The upshot was that our foods contain more sugar than ever, and it’s harder to get sugar out of our environment.  Eating sugar does help us feel better for a short amount of time, but ultimately an addictive cycle sets in that requires us to eat more sugar to get the same effect.  And sugar substitutes might produce the same effects.

It’s taken me a loooong time to pull out of my sugar addiction; really, I can’t say that I have totally.  But it’s a far cry from what it used to be.  I used to make homemade fudge (and it was damn good!).

Making my own food has definitely helped; I’m not getting a dose of corn syrup at every meal.  But I still want some sugar after lunch, and I usually have a Skinny Cow bar after dinner.  Not much, but I wonder if I’m keeping the addiction alive.

How do you deal with sugar?

No.  He had a snack at school.

What kind of a snack?

Cereal bars.

Three of them.

My son is 6.  Even given he’s a growing boy, three cereal bars is a LOT of food.

I told him so, and will tell the after school teachers that maybe unlimited access to the goody of the day isn’t such a good idea.  I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I wonder if I need to be concerned.

After all, I started fairly young, too.  My mother tells a story about the first time she gave me a peanut butter sandwich.  I liked it so much I begged for another, then promptly puked it all up.

Now, this story did not presage a life of bulimia, but I didn’t get to be so fat without relishing food, in large quantities, whenever I got an opportunity.  I was the kid who swiped frosting flowers off of birthday cakes–before we sang Happy Birthday.  Oh, and it wasn’t my cake.

I don’t want to give my kid a complex, but I also want to teach about healthy limits.  I’ve read about those crazy moms who are always after their kid to eat less, even though the kid is fine.  But I wonder what would have helped me find those healthy limits when I was a kid.

What would you do?

The backstory: after losing 110 lbs on Weight Watchers, I’m at a point where I’m feeling happy and healthy.  I’ve met my personal goals for weight loss.  Weight Watchers lets you come for free after you’ve maintained your goal weight for a certain amount of time.  These “lifetime” members get the support from other members for maintaining their weight loss, and can inspire them as they lose their own weight.

There are two ways to become a lifetime member: your weight can be within what the BMI says is healthy, or you can get a letter from your doctor saying a different weight is appropriate for you.

I haven’t lost enough weight to get to the BMI range for my height, and I haven’t after 2.5 years at WW.  I probably could, but I’m happy right where I am.  I’ve made a huge number of lifestyle changes, and at this time don’t feel like making more.

I thought that my regular doctor, who was on Weight Watchers himself and lost weight with the program, would be sympathetic.  But at my annual exam, he argued that based on statistics, people who are in the “normal” BMI range are healthier than those who aren’t.  Even those like me who have good cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. are more likely to hurt themselves when they fall because the weight makes them more top heavy.

Huh?

It’s hard to argue with someone who’s fully clothed when you’re wearing a paper napkin.  And he’s right, statistically speaking.  But there are statistics, and then there are the needs of individuals.  And this individual is DONE!

Fortunately, my gynecologist agreed with me!  At my visit yesterday I told her my plight, and she took mercy.  I now have a letter saying an appropriate weight for me is 170.  I finally feel like I’ve got some agency back!

As great as this news is, it doesn’t mean I can go on lifetime yet.  During my months-long hissy fit, I gained a few lbs I need to lose to get to that 170.  And Weight Watchers has you do 6 weeks on maintenance before you’re officially lifetime.  After that, if you go too high over your goal weight you need to pay.  Now THAT would be motivating for me.

So chocolate chip cookies?  Not interested.  Peanut butter sandwiches?  Nuh uh.  I’m on mission!

But I’ve got a little boot camp back!  How?  Kids joined basketball, and their practice is right at bootcamp time!  I’m more excited to sweat than I care to admit.

And what about the frog?  Can’t they survive being frozen?  Perhaps after the woman warmed it up it could just hop on out of there?

If you’re still with me, then nori snacks are what you’re looking for.  Trader Joe’s sells something called Trader Joe’s Roasted Seaweed Snacks, but these from Yama Mota Yama are better: they have a bigger, resealable package so they don’t go stale.  They also have less fat than the Trader Joe’s kind, which has 2 grams of fat per serving.  Now, a serving of the TJ kind only have 30 calories, but hey, 0 grams of fat still rules.  I believe you get more for your money, too; these were $2.30 a jar, which has 8 servings.  Trader Joe’s had 2 servings for a dollar.

Once you get over the fact you’re eating seaweed, these are fantastic.  They come in different varieties: plain, teriyaki, and my favorite, Hot ‘N Spicy, which indeed are, hot and spicy.

Best of all, you can just keep eating them and not feel guilty at all.  Indeed, they are healthy!  10 sheets are 10 calories, 0 fat but 50% of your Vitamin A requirements for the day.

Yes, it does taste better with the sushi rice and fish, but these nori snacks are very delish.

I found these at Berkeley Bowl, but you can probably find them at any store that sells asian foods.  Nori also comes in larger sheets for sushi making, but I prefer these jars because each sheet is smaller and more snack-like.

You’re still skeptical. I can feel it.  But trust me: these are great!

