Beer and Brownies: A Tailgating Survival Guide

Football may not be your thing. You may not like it, you may not understand it, or you just plain may not care about it. However, even though it's not your thing, you probably have some kind of "thing" that seems to revolve around friends, food, drinks, and fun. For me, football is that thing. And although this is my survival guide to tailgating, I'm sure parts of it can also be applied to whatever your "thing" is that happens to involve eating and drinking.

(Disclaimer: I'm not claiming that everything in this guide is "healthy", most of the tips are just my "healthier" options to enjoying the day. The beauty of WW is that you don't have to give up eating and drinking with friends in order to live a healthy lifestyle. It wouldn't be healthy to live this way every day, but on occasion it is necessary to fit a day like this into your life, if only to preserve your sanity!)


Tomorrow I will be attending the home opener of my favorite professional football team. My friends and I are pretty serious about football. Eleven of us own a bus, painted in our team colors, which we will be driving to the stadium tomorrow morning. We will arrive in time for the parking lot to open at 8:00am. Here are some suggestions for getting through a day like that without completely sacrificing your hard work toward living a healthy lifestyle:

Tip #1 - Bring breakfast
Breakfast is for wusses! Beer is all the breakfast we need! Well, not this week. I will be eating fruit before I leave home, but I am making low fat blueberry muffins for everyone else (and I will have one too). I'm hoping this will allow me to eat lunch at a more normal time instead of having hot dogs at 9:00am because I am starving!

Tip #2 - Bring your own snacks
I bought fat free pretzels because I have a sneaking suspicion that everyone else will be bringing snacks like potato chips and Doritos. Snyder's is my go-to brand for pretzels, yum!

I also made a dip, because for some reason people really like to dip their snacks in something (myself included). I'm not sure why, pretzels are great on their own, but when tailgating, I always feel the need for dip. This dip is super low fat! I have a dip mix that calls for mixing the spices with mayo and sour cream. I substituted nonfat Greek yogurt for the sour cream and used low fat mayo. 2 T of dip are now only 1 point!! It's called Fiesta Dip and has a lot of spicy, Mexican flavors. Doesn't it look yummy?

Tip #3 - Keep track of your beer!

For me, this one is especially important. I am very serious about tracking my WW points. After a few beers, it gets really hard to remember how many I have had, and almost impossible to track them later! Some people say to limit your alcohol intake by drinking water in between beers, and that may work for some, but not for me! I'm not interested in filling up on water when I planned to drink beer all day!

My number one rule: no beer in the stadium. It's too expensive and too difficult to keep track of. Instead, any beer I am going to drink will be while tailgating in the parking lot. Every time I finish a beer, the tab (in this case, since I bought cans, but you can do this with bottle caps too) goes directly into my pocket. Later, when I get home and need to track my points for the day, I can pull out the tabs and know exactly how many beers I had. No guesswork!

Tip #4 - Substitute
I am from Buffalo. We are a town that appreciates our sausage. I am from a very Polish family. My innards are practically made of processed meats. I would love to say I am vegetarian and have the easiest excuse for avoiding these meats while tailgating, but my friends know me way better than that! Even more, I know I will WANT those processed meat products, and I am not about to give up all the great things in life if I don't have to. Everyone is going to be eating hot dogs, sausage, and hamburgers. However, I will enjoy eating these goodies more if I know they aren't a heart attack on a plate... So I substitute. First, I bought reduced fat hot dogs. Second, I am bringing some homemade venison sausage (venison is a very lean meat). And third, I am eating these products on wheat rolls with more fiber than your typical hot dog bun:

Tip #5 - Play games!
So, I have already saved all my weekly points for tomorrow. And I have already earned as many APs as possible. But instead of just sitting around bs-ing and drinking beer, I will have tailgating games handy to try and sneak in some activity. For those outside the greater Buffalo area, I present to you the best party game ever: KANJAM!!

Seriously people, this is a fabulously fun game to play with friends! It involves throwing a frisbee into a small plastic container (like a small garbage can with a slot cut in the front). If you don't have access to KanJam, there are lots of other great group games you could bring... Rings, ladder golf, beanbags (we used to have a great team logo beanbag toss, but it got warped in the rain one day). None of these things are hardcore exercise, but they certainly help prevent everyone from sitting around and eating nonstop!



Tip #6 - Conquer the post game munchies
After the game we head back out to the bus. Being Bills fans, we typically have just suffered a devastating loss, we have lost our buzz, and we are facing hours of traffic to get out of the parking lot. We don't want to fire up the grill again, so we snack on whatever is handy. There are always leftover chips (luckily I will have my pretzels) and someone brings cookies or brownies.

