Homemade Granola Bars

Here's what I've been doing lately, as a healthier alternative for myself and my kids. Rather than buying granola or cereal bars, I've been making them myself. Although the store bought ones are very convenient if you're counting calories, the homemade ones can be so much healthier.

Here's my recipe. Quantities are approximate, and you can vary the ingredients slightly as long as you have the main elements in place:

Main ingredients (provide the foundation)

3 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup liquid honey

Additional ingredients (add nutritional punch and flavour)

Vanilla
Cinammon

1/3 cup each: raisins, chocolate chips, quinoa, wheat germ, flax, coconut, sunflower seeds, etc...


...and so on. You could add all kinds of nuts as well but I don't, because nuts are not allowed at my kids' school due to allergy concerns.

Basically you mix all the dry ingredients together, then add the oil and honey, and stir until combined. Press the mixture flat into a greased 9x13 pan. Cook at 350F for about 20 minutes. Cut into squares while still warm but leave them in the pan - don't remove them until completely cool or they'll fall apart. Once they're cool, I wrap them each in plastic wrap and store them in the fridge. 

Yum :)

TenGone Home ('’)

How Many Calories Are In Fast Food?

Ohhh I don't wanna know. DON'T wanna know.

Somehow I ended yesterday at under 1,700 cals, even though my kids begged their Dad to go get Burger King take out. In their defense, it had been a long time, so I agreed.

You can find most caloric values on-line simply by Googling, and I was impressed to find that Burger King actually has their own nutritional summary for their menu items.

This is where you need to bother checking, because something as harmless seeming as their Tendergrill Garden Salad has 460 calories. That's a lot for a salad, on a calorie restricted diet! (I'm not even going to mention  the Triple Whopper With Cheese value meal at 1,710 calories, which is more than I try and eat in an entire day - oh wait, I just did mention it ;)  OMG

I opted for the 6 piece chicken fries at 250 cals, plus a Dutch Apple pie at 320. While I know this is more than the salad and not as nutritious, this way I got to have a "junk fix", complete with dessert, and not blow my calorie count.  I had a few fries too (maybe 8-10), so I called it a total of 700 cals just to be safe.

It's so deceiving, isn't it? Fast food is not really that much food, and yet it's packed with so much of the stuff we're trying to avoid.I can't imagine eating this food more than once or twice a month, and yet many people do. This brings me back (yet again) to the issue of caloric awareness. If fast food chains had a caloric value by each item, say right next to the price, I wonder what kind of effect it would have on sales?



TenGone Home
('’)

There Are No Excuses

A friend of mine has lost 26 pounds on the Dr. Bernstein weight loss plan.

She (with their support) is taking a three week break over the Christmas season. She knows she will "cheat" over the holiday season, and why pay for a plan she's not following?

Initially I thought how wise and realistic, both on her part and the part of the Dr. Bernstein staff. Let's not set ourselves up for failure, what with the festive season upon us.

But then I thought... isn't that the problem with weight loss programs, and with weight loss in general? There will always be a festive something or other around every corner. It's kind of like waiting for the best time to quit smoking, or the right time to get pregnant. There is no perfect time for anything - no time that things will be easy or free from the potential for setback.

There will always be a tomorrow, but if we want to accomplish our goals, we have to work on them today.


What about me - should I take a break? I'm about four pounds away from my target weight. Can I get through the Christmas season without gaining back some of the weight I've lost? Can I maintain my current progress, or better still, carry on towards my goal?

Of course I can! Just because there are more temptations around me doesn't mean I have to cave every day. Will I count calories on Christmas day? Nope!! Will I count them the day before and the day after? You bet. It's all about new habits and a more self improvment based lifestyle.

Here's to not letting the holiday season be my latest excuse!

TenGone Home

Does This Make Sense To You?

I'm all for the reduction of unhealthy food sold in public places, but only if it makes sense.

I was at the local rec centre the other day with my son, waiting for my daughter's dance class to finish. I normally bring snacks with us but hadn't that day (whole other story!!), so I decided to buy him something from their concession stand.

He wanted french fries, and since they serve absolutely nothing that's healthy anyway, I agreed. Why not - there's no harm in the occasional treat if overall your diet is healthy.

The cashier told me that they're no longer allowed to sell french fries, because "they're not healthy". Oh! OK. Cleaning up our nutritional act? I'm all for that! What else have you got?

