By dorrie on March 11, 2010
I dusted off my bicycle this morning and took it out for its first ride in 2010.
Note to self: next time I decide to ride my bicycle in March when its barely 40 degrees WEAR GLOVES! I nearly froze my fingers off. Granted I had my bike gloves on, but fingerless gloves don’t do a lot when its cold, overcast and damp (yes, I’m whining). 
My nose and cheeks got pretty cold too, but it felt so good to be out in the fresh air and in weather that is mild compared to the last several months of nearly constant snow and temps that only occasionally got above freezing.
I might have pushed the urge to ride a little bit since only 5 miles of the paved trail I was on was clear. The rest of it was too snow covered and slushy for my bike tires to handle.
Not that I could have ridden a whole lot further than 5 miles today. My legs could have handled it but my butt definitely has to “toughen up” again and get used to sitting on a bike seat.
Maybe I should have doubled up and wore both pairs of my padded bike shorts….even though people would have probably stared at my extra huge marshmallow butt when I walked into the coffee shop for my yummy pre-ride mocha latte (skim milk, no whipped cream and 4 shots of caffeine laden espresso please).
Next planned bike ride is in 2 days. Temps are supposed be near 50 which would be awesome, but fog and rain may put the “kibbosh” on it.
I am determined to get out and ride at least 2 times a week this month though, because my goal this year is to graduate to a faster (and cuter) bike and to go on at least one “50 miles all in the same day” bike ride.
And not that this has anything to do with bike riding or weight loss, but to the guy who was walking on the side of the road this morning while I was driving to the coffee shop for that aforementioned pre-ride coffee: “It’s really not super smart to walk on the side of a busy country road wearing dark clothes, talking on a cell phone and constantly looking down at your feet when it us FOGGY unless you want to hit by a car!”
Do you have any bicycle riding plans this year?
Posted in My Weight Loss Journal, Weight Loss | Tagged ride bike to help lose weight, weight loss diary, weight loss journal
By dorrie on March 10, 2010
Check serving size before opening the package. Some of those packages that seem like they are a single serving (and are for most of us) are actually 2 or 3 servings. It’s devious trickery on the part of food manufacturers but completely legal so always “read it before you eat it.”
Posted in Weight Loss Tip of the Day | Tagged how to lose weight, serving size trickery, weight loss tip, Weight Loss Tip of the Day
By dorrie on March 10, 2010
Today is my birthday!
That means I get to have BIRTHDAY CAKE!
Ever since I can remember I’ve requested the same cake for my birthday – angel food cake. As a kid I didn’t care that it was fat free and a low calorie dessert. I just liked its name (probably because “angel” was my Mom’s nickname for me but it was probably my nickname only because she couldn’t find a mug with my given name on it – too unique – and I had to have a “name” mug because my brother had one!). Oh, and I loved how the cake tasted – so light and airy!
Back in those days the cake had to be coated with 2 cans of cherry frosting to be sure it had the desired level of sugar loaded goodness (yep – more than made up for the low calories in the cake with the high calorie frosting I wanted smeared all over it to the point of the light cake sagging from the weight of all the frosting).
It was SUPER YUMMY!!!
Now that I’m a grown up and definitely do not need the gobs of corn syrup, saturated fat, and sheer number of calories (70 for 1 measly tablespoon) in packaged cherry frosting (can’t say “canned” anymore because it now comes in a plastic container) I opt for a more figure friendly topping. Plus, the cherry frosting in the store these days doesn’t taste as good as I remember from when I was a kid. These days it tastes like a gob of corn sweetened vegetable shortening with a chemical aftertaste – definitely not birthday cake worthy! 
My birthday cake today (there better be one and it definitely better be angel food!) will get topped with a dollop of real whipped cream (yes it’s loaded with fat but I don’t eat it every day and I can have 2 tablespoons for 50 calories), and some fresh raspberries (or raspberry sauce made with frozen raspberries and a little bit of sugar since it’s a “hit or miss” proposition when it comes to finding fresh raspberries in the store in March).
I can hardly wait for the cake (and there might even be a present or two for me!).
What’s your favorite birthday cake?
Posted in My Weight Loss Journal, Weight Loss | Tagged diet friendly birthday cake, how to lose weight, low calorie cake
By dorrie on March 9, 2010
Can’t live without your daily mocha latte? Order it with skim, soy or almond milk to reduce calories; ask for half the normal amount of the regular chocolate syrup instead of going for the sugar free stuff that doesn’t taste as good; and skip the whipped cream on top.
Posted in Weight Loss Tip of the Day | Tagged how to lose weight, lighten your mocha latte, weight loss tip, Weight Loss Tip of the Day
By dorrie on March 9, 2010
The people from the Eat This Not That
series of books have compiled a list of the 10 worst sandwiches in America (only 10?).