This time, I refuse to get caught up in that post-game lull of mindless snacking on unhealthy foods. To satisfy the sweet tooth, I made No Pudge brownies to share with everyone:

I added some chocolate chips on top, which did increase the points value a little (this is a batch of 24 brownies, at 3 points each). I wonder if anyone will be able to tell they are low fat!!

I hope this survival guide helps some of you through the football season (or with whatever your "thing" is). Go Bills!!

Weekly Meeting with Caroline

So I told you the other day I was going back to WW meetings, and I meant it, damn it! I went to my regular Wednesday evening meeting with Caroline, the sweetest lady ever. Caroline has been my leader for a couple years and she is hilarious. She is about 70 years old and has been on WW for 30 years!! Seriously, I want to be her in 40 years or so! She is such a firecracker!

The topic of the meeting was "Say no to saying no" and was all about how on WW we don't NEED to say no to any foods. We may CHOOSE to say no, because it is not worth the points to us, but there is nothing that is completely restricted. (One reason I love WW, by the way!). I felt like this was a timely topic, considering my Pizza Hut debacle last week.

One thing Caroline said that really hit home to me was this: "Don't feel guilty about eating something. But make sure you ate it because you really wanted it. Don't eat it just because it's there, or because you smelled it, or because someone else is eating it. If you really, really want it, eat it. Count the points and move on. Guilt will get you nowhere."

Okay then. Last week I really, really wanted that pizza. I ate it, I counted it, I moved on, I still lost weight. I felt somewhat guilty for eating WPs when it wasn't really necessary, but I DID have the points, I DID want the pizza, and I DID track what I ate. So, no guilt.

The bottom line is, I think we are programmed to feel guilty when it comes to eating "bad" foods. No matter how healthy a lifestyle someone may live, no one is perfect and I'm sure every one of us craves some kind of not-so-healthy food at some point or another. Realistically, it's totally okay to splurge on something  every so often if we are maintaining a healthy lifestyle most of the time! And why should we feel guilty about that?

I think people often follow this philosophy in other areas of life and don't feel guilty about it. For instance:
I know people who cut back on spending in everyday life to save money for a nice vacation. I bet they don't feel very guilty while they are sitting on a beach somewhere sipping margaritas! Isn't what we do on the WW program a similar philosophy? If you want the pizza, cut back in other areas or exercise to offset the points, and enjoy! Wash your hands of the guilt!

I am just as "guilty" of this behavior as others, as you saw in my post about the pizza last week. However, Caroline's comment about how guilt gets you nowhere has really been stuck in my head. She's totally right and I'm going to try to stop the "bad" talking and feelings of guilt. I challenge everyone else to do the same!

Good luck and stay healthy!

Week in Review

This morning's weigh in was super successful! I lost 4.1 pounds since last week. Typically, that's a pretty unrealistic expectation. However, since I have not been living super healthy for most of this summer, and last week was the first week I really got serious about getting back on track, a pretty big loss was the result. I expect it to be a much smaller loss next week, but I'll certainly take that 4.1 for now!! I'm only 4 pounds away from my lowest adult weight!

Accomplishments of the Week

This week I kicked ass because:
1) I tracked everything I ate (even the junk, even the littlest bites and tastes, everything!) - This is so important! It's easy to ignore little tastes, or write off the junk food as a screw up, but all of it adds up! Note to self - suck it up, admit you ate it, write it down!

2) I made it through a wedding, and several beers, without binging on any junk food there (and, of course, I tracked the beer!) - Weddings are tough. A lot of times you have no idea what food will be served and by the time it IS served, you have made great friends with the bartender. For most of us, more drinks = less capacity to make great decisions. At this wedding, I didn't allow myself to fall victim to the taunts of cheesy pasta, fatty beef, or creamy dips. I ate super clean. I chose chicken breast, a baked potato, steamed veggies, and fresh fruit. All of that even after a few drinks! To me that's a sign of a healthy lifestyle starting to become the norm, instead of something I have to force upon myself!

3) I bought tons of fresh, local fruits and veggies and used them for everything (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, you name it!) - 'Tis the season for local produce, no matter where you live. Take it from an upstate NY girl, where most fruits and veggies aren't ripe until mid-summer: seize it while it's available, it will soon be gone! I can't stress enough the importance of supporting local growers. Their produce is fresh, your money is supporting your local economy, and you are helping the environment by purchasing goods that didn't have to be shipped across the country for your consumption. Check out this amazing caprese salad I made the other night with local tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil from my own herb garden:

Goals for Next Week

Next week I will kick ass, because I plan to:
1) Try some new recipes - I have three picked out. Not sure if I will get to all of them, but I'm going to try. New recipes really help keep things fresh and exciting. There are some foods I love and could eat everyday, but I don't want to get stuck in a rut or get bored by food.

2) Go back to WW meetings - I am going to admit that (gulp) I haven't been to a meeting since May! Eeeep! Seriously, I love my meetings, I love my leader, I have no idea why I strayed. Then it got to the point where not going just became habit. But tomorrow, I GO! I promise.

