I hate to brag…BUT (hehe) I totally pulled a Wayne Dyer and used the power of intention to make something materialize. Yep. On the way to Costco I was like “man, all I want Costco to start selling is almond milk!”

And then…*cue cinematic music* as I was strolling through the coffee and beverage aisle, I saw IT there beckoning like a fountain of water in a desert mirage – but IT was real!
This is IT!
Costco is really now selling Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze Almond Milk! Weee! $8.79 for a 6-pack-carton (32 oz per carton), that’s only $1.47/each!

I shall now try my mind powers to make a vegan cheesecake materialize…

…

…

d’oh!

At least I got the almond milk! Check out more of the cool vegetarian and vegan items available at Costco here.

I’ve gotten quite a few emails recently from new readers (very exciting!) and a few of them are new vegans, so I thought I’d compile a chart that compares non-dairy milk options so that they (you?) might be encouraged to try different ones or simply choose the one(s) that fits their needs most.

Comparison of 8oz of unsweetened original non-dairy milks

Cool, eh? My favorite, hands down, is almond milk, obviously

Good Reads/Videos

• How befitting — read about coconut milk in the LA Times [here]
• “Masters of Disguise Among Meatless Burgers” in the NY Times 3/23/11 [here]
• The truth about factory farms in Florida and Iowa via Civil Eats [here]
• “Washington Burger” on YouTube – what happens when food and water safety budgets are cut? [here]
• Vegans and omnivores uniting against animal factories via Grist.org [here]

If you’re itching to try a new recipe with a non-dairy milk, may I suggest a green monster with almond milk?
…Does a body good!

<3,

The Cranky One

I got a couple requests for a sample vegan meal plan, so I’ve compiled one, below, and also provided some resources should any of you be interested in creating your own meal plans.

First, here’s a picture of the vegan “food pyramid”:
[source: Busy Vegan]

As with any food pyramid, the approach is not set in stone — it’s all about what works for the individual. So, I’ve seen other vegan food pyramids that differentiate carbs from grains versus carbs from vegetables, etc., but I like this one most and seem to feel best when I eat in a similar fashion. Honestly, though, I do not spend my time making sure my meals fit this recommendation! (In fact, some days my pyramid looks like one big pita enveloped in hummus topped off with coffee!). I am simply using this image to serve as a guide to how most vegans should eat most of the time. Curious to see a vegetarian food pyramid? See here.

A typical day for me can look as follows. Lately, I’ve noticed my calorie intake ranging from 1600-2500 calories/day depending on level of exercise and other random variables. This day compiled below comes in at 1800 calories and also happens to fit in the daily recommended percentage of iron (based on a 2000 calorie diet). You’ll also notice I get more than the recommended 49 grams/protein day for my weight.

[view larger here]

One thing I need to learn more about is B vitamins and omega 3s. I am still not convinced that taking a multivitamin is the right thing for me, yet I have not done adequate research (and preparation) to ensure I do get all the necessary vitamins and minerals from my diet alone. That’s to come!

Resources

• Vegan Meal Plans, 1800 calories/day & 2300 calories/day options by Vegan Outreach here
• Mama Pea’s “Pealightful Meal Plans” – A vegan weight-loss approach & grocery guide here
• Vegan Kickstart – A 21-Day Vegan Meal Plan that begins in April. Sign up to receive recipe emails now here.
• “Fooducate” – An excellent blog that’ll ease you into becoming a more conscious food consumer here
• How to be Cognizant of Calories, how to ensure you’re eating the right ones and why you should focus on eating unprocessed foods rather than on calories alone (or on “dieting”)
• How to be Cognizant of Portions
• How to Get Enough Protein as a Vegan
• How to Maintain Weight-Loss Long Term
• What do Vegans Eat?
• How to Make Healthier Substitutions When Cooking
• How to Read a Nutrition Label
• Finding vegan food at Trader Joe’s, Costco & Target

Have any of you ever written down your entire day’s worth of food and analyzed where you might improve? What did you find? If you guys are vegan, how does my typical day compare to yours?

