Sparkling water = awesome.

This morning my mom introduced me to this amazing concept. I love fruit juice, but even if it's 100% juice, it's essentially still just a bunch of sugar. Because of this, I don't drink juice much (regardless of how sad this may make me.) But this morning as I was getting a glass of cranberry juice, my mom suggested mix half of it with sparkling water. WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA. With really rich juices like cranberry, it doesn't water it down at all, and it cuts calories in half. Plus it's bubbly and awesome now. How great! I'm going to have to remember this for the future, especially when I'm drinking alcohol. But putting water in, I'll be able to greatly reduce my calories with little impact on the taste. My mother is brilliant sometimes!

Other than that... not much is new. I ate out last night, but made a point to eat half of my meal. My mom really wanted to take me to this new Italian place, and told me how good the Stromboli was. I opted for a veggie roll though, so no greasy sausage or pepperoni. Still a lot of cheese, but it was also stuffed with spinach, black olives, and artichoke so at least I got my veggies. Also got a really good house salad.

My mom and I might go for a walk later, since the weather has gotten warmed. We're waiting to pick up my car though, so hopefully that'll happen soon. I'm also going to be a little bad tonight and make "drunk shakes" with a friend. It's basically what it sounds likes- alcoholic milk shakes. I'm going to make a point to buy the healthiest ice cream I can (My Cook This, Not That book always suggest Bryer's). It's not going to be great, obviously, but... it'll be fine. In my experience, try to cut everything bad out of your diet all the time usually ends in binge eating, and it's really... bad. However, I am making sure to watch what I eat to save some calories for tonight.

Tomorrow is also new years! I hope everyone has a great and safe new years!

Winter clothing should not be this disheartening.

I really hate the winter, not because it's cold or because the holidays are crazy. I hate the winter because I have no idea how the hell I'm supposed to dress myself.

That probably sounds silly, but it's true. I always feel unattractive and bulky during the winter. At this point, the only thing in my winter wardrobe I really like are a couple dresses I can wear with leggings and boots. Everything else is sweaters or shirts that I feel like make me look fat or bulky, or just aren't "me" anymore because they're from high school or something. I honestly don't even know what's in style anymore, as far as winter clothing does. I'm not sure I ever did either.

I'd really like to go out and buy some new clothes, but I'm trying desperately to save money, and I just kind of revamped my summer wardrobe.

I think a big issue is I no longer have my go-to staple, the t-shirt. Since I'm a college student and I'm in a sorority, I have a lot of tshirts. Pretty much every event ever dictates the creation of a tshirt. I just don't even know. Most of the long sleeve shirts I like aren't nearly warm enough to withstand the awful winds we get in Oklahoma during the winter.

I guess what this means is I need to do my research, do some online shopping, and then maybe buy a few pieces that make me feel good about myself. That would be worth it, right? I just don't even know where to begin... the whole thought is kind of daunting.

But this is also something that I need to remember and hold onto. I keep looking in the mirror and thinking how much I would love to lose even just 10 pounds. This is motivation I need to hold onto. I know I'll feel so much better about myself, and I won't have to worry quite as much about this kind of stuff.

Also, starting your morning out with cookies is a bad idea. I have quite a day ahead of me, trying to undo that D:

MOTIVATION MOTIVATION MOTIVATION.

I ♥ Yoga!

I'm really starting to get antsy here at home. I need some sort of physical outlet, but it's too cold for me to go walking outside (because I'm a wuss) and I won't have a gym at my disposal until I head back to school on January 7th. I've been doing some crunches a push ups and some yoga each night though, so I guess that's better than nothing. It just feels like it's not enough.

Speaking of yoga, I love it. I was turned onto it when my mom recommended it to me when I was complaining about my back always being full of knots. She got me a simply yoga book, but I never committed to a daily routine, and learning poses from a book was really difficult, same wtih a DVD. Then, this past semester I had a few credit hours to play around with so I decided to enroll in a yoga class that met twice a week, mainly to help with my stress levels. I really, really enjoyed it and may back bothered me less and less as the semester went on.

