Wondering what Mommy Homework is??? Each week you will have an “assignment” here to share in our comments here on this site. You will love this-both sharing AND enjoying answers by others. Some of them, I compile into an ebook (contributors can resell as a product of their own–be sure to submit your email and full name when you register so I can credit you appropriately!).
The result is AWESOME!
We get to know each other…we are encouraged in our journey…and we glean super ideas from other great moms!
Ready for this week’s MH? This is going to be a good one!
Some of you know that one of my biggest resolutions for the New Year was to REALLY get fit and healthy. Not just for a couple days in January, but to really work on changing my lifestyle bit-by-bit for the rest of my life.
Great news! This year, I have been sticking to that resolution. I haven’t let it go to the wayside. I even pushed past my first big plateau and I am losing weight again! I LOVE IT! Oh, my total weight loss so far? 27lbs!! I have lost 2 sizes (maybe 3 as of this week). I am SO excited!
It has included a lot of changes-just one at a time:
- Cutting out the sugared drinks–soft drinks, sweet (Southern) tea, and even lattes!
- Cutting out caffeine.
- Increasing water.
- Beginning daily cardio (started at 3 days per week for 30 min–now I am at 6 days of cardio in the evenings and 3 days in the morning, plus 3 days of strength training).
- Working with a trainer.
- Logging in all food and exercise into a journal each day (looking up fat grams and calories for each and every food item–and noting details about the work out like time/distance/heart rate).
- And…now my diet (I am working on 25-30 fat grams per day and between 1300-1700 calories).
This brings me to our Mommy Homework. First, I will be participating this week with some of my great, yummy finds. You are going to love, love, love this. This is so fun! I think this just might change all of us for the better!
Ok, want the assignment?
I am on the lookout for fat free yummies. I know that if I said “low-fat” that we might not really find things that are our best choices–so many companies tout that their products are “low-fat” when they are far from low in fat. 🙂
I have been SO excited to find YUMMY options that have NO fat in them. I will share a few in my first comment. But, it is so fun to see how many options there really are. Losing weight, feeling great, getting fit need not give you a mental block that makes you immediately feel hungry. I am actually satisfied with my foods for the first time in my life. Plus, it is a blast to find NEW goodies to add to my weekly menus. Since I am enjoying this venture, I want to ask all of you to pitch in your favorites this week. That will be our Mommy Homework for this week.
I can’t wait to read these!
So, share your favorite no-fat finds. Have you found yummy, yet no-fat goodies that really satisfy you? Share them! This will be a blast!
Have fun! 
DIG IN!
Love ya!
Cindy
PS! Please remember to use your real name if you want credit for your Mommy Homework Credit. 
PPS! You CAN just share and not participate in Mommy Homework, BUT I would LOVE for you to get some goodies along the way!
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Deadline–Friday at midnight CST.
My first “great find” is rice cakes. When my trainer told me that they were great for snacks, my mind immediately went back to the thoughts of the “PLAIN” (nasty–if you want to be honest), tasteless rice cakes that my mom used to get. Boy, was I in for a big surprise!
I found some nice mini-rice cakes that are different flavors-my favorite is caramel. FOR REAL! ZERO fat. Low cal. Plus, very, very satisfying when you snack on them. They are nice and filling. Plus, there are many other flavors. DO read the label. But, try them today!
More ideas later! (Come back throughout the week for more yummies!)
I start my day with fruit. Just fruit. Now a lot of you are probably going to think that’s boring. Not really.
I combine different fruits into a dish either sliced or in large pieces and eat. If I want a bit of variety, I put them all in the blender, with frozen strawberries and a cup of room temp water. Blend and you have a smoothie. It is thick and if you want to add a bit of UNflavored yogurt you can. However that will add about 8 grams of fat.
I do not add sugar. I am Hypoglycemic so no sugar in my drinks ever. I don’t drink sodas at all, and my coffee and tea do not have sugar in them ever. Water the rest of the day.
For snacks through out the day I eat sliced raw veggies with a touch of Season Salt. Not a lot as I have a heart condition just a touch. No dressing, no oil and vinegar.
I am trying to lose 50 -60 lb. and this is one of the things that I am doing.
