And that is the reason this blog hasn't been updated in ages.
I have been avoiding the message boards.
I have not been tracking points.
I have not been measuring my food.
My meal portions are out of control.
And the motivation to change all of this has disappeared.
So, if you have any suggestions for new posts, or want to write one of your own - please! let me know!
Breakfast Cookie
Monday, April 26, 2010
Cookie for breakfast! Check out the Fitness Sista' for the recipe: bit.ly/arHFoZ
These "cookies" are delicious and keep me full up to 5 hours.
a few common questions:
Q Where can I buy protein powder?
A While Whole Foods seems to be a popular choice for getting it, you can find it at Trader Joes, any health food store, Walmart, GNC, Sam's Club, Costco, etc.
Q What if I don't have protein powder? Can I still make this cookie?
A Absolutely! Use 1/2 - 1 TBL of cocoa powder, soy milk powder, milk powder, ground flax, the possibilities are endless.
Q What do you like to add to it?
A the answer to this is going to vary from person to person. a few tried and true combos are:
raw almond butter, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and dried cherries
peanut butter and strawberries
peanut butter, banana, and raisins
banana and cinnamon
chocolate and ginger
Let us know what you've used and how it tasted!
These "cookies" are delicious and keep me full up to 5 hours.
a few common questions:
Q Where can I buy protein powder?
A While Whole Foods seems to be a popular choice for getting it, you can find it at Trader Joes, any health food store, Walmart, GNC, Sam's Club, Costco, etc.
Q What if I don't have protein powder? Can I still make this cookie?
A Absolutely! Use 1/2 - 1 TBL of cocoa powder, soy milk powder, milk powder, ground flax, the possibilities are endless.
Q What do you like to add to it?
A the answer to this is going to vary from person to person. a few tried and true combos are:
raw almond butter, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and dried cherries
peanut butter and strawberries
peanut butter, banana, and raisins
banana and cinnamon
chocolate and ginger
Let us know what you've used and how it tasted!
Telling Your Significant Other You Want to Lose Weight
Saturday, April 3, 2010
By the writer of Boiling It Down: Daily Recipes for a Simple Life
My boyfriend was about to come out to California last June, taking his summer vacation from the University of Minnesota to come be near me. I was thrilled and excited, and also extremely apprehensive.
Up until that time we had been dating long distance. We had met a couple of years back while I was also living in the Twin Cities, but had grown closer over the phone after I moved. While I had started my life in California I had also started a healthier routine. I was working out everyday at the local gym, diligently packing my lunch for work, and making homemade, healthy meals.
I hated the fact that I was anything but ecstatic about the prospect of having my boyfriend live and in the flesh, and I knew that I had to have a very difficult conversation with him.
Now in a country where obesity is referred to as an "epidemic" you'd think I would be proud of my determination. But I wasn't at all. I was ashamed that I had to work at it, that I wasn't born a leggy yet curvaceous girl who's body was self-regulated enough to know when it was full. I found myself green with envy of people that claimed they sometimes just "forgot" to eat. How pathetic that I had to actually measure my food, and log my points.
But there just wasn't any way around it.
I sucked it up and tip-toed around the subject until finally I just blurted out that if my boyfriend planned on coming he had better not get in my way (yes, I took the antagonistic route). To my surprise he chuckled, and said he was completely on board, and that above all else wanted me to be happy (imagine that). He understood that I needed this structure to get there, and said he would help in any way possible.
And he wasn't just full of hot air. He started researching how to make his recipes (yep, he's the chef) healthier by substituting whole wheat pasta for white, brown rice for white rice, and reducing the amount of oil he used. I was actually a bit embarrassed when we'd head to the grocery store and I'd hear him yelling at me from the next aisle over that he "found whole wheat tortillas for only 2 points!" which of course he determined using the handy points slider that he diligently brought to the store.
Often I hear people express that they are too embarrassed or ashamed to open up to their significant other about their weight loss goals. Let me tell you from someone who's been there: just do it. Tell them, and my guess is you'll be pleasantly surprised just like I was. In my opinion, you need the people you spend the most time with to be supportive of your choices if you truly want to succeed. Rather then spending your time focusing on becoming a more healthy you, you'll spend twice as much energy trying to hide it.