Since I've been home, I've stopped my practice and, sure enough, within a week my back was acting up again. I've started doing some basic stretches and some sunrise salutes at night, and it's actually really helped. I'm looking forward to taking yoga again next semester as well.

In other news, despite my lack of physical activity, my better eating is slowly removing my desire for fast food, ever again. In fact, after eating some left over Chinese I almost immediately felt sick, making want to eat nothing but broccoli and healthy stuff for a while. I don't know that it was necessarily the Chinese food that made me feel like crap, but I felt pretty bad for a while about an hour after eating. I'm also getting used to not eating late a night, which is one of my terrible habits I need to break.

I think I'm making progress, slow though it may be. I'm going to go have lunch (minestrone soup... mmmmm) and then my family is going to see The Tempest. Shakespeare in an easy way to make a theatre major like myself happy.

Hope you're all enjoying you Holiday season!

Holiday food woes.

So the last day or so has been kind of difficult. I went out for drinks last night with some old classmates, which was fun. My drinking is something I'm going to have to reign in, but I only had two drinks, a jack and coke and amaretto sour, which might be better than my love for milky drinks like white russians and the like. But still, I think I need to start drinking more gin and tonic or something, or not drinking at all. I also got a little snack when I was out, but I stuck to one of their "tiny bites" portions or something like that, so I ended up getting artichoke heart breaded with panko. I could have done a lot worse, I think, and it's certainly an improvement from my old habit of ordering a full meal when I'm not hungry.

Today started out pretty good. My mom made her awesome minestrone soup, which is great because it's a one stop shop for a meal. Pasta, sausage (drained), and a ton of veggies like tomato, zucchini, and the like. It's pretty much the best soup ever. The problem came when it came time for Christmas tradition. My family has a long standing tradition of getting Chinese food on Christmas Eve. All things considered, I think I did pretty well. I got Hunan chicken, beef, and shrimp which was swimming in veggies. Unfortunately, it was also swimming in some sort of sauce and portion sizes were CRAZY HUGE. I only ate about half though, but I'm sure it wasn't the most stellar meal ever.

One things I'm working actively on is eating slower. I've always eaten really, really quickly. It's awful. But there are a lot of benefits to eating slower, like enjoying your food more. Plus t gives your brain time to realize your full before you stuff your face. It's a work in progress. A habit 21 years in the making is hard to beat.

But on the plus side, we opened Christmas gifts, another Christmas Eve position and my mom got me the new Cook This, Not That cookbook! This book has some recipes that are a little more exotic, like grilled calamari or stuffed dates, but it also has awesome looking recipes like a swiss burger and tiramisu. The best part? All the recipes in this book are under 350 calories, which is a nice step up from the last one. And this one has more helpful matrices, like one for pizza and salad. I'm really looking forward doing some cooking now!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful and happy holiday season. Have a great Christmas!

My quest for skinny jeans

I store all my weight in my "ghetto booty," as I call it. Basically, all my extra padding likes to hang out on my hips and thighs. There are both benefits and drawbacks to this. The good things are that I have relatively little belly fat, which is generally considered much more unhealthy than fat in other places. My stomach is actually pretty flat, with the exception of a little pooch, which pretty much all women have. Plus, said ghetto booty can be easily camouflage with flowy skirts and nice tops.

But every now and then it makes me sad. Jeans are a pain in the butt, because they always seem to tight on me. Plus I desperately would like to be able to sport skinny jeans, but I kind of look like an ice cream cone with them on right now. Plus I hate putting on freshly washed jeans and having to walk around for a few hours before I can sit down comfortable.

I think skinny jeans are one of my goals with this weight loss. I just really like the way they look when the suit the person's body type, and it would really give me a more versatile wardrobe. I just want to feel good in them, and in all my jeans.

In other news, the Christmas cookies have been baked and are mocking me. I had three yesterday, I think but I stopped myself there when I wanted to have more. Today hasn't been real stellar either thus far, since my mom made an German apple pancake. But other than that, I'm doing okay. I wish I had more access to a gym right now, but I've at least been successful in eating better and cutting back on my snacking. Slow progress. As soon as I get back to campus, I'll have access to a gym and I've got time blocked off into my schedule to work out.