Lisa Robinson
Way to go Girlfriend! I don’t know that I can help with low fat…but! Due to DH’s diabetes suddenly going uncontrolled, we’re on a low Carb diet. DH has lost close to 50 lbs in 4 months (under a doctor’s care of course!) He’s now plateaued;…but as we start more excercise that will change. Unfortunately, I’m that woman on the commercial for the diet ade just for women…..the one who ate salads and gained weight, drank tons of water and gained weight….even the dog lost weight,but not her…well, that’s me at the moment. But I have hope!@!!
One of our family favorites (also a favorite at church) is Zucchini pizza. It’s SO simple. Cut the ends off a zucchini, then cut in half longwise. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds leaving a long hollow spot in the middle. Cook about a pound of hamburger seasoned with Italian seasonings and whatever else you like on pizza. I mix ours with some ketchup, hot sauce, lots of spices and a touch of chili powder. Then spoon the hamburger into the trough you put in the zucchini. Next, cover with grated cheese, we use mozzerella cheese with parmesian, asasio, and romano mixed with it. (DH can eat all the cheese he wants, and we LOVE cheese). Then bake it in a toaster oven for about 20 minutes. (Or nuke it for about 10-15 minutes on high). Slice the zucchini into slices and eat it up! When I take this to church I fix enough for 20 people and we never bring any home….and we never have 20 folks at church! It has zero carbs and will only have as much fat as the cheese you use. Hope that works for you Cindy, and that others enjoy it too. Shalom, Joie
Hmmmm, I would love to have some great ideas for this. I don’t think I’m very good at this, though.
We do a lot of frozen fruit. We eat it (even mommy) like popsicles. Blueberries and cherries are the girls’ favorites. We don’t even pit the cherries, just wash and freeze. They spit pits when they eat them. 🙂
Linda Sprague
Here’s a cold sweet treat that is fat free and healthy. Mix equal parts orange juice and plain (you may need to add a little sweetener of choice) or vanilla yogurt in a glass with a few drops of vanilla extract. Add ice and enjoy. A creamsicle in a glass.
Yummy! Such great suggestions! You guys are the best! Here are a few more of my “finds” that I am enjoying:
1. Dannon Light and Fit Yogurt–I love these! I just found them this week. Actually, I searched for them after actually reading the label on my “low-fat” yogurt that I have always ate–UGH! Let’s just say that it was NOT low-fat. A sad excuse for printing that on the label. Imagine my delight after finding this yummy brand. It is ZERO, yes NADA, in fat. Only 60 calories per serving. Tastes fattening! HEHE!
2. FUZE drinks. I love these! It is so hot and I do get tired of plain water. I love, love, love the different flavors of FUZE. Great option for a recovering tea, soft drink, and latte addict! I am drinking a Blueberry Raspberry FUSE drink now. It is loaded with vitamins and minerals and has only 20 calories for the whole bottle…and ZERO fat! I love it!
3. Skinny Cow Chocolate Milk. Speaking of drinks…I LOVE this! It was a tough change from my daily lattes. I did need the milk in my diet. So, my “buff” son told me to find some no-fat chocolate milk. At first, all I could find was 1%, but I was not looking close enough. When I found Skinny Cow, I was stunned that every cup had only 150 calories and ZERO fat! I am hooked!
Well, there are 3 more ideas. I will share more later this week….
Love ya!
Cindy…who just lost another lb today!
Cindy,
Okay, I’m going to rain on your parade. But I’ve done a lot of research on low-fat, and I firmly believe it is dangerous. 🙂 See, I’m raining already….
A great place to start reading online is
http://westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/index.html
Well, I probably just “flunked” Mommy Homework, LOL!
Hugs,
~Anne
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From Cindy
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Anne, thanks! Great points! You are welcome to rain on my parade at any time. In this heat, rain is welcome! AND…in this discussion, you bring up a great hindrance to weight loss and fitness.
