Perpetual Healthy Eating and Fitness Rant & Rave thread

[debbatx]

I have a toddler staring as I type, so not much time, but very quickly - look into a copy of Cooking Light. I use their recipes *almost* exclusively. They're healthy, tasty, don't use much in the way of artificial *anything,* and they give you info you need to calculate points in every recipe.

Thanks, meri!!! I'm ridiculously excited. 754575413454256ut2q56jw6uyuy7uliu7ukkl <----- Reid says hi.

[merigayle]

Hi Reid!

I do like cooking light and most of their stuff is online too. a lot of my recipes are from fat free vegan's blog and they are often low in points, i am not sure if she is still putting points on the recipes or not.

[cgraz]

Thanks guys - and thanks for the tip on Cooking Light - I used to subscribe and always liked their recipes. (One of my favorites is the parmesan chicken & rice recipe that rocketgirl loves that I shared here a long time ago.) I will definitely look into their recipes again! Maybe I should subscribe or at least look into a digital subscription on my iPad for a while. I'm heading to the beach for vacation in a couple of weeks, so I will have to bring a couple of hard-copy issues for beach reading. 

I need to build a solid repertoire of go-to stuff that I can count on fitting into my points. I know that just takes a little time.

I'm also trying to drink a lot more water - and to drink when I used to snack. That helps. Snacking (boredom eating) and sweets are my weakness.

After just a week of greatly reducing sweets by starting WW, I already feel better in the sense that I don't have that sluggish feeling and am not having the sugar crashes. So that really encourages me.

ETA...the hardest part will be when I go teach at yearbook camp the week after this coming week. I'll be eating in a cafeteria that specializes in plates full of chicken-fried beige food. I need good strategies like smart use of the salad bar and a no-fro-yo zone to get me through that. But I'll also have a lot of activity from walking/biking to get around campus, so I will give myself a wee bit of slack.

[debbatx]

It's funny, I switched from taking pretzels to taking a baggie of veggies as part of my lunch, and the other day, we'd run out of veggies, so I told DH to just throw some pretzels in. It couldn't make *that* big of a difference, right?

By 3, I was exhausted and starving and I couldn't figure it out until I remembered the switch we'd made. It was pretty eye-opening about worthless calories, for sure.

And I love Cooking Light. Love it. I've had a subscription for years. We use their super-fast sections or the Quick and Easy recipes for dinner during the week. I love the WW program, but I'm not a big fan of their recipes. They all seem a little too bland and "diet-y" to me.

[merigayle]

mmmmmm froyo..... what? did you say something else?

[cgraz]

I did make a couple of things from WW in the first week, to try it out...for breakfast I made quinoa & apple "cereal" and it was really good and simple. And for dinner one night I made these grilled pizzas with wheat tortillas, chicken sausage, and onions & peppers. They were a lot of work (steps), but delicious.

One thing that cracks me up is that I think WW must get kickbacks from the people who make Pam spray, because I swear EVERY RECIPE involves "cooking spray!"  I do have some Pam but I think I will run out - I'm going from rarely using it to busting it out all the time. I think I need to get my olive oil sprayer back in action so I can just use that!

Yeah, meri - being in a college cafeteria with a froyo machine is dangerous! There is always a big line, so I will just focus on that as a deterrent. One year instead of froyo they had soft serve Edy's. Holy. Hell.

[VP of Tea]

I did it! New decade!!! I lost 2 pounds from last week and am 1.5 into the new decade!

The only bummer is that WW took away a point as a "reward."

Woot woot woot! This makes me happy. (Maybe I am a little too invested in this board, eh?)

I too saw a new number (for this go around) this morning, but mine doesn't count until Monday.

[VP of Tea]

I did make a couple of things from WW in the first week, to try it out...for breakfast I made quinoa & apple "cereal" and it was really good and simple.

Could you post this? It sounds intriguing. I have a hard time with breakfast as I don't like (hate) milk. My go-to breakfast is grape nuts with oj instead of milk (I know, it's crazy but it works for me) and a banana thrown in. But this quinoa apply thing sounds interesting!

[merigayle]

i have tried a lot of quinoa breakfast cereals, with quinoa and with quinoa flakes and it was just not my thing.

mmmmmmm softserve..... i miss JP Licks up in Boston. Yum. Good times. A new froyo place opened by our house and my neighbor keeps trying to get me to go with her 

[cgraz]

Could you post this? It sounds intriguing. I have a hard time with breakfast as I don't like (hate) milk. My go-to breakfast is grape nuts with oj instead of milk (I know, it's crazy but it works for me) and a banana thrown in. But this quinoa apply thing sounds interesting!

