Fridge-spiration

You’ll have to excuse me; I’m not at my best

First impressions are always important. ALWAYS. The way in which you shake hands, your hygiene, looking another in the eye, smiling, etc. – they all help in forming someone’s opinion about you within minutes of meeting them. But what if you’re struggling with your self-esteem? You’re busting out of your good suit and just want to hide from the world? What do you do when making a good impression, being self-confident and at the top of your game is SOOOO important but you feel like you want to crawl under a rock for the rest of your life? What do you do to perk yourself up in order to impress a potential employer, love interest or someone new to your social circle? What positive self-talk to you use? Tricks to make yourself feel better? Clothes to hide the fact that you just want to wear jammies? Help a sister out.

Give'r

So we lapsed catholics are marking the beginning of Lent today. 40 days where we reflect, fast and pray in advance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Traditionally, we give up something for the season to remind us of the sacrifices He made... Look at me being all theological and stuff. *preens* So, last year I gave up excuses. I did pretty well with it too. This year I'm giving up a temptation that is REALLY to blame for my weight gain (besides sheer laziness and my lost love of running). I'm giving up boredom baking. Yup. I said it! ...er, typed it. For weeks now I've been peeking in my cupboards and then googling recipes with combination of ingredients found. I will then bake cookies, brownies, or muffins and gobble most of them down before throwing out the rest in disgust of my gluttony. But no more. I will not buy vanilla. I will not buy sugar. I will not buy flour. I will DEFINITELY not buy cornmeal. I will not buy chocolate chips. I will not capitulate (sorry. I LURVE that word and needed an excuse to use it on this blog at some point in my life). Let's see how long this one lasts, eh? So my guilt-ridden, church avoiding catholic friends, what will you be giving up this season? Not religious? Giving up anything for the season anyway? Have at 'er in the comments.

More than words

We all have different reasons for blogging: a way to record our thoughts and feelings, keep us accountable or perhaps to share a common interest or event with others. But are you aware of HOW your blog touches other people? I know a lot of us may have created a blog because “everyone else was doing it…” and didn't think of the reach that each of our typed words would have on others or even how far they were travel. Like it or not, we can be seen as influential people on a given topic because we step up on our soapboxes and rant for the world to see. We write to meet our own objectives. Maybe we're trying to lose weight, get fit, run a marathon, etc., but in the end we can become a role model for others in our triumphs and struggles. I’ve never thought of myself as a role model, and especially now given the return of my rolls, but there are times where I’m sent emails of thanks or comments that are beyond flattering and it makes me wonder about the importance of my words and how they should be carefully chosen. Whether I'm seen as one or not, the important thing is to stay relevant to the focus of my blog and to be 100 per cent honest. And I'd like to think that I am, despite feeling like a fraud on many occasions. But will I ever feel comfortable as being seen as an influencer on such a small scale? Do you? We inspire each other in not only our blog posts, but the comments and conversations created out of the medium. I look to many of you for inspiration AND support. So, do you feel comfortable being a role model? Does it fit you well? Or do you think you need to lose a few more pounds before you can slip into it comfortably?

SHOWDOWN...WW style

We all know I'm not a huge fan of Weight Watchers' food. The cakes are minuscule, the muffins taste a bit like the plastic wrapping they come in and the Smart Ones rarely hit the spot. So when Whitman's & Weight Watchers sent me some candy to try out, well...you know how I am.

So  I opted to try out the Weight Watchers® Peanut Butter Cups, as I have yet to see these on the shelves at Canadian retailers.

Each cup is 2 POINTS with 90 calories, 6g of fat and .5g of fibre.

From the outside it looks like a nice little treat when you're craving chocolate and have two points. 

But wait...2 POINTS for each one....five in a bag...retails for $2.99 (according to the Web site)...

You know the little gerbil got on the wheel at this point.

Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?

You're darn right I marched over to the convenience store and bought a package of Reese Peanut Butter cups to compare.Well, lookie here - THREE cups are 280 calories, 15g of fat and 2g of fibre.

Now math is generally hard, but this one was easy to figure out.

Er...what exactly makes the WW ones so damn special then?

So I enlisted the help of Jainey to see how the two stack up beyond the nutrition factor (mostly because the chocolate was delivered to his house, but also because he's super awesome and I miss him).

We both found the Weight Watchers one to be smaller, have less peanut butter and had a semi-sweet chocolate taste to Reese's more milk chocolate.

Although they seem comparable at a glance, the two are not. The Reese one is far superior, melts in your mouth and the peanut butter in it is sooo much better...

for about the same amount of POINTS per cup.

And the Reese ones are easier on your wallet too. Just sayin'

I have a vid with Jainey's thoughts on the cups mid chew, but the audio goes squirrely every which way I upload it. You'll just have to settle for him talking to you in your dreams.

But here it is, your moment of zen:

Sometimes you have to treat yourself

So Monday was family day...and my family was nowhere to be found. Ok, that's a lie. I just didn't go searching them out :P (for those reading, you know that I big puffy heart you). So instead I went to my local Indigo, bought myself an americano and set forth to spend a big honkin' gift certificate that my brother Kevin and his wife Giselle got me for Christmouse (by the way, this is the easiest way to become my favourite person in the whole wide world as I EAT books). Knowing how teeny, tiny the new trackers are at Weight Watchers and how they don't really allow you to track activity well, I found myself not being able to put down this diet and fitness journal. So, I bought it...along with a book by Nick Hornby and another by Vladimir Nabokov. THEN I went and bought something like this to keep my journal and Weight Watchers book in. See, rewards don't always have to be about food. What is something that you've treated yourself to lately, maybe for hitting a goal or just to motivate you, that isn't food related?

