About Those Pizzas

I have come to the conclusion that the Kroger store brand Margherita pizza has the most bang for your buck....I mean the most food for your calories. I checked the sizes and calories of the other brands and none were even close.
I even came across an ad for fat free pizzas that you could order online for delivery to your home! Wow, that sounds great, doesn't it?
Here is the product they are selling. Nice packaging.

The price is a bit high and I am sorry I forgot to check to see if this includes shipping or not. 6 Fat Free Pizzas - $29.94. Only $4.99 each!
You could also buy in bulk, order several hundred dollars worth of pizzas, and get a better per-pizza bargain.

Now we get to the nitty gritty stuff. Here is their nutritional label:Wow! A WHOLE pizza for less than 300 calories!!!???!!! This is amazing!!! Ummm, did you read the fine print? It is a whole six ounce pizza. That is even smaller than the 11 ounce Kashi pizza that came in a box that is the same size as Red Baron's Pizzas.

I am still going to see if I can work up a fast, easy, low fat, low calorie pizza crust. I know there are tons of recipes out there for them. I have tried a few and ... yuck. I will let you know if I find something better!

Now go for a walk!

Real or Not Real?

That is the question! Whether it is nobler to have the real deal or to save fat and calories and eat chemicals, ah yes, that IS the question! (Hey! I never said I was a Shakespearean actor!!!)
The consensus has been that we should always eat as close to real foods as we can. Butter has cream and salt in it. I am not going to go into all the chemicals in margarine. All of the "diet" products I have come across though, have a lot of chemicals in them to replace the great tastes of the real deal.

I am on the fence about this debate. I rely heavily on my fat free cheeses, occasional diet soda, and fat free yogurts. How can I stay on a low fat food plan if I don't? True lettuce is kinda pure, but the fat free dressing isn't! I wouldn't be able to eat anything that I could enjoy!!! Waa, waa, waa!!!

Seriously though...I choose to do a low fat diet. I see it as my personal-right-for-ME plan of healthier eating. I was eating WAY too much fat before. Since my diet is a lifestyle change for me...one that I can live with for the rest of my life...I need to make it healthy, low-fat, and tasty! If I don't, I will fail. I know I will, because life is about food and sharing of food and eating food. Well, in our society it is anyway. I have also failed in the past when I don't eat food that satisfies.

So what's a mother to do? Research. Yes, I will have to do more reading, more research, more in-depth studying to figure out this dilemma. At the same time, I am looking into making my own fat free Greek style vanilla yogurt! This is my all time favorite yogurt, as it mixes with everything so well.

I was down another pound last Saturday! I am so close to the 60 pounds lost goal! I am very pleased that the change in my exercise routine has not affected my weight in a negative way!

There are always challenges. I miss being able to exercise in the mornings and think about it all day until I get it out of the way. I don't like that about myself. But, I will just keep working on ME!

Now go...exercise...or eat a banana ...you shouldn't be sitting here at your computer!!!

Back in the Middle With You!

I was reading an article on Sparkpeople.com this morning, about a doctor who lost 140 pounds and has kept it off for about three years. She said as a 300 pound doctor, she wasn't taken seriously. As a healthier and fit doctor she "couldn't possibly know what it is like to be obese".
I have thought of such things in a similar vein this past couple weeks, especially when at the local public swimming pool. I have reached the halfway mark on my weight loss journey. I am sure when people see me, that don't know me, they only see a fat woman. They don't realize I have lost close to 60 pounds already! I feel like walking up to everyone of them and saying, "I know you don't see it, but I have lost over fifty pounds!" Isn't that silly?

Oh You Silly Woman!!!

Have you seen a pattern in my blog? I have. Every once in a while, I have an off week...a week where I am doubting everything I am doing...a week where I am thinking I should just give up. How silly is that? Because I have had over 45 years of practice, I can now recognize this pattern of thinking for what it is: SABOTAGE!!!
My inner child is trying to sabotage my outer adult! This is one time where spanking a child can be done without guilt! I have sent that child to her corner to pout and am back in my happier mood! YES, losing a couple pounds this week helped. I admit it! I am silly because I think I may have misread the scale on Wednesday!!!

