[Hermit Girl]

I've been on a kick lately with my own home-made hummus, which is radically different from the stuff you buy. No way to count cals with this stuff, but this is how I make it : I cook the beans myself, somewhere around 3 cups cooked garbanzos, I puree with lemon juice of two lemons, about 4 to 6 T. olive oil. and enough water to make consistancy right. In a spice grinder I puree about 1/4 cup each of seseme seeds and flax seeds, and blend in with a couple cloves fresh crushed garlic, and sometimes about 1/4 chopped onion, or roasted red pepper, or some cilantro if I have any around. Salt to taste. Makes about 3 cups of really healthy hummus, roughly, pretty mild tasting, not very salty or oily either.

Spread on dense ww toast, or if just a snack, then one or two Akmak ww crackers... you think this stuff sounds like a good way to go for lunches and hunger pangs? I mean, oranges and carrots or celery might be a better choice for snacks, but heck, I'm such a carbo lover, and the garlicky flavor just makes it so satisfying.

[Glory87]

It sounds great, how could it be bad?

[nelie]

I love hummus and you could count the calories and estimate how much of a serving you use. The olive oil and the seeds will add a bit of calories..

So lets see

1/4 cup of sesame seeds is approximately 321 calories
1/4 cup of flax seeds is approximately 280 calories
4 TBSP olive oil is approximately 158 calories
3 cups of cooked garbanzo beans is approximately 857 calories.

So for the more caloric items, you come up to 1616 calories. It'd be a little bit more for more olive oil but that is that. So not sure how many servings that is but if you said it was around 6 servings, it'd be around 270 calories.

When I make hummus, I do add some tahini but I don't use very much and I skip on the olive oil. I think its a great food overall though.

[Lovely]

I love hummus and whole wheat crackers!

I did some estimating for you about the hummus you create on your own. This is very roundabout, but the totals for the final outcome:

1680 calories
89g fat

That's for all 3 cups, though. 48 tablespoons. 35 calories a tablespoon, 1.8g fat.

Not bad if you're spreading a little at a time. It's also whole, so you're getting a good amount of protein and fiber, not to mention the fat is coming from a pretty healthy source.

[Hyacinth]

I think it sounds wonderful. I eat hummus with raw vegetables, too.

[Hermit Girl]

Oh thanks , I wasn't thinking it had many calories.... just that I tend to nosh on it all day... I can go through a couple of cups easy if I'm not careful, not to mention each Akmak cracker has 23 calories. I think I'm putting about 2generous tablespoons on a cracker... so that's roughly between 80 and 100 cals everytime I wander into the kitchen and make one. Lots of fiber, and good stuff, so heck, if it quells my hunger than I might otherwise make worse choices, I think it's okay to snack on this, along with my orange wedges. I just can't seem to stomach snacking on veggies yet.

[Hermit Girl]

ps. I mean, at least it's a happy medium between trying to be too righteous, and then binging on totally wrong things... right? I'm just not able to kick this weightloss into gear yet, but at the same time, I am striving to make lifestyle changes towards these kinds of foods.

[nelie]

I totally eat 1/2 cup of hummus at a time, usually with celery, carrots or bell pepper slices.

You can also try using different beans as well.

Another good thing is roasting chickpeas. Spray with some olive oil, sprinkle with garlic powder and black pepper and then roast in the oven at 400 until they are at a desired crispiness. I actually like them a little on the softer side.

[Hermit Girl]

Nelie, I LOVE your lifestyle mottos, about living for the body you want, not the body you have. You're only 20 pounds away. I can guess that it took some time to merge the two , but you're so close ! I intend to do the same, without even dieting, just having faith that the body I have will respond , and drift into the body I want. I hike almost daily with Doggo, about 30 to 60 minutes at a time... but it looks like the body I want is going to need extra exercize than that. I could go out twice with Doggo, that would be a good start, or begin the cycling I have put off for years now. (I use to be a very fit cyclist). That seems to be the hardest thing, so why push it for now? Why push too hard for things that may be no longer reasonable. It's a lot of self scrutinizing, for sure.

[WarMaiden]

Originally Posted by Hermit Girl

I hike almost daily with Doggo, about 30 to 60 minutes at a time... but it looks like the body I want is going to need extra exercize than that. I could go out twice with Doggo, that would be a good start, or begin the cycling I have put off for years now. (I use to be a very fit cyclist). That seems to be the hardest thing, so why push it for now? Why push too hard for things that may be no longer reasonable. It's a lot of self scrutinizing, for sure.

I think you've identified in your various posts that food is your issue, not exercise. Clearly you're exercising more than many people do...yet you are still at a higher weight than you want to be. Doing more of what you're already doing is probably not going to be a method that gets you where you want to be, IMO.

[mazza]

Mmm hummus. I love chick peas. They're so versatile.

[kaplods]

Doing more of what you're already doing certainly can make a difference - doing exactly what you're already doing - not. You don't need to make huge changes, small changes are a great way to get started (you just can't expect to drop ten pounds a week - or maybe even 1).

Some people are too impatient to be satisfied with small progress, so they have to make big changes to get what they want. Other people feel overwhelmed if they take on too much, but they've got to be ok with slow, gradual progress.

If you find large changes stressful, or intimidating, you certainly can start smaller, but you've got to be willing to accept slower, more modest results. The one thing you can't have is small changes and huge results. You've got to decide which is more important to you - and if small changes and slow results are ok with you, don't let anyone tell you that you're doing it "wrong."

[JulieJ08]

Originally Posted by Hermit Girl

Oh thanks , I wasn't thinking it had many calories.... just that I tend to nosh on it all day... I can go through a couple of cups easy if I'm not careful, not to mention each Akmak cracker has 23 calories.

Well, you said you make about 3 cups with 4-6T olive oil and ~1/2c nut butter, so having a couple cups every day really is a lot of fat, even if it is good fat.

[RN BSN 2009]

Just a piece of advice - Maybe you can store the hummus in individual containers? Maybe like some empty pudding cups, and cover them and tell yourself you have to stop at one? I think that may help making portion control easier.

[Hermit Girl]

Originally Posted by kaplods

If you find large changes stressful, or intimidating, you certainly can start smaller, but you've got to be willing to accept slower, more modest results. The one thing you can't have is small changes and huge results. You've got to decide which is more important to you - and if small changes and slow results are ok with you, don't let anyone tell you that you're doing it "wrong."

Thanks Kaplods, that reasoning resonates.