Continuing the Quest for a good work-out bar

So.... after concluding my rant against "low sugar" bars that are high in sugar alcohols, I've started trying out different bars.  There's no real scientific method to this--I just try whatever is on sale at the grocery store.

The challenge for me is to find a bar that is ideally made from natural ingredients and that helps me get through my work-out.  Since I'm worried about nutrient intake, anything with nutritive value is the best.  

Here's a few that I've tried over the past week.  The grand idea is that I will eventually get a whole spreadsheet of these going, with rankings.

Raw rev 100 calorie bar Chocolate Coconut Bar.  This tasted OK. It was a bit weird in terms of mouth-feel.  The chocolate-coconut combination was one of my favorite candy combinations as a child, so I had high hopes for this.  But--meh.  The coconut feels a little lackluster because it's not toasted. However, on the plus side, I love the fact that all the ingredients are natural. On the energy factor--I find I need two of these to get through my toughest work-out class. Also (and I didn't realize this would be a problem, but....) the bars are bad on stomach feel--these are tiny so I hardly feel like I've eaten anything. I didn't even know this could be a problem until I tried this bar!

Balance bar.  This brand boasts 40-30-30 nutrition profile (40% carbs 30% fat 30% protein). I tried the dark chocolate peanut and actually liked the taste. It had actual peanuts and a bit of a dark chocolate fudge topping. I also found that I was sustained by the energy from it enough to get me through my class. 

Balance bar.  Dark chocolate crunch--this was pretty good--almost like a dark chocolate bar. I enjoy crunchy foods, so this was satisfying.

Raw Rev 100 Bar.  Spirulina dream. This was very.....green. I could practically taste the chlorophyll. Taste was ok. You already know how I feel about the stomach feel of this line.  But it was very....green. What is spirulina anyway?

Odwalla protein bar--chocolate chip peanut. This bar was very grain based--you could literally taste the oatmeal and the other ingredients (a few small chocolate chips throughout). The ingredients were all natural, which is great. It made me feel like I was having a granola bar rather than some manufactured nutrition/protein bar. 

Finding the perfect pre-workout/breakfast bar

"Hey. Hey you--wanna eat some compacted potting soil? What if it's coated in some enticing chocolatey or peanut buttery goodness and called "Super Duper Protein Wower Power Bar????" 

This must have been the conversation my subconscious mind fed to my rational brain in order to justify me buying "low sugar" protein bars the other day.  I've figured out that it's most efficient for me to go to the gym immediately after dropping the kids off at school.  This, however, means that with the morning out-the-door rush, I don't have time for a proper breakfast, and my work-out actually suffers from it.  I literally find that I don't have enough energy to get through a good group exercise class.  So, I decided to try protein bars as a portable breakfast.
"After all" I figured "they're meant for people who exercise."

So, silly me stood in front of the protein bar section of my local grocery store and decided on trying the "Think Thin" bars. I bought up a few different flavors with the grand scheme of testing out a different flavor every day.

Well, today, after going through about 4 different "Think Thin" flavors (one each day), I'm abandoning the idea of a "low sugar" bar.  
"Low sugar", of course, just means high "sugar alcohols" like xylitol, maltilol, godknowswhatsinitol. The things were awful tasting--they did have the texture of compacted potting soil covered by a coating of some sort. Worst of all, these things gave me a headache.  I should have known.  

[Begin Science-Based Know-it-all-Rant]:  
You see, the brain, like all other parts of the body during exercise, needs proper glucose to function.  And the sugar alcohols work to cheat some parts of your body by telling it that the sugar is there, when, in fact, it's not readily available for either brain or body to use in periods of high intensity (like during complex group exercise routines!).  The result for me was a bad headache at the end of the class, and the feeling that I hadn't really performed well. 
[End Rant--You may resume breathing normally]. 

So, no more bars sweetened exclusively with sugar alcohols. My body actually needs the sugar.  

Been Working Out........

