Hungries

I have had the hungries lately, the snackies and munchies and some of it isn't for healthy food if you know what I mean.  Nuts, chips, chocolate, and smooth coffee drinks; not bad in and by themselves.  It is just the quantity of them and the timing of them.  It started in Florida...hmm...the last two weeks and just keeps on going like the Energizer bunny.  I guess it's good in one way, it means I am feeling better, but up two pounds this week isn't good and my clothes just feel different.  But weigh-in day isn't until Friday so, no more cheating on that and cut the carbs right here and now!!!!

Recipe

The veggie lasagna in the crock pot turned out so good I thought I would post it here.  The only thing I did different was also layer the sauce which they didn't mention.  I would serve this for company-it was that good.  I can't wait to try more recipes!

                              

What Did I Say?

About not weighing myself?  HA HA!  I couldn't wait, so I did the deed after swimming today.  Surprise...maybe gained 2 pounds.  So, that inspired me to chill out on the food consumption, except I seem to be hungry ALL the time. 
When we were in Georgia we stopped at Magnolia Plantation (nuts, jams, candy etc) and bought a cookbook called Skinny Ms. Slow Cooker.  It has natural recipes for a healthy  lifestyle.  The recipes are easy and have indredients that we mostly have.  Tonight we are having Vegetable Lasagna.  If it's good, I will post it on the web site.

Weigh-IN

I refuse to weigh myself until Friday after I have gotten back on a schedule.  I know I did good overall in Florida because my clothes still fit.  But the last five days, I am sure I put on a pound a day!  We celebrated the last two nights in Florida by eating out; so right there you know you eat more.  The last night I ate GASP....bread at Salt Rock Grill and I soaked each bite in herbed oil!!!!  On the way home; I was so bored...it was NON-STOP eating.  It seemed I was always hungry!!!  Oh and the ARBY'S roast beef probably didn't help either.  How about splitting a key lime pie the second to last night or a mini dessert the last night?   I was even craving a SHAMROCK SHAKE yesterday.  UGHH....it's been years since I've had one of those. So I'll  say I will wait until I get REGULAR again AND on a NORMAL schedule before I weigh myself.  

Grapefruit

This is where we buy our grapefruit and sometimes our orange swirl ice cream cone.  Also very healthy!

                                                                  
There is nothing quite as delicious as a huge ruby red Florida grapefruit; trust me, I just had one this morning.  I don't think I'm supposed to have it because it reacts with one of my blood pressure medications-making it less effective.  But I sneak a few of the juicy fruit in.  When in Rome do as the Romans do.  I know it is good for you and I have heard it helps you lose weight.  Who knows, but it sure is good.

Salt

I know we are supposed to be the salt of the earth, but have you eaten in a restaurant lately?  We ate at Applebee's the other night and the tomato basil soup was so salty I couldn't eat it.  Then the seasoning on the fish was so spicy I could barely eat that.  An hour later, I had a headache.  I don't know what seasonings they use in restaurants, but I am getting very picky about where I go and what I eat.  They say no MSG but there are other forms of MSG that people don't know about.  We are supposed to have less than 1,000 mg a day of salt; I am sure a meal at most restaurants have over that for ONE meal.  I'm not whining here....just saying.....Do you know what I mean??

Animal Crackers

Animal crackers, and cocoa to drink,
That is the finest of suppers, I think;
When I'm grown up and can have what I
please
I think I shall always insist upon these.

What do your choose when you're offered a
treat?
When Mother says, "What would you like best to eat?"
Is it waffles and syrup, or cinnamon toast?
It's cocoa and animals that I love the most!

The kitchen's the cosiest place that I know:
The kettle is singing, the stove is aglow,
And there in the twilight how jolly to see
The cocoa and animals waiting for me.

Daddy and mother dine later in state,
With Mary to cook for them, Susan to wait;
But they don't have nearly as much fun as I
Who eat in the kitchen with Nurse standing by:
And Daddy once said he would like to be me
Having cocoa and animals once more for tea!
Christopher Morley  published in ONE HUNDRED BEST POEMS for BOYS AND GIRLS.  Compiled by Marjorie Barrows Copyright, 1930

I had some animal cookies today for tea; one of my favorite treats. 
Nutrition facts in one serving (17 crackers):
2g fat
100 mg sodium
25g total carbohydrate
Less than 1g dietary fiber
6 g sugar
2 g protein
No hydrogenated fats

Healthy Brownies?

