Are You Fit Enough to Flop?

First, the bad news: They're priced at about $50 and they look like what they are -- flip flops. Nicer than the discount store variety flip flops, but flip flops nonetheless.



Now, the good news: This is what the makers of FitFlops have to say --

Get a workout while you walk. Engineered to engage muscles, lessen joint impact and absorb shock, FitFlops burn calories and tone legs with every step. From running errands to working around your house, it's finally easier to stay in shape and multitask your fitness with a sexy, sporty look. Imported leather/cotton/polyester.

• Strengthens and tones muscles in your feet, legs, buttocks, stomach and back
• Absorbs shock on your feet, knees and back
• Tones and trims your thighs, calves and glutes
• Recreates the gait of barefoot walking with a built-in micro-wobbleboard workout-enhancing effect
• Improves balance and posture

The reviews I've read about them have been quite good. The sandals are apparently comfortable, and wearers seem to think that they do notice a difference, not a huge difference but somewhat of one, in their butts, thighs, and legs -- that is, a slimmer butt and leaner legs and thighs. One reviewer even claimed that they 'cured' her bad back by correcting her posture. Almost all of the reviewers started out as skeptics and ended up as believers.

I can't make any claims about the product, although I'm intrigued and may have to try them. I'll let you know what I think of them if I do.

They come in several colors and can be purchased at Amazon.com, among others.

For more information, go here:

The FitFlop - FAQs

Easy Skinny Turtles

Easy Skinny Turtles

Mini Twists pretzels
Rolo candies
Pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter pretzels on a cookie sheet. Place a Rolo candy on top of each pretzel. Put in preheated oven until the candy just begins to melt. This only takes about 3 minutes. Take them out of the oven and place a pecan half on top of each pressing it down as you do. This will make it spread over the rest of the pretzel. Let cool then ENJOY!

1 point each

You Could Bake a Heck of a Cake with this Stuff!

Here are the point equivalencies for some ingredients often used in recipes:







Butter/Margarine/Oil/Mayonnaise
1 cup regular =48 points
1/2 cup regular =24 points
1 cup Light =24 points
1 Cup Lighter Bake =12 points
1 Cup Baking Healthy =10 points
1 Cup nonfat mayonnaise=4 points

Cream Cheese
1 Block (8oz) regular = 24 points
1 Block (8oz) light =16 points

Cheese
1 pound (16oz) =41 points
1 Cup Grated Cheese =16 points
1 Cup grated light cheese= 8 points
1 Cup grated nonfat cheese = 8 points

Sugar/Molasses/Corn Syrup
1 Cup Sugar (white or brown) =16 points
1 Cup molasses/corn syrup =20 points
1/4 cup molasses/corn syrup =5 points
1/4 cup powdered sugar =2 point

Flour/Breadcrumbs/Cornmeal
1 Cup Flour or Bread Crumbs =6 points
1 Cup Cornmeal =8 points
1 Cup Bisquick =12 points
1 Cup Red. Fat Bisquick = 9 points
3 T. Flour or bread crumbs =1 point
2 T. Cornmeal = 1 point

Eggs
1 egg = 2 points
1/4 nonfat egg substitute = 1 point
3 egg whites = 1 point

Milk
1 Cup Whole Milk = 4 points
1 Cup Milk Evap. Skimmed = 4 points
1 Cup Milk-Sweetened Condensed = 21 points
1/2 Cup Eagle Brand Milk = 10 points
1 Cup Non fat yogurt = 2 points

Peanut Butter
1 Cup Reduced Fat = 32 points
1 Cup Regular = 38

Stir-Ins
1/2 Cup chopped nuts =10 points
1/2 Cup raisins = 4 points
1/2 cup dried cranberries = 4 points
1/2 cup Choc. Chips =10 points
1/2 Cup M & M's =10 points
1/2 butterscotch chips = 16 points
1/2 white choc. chips =16 points
1 square baking choc. (1oz) = 4 points
1/4 cup cocoa powder =2 points
1/2 cup marshmallow creme =4 points

Starches
Pasta, 1 cup = 3 points
Beans, 1 cup =3 points
Rice, 1 cup-no butter =5 points

Other
1 can 98% Fat-Free Cream of Mushroom Soup = 5 Points
1 can 98% Fat-Free Cream of Celery Soup = 3 Points
1 can tomato soup = 2.5 Points

Let's Chat ...

