Can I have a rant please?

Why, oh why can't people accept that a pizza place is not the ideal place to invite a dieter for dinner? We have a leaving party for someone I work with and they are all going to this place. Wen I mentioned we could actually go to a far nicer Italian restaurant for not too much more money the response I got was "but you could just have a pizza and eat less over the weekend". Sound advice maybe but why should I have to ruin my weekend because of them...grrrr.

Also (for a side rant), why does sushi have to have so much salt in it?

Phew, I feel better now! Thanks x

Oh, sushi....how I long for some truly good sushi......sighs...

To build on your rant, cassie, why do all celebrations have to include food??? Every party is about the food, rather than about the celbration!! And with the Holidays coming up, I shudder to think about it!

BTW, those who insist on us eating things we don't want or can't indulge in, take a really good look at those folks. Can you see that they have food issues of their own, and that our sucess with weight loss or even the ability to say no to certain foods makes them feel threatened?? We need to simply be affirmative about our specific food needs!

danagrl 372 ... First off, the California CCC Meet Up will have to be here, in central California, so that Northern California People AND Southern California People can meet halfway .... at my house! (Hmmm..... note to self: add more guest rooms before everyone shows up!)

Zero-Calorie Condiments ... Let me take a moment to rave, rave, rave about zero-calorie, sugar-free, fat free, Walden Farms Salad Dressings, Sauces and Dips. I am in total, absolute love with their Balsamic Vinaigrette, Bacon Ranch Dressing, Chocolate Syrup, Cocktail sauce, and Scampi Sauce. They also have barbecue sauce, asian dressing, caramel dip, ranch dip, marinara sauce, and -- from what I understand -- really nasty and gross alfredo sauce (so I skipped that!). You can purchase them at a few grocery stores (none of the big chains), online from www.Amazon.com (where I first discovered them), or directly from them at www.Waldenfarms.com. (Their shipping is cheaper than Amazon's shipping, by the way.) They also sell some of their dressings in individual serving packets, so you can take it with you for lunches, in your purse, or out to dinner at restauarants .... how very cool is that? We keep a box of the packets in the car so we are always prepared!!!!!

cassie83 .... sushi, actually, doesn't have too much salt in it .... soy sauce has too much salt in it! To address that little problem, I switched from Soy Sauce to Ponzu sauce. What is Ponzu Sauce, you ask? It's a blend of soy sauce and lemon juice .... already mixed in a bottle .... and it has a lighter, crisper flavor .... and it is O So Wonderful! I use it in cooking and on grilled veggies, too .... plus (of course) I use it for sushi and sashimi. (I had some to-die-for sashimi the other night ... bought some fresh tuna at Whole Foods!)

Pizza .... I read an article for how to make pizza "less bad" at Pizza restaurants. First, always get thin crust pizza, not pan or thick. Second, ask for 1/2 the cheese and twice the tomato sauce. Third, avoid all meat toppings except grilled chicken, and choose -- instead -- veggie topics: red onions, fresh garlic, spinach, bell peppers, or olives. Fourth .... don't eat your crusts! (Hope this helps for next time!)

It's a cool and cloudy autumn day here, and the skies look like a smattering of rain is possible, so my two little doglets are curled up all cozy inside, refusing to go out! Heh heh heh .... I felt that EXACT same way in bed this morning, so who am I to pick on them? Smart doggies. I was all comfy under the covers, snuggled with various cats (Sally, Miss Cricket, Emily and Gracie ... we were having a "Girls Morning In") ... but then I had to get up to pee. Darn all that water and staying hydrated, hee hee hee hee! Anyway, I was so proud of myself for being out of bed by 9am!!! (Yay for sleep-in days! Yay for sleep-in days!)

I don't have much of an agenda for today ... the house is all tidy and clean, our laundry is reasonably caught up, the bills have been paid... so perhaps I will run a few errands. Believe it or not, I'm "low" on Veggies (which means that I am out of mushrooms and down to my last cucumber and onion, and have only tomatoes, radishes, spinach, celery, broccoli and acorn squash to choose from ... LOL!) and need to get some more Walden Farms zero-calorie salad dressing (Bacon Ranch and Balsamic Vinaigrette) and more I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray.  And I was thinking about running by the Health Food store and picking up more fiber with probiotics and looking at calcium supplements. Hmmm..... to get dressed and go out, or stay home and BE a vegetable???

My wonderful DH goes out of town on Sunday to Arizona .... hopefully he'll be back in less than a week, but the trip could spread out for as long as 4-5 weeks. Now how exactly is he supposed to pack for that, I wonder? You can see why it is virtually impossible for us to plan things ... we never know what his schedule will be like and I never know where he will be! Just one of the many joys of being a military wife, I suppose. Still .... this will be his first trip out of town for work since returning from Iraq 2 months ago .... and his frist trip while I've been dieting. He's been such a wonderful support and encourager .... what will I do without my live-in diet buddy?