When they say the word “worst” they are not referring to how they taste because there’s some really good tasting sandwiches on their “hit list.”
It the huge number of calories, fat and sodium that’s lurking in these hand-held creations that make them gut busting disasters.
Who knew a sandwich containing grilled shrimp could have almost 2,000 calories in it?
What sandwich is that? It’s Cheesecake Factory’s Grilled Shrimp and Bacon Club, described as: “Charbroiled Shrimp, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato with Our Special Dressing. Served with French Fries or Green Salad” and containing, according to the 10 Worst Sandwiches in America article, 1930 calories, 24 grams saturated fat and 2,965 mg sodium. 
Yikes!!!! No wonder it has the dubious distinction of being the number 1 worst sandwich on the list.
While the sandwich doesn’t look super healthy and low in calories it certainly doesn’t look like it could contain that many calories. I’m guessing the nutrition information also includes the fries that come with it, but still….that special dressing must be pretty special – and loaded with calories!
I guess it goes to show that even grilled shrimp can be turned in a caloric nightmare.
Some of the other sandwiches on the list: Other sandwiches on the list include:
Cosi Steak TBM (Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella) weighing in at 829 calories
Arby’s Ultimate BLT Market Fresh Sandwich weighing in at 880 calories (love this sandwich but will definitely be sharing it with someone else the next time I order
Blimpie Special Vegetarian 12″ weighing in at 1,186 calories (I’m speechless! How can a vegetable sub be so fattening?)
Quizno’s Large Tuna Melt weighing in at 1,760 calories (not completely surprising to me since I’ve had this sandwich and the large amount of mayo used to make the tuna salad is quite obvious).
Maybe it’s time to go back to a simpler lunch and have a brown bag lunch of a an old standby of ham and Swiss on rye for 438 calories or to swing by Culvers for an all American lunch of a regular burger and small fry for 731 calories.
Posted in Weight Loss, Weight Loss Articles | Tagged diet buster sandwiches, high calorie sandwiches, sandwiches to avoid, worst sandwiches
By dorrie on March 8, 2010
Special K has added to their arsenal of products with strawberry and blueberry fruit crisps.
They are shaped like a cereal bar but have a crispy outer shell and fruity filling that is similar to the Pop tarts I loved as a kid.
On the plus side:
- each foil wrapped packet of 2 crisps is 100 calories – an okay calorie count for a snack or for a light dessert
- there’s no high fructose corn syrup in them (I personally think high fructose corn syrup is horribly bad for us)
- they’re an easy-to-eat “on the go” snack
- the filling is tasty and there’s a decent amount of it
On the minus side:
- while the filling tastes good, the crispy outer shell is kind of bland
- they are not filling (less than 1 gram of fiber and only 1 gram of protein in each serving) so I don’t recommend eating them if you’re really hungry.
- there’s not much nutritional value in them (the aforementioned pitiful 1 gram of protein per serving and only 2 percent of the recommended daily allowance of iron)
They come in two flavors: strawberry
and blueberry
.
While I think the bars aren’t a great nutritional choice, they hit the spot when I’m looking for a little something sweet which would be obvious to you if you saw me right now since I’m writing this review while looking at the empty box.
Will I buy them again? Yeah, probably even though they’re not exactly healthy and nutritious. I love to have a little something sweet at night and it takes me a lot longer to eat these than it does to shovel in 100 calories worth of chocolate.
If you want to try them, print out this coupon first. You’ll save $1 off one package of either the strawberry or blueberry flavor. But don’t procrastinate! The coupon is only good until April 21, 2010.
What are your thoughts on the Special K fruit crisps? Have you tried them yet? If you did, did you like them? Will you buy them again?
Posted in Diet Friendly Foods, Food Finds, Tasty Snacks, Weight Loss | Tagged diet food review, special k fruit crisp, special k fruit crisp coupon, special k fruit crisp review
By dorrie on March 7, 2010
Substitute whole wheat pastry flour for up to half of the all purpose flour in your recipes. It will reduce the calories and add extra nutrition.
Posted in Weight Loss Tip of the Day | Tagged weight loss tip, Weight Loss Tip of the Day
By dorrie on March 7, 2010
Know anybody who can’t eat a bite when they are stressed? Unfortunately that’s not me. Food is my emotional crutch even when my stomach is rebelling.
Yesterday I got sick from something I ate (won’t gross you out with the details but it wasn’t pretty) and even though my stomach was in no shape to take in any food I wanted to eat anyway.
I sat in my living room last night wanting to go get food because I was upset over some stuff going on in my life but yet I knew if I ate even one bite it wasn’t going to stay down.
I had a big inner fight with myself to not put food in my mouth. I did my best to keep my hands busy by knitting but I walked into the kitchen 5 times to look at possible food choices although common sense eventually prevailed each time and I left without stuffing anything in my face.