<3,

The Cranky One

Udon Soup. Oh yea.

I recently found these organic & vegan O’Hana House Udon Noodles at Costco:

An excellent find! $5.49 for six individual packs. These are amazing because a) they’re delicious, b) they’re fully cooked and just need to be heated up, and c) they give me endless recipe possibilities. I’ve been fixed on making soup with them, but that’s totally underutilizing their potential. I see pestos, salads and more in the future with these babies.

Nutritional Info., 1/2 individual package: 120 calories, 0g fat, 235mg sodium, 1g fiber, 3g protein
Ingredients: water, organic wheat flour, organic tapioca starch, sea salt, lactic acid

Talk about an easy three ingredient meal — grab the noodles + your fave vegetable broth…

(I’d recommend not using Swanson’s since they use high fructose corn syrup in their vegetable broth…)

Add your fave veggies….

Simmer. Add your fave spices &/or sauces to the broth (I add shoyu + salt + pepper) and voila! A low-cal, low-fat, vegan feast!

See other recent Costco finds here.

What’s your quickest 3-ingredient meal? Ever had udon noodles?

In other news, I’ve received a response from Claim Jumper on their suggestions for eating vegan at their restaurant – check it out here.

<3.

The Cranky One

Hey guys!

I wanted to drop by and share some vegan Costco finds with you:

Alexia Sweet Potato Fries

Mareblu Naturals Variety Trail Mix Crunch Bars (BlueCran Pomegranate, Mango Pomegranate & Strawberry Pomegranate — 18 bars, $11.89 ($0.66/each)

Great bars — 180 calories/each

Falafel Republic $9.89

Delicious falafel balls. Have three for 240 calories, 7g fat

Don Lee Farms Veggie Patties $9.69

I love these vegan veggie burgers. 170 calories each.

Crunchmaster Multigrain Crackers

These crackers are AMAZING! I can’t describe how nutty and crunchy they are! You can have 15 cracker for 140 calories and 5g fat — damn good!

Bob’s Red Mill Quinoa — 64 oz., $9.89

Village Harvest Brown Rice — Frozen. 3.5lb. — $6.99

Bybee Foods Organic Harvest Foursome — $5.89

Sabra Hummus — Original, 16 2-oz singles (140 calories, 12g fat/each) — $6.99

Mary’s Gone Crackers

Additional items to check out:

• Breads and pitas (Some Costco’s carry my favorite pita: Western Bagel Co.’s Alternative Pitas); watch the breads b/c a lot of the brands, including, Milton’s have honey (some vegans don’t eat honey, but I do on occasion); Costco recently started carrying Alpine Valley bread and it is AMAZEBALLS
• Beans (Vegetarian refried, black, garbanzo, kidney)
• Cereals- hot and cold – including Kashi, Coach’s Oats and Nature’s Path
• Chips, crackers (including Kashi Heart to Heart, Sun Chips, Kettle Chips, Stacy’s Pita Chips, Triscuits, Wheat Thins & Food Should Taste Good) and seaweed snacks
• Coffee (Now carrying Starbuck’s Via Ready Pack, Medium Colombian 24-instant pack, $15.99) & tea
• Desserts that are vegan, such as Toffutti ice cream bars
• Milks — such as soy milk, rice milk, and Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (almond milk!)
• Nut butters including Kirkland-brand organic peanut butter (and some Costco’s even offer Maranatha Almond Butter, though not mine…boo!)
• Olive and vegetable oils; Pam cooking spray
• Pastas, including whole-wheat and udon noodles
• Pasta sauces, tomato sauces, pesto
• Produce – fresh, frozen and dried (notice — organic options are usually only available if frozen, though they do offer refrigerated, sliced & packaged organic apples). They offer two items from the cool brand Village Harvest at my Costco, including the frozen brown rice pictured above, and a whole grain mix with dried cranberries & almonds. They also offer a bucket of dates without preservatives for the cheapest I’ve seen (find ‘em in the granola bar section).
• Snack Bars & Snacks (including 180 Snacks (vegan + gluten-free + kosher),) Clif Bars, Bare Fruit & Everybody’s Nuts Pistachios)
• Shampoo and conditioner! Yep, I’ve recently noticed that Kirkland (Costco’s brand) is offering shampoo and conditioner that is both vegan and paraben-free. Sweet!
• Sweeteners (natural), including maple syrup & agave
• Tofu

