Category Archives: Food

THINGS DISCOVERED: BOLTHOUSE FARMS CUCUMBER RANCH DRESSING

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, Things Discovered and tagged with , , ,

I’ve been on a ranch dressing kick lately (which is odd, because typically I’m a blue cheese girl), so when I was craving a salad recently, I wanted to try for a dressing that wouldn’t break the calorie bank and at 35 calories per serving this seemed like the perfect choice. However, sometimes, “lite” dressings just aren’t worth the pain.

The description on the website says… “We added the cool crunch of sun-ripened cucumbers to creamy yogurt, garlic and ranch spices for extra flavor without extra calories. We turned a classic ranch into a new classic.” — which sounds appealing, but I don’t know if it was the yogurt or something else, but it tasted positively medicinal (like the kind you have to hold your nose to choke down). I still ate my salad because I didn’t want to waste the food (and didn’t really have anything else on hand to eat in its stead), but it tasted pretty awful and I won’t be buying it again.

Chalk this one up to lesson learned. Might work for some people, but definitely not my kind of thing.

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Things Discovered: 34° Crisps

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

I love cheese and crackers and one of the major things that I’ve missed over the last (almost) two years is – you guessed it… cheese and crackers. Not that cheese is bad for you, most of the time it’s not, but it is calorie dense and so if you eat too much of it, you’ve blown a whole day’s worth of calories before you know it. Crackers are the same, though of course some are better than others – but it’s the carbs and salt that get you here and the fact that you can pop crackers into your mouth one after the other and before you know it, you’ve eaten the whole pack. So, what to do (until now), but avoid – if you want to keep on track?

So, the other day I was at my local Harris Teeter and came across 34° Crisps. It’s all the taste and crunch of a crack, but WAY less calories. Seriously… only 50 calories for 9 crackers!! I’m rather fond of the Rosemary ones, but as you can see they come in a variety of flavors, so there’s bound to be one you’ll like.

I do suggest pairing it with something – cheese, or some sort of dip, etc… (my go-to is low fat mozzarella cheese) because they are very dry on their own, but other than that it’s a great way to satisfy your cracker cravings without breaking the calorie bank.

Things Discovered: Chilly Cow

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , ,

My love for Halo Top is well known, and anyone who follows me on MFP knows I eat that stuff, if not everyday, pretty darn close too it. But I’ve been a bit frustrated with the lack of lower calorie options–I like to stick to under 300 calories per pint. I know it’s hard, because you definitely want it to taste good, but still… my choices are pretty limited at this point. Generally speaking I almost always eat the Caramel Macchiato, and when I really need a change, Birthday Cake. I like the Oatmeal Cookie flavor, but not the actual oatmeal chunks, so I don’t eat it much at all. I did try the Lemon Cake one, and it’s good, but it’s hard to find in my area.

Which brings me to Chilly Cow. Technically, it has more calories in it, BUT since it’s sold in packs that have two 1/2 pint tubs instead of a whole pint, I have the option to eat more flavors, but still have it be less of an impact on my daily calorie goals. I know, I could just eat half a Halo Top, but honestly, I don’t have that kind of self-control. It’s why buying Oreos is always a bad idea, I can never eat just a couple.

So far, I’ve only eaten the Sweat Cream Peanut Butter one, but it was really good (and it was only 190 calories). I need to see if I can find some of the other flavors in my area, because they also have a Brown Butter Salted Caramel which sounds freaking amazing (that and the Chocolate Brownie Batter).

In any case, it’s definitely nice to have something else to add to my ice cream arsenal that is diet friendly and tastes super yummy!

Things Discovered: Hungryroot

Posted by Sephira in Food, General, Recipes, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

I was really hoping that I’d be able to write a rave review about this “great” new thing I found (Hungryroot), but alas… it was not to be. Or, at the very least, it’s sort of hit or miss.

TL;DR: Mixed bag. Some of the food is good, but there are shipping issues that could mean what you get isn’t fresh (or even edible). It’s a little pricy as well.

