I read an article (OK, I found the article and put it on today’s health page) about how the nutrition information on menus and some frozen food items are not accurate. The story can be found at, http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2010/01/11/science_-_health/doc4b4b6e5532771060342313.txt

Particularly troubling is that some of the nutritional information leads consumers to believe the food has fewer calories, fat grams, carbs, etc. than they do. On average, food calories were 18 percent higher than reported. This was attributed to different sources of food supplies, maybe a sandwich is made different at various restaurants.

I can understand that there are variables — that is nature — but it is frustrating to think I might be doing the right thing but really hurting my effort (as if I need help with that). A great example is ordering a P.F. Chang’s Sichuan-style asparagus thinking it only had 200 calories when the caloric intake was double that.

For me, it feels like it is now harder to plan. Check out the story and tell me what you think.

On a good note, an Ohio woman is sharing her secrets to having healthy family meals for  $5 or less. The link is below.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=370&articleid=20100111_4_D1_Before919666

So today has been kind of  tough day — any day following a weekend of paper writing is always rough.

Last night, seconds and ice cream seemed in order after spending the weekend focused on the first way of war in early America.

Today, I just overslept and didn’t grab my orange, pack a lunch and get a decent breakfast.

Luckily, someone from work was nice of enough to share an orange with me and I had banana chips. But I was hungry and decided to go to lunch with a friend who was having a rough day. I let her pick and we had some tasty burgers. I know.

And i did get the fries, but it was nice to have a small portion of fries — that looked like the appropriate serving size. OK, let me explain. I have these magnets that have show what a serving size should be and how many carbs it has…the fries I got with my meal today looked like the serving size on my magnet. Since it was a smaller, correct size, I don’t feel too bad about eating some French fried pertaters

Tonight, I may skip left over taco stuff and just go for soup and a grilled cheese and tomato soup.

OH, on the bread issue that I was struggling with last week, I think I figured it out and bought some bread that was made with just whole wheat flour. Gold star for Ginger

I know that snacks are not the enemy. Heck, I even make sure I have fairly healthy snacks. Carrots, reduced-fat Wheat Thins, Planter’s Nutrition nuts (cashews, almonds and macadamia nuts) and pickles (a dill pickle half has 10 calories and like 1 carb).

Here is my problem: I go home, I want a snack. So I have one of the above snacks. Oh it is sooo good. So what do I do…dummy here gets another snack. Granted it is one of the aforementioned snacks. In a half-hour period, I have sampled each snack.

I’m thinking this is not helping me reach the necessary goals.

<big sigh>

stupid snacks.

Stupid, stupid delicious snacks.

… because my coffee cup is just about empty.

That is the thing about being sick…the things that I like, and rely on, don’t taste good or I simply don’t want them. Coffee is one of those things. I know I don’t feel good when the coffee doesn’t taste good and I can’t get through cup. Just can’t, and we have pretty tasty coffee.

Now I just have to keep myself from indulging in new favorite treat — a scoop of ice cream in my cranberry coffee.

OK, you would think that getting back on the horse would be easier this time around. Super motivated, ready for change…but I’ll be honest, I can’t seem to get it all together.

It seems like there are lots of baby steps this time instead of just diving in. Bread is a great example. Mr. X and I decided that sourdough might not be the best choice. It is a hard pill to swallow since I really like sourdough. But a healthier choice would be a whole grain, whole wheat bread. OK, I can do that.

Apparently it has been a long time since I have bought whole grain, whole wheat bread. Yesterday I got bread since we were dangerously low. So I grabbed the seven grain whole wheat bread. I was feeling pretty proud.

I get home and I show off my purchase to Mr. X like a child showing a parent an A paper. 

Yeah…that is when I found out that it wasn’t the best choice. The label did say unbleached flour, but it said unbleached enriched flour. Not the best choice and Mr. X said what we need to be looking forward is whole grain wheat flour.

But, he said, the seven grain was a step in the right direction.

Baby steps, baby steps.

g

Traveling is never easy, but throw in trying to eat right, and you just made the trip that much harder.

At DFW, McDonald’s has a golden arch at six gates in four terminals. That is coupled with Popeyes, Starbucks, Blimpies, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

The first trip through DFW (what I refer to as the good day of traveling), Mr. X and I opted for sub sandwiches…never one of us really wanted something greasy and fried.

On our way back home, via DFW (what I refer to as the day of infamy), we did Dicky’s Barbecue. Probably not the best choice, but we were tired and not very happy campers. I have to admit, I know that baked potato with butter, cheese, sour cream and brisket, probably wasn’t the healthiest choice, but man, it sure did beat a burger. And after a week of turkey, pasta, chips and dips, it was a welcomed change.

One thing I am proud of is my ability not to seek out candy on this trip, well at least while we were traveling. The trip home was really stressful, and I really wanted something sweet. You know me, a little sweet might make everything better. I looked but prices at airport stores was reason enough to say no.

That I hate being sick. Saturday evening is when the latest bout of whatever it is that I have decided to settle in.

After a quick dinner of red beans and rice, I took  a shot of NyQuil and went to bed. My original plan to exercise Sunday morning fell by the wayside as I decided a better use of my time was to sleep as much as possible.

When I finally did decide to get up, I wanted the same old foods — chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese.

Today, I will be the first to admit, I feel a tad bit better. Still can’t really breathe but am very thankful that I brought some saltine crackers with me because it was the best cure for a queasy stomach this morning.

g

I apologize for not posting during the last week or so, Mr. X and I traveled to Tulsa for the holidays and I got caught up with family, friends and ran out of time to be a good blogger.

This last week there was lots of food. All wonderful but probably not so great for the ol’figure. But that is OK, it was Christmas and how many times do you get to have homemade pasta with wonderful red sauce and alfredo sauce.

Don’t worry, I will tell you all about it because I had some real misadvenuters.

But the holiday is over, and I really excited to get back on track and start eating right.

First step? I think I am going to leave sourdough behind and begin eating whole-grain bread. I should have done this a long time, but I’m not always a fan of whole-grain breads. But I will just have to try a few until I find the right one.

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

And don’t worry, this food junkie will have more details about her travels and food soon!

G