If you don’t have a Costco card, you can always find a friend who does! I end up freezing a lot of these goodies since I’m the only one who eats them, but that’s no biggie to me! The thing about Costco, though, is that sometimes you fall in love with an item and next thing you know *poof* they’ve stopped carrying it and never do again! Gah! That happened to me and my beloved Western Bagel Co. Alternative Pitas. I also know that products vary from Costco to Costco as I’ve seen other bloggers get Maranatha Almond Butter (!) at their Costco and all they carry at mine in terms of nut butters are Skippy and Kirkland brands. Lame.

Do you guys buy in bulk or shop at Costco? Ever fall in love with a product and then find your store’s stopped carrying it?! What are you favorite finds?

Dude, I think my mom is getting younger! She is always smiling, dancing, singing and goofing off. Her beautiful accented voice charms everyone — and we all can’t help but laugh at her occasional malapropisms.

We celebrated on Sunday, the day I came back to CA, with a family dinner. I made chicken and cheese enchiladas for the carnivores, and vegan sweet potato enchiladas for myself and anyone willing to try something new.  It was my first time using the enchilada sauce from Trader Joe’s (I think it’s a new item). It was delicious and tastes very much like the typical red enchilada sauce I’m accustomed to using, however, it has about twice as many calories.

The best part? This vegan chocolate cake with vegan “butter cream” frosting…

Cake recipe found here and frosting recipe found here. This cake was *so* good that I couldn’t help screaming at it in an accusatory voice, “Are you kidding me?!?!”  Don’t tell me I’m the only one whose yelled at a dessert…. :/

There was obvs too much frosting, but I decided to drench the cake in it (mmmmm). I then stuck it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. When served, the cake tasted like an Oreo ice cream cake, no doubt. Clocking in at about 500 calories for a piece of cake with frosting, it’s certainly a decadent recipe, but not something I’d make outside of special occasions.

Food News

• Is Kombucha really a magical tea? Read here. Muy interesante!
• Justins Nut Butter is coming out with new flavors, including Organic Chocolate Peanut, All-natural Chocolate Almond and All-natural Chocolate Hazelnut! These flavors will be available “soon” at Whole Foods. I don’t know when “soon” is, but it doesn’t seem soon enough. (News via Justin Nut Butter e-newsletter dated 1/12/10).
• Vitatops are going to be available, for a limited time, at Costco warehouses in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona. I haven’t been able to confirm this myself (News via Hungry Girl here).
• Applebees and Dunkin Donuts have introduced (or continue to introduce) healthier options. Click here for more info. on Applebees and here for Dunkin Donuts. Just don’t pull a Taco Bell and tell me you’re on the Dunkin Donuts or Applebee’s diet ‘cuz I’ll have to smack you. Thanks.
• Dave’s Killer Bread Sin Dawg variety is now available at Fred Meyer Nutrition Centers in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho,

<3,

The Cranky One

So I was strolling through Costco yesterday (it was another wild and crazy Friday night in the duet that is my boyf and me) and I was grabbing the usual things (i.e. my drug of choice Alternative Pitas, Tribe Hummus, Oroweat Double Fiber Bread) when I heard a word belted across the aisle that hit me like Cupid’s arrow right in the gut.  I halted as my heart beat wildly with anticipation and I asked, “She didn’t say Nutella, did she?”

