chocolate.  Sometimes, I even like the two together.  Occasionally, I like to have licorice or something, but I'm not a huge candy fiend.  But a friend of mine told me the other day to try this recipe for the blog and I'm hooked.

That being said, this is a fantastic replacement for candy when your sweet tooth is asking to be fed.  My 18 month old even asked for more by saying "candy".  This super easy recipe calls for two ingredients: grapes and Jell-O.  Now, depending on if you prefer sugar free or regular, this treat can run you 0-2 WW Points Plus.  For the sake of this post, we'll assume you're using sugar free Jell-O and call it 0 points.  For the Jell-O flavors, I used lemon mixed with orange and lemon mixed with strawberry.  You'll want the lemon flavor mixed with whatever other flavor you're making to give it the sour taste.

To make this 'candy', mix the lemon Jell-O with whatever flavor(s) you are using in a Ziploc bag or a sealable Tupperware type container.  (I hope that you know that I mean the packets of Jell-O powder, not pre-made Jell-O, but I should never assume.) If making more than one flavor, use separate bags/containers.  Pick the grapes from the stems and rinse well.  While they're still damp (not dripping wet, but they need to be wet enough to have the Jell-O stick), toss a few at a time into the bag/container of Jell-O, seal, and shake well to coat.  Once they're coated, put them in a bowl or on a plate and out them in the fridge for at least an hour.  You want the Jell-O to dry and turn into a crust.  

These grapes are great to keep in the fridge for a snack when you're bored with plain fruit and want something sweet.  You can experiment with different flavor combinations if you're not a fan of strawberry or orange. I'm going to try making cherries rather than grapes next. I have lime and orange Jell-O for the cherries, I'll see if they're any good and let you all know. I don't know if maybe you could use sugar free Kool-Aid or Crystal Light and get the same results without the powder dissolving, but that might open up even more flavor options. 

Happy snacking!

---UPDATE---
The cherries worked just fine, but I preferred the grapes. Mostly because pitting the cherries just takes too damn long.

Freaking Fabulous: Turkey Pepperoni

As a weight watcher,  I try to figure out how I can "subdue" my food cravings without blowing the points budget or the number on the scale.  A lot of times I try to "mimic" one of my favorite foods but by swapping out lower point ingredients.

That being said, I've come across a freaking fabulous food.  Turkey Pepperoni. I know what you are thinking. But it's freaking GOOD people...it's not like some of the other turkey substitutes like bacon, sausage, etc.  (All of which I happen to like, but others react as if I've gone to 'crazy town' if I even try to suggest the turkey version could ever replace any of their favorite porky/beefy foods!)

Where was I? Oh yes. Turkey Pepperoni. IT TASTES LIKE PEPPERONI. It's spicier, less greasy, which makes is better.

The kicker? SEVENTEEN pieces for 2 points. SEVENTEEN.  A high protein munchy snack? Yes please. A way to subdue my pizza cravings (that are constant)? Absolutely.

So this post is to serve you two-fold:

1.) Enlighten you to the fact turkey pepperoni is delicious and nutritious.

2.) Share with  you my new lunch/dinner/brunch/linner/snack obsession. Pepperoni Pizza Roll Up.  5 points of pizza heaven. You. Are. Welcome.

Ingredients: (with Points Plus Values)

Pizza Sauce (0 PP)

1/3 cup Reduced fat mozzarella (2 PP)

HALF serving (8 slices) turkey pepperoni (1 PP, 2 PP if you decide to eat the 2nd half of the serving while you prep)

1 high fiber/low fat flour tortilla (2 PP)

Total 5 PP (or 6, depending on how you handled the pepperoni earlier)

Put all ingredients on tortilla like you are making a pizza. Microwave for 1 minute. Roll up and enjoy.  Cheesy, saucy, pepperoni-y (ha!) goodness.

I can't say that I'll never call Domino's again, but I can say this is a fair replacement that I (and the scale!) can live with.

Finding your VIVA!

VIVA!

What the heck is that? Originally meant to "VIVA LA RESISTANCE" (AKA, food) but has now become the term that the "BH's" use to jump them back into WHY they want to be healthy in the first place. 

VIVA! Now really means many things.....