Move over Martha

So, I...um...got creative with my breakfast today. Lately I've been craving eggs but with the way that my stove runs away on low, I'm not keen on frying or scrambling them. So I thought I'd try the oven. I've read of a lot of people making eggs in muffin tins, so I thought I'd throw in what I had in my fridge. So I took: -a 250g container of egg whites -one cooked sweet potato -one green pepper, -one red pepper -half of a zucchini -1oz of marble cheese, shredded -2 tsp EVOO So I... Sliced the potato and put them in the bottom of each tin.

Put in one egg white.

Chopped the veggies up nice and small, tossing them in the extra virgin olive oil. Put a spoonful in each tin.

Took a smidge of cheese and topped each.

VOILA!

All of that created nine of these bad boys for 1 POINT each, or three of them for 4 POINTS. I'm a happy girl.

Saturday Fridge-spiration

Anchors Away!

So a few weeks ago we got a buttload of snow. This week we saw temperatures in the double digits that led to a loverly thaw. Now, it's raining like a mofo. So, I'm looking for an ark builder. If you know of one, send him my way. I'll even offer to round up the animals if it guarantees me a spot. But in the meantime, I had to bust out my trusty gore-tex jacket, to keep me dry in the rain. I put my hand in my right pocket and found a toonie. SCORE! Feeling lucky I put my hand in my left pocket and found an anchor. *KA-THUD* The tiny little glass pebble that Lindz gave me at my first meeting. A touch stone to remind me of my weight goal and the inner resources that I have to achieve it. It's hard (like my journey), round (like me) and indestructible (like my spirit and determination SHOULD be). So perhaps I did find my willpower again. It was just in my pocket waiting for me to come back. So, what's your anchor? Do you believe in them? Have you lost it somewhere along the way?

**image from Fishmonk on SXU***

You bet your ass

Literally. We make bets out of silly things like the outcome of a sports match-up, knowing the right answer to an obscure question or a racing to the corner. But apparently there is money to be had over shrinking your back-side. And this goes beyond a friendly wager between you, your spouse, a family member or coworkers... I kid you not. The NY Times recently published an article that including a few Web sites that have cropped up where you can find motivation to lose weight through the fear of paying out. Stickk.com, Fatbet.net and makemoneylosingweight.com aim to keep you accountable by taking your money or, in some cases, possibly your dignity. Other stakes have included streaking, having to wear offending clothing (did I ever tell you about the time I had to wear a Leafs jersey? sigh) or treat others to food (seems counterproductive). Taking a peak around them all, the latter two seem slapped together and hard to navigate while the former appears to be more community oriented with the ability to give to charity rather than a friend or foe. So, what are your thoughts on bets vs. challenges when it comes to weight? Would you join one? What would the stakes be for you? In the meantime, I'll be over here planning for all of my winnings. muahahaha.

Like a fish out of water

I'm flailing, failing and spinning out of control. Despite going back to running five days a week, I'm up. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY up. I Just Don't Track And I don't seem to care that my midsection is spilling over my pants. That I have to wiggle to even get into them. That I EVERYTHING jiggles when I run. That I can hear my flap hitting other parts of my skin. And that even my lululemon pants are starting to look like sausage casings. Now that is scary. I can't even cry in my state of self-pity and self-woe. I don't deserve to shed any tears over my own carelessness. I'm trying to pinpoint the reasons as to why I'm eating mindlessly and I think I have it figured out. I am definitely depressed...about a lot of things. I just find it so weird that someone whose profession heavily involves writing, can't mark down her daily food intake on paper. It's not like it's going to be put out there in the public for criticism. It went in my yap and I need to be accountable. Now, I don't want any *there, there*s or butt kicks or what have you...I want to know what has prevented you from caring and tracking in the past.? What is it that has stood in the way of your success? How did you overcome it? plzthx! :)

Don't fear the change!

So a link to one of those lame-o “reasons you’re not losing weight” articles popped up in my email today. It listed a bunch of the obvious: fads, extremes, quick fixes, giving up and avoiding change. Oh. OH. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Yeah, that’s me right about now. I’m avoiding the change. A change back to the ways that got me to my goal. It’s really easy, dummy. GET WITH THE PROGRAM! But it’s not an issue WITH my goal or the plan not being realistic or enjoyable. It’s that my brain is stuck in a rut where it thinks I can have a mulligan every freakin’ day. That it is MORE satisfying to eat nachos vs. healthy meals, or that it is perfectly acceptable to bake cookies instead of going to the store to cure a craving. But all cravings don’t NEED to be cured. Attitudes do, though. Committing to my former healthy lifestyle may require more soul searching than I’m even attempting. There’s got to be reasons why I’m reaching for the bad stuff rather than the lean meats, whole grains and veggies I KNOW are good for me (and filling too). So what do you think are the reasons, oh wise ones, or what are your reasons that the chips, chocolate and cookies would make it into your daily plan? What helps you face the fear of change?