One of my favorite WW questions/quotes:

If you had a flat tire, would you change the tire and keep going, or slash the other three?

Easy answer. Easy enough to remember the next time you slip up and eat that extra dessert. Don't tell yourself you've already messed up so you might as well eat the rest of the pie. Just forget your goof and keep on keeping on. It's a lot easier to change one tire, than it is to change four. (Just as it's a lot easier to lose one spare tire around your middle than it is to lose four!)

Smooth as Butta'! (Food Find)

I used Brown and Brummel yogurt spread for years. I don't know if I got tired of it or what, but one day I realized it wasn't tasting very good to me anymore. I had to try a few other spreads before I found one I liked, but the one I found -- I like!

From the Land O Lakes website:

LAND O LAKES® Light Butter with Canola Oil — the taste you love is now better for you.

60% less cholesterol per serving than butter

50% less fat per serving than butter

50% fewer calories per serving than butter

0g trans fat per serving

50 calories, 5 grams of fat per Tbs. -- 1 Point (actually closer to 1.5, but I round down below .5 and up above .5)

Spiff Up Your Mayo

There are certain fat-free foods I just can’t stomach. Mayonnaise is one of them. Here is a suggestion, from a Fat-Free tips archive, how to make it more palatable.

"I haven't really found a ff mayonnaise yet that I like, but there are ways to fix it up. Treat the ff mayo as if it were the base (oil & yolks) of homemade mayonnaise. Add the ingredients that one might normally use if making from it from scratch, i.e., lemon juice, dry mustard or deli stone ground mustard, maybe some Worcestershiresauce, cayenne or hot sauce, and possibly a few drops of your favorite vinegar, then salt and pepper to taste.

Even easier, take a little of the liquid from a jar of pickled, roasted, red peppers (usually found near the packages of fresh pasta in grocery stores, or easily found at Trader Joe‘s) and mix it in.

Try these tricks, they work . . . !"

I Ate How Many Calories?!?

It’s always best to measure or weigh, but if that's not possible--

Portion and Serving Sizes -- A general rule of thumb

3 ounces meat, poultry or fish - Deck of cards or your palm

1 cup mashed potatoes - Your fist
1 cup fruit - Baseball

1/2 cup pasta, rice, fruit or veggies - 1/2 of a tennis ball

1 medium potato - Computer mouse

1 medium orange, peach or apple - Tennis ball

1 teaspoon butter - Tip of your thumb

1 ounce nuts - A small handful

2 tablespoons peanut butter - Ping-Pong ball

1 ounce cheese - Four dice

Smart Peanut Butter

Smart Peanut Butter




1/2 Cup Reduced Fat Peanut Butter
1 (15 oz.) Can Canned Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)
2 Tablespoons Water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-4 packets of Splenda

Drain and rinse chickpeas. Puree chickpeas and water in food processor; blend until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend again (add more water, if needed in 1/2 Tablespoon increments), to desired consistency. Use as you would peanut butter. This is great on toast or as a dip with raw vegetables and apple slices. Refrigerate any leftovers.


Serves: 24 (1 Tablespoon each).Per Serving: 47 Calories; 2g Fat (34.9% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 124mg Sodium. WWP: 1

Let's Do Lunch!

Life is busy for all of us and restaurant eating is no longer a choice, but a necessity. For those of us dieting, it's nice to have a few places that we can walk into and order a meal without having to think too hard about calories and points.

Panera is that kind of place for me. I eat there a lot, mainly because I know exactly what I can have--it's a no brainer. My only decision is what I want to order from my mental list of 'okay' foods.

