Cottage Cheese

Today I realized that cottage cheese has so much great protein. There is a note on the new design that highlights 16g of protein in on serving. Wait 16g of protein in 1/2 cup of cottage cheese!?!? How did I miss that? This coincides well with the disappearance of Chobani Vanilla. Cottage cheese has become a great pre-workout snack! It just requires me to go to Fairway to get it... :)

Non-carb snacks - Part II

Edadame: Not too bad. I will definitely have to play around a bit with how to cook this. There's the option to cook the entire pod and eat out of the pod or remove from the pod and just cook the beans (seeds?). I boil the whole pod first but I think I overcooked it. Next time I am going to try roasting just the beans to see how that is. I think I'm going to prefer eating out of the pod. It's just a more enjoyable eating experience.

Snap Peas& Hummus: This was pretty good. Just like when I started to eat more veggies, it takes a bit of getting used to. It's not as satisfying as a pita chip would be. I definitely have to be very picky with the hummus quality. I got TJ's roasted red pepper hummus, the consistency is a bit mayonaise-y for me. I'll have to make sure I get a really good hummus, usually the pita chip is so good that it covers if the hummus taste isn't the best. I really like the crunch of the snap peas though. Plus if I can bring snap peas & hummus and celery & PB it adds 2 more veggies to my daily routine!

The more I eat these, the more I enjoy them. Ana says it takes 10 times to really determine whether I like them and with each day, they become less of a choice and more of a daily routine!

Mixing up the snack routine: Non-carb options

I finally took some of Ana's suggestions on non-carb snacks:

- Replace apple & PB with celery & PB

- Sunflower seeds

- Edadame

- Sugar snap peas with hummus

I'll post separately about my edadame and sugar snap pea adventures when I try those. For now, let's talk celery and sunflower seeds:

The celery is okay - not nearly as satisfying as apples. I am sure I'll treat myself to apples a couple times a week when they are at their peak this fall. However, the celery is do-able. It has a nice crunch to it. I depend on the taste of the PB more with celery than apple for sure. Another trick - cut the celery longer. When I ate celery with dip, it was mainly about the dip. You have to eat celery b/c then it will at least look healthy. The celery was the "vehicle" (as Ana puts it) to the dip. It should be that the dip is the vehicle to eat the celery, more celery than dip. Definitely not the case for 20's Rebecca. I discovered if I cut the celery longer, I use the same amount of PB but I eat more celery. Fun discoveries as I return to my life as a healthy eater.

Sunflower seeds are much smaller than I expected. These sat in my kitchen for several days before I tried them. It was a mental thing, I had to leave my preconceived notions of the "seed" at the door. When looking at the nutrition facts, I was shocked at how high the calories are! I have to say, good thing I didn't check in Trader Joe's I might not have bought them. I have to be very careful with these bad boys! Definitely measure out, not in a cup either - in the shot glass measurer. However, these should be filling even in small quantities. I had to buy the seasoned kind. I am all about baby steps! They were surprisingly good. Definitely perfect for a small snack. Not need for me to get into eating whole almonds, these are perfect replacements for that. Now I just have to find a baggie small enough for them... Annie carries around almonds just in case she needs something, I think these will be my "just in case" snack. Perfect since they don't add bulk or weight to an already ridiculously large workout bag :)

Two down, both passed the test. Onto the final two....

The relapse and the recommitment

Clearly it's been a while since I've been here. I hit my goal and was in "maintenence" phase. This summer I went a bit off the wagon on vacation (aka limited to zero reserve in my eating - you could call it a 'see food' diet). Now I'm back. For the first time in 18 months I actually have to look at my closet and ponder my wardrobe based on whether I'll fit into it. It's a horrible reality. So after the Iowa State Fair last week (who can eat healthy there?!?!) I came home and returned to my smart eating.

The new goal - to get to 160 by Dave's wedding. It may not happen but I won't let weakness and bad eating choices be the barrier to it. Back on the wagon and focus on the end goal.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful." - 2 Timothy 4:7

Shorts

I can't recall wearing a pair of shorts since high school (they just didn't work well for my size). I've been thinking about getting a pair, NY's been brutally hot this summer & my summer casual wardrobe is minimal - a couple dresses, a couple skirts. I'm in better shape with tops. Since I had no plans last night, I headed off to Macy's & Old Navy at 34th Street to check it out. I found a pair that seemed long enough to work - they can't be too short ... I'm not a 12 year old I've got hips and thighs. I wore them to church today & it worked out famously! I'll be grabbing another pair before Wednesday when the sale ends. Branching out in my wardrobe! :-)

Rewarding myself

Ana and Christy both expressed concern on my tendency to 'reward eat.' When I was talking to Christy, I wondered aloud what I could use as a reward. For her, a trip to the gym or just vegging in front of TV fora few minutes is a treat for her. Honestly, I lead a pretty selfish life. I have few responsibilities and pretty much can do as I please. A trip to the gym is basically a daily occurrence, I watch TV based on my schedule. Since I'm so cheap, I don't want to buy unnecessary things as a reward. Plus my weight loss is much less drastic now do it would be hard to choose a threshold. I've been thinking about this all week. How to encourage myself to make good choices? I decided a points system is best. For every good choice, temptation I don't give into to - I will reward myself a point. Then I'll accumulate points. Not sure what the threshold will be but when I hit like 50 or 100 then I'll allow something frivolous. This way it's like linking the cheap, saver in me with my need to make good choices in my eating!

Travel

This week was tough! Good food and no control of my schedule. I give myself a 7 out of 10. I stayed away from the empty calories for the most part but the desserts got to me. Oh sweets why do I love you so? I had several small victories, no fries with Chick-Fil-A, skipping the potato chips at lunch. However I didn't resist the cookies with lunch and had dessert with dinner. How often will I get a peanut butter mousse?!? I was good and worked out so that slightly offset it but it just reminds me why I'm glad I don't travel often for work. It's a landmine! I'll take my normal hours that allow me to control my food and hit my favorite classes at the gym. Occasionally it is fun & a treat. :)