Tell your significant other so you can both make health a priority, because after all, what else is there? I think you'll also find that this kind of honesty and vulnerability is the stuff that great relationships are made of.
My boyfriend was about to come out to California last June, taking his summer vacation from the University of Minnesota to come be near me. I was thrilled and excited, and also extremely apprehensive.
Up until that time we had been dating long distance. We had met a couple of years back while I was also living in the Twin Cities, but had grown closer over the phone after I moved. While I had started my life in California I had also started a healthier routine. I was working out everyday at the local gym, diligently packing my lunch for work, and making homemade, healthy meals.
I hated the fact that I was anything but ecstatic about the prospect of having my boyfriend live and in the flesh, and I knew that I had to have a very difficult conversation with him.
Now in a country where obesity is referred to as an "epidemic" you'd think I would be proud of my determination. But I wasn't at all. I was ashamed that I had to work at it, that I wasn't born a leggy yet curvaceous girl who's body was self-regulated enough to know when it was full. I found myself green with envy of people that claimed they sometimes just "forgot" to eat. How pathetic that I had to actually measure my food, and log my points.
But there just wasn't any way around it.
I sucked it up and tip-toed around the subject until finally I just blurted out that if my boyfriend planned on coming he had better not get in my way (yes, I took the antagonistic route). To my surprise he chuckled, and said he was completely on board, and that above all else wanted me to be happy (imagine that). He understood that I needed this structure to get there, and said he would help in any way possible.
And he wasn't just full of hot air. He started researching how to make his recipes (yep, he's the chef) healthier by substituting whole wheat pasta for white, brown rice for white rice, and reducing the amount of oil he used. I was actually a bit embarrassed when we'd head to the grocery store and I'd hear him yelling at me from the next aisle over that he "found whole wheat tortillas for only 2 points!" which of course he determined using the handy points slider that he diligently brought to the store.
Often I hear people express that they are too embarrassed or ashamed to open up to their significant other about their weight loss goals. Let me tell you from someone who's been there: just do it. Tell them, and my guess is you'll be pleasantly surprised just like I was. In my opinion, you need the people you spend the most time with to be supportive of your choices if you truly want to succeed. Rather then spending your time focusing on becoming a more healthy you, you'll spend twice as much energy trying to hide it.
Tell your significant other so you can both make health a priority, because after all, what else is there? I think you'll also find that this kind of honesty and vulnerability is the stuff that great relationships are made of.
Simply Filling
Saturday, February 27, 2010
By Julia (JXMURDAH)
Points driving you crazy? You say you want to start eating cleaner? Need a no-fuss, relatively stress-free menu? Have you tried the Simply Filling Technique?
Let's be frank: Counting points isn't for everyone. There's no doubt it's effective in weight loss, but another approach is effective as well. The Simply Filling Technique (SFT) combines the beauty of filling foods, body awareness and a little bit of points into a splendid plan that is manageable and maintainable.
Where and How do you start? The best place to get a jump start is reviewing how to follow SFT and then taking a peep at the filling foods list. You're going to want to get really familiar with the second link, because those are the foods that, if you so choose, will be eating for the majority of the day.
The gist: You no longer have daily points, only weekly points. You don't count points for filling foods, you count points for foods that are not filling foods. You eat the filling foods until satisfied, this may or may not be in accordance with its portion.
The minutia: Although not a filling food your daily healthy oils do not count toward your weekly point allowance. Although filling foods whole grains, like brown rice, are limited to only one serving a day any additional servings charge your weekly points.
A few tips: aim to never feel hungry or stuffed, check in on yourself every hour to see how you feel. revolve your meals around filling foods. if it isn't a filling food, don't put it in your grocery cart. Become really tight with vegetables. Research and try new foods a recipes, after all variety is the spice of life. PLAN!
