I use one of those Magic Bullets to prepare this – but you can use whatever type of blender or smoothie maker that you have at your disposal.

2 egg whites (since they are raw, I use the pasturized egg whites in the carton from EggBeaters)
3-4 med sized strawberries cut into pieces
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup ice
3 packets Splenda
1tsp Vanilla Extract

Put it all into the blender and blend until smooth.

This gives you 2 ounces of protein – approx. 10g Protein total. You can add more egg whites if you need more protein to start your day!

Zero In On Portion Control

Sure..easier said than done… but possible!

If your parents always praised you for being a member of the ‘clean-plate club’, you still might be havving issues leaving food behind, especially when you’ve paid out hard earned money at a restaurant. Today, the portions on restaurants are HUGE – each site competing with the next on price and portion. Dining out is a major challenge for me.

Don’t let the size of the serving placed in front of you determine how much you eat. Keep in mind portion size – - like a baseball, or a deck of cards, for example – to remind yourself what reasonable servings of food should look like.

Ask the waiter to take away what you don’t want and pack it for later. Pay attention to hunger and fullness cues, and eat s-l-o-w-l-y.

Surf n’ Turf, anyone?

The true test for me, however, was this: how does it taste in my morning coffee?

On my diet – there is just one thing I cannot.. .no matter HOW BAD I want to lose the weight, I just cannot, for the life of me, compromise and that is my coffee. I know there are a lot of people out there who feel the same.

Splenda in coffee just is not the same – - neither are any of the other substitutes I’ve found.

I came across Stevia quite by accident one day while searching for organic foods online. I even recommended it to my mother, who is a diabetic and struggles with sugar substitute issues, as well. She is even more picky than I am – - and she’s a faithful Stevia user now!

Here’s the low-down for you on the product (which you can usually find at your local health food store, or in the health/organic section of your grocery):

• Stevia has ZERO calories. Yep – you heard it… ZERO.. as in NONE
• Stevia has a glycemic index of… yea, you guessed it… ZERO
• It is all natural and 100% organic
• Stevia is a naturally sweet plant native to Paraguay
• Stevia is 30 times sweeter than sugar in its unprocessed form
• The pure glycosides that are extracted from the Stevia leaves are 250-400 times sweeter than sugar
• For those of Jewish faith, Stevia is 100% kosher
• You can use Stevia not only for sweetening drinks like tea and coffee and quick meals like on grapefruit or cereal – but you can bake with Stevia, as well. There are hundreds of recipes – - below, I reference a Stevia cookbook with some great recipe ideas
• Be aware of the Stevia/Sugar conversion when using it, though – - remember, it is 30 TIMES SWEETER THAN SUGAR! Dont’ make the mistake of using the same volume of Stevia as you would with regular sugar. Below is a conversion table

What are Stevia’s equivilancies to sugar?

Some Great Stevia Recipe Books:

Stevia Sweet Recipes: Sugar-Free-Naturally
A review from Amazon.com says:Of the 3 Stevia cookbooks I own, this is my favorite. I would think that most people who want to use stevia, are looking for healthy too, and lower carb, not just how to replace sugar with stevia. He uses whole grains in his recipies, which are much lower on the glycemic index than their refined counter parts, making them good for diabetics and some less restrictive low carb diets. I was looking for a recipe for zucchini bread and none of the books had one, so I took his Oatmeal Banana Bread recipe and replaced the fruit with zucchini and it came out fantastic! I could do that because the basic recipe is sound. He gives a lot of info on stevia including the fact that you have to adjust it to your taste. He covers pretty much all the bases in this book, except as one person pointed out, the use of liquid stevia, other than to say that he prefers to use the powders to the liquid.

Sensational Stevia Desserts
A review from Amazon.com says:This is a good book. It gives you the nutritional breakdowns which is nice, and compares them to the same products made with sugar. She uses healthy ingredients, but not much in the way of whole grains. It’s definitely low-carb friendly, as you can easily see how many carbs each recipe will set you back. None of the recipies include other sugar sources which is nice to see in a stevia cookbook.

Stevia: Naturally Sweet Recipes for Desserts, Drinks, and More
A review from Amazon.com says: I have been using stevia as my SOLE sugar replacement for just about a year now with the aid of several cookbooks to keep me going. I find it hard to use many recipes that ask for non-nutritive sweeteners because they usually happen to be low-carb, high-protein/fat, and animal products abound. My first breath of fresh air to this dilema was this book. It uses whole grain flours and provides many purely vegetarian (vegan) alternative recipes.

