Heat wave....

Honey, we are sufferin' from a heat wave of monumental proportions!! Exercise has reached a different dimension--these exercises are guaranteed to cause you to break a sweat in no time!

1. Stand outside
2. Walk to the car
3. Walk from the car to a store
4. Walk around in the store
5. Walk from a store to the car

All this heat certainly curbs the appetite also....gad, all that food just heats up the body....and when temperatures have consistently been 100+ for the past 2 weeks, one starts thinking about ways to keep cool....well, let me rephrase that....one starts thinking of ways to be less hot...

Cool Foods

• Jello
• Salad
• Melons
• Ice cream
• Pudding
• Berries
• Lemonade
• Yogurt

....and, of course, wearing as few clothes as possible!

So I'm heading south....to Galveston on Tuesday....and meet up with Tropical Storm Eduoard!

Fighting the snack demons....

They say confession is good for the soul......so.....ok....

I confess that two things have contributed to my screeching halt in weight-loss: 4 snacks and lack of exercise.

I confess that these snacks are the temptations I've given in to lately:

1. Special K Protein Meal Bar (Chocolate Peanut Butter)---has 10 g. of protein, which was the big draw initially....plus it is peanut butter and chocolate flavor. One bar has 180 calories. I was NOT eating it as a meal, but as a snack or dessert (or carrying one in case I became faint with hunger).....then I started eating two a day!!!!!
2. Multi Grain Crisps (Sea Salt)---this was the replacement for the soy crisps that I loved, and I NEEDED something crunchy/salty!!! About 18 of them have 120 calories---and there are 3.5 servings in a bag.....more than once I've sat down an eaten a whole bag!!!!!
3. Russell Stover Sugar Free Caramel Drops....sugar-free...chocolate....caramel....what's the harm?? The harm is that I've also eaten a whole bag of these on several occassions!! With 2 servings per bag that came to about 320 calories!
4. Pringle's Baked Wheat Stix (Honey Butter)---these are a new product---one of the many pre-packaged 100 calorie servings that are hot on the market now. These are so darn good!! They have a hint of salt and there are actually quite a few in the bags. The problem is that I started eating 2 of these a day!!

I've worked really hard this past week to get a handle on these snacks....

1. I've cut back to one protein bar a day....and added organic vanilla yogurt with fresh blueberries and oat granola
2. I'm only eating the sea salt crips with hummus or my special guacamole---and not every day
3. I've quit buying the chocolate caramel drops---and bought sugar-free tiny Reese's Cups. I'll really only eat one of those at a time....and not even every day. I even forget that I have them sometimes!....and added back my low-fat cottage cheese and black cherry jello snack.
4. I've cut back to just one back of these per day.

I admit it....I'm a carb addict.....I suspect I'm not alone :)....and it can be a difficult demon to fight...

so....I made a pan of roasted veggies with shrimp today. Yummy!

No cheating...

I think I just passed my first test! I was in Reno from last Wednesday night with no fridge (to keep milk, jello, cottage cheese---lo-cal snacky things) through Sunday, and, I must say, that it was very easy to continue eating well even eating out.

We split all of our meals out....and had more than one discussion about portion sizes served at restaurants. We ate breakfast at IHop where we ordered a spinach/mushroom omelet to share. When it arrived, we thought they'd confused the order because they brought us two omelets. Turns out that the cook had just prepared us two smaller (which were the size an individual should have) ones in place of the one large one. We split a grilled salmon and steamed broccoli dinner with an appetizer of a lobster "martini" (lord, that was soooo good! I'm going to duplicate the recipe and post it.) at Red Lobster. We split a shrimp and asparagus risotto at Olive Garden. Ok...I'll confess....I did cheat just a tiny bit....could you have resisted those cheesy garlic biscuits at Red Lobster? I didn't think so. Well, neither could I!

I took protein powder and string cheese with me and picked up some protein and soy bars, but I honestly didn't really need them. Actually, I probably did, but considering our "schedule" or lack of, I think I actually lost weight while there! Lots of walking and healthy food. Our last night there, we ate at an all you can eat sushi bar! My first time...ummm...it was absolutely beyond yummy! I stuck to smoked salmon and shrimp (all cooked stuff)---the rolls are to die for---wonder how far I'd have to drive from Bonham to find a sushi bar? lol

Kari and I had a wonderful two days together and then to finish the week out, Warren flew in Friday night. Esther flew in Friday night, too. We had even more fun with four of us! Kari, Esther, and I did our presentation at AASL Saturday and it went much better than we even expected (we presented a session about preparing a library for the future if you have one that needs clean-up, weeding, and/or organization) considering that we did what we usually do---tapped danced our way through it without a lot of prep. But hey, they keep accepting the proposals that are submitted, so we must be doing something right! lol The next conference (only held every 2 years) will be in Charlotte, NC.

Addictive behavior...

I hadn't seriously considered myself as having an addictive behavior, but it is true. And strangely enough, I've been cautioned twice by total strangers to beware of becoming addicted to alcohol after having lapband surgery (*rolling my eyes* Do I look like I've been drinking...or just that I need a drink??)!! This is because food addicts tend to replace one addict with another. Having been on meds for years and also being fully aware of the dangers of alcoholism, I've never considered that being a temptation for me.

However, I must confess that the addictive behavior reared its ugly head during the past week and a half.....and it was over the soy/rice crackers!!! I found myself craving them! I wanted to eat the whole bag!!!! And on more than one occasion I ate half the bag!! This was quite unsettling for me to deal with. Maybe I'm really a carb addict instead of a sugar addict. Seriously...I think I'm going to have to give them up!! Crunchy, salty things.....

Someone suggested that exercise might be something I considered becoming addicted to. I hadn't planned on joining Curves until after the 6 wk. period was up and I'd had my check-up, but I guess you noticed that I hurried on down to Curves this weekend and joined up! If I'm going to have an addition, at least it should be a healthy one!

Things I've discovered...

1. String cheese does not melt.

2. No matter what anyone says, I haven't found a ready-to-drink low-sugar protein shake (yet) that actually tastes good...I even "doctored" one up this morning (white chocolate strawberry flavor)...added 2 spoonfuls of crushed pineapple, 1/4 c. low-fat ricotta cheese, 1 t. vanilla, 1/2 t. Splenda....ugh! Drank about 1/3 of it...threw it out...and made an egg beaters omelet with green onion, mushrooms, low-fat mozerella, and Canadian bacon--all "legal" stuff that I can have.

3. It it so hard to NOT drink something with a meal....I realized in advance this would be a big struggle for me....like right now....it seems so wrong to not have a glass of o.j. with my breakfast!

4. I'm loving having 1/2 c. of watermelon as a snack almost daily.

5. They make a sugar-free Oreo---why? lol

6. Jello and small-curd cottage cheese can be quite filling...I take it for a snack at school.

7. My energy level has really shot up...I can tell a tremendous difference on the job....thank goodness! I hated that lethargic feeling, not being able to bend over, the mental sluggishness.

8. It i$ expen$ive to completely re$tock your cabinet$, fridge, and freezer!!!

9. I'm sleeping much better and feeling rested when I get up.

10. Rice or soy chips/crackers really taste good! I'll have to be careful that I eat only the recommened serving size! They really satisfy that crunchy, salty craving I get once in a while. They're also good to use with dips like hummus, guacamole, or bean dip.