Chickin Feed

I thought this was a great idea for getting your kids involved in paying attention to their own nutrition! It's called Chickin Feed nutrition tracking and created by a mom in Atlanta just trying to involve her kids in keeping track of what they ate for the day. Hopefully it makes it feel like a game for kids to make sure they're getting in healthy foods into their diet. Since I don't have kids, I have no idea if it's effective or not, but I would love to know if anyone does this type of tracking with their kid's food intake and whether or not it works.

"...it's got to be good!"

I love me some Smucker's Sugar Free Breakfast syrup! I eat it every morning with my Multigrain Cereal and a Fuji apple. Sometimes I eat it for dinner too! It would be good over regular oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon, or a whole-grain waffle. It's also yummy poured over cut up banana barely heated in the microwave and topped with a little fat-free cool whip... I know, sounds crazy, but delish.

The Secrets of Thin People

I found this article a while back on Real Simple online but I couldn't find it again when I wanted to post it the first time... The Secrets of Thin People, how they get there, how they stay there. A good read, as is most things on the Real Simple site. Love this site!

Weight Loss Success

From ediets.com, are you making any of the 25 Biggest Weight-Loss Mistakes? Let me know which ones, I can post some solutions to some of the biggest challenges you face.

If you are interested in losing weight during or after the holidays, check out our HMR at Home® program at IHMonline. This is the company that I work for, I do not make commission on any sales of products or programs, I just really believe in what we do. If you have questions, email me at rmoss@ihmonline.com.

the DIY Diet

What a great article on MSNBC.com.... Going it alone: the Do-It-Yourself Diet. Finding weight management strategies that fit your lifestyle is so critical because then you can incorporate them for life, not just during the time you are losing weight. Just because something works for person A does not mean that it will work for person B. Find out what works for you based on the common sense of burning more calories than you take in. And find an exercise that you enjoy or can at least tolerate doing on a daily basis! Most people cannot maintain their weight without exercise, and even if you can, it is good for your bones, your hormones and your body. Exercise anyway!

Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing

I just tried Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing and it is very good. It is his line's lowest calorie dressing at 35 calories per 2 tbsp, which is half as much as most of his other "Lighten Up" dressings. Many "light" dressings can still add lots of calories if you're using more than one serving, but if you find one low enough, you don't really have to watch portions. I'm all about flavor too, so just because something is within the calorie range doesn't necessarily mean it gets my stamp of approval :) I try to stay below 35-40 calories per 2 tablespoons (which is a typical serving size of salad dressing), but my favorite is still Galeo's Miso dressing, which is at 44 calories per serving. This dressing is so flavorful though, I don't need to even use that much and you would never guess that it's part of a healthy diet plan. It is yummy!

Watermelon is my favorite fruit!

Watermelon is great to enjoy year round. At only about 45 calories per cup, it can be a great way to increase your fruit intake and keep your calories low. Enjoy it for dessert or as a snack, it is very filling and can satisfy your sweet tooth.

Quick Watermelon Cubes

• Take a quarter watermelon and lay it on the rind with the interior facing up.
• Place knife about 3/4 of an inch down from the peak of the wedge. Holding the knife parallel to the far side of the fruit and starting at edge of rind, cut a horizontal line through the fruit all the way down to the rind.
• Next, place the knife blade 3/4 of an inch lower and make the same cut. Repeat.
• Next, turn the fruit to the other side and make the same horizontal cuts.
• And last, starting at edge of the rind, make vertical cuts 3/4 inch apart all the way across. Cubes will tumble out ready to eat!

How to Choose a Watermelon

• Look the watermelon over. You are looking for a firm, symmetrical watermelon that is free from bruises, cuts or dents.
• Lift it up. The watermelon should be heavy for its size. Watermelon is 92% water, most of the weight is water.
• Turn it over. The underside of the watermelon should have a creamy yellow spot from where it sat on the ground and ripened in the sun.