When you are 25-30-50-100 pounds over weight, there is certainly no “danger” to cutting back fats in your diet. 🙂 In fact, if you are toting around fat on your body and you can’t seem to get it moving back off of your body, there is NO WAY to get rid of it when you are packing more into your mouth. That is a reality. We can all spare to cut back on our fats. I am STUNNED at where they are–even in those nice, healthy salads, wraps, and sandwiches. They are packed into those “light” and “low fat” meals. They are saturating those sauces and dressings. It helps to slow down and look at the fat content in foods. Until we do, we will go through diet after diet after diet and never understand why WE cannot get the weight off permanently or why we plateau at a point and cannot get the scale to move any further. We will be puzzled about why those diets work for a few weeks and we start seeing the scales climbing back up.
LOOKING at the fat content in foods has been an ANSWER for me. I have tried diets and they have failed. I have tried working out and the scales stop moving, only to discourage me. I hate failure.
You will find as many opinions in dieting, fitness, and healthy eating as you find mouths proclaiming ideas. HOWEVER, our culture is in NO RISK of having a no-fat diet. In fact, that is not what this topic is all about. It is about cutting the fat so you can LOSE the fat that is very, very unhealthy on our bodies–for our hearts, our joints, and numerous other parts of our bodies.
It is EASY to get fat in our diets. Just a lean chicken breast has 8 grams of fat without any seasoning and without being cooked in butters/fats. A simple piece of salmon has 14 grams of fat BEFORE the different cooking methods. Yes, we want some fat in our diets. However, it is easy to get the fat that we need in our diets. What is difficult is to spot the fats that are causing us to be unhealthy. What is even more difficult is to find options that are yummy so we can cut the unessential fat in our diet.
Many people wonder why they battle with their weight and fitness. They wonder why the scale does not move after they work sooo hard on their weight loss. They wonder why they plateau. And, many just quit shy of their goals, dreams, and most of all, good health.
This is where I have been for far too long. I have dieted. It has worked A LITTLE. I have exercised–in fact gained 75 pounds while walking 3 miles a day on our mountain. It was frustrating beyond words. Now, I am seeing the weight burn off AND I am finding a lifestyle that I CAN DO for the rest of my life. No more excuses. No more frustration. Healthy and fit at last!
My point in short, we need to KNOW some healthy and yummy options that are fat free.
Why?
It is sooo easy to get to the minimum fat needed in our daily diet to be healthy. Yet, it is also easy to exceed that amount and not be able to burn the excess fat off of our bodies. You can get the minimum fat needed from the foods that you would choose in your main meals. If we are going to see the dial change on our weight and see our bodies change, we are going to have to add in healthy non-fat snacks and change some of the things that we are eating that ARE optional. Hope this helps!
And, I welcome rain! ha! Thanks for the super discussion!
Love ya!
Cindy
We do the yogurt thing too. Only I buy plain or vanilla (my kids preference) and add our own fresh fruit. We use whatever is in season or on sale at the time to help with the food budget. We also snack on fresh fruits and veggies as much as possible.
I don’t do much else, except use skim milk in drinking and cooking.
Thanks for all the other good info everyone!
Teresa B.
Well Done Cindy!!! I am so proud of you for sticking at it!
Last month I did a detox and went and saw a nutritionist and she gave me some great ideas for snacks. Now you all know that I LOVE chocolate, well I needed some ideas for that 3pm time when I am craving chocolate almonds. She suggested:
1.Honey dipped Brazil Nuts : I take a raw bazil nut and dip it into a real good honey (a runny good quality honey – not the kind that you put on your bread but one that you just keep for dipping nuts into!) It is so yummy and about 3 nuts does me.
2. Brazil nut and a date : It sounds weird but if you eat a brazil nut and a date at the same time – it taste very close to a chocolate almond but it is way healthier.
3. Homemade Scorggin (trail mix): all raw – nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, rasins, dates chopped up, dried apricots chopped up – yum
4. Fruit Smoothie: This can be very filling – 1/2 pineapple (real one that you cut up) whiz that up until it looks like cream then add any fruit that you have – usually bananas or frozen berries and grab a straw and suck – yum yum That is zero fat and totally raw and fill of life for our blood.
I know that nuts have fat but it is good fat and it is completely raw and not processed – I upped my intake of Avocados and I have lost weight! in fact I have read and was told that Avocados help you lose weight.