 

I was excited because, though I’ve looked at other meal shipment offerings, with this one most of the recipes were well within my calorie range, and they were relatively healthy (vegan and gluten-free even… which doesn’t necessarily matter to me, but might to some). I ordered and waited – it took 2 weeks for my first shipment to be delivered. Which that part is fine, it was the delivery itself that was the problem.

So… it’s summer time and it’s been a bit hot this week. Plenty of 90+ degree days. I started to get a bit antsy as the day wore on and by 6p actually was calling FedEx to see if they could give me some sort of assurances as to my box actually getting to me. It will be there soon, we promise. Yeah, but what condition will it be in? Inquiring minds want to know!

About 6:40p, my doorbell rings. YAY FedEx!!!

When I picked the box up off the porch (driver was already hauling ass down the driveway) it was pretty warm to the touch. Bad sign. When I opened it – the box was lined with some sort of insulation material (not like actual styrofoam or anything that might have actually done a better job of retaining the cold, but sort of loose wrap material) and there was a fully melted ice pack on the top.

hungryroot

It was slightly cool to the touch, but only marginally so. There was a piece of cardboard under that, and then the food packs. The very top ones, that were directly under the ice pack, were well… not cold, but not quite warm – possibly edible, but who’d want to risk it? As I dug deeper into the box, the food packs got warmer and warmer, and even though there was another ice pack at the bottom of the pile (also fully melted), that was was actually warm and all the food packs on that level were also warm to the touch. Not sure what the box was sitting on the in the truck, but you’d almost think it had been sitting on a heater. In any case, I certainly didn’t feel comfortable enough to attempt to eat any of it. Which is really sad, because I was totally looking forward to it.

I guess I’m just frustrated about the whole thing though. Their FAQ stated that there was enough ice to keep the boxes fresh for 2 days, but like, it was shipped out Monday night at about 11p and then not delivered to me until Wednesday after 6:30p. And while, technically, that’s not a full 48 hours, in the summer heat, the way it was packed just doesn’t hold up that long. Also, the box said “keep refrigerated” but FedEx trucks don’t have that ability. So if they were counting on FedEx to keep it cool in transit as well, that’s definitely not going to happen.

Anyhoo… totally disappointed. 😦

UPDATE:

So, they credited me the cost of the original box and I agreed to try one more shipment. Still not super-impressed with their shipping. This one, again. left Monday (around 10:40a) and was not delivered until Wednesday evening (it says around 4:45p, but it was later than that – not that the delivery guy bothered to even ring the doorbell this time). Either way, still way longer than the 2 days that everything is supposed to stay fresh for.  At least this time everything was still mostly cold (or at least not warm), probably because the weather’s been a bit cooler, so I’m going to eat it and see how it goes.

I started with the broccoli rice and added the Thai peanut sauce, and a container of Italian Herb Chickpea Medley. I had to add extra curry powder to the peanut sauce – it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really taste like any peanut sauce I’ve ever had before. The chickpea stuff was pretty darn tasty though. So there is that. XD Also the Black Bean Brownie Batter is YUM!!

I debating whether or not to cancel. I mean, I like the idea of getting more veggies in my diet, especially since I’m really bad at eating them most days. But, if I’m going to have to worry about shipping issues every week, that’s a major deterrent. The other is that I already struggle with getting enough protein, and given that all of this is vegan, it’s definitely not going to help.

Decisions… decisions…

 

Thinky Thoughts: Counting Calories – CICO

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, General, Health, Thinky Thoughts and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

There was an article published in the LA Times today – Counting calories won’t reduce obesity. So why are we requiring restaurants to post them? – which really, really pissed me off. It’s worth noting up front, quite a bit of what is written in this article is utter bullshit, starting with the first sentence of the title. And though I do agree that lowering the amount of carbs we eat is a good idea, doing so does not mean that CICO isn’t still the primary driving force.

Counting calories absolutely works. The proof is here on this blog – log that shit daily and burn more than you are eating. THAT’S HOW IT WORKS! Yes there are other things that can affect it (particularly various medical conditions), but on the whole that’s the way it is. In most cases, anyone who says differently is probably trying to sell you something.