I wanted to treat myself for having lost that first 50 pounds. Instead of a food treat, I got myself some hot pink Crocs sandals! I love Crocs and have acquired several pairs this year. I have bright colors and am getting away from the dull black colors that used to be 99% of my wardrobe. I think color in your closet makes you happier!

In other news, I tried another Margherita pizza. I found the Kashi brand in our store. You may recall I had tried the Kroger store brand with good results. I figured Kashi should be healthier. Isn't that their brand image, that they are a healthier choice? I did the same portions with the Kashi, that I had done with the Kroger brand. For half a pizza:
Kashi: 435 calories with 14 grams of fat.
Krogers: 420 calories with 18 grams of fat.
At first glance, it would seem that if you want to cut the fats you would go with the Kashi pizza. If you want to cut calories you would cut the Krogers pizza. They are very close in comparison. BUT what I found out was that the Kashi pizza is TINY! I was SO MAD when I opened the box and found their pizza was smaller! The box was the same size as normal frozen pizza boxes but the content was about half the size!!! Talk about deception! Taking this size difference into consideration, the Kroger store brand had a lot more food for the calories than the Kashi.

So beware when comparing pizzas. The Red Baron pizza we get for the boys, weighs 21oz. and my Kashi pizza was 11oz. I wish I had noticed that before!!! I am not sure what the Kroger pizza weighs exactly, but I know it was closer to the Red Baron size than the skimpy Kashi size.

I still have to find the Newman's Pizza and I may try the California Margherita one. I had tried the California pizzas a few years ago and found the crust to be very lacking in taste and texture.
You can bet I will read the weights on these pizzas and compare them to
the Kroger one again. Just an added note: I have not found the pre-made pizza crusts to be a healthy choice and I may decide to give up and make my own crusts in the future.

Did I tell you I bought an exercise bike? It could have been this one, from this old ad from the early 70's. It isn't perfect and has a few issues, but I am using it a couple times a week. I only do about ten minutes a time on it though, as it really tires my legs out! This is a good thing!

I met my goal for this ten week period. I am getting real close to a SIXTY pound loss! I have never ever ever done this for such a long time, in a healthy manner, with exercising involved, and am just amazed this is working! What is the difference? I think a huge part is that I am not doing this on my own this time. Folks do say that support groups are important. Guess what? They were right!

I had to show this bag of dog food again. It is a 40 pound bag and is the actual one I drag into the house every few weeks. I still cannot believe I lost more weight than this bag weighs!

This next week should be a lot like last week, as far as exercise goes. There is no end in sight of the 90+ temperatures that have kept me in a pool or indoors to exercise! We need the rain, badly!

Thanks for reading my blog today. Is there anything you would like me to talk about? I have some ideas for a future blog posting and might do one in the middle of the week.
Anyway, it is Father's Day today and I need to help my son get his presents ready to give to his dad. I hope you are having a great day and will come back soon!
Bye for now!

Pool Party!

Today has been a little bit better. Since my glum-day on Wednesday, I have puzzled and puzzled over why I was having a tough time. I came up with several itty bitty thoughts that added up to one big pity party! I KNOW this stuff happens. I also know I can get through it this time. I know I can, I know I can, I know I can....I WILL!!!

In no particular order, things that triggered my glum-day were these:

1. I saw a TV show that said the fat guy in the pool aerobics class, wasn't going to lose any weight that way because it isn't a real workout.

2. I was bored at the local outdoor swimming pool as I have no one to pass the time with, so time seems to drag on and on and on there.

3. I realized I really do not like exercising in the afternoon and I want to exercise in the mornings. I want to get it out of my way so I don't have to obsess about it until I DO get it done.

4. I stepped on the scale during the middle of the week, not wearing the clothing that I normally wear to weigh-in. I had on heavier clothes because I was working out in the gym. I was wearing real shoes not my sandals; pants and top, not skirt and blouse; and it wasn't the same time of day even. How can I compare week to week if I am not being consistent?

5. The elliptical hurt my knee so I couldn't do that. The half hour on the treadmill about killed me! I thought I could walk????????

