The Princess Tries Holey Donuts, and if you want to, limited time $4.99 shipping eases the pain

You may remember that I didn't order the widely-praised HOLEY DONUTS because there was a nearly 20 buck shipping cost. Well, I did finally order them when they had their "donuts for five bucks per box" promotion, cause the discount actually turned out to pay for the whole of the shipping cost. :) The images in this post depict the particular items I ordered: the donut hole assortment, a sampler of full size donuts, and the cinnamon buns.

My take: Very nice. For donut lovers, those who simply cannot live without their pillowy frosted or cream-filled or cinnamony treats, this is a lower-calorie, lower-fat, better option. (Though I will not go the hyperbolic route and call these healthy. It's still refined flour and sugar and what-not. This is not health-food, it's simply LESS BAD VERSIONS of junk food that taste nearly as good as the best donuts out there.

One high recommendation for the cinnamon buns created by Holey Donuts came from my hubby. Confession: I only had one bite and thought it was just fine, but haven't had anymore in the last couple weeks since I got my order, since I simply don't crave cinnamon buns/rolls that often. I'm a custard filling lover, myself. Anyway, back to hubby: I served him half of a cinnamon bun for dessert shortly after getting our order. He munched on it and declared, "Hmmm. Nice." I said, "Those are lowfat, ya know?" He said, "You didn't even need to say it. I wouldn't have known." My hubby is a super picky eater. So, a "nice" from him is high praise.

My preferred one has been the Oreo Boston Creme, the rasberry filled with fudge crumb topping, and the raspberry filled donut holes. I did not like the lemon filled donut holes, but then, I've never much cared for lemon fillings in donuts in general. The coconut creme was quite pleasant, with plenty of shredded coconut on top that actually FEELS and TASTES fresh. I hear it's one of their top sellers, and I can see why. I gotta give HOLEY DONUTS their props for making a creme filling that tastes as decadent as any Dunkin Donuts offers. The raspberry filling is very "donut legit." :)

The main drawbacks I find are that 1. barring special offers, it's a high price to pay for low-fat desserts. I think this will be solved as they can distribute them to supermarkets in the future. 2. you gotta nuke these babies, and it's tricky to figure out how to do it best for the varieties of items they offer (ie, times for the donut holes versus full-size donuts, versus half or a whole cinnamon bun, depending on the size and power of the nuker used), 3. they need to solve their delivery issues. It took a while to get my donuts, and I ordered a second one during their last promotion, and I still haven't received a notification of delivery/tracking more than a week later.

But in terms of quality and taste for a modified product (ie, lower-fat, lower-caloric version of a standard donut, bun, etc), these really are tasty and deserve the praise they've been getting.

Still, for those on lower-carb, insulin-resistance, or glycemic index type diets, these are NOT for you. If you're diabetic, these are not for you. If you have had gastric bypass and sugar dump, you know these are not for you. And if you are on a clean diet, these are not for you. These are a sweet treat for those who can afford about 200 or so calories (and only eat half a cinnamon bun at a time) for dessert.

If you have portion control issues, be careful, cause you have to order a minimum of 3 boxes at a time. I will say that the donut holes do offer a smaller diet impact for those who can stick to one or two at a time.

I suspect that once Holey Donuts can get in stores, they're gonna sell a gazillion of these babies. Maybe one day you'll see HD franchises waging war with DD. Who knows?

But with these donuts, you won't miss the extra fat or calories, for sure. Very, very nice. I will only order them when they have specials that counteract the shipping costs, but I definitely would order these for myself and for family events, even at roughly $2 a donut.

If you want to try them, get delivery for $4.99 right now. This special offer expires at midnight EST tuesday,8/25/09.

Sparkly Factoid: Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure

Just 30 calories per day of chocolate may be enough to help reduce your blood pressure. As far as serving sizes go, that’s about a Hershey’s Kiss worth.

But you have to eat the right kind of chocolate, according to Joseph Maroon, MD, author of The Longevity Factor. He recommends nonsweetened or minimally sweetened dark chocolate that’s at least 70 percent cocoa.

--from "Give Your Blood Pressure This Daily Treat" at REAL AGE site

DragonFire Factoid: Oops, We Got Fatter As A Nation...AGAIN!

Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, and there’s no end in sight to this dangerous trend. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2007 25.6 percent of Americans were obese. But in 2008, it crept up to 26.1 percent.

There are six states that can dubiously boast the fact that over 30 percent of their citizens are obese: Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Colorado is the only state in which less than 20 percent of its citizens are not obese.

And an abruptly terminated checkout at Holey Donuts

There's been so much buzz lately in the few "diet" sites I've visited about Holey Donuts, that I went to their site and signed up for emails on specials and such (as part of entering the giveaway that Hungry Girl promoted).

