New friend! Opa!

Several nice friends encouraged me to try Greek yogurt and I trusted them, thankfully!

Meet my new best snack friend:

Fage!

They sell it at SuperTarget near the normal yogurt; I am sure at other places have it too.

Even a favorite artist, Gary Baseman, sold out to Fage:

I add some Bob's Red Mill 5 Rolled Grain Cereal to mine sometimes. In fact, I JUST did, that is why I had to hurry here to tell you this.

The little snack version comes with a few different sides. I like honey and cherry the best. I also like to add frozen raspberries and blueberries on my own.

Why didn't I bring more to work?

I wish I would use the bigger size with less packaging. I am working on it. I put blueberries in a little to-go cup with some plain and for some reason it was just not the same. It did not taste as good. I have the same problem with regular yogurt. WHY?!? Too much air?

Also, I bought the Stoneyfield Farms variation and I was not as pleased, though not utterly unhappy.

Meh.

ALSO (!) I have used it in cooking to make healthier sauces. Nice.

Thanks recommenders!

Overshot!

My Health Coach just called for my monthly check in.

Admittedly, I signed up for this benefit for the opportunity for $$ if I complied. I am chatty, I like to answer questions, why not?

I am looking great! Beautiful posture and winning smile!

Well, I guess I am a sucker because I have long passed the required number of calls and I keep on trucking with my health coach. I always forget her name, but she lives in Ohio and is nice.

She has been very supportive of me and has given me credit (or slack) for the big stress in my life since May. I have listened to her and appreciated her rah-rah-rah attitude.

Last month she encouraged me to really minimize my goal for November. She talked me into making a goal of going to the gym or playing Wii intensely once per week. I was also supposed to do some mental health work.

The overachiever in me thought that was pretty lame, but I humored her.

I actually am taking Spanish and sort of polishing off my French.

She just called to check in with me and I blew that goal out of the water and I feel AWESOME!!

I went to the gym about 3 times a week and did several mental health care activities.

She is so smart. Set the bar low and feel amazing and motivated!

Off to sign up for fencing and physics classes now...

Product review: Healthy Choice Paninis

Now I am not a big fan of microwave food, but in an effort to control my portions and my budget, I decided to try a couple Healthy Choice products.


I bought two flavors of the Healthy Choice Paninis, they were both great. I tried the Smoked BBQ Chicken and Smokehouse Apple and Chicken.

With a skeptical attitude, I followed the instructions to cook the panini. It looks like this when you cook it:

Then you squish the two sides together and enjoy.

They only cost $2.30 each on sale at SuperTarget. That is less than any sandwich that I could buy on campus and they were easy to grab and go in the morning. (Making my own lunch is a whole 'nother battle to win.)

They are about the size of a sandwich that I would make at home. They took 2.5 minutes to cook, fast!

I found them to be flavorful and satisfying. I had some yogurt as a snack later in the day after one of them, so I guess they did not pull me through until dinner. They cooked well; they were not soggy at all and the bread did not get all tough.

They have about 310 calories, 40 calories from fat. They use 6 weight watchers points. They have about 25% of your daily sodium, which is a drag, but again if I did not have one to eat today I probably would have bought a sandwich with more sodium.

My husband really likes some of the microwave meals, so I will have to try those next. Or maybe he can write a review?

Also, I found this site with other "diet food" reviews. called I ate a pie. Sounds like something I would do if no one was watching! They reviewed a third flavor of these sandwiches, which I did not try.

Getting there first

I went to the YWCA last night with Todd. He was my only witness this time.


I am still ramping up the intensity of my workouts. I am mostly focusing on actually getting to the gym on a regular basis first.

Todd is encouraging me to keep a better record of what exercise I complete, as well as my heart rate and whatever-the-hell-else one is supposed to do to be a hardcore, productive gym goer.

He learned a lot, and found success in following methods in this book:


Right now I am totally overwhelmed by this sort of organized workout. I am not opposed to it; it just makes me want to run and hide in my bed is all. Give me time, I will come around.

Do you track bio-markers when you work out? Have you followed any useful exercise guides?

A Heavy Hit

So I know I am out of shape and that I need to make better choices for my body...that is why I am here, right?

Well, I honestly do not obsess about my body type, except my struggle to find decent tops to wear. I do not get down about my body and I do not stress about my diet (hence why I feel I need support to improve it!).

Today I was at the doctor and the physician called me "heavy".

First I was furious, and thought, "Oh no you didn't!"

Then I was sad and discouraged:


I feel hopeless and humongous.

That kind of honest and direct acknowledgment of my body type makes me feel so hopeless that all I want is:


It does not make me want to: