Stuffed days. Stuffed potatoes. And an invitation to get stuffed!

Saturday was packed full, from the moment we got up until the moment we fell flat on our faces onto the sheets. We...

• ...cleaned our fool heads off. We cook so much lately that if we skip just one day of our regularly-scheduled kitchen scrubdown, grossness (and lack of dishes) ensues.
• ...sweated!  Richard was wearing a costume that caused people - including me - to spontaneously outburst expletives upon sight.  I cannot WAIT until those videos get uploaded so I can share them with you.
• ...entertained!  We hung out with my lovely mother-in-law Jean (hi, Jean!) who hadn't seen us since January.  She was also very kind and generous in offering to help us tailor some clothes we'd grown out of (or had torn and outgrown and then... in-grew? re-grew into? Need a word for "we fit again.")  Tom made lunch for the three of us; more on that below.
• ...were entertained! We got the first peek at our lovely friend after recent surgery, and on her birthday, no less.  It's always nice to see someone after healthy recovery, to be able to witness that they're doing OK. 
• ...ordered take-out.  (Not fast take-out... I'm coming on 4 months since I've eaten fast food.)  It was from a healthy-type diner in our area.  Not perfect, but it met our goals for calories and balance, so I'm not beating myself up for it. Egg whites, a little soyrizo, a little cheese... not bad for a very-hungry and very-exhausted late night.  Plus I turned down the sour cream and used the fat free version we bought recently at Trader Joe's. Which, by the way, is the best fat free sour cream I've ever had.

So. Tom's lunch.  I swear, people. I would clone him and share him with all of you if I wasn't so greedy. (And, you know, had a duplicator.)

Tom made a full-on Indian lunch, with curried cauliflower, spiced daal (or lentils, for those of you who don't frequent Indian fare), fresh raita (technically, I made that!), tropical fruit salad, and one particularly excellent pièce de résistance.

I don't know if you've had samosas before, but there are few words to describe something this delicious.  So I'll use a picture.

Photo by Flickr user Zeetz Jones

They're a popular snack in south Asia (often used as an appetizer in Indian restaurants.)  Fillings can vary, but they're frequently potato-based, tucked into a crispy yet tender deep-fried pyramid. 

As you might expect, one small samosa (which will usually fit within the palm of your hand) is pretty caloric, especially since it's fried.  It can range from 200 to 350 calories depending on the ingredients.  And, alas, samosas are one of Tom's very favorite foods.  That many calories in one little snack, and they come in twos or threes, and how do you stop yourself from ordering more? I guess we're SOL.

Wait.  What's that in the sky?  It's a bird... it's a plane... it's... VEGANOMICON!

This brilliant cookbook has become one of our very favorites.  And thanks to authors Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, Tom does not have to go without his beloved samosas now that he can make Samosa-Stuffed Baked Potatoes, which he did for lunch on Saturday.  Here's how he did it.

4 Russet potatoes, baked & cooled
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons light oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 small yellow onion, diced small
1 medium carrot, diced small
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger, grated
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

First, chop the onion, carrot and garlic into mincey-sized pieces.

Then bake the 'tatoes at 450 for about an hour, until tender.  Slice them in half.  Mmm, cross-sectiony.

Remove the tasty flesh and mash it. You would feel very differently about this sentence if I were a cannibal.

In a frying pan, heat the mustard and coriander seeds in 2 tsp of oil, until they pop. 
You'll want to cover them so as to avoid popped seed welts.

Add the chopped onion and carrot to the seed mixture and saute until translucent.

Add the garlic and ginger, and saute for another two minutes. 
Then add the remaining spices, water, and potato flesh to the pan and mix to combine (not pictured.)

Stuff the 'tato shells with the mixture, and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.  Squeeze the lemon juice over the halves.
Garnish with a little cilantro (if you think cilantro tastes like heaven and not like soap) and serve!

These are incredibly tasty, and with the crunch of the twice-baked shell, you'd never miss the fried samosa pastry.  One half of a potato is about the heft of 2 samosas, and 118 calories instead of the 700 that two large samosas would cost you.  Kudos to Tom for trying this recipe (and sharing the delicious spoils with me!)

Do you want to try these?  I know you do.  Well, good news for those of you in Southern California, we've decided that the sequel to our first healthy luncheon party will be an all-Indian affair.  It's going to be delicious, and filling, and it's not going to top 600 calories.

