Saturday, August 15, 2009 by Dea.

A Mexican/South American dish, it’s typically fried tortilla pieces covered in a salsa stew.  I made this up after tasting it at a restaurant, and figured it was perfect for the crockpot.  This is a great use for leftover chicken and stale tortilla chips.  You can also use stale tortillas, which will cut down the calories/fat.

Crockpot Chicken Chilaquiles

• 1 lb chicken breast, cubed or shredded (this is approximate, I usually use leftover chicken from grilling or roasting)
• 2 - 24oz jars Salsa (I use Casa Mamita Thick and Chunky from Aldi - $1.49 a jar, can’t go wrong!)
• 24oz water (I fill the salsa jar with water)
• 5 servings stale tortilla chips (that’s about 100 chips)

Pour the salsa into your crockpot, then fill one salsa jar with water and pour into crockpot.  Stir in cubed or shredded chicken meat.  Set this to simmer on low for about 4 hours.  About 10 minutes before serving, hand-crumble the chips into the stew.  Stir, and serve.

This makes about 10 servings.  Each serving is 158 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, and .5 grams of fiber, based on basic white corn tortilla chip rounds from Aldi (99 cents a bag!).  You can increase your fiber using a whole grain chip.

We top this with a sprinkle of cheddar and sour cream.  It’s also delicious as a leftover.  I love that I’m getting my Mexican flavor in such a low calorie option.  Not to mention, if you use leftover chicken and the Aldi brands I mentioned, this costs $4 total.

Posted in Favorite Things, Deceptively Delicious, Money Saving Tips, Aldi, Healthy Eating | Print | 1 Comment »

Friday, August 14, 2009 by Becca.

Office culture can be hard on a gal who’s trying to live a healthy life!  For one thing, being stuck at a desk most of your day limits the activity you get.  You can counter this by walking to a coworkers office instead of emailing them or hand delivering paperwork instead of using interoffice mail.  One trick I use is to run something to the copier or fax as soon as it’s ready instead of “saving up” a few items to copy or fax.

Another hurdle to overcome at my office is resisting the “goodies”.  Almost every week, there is some type of baked good in our kitchen, which doubles as our copy and fax area, making it impossible for me to keep it out of sight.

I have a few strategies for dealing with this.  I have become the unofficial party planner in our office.  I’m the one who organizes the potlucks and ice cream socials. This works for me because it keeps me busy while everyone is eating at gatherings.  It also gives me the power to insist that people take leftovers home.

I also try to prepare myself if I know there will be a yummy treat nearby.  I try to  have some guilt-free treats of my own on hand.  Sometimes I even prefer these treats to their more fattening counterparts.  One of my favorite treats is berries mixed with fat free sugar free pudding.  Another is fat free cool whip on top of almost anything.  If I really want a piece of that danish on the kitchen counter, though, I just have a piece.  I enjoy it, I don’t beat myself up about my “slip”, and I move on to my next meal.

Posted in Tips and Tricks, Encouragement, Stress, Healthy Eating | Print | No Comments »

Friday, August 14, 2009 by Dea.

At Aldi, they have some amazing deals.  Unfortunately, sometimes they’re limited time offers.  This summer, they’ve had a different selection of Sundae Shoppe frozen treats each week.  All of them have been delicious.  This week, they have Swirl Stix (green box on the right).  They’re Italian Ice done up on a stick, like a popsicle.  It’s a box of 12 for $1.99.  The best part, though, is that they’re only 48 calories each!  No fat, no cholesterol.  They are very yummy, making them my favorite treat right now.  For a bare blip in my daily caloric intake, I get to eat Italian ice for dessert.  SWEET.  If you find them at your Aldi, grab a few!  They are, unfortunately, a limited time thing.  If you see other Sundae Shop items - check them out.  I’ve tried most of them, and they’re all very good.  Check the calories, though, because some are more than others.

Posted in Fabulous Finds, Favorite Things, Deceptively Delicious, Money Saving Tips, Aldi | Print | No Comments »

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 by Dea.

Women, overall, are very hard on themselves.  We expect perfection from ourselves in anything we do.  Be it at work, at home, or in the gym, we want to achieve everything at 100% success rates.  Is this realistic?  Not really.  But knowing that doesn’t mean we expect it any less.

I know that I will beat myself up for eating fast food, or too much candy.  Is that fair to do to myself?  I’m not sure.  It isn’t a question of whether I want the end result bad enough.  It’s more a question of whether or not I should expect myself to never eat anything that isn’t good for me.  Sometimes, a chocolate bar, or a small french fries, is good for you.

