Yogurtland's Yummy Tasmanian Devil Flavor

If you're looking for a healthy treat this summer, I encourage you to try out Yogurtland's Tasmanian Devil Devil's Food Cake flavor!  It's absolutely delicious and tastes like an indulgent ice cream dessert without much fewer fat and calories than ice cream.  This will definitely hit the spot with chocolate lovers.  Make sure to download the Yogurtland app to your phone because they currently have a flavor quest going on where you can scan 6 Looney Tunes characters and get 6 oz of free yogurt!  The 6 oz of free yogurt reward is good until Oct. 31.  I have the Tasmanian Devil QR code for you to scan.

Chocolate Heaven!

Click on the photo to enlarge it so it's easier to scan

You can also head over to Chao Lam's blog  to scan the other 5 characters and you're set with 6 oz of free yogurt for the next couple of months!  Nomnomnom

Low-fat Holiday Treats with Torani Syrups

As a member of the SheSpeaks program, I had the opportunity to participate in the "Torani Holiday Cheers" program and try out Torani Syrups.  These syrups come in a variety of flavors including some classic holiday treat favorites.   The syrups can be used in your coffee for a low-cal sweet.  The flavors I received were the Sugar-Free Salted Caramel and the Gingerbread and both were delicious. 

I used my Torani syrups to flavor my coffee and I felt they were a great substitute for some of the tempting holiday desserts.  I'm trying to not overindulge in sweets this holiday season and these syrups arrived just in time.  The Gingerbread only has 100 calories for 2 Tbsp and the Sugar-Free Salted Caramel has 0 calories so they are both a nice alternative to the over the top sugary desserts that are all around us this time of year.  The flavors of the syrup really enhanced my coffee.  The Gingerbread syrup has the yummy mix of molasses and cinnamon and tasted just like I had a Gingerbread cookie in my coffee.   The Sugar-Free Salted Caramel reminded me of a caramel toffee type of brittle.  You can make all sorts of drinks with the syrups.  I chose to add the syrups straight to my coffee.  Below are my super simple drinks:

Gingerbread Cookie Coffee

1 cup strong brewed coffee
2 Tbsp Torani Gingerbread Syrup

Mix together coffee and syrup and you have the taste of a freshly made gingerbread cookie.

Salted Caramel Coffee 

1 cup strong brewed coffee
2 1/2 Tbsp Torani Sugar Free Salted Caramel

You can change up the amount of syrup you add to adjust it to your tastes, but I found that the above amounts give you just the right level of flavor.  

Try out your own drink combos by experimenting with different flavors.  Click on the link below for a discount on your Torani purchases and start experiencing a whole new way to drink your coffee.
 

10% off Coupon

Enjoy and let me know your favorite Torani Syrup recipes!

Weight Loss Tips

As I've mentioned before, I tried the Special K Protein Effect plan to help me get rid of some stubborn pounds that I had gained over the summer due to poor eating habits.  It worked well and I ended up losing more weight than my goal.  While I'm not strictly following the plan right now, I've still incorporated the products and some of the lessons I learned into my daily diet.  

I wanted to share some other weight loss tips and snack ideas that have really helped me maintain my weight and ensure I don't overindulge especially during the upcoming holidays!  I'm still going to indulge a bit for the holidays, but I'm going to create low fat versions of all my favorite holiday foods so that I don't gain a lot of weight during this time of year.  If you have any requests, let me know and I can post the recipes that I use.

One of the key components of losing weight is making sure you are not hungry so that you don't reach for junk food.  The reason so many diets fail is that you are deprived and are constantly starving.  I'm aiming to make real lifestyle changes that I can actually stick to on a daily basis.  I've discovered that I usually get super hungry around 3 pm so that's my danger zone time when I'm tempted to grab some chips/cookies/ice cream, etc.  However, I've found some great low fat snacks/lunch ideas that help satisfy my hunger and taste good so that I don't end up eating a bunch of junk.  
 
When I want to have something different from the Special K Protein Shakes, my favorite lunch meal is 1 cup of non-fat Greek Yogurt (I love Fage because it is so creamy and rich) with 3/4 cup of Chocolate Cheerios mixed into it.  I often have this because the protein in the yogurt keeps you full for hours.  

A good snack, especially for that late afternoon slump, consists of apple slices with Laughing Cow cheese spread on each slice.  The flavors go great together and it's very filling. 

A bowl of strawberries or red grapes is something else that I snack on before dinner to help beat my sweet cravings.  If you're not too hungry, you can make your own trail mix.  I use peanuts, dried cranberries, chocolate chips and raisins in mine for an awesome salty and sweet combo.

