My Favorite Things

I'm no Oprah, but I want to share of list of my favorite things. My list is for dieting/making better food choices. My favorite low-cal/low-fat, or otherwise diet-friendly foods, things that offer healthier alternatives when used in a weight-loss program. All are things I've eaten while on maintaining a 35+-lb. weight loss, thanks to Weight Watchers.

Enjoy! Why not try sneaking in a few this time of year, when high-fat, high-calorie meals & snacks are plentiful? You may find yourself adding them to your menu in heavy rotation.

Fiber One Chewy Bars: These are my stand-ins for candy bars, and I often eat one as a between-meals snack. The Oats & Chocolate is tasty, as is the Strawberries & Almonds bar. The Oats & Peanut Butter bar is good as well, but packs a little more fat (and POINTS).

Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks, chocolate flavor: These have satisfied many a chocolate jones for me. Seven to a serving. Yummy!

Turkey pepperoni, in particular the Hormel brand (because you get more slices per serving): I have eaten these as snacks and in meals. Eat with a serving or two of raw veggies, toss with whole-wheat spaghetti, eat in a salad with mozzarella, use on a whole-wheat pita pizza... You get the idea!

Ferrara Pronto Polenta: I find this brand of polenta at ShopRite. Polenta is cooked corn meal, eaten as a side dish. It's low-cal for 2-4 ounces and fast! Unlike other brands, this one is pre-cooked. Just heat (grill or saute with olive oil) and eat. I've served it with Cajun-spiced shrimp and raw spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil. I've also topped it with shredded turkey pepperoni and a little mozzarella and spaghetti sauce.

Precooked shrimp: Just thaw and eat! Eat with a little cocktail sauce and a salad on the side, dust with Cajun spice and heat through, serve in soft corn tortillas with salsa and/or a little guacamole for shrimp tacos.

Corn tortillas: Get the taco-sized ones and load with veggies or a lean meat for tacos. Fill, roll up, and top with sauce and/or cheese for enchiladas. (But be sure to heat them or dredge them in a heated sauce first, so they don't break.) Microwave one minute per side to crisp them to nacho texture (cut 'em into triangles & heat if you prefer). Top a couple crisped tortillas with 1/2 tsp cinnamon sugar each for a makeshift "churro." Or, take your crisped tortillas and crumble them to put in a salad or add to tortilla soup.

100-calorie bags of 94% fat-free popcorn: Eat the whole bag yourself--it's already portioned! I like the butter flavor, but there's also kettle corn for the sweet-toothed among you.

Sugar-free water mixers: 4C, Wylers and Lipton make them, as well as chain grocery stores. Add a little pizazz to your daily water servings in an array of flavors, with minimal calories.

Progresso Light soups: Progresso has linked up with Weight Watchers and has several soups that have 0 and 1 POINT per 1-cup serving. Check the cans in the store for more details. My two favorites are Italian-Style
Vegetable (which, contrary to the name, also has a little pasta mixed in, too) and Zesty Southwestern-Style Vegetable. To use the soup to make a more filling lunch, add half a serving of turkey meatballs, 2 ounces of lean ground meat or grilled chicken, or a serving of turkey pepperoni or turkey bacon. Add cheese if you like. Eat with a light English muffin and a salad with fat-free Italian dressing on the side.

Fat-Free Italian dressing: Two tablespoons of flavor for about 20 calories, depending on the brand. I often eat salads without any dressing, but this is my #1 standby when I do use dressing.

Light English muffins: I prefer the Thomas brand, but grocery stores sell them under their names as well. Use them for breakfast, lunch or dinner sandwiches, even as a replacement for a hamburger bun. Or, top with a little olive oil (no more than 1 tsp. per muffin half) and Italian spices to eat with a light meal.

Simms Turkey Snacks: I find these at Aldi and love them because they are a fairly low-cal source of protein. Six of these little spicy nuggets, plus an apple or 1 cup of carrots is my standard pre-dinner snack.

Quorn Chik'n Patties: Sometimes you just want a breaded chicken sandwich. At 150 calories and 6 grams of fat, this vegetarian product is a good substitute. Eat on a light English muffin with a tablespoon of ketchup or light mayo, with a low-cal soup and/or a salad on the side for a meal.

Precooked grilled chicken (Purdue Shortcuts or frozen grilled chicken): I like using this no-fuss protein in a salad, with 1 oz. of cheese and 1/3 cup of dried cranberries or 1/4 cup of dried cherries. It also can be used for sandwiches. Toss with hot sauce and fat-free blue cheese dressing for a Buffalo chicken-style sandwich filling.

Salsa: Eat with the microwave-crisped tortillas I've mentioned earlier, or use in place of salad dressing on a Mexican-inspired salad.

Cabot 50% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese: This is the best tasting low-cal cheese, in my opinion.

Instant coffee: If you're a Starbucks fiend this may not be for you, but instant coffee gives me a tasty alternative for a dairy serving idea: a latte. I make a 12-ounce with 1 cup of skim milk and a half cup of water. Heat the liquid in the microwave, then add to a mug with 1 tablespoon of the coffee. Add Splenda to taste, as well as 1 tablespoon of powdered nondairy creamer (hazelnut is my favorite) or a serving of a fat-free liquid creamer, if you want.

Emptying My Closet

"And if you think about turnin' back, I got the shotgun on your back"--"Soldier," Erykah Badu

Above is a picture of the biggest clothing purge I've ever made. Getting rid of my "fat" clothes. Or, let's call them my "before" clothes, to avoid the negative F word.

I love clothes. More specifically, I loved my clothes in that pile. The Layne Bryant bootcut pants that I wore to conventions in New Orleans, Palm Springs, Tuscon and other locales, for an old job. The Tommy Hilfiger shirt dress I wore while on honeymoon in Miami. Cool jeans. Cozy turtlenecks. All kinds of funky fresh stuff, from whatever atelier was kind enough to make something fabulous for a size 18 chick.

