Are they made with *real* Girl Scouts?

Traci in our office is selling Girl Scout cookies- well, her daughter, the actual Girl Scout, is selling them, but there is an order form in our break room, advertising the once-a-year goodness. I can't remember a year where I didn't buy a box- even if I didn't pre-order them, I would get tackled while walking out of my local Kroger, where the troop is waiting there, badges and sashes at hand. I used to be that Girl Scout standing outside of Kroger- I can't turn them down! I know how hard they're working to bring in the money  for their troops. Edit: Girl Scout troops only make about 30 cents a box. Most of the money goes back to the bakery/cookie producer for materials, etc.

This year, I *want* to say I'm not going to buy a box. But really, who can turn down a Tagalong? Or a Thin Mint, fresh out of the freezer?? And, what about those "available in this region" cookies, like the short bread ones with chocolate on the bottom. And part of the thrill is that these cookies are only available once a year. My will power is getting better, but it's not perfect. I'm only human.

So, I have to "point" them out. I used to be able to eat Thin Mints on the old program- 4 of them for 3 points. Or was it 3 for 4 points...? Either way, I need to recalculate, choose ONE box, and order.

Lemon Chalet Cremes: Lesson #1 in WW- avoid foods with "cremes" listed in the title. That, and I'm not a fan *at all* of these cookies. But to each his/her own... One serving is 3 cookies. Each nugget is 170 calories, 2 grams protein, 26  grams carbohydrates, 7 grams fat, and less than one gram of fiber. 5 points plus a serving, meaning each cookie is a little more than 1 point.

Trefoils: Oh, the shortbready goodness of it all. One serving = 5 cookies. 160 calories, 8 grams of fat, 22 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, and less than one gram of fiber. 5 points plus a serving. So, a point a cookie. Not horrible, especially when dipping the cookie in some hot tea... mmm...

Do-si-do's: One serving = 2 cookies (when has anyone EVER eaten only 2 cookies?). And, while good, these are the peanut butter sammiches *not* covered in chocolate. 110 calories, 5 grams fat, 16 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, less than one gram of fiber. 3 points plus a serving, meaning 1.5 points a cookie. For a cookie without chocolate. Can't stress that enough.

Samoas (Also called Carmel DeLites): I don't care what you call it, it's wonderful. So good, in fact, that Keebler now makes a fake Samoa that is almost as good as the Girl Scouts (elves vs. girl scouts). The traditional Samoa has a serving size of 2 cookies. Again, 2 cookies?! One serving has 140 calories, 1 gram protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, 7 grams fat, and 1 gram fiber. 4 points plus a serving, so 2 points a cookie. Kind of worth it. And, FYI, the elf version isn't any healthier for you.

Dulce de Leche: The name literally means "sweets made of milk," meaning caramel (in this case). I don't think I could even place this cookie in a cookie line-up; I always went for the chocolate covered stuff first and ignored things with "milk" advertised as a main ingredient. These cookies have 4 per serving size. Each serving is 160 calories, 2 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams fat, and less than 1 gram fiber. 4 points plus a serving for these international bad boys, meaning 1 point a cookie.

Thank U Berry Munch: This is my new dieters pet peeve. Putting a fruit name/nickname in the title of a cookie does NOT make it healthy! I've fallen for this before, and the results aren't pretty. One serving is 2 cookies. Per serving, it's 120 calories, 1 gram protein, 18 grams carbohydrates (and probably not the good carbs from the "berry"), 5 grams fat, and less than 1 gram fiber. These are 3 points plus a serving, so 1.5 points each. It's comparable to the other cookies, but the title makes you think it's healthier than it really is. Wrong answer.

Tagalongs: I used to beg and whine for these cookies. I would scrape the chocolate and peanut butter off the top of the cookie, then eat the chocolate covered cookie last. It was a process. These little remnants of my childhood have 2 cookies per serving. Each serving is 140 calories, 2 grams protein, 13 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams fat (but it's all healthy fat, right?!), and less than one gram fiber. 4 points plus  per serving, or 2 points a cookie. Like the Samoa, it's worth it. But hey, couldn't they be a *little* bigger?