[source]

Sure enough…there was a Costco attendant giving samples of that chocolate hazelnut spread that conjures images of quaint European towns and makes me salivate like Pavlov’s dog.

Even though I knew what it tasted like (heaven, by the way) and knew I wouldn’t by it (you’re delusional if you think I could control myself with a jar of that), I had a sample of it — a generous dollop on a graham cracker.  I cried a little inside and moved on.  The boyf looked confused when I said I loved it but wouldn’t buy it.  I don’t think he understands that Nutella and I have one of those romances where the saying, “if you love something, set it free” couldn’t be any more apt.

In other news, I’m off to celebrate my cousin’s birthday on a yacht tonight.  Fancy schmancy, eh?  I’m feelin’ a little trepidation thinking about the food options…We’ll see!

What are you guys up to today?  Have you tried Nutella?  What is a food you just don’t trust yourself around?

And in HEAB fashion, I’ll leave you with a quote from the boyf:

“I dreamt you were a prostitute selling your body at a music hall before we met.”

How….sweet?….

<3, The Cranky One

p.s. Enter to win a case of Nutella here!

A Fruit is Just a Fruit, Right?

Photo from Travelinfoo55 on Flickr here

Battle of the (Wallet) Bulge

How do your grocery stores match up?

I’ve typically bought most of my produce from Costco because I eat so much of it and was under the impression I was getting the best price.  If you see the above chart, my local ethnic grocery store consistently offers substantially lower prices than Costco.  Costco, however, consistently offers lower prices than Albertson’s. For instance, for a bag of carrots, I would save $2.00 a bag if I bought them from my local ethnic grocery store instead of Albertson’s.  Additionally, for gala apples, I would save almost a dollar per pound at my ethnic grocery store in comparison to Albertson’s.

My Money-Saving Tips

• Make a list of your staples (the foods you consistently buy) and a spreadsheet like I did above. Compare prices between at least three grocery stores and even check out your local farmers’ market! I know this is a time commitment, but I think it’s worth it.  Consider calling a friend who shops at a different market than you do and ask him or her to take note of the prices for you.  Be resourceful to save time and money!
• If you buy processed foods, particularly those marketed as health foods that you can only find at health food stores, consider buying them in bulk from amazon.com’s grocery section here, or Healthy Snacks Direct here.
• Don’t knock coupons!  Take one day a week to scour newspapers and the web for good deals and coupons.  Consider splitting the job with a friend, or swapping coupons.  Find coupons for grocery stores here, as well.
• Sign up for e-mail newsletters from your favorite stores (sign up for Whole Foods’ here) and products to stay on top of sales, score coupons and occasionally be let in on a sale before everyone else!

A note about organics:  If buying organic produce is important to you, consider the following “dirty dozen” fruits and vegetables that have been found to have the highest levels of pesticide residues.  These are the produce items to consider shelling out extra dough for:

• Apples
• Cherries
• Grapes, imported
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Pears
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Bell peppers
• Celery
• Potatoes
• Spinach
• Source: organic.org

A note about ethnic grocery stores (based on the store I frequent)

• Do not sell organic options
• Do not sell whole-wheat pastas or breads
• Offer lots of cool spices and seasonings you wouldn’t typically find elsewhere
• Offer some cool produce options like chayote and nopales that you wouldn’t typically find elsewhere

A General Note About Grocery Stores

• Watch for expiration dates
• Watch for sketchy items? (I didn’t think I’d have to write the above or this, but my recent price comparison trip allowed me to face the truth that grocery stores in lower income areas tend to be more lax about expiration dates and even selling items clearly marked as “Do Not Sell”

Le sigh. And yes, I brought my camera to the grocery store!

My Final Long-Winded Message?

