The ELFF Diet

A Seriously Addictive Treat

I love me some nuts.  I have to be careful with them, of course - both because one of my kids has a life threatening allergy and also because I have a very bad habit of eating the entire container.  Recently, I was asked to review Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds for my local newspaper.  I liked them SO MUCH - and so did my husband - that they have become a standard purchase in my household. Seriously.  We like them THAT much.

These roasted almonds are dusted wtih dark cocoa powder - and sucralose, which is not one of my favorite products.  But for these, I almost don't mind.  They are sold in an 11 ounce container, with a lid that portions out each one ounce serving - so you get the correct serving size AND NO MORE.  (well, unless you eat more than one serving.  Ahem.)

The flavor is just sweet enough to feel as if you are eating a treat, but you definitely get a great nut flavor as well.  I keep them in my car for the late afternoon munchies that always seem to sneak up on me while waiting for carpool.

Vivanno - Great Idea, or Great Drink?

I tried the Orange Mango Vivanno protein drink from Starbucks.  I have to say that I love Orange and Mango, and drink protein smoothies quite often.  So I had high hopes for the drink.  I bought a full sized Orange Mango and had a sample size of the Banana Chocolate.

Both drinks have a good concept.  The Orange Mango contains a whole banana, orange mango Naked Juice, 6 grams of fiber and 16 grams of protein.  There are 250 calories and 2 grams of fat.  The numbers look good; but how's the taste?

Actually, pretty good.  It was smooth and silky, with a surprisingly light taste.  I really couldn't distinguish a certain orange, banana or mango flavor, but the combination was successful, in my book.  There is an option to add Matcha tea.  The only draw back to me is that with 32 grams of sugar, it's pretty high, although I know most of that is from the fruit juice.  Adding the Matcha ratchets the sugar grams to 42.  For a once in a while treat, it's pretty good.  It sounds virtuous, and filled me up.

The Banana Chocolate contains a whole banana, bittersweet chocolate,  270 calories, 5 grams of fat, 6 grams of fiber and 21 grams of protein.  I like higher protein drinks, so I was psyched to try this one.  The taste was a bit off to me - nothing major, but it didn't cry out "Please drink me!"  With 28 grams of sugar, it was pretty sweet.  I think if I was to try this drink again, I'd use the option to add a shot of espresso to it, to balance out the sweetness.

I have a coupon for a free Vivanno.  If you'd like it, please leave a comment and I'll draw a random number for a winner. 

Overall, a fair drink.  In a pinch, a good choice for breakfast or a filling snack.

80/20

I heard something on The Biggest Loser that had me thinking.  Bob said that all of the contestants are allowed a cheat day the day after the weigh in, in order to avoid feeling deprived and to keep them on target.

I follow the 80/20 philosophy - healthy food and good choices 80% of the time and slack off 20%.  It seems to work for me.

What's your philosophy?

Portion Distortion

The sad truth of the matter is, most of us eat too much.  And we can lay that, in large part, to portion sizes.

Eating the correct amount of the correct foods is still one of the hardest struggles that I face.  Still, to this day, and I think it will always be my nemesis.  I have a tendency, when something tastes yummy, to go back for seconds - even if I am not hungry.  It just.tastes.good.  (Hmm, that's not so much a portion control struggle as a self control issue, huh?)

One of the most eye opening exercises I ever did was to pour a bowl of cereal - I did the first bowl exactly the way I always had - just poured it to the top.  Before I added milk, I measured how much cereal I'd poured, and it was a whopping four times the suggested serving size.  I then poured out a correctly measured portion.  And every morning, when I poured out that cereal...

I thought I'd starve.

But slowly, slowly, that smaller, true portion BECAME my normal. The same thing happened when I measured even healthy foods like chicken breast, broccoli, whole wheat bread - whatever it is, no matter how healthy the food is, you can overeat the portion size and it will, no, WILL, impede your weight loss efforts, or cause you to gain. 

I will grant you that it is MUCH harder to eat a too large portion of broccoli/carrots/apples - they are lighter calorie foods with larger amounts of fiber, which will fill you more quickly than, say, a chocolate cake.  You can still find it hard to maintain a healthy weight if your portion sizes for your meals are too big. 