They're gone, I tell you! Gone. (The clothes went to the Goodwill in Holmes, PA, if anyone wants to call dibs.)

Why did I leave myself a bunch of hangers, with a few clothing items sprinkled in for good measure? Initiating a wardrobe do-over after a good amount of weight lost is something advocated by many on Weight Watchers. I'm hoping this will keep me from getting too comfortable with any weight that's not my goal weight (and from backsliding), as I have no bigger clothes to go back to. And I can reward myself with shopping sprees!

I actually didn't get rid of everything, just the items that are obviously too big, or otherwise no longer flattering. I plan on slowly phasing out the others as needed.

I do buy new things here and there, though it tends to be more shirts than pants. I bought several pairs of work pants and jeans months ago; I'll ride with those as long as I can.

I also bought new bras early on. I tried to keep Victoria's Secret for as long as I could, but I think new bras may be in order soon. I've re-upped on belts a few times, too.

Looking to give yourself good motivation? Try ditching your familiar "before" wardrobe. Watch the confidence you get from wearing flattering clothes in your new size. Have fun being a Top Model when the time for new clothes comes. And enjoy the awseome sales available for slimmer folks!!!

One-Year Weight Loss Anniversary

Today marks one year that I've been on Weight Watchers. It's been a wonderful trip! I started at 227 lbs., and I have a net loss of more than 35 lbs. (See before and after pics here and here.) Yesterday, I weighed in at 189.4. The lowest I've seen on the scale is 187.6, less than 10 lbs. from leaving the obesity category for good, and a combination of numbers I haven't seen since I headed off to college 15 years ago.

I've seen good, solid runs of weight loss. I've seen stagnant periods. And I've seen the scale creep up six pounds in two weeks. But guess what? I am not giving up. I'm going to keep counting and tracking POINTS until I reach 150 lbs.

Here's my advice to you, as someone who has successfully kept off more than 10 percent of her starting weight loss, whether you follow Weight Watchers or not.

Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. Don't plan on dropping several dress sizes overnight. Don't expect consecutive weeks of weight loss all the way to goal (though I know one person who did pull this off). Take the time to discover your healthy food likes and dislikes, train your body to eat normal portions, and understand where food and your emotions connect for you. The more you understand how and why to distance yourself from old bad habits, the better you'll be able to do it consistently.

Don't beat yourself up. If you're coping with a job loss, death or illness, or other high-stress situations, you may be more likely to slip on your diet. If you're attending a special event or are on vacation, you may also slip. If you can stick to the program, awesome! But if you can't, stop the slide immediately, dust yourself off, and get back on track. A slip, no matter how long it lasts, is not a failure. Think of it as a learning experience.

No excuses. Make yourself responsible for your weight loss. Shop for healthier foods yourself. Donate your "fat clothes" to Goodwill so you have nothing to go back to. Make a U-turn if co-workers leave out snacks. Stand up to the food-pusher in your family. Set time aside for exercise. This is your life, and you need to make your own plan for getting used to eating better. You can't let anyone sway you from something that's going to improve your quality of life.
On the flip side, if you slip, own your slip. No one else made you eat all that ice cream or pizza!

Find alternatives to eating. Be honest--when you think you have to have something sinful, you're not always actually hungry. Do something else. Drink water, chew sugarless gum, exercise, call a friend, surf the Web... You get the idea. I have to admit this is the most challenging thing for me to do. But it sure feels good when I am successful at resisting temptation.

Don't deprive yourself! I have found cocoa-flavored rice cakes to meet my chocolate needs sometimes, but then there are other times when only real chocolate will do. On those occasions, I eat chocolate. In moderation. I find that adhering in a militant manner to a diet is a recipe for disaster.

Make your own rules. I visit the 50+ Pounds to Lose message board on the Weight Watchers Web site, where you'll read of people who have lost six pounds their first week on the program, or have lose 100 lbs. in a year. Understand your body will do what it wants to do--there is no cookie cutter weight loss.
Aside from eating better (and less) and exercising, everything else is up to you. Which meal is your biggest of the day, which new vegetables to try, when to have French fries, and how many days a week to work out. Do what works best for you. Remember, this is your new life.

If you are overweight or obese, losing weight will be one of the most valuable, challenging, exhilarating and frustrating rides you can take in life. Don't be afraid to take the first step to a new you. Don't be defeated by a binge. Don't get too comfy with your first pants size change, if that's not the end weight you have in mind. You can do this for as long as it takes. I wish you the best!!!

Satisfying Dessert

A poster to the Weight Watchers message boards put me on to this delightful treat. Jell-O Mousse Temptations. In chocolate. Mmmm...

Above is a pic of Chocolate Indulgence, but the one I can vouch for is the Dark Chocolate Mousse. At 60 calories, it's an indulgence that's truly affordable in a diet! This light-textured confection is sugar-free, but you'd never know. In addition to the regular chocolate flavor, the mousse also comes in caramel creme.

It was just released nationwide this month, though, so you may have to do some hunting for it.

A Twist on Lasagna

You're probably used to getting Mexican-themed recipes from me. Well, here's another one! This time, I do a remix on lasagna. And it's pretty easy to put together!

Salsa Verde Lasagna (Makes 9 servings)

• 12 whole wheat lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 2 12.5-oz. cans of chicken
• 2 16-oz. jars of salsa verde
• 1.5 cups of reduced-fat cheese
• Minced garlic, to taste
• Diced onion (dessicated), to taste
• Salt, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Drain chicken and place in a large bowl. Break into chunks. Add one jar of salsa verde, and the garlic, onion and salt; mix well.
3. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray, and add salsa verde from the second jar to the pan, about one-third of the jar, more than enough to cover the bottom.
4. Add 3 lasagna noodles, top with a third of the chicken mixture. Add 3 more noodles, top with another third of the remaining chicken mixture. Add 3 more noodles, top with the rest of the chicken mixture.
5. Add the final 3 noodles. Top with the remaining salsa verde. Top with the cheese.
6. Bake until noodles are tender.