I finally finished off the Kashi 7 Grain Honey Puffs (yay ... that took forever) and started the Kashi Heart to Heart cereal this morning. It's sort of like Cheerios, only some of the cereal pieces are small donut shapes and some of them are small little hearts! It feels a bit more substantive than the Honey Puffs. I also have Kashi Go Lean (a nice assortment of twig shapes) .... so maybe I will switch off each morning so I don't get stuck in a cereal rut.  My unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (almond milk) is still going beautifully with cereal .... and at 20 calories for a 1/2 cup, who can beat that!?  To keep things interesting, I keep a bag of frozen raspberries in the freezer, and once a week or so, I plop in 3-4 frozen raspberries as a special perk-me-up treat.  And I add a 1/2 banana once a week or so, too.  Accompanying my cereal this morning was a lightly toasted Thomas' Light Multigrain muffin and a slice of Kraft Sharp Cheddar Fat Free Cheese .... 298 calories total!

Have a super day!

=^..^= MOLLY

I went grocery shopping and bought LOTS of onions because I'm making homemade french onion soup in the crockpot .... yummmmm. I posted the recipe on my Journal if anyone is interested, its amazingly easy to make, low in calorie and high in protein.... what more could you ask?  I also bought some fresh asparagus because it was on sale .... but it still can be pretty pricey. Still, woman cannot live on broccolli and spinach alone -- without going nuts!!!

Did I mention I can smell the french onion soup in the crockpot and it smells heavenly?

I also picked up more of the Garden Vegetable Eggbeaters, which I love. My only complaint is that each carton contains 7 servings. Not 6 servings, not 8 servings ... but 7 servings. So much for trying to use it to be equal to 2 eggs at a time, huh? Still, at only 30 calories a serving, I shouldn't complain.... but the OCD part of me (and that can be the big, noisy part of me) likes things in EVEN numbers, ya know?

I also bought some lovely Gala apples ... I think I was getting bored with red delicious apples. Besides, that apple name seems so pretentious ... "delicious" apples. Frankly, I've had some that were dry and mealy and not all that delicious, notwithstanding their self-promoting name. Anyway, I used my nifty apple sectioner-thingy (yep, I'm using advanced cooking terms again!) and had a nice, sliced gala with my turkey and ham sandwich lunch.  Now I'm just waiting for my soup to cook for dinner, and watching the clock until 3:15pm when I get my afternoon snack! Today it's a serving (29 crackers) of reduced fat Cheez-its.... yum yum yum.

Am I the only one who watches the clock sometimes, waiting for lunch? Snack time? Dinner time? Hmmmm..... how very embarassing.

Do you ever look at pictures of food on the Internet? I found a site that has a photo section (of really bad for you food), called "food porn". (Their name, not mine, but it kinda fits, you know?) I once spent 20 minutes there, staring at a photo of bacon-wrapped tater tots..... sigh.

tick ... tick .... tick .....

=^..^= MOLLY

Molly!  You are hysterical!  I am crying from laughing so hard!  Oh my goodness. Food Porn?!? (still laughing....out loud....in living room....all by myself) I HAVE to go check this out!

I'm back.  The server is down for www.foodporn.com but I did see an add for dehydrated water.....

Oh, be careful .... the site mentioned by Mandango is NOT NOT NOT the site that I've visited .... that site might well be .... ummm ...... something X-rated. (I don't know .... I am just urging caution!)

Here's the site I was mentioning .... be sure and check out the bacon wrapped tater tots ... http://www.supersizedmeals.com/food/index.php?topic=FoodPorn

=^..^= MOLLY

He he, I have used the term food porn before.  There are some cookery programmes on the telly on a Saturday morning here and one of them particularly always has the most amazing looking deserts on there. I always say that is like pornography for a dieter - especially when I start drooling!

I checked out that supersized meals site and yes, that definitely falls into the realm of pornography! Although I've just had my breakfast my mouth was watering like crazy!

Speaking of torturing yourself with food - I have been known to go and visit the deserts in the supermarket. Just to stroke them...sigh. I was doing this the other day and came across a pain au chocolat bread and butter pudding. With no less than 1040 calories per serving. 1040!! Scary thing is, not so long back I wouldn't have thought too much of eating that.

 Molly, no you are definitely not the only one who clock watches till the next mealtime.  It's 8.45am here just now so I've got three and three quarter hours till lunchtime...tick tick tick.  I also do the thing where if I can wait a bit longer for lunch I feel very proud of myself. Hmm, I really am sad!

 Thanks for the tips on the pizza and ponzu sauce - I am off to go and find out where to get some of that.  Although, I suppose I could just make it with lemon and soy. I'm intrigued by this idea of almond milk - I'm still on the 0% cows milk.  My mini rant of the day is that all your American diet foods sound so much better than what we get over here. More ryvita, anyone?

