Gnu Fiber Bar Review

I love the Hungry Girl website. I have found endless healthy foods options and recipes that are lower-fat/calorie alternatives to some of the less-figure friendly versions from the folks at HG. It was there that I read about Gnu Fiber Bars which contain half of a day’s fiber (12 g) in each bar, are all natural and are only 2 pts. They come in 5 flavors; Cinnamon Raisin, Chocolate Brownie, Peanut Butter, Banana Walnut, and Orange Cranberry. On the Gnu website you can put in your zip code and find out where they are sold in your vicinity. The only place that was listed is the Natural Foods Co-op. I made a special trip to the Co-op specifically for these bars and scrounged around for a while to find. Finally I gave up looking for the elusive Gnu bars and asked someone if they do, indeed, have them. They do not.

There were so many Gnu Lovers leaving positive comments on their website, that I was really eager to try them. You can, of course, order them directly from their website; they even have a “Joy of Fiber Program” where you can select a 15 or 30 bar/month program where they are automatically mailed to you. They also offer a Flavor Sampler where you get one of each flavor (5) for $9.99 and the shipping is included; this is the option I chose. They came within a few days and the company was a pleasure to order from and deal with. I’ve since tried all 5 varieties and this is what I think:

Orange Cranberry: You can definitely taste the “all natural” in all of these bars. They were filling, of course, with 12 grams of fiber but I actually found this flavor a little bit bitter. They use fruit juice to sweeten all of their bars but, in my opinion, they could use a bit more in this one.



Peanut Butter: These are nice and chewy. They have a very mild peanut butter flavor.



Banana Walnut: Again, the flavors are very subtle. I didn’t notice any walnuts or walnut flavor at all. I thought that this one was a bit dry.



Chocolate Brownie: These have a strong cocoa flavor to them although it‘s not unpleasant. They look moist but were actually a little on the dry side. They have itty bitty chocolate chips here and there which were tasty. This would surely take care of a chocolate craving.



Cinnamon Raisin: This was the last one I tried and it was also my favorite. Both moist and flavorful, it had just the right amount of cinnamon with a sprinkling of raisins.



I don’t believe I’ll be joining the Gnu Joy of Fiber Club anytime soon. There are a few other natural bars that I’ve been eating for a while that I enjoyed much more than these. At $2/bar, I definitely didn’t feel there was enough bang-for-the-buck. The huge amount of fiber is a great selling point; however I have a pretty healthy diet in general and eat high fiber foods whenever I can so I get enough fiber every day through my normal eating regime.

No Good Ever Comes Out of Buying Halloween Candy A Month Early

Halloween is a double-edged sword for me. I both love it and hate it. I love it because it’s great fun living in a small town and trick-or-treating with my family and a group of girlfriend‘s families. I hate it because I have enormous difficulty not consuming vast quantities of those little candy bars. I was at a relatives this weekend and there, sitting on the kitchen table, were 3 opened bags of Halloween candy bars. She had them all…Snickers, Milky Ways, Babe Ruth’s, Twix, and the ultimate evil… Butterfingers. I could feel my willpower slipping away. I am a serious chocoholic but I’m usually able to restrict myself to small portions of dark chocolate, sugar free pudding, or protein/fiber bars while I’m doing WW. I decided to let myself have a couple and checked out the back of the bags to figure out which ones would do the least amount of damage. Apparently my favorite, Butterfingers, are so delectable because they’re chock-full of extremely fattening deliciousness. I ended up with a Twix, a Milky Way and a Snickers. Because these were just bite-size (bite-size for who?) and not snack-size (which are actually closer to bite-size ), they calculated to 1 point each. I would have loved to just dive in, but I knew that the regret and disappointment I’d feel after definitely wasn’t worth it.

Well, I made it through my first weekend since being back on WW. All-in-all I did pretty well. I even attended a baby shower today but luckily, the mother-to-be is a strict vegetarian and they decided to serve soups along with cheese and bread; there wasn’t a fatty-dip or fudgy brownie in sight. I went for the vegetable soup instead of the creamier soups (although I did have a tiny taste of the potato leek and it was exquisite) and only had a nibble of cheese. I was even able to turn down the pumpkin cheesecake when a piece was actually placed in my hands. I opted instead to have a cup of coffee. That, in itself, was a super-human feat for me; I love me some cheesecake!