If I expect 100% healthy eating from myself, I set myself up for a huge letdown.  Basically, if I choose one thing “off course” then I might scrap the whole day, and give in to eating all junk, all day.  One small diversion from the path you’ve set out for yourself doesn’t ruin the entire day.  Or week.

It’s about the small victories.  Like when you go out to a restaurant, and choose to put half your order into a box and take it home BEFORE you start eating.  Or when you get up off the couch and go for a walk.  Each small improvement, every single minor change, adds up to a big difference.

So I keep this motto I learned at Jenny Craig foremost in my mind, so that I won’t expect the impossible, and I will celebrate the positive steps I make.  “Progress, not perfection.”  It’s a good thing to remember, because it helps you love every small positive, and let go of any negatives.  The more you celebrate, the healthier you live.

Posted in Encouragement, Success | Print | No Comments »

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 by Dea.

Hi, I’m Dea, and I am an emotional eater.  It’s one of those things that a lot of people do.  Bad day at work?  Stop and get a cheeseburger and a chocolate bar.  Fight with the spouse?  Raid the pantry.

I have come up with a few things I do to trick myself when I get the urge to eat out of emotional upset.  I’ll share a few, and I’d love to hear everyone else’s ideas!

One thing I do is clean the bathroom or the kitchen.  Bleach is an amazing appetite suppressant.  So is cleaning a toilet, really.  This is one I use more when angry than sad.  I turn the energy that anger brings into a positive force.

Another thing I do is yoga or strength training.  This is one that helps more when I’m sad.  Yoga is calming and it helps you refocus your mind and visualize positive things.  The endorphins released during exercise are an added bonus here.

I like to use spin class and taking a walk, as well.  All three of these things are more mundane.  I do have sillier things I do to try to break the emotional eating cycle.

I like to paint my fingernails when I have a really bad urge to eat.  Nail polish smells so bad, and takes so long to dry, that it can help head off a binge.  Another strange thing I do sometimes is put on music really loud and scream along with the song.  Music is an amazing therapist. There’s a song for every emotion.

Anyone else have tricks to use when the emotional eating urge hits?

Posted in Emotional Eating, Stress | Print | No Comments »

Monday, August 10, 2009 by Becca.

Fiber One’s newest food additions are awesome.  If you don’t already eat them, you definitely should try them.  Their chocolatey chewy bars are way better than a regular granola bar and actually satisfy my candy bar cravings.  I would suggest starting off slow, though, especially if your body isn’t used to a whole lot of fiber!

Recently Fiber One introduced single serve yogurts.  I’m not usually a huge fan of yogurt since it tends to be fairly high in sugar, but these are totally worth it.  Each cup of yogurt has 50 calories, 0 grams of fat, and 5 grams of fiber.  As my Weight Watchers friends know, this means they are 0 points.  That’s right, 0 points.  As if this wasn’t enough, they are available in Key Lime Pie flavor.  I stuck one in the freezer on a hunch and sure enough, it was yummy!  Fiber One yogurt may be a little pricey, but I definitely recommend you pick some up next time they are on sale!

Posted in Fabulous Finds, Favorite Things, Deceptively Delicious, Healthy Eating | Print | 1 Comment »

Monday, August 10, 2009 by Dea.

Can you sense my sarcasm?  In case you didn’t hear about it, Kelly Clarkson’s picture was photoshopped on the new September 2009 cover of Self Magazine.  There has been controversy and argument over the fact.

And yet, the only thing that surprises me is that people are surprised by it!  Is it that women across our country don’t realize that cover pictures on magazines are fake?  That there are entire departments at magazine offices devoted to photoshopping and airbrushing?  They do everything from smudging out blemishes to shaving off an entire butt!  Those figures you see and think are impossible to achieve?  THEY ARE.  No one, not a single woman in this country, actually looks like those pictures.

And yet, people buy these magazines, and take the advice, and starve, suck, shave, and staple their way toward an unachievable dream.  For what??  To give more money to an entire industry devoted to image?  Seems ridiculous.

Kelly Clarkson is lovely.  Yes, she has a butt.  Oh, the horror.  Why is it that magazine art directors assume we’re not able to see her butt in its normal size and think, wow, she’s beautiful?

The only way to fight back against this practice is to refuse to buy these magazines.  I think, for the sake of our own sanity, and the health and sanity of our daughters, we should all just stop buying into the hype.  Refuse to try to be some ridiculous, unattainable ideal.  I haven’t bought a magazine in five years.  I refuse.  I, for one, will not try to be something unhealthy and sickly looking.  I want to celebrate my body.