Oatmeal before, and Oatmeal after

Three years ago, if you had offered me a bowl of oatmeal, I'd probably have turned up my nose.  I didn't like it, terming it "gelatinous mush".  If I DID deign to eat it, I'd heavily doctor it with about 1/4 cup of real butter, a couple of heaping spoons of brown sugar, some cinnamon, and then I'd drown the entire thing in either half and half or heavy cream. 

Today, the thought of that much fat and sugar is enough to send me into a coma.

I have had oatmeal daily for two weeks, voluntarily.  Plain Irish oatmeal, topped with a handful of fresh blueberries and another handful of dried fruit mixture - cherries, cranberries, golden raisins and dates.

Is there a dish that you've made over, or completely recreated to make it more healthy for you?  Are you stunned, as I am, that you find yourself looking FORWARD to the healthier version, more so than the unhealthy?

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Yeah, yeah, you always hear that.  You might even say it yourself.  But do you actually EAT breakfast?

I was never a breakfast eater when I was heavy.  I thought that I could save those calories and use them to splurge later in the day.  My first meal of the day was often just coffee - a venti white mocha, so hardly FOOD, although over 600 calories.  I was never really hungry first thing in the morning, anyway, I think because I was still full from gorging myself the previous evening.  By the time 10:00 rolled around, I think I could have eaten the paint off the walls.

Slowly, breakfast became more important and now I wouldn't start my day without it. Oatmeal mixed with a bit of pumpkin butter and a graham cracker, a whole wheat/dried fruit muffin with iced coffee (low fat half and half), granola topped with fruit, a graham cracker with peanut butter and an apple, cereal with less than five grams of sugar, a protein bar, egg beaters with veggies - even a Lean Cuisine breakfast pocket, if I'm REALLY in a hurry with a banana or grapes.  I've even been known to layer granola and yogurt and fruit, if I've got the time.

"Eating breakfast jump-starts your metabolism," says Elisabetta Politi, RD, MPH, nutrition manager for the Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical School. "When you don't eat breakfast, you're actually fasting for 15 to 20 hours, so you're not producing the enzymes needed to metabolize fat to lose weight."  Many former-non-breakfast-eaters find that once they add breakfast to their regime, they lose their afternoon slump and have more control over sugar cravings later in the day.  Eating breakfast gives your body the opportunity to get your metabolism going, to begin fueling your day and to keep the blood sugar roller coaster in check.  In addition, studies show that eating breakfast helps to improve strength and endurance in the late morning, and helps to improve attitudes toward school and work.

A better mood?  We can all use that!  So eat breakfast already!

Fiber is your Friend

It's a fact:  Daily, we all need 25 grams of fiber - most Americans get 7.  SEVEN, people.  Seven is nowhere near 25 - not even close enough to pretend.

Mel said it best:  Eating foods higher in fiber keeps my blood sugar stable and hunger pangs at bay.  What kinds of foods can you eat to increase your fiber-intake?  Check out this article with its chart at the bottom.    And also?  Eating enough fiber may also prevent you from developing Diverticulitis, which is a disease that almost one-third of Americans over age 50 have. 

The fact is, if you eat more fiber, even in the form of psyllium - commonly known to us as Metamucil - you'll eat less.  The fiber fills your tummy, takes longer to leave, and takes some friends with it  - 'nuff said about that one.  If you worry about getting enough fiber, you can try a product like Fibersure, an offshoot of the Metamucil stuff.   I wasn't really keen on trying it - my grandparents drank the stuff, for heaven sakes, and I can vividly remember my mother giving me a glass of it to drink as a teen.  It had to be downed within a minute or it became a gluey, gelatinous mess.  Yuummmmm-y. Not.

But this product is 21st century and cool enough that it can be tolerated.  One heaping teaspoon, mixed into any drink, adds 5 grams of fiber.  It can be added to baked goods, really just about anything you can eat or drink.  I draw the line at adding it to coffee, though - even if I can't taste it, I know it's there and NO ONE messes with my coffee.  I've been having a soy smoothie each night, made from 1 cup chocolate soy milk, 8 strawberries, 1/2 banana and a teaspoon of fibersure and a scoop of protein powder.  I've also had vanilla almond milk and peaches, with fibersure and soy protein.  Both are pretty good.

Of course, you can always get your fiber the regular way - with plenty of fruits and vegetables.  We should all eat more of those, but in a pinch or as a daily additive, I think you could find that the fibersure will make a big difference.