Now if I can just get off my ass and start exercising.

Blondes Really Do Have More Fun

Sometime in April I was feeling particularly unsettled. I was in definite need of a change and, since I wasn’t doing such a great job with changing my weight, I decided to change my hair. My natural color is somewhere around a medium to dark blonde. I usually have some subtle highlights put into it and I’ve never really considered myself anything other than a blonde. I wanted a big modification; I wanted to go dark. Not just brown… I’m talking black… Elvira black. My stylist has been my good friend for about 23 years; we went to high school together and she’s done my hair since she was in cosmetology school in the early ‘90s. Oh, by the way… she has naturally black, gorgeous, thick hair. Our initial go at it produced a really dark brown and we decided to cut several inches off of at the same time. I was being told that I had beautiful green eyes by about everybody who saw me like they were just noticing them for the first time. I guess the darker color really brought them out. I liked it, I liked it a lot… but I didn’t feel it was dark enough. At our next coloring session a few months later, I talked her into going as dark as she could. That was the color you see in my profile picture. I loved it! The reviews were mixed. My husband, though he never came out and said he didn’t like it, would always point out how good I looked in pictures where my hair wasn’t dark. My daughters didn’t mince words and told me flat out that they didn’t care for it and my 5 year old simply said, “Mom, you have to go blonde again!” The problem with coloring your hair dark, is that it doesn’t seem to stay that color for very long. Red starts showing through and it quickly became a color I hadn’t wanted. On top of that, I didn’t feel like myself. I’m not sure how to explain it, but when I looked in the mirror, I didn’t see myself. Maybe that was what I was looking for when I originally decided to pull this stunt… but I think it kind of backfired. I know there were several other things at play but let’s just say that the biggest jump in my weight gain came between April and now. Very telling.

Now that I want to “find” myself again, I decided I have to go back to my natural color (or somewhere close to it anyway). Unfortunately, going dark is a lot easier than returning to light. I wasn’t blessed with thick lustrous hair. My hair is thin, super-fine, and delicate… not a good combination when the only way to go back to blonde in one shebang is to strip my hair of the color. That was not an option for me according to my hairdresser. Instead, we put loads of highlights in it and then another, semi-permanent honey color on top to tone them down against the dark. It’s going to be a gradual process, getting back to blonde, but I sincerely believe I need to be as close to the “old” me as possible right now.

Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen

Losing 130 pounds was no small feat, I will admit. Sometimes I still can’t believe I did it. I can barely fathom having ever weighed that much. It truly seems like a lifetime ago. I know that there were many, many people who were proud of my accomplishment, who marveled at my steadfast determination to lose the weight, and who looked up to me as the ultimate success story. Though it felt great to have such positive attention, it was also a humongous amount of pressure. I can’t count the number of people who came up to me to tell me that I’d inspired them to join WW or to take some other action to lose their extra weight. Even as I was thanking them for their compliments, for their words of admiration and sometimes even astonishment at the change in me, I could feel the pressure to maintain the loss weighing heavily on my shoulders. I would never suggest that someone shouldn’t acknowledge a friend’s weigh loss; it really does feel good and it’s fun for your accomplishments to be recognized. I’m just saying that, for me, along with this incredibly good feeling came something else.

Since gaining some of the weight back, I’ve found myself not wanting to be as active and social as I had been when I was thinner. I try to avoid running into all of those people who had once admired me and let me know how impressed they were with my achievement. I feel like I’d not only let myself down, but I’d let down pretty much everybody who had taken the initiative to let me know proud they were of me. I know what they’re thinking; I will admit that I’ve thought the same thing of people I’ve known who have lost and regained weight. I also think that most people believe that those who lose a major amount of weight will not be able to keep it off long-term. I guess that can be expected when the fact is that many people who lose weight gain it back… and then some quite often.

I think that is one of the things that I miss the most. Being out in a social situation and feeling comfortable, even confident. I see people checking me out; they take note of the extra pounds, the ill-fitting clothes, and the uncomfortable way I carry myself. I catch myself sucking in my stomach, making sure I have a cardigan on to close around my waist, and even hunching over so that my shirts don’t appear as tight against my muffin top. It’s not a fun way to live and I’m really tired of feeling this way. I’m being honest when I say that it’s not the positive attention that I’m looking for, just a lack of the negative attention.

