New Low, Facing Temptation and My Excellent Nutritionist

Friday, February 08, 2008

Today, I'm at 167.8. I broke the 168 mark FINALLY! I realize it's only by 2 oz., but that's okay.

I'm going to a Chocolate Event this weekend. The Texas Culinary Academy is having an event where they demonstrate making various chocolate things. It's like an alcoholic going to a wine-tasting, I know. I had an Onion calendar-of-the-day one time that said "I'm like a choco-holic, only for booze."

Here's why I'm going. I love chocolate. I love the smell of it, and the taste of it (not dark, though.) I don't believe success comes from deprivation. I don't think avoidance of temptation can be sustained long term. I don't want to live in fear of what might be lurking around the corner. Instead, I want to be able to go to something like this, enjoy the AROMA, sample delicately, be reasonable, and move on without freaking out.

BTW, my new mantra, thanx to another SP'er "Am I doing good for my body?" is keeping me from putting bad things into my pie-hole.

I had a nutritionist named Sally Bowman, who really helped me change my relationship with chocolate. Mind you, I never was one to have a bag of Reese's pb cups or anything like that. BUT, as every calorie counts, she taught me how to have the most fun with chocolate without a slam in calories, sugar and fat.

Here's her advice:
1) Get expensive, good quality chocolate. My two favorites are Lindt Milk Chocolate Truffles (some nasty b*tch that worked for me got me hooked on these - I hate her for it....okay, that's not true.) Anyway, my other favorite is the milk chocolate blocks of European chocolate I can get at Central Market for $6.99 a pound.

2) Put one piece of that chocolate in your mouth and HOLD IT! DO NOT CHEW IT! Let it melt, swish it around your mouth, let it hang out on the roof, swirl around your tongue (I hope I'm not causing any other choc-o-holic to go crazy here.)...and then let is slowly slide down your throat. Don't wash it down with anything. Let it live in there. Then, wait 15 minutes before having another. Most of the time, you don't need another.

Oh, my, it's a whole new experience to eat chocolate this way. VERY satisfying. It's been a lifesaver for me, too.

What else did Sally teach me? She taught me to always eat protein with carbs. I asked her if this meant to make sure I had peanuts with my chocolate. Not QUITE what she had in mind, but she did say it was better than just straight chocolate.

She also taught me to eat when my hunger was a 5, not a 10!

So here's to looking the Devil in the face, giving him a big sloppy kiss, and then walking away without getting knocked up. I'll let you know how the event goes.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LAB-LOVER 2/9/2008 8:38AM

Another chocoholic here... though I DO like it dark! Another piece of advice I got somewhere along the way about chocolate cake -- have one bite and if it's not at least an 8 out of 10 put that fork down and don't finish it. Life's too short to eat mediocre chocolate cake. Save the calories for the good stuff! Tell us about the best stuff you had at the fest! Make us drool... : ) -Lab-lover Report Inappropriate Comment

THECITYMOUSE 2/8/2008 3:53PM

YOU are the bombdiggety [as a customer once told me years ago...I assumed that was a good thing?]!! And LINDT rocks like nothing else on this planet... well, there's Cadbury too, but for dark chocolate it's LINDT all the way, baby. Them Swiss peeps know how to make some chocolate. I buy the dark chocolate bars...the ones with CHILI PEPPER in them...and one square = 50 sad little calories. They're pretty big squares for fifty calories, in my opinion. Lindt and Cadbury are good because there's no wax in them like Hershey...hence they MELT in your hand and piehole. You must try the Lindt dark chocolate with chili... I read somewhere [and recollect said pearls of wisdom just now] that if and when you crave something, you're brain is usually done after three bites....try taking three bites of something good then stop. This blog entry was so entertaining .....I truly exercised my chuckle muscles this afternoon online buddy!! Ha ha!! Report Inappropriate Comment

XHASTEDMOMOF2 2/8/2008 12:45PM

You are awesome!!! I love your attitude!!! You just might need to come sit with me for a while and let it rub off!!! And I love the list as I am a devoted chocoholic who never goes a day without at least one dose of chocolate!! (Even when I was getting cancer treatment and I had to avoid certain foods-chocolate was on the list! But I snuck small portions of dark chocolate with the dr's permission!!) I also love the mantra!!! I will have to try it!! Have fun at the Chocolate Event this weekend!! You richly deserve it!! Report Inappropriate Comment

Aromatherapy Article on SparkPeople

Thursday, February 07, 2008

My Personal Aromatherapy? NEOPRENE! Neoprene makes me CRAZY! I LOVE the smell of neoprene! :) (Before you think me nutz, it's because I'm a scuba diver.)

The spinning class I took last night is taught by an amazing woman who owns her own engineering firm, AND who's an expert scuba dive instructor.

She had her workout bag next to her bike last night, and she opened it up. Obviously at some point she's had scuba stuff in it because it smelled of NEOPRENE.

Geez, it was all I could do to stop from going over to her bag, sticking my face in it, and inhaling. Inhale!!! Breathe INNNN, Breathe out, breathe INNN. Oh, my, it was WONDERFUL! Good thing I had a bike close to the front so I could smell it while I was burning off all those calories. MMmmm...delicious.

