Shrinking Daisy

Make Like a Fish and Swim!

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | Exercise | 1 Comment

Every summer I’m sad that I work in an office.  I look through the sea of beige cubes at the very far away windows and remember what summer was like when I was a kid, all parks and camps and especially swimming!!! Although I am at least a runner up for most uncoordinated person in the western hemisphere, swimming was always a sport that I loved, and excelled at!

This year I decided to fight my extreme cheapness, and pony up for a summer membership to my local pool.  When I have to pay each time I go to the pool, I usually err on the side of not paying the entrance fee and skip it, but with a summer membership, there’s no excuse!

When I bought the membership, I discovered something great, not only can I cool off at the pool after work, but they have an early morning lap swim as well.  What a great way to get exercise.  So I’ve been shaking up the routine, swimming laps in the morning, and using muscles I’d forgotten I had! Swimming is so invigorating, you get cardio and resistance workout at the same time, you utilize your entire body, and….. you feel like a kid again!!! (the best part)

So… if you haven’t gone out to the pool yet, give it a try, it just may be the fun workout you’ve been looking for!

Tags: pool, swimming

Where’s the Root?

Sunday, June 21st, 2009 | Thoughts | No Comments

Some people, when faced with massive stress will go shopping, buy a bunch of stuff they don’t need, or even want, some people will start gambling, and some will hit the bottle, but not me! I’ll have a party with my old friends Ben, Jerry, Betty (Crocker), Otis (Spunkmeyer), and of course Mrs. Butterworth (maybe even a doctor.. pepper that is!)  Actually, it doesn’t even have to be stress in a bad way, nervous jitters count, extreme happiness, sadness, pressure… name an emotion, that will do it!  In any case when the stress starts pouring in, and I catch myself wanting to eat my ice cream directly from the carton standing in front of the freezer… I ask myself, “What’s this all about?” 

I have tons of great tricks for how to manage this, distract yourself, read a book, exercise, call a friend, make sure you take your stress eating out on a head of lettuce or bag of carrots to minimize the damage.  But really, its not hunger, so what is it inside that makes us turn to food for comfort, for relief?  Have you taken the time to think about what it is that makes you overeat? Where did that hole that you’re trying to fill come from?

While I was losing weight, I wanted to go as fast as possible.  It was like a race and I wanted to be the fastest loser possible, the excitement of people commenting about how great I looked, and the cheers from the gang at Weight Watchers was just addicting! When it would take a bit longer than I wanted, I would get so frustrated! Now I’m happy for the pace that I lost.  Whether I wanted it or not it gave me time to do some self examination, to really think about how I had gotten myself up to this weight… and why? 

I think it’s probably different for everyone, we all have our own stories and reasons for being who we are, but for many (myself included) food is comfort, it’s a short term pleasure, and extra weight can be like insulation from the world.  Figuring out some of the root issues can be so freeing, it’s a great step on the journey to a balanced healthy life!

Have you looked at your roots lately?

Tags: root, stress

Quick Link to a New Book

Friday, June 19th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hey everybody, I got a link to a great interview about a new book from Peter!  The book is called “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite” and the interview from Salon is here.  The interview is great, and I haven’t read the book yet, but it certainly looks intruiguing. It does really make you think that Weight Watchers is taking a good sustainable approach!

Tags: appetite, articles, book, overeating

Keeping Up With the News

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Thoughts | 2 Comments

Well I’m finally catching up on some of my reading, blogs and newspaper articles have piled up around here lately, and I’ve got some great stuff to share with you! Here are a few of the highlights!

This is a great website that I just had to make sure you knew about! There are mealplans and instructions, recipes and ideas that help you eat healthy on a budget that is less than the national food stamp allowance per day!! http://www.cookforgood.com/index.html

Starbucks is revamping the menu so that it will look healthier, but… are there really any good choices in that baked good case? http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/06/starbucks-phases-out-high-fructose-corn-syrup.html?wpisrc=newsletter 

I love Food Network!!! I’m so excited that there is a “healthy” cooking contestant on this season’s “The Next Food Network Star” although… so far she hasn’t done so hot on the show.  Check out what’s in her pantry! What do you keep in yours?   http://blog.healthyeats.com/blog/2009/05/31/katies-healthy-bites-a-peek-inside-my-pantry/

Need a snack idea? Check with the FitBottomedGirls! (A really cute blog to check out even when you’re not feeling snacky!) http://fitbottomedgirls.blogspot.com/2009/06/snack-attack.html

I’ve been looking for this movie in our area, anybody heard of a showing? When I saw Michael Pollan in May he was promoting this new film… supposed to be a shocker! (not for the faint of stomach) http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Tags: articles, links

Kick Back with Your Old Friend Popcorn

Monday, June 15th, 2009 | Food Finds, Recipe | No Comments

Where on earth have I been? Well, let me tell you it has certainly been a crazy couple of weeks! I’m back online now, and we’ve got so much catching up to do!!! To start off, I’ve got to get back to telling you all about things that I love!