A Sample Menu might look like this:
Breakfast: Coffee with skim milk, eggs scrambled with bell peppers cooked without oil and strawberries
Lunch: Tomato and cucumber salad tossed in balsamic vinegar, grilled chicken breast and brown rice
Snack: Apple slices
Dinner: Black bean and flank steak tacos with corn, lettuce, and tomatoes.
Sample Menus can be found daily on the 20s Board Simply Filling Thread that is posted each morning.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Where can I read more about Simply Filling?
-Other than online material, the SFT is covered in week six of your plan materials
2. A Weight Watcher recipe says "works with the Simply Filling Technique" does that mean I can eat it without counting the points?
-It should mean that, but it's not always the case. Go over the list of the ingredients, if something isn't a filling food it should be counted toward your weekly points.
3. Do you track on Simply Filling? Or just eat filling foods until full?
-Tracking and counting points are different. Tracking is important regardless of what plan you follow, and studies show that people who track their foods are more likely to be successful. So no counting points ALL THE TIME, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook for tracking. Whether you actually track is up to you.
4. Do the GHGs exist on SFT?
-Yes, following the Good Healthy Guidelines is absolutely essential to success and having a well balanced diet. SFT doesn't mean you eat carrots all day, every day.
5. What happens to my earned activity points?
-Just like point counting, you earn activity points and can "spend" them however you please.
6. How do I eat at a restaurant?
-Eating out can be tricky, but if you're assertive and well researched it should be no trouble at all. Ask questions regarding how things are prepared, and before you go check out the menu. Identify menu choices that appear to revolve around filling foods, and look for key words like "grilled" "baked" and avoid "fried" "battered" etc.
SFT may take a few days, even weeks to get fully adjusted to but once you do: you may never look back!
Points driving you crazy? You say you want to start eating cleaner? Need a no-fuss, relatively stress-free menu? Have you tried the Simply Filling Technique?
Let's be frank: Counting points isn't for everyone. There's no doubt it's effective in weight loss, but another approach is effective as well. The Simply Filling Technique (SFT) combines the beauty of filling foods, body awareness and a little bit of points into a splendid plan that is manageable and maintainable.
Where and How do you start? The best place to get a jump start is reviewing how to follow SFT and then taking a peep at the filling foods list. You're going to want to get really familiar with the second link, because those are the foods that, if you so choose, will be eating for the majority of the day.
The gist: You no longer have daily points, only weekly points. You don't count points for filling foods, you count points for foods that are not filling foods. You eat the filling foods until satisfied, this may or may not be in accordance with its portion.
The minutia: Although not a filling food your daily healthy oils do not count toward your weekly point allowance. Although filling foods whole grains, like brown rice, are limited to only one serving a day any additional servings charge your weekly points.
A few tips: aim to never feel hungry or stuffed, check in on yourself every hour to see how you feel. revolve your meals around filling foods. if it isn't a filling food, don't put it in your grocery cart. Become really tight with vegetables. Research and try new foods a recipes, after all variety is the spice of life. PLAN!
A Sample Menu might look like this:
Breakfast: Coffee with skim milk, eggs scrambled with bell peppers cooked without oil and strawberries
Lunch: Tomato and cucumber salad tossed in balsamic vinegar, grilled chicken breast and brown rice
Snack: Apple slices
Dinner: Black bean and flank steak tacos with corn, lettuce, and tomatoes.
Sample Menus can be found daily on the 20s Board Simply Filling Thread that is posted each morning.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Where can I read more about Simply Filling?
-Other than online material, the SFT is covered in week six of your plan materials
2. A Weight Watcher recipe says "works with the Simply Filling Technique" does that mean I can eat it without counting the points?
-It should mean that, but it's not always the case. Go over the list of the ingredients, if something isn't a filling food it should be counted toward your weekly points.
3. Do you track on Simply Filling? Or just eat filling foods until full?
-Tracking and counting points are different. Tracking is important regardless of what plan you follow, and studies show that people who track their foods are more likely to be successful. So no counting points ALL THE TIME, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook for tracking. Whether you actually track is up to you.