Sure! It's good - I like it better than oatmeal, which I like but sometimes find a little slimy. This had a nice texture and I actually like it better than most of the savory quinoa recipes I've had. The serving size of 2/3 cup is actually pretty filling - and for the WW peeps, it is 5 points. No artificial sweetener stuff, but it does call for cooking spray. (I skipped that and just used the butter.)  I have been eating it with some fruit on the side, like cantaloupe.

   1 cup(s) uncooked quinoa   
   2 spray(s) cooking spray   
   1 Tbsp salted butter, divided   
     2 medium fresh apple(s), chopped or diced   
   2 cup(s) water, cold   
   1/2 tsp ground cinnamon   
   3 Tbsp packed brown sugar   
     1/4 cup(s) fat-free skim milk   


    Soak quinoa in a bowl of water for 5 minutes.

    Meanwhile, coat a large skillet with cooking spray; set over medium heat. When skillet is hot, melt 1/2 tablespoon butter until it just starts to sizzle. Add apples and cook, turning occasionally, until apples are soft and begin to caramelize, about 5 to 10 minutes depending on personal taste; set aside

    Rinse and drain quinoa. Add quinoa and 2 cups of cold water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, cover pan tightly and allow quinoa to simmer for 10 minutes. When quinoa is cooked (a little tail will appear on each grain), remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Add remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter, cinnamon, sugar and milk; stir to combine and fold in apples. Yields about 2/3 cup per serving.

[triciaflower]

DEBBA!!!! Congrats on your awesome weight loss.. Looks like you are headed in the right direction, you and everyone else here is inspiring me to keep up my food plan.

God I love this thread. so much inspiration!

CGraz-- I'm glad you are here. We are all in the same boat as far as working to make better choices and feel better about ourselves. I can't stand artificial sweeteners, and yes WW does use a lot. I was about to get their magazine at Costco, until I flipped through it and saw so much splenda. yuck.

[cgraz]

Thanks, tricia.    One reason I finally posted here is because of the people who are active in the thread.

[merigayle]

i also won't eat HFCS and things like skinny cow, etc, is full of that crap 

[Jules62]

   Debbatx!!!  That is great. 

I got lost for a few weeks, but am back on track now.  Ran 6 this morning and looking for a good, healthy eating day!

[onawhim]

Good work!  Glad the forum is back 

[cgraz]

i also won't eat HFCS and things like skinny cow, etc, is full of that crap 

I try to avoid it, but it's really hard...so I try to make more things myself and eat fewer boxed foods.

[merigayle]

I try to avoid it, but it's really hard...so I try to make more things myself and eat fewer boxed foods.

the only way i avoid it is just not buying anything like that i used to love skinny cow stuff too I get the almond dream mini ice cream sandwiches for a treat, but trying to eat fruit 

[VP of Tea]

cgraz, thanks for that recipe! sounds like something I would like, even with the tiny bit of milk. I do like lattes (go figure) so... Hate oatmeal though (shudder), even though I like oats. Contradictory, I am!   I wonder if I could make a batch ahead of time and then re-heat somehow. I'll start small though!

I actually don't find it hard to avoid artificial sweeteners and HFCS. But I eat very little boxed anything, which I think is key (mind you, you can still eat unhealthily that way too!)

[cgraz]

cgraz, thanks for that recipe! sounds like something I would like, even with the tiny bit of milk. I do like lattes (go figure) so... Hate oatmeal though (shudder), even though I like oats. Contradictory, I am!   I wonder if I could make a batch ahead of time and then re-heat somehow. I'll start small though!

I actually don't find it hard to avoid artificial sweeteners and HFCS. But I eat very little boxed anything, which I think is key (mind you, you can still eat unhealthily that way too!)

You could probably swap out water for the milk if it bothered you - but it doesn't taste milky at all. That seems to just give it moisture. I made it on Monday and then portioned it out and reheated it during the week. It worked out really well. I did add about a teaspoon of skim milk when I reheated it, to make it moist again.

Once I started looking, it got easier to avoid HFCS but I definitely had to check things like ketchup, BBQ sauce, breads, etc.

[Courtney]

Have you all see this website: http://www.skinnytaste.com/

It's got good recipes, real food, great pics, and nutritional infor and WW points!