georgia girl

It was pretty darn tasty! It was a good change from regular peanut butter and much less calories!

I love Nutella, but I don't like wasting 200 calories and 11g of fat on 2 tbsp of it. I made my own today for only 80 calories and 3g of fat. Granted, it's not made with hazelnuts, but you get the same kind of taste with this. I used some in a smoothie this morning (I call it Nutella pumpkin Smoothie...YUM!) and I also put some on my whole wheat toast today for lunch. It was delicious!! Ingredients: 2 tbsp PB2 powder (basically ground peanuts without the add fat like in peanut butter) 2-3 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used 3 and it came out with a rich dark chocolate taste) 1 tsp of raw natural honey (if you like yours really sweet, you could always add a little more) about 2 tbsp of Water In a small bowl, add PB2 and cocoa. Whisk together with a whisk until most of the lumps are gone. Add honey and 1 tbsp water. Mix well. Add another tbsp of water if it's too thick. You can add as much or as little water as you like depending on your desired consistency. Enjoy! *I think there is a PB2 powder that already has cocoa added to it, so you could just omit the cocoa if you have that kind. *If you are not fond of a rich dark chocolate taste, you could use a little less cocoa and a little more honey and it should dial the flavor down a little. I love the dark chocolate taste though!

I use myfitnesspal. Yes, there is a forum and you can track food, exercise, and Water comsumption. I love it! It keeps me accountable and on track! My username is georgiagirl1980 if anyone wants to add me

I used to have a bullet (a long time ago) and it worked pretty well but at the time I didn't try anything like spinach in it, so I don't know if it would work or not. The blender I have works pretty well with fruit. I want to try to sneak spinach in my son's smoothies, but I know he will not drink it if he sees bits of spinach leaves.

I have been wanting to get a new blender that is more high performance. Right now I have a Ninja blender and it's just not cutting it. It leaves a lot of texture in my smoothies and I would like for my smoothies to be, well...smooth. I put a lot of spinach in my smoothies and it doesn't completely get all the bits of spinach blended. I would love to have one that gives a smoother texture. I have heard everyone raving about the Vitamix and I have looked it up and it's just too expensive for me. I wish I could afford it, but it's just not going to happen. Does anyone have a blender that makes their smoothies smooth and doesn't cost a fortune?? I appreciate any feedback, thanks!

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/recipes/categories/ Here is a website that has a lot of clean smoothie recipes that I have used and like. For the most part, I try to eat as clean as possible but I do still have off days (mostly on the weekends). This website has some really good ones. If you come across a recipe that has greek yogurt and no added sweetener to it, you may want to add a little honey to it. I have found that some are a little too tangy for my taste, so I add honey or agave to mine. I add a bunch of fresh spinach in my fruit smoothies and you can't even really taste the spinach. It's a great way for me to get in lots of nutrients. I love peanut butter and banana together! If there is a day when I need more protein, I will add a scoop of chocolate whey Protein powder and it's soooo good! I cut up my fresh bananas and freeze them, so when I blend them in my smoothies, it almost has a milkshake consistency. You can also take a sliced frozen banana and add about 1/4 c. of milk, blend it (you may have to scrape the sides down a few times) and it comes out like banana ice cream. It's ice cream without the guilt!!

I'm not a breakfast eater, so I will often make smoothies for breakfast. In my green smoothie, I add 2 whole cups of packed fresh spinach. I don't even taste the spinach because the fruit hides the flavor. It took me a long time to realize that I was focusing too much on Protein and not nearly enough on fruits and veggies. Colon cancer runs in my family and I had a pre-cancerous polyp removed a while back. I now focus more on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. I still eat meat, but rarely ever eat red meat anymore. I also get protein from Greek yogurt and Beans. I eat edamame all the time, it's one of my favorite vegetables. if you don't think you can eat the veggies, try smoothies. It's a great way to get the nutrients in without having to struggle to get them down.