I believe I’ve learned my lesson. I’m going to try very hard to remember how I’m feeling right now. If I ever begin to slip again, I will remind myself where I am now, and how terrible I feel about myself. Thankfully I’ll have this blog to reference.

WW Vanilla Chai Smoothie Review

I’d promised a review of the WW Vanilla Chai smoothie that I wrote about yesterday. The packet itself is 1 pt. and they suggest mixing it with a cup of water which would make the entire thing 1 pt. I thought that I’d rather add another point or two on there and have a better, creamier, more milkshake-like smoothie. I was originally going to use a cup of skim milk which would add 2 pts. but I then decided to try it with light vanilla soy milk instead. A cup of the light soy milk is 1 pt. and since it was already a vanilla chai flavor, I thought that it would compliment it nicely. I mixed it together in the blender and wasn’t too excited with the consistency; it seemed like a cup of milk instead of the treat that I was anticipating. I decided to throw in a few ice cubes and let that sucker spin for a good 30 seconds on high. Holy cow, that did the trick. What I ended up with was a huge tall glass of the yummiest smoothie. It was just delicious and very substantial. I chugged that sucker right down; maybe a little too fast. It filled me up and put a smile on my face. I’d definitely give this 3.5 stars out of a possible 5.

It's All Greek To Me

I’m in love. Madly, deeply, obsessively, utterly in love… and it’s not with my husband. Oh, he knows I’ve got a “thing” going on; I haven’t been able to hide it very well. He just thinks it’s a phase; that it’s just a little infatuation and it’ll probably blow over in no time. I can’t stop thinking about it. I want it morning, noon and night… and then some in between as well. As a matter of fact, I had some this morning and am already thinking I need more; it’s never enough. No, I’m not talking about some hot, young stud… I’m talking about Greek yogurt. Fage 0% to be exact. With a drizzle of honey. I eat it every morning for breakfast and actually have felt something akin to panic when I run out. It’s not always easy to find in my area and I feel it’s a bit on the pricey side, but I can’t help myself. I think my local grocery market knows about this “problem” I have and takes it upon themselves to ration me… seriously. The last several times I’ve gone to buy it there are only two cartons of it sitting on the shelf. Two… each time. Like they’re dispensing it at a reasonable rate for my own good or something. You wouldn’t believe how fast I put those bad boys in my cart. This week there was a woman standing right in front of that shelf eye-balling the display. In my head I’m chanting “not the Fage, not the Fage!!!”. I may have added a couple not-so-nice words in there to and I feel a little bad about that. Luckily she reached for the soy yogurt that is right above it. I’m not sure what would have happened if she’s taken those last two containers of my yogurt. My heart was racing and I can honestly say that I would have had to control myself with every fiber of my being not to forcibly take that yogurt form her. Let’s hope I never have to find out.

Now I know that Greek yogurt isn’t for everybody. I’ve made several people try it and have heard things ranging from “it tastes like baby puke” to “Oh my God, I’d rather starve than eat that shit”. I’ll have to admit, I didn’t fall head-over-heels the first time I tried it either. As a matter of fact, it made me a bit queasy. I tried the Fage Total which is the full fat version and it came with its own honey. I’m not sure why, but even after having a less-than-stellar initial experience with it, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I decided to try the 2% because they didn’t carry the 0% yet at my store. I used my own honey this time and added a few pistachios on top. That’s when the scorching hot romance began, and it hasn’t cooled since. Fortunately, it’s exceptionally good for you. The Fage 0% has only 120 calories, 0 fat (2 pts) and 20g of protein per cup! 20 grams of protein! Those are amazing stats. And a cup of this stuff is a lot people… very filling. I drizzle 1 tb. of honey (1 pt) on top and it’s like Heaven’s doors opening for my taste buds. I’ve actually caught myself moaning while I’m eating this stuff. I kid you not. It’s the best 3 points I’ve ever consumed; and that’s saying a lot. I’ve since met several die-hard Greek yogurt fans and I’m relieved to say that I’m not the only one with such fanatical love for this stuff. There truly should be some type of support group for Greek yogurt addicts. GYA (Greek Yogurt Anonymous)… “Hi, my name is Nik and I’m addicted to Greek yogurt”. I can say I’ve never had such an unhealthy fixation on such a healthy food… well, except for those few mind-blowing months with the Spicy California rolls but that’s a story for another time.

