Giving into a Craving and Eating a Rainbow

I may have mentioned earlier this month that I have once again join Weight Watcher's to help me lose those excess pounds that seem to have lovingly wrapped themselves around my hips with a very suffocating hug.  For most of the month I have been working the program like a pro which isn't too hard because I have always been one to eat healthy or mostly healthy, but this week I caved into a most obnoxious craving.

Now for me a craving materializes days in advance, it starts with a little nagging feeling in the back of my mind, you want something sweet, salty, yeasty, or decadent, (all of those at once).  Day one I can usually ignore it and it will go away, so it wasn't a real craving, but some days it doesn't go away and by day three if I don't give in to the craving I find I will eat several other foods in hopes of satisfying the craving which it never does. By day four or five as in this case I give in and apease the unhealthy food goddess once again, the culprit this time Pizza: carbs, fat, greasey carbs and more fat because yes it had to have pepperoni on it.

Did the nagging craving go away after I ate the culprit?  Oh you bet it did, did I fall asleep after indulging? oh yes a sound 2 hour nap. Did I make amends for giving into such a craving? I did, I put on those walking shoes and hit the trail at the park and walked 30 minutes.

I did manage to find a few positive things resulting in me giving into the craving:

1. Being on WW I can count the points for the 2 slices of pizza I ate, which I did and since I ate it midday I counted it as my lunch. Which is fine but I could/should have made a healthier choice.
2. Walking it off I added a second walk to my daily exercise which is good for my heart health and overall health.
3. I went shopping at the local farmer's market the next morning and made sure I came home with a  rainbow of foods.

The negative results stayed with me longer after the pizza box was stuffed in the trash:

1. Heartburn, bloating, general stomach upset, the main side effects that have wreaked havoc on my digestive system for years.
2. The next day the sluggish feeling stays with me and so does the upset to my digestive system.

One of the best things about Weight Watchers is you can eat anything and everything as long as you stay within your daily points, which is great, for me I try to avoid those carb ladden foods I know are not good for me when weight loss is what I seek.

Bread, pasta, potatoes and rice are all foods I love but I can't eat them too often or the pounds won't budge. I know this from years of experience, these are the foods I crave most often when a craving hits me.  I am not much of a sweets person but I do indulge once in awhile, though now a days I usually grab a protein bar with oatmeal and raisins. I found these nifty V8 bars a few days ago, they are lower in fat and have more protein then some of the bars I keep on hand when I want something sweet.

For me a protein bar usually satisfies a craving for something sweet, and if I want something creamy and cold I go to Peachwave for frozen yogurt which I can easily weigh for an accurate counting of my daily WW points. All fruits are zero points so if I want to add a few fresh berries I do.

In keeping with my eating a rainbow I made these nifty kabobs again, they are simply white mushrooms, red onion, jalapeno pepper, red bell pepper, fresh pineapple. I drizzle olive oil over the kabobs and popped them under the broiler for a 4 minutes, then reduced the overn to 450 for about 15 minutes.  Next time I plan to add zuchini and yellow squash.

One of  my favorite dishes for a quick summer lunch is a simple tomato mozzarella salad here:

I chopped up one small tomato or use grape tomatoes if I have on hand, I cube a 1 ounce slice of fresh mozzarella chese, chop up 5 or 6 black olives, and I added sliced dill pickles because I didn't have a cucumber on hand.  I drizzle with 1 ounce of Wishbone Romano Basil Vinaigrette.  This is my spin on a Greek salad. I don't eat raw onion often so I came up with this dish using mozzarella cheese instead of Feta.

For a more balanced meal I'll add protein, either a hard boiled egg, 2 oucnes of chicken breast, or a 2 ounce pouch of flavored tuna. My favorite is Star Kist sweet and spicy.

This is how I usually eat, but I'm human and give in to cravings now and again, as much as I know I shouldn't I'm sure I will give in again.  I just need to remember if/when I do all those negative results will surely follow.

For today the fruit bowl is full of fresh fruits, there are fresh greens in the fridge and fish in the freezer. I have all the makings for a few great meals and the desire to see it through.  My scale moved down a pound this week so walking off the pizza was a smart move and tomorrow is another day.