Some good choices:

Chicken noodle soup 2
Low Fat Vegetarian Black Bean Soup 2
Low-Fat Vegetarian Garden Vegetable Soup 2

Grilled Salmon Salad - half portion 3 (including dressing)

1/2 Turkey Sandwich with lettuce tomato onion mustard on sourdough bread
1/2 Ham Sandwich with lettuce tomato onion mustard on sourdough bread
1/2 Chicken Caesar, no sauce, on sourdough bread
The sandwich points vary depending on how big they are and the amount of meat on them. It can vary greatly from day to day, location to location. But I usually figure it at about 4 points -- 1 for the piece of sourdough bread and 3 for the meat.

Small fresh fruit cup - 1
Large fresh fruit cup 2.5

It doesn't stop here. Most of the 1/2 salads would be 3-4 points if you ask for their ff dressing instead of the regular ones that come with them. You could also shave points by asking them to leave off any cheese that may come on them. The same with their cold sandwiches. (They can't change the hot ones, they're pre-assembled.)

Have a few extra points to spare and want a bite of something sweet? 1/2 of a Pumpkin muffie is 2.5 and really tasty and sweet. This requires either a dining companion (to split it with) or willpower (only eat half and save the rest for later).

The Panera website lists nutrition information for everything they serve, but salads are figured with dressings, and sandwiches are figured on only one kind of bread. But it's not hard for us savvy WW'ers to figure out the changes we need to make to make it work!
Panera Bread › Menu & Nutrition

I'm Not Dead ... Am I?

C'mon. We deserve a treat now and then, don't we? We're on a diet, not dead. Then again, you don't have to blow your points for a little splurge. 2 tablespoons of fat-free Reddi-Wip (not Cool Whip, which is the one you dip out of the carton with a spoon; Reddi Wip is the kind you hold up to your mouth and squirt) is just 5 little calories. Use it on your sf jello, WW puddings and desserts, even a graham cracker, for a little extra ... mmmmm.

Two tablespoons is not really much, just a garnish, so you need to be careful not to let the squirts get away from you. But worst case scenario -- the entire can is only 200 calories.

Blue Cheese Blues?

Do you love blue cheese, but hate fat-free blue cheese dressings (and the points that come along with them)? Then try this trick to get the flavor of real blue cheese without the high points. Freeze a block of blue cheese, then grate it over your salad with a fine mesh grater. A little goes a long way and the blue cheese flavor really pops. It's especially good with the (You Won't Believe It's Fat-Free) Salad Dressing from a few days ago.

Points are kind of hard to figure because blue cheese isn't usually measured in a shredded form, but a 1 square inch cube of blue cheese, probably more than enough to add blue cheese flavor to your salad, is 1.5 points.

I'm Growing Feathers!

During my many different WW journeys, I've eaten so much chicken that at times I feel like I'm going to grow feathers! But the fact remains that boneless skinless chicken breasts are probably our best source of healthy low-point protein. Here are some chicken ideas from various message boards:

Grilled! You can do some to eat for dinner, and another (or 2) to cut up and have cold on salad or in a sandwich. I also like to saute them, along with mushrooms, in a frying pan using balsamic vinegar and mustard for a sauce.
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Coat with lemon pepper, then bake till done. Glaze each breast with about a teaspoon of apricot jam. Yum.

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For chicken that you have already grilled or baked:

Dice cooked chicken breast into small pieces. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of diet mayo, a stalk of celery diced fine, and about 3 ounces of pineapple tidbits, also diced up (I just use one of those small juice pack containers, the kind that you might pack up in a lunch, drained.) Excellent stuffed into a whole wheat pita, but I'm sure you can find other applications.

Shred (or dice small) one small breast, mix in small pan with 2 or 3 tablespoons of barbeque sauce, heat till reduced to your liking, serve over a lite or whole wheat split English muffin. I don't care about my sodium intake, so I eat this with a dill pickle on the side.

Dice one breast, put in small pan. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce, juice of half a lemon, and a couple good handfuls of frozen broccoli (or whatever veggies you have on hand). Heat till veggies are done. Good with brown rice, though I'm sometimes unconventional and eat with a big (5 oz.) side of cooked green peas.