So if after work won’t work, how about before work?  The Y has classes at 5:30 and 6:00 am, which would give me time to exercise and get to work by 8.

I thought I’d give it a try this morning.  I was totally ready!  I had my gym clothes out, my bag packed with my clothes, towel, and shower gear.  I set my alarm.  I was doing it!

My alarm went off this morning at 5:30.  And… I went back to sleep.  Doing a bootcamp at 6 am was just more than I could imagine.  The idea of doing burpees and mountain climbers before even a cup of coffee…

So you early exercisers, HOW DO YOU DO IT?

When I lost 100 lbs, I was a great tracker.  I was doing something I called “flore”, flex points but eating mostly core foods (now called filling foods).  I didn’t eat activity points or extra weekly points.

I can’t do that now, so instead of owning what I’m doing, I’m just not tracking.

So, instead of tracking online, I got myself a little notebook.  I’m starting by just writing down the foods I’m eating–no quantities, no points.  Some days I’m getting everything in, some days I stop at noon.  But I’m not letting it drop.

How do you get back on track(ing)?

It’s really, REALLY hard to eat nutritious, vegetable-rich, filling  food if you’re relying on the freezer case or fast food.  I really relied on those Weight Watchers Smart Ones and Lean Cuisine meals when I was starting out, as they were easy, cheap, premeasured–heck, they even had the points on them!

But they aren’t very filling, not especially tasty, and they sure don’t have much in the way of vegetables.  As I made a conscious effort to include more vegetables, I looked for easy ways to include them.

But you say, “I don’t have time to cook”?  I say to you, as a full time working mother of twin boys, that if I can manage to cook so can you. If you have time to watch even one of those cooking shows a week, you have time to make at least one great dish that can nourish you and your family for days to come.

It does all start with planning.  Every Saturday, before I attend my Weight Watchers meeting, I decide what we’re going to eat for the week and make a list of all the ingredients I’ll need to make those dishes.

I find too much choice to be paralyzing… when presented with more than a few options, I throw up my hands, especially at the end of a busy day.  If you’re one of those, do your weekday self a favor and take choice out of it by deciding on the weekend what the menu will be.

Too hard, you say?  You don’t know what you’ll feel like three days from now?  I’m so busy during the week that I don’t have time to think about what I feel like eating.  But if variety is the spice of your life, plan for that, too!

Start small-maybe just one dish, using lots of prepped materials such as a roasted chicken or baked tofu and prepared lettuce.  Add some low-fat tomato sauce and whole wheat noodles, a laughing cow wedge or two, and you’ve got several meals on hand, all healthier than anything you’ll get at Jack in the Box.  Cook those noodles on Sunday, and warm them up during the week with the sauce or the cheese, throw on the chicken.

Add some steam in the bag broccoli and russet potatoes, and you have even more choices.  Potato with broccoli and cheese, broccoli and pasta with cheese… lots of options from just a few ingredients!

What are your healthy meal standbys?

Soup can be easy to make but it does take a little planning.  Here’s my recipe for Butternut Squash Soup.  It is beyond simple, but requires two tools to make it super easy:

A really good peeler.

I use this one:

Messermeister Serrated Peeler

I got it from Sur La Table, but mine is just plain black… who knew it comes in pretty colors?

It is what you need if you want to peel your squash, and I do!  I find it much easier to make squash stuff if you peel it before cooking.  Lots of folks out there like to bake it and then take the peel off, but I find it hard to get the peel off that way.

An immersion blender.

I use this one, but don’t have any particular affection for it other than it works:

Cuisinart Immersion Blender

If you are going to make any creamed soup, an immersion blender is your friend.  You may have a regular blender, but this is worlds better.  No spooning hot soup (because who waits to cool it down) into a blender, blending it and getting hot soup sprayed everywhere because who remembers not to fill it up too much? and then repeating the process over and over until you get the whole batch done.

So, with those tools, I give to you my:

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients

Onions (yellow or white.  Red would look funny) quantity: how much do you like onions?

1 tsp Olive oil (optional)

Butternut squash (one, two… depending how big they are)

Water

Apple juice (optional)

Salt (optional)

Fresh Sage

Chop the onion and saute under medium heat in a biggish pot until soft (I sometimes skip the sauteing if I’m using my crock pot).

Peel the squash.  Cut open and remove the seeds.  Cut into chunks; smaller cook faster, bigger are faster to cut.

Put the squash in the biggish pot with the onions and add water to cover.  You can add apple juice if you like your soup a bit sweeter, and salt if you like.  If you don’t, it counts as a weight watchers Filling Food/core food.

Cook on high until boiling, then turn down to a simmer.  Cook until the squash is mushy, about 30 minutes.

Add several leaves of the fresh sage, and continue cooking for 10 more minutes.  How much sage?  How much do you like sage?  I like it a lot, so I put in 10-15 leaves in, about half of a package.

Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.  Use the immersion blender to turn the chunks of squash and onion into creamy soup.  Add more water if it looks more like baby food than soup.

Voila!  Lots and lots of butternut squash soup.  It freezes well, though the visual appearance gets a little odd… looks stringy, almost.  Ignore it and eat it, as the texture and taste will be the same.

I usually get 16 cups of soup out of this recipe.