Watermelon Facts

• A Watermelon is completely edible. While most of us relish the flesh part, the watermelon seeds can be roasted and eaten. Watermelon rind is used for making preserves, pickles and relish.
• Though watermelon is commonly considered as a fruit it is actually a vegetable! It is a member of the cucumber family and is kin to the gourd.
• Watermelon is the Lycopene Leader in fresh produce, having higher concentrations of lycopene than any other fresh fruit or vegetable. In fact, fresh watermelon contains higher levels of lycopene than fresh tomatoes - a 2-cup serving of watermelon contains and average of 18.16 mg and one medium-sized tomato contains 4 mg.

Pokez

David and I went to a new restaurant before the game last night. Well, the restaurant's not new, it's quite old, but I've never been there before, so it's new to me. It's called Pokez and it's a mexican vegetarian restaurant, which is quite an unusual theme considering that just about everything on the menu can be made with meat or tofu (or other veggie selections). It's very nice for me to be able to sit down at a restaurant and have so much to choose from and such a wide variety of options that include tofu. I really liked the food, it was very healthy and wouldn't have been too "heavy" except that I ate the whole humongus tofu burrito! It was huge, and very tasty. Not sure if David thought much of the shrimp burrito, but then he had already had the best lasagne EVER elsewhere for lunch, so maybe he'll try something different the next time we go :) The building looks like a beat up dive bar downtown, but it had a great artsy eclectic vibe to it, which was very groovy. We're going back for breakfast next time, I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Grilled Fruit with Strawberry Dip

If you're grilling this weekend for Memorial Day, here is another great option to help increase your fruits and veggies.

Ingredients
4 peaches, halved or quarted
8 chunks of pineapple
4 plums, nectarines or papayas, halved
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. granulated sugar

Dip
8 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tbsp. plain non-fat yogurt
1/4 tsp. dried, ground ginger
8 strawberries, halved

Preparation
In a blender, puree cheese, yogurt, ginger and strawberries until smooth. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate for two hours. Thread fruit onto eight skewers and mix vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. Grill fruit until lightly browned, turning frequently and brushing with vinegar mixture every few minutes. Serve with strawberry dip on the side.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts per serving
Calories: 106
Carbs: 18 grams
Protein: 4 grams
Fat: 2 grams
Fiber: 2 grams

Recipe courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research, www.aicr.org.

Grilled Bananas

Ingredients
4 bananas, cut in half
Cinnamon sugar
Melted butter, optional (or olive oil spray)

Preparation
Cut bananas in half so that both halves have all the skin on. Cut the halves lengthwise (so the bananas are shaped like boats) and LEAVE THE SKIN ON. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. (If using butter, brush bananas lightly before sprinkling with cinnamon sugar. I WOULD RECOMMEND USING OLIVE OIL OR CANOLA SPRAY TO MAKE IT LOW-CAL).

Place bananas cut side down for 1 to 3 minutes or until bananas have grill marks. Turn over and continue cooking until warmed through. When the banana skin starts to pull away from the fruit, they're done.

Eat right out of the skin while still warm or serve on top of fat free or no sugar added vanilla ice cream.
Recipe SummaryPrep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 5 minutes

Episode#: CL9359Copyright © 2006 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

Go Meatless - One Day a Week

Meatless Mondays, what a great idea! Read more on how reducing your consumption of saturated fats can have a positive impact on your health.

Vegging Out

Lose Weight by Vegging Out on MSNBC.com. Are you part of the 11 percent meeting the government's minimum Dietary Guidelines for Americans (see also MyPyramid.gov) for both fruits and vegetables? I've already had 4 servings of fruits & veggies and I'm eating stir-fried veggies over a baked potato as I write this for 2 more. We're having a challenge at work right now to ensure that we get in at least 6 servings of fruits & veggies per day. We have the chance to win a weeklong trip for 2 to Europe or Hawaii, so that makes it worth it! Besides the fact that it helps me maintain my weight :)

Our program measures servings differently than the government's minimum. All servings must be consumed in a low-fat/non-fat context to be counted as a serving.