Okay, enough from me. I obviously have nothing to contribute here but silliness today.
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_articles.asp?id=77&page=1

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

PELAGICSAL 2/9/2008 9:41PM

Never really put neoprene into my list of aromatherapy favorites, but it makes sense. Must admit that wetsuit stink (after it's been wet too many days) brings back sweet memories of long live-aboard trips and excellent diving. Thank you, CJ, for opening my eyes and broadening my olfactory appreciation! ;~D Report Inappropriate Comment

JENNIFER124 2/7/2008 3:44PM

this is very cute!!! made me laugh too... Report Inappropriate Comment

BLACK_UNICORN11 2/7/2008 3:24PM

LOL, you made me laugh! Neoprene! My personal favorites are leather and alfalfa. I you ever find a bottle of either scent, let me know! :) Have a great day! Report Inappropriate Comment

Today's Lessons From Another Sparker

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Today, another SP'er who lost 15 POUNDS! shared her secrets with me. I promised I wouldn't tell (fiber, weights, water, fiber, weights, water.) I'm not telling them to YOU, I'm just repeating those to myself so I don't forget them. :)

WAY TO GO KEYWEST3! You're going to KEY WEST! (Do you dive, by the way?)

FIBER
Anyway, fiber - I'd never even CONSIDERED this! Hm. So, after she said that, I looked at my rankings, and found them to be piss-poor! In fact, I didn't even know what foods had fiber in them. Embarrassing, right?

Perhaps I never knew about fiber (now mind you, this is personal, so don't go blabbing)... because I've never had any trouble with constipation. Haha. I could tell you a funny joke about this, but maybe this blog isn't the place? :) It's all about Homer in the Library. OH, you'll never guess.

Anyway, maybe if I'd had that kind of trouble, I would have known about it. So I searched on SP (of COURSE), and I found a great article (which is now in my favorites) about fiber. I like the visual in my head now of how fiber sweeps the insides clean.

KEYWEST3 gave me some good suggestions for what to eat with fiber. I was afraid the answer was going to be Wheaties or Oatmeal (I'd sooner eat, well, dog-poop than Wheaties, Corn Flakes, Bran or really any other kind of cereal either. Why not is a story you DON'T want to hear!) Anyway, ideas like Weight Watchers yogurt are VERY palatable to me.

WEIGHTS
Okay, so the next secret - weights. Okay, okay. I HEAR you! I keep HEARING that I need to lift weights, but you just have NO idea how much I hate it. Although, you know...I DID lift weights this week. And I did Leg Extensions and Leg Curls until I FAILED at them...and I wasn't sore afterwards. My very sweet husband said that's because my legs are in such good shape from all the walking and arc training I do. I love him.

Here's why I hate weights. I have bursitis. I have it in my knees (I can't run, and after a 4 hour walk, I can't walk for a day. I've learned to live with that.) But I have it BAD, BAD in my shoulders. Chest presses HURT, but they don't hurt my chest. They hurt my shoulders, and not in a good way. Shoulder lifts, lat pull downs, rear delt rows. They all HURT, and not in my muscles. So what's a girl to do about this? Any ideas, those of you wasting your time reading my blog?

WATER
Water. The third secret. I'm right there with her. I can drink water all darn day long. ALL DAY LONG. Put it in front of me, I'm drinking it. I've got that one down.

I just want to say publicly again how much I appreciate the people who are writing and interacting with me. It's a really interesting phenomenon what's going on here at SP. I think when I make my goals, I will be able to say whole-heartedly that the biggest contributor to my success is SP and you.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

FOURTHWALL2000 8/26/2010 10:49PM

Fiber you say? I better check mine. Report Inappropriate Comment

THECITYMOUSE 2/7/2008 4:43PM

I actually track my fiber on my nutrition tracker...the daily goal is between 25 and 35 grams a day. WOO HOO! I have been experimenting with [drum roll, please] milled flaxseed. I can't deal with the whole grain I have to have them puppies milled. I have to track the nutritional content for flaxseed also as they do indeed contain calories but they pack a punch with amino doohickeys and fiber too! Get a tablespoon and stir it into, say, yogurt or sprinkle it onto cereal...I even put it on steamed veg. It's worth a gander. THANK YOU for the sweet words on my blog...it's a very interesting time of my life, that's all I have to say about that! :o) Stick with it!! EP Report Inappropriate Comment

Nutrition Information

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

I found a great site this morning while perusing for calories on some things. Here's what I liked:
* It has the nutrition information in the form of a nutrition label - that's fairly standard now.
* It has graphs in the middle that show Caloric Ratio, Nutrient Balance, and Nutritional Target.
* It has ratings created by Nutrition Data for Weight Loss, Optimum Health, and Weight Gain.
* It has The Good and The Bad on each food.
* It has Better Choices Substitutions for that food that are based on your goals (loss, health or gain)
* Then it has a TON of other information like Glycemic Load and Protein Quality.

I think this is going to make a great compliment to the SparkPeople site for me. I like the visuals of it.


http://www.nutritiondata.com

  

I Got My Act Together and Danced off 510 calories!

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Thanx, KeyWest, for instantly forgiving me, had I ended up taking the day off. Ironically, the time you wrote the comment on my blog is exactly the time I finished the workout I didn't want to do! :)

I did the baby-steps. I put on my tennis shoes, and I went in the workout room to see what was up with my DDR game (Dance Dance Revolution). Next thing you know, I'd burned 510 calories. It was tough, though. I watched every one of those bad boys. I want to reserve my days off for ON PURPOSE days off, not lazy days off.

Thanx again for watching my blog. Keeps me honest and moving.