                                                                      
I think the only thing healthy about these Brownies was the flax seed and whole wheat in them.  They had butter and oil, but then after I put the butter and oil in I saw the low fat recipe using applesauce.  I will make that next time.  I usally like Hodgkin Mills products.  These were very good and hard to resist.  Brownies is something you chip away at like a little mouse piece by piece.  The powered sugar was a nice touch.

Weigh-In

I've held my weight for another week which made me happy.  I really think exercise is a big factor in losing weight and also maintaining weight loss.  I am fortunate that I have found something I like and is easy for me to do.  Although getting up early and leaving in the dark and walking into rather coldish pool water takes all my will power. 
I am now keeping a food diary to track food and headaches.  I had heard that bananas are a trigger (I think I read it somewhere) so about 1/2 hour after I ate a banana this morning I got a headache.  I jotted it down.  Of course the MRI last night might play some part in today's headache, but I think food sensitivities are an issue.  Also I am going to try my hardest to stay away from wheat. 
God answered my prayers of yesterday in keeping the headache away so that wasn't an issue when I had the MRI.  The issue was CLAUSTROPHOBIA!!!!  This was the tightest MRI machine I have been in.  I guess they have several different kinds and this one was very narrow; casket-like.  I was praying the whole time and thinking about Florida.  Granted the prayer was more like "Jesus, Jesus, Lord help, me tolerate this so I can finish the test and get out of here."  He heard, He answered my prayers and those that I asked to pray for me.  Thank you Lord. 

Carbs

I'm eating way too many carbs today.  I will have to exercise them off tomorrow.  It's just a carb day.  Started out with wheat-free blueberry pancakes,(you would never know they didn't have wheat in them).  Then had a few slices of thin-crust pizza flat-bread (with wheat go figure!) for lunch with a salad and apple.  My pants are already feeling tight :(  I'm resisting the chocolate though, because it's a chocolate kind of day; rain, gray, cold, damp, and dreary. I don't need the chocolate right?
 Why is it I am so cold at night?  The minute it gets dark I start shivering and layering the clothes on.  This is the first year this has happened to me.  Right now I am drinking a lime La Croix sparkling water, that is quenching my thirst but making me colder.  I will probably have a steamer in a little while....more carbs..... and protein. 
Sometimes I can't avoid the wheat....but I haven't proved it makes me feel better or worse.  So I eat as little as possible when I can avoid it. 
Gotta run (I wish I could run).  Be healthy!

Migraine Headache Triggers

18% of women and 6% of men get Migraine headaches.  There are many triggers for these headaches that is why it is so hard to cure them.  The food triggers are cheese, chocolate, beer, and red wine.  External triggers can be odors including perfume, hunger, and dehydration.  Other things are the computer and TV screens especially the glare or flickering from them. Insomnia, tension, irritability and stress can also contribute.  I don't know here, I think the headaches cause tension and stress; sort of like a vicious circle. 
And then there is the weather, the barometer and the changes in them which can bring on a migraine. 
So I guess I need to stop the cheese and chocolate; it's all very complicated because when I am not getting headaches, most of these things don't bother me except maybe beer and red wine.  Ooops and better get off the computer; I think that's one of the major culprits for my headaches.

What's For Dinner?

This chicken stew looks very good.  I will bake it in the oven rather than use a frying pan and I will skip the flour coating.  The bisquits look good also-but more flour and carbs.  We will have the cooked pears in rum for dessert; we have to use the pears up.  I have an idea for a lo-carb apple dessert; will be posting that sometime this week.

Just A Little Treat.......................

                                                                         
Coming in at about 66 calories and 4 grams of fat and 8 grams of sugar and 9 carbs, this little lightweight is a once- in- awhile treat.  It's the limited edition Ghirardelli dark chocolate and strawberry squares.  Honestly, it tastes like a chocolate covered strawberry.  They give the stats for a serving which is 3, but I am telling you, one will satisfy your sweet tooth.  Give one a try; I bought mine at CVS.

