Product Review - Trader Joe's Fiberful

For those of you who have a Trader Joe's near you, these are an absolute mus try!

Trader Joe's Fiberful Fruit Strips, which come in both individual packages (like other fruit leathers) and they also come in a bag called Ends and Pieces which are the ends which are left after they cut the perfect size shapes for the individual bars.

Calories: 60 - Fat: 0 - Fiber: 6 grams

Calories: 120 - Fat: 0 - Fiber: 12 grams

One thing you might notice right away is that the pieces have twice the fiber, which is only because if you read the serving size the serving in the Ends & Pieces is actually twice as much.

These fruit leather pieces are so yummy.  They taste like real fruit and you cannot beat the added fiber.

For those of you who are on a budget I definitely recommend the Ends & Pieces which are the ones I always opt for.  The individual ones are great to throw in your purse or backpack, but they definitely cost more.  The individual bars are .59 cents whereas the Ends & Pieces are 2.49 for the whole bag.  If you bought enough bars to equal the same ounces in the bag it would cost you over 6 dollars so while they are more convenient they are triple the price.

A Day in the Life Of - Food

So here is day one of "A Day in the Life Of My Food".  I pretty much always eat breakfast but for some reason (probably too many cupcakes before bed, oops) I wasn't hungry so I only had coffee this morning.

My day always starts the same: two large cups of coffee with a little bit of half and half, fat free milk and foam.

I drank some of this mid-morning in the hops of combating some of my unhealthy eating lately.

By lunch I was starving so I had some blueberries, half and apple and a turkey sandwich on a bagel thin.

This was my afternoon snack. I love apples and I love these fiber bars!

It doesnt look too good here but I caved and ate half a plain cupcake too.

Dinner was a lean turkey burger on another bagel thin and baked french fries (I didnt eat all those though, they were shared I had about half).

I also had a salad with light feta, cucumber and light balsamic dressing.

I didnt get a picture of how much I ate since I broke my rule and ate out of the bag (OOPS) but I think I ate about 1 and 1/2 servings.  These are to die for by the way!

I also had one biscotti (not the whole box! lol) These are really delicious and satisfying.

Overall this made me more aware of how often, far too often, I have the urge to just snack or take just a bite or two of something until I realized I couldnt take a picture.  Looking back at these photos is interesting too because I wouldn't have realized how many carbs I ate today.

Today was not totally typical of a normal day for me but it was still interesting and enlightening.  i definitely went a little heavy on the carbs today and light on the fruits and veggies so I'm going to try and change that tomorrow!

Juicing = Lots of Juice!

So the Juicing has not been every day but it has been pretty regular.  Today we juiced a lot of fruits and vegetables! (our kitchen is currently over flowing...the one down side to juicing is you need a lot of fruits and vegetables which is not necessarily bad but when you have a small kitchen and small fridge but try to stock up when stuff is on sale it goes everywhere. lol)

Anyway, here is what we juiced today, along with the scraps.  I wish we had a compost!

In total we juiced 8 small carrots, 6 apples, 1 large pear, about 3 cups of watermelon, one massive cucumber, one kiwi, two small oranges, and one grapefruit.

As you can see, though it was a lot of fruit and vegetables, it also produced a lot of juice.  About 72 ounces to be exact.

The large pitcher is 32 ounces of a mix of watermelon, pear, apple, cucumber, kiwi, orange, grapefruit  and carrot juice.

The next contains 12 ounces of pure watermelon juice (so yummy!).

For my lovely fiancé 16 ounces of pure apple juice.

Then we have 16 ounces of watermelon, cucumber, apple, grapefruit, orange and pear juice.

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On a seperate note, I've seen a lot of blogs where people post pictures of all their food.  for the longest time I didnt understand it.  I'm interested in food and other people's eating habits so I thought it was kinda interesting to see how other people eat, but I didn't understand it since it seemed so time consuming but I think I finally understand; its about sharing and personal consciousness.

I've been journaling my food intake on and off (mostly online) for 6 years now.  I keep track but it doesn't really affect how I eat I just say "oops" when I eat too much.  So it occurred to me that photo food blogging is about being more conscious of what I eat and how much (and most especially how often!) I eat.  It would make me stop and think about what I'm eating and why if I have to take a picture first and know people will see it.

So I've started today (which will probably get posted late tonight or tomorrow morning).  It probably wont be an every single day post since I dont have time, but I'm going to try and keep up with it and hopefully someone else will be interested too!