Chop half a small onion. Mince a clove or two of garlic. Cook till done with just a bit of pam, or other oil in small amount. Dice one breast, put in small pan. Add a small (6 oz?) can of V8, some salsa (about 1/4 cup? I never measure), and chili powder (hot sauce to taste if you want more heat). Cook for a few minutes till it reduces down. Great over baked potatoes (or sweet potato, but it might be a bit weird in this). Good topped with lowfat cheddar cheese.

There you go. 4 things to do with chicken breasts, and each tastes vastly different from each other.
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1. With a sharp knife, slit the chicken breast through the middle to make a 'pocket'. Mix some fat free soft cheese (I use Philadelphia FF) with some crushed garlic, or a teaspoon of pesto, or mixed herbs ... anything that you like really ... then stuff it into the chicken breast and sort of wrap it up so that the filling doesn't leak out when cooking. Bake in the oven 190' for about 35 minutes ... delicious served with a nice side salad and/or veg.

2. Wrap a slice or of smoked bacon around a chicken breast and bake in the oven ... the smokey flavour goes into the chicken and is really tasty.

3. Slice chicken breast thinly and stir fry with a little spray oil, then add some sliced mushrooms and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add a teaspoon or two of pesto, then add a couple of tbsp of fat free soft cheese and stir until it melts. Then add some skimmed milk a bit at a time until you get the required consistency for a 'sauce'. Stir into some cooked pasta and serve on its own or with salad.

4. Rub chicken breast with cajun spice mix (or any other herb/spice that you like), bake in the oven, then slice thinly put on top of a bed of romaine lettuce tossed with fat free/low fat dressing of your choice.

5. Using spray oil, stir fry chopped onion, garlic, and sliced red & green peppers (capsicum) until soft. Keep warm. Then saute sliced chicken breast and add to the onion/peppers. Stir in a can of chopped tomatoes, oregano, black pepper; bring to the boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Add a few black olives towards end of cooking. Delicious seved with rice or pasta and salad.

Enjoy!!
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Chicken Parmigana
Coat 4 chicken breasts with shake and bake. Cook 40 minutes, then spread tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese on top and bake 5 minutes more. Serve with a salad, veggies or pasta.
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Saute chicken breasts with a little water, good brown mustard, and some sliced (or canned) mushrooms. Add more water and mustard as needed. Cook until very brown and until the mushrooms are 'crusty.'
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Place chicken breast in a ziplock bag with a drizzle of olive oil and a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Shake well until the chicken is coated and grill outside or on a George Foreman grill. Serve with a sweet potato and some wilted spinach.

I also like to stir fry chicken breats with peppers, carrots, snow peas and broccoli ( the already packaged stir fry veggies in the produce aisle can be a great time saver) and serve over brown rice with a bit of teryiaki sauce.

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Super easy and YUMMY chicken recipe!
Mix 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 package Ranch Dressing mix (powdered, mix only) and 1 tsp. garlic powder. Dip chicken in water then coat with mix. Bake about 30 minutes or until done through. Makes 6 breast halves in a jiffy and it is SO good! I usually steam a bag of broccoli and add it to the dish for the last five minutes.
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I like a simple chicken breast sandwich - take a 4 oz portion and slice (fillet) about 1/4 inch thick, put some no cal butter spray in a skillet and season chicken with garlic powder and lemon pepper, grill quickly - takes like 5 minutes to be done and put on some multi grain bread (nutty kind with seeds) add 1-2 tbsp of 2g fat mayo and some lettuce - yummy. About 7 points.
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Crunchy Baked Chicken

Dip chicken breasts in skim milk or butter (no calorie). Then coat with:

Cornflake crumbs

sesame seeds

parmesan cheese

(You can measure amounts you like and figure your points accordingly.)

