Morning, maintainers.

Barbara -- I try to keep fats around 30%, but I don't obsess about it. I find that as long as I'm getting my protein, I get enough fat, because there's only so many chicken breasts one can tolerate before the urge to eat a big ol' juicy steak kicks in. Yes, these aren't "good" fats, but I also eat a lot of avos etc and no hyrogenated fats. And, I've never had a problem with cholesterol and neither has anyone in my family. I lucked out on this front.

I suppose if you are a vegetableatarian this doesn't quite work the same way, but even tofu has some fat.

On 100-calorie snack packs: I don't eat buy them because (a) I don't eat empty carbs, (b) they're extremely expensive for what you get, and (c) I try to minimize the amount of packaging we consume, and single-serve packs are by definition huge trash-producers. (Yes, I reuse plastic wrap ... :))

Kim

About fats: I don't track my fat consumption specifically, but I try to avoid eating excessive amounts of sat fats and incorporate more healthy fats.

Easy ways to get more fats into your diet:
- cook with oil instead of PAM, and be a little more generous with it. Olive oil or canola oil are good choices.
- use regular salad dressings instead of low-fat (at least, if they are the kind with good oils in them)
- switch to low fat dairy. I know having a lot of sat fats isn't good for you, but I think it is fine (and maybe even healthy) to incorporate at least some in your diet.
- along those lines, eat more cheese
- eat hummus. It's basically just chickpeas and olive oil.

Hi everyone, I'm heading back to OK City this afternoon with Lacy. She is having an EGD tomorrow morning.

Still smoke Free. Yeah!

:wave: Morning. It's another cool, gray day here. WHERE IS SPRING??? :lol:

Interesting how we all deal with carbs. I've never eaten a 100 cal pack in my life, but then I seldom eat cookies, unless they're homemade. I'd say that I don't as a rule eat a lot of processed carbs, but I certainly don't stay away from pasta, rice, or bread - just eat them moderately.

As for fat, when I lost a 70# back in 2000, it was religiously counting and journaling WW points, and unwittingly I'd find myself eating less and less fat, and my weight loss would stall. Add back a couple of points worth (100-150 cals) and I'd see a loss again. Now I aim to keep good fats in my diet. I eat 5-7 walnut halves most mornings; I eat avocados 1/4-1/2 at a time; I use a little olive oil rather than Pam to sautee things; and we drink 1% milk rather than skim. Oh, and of course we eat a lot of wild Alaskan salmon (sorry :) ).

Lily - hope that Lacy's test goes well, and you can keep smoke-free.

My day is very quiet so far and I'm getting some work done on a project that has a looming deadline, so I'm feeling good about that. Hope it lasts!

I don't think you really meant that "sorry." Thanks for rubbing it in, Pat. Hmphhhh.




;)

:D Meagan!

But, really, I miss a lot of the fresh stuff that we can't get here. I can never count on finding a really good melon, and tomatoes and corn on the cob - forget it. DH took down our greenhouse before last summer, and while he's buying material, I'll be surprised if we have it back this year. When we do, I grow tomatoes and one cucumber plant and I'm a happy girl.

Hummus is a good pick for healthy fat. Also, avacados. My problem with them is I want to make them into guacamole and then I need chips. Fortunately, it's pretty good with some Wasa pieces.

We've been trying to eat more of the oily fishes now that it's grilling weather again. I love the taste but can not stand that smell in the house, so they're "summer" foods for us. Salmon, tuna, etc. are all "good" fats. We also eat some beef and pork but I do try to stick to the lean cuts. And you're right - you can only eat chicken so many days in a row before you start to cluck.

I've eaten well today and don't seem to be having any trouble with that end. I'll be glad when finals are over so I can put some more time into exercise, though. My dog walking isn't cutting it in the cardio department!

Have a great day, ladies!

Hi Gals ~

A quick check in here. I am down another pound to 176.0 this morning :carrot: I may get back to 170-1 yet :)

Had Mexican for Cinco de Mayo yesterday, nothing new since we do Mexican food in some way at least once a week. I watched my portions!

Ok PAT I am with MEGAN on the salmon ;) I have a can of salmon on the counter right now, with some mushroom soup, peas and rice for a casserole tonight.

But we have had nothing but wonderful weather here in southern California for a few weeks...almost summer conditions! So gotcha there :)

TRACI...yep! That's why with our guacamole last night we skipped the chips and just put itin the tostadas or burritos! In the old days...a few avocados...a big bag of tortilla chips...dinner!

Great job LILY...such a quitter ;) Hope all goes well with Lacy.

JESSICA how's that new pup doing? Good to see you KIM and MICHELE :)

ALLISON Have fun on "The Beach" :) ROBIN I hear ya on the "moderately"...I'm usually all in!

JAY I love just olive oil on my salad sometimes. Have you tried those new "spritzers" for salad yet? Angie and I like them. BARB I am liking the "reviews" on the Tamale Pie...thinkin' of trying it :)

ANNE :hug:...getting closer :hug:

SHEILA...bummer dear, your house is at the tail end of the asbestos in materials. SZNN way to get back on track. MIDWIFE stick around here...keep doing our 5K's...that weight ain't comin' back :hug:

Meg you have your hands full in NO EXCUSES!

