Food Review: Newtons Fruit Thins and DelMonte Fruit Chillers Tubes

Newtons Fruit Thins:

Specifically Fig and Honey version.  I finished the last of these today, December 31, 2011.  I originally bought them as a way to increase whole wheat foods.  My first recorded entry I can find of them in the tracker is Oct 12.  This should be a good indicator of how very resistible they were.

I’ll also comment that there must be some good chemicals in there, since they pretty much tasted the same right up to the end.  Only the last two I had (the very last one went to the dog) began to get (slightly) stiffer and (slightly) stale.

Edit:  The dog seemed more than happy enough to eat more of them if I’d had any.

Overall, they aren’t bad.  They just aren’t good.  And at around 48 calories a cookie (recommended serving size – 3 cookies for 145 calories), it’s tough to eat them when they were more flavorful/healthier options around.

I’m a big fan of the original Fig Newtons so I was hopeful.  Unlikely to be purchased again.  I did just buy their bars, we’ll see.

Del Monte Fruit Chillers

Specifically Arctic Strawberry Tubes.  I saw these somewhere in the supermarket (not frozen, possibly juice aisle), saw they claimed to be made of real fruit (1 lb!) and were 55 calories per tube and decided to give them a whirl.  Edit – I forgot I was also thinking the kid might like them too (nope!).

Opening up the first tube, I questioned my sanity and lowered my expectations.  I was shocked when it turned out really tasty.  I was expecting a red ice pop with minimal flavor.  Definitely has a lot of taste.  The main thing giving me pause about them is they seem pretty high in sugar.  11g per tube and the third ingredient in the list.  Which is probably why I like the taste so much.

All in all I would say, not as good as a healthy snack (real fruit), but better than ice cream or cake.  So I plan to include these on occasion in future as a ‘naughty’ snack.

Oh and wear a bib, these things stain!

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Around the Web – Dec 30

Who’s ready for 2012?  Obviously not the publisher of this blog who forgot to put anything here this week…tsk tsk.

Prepping for the New Year: Resolutions, Big Bang, Kaizen

I’m pretty pumped up going into the New Year.  Depending on exactly how much I weighed, I’m down 70-80 pounds from last year and 80-90 pounds from two years ago.  Still have a fair bit to go of course, but feels great.  (Not my picture, but I could make one that looks just like it…)

As to next year, obviously got the marathon thing going on and continuing my progress.  But no New Year’s resolutions here.  Haven’t made one in years and years.  Never got into the concept that on this day things will be completely different from yesterday.  The old big bang approach to change.

If I’ve commented on your blog, I’ve probably mentioned continuous improvement at some point – applying the Kaizen business process to weight loss.

If you’re like me, you got this way over time.  You have lots of interlinked habits and decision making tools that helped you get this way.   It’s probably not a matter of fixing one or two things and poof – all better!  I’ve been there.

So why insist on going from A -> Z in one giant leap?  It’s an easy yard-stick to come up short against especially early on.  “Dammit, last week, I was eating 4,000 calories of soda and processed food a day, and today on Plan X I was only supposed to eat 600 calories of celery and exercise 7 hours a day.  But instead I ate 3,400 calories of some soda and some processed food and some celery and got 20 minutes of exercise in.  I’m a huge failure!”  Cue end of fad diet and resumption of fatty ways.

Not only is it hard, heck, you may not even know all the things you need to change on Day 1.  Why not celebrate the improvement of 600 calories and some celery instead and a little exercise?  And as I’ve commented, some of these highly restrictive plans can leave you unprepared for maintenance after you lose the weight.  Lose it and gain it back.  Been there too.

I may have lost most of the weight in the last 6 months, but it was the 18 months of modest change I made that laid the ground work.  I cut out 95% of the soda I drink (I pretty much only drink diet soda now when there are no other choices).  But it wasn’t big bang.  I was drinking 4-6 sodas a day.  I started by eliminating one of them.  The last two went at the same time, but that’s the momentum effect.

I started working out again 2 years ago.  20 minutes easy pace on the elliptical on the lowest resistance couple times a week plus some light weights.

Started watching what I was eating a bit.  I cut out my mid-afternoon snack of chips/pretzels/etc.  Started eating more salads – with too much dressing and toppings, but hey got me used to the concept of having a salad.  Eating at taco bell a lot still, but a little less of it.  Stopped having sausage/egg/cheese sandwich couple of mornings a week to just once.  Replaced it with a bagel/cream cheese.  Was still way too much of the wrong stuff.  But it was less of it comparatively.

All those things helped for when I made the bigger changes.  More fruit.  More veg.  Eat less period.  Drink more water.  Get rid of the bagel.  Cutting the sugar/whole milk from the coffee.  Continuously increasing intensity and amount of cardio workouts.  Re-evaluating the weight training for goals.

I know cold turkey works for some people, but it doesn’t work for a lot of people.  So instead of starting on Day 1 by measuring your current imperfect self to a hypothetically perfect you – take it one day at a time.  Are you doing better than yesterday?  If so – be happy.  Internalize that change.  And then make another one when that one is bedded in solidly.

(Just um, don’t go too slow either ok!  You can go faster than me!)

Good luck all of you with however you plan to go into 2012.  And have a safe New Year.