Keep on track with a low cal snack

 Since I know one of my greatest weaknesses is ice cream in any form, I’m on the lookout for items that fill me up, quench my thirst, and satisfy my cravings and icy cold, sweet tooth, snack attacks, especially in hot weather. Here are a few of things I’ve discovered that help. Please send me an email, or give me a call and share your favorite food and beverage items under 50 calories a serving.

Favorites with 0-50 calories

Diet V8 Splash is very satisfying on a hot day as a cool- down alternative to high calorie ice cream shakes or smoothies. Jim likes the Berry Blend, and I prefer the Tropical flavor. I mix 8 oz of V8 Splash with 8 oz of water in a tall glass of ice. It has the flavor and vitamins of regular V8 Splash, but with just 10 calories and 3 grams of carbohydrates per 8-ounce serving. An 8-ounce serving of Diet V8 Splash is a free food exchange, according to the Exchange Lists for Meal Planning, 2003 by the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association. 

Sugar free Popsicles, Fudgsicles, and Creamsicles range from 15 to 40 calories a serving. Even with these low calorie choices, I have to be careful to retrain myself that one serving is enough, and keep drinking that cool clear water to fill the empty spots in my gut and imagination. 

Fresh or frozen berry homemade treats are wonderful mixed in the blender with ice, or placed in a small bowl to control the portion size and help me stay mindful of how much I’m eating. It’s really easy to eat more than a handful of blueberries, strawberries, grapes or cherries if I don’t watch the quantity and set myself out a limit of one serving at a time, again, with that big chaser of water.

Tangy cucumber salad is very tasty and satisfying. I slice up 1  large cucumber into 1/8 inch rounds, add slivers of fresh onion, toss in 1 tbsp diet mayo and 1 tbsp cider vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. I’m not fond of bacon bits, but Jim is, so we just a sprinkle 1 tsp of these on his half of the batch to add one of his favorite flavors and it’s still under 50 calories. Yummy to the tummy!

Manly Mani-Pedi Rewards

      Learning to reward ourselves with something other than food takes some thought and planning. For Father’s Day I took Jim for a surprise manicure and pedicure. I dropped him off at the salon, told him to be good and tip well.

      I returned an hour later with my grandson JJ to pick him up. JJ was wide eyed at seeing great big grandpa reclined in the vibrating pedicure throne, with a tiny little technician punching him, topping off his mani-pedi with a deep tissue massage and brisk pounding of his arms, shoulders and calves.

       I asked the ladies having their nails done if he had behaved himself, and they replied, “we hardly knew he was here except for his occasional groans of pleasure”. Jim said he felt thoroughly pampered and that it was the best dad’s day gift he’d ever gotten. “Now I know why women love having these done” he said while shuffling around in a mellow daze for the rest of the day.

      In the past I have rewarded myself and celebrated with food, typically ice cream or sweets. Now I’m looking for new ways to treat myself well.

      It’s easier for me to recognize and reward someone else, than to reward myself, but I’m working at changing that way of thinking. Maybe one of these days, perhaps when I’ve lost 50 pounds it will be my turn for a mani-pedi.

Reducing is the name of the game & we're keeping score

My hubby Jim isn't just chipping and slicing on the golf course these days.  He's actually working the TOPS program along with me and has lost 13 pounds in the first 3 weeks. I beat him out with a 20 pound loss in the same time frame, but who's keeping score. We are of course! This is the first time in our marriage that we're actually working at reducing and improving our fitness together as a team. Back in the day, he was a dashing and slim Jim in his military uniform. Now, as is par for the course in many of us baby boomers, we don't look a bit like the person hidden somewhere under our layers of bulky body-fat insulation. It is so much easier to change my eating habits when Jim is also working on changing his. I'm very thankful we're playing the losing game together this time and proud of his great success on the first fairway of the TOPS course. We've got a long way to go before we reach the 19th hole, but we both have a dream, desire, TOPS team and plan to be winners. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

What’s stress got to do with it?

It’s amazing the impact that stress has on my life. When I’m not dealing with it effectively, I find myself eating mindlessly for comfort and relief. Not only is that a bad solution, it doesn’t relieve my stress and it packs on the pounds like there’s no tomorrow, helping me to arrive at the obese state of affairs I find myself in today. My third week TOPS SMART goal was to journal my stresses for at least 3 days. Boy, it seems like I let a lot of things bug me. Identifying them was my first step in dealing with the nasty little pests.