SKINNY JEANS, HERE I COME.

My irrational scale-o-phobia

As most people working to lose weight, weighing yourself is an important component. I like to say, "Oh, I don't believe in weighing myself," but we all know that's a dirty lie. YES, I prefer to go by how I look, since everyone's body type is different. BUT we all know that stepping on the scale and noticing even a pound or two of weight loss is extremely exciting. I've heard advice ranging from weighing yourself daily to only once a week or even once a month. This article suggests that the number of times a person weights themselves is dependent largely on their personality. If someone likes control and constant feedback, then weighting more frequently is beneficial, where as an easily discouraged person might benefit more from less frequent weighings. They also make other good points, such as your weight fluctuates from day to day because of water weight, and even from month to month for women. They also stressed the importance of other factors, like how you feel, how your clothes fit, and your own perception.

That being said, I finally pulled my mom's scale out of her closet and weighed myself. It was about 143, which means I probably haven't gained, and I probably have't lost. But, I do feel a lot better, and I've been eating better food and a lot less. I can't really expect to weigh less after less than a week anyway.

But oddly, I don't feel discouraged. I feel a lot better, which is definitely something. Then I read some Bitch Cakes and I feel all inspired again. I'm gonna go get lunch soon, which will hopefully be something delicious and good for me (need to see what's in the fridge first). Then I'm planning on doing more shopping, which means more walking for a few hours. It got cold here, so walking outside might be difficult, but I'm gonna see what I can do.

I CAN DO THIS. This is going to be so worth it!

Sugary drinks- why I'll pass.

You guys would be so proud of me! I've been doing crunches every night and I even went for a walk today and then walked around the mall for a while with my friend. YAY EXERCISE. I realize it seems pretty small and petty, but the alternative is me sitting around my house all day doing a whole lot of nothing, so it's a good alternative. I also did my Christmas shopping and got some awesome stuff. Two birds with one stone!

Also, my mom and I went to Sam's Club to do some shopping, which means we usually try all the samples and then I get a hot dog combo, which includes a drink. I don't eat hot dogs a lot, and I prefer kosher dogs, but this one was a lot greasier than I remember then being. The big kicker was the drink that came with it. I drink almost all water, with the exception of some milk with my cereal. The only time I ever drink soda or juice anymore is when I'm mixing it with alcohol, but that's an entirely story all together (and a subject for another post).

But my point is, that the hot dog came with a drink. A giant, giant drink. I chose the Nestea Raspberry Iced Tea, which now that I look at the nutrition info, wasn't the worst choice. Probably not the best though. After I drank all 32 oz or so of my drink, I was vaguely reminded why I don't usually drink soda or other sweetened drinks. So. Much. Sugar. No wonder I don't drink that stuff all that often anymore!

Actually, my first successful bout of weight loss at age of 13 I attribute very largely to cutting soda out of my diet. I used to drink primarily soda and other sugary drinks. I also drank A LOT of them, because in a typical meal I'll drink 3-4 glasses of whatever beverage I"m consuming. Add that up, and that's A LOT of sugar. But I cut soda (even diet sodas) out completely and lost about 20 pounds- imagine that! My mother also told me at the time that there was some sort of chemical in diet sodas that didn't add calories, but it retained fat, so drinking it was like holding onto all the fat in your system. I haven't been able to find anything about that thus far (but I'll be doing more research on that) but here's three other reasons to stop drinking soda.

The moral of the story- water is good, soda is bad. I'm glad that I continue to consume soda pretty infrequently, and I think I'm going to try to up my water intake and drink even less other stuff.

Also, on a somewhat related note, I saw one of my best friends today. I don't see her much since we live in different states due to her just beginning grad school and me finishing my undergrad. She told me she was recently diagnosed as anorexic, but she's currently in recovery and has gained about half a pound thus far. I guess we both have our own weight battles to fight. It was another important message about remembering to do this right. Also, if you would send her some prayers or happy vibes or whatever it is you believe in. She's been working really hard, but she has a tough road ahead.

Over and out! (I really need some sort of cool tag line here.)

There's something about being home...