(I'd give this way more than 5 stars but, to keep things consistent for future reviews, I'll stick to the 1-5 star scale. It's so worth 8 though... at least.)

Second Time's A Charm

Well, today is the day. The new round of WW meetings is starting at work and they begin at noon. I have another commitment that won’t allow me to be for the beginning but my leader said that she’s usually there until 1:30 and she’ll leave the scales out since she knows I’ll be coming later. I’m excited and nervous… but mostly excited. I stepped on the scale this morning for the first time in a while. I didn’t want to be too freaked out if the number was something that I wasn’t expecting… I think I’d probably have a small break down right there during the weigh-in. Luckily, it was the same as I’d seen weeks back, so apparently I’ve at least maintained and not gained more. This is a good thing. I know I’ll have a good 45 pounds or so to lose before hitting goal again but I’m up for it. I’ll update when I get back from the meeting this afternoon. Wish me luck.
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Okay, so I ended up getting to the meeting at 12:40 and weighed-in and heard the entire meeting, which was nice. To be more exact, I have 48 pounds to lose to get to goal according to the WW scales. They’re 1.5 pounds heavier than mine but I was naked and hadn’t eaten anything so I do believe that’s about right. Right now I get 26 points, at least until I lose 3 pounds, and 35 flex points a week. I eat those suckers too. Every single one of them. I always did when I originally lost the weight and I have no doubt I will this time as well. It worked for me because I didn’t have to starve myself to maintain once I got to my goal. I really believe that if you eat very little to lose the weight, you will have to eat even less to maintain the weight loss and I didn’t want to have to do that. It may have taken me a little longer to lose it by eating all of the flex, but I still think 90 pounds in a year isn’t too shabby. I bought a box of the new Chai flavored smoothie mixes from WW to try; my friend said they were terrific and tasted like cake batter. Yum. They’d better be good for $7.50! I’ll report back on that.

Here We Go Again

Actually written on Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Tomorrow it starts… again. Thankfully, I’ve caught it before it’s gotten too far out of hand. Granted, 45 pounds isn’t anything to sneeze at, but it’s much better than the 130 pounds I had to lose before! I surely didn’t want to be one of those people who got to their goal (well, actually below it) and then gained it all back and then some. In 2004 I started doing WW online and lost about 30 pounds. At that point, I changed jobs and WW meetings were offered at work so I joined. I went on to lose another 90 pounds in just over a year. I’ll tell ya… I was the best little Weight Watcher-er. I’m an “all or nothing” kind of person and I put my all into it and pretty much didn’t waiver until I’d reached my goal. I went on to maintain or dip below my goal for the next year or so without much of a problem. I was exercising regularly and eating the plan without actually keeping track of points. I’d been doing it so long that I pretty much knew what everything was worth and when I was “done” for the day in my head. Then, a few things happened in 2007:

1. I started addressing some issues in my life that were really stressing me out.
2. I had a breast reduction surgery that summer that made me discontinue the running I’d been doing for a while (about 4 miles 3-4 times a week).
3. Unknowingly, my thyroid was under functioning and my endocrinologist didn’t bother to phone me that I needed to increase my dose of Synthroid.

I think the combination of stress and depression and under-active thyroid really took its toll. My thyroid was plummeting throughout the year but I just thought I was dealing with things that were difficult and it was making me depressed. Plus, I’d given up on my exercise program and just could never get motivated to re-start it. When it was all said and done, the damage came in the form of an extra 45 pounds. I feel terrible, I think I look terrible, I miss the old, thinner, more confident me. I want her back. I will get her back. Tomorrow is the first day back on plan and I am so looking forward to it. I need the accountability of meetings and to start journaling everything I eat, each mile I walk, and every pound I lose. You should see my charts… they are amazing and plentiful. I had one for every aspect of weight loss and those tools really kept me going and helped me along my path. I’m breaking them out again. I can’t believe I let myself get here… but not for long!