Main Blog Updated: Oh, let's just call yesterday's post the E2E Midweek Update #11, Shall We?(with some more pics, so are you sick of seeing my face yet?)...and a "hug and thanks" to Casey for the Yerba Mate and lil gifts...

Oh, let's just call yesterday's post the E2E Midweek Update #11, Shall We?(with some more pics, so are you sick of seeing my face yet?)...and a "hug and thanks" to Casey for the Yerba Mate and lil gifts...

 Photo captions/descriptions on other blog, click link above:

 

Main Blog Updated: Try Walking...if you haven't. Trust me, it's good for you in so many ways! (yet another vlog)

Try Walking...if you haven't. Trust me, it's good for you in so many ways! (yet another vlog)

 

Do Not Buy Bottled Zico Coconut Water: Tastes Nasty!

On this blog for a couple years I have touted the benefits (and yumminess) of coconut water--low calories, high electrolytes, good debloater, refreshing chilled, subtle sweetness. I probably mentioned how much I liked Zico natural coconut water.

Er, no more. They have a bottled version now, and it's from concentrate, and it tastes horrible. It's not at all like old Zico. Skip it.

Alternatives to try. O.N.E. has one in the tetra pak that's pretty good. My new fave , however, is Nature Factor's organic coconut water. Not from concentrate. Super numnum. If you exercise vigorously in this warm weather time, coconut water is a great refresher and replenisher. Try it! Both of those are available at Amazon.com (and Nature Factor's coconut water is in the subscribe and save program, and I took advantage to order 3 cases.)

But please, don't buy bottled Zico. It's a letdown bigtime.

School Lunches; Jamie Oliver and Chicken Nuggets; Weight Loss Shows; Shapelovers again, and Strawberries galore; Five Fruit Frenzy at Jamba Juice

Easter Sunday I was over at my big bro's home. He has two grandkids and I got a look at the elementary school lunch menu. It was taped to the fridge and smack in front of my face as I stored the extra chicken satay.

What crap we feed our kids. How come taxpayer dollars go to feed kids fattening, unhealthful crap? Chicken nuggets. Meat pizza (I'm guessing NOT on a whole grain crust or with low-fat cheese). Hot dogs (omigod). Corn Dogs (doubleomigod).

A quick google got this article with this summary of research findings regarding obesity and these crap school lunches:

Research presented this past weekend at a meeting of the Annual College of Cardiology determined that kids who eat lunches served by their schools are almost 60 percent more likely to be overweight or obese when compared to children who bring their lunch from home. The survey of nearly 1,300 Michigan-based sixth graders, taken over three years, also found that school lunch eaters ate more fat-intensive meats and sugar, as well as fewer vegetables than their counterparts—which contributed to them showing elevated levels of bad cholesterol in their bloodstreams.

If I were Empress of the US, school lunches would be the epitome of healthful, balanced eating to give kids a great start and energy to get through their studies. Whole grains. Nothing fried. No caffeine. Nothing with sugar (except for rare treats on a holiday times or other special occasions). No sugar-laden chocolate milk, for sure. No sodas--diet or otherwise. No junk chips (unless baked and low-salt and ideally made from something that has fiber). Fruit cups would have no added sugar. Certainly no hot dogs would be featured. Egads.

I know, they'll say this: kids won't eat healthful stuff.

Guess what? Tough patooties. Give parents before school starts an idea of a menu and what items are included. "If your child has not been trained at home to eat these foods, then please pack as suitable brown bag or bento or boxed lunch for them each day."

I figure it's up to parents to train kids to eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, etc. If they don't, then make lunch. I, as a taxpayer, don't wanna finance the ticking time bomb that is obesity and diabetes. I am a product of this junk food lunch system training kids to want and like more and more crap. (I remember grilled cheese sandwiches DRiPPING with margarine, fatty meat pizzas, oily fried chicken, sloppy joes on white buns, oily fries, huge-sized cookies.) Funny, cause at home we got rice, beans, salad with avocado and olive oil, and things that were far less damaging than what schools gave.

So, today, I caught Jamie Oliver on The Doctors (where I got a look at a liver and a heart that probably look like mine, given I'm obese. Ick.) He was showing kids how gross chicken nuggets can be made. It was vile. But when he fried them up and asked which of the kids would eat them, all of them raised their hands. Even after seeing the globs of fat and goo that went into the nuggets, they'd eat 'em. Hah. Jamie was shocked.

