The Diet Naked Blog

Map Your Walk

Over at Jennifer's blog, I found a link to Map My Walk, this super cool site that allows you to map your route.  I just spent ten minutes plotting my morning route.  I walk 3.5 miles according to the calculations.

I love this site!  Check it out and tell me how much you love it, too!  (I have an addiction to maps.  I might mention that as well.)

Official Thursday Weigh-In

My Official Weigh-In day has turned into something of a big yawn.  I'm at . . . 169.6.  Still.  Again.  Forever?  Well, at least for a month until the summer madness settles down. 

I have updated my exercise streak information . . . I haven't missed a day of exercise for 318 days!  The Streak lives on!

I was thinking enviously yesterday about Carmen over at The ELLF Diet.  She's lost 70 pounds in a year and a half . . . and I was like, seventy pounds, wow, that's a lot of weight, I wish I'd lost 70 pounds.  And then I had a "duh" moment . . . oh yeah, I have lost weight--I've lost almost 60 pounds.  SIXTY POUNDS.  That's a lot of weight, people, even if it's not seventy pounds. 

So, no more envy, just hoorays for all of us who've lost weight, big amounts or small amounts.  We're better, healthier and smaller than we were before we started this journey to better health and smaller pants.  We've said "no thanks" to donuts, driven right past McDonald's even though we were starving and had ten bucks in our pocket, and not purchased three candy bars in the check-out line at the grocery store.  (I used to buy one or two and eat them on the way home because I deserved them after my long day.  Of course, I always hid the wrapper!)

So, good for us! 

How are you doing?  I managed to update the weigh-ins from last week this morning (sorry about that--busy week here!) and I'm ready for you to check in. 

Also, for bonus points, tell us what excellent choice you've made recently . . . did you skip birthday cake?  Or order steamed vegetables instead of french fries?  Do tell.

Product Review: Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters

I have always loved raisin bran, but I never eat it anymore because it contains too much sugar.  So, I was interested in trying Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters.  First, let's compare ingredients between Kellogg's Raisin Bran and Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters:

Raisin Bran:  whole wheat, raisins, wheat bran, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, salt, malt flavorings.  (And a bunch of vitamin-type additives.)

Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters: whole grain wheat, raisins, sugar, corn bran, wheat bran, inulin, whole grain oats, glycerin, defatted oat flour, salt, brown sugar, corn syrup, barley malt extract, modified corn starch, brown sugar syrup, honey, malt syrup, calcium carbonate, rice flour . . . and more.

I like that Raisin Bran has only a few ingredients . . . except that it contains high fructose corn syrup, which Dr. Oz tell us to avoid because that ingredient messes with our appetites.   The Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters contains no high fructose corn syrup, but it does contain sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, honey . . . can we just have a little more sweetener with our cereal?  As if the raisins weren't naturally sweet enough!

Anyway, here are how things stack up nutrionally:

Kellogg's Raisin Bran (1 cup):  190 calories, 1.5 grams fat, 7 grams fiber, 19 grams sugar, 350 grams sodium, 5 grams protein.

Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters (1 cup):  170 calories, 1 gram fat, 11 grams fiber, 13 grams sugar, 250 grams sodium, 4 grams protein.

Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters is the clear winner here.  It has fewer calories, less fat, more fiber, less sugar, less sodium. 

As far as taste . . . I'm crunching it right now.  The flakes taste sweeter than Raisin Bran flakes and are a little crunchier.  I don't find enough raisins for my liking and the "clusters" are few and far between and very small.  They don't deserve billing in the name, but no one asked me.   (I did not try it in milk because surprise, surprise, the kids drank all the milk while I wasn't looking.)

Personally, I wouldn't eat this cereal on a daily basis (too high in overall sugar content), but I'd rather have my kids eat this than plain old Raisin Bran.  I like it and I'm sure they will like it, too.  This cereal provides an easy way to add fiber to your diet . . . it's just too bad they added so much sugar to it.

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The product was sent to me for review.  I received no compensation for this review, other than the box of cereal.

 

The Change One Diet

Have you seen the Change One Diet website?  This is affiliated with Reader's Digest, one of my favorite publications to read.  Anyway, check out the website. . . they have recipes, tools, all kinds of information that just might be what you are looking for.