With a salad or a side of vegetables, this is a reasonable Weight Watchers meal. To tone down the heat of the salsa, you could mix in fat-free sour cream to the chicken and salsa mixture, or top your serving of the lasagna with 1/4 cup of fat-free sour cream. Buen provecho!

Spruce up Your Spinach

I got a delicious tip from Weight Watchers magazine a month ago and used it last night: To make a lighter knockoff of creamed spinach, toss a wedge of Laughing Cow light cheese into your heated spinach.

I only had the Original Creamy Swiss flavor on hand, but the light cheese also comes in garlic and onion flavors. I seasoned the spinach with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Laughing Cow cheese isn't only good for spinach. Try it on light toast or a light English muffin for breakfast (I add turkey ham for a satisfying breakfast sandwich), or eat one wedge plain with fruit or vegetables.

Leslie Sansone Video Rocks!!!

A couple weeks back, I got the "Leslie Sansone Walk at Home 5-Mile Fat Burning Walk" DVD because I thought it might fit better into my busy schedule to get a good workout in 12 minutes.

The DVD did not disappoint! There are five routines on the video, each a 12-minute mile. Each sequence starts out with a light walking routine, then gets a little faster, then goes into a "boost" for two minutes, where you're actually jogging while doing the moves. You can customize your workout by stringing the sequences together in any order you want.

As I am a novice exerciser, I'm just starting out with doing one mile at a time. So far, I've tried miles 1, 2 and 3 individually, and they are no joke! I felt the burn in my legs, and I also got to a point of labored breathing around the six-minute mark.

The video is also great because of Leslie's upbeat attitude, the music, and the fact that she features folks on the video doing the workout in different shapes, sizes and ability levels. It feels like a video of "real" people, not ripple-muscled gym rats who could try out for the Navy Seals. Additionally, Sansone's encouragement to just keep up with the pace of the music and not obsess over mirroring her movements exactly takes some of the anxiety out of the equation when it comes to wanting to do a video as effectively as possible.

Bonus features of the video include an interview with a woman who is working out on the DVD alongside Sansone and has lost more than 100 pounds.

I give this video two dumbbells up. It's great to know that I can get excellent aerobic exercise in less than 15 minutes. I am hoping to work up to doing the video twice a day.

More Before & After Pics

It's been a while since I've posted... I've been struggling a bit with food planning, stress and long commutes for work, but I've been maintaining! Though I've been up and down, I've still lost about 5 lbs. since May, and I've surpassed the 30 lbs. lost mark! I'm slowly starting to lose again. Next stop: 35 lbs. lost.

Here's the "before." A wedding pic, from 2003. My weight was between 225 and 235 lbs....














And here's the latest "after," a pic with my son taken about a week ago, at 195 lbs....
























Thank you, Weight Watchers!!!

Mexican Trifecta

Here are a few Mexican-themed recipes for ya. I made a Mexican feast last night!

Marinade for Taco/Fajita Meat

• 1 T canola or vegetable oil
  
• 3 T hot sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 T dry minced onion (or fresh onion, chopped; I'd go with at least 1/4 cup of fresh)

Mix the ingredients together and add to at least 1 lb. of meat. Marinade can be used with poultry or beef.

Marinate for at least 20 minutes, or as long as 24 hours. Grill meat when ready to cook. You can then slice the meat to put in soft corn or flour tortillas for tacos or fajitas, respectively. Or, you could serve the cuts of meat as-is with side dishes.


***

Pineapple Salsa

• 1 ripe pineapple, peeled and cored
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (leaves and stems), packed tightly
• 1/3 cup red onion, diced
  

Dice the pineapple. Finely dice the jalapeno. (Seed the jalapeno if you want a less spicy salsa; if you want some heat, you can include some of the seeds.) Finely dice the red onion. Finely chop the cilantro.

Mix everything together in a bowl and chill the salsa for at least an hour. After chilling, add salt, lime juice and/or cayenne pepper to taste if desired.

This can be eaten with tortilla chips or served on top of grilled pork or poultry.


***

Salsa Bean Salad

• 1 15-0z can of pinto beans
• 1 large, ripe red tomato
• 1/4 cup cilantro, tightly packed
• 1/3 cup red onion, diced finely
• 1 lime
• Salt
• Cayenne pepper
• 2 scallion stalks (optional)
  

Drain the pinto beans and place the drained beans in a medium-sized bowl.
Seed the tomato and dice it finely; add to the beans. Chop the cilantro finely and add to the bowl. Chop the cilantro finely and add to the mixture.
Juice the lime and add the juice to the bowl. Chop the scallions (white and green parts) and add at this time, if using.
Chill the salad for at least an hour. After chilling, add salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

Note: You can make a delicious fresh tomato salsa using this recipe by omitting the beans.

Easy Tortilla Chips

I made lunch for my husband this morning, a Mexican feast with chicken tacos and tortilla chips. But rather than break out a bag of greasy chips, I whipped them up in the microwave.

In 2 minutes of cooking time, you can have crisp, low-fat corn tortilla chips! All you need is taco-sized corn tortillas. These are the flat discs of corn that you heat in the oven to make soft tacos, as opposed to a box of the already crisped taco shells. I can get a bag of 36 of the soft corn tortillas from my local Aldi for less than $1.50. You'll see that this will keep you in tortilla chips for a long time.