No Pudge Brownies

Low fat/no fat brownies - sounds too good to be true, right?  That's what I thought when I saw the box of No Pudge brownie mix on the shelf at the store.  How in the world could you make rich, thick, fudgy brownies with no fat?  I've tried many different recipes for low fat brownies, and I'm always disappointed.  See, when I make brownies, the recipe calls for 2 cups sugar, 2 cups brown sugar, 6 eggs, and 3 sticks butter.  Nothing low fat about THAT recipe.  Seriously, those are my favorite brownies, and nothing else comes close, so I typically just don't make them.

I bought a box to try out.  The label said that the only ingredient to add was 2/3 cup fat free vanilla yogurt.  I was skeptical, but started stirring.  The batter was extra thick, but it finally mixed in.  I stuck a finger in - delish!  It was deep, dark fudgy goodness.  I baked them the required time, and by the time they were done, I was ready to take a bite out of the wall. I could hardly wait until they were cool enough to eat. 

Verdict?  Delicious.  Deeply chocolate, very little fat but a plethora of taste.  I'd highly recommend buying these, and I'll certainly buy them again.  They come in Original, Cappuccino, Mint Fudge and Raspberry, but the original was so yummy that I'll stick with that version. 

Have you bought these?  Did you like them?

Holiday Treats

The one thing I hate about winter is the cold.  Cold weather makes me want to climb into bed, pull up the covers and nap.  I crave thick soups, hot bread with butter, coffee with buttered rum.  The last thing I want to do is put on my running shoes and get out there.  I can certainly see why people put on weight this time of year.  After all, one of the things I used to love about winter was the holiday treats. Pumpkin Spice Lattes, boxes of candies, peppermint in everything .  Especially these.

I've never had these before.  I'm not a huge fan of Oreos and the like, so I never bothered to purchase the Trader Joe's version.  While at Trader Joe's today, I saw the display and remembered that I had seen these cookies praised on various other blogs.  So, on a whim, I picked up three boxes, thinking that I'd eat a few and give the other boxes as gifts.

Oh, hells, no.  The peppermint oreos in the other two boxes are going in my deep freeze.  They have to, because I'm NOT getting rid of them and I've already eaten far too many today.  Seriously, I can usually take or leave cookies, but these are giving me a fit.

Temptation is everywhere this month.  What can a girl do?

Who wants to join me in a run tomorrow morning?  That's one thing right there - keep up the daily exercise.  More calories out will allow for a few splurges here and there. 

One or two cookies - not a sleeve. 

Sigh.  Tomorrow is another day.  A day the cookies will NOT win. 

Strategies For The Big Day

Thanksgiving day.

Duh-duh, DUH! 

It's one of my favorite holidays.  No presents to buy, no costumes to procure, no eggs to dye.  Just sit and eat until you burst, lay around watching football, and then have a snack or twelve, followed by a nap.

Uh, no.  Not for you, not for me.  So how can we make it through one of the best (and biggest) meals that you will face all year?  Try these tips:

• Take a walk first thing in the morning.  Getting out there recommits you to your healthy lifestyle and reminds you that today isn't a free for all.
• Snack on a salad, baby carrots or other raw veggies, a piece of fruit, or a small bowl of soup about an hour before the start of the meal.  That way, you aren't ravenous - the edge of your hunger is gone, leaving you more relaxed to make healthy choices. 
• Have two splurges.  If Aunt Janice makes the best rolls, but you really don't crave marshmallow topped sweet potatoes, choose the roll - not both.  Figure out which food is the more rare - which one you have to wait all year to eat - and choose that over the mundane.
• Use a smaller plate. 
• Commit to one plate full of food, with at least half of that plate devoted to vegetables and fruits.
• Choose your beverages wisely.  For every glass of wine, have a glass of water after. 
• After dinner, stack the dishes, run some water over them, and let them sit for an hour while you go outside.  Take a walk, play frisbee, toss the football, kick the soccer ball. This serves two purposes - you get some exercise and the dishes aren't so difficult to clean.
• Pack up all the leftovers and send them home with your company.

Enjoy your day!  Spend the time wisely, visiting with your family and not burying your face in the mashed potatoes.  It is one day, one meal - don't give it so much weight in your life and on your scale the next day.