A Case of the Ickys

I’ve got a case of the ickys. In case you don’t know what the ickys are, let me explain. It starts with some mild tension in the front of the head, followed by scratchiness in the throat. Lower back pain is sometimes present as is a runny nose. Severe grouchiness is a strong indication that someone either has the ickys or they’re just a bah-humbug.

I most certainly have all of the symptoms listed above, especially the grouchiness. I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep in two days and I’m starting to feel the effects. It seems like 2005 has been the Year of Sickness for me, Elaine. I missed three days of work in early September due to flu-like symptoms and now I think I’m getting sick again.

Why is it that I always get sick at the wrong time? My company X-mas party is this Friday and sure to be tons of fun. I’ve also got tickets for the SEC Championship game in which UGA will battle it out with LSU. It’s sure to be a great game and tickets are going for mucho dinero.

I’m hoping if I just will myself not to get sick then my symptoms will subside. I will not get sick, I will not get sick, I will not get sick.

Sigh, this isn'tworking...

Getting Fit with Low-Calorie and Reduced-Fat Products

After indulging in way too much food and not enough exercise over the long weekend, I feel a little sluggish on this rainy Monday morning. When my alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. I almost burst into tears. The weekend’s over! I have to go to work! Nooo…

Now that I survived my first attempt at cooking a Thanksgiving meal, I feel ready to take on the world, including my ever-expanding waistline. I’ve vowed to exercise at least 30 minutes a day and start to incorporate more low-calorie and reduced-fat foods into my diet. I plan to remove my favorite pizza place from the speed dial of my cell phone but I do worry a bit about separation anxiety.

From now on I will be eating healthier products and continuing to drink diet soda. Thankfully I do not enjoy regular sodas much anymore and find them a bit on the sweet side. Plus, I can’t justify wasting 150 calories on a beverage. No way!

As we all struggle to lose the pounds gained over the holidays, I encourage everyone to incorporate better eating habits into their daily routine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s turkey time! I love this time of year – the leaves are falling, friends and family gather together and there’s tons of food. My roommate and I will be cooking our first Thanksgiving dinner for about 15 friends and this promises to be an entertaining affair. Neither of us is what you would call a gourmet cook but we’ve vowed to try our best and if all is fails, McDonald’s is always open :)

For many people (including myself) the indulgences of Thanksgiving also bring anxiety about weight gain. Luckily, Sally Squires of the “Lean Plate Club” at the Washington Post has provided some helpful tips for the Thanksgiving meal:

Eat breakfast: Skipping the most important meal of the day to “save” calories will only make you hungrier later and likely to overindulge. Plus, hunger often leads to grouchiness and you can’t be grouchy on Thanksgiving!

Make time for an activity: After the plates have been cleared and the football games are over, my family always takes a walk around the neighborhood to burn off some of the Thanksgiving meal. Start a game of football or put on some music and dance. You’ll feel better about that extra slice of pie.

Save a little room for holiday treats: It’s Thanksgiving and you should indulge your sweet tooth if you choose to. Go for the pumpkin pie, which has fewer calories than pecan pie. Pick out one sweet treat that you would like to eat and skip the ones you can live without.

Women Love the Sweet Stuff

According to a recent study from McGill University in Canada I have a justified reason for eating ice cream and cake when I get stressed out. The study monitored the eating habits of 277 participants and found that women are more likely to eat comfort foods high in fat and sugar when they are in a high-stress situation. I can relate…

On the other hand, men are prone to chowing down on soups, pasta and steaks as a reward when something positive has happened. The study also found that after women consumed sugary goodies, they were often filled with feelings of guilt, depression and loneliness. Could this be because we’re concerned about our weight and eating an entire box of cookies does not alleviate such pain? I think so!

The key here is to live by moderation. In my humble opinion, few foods are actually harmful when eaten in moderation. Eat small portions and sip on a diet soda when you think you’re hungry, because you might actually be thirsty. Best of luck to you all! Check back for some helpful Thanksgiving tips to control the calories...

T.G.I.F.

It’s the end of the week and I couldn’t be more excited to do absolutely nothing this weekend. Week after week I’ve traveled to Athens, GA to watch my beloved Bulldogs play but after last week’s devastating loss, I don’t think I can muster the energy to make the trek down there this weekend. Don’t get me wrong, I still have faith in my boys, I’m just not too worried about them beating Kentucky.

I plan on catching up on my reading and seeing the new movie about Johnny Cash, Walk the Line. It’s gotten terrific reviews and I think Reese Witherspoon is adorable.

All in all it should be a pretty relaxing weekend. I’ve stocked up on diet sodas, Werther’s Sugar Free Candy, frozen pizzas and low fat ice cream. I figure the pizza will serve as my indulgence as the rest of my goodies are low in calories. Have a wonderful weekend. Go Dawgs!!!

My Picks for the Best Sugar Free Candies

The good people at iVillage generously provided a list of their favorite sugar free candies. While I agree with many of their selections, I thought I should create a list of my own. Here goes, counting down to number one…

3. Jelly Belly Sugar Free Jelly Beans: As a kid I loved combining the different flavors to create new sensations such as popcorn or Dr. Pepper. These candies may be for kids but I think they’re pretty great. Plus, there’s only 80 calories in a serving of 35 pieces!