Spray with Pam and bake at 400 degrees for twenty minutes or until done. So simple. So good.
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Mix 3 Tbs. lime juice, 1 tsp. each cumin, coriander, sugar, salt, and 1/8 tsp. cayenne (or to taste). Shake with chicken in ziplock bag. Spray skillet with non-stick cooking spray; heat over medium heat until hot. Add chicken. Cook 5-6 minutes per side. Brush with mix half way through cooking. Sprinkle cilantro over chicken right before serving. YUM.

Crazy for Portobellos

Need a really, REALLY low point meal? Substitute portobello mushrooms for the meat in your recipe or sandwich.

The mushroom is about 30 calories, vs. 150 for chicken, even more for beef. Unlike the meat, portobellos also have around 3 grams of fiber.

Cube or slice thinly to use in pasta sauce, chili, or any recipe that calls for some kind of meat.

Use them as a base for individual pizzas.

Stuff them with spinach and Laughing Cow cheese.

Use marinated slices in a wrap or pita with onions, roasted red peppers, and a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella.

Marinate them in ff salad dressing, balsamic vinegar, pineapple juice, or whatever suits your fancy, and cook on the grill for a surprisingly good 'hamburger.' With a light bun and all the fixins' (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mustard) and you have a filling ONE point sandwich. Add a slice of 2% cheese for one more point, if desired.

The possibilities are endless!

(I've found that Sam's and Costco are by far the cheapest places to buy portobellos).

Cake with a Fizzzz

An oldie but goodie, for the newbies and for those of us who sometimes need to be re-reminded of what has worked for us in the past.

Diet Cola Cake or Cupcakes

1 Box of cake mix
2 egg whites
1 diet soda

Mix it all up and cook according to package directions. Nutritional value depends on the cake mix and how many servings you divide it into, but for the most part, if you make 24 cupcakes (they will be smaller than a 'normal' cupcake), they will be 1 point a piece.

(To figure the points value for a cake, take the total number of calories in the entire cake mix and divide it by the number of [even] pieces you cut from the cake.)

Topping suggestions -- FF cool whip, a dusting of confectioner's sugar, a squeeze of ff, sf chocolate ice cream topping. If you make a vanilla version, you can also use it as
with fruit as shortcake.

Lots of combination possibilities:
Chocolate cake and diet cola
Red velvet cake and diet cherry cola
Chocolate cake and diet cherry cola
Vanilla cake and diet lemon/lime soda
Vanilla cake and diet root beer
Butter Pecan cake mix and diet vanilla soda
Angel or yellow cake w/ diet orange pop
Lemon cake mix and diet 7-up
Lemon cake and diet ginger ale
Spice cake mix and diet orange cola
Spice cake mix and diet vanilla cola

Sweets for the Sweet Tooth

From http://www.tootsie.com/ :

"What goes into the world’s number #1-selling candy-filled lollipop? Start with a chewy, Tootsie Roll center; cover it with a delicious, hard candy coating; and you’ve got a simple, delicious treat, a Tootsie original that was the first lollipop providing an embedded candy “prize.” And at only 60 calories per fat-free pop, it’s the perfect guilt-free, sweet tooth-pleasing treat that everyone can enjoy. "

Not much to add to that except when I did WW several years ago and lost 60 lbs., I went through my fair share of Tootsie Pops. I think the best thing about them is that just one Pop will satisfy that sweet tooth, unlike some other one-point sweets that tempt a person to go back for more.

1 Pop = 1 Point

Dip with a (Multi-) Personality

Chunky Salsa Dip (or Salad Dressing or Potato Topping)

1/2 c. chopped scallions
1 large plum tomato, chopped
2 TBLSP each, fat free sour cream and lime juice
1 TBLSP plus 1 tsp. fat free mayonnaise
4 to 6 drops hot sauce
Dash ground red pepper

Mix all ingredients well. Cover and chill at least one hour.

Less than 1 WW point for the whole recipe.

Dips can be tricky because finding something low point/low cal to dip can be difficult. Of course, there are always veggies. Another option is a whole wheat pita, split, wedged, sprayed with Pam, and baked until crisp. Depending on the size, about 1-2 points.

Also, this 'dip' could be used as salad dressing or on a baked potato.