They also showed the crazy amounts of salt and sugar in kid's lunch meals. One could weep.

I really am amazed parents tolerate those menus. Corn dogs. CORN DOGS???

Insane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I caught a couple episodes of LOST IT! on Discovery Health channel. I wanted to see if the stories could up my mojo factor. It's always nice to see folks get it off and feel happier and healthier. One lady did WW. One did Jenny Craig. One guy did hypnosis tapes, which actually looked maybe interesting.

I'm not feeling all that motivated, but I did feel a tad more hopeful watching. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gotta admit that the Shapelover meals this week have been very good. Their food is tastier than when I first tried them more than a year ago (for a brief while). Very tasty. Yesterday, I had the Normandy Beef consomme, and while it wasn't so much consommeish (it had thick veggies in there), it was really delicious and hearty.

Hubby really liked his pork fricasse with carrots that I served him with the mashed new potatoes that came with my blue cheese beef dish. Today, for lunch, I had a pesto beef lasagna for lunch that was excellent, if a tad tad tad salty (prolly the cheese sprinkled on top was to blame for that). It came with a tomato basil onion salad that had a lovely balsamic/basil flavor. The chocolate berry dessert was so good for 70 calories. Mmm.

Been eating a lot of strawberries, too. The harvest right now is huge from Central Florida, so prices are low and berries are sweet. :D  I hope you check for them when you go shopping this week. Good for ya!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hubby went to get some home repair stuff, and I asked him to pick me up some carrot juice and the new Five Fruit Frenzy smoothie that Jamba Juice has been highlighting as having "five servings of fruit in a 16 oz serving." I asked for the smaller size (in case I'm not wild about it, anyway). It's got strawberries, blueberries, banana, mango, peaches--ye five fruits there--mixed in peach juice, berry juice with ice.  I'm a sucker for mango, so I hope this is numsy.

If ya wanna try it, get a dollar off with a printable coupon until 4/10.

Dr. McDougall's Lentil Soup. Salt Cravings, and the Joy Effect

I had another high salt eating day yesterday. I think something hormonal is going on to make me crave saltiness so intensely. Last night, I went for sushi and salad with miso dressing and a ginger-honey stir fry with brown rice, with all but the rice soy intense, meaning SALTY. I had some--okay get ready for TMI, you've been warned--spotting from my nethers, so I do think the salt vampirism has to do with my female fluctuations.

I'm sipping a Starbucks unsweetened passion green tea as I blog. I used this to make up for giving up my venti 2% sugarfree vanilla lattes. I had a tall vanilla latte instead, iced and skinny style. It gave me that vanilla coffee flavor kick with fewer calories and fat. The tea is to make up for lost flavor volume. :)

Interestingly, I got a lot of compliments today about my chipper personality--one lady called me delightful, one effervescent, and one gal at Starbucks gave me a spontaneous size upgrade and a free latte. Surprised me. I guess smiling and being nice to people can bring rewards. I will admit, post Pilates, my muscle pain lessened by the activity and stretching--pain leftover from the hours of labor when the water heater flooded my kitchen--that I am a happy camper. Maybe my Joy Gravity Field is pulling people in. Heh.

Now, on to the soup:

I really, really liked Dr. McDougall's Vegetable ready-to-serve soup (which I reviewed earlier). Even my super-nitpickey, veggie-unloving hubby liked it when I packed some for his lunch earlier this week. I didn't feel the same way about the lentil. Now, normally, I dig my lentil soup. But I like my lentil soup savory/herbally/garlicky/oniony (pick one or several of that list). This one tasted very vegetable-ey, notably celeryish and carrotish. I do not care for celery much, but I can tolerate celery (raw especially) in salads and soups if discreet. This was not discreet. For me, this lentil soup needed more spicing and less celery flavor. But, YMMV, as you may be a celery and carrot fiend.

The texture was just as nice as the veggie one--thickish, without being too thickish. It had lentils and rice as the notable main components, offering more protein than the veggie soup, naturally, and a complete protein, of course. A cup is 115 calories (contrasted with 75 for a cup of the veggie soup).

