My stuff, articles of interest and Tuesday Tips

I am feeling good this week. I truly think the scale may actually be nice to me and show some kind of a loss this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me guys. I need it.

I am getting groceries tomorrow. I love grocery shopping. I love looking around and finding new and interesting things to try on my eating plan. I am going to buy a few things in bulk though;

• couscous
• apple sauce
• yogurt
• oatmeal
• milk (not really bulk but a LOT of it)

Do you buy in bulk? What things do you buy a lot of on grocery day?

I am back making my oatmeal pancakes again. I found out that this new oatmeal I got is really whole. It has great big pieces so it doesn't mix well. I will have to use the blender a little when I am making pancakes with it.

Today I am thankful for . . . . the health of my daughter. I watched a commercial for Sick kids that just made me so grateful for that.

Today I successfully . . .ate a healthy breakfast and cleaned up before playing on the computer.

Today I will not . . . eat anything large after supper. One small snack or fruits and veggies only.

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I hadn't heard about this, but I just stumbled on this article about Taco Bell creating a Fourth meal. "The One Between Dinner and Breakfast". What do you think about that? My first gut reaction was simply . . . how funny. What a cute little advertising campaign. But faced with questions of obesity and weight loss I wondered if it was a good idea. Thinking a little deeper on it, my take on it is this; I still think it is a funny little advertising campaign. Most people I know eat at night anyway. A campaign from Taco Bell to give it a name isn't going to make them eat more or less. I plan my little snack at night. Prince Charming really does eat a meal at night after supper. Anyway that is my jumbled up way of saying that I don't think their campaign does any harm. It is just a funny little idea that will not effect most people and their desire to eat or not eat after Dinner.

I just found this cute little site that is called Open The Fridge. In it people submit pictures of the food in their fridge and state their five favorite foods and talk about it's contents and the fridge gets a rating on it's healthiness. It is fun and I am going to check it out again.

I also just read about Coke's New Drink to Burn Calories. I love Green Tea, so I would probably give that flavor a try but I wouldn't fool myself into thinking it was going to have any kind of great impact on my weightloss. What about you?

And if you go over to this site you can have a little fun checking out what diet plans some of the stars are on. (Like Jennifer Anniston is on the Zone)

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I was reading this article about the 100 Smartest Diet Tips Ever and I thought I would share some of the tips that I took away from it:

• Make eating purposeful, not mindless. Whenever you put food in your mouth, peel it, unwrap it, plate it and sit. Engage all of the senses in the pleasure of nourishing your body.
• Start eating a big breakfast. It helps you eat fewer total calories throughout the day.
• Eat the low-cal items on your plate first, then graduate. Start with salads, veggies and broth soups, and eat meats and starches last. By the time you get to them, you'll be full enough to be content with smaller portions of the high-calorie choices.
• Keep seven bags of your favorite frozen vegetables on hand. Mix any combination, microwave and top with your favorite low-fat dressing. Enjoy 3 to 4 cups a day. Makes a great quick dinner.
• Remember, EAT before you meet. Have this small meal before you go to any parties: a hardboiled egg, apple and a thirst quencher (water, seltzer, diet soda, tea).
• Don't tell yourself, "It's OK, it's the holidays." That opens the door to six weeks of splurging.
• Walk around the mall three times before you start shopping.
• Dance to music with your family in your home. One dietitian reported that when she asks her patients to do this, initially they just smile, but once they've done it, they say it is one of the easiest ways to involve the whole family in exercise.
• Nothing's less appetizing than a crisper drawer full of mushy vegetables. Frozen vegetables store much better, plus they may have greater nutritional value than fresh. Food suppliers typically freeze veggies just a few hours after harvest, locking in the nutrients. Fresh veggies, on the other hand, often spend days in the back of a truck before they reach your supermarket.
• Drinking too little water can hamper your weight-loss efforts. That's because dehydration can slow your metabolism by 3 percent, or about 45 fewer calories burned a day, which in a year could mean weighing 5 pounds more. The key to water isn't how much you drink, it's how frequently you drink it. Small amounts sipped often work better than 8 ounces gulped down at once.