So, in my inbox today, I get a special--get free donut holes and credit of $5 on next order with a minimum 3 assortment order. Huh, sounds nice, I think.

Granted, these are not cheap to start with at a couple bucks per donut, and three bucks plus per cinnamon bun. But the cinnamon buns and the donut holes sounded like good options for the freezer for occasional treats. (I have a freezer UPSTAIRS, and I go up there so rarely, sometimes the treats I have get too old, like some VitaTop muffins. It's a good place to put the tempting stuff, as I have to get dressed, go outside with keys, go up a flight of stairs, go into a different apartment's kitchen if I want the treat. Hubby keeps some snack stuff up there, out of my way.)

I decide that the offer for free donut holes with purchase tempts me to get those buns. I go through part of the checkout process, then see that the delivery fee is over 18 bucks.

Ya know, that just up and killed that transaction.

I understand they need to deliver these by a certain window due to the nature of the product. Totally get it. But, these are pricey donut treats, and when you add price and delivery for the minimum of 3 assortments, well... I can't see paying about SIXTY BUCKS for 8 cinnamon buns and 6 flavored donuts just to get bonus donut holes for free.

If they'd given a credit on shipping, instead of free donuts or a future discount, I'd have ordered the obligatory 3 assortments. Yes, I really like the idea of a cinnamon bun right now. Or a boston creme donut hole. Too bad the speical offer wasn't free shipping or five buck shipping. That would make sampling the stuff less painful, more of a done deal by now.

Ah, well. Maybe down the road they'll be stocked in local specialty groceries or something, the way VitaTops made it to regular supermarkets and Whole Foods. Or maybe I'll get lucky and I'll win an assortment.

I'm curious. Answer me this: Would you pay 60 bucks roughly for 14 reduced fat dessert treats (not counting the special bonus offer now for the holes, which I assume is limited and not usual) without having a chance to sample them first, not knowing if you'll love them, just going on testimonials? Would you?

I think I'm afraid I'll not like them THAT much, the way I hated most of my first order of VitaTops (I only ended up being able to eat the chocolate ones, so ended up tossing a lot of muffins.)

So, have you tried these? Did you think they were okay or great or not-so-great? Did you think the price was commensurate with the quality? And did anyone else do what I did....get through most of the checkout and go, "Oh, no, I ain't paying THAT much in shipping!"?

Well, if you're braver or richer or more donut-obsessed than I am, here's the link to order. And if you want the free donut hole sample and five bucks credit on your second order, then you have to use the code Ldth . (Guessing it's for Lowfat DonuT Holes.) This code is only good for TODAY, the seventeeth.

On the plus side of treats, I ordered organic chocolate frozen bananas made from organic and raw ingredients for my next week's desserts. Hey, fruit and potassium and real cocoa and sweetened with agave nectar. More "whole" and healthful than donuts, lowfat or otherwise, right?

Still, those cinnamon buns looked crazy yummy...sigh. ; )

Holding in the lower '70s, new raw yummies, and organic club experience

Okay, so I'm fluctuating in the low'70s, which is better than fluctuating in the mid or high '70's as I had been all year. Today, 272, which is actually a relief, since I had steamed dumplings, Ma Po Tofu, and Egg Drop Soup yesterday for dinner, meaning oodles of salt. I think without the salty Chinese food, I might have stayed a pound or more lower. The fruit I had for a snack must have helped balance the sodium, too. I normally go up 3 lbs or more with Chinese food.

So, today, I got up very late--5:30 pm. I've been going to bed in the AM when hubby is getting ready for work, and sleeping till some time in the PM. The asthma started its summer excacerbation last month, on and off, depending on how stormy. Started getting wheezy last Thursday and had a bad weekend, but a bit better in the past two days, though not normal. So, I've been trying to eat more "whole" for the nutrients to fight the immunological and respiratory weakness.

So, today, for my first meal, I had pear juice (no sugar added), raw bell pepper soup (very refreshing, sort of like a non-tomato gazpacho), and raw vegan "angelhair marinara), which was surprisingly delicious. My new fave raw entree from VEGGIEMUNN. The raw sauce was perfect and the angelhair way of making strings out of the yellow squash was even nicer than the thicker raw pasta primavera that had been my fave of theirs previously. That one (the latter) had no tomatoey sauce, but a veggie blend and herb one.

I was disappointed they didn't have the Mango Lassi raw pie this week. Last week, I got one, and it was so amazingly good, I wanted to order a bunch this week if available. But they made a puree/pudding in the Mango Lassi style, and it just wasn't the faboo thing that the pie was. The pie had actual slices of mango in the spiced sauce (with cardamon and rose water). The texture makes a big difference, plus the pie just is more mangoey. If you're in the South Florida area and like raw foods, you might want to check out VEGGIEMUNN, and try the Mango Lassi raw pie!