If you would like to be a guest at our Indian luncheon, let me know here, or on Facebook, on Twitter, by email, by stork... and we'll have you over for a Raja's Feast!

Cake Pops Quest: Part the First

All right!  As I mentioned yesterday, I'm on a quest to create the best-tasting recipe for cake pops for the least amount of calories.  I have been brainstorming several variations on the theme, and will be trying them out on several test audiences (family, friends, innocent bystanders) over the next few weeks.

I wanted to start simple, just to get a feel for the process of making the pops, so I started with a base of diet soda cake.  My version is a twist on an old stand-by recipe from Weight Watchers (first introduced to me by my friend Aimee several years ago.)  All you need for these is four ingredients:

Add the diet soda to the cake mix.  It will get very frothy initially.

Mix (in a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, in a box, with a fox) for 30 seconds on low, to combine.

Mix on high for 2 minutes, to make it smooth and creamy.

Pour into a 9x13 pan (or any pans you have available) that has been sprayed with Pam or spritzed lightly with oil. 
Bake according to directions on the box. I baked this for 28 minutes at 325.

Breaktime #1!  Let the cake cool uncovered, overnight.

When you return to the cake, hack into it with two forks, making the entire thing a mess of crumbs.

When all is crummy, add your frosting to the pan.

Wash your hands, please. And then... moosh.  Moooosh the crumbs into the frosting.  Mooooooosh.

Mooshy.

Wash your hands, please.  Then take a tablespoon scoop, and dole yourself some moosh and roll it into a little ball.

In fact, roll yourself 45 little balls.  If it gets too gooey, pop the moosh into the fridge for 15 minutes. 
You can tell the freshly-fridged balls from the getting-warmer balls.

Stick 'em up.

Break #2!  Let the pops sit in the freezer overnight.

Oops. I added one ingredient to the mix in the first photo.
What can I say? The bling-y sprinkles from Kake Kreations hopped into my basket.

Heat up a double boiler and add some candy coating.
(This is better for dipping than actual chocolate or white chocolate, which is a thicker liquid when melted.)

Smooth as baby Charlotte's bottom. We assume.

Move the melted coating to a vessel which lets you can easily dip. 
I use the smallest bowl from our Crate & Barrel stackable mixing bowl set.

Snag a pop from the freezer, and dip and swirl it around in the coating. 
Make sure that all parts, including the top of the stick, are thoroughly coated so the cake does not dry out.

Decorate, if you wish.

The finished pops!

I have stored ours in the freezer - I'm told that putting them in the fridge can sometimes cause coating to sweat and soften.

128 calories per pop!

Tom and I each had one today.  They're not bad, but they're definitely cake-in-a-box-y.  If you like cake-in-a-box, you'll like them.  If you don't, you may find them to be too sweet.  (I did.)

So, here enters my quest.  I'll be swapping ingredients in and out as I experiment.  I'm looking forward to trying some from-scratch recipes that are healthier.  (The list of ingredients on a cake mix box are a bit scary.  Uber-processed isn't how we eat these days.)  I'll be trying out some unconventional add-ins (pumpkin!) and some unforeseen cake ball leave-outs (frosting!) to see how healthy I can make these without losing the yum factor.  Stay tuned over the next few weeks for Cake Pop Quest: Part the Second!

Extra post! Gay Yogurt

Due to amusing feedback on Twitter, I felt the need to share my photo essay on Gay Yogurt.

By which I mean Yogurt Stop in West Hollywood, at which I've become a regular on Thursday afternoons.

Usually I make a smoothie (greek yogurt, skim milk, frozen banana slices & berries) about an hour before Slimmons classes, to fuel up before I rock out with 90 minutes of pretty hard exercise.  But on Thursdays, we head into Beverly Hills for my 4:00 therapy appointment, leaving an hour before Slimmons opens (and heading home to make that smoothie would leave us about 30 seconds before we had to go back to Beverly Hills.)

Instead of going to a smoothie store - which is usually too caloric - I have been getting a cup of light yogurt with a serving of fruit at Yogurt Stop.  Their nutritional facts are available online.  Plus, their flavors are tasty.  And irreverent.  Here's the trio I got today:

 

And here are those three flavors in one cup:

Now, with a serving of berries!

