Exercise Review: Extreme Fit Interactive Gaming Mat

This exercise/gaming system caught my eye at CVS a couple of months ago, and my husband was kind enough to pick this up for me for my birthday.

I love it! It's addictive and excellent exercise as well. I've been spending most of my time on the jogging and the track and field sections, but there is also a dance game; arcade-style games like basketball, bowling and race car driving; and a section where you can set up a fitness regimen with aerobics, yoga, and other strengthening/cardio routines.

I have been wanting to take up running/jogging, and I think this system will be a good way for me to get started there. I'm proud to say I ran seven tenths of a mile today! Very excited.

The game system came just in time, as I have been feeling like my Walk Away the Pounds DVD is not as challenging as it once was. (Sure, I could go beyond doing three of the routines at once to doing four or five to increase the challenge, but I think I really needed a change of pace.)

My only gripe about the system is that the majority of the games are for one player. The only two-player game is the dance game. But you could take turns with a partner on the other games, as you typically get three tries to get the highest score you can.

Do it alone, or do it in competition (or cooperation) with a second player, and you will have fun and burn calories at the same time. Two dumbbells up!

I'm not dying. I'm just thinner.

I was thinking back about my weight loss progress, as I get nearer to it being official that I've lost 40 pounds, and I can't help but think of people who haven't seen me in a while. They probably would be surprised to see how much I've changed.

I had two such encounters over the summer. I saw my father-in-law for the first time in several years, and I saw the family of a good friend after a long time as well.

In both instances, the reaction wasn't "Wow, you've lost weight!" But rather "Oh my God, what happened to you???"
It's interesting that people thought something must be wrong, rather than thinking I did something right. As if it's impossible for someone to lose weight and redefine, re-dedicate their life.

The truth is, weight loss is not impossible. It is not some crazy goal that only a select few achieve. With persistence and accountability, it can be done.

Maybe you'll encounter someone who thinks you're dying rather than just thinner. Maybe you'll run into someone who is thrilled to see your progress. Either way, don't lose sight of the fact of how far you've come. You are doing something for yourself that has positive, long-lasting impact on your life. Be proud! And keep going until you've reached your goal. I know I will!
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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!