6. I am tired.

7. Food has not been satisfying to me lately. I have the munchies and don't even have a reason to have them!

What am I doing to solve my dilemma? I first turned to online searches to find motivation. I then adjusted my workout schedule. I am doing a few minutes of either the bike, the Wii, or just using dumbbells to exercise 10-30 minutes at home. This way I only have to worry about half as much time in the pool or gym. It seems to be helping already. My brain is coming back on track and I think I am going to be okay again!

I have about nine or ten more weeks of this summer vacation. I can do this. I have to! I don't want to be fatter than I am and would rather be skinnier!!!

I weigh in, officially, tomorrow. I hope it surprises me. But if not, I know I will be okay! Shirley, a friend from the pool, left me a nice note that has stuck with me all day. She only said what I have been saying to myself these past few days, but it was nice to hear it from someone else too. Thank you Shirley!

A quick note about these past few days. I never went off my food program and I still did my minimum of 60 minutes per day of on-purpose-exercise! Why do I note this? Because in the past, I would have quit and been eating burgers at Hardee's by now. I live about two blocks from one! hahahahahaha!!!

Okay, now it is time to say bye for today everyone! See you after this weekend!

Not A Good Day...

It has now been a full week since my son has been out of school. I KNEW what happened today would eventually happen, and since today was the day it happened, I am glum and am writing about it.

I have made it to the outdoor pool every day I planned to, and exercised as planned. I have made it to the indoor pool over the weekend and exercised . I have been eating within my personal food plan. Today was the first day I tried using the gym at the senior center. As I suspected and dreaded, I couldn't really do anything. I got on the elliptical first. That hurt my knee and I gave up after five minutes. Next I went to the treadmill. I did a mile and a half in 30 minutes and feel like I have run a marathon! I had a suspicion that I wasn't getting enough out of the pool workouts and this has confirmed it.

As I left the treadmill behind, I looked at the different exercise machines, knowing I still had 30 more minutes of exercise to do. I sadly walked on by. I was rubber legged and tired and very discouraged. Did I mention I had gained a couple pounds? I weighed in on the 'Saturday Scale' that I always use. It was up.

Now what do I do? I KNOW this is a tough spot for me to be in. I KNOW this is a prime example of a time when I have quit in the past.

Stay tuned to see how this turns out!

I Ate Half a Pizza!

You should have seen the looks I got from that comment when I was at my weight support group on Saturday! I must preface this by saying I used to eat a whole pizza before I started changing things. These are not pizzeria pizzas. I am referring to the frozen ones you get in the grocery stores.

I love pizza. I have been trying for months to create a pizza that not only tastes good to me, but that is within my comfort range of calories, fat, and volume. You can eat most any pizza if you limit yourself to one slice. I just haven't gotten to that point yet.

I tried using pita bread, burrito wraps, and tomato basil wraps as the crusts for my concoctions. None of these were very satisfying. I tried finding a frozen pizza that worked and until I found the Krogers Thin Crust Margherita pizza, I had been unsuccessful. This pizza's serving size is 1/3 of a pizza! I added veggie toppings that I personally like and oh my, this was good! I figured out the calories in half of the pizza too. I cut the frozen pizza in half, re-wrapped the other half and put it back in the freezer before it thawed. This way I can load all my toppings and have a half pizza that really satisfies me! I then have the other half saved for the next time it is pizza night!

Most pizza still is not all that healthy for you, even mine. I would not say to eat this every night as it still has a lot of sodium in it, but it sure was handy! My family has their own real pizzas with their meats and such, at the same time I have my special one. I no longer feel deprived when joining them! Perhaps someday I will be more comfortable with one slice, but for now, this is an option that works for me!

I had loaded the most recent pizza I had with slices of portabella mushrooms, onions, and the like and even added a quarter cup of no-fat Kraft mozzarella cheese! For half a pizza it was 475 calories and had 18 grams of fat. Yummy!

One of the secrets to finding a healthy base pizza to start with, is thin crusts. I see there is a Newman Thin Crust Margherita pizza out there now too. I have not seen it in my stores yet, but will definitely check it out when I do.