Traci - I agree, salmon can really smell up the house. We keep our gas grill on the deck, and I use it until the snow gets too deep. :lol: Baking salmon is not quite as smelly as broiling. The very best way, of course, is on the rivershore, over a campfire.....

Gary - one of my favorite casseroles!

Pat~I'll never forget my first cruise to Alaska. One of the side trips ended with the bus load of us going up to some old mining camp in Juneau and they had a salmon bake for us. They fixed it on huge grills over coals and the sauce they drizzled was some sort of lemon and brown sugar mixture. It was absolutely to die for--but I'm sure the fish really didn't need the sauce because it was so fresh! For dessert they fixed s'mores over the same fires.

I'm planning on making that tamale pie in the next few days as well-- it sounds delish!!

I do eat the 100 calorie packs but I haven't had a problem with them. I usually will take one to work and eat it as a snack some days. I find it a good way to make sure I practice portion control as I do WW and I don't weigh and measure things normally.

Our weather (in N.Cal) has been strange as well. I'm so ready for warm weather and it keeps getting warm and then cooling way off with lots of wind. Nothing really to complain about but I am a warm weather gal (from Houston). Today finally warmed up nicely but it cooling again!

Thanks, everyone, for the ideas on fats. The salad dressing is a great idea. I eat a big salad every day with dinner; trying some new dressings would be a nice change of pace. Hummus and avocados are also definitely doable; in fact, one of my favorite sandwiches is turkey, avocado, and hummus on whole wheat.

I already don't cook with Pam, so I do get some fat from olive oil, but apparently not very much because usually on 10-15% of my calories come from fat. Today fat accounted for 22% of my calories. If I can manage to keep it that high, I think I'll be pretty happy with myself.

Kaw: I'm definitely not a vegetarian but I'm also not a big fan of red meat. About the only red meat we eat is very lean ground beef, and that's pretty rare. Part of the problem with red meat is that I have a lot of trouble figuring out the calories for it--for some reason the online info never seems to correspond to the meat sold at my grocery store (or it is only for cooked meat and it's so much easier to figure out calories based on the raw weight). On the other hand, I can eat endless amounts of chicken and pork and I never get tired of either. But I do have infinite variations of ways to cook them. I am the woman of 1,000 chicken recipes. :D

Megan: Sometimes nuts are okay, sometimes they're not. I have a bag of cinnamon almonds in the cupboard now and so far they haven't been a problem. Seeds, like pumpkin seeds, are also usually okay. And, oddly enough, peanut butter isn't usually a problem. Cashews are another story however. :devil: But nuts seem so high in calories for such a small amount of food that I was looking for some other options. But I probably will add some nuts to my diet.

WaterRat: And your salmon is probably a lot better than the salmon we get here. I've started buying it from the stand at my farmers market and it is, hands down, way better than the stuff I used to get at the grocery store, but still probably not as good as your salmon. But, then, I've been able to grow my own melons in past summers. You win some, you lose some. :dz:

Michele: I hope you like the Tamale Pie. I'm really ready for it to be summer too. I hate the way the weather has been teasing us lately. I'm from Chicago, so I really like it to be HOT in the summer. :hot: Plus, if it doesn't get hot, the melons won't grow. :mad:

Ah, wild Alaska salmon, how I miss thee. Thy easterly neighbors are so ... tepid. And expensive.

BTW, it is possible to get good salmon here in the lower 48. Some local friends and I get together every year in summer and place a bulk order with the Alaska Wild Salmon Company. (No affiliation, blah blah.) It's flash frozen, so not quite as good as fresh. But, per pound it works out to be about half the price as the farmed and color-enhanced salmon-wanna-be we can find at the fish market here, and it's a lot tastier even after being frozen. If you're feeling really indulgent, they sell halibut, too.

Be strong,
Kim

Could we please quit talking about salmon!!!! :-) Let's drool over celery or cabbage or something for a while. You guys are killin' me with the wild salmon talk!

LOL Traci, I am with you! Pat, want to guess how much wild Alaska salmon usually costs in Indiana? $20/lb. I am totally serious. Well, it depends on the variety, but it's usually at least $15/lb. It's pretty much always been previously frozen too, since it takes a while to get to the midwest. The farmed atlantic salmon is usually $10/lb and is already far from fresh by the time it gets to us. At least we can get decent tilapia, but tilapia is far from exciting! No wonder I haven't eaten as much fish since moving here. In CA and RI I could always get fresh fish, but out here it's rare.

My water weight is going away. I was down to 138.2 this morning so the water weight will hopefully be totally gone tomorrow. I saw a knee doctor yesterday and he said it's possible that I have a torn meniscus, but he wouldn't know without an MRI, and if that's what was wrong it would need surgery to fix. I said no thanks, I'd rather have achy knees! :lol: He gave me a referral to physical therapy and told me to take glucosamine supplements.