Monday, February 18, 2008

SparkPeople

I just learned about a competing website to FitDay.com. SparkPeople. If you're interested and want to read a comparison between the two, go here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/60655/the_best_free_diet_website_fitday_versus.html

I tried FitDay.com a couple of years ago and didn't really like it. I'm giving SparkPeople a try. www.sparkpeople.com I'm using username Magellan60. If you decide to join this week, we'll be in the same "class."

Friday, February 15, 2008

6th Poll Results

What's your favorite no-calorie drink?
4 (66%) Water
0 (00%) Crystal Light drinks
2 (33%) Diet sodas
0 (00%) Diet teas
0 (00%) Other
Total
6 voters

New poll at upper left.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Week 6

+5 pounds on the year, which means I'm back to where I was three weeks ago.

I'm still logging what I eat. I've been making observations about it sometimes, but I'm not killing myself (perhaps a bad turn of phrase?) to make serious progress.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Minestrone Pasta Salad


(Sorry--the pic isn't great because all I had was my cell phone camera. The boys took my digital to the Pro-Am. Clicky biggie.)

3 cups uncooked medium pasta shells*
1 can (16 oz.) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz.) garbanzo OR chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can (14.5 oz.) Italian diced tomatoes, drained*
1 medium green pepper, chopped*
1 can (2.25 oz.) sliced ripe olives, drained*
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese*
2/3 cup fat-free Italian salad dressing*

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Drain pasta and rinse in cold water; add to bean mixture and toss. Add dressing and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours before serving.

13 (3/4 cup) servings
Per Serving:
210 calories
3 g fat (1 g saturated fat)
3 mg cholesterol
665 mg sodium
37 g carbohydrate
6 g fiber
10 g protein
Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 lean meat, 1 vegetable
Weight Watcher Points: 3.5 points

*The changes I made: Used rotini pasta (filled in with a little bow-tie because I ran out of rotini) because the shells cooked unevenly on the first salad for funeral. Used two small fresh tomatoes, seeded, because the canned looked a bit mushy. It looks so much better with fresh! Used half a green and half a red pepper this time. Used the 3.8 oz. can of sliced olives because I really like olives. Used fresh shredded Parmesan cheese instead. Used my favorite dressing, Kraft Caesar Vinaigrette with Parmesan instead (shown in pic.) Yum!

From Taste of Home's Light & Tasty 2004

Friday, February 01, 2008

Week Four (a few days late)

My weight is about the same. It's fluctuated about three pounds up and down this week. I've kept my online private journal. I am now tracking my daily weight, what I eat, my exercise (including pedometer readings for my Walking to Somewhere jaunt. We just started today, so if anyone wants to join us, just chime in and ask. On a day when I think things are either way out of whack or really in sync (someday that will happen), I also post about that, too. I know I'm an emotional eater, so if I can get myself to start being more aware, that will help.

I'm having a hard time getting back into working out after being sick. I hope the Walking to Somewhere and a desire to see Hershey's joy on his walks will serve as a solid motivator.

An Update

I posted another essay on my blog that ended up, at least partly, being about food and weight. I'm being lazy and not crossposting it here. You guys can click on the link in the sidebar. It's my ploy to try to get a little more traffic on my blog, hopefully traffic that consists of people who might be interested in what I write. lol

I've been maintaining my weight pretty steadily since I started writing it down. My habit to work on now is to put the calorie count down. The thing about that is that I have to pay more attention to portion sizes in order to be accurate about the calorie count. I hate weighing and measuring my food, but there's really no other way to be accurate. It's important because the calorie counts aren't absolute. There's a percentage of error caused by natural variation in food and that companies aren't rigorous in figuring it all out. Often, if you look at a company's line of similar foods, the calorie counts will be the same, even if the ingredients are very different. So, guessing at the portions just exaggerates the inaccuracy of your calorie counts.

The other habit I want to work on is getting back into exercising regularly. I miss doing that. I've done some exercising since I last wrote that's my goal, just not at the level I was last year. So, I'm working back up to that level. We've had a lot of rain, but it's sunny outside now, so I'm going to go for a walk while the weather's still good.

My third habit is to get back to planning and cooking the meals I planned. I miss cooking regularly and I have to be stricter with people who call at the last minute wanting me to do stuff for them. Sometimes it's not an issue. Sometimes it's something I can't say no to because there's a time limit and I'm getting paid to do it. But there are times I could say no, but like a lot of nurturing women, I don't.