...that makes me feel so much better about myself. It might be because I do a lot less snacking. It might also be that I eat a lot better and out a lot less, because my mom cooks and when she cooks, you can expect plenty of veggies. Like for dinner tonight, brisket with roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots, some sort of squash and zucchini stew, and some salad with my mom's homemade dressing. LOOK AT ALL THOSE VEGGIES. Those are like...more vegetables in one day than I've eaten in the last week (exaggeration, but still). Super tasty though. Of course, I also had some of my mom's banana pudding and a chocolate that boyfriend's sister made me, but 'tis the season I suppose. I also walked around the mall for about two hours- that counts for something, right?

I'm trying to decide when I want to do my crunches and stuff right now. I'm going to try it before going to bed tonight, but I might start doing them in the morning. Better yet, I might split the workout between both, to make myself more likely to be consistent. Who knows?

But seriously, I love being home because I always seem to eat pretty well, for the most part. I guess I need to figure out how to harness this good eating-ness and bring it back to school with me. I think eating out less and midnight Taco Bell runs stopping may be the key. We'll have to see.

And now, as a bonus (!!!) here's my very favorite salad dressing recipe. It's literally one of the only salad dressings I like, since most are much too greasy in my opinion. I always kind of eyeball the measurements, but you can also make a big batch and keep it in a jar and spoon a little out for each salad.

Ingredients:

Red wine vinegar

Oil (any kind will work, I usually use canola, vegetable, or olive)

Italian seasoning

Seasoned salt.

I like my dressing with a lot of kick, but you might want to start off with half and half vinegar and oil and then adjust to taste. Then you just add some seasoned salt and a generous helping of Italian seasoning and there you are.

I typically will make my salad first and let it sit while I cook the rest of my meal so that is can adsorb all the flavors. Usually I dish the dressing into the bottom of the bowl and add green onions, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers etc. Then I set the salad on top and let that hang out in the fridge until it's time to eat. Then I toss and eat. Yum! I especially like this with romaine or iceberg lettuce, because it absorbs all the dressing, but you can make it with just about anything. My roommate made it with spinach and carrots once and really liked it too, because it's so versatile.

Happy eating!

Day 1!

So, I came home today meaning today was the first day of my diet- officially. And you would all be so proud of me. I didn't want to cook before leaving and make a mess that I would have to clean up, so I was forced to eat out before leaving to drive home. Fast food tends to make it difficult, especially since I didn't want to go inside since I really wanted to get the road. Something like Subway was kind of out of the question.

Now, there's a Sonic right next to highway entrance, so I decided to get Sonic. I usually only like Sonic for their cherry limades and ice cream. Any meal I get there is so deep friend I almost immediately feel sick to my stomach. So what did I get? A grilled chicken wrap (no tomatoes, since I don't like raw tomatoes) and a side of APPLE SLICES. That's right my friends, Sonic has apple slices that are shockingly good. Sure, I get a cherry limade to go with it and there might have been a little lite ranch dressing on the wrap, but I bypassed all the fried food, as well as the caramel dipping sauce for the apples.

I did pretty well the rest of the day too. I had a few of the chocolate candies boyfriend's sister made me for Christmas, but I resisted the urge to stop for coffee on the way home and the rest of my meals have been pretty good. I'm really proud of myself, plus I didn't feel sick to my stomach on the way home. Double win!

I'm really excited about this whole process. I'm also getting my hair cut on Tuesday, which will also undoubtedly help with my personal image. This is going to be great!

Eating out and then some.

So, most of the time, you hear people ragging on how badly eating out is. And usually that's true. Portions at chain restaurants like Chili's tend to be huge and swimming in some sort of sauce. But I think there are certain rare exceptions, especially when you eat at little mom=and-pop whole-in-the-wall type places.