Thin Mints: The most popular Girl Scout cookie out there. It's so versatile- eat them frozen, at room temp, crumble them over vanilla ice cream, buy the Edy's ice cream with it already in there- I can find a million uses for these cookies, and all of these uses involve them going in my belly. One serving is 4 cookies. Each serving is 160 calories, 1 gram protein, 22 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams fat, and less than one gram fiber. That's 5 points plus a serving- up from my 3 points under the old program. I can handle 1.25 points/cookie, can't I?

The most bang for my points buck looks like it's going to be the Trefoils, where 5 cookies = 5 points. But, no chocolate? Maybe I can dunk them in fat free/sugar free hot chocolate instead of tea...

Souper Bowl Champion!

Weekly Weigh-in: -4.8 lbs (WHOA). Total= -7.1 lbs!

We had a "Souper Bowl" contest today at work- 4 of us brought in homemade soups to be voted on by our co-workers. We had some fresh bread, some crackers, and cake in 3 different varieties to complement the soup, but when it came down to voting... my HEALTHY lentil soup recipe won! Just look at that awesome Souper Bowl trophy!

AND, to top it off, I had a HUGE weight loss week. Guess going to the gym 5x in the last 7 days will do that to you :) I feel great. I'm happy, I feel healthy, I've found time to go to the gym AND eat what I enjoy (within reason-- there were 2 pieces of homemade cheesecake this week). I have to keep this going through next week.

I've already solicited help for the upcoming week- lunch on Friday is a healthy team lunch, this weekend is...well.. the weekend, Monday is a healthy team lunch, Tuesday is a healthy team lunch, Wednesday I'm on my own- got the midday meals covered. I stocked up on frozen veggies for the week and need to make a Kroger run for some fresh fruit. I have some fresh spinach, which I can throw in anything.I know my challenges this week are going to be: 1) Isla's birthday party (read: CAKE!) 2) The weekend- I have to not eat out so much this weekend, if possible! 3) I will be without a car next week, as it's finally getting repaired. That means I had to line up rides to the gym (thanks Katie!) to make sure I keep going.

And, of course, I will be making another pot of that lentil soup to keep on hand :)

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup (Weight Watchers PointsPlus value 2. Serving Size 1 1/2 cups)
2 cups fresh spinach, cut
2 medium carrots, peeled and chunked
2 stalks celery ribs, chunked
1 medium onion, chunked
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups dry lentils, picked over
1 can diced tomato (I used ones flavored with garlic, basil and oregano)
8 cups vegetable broth
3 bay leafs
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cayenne red pepper

1) Place ingrediants in slow cooker in following order: carrots, celery, onion, garlic, lentils, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper and broth.
2) Cover Slow Cooker and cook on low for 8 hours
3) Uncover, cook for 30 minutes more, remove bay leaves
4) Serve!

Accountability.

Weekly Weigh-in: +2.1 lbs (total -2.3)
 
All of the "cheating" has caught up with me. A 2lb increase. It's not the end of the world, but it's significant. I can't get to this first 5lb down goal! SO freaking frustrating.

But, I think I know what happened. Only one gym trip in the last 8 days (thanks to that asshat who hit me last week- that killed my weekend. I went back Monday, but that was it for the week), yet I continued to eat like I *had* been working out. For example: yesterday I started out all healthy like with my steel cut oats and fruit. I had healthy snacks, even a healthy lunch. But then... I go to QD. I grab a coffee and, hey!, it's 19 cent cookie day! I can have one because I've been so good and I have the points (NOBODY has the extra calories for one of their cookies. Trust me.). And... twizzlers are low point too! Let's grab those! Dinner at 8pm- sure. But now I'm famished, so let's order (spreadable) cheese and crackers and "share" them (read: I ate 2/3 of the plate myself), and a turkey reuben. NOT the best choice. But hey, I had been good all day! AND, it's the start of a new WW week, so I have all of my weekly points! WIN!

