Props to Quick Food

So as you may have gathered from my previous posts, I have a new job. This is exciting stuff. I am working "all the way downtown" in "the city". For those of you not from around these parts, that translates to the Wall Street area in New York City (aka NYC, aka Manhattan). It's a really cool part of town. The Stock Exchange is a block away and the spot where Washington was sworn in as President is around the corner. There are cobblestone streets with really old buildings and pubs. Its a total maze, nothing makes sense compared to the very easy to navigate grid that makes up most of the city. Lots of nooks and crannies with great little restaurants.

So during my first week of work, I was very pleasantly surprised with some of the local breakfast and lunch places. Not only were they quick and easy, but they were diet friendly. And I'm not just talking healthy choices, I mean they had the calories of everything displayed right in the store (even on the big menu/price boards). You didn't have to navigate the web to find nutrition info (though the sites are great too), it was just right in front of your face!

So Cosi and Pret A Manger both get BIG props (both have many locations world wide). I have found that I am making better decisions at lunch since the calories are right there for me. Something that might have sounded appealing by description would suddenly not look quite as good when I realized I could get something else equally appealing for half the calories.

So not only do I get to explore my new work neighborhood for some cool stores and pubs, but I feel like I have so many more food choices than I thought I would. Oh and of course there is a Starbucks on the corner (awesome). Not a bad deal, especially after that long commute "all the way downtown".

The Supper Club

So at least twice a month I go out with the same group of people sampling the cuisines of the world. Recently we have done Thai, Japanese, Indian, and Polish. Last night we did Portuguese. Have you ever gone to a Portuguese Restaurant? Well they give you a ridiculous amount of food. It was all good, but the side of pig that I received didn't exactly help the diet. I however, did bring more than half of it home. The Sangria was particularly tasty and three of us finished off a pitcher. I know, I know, more than the one glass I said I would limit myself too - but hey - it had fruit in it :)
And really, the most important thing about these supper club meetings is the company. Sometimes we invite "outsiders" to the festivities. Regardless, the company is always great and is an evening I always look forward to.
Oh, and last night I was celebrating my first day at my new job! Woo Hoo! Needless to say it was a long - but fun day!

Splat!

That was the sound of me falling off the wagon. Actually, I was pretty good all day. Then tonight we went to the world famous White Manna Hamburgers. If you have never heard of it, its a tiny little burger place from the 1940's. It's been highlighted on the Food Network numerous times, most recently on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I'm not quite sure if this place qualifies as a Diner or Dive, but the burgers are tasty.



So I had three sliders. Not so bad considering most people walk out with sacks. I will admit they were pretty darn good and I think I will still be tasting them for hours. I will of course blame my raging PMS for this momentary lack of food discretion. Maybe pairing it with a 2009 vintage of bottled water will some how counterbalance the burgers.



But hey, we all need to have a little wiggle room with our food, and like I said, I stuck to my organic, all natural goodness for the better part of the day. I will once again swear allegiance to Amy tomorrow, but for now its off to watch Anthony Bourdain. Gotta love his snarky sense of humor.

Hormones, Why Do You Hate Me So?

Uuuggghhh - sometimes being a girl stinks. I can just feel the hormones taking over my body. Things swell, my face breaks out and I get cranky and hungry!!!! So I have decided that I am not going to do my weigh-in tomorrow. I know I did well all week, but I know I will get disappointed (and more cranky) if I see little to no loss. So I will just wait til next week and I should see an even bigger loss (which will make me spontaneously break into the happy happy joy joy song).

I was very good tonight though when the munchies hit, and just had a 90 calorie granola bar. Luckily my man knows he has to be strong for me and did not bend when I "suggested" we get some ice cream. Ahhhh...ice cream sounds so yummy!!!!

Oh well - off to bed soon. Hopefully that will quiet my rumbly tummy.