This doesn’t mean I don’t want to reach a healthy weight.  I just don’t agree that a healthy weight for a woman who is six feet tall is 155 pounds.  None of us should exchange health for a societal standard that is this warped.  Remember the hot, beautiful, sexy women of the 1950’s?  Marilyn Monroe was a normal sized woman.  She was not anorexic, nor was she a size 0.  And yet, she was perfect.

And so I say, let’s hear it for the normal, healthy female form.  Kudos to Kelly for staying herself - and shame on Self for airbrushing and photoshopping the cover woman for an issue that was supposed to be devoted to total body confidence.

Posted in Shame on Them, Body Image, Stress | Print | 1 Comment »

Saturday, August 8, 2009 by Dea.

We’ve all seen the commercials about Jared, and how he lost hundreds of pounds by eating Subway subs.  So are sandwiches really a miracle food?

In terms of getting all the right forms of energy, a well built sandwich can keep you going longer than a lot of other foods.  You’ll get quick energy from the carbs, as these break down the fastest.  Once these are wearing off, you’ll begin getting energy from the protein in your sandwich.  And don’t skip the fat - because once the protein energy is wearing off, the fats will kick in.

The important thing, as with all other foods we eat, is choosing the most bang for your buck, so to speak.  When choosing a bread or roll, look at the amount of fiber.  You want this number to be higher than 1, even better if it’s 4.  My favorite bread is Aunt Millie’s Healthy Goodness Fiber for Life Light Potato bread.  It’s only 35 cal per slice, and has 2g fiber per slice.

When choosing a protein, pick a lean meat.  There are also many varieties of deli meat.  I try to pick different types, such as honey, smoked, Italian, Barbecue, etc, so that I don’t get bored.  The added bonus of a flavor cured meat is that you will have more taste, without adding toppings and sauces that can add calories.

As for cheeses, this is a good way to get more flavor so that you can skip the spreads.  I found a wonderful Horseradish Cheddar from Dietz and Watson that is so flavorful that I need only one slice, and no mayo, to jazz up my sandwich.  I feel like I’m splurging, yet have fewer calories than before.   Try different flavors when you see them on sale, and don’t be afraid to experiment.  It’s amazing the variety they can now slice up for you in the deli.

I think Jared was on to something.  Sandwiches will help give you staying power throughout your day by giving you all the sources of energy needed to keep you going for hours.

Posted in Healthy Eating | Print | 1 Comment »

Friday, August 7, 2009 by Dea.

These are DELICIOUS.  Becca told me about Arnold Select Sandwich Thins about a week ago.  They have 100 calories, and 5 grams of fiber, and if you follow the Weight Watchers Points system, these are around 2 points.  I bought the 100% Whole Wheat and the Multigrain to try, and Becca swears by the Whole Grain White.  I love these.  I’ve had a sandwich on one, and toasted another for breakfast so far.  Think English-Muffin-Only-Better for the toasted one.  I’m thinking of trying them with burgers, as a base for a mini pizza, and for peanut butter and jelly toast.  Unlike a lot of whole wheat, high fiber bread products, these are moist.  They have a nutty flavor and stayed moist when toasted.  If you can find these, try them.  They’re a great way to add fiber to your diet.

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Thursday, August 6, 2009 by Dea.

There are days I feel bound to the scale.  A compulsion to step on and off repeatedly, and throughout the day, controls me.  Every blip, every fluctuation, is a reason to think, to do math, and to obsess.  I seem to do calculus to figure out what every item I’ve ingested weighs.  Water is a favorite, since 1 oz. of water in volume weighs 1 oz.  There I stand, thinking, “Well, I drank that big glass of water, so I can subtract three-quarters of a pound, since the glass is bigger than 8 oz.”

Why the urge to know what I weigh at any given moment in the day?  I can’t figure it out.  Does anyone else find themselves doing this?  All I know is that it is causing me to stress about the end result and stop focusing on the journey.

For the next week, I’m going to stay off the scale.  I once read that weight fluctuates every day as a result of daily diet and salt intake, how much exercise you got, and even the pull of the moon.  Maybe that last one is reaching, but it could be a valid point.  I’m going to put the scale away for a week.  I’m only going to weigh in at the same time of the day on the same day of the week.

I think the less I obsess, the less I’ll focus on the weight and the more I’ll focus on the way I feel.  After all, this isn’t just about the numbers.  It’s about how healthy I can become.

Posted in Stress, Weight Loss | Print | No Comments »