Oh Molly, now my mouth is watering for French onion soup!  Guess what I'll be making tomorrow???

I get to go with DH on a mini-road-trip this afternoon and we'll probably eat at a nice little Italian restaurant that we know of on the way home although I'm going to lookout for a Thai place...may as well dream big!

Cassie, pain au chocolat bread and butter pud...oh my goodness...that sounds absolutely gorgeous!  English food is wonderful...that is what started the upward movement of my scale this past Spring.  DH and I accompanied my English mother home for a fortnight visit, during which I managed to eat pork pie on five separate occasions.  And, of course, I ordered Shandy whenever possible (I have been able to create a passable Shandy here but Melton Mowbray pork pies are unheard of this side of the pond!)  And, of course, there in the shops were rows and rows of English-made Cadbury's chocs which are rare, pricey, imported items here.  (Yes, there is a line of Cadbury products produced in the US but they don't taste the same.)  So, yes I ate a lot of choc, too and in London we stumbled into a fabulous bakery/eatery called "Paul"...egad, now I'm starving!!!

JJ 

Well, I had to fast this morning to get a blood test at 11am, so no breakfast for me. (Cross your fingers that my cholesterol, triglycerides and hemoglobin A1C are all improved!)  And who scheduled fasting blood tests for 11am? Do they want me grouchy and hungry!?!? The phlebotomist stuck me once in both arms with a HUGE needle before giving up and just painfully stabbing the back of my right hand. I now have three impressive bruises forming and look like someone pretended I was a slinky and tossed me down the stairs!  I won't know the results until I call the doctor's office next week, and it usually takes 3-4 phone calls before I get any sort of response. (I don't know who I am less impressed with, the doctor or her staff... this was the snarky doctor who told me there was no way I could lose weight without having surgery or going on meal replacement shakes for the rest of my life ... seriously!)

After my blood test, my DH took me out to an early lunch at Boston Market.  YAY! It's nice to go out once in a while!  Lunch was roast turkey, garlic dill new potatoes, and green beans ... 410 calories and 2 servings of veggies. I am sure I will eat veggies this afternoon for a "big snack" since I am still hungry. (Darn that missing breakfast). And, of course, I'll have veggies for dinner. 2 servings down, 7 to go! Yesterday I had only 7 servings of veggies and 1 serving of fruit .... I really need to step things up a bit!

Our treadmill gets delivered and set up on Saturday morning .... wooo hooO! Who'd have thought I'd be so excited about .... exercising? Part of me just really wants to lose 50 pounds and walk back into my snarky doctor's office and say, "neener neener neener" as I shake my big booty and her darn scale! And I'm on my way ... it's been 7.5 weeks of dieting and (as of this morning's sneaky unofficial mid-week weigh in preview), I've lost 33.6 pounds! Anyway, I'm pretty excited about my nifty new treadmill.

=^..^= MOLLY

Molly, What a horrible thing for your Dr. to say!  I am deeply offended for you!  What?!? Fat people can only gain weight we are perfectly incapable of losing weight and Surgery is the only method?  She sounds cut happy to me.  Ok....that was my rant.  You have certainly shown her.  33.6 lbs!  I dare anyone who has undergone surgery to do any better than that.  Actually I have known 2 people who have undergone the surgery and guess what.  You are already doing better than they did....PLUS, they have both gained their weight back (tummy stretched anyway....go figure) AND they are very unhealthy due to vitamin deprivation.  So sad there are Doctors out there who seriously suggest this as an only option (ok....rant kinda went a little long)

Carrie, Someone had given us a recipe for "Authentic Fish & Chips".  It is my hubby's favorite dinner.  I'm gonna miss fish & chips.....I wonder if there is a low-fat way to deep fry things?  That's probably up there with guilt free alcohol and cigarettes.....Oh well

Molly, your doctor said that?  Have you considered changing doctors???  Of course, I completely understand you wanting to succeed and go back to her office triumphant.  Living well is the best revenge! BTW, 33.6 #!...you are doing great.

Oh Caro, dark chocolate Kit Kats?  (deep sigh...)  When we go back I want to do the "spend the afternoon cooking and hanging with the Paul bakers and then have tea" thing.  It would be so wonderful. 

Carrie, guilt-free fish & chips would be wonderful, wouldn't they?

JJ 

Sorry to join the discussion so late in the thread but I had to say...  Molly, you are just a delight!  Funny, uplifting and truly inspirational with your tremendous weight loss success.  I've spent the past couple of hours reading this thread, laughing and feeling less lonely in my own calorie counting trials.  I too have thin, fit husband who can eat anything and not gain a pound... Have you considered writing for a living?  I would buy any magazine to read something written by you!

