Liquid Crack

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting last night and was disappointed to see that I was only down 1 1/2 lbs for the week.  Normally, I'd be psyched, but I went to kickboxing 4 times last week!!! This was the week it was ALL supposed to melt off!  I was envisioning a 3-4 lb weight loss.  I imagined myself up at the scale and the receptionist saying, "WOW! Anne Marie!!! You did REALLY well this week!!!  How DID you do it?"  I would smile and tell her all about my kickboxing efforts.  I would proudly go on and on about how I pushed myself to finally break through the plateau I've been experiencing since the Summer. 

Not so much.

Was it the Cadbury mini eggs that did it?  Was it the cake from Carlo's I sampled at the Birthday party we went to Saturday afternoon?  It couldn't be, I only took a few bites and I didn't go over my points for the week, with either of those delectable treats.

What could it have been then?

I found out this morning, in my grocer's dairy case, as I reached for the LIQUID CRACK I've been drinking all week.  Liquid crack, most cleverly and deceptively, disguised as Hazlenut International Delight coffee creamer.  I've been drinking it in my coffee.  I've been pouring it into my tea. 

Mmmmmmmmmmm.  This stuff is DEEEEEEEEE-licious!

I picked up that creamer this morning and took a little gander at its nutritional label....

Oh no! What's this? 45 calories and 2 grams of fat a tablespoon!  In ONE tablespoon?  How much of this stuff have I been drinking?  I don't think it's just been a tablespoon.  Maybe 2?  Could it have been 3?  3 tablespoons of this stuff in each cup of coffee and/or tea that I drink in a day?  How much coffee and tea HAVE I been drinking?  I've been drinking A LOT.  Has it been 4 cups? Gosh, have I been drinking 5 cups of coffee a day? That's 3 points per cup!  That's 12 - 15, unaccounted for, points per day!!!!!!!!!!!! That's 84-105 extra points this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you know that I am so hooked on this stuff that it took all of my self control just to put it back on the shelf?!!! 

I'll just have a little.  Yeah, it'll be ok, just a little.  I'll only allow myself to put it in one cup of coffee a day.  I'll even measure it out.  Just one tablespoon a day.  Well, I mean, one really isn't enough. Just two. Just two tablespoons a day.....It's ok, it's only a little.

Giving it a Good Kick!

Just got back from kickboxing class.  My 4th class this week.

Had to go a 4th time this week, to burn off the Cadbury mini-eggs I rewarded myself with, for going to class 3 times this week. 

Note to self:  Don't do that again!

The Prep Work Has Begun

We're having a great week so far at my parents and the prep work for Thanksgiving has begun!  Our truffles are made and came out beautifully.  Last night, my daughter helped my brother, Uncle Johnny, and his girlfriend make a beautiful pound cake with cafe mocha ganache.  Looks delicious! These treats are new additions to our list of Holiday favorites....pecan, minced meat, pumpkin, and coconut custard pies.

Now on to the savory dishes.... My daughter and sister have prepped the sweet potato ravioli's, which will be served as our pasta course, before the main event.  I diced up some pepperoni and my mom is shredding cheddar for a pepperoni puff appetizer I found in one of my mom's Gooseberry Patch cookbooks.

The Pepperoni Puffs are a new addition to our appetizer course which consists of an Antipasto; Italian meats and cheeses, stuffed mushrooms, olives, roasted red peppers, cream cheese and olive stuffed celery, figs, hot artichoke dip, spinach dip and an assortment of fresh veggies and crackers.  I also make a delicious Giada DeLaurentis recipe in which you top slices of oven toasted baguette, with a mixture of gorgonzola and walnuts, which you top with a drizzle of honey.  I will share these recipes in future blog posts.

For now, I have to go and help finish some of the prep work. 

Until We Meat, I mean, Meet Again

We went to Sam's Club yesterday to do our big monthly grocery shop. I can see that we're going to end up saving a lot of money in the end, even though our first few months of membership ended up being just as costly as our pre-Sam's Club grocery days.