Comes to grand total of 200 calories for the yogurt, 50 calories for the fruit.  0 calories for being FAAAABULOUS.

Adventure Wednesday, plus creative inspiration!

It's been a terrific week so far!  Progress on home, on self, on creative projects... plus time to relax.   I even logged a new exercise at Slimmons on Tuesday night: sideways leaps!  I am careful to keep my aerobics very low-impact, because I don't want to risk hurting my knees at this weight.  So I do my jumping-jacks one-legged, and I side-step the side-leaps.  But something on Tuesday compelled me to push myself.  (That "something" was probably Richard.  It was definitely Richard.)  And suddenly, there I was, flying sideways across the room.  Man, jumping is good cardio.  No wonder it's included so often.  I'm still going to move into the higher-impact like a turtle in molasses in January, but it's nice to know that I am ready for lateral bounds.

And another Wednesday has come and gone!  We headed out for Adventuring yesterday with big plans... and not enough time.  I'd had trouble falling asleep the night before, which led to a bit of a lie-in that morning, so my day was squashed short.  By the time we headed out, we were only able to make it to half of our planned adventure.  My first hike (!) will have to wait for the next adventure.

We did, however, make it to the first half of our plans - a bakery supply shop in Canoga Park called Kake Kreations.  (Heh, I misspelled both words of the name automatically when I typed it. My fingers like to spell "cake" and "creations" properly, I guess.)

I know what you're thinking.  You're wondering why someone on a weight loss journey would go to a bakery supply shop as an adventure. 

On my quest for health and balance, I've been seeking ways to enjoy food without overindulging.  Along the way, I have discovered a little trend known as Cake Pops.  Made popular by blogger Bakerella (and first introduced to me by way of Facebook, by my friend Molly), Cake Pops are little nuggets of cakey goodness on a lollipop stick.  I love treats.  In fact, I wouldn't have guessed it, but the thing that tempts me most when I'm on track... turns out to be dessert.  I've been looking for good ways to allow for moderate indulgence, and this seemed to be a fun option.

It turns out, though, that most of the commercially available pops are calorie-heavy, considering the small portion you're eating.  If what's in your tablespoon - not on your plate, just in one tablespoon - is more than 200 calories, it might be time to reconsider your tablespoon.  So I have decided to make it my quest to come up with the best possible Cake Pop recipe, with the most yum for the least bum.  And in order to start that quest, I needed supplies.  Enter Kake Kreations.

I was stunned at just how many different kinds of supplies the store carried!  They had everything you can imagine ever needing for baking... plus a ton you couldn't have imagined.

Bling-y sprinkles!

Every color of sanding sugar in the rainbow, plus several that aren't found anywhere near a rainbow. Unless you count rainbows by Lisa Frank.

Tons and tons of artificial flavors. The schnozzberries even taste like schnozzberries.

More cookie cutters than I realized existed.

Remind me to ask for some of these awesome concentric sets for Christmas.

Multiple walls of candy molds.

Including this DARLING teacup-and-saucer set

And these inexplicable credit card molds.  Chocolate.  It's everywhere you want to be.

Everyone there was incredibly friendly and helpful, and we walked out with the supplies we needed (lollipop sticks, candy shell, and cellophane bags.) Plus I snagged some extra surprises for an upcoming project.  More on that later.

We were out so far in the valley because we had an evening appointment to see another one of those super-secret movie test screenings.  We picked up some reading materials at a nearby bookstore and munched on our brown-bag dinners to avoid the siren call of popcorn (which we did successfully, though it was definitely a challenge.  The people next to us came armed with a veritable movie concession feast.)   I can't tell you what movie it was, but I will tell you that I was totally surprised and delighted by how great it was.  

I love how good movies inspire good work.  I'm always on the lookout for inspiration, and I have a few links on the topic to share with you today.

• If I can't have a real backyard yet, maybe for now I can cultivate a container backyard!

• If I can't eat a real chocolate bunny, maybe I can make these adorable faux ones!

• It is putting it mildly to say I'm a Muppet fan. My family tells a story about how I used to prop myself up and dance along with the original Muppet Show before I was able to walk.  Plus, I'm a sucker for dioramas and miniatures. So it was approximately 1.2 seconds before I fell thoroughly and irreversibly in love with this hand-made Muppet theater playset.  The detail work is astounding.