And finally, this looks like a fun recipe to play with. Add some jalapenos, chopped cucumbers, cilantro. Replace the mayo with ff greek yogurt, or if you want to thin out the recipe, ff buttermilk. Lots of ways to go with this one.

Food Find -- Another Cheesy Post

Cabot 50 Percent Light Cheddar Snacks

These individually wrapped Cheddar Cheese squares (actually rectangles) not only taste great and satisfy a craving for 'real' cheese, they're perfect for those of us who have portion control problems. Eat them plain, with a cracker, on a potato, however you like, and you'll know you're eating only 1 WW point per snack packet. I have purchased them at Costco, also available online at:

Cabot Cheese - "America's Best Cheddar"

Each 3/4 ounce serving has 50 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, and 15% calcium.

(You Won't Believe It's Fat-Free) Salad Dressing

The next time you buy a bottle of FF Italian Salad Dressing, pour out about 1/2 cup (use it as a marinade the next time you grill chicken or fish), drop in a couple of minced garlic cloves, a glob of dijon mustard, a few (or more, to taste) packets of sweetener, and fill to the top with basalmic vinegar. Shake it, let it sit a few hours in the refrigerator, shake well again before using, and you'll have a dressing that can stand up against any restaurant basalmic dressing.

This is also good for taking your own when going out to a restaurant. Use a small plastic container with a tight lid, empty a pack of sweetener, a blip of mustard, a dash of garlic salt, a couple of Tbs. of basalmic vinegar, and add FF Italian Dressing to the amount desired. Shake it up good and enjoy your salad!

(One note of caution ... if your salad dressing sits in your refrigerator for long periods of time, make your YWBIFFSD in smaller batches for food safety reasons.)

La, La, La -- The Musical Fruit

This is one of many Bean Soup recipes that I'll be posting as time goes on. It's obviously quite high in sodium. To reduce it somewhat, rinse the beans and hominy (except for the chili beans, of course) in a colandar before using. And low-sodium broths are always a good choice in any recipe calling for broth.

Easy Bean Soup

16 oz salsa
14 oz chicken broth
15 oz hominy
15 oz white beans (small northern)
15 oz chili beans
15 oz garbanzo beans

Drain beans. Heat. One serving (1 cup) is 1-3 points, based on which version of WW you are following. Makes 9 servings

Sugar-Free Jello Tricks

From a message board:

Sugar-Free Jell-O Tricks

I hate the little pre-made cups of sugar-free Jell-o ... not only is it outrageously expensive, it's rubbery and weird in texture and tastes terrible! So I've always made my own. I thought I'd write up some of my tricks for making it more interesting. If you have other tricks, post 'em!

--Make Your Own Jell-O Cups - Pour prepared Jell-O into disposable 8- or 9-oz plastic drink cups.

--Mix Flavors - Mix together two small packages of gelatin with different flavors. I like to mix lemon and lime.

--Make Your Own Flavor - Use UNFLAVORED gelatin and your favorite sugar-free beverage, such as Crystal Light or sugar-free Kool-Aid. Raspberry Lemonade! Iced Tea! Root Beer! etc.

--Make a Fruit Exchange - Use UNFLAVORED gelatin and fruit juice, either for all of the liquid or just the cold liquid. How much you use and how much you eat will determine how many fruit exchanges it will count as.

--Make Jell-O Fluff - Mix a small package of gelatin as directed. When it cools off and starts to set but is still soupy, add a carton of non-fat sugar-free plain or flavored yogurt and beat with an electric mixer until well mixed and fluffy. Return to refrigerator to set. This will be pudding-like in texture; 1-1/2 cup of this will be 1/2 milk exchange. For a stiffer mixture, mix the gelatin with 1 cup boiling water but NO cold water. Proceed as above. This will be as stiff as Jell-O but creamy; 1 cup will be 1/2 milk exchange. Of course you can create all kinds of interesting flavor combinations by mixing certain gelatin flavors with certain yogurt flavors. I like orange Jell-O and vanilla yogurt, among others.