Yesterday, I picked up my organic coop box (full share and an added two shares of fruit, as I love fruit, especially summer fruit). So, I'm loaded for produce to fight the summer respirator blues. I plan to have nectarines, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, grapes, watermelon, and a mango later with my next meals/snack. I have kale I can roast and fresh green beans to saute. I also have tasty sweet onions that I can put into an omelette for dinner, along with organic spinach and zucchini. I might make a smoothie out of the berries, so I can get some calcium.

It's been interesting being part of an organic food coop. It forces me to try new stuff, since you don't pick and choose. They do. I never had fresh peas, or beets, or kiwi. (I still don't like kiwi.) Most of the stuff I get is useful to me, and hubby has a very limited produce palette, so it's mostly for me. I do find I enjoy it more in summer, as the fruit is terrific. before that, you mostly got berries, pears, and apples. I also get to meet new people, which I don't normally do, being so much of a recluse.

I did fine with Pilates on Monday, despite not being 100% respiratorily. My trainer commented on the improved upper body strength, which I did notice myself, so that felt good. I'm officially into my second year at this form of exercise, and I wonder how much better my strength and flexibility will be next summer. I hope I can be at least 25 lbs lighter then, too. I don't set big goals anymore. I never make them, so forget it. Too stressful.

Now, if only hurricanes can stay away, and my bronchii can buck up, my summer may not be unpleasant. :)

Hope everyone out there is well.

Three and a half months later....

and I even managed to lose 7.6 pounds.

I gotta tell you, I super burned-out on blogging. Both my blogs. Just up and got pooped. Got pooped of emails, too, and Facebook and MySpace and sorta just wanted to do "in the real world" stuff. :)

But this past week, I started dropping in to see what fellow bloggers were doing and, yeah, decided to check in. How motivated I am to blog is up for grabs. I don't feel as if I've got the blogging mojo back. But I do apologize for dropping off the internet cliff.

So, on the happy side, I'm still doing my Pilates, only 2x a week instead of 3x (to save some moolah). I continue to progress nicely and feel very strong under all the flab--nice and firm legs, easier to do things during my day. Even hubby mentioned I didn't tire out as fast when we went out on "dates." I even managed to make it through a day at an anime convention on 30 minutes sleep. And was able to enjoy a rock concert last week and fit in the seat and dance around and still feel vim and pizzazzy at midnight. :) So, exercising and eating better (not perfectly) has had some life-enhancing effects. Sex life is rocket-hot, too. Stamina is way up and flexibility is so much better. :D

We celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary this month, and I still feel like a newlywed. So, life is pretty good in various areas.

Eating, well...I joined an organic food-buying coop a few months back, so my produce intake is good. But my caloric intake continues to be my big burly beast. Though I've lost just over 7 pounds since my February, not a lot, mind you, but encouraging since it's progress, I continue to be stuck in the seventies. I think if I lost enough to get to the low sixties this year, I'd consider it a major win. Honestly. I don't know why it's so hard to get out of here, but it is, which is maybe why blogging lost its allure. I seemed to be treading water.

Still, the quality of life is so much better eating more produce and exercising regularly, that I fear losing the ground I have gained. And, as I've posted in the past, like Lyn's recent post on Escape From Obesity blog, I really have a terror of worse sagging skin. I have some from the nearly 30 lb loss, and I don't like it.

Ah, well. Humans are complicated, and fat humans trying to stop being fat humans even more so.

I will say that on June 30 will be my one year anniversary of training one-on-one in Pilates, and I continue to happily recommend this form of exercise for the morbidly obese and those with joint issues. I've had no injuries (though lots of post-workout soreness), and I can feel the change in how I move and my strength and my sense of body control. It's really nice.

I never was able to keep exercising regularly for more than a few months, and that was maybe 3 spurts in my nearly 50 years of life (mostly when I was younger). Now, I'll have been doing this for a whole year, with only one short break in winter when my asthma acted up fiercely. I'm really pleased with that accomplishment. I want to be able to say next June that I was doing it faithfully for two years....and so on.

And that's my update. I'll hope to get back to posting with more regularity, and maybe announce finally leaving the 270's behind....please, please, please God.

Hope you are all progressing. :)

Responding to a Pilates Query

Meg asked in a comment on a previous post:

I've always wanted to try Pilates, but I'm super self conscious about trying new classes at the gym. How is it?