Here's what to do:

• Get two to four tortillas, depending on how hungry you are.
• If desired, cut the tortillas into triangles. Cut in half, stack the halves and cut those in half. (If you want, you can cut smaller by stacking the quarters and cutting them into half. Or, you could leave the tortillas whole to crumble in the end, if you're eating them with a tortilla soup, a taco salad or something similar.)
• Put the tortillas on a plate. This should be a Corelle plate (which I use), melamine or ceramic, as opposed to a paper plate or a foam one.
• Heat the tortilla pieces for 1 minute; turn them over and heat for another 30-60 seconds, or until crisp and dry from the steam created during cooking.

That's it! As I mentioned, you could crumble the hardened tortillas over tortilla soup or a taco salad, eat them with salsa as a snack (1/2 cup of a fat-free salsa is a generous portion), or make a nachos meal with reduced fat cheddar (1 oz., or 1/4 cup), fat-free sour cream (1/4 cup), veggie toppings and beans (pinto or black), grilled chicken or lean ground beef or turkey (3 oz.).

Buen provecho!

Kid Lunch, Grown Up

I did something you're really not supposed to do today: I went to the grocery store on an empty stomach. I did resist the fried chicken and hoagies, though, settling on sushi.

That was at the front of the store. By the time I got to the back of the store, I had my doubts that the sushi, whole wheat crisps and fruit that I had selected was really what I wanted.

And then I laid my eyes on Kraft's Lunchables in the dairy section. I fondly remembered Lunchables from my childhood--the little package of neatly organized circles of meats and crackers, and stack of square cheese slices. Though tasty, the little meal packed a lot of fat and sodium.

Fast-forward nearly 25 years later, and Lunchables now makes a low-fat version that has earned the "Sensible Solutions" logo. And it's not just cheese and crackers, either, it's a complete meal!

The meal I had, at 360 calories, 8 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber, was a mini turkey sub (complete with a packet of fat-free mayo and reduced-fat cheese), an 8-oz. water with sweetened Kool-Aid fruit punch powder to shake in, a 4 oz. cup of applesauce, and a small bag of Nila Wafers. I felt like I hit the jackpot!

The other Sensible Solutions variety is the Deep Dish Cheese Pizza box. Like the turkey sandwich combo, it comes with applesauce, water and Kool-Aid, and Nila Wafers.

White Chili With Chicken

This one was not only easy, it was economical, too!

• Half-pound of frozen grilled chicken breast strips
• 1 15-oz can of white beans, drained (Great Northern, small white, cannelini—any type will do)
• Jar of salsa verde
• Diced red onion to taste
• Cilantro to taste

1. Heat the chicken in the microwave; dice into small pieces and add to a bowl.
2. Add in the salsa verde.
3. Add the red onion.
4. Add the cilantro.

When I made this, I actually didn't cook anything, besides the chicken. I just heated the end product in the microwave when ready to serve. I served it with corn tortillas crisped in the microwave, and low-fat cheddar cheese.

An Egg-static Fan!

Before joining Weight Watchers, I was a major fan of IHOP's massive omelets. Ham and cheddar, steak, it didn't matter. As long as there were pancakes on the side (and butter pecan syrup on the table), it was all good.

These days, I have not banished omelets from my eating repertoire. In fact, I eat at least one a week. I've just learned to lighten up.

For starters, I now go with the carton of egg whites or yellow Egg Beaters rather than whole eggs. Instead of butter, I use a nonstick pan and cooking spray. And I use reduced fat cheddar or part-skim mozzarella over the higher-fat stuff. Aside from those ground rules, the sky's the limit!

Favorite omelets of mine lately have been center-cut bacon, spinach (fresh baby spinach leaves, frozen, or sauteed fresh) and cheddar; and Mexican-spiced ground turkey or lean ground beef and cheese, topped with salsa and/or fat-free sour cream.

You could make a more hearty meal (and add more fiber) by rolling up the omelet in a flatbread wrap.

As far as technique, I learned from the best! I saw Julia Child plying her craft several years ago, in an old episode of her show, "The French Chef," on public television.



To put it in non-chef terms:

1. Heat your nonstick pan on high. It's ready when a drop of water evaporates in the pan just about instantaneously.
2. Coat the pan well with cooking spray.
3. Pour in the egg, moving the pan to evenly coat the bottom.
4. Add your other ingredients. I suggest starting with anything that needs the heat most, like cheese or raw veggies.
5. Monitor the egg mixture.
6. As the egg mixture gets closer to being solid, shake the pan in a circular motion to loosen the omelet.
7. When loose, use a jerking/dragging motion, with the pan still on the burner, to flip the omelet closed.
8. If needed, cheat! Flip the omelet onto a plate to shape or use a spatula on the omelet in the pan to shape it.
9. If needed to cook the egg further, flip the omelet over after a few minutes. Flip onto a plate and then back into the pan, if needed.

Dessert Idea

I've been crushing on the various flavors of fat-free ice cream from Breyers over the past month or so.

I had a brilliant idea for jazzing up my fat-free vanilla ice cream last night—adding candy. I had some Weight Watchers toffee bars (by Whitman), and I whacked them with the flat side of a meat tenderizer to crush them. They were a delightful addition to my half-cup serving of ice cream!

The Whitman chocolates come in many flavors, including double chocolate fudge, mint chocolate, and chocolate peanut butter, to name a few. The Breyers ice cream comes in vanilla, French chocolate, strawberry, chocolate cookies & cream, and more.

Berries Jubilee!

'Tis the season for those small fruits with the big benefits, berries. Rich in antioxidants, and other important nutrients, I've been taking advantage of the abundance of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries to give my diet a sweet/tart kick.

Here are some ideas for berries:

• Eat them raw.
• Mash them and serve them on top of fat-free vanilla ice cream..
• Mash them, mix with a little Splenda, and serve them in a peanut butter sandwich.
• Eat them in cereal.
• Whip them into a smoothie.
• Incorporate their puree, with some Splenda, into lemonade.
• Add them to a salad. Keep the other flavors light so the berry flavor shines through.