Here are a few of my favorites to snack on: Almonds~ This is probably my favorite to snack on. They are super healthy too. Crackers~ My favorite crackers are Wheatables Nut Crisps (Toasted Pecan)...yum! Multigrain Cheerios (dry)~ The peanut butter ones are my favorite! Smoothies~ I usually do these for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Apples with peanut butter Whole wheat toast with peanut butter or nutella Sliced cucumber and tomato wedges marinated in a little balsamic vinegar

On average, how many calories are you getting in each day? I really feel like you are not eating enough for the exercise you are doing, if your previous meal post is your normal. Have you thought about eating 6 small meals a day (around 150-200 calories each every 2-3 hours), instead of 3 regular meals? Maybe that would give your metabolism a boost. Just a thought. Maybe you could try changing up your workout routine too? That sometimes helps.

I came across this article on how to boost your metabolism and how to maximize your fat burning. Lots of great tips! Check it out. http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/news-fastestfatburners/?cid=hero_media

So sorry to hear that. Prayers going up for you and your family.

There are lots of good recipes on the Cooking, Baking, and Recipes subforum. You could also look at the share ideas thread....over 300 pages of bandsters posting what they ate today. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/35614-share-ideas-what-did-you-eat-today/

In general, I am not much of a breakfast eater....never have been. I also make smoothies for breakfast. I do all kinds of smoothies...fruit smoothies, vegetable smoothies. I have made sweet potato smoothies, Peanut Butter and banana smoothies, apple cinnamon smoothies, banana pumpkin smoothies, smoothies with spinach. It's a good way for me to get nutrients in without having to eat them and I love them. Fruit is naturally sweet, so I don't usually add any other sweeteners to mine. But, like waitingpatiently said, you can eat whatever food you want for breakfast, just make it healthy. Good luck!

idahoanmom, you make some valid points. I agree that we don't always make time for ourselves. It's hard to do sometimes, but we should. I don't exercise everyday, but I do exercise 4-5 times a week and I feel good about that. I think the reason people are getting upset has to do with the harshness of the OP's posts, not so much disagreeing with what she said. We all know that exercising is beneficial to our health. No one is agruing that. Is it necessary for weight loss? Not always. I have a friend (not banded) that has lost 76 lbs over the past year without exercising at all. Not sure why she didn't, but nevertheless, she lost the weight in a healthy way. She cut out processed foods and started eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean Protein, etc. She has just recently started exercising, but didn't the whole time she was losing weight. Now, that definitely isn't my approach, but who am I to judge her methods? She did what worked for her and she succeeded. We have no idea what circumstances others are faced with, what medical conditions might be a factor, or what their lives are like in general. We have no idea. Everyone's journey is not the same. What works for some, doesn't work for others. And no, not everyone exercises. So what....let it go.

You could always try the Brazilian Butt Lift videos. I have not tried it, but it might be worth a try. The infomercials look pretty interesting...

Congrats!! Finishing is more important that any ribbon or time. Way to go! I used to run and I loved it. I am currently trying to get myself back in good enough shape to start again.

Planning is a must for me, too! I log everything I eat. If I don't plan, I will fail. Simple as that.

I think that was the problem with the first brand I tried. This new one is much better and didn't leave an after taste.

I tried Stevia a while back and didn't like it (I can't remember what brand it was). I thought I'd give it another try, so I bought some Stevia in the raw yesterday and tried it in my coffee this morning.....it wasn't that bad. I think I can definitely get used to it.

I have been using Agave in my morning smoothies and I like it. I have never been diagnosed with diabetes, but it runs in my immediate family. My blood sugar has been on the higher side of normal, so I try to be careful with it. I agree with you about the artificial sweeteners. I just wish I had realized it years ago...

Pure Via comes from the stevia plant, right? I have tried stevia and I don't like it at all. So unless pure via tastes a whole lot different than stevia, I don't think I'll like it.

I tried the maple syrup in my coffee this morning and it was pretty good. I had to use a whole tablespoon to get it even close enough to being sweet for my taste though. Maybe I can start there and try gradually backing down to a teaspoon. I only drink one cup a day (most of the time), so I don't think one tablespoon of syrup per day is all that bad.

That is good to know. Thanks!

I have never heard of muscavado brown sugar. I will have to check that out. I think I will try the maple syrup tomorrow and see how I like it. Thanks for the tips

Thanks, Cazzy! I never thought of maple syrup. I have pumpkin spice coffee, so the maple syrup might compliment it well. I wish I could drink it without anything....I have tried before and I just can't. Who knows though. I know of people that have kept trying and grown to like it...