It can mean "I ran a mile (or 8?)!" or  even "Must resist that plate of nachos or bottle of wine" (Examples of just a few "BH" vices, but if you've been reading any of these blogs, I'm sure you can put together who they apply to....) 

The point is, it helps to find something to ground you on your journey.  It can bring you back when you've taken a detour, it can validate you when you've done something you didn't think you could (or didn't want to do) that brought you one step closer to your goals.

So? If that made ANY sense at all.  Find your grounding point, find your affirmatives, forgive your weaknesses and detours, and find your own VIVA.

Damn This Blog (Keeping Me Honest)

My 3 year old asked me today for chips and salsa, so I asked my husband to pick some up on his way home from work. He asked me if it's legal since I've blogged about my dependency on tortilla chips.

I hate when he calls me out. And worse yet, I hate when he's right.

But he IS right! There's a reason I don't keep my beloved tortilla chips in the house. It's the same reason a recovering alcoholic wouldn't keep a bottle of vodka around. I don't need to have that kind of temptation staring me in the face.

The nice thing about the WW program is that I am allowed to eat things like chips. If I ate the whole bag, I would have to adjust the rest of my food this week or run 18 or so miles, and that would be insane. (Although, I do plan on running 8 miles tomorrow...) So, I'll have to portion out ONE serving tonight when we have our dinner (Tacos.. Again with the Mexican food.. Stop judging). Or I could have no shell, eat just the meat, load up on lettuce, tomato, salsa, and my 2 points of reduced fat Mexican cheese and have two servings of chips.

The point of this post is to PLAN ahead and know how to tackle your temptations. I talked about this yesterday with the Girl Scout cookies - know your weaknesses, figure out how to live with them. Don't deprive yourself, it will make you insane. If you can find healthy alternatives (that aren't kale chips!) even better. But I'm letting you all know that tonight, I'm facing a challenge and by putting it out there for you all to see, I'm going to stick to my plan.

I hope. :)

Mini Drug Pushers in Training

It's here.

It's the time of year when those tiny little crack dealers known as the Girl Scouts of America push their delicious diet busting morsels upon us. My Facebook feed is blowing up with the mothers of these precious little minions asking if their friends would like to pre-order their inevitable extra 5 pounds. Would I like to? He'll yes! Am I going to? I'd like to say no... But????

Two years ago I was lucky enough to be pregnant during Girl Scout Cookie season. "The baby" was eating box after box of Lemon Cremes and Thin Mints and Tagalongs. I even ordered MORE cookies from my friend after "the baby" ate all of her first order. "The baby" ate a total of six boxes of the cookie goodness over a month.

Six boxes really isn't that horrible if you're pregnant and your cravings are for all things sweet. But what about when you're a normal, non pregnant, healthy living/healthy eating person conscious of what you eat? Six boxes means a lot of self loathing and Pepto Bismol.

If you're a person who does not have an issue with eating a realistic 2-3 cookie serving at a time, it's not an issue to order a box or two of your favorite cookies. But for the rest of us, the Girl Scouts make it damn near impossible to eat just one serving. The packaging almost makes you eat an entire sleeve of cookies in one sitting, which is like 3-4 servings depending on the cookie. But then you have the OTHER side of the cookies in the box.. And sometimes you don't want to leave them all lonely rattling around the empty box space where their friends used to be. Or you just enjoyed the first sleeve so much that you can't stop, knowing that there are more. And before you know it, you just ate the whole box and you're cursing those little girls for selling you their version of crack, when its really your fault for buying it in the first place. And forget buying a box to "donate" or "send to the troops". Unless the troop does it for you, you know that box will never make it to the post office.

So before you buy and binge, try these tips:

1. Immediately portion out individual servings into snack sized ziplock bags and put them in the freezer. They take longer to eat when frozen, so hopefully you can stick with one serving. And stick with just one box - don't deprive yourself, but don't overdo it if you can help it.

2. If you're buying cookies because your family wants them, get a flavor you're not a fan of (I'm looking at you, Samoas, you nasty coconutty piles of gross).

3. If you're buying to support the troop of Girl Scouts, or to help your niece/daughter/friends' kids, buy the flavor you don't like and bring them to work or a food shelf, if the troop doesn't have an option to send to the troops overseas.