Kashi has an instant hot cereal solution for me and I tried it tonight and it was delicious!

Another problem with my diet planning is that I cannot stand skim milk. I have to at least have 1%, or I won’t have any. Skim milk just isn’t creamy and rich enough for my tastes. I have found a solution to that, however – - using Fat Free Half and Half instead of skim milk. No fat – more taste. Perfect!

So, Kashi GOLean Creamy Truly Vanilla hot cereal with a splash of Fat Free Half and Half does the trick! OH OH! I also recently found a sugar substitute that is completely 100% organic and really does the job for me more than Splenda ever will! It’s called Stevia – and you can read all about Stevia right here. It’s a natural herb that is extremely sweet. In fact, this remarkable noncaloric herb, native to Paraguay, has been used as a sweetener and flavor enhancer for centuries.

The Kashi GoLean cereal has 7 whole grains plus protein and fiber – including Flax Seeds to provide you with just the right kind of fat you need in your diet (abundance of omega-3 fatty acids). (read about Flax Seeds here) – - Here’s the breakdown of the rest of the nutritional information in the Kashi hot cereal:

Without any further hesitation – here’s my Saturday Syndication list for today – I hope you enjoy!

• Every Friday is Health Tip day at Zen Habits. This week, Zen Habits puts a spotlight on Hassle Free Weight Loss – The Zen Habits Meal Plan. …”Notice that it’s not the “Zen Habits Diet”. That’s because to me, diets are intended to be restrictive and temporary. I’ve created an easy way to plan my meals so that I don’t overeat, so that I’m eating fairly healthy, and so that it’s got some leeway for pleasurable eating. And for me, this has to be something I can do for life…. – click the link to read Zen Habits Tips.
• At 101 Reasons I Hate Being Fat – KaraokeKitty discusses Why she loves to hate celebrity weight loss television shows. …”I love them! I hate them! You know the shows, like VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club or NBC’s Biggest Loser, and a host of others. Honestly I do love to watch these shows….
• Find some Daily Health, Nuturition, Weight Loss and Exercise Tips at the Daily Exercise and Fitness Blog.
• Former Fat Guy discusses Alcohol and Weight Loss – Can you drink alcohol on your weight loss program and still lose the weight?
• At Corey’s Fitness and Weight Loss Journal – Corey is All Slimmed Down With Nothing to Wear!

See ya next week!

…it’s not unusual for someone to experience a yo-yo effect following a low-carb diet. The body loses water, muscle and fat during weight loss, especially on a low-carb diet. A very low-carb diet is not recommended for the long haul. A modest low-carb diet, such as the diet followed by many diabetics, is more healthful, cuts carbs to a reasonable level and focuses on carbs that are high in fiber.

Some low-glycemic (low sugar), high-fiber carbs include:

• Oatmeal
• Whole Wheat Bread
• Whole Wheat Pasta
• Beans and Barley
• Sweet Potatoes
• Vegetables

Eating more vegetables and fruit means you can eat more food and lose weight. Because vegetables and fruit have a high water content, the calorie level is lower. You can eat more, yet take in fewer calories, and feel more full.

Kalyn, at Kalyn’s Kitchen, has a great recipe for sweet potato fries – a lo-carb and tasty alternative to regular fries.

A Veggie Adventure provides an easy and yummy Microwave “Baked” Sweet Potato (Per Serving: 86 Cal (1% from Fat, 8% from Protein, 91% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 20 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; 34 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 15 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol, Weight Watchers 1 point)

Orange Roughy in Ginger Sauce
1/3 cup dry sherry or vermouth
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion, or chives
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
2 orange roughy fillets (1 pound)

Preheat oven to 400 F Mix the sherry or vermouth, soy sauce, sesame oil, onion or chives, ginger and garlic in a small bowl.

Place the fish fillets in an ovenproof casserole dish. Drizzle the marinade over the fish and bake for 12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.

Cod, sole, flounder may be substituted for the orange roughy

Calories: 242
Protein: 35g
Carbs: 3g
Fat: 6g
Saturated Fats: 1g
Sodium: 1154mg
Cholesterol: 45mg
Fiber: 1g

Good stuff! I served it with steamed snow peas and broiled tomatoes with Pesto sauce and a small glass of white wine. My husband put it on the ‘do it again’ list – which is a good sign that he liked it too.