Italian Bacon Sandwich

Here's another tasty breakfast alternative!

• 2-3 slices of center-cut bacon (Different brands vary on serving size. Check the nutrition information to see what a serving size is, and go with that.)
• 1/2 cup spinach sauteed in olive oil and garlic
• 1 oz. part-skim mozzarella cheese
• light English muffin

Toast the English muffin; melt the cheese on both halves of the muffin in the microwave. Place the bacon on half of the English muffin. Top with the spinach; top with the other half of the English muffin.

Buffalo Chicken, Two Ways

Here are two different ways I've cooked buffalo chicken breast:

Slow Cooker

• chicken breast (approximately 1 1/2 lbs.)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cans of fat-free chicken broth
• hot sauce to taste (I probably used about half a cup)

Place everything in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 4-6 hours. Remove chicken, shred, return to sauce.

Stove Top

• frozen grilled chicken breast slices
• 1 T canola oil
• hot sauce to taste (1/4 to 1/2 cup)
• butter sprinkles to taste (optional)

Place still frozen chicken in a nonstick saucepan. Add oil, hot sauce and butter sprinkles (if using). Cook everything until chicken is thawed and heated through.

I have eaten the chicken on a bed of lettuce, chopped celery and shredded carrot as a salad, or in a multigrain flatbread wrap, with baby spinach, as a sandwich. Either way, to save on fat and calories, go with a light blue cheese dressing as an accompaniment.

Before & After Pics

Here are some pics of myself to share...

The one to the left is from spring or summer last year.

The one below is from March.


This is why I love Weight Watchers! I'm just about 30 pounds down.

Little Bit of Mambo in My Life

I've been wanting to get in more exercise, so I decided to pick up an exercise DVD. I really wanted to get Zumba after hearing so much praise for the workout on the Weight Watchers boards, but I couldn't find it in any local stores. I didn't want to wait for it to come via Amazon, so I got the "Dancing With the Stars: Latin Cardio Dance" disc.

Me likey. Not only do you get to work out, but you get to learn steps for the merengue, cha cha, mambo and samba. (If you're going to Carnival in the future, though, be forewarned that the samba taught on the DVD is a ballroom samba style and not what's poppin in the streets, according to commenters on YouTube.) PLUS, it comes with a 15-minute toning workout that dancers use. Not bad for 11 bucks!

I was able to make my way through the whole 45-minute routine on the first try, something I was never able to do with my last exercise video foray, TaeBo. I was sweating and my heart was pumping in high gear. Keep in mind I'm an exercise newbie, though; I've read comments on Amazon that more experienced exercisers might not feel the burn.

Though I didn't collapse after 45 minutes, I didn't get all the moves straight. I think it will come with practice, though. Also, I think I'll put shoes on next time! I was on my rug in my bare feet. Not helpful for twirling quickly.

Before I got this DVD, I was dancing on my own for some activity. As someone who enjoys dancing, I found "Latin Cardio Dance" to be fun.

I haven't done the toning workout yet; will report back in the future on that.

All in all, to speak Siskel & Ebert (or Ebert & Roeper, if you're younger) in exercise terms, 2 barbells up!

Spring Cleaning

I'm going to switch gears with this post a bit and talk about clothes. Our weather here in southeast Pennsylvania finally has settled nicely into spring, so I thought it was a good time for me to get my closet ready for spring and summer.

It was about time, because for a few weeks, we had yo-yoing temperatures, where several days would be in the 60s and 70s, and then things would go crashing back to the 40s. Due to the schizophrenic weather patterns, I needed to pull out my warm-weather clothes ahead of time, without putting anything else away. My closet was overflowing with all of my clothes.

I had already gone through my spring/summer clothes a few weeks back, when the need for them first came up. These are the criteria I used to determine whether clothes should stay or go:

• Which clothes fit? Thankfully, after losing more than 25 pounds on Weight Watchers, my problem was clothes that fit too big, but if you find clothes that feel too small, of course you would get rid of them as well.
• Which clothes have problems? Assess whether these clothes can be saved or not. You may be able to take clothes with busted zippers or loose or missing buttons to a tailor (or fix them yourself), but a shirt that has a hole in a prominent place after losing a battle with a bra hook in the washing machine will probably need to be scrapped.
• Which clothes best reflect me now? Consider your likes and dislikes when it comes to fashion, and think about whether those preferences have changed since last year. Don't be afraid to donate any clothes that you can't see yourself wearing anymore. Properly-fitting clothes that you find stylish are indispensable to positive body image as someone losing weight, in my opinion.
  

I would do the same thing for my shoes and clothes. After going through my warm-weather clothes and hanging them up, I also edited my winter clothes in the same manner, so there will be less work when the temperatures start to dip at the end of the year.

What do you do with the clothes you no longer want? I like to take them to my local thrift shop, but you could also donate professional clothes to organizations like Dress for Success (for women) and Career Gear (for men). I was lucky enough to have worked for the past 2 years at a place where I could wear jeans every day, so I don't really have business gear to give away.

BLT 2.0

This has been a favorite lunch lately, a lighter version of the classic BLT:

• 3 slices center-cut bacon (Center-cut bacon has less fat and fewer calories than the regular variety.)
• 1 cup lettuce (or spinach)
• Tomato slices
• Light English muffin, toasted
• 1 T light or fat-free mayonnaise

If you want to get in a dairy serving, you could omit the mayo and melt 1 oz. of shredded cheese on the bun.

Easy Lunch Ideas

I've done this a lot lately...

• 1 serving of a light Progresso vegetable soup (It'll say 0 points on the can. My favorite is Italian Vegetable)
• 1 serving turkey meatballs

Heat the soup; heat the meatballs. Dice the meatballs and add to the soup. Enjoy!