Rachel Larkin
We don’t eat much no-fat foods, at least not on purpose 🙂 Our favorite, as already mentioned is fresh fruit. It is so sweet and juicy what’s not to love? We also enjoy cut up fresh veggies such as cucumber slices, bell pepper sticks, celery sticks–even without my favorite peanut butter :), carrot sticks and grape tomatoes. For an occasional treat we may dip in ranch salad dressing but we enjoy these plain as well.
Just when I am done nursing my youngest, I am ready to get serious about weight loss. (Un)fortunately, I am usually pregnant again before I have too much success. Number six on the way now 🙂 I wouldn’t trade my babies for anything! I do try to keep up the healthy eating, just not with the focus of losing weight 🙂
You are doing so great Cindy! My time will come in a few years and I will have these great tips and ideas to keep me going.
Hi Ladies,
One of my favorite fat free snacks is raw carrot sticks. I buy the organic five pound bag at our local grocery and they all get eaten so quickly. I just peel and cut and our whole family enjoys them. We sometimes add fat free ranch dressing but I like mine plain. These are great steamed too and taste wonderful. We also like apple and banana slices. We add cucumber slices when we have them. I much prefer garden home grown over store bought so I am selective about purchasing these.
Take care ladies, can’t wait to see other great ideas on here.
Jeniver Boyer
Mindy Brasher
Fruit salad with yogurt is a good delicious snack – cool and refreshing. Especially when you’re trying to eat smaller portions and better foods.
Something also that I have had in the past is great smoothies but with a twist. We have learned that there is caprilic acid in extra virgin coconut oil (coconut milks are good as well) But we add that to our smoothies because it in fact, helps with weightloss and giving you the good fat that helps you stay full. Enjoy!
My favorite thing this summer has been to hit the farmers markets and ask about the veggies I’ve never heard of. I’ve found some that are yummy – like kohlrabi – and crunchy and deliciously healthy. There are all of these different kinds of lettuces, beets, potatoes, and members of the cabbage family that you just never find at the grocery but are so good. So, see if you have one in your area and go for a spin.
To punch up the veggies a level, try dipping them in pineapple chutney. No fat, only 35 calories a tbsp. and a sweet treat, too. There are other flavors of chutney but I really like the pineapple when I want that sweet punch to go with my veggies, especially the kohlrabi or cucumbers. My favorite healthy brand is Native Forest.
Another treat I’ve developed a taste for is kombucha tea. I buy a brand called Synergy by Millenium Products that comes with different flavors added. I like to look for the bottles with the least strands in the bottom as like the taste best. No fat, very low calories and lots of good probiotics in there.
Keep up the good work, Cindy.
Bobbi Beeson
Cindy,
One snack we really enjoy is “cool whip in a cone”! You can use any variety from low-fat to less sugar cool whip (that is kept frozen) and scoop a dip in your choice of cone! This was good for our family when we really wanted ice cream, it satisfies the craving !
A little granola, some fruit ( I like strawberries, blueberries, and grapes) low fat yogurt and then a little more granola….It is like eating desert! I eat it for breakfast sometimes and at other times I have it for an early evening snack…I’m trying not to snack after 7:00 p.m.
Oh Cindy, I forgot to mention the best find. Wax Orchards “Oh, Fudge” chocolate sauce is super yummy dark chocolatey and fat free! I’m not talking about that it tastes like chocolate if you haven’t eaten any in a couple years. This is good stuff and rich. It is fruit sweetened and has 45 calories per tbs.
Bobbi Beeson
I know that this is an older “mommy homework topic” but it caught my eye – I’m also trying to cut fat!
The diet that I am doing is to try to only eat food with less than 1/3 of the calories coming from fat. It kind of went out the window yesterday because it was my birthday.
The biggie that I found is that I can bake many things substituting applesauce for the shortening or other fats. Banana bread made this way, with oat bran flour instead of the white stuff and using the cinnamon applesauce instead of the shortening/oil really works. I toss in chopped up marachino cherries (watch it, if you chop by hand, your fingers turn pink and it doesn’t come out that well) or dried cherries chopped up.
Also, I use the same substitution for chocolate chip cookies. It is a way to keep some treats without keeping all the fat.
Elizabeth Bowen