At least for me? I gained back 14lbs of the 26 lbs that I lost earlier this year. That sucks, yea I know. The second half of this year was all about falling into the trap of ’stress and worry’ eating. I had many great things happen in 2006 – - and many not-so-great things. It was the not-so-great things that caused me worry and stress.. along with it, major serious bouts of insomnia that had me up at wee hours of the morning working, and snacking.

The snacking part KILLED me. Top that off with me feeling the weight coming back on — getting bummed out about it, causing me to delve further into my stress and worry binging. Makes TOTAL sense, doesn’t it?

Yea, well – no sense looking back – - there’s only forward to go. I started the new diet fresh and clean for the new year. It hit a whopping 190lbs by the end of the year.. so mine’s not a success story to be told, not in the least. It’s this cycle of diet/binge/diet/binge that I’ve been putting myself through over the past several years – - I can’t seem to break. I keep trying though – - and at least that keeps me from hitting that dreaded 240lb mark again!

A little history: I weighed 240lbs in 2003 – - a dreadful, dreadful weight that I never wish to hit again. Back then, I vowed to take it off, and I did! I sucessfully dieted my way to 150, and I felt awesome. Any idea what it’s like to drop 90lbs of yourself? It’s pretty thrilling. In the late months of 2004, I hit 190 – - through pure laziness. I mean, I got myself down to 150 and thought I had it made, right? Pfft! I dieted again and got myself back down to 160 in mid-2005. The tale end of 2005, I visited 190 again. Arrrgh! I dieted AGAIN and got myself down to 170 in the early months of 2006.

On December 31, 2006 – I weighed in at 190 again. WTF is it with that number? It haunts me! So, here I am at 190lbs again – and dieting again. I would LOVE to sit here and say I’m really going to do it this time. But, I can only hope when I drop those 30-40 lbs again, I will have learned my lessons from the past and remember how quickly those pounds pile back on! Here’s to 2007!

In the spirit of the new year – here’s a dessert recipe I’ll share. I’ve had it twice so far – and it’s not so bad. I mean, it’s not a pint of Ben & Jerry’s – - but it’s doable!

Mocha Ricotta
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package sugar substitute (like Splenda)

Mix together ricotta, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and sugar substitute in a desert bowl. Serve chilled – - dust the top with a bit of espresso powder and even drop 4-5 mini chocolate chips on the top.

It’s pretty decent, really!

Calories: 261
Protein: 15g
Carbs: 17g
Fat: 14g
Sat. Fats: 9g
Sodium: 166mg
Cholesterol: 42mg
Fiber: 0gy,

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

For some, this may not be appealling – however, with my lifestyle (especially these days) – my time available for cooking and preparing meals that fit within my diet plan and my daily goals for protein intake, fiber intake, carbs, etc just isn’t there at the moment! So I thought I’d give NutriSystem a try and see how I like it.

NutriSystem Nourish: The Revolutionary New Weight-Loss Program Review from Amazon.com: This is an excellent program. I haven’t had much discipline when it comes to what I eat and this is the only program I’ve tried that really works and did not leave me feeling cranky and deprived. I lost 20lbs without exercise in the first 2 months and am continuing to lose 2lbs a week. The weight loss has given me so much energy that now I can’t sit still so exercise fit itself into the plan without being forced. This program works if you love to cook (I don’t) and if you like convenience of prepackaged food (I do). I’m never hungry on this program because I eat 5x a day. The web site is informative and teaches proper portion size and a healthy mix of protein, carbs and fats. This book takes it the extra step to really explain what is behind the program so you can maintain the weight loss easily. I now know that my slow metabolism was due to blood sugar fluctuations. My metabolism is no longer slow and my blood pressure is textbook-perfect. Most importantly, I feel and look much better and my energy has increased 100%. Don’t wait, start the program today and feel better almost immediately. It really does work and it is very easy!!!

I ordered my first month of the program that is scheduled for delivery tomorrow and am looking foward to starting up and seeing how it goes! I’m kind of mixing this together with my normal Body for Life program – in particular the exercise and fitness program that I had so much success with earlier in the year.

See if I can’t get rid of those last pesky 25 – 30 lbs, hey?