I had this revelation yesterday when my boyfriend and I went to this little Mediterranean place. It's both import shop and restaurant. They have these nice "platters" if you will, which are great because they incorporate a little of everything. And as I was eating my lunch, it occurred to me this meal was probably actually pretty healthy. It consisted of kibbi, which is meat and bulgar wheat, tabbouleh, hummus with a pita, grape leaves stuffed with meat, and falafel. Nothing was horrible overfried, there were a lot of vegetable on my plate, and there was plenty of protein to keep me happy for the rest of the afternoon. My boyfriend had a similar platter that had a Greek salad, falafel, gyro with pita, a meat or spinach pie (he got meat), and something else I honestly can't remember. Again, good portion of all food groups represented and he even liked the salad, which he's usually not a fan of.

It was just really refreshing to not get a GIANT portion of food swimming gravy and sauce. And there were vegetable everywhere and they were delicious (tabbouleh is one of my favorite things ever as well). You can certainly eat out well if you know what you're doing.

Of course, on the flip side we went to a pub later that night and I made the mistake of ordering fish and chips. Fried food tense to make me feel sick (that would be my body rejecting deep frying). Lesson learned- avoid fried food at all costs.

In any case, I'm heading home tomorrow, meaning I'll be starting actively working out and eating better. When I went to the doctor last weekend, I was right at 140, so that's our starting weight. I don't really believe in weighing myself and prefer to go more by how I look, but I'm thinking my goal is somewhere in the 125-130 range. Hopefully we'll start seeing some progress soon though!

Over and out!

So I have a confession to make...

...I haven't really been dieting or exercising yet. In fact, last night I went to Braum's and got a milk shake and french fries. They were delicious.

But then why on earth did I start this blog now, instead of when I actually started dieting? Part of it was to get myself psyched up for this and to get myself motivated. It was also to start looking for healthy alternatives and such. My plan was to start dieting and exercising more once finals are over (which they are tomorrow!) when I would have the time to get myself into a good routine. I will be going home for Christmas break, but my mom cooks reasonably healthy food, so it'll be good.

So what exactly AM I going to be doing diet and exercise-wise one I start this thing full blown? Well...

I'm going to be eating better. I'm going to reduce my intake or high fat or really sugary foods. That doesn't mean I'm going to cut them out entirely, but I'm going to make efforts to choose better choices. I'm also going to eat out a lot less. It saves money, and it's healthier. When I do eat out, I'm going to only eat about half of my plate since restaurant portions are HUGE.I'm going to increase my veggie intake. For reals.

As for a exercise goes, at home I'm going to start doing crunches and push-up as few yoga sequences. I'm going to hopefully go walk/run but I'm thinking it's going to be pretty cold (by my standard, anyway) so that may no happen. However, once I move back to school for next semester, I have time built into my schedule to work out. SO I WILL WORK OUT. I'm also enrolled in yoga again next semester, so that's good. After my show closes in February, I plan on attending Zumba regularly as well.

I HAVE A PLAN. I WILL DO THIS. This is going to be successful!

However, I had a kind of sobering reminder not to let things get too out of hand yesterday. I was flipping channels and an episode of Intervention was on about a woman with anorexia. It was just a reminder that fat is normal and healthy on the body. There's nothing wrong with wanting to stay healthy, but it's something that you have to keep it in reason.

But all that being said, I'm feeling good, ready to go and I'm PSYCHED about the even more awesome person I'm going to become by making myself healthier. This is gonna be great!

Bare Minerals foundation.

So this isn't entirely weight loss related, but I feel like liking the way you look is an importance component of weight loss. It really makes you want to work harder to look and feel your best, and it can help a lot with self confidence.

Which is why I' in love with Bare Minerals foundation. This foundation is AMAZING and make my skin look great even after I take it off. I've had a real problem with acne since puberty, and even had to visit a dermatologist for a while in middle school eventually I learned the correct over the counter face washes and creams that helped me keep it under control, but my acne would still break out pretty badly on a fairly consistent basis. More improvement was made when I went on birth control, but acne was still a problem. I also could never wear foundation because even wearing it for a short period of time would make me break out almost instantaneously. Even the "acne control" stuff did no good and I could only wear it for special occasions.

My friend recommended Bare Minerals to me this summer, so I decided I'd bite the rather expensive bullet and buy their started kit which include two foundations, mineral veil, the warmth bronzer, and two different brushes plus a concealer brush. It came to about $60, which wasn't bad but still a lot of money to drop at once.