My Uptight and Out of Sight Stressors

·         Work pressures

·         Family disagreements and misunderstandings

·         Financial worries

·         Reductions in income

·         Clutter in the home, office or yard

·         Driving in traffic

·         Husband not listening

·         Crowds and noise

·         Loud TV

·         Too much TV

·         Health concerns

·         Fuzzy brain and lack of mental clarity

·         Children’s and grandchildren’s problems

·         Friend’s problems

·         Impending retirement

My Stress Busters

·         Getaway to Orcas Island

·         Swim

·         Play the piano, psaltery, or guitar

·         Write a song expressing my thoughts and emotions

·         Visit a friend

·         Visit kids and grandkids

·         Take a trip to a lake, river, or ocean beach

·         Fish

·         Canoe

·         Beachcombing

·         Visit and share music at a nursing home

·         Garden

·         Creative writing

·         Pray

·         Read

·         Meditate

·         Nap

·         Phone a friend

My stress busters aren’t necessarily in this order, but these are some of the things that relax me. As I made my list, I realized that some I haven’t done in more than a year. It’s time to get back to the simple pleasures in life instead of taking the easy way out by overeating. .

Getting in the swim of things

Swimming is one of my favorite forms of fun and exercise. It’s great with grandkids, perfectly relaxing and a wonderful stress-buster anytime.  You feel weightless, even when you’re not, it’s a natural analgesic for aching joints, and you use more calories than just sitting around. Burn up to 250 calories by walking for 30 minutes in water up to your chest while moving your arms around in the water*. My second week TOPS SMART goal was to get in the water and exercise at least 3 times a week. I loved it so much; I plan to keep it up long term.

*Data from www.discoverwalking.com/blog/burn-calories-walk-in-water.php

“Grandma, how did this get so big?”

As I walked down the hallway of our home with my 3 year old grand daughter following close behind, I felt her little hands patting both cheeks of my rear end and her inquisitive little voice asking “Grandma, how did this get so big?” Later in the day my little grandson commented “Grandma, you’re really fat.” You have to chuckle or cry at the honesty of little children. At their eye level vantage point, the jiggling immensity of my size must obliterate the view of anything else. The photo in the right side bar shows me at the biggest I ever plan to be when I joined TOPS 5-31-11. It’s all downhill from here. I plan to be a smaller, better grandma in the years to come. A 16 pound loss in the first 2 weeks at my TOPS weigh-ins is an encouraging start down the long road to goal.

The Journey Begins

It seems impossible to think of losing over half of me. I’ve tried and failed time after time, on program after program, yet here I am, back on the weight loss band wagon again.

While the doctor has a long term goal for me that seems as insurmountable as climbing Mt. Everest, my short term goals are simpler, SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) little steps  as recommended by Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS).

To help with accountability, my local TOPS group has us put our personal weekly SMART goal in writing during the meeting, and then gives us recognition if we achieve the goal by the following week.

I decided my 1^st week SMART goal was to memorize the TOPS pledge. I printed it out on little slips of paper, and placed them in the car, on my desk at work and home, in the bathroom, and the kitchen. I put the words to music and sang them. I meditated on them, I let them sink into the depths of my psyche and challenge my way of thinking.

It starts with, “I am an intelligent person”. Sometimes I feel like I’ve got all my marbles intact, other times I feel like a total nincompoop. I found this affirmation hard to say at times. I have to remind myself that while I may not be the brightest bulb in the vanity, God designed me with a brain to meet every challenge I would ever face in life. OK, I can make myself say it and believe it. “I AM an intelligent person”.

The next phrase is, “I will control my emotions and not let my emotions control me”. Now this is a huge challenge for me. I’ve long known that I’m an emotional eater.  The only way I could say this part so that I could believe it was to add my own preface to the sentence, “with the help of God.”

The following 3 pledge items really sent me into self examination as I committed them to memory. “Every time I am tempted to use food to satisfy my frustrated desires, build up my injured ego, or dull my senses…” Yep, that’s me with a huge history that shows on my huge frame how many times I’ve used food to deal with my frustrations, stresses, and hurts.

Finally the pledge ends with commitment to my actual plan of action. “I will remember, that even though I overeat in private, my excess poundage is there for all the world to see, I will Take Off Pounds Sensibly”. I have it memorized now. It's in my head, and working deep into my heart. A mantra, not just to recite at the beginning of a meeting, but daily, hourly, minute by minute when I need to overcome those urges and the poor eating habits that have led me to the shape I'm in today. 

TOPS PLEDGE

I am an intelligent person. I will control my emotions and not let my emotions control me. Even though I am tempted to use food to satisfy my frustrated desires, build up my injured ego or dull my senses, I will remember, even though I overeat in private, my excess poundage is there for all the world to see. I will Take Off Pounds Sensibly.