At the end of the day, it’s not necessarily about what’s better, it’s about what’s better for YOU.  At this point in time, I care most about price.  I have cut a lot of packaged foods, even “healthy” packaged foods, from my diet simply because they are not worth the price to me.  Since I do eat at least one apple a day, I am considering shelling out the extra dough to buy organic and will also make a point to visit my local farmers’ market.  Since foods like kiwis and bananas have a shell or skin that is not consumed, I am not inclined to buy organic at this time.  Consider what’s important to you and consider how much money you could save simply by doing a little research.

In the News

• Calorie Lab‘s, “Taxing Fat People Won’t Be the Solution for Health Care” (8/17/09) here
• Calorie Lab‘s, “Two views of Orthorexia: Problem for Babies and Relationships” (8/1709) here
• Science Daily‘s, “Excessive Exercise Can be Addicting, New Study Finds” (8/18/09) here
• Mail Online‘s, “Devil’s food? The Surprising Health Benefits of the Humble Spud” (8/16/09) here

Give-Away Round Up

• Did you enter my give-away here for some Feed Granola and other loot? ;D
• Win a Lebert Equalizer here
• Win some Full Bites here
• Win some Puffins, Larabars and other loot here
• Win jam in one give-away and a load of loot in another, both here

Do you guys have any money-saving tips you would so kindly share with me?!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

<3, The Cranky One

Today marks the day that Jen and I were to give our final challenge recaps and reflections.  Since it just doesn’t feel right to relish the culmination of this 2-month journey while my partner is in mourning, I am foregoing the recap.  Thank you so much to everyone who supported Jen and me as we worked through our final 10 pounds and thanks and kudos to everyone who made their own challenges and struggled alongside us. You guys seriously ROCK!

Two months ago, when I asked you guys here and Jen asked here who was joining us in the challenge, we learned that many of you had health goals much different from our own, but all leading back to the quest for a healthy and happy quality of life.  And, of course, we offered up the scrumptious incentive of Holey Donuts!  We have chosen 2 winners each via random numbers generated from Random.org — first place for the Holey Donuts and second place gets an assortment of hand-made greeting cards made by Jen’s sister Heidi.

Winners of mine – 1st place Holey Donuts winner is Charley, 2nd place cards winner is Jenny from the Block
Winners of Jen’s – 1st place Holey Donuts winner is Jen, 2nd place cards winner is Diet Girl Mel

Congrats!  I will be e-mailing all of you!

News

• New Scientist‘s, “Why Food is About More than Nutrition” (8/3/09) here — In response to the UK study arguing organic foods offered no additional health benefits to their counterparts.
• Science Daily’s, “Risk Factors Of Self-induced Vomiting And Other Disordered Eating Behaviors In Overweight Youth” (8/3/09) here — Excerpt: “Overweight youth with certain socio-environmental, psychological, and behavioral tendencies, such as reading magazine articles about dieting, reporting a lack of family connectedness, placing a high importance on weight, and reporting having participated in unhealthy weight control behaviors, are more likely to suffer from eating disorders.”
• Calorie Lab’s, “Consumers Confused by Health Info. on Packages” (8/2/09) here — Research looks at how consumers use health information such as the nutrition labels, ingredients lists and health claims on packages, as well as more general health guidelines such as the food pyramid.
• Time Magazine‘s, “Swiss Chocolate Invention: The No-Melt, Low-Fat Volcano” (7/22/09) here — Excerpt: “By coming up with a chocolate that doesn’t liquefy between your fingers (or in your pocket), Barry Callebaut has managed to create something that many chocolate makers have tried before but never accomplished. Former attempts at melt-free chocolate — including one by U.S. manufacturer Hershey — resulted in rock-hard bars that were a struggle to break, let alone eat. And the quest for a low-calorie bar has long been stymied by the tricky issues of flavor and texture. According to Tschofen, Vulcano — which gets its name from the little air bubbles it contains that conjure up images of volcanic lava — has a crispy, crunchy texture rather than creamy but tastes as good as regular chocolate.” Likely 2 years before it hits markets.
• Check out Imagine Today’s Self Esteem Month here
  
• New Product at Costco — Bear Naked Grain-ola Bars

Give-Away Round-Up

• Win a beautiful white, paisley apron here
• Win a copy of David Kessler’s The End of Overeating here
• Win a copy of “So You Think You Can Dance” fitness DVDs here

So how did all of you guys end up doing on your challenges?  Are you all challenged out? Joining new challenges?