The reason people gain stuff back is because they stop being careful and go back to their old eating habits. If you struggle with obesity, keeping at an ideal weight is not a “get there and you are done” thing… it’s a life-long commitment. Think of it as a chronic medical condition, you feel better on the right meds, but if you stop taking those meds then your condition flares back up. Same with obesity, if you start eating more calories than you are burning, then your weight will go back up. Most of us just don’t have the discipline to maintain in the long term, because, let’s face it – IT’S HARD (and good food is oh so yummy). That’s why it’s important to continue to eat things that you like from time to time, so that you don’t feel deprived.

Also “starvation mode” is a myth, unless you are severely restricting your daily calories (like below 1200) for a sustained amount of time. Which is very unhealthy and no one should be doing it anyways. In general, it’s normal for our metabolism to slow as we lose weight – this is because as our bodies get smaller, we need less energy to fuel them. It’s why it was a lot easier for me to lose the first 100 pounds than it has been loosing the second. But that’s ok, that’s the way it works. And really, slow and steady wins the race… except, it’s really not a race. Because there is no finish line. There are goals, sure, but even if we get to our “ideal” weight, if we want to stay there we have to find a way to maintain it. So we make adjustments and then keep on keeping on.

Something else I found interesting about the following quoted section…

Why should the Food and Drug Administration impose a regulation to shave 38 calories off a Chipotle order? The justification from the start, as articulated in a blog post by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, is that saving even a few dozen calories a day would add up over the course of a year. “Based on that sort of reduction,” he wrote, “you could end up consuming 10,000 to 20,000 fewer calories making you three to five pounds slimmer.”

If the average person gains 1-2 pounds a year (based on 2016 CDC statistics), and shaving that 38 calories means that they could lose a couple pounds each year – we’d break even (or maybe even still lose a pound), instead of having to watch our weight steadily creep up each year. For all those people who wake up 10 years later wondering why they weigh 20+ pounds more than they did when they were in high school, this could really make a difference.

Having calorie counts at restaurants is a relatively new thing. I mean, it’s been around in some capacity for a while, but not as wide-spread as it is now required to be. So people are still getting use to it, and so, aren’t really used to being able to see what they are eating. I think as time goes by this will change and as more people realize just how many calories they are putting in their bodies, they will start to make better choices. Especially as they watch their weight slowly/quickly going up and look for ways to do something about it.

 

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 57

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Exercise, Food, General, Weekly Weigh-In and tagged with , , , , , ,

Week 57 Current Weight: 257

Pounds Lost This Week: 2

Total Weight Lost: 133 pounds

Ate at my favorite Indian restaurant for Mother’s Day with the oldest and his wife (and had a couple slices of pizza Saturday), but otherwise stayed very strictly to my calorie goals for the rest of the week. Exercised every day, except for Thursday, though Monday I didn’t get my extra elliptical work in – only did TRX/strength, but just ran out of time. Waffled a bit over taking Thursday off, but in the end was just tired and needed the break.

Things Discovered: Chick-fil-a Market Salad

Posted by Sephira in Food, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

I like salad, generally smothered in blue cheese dressing of some sort (though not lately, of course), but salad is totally my thing. My go-to for most of last summer was the Caesar Salad Kit with Greek Yogurt Dressing from Fresh Express which, if you ate the whole bag and tossed some grilled chicken on top, was only about 350 calories (21g carbs, 16g fat, 35g protein, and 6g fiber). But after eating it fairly regularly for months on end, as good as it is, I’m pretty burned out on it (at least for a bit). Which is good that Chick-fil-a just introduced some new salad choices.