One serving of fruit =

• 1 medium piece of fruit (approx. 6 oz. of the edible portion)
• 1 cup of mixed fruit
• Dried fruit & fruit juices do NOT count as a serving

One serving of vegetables =

• 1 medium sized potato or about 6 oz. (including sweet potato or yam)
• 1 cup of cut vegetables
• 3 cups of leafy vegetables
• 1/2 cup of beans or legumes (including tofu)
• All vegetables are included

As part of our challenge, we also have a minimum number of HMR meal replacements and a minimum amount of exercise that we must do each week. I went for a 4 mile run this morning and am going to walk for a couple of miles after work. Have you exercised today? Make a commitment to include at least 10 minutes of exercise before the end of the day. Be fabulous!!

Jello and Fruit ~ YUM!!

Mine and David's new favorite food of the moment is sugar-free jello with fruit in it... I know, very old school :) but after being sick and living on jello for a couple of days, I made orange jello with canned mandarin oranges in it... YUMMY!! Up next is strawberry-banana jello with bananas in it. I'll keep you posted.

Volumetrics

A great article in Newsweek, Filling up with Less, on Volumetrics, which is an eating plan where the goal is the eat high volume foods for fewer calories to manage your weight.

I'm a Hungry Girl

Thanks to a couple of friends for pointing me in the direction of Hungry Girl. This site has lots of information on low fat substitutions for high fat indulgences, especially related to products and recipes. Not very much information on fruits and vegetables and adding them into your diet, but a helpful site nevertheless.

Check out the next recipe I'm going to try, HG's 8-layer dip. It incorporates veggies, meatless "ground beef" and beans for a low fat treat to increase your veggies. Try it with La Tortilla low-carb/low-fat large size tortillas, only 80 calories per tortilla.

Shrimp Stir-Fry

Contessa Shrimp Stir-Fry is a great low calorie way to increase your vegetables and add some protein as well. The package includes the shrimp and the sauce and is only 360 calories for the entire bag! Add even more veggies or shrimp and still enjoy a low calorie meal. You should be able to find this item in the frozen section of your local grocery store, but check out their web site for other locations, such as Smart & Final and Sam's Club.

Cuties :)

I love these clementine oranges!! Found this summary on their web site and all of it is true, they make a great snack to have on hand.

Cuties® are great because they are…

• Seedless


• Easy to peel (zipper skin)


• Super Sweet


• Excellent source of Vitamin C


• Naturally fat, cholesterol, sodium and trans fat free. Check out the nutrition label.


• Snack-sized and portable

Melissa's Sliced Carrots

Melissa's Sliced Carrots are an easy vegetable addition to salads, entrees or as an easy side dish. I found these carrots at Trader Joe's but you'll likely be able to find them at any grocery store in the refrigerated section. They are already steamed and ready to eat out of the package. I just had them for lunch today as an addition to our Five Bean entree and they are tasty!

Perfectly Steams in the Bag!

Birds Eye Steamfresh Vegetables will become a new staple in my freezer. Love them!! Especially the broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas & water chestnuts mix. You don't even open the bag to steam, just throw them in the microwave front side down for the time given on the bag. I steamed mine for slightly less time than recommended, then stir-fryed them (with Pam, I guess technically not stir-fry) with tofu and a small amount of teriyaki sauce. Yummy!! I would avoid the seasoned varieties as they have partially hydrogenated oils listed in the ingredients and I try to avoid foods that contain those types of fat.

Sugar Snap Peas

And yet another good way to fill up on veggies! Can you tell I'm on a quest to get more veggies into my diet :) These sugar snap peas are entirely edible, pod and all, and are great for dipping instead of chips or crackers. They're only 120 calories for the 3 oz. bag, which is less than 1 oz of chips! Try them with your favorite low-fat dip, or with your favorite flavor of hummus.