My rant for the day is why is wholesome, unprocessed food so much more expensive than GM'd, chemically treated, ultraprocessed food?  The cost involved in the GM research, the cost of pesticides and hormones, the cost of processing the life out of an ordinary food product versus just planting, watering, and then picking the veggie/fruit/etc.  We had to switch our shopping back from Whole Foods to Walmart after we realized we almost couldn't pay our mortgage.  I know, irresponsible on my part to not be on top of the bank balance...  but sheesh, our grocery bill was up by 3 times the normal cost of groceries!!!  Granted, the food was beautiful, pristine, and delicious... maybe it was the $8/jar organic yogurt or the $6/bag of organic, low-cal cheese puffs, etc that we just loaded up in the cart without thinking.  I am notoriously absent-minded and never really paid attention to the grocery total.  I just swipe my debit card and am on my merry way.  What a shock it was that our bank account was close to empty by the end of the month!

I agree ... eating healthy can DEFINITELY be expensive. I decided 7 weeks ago (when I started on this festive, spinach-flavored healthy eating adventure), that I could either be frugal, or I could be healthy .... and that I just didn't think I could be BOTH at the same time!)  

Whole Foods .... Oh, how I love the food that Whole Foods carries, but we laughingly (and pretty accurately) refer to the store as "Whole Paycheck!" What I've been trying to do is really be clear on what foods I really, really want to buy there (usually because I cannot find it elsewhere), and resist the urge to stock up on other items while I am there. (Easier said than done, though!)  I do love their uber-fresh sushi-grade tuna (bluefin and yellowfin), and their itty-bitty cherry tomatoes, and their portabella mushrooms, and their GIANT radishes and their organic raspberries and their bulk bulgur.

I have found that I can buy some of the "diet" foods that I've been eating lately at Trader Joe's ... which is much cheaper than Whole Foods. I really love their organic baby asparagus, their ready-made egg white salads, their high fiber frosted multigrain cereal, plus I can get my Alvarado Street organic, sprouted flax seed bread and my unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze... and their smoked salmon. And they have great prices on nuts and natural peanut butter, too ... and they carry Better'n Peanut Butter. And I try to buy spices there, too ... great prices! Oh ... and frozen shrimp! (How could I forget? I ate some for dinner!) You just can't beart those prices! And they make some pretty tasty vegetarian "burgers" ... the pizza-flavored one is the best!

Online .... is actually where I've found some of my favoritest "diet" things .... I found low-sodium chicken bouillon at www.Amazon.com, and I found the world's tastiest zero-calorie salad dressings and sauces at www.Waldenfarms.com ... and before I found my Almond Breeze at Trader Joe's, I bought a case of it direct from Blue Diamond Almonds.  I also buy my diabetic multivitamins and my cinnamon supplement (and garlic tablets) from Amazon .... the prices were better than I can find locally .... but I still buy some supplements at our local health food store because I like to support local businesses, when I can.

* * *

I know, I know ... my endocrinologist has the bedside manner of Attila the Hun with PMS .... but, unfortunately, she is one of only three endocrinologists in town, she was the ONLY one accepting new patients, and she is the ONLY one covered by my health insurance .... so I am stuck with all her snarkitude and demoralizing comments.  My coping strategy has been to minimize appointments with her -- stringing them out as far as possible -- and always taking my DH with me to my appointments so at least I have a witness and some moral support ... AAAAUGGH!  I get so stressed going to the appointments that my blood pressure SPIKES!  Anyway, I am hoping to lose another few pounds before I have to face her again.... won't THAT be delightful?

* * *

Andisue ... awww.... thanks for the compliments. For me, ranting and humorous writing is sort of cathartic and cleansing ... sort of like those nasty-sounding $30 herbal colon cleanses I look at every once in a while in the health food store, and then think ...."Ewwww.... am I nuts?" (Hmmm... maybe that's not the best mental picture, huh? hee hee hee)  OK, ranting and hangin' out is definitely better than spending 17 hours in the restroom, regretting impulse colon-cleansing-related purchases, huh?

* * *

I am excited to report that I ate an incredible array of vegetables today, and I am getting so thoroughly sick of vegetables that I keep thinking up profane vegetable haiku ... but I know I'd better not post them in the Diet-related HAIKU thread! Anyway, today's veggie array: (1) green beans; (2) red potatoes; (3) 4 servings of broccoli; (4) 3 servings of spinach; (5) radishes and (6) celery. That's 6 different veggies totalling 11 servings. Sheesh ... you'd think I was a (gasp!) vegetarian or something, huh!?!?!?

One of these days, I think I need a veggie-free day. Not a true cheat day ... just an I-don't-care-about-fiber-if-it's-green-I'm-not-eating-it sort of day. Hmmm... maybe Saturday would be a good No Veggie Day for me?

In the meantime, eat YOUR veggies, k? (grin)

=^..^= MOLLY