So, while I won't repurchase this one due to its not suiting my taste bud needs, I think some of you will just love it like mad. It's healthful for a convenience food and not high in calories with a good mouth feel... and it's vegan. So, it hits a lot of spots and lets you get some veggie and legumes into your meal plans without a big caloric punch.

I'm super lethargic after having a late lunch, so off I go to try and stay away. ::sipping tea:::

Happy Thursday, y'all!!!

Mopey Weigh-In, My Birthday Moccamaster, a Maharani's Feast, Meal Calorie Calculations, and the LHJ Model

Today was a tough weigh-in. I had avoided the scales for, what, just over a week, but it was time to face up to the damage done. (Cue classic Neil Young, one of my fave hippie-era songs, only the Princess version would be "The Eating and the Damage Done.")

279.6

That's the highest I've been since October of 2007! A huge step backward, really.

It is just too damn easy to regain, people. Look upon my weigh-in and be very afraid if you are thinking of slacking off even a little. Don't!

Ah, well. At least I felt calmer today. Not worse. And I didn't have crazy cravings. For breakfast I used 9 points, about 450 calories as follows:

~2 lowfat blueberry pancakes from Diet-To-Go (found them stuffed in my freezer from late last year) with one soy sausage.
~I made some sugarless compote from some blueberries hubby bought me Monday, because the berries were super-gritty and not fun to eat. The compote was passable. Start with a not-great berry, get not-great compote. But, hey, it was fruit and a pretty juiciness on the pancakes.
~I also had 1 organic, free-roaming, vegetarian egg, fried in Pam, with 1 slice Horizon organic American cheese. Just the egg and cheese was 4 points, but I wanted the extra protein/calcium.
~The highlight of my breakfast was using--for the first time--my birthday gift from hubby: a hand-made Technivorm Moccamaster coffeemaker with the gourmet coffee I ordered with it. Yum. Best cup of coffee I ever had.

What a wonderful coffeemaker. But not cheap. But hey, I'm turning 49. I need the consolation of superior cuppa joes.


So, breakfast went okay.

For lunch (which I just had, so it's more like dunch or linner), I decided to go vegetarian with spicy Indian food, so I could maybe feel comfortable with lots of flavor without having to eat a bingey 2000 or 2500 calories. I had half a cup of dal and half a cup of matar panir with a cup of rice and a very small piece of nan (about 3 inches by 2 inches) with a tablespoon of onion chutney, and one veggie samosa with a tablespoon of tamarind chutney. I had water and another cup of coffee, too.

I have no idea what the calories are (have to look it up), but my guess is that it's gonna be something like the following in points(respectively) 3 + 5 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 1. That's 19 points. About 950 cals.

Total Points: 28 so far, about 1400 cals.

And I still need to get more fruit and maybe a small salad before bed, so I get my produce in.

Now, on that Model Thing: I was browsing the March 2009 issue of Ladies Home Journal, and I noticed the model in one of the fashion/style spreads was a regular at my Pilates studio. If you want to take a look, go HERE and it's the model in the green dress, smiling. If you click the back arrow at the top left, you go to a previous page with her looking to the right out a window. Though I've only chatted with her a few times in passing, she's very amiable. (If you own the magazine, she's on page 51, 52, 54, and 56).


Updated: Thanks, Lyn. I have no idea why I wrote Neil Diamond. That's weird. :)

Two Cases of Coconut Water for the Price of One--YUM!

I don't know how many coconut water afficionados are out there, but if you've read this blog for a while, you know that I am one. I use the refreshing and subtle beverage as one of my pre-Pilates drinks to minimize my muscle cramps.

But I just like it. :) Plain or with a pack of Splenda. Mmm.

(Though nothing beats fresh and chilled from the coconut itself, like I had a couple weeks ago when we drove to a nursery in South Miami, not to buy plants, but to get some chilled coconuts for the water.)

I also like how it's helpful in keeping blood pressure in the healthy range. (I like some salty convenience foods, like canned soup and mac-n-cheese, and I love cheese, and I try to drink coconut water when I have very salty stuff to ease the bloat effects.)

Well, amazon.com has a special on one of their in-stock brands of coconut water. Even though I got a case today of my usual Zico coconut water, I placed an order for this, cause I figure--two times the water for the price of one? I'm not missing that.