After french fries were removed from the menu for being too unhealthy, this is what they were still allowed to sell (I swear I'm not making this up):

• hot dogs
• nachos and (fake) cheese
• potato chips
• chocolate bars
• pop
• popcorn with (fake) butter

(are you kidding me?)

I could go on and on about how the ingredients in the list above are just as bad for us as the oil used to deep fry the french fries, but I think that's already obvious to most people. Instead I might contact the rec centre and offer them my opinion...



TenGone Home

21 Days To Make Or Break A Habit

We've all heard it - it takes 21 days to make or break a habit.

I'm noticing now how true this is, in regards to my eating habits. I am a "recovering binger" (is that a real term? ;) I say this because after years of struggling with overeating, I'm beginning to acknowledge the fact that food addiction is real. There is a biochemical component (cravings) and a behavioral component as well (hence the title of this post).

This was my old habit:

I'd wake up every day, determined to turn my eating habits around. I'd do fairly well until mid-day, at which point the snacking would go a little overboard. I'd try and compensate at dinner with smaller portions, but then in the evening would be my downfall: my craving for ice cream, at about 11:30 pm. It was a craving so in control of me that I would simply not care about the health implications, and think to myself "I'll start my diet tomorrow".  I'd then wander into the kitchen and concoct a scrumptious, 700-800 calorie bowl filled with everything from ice cream to chocolate chips to peanut butter to caramel syrup... (omg Y.U.M.M.Y.)  Did I mention I have a sweet tooth? ;)

Here's how I changed it:

I started going to bed at about 10:00 pm. Isn't that funny? Such a simple thing. Just go to bed before you would normally eat the ice cream...

So far so good - I'm about 12 pounds lighter now. I had some ice cream last night, but it was the first time in about two months, and I had to talk myself into it. Why would I do that? Because I am determined to be in control of my eating impulses. I can indulge in a sweet treat once in awhile without letting it get out of hand.

I have a new habit now.

TenGone Home

My Own Cookie Diet

I called them 75 calories each (because really, my diet is calorie counting ;)  Most packaged cookies I've ever eaten average about 75, so I thought this was safe. They might be more, they might be less, but the important thing is that because I'm assigning a caloric value to them, I eat maybe one or two a day instead of ten. I was intrigued by the concept of the cookie diet - not as a meal replacement necessarily, but as a concept - eating cookies while you diet!! How cool.  The key would be that they would have to provide me with some health benefit, in order to be worth wasting precious calories on. Here's what I did. I took a recipe for pumpkin cookies and modified it:

1. The first step was reducing the sugar. The recipe called for two cups (are you kidding me?) so I used one. (Btw, they tasted great).
2. I then replaced half of the white flour with other stuff: wheat germ, quinoa, flax, oats, and coconut. I'm guessing the calories of these ingredients replaced the calories taken away when I reduced the sugar, but you know what? Healthy, so worth it.
3. Just for fun, I added chocolate chips. (Hey, fun is an important component of health ;)

Delicious, nutritious, and somewhere around 75 cals each! The only problem now is that I've run out. Must do more baking...

TenGone Home

A Treat Trick

Halloween is over, and we have soooo many leftovers!! I don`t know how many calories I ate yesterday (in excess of 4,000 I think), but I`m back to counting today. Which means I have to deal with all the mini chocolate bars everywhere... so much temptation!!

Not a problem (you`re my witness ;)  I`ve bagged them according to caloric values, and will allow myself maybe one or two per day. I`m optimistic that I`ll do ok, since it`s almost noon and so far I`ve had only one: a 40 calorie mini Aero bar...

TenGone Home

7 Reasons To Not Give Up Chocolate Cake

This is a guilt buster for me: I can't give up chocolate cake, so I'm (making it work for me ;) looking at the reasons why it's OK not too:

1. It's a carb, which is fuel and helps your metabolism.
2. Dark chocolate contains flavonoids, which slow aging and relax blood pressure, among other things.
3. If you incorporate occasional treats into a diet, you're more likely to stick to that diet.
4. If you bake the cake yourself, you can add grains such as flax and bran, or fruit and veggies such as applesauce and zucchini, which will increase health benefits.
5. Cake can be frozen, so it's a treat you can make or buy and eat small portions of, without fear of waste.
6. Chocolate has been linked to increased serotonin levels, which acts as an antidepressant.
7. Chocolate contains theobromine, which is a stimulant similar to caffeine.

There are more, I just know it. I may be writing a "part 2" to this post in the near future...