Not All Frozen Food Is Created Equal

As promised, I have some more food reviews. First I am going to start with Indian food. If you don't have much experience with Indian food you should really give it a try! So flavorful and so many meals that you can eat if you happen to be vegetarian. Plenty if you're not too! Now granted, a lot of Indian food in the US isn't totally authentic - but you know what? Its pretty darn good anyway! So on to the reviews:

First - the worst frozen Indian food EVER:



I had Sukhi's Palak Paneer and it was terrible! First of all it was overpowered with Jalapeno flavor. Jalapenos in guacamole = good. Jalapenos in Indian food = WTF? Secondly, the spinach was so fine it was like baby food. The naan was ok considering it was microwaved. Overall it was just awful. I took two bites and then sent it to its final resting place.

Next is my favorite frozen food brand Amy's. I have had a couple of their Indian meals and they have been very good. They are complete with rice as well, so no extra work . Great to bring to work for lunch and pop in the microwave. Overall, Amy's has not disappointed me yet - so I will keep on trying all of their stuff!

Now if you want to have really great frozen Indian food, Deep Foods is the brand for you!! This stuff is great! Also all natural and tastes so fresh. The spice and texture is just right. Only thing about this brand is that you have to make your rice separate (though you can buy their microwavable rice as well - it has goodies like cashews and raisins and spices in it). Their Palak Paneer and Kofta Curry are my absolute favorites! Truly the best frozen Indian food out there. I will add their link to the links we love section if you want to check it out!



I have also recently tried Amy's pesto pizza and black bean burrito. Both are super tasty! Just as expected. My only complaint is that the pizza was not microwavable so I can't bring it into work for lunch. Though - they may do that on purpose, cause baking it in the oven gave it a really nice crust. Their spinach pizza in a pocket is awesome too. Way better than any Hot Pocket I ever had!!

I am just so excited their are so many great frozen organic meals out there making my new diet so much easier. I have come to enjoy making some of my good for you, veggie filed meals, but having the convenience of frozen options is great as well!

No, Hell Didn't Freeze Over - That Was Just Me Baking

That's right folks. I baked today (and if you know me you are wondering when the body snatchers came and took over). In fact I baked up some pretty tasty pumpkin, cranberry and pecan muffins! AND they were organic (well except for the brown sugar) and only 140 calories! I am actually pretty proud of myself because they came out nice and fluffy even though they have no butter or oil! I used apple sauce instead of oil and the pumpkin puree adds a nice amount of moisture. And even though they were only a 140 calories each, they were not void of taste! I substituted maple yogurt for buttermilk, and it had lots of yummy spices and a decent amount of brown sugar. They have a nice pumpkin spice flavor with a tart cranberry thrown in here or there. I may make some small modifications next time (like soak the craisins in OJ for a little bit and actually remember the vanilla extract), but for a first go - they were pretty good. I can only imagine how awesome they would be with cream cheese frosting. But alas, that would make them very un-diet friendly.

So if you are wondering - here is the recipe!

1 1/2 cups`organic oat bran pancake and waffle mix
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (or vegetable oil, if you're not calorie counting)
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk ( I used 6 oz maple yogurt instead)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in spices.

In a separate bowl, beat egg with brown sugar until well combined. Mix in egg and combine. Stir in vanilla, buttermilk, applesauce and pumpkin puree.

Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in nuts and raisins.

Pour mixture into muffin cups and bake approximately 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

The real taste test will be tonight when I make my honey try one!

Ok - off to find those body snatchers to get my body back...

A Fat Tax?

So without getting political, I'd like to post this article for your perusal. It suggests a "Fat Tax" on foods that are fattening or have no nutritional value. And while the idea of another tax may seem well... off putting, I do think it could have its merits. The US Government spends zillions (yes that is a guesstimate) on food subsidies for corn farms to produce high fructose corn syrup. I could go on a MAJOR tangent here - but basically the stuff is bad news! I will be sure to touch on that in a future post.

So if there is a fat tax, that money could go to a few places: health care to help attack the growing obesity epidemic or to organic farmers to help the reduce the cost of organic foods. It's cheap to be fat and expensive to be thin (and healthy). We need to change that.