Besides, I am curious to see what tangerine puree does to coconut water. (The free case is of the tangerine flavored one.)

Interested? Visit HERE. Follow the directions exactly to get the $21 dollars off.

Note: I haven't tried this brand--Vita Coco--but like the two I've tried from amazon.com (Zico, ONE), they come from Brazil and (except for flavored versions) state they are 100% coconut water.

~

Royal Fatfighting Tournament Tools: #3 Water, Water Everywhere...So let's DRINK IT!

Confession: I suck about water intake.

I have always sucked about water intake.

I am not a natural water imbiber.

I have to plan for it. I have to force myself. I have to think about it. I have to account for it.

Maybe one day I'll be a natural water-girl, craving the crystalline stuff.

yet.

So, does anyone not believe water helps?

Well, notice this: All those skinny models and actresses tend to get photographed a lot carrying around the liquid sustenance. Every diet plan I've seen says, "drink lots of water." One I saw a couple years ago (a faddish one) says just drinking a lot of water alone will normalize your weight.

I'm gonna admit that on days I drink a lot of water before meals (3 and more glasses), I do get more of a sense of fullness early on in the meal. The problem is I'm NOT consistent. Unless it's to consistently forget to drink water.

So, strategy time: How can we get more water in, besides adding a water harness to every item of clothing we own?

I bought these recently to help in my watery quest:


I use this Netrition shaker bottle for workout class, and I got it for free when I placed a largish order last year:


These things help. Interestingly, the pitcher helps more than the water bottles. I keep it on the counter, taking up very valuable, in-short-supply counter space in my teeny-tiny kitchen. But seeing it there when I prep foods reminds me to drink several glasses while I chop veggies or pound chicken or wash fruit. And if I haven't refilled it at least once a day, it's a warning that I'm slacking.

So, really, having purified water on hand is cheaper than bottled water, more eco-friendly than bottled water, and I can fill my own bottles with it!

I'm still far from perfect, but instilling new habits takes time.

Besides, I like salt. I'm bad, I know, but I do. Love salty foods, especially salty eggs and salty potatoes an salty tomatoes. (I don't use salt on most veggies, though, but meats need it, and soups!) A saltaholic like me needs to keep hydrated and eat potassium-rich foods to balance the sodium. Lots of fruit and water (especially coconut water, you know) keep the bloat down or wash it away (if you're lucky).

Warning: There is such a thing as Water Intoxication. It can be deadly. Don't drink TOO much water, ever. No one needs massive amounts. If you're tempted to drink GALLONS a day: Research it and be smart. Ask a professional for guidelines. Life is about balance, and too much water is definitely not balance.

So, barring abuse, this third tool for the Royal Fatfighting Tournament is indispensable, and it's one you already have on hand! Straight from the tap, filtered, or, if you must, bottled spring or chichi European brands. Just drink it. Take advantage of the no-calorie, essential aid to your weight loss effort.

I intend to.

Glug, Glug!

~~

Fast Food Fairy Godmother Says:"If you can resist the donuts, a reason to finally go to Dunkin Donuts in the AM is here"

The Fast Food Fairy Godmother is smiling today at Dunkins Donuts. I'll tell you why in a sec.

First, I gotta admit that as a teen I was a Dunkin Donuts junkie. I had a thing for those glazed, Bavarian Kreme, and Boston Kreme donuts, then, later, for the jelly-filled and the coconut. This was hardly a time full of concern for healthful foods, I can tell you. (Fortunately, I was young, had a working thyroid, and had a higher activity level, so I was normal weight, though not thin.)

Finally, though, Dunkin Donuts has something to lure me back if I need a breakfast while out some morning.

Behold:



I'd go for the veggie one, myself. (Wish they'd do a Mexi-Veggie one, and add black beans and salsa to that. Yum.)

They also have a lite latte, and some other things that won't wreck your eating plan.

Good for them.

It's been at least a year since I ducked in for a coffee and cinnamon donut (had a massive craving). I avoid them for the obvious reasons (their breakfast sandwiches suck--at least the one I had like 7, 8 years ago-- and unless the coffee is really super-fresh, it sucks, too. And the donuts are prophets of diabetes or CAD. I want neither.)