2. York Sugar Free Peppermint Patties: I was a little hesitant to try these at first because I am such a fan of the originals. Actually, the originals only have 3 grams of fat in them but the sugar free version is delicious and has about 19 percent fewer calories. They taste really good and very similar to the full-calorie version.

1. Werther’s Sugar Free Candies: Okay y’all, I absolutely LOVE these! They taste creamy and very naughty but 5 pieces only has 40 calories. They’re a little hard to find but the hunt is definitely worth it.

100-Calorie Snacks Help Curb Overeating

In hopes of shedding the pounds I gained from my frequent pizza splurges, I recently bought some of those 100-calorie snacks. They’re great! You can get cookies, crackers and even microwave popcorn in 100-calorie servings. All of us have sat down with a bag of potato chips or cookies and polished off the entire bag before realizing it. I’m using 100-calorie snacks as a method to help diminish my frequent snack attacks and urges to speed-dial the pizza man.

In an Associated Press article, David Levitsky, a professor of nutrition and psychology at Cornell University, said, “The sudden desire for moderation marks a pivotal reversal in a 40-year trend where consumers happily gobbled down ever-ballooning portions.” Personally it is not only my portions that seem to be ever-ballooning, my pants do as well. As we speak I am wearing jeans that are literally too tight for me to breath. In my opinion, moderation is the key to all things in life. Unfortunately I have not yet mastered this concept.

Hopefully these delicious new snacks will provide a means for me to have my cake and eat it too…just not the whole darn thing.

Coca-Cola Gets Creative with New Flavors

Much to my delight, Coca-Cola is rolling out two new flavors: Diet Black Cherry & Vanilla Coke and Black Cherry Vanilla Coke. These new additions to the bevy of flavors in the Coca-Cola vault will debut in January. "Cherry-flavored beverages are experiencing significant growth as are no-calorie soft drinks,” said Katie Bayne, senior vice president Coca-Cola North America. One of my coworkers believes these new flavors are a result of the recent success of Dr. Pepper's Cherry Vanilla variety and I tend to agree.

I for one, am all for new flavors of diet soda but one of my other coworkers disagrees. He says that there are so many brands and flavors out there, he gets stressed out every time he walks down the soft drink aisle at the grocery store. Me, I like a challenge. I enjoy the process of waiting for a new flavor to arrive, finding it amongst the others in the grocery store and then finally bringing it home to enjoy a long-awaited sip of diet delight.

Coca-Cola also announced that it will be discontinuing Vanilla Coke and Diet Vanilla Coke as “health conscious consumers switch from carbonated beverages to low sugar and fruit drinks.” I only tried Diet Vanilla Coke once and I enjoyed it but I’m more of a traditional girl and usually stick to regular diet sodas. When I’m in the mood for a twist, that’s when I turn to something spicy like Diet Black Cherry and Vanilla Coke.

Fighting the Battle of the Bulge

This time of year always seems to wreak havoc on my diet. I’m hungry all the time and find myself able to consume an entire pizza in one sitting. I don’t know what it is about cold weather that kicks my appetite into overdrive. Maybe it’s the delicious fat-laden foods that warm my belly or knowing I can hide that extra bulge with a sweater and loose pants.

According to the authors of Nutrition for Dummies, “You’re more likely to want high-calorie dishes in cold weather than in hot weather…Food gives you calories – energy. Calories keep you warm.” Excellent, now I have sufficient reason to gorge myself on cookies, pies and pizza. Well, maybe not. I’ve decided that for every day I go overboard on my calorie consumption, I must force myself to arise at 5 am to attend a Kickboxing Boot Camp class. Oh yeah, and it’s an outside class so not only will I be exhausted but I’ll be freezing too. Oh goody. Hopefully this will help me lose those five pounds I’ve gained recently.

I’m hoping that there are other people who have a problem gaining weight during the winter. I can’t be the only one who eats twelve mini candy bars in one sitting. Sigh…

Good luck to all of you trying to fight the battle of the bulge during this cold season. My advice: Eat moderately, get at least 30 minutes of exercise and enjoy a nice diet soda. For advice on avoiding the winter weight gain, check out this article from RedOrbit.

Diet Soda is Like a Fine Wine

Until reading this article, "Soft-Drink Pairings Have Uncanny Way of Giving Foods Bubbly Personality," I'd never thought about the ability of a soda to enhance the flavor of a meal. Apparently this is not a new trend - pairing root beer with barbecue, sausage with orange soda and hoagies with diet soda. I for one, can drink diet soda with almost anything but I agree with writer Kristen Turner that diet soda and birthday cake is a bad idea. The sweetness of the cake is a bit too much when paired with a sweet diet soda.

Soda, both regular and diet, has become more sophisticated. Who would have thought twenty years ago that restaurants would be pairing meals with sodas? I suppose they are like a fine wine (but they don't get better with age).