 

Normally, I don’t eat fast food salads. Despite being promoted as “healthy” they often have a lot of extra junk on them and are pretty high calorie, but the new Market Salad doesn’t seem too bad, and really is just like having a mini fruit and salad buffet. It has some blue cheese on it (great selling point!!), and grilled chicken, but then also has strawberries, blue berries and apples. Which honestly, at first, I was like eww… but once I realized that I could pick out the fruit and eat it first, then eat the rest of the salad, it was apparent that this was really a wonderful meal choice. It also comes with small packs of a raisin/nut blend and granola for additional toppings (each pack was about 60/70 calories), but if that doesn’t appeal to you in salad form (#it me), then these make a lovely “dessert.”

Before choosing a dressing (which their Light Italian only has about 25 calories), the salad comes in at about 330 calories (27g carbs, 27g fat, and 27g protein), and that’s including the nuts and granola toppings so if you doesn’t add those, it has even less calories. So all in all, a tasty meal for right around 350 calories. Better yet, it hit all the crunchy, sweet and savory notes that keep me satisfied.

Things Discovered: Lean Bar

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

I signed up for the GNC Pro rewards program last year, which is a paid version of their regular rewards program that gives you a few extra perks, including a box of samples 3 times a year. Honestly, I’m probably not going to renew the subscription when it comes due in a couple months, as most of it ended up not being useful to me personally. I originally thought I’d be needing it more when I was going to have the bariatric surgery, but with that off the table, I don’t shop there that often (other than like every couple for some stuff that the kiddo needs), which generally doesn’t make paying for a couple extra coupons all that worth it. The sample boxes were interesting, but again, the first two only had a couple things that were even remotely relevant to me – like that yummy protein cookie I mentioned a while back (even though I filled out the profile thingy which was supposed to help customize it better), so not really worth it.

leanbar

Credit: GNC

 

The last box though, did actually have some good stuff in it, and I thought I’d share about one of them – the Blueberry Yogurt Lean Bar. It has 180 calories, 15g protein, and 10g fiber, along with other assorted vitamins/minerals (22 carbs, but with all that fiber it’s not so bad). Usually, I’m not a big fan of anything “blueberry” flavored, but this was actually pretty tasty, so thought it was worth mentioning. I’ll definitely have to check out some of their other flavors to see if they are as good. Would make a great after workout snack or even a quick breakfast for those of us that don’t like to eat a lot in the morning.

Things Discovered: Mrs. Thinster’s Cookie Thins – Pumpkin Spice

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , ,

And now… another thing that I may have to add to my “don’t keep in the house” list, even though they are oh so yummy!!

At 140 calories per 5 cookie serving (19 carbs, 1 fiber, 1 protein), these fit comfortably into most diet menus, however, they taste utterly amazing, which makes it really hard to stop eating them. Again, if you plan accordingly, it won’t break the diet bank to have more than one serving, but still, probably not a good idea to do so on a regular basis.

Taste-wise, they have sort of a ginger snap feel and flavor, but I can also get that pumpkin hints as well. And even though, they distinctly avoided using the words “pumpkin spice” on the Cookie Butter shake description, I feel like this is totally that flavor – in cookie form (which is probably why I’m having such a hard time resisting them).  But it’s fall… so ’tis the flavor of the season. Oddly, I’ve never been all that into it, but apparently it was just a matter of finding the right food combo. Definitely not complaining. YUM!!! XD

Cheat Days: Arby’s Cookie Butter Shake

Posted by Sephira in Cheat Days, Food, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , ,

Because there are just some days that you have to give in and go for what you are craving. And holy cow… this is pretty freaking yummy!!! Soooo totally worth the extra work I’ll have to do to compensate for going over calories today. And to be fair, I’ve been resisting this beautiful concoction for several weeks, so I think I did good to hold out as long as I did.

According to the Arby’s website it’s: Indulgently sweet with cinnamon spice. Topped with whipped cream and cookie pieces. I got the hint of cinnamon, but the rest of the flavors are hard to describe – if only because I’m too busy sucking it down to form a coherent thought. Totally delicious!!

I would add it to a “Things Discovered” post, but it’s very much not a diet food. Either way though, if you can squeeze the calories in (or are ready for a well deserved cheat day), it’s definitely worth getting one before they’re gone.