This morning I’m still not feeling great and the 2 strawberries I ate are sitting in my stomach like a lump of clay so it’s definitely not time to try and eat anything else even though they’re the best strawberries I’ve had since last summer!
To keep myself busy I planted some flower and vegetable seeds in my indoor greenhouse, read a few pages in my latest book from the library (The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes
), did some laundry, watched some television (a cooking show – not a smart idea when I’m trying to not think about food until my stomach settles down!), and am now writing this blog post (yet another activity that is reminding me of food – will I ever learn?). Been also thinking about going for a walk but haven’t gotten up the ambition to do it yet.
I could really use some suggestions on what to do when stress is high. Last night and this morning have made me realize that the only way I know how to deal with stress is by eating and I can’t continue to do that if I ever hope to get this excess weight off.
Suggestions?
Posted in My Weight Loss Journal, Weight Loss | Tagged stress eating, weight loss diary, weight loss journa
By dorrie on March 6, 2010
I used to be one of those people that would order a salad for my meal whenever I went out, thinking that it was always the healthiest choice on the menu. Then I got educated and found out a salad can be one of the highest calorie and fat items on the entire menu and that I would have consumed less calories by ordering a steak or a burger (with potatoes!).
I was such a fool! I could have been eating what I really wanted instead of feeling (and acting like a martyr) because I was being “good” and ordering a “healthy” salad. I guess the joke was on me; specifically on my more than generous thighs.
What makes some of those restaurant salads such a horrible choice? The breaded and deep fried chicken, copious amounts of cheese, hundreds of calories worth of dressing, the bacon, the croutons (the most delicious ones are those that have been deep fried), the crunchy won-ton strips or tortilla strips or fried noodles, nuts (healthy but the calories add up quickly), avocado (also healthy but calorie dense), and those delicious flour tortilla shell bowls that you can eat right along with the taco salad that’s tucked inside it (sure you could just eat the salad inside the bowl and skip that delicious, and often deep fried tortilla bowl, but who does that?).
Our salads have morphed from a heaping helping of healthy greens with a small portion of dressing to gigantic tossed meals that have gobs of fat and calories lurking among those good for us greens.
That’s not to say a salad can’t be a healthy choice in a restaurant. Grilled chicken is obviously a better choice than deep fried chicken but it can taste so bland. Marinated grilled shrimp grilled steak, or blackened salmon are much tastier options in my opinion.
And obviously ask for salad dressing on the side and use it sparingly since full fat dressings (the best tasting ones) can easily have 100 calories in a tablespoon.
If at all possible, avoid the 6 worst salads in America from Eat This, Not That! 2010 which are: Quizno’s Honey Mustard Chicken Regular Chopped Salad; Roman’s Macaroni Grill Parmesan Crusted Chicken Salad; Chili’s Quesadilla Explosion Salad; Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad with Oriental Vinaigrette; Cheesecake Factory Caesar Salad with Chicken; and California Pizza Kitchen Waldorf Chicken Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing.
The salad I’m most sad to see on the list is Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad with Oriental Vinaigrette. I love that salad! But at over 1,400 calories it’s not exactly “a light and healthy option). When I’m really hungry for it, I order it in the “small size” and get the dressing on the side. But, I NEVER order it when I’m really hungry because the small version of the salad isn’t enough food to fill me up and I end up ordering a super unhealthy dessert!
Posted in My Weight Loss Journal, Weight Loss, Weight Loss News, Worst Light Foods | Tagged applebees salad, california kitchen salad, cheesecake factory salad, chilis salad, macaroni grill salad, quiznos salad, restaurant salad, worst salads, worst salads in america
By dorrie on March 5, 2010
It’s been a month since I started getting acupuncture to help with my headaches and with my food cravings.
I haven’t noticed any change for the better in the past week, but that might be due to the extreme stress I’ve been under (the big “C” for a family member). I feel like everything in my life is out of whack so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that it feels like the acupuncture hasn’t done anything this week.
I’ve reached for food for comfort this week but it hasn’t provided any comfort, just a stomachache. So maybe the acupuncture is helping because my body isn’t thrilled by the food I’m shoving into it. I’m just so upset that I’m ignoring my body’s signals (stupid of me).
Plus I know I can’t expect huge changes every time I go in for a treatment. It’s not like taking an aspirin that starts to work in minutes. Acupuncture is a much slower form of healing and takes patience (something I’ve never had a huge supply of).
I’m not giving up yet. I’ll keep at the treatments for a couple more weeks and see what happens.
I just wish the needles in the ears wouldn’t hurt so much! One of them that went in today hurt so bad!!!! Maybe I should numb my ears with ice cubes before I go in for my next treatment…..
Posted in Acupuncture Diary, My Weight Loss Journal | Tagged acupuncture, acupuncture for headache relief, acupuncture for weight loss