4. Do the GHGs exist on SFT?
-Yes, following the Good Healthy Guidelines is absolutely essential to success and having a well balanced diet. SFT doesn't mean you eat carrots all day, every day.
5. What happens to my earned activity points?
-Just like point counting, you earn activity points and can "spend" them however you please.
6. How do I eat at a restaurant?
-Eating out can be tricky, but if you're assertive and well researched it should be no trouble at all. Ask questions regarding how things are prepared, and before you go check out the menu. Identify menu choices that appear to revolve around filling foods, and look for key words like "grilled" "baked" and avoid "fried" "battered" etc.
SFT may take a few days, even weeks to get fully adjusted to but once you do: you may never look back!
Diet Soda Cake
Friday, February 26, 2010
Here is a list of tasty soda + cake mix combos.
This recipe is very simple. Cake mix plus diet soda. Bake according to directions. Generally one makes dark cake mixes with dark soda and light cake mixes with light soda. Good luck, have fun!
- spice cake mix w/ diet orange
- Banana cake mix w/ diet root beer
- lemon cake mix w/ diet 7-up
- Chocolate cake w/ Diet coke
- Lemon cake w/ Diet ginger ale
- orange cake w/diet Mountain Dew
- cherry chip cake w/ A& W diet Cream
- Lemon cake w/ Diet Lemon lime
- angel w/ Diet Orange
- White w/ Diet Orange
- yellow cake w/ Diet orange
- white cake w/ Diet Peach
- spice cake w/ diet lemon-lime
- White w/ diet ginger ale
- chocolate cake w/ Diet cherry coke
- devils food w/ diet vanilla coke
- chocolate cake w/ rootbeer
- marble cake w/ diet cream soda
- lemon with tangerine diet rite
- white cake mix w/ diet sprite
- Red Velvet w/ Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper
- Banana cake w/ diet root beer
- Pineapple cake w/ diet Squirt
This recipe is very simple. Cake mix plus diet soda. Bake according to directions. Generally one makes dark cake mixes with dark soda and light cake mixes with light soda. Good luck, have fun!
- spice cake mix w/ diet orange
- Banana cake mix w/ diet root beer
- lemon cake mix w/ diet 7-up
- Chocolate cake w/ Diet coke
- Lemon cake w/ Diet ginger ale
- orange cake w/diet Mountain Dew
- cherry chip cake w/ A& W diet Cream
- Lemon cake w/ Diet Lemon lime
- angel w/ Diet Orange
- White w/ Diet Orange
- yellow cake w/ Diet orange
- white cake w/ Diet Peach
- spice cake w/ diet lemon-lime
- White w/ diet ginger ale
- chocolate cake w/ Diet cherry coke
- devils food w/ diet vanilla coke
- chocolate cake w/ rootbeer
- marble cake w/ diet cream soda
- lemon with tangerine diet rite
- white cake mix w/ diet sprite
- Red Velvet w/ Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper
- Banana cake w/ diet root beer
- Pineapple cake w/ diet Squirt
Need a little inspiration?
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Good morning, dear readers.
Are you feeling a little down about this week's weigh in? Or your weight loss journey in general? Do you just need a little extra inspiration this week?
Please check out Maddy's blog post
We are Mysterious Like the Ocean
She is an amazing weight watcher who always has wonderful advice to share.
Are you feeling a little down about this week's weigh in? Or your weight loss journey in general? Do you just need a little extra inspiration this week?
Please check out Maddy's blog post
We are Mysterious Like the Ocean
She is an amazing weight watcher who always has wonderful advice to share.
Spotlight on Potatoes!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Ah, the potato. Possibly the most well known root vegetable in the world (well, after the carrot). The low-carb craze has villified the poor potato, and I'd like to just lay down some facts for you all. Lets put the potato in a good light - it deserves it.
1. YES potatoes ARE a carb-filled food! This is a good thing! Your body couldn't function without carbs. If you need to, take a moment to re-read that. I can wait..... There are two different types of carbs - bad carbs (simple carbs) and good carbs (complex carbohydrates).