Not so fast...

Back to the exercise for a second. I ran across an article a while back from Time Magazine that said exercising won't help you lose weight- "In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless," says Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University and a prominent exercise researcher...The basic problem is that while it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder."So, it's not that exercise doesn't make you fit or thin- but it's the chemical telling you to get food in your belly- NOW- that is leading to sabotage.

I'm curious if this is true. On Weight Watchers, we get "activity points" when we work out- we trade in our exercise for food points IF we want to use them. Of course, I usually do- after a workout, I'm famished, and I want to eat something immediately. That doesn't bode well for my waistline, as "fast food" typically becomes whatever I can find laying around my house that takes less than 5 minutes to prepare. And, at the end of the week/budget period, I can assure you that it isn't fruit that is laying around.

Mission: earn activity points and not use them. I can use my weekly flex points (if I have any left after last night's disaster of a day!), but not the exercise ones. This will keep me within my weekly calorie/food goal, but it will also train me that food is not a reward for working out. Step one: record everything  I ate yesterday- I seemed to have stopped after writing down my healthy lunch... Step two: determine how many weekly points I have left, if any. Step three: get my ass to the gym. Step four: eat something *healthy* after working out - this is why I like to go before lunch, especially on work days.I have a healthy lunch packed; there's no famished "gimmie gimme gimme!" going on, because I'm limited as to what I can eat. Step five: repeat all week.

I'm not letting yesterday's - or last week's - mistakes hold me down. Grocery shopping day has arrived (yippie!), the list has been made, the gym bag is packed and ready to go and I've made plans for the week ahead- for example, while I'm making a cheesecake for dessert for the Super Bowl, I'm also bringing fresh fruit for me to eat instead.AND, if I want to use half of my daily points on cheesecake... then...yeah. I may have to rethink the dessert..

I'm trying. But obviously not trying hard enough.

Edit: I went through and calculated my disaster day. I get 38 points/day on WW. You get 49 flex points for the week to use how you choose. Yesterday, I used 79 points total. 79. That leaves me with 8 flex points for the week. @%$#@.

Edit 2: After going to a WW meeting and talking to other WW members, I've realized that it is impractical to go into Super Bowl mode with only 8 weekly points. I'm setting myself up for failure. Therefore, any activity points I earn on Saturday and Sunday *only* can be used for Super Bowl Sunday. The rest of the week, points will accumulate and not be used that day.

I'm not fat, I'm corpulent

Dana and I were talking about Weight Watchers the other day and how they stopped counting calories ("a banana may be 0 points, but that's like 80 calories  you're not counting or expending elsewhere"). She made a point that has kind of stuck with me- Weight Watchers is, bottom line, a business. A very successful one, at that. I don't think the program is going to sabotage me into not losing weight fast enough (HA!) to keep me buying their products, but they have to come up with different ways to market things, etc. It makes sense.

Dieting has been a business for over 150 years- every gimmicy diet I've tried comes with CD's to listen to, tapes to watch, cookbooks to utilize. Dieting is a HUGE, multimillion dollar business that continues to thrive, despite the economy and people's expanding waistlines. Everyone's waiting for the diet silver bullet- the pill that will make us skinny, the program that will make us drop weight faster than we could have imagined. I know I'm still looking-- we'll call Weight Watchers a "bronze" bullet, because while it's teaching me important food habits, it's still not letting me lose MORE weight.

MSNBC had an article the day after this conversation with Dana called "150 years of diet fads and still no quick fix."  I laughed when I saw the title because, come on, if there WAS a quick fix, why is over 66% of our population obese or overweight? But I read the article anyway- the point of the article was to be a teaser for the new US Nutritional guidelines, which should be coming out in the next week or so. People have tried EVERYTHING for the last 150 years to lose weight- including buying special soap. Not to eat, but to rub the fat away. Yeah. If only...

But the bottom (heh. I made a funny.) line is that the fad diets don't work. What works is learning and using proper nutrition and adequate exercise. And, it's not something you learn overnight or can wash away.