It's just as expensive at first because we've spent more than we normally would on things like Saran Wrap and aluminum foil, but these bulk items are going to last a really long time, and the upfront spending will be worth it. I can see it!

We can't go wrong with the produce, dairy and meats. That's for sure. Nothing is in too large a quantity that anything goes to waste, and we spend the same amount of money or less on items we enjoy, yet get more.

What's not to love, right?

Well...I do get a little frustrated once we reach the juice aisle. At this point, we've filled our carts with non-perishable items, and they're getting heavier and harder to steer. I love grocery shopping but it is at this point, that I begin to welcome the fact that I can see the meat department up ahead. Only meat, produce, dairy and frozen foods sections left to go!

However, it is always at this time, when my cart is getting a little heavy and harder to navigate through the store, that my daughter has to pee. It always happens in the juice aisle. Which, naturally, is at the exact opposite end of the store from the bathrooms.

I figured it had to be subliminal. My daughter agreed but didn't know she was agreeing.

She overheard me talking to Stephen and not knowing what subliminal meant, tried to clear things up for me again, and said...

"Mommy, I think I always have to pee when we get to the juice aisle because I'm thinking of juice".

Yes honey, I get it, makes total sense to me. No one knows my girl better than me.

So, my husband and I leave the juice aisle, and trek to the bathrooms, with our heavy carts and both kids in tow.

We walk past the meat department...

Goodbye succulent pork chops. Don't worry, we'll "meat" again...

then the produce section...

I'll see you in a bit, You big tub of Mixed Greens you! ....

then dairy...

Don't worry, I'll be back for you Butter... and for your little friend Cream Cheese too...

and finally, frozen goods...

I didn't forget about you either, Sweet Peas...

Don't worry any of you big, bulky hunks of deliciousness.  I didn't forget about any of you.

We'll meat meet again.

Turkey Bacon - EXPOSED!

I'm sure, like me, some of you have purchased Oscar Mayer's turkey bacon in place of their regular pork bacon. I used to buy it when I was in the mood for bacon and eggs or a BLT. I was getting the taste that I wanted, without the guilt. After all, there it is written in large print on the front of the packaging, "50% less fat".  For me, it was a pretty easy and painless food swap.

But then, I read an article in one of my husband's magazines...Men's Health, "Eat This, Not That"....and there it was..... the real bacon is better for you! Why? The fat and calories are exactly the same, per 2 slices of bacon, only turkey bacon has 360mg of sodium and Oscar Mayer's "real" bacon has 290mg of sodium.

I had to check it out for myself, so I went into the grocery store and checked out the nutritional information labels on both packages and I noticed, for the 1st time, that the turkey bacon's fat and calorie content is based on 1 slice of bacon, while the regular bacon's label is based on 2 slices.

Confirmed..... same fat and calorie content per 2 slices of bacon, only turkey bacon has 70mgs more sodium than the "real" thing!

What I Like About YOU, Sam's Club

1. Gallon of skim milk $1.90

2. Poland Spring, natural spring water, 35 pack case $4.34

3. 32 oz package of strawberries $3.90

4. Wonder, large white bread, 2/24oz loaves $2.97

5. Arnold Selects, 2 count package $4.08

6. Mott's 100% apple juice, 2/86oz bottles $3.82

7. Kellogg's Raisin Bran, 76.5 oz $6.58

8. 90% lean ground beef, $2.49 a pound

9. Kedem Grape Juice, 96oz bottle $4.38

10. Aisles and aisles of low priced deliciousness.... priceless.

We've finally done it! We've taken the plunge and went ahead and purchased a Warehouse club membership all of our very own. Sam's Club! I'm not a total stranger to warehouse shopping, as I've been riding my parents Costco coat tails for years. Only shopping for non-perishable items while visiting them though, as there is a two hour car ride from their Costco to our fridge. Secretly, I was always a little jealous of their robust pork chops, mouth-watering chicken pot pies and decadent spinach dip. But not anymore! We have arrived! Now, WE are a part of the warehouse shopping community and I LOVE every single budget-conscious, high quality, bulk purchasing, morsel of it!