I often eat this with a light English muffin adorned with olive oil. If I want to get in a cheese serving, I add mozzarella to the soup.

That's the typical one I eat, but I've also gone with:

• Progresso Southwestern-Style Vegetable
• 2-3 ounces of grilled chicken
• Light sour cream or reduced-fat cheddar (optional)
  

You can eat this one with 2 small corn tortillas heated in the microwave until crisp (approximately 2 minutes).

I Fell Down...But I'll Get Up!

I made it under 200 lbs. last week (a.k.a. "Onederland" on the Weight Watchers boards) but, for now, it has been short-lived: My weigh-in this past Monday was at 201.0. While this isn't a major gain (1.4 pounds), I know that I have had a string of days where I haven't been eating on plan.

What set me off? I was laid off from my job about 3 weeks ago. My official last day isn't until Thursday this coming week, but it has been a trying time. Not so much for the layoff itself, because I anticipated it, but because there are so many decisions I have to make about my future. Do I want another full-time job? Do I want to go the freelance route? I have recommitted myself to temping in the meantime, and that helps to keep me from feeling rudderless. But it is mind-boggling to have to come up with a way to contribute to putting food on the table and decide a life path at the same time.

So, I turned to food, my old security blanket. The past few weeks have made me realize that I don't really have an alternative coping mechanism. Sure, I have been praying about the job, playing with my son and spending time with my husband but, on many occasions, the pull of food has been stronger than all of that.

The best I can say is that I have been able to minimize the damage. In the past, I might have just kept on eating away the stress, but not now! Here are some strategies I came up with:

• Not eating a whole serving (or more). I find myself wanting protein after work, and this is also the time when I tend to be most out of control. Chicken nuggets are a particular weakness. Rather than eating a full serving of 6, I might just eat 2. This is the same principle as eating a forkful or two of a decadent dessert--sometimes a little taste is enough.
• Drinking water. I tend to be lax in getting in 6-8 glasses of water a day, so drinking water when I'm jonesing for comfort foods kills two birds with one stone: I get to catch up on my water intake, and drinking a good amount of water (at least 20 oz.) helps to make me feel full.
• Going to light options first. I find that if I can talk myself out of eating something high in fat and calories, there are many healthy, filling options that satisfy. A good snack I've been into lately is a small bowl of bran flakes with Splenda. I get fiber, knock out a milk serving, and satisfy a sweet craving. For a salty/crunchy craving, I turn to 2 taco-sized corn tortillas microwaved in the oven with salsa, maybe with cheese if I'm on a protein jag.
• Pairing a comfort food with a healthier option. One particularly nice Friday recently, I wanted to treat myself after long days of work and stress. So yes, I did go to a restaurant, a Mexican one. You'll hear from successful dieters that food is not a good reward choice, but I felt like I needed it that particular day. What I ended up doing was to order an appetizer plate of buffalo wings and a bowl of gazpacho soup. In the past, I may have gotten the wings and a heavy plate of flautas (basically fried, rolled-up tacos) and cheese-covered rice and beans, but I decided to make a healthy balance. In other words, damage control!
  
• Dieting another day. You often hear of people new to diets kissing the diet goodbye after a bad day or two (or 7). But quitting doesn't get you anywhere, except back in your big girl pants! I, too, have said "forget it" when something has gone wrong in my life and I leaned heavily on food to try to make it better. But I am trying my hardest, this time around, to not let disappointment and depression get the best of me. I acknowledge I made a mistake, then get back on the right path as soon as possible.

If you are on a diet now, or are worried about starting one because you feel you won't be able to stop yourself from eating your favorite unhealthy foods, stop worrying. Do the best you can. As I always hear people say, you didn't gain however much extra poundage you have in a day or a week; it was a process that took months or years. Don't expect to be perfect right away. In fact, don't ever expect to be perfect. As I'm learning, true success at losing weight comes from making more good choices than bad ones.

Good Burger

After drooling at my husband's massive kobe beef burger at Cheesecake Factory earlier this week, I felt like I needed a good burger. In my local Pathmark I found lean ground beef burgers from the company Laura's Lean Beef.

The company sells beef products without antibiotics or hormones that come from family farms. They cooked up lovely on the grill!

A Great Birthday Present!

So I officially lost 10% of my body weight this past week! I've lost nearly 25 pounds since starting Weight Watchers, which is equivalent to the weight of 3 gallons of milk. I'm ecstatic!

This week was the week of my birthday as well, which made the loss that much more wonderful. What a great birthday present! But that also made it more challenging as well. Who doesn't want to celebrate another year of life? And that celebrating usually comes in the form of cake, drinks and a sumptuous meal. Well, I managed to get in all three but budgeted everything against the Weight Watchers Points system. I was proud of myself for enjoying myself, but not going overboard. Also, I tried to make it more about my day (of course) and the people I celebrated with, instead of the food. I like this new person I'm becoming. I think I'll keep it up.

Another Good Diet Dessert

I made this last night. Tasted just as good as the fried version!

• 2 taco-size corn tortillas
• 1 tsp. cinnamon sugar
• quick spritz of cooking spray

Heat the tortillas in the microwave for 1 minute; turn over. Heat for another minute, or until crisp.
Lightly spray the tortillas with the cooking spray; top each with cinnamon sugar.

(You might be able to forego the cooking spray; I just thought it would make the cinnamon sugar adhere better. I'll try without next time.)

A Filling Diet Breakfast

This was my breakfast today. I found this one from a regular on one of the Weight Watchers message boards. (I think it was Lawchick but am not 100% sure.)

• Light English muffin (I went with Thomas' Light Multigrain)
• Laughing Cow light cheese (I've tried the swiss and French onion)
• 1 slice Canadian bacon (I use turkey Canadian bacon, but you could go with pork)

Toast the muffin, spread on the cheese. Heat the Canadian bacon and add it to the bread and cheese.