Having trouble getting your GHGs?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Try focusing on eating mainly (if not all) filling foods. They are unbelievably good for you, they keep you fuller longer.
How can you tell if what you're eating is a filling food?
Chances are, you bought it on the perimeter of your grocery store.
Filling foods have no added sugars
They are made with whole grains
If it is a dairy product, it is fat free
If its a meat, it is a lean cut of meat.
How can you tell if what you're eating is a filling food?
Chances are, you bought it on the perimeter of your grocery store.
Filling foods have no added sugars
They are made with whole grains
If it is a dairy product, it is fat free
If its a meat, it is a lean cut of meat.
MYTH: women that lift weights will bulk up
Monday, January 11, 2010
Our first guest post! This was written by Kristine (BELLAKRISTINE). Thank you!
It seems to me that a lot of women our age are afraid of the “man’s side of the gym” and I just want to make a few pointers and encourage everyone to lift weights and not be afraid!
It seems to me that a lot of women our age are afraid of the “man’s side of the gym” and I just want to make a few pointers and encourage everyone to lift weights and not be afraid!
Snacks
Friday, January 8, 2010
Snacking is great.
Snacking low point is important.
First bit of information: Health Discovery.net has an amazing list of 1 (ONE!) point foods here
Here is a list of great, low point, favourite snacks found on the message boards.
Snacking low point is important.
First bit of information: Health Discovery.net has an amazing list of 1 (ONE!) point foods here
Here is a list of great, low point, favourite snacks found on the message boards.
GHGs Series Post 1 - Healthy Oils
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Healthy Oils seems to be one of the most difficult Good Health Guideline for people to get in.
This list was posted today by TEPTSEMBER who got it from HOLLYSAGS who doesn't remember where she got it.
This list was posted today by TEPTSEMBER who got it from HOLLYSAGS who doesn't remember where she got it.
From the late awsum34:
Having trouble getting in all your healthy oils? Here are some ideas. You only need to eat 2 tsp of oil per day. (1 teaspoon is a serving), So you can get it in throughout the day. Healthy oils are: olive oil, canola, sunflower, safflower or flaxseed. FYI: Fish oils, Oil capsules, Avocados, peanut butter, nuts, etc, do NOT count towards WW healthy oils requirements. Only the pourable kind count.
Having trouble getting in all your healthy oils? Here are some ideas. You only need to eat 2 tsp of oil per day. (1 teaspoon is a serving), So you can get it in throughout the day. Healthy oils are: olive oil, canola, sunflower, safflower or flaxseed. FYI: Fish oils, Oil capsules, Avocados, peanut butter, nuts, etc, do NOT count towards WW healthy oils requirements. Only the pourable kind count.
Best Advice Ever Received on the Message Boards
EORTIZBLANCO posted this fantastic thread today, here is a selection of answers:
EORTIZBLANCO: When I 1st started, I was freaking out because I had a bad day staying OP. someone told me: "You didn't get to your starting weight overnight... you certainly aren't going to gain all that you've lost back with WW overnight either. Allow yourself to mess up every once in a while".
It made me realize I was setting myself up for failure and trying too hard to be perfect. Now, I just go with it. And, it works!
EORTIZBLANCO: When I 1st started, I was freaking out because I had a bad day staying OP. someone told me: "You didn't get to your starting weight overnight... you certainly aren't going to gain all that you've lost back with WW overnight either. Allow yourself to mess up every once in a while".
It made me realize I was setting myself up for failure and trying too hard to be perfect. Now, I just go with it. And, it works!
Lets start with the "New to the 20s Board"
This one has been copied word for word from the daily "New to the 20s Board, Start Here" thread:
We hope you find the support and encouragement you need here during your Weight loss journey!This thread's purpose is to give you a good idea of the board, hopefully answer some questions you may have and make you feel a little less intimidated.
We hope you find the support and encouragement you need here during your Weight loss journey!This thread's purpose is to give you a good idea of the board, hopefully answer some questions you may have and make you feel a little less intimidated.
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