Lighten Up

It's been a crazy few weeks, thus making it really difficult for me to stay focused on my weight loss efforts. I'm still going to kickboxing 2-3 times a week, but I haven't been tracking my Weight Watcher points as usual. I'm so close to my goal now too.

As you may have gathered from my "Party of One" post, I am an emotional eater. I eat when I'm happy. I eat when I'm sad. I eat when I'm feeling stressed and anxious. It's been at my current stint at WW meetings, that the light bulb finally went off, and I realized that I look to food to comfort me, when there is no one else to. I recognize it but I do not have full control over it.

I recognize that I'm doing it now, and this new self-awareness is something I'm very grateful for because it has reigned me in, and I haven't done too much damage this time. See, we Weight Watchers follow a point system. I get my daily allotment of points, which are based on my weight and then get to add 5 extra points because I'm breastfeeding my son. Woo Hoo!!! And boy, do they come in handy. Especially for me, someone who has been nicknamed, "Snacks" by my 4-year old daughter.

Lately, I've been tracking the points in my head and not typing them in on my online tracker.  This has made for some creative point counting. When I use my online tracker, the point values of the foods that I'm eating are automatically subtracted from my daily allotment, and the number of points I have left for the day are left staring me right in the face. When I count in my head, I very conveniently "forget" some points that I've used up over the course of the day. A sandwich I may have valued at 7 points at lunch time, magically becomes 5 points at late night snack time. I think this is pretty common too among my fellow Weight Watchers.

I am recommitting myself this week and am going to try and bring back the things that have been working for me for the past 8 months. Now, this is not to say that there will not be many, many more blog posts describing "food parties" for one, as I am a work in progress.

I thought that it would be fun though, to share with you, some of the tips and tricks and creative food swaps that have been working for me in my future blog posts.

I'd love to hear about your Adventures in dieting too!!! Please leave any comments, funny stories, tips or tricks that you would like to share in the comments section of my blog.


side note..some friends have told me that they are having problems when trying to leave a comment on my blog. From what I understand you need to either sign up for a Google account, or leave a comment anonymously. You can always sign your name in the body of your "anonymous" comment, if you don't want to sign up for a Google account. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Party of One

I woke up this morning feeling awful. My hands were swollen and tingling from all of the sodium I had consumed the night before. We had taken the kids out to dinner to celebrate our daughters first week back at school. There is a meatball pizza at one of the Italian restaurants in town that both kids just love, so we chose that restaurant to celebrate in.  I go to Weight Watchers and follow their points system and made wise choices during the day so I could enjoy dinner. I chose the scungilli salad as an appetizer and the linguini with clam sauce as my entree. I had stayed within my daily points allotment and was feeling good.

We got home from our "night out" by 6:30 and I was feeling a little down that our big night out was over already. Stephen had plans to hang out with his cousin and my sister was out with a friend, so it was just going to be me and the kids. My son fell asleep right away and my daughter was asleep by 8:30. I started feeling really lonely, so I decided to go into the kitchen to look for a snack.

I looked in the fridge and saw the turkey pepperoni I had bought the day before. I had been craving pepperoni pizza and figured I'd buy the turkey pepperoni, to get the taste I'd been wanting. I wasn't sure if I should go for it though, because although it is a point friendly choice, it's jam-packed with sodium; 640mg per serving to be exact. That's a lot of sodium and I retain water easily.

I couldn't resist. So, I took a couple of pieces and thought, "Wow! This is great, I'm going to have a few more."... "Hmmm, how many slices are in a serving? Ooh, there's 17, right, I'll count out 17."... "Mmm, that was good!" "I bet this pepperoni would taste really good as a sandwich, I'll grab one of my sandwich thins and put it on that."... "Mmm, that was so good. I could really go for another."... "No, I'm not making another pepperoni sandwich. That would be piggy."... "I'll just grab a couple more slices."... "These pepperoni slices are really thin, I wonder how they'll taste if I stack them?".... "They taste really good, I'll just have one more stack."

And I had one more stack and one more stack until 3,840mg of sodium later, I had devoured the whole package.

Party of ONE.

Serving size...SIX.