4. If you really can't control yourself because you're the equivalent of the furry blue monster on Sesame Street, DO NOT BUY THE COOKIES. You can't eat the whole box if you never bought it in the first place.

Recipe: Beer Cheese Soup (Points Friendly! I swear!)

I like beer.  I love cheese.  It's cold out.  All I want to do is be warm, and eat.  Not sure how food keeps  me warm, but on days like today (it's freaking ZERO people) all I want to do is eat.

The lovely thing about WW is that I can eat.  I just have to figure out how to.  Here is one of my winter favorites.  If you know me, you know I hate veggies, well, this is something full of veggies that even I will eat.  And my 5 year old too.  But, it's actually more impressive that I will.

The low down:
PP Value: 5
Serves: 6
Serving size: Heaping Cup

Ingredients:

1 medium onion (Chopped)
2 medium Carrots (Coarsely Grated)
3/4 tsp Table Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper (I like to add more!)
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 lb potatoes (Baby reds work the best) cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
17 Ounces Chicken Broth
12 Ounces of your favorite "light" beer
1/2 Cup Fat Free 1/2 and 1/2
8 Ounces of Low Fat Cheddar or Colby Jack Cheese (Shredded)

A few notes: you can save 1 point a serving by just using chicken broth instead of beer, but then you lose the booze flavor, but it doesn't ruin the recipe.   Your call.

I also add Thyme to my Spices, but really, anything you think would jazz it up would work! Live a little!

Instructions:

Coat a non-stick pot with cooking spray over medium heat.   Cook onions, until they begin to color, about 5 minutes.   Add the carrots, salt, pepper, paprika, and mustard and cook for about 2 minutes, until carrots begin to soften.  Stirring all to mix.

Add potatoes, beer, broth, and half and half.   Increase heat, bringing to boiling and reduce heat to a simmer.   Cook until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 min.   Add cheese and stir to melt, and then puree in batches in a blender. 

Seriously, it's good people.  Now go make some, and stay warm! :)

Nighttime Munchies & Self Sabotage

With my impending lifetime status at WW, I really should be careful to stay at goal. Christmas came and went, and I, along with most people in the world, gained a few pounds. "No big deal, I can lose them," I think to myself. I'm already down 2 of the four pounds I gained.

Except.... I CAN'T STOP EATING.

Here's why I should care: To work at WW, you need to be within 2 pounds if your goal/healthy weight range. I lift weights 2-3 times per week, therefore I weigh a lot for my size. To hit goal, I actually stopped lifting weights to lose some of my lean (muscle) mass because I had stalled in losing anything for 6 months. So, I am at the very top weight for my height, and I cannot afford to be gaining more than two pounds if I want to work for the big W... and I do want to work there.

My paperwork from HR arrived in the mail today, so I *should* be fired up. I had a fantastic workout today and have eaten a super healthy array of food all day, including some really delicious and spicy enchiladas or dinner. So why in the bejeebers did I finish my dinner tonight and wonder what I could munch on next?

This has been an ongoing problem since the holidays ended, because we constantly had cookies or other goodies in the house. So a cookie or 5 here, a piece of candy there.. And voila, there appeared my 4 pounds. But the holidays are done and I'm about to hit lifetime. Why am I sabotaging myself??

What I've loved from the get go with the Points Plus program (and now the 360) is that it is so easy to eat healthy foods. Nighttime snacking on healthy, whole foods carrots and apples for 0 points is so much easier on this program than before because apples are no longer 2 points like they were in the old program. So instead choosing between of 2 points of apples vs 2 points of Cheetos (where the Cheetos would win 99.9% of the time), I can now have a 0 PP snack in the apple and stay on points for the day. This program really encourages healthy eating, healthy living, and I love that.

For the last year+, I've had very little problem making the right choices. Since I hit goal, however, I've been making horrible food choices once dinner is done. Last night I recognized that I was snacking on anything and everything after dinner because I had been wanting Mexican food all day, and I didn't get it. My husband wasn't home, I had a very busy day, and I didn't feel like cooking. When my son said he wanted pizza, I jumped on the chance to order it, using the rationale that he hasn't had much appetite lately, and I wanted him to eat. But I ended up eating 3 pieces of the large pizza... followed by a few goldfish crackers.. and some Skinny Cow chocolates.. and then a few more. I blew through a large part of my weekly points allowance plus my 6 point treadmill run, even though I wasn't even hungry. So when my husband called and said he was picking up Chipotle for his dinner, I made him get some chips for me to stop the madness, because THAT was the void I had been trying to fill with all of the other garbage all night.