But, oh my gosh, it was completely worth it. First of all, the stuff lasts FOREVER and I still have tons left over from my initial purchase in early August, And these were even smaller containers than the regular ones you buy in the store, which my friend said last her about a year. It's a lot of money up front, but you don't have to buy it that often so it balances out, in my opinion. I also love the fact that it doesn't even feel like I'm wearing make up and is super easy to apply.

And here the best part- it didn't make me break out. In fact, my acne is more under control than it has even been, and my skin looks the best it ever has. When the salesperson told me it would improve my skin, I though she was full of crap, but it actually does. I still get the occasional zit or break out, but it happens so infrequently and I know I can cover it up now and not worry about it getting worse. It's really amazing. Plus it also includes SPF15, and most dermatologists recommend always wearing a light SPF to protect your skin (plus, sun damage is what causes wrinkles.) I just wish I had tried this stuff sooner.

Really, I can't sing this stuffs praises enough. I only wish I had enough money to buy more of their beauty products, since I'm sure I'd love them all just as much.

Recipe Review: Pork chops with shallots and mushrooms.

So I recently discovered Gina's Skinny Recipe's, and I might be in love. There are so many fantastic looking recipes on there, but when I saw the pork chops with shallots and mushrooms I knew I had to try this one first. I love mushrooms entirely more than I should, and I've eaten a lot of fish and chicken recently, so I thought pork chops (which I'm not usually a fan of, by the way) would be a nice change. I'd never actually cooked pork before, so I was a little nervous, but this recipe was super easy AND delicious. My boyfriend came over for dinner last night, and he really liked it to, His only complaint was that he was hungry a few hours later.

Since I almost always eyeball measurements, some of my measurements were a little off. I could have done with more mushrooms (but again, I love them) but other than that, it turned out great. I was also pleasantly surprised at how much flavor the dijon mustard and parsley added, especially since I don't usually like mustard. But overall, I'm really pleased with this recipe and I'm planning on eating off the leftovers the next couple days.

I also tried the roasted cauliflower recipe they suggested as a side, which I was less impressed with. Maybe I just did it wrong, but the cauliflower didn't seem to cook all the way through or something. The addition of garlic to the cauliflower was really good though. I think next time I might just steam the cauliflower, since that's pretty hard to mess up.

Overall, I think this is a great recipe, it's healthy, and really great. It might be good served with or over rice also, and that might help bulk up the fiber content, or be good for people like my boyfriend who have bigger appetites. There's a mushroom soup recipe I really want to try, so perhaps we'll have a review on that soon!

Happy cooking!

The Sneaky Snack Spiral

So every now and then, I fall into this horrible downward spiral of snacking. It always starts with a well intentioned healthy snack so my stomach will stop growling, but then the eating doesn't stop.

Last night, after working on a paper for about three and a half hours, I decided to stop by the on campus ala carte place and grab a snack. I had eaten a really early dinner and it was going on 9:30 or 10:00. I was excited to find they had my favorite vegan apple bars, so I bought one with the good intentions of having that to hold me over until morning.

Then I saw it. A pack of S'Mores Pop Tarts. Normally, I don't like Pop Tarts. They're far too sugary for my liking and usually they taste really good, but I feel sick almost immediately after consuming them But about one every year and a half, I really, really want one. So I figured I would buy the Pop Tart, harmlessly, for a snack later. Little did I know, this was just the beginning.

I came home and at my vegan apple bar. Yum. But then I decided I should have a Pop Tart. Just one. Which- shockingly is all I ate. Normally the Sneaky Snack Spiral dictates I eat everything in my path.

So I head over to the boyfriend's apartment. What I had forgotten was that I had a whole bad of gingerbread marshmallows at the boyfriend's. Marshmallows are kind of like potato chips- you can't eat just one... or two... or eight. I honestly have no idea how many I ate, but it was somewhere between seven and twelve. And then the bottle of Bailey's I had brought over became entirely too tempting- I drank half a glass of that as well. And then boyfriend had Taco Bell... which made me want to eat some of his. I stole bites of a cheese roll up I didn't even want.