Check back in tomorrow for a healthier version of macaroni and cheese that you always dreamed about but never knew existed.

<3,

The Cranky One

New Food Find — 16 snack-sized Tribe Hummus 100-calories packs — $4.99 at Costco
Umm, I am STOKED about this.  Like..totally…stoked (am I a Valley Girl or what?!  Hey, gotta mix it up! Ghetto fabulous can get old!)

Stats for one little mini tub: 100 calories, 7 g fat, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein (Is that a lot of fat for one little tub? Eh well! LOL.  I can’t fret about everything or I’ll go loca!)

Does Whining Count as Protein?

Man, I’ve certainly earned a few gold medals in whining and wish I could transfer that skill to more useful things like adequate protein consumption and absorption.  But, alas, there is not a pill for that yet.

So I was doing some highly scientific research Googling to see how I may ensure I get adequate protein being a vegetarian and I was pleasantly surprised. I was under the assumption that protein combining was necessary to ensure that the proteins I ate were as “complete” as animal- and dairy-based proteins (though some grain-like foods such as quinoa are complete proteins in themselves, which is awesome).  Anyhow, this is from Wikipedia (the most reliable source out there tee-hee!) regarding the complete protein theory strongly espoused in earlier years (propagated by Frances Lappe’s bestseller I joyfully – seriously – read in a freshman sociology class) and a general move away from this theory:

“The protein combining theory was based on interpretation of studies performed in the early 1900s on the growth of rats. The theory entered popular consciousness with the publication of Frances Moore Lappé‘s 1971 bestseller Diet for a Small Planet. In later editions of Diet for a Small Planet, beginning in 1981, Lappé changed her position on protein combining. In this later edition, Lappé wrote:

‘In 1971 I stressed protein complementarity because I assumed that the only way to get enough protein … was to create a protein as usable by the body as animal protein. In combating the myth that meat is the only way to get high-quality protein, I reinforced another myth. I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually, it is much easier than I thought.

‘With three important exceptions, there is little danger of protein deficiency in a plant food diet. The exceptions are diets very heavily dependent on [1] fruit or on [2] some tubers, such as sweet potatoes or cassava, or on [3] junk food (refined flours, sugars, and fat). Fortunately, relatively few people in the world try to survive on diets in which these foods are virtually the sole source of calories. In all other diets, if people are getting enough calories, they are virtually certain of getting enough protein.^‘”

Complete Proteins
From Wikipedia:

“Complete proteins, also known as high quality proteins, ‘contain all the essential amino acids in amounts adequate for human use; it may or may not contain all the others. Generally proteins derived from animal foods (meats, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, yogurt, and milk) are complete, though gelatin is an exception. Proteins derived from plant foods (legumes, grains, and vegetables) tend to be limited in essential amino acids. Some are notoriously low, such as corn protein.

Some foods contain all the essential amino acids on their own in a sufficient amount to qualify as a ‘complete protein’. Complete protein foods that also obtain the highest possible PDCAAS score of 1.0 are certain dairy products, egg whites, and soy protein isolate. Other foods, such as amaranth, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, buckwheat, hempseed, meat, poultry, soybeans, quinoa, seafood, and spirulina also are complete protein foods, but may not obtain a PDCAAS score of 1.0″

Know anything about adequate protein consumption for vegetarians?