Pizza and Pineapple Coconut Dessert

I sliced the pineapple, sprinkled some Rum extract and coconut sugar on it (less calories than regular sugar).  Then I sprinkled with unsweetened coconut and drizzled with a little Agave Syrup and baked it in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes. It was delicious  warm with a little whipped cream. Check out my sister's new cooking blog http://creativecookeryhealthfullyso.blogspot.com/  I think she made this tonight also to go with her barbecued chicken pizza.  The chef  here made veggie pizza tonight with a little pesto spread on the crust. We added a little basil (frozen from summer) and some fresh Rosemary from the plant in the garage.  All in all a great dinner tonight.

Agave syrup

Pineapple coconut dessert...will have to think of a catchy name for it. 

Add a little whipped cream; Voila!!!

                                                              

Back On Track

Four days.....four pounds.  Four days of swimming....and I'm back down to my "fighting" weight.  You had to be either highly disciplined or crazy to go swimming this morning when the temperature was four degrees; bitter cold!!  Especially since Donaldo has had a cold all week and I had to go MYSELF :( 
We just had a coffee break with our new snack; two dates stuffed with peanut butter.  Donaldo's mom used to make these and then dipped them in powdered sugar.  I skipped the powdered sugar.  Tonight for dessert, I am going to bake some pineapple with coconut which will toast the coconut quite nicely.  I might add a tad of rum for taste :)

Healthy Steamer

A steamer is a hot frothy milk usually with flavoring such as caramel or hazelnut and others.  I have been making one with turmeric which is a spice used in cooking but it also has immune properties.  I haven't had a cold in 2 years since I started taking it.  You can take turmeric in pill form, but this week I have been putting an 1/8th. of a tsp in my steamers.  I add a couple of shots of Divinci's sugar-free cinnamon flavoring-whip it up and add some real cinnamon on top; surprisingly good.  I even got the chef to drink some today. He agreed.

YUMMO!!!

On the cruise one night we had pork medallions which were delicious.  We guessed that they might be slices from a pork tenderloin.  We were right, as I found this recipe reading a magazine at the airport on Sunday. Give it a try and see what you think.

                            

Four Pounds

Four pounds goes on easier than four pounds coming off believe me.  Ad day of no sugar and no wheat should help, but it's hard cutting back after a week of feasting.  I exercised for an hour this morning at the pool; not because I forced myself, but because I was also exercising my mouth and forgot about the time.  The chef bought some pears to make baked pears with this week, so I have that treat to look forward to. 
We ate a lot of fruit on the cruise, but I know that fruit has sugar in it and as a pre-diabetic I shouldn't have too much of it.  It's just so hard when it's all so.....available.  So I will stop obsessing about my weight and just eat healthy. 

If You Eat A Pizza......

If you are going to eat pizza....make surer it is thin crust with lots of veggies and chicken.  Also make sure you have a salad with it.  The salad will help make you feel fuller faster and you won't eat as much pizza.  I, unfortunately did not have salad tonight with the left-over pizza from last night and I ate more pizza.  I know, I know, wheat 2 nights in a row, but sometimes you just gotta.....you know what I mean?
 Try to diet on a cruise-I bet it can't be done.  Lots of exercise would be in order here. 

Lo-Fat Steamer

Oh yum!  I am drinking one now.  3/4 cup lo-fat milk, 1/4 cut lo-fat eggnog and a dash or two of nutmeg.  Heat in microwave.  Whip with frother and enjoy. I am nice and warm and cozy now.

It's Out.....

of the house; the cookies and little treats.  I gained about 3 pounds between last Monday and this morning when I weighed in.  I have been swimming/walking in the pool every day except for Christmas day.  But when your tongue gets a taste of something sweet; it just wants more.  Your body seems to crave it.  It is so easy to slide back into eating oblivion.  I have a cruise to go on Sunday, so I have to be really careful this week; a cruise is one big food smorgasbord. let me tell you.  One has to have lots of restraint.  If one can just say "the pleasure of eating something only lasts for a minute or two; why jeopardize the whole diet?"  I know, easier said than done. It's all in the mind-set.  So set your mind against temptation and remember you are doing this for your health. 

A New Start

No matter what you ate or drank this weekend, you can start fresh tomorrow; a whole new day and new year to get healthy!  The cookies in our house are going to St. Louis and I will purge any other stuff unfit for good health.  Go fo rit and let me know how you are doing.