And that is the danger of the Sneaks Snack Spiral. It makes you eat things you don't even want to eat. It's tragic and is the surest way to ruin a day of healthy eating. Beware my friends, beware.

The surprisingly complex world of milk.

I have a longtime love affair with milk, and like most people I'm pretty particular about the milk I drink. I grew up drinking 2%, and that's my preference. Whole is just too much for me, where as skim just tastes like someone poured water in my milk. When I grew up, I thought I was being all healthy because I was drinking 2%. Now, for some reason, I thought 2% meant is had only 2% of the initial fat in it, which is obviously a lie. Eventually I learned the truth. I attempted to make the switch to skim after hearing how "unhealthy" 2% is, but I just can't do it. Now I drink 1%, largely because it's a happy medium between the two, especially since some of my roommates prefer skim.

But then it occurred to me- how much do I REALLY know about milk? Most of what I know about milk I've learned from commercials and the media (like that one glass a 2% milk has the same amount of saturated fat as an order of french fries.) Is that true? I had no idea. Which I why I decided to do some research.

Let's start with whole milk, which has 3.25% fat. One cup contains 146 calories, and 71 of those calories come from fat. The quick run down says that a lot of the calories come from sugar- 13g to be exact. How very interesting. Milk is never something we see as a "sugary" food. It also provides a lot of important vitamins and minerals, which is something we probably all know and love milk for.

Next, 2% milk. 122 calories, 43 from fat. The run down claims that this still has a lot of saturated fat, but only 3g as compared to the whole milks 5g. It also contains similar amounts of vitamins and minerals as well. But here's good news, it scores higher in the "weight loss" section- almost three stars our of five instead of just over two.

Moving into my current milk selection, 1% milk. 102 calories a cup, and 21 of those coming from fat. However, it's work mentioning this food no longer claims to have a high amount of saturated fat in, with only 2g. The vitamin and mineral content is the same, but we're still sitting at 13g of sugar. I don't know why this surprises me, milk is made of lactose, a type of sugar like sucrose or fructose. This may require further research into lactose at a later date. Interestingly, the score on the weight loss section is pretty much the same, however the weight gain one has decreased slightly

And now finally, skim milk. Only 91 calories, 5 from fat make me really, really wish I liked this stuff. But alas. We've dipped down to 12g of sugar and it's not officially considered low in saturated fat (since is has 0g). Vitamins and minerals are the same, but we've not reached four out of five stars on "weight loss" and only one and a half stars on "weight gain." Oh skim milk, I wish I liked you.

Just for kicks and giggles (and because I love the stuff) I looked up soy milk as well. I've head about it being "healthy" for you, but I was curious about if that was the case. 131 calories, so just below whole milk. But here's the interesting part- only 38 fat calories, and there are 0g of saturated fat. Also, there's only 10g of sugar. The extra calories are coming from the added amount of carbs, 15g instead of 12g. It also offers some different vitamin and minerals than regular milk, like magnesium and copper, but is lacking in areas like calcium that milk is so well known for. However, a different soy milk (fortified this time) seems much healthier in all regards. There's no way to really tell the difference in them, so I'm not sure how to distinguish them.

So, I guess the moral of the story is this- skim milk really is the healthiest for you, but sticking with something like 1% isn't necessarily going to kill you. I guess it's just a matter of monitoring what you're consuming (like everything). I tend to only drink milk on my cereal and maybe with a cake or cookies if I have them, so I guess that's something. In any case, I'm glad I took the short amount of time necessary to actually inform myself, and I hope you got to glean some information too.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Cook This, Not That!

So many of you may have heard of the Eat This, Not That! books. They're basically little books that give you healthier alternatives to eat when you eat out. They give you a calorie count and everything. These books are great, but really, they're just doing you a service you could do yourself if you did a little extra research and used your brain when ordering.