Popcorn has always been one of my favorites.  When I was a kid it was a special treat when my Dad was travelling for business to get to eat popcorn, cheese, and apples for dinner… usually in front of the TV, something we NEVER got to do growing up!  Popcorn feels like a treat, but it’s healthy for you too! After All, what is popcorn but just a whole grain! Of course, it’s easy to rack up the calories if your popcorn venue of choice isn’t carefully chosen, that movie theater stuff can be diabolical!!! A large popcorn (without butter) from AMC movie theaters is over 650 calories, and adding butter can double that! But… have no fear, you can make perfectly fabulous popcorn and popcorn treats for a lot less than that! (How on earth do they cram that many calories into the poor popcorn kernels anyway???) 

First of all, it’s all about how you cook the popcorn, I have a great microwave popcorn bowl that doesn’t take a drop of oil and pops perfect kernels, and there are of course some great low calorie microwave popcorn choices at the store, but you can do it yourself for cheaper. (I’m all about the cheapness!)  All you need is a brown paper bag.  I must attribute t his method to Alton Brown on the Food Network.  I’m a food TV junkie, and I’m always picking up ingenious tips from random shows.

Brown Bag Microwave Popcorn

Servings Per Recipe: 4

In a cup or small bowl, mix together the unpopped popcorn and oil. Pour the coated corn into a brown paper lunch sack, and sprinkle in the salt. Fold the top of the bag over twice to seal in the ingredients.

Cook in the microwave at full power for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, or until you hear pauses of about 2 seconds between pops. Carefully open the bag to avoid steam, and pour into a serving bowl.

Calories: 137, Total Fat: 3.1g , Sodium: 389mg , Total Carbs: 24.6g , Dietary Fiber: 4.9g , Protein: 4.1g

So now you have great healthy corn… eat it up! What’s that you say, you want more excitement? Plain old popcorn just doesn’t do it for you?? Ok, ok, well, I know how you feel, so I’ve got a few low calorie, healthy yet zesty toppers for you that I like to add, and a total hit of a popcorn cookie square recipe to send it over the edge!

Toppers:

• Mexicorn: 1 T taco seasoning (from the packet)
• Texicorn: 1 tsp chili powder + 1/2 tsp cumin
• Mafiacorn: 1/2 tsp dried basil + 1/2 tsp oregano + 1 Tb. Parmesan Cheese
• Buffacorn: a few shakes of hot sauce + a sprinkle of bleu cheese
• Corney Ranch: 1 Tb. dry ranch seasoning
• Cinnacorn: 2 Tb. Splenda + 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Currycorn: 1.5tsp curry powder
• Cocoacorn: 1 packet “diet” (25 calorie) hot cocoa

Totally Awesome Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn Squares (18 servings)

These are little brother tested and approved:

• 8 cups of air popped popcorn
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I like natural)
• 1 Tb butter
• 3 cups mini marshmallows
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 ounce semisweet or dark chocolate

Melt butter, chocolate, and peanut butter together in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until melted and incorporated.  Stir in cocoa.  Put popcorn in a medium-large bowl, pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn and stir gently until combined.  Press into a 9×13 inch pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray and let cool.  Cut into 18 squares. Enjoy!!!

Nutrition Facts
18 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		103.1
Total Fat		5.4 g
	Saturated Fat	1.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.1 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	2.3 g
Cholesterol		1.7 mg
Sodium		45.4 mg
Potassium		86.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		13.2 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.5 g
	Sugars	6.2 g
Protein		2.7 g

Tags: dessert, Fiber, healthy cooking, microwave, popcorn, popcorn balls, Recipe, recipes

Recipe Exchange THIS WEEK!!!!!

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | Thursday 6:30 Merriam WeightWatchers | 1 Comment

BUZZZ!!!  Recipe Exchange   BUZZZZ!!!   Recipe Exchange   BUZZZZZ!!!! Recipe Exchange

This is a recipe exchange alarm clock set to remind those of you in the Thursday 6:30PM Merriam WW Meeting that the recipe exchange is this week!!!!! Bring your faves to share!!!