After all of that mindless ramble, the point I'm trying to make is that one should not deprive themselves if truly experiencing a craving. I could have saved myself a lot of calories last night if I had just made the Mexican food I had been thinking about all day, instead of taking the 'easy' way out by ordering pizza. The pizza did nothing for me in terms of nutrition, satisfaction, or filling me up. I have to stop self-sabotaging now that I've reached the goal I've worked so hard for. I have to remember that if I'm hungry enough for _______ (fill in the blank with garbage food), I'm hungry enough for an apple. Chances are, I'm not. And chances are, you aren't either, so put down the chocolate and step away slowly. I hope my gluttony will help at least one of you identify your reasons for mindless snacking and help you to stop.

WTF Is With This Kale Chip Craze?

My kryptonite is tortilla chips. I love those freaking things. I could probably down two baskets of them by myself before my dinner comes at any given Mexican restaurant - even the ones that have the food come out the second the waiter puts in your order. They're probably 68% of what brought me to Weight Watchers (the other 32% would be my gigantic babies).

That being said, tonight I thought I'd try making kale chips. People keep raving about how awesome they are and what a great chip substitute they are. Kale is a garnish, people! It's basically thick, bitter lettuce. But, I figured I'd give it a shot, because I have my WW weigh in tomorrow and I'm two weeks away from hitting my lifetime status there. Plus, kale is supposed to be cray cray good for you, so bonus, I can gorge on this whole bunch of leafy green nutrition for essentially no calories, and not waste today's spin class on nighttime munchies. Score!

So I researched a few recipes, they all seem the same. Kale, EVOO, salt. Bake. Eat.

The recipes say bake until edges are browned, but not burned. So you have a window of about five seconds from browned edges to burnt pieces of leafy shit. Lucky for me, I got them out in time. I took a bite... Patooey! Maybe this one is overdone... Let me try a non browned edge one... Patoooooooey! Still disgusting. I could douse these things in salsa or hot sauce and I'd still find them disgusting.

I literally chewed these bitter flaky pieces of garbage until I had to spit them out. I thought.. Hey, maybe I made these wrong. Nope. Kale is just that gross to me. Right up there with Brussels sprouts. Barf.

For all of you people who encouraged me to try kale chips as a substitute for chips: YOU ARE DEAD TO ME.

Recipe: Football Nachos (Vegetarian.. or not)

There's something about sitting around watching football that makes me want to eat... (and eat and eat and eat.)  Usually, I'm craving chips and salsa or nachos piled high with all sorts of goodness.  Unfortunately, if I were to grab a bag of tortilla chips, dump them on a plate with tons of cheese and salsa and meat and beans and sour cream, I'd have to run a half marathon to burn it off.  So, I've come up with a satisfying plate of nachos that you can serve up for game day.  You don't even have to tell people that they're meatless because they won't even notice.  (My poor husband has been subject to the ol' meat switcheroo countless times and hasn't seemed to notice.)

The recipe below makes 6 servings, and is only 5 Points Plus!  Woo!  If you accidentally eat the whole thing by yourself, you're looking at 29 Points Plus. 

If you're really grossed out by the thought of the soy crumbles in place of ground beef, try substituting with ground chicken or turkey, or 93% or higher lean beef.