I am very motivated to keep on track this summer while my exercise time is constrained by having a young child home from school. I have accomplished a lot over the past seven months. I have:

• Gone from 291 lbs. to 236.8 lbs. (down 54 lbs.)
• Chest 53" to 43" (10" difference)
  
• Waist 50" to43" (7" difference)
• Hips 54" to 47" (7" difference)
• Thigh 29" to 26" (3" difference)

I don't want to gain a pound or an inch back! I am working on the second half of my weight loss journey and this will be harder than the first half. But I do NOT want to backslide! This has been too much fun; fitting into new clothes, having more confidence, and helping encourage others has been a blast!

I also found an outdoor pool, that had a reasonable rate for both my son and I, to use this summer. I can use it four days a week and it is also good to pry my son away from the computer a bit. I can go to the gym on the weekends and on Wednesdays my son will go to see the children's programs at our local library while I sneak in 45 minutes of circuit training at the gym too. I got it covered!

PHEW! I wrote a lot. This entry was hard for me to do for some reason. I just couldn't get started and it isn't as witty as I would like. Maybe next weekend will see more wit and pictures!

Enjoy your week and be kind to yourself!

She's Gone Batty

Why DO they call those underarm flaps, bat-wings??? I think that is rather insulting to bats, don't you?
Have you seen any of these shows:
"Heavy"
"The Biggest Loser"
"Extreme Weight Loss"
I've seen all three of these shows since I started working on my lifestyle changes. I have been very disappointed. I really wish they would share more helpful ideas, along with the sensational weight losses and contests. I guess that doesn't make for good television ratings though. Here are my notes on all three:

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Didn't they have more of the 'how-to do tips' during the first few seasons? These days, I watch The Biggest Loser to get a tidbit of motivation here and there. What comes to mind from this most recent season was the talk Jillian had where she parroted back to Hanna (or Olivia?) what they used to say to themselves about not being deserving or good enough, etc. I also loved the challenge where they had to carry the weight they lost. I am sure there were other bits I took away from the shows, but overall, I don't like the unrealistic approach of losing so much weight so fast and having to commit to hours and hours in the gym to stay thin.

HEAVY: I liked the earlier episodes better than the later ones. I got more out of this show than the other two. I feel like it was more personalized and was addressing not only the exercise, but the foods, and the mental work to become thinner and healthier. I also think the weight losses were more realistic. Of course I wish I had the money to go to those resorts! Wow!!! Again, I felt the earlier episodes were better than the last ones were, when they changed to the second health resort.

EXTREME WEIGHT LOSS: Big disappointment. I didn't mind the weight loss goal setting. Some people I know have said they had issues with that. They thought the girl was being asked to lose too much, too fast to win a prize.

All I kept hearing in my head were ALL the bribes my father tried giving me in order to get me to lose weight as a young girl! (they didn't work then either) Then the girl on the first episode made the comment that she was working out 4-5 hours a day!?! You couldn't do that if you were on your own and had to hold down a job could you? Maybe it would work if you had oodles of money so that you didn't have to worry about living expenses.

I was dumb-founded at the part about her getting surgery for excess skin removal before she was done losing the weight. The only reason I heard for this was that they said it was because she was chafing. I just think it was too soon for her to have that done. Pass her some Gold Bond powder for crying out loud!

IF I were to lose that much weight, I would hide my flappy little arms until I proved I could keep it off for a while, before spending the money to have it surgically removed. She was in her early 20's for crying out loud! HER skin will shrink back. I will watch a few more episodes to see if they get any better.

COMMENT: Just as an aside...In my 20's (1981) I had gastric bypass surgery and lost almost 200 pounds in one year. Skin does eventually shrink. Now, in my mid-50's I am losing the weight that came back on when I got pregnant, a year after that surgery. I had three (wonderful) kids in five years and gained about half the weight back. I was stuck at 270-280 for 20-some years. As of today I have lost a little over 50 pounds since November and can almost fly like a glider squirrel because of the skin flaps under my arms!
My old skin won't shrink as much as a younger woman's would and I plan to just deal with it....unless maybe...if I win the lottery...then I might consider some tucking here and there! lol