So, if you run out of the house one morning, try one of these on the way to work. With a lite latte. Skip the Bavarian Kreme, if they even still make them. I honestly don't know.

If you try one, write a review and gimme a link.

~

New Fave Pre-Workout Snack

I've never been a total afficionado of STARBUCKS, although I have experienced an occasional weakness for the caramel machiatto, grande size, 4 WW points, and the skinny cinnamon dolce latte, 3 WW points. I also have found my way to consuming their yumsy scones and pound cakes (the lemon is to die for). Don't wanna know the points! But I easily went weeks, even months, without paying them a visit. (Even though there are three relatively close, one of them two minutes away.) I tended to go in spurts--craving latte or macchiato for, say, three weeks, then that was it.

However, I've found their new Vivanno specialty drink in the Banana Chocolate Blend to be a real help for my workouts. I noticed that when taken as my lite meal BEFORE Pilates, that it eliminated my cramping issues. (I've had cramping every class except the one today when I drank a Vivanno with espresso pre-exercise to get the protein/carbs and caffeine that helps one during exertion and is good for my asthma.)

Must be the potassium (milk, banana).

The cocoa powder is just adding pure pleasure.

There's a Starbucks right below the Pilates studio, so that sure simplifies things. (Except it's costly, and I'm supposed to be cutting back for my motivational weight loss REWARDS!)

I drank it as my breakfast protein/fiber source, since I'm out of eggs until I get my groceries. Now I think I'm gonna make it a pre-Pilates staple and make it at home (non-fat milk, banana, bittersweet cocoa, whey protein with fiber, ice--that's the ingredients--then add a shot of espresso or drink that on the side.)

The nutritional stats:

Standard version, with 2% milk (5 WW points):
270 calories
2.5 of saturated fat
21 grams of protein
6 grams of fiber
28 grams of sugars

If you sub non-fat milk, it's gonna be 4 WW points, since you eliminate all but .5 grams of fat.

This new offering is a winner for me. Thanks, Starbucks.

Note: I'm not as thrilled about the Mango-Orange-Banana one, but it's sweeter and that might appeal to some who find the Chocolate Banana's sweetness too restrained.

Enjoy.
~~~

I Dub Thee, Sir Tea, Defender of the Realm

Crabby McSlacker wrote the following in an archived post from June:

Tea, though it seems a refined beverage, is nonetheless a scrappy bad-ass cancer fighter. Antioxidants, those nutritional Superheroes, are the reason.

I love tea, but this will definitely color my reaction next time I whip up some home brewed. I mean, will my cuppa have a little cape around it. Will my iced tea fly right to me?

No, really, I love the term "scrappy bad-ass"

So, go drink some more tea, and if anyone is artistically inclined, consider creating the "Hot and Cold Adventures of SuperTea and his BadAss Brew-Crew."

I'd read it.

Hey, do you take lemon or milk or do you like your hot tea plain?

Me, I'll drink my hot tea sweet, no milk. (I add milk when I need comfort reminders of childhood, but not often.) I like my iced tea sweet with lime, or lemon if no lime is about. And I like to make my own iced tea, rather than use a powder formula. And I like Sweet n Low in my iced tea and Splenda in my hot. Do not ask why? I am not even sure myself. Habit.

Sparkly Factoid: Coconut Water's Benefits

Coconut water, the fluid in coconuts, can be helpful in treating PMS. Because of the high levels of potassium and magnesium, vitamin C and trace amounts of copper, phosphorus and sulfur, it corrects electrolyte imbalances even better than most sports drinks. The World Health Organization also recommends it for stomach problems. In addition, researchers in India found that coconut water may help reduce the symptoms of heart disease. Other studies suggest that coconut water may help to detoxify the liver. And subjects who drank coconut water were shown to have lower cholesterol than those who didn’t.

--HerbNET Ezine, March 2007

Note: Princess Dieter reminds readers to buy coconut water that has NO ADDED SUGAR. I've tried and enjoyed the GOYA, CONCHITA, and ZICO brands. If you buy with pulp, you may prefer to strain out the pulp, then nibble on it later. Alway chill. It's great to refresh in summer when chilled. And when you've had too much salt, it's a great debloater, due to all the potassium. (11 oz of ZICO coconut water has 670 mg of potassium!)