I usually have the sandwich with a cup of tea flavored with 1 tablespoon of honey and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Awesome Oven French Fries

Got this recipe from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, and made some tweaks.

• 4 small baking potatoes cut into 8 wedges each (WW recipe says 1 1/4 potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch strips, but I like doing the wedges because it makes it easier to count out a serving.)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 4 teaspoons oil
• 1 teaspoon paprika

Place the potatoes in a bowl of water; add 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and all the sugar. Soak for at least 15 minutes; remove from water and blot with paper towels.
Toss the potatoes in the oil and paprika.
Place in the oven until potatoes are cooked and crisp. (WW recipe says 45 minutes for this.)
Top with remaining salt.
Makes 4 servings.

Easy Fajitas

I mean really easy:

• Frozen precooked, pre-sliced, grilled chicken breast (I purchased this wonderful find from ALDI and used maybe 3/4 of a 2- to 3-lb. bag)
• Frozen bag of sliced peppers and onions (Probably 12 oz. Sorry, I'll have to pay attention to quantities and sizes more!)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• Garlic powder to taste
  
• Small corn tortillas
  

Heat the oil and add the chicken and vegetables. Stir until everything is coated with the oil. Add the garlic powder. Cover the mixture but check back regularly to stir. Cook until the meat and veggies are thawed and everything is heated through, not more than 15-20 mins.
Heat the tortillas in the microwave and add the meat and veggies mixture. Voila! I guesstimate the meat/veggies mixture is enough for about 10 fajitas.

Pasta Much?

Before I started Weight Watchers, I tried the South Beach diet, and South Beach is not the most carb-friendly of diets. As a result, I cut back on my pasta consumption.

But now I've learned that pasta isn't really the problem, it's the portion size. Did you know that a true serving size of pasta is two ounces uncooked or one cup cooked? That was certainly eye-opening when I read that this week.

After reading this, I decided to give pasta another chance. But I could see myself easily getting into a rut by doing the usual ground meat-, sausage- or meatball-and-sauce combo, so I decided to branch out. Here's what I came up with.

Oh, and with the exception of the lasagna, I used whole wheat pasta for the recipes.

Without further ado...

Penne Pasta With Spinach and Pepperoni: This is scaled to one serving size, as I had some cooked penne on hand.

• 1 cup cooked penne pasta
• 1/2 cup sauteed spinach (this came from a larger batch I made, sauteeing the spinach in olive oil and garlic)
  
• 17 slices of turkey pepperoni (17 slices is one serving!)
• 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce

Basically you're just mixing everything together. I also mixed in 1/4 of a cup of mozzarella cheese. (roughly 1/4 of a cup, or 1 oz., is a serving of shredded cheese.)

Mexican Penne Pasta: Also scaled to one serving.

• 3 oz Mexican-spiced ground meat (Ground turkey cooked it in the microwave with canola oil, a touch of salt, chili powder, garlic, minced onion, cumin, oregano, hot sauce, and a little lime juice added in. I made a larger batch of the meat that we used for burritos that week.)
• 1 cup penne pasta
• 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce
• 2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/4 cup black beans
• cilantro to taste
• red onion (optional)
  

Curry Spaghetti: I'm going to make this one tomorrow. I plan on making a big batch, because I know my husband will eat it, too.



UPDATE:
Here's the recipe I used:

• 2/3 of a box of cooked spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
  
• 1 lb. Ground turkey
• 3/4 of a medium onion
• 1 tablespoon Garlic
• Curry powder... I didn't measure, but I usually use a lot. Don't think I'd be exaggerating to say half a cup. But do to your taste.
  
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  
• 1/3 of a container of sour cream
  
• Cilantro, to taste
• 1 cup chickpeas
• 2/3 cup peas

Brown the onions, garlic and ground turkey in the canola oil. Add the curry powder, chicken stock, sour cream, chickpeas and peas. Mix in the spaghetti. Add the cilantro at the end.
The last pasta recipe I'm going to post is not new, but is my post-Weight Watchers version of lasagna. A teensy bit lighter, plus veggies, and also fast to make!

• 1 package of turkey meatballs (should be 12-16 of them; can't remember.)
• Spaghetti sauce (I usually use a 28-oz jar plus maybe another cup or so. Use as much as you like.)
• Frozen spinach (at least half of one of the small boxes), cooked
• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
• Small container of fat-free ricotta cheese
• 8-oz bag of low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella
• reduced fat parmesan cheese
• Italian spices
• Salt to taste
  
• Pepper to taste
  

1. Dice the meatballs. Mix the meatballs, spinach and spaghetti sauce together, reserving some spaghetti sauce to pour on the bottom of your baking dish.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the entire container of ricotta cheese, half the mozzarella and the spices. I usually also mix in some milk to thin out the mixture a bit and make it easier to spread when the time comes.
3. Pour enough spaghetti sauce in a 13"x9" baking pan to cover the bottom.
4. Add 3 lasagna noodles.
5. Top with meatball mixture.
6. Top meatball mixture with cheese mixture.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 two more times.
8. On top of the final layer of cheese mixture, add the final 3 noodles. Top with any of the meatball mixture that's remaining, or just plain spaghetti sauce. Top the sauce with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan.
9. Bake pan, covered with foil, in a 350-degree oven until the noodles are cooked. Uncover the lasagna toward the end of the cooking time.

Enjoy!
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Dessert for Y'all Chocolate Lovers

I was a fiend for Haagen-Dazs' Mayan Dark Chocolate for a minute...A sale at Shop Rite introduced me to this decadent treat, and then the flavor was discontinued!

Oh, well, don't need 'em now. I have a diet-friendly alternative. I found a fudge pop at my local ALDI that's very low-cal (50/0/0 for my Weight Watchers fam), and I rolled it in a teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. It satisfied my chocolate/cinnamon jones.

