I am MILF

Things have been great.  I haven’t even had a chance to hit the gym in about six weeks, but I am playing a lot softball — and winning tournaments with my amazing team.  My son and I have been having a blast doing the summer thing.  I find the whole dieting thing to be especially easy in the summer, what with all the watermelon, salads, and tons of activity.  I have stayed at about 134-137 for a couple months.  No gain after eating pizza probably about eight times in the last month alone.  It’s all my son who is a picky eater will eat voluntarily.  I don’t sweat what I eat at all anymore because I am staying under my caloric mark and always outside.  I haven’t even food journaled for six weeks.  It’s been a nice break.  I am off to wash my jeep in an empty lot outside my house because it is gorgeous outside. 

Thought I would do a post about some of the specific foods that have kept me on track.  Without these foods, my food journal would look a little less healthy.

Grapefruit 

I think I have gone through five large potato sacks of grapefruit in the last two months.  It would probably be more if they weren’t so time consuming to slice up.  I do a fine sprinkling of sugar, to the point where it is still healthy.  

McCann’s Steel Cut Oats

Alone, they have a really nutty, richly creamy taste and texture.  But after I add butter and brown sugar, what is a beautiful blank canvas transforms into pure magic.  The only downside is the time it takes to cook, about 45 minutes all in all.  I have not tried the five-minute kind this brand makes because it is pretty hard to mess with near perfection.

Ginger root

About 11 years ago I began working at this really great orthobionomy/Reiki/yoga/health center, and I learned a lot.  A tip my boss shared with me was slicing little bits of ginger root up with a slice of lemon and adding that to my water.  I ate healthy and was well hydrated that whole summer.  I learned so much while there, but other than the free lentil meals they fed me every day at lunch and the 10 pounds I shed, this was another reason I loved working there.  These days I am too lazy to throw in the lemon.  Sometimes I chop up a bunch of ginger root and throw it in a strainer and drink it in hot tea form.  Once in a while with honey.  Loves it.

So baby daddy and I saw State of Play.  That is the best political thriller I have seen since Enemy of the State.  I snuck in a big bag of sea salt popcorn and a homemade Chex mix.  

I wanted to include a list on my page of what I am currently snacking on these days, since that is one of the foremost questions on my mind when I visit other blogs.

• baby carrots and grape tomatoes with sour cream and Ranch mix
• Pink Lady apples sliced like potato chips  with PB2 
• cottage cheese and strawberries
• any kind of melon, and lots of it
• SF popsicles — usually around 15 to 20 calories apiece
• bowl of cereal
• popcorn
• toast with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray and SF jam
• Skinny Cow strawberry ice cream sandwiches
• pita with 1/3 less fat cream cheese, bell peppers, tomatoes, and turkey
• broth-based soup
• banana
• berries and homemade whipped cream
• thin slice of homemade angel food cake and berries
• string cheese
• salad with Olive Garden dressing
• grapes
• grapefruit with a thin dusting of sugar
• Pringles fat free potato chips
• Hostess snack cakes

Mom took me to Costco today — Woohoo!  I had seen these little fruit snacks before and thought about getting them, but they are a little pricey for as light as the box feels.  So I let her buy them for me.  Moms are the best.  Well, her intention was that I would give them to Baby Boy as a snack.  He is just going to have to share.  The particular ones I got — can’t wait to try the pinapple — are strawberry and banana; 45 calories with 2 grams of fiber and no fat!  They aren’t exactly filling, but if you just want to do something like stuff your face during a movie, they’re perfect.  They are just little pieces of freeze-dried fruit.  Hardly worth what you pay — or your mom pays, but very handy in a pinch.  I guess this is going to be one of our new splurges with our grocery money.

I got this recipe from Real Simple magazine years ago, and it is my favorite soup recipe ever!  I will get in the mood for this and eat it for a week straight.  Canned black beans, salsa, sour cream, and canned chicken broth, and lime is all it takes.  I always buy fresh salsa from the my favorite little mexican bistro.  I never put in the dry sherry, because I don’t think it needs it.  It is super quick.  I actually double-up the recipe usually.  It is okay to freeze too since it reheats so well.

4 servings

1 cup salsa, jarred is okay, plus extra for garnish

2 (15 1/2 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups chicken broth (I use low sodium)

4 tablespoons sour cream

1 lime

4-8 tablespoons dry sherry

1.  Heat salsa in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about five minutes.

2.  Stir in the beans and broth, then heat to boiling; reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 minutes.

3.  Cool slightly, then spoon half the soup into a food processor or blender and puree.

4.  Return the pureed soup to the saucepan and heat through. 

5.  Serve with sour cream, additional salsa, and a squeeze of lime or two.  Or, stir in 1-2 tablespoons of dry sherry to each bowl.

Since I’m on WW, I always eat this with a bunch of blue corn chips.  I know the pointage on this is very low.  Without the sour cream, it is probably around 1.5 or 2 points.  Tons of protein and fiber.

I wasn’t sure where to file these sublimely, but addictive little morsels; under “favorite weight-loss things” or “guilty pleasures.”  These little guys pack quite a punch.  Although you chalk up 4 points (WW) for a one-ounce serving, they have benefits aplenty.  They contain 13 times more of the antioxidant, lutein, than the next highest nut, hazlenuts.  Taking in lutein is associated with a reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration.  This is the principal cause of blindness among people ages 65 and older.  

Thing is, I have a real problem just staying at one serving once I get started cracking those shells.  Then again, when I hit 60, I am going to need my eyes to be in fabulous shape when I am crushing a batter’s in-the-park homerun dreams. 

I have nine heirloom tomato plants growing in my garden.  I have all different varieties.  I am more than a little disappointed by a couple of them though.   My Isis, which are supposed to taste like candy — well, they don’t.  Stupice are the BEST for my tomato and cheese sandwiches.  I feel so Adam and Evie when I can go outside and grab what I need for my sandwich or salad.  Usually all the little ones are gone by the time I get back in the house because I stuff my face in the twenty steps it takes to get inside.

I unequivocally love Starbucks iced coffee.  This is one of those take-three-things-to-a-deserted-island kind of love.  If I had a pie chart to accredit my weight loss, Starbucks iced coffee would have at least a ten percent slice.  I drink it so as to avoid a huge lunch and dinner.