So check out the article and post your thoughts in the comment section below. I'd love to know what you think!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/05/ruiz.obesity.tax/index.html

Food Rave and a Challenge!

I just ate a breakfact so good that I had to write about it. It's Amy's Tofu Scramble with Hash Browns and Veggies.



So do you see the picture of the sliced tomatoes on the box? Well they are actually in there! Its not just a "serving suggestion". This meal is sooooooo good. It is so flavorful you can't even believe it came out of the microwave. The tofu takes the place of scrambled eggs (Amy's doesn't use eggs in any of their products) and it is a perfect substitution. Honestly - it is a great substitution because the taste is very similar. It also has 19g of protein and 4g of fiber! So if you are a spinach fan I would definitely check this out!

So on to the challenge! Fellow blogger Carissa (her blog is called Have You Seen My Weight?) is also losing weight (and doing a good job at it may I add!) and has taken on a challenge to do 1500 crunches in a month. So that is 50 a day or 100 every other day depending on how you'd like to break your exercise routine down. On the surface it doesn't sound too hard. In fact - I'm sure day 1 won't be terrible. It's day 2 I'm worried about. You know - the day you "feel" all those ab and core muscles you didn't even know existed! But hey - thanks to beautiful daughter number 2 I have a lovely c-section belly. It could use some help to get it nice and flat! So Carissa - I'm there with you and will post my progress along the way in my side bar.

Well - I may check in again later today. This was meant to be a quick post!

Yeah Baby! 4 Pounds!!

Woo Hoo!!!! Finally! Some weight loss! And not just some - 4 lbs to be exact! I know you always lose more the first couple of weeks on a diet because your body is detoxing and getting rid of excess water, but I'll take it! What a way to start off. It hasn't been the easiest week, but I have changed my perspective and I take one day at a time. I don't think about not eating some foods forever, but rather - I think how I'm not going to eat that today. It works for me. I makes things feel much less overwhelming.  I have also really drastically changed my diet. I am still eating some meat and dairy, but my diet has a more vegetarian focus. And not a macaroni and cheese vegetarian, a veggies and tofu vegetarian. I am also buying organic so I can avoid hormones or antibiotics in my food. I mean, if you have to take hormones or steroids for a medical condition, weight gain is usually a prominent side effect. So I am postulating that if there are all kinds of hormones in the food we eat - well then maybe that adds to our weight problems as well.

So you may ask - Tell me ex-hot-pocketer - what exactly are you eating????  Well, one of my favorite things to make is my "Big Salad". It's fresh and homemade, but it's like Sanda Lee semi-homemade easy. Here's what's in it:

Start with a 4 Qt Bowl
*Fill it with organic salad greens (aka the pre-washed box or bag from the grocery store)
*Slice about 5 strawberries and add to lettuce. You can really put as many strawberries as you want, cause lets be honest - strawberries didn't get us fat). You can of course use blueberries or peaches or apples - whatever fruit floats your boat - but my salad included strawberries.
*Add one-third cup dried cranberries. This is one serving - about 130 calories
*Add one-quarter cup chopped pecans (you can buy them that way - no actual chopping necessary) - about 210 calories (you can also use walnuts if not a pecan fan)
*Add 3 Tbs Poppy Seed Dressing. I use Brianna's (its on that "special" salad dressing shelf). All natural and DE-LIC-IOUS! The Poppy Seed dressing is key here - it makes the salad. 240 calories

Mix it all up in the big bowl. If you can add, you know that comes out to 580 calories. So lets say its 600 with the lettuce and strawberries. This salad is at least 2 servings. So you can separate it out into containers and have a 200-300 calorie serving. Or serve it to the family for dinner. Everyone I have made this for LOVES it! And if you feel like there is a little something missing, you can put some parmesan shavings on top. But don't go crazy - cause cheese IS what made us fat!