So, I joined a local gym about two months ago and it's been......awesome...... and sometimes painful.  I realized after doing my half marathon (and getting far more injured than I normally would) that a) my core was COMPLETELY shot after having two babies in less than 2 years, and that b) I needed cross training not only for my core, but for everything else too.  Boy was I right.  Within the first week of joining the gym, I realized just how bad all my muscles throughout my body had become, with my core muscles being the worst. This was particularly obvious when I did any kind of balancing exercises--the whole rest of the class would be able to stand on one leg just fine, and there I would be teetering and wobbling away.  I'm still not great at balance, but with a little persistence (not to mention slowly strenghtening my core!), I've gotten better and better and better.  The same can be said for any other aspect of exercise.  With Step classes for example (which I had never done before even though I had done all sorts of aerobics exercise classes pre-babies), I literally FELL OFF THE STEP in one of my first classes.....  eeep! Now, however, I've gotten better, and can actually manage to navigate the darn step bench for the whole class.  Yippeee!


Oh. Yes.  You probably want to know how all this exercising has impacted my weight loss.  It hasn't. My weight has stayed the same as of last week (when my scale stopped working).  However, my dress size has actually gone down. Well, in the hips, chest and everywhere-other-than-the-waist.  That dreaded core again.  Hopefully, I don't still look pregnant.  Eeeep!

Yeah. I know. It's been a while...........

Yeah. I know.  It's been a while since I've posted anything. But I have a really, really good reason for not blogging about my weight loss. Well, ok....it's actually sort of a crummy reason.   The weight loss simply hasn't been happening. At least not as far as the scale is concerned. 
I joined a local gym about 2 months ago, and have been going about 5 times a week to some class or another. That darn scale hasn't budged in terms of the numbers.  But,  I have noticed a change in the way I look. My clothing looks better on me, and I have even been able to squeeze into some clothing from before my two kids were born (Yay!!!).  But..... the darn scale hasn't moved! I keep telling myself that it's actually my body trading muscle for fat...... but that's probably an excuse.  It doesn't help, of course, that the Holidays are here.   Pretty much since Halloween onwards, there's been lots of high calorie temptations around.  So, I'm back to blogging, partly to not derail all the hard work that I've done so far (and, dare I say, actually manage to get back on track DURING the holidays!).

Shedding your weight-loss foibles--the week-end binge.

The Week-End Binge--Indian Style

Here's something everyone is guilty of:  enjoying too many high-calorie foods on the week-end. Even if you're a caloric angel during the week, there's something about the end of the week and all the social activities it brings that entices you to fill your plate with higher-calorie foods.

When those social activities include Indian food, it's tempting to think that you can get away with over-indulging. Indian food is often a dream combination of health and taste:  every meal includes a variety of vegetables, leaner meats (e.g. chicken), and lower-glycemic grains like whole wheat flatbreads or basmati rice.  However, this dream turns to a caloric nightmare when prepared, as most restaurants do, with a heavy hand of hidden fats like butter, ghee or full cream. And if you think home-made foods are better, think again:  home cooks are often guilty of the same thing, often adding lots of extra fat in the belief that the food will taste better. So how many extra calories are consumed in eating a rich Indian meal vs a healthy Indian meal?

If eating healthy Indian with USDA recommended quantities of grains, vegetables, dairy and proteins, the caloric total for one meal should range between 300-500 calories.


When eating a rich Indian meal, though, according to myfitnesspal.com, the caloric total can reach a whopping 3000+ calories.  Here is the breakdown:

Appetizer:
1 samosa: 175 calories
2 pieces of vegetable pakora: 120 calories.

Main Course: 
one plate of Indian food, served Buffet style is 1500 calories. Of course, no one ever stops with one plate, so 1.5-2 plates is 2250-3000 calories.  

Dessert:
Gulab Jamun:  150 calories
6 oz of Kheer:  200-400 calories

Grand total:  somewhere between 2895 and 3845.