Meanwhile, I ran out of oatmeal!  Alas!  And so for breakfast today I had Greek Yogurt, sweetened with a bit of Splenda, topped with sliced strawberries and Grape-Nuts.  Yum.

What did you have for breakfast today?  (Tell me you ate breakfast . . . you did, didn't you?)

Monday Tip

Do you come here over the weekend, wondering where I am?  I figure you are all out and about and won't notice if I'm not here either.  Are you?  Out and about, I mean?  And not checking this blog?

I took my kids to a local farm last Friday and we bought some strawberries.  Locally grown berries are so amazing, so delicious, so perfect!  I bought a whole flat and that night, we had strawberry shortcake.  I baked the shortcakes with half whole-wheat flour and whipped real cream and savored every bite.  I have been eating sliced strawberries in my oatmeal and as an evening snack.  Strawberry season is so fleeting!

So, here's the tip.  I read this in Family Fun magazine, I think.  Get your strawberry.  Get a plastic straw.  Stick the straw into the bottom of the berry and aim for the green leaves.  Push the straw through the berry and the top will pop right off.  I was able to clean a half a flat of strawberries very quickly using this method and didn't slice off half the berry in an effort to decapitate it.

Have a great Monday and eat some fruit while it's in season!

You: On a Diet

I recently read You:  On a Diet.  I really thought I'd love the book because I really enjoy seeing Dr. Oz on the Oprah show.  However, I hated the book with a fiery hot passion.  I hated the style it was written in and I hated the writing itself. 

However, the ideas in the book are sound and reinforce what I already have come to believe about food and dieting and health.  And so, I was excited to read about their website which you can find here.  You can join free and get a customized exercise plan and other information.  (For instance, the site just informed me that my ideal weight is 140 pounds . . . uh, thanks for that.)   I intend to incorporate the core exercises they prescribe.  (When I get back from California next month.)

Anyway, thumbs down for this book.  For one thing, I hated the stupid cartoon illustrations and for another, the writer made simple concepts complicated.  (Okay, I might be feeling just a little crabby, but still.)  I thought the writing itself was terrible. 

But thumbs up for the website and for the ideas in the book.

(If you loved the book, please do not throw rotten tomatoes at my head.  I suspect that I am just unusually persnickety today and my feelings about this book do not make me love you any less if you loved this book.  It's just my opinion, nothing more.)

Official Thursday Weigh-In

Good news!  I'm totally maintaining my 56.8 pound weight loss!  Uh, yeah.  In other words, no loss this week.  Still exactly at 169.6. 

Here's what I'm thinking at this moment.  This month is very stressful for me.  I am juggling a lot of demands on my time and attention.  However, in another month, the Vacation Bible School that I am coordinating will be over.  We will have driven to California and back and racked up more memories for the children.  (Hopefully, those memories will not include screaming in the van . . . theirs or mine . . . as we drive through three states.) 

If I can maintain this weight for another month--which I am confident that I can!--that's good enough.  Then I will focus on shaking up my diet more (bye-bye caffeine?  bye-bye artificial sweeteners?  hello, Fitday.com?).  Until then, I'm sticking to my new lifestyle, walking four or five mornings a week and riding my recumbent bike the other days.  I'm enjoying the summer's bounty of fresh produce.  I'm pretty happy to be thirty pounds lighter now than I was last summer at this time.

So, time to check in.  The microphone is all yours!

Two Hundred Calories

I found this link (thanks Sk*rt.com) that illustrates what 200 calories looks like.   Fascinating and eye-opening, for sure!

Strategies for eating out

Here is a quick article about avoiding overeating when you eat out.  I read this in the magazine last week (I get a free subscription) and thought the tip about ordering before your dining companions made a lot of sense.  For me, eating at a restaurant is a real treat, not an everyday occurrence, so finding a way to enjoy my meal without compromising my diet is important.  How about you?  Do you have trouble staying on your diet when you eat at restaurants?  What strategies do you use to make good choices?

(I almost always order a salad with the dressing on the side.)

Everything you ever wanted to know about caffeine

Here is an interactive website all about caffeine, including a feature which shows you much of a particular  caffeine-laden product would kill you.  (Seriously.  I checked and I'd have to drink 256.32 cans of Diet Coke with Lime before croaking.) 

Do you drink too much caffeine?  Check out Energyfiend.com and find out!

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And here's another interesting site with a quiz about your risk for caffeine addiction.