Latin Pork Fried Rice

So I took the partial pork loin I slow cooked in my post below and used it to make a Cuban-influenced fried rice. To do this, I made a big batch of instant brown rice (6 servings of rice), and let it cool for a few hours. Then, I heated 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauteed some onion and garlic in the oil. I added the rice, and then a can of black beans (liquid and all), followed by the pork, which I had diced earlier. I seasoned the mixture with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder, lemon juice, and a bunch of fresh, chopped cilantro.

I think next time I'll get adobo to use, but all in all, not bad. I ate the remainder of my shrimp and grits last night, so I'll be dining on this fried rice creation tonight. Be back with a pic later!

Getting the Most for Your Money

My grocery store is Shop Rite, and their sales start on Sundays. I made a special trek there yesterday morning to take advantage of a sale on pork loin. A 99-cents-a-pound deal? I'm there!

To my surprise, these were whole pork loins instead of remnants, monstrosities of many pounds. I figured I could cut one up and use it for several meals. And that's exactly what I did with my $13 hunk of meat. I slow cooked a pound worth of it (more on that later) and cut the rest into 3 roasts.

With the pork loin on Sunday, plus a sale on ground turkey for which I grabbed 5 packages costing less than $2 each, my freezer is now full! These finds join about 6 packages of meatballs, boneless chicken breast, other assorted chicken parts, turkey and chicken burgers, assorted veggies and tater tots, and pita bread for pizzas. Freezer bags are my friends--I generally take the ground meat and burgers out of the pillow packs. I also buy large packages of chicken quarters when they're on sale, cut them into the separate drumsticks and thighs myself, and freeze them in bags.

So for pork hunk #1: I trimmed the visible fat off of it and did a mock rotisserie in my slow cooker. I first learned about this method from the Weight Watchers message boards, for chicken. Basically you spray your slow cooker all around with cooking spray, then set foil coils in the slow cooker for the meat to sit on. Season the meat with spices, then spray with cooking spray. Set it on the coils and cook on high for 4-6 hours, depending on how big the piece of meat is.

I wanted to make a Latin-spiced pork loin, so I added salt, pepper, garlic and cumin. Once the meat was finished, I got it in my mind to make a Latin pork fried rice. That experiment went well!

Shrimp & "Grits" Was a Lifesaver!

Yesterday I met up with a college friend for lunch at a Mexican place. I didn't go overboard ( I had 10-12 tortilla chips, a little salsa, and half a chicken fajita platter), but I needed to eat lighter that evening.

I've been craving shrimp for a while and decided to give in to those cravings. What floated into my mind was a meal I'd eaten at a Low Country/Caribbean restaurant in Savannah, GA a few years ago: shrimp and grits, with sauteed spinach. All of these items are very diet-friendly!

I trotted over to my local ShopRite after work to buy the ingredients. I went with the self-serve steamed Cajun shrimp (10 of them for 2 meals), a bag of triple-washed baby spinach, and a polenta rectangle (OK, not really grits, but close enough, and quicker).

At home, I set the shrimp up in a foil packet on my indoor grill, where I was also grilling fish for my husband. After weighing a portion of polenta on a food scale I recently purchased, I placed the polenta on the grill as well, 5 minutes for each side.

I sauteed the spinach on the stove in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic. Voila! A very quick, delicious and nutritious meal.

Update: I really wanted to post a pic of this for you, but I ate the evidence yesterday! I will try to be better at posting pics of stuff I make.

Confessions of a Diet Diva

Hello out there! I am a Diet Diva, your average shrinking Big Girl who likes to cook. This blog will be about how I now eat great on two levels: for health AND for taste.

Before I hit my diet stride, I lived to eat and loved to eat. Although I ate some fast food (french fries are still a major weakness), I was more of the "cornbread, fish and collard greens" type of Sista Bigbones gal, like Anthony Hamilton says, versed in the art of making a good macaroni and cheese, whipping up a cheesesteak (Philly stand up!!!), or barbecuing a nice batch of ribs on the grill. I was one of the folks who took the 2 (or sometimes 3) turns around the pan with EVOO. I'd eat out and get my mitts on everything from Chinese (buffet, of course) and Mexican to Thai, Indian, Portuguese, Ethiopian, and Jamaican.

Everything tasted great, but at what cost? I was diagnosed with high blood pressure at 30 and my weight hovered around 230 pounds. Did I mention that I became pregnant soon after the blood pressure diagnosis? Something had to give.

By the grace of God, my pregnancy was devoid of the major problems like preeclampsia and gestational diabetes and my baby was born healthy, though several weeks early. I did balloon up to the 270s during the pregnancy, but I was able to get back to my previous fighting weight of 220-, 230-something in about 5 months. I also kicked the high blood pressure in the process. But the scale didn't budge.

Then I found Weight Watchers at the end of 2008. Since I started hustling on Weight Watchers, at 227 pounds, I have lost almost 20 pounds. My secret? Weight Watchers is AWESOME. Seriously.

The best part about Weight Watchers is that it sets you up to lose weight, but not think diet. Technically anything is acceptable to eat, just in moderation. But you have to make sure you get in the veggies and other good stuff first, just like mama used to say. Being a Weight Watchers devotee has made me rethink not only how I eat, but why I eat. I'd encourage anyone to try it!

OK, enough of the commercials. What I plan on giving you with this blog is recipes and information on food choices; information on kitchen gadgets, food shopping, etc.; and maybe a brag or two about how I'm progressing. (I'll try to keep those to a minimum.) My budget fashionista tendencies also could make an appearance, as my clothing options continue to open up... Who knows...

Thank you for finding your way here to my little corner of cyberspace. I hope you enjoy yourself, and I hope you learn that great eating CAN go beyond deep frying and extra cheese, as I have.