--Get Jell-O in a Hurry - Prepare Jell-O as directed on the package for the quick-set method, replacing cold water with ice. To make it set even faster, pour into a wide, shallow dish -- the deeper the dish, the longer it will take to set.

-- Another Way to set it in a hurry is to add frozen fruit - a cup of blueberries or raspberries, for example.

-- I Had Some oranges I needed to use up today, so I juiced them to get four cups of juice, and chopped a couple up into chunks. I boiled up about 1.5 cups of the juice, added 3 packs of gelatin (no flavor or sugar), added 2 cups mixed frozen berries, and a little Splenda, though it probably doesn't need that.

-- I Eat a lot of berries, and mixing them with Jell-o/gelatin is a way to extend them further (I am a huge believer in adding water-volume to meals).

--A Variation of the Jell-O Fluff that I really enjoy: Mix Jell-o according to package directions. While still hot, add one 8 oz. package of low-fat cream cheese. Mix until completely dissolved. Pour into individual containers and refrigerate 4 hours or until set. You can make 4 standard servings, or 8 mini servings. I usually make the 8 mini's because the cream cheese makes it taste sweeter.

--I Like to use a package of sf Black Cherry Jell-o and make as directed only substituting 1 cup Black Cherry Diet Rite cola for the cold water. Add some Cool Whip on top of your serving--good.

--SF/FF Orange Jell-o mixed with 1 cup LF plain yogurt and 1 c. LF ricotta. It really hits the spot!

Absolutely Splenda!

Because Splenda is an "artificial sweetener" and can legally advertise itself as calorie free*, it's easy to forget that it does have points, calories, carbs.

Just a reminder:

Splenda -- Points/Calories:

One cup Splenda = 96 calories = 2 points

One cup sugar = 774 calories = 15 points
1 packet of Splenda = 4 calories, so if you use several packets a day, they should be counted.

Splenda -- Carbs/Calories:

SPLENDA (R) Granular 1 tsp = 0.5 gm carb = 2 calories

One half cup = 12 gm carb = 48 calories

One cup = 24 gm carb = 96 calories

Packet of SPLENDA (R) 1 packet = .9 gm of carb = 4 calories

(1 packet has the sweetness of 2 tsp of sugar)

*Note: Per U.S. labeling laws, anything with less than 5 calories per serving, is properly labeled as "zero" or no-calorie. 1 tsp. is considered a serving.

Note: The calories and carbohydrates in SPLENDA (R) No Calorie Sweetener comes from dextrose and/or maltodextrin, which are added for bulk. Sucralose the sweetening ingredient in SPLENDA (R) Brand Sweetener, has no calories and is not a carbohydrate. Granular - sucralose, maltodextrin (0.5 gram per serving)Packets - sucralose, maltodextrin and dextrose (less than 1 gram per packet)

Fool the Eye, Spare the Waistline

Prevention magazine writes that you can achieve portion control for high-calorie beverages by fooling your eye with a tall, slender glass.

"When researchers at the Marketing Science Institute in Cambridge, MA, asked grown-ups and kids to pour drinks and then estimate their contents, adults served themselves 19 percent more and kids poured a massive 74 percent more when using a short, wide glass than when the glass was tall and slim. Yet both assumed they were drinking less from a short glass and more from a tall one.

Even experienced bartenders in the study overpoured by nearly 25 percent when the glassware was squat."

So invest in a tall, thin glass, fill it with ice cubes, and enjoy just about any drink you can imagine for just a few points (or less).

http://www.prevention.com/

Juicy Spuds

From a message board:

" . . . Place skinless boneless chicken breast on foil. Pour 2tsp of lemon juice and 3T of FREE Ital. dressing on chicken. Add salt and pepper, garlic any other spices you like. Top with a bell pepper strip and onion slice and a pat of butter or oleo. Seal in foil and bake 45min at 400 (or on the grill). Boil or bake a potato and after chicken is done use "juice" to dip your potato in. My kids ages 4 & 6 just love this. Better one pat of butter than loading up the spud. . .