• These 10 ideas for becoming a better artist or writer sound a bit similar to what I've been discovering lately.  I highly recommend any working or aspiring artist or writer consider what this suggests.

All right... that's it for today.  I'll be back tomorrow with my step-by-step walk-through of Cake Balls Quest: Part the First.  Keep on adventuring, keep on creating, and take care of you, everybody!

Weigh-in Tuesday, plus a surprise at IHOP!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  And it is a happy Tuesday indeed.  Today I'm down 3 more pounds, for a total of 37 pounds, which is over 10 percent of my starting body weight!

10 percent may sound like kind of a small number.  But considering that in order to hit "normal" weight (not obese/overweight) I have to lose 50% of my starting weight... that means I'm actually 1/5 of the way there.

I tried to look up what 36 pounds (my 10%) looks like, but I got bupkis in that department.  In the process, I did manage to stumble upon the grossest weight-loss motivation tool I've ever seen.  I am sparing you all the photos of My Pet Fat (an anatomical model of what an ounce, 1 pound or 5 pounds of fat looks like) because I'm hoping some of you have eaten breakfast today and I don't want to deprive you of your nutrition (or ruin your keyboards).

Calories this week were good across the board... though, actually, I was below my calorie goal a few days this week, and I'd rather stay as close to it as possible.  I don't have any desire to freak out my metabolism.  That red line is 1500 (and my typical aim is 1400.)  Funny to see that my appetite has a pattern.  More, less, less, more, less, less, more...

One very exciting (but slow-moving) figure is my BMI.  Since I started January 11, I'm down 6 full BMI points.  Every day I approach a more normal weight.  There's a long way to go (4/5 of the way to go, really.)  But I've already come so far.

I'm actually a little surprised that my number was as low as it was today.   I was expecting a slow week because last night I ate a late-late dinner.  A very reasonable one, but a late one.  As I've gotten used to the process of weighing in, I've seen exactly how late eating affects a morning scale!

But I didn't mind the late dinner.  I was out celebrating Peter Haskell's posthumous win of Best Director at the LA Weekly theater awards last night.  It was such a thrill to be there with his family (his daughter Audra is a dear friend of mine, and I loved Peter so much.)  His show won all three of the awards it was nominated for - so well-deserved for a career waged passionately in the arts.

After the ceremony we headed out to the nearest open restaurant... the International House of Pancakes, where I hadn't been in many years.  We were excited to discover that IHOP has displayed all calorie counts on their menus.  So many of the dishes make up about 100% of my daily allotted calories, but fortunately they have clearly labeled "Simple & Fit" items which are really quite reasonable.  I had the S&F roasted veggie egg-substitute omelet with a side of fruit for 320 calories, which was surprisingly delicious.  Audra chose an S&F entree too, chicken with balsamic and mushrooms - I can't vouch for it but it definitely looked tasty.

No photos of our food, but my omelet actually did look similar to IHOP's food stylist's.

I really appreciate the effort that some restaurants are putting into offering healthy options.  And I think that more of them should do so.  Come on, restaurateurs.  If IHOP can do it, you can, too.

Friend Makin' Monday, plus: the art of balance

I was having such trouble with motivation and balance yesterday.  I'll tell you all about it, but first, it's Friend Makin' Monday so I have some questions to answer!

FMM: Describe Your Dream Mate

My dream mate is kind.  He is gentle and loving to animals and in-laws.  He knows when something is going to make you sad, even before you do.  He comforts you when it does.  He's honest to everyone he meets, and loyal to everyone he loves.

My dream mate is supportive.  He is a cheerleader when you're winning, and especially when you feel like you're going to fail.  He goes with you to exercise classes, even when he's feeling shy.  He is behind you 100% when you're working on yourself, and does nothing to sabotage your good work.  And when you want to sabotage your own good work, he doesn't criticize.  He doesn't ignore your pain.  He takes you in his arms, and he dances with you.  He just dances with you.

My dream mate is funny.  He may be quiet in crowds, but when he does speak up, it is always something that makes people laugh.  And they rarely see it coming.

My dream mate is smart.  He has a good understanding of the world and how it works, he follows the news, he reads, he absorbs facts like a sponge, which makes him a formidable competitor at any trivia game.  He remembers telephone numbers (as I do not.)

My dream mate likes pretty much exactly what I like, when it comes to movies or hobbies or people or design.  Maybe there's a few differences thrown in for good measure.  There has to be something to debate, after all.