Some Recent Eats

• Refried vegetarian pinto beans sauteed with red onion and roma tomatoes in a low-carb, whole-wheat tortilla, with spinach
• Steamed broccoli

• Refried vegetarian pinto beans sauteed with red onion and roma tomatoes atop a bed of spinach
• Raw broccoli and baby carrots with Tribe hummus 100-calorie container
• A whole-wheat pita

About vegetarian refried beans, from Nutritiondata.com here:

Some Plans for The Weekend

• Two Recipes I want to try out:

1. No Meat Athlete’s sis’s Home-Made Energy Bars
2. CCK’s Little Vegan Fruit Cobbler

• I’ve got to get started on reading The New Rules Of Lifting for Women recommended by MizFit (along with “book club reading“):

Plan on making anything yummy this weekend? What are you guys reading this weekend (even if it’s just the newspaper lol)?

p.s. You guys know I’m an English major and love reading.  I also cannot, I mean CANNOT, read a word I do not know without looking it up. Diction is so important, guys   Especially when it’s 11:00 p.m. and you are wondering if you should or shouldn’t do weights and then your boyf says, “Yea, you’re spry enough!”  I didn’t know what the heck “spry” meant!  I could imagine it had the same root as the word “sprite” but was not sure.  For you guys that do not know:  Spry (adj.) = “(esp. of an old person) active; lively.”  Ummm….

I’m just sayin’…I hit the weights like I was young again just to prove him wrong.  Woe is me. W-O-E is me. 

<3,

The Cranky One

Later this evening I was starving for a nice salad and something different, so I pulled the following together, which I really enjoyed:

The Oh Yes You May Pizza

• 1 Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain tortilla – 150 calories, 3.5 g fat, 5 g fiber, 6 g protein
• 1/2 Trader Joe’s Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Sausage – 55 calories, 3 g fat, 0 g fiber, 5.5 g protein
• ¼ cup Clasico traditional pasta sauce – 35 calories, 1 g fat, 1g fiber, 1 g protein
• 1 oz (2 tablespoons) Trader Joe’s non-fat feta cheese – 35 cal, 0g fat, 0 g fiber, 7g protein
• Instructions:  Cook sausage, assemble pizza and put in 350-degree preheated oven for 10 minutes. The feta cheese will not melt — it has no fat!

Nutritional Content: 275 calories, 7.5 g fat, 6 g fiber, 19.5 g protein

w/a pretty generic salad:

Tomorrow’s post will include a review of at least one of the YouBar items so kindly sent over for me to sample

Thanks YouBar!

Spotted at Costco:

$10.79 for 24 bars = $0.45/bar = WOW!

Two things today reminded me of:

1. It’s hard to eat right at social functions, but it can be done. If you want to splurge at a social function every now and then, be my guest, have a ball. But you can’t do it all the time.  I couldn’t afford to eat like a pig today after the MixMyGranola incident so I didn’t.  It helps that most people who surrounded me knew my goal.  My twin offered me half of his cupcake — a perfect compromise for me since I couldn’t not have a taste — did you see them?! When people are informed of your goals, it’s harder to screw up.  Not impossible, but harder.
2. Looking at pictures of yourself can be extremely depressing. My dad sent me pictures from the event today and a few of them made me want to run to the hills, throw up my hands and scream, “i quit! i quit!” while stuffing double-stuffed Oreos in my mouth and chasing them with a butter-cream milkshake.  I’m not where I want to be yet in terms of feeling comfortable with how I look at all times; but I have to know that I’m getting there.  That every day is a new day to progress, to evolve in a beautiful way.  It’s hard to be positive all the time, especially when you feel like your efforts are forlorn — but being positive and content with the journey as its own end is 10xs better than the alternative of a static, unhealthy, existence.

What are some of your tips for maintaining your health goals when at social functions that may not cater to your preferred lifestyle, eating habits?  Have you ever seen a picture of yourself that plagued you with disillusionement or discontent?  Did it/they spark a change or ignite resignation?