Add a green veggie and/or salad, and you have yourself a healthy, hearty meal for less than 10 points."

Minty Fresh!

From the "it doesn't hurt to try" file:

" . . . Men and women who sniffed peppermint whenever they felt the urge to eat, lost an average of 5 pounds a month, according to a recent study. Other scents that may work: banana and green apple . . ."

From an old issue of Shape Magazine (I think).

Water, water, everywhere

Yes, we all know the importance of drinking plenty of water and there are a lot of articles out there about getting enough of it. But I thought this one had some particulary good tips, too good not to pass along. Not sure where it came from; found it in my "too good to delete" files.

20 Tips For Getting Your 8 Glasses of Water Daily

Sometimes drinking our eight glasses of water a day can be a real challenge… Here are 20 tips to help you accomplish that feat! It is said by many beauty experts that drinking your water is the cheapest, quickest way to look better! That should motivate us!

1. Make a bet with a co-worker to see who can drink more water in the course of a day.

2. Have a big glass of water at every transitional point of the day: when you first get up, just before leaving the house, when you sit down to work, etc.

3. Make it convenient - keep a big, plastic, insulated water bottle full on your desk and reach for it all day.

4. When you have juice (apple, grape, or orange) fill half the glass with water.

5. When you have a junk-food craving, down a glass of water immediately. You feel full quickly and avoid the calories, and it lets time pass till the craving fades.

6. Have one glass every hour on the hour while at work. When the work day is done your water quota is met.

7. Substitute a cup of hot water with a drop of honey for tea or coffee.

8. While at work, get a 20 ounce cup of ice and keep filling it up from the office water cooler. The key is drinking with a straw - you take bigger gulps and drink much more.

9. Freeze little bits of peeled lemons, limes, and oranges and use them in place of ice cubes - it's refreshing and helps get in a serving or two of fruit.

10. After each trip to the ladies room, guzzle an eight-ounce glass to replenish your system.

11. Don't allow yourself a diet soda until you've had two to four glasses of water. You will find that you won't want the soda anymore or that just half a can is enough.

12. Let ounces of water double grams of fat: When eating something containing 10 grams of fat, I drink 20 ounces of water.

13. Drink two full glasses at each meal, one before and one after. Also, drink one glass before each snack so you don't eat as much.

14. Carry a small refillable water bottle at all times and drink during downtime; while waiting in a bank line, sitting on the train, etc.

15. Use a beautiful gold-rimmed glass and fill it with cold water from the tap.

16. Drink two glasses of water immediately after waking up.

17. Take a two-liter bottle of water to work and try to drink it all before you leave work. If you don't finish, drink it in traffic on the way home - it's like a race.

18. Always keep a 24-ounce bottle of water handy while watching TV, doing laundry, making dinner, etc.

19. Add drinking two glasses of water to your daily skincare regimen. Drink, cleanse, moisturize, etc., then drink again.

20. Drink your water out of a big Pyrex measuring cup - it's a good way to keep track of how much water you are drinking.

1-Point Monkey Pops

Monkey Pops

1 Point Per Serving

1 envelope (four 1/2-cup serving size) reduced-cal instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups skim milk
2 bananas -- peeled and cut -- into 4 chunks each

Prepare pudding with milk, following package directions. Push 1 wooden ice-cream stick into each banana chunk; place each one in a 5 oz. drinking cup. Pour pudding into cup, filling each 2/3 full. Freeze at least 4 hours.
Serving Size : 8

Lower Sodium Taco Seasoning

Taco seasoning is called for in many WW Mexican recipes and while the seasoning packets are convenient, they have far too much salt in them to be considered healthy. Here's an lower sodium alternative.

2 Tsp. chili powder

1 1/2 Tsp. paprika

1 Tsp. onion powder
1/2 Tsp. salt

3/4 Tsp. garlic salt

1 Dash red pepper

This is equal to one pkg. of taco seasoning. If you wanted to cut further down on the salt, use garlic powder instead of the garlic salt.