Back to Basics: Day One

So today is Day One of my re-commitment to myself and my health and weight loss journey and its starting great.  I went for a 2 mile walk/run in the rain!  Now this may not sound that big to some people but if you live in So. Cal you’re not really used to weather so whenever the weather isn’t perfect I tend to skip outside exercise but today I made myself go even though it looked like rain.  About 1/3 of the way through it actually started to rain but instead of turning back home I finished my entire planned 2 miles and it felt great!

Feeling Good!

Now the second picture I made my mom take so I could accurately see what my body looks like after I let my eating habits and emotional eating get the best of me.  I have no idea why I have such a weird look on my face though! lol

And the not so good part....the weigh in.  About 3 1/2 weeks ago I was down to 173.5 and todays weigh in puts me at 182.5...thats right up 9 pounds (but to be honest it feels like even more!)  I'm trying not to get down but see it as a challenge.

Back to Basics: Musings on Falling Off Track

I’ve been incredibly stressed lately.  Things with my family, I’m starting my last (difficult) semester of college with the prospect of graduating and moving away from my mom for the first time because I’m getting married in August (did I mention I’m planning a very budget wedding by myself), and I’m turning 25 in a few months.  Everything is going great for me but there are so many big changes coming and so much to do and think about the next 6 months I’ve felt stressed and overwhelmed.

It started a few weeks ago with a few extra snacks at night and then the next day “I just needed a break”  I lost almost 140 pounds a few years ago so I figured a few days off and I could get back on track in no time….WRONG.  I was in a bad food place for about two weeks (still partially am).  The combination of stress and just being tired of watching everything I eat to maintain my weight got to me and instead of going a little off for the first time in my life it’s been weeks of an eating free for all.  I’ve gained 11 pounds and boy can I feel it.  All my pants are so tight and I feel awful.  All week I’ve been saying the next day was a new day and each day I’ve given in.  It’s been made hard by my mom, who suffers from binge eating disorder, but I am an adult and my food choices are my own.

I’ve realized that in my stress I’ve allowed myself to feel like a victim – upset by how hard I work to maintain my weight loss and upset my constant food and weight struggle and by feeling like a victim I’ve allowed food to feel like my savior when in fact it’s been my downfall.

So I went to the grocery store and stocked up on lots of fruit and some vegetables and stuff for roll-ups, sandwiches, some healthy snacks and some individual portions.  It may not be easy and it may not always feel fair but its my body and my health and instead of fighting how hard it is I’m going to workcongratulating myself on my commitment (if I can get it back).

So I’m going to try something new…Back to Basics.  Like when I first started losing weight I’m going to think of it as a challenge and get excited about ways to cook the healthiest so I can eat the most and be on the hunt for healthful and low calorie snacks.  The only thing holding me back is me.

Part of me doesn't like to share my failings and flaws with other people...but being honest with others is the first step to being honest with myself.

Further Adventures in Juicing

So yesterday we got out the new juicer - The Jack Lalanne Juicer Express.  It is a wonder.  Twice the juice from the same amount of fruit and vegetables without the thick pulp.  It is quiet and works perfectly.  i am in love!

So we got set juicing...

We juiced one orange, one large cucumber, about 4 carrots and two large apples.

A gorgeous glass full of juice!

I could definitely feel increased energy yesterday and was excited to try again today.

Today's juicing consisted of one large cucumber, 4 carrots, 2 fuji apples and 2 oranges.  It was amazing.  You could taste hints of carrot and cucumber but the apple sweetened it up and the orange gave it some tang.

Enjoying every sip!

I'm still working on a cost comparison for buying juice vs. juicing although already I can tell you that taste wise there is NO comparison this fresh stuff is so much better!

Product Review and Giveaway - Atheno's Greek Yogurt

I'm a huge fan of Greek Yogurt.  It's rich, creamy and full of protein.  I'll be the first to say though that some brands are far better than others.

I was recently able to try the new Greek Yogurt put out by Athenos.

I have to say, it is delicious!  The great thing about Atheno's Greek Yogurt is that the fruit comes on the side so you add as much or as little as you want!  I tried the Strawberry and thought it was delicious.  A little tangy with just the right amount of sweetness from the jam and a great punch of protein.

Now for the giveaway...I have one coupon for a FREE Athenos' Greek yogurt.  So whether you love Greek yogurt and just want some more or have always wanted to try it here is your chance.

Just comment here and let me know your favorite way to eat Greek yogurt.  You must leave a valid e-mail so I can contact you should you win.  Contest ends January 26th at 9pm EST.  Good luck!