I am also eating great convenience food like Amy's and Indian foods from Deep Foods (to be highlighted in a future post) and yogurt and tons of veggies (I had stuffed zucchini and red peppers this weekend). I am also adding tofu to meals to cut down on the meat consumed or replacing the meat with it all together. Give the extra firm stuff a chance. Really - it can be good! Especially in a stir fry or added to something flavorful. Tofu takes on the flavors of everything its cooked with and provides protein. Really, honestly, its not bad!

Oh, and I didn't have a drop of alcohol all week. No red wine or anything. And I'm not even shaking! LOL I even feel better. I do still need that cup of coffee in the morning, but baby steps.

Thanks for checking in. Please feel free to leave comments or add me to the blogs you follow. All the encouragement I can get will help me along the way. I don't want to disappoint any of you!

I Love Amy

So before you guys get your boxers in a bunch, I am speaking of Amy of Amy's Organic Foods. As you know, I am all about convenience (hence the Hot Pocket experience) so finding a way to make eating healthy even easier is music to my ears.


So Amy's ( http://www.amys.com/ ) is awesome!!! So many great varieties of food. All organic and vegetarian. Some are vegan, and all but two varieties are Kosher. They really make eating nutritious veggie filled meals so simple! Cause I mean really - making all this stuff fresh can be a bit of a pain. Its fine if you have time to make a nice dinner, but when you need a quick lunch they are great! AND they even have pocket meals! Yes! Of course I was drawn to these - lol. I had the spinach and feta pocket last night and it was delicious! And trust me - I am about eating food with actual taste - I wouldn't recommend this stuff if it tasted like cardboard.






Their website is awesome too. I guess a lot of people wrote to them saying that they lost weight using their foods, so they have developed their own diet section. The web site is very complete and even includes a blog from the actual Amy (she's a student at Stanford - her parents started the food company when she was born).


So I will definitely post reviews of all kinds of Amy's foods as I try them. I have had a couple of their Indian meals and they are awesome! I will also build a list of links to convenience food companies as I share them on my blog. I already know of a few I will highlight in the future!


So yes - eating organic, healthy food and convenience really can go hand in hand!

A Call To Blog!

Hi Folks!

So its been a little while since I've blogged and a lot has happened. First, I realized that while the Hot Pocket Diet was a fun experiment - its one that didn't work. But hey, that's what experiments are for right? Some work and some don't!

So why the decision to change Hot Pocket Lady, you may ask? Well, this lady is getting married in a year and she needs to look smokin' in her wedding dress!! I mean really, all those folks I haven't seen in years need to think I've looked super hot all along. Well that and I need to get healthy too, not just thin. I need my pipes to work, my skin to look good and to have more energy. All of which come with a healthy diet.

So whats the game plan? Well I did buy the "Skinny Bitch" diet book. Had I realized this was just one big push to be vegan I may have resisted, but it did have a lot of valid and interesting points. So basically I will eat a LOT more veggies and fruit. Also, when I do eat meat or drink milk in moderation it will be organic. And I do have a confession. Are your ready? Wait for it.....ok, I actually like Tofu and veggies burgers. I mean genuinely like them, like I order them in restaurants and everything. So they will be making a lot more appearances in the diet as well. I will also be sure to keep the calories at 1600 or less per day. And the kicker, I am giving up alcohol. Basically the only time I will have any is red wine if we are out to dinner. And then it will only be one glass. This is definitely a major lifestyle change for me.

So I started this diet on Monday and have stuck to all of the above. I have actually lost 2 pounds since then. Yes, ok, another confession - I weigh myself almost everyday. I just can't help it! I am a girl - its just part of my wiring. Much like we like sparkly things and shoes and purses.

So the blogging will continue. Hopefully you will support me on the continued journey to lose 30 (or maybe 40) pounds. And I am giving myself til Sept 2010 to lose the weight - so we will do this on a realistic and safe timetable to get it all done. More importantly that's 11 more months of my witty humor. LOL!