And I'll admit that the description of my dream mate might make you might laugh, and tell me he doesn't exist, and that it's very unlikely I'd ever be lucky enough to meet him if he did.  But you'd be wrong on both counts.  I was surprised that he existed, too.  So I married him.

***

On to balance and motivation, and a challenging day yesterday.

As has been the case since January, I was happy to do everything related to my weight loss journey.  Plan food for the week? Check.  Eat planned food for the day? Check.  Go to the gym? Check.  Blog about weight loss journey? Check.

But as has been the case since January, being so successful with my health has caused the balance to shift.  Everything that I used to do easily (while I avoided taking care of myself) is like pulling teeth now that I'm focusing on my health.  So when it came to anything else yesterday... dishes, laundry, journaling, bill-paying, writing, meditation... you name it, I tried to shirk out of it.  Successfully.  Just before our planned departure time for the gym, I was in pieces. And in tears.  There's so much that I want out of life.  And so much of it starts with these little tasks that I sometimes struggle with.  Writing leads to career.  Bill-paying leads to house-buying.  Laundry leads to looking cute, putting your best foot forward, and not smelling.  Doing dishes leads to avoiding bug infestation, and we ALL appreciate that.

I urgently want the career, the house, the peace of mind. (And following that, the other, more unspoken desire: the kid I can't afford in LA without those things.) So why is it so damned hard sometimes?

Before Tom lovingly nudged the gym bag into my hands, I posted one sentence on Facebook:

"I used to do everything but take care of myself.  Now I work hard to take care of myself, but everything else feels like a struggle.  Will I ever be able to balance?"

When I got back from my swim (and since then) I've received such insightful replies that I wanted to share some of them with you, here.  Because so many people seek balance and it may well be the eternal struggle.  For your inspiration, here are some of my friends' thoughts on balance:

Erica says: "I think there will be a point where balance is found... but it takes time and practice, just like living healthier."

Lisa says:  "I always think of balance as a pendulum on a string.  It gets pulled too hard in one direction, it has to swing back and forth to achieve balance again.  But it always swings by balance on the way back and forth, so you can at least keep your eye on it and know where it is."

Cynthia says:  "In dance, balance is something that is always - slightly - maintained, but is the place you start from, again and again, only to move beyond the point of being centered.  Getting back there, that is where the struggle is, that is where life is lived.  Rejoice in the act of coming to center and bursting forth."

Today the pendulum has been heading back to center again.  I'm waving at it as I pass by.  I rejoice as I burst forth.

Pizza and Cake

I've had a very pleasant low-internet few days, in which I...

...exercised every day!  I'm still on a roll for the #100daychip, on that as well as planned food.  Thursday was at Slimmons, Friday was in the pool, Saturday was at Slimmons, and today I'll be back in the pool.

...organized our spice cupboard! Previously, every recipe would send us on a wild spice chase.  Now it is - I'm not kidding you - in alphabetical order.  When it comes to organizing, I'm the picture-image of Longfellow's Little Girl with the Little Curl.  "When she was good, she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid."

Earlier this week at Good Will, I also purchased a second-hand spice magnet set. Alas, it doesn't fit within our cupboard, so it's now hanging on the fridge, waiting for us to select our six most popular spices.

...bought some makeup!  Thanks to roller-coastery hormones, I've been breaking out terribly the last few months, but my inflammation has finally tamed down.  I'm usually an all-or-nothing girl with makeup.  Bare, or matte with ruby lips.  But thanks to the glow I've gotten from healthy eating and regular exercise, I wanted to take a look at a few more 'natural' cosmetics, that would allow me to clean up for special occasions without covering up. (Well, special occasions and Slimmons, where Richard tells us quite plainly that we should wear makeup in class.  He does, after all, so why shouldn't we?)  I have a trove of Target gift cards I've been sitting on, so I headed to Target where I found some excellent natural products, including:

Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer.  This is very light and sheer, though it helps me even my skin tone. It's slightly luminescent so it adds a fresh, dewy finish.  (If I want to be fancy, I'll use a little pressed powder over top.  I use Dior, though I'm running out and may have to try something a little more budget-friendly when it's gone.)

Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush.  More of a creamy stain than a typical blush, this helps me bring out a little more color after the Pixi primer evens my skintone.  It was very light for a cream, which - to me - means that it doesn't make my already oily skin any more of an oilslick.