And that doesn't even include drinks like lassi, exotic fruit juices, or alcoholic beverages.

FINALLY!!!!!

FINALLY!!!!

I've been very remiss in posting..... mainly because I wasn't losing any weight ;).  Well,  I finally got a handle on my eating habits, and the combination of that with working out is having an effect.  I got on the scale today and my BMI is finally down to 24.9. 

Rock n Roll Half Marathon!!!

After yet another week of no weight loss (in fact, I gained half a pound--grrrrrr!), I decided I needed to take drastic action. 

So today, I signed up for the Rock n Roll Half Marathon.  

Which, of course, meant  I had to start running again TODAY. 

No shopping for cute hide-the-bulging-belly-fat running outfits as an excuse to procrastinate.  Which, of course, meant that I had to squeeze into my one of my old running outfits.  It was tight, but I figured "Oh, what the heck! Maybe it'll provide me with motivation to lose the weight!" 

Uh. Yeah.......

Hopes and aspirations... meet... physics of fat physiology.  

As I'm running, the  T-shirt won't stay down over the belly bulge.  The pants won't stay up over the belly bulge.  So, I keep pushing one up and the other down, trying to figure out what position works best for maximum clothing coverage while running.  I figure out that it's holding my shirt down in front of me against my lower stomach so that the pressure from my hands also presses against my pants to hold them up.  Except now I look like I'm running.....to the bathroom :$ 

On the plus side...... I ran 2 miles!!!

Can't get rid of my Weight Loss Foibles!!!

Progress report on shedding my "late-night-snacking"  weight-loss foible:  I've failed miserably! 

A little while ago, I blogged about shedding one of my (many, MANY) weight-loss foibles.

Well, sorry to say, but I've fallen off the bandwagon entitled "exercise-instead-of late-night snacking".  I'm not as bad at the late-night snacking as I used to be, but I am getting better.  My calorie intake is lower, I am opting for nutritionally dense foods, and I am trying to account for the food as part of my daily calorie allotment.

But alas, I haven't exercised at night, albeit for a very good reason:  injury :(.   I've been to the podiatrist to help with the situation--I'm not keen on sharing alot of personal info online, but suffice it to say, there's a problem that is getting better.

Weight Unchanged :(

This week's BMI:  unchanged.  ruh-roh.  Wonder why that happened? Could it be the week-end's full of eating that I've been subjecting myself to for the past two weeks? Probably.  I feel an article coming up about that.........

Weight Loss on Vacation!

This Week's BMI:   25.3  Woohoo!!!!!!  Reward Facial is just 2.5 pounds away. 

This is all the more significant because I was away on vacation last week! So how does one manage weight control while on vacation? It's tempting when you're checked out and on vacation to just let loose and enjoy.  And of course, you should.  It all comes down to what enjoyment of food really is about. 
It's great to enjoy the cuisine of the area that you travel to, but you can still do so in a responsible way. No matter where you travel, and what the local cuisine is, the main rule of eating is universal:  eat what you need to eat, not more. I like to sample a variety of foods when I'm on vacation, but I tried very hard to be mindful of the quantity of the food that I was consuming.  It used to be that I thought that if a food was to be enjoyed, it had to be eaten in large quantities.  I've found out that this doesn't have to be the case.  You can actually gain more enjoyment from eating small portions.  In portion-explosion America, eating small portions when you're eating out on vacation meant eating only an appetizer at times, or saving half my plate for another meal. It also meant sharing a meal, or even sharing a bite, of a traveling companion's plate to sample a taste.  All of this was coupled with unconscious exercise by taking advantage of local attractions (for example going to a theme park, or a beach).  I guess last week is proof that this all worked!

This week's BMI:  25.6!    Eeep!!! It went back up!!!
Well, what have I been doing wrong?  I've been angelic, I swear!
Well.... actually...... I've been remiss in tracking my food intake. A nibble here, a nibble there really can add up, I guess. 

Oh, bother.  Well, back to following my own advice and counting calories. 