However, the same guys have written two books entitled Cook This, Not That! My mom got me the Kitchen Survival Guide one (it's the green one) and- oh my gosh. I. Love. It. They take dishes from different restaurants and make similar dishes, but healthier. Not everything in the book qualifies as "low fat" (which, if memory serves means 30% or less of it's calories come from fat). But th book still offers ways to make dishes that wouldn't be real healthy delicious and much better for you. Plus, most of them are super easy and can be made really quickly. My personal favorite is their baked chicken strips. Delicious chicken strips I can make in less than half an out with a chicken breast, Panko bread crumbs, egg, and salt and pepper. The recipe has a honey mustard type sauce to go with it, but usually ditch the sauce entirely and use hot sauce instead, or some light ranch if I feel like splurging.

The book also has some really great sections like the crock pot matrix, the smoothie matrix, the skewer matrix, and the snack matrix. It's a great breakdown for how to vary meals and make more interesting dishes. It really helps you personalize and make food you like. I spent about three months snacking on hummus and carrots after the snack matrix suggested that one to me.

Overall, the book as a lot of really great recipes (it's my go-to cook book these days) that are easy, relatively cheap, and better for you. I asked my mom to get me the second book for Christmas this year. This one apparently had more recipes that are under 350 calories, which will be exciting. Hopefully I'll be getting it too, since I've kind of exhausted this current book. But all in all, it's a great book and I would highly recommend it. I mean, if a college student likes it and has time to cook from it, it must be good, right?

Until next time!

So what's this about?

So I've been thinking about what I want to write about in this blog. I actually have ideas, which kind of shocks me. In addition to just talking about my own personal weight loss journey, I want to make it something other people can learn from. Because- let's be honest- my own story is probably not going to be that interesting.

I think this is going to be kind of a catch all. Not just weight loss, but also healthy eating and living, exercise, and maybe even some beauty related stuff. I also might do some reviews of recipes and stuff, and maybe post a few. I pretty much love food and cooking, so I think that might be fun. I've even hunted down some healthy cooking blogs and subscribed to them, and I'm looking forward to trying some recipes. I've kind of exhausted my current collection. I also plan on stealing some from mi marde when I go home for Christmas.

I think I'm going to try and hit the gym later tonight since this is my first night without rehearsal for a long time. Since it's the end of the semester though, I'm pretty busy. I was kind of putting off regular workout until winter break. I know making excuses is lame, but I haven't really committed to anything solid quite yet since my life is going to be rather unstable for the next month or so. I think tonight I'll be able to make time though. Yes, gym!

Stay healthy, friends!

So I've been thinking about doing this for a while...

I've been putting this off because it means I'll have to be motivated. And who likes that? I seem to always have seven other priorities, and weight loss has never been one of them.

But it is time, my friends. It. Is. Time.

Let's rewind. Hello, my name is Liz and I want to lose weight. And I think blogging about it will help my accountability and stuff. And I like talking about stuff but my roommates and boyfriend probably don't want to hear about it. So you will, interwebs.

A bit of backstory- I've been overweight most of my life. In the fifth grade I was at my all time highest weigh of 152lbs. In the eighth grade I stopped drinking soda and eating better and list about 20 lbs, but I've been hanging out in the 130-140 range for pretty much the rest of my life. Recently, because being a theatre student in college makes me crazy, I've packed on about five extra pounds or so. I want to get rid of them. They make me self conscious since I go to a school of beautiful actors and dancers who all have perfect bodies. I'm 5'4", so it's not like I'm morbidly obese, but I want to be well within my healthy weight limit, not teetering on the edge of "average" and "overweight."

But here's the glimmer of hope. I'll be graduating in May. I am taking 12 hours, and my production assignments are much more scaled back than this past semester. I have one class on Tuesday and Thursday and almost no classes on Friday. This mean, (wait for it), I ACTUALLY WILL HAVE TIME TO WORK OUT. Also, I have a friend who teaches a free Zumba Class twice a week, and I plan on attending that regularly next semester after I'm done stage managing my show in February. And I'll have time to cook and eat healthy. I'll eat lots of beautiful veggies and it'll be awesome.

So basically, this will be me tracking my progress (AND THERE WILL BE PROGRESS.) I'll probably be talking about random stuff and checking in. My goal is to lose weight by my graduation in May. This is totally doable, I just need to curb late night Taco Bell cravings.

Over and out!