3) Kick it up a notch - When I'm not on track for awhile and I decide to get back ON track (like I did last week), I tend to focus on one aspect of a healthy lifestyle at a time. Last week, that was the food part. Since I was so successful at getting my eating back under control, this week I will be continuing eating healthy while also focusing more on the activity part. Today, I already made a step in the right direction:

Here I am, in the reflection of my car window, getting ready for a bike ride (always wear a helmet, people!).  I have a pretty decent mountain bike and I haven't had a chance to ride my favorite trail much this summer. Today was a cool day, but sunny, so I took the opportunity to ride for about an hour and a half. I had an amazing, peaceful ride plus I earned 7.5 activity points!!

My favorite trail is part of the "Rails to Trails" program. It's an old railroad converted to a multi-use trail. People use it for hiking, biking, horseback riding, etc. I really love it because it's such a beautiful ride through the woods and past swamps where I get to see a lot of different wildlife. Today I saw deer, rabbits, and a tiny little turtle sunning himself on a log! Most of the trail looks just like this:

... and makes me think of "The Road Less Travelled". The great part about "Rails to Trails" for beginning bikers is that since the path used to be an old railway, there were rules about how steep the grade could be... Meaning there are no areas where there are super steep inclines!

So I felt really great about getting all those APs right in the beginning of my week. It's a habit I hope to continue as the week goes on. Even when I feel like I don't want to make time to exercise, I try to remind myself that it's essential for a healthy lifestyle. Could I lose weight without it? Sure. But will I get all the same health benefits, just by losing weight and not exercising? Nope. So exercise it is.

Good luck and stay healthy!

Dusting off the sugar and moving on

Yesterday - 12 hours in the presence of cake

Today I am coming out of my sugar coma... Not because I ate a ton of the sweet stuff but because yesterday I was so covered in it I could almost feel it seeping into my pores. Another Lisa fact: I am a cake decorator. In addition to my full-time teaching job, I make cakes. I love, love, love it BUT it definitely adds to my weight struggle. Yesterday's projects:

(Both of these will be decorated with some fresh flowers today to finish them off before I set them up at the wedding, but in these pics they are mostly complete)

The Sticky, Sweet Struggle

I'm sure no one will be surprised to hear that I became interested in cake decorating not only because I love the creative outlet it provides but also because I have an out-of-control sweet tooth. Back when I started decorating as a hobby it was not uncommon for me to make a cake just to eat at home (of course I told myself I needed to do it to practice my skills!). Now, however, I do my best to avoid a lot of processed sweets. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. Do I usually indulge in something sweet every single day? You betcha! I just make sure I have the points for it! I also like to think I am past the point of allowing myself to down half of a gooey cake!

So, herein lies the problem. When I am baking and decorating I am tempted all day long to taste. "Oh, I better have a bite of this chocolate cake to make sure it's okay. Well, that was good. I wonder about the vanilla. I should probably taste that too. The frosting tastes okay, I tried it earlier. I wonder what the chocolate cake tastes like WITH the frosting. I should try it and make sure it's edible..." and on, and on, and on.

I will admit, some amount of tasting is necessary. Especially for fillings and icings that I need to make sure have enough of a certain flavor. That being said, typically one itty bitty, tiny little taste is plenty enough to determine if something tastes "right". Clearly, my struggle is stopping after that one itty bitty taste. I have, however, acknowledged that struggle and really been working hard at overcoming that temptation.

Anti-Sugar Strategies

Here are some things I did yesterday to avoid going overboard with the tasting:

1) Ate a filling breakfast - Fiber One cereal, fat free milk, banana, melon cubes, coffee (By the way, I was the incredible melon slayer this week... See below... I hacked up an entire watermelon and cantaloupe to have in the fridge so I could grab it quickly for a snack. Talk about sweet! These are so good they're like candy! But much better for you, of course).

2) Packed a lunch and plenty of snacks - Sometimes I get caught in the trap of not having any food with me when I'm decorating and I get hungry! All that does is lead to snacking on cake trimmings all day long! So I brought chicken and orzo for lunch, and my snacks were carrots and celery with a spicy mexican dip and more melon.

3) Water, water, water - I made sure all day long to have water at my side and even brought limes to put in it since I think the tap water in the bakery tastes funny.

Was I successful?

I guess we will see for sure on the scale this week! Overall, I felt that it was a pretty positive day. I tasted only a tiny bit (I estimate about 6 points worth) and also stayed within my daily points despite the tastes. Unfortunately, I didn't get all my GHGs in, but today I am focused on doing that to make up for yesterday. So, I give myself a B- for the day... not terrible, but room for improvement next time!!

Good luck and stay healthy!!