First off, from scanning your blog, it looks to me like you are at normal weight and pretty fit (ie, you run and exercise, etc). So, you have nothing to feel self-conscious about...AT ALL!!! Go try a class. Make sure it's taught by a certified Pilates teacher (not just someone who's done it and decided to up and teach it). Form, focus, and breathing matter in Pilates, so you want someone who knows how to do it right and teach it properly, who will correct your form during the length of the class.

Now, back to the self-conscious thing: Girl, I started Pilates weighing 272 pounds and having been a couch potato for years and years. I didn't even know if I COULD do it, much less worry about how dumbass I'd look trying to do it. :)

I've since REGAINED some weight I lost. Last week, I was doing Pilates at 282. I did it yesterday at 278.8. And on the reformer next to me was a model with impossibly long and slender limbs and apparently a 0.5% body fat.

I know about self-conscious.

Add to that that I'm the only obese person doing Pilates at the place where I train. I'm certainly the only MORBIDLY obese person there.

Still, I've been doing it for nearly nine months and I feel more flexible, stronger, my arms and legs have better shape, I can do my activities with more ease (ie, groceries, crouching, reaching), and for a very fat 49 year old woman who was nearly an invalid in the 20th century, I am happy to report this. And even having regained some weight, I look slimmer than when I started. I feel denser, firmer. And my acanthosis got better, so that may be just the exercising after NOT exercising for so long. I was used to being ill with severe respiratory infections two to five times a year. Since I started working out, I got sick ONCE.

Honestly, if I can do it, just about anyone can. And I do qualify with "just about", because I do understand that being significantly larger than I am, 350 or 400 or 500 pounds, has a huge impact on what you can do. I chose this form of exercise particularly because of damage I have to my joints from being fat. It isn't easy on the ankles and knees and hips. Pilates is very joint-friendly.

Getting on and off the Reformer, the most famous piece of Pilates equipment, while easier than when I started--when I flopped and flipped about like a mutant giant turtle--is still not the most graceful activity. But when I"m on it, I do my thang! I've done stuff I wouldn't believe I could have done. Heck, I'm able to do one of the exercises that includes the position to the left on the Cadillac, even while morbidly obese.

I think all of us with fat issues, body image issues find it hard wearing tight workout clothing (snug clothing being essential for Pilates). I know for me, it was really hard. And it was hard walking into the studio with wall-to-wall mirrors and models and skinny dancers feeling like Shamu with arthritis. But a good teacher and an environment that is accepting and wants to foster health makes up for a lot of self-consciousness.

The fact that I"ve stuck to it, 3x a week, hour sessions, for nearly 9 months says something. I've never stuck to exercise this long. NEVER. And I've swallowed my discomfort with being seen in tight clothes moving about to the point where yesterday, in order to march in place with higher knees, I HELD MY BELLY UP WITH MY HANDS out of the way of my knees. I looked demented. But it helped me move with better form. So, ah, yeah. I can't believe I did that. Hah!

Someone in your much better shape and much slimmer form will do marvelously. You'll see a lovely line emerge in your arms and legs. Your tummy and waist will reform. You'll feel longer and sleeker. You will be happy with the results.

I told my hubby this weekend, "Man, if I weren't covered in all this fat, you could see my rocking ab muscles!"

And you should NOT feel self-conscious. You doubtless look very, very good already. :)

And again, for the fat gals out there who've been afraid, just do it. Save the money, get a couple to three personal sessions first to ground you in the breathing, posture, scooping techniques and to use each of the machines and equipment pieces at least once with your trainer. Then, ask what class they think you should take. It's an investment that is worth it.

Greens and Beans and Another Downward Tick

Oh, good. A scosh better today: 278.6

I much prefer that to the 280's.

Went to Whole Foods last night and got me a lot of greens, some fruit, some meats (pork loin was well-priced and on sale), some ready-to-eat (meatballs, cheese lasagna to split with hubby), some lima bean soup (which I looooove), and Tofu Masala (for my supper tonight). I also have some leftover M'Jadra (lentils and rice with onions and yogurt). So, I have a good amount of food for a few days.

Lovely cold front came in, so it's sweater weather in Miami. I love that. Hope we get lots of cool days before the heat officially sets in.

So much to do in the house, really, that I feel overwhelmed. But I have to just sit down, make a plan, and take it one small step at a time, or I'll get into an ugly state of frustration..which makes me wanna gorge.

Don't wanna gorge.

Pilates in a couple hours, so off I go to start picking out clothes, showering, etc.

I wish you all a healthful Monday and a great work week.

A Small Bit of Progress

Yesterday, I was 282.8.

Today, I'm 279.8. So, I was happy to change the sidebar weight back out of the 280's I'd been in all the week.

Man, I must have been holding some water, huh.

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