And my new favorite, Maybelline's Color Sensational Lip Stain (in Touch of Toffee.)  This is exactly what I was looking for - it is a stain, not a stick or gloss, so it adds a dimension of sheer color that stays in place for several hours.  It looks (and kind of feels) like a felt-tip marker!  It's a little bit on the drying side, so I have been putting a little lip balm on top to keep them soft. (My favorite is by Tokyo Milk.)

...hung out with friends. I stayed within my targeted calories and planned 200 calories of indulgence, despite the lovely array of their snack table.  Half an ounce of herbed goat cheese, two crackers, and two tangerines.  (I was able to bypass things that involved puff pastry or chocolate chips.)  Again, eating before parties or movies makes all the difference for me.

...watched a movie I knew I'd dislike, for the very pleasure of disliking it.  I am not a big fan of hate as a general rule, but for some reason, I get a real kick out of hating movies.  (For the record, it was Sucker Punch.  No one incites more hate-glee in me than Zach Snyder.)

...decided to eat pizza and cake.  Yes, really.  She'll skip puff pastry and chocolate chips, but eat pizza and cake?  Yes.  But I haven't eaten either of them yet.

I made a rule for myself that has really helped me aim for moderation and avoid emotional eating.  I'm going to be on this path for the rest of my life, and if I don't practice eating all kinds of food in moderation, it will always be a challenge that hangs over my head.  Enter the seven-day rule.  If I am craving a food that doesn't typically fit within my target for nutrition (both calorie total as well as overall balance), I allow myself to eat it.  If I still really want it after seven days.  That way, I'm not eating on emotional impulse.  And I still get to step outside of what I normally choose to eat these days.  The rest of my life is - I hope - a very long time to not eat something.  I haven't made all of these changes to 'punish' myself, but to take care of myself.  Cutting out pizza, or sugar, or any kind of food entirely is a quick path to guilt and shame and failure.  So instead, I plan, I allow, and I balance.

I've only had one real craving since I started in January, and that was in early February, for a particular brownie I missed.  So I waited the seven days... then I waited four more days, because I wasn't sure I wanted to slow down any progress I was having.  But then on that twelfth day, I decided it was time.  I was not going to let one brownie knock me off my path - it would, in fact, help keep me on my path.  I ate the brownie (over two days, actually.)  And because I didn't want it to be mindless eating, I uni-tasked it: I sat quietly and enjoyed the brownie with all my senses.  It was all I needed.

I'm at the seven-day mark for pizza craving today.  We make single-serving homemade pizza every few weeks, but I wasn't craving homemade pizza.  I was craving pizza-pizza.  Specifically, Round Table's Gourmet Garlic Chicken pizza.  So once I reached my seven-day mark today, I had the familiar "now that I can have it, do I really want it?" feeling.  It's going to slow down my loss, and that's never fun.  So just to get a good picture of how much it would slow down my loss, I went to Round Table's nutritional information, where I discovered that one slice of a personal-sized skinny-crust Gourmet Garlic Chicken is only 140 calories.  With a dinner that includes some fruit and steamed veggies, I could have two pieces and still be right in calorie range (with two pieces frozen for planned indulgence later.) 

The cake, on the other hand, isn't a craving.  It's a recipe.  Lately, it seems like Cake Pops and Cake Balls are everywhere.  I love the idea of having a single-bite serving: it's built-in portion control, as long as you eat just the one portion.  But at bakeries and restaurants, some Cake Pops are up to 250 calories per tablespoon of indulgence.  But having learned so much about healthy recipe adjustment, I knew instinctively that the total per serving could brought down significantly with some healthy swaps.  So today, I'll be trying out my first batch of Cake Pops - and I've calculated them to be 90 calories per serving according to my tweaks.  The real trick, for me, will be making sure I only enjoy them infrequently.  Luckily, my whole batch will go in the freezer, and when I want one, I'll have to thaw just that one.  After it's thawed and I've enjoyed, there won't be another thawed one to readily snack upon.  And I find that my appetite responds pretty well to thwarting immediate gratification. 

So stay tuned for a step-by-step on the cake pops, plus some other fun recipes we've been trying, a list of goal rewards, and a weigh-in Tuesday that should prove to be a pretty big milestone!