Ingredients

	4 oz meatless soy crumbles (These are the ones that are a ground beef substitute.  I prefer Boca - once you cook it up with the taco seasoning, you can't even tell that it's not ground beef)
	2 Tbsp reduced-sodium taco seasoning
	1 large fresh tomato(es), coarsely chopped
	2 cup(s) Iceberg lettuce, shredded
	1/2 cup(s) shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese
	1/2 cup(s) fat free salsa
	1 medium jalapeño pepper(s), coarsely chopped
	1 Tbsp fat-free sour cream
	2 serving(s) Joan of Arc Chili Beans, Spicy
	4 oz Tostitos Baked! Tortilla Chips, Scoops    Pre-heat the oven to 375.  In a skillet, cook the soy crumbles, jalapenos, and chili beans as you would taco meat.  If you feel like chopping up an onion and some garlic, add that to the mixture as well.  Add the taco seasoning as directed like you would if you were making tacos.  On a baking sheet, spread the tortilla chips out and top with the 'meat', jalapeno, and bean mixture. Sprinkle the cheese all over the top, and place in the oven until cheese is melted. Once the cheese is melted, top the nachos with the lettuce, tomato, salsa, and sour cream.  If you feel like dousing it with hot sauce like I would, go for it.  Usually, the hot sauces I use (like Cholula) are 0 calories.

Recipe: Fireball Chili

So.. Every now and again we will post some recipes for you. Maybe it's the freezing cold tundra of MN talking these days, but I've been obsessing over all things hot and spicy. Thankfully, my husband has an iron stomach, because I've been in the mood to make chili that rivals the surface of the sun.
Here is how I make it. Grab your crock pot and try it if you dare. Oh, and WEAR GLOVES WHEN HANDLING THE PEPPERS. I learned the hard way not to think I'm a badass who is immune to the wretched burning of those damn seeds.

I am not responsible for any intestinal or stomach damage you inflict upon yourself by trying this recipe. If you're too chicken to try the full power of the peppers, omit the habanero and try adding them next time.

PointsPlus® Value: 8
Servings: 7

Ingredients

21 oz cooked lean beef steak - I usually cut op chunks of sirloin and sear them before tossing it all in to the crock pot

56 oz canned crushed tomatoes

1-2 small jalapeño pepper(s), chopped however big or small you prefer
1-2 habanero peppers, chopped
1-2 various variety of peppers - Anaheim, banana, pablano, etc
(To adjust the heat factor, don't include any seeds if you're only looking for pepper flavor, add just a few if you're new to the spicy world, and add them all if you're a sado-masochist)

4 Tbsp unpacked brown sugar

2 tbsp McCormick Chili Seasoning Mix, 30% Less Sodium if you're feeling lazy.. If not, make you own blend of cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, red pepper flakes, etc

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 cup(s) cooked onion(s)

15 oz canned kidney beans

2 serving(s) Joan of Arc Chili Beans, Spicy

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2~ tsp of cilantro, if you like it

Toss it all into a crockpot on low for 8 hours, stirring occasionally.

To cut the heat, top with reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese or light sour cream.

You're welcome.

Welcome!

Welcome!

So, you're new here.. and so are we.  Basically we came up with the idea for this blog because we know that there are a lot of people going through the same struggles we are.  Plus? We're pretty damn funny and we felt that you all needed to know that.

The icing on the cake on the decision to start this blog? Last night, I tweeted the following post on Twitter:

I know that tomorrow I'll be thankful we don't keep chocolate in the house, but right now I'd cut a bitch for a Hershey bar.  #formerfatty

Moments later, without seeing my tweet, Tracy posted on Facebook the following post in a group that we share with our friends:

What is it about an upcoming "." That makes you want to cut someone for a square of choco?! Yeah. That's me. (Now gimme choco!)

So basically, we were both struggling with cravings and posted about how we'd do bodily harm to someone to get a fricking piece of chocolate.  Is this sad?  Maybe.  But I can swear to you that anyone on Weight Watchers or some other weight loss regimen has gone through the same damn thing and you'd be lying if you said you didn't. 

Needless to say, neither of us cut anyone, nor did we eat any chocolate.  But my God, someone out there please invent some 0 point chocolate for us.. so we can avoid possible jail time (or community service) in the future. 

You know you have a food issue if......

.....your kid catches you going through his candy bowl
.....you "create" bag fries from the most recent McDonalds trip
.....you consume more Goldfish than your child does and they end up on the weekly grocery list
.....you silently hope your child gets "full" (so you can finish it) when you let him have your "vice" foods: fruit snacks, MCD's, aforementioned Goldfish, peanut butter, cookies, candy, juice, pizza, bread, tater tots, birthday cake, ice cream, chicken nuggets...............oh wait, are you still here?

Yeah. I need control.