Yoga Day

This morning, I was SOOOOOOO sore from all the exercise my body has been getting this week. Totally was a day for Yoga.  
 Before now, I didn't get Yoga.  Didn't get what was so exciting about doin' a bunch of weird poses that were basically just stretches.  Now, though...... totally get it.  My muscles are singing with all the positive blood circulation and stress relief.  Yoga on Fridays from now on.....

Shedding Common Weight-Loss Foibles: Late Night Snacking

There's a lot of folklore surrounding late night eating, with a common myth claiming that food eaten late at night will digest slowly and contribute to weight gain. But is this myth founded in reality?  Trolling the internet for concrete scientific answers leads to some concrete.......confusion.  One scientific study (for example, one published in the journal "Obesity") claims that late night eating, especially if done among late sleepers, leads to greater weight gain, while another (published in the British Medical Journal) claims that late night eating will not lead to increased weight gain. 

So what's the right answer?  Well, if you dig deeper into these studies, you'll find that there are a combination of habits that determine whether late-night eating will cause weight gain. Particularly important are the quality and quantity of nutrition throughout the day.  It seems as though weight gain from late night eating is more likely when the subjects have had poor nutrition (either through infrequent meals or meals with poor nutrient value) throughout the day, leading them to binge eat more calories than they need at night.  Typically, these late night eaters would not have planned a late night meal and will tend to eat commercially prepared high-calorie snack foods on a spontaneous basis at night.  Weight gain among late-night eaters is not as much of an issue among those who have had nutritious foods at appropriate intervals throughout the day. 

In order to limit weight gain from late night snacking, you have to either plan to quit late-night snacking outright, or plan for the late night snack to be part of your daily food intake.  Which of these two options you choose will really depend on your personality type and frequency of late-night snacking.   Occasional late-night snackers or those who prefer sudden or "cold-turkey" approaches may find quitting easier.  Frequent late-night eaters or those who have failed the "cold turkey" approach will find planning for late-night eating more realistic. 

Suggestions for quitting late night snacking include:
1) Brushing your teeth immediately after dinner
2) Doing some activity that keeps you occupied enough to not eat.  For example, going for a walk, exercising, doing anything on a to-do list (there's always something!). 
3) Drinking water instead of snacking.  It's often been said that people often unconsciously confuse hunger with thirst.

For those who are unwilling or unable to completely quit late night snacking, the following suggestions might be helpful:
1) Plan ahead for a healthy late-night snack and keep it readily accessible.  This will prevent you from spontaneously eating bad foods. Try to use the late-night snack as an opportunity to consume fresh (i.e. raw) fruits and vegetables.  These are typically low on calories and high on nutrients, so if there is any truth to the increased-absorption-at-night-theory, it's better the body absorb nutrients rather than empty calories. 
2) If you find you binge on certain high-calorie low nutrient snack foods late at night, rid your home of those foods and restock with a healthier version of that food.
3) Instead of eating, drink.  In addition to rehydrating your body, fluids such as caffeine-free herbal tea or a cup of skim milk provide a great way to feel full without consuming too many calories. 

Chicken Box

Worked out to a Boxercise video tonight.  Awesome workout! Totally feel the heart rate going and blood pumping.  Now if only I could only get myself to look like a graceful boxer in those "double-time" sequences rather than a wing-flapping chicken......

Working it Out!

Worked out to a 40 minute aerobics DVD.  There were SO MANY sequences where I had to stop and go "Huh??? You want me to do THAT?"  Yes, I talk to my TV.  But only in extreme situations like this one.  Seriously. There was this one move called the "side plank".  You get onto your side on the floor, stack your legs and use just your hips and core strength to get everything except for elbow and foot off the ground.  Needless to say, my side plank involved staying on my side and hanging my jaw open.  I'm sure that counts as calorie burn too, right......?

Nevertheless, it feels good to have moved a little in front of the TV rather than just having sat in front of it.