All of these foods are low in calories, yet satisfying enough to prevent overeating.

Lastly, a huge factor that has allowed me to stay on track has been setting out specific times for my meals/snacks.  I like to be organized and follow a schedule so doing this has been a tremendous advantage in keeping my eating habits in check.  My day goes like this:  I have Special K cereal for  breakfast around 10 am.  I set my lunch for 12:30 pm, which is the Greek yogurt or the protein shake.  Then I'll have some of the snacks that I mentioned above at around 3 pm.  Dinner for me is at 5:30 pm and I usually have a big salad with a breaded chicken breast.  Dessert is an absolute must for me so I'll eat my dessert at 7 pm.  I use a rotation of low fat/low calorie recipes for dessert or I'll have a Special K meal replacement bar since they are sweet and taste yummy.  I follow dessert with an apple or some other fruit.  I don't eat after 7:30 pm and don't feel the need to.

Whatever you do, don't deprive yourself because that always leads to binging on the food you're trying to eliminate.  Keep everything in moderation and you will be able to lose weight or maintain your weight, while still enjoying food and not feeling like you are on some strict diet.  Also, if you do have something that's high in fat, don't take that as a pass to just blow your healthy eating plan.  This was always my problem in the past.  I would have something unhealthy and then I'd get discouraged since I'd "ruined" the day so I would just eat fattening things for the rest of the day, which further derailed my weight loss.  Remember, you can still get back on track by making healthy choices for your next meal/snack and that one bad food decision shouldn't mess up the whole day.

Hope these tips help and if you are currently on the Special K Protein Effect plan, let me know how it's going!

Special K Protein Effect: Final Results

So, I've come to the end of my 2 weeks on the Special K Protein Effect plan and I'm stoked to report that I've lost more weight than my original goal!  My jeans are much looser now and I feel leaner.  Overall, my clothes are looking a lot better, especially my skinny jeans and leggings.  It's clear that this plan really works and I am going to be incorporating these products into my everyday diet.  The Special K Protien Effect helped me curb my intense cravings for sweets, so now, when I do have a dessert, I don't overindulge like I used to.  I was highly addicted to sweets so that was one of my biggest problems in losing weight.  I could cut out other carbs like pasta, rice, etc., but not sweets.  Not until I got used to managing my cravings through this plan.  The meal bars were a great alternative and they satisfied my sweet tooth.



One key thing is that you must follow the program closely, especially in the first 2 weeks, if you want to maximize your weight loss.  I didn't find the plan difficult because the products kept my hunger away so I never felt starved.  The plan will help change your eating habits so that you realize when you're full and don't simple continue eating just because there is food on your plate.  It has definitely helped me put the concept of moderation into practice.  It's ok to have a little treat after dinner, but you definitely want to keep it small.  I also have 1 splurge day at the end of the week, where I get to have whatever I want for dinner.  I think this helps keep you on track since you don't feel deprived.  If you want to kick start your weight loss, give this plan a shot and you will see a difference in your energy levels and your body in a couple of weeks!

Special K Update

So I've been following the Special K Protein Effect plan for about a week now and I'm loving the results!  I've lost about 3 pounds so far and I definitely think that I will have lost those annoying extra 6 pounds by next week.  The major thing that I have noticed is that my jeans are fitting so much better.  They were really snug before, which was a little uncomfortable.  I'm also feeling more energized because I've cut down on sweets and salty snacks.  I typically run about 15-22 minutes on the treadmill at the gym, but now I'm up to 30 minutes and hoping to build up to 40 minutes.  Overall, I'm happy with the program and I don't feel hungry or irritated like I have felt with other weight loss plans.  Stay tuned for my final results next week!

Special K Protein Effect

 

I just received my Special K Protein Effect box of goodies from the People Style Hunters Network a few days ago and am so happy with the products.  I've gained a few extra pounds over the last couple of weeks so this came just in time.  

The frustrating thing is that I don't feel I've really been overeating and I haven't decreased my exercise, which is why I'm glad to have the chance to try out the Protein Effect.  I need to shake up my diet a little and get back on track and I think this will do the trick.  I've purchased more of each product in the plan so that I could try it out for a couple of weeks to see if I will be able to drop those pesky 5-6 pounds.

Take a look at what I got in my package!

First, let me tell you about how the Protein Effect program works so that you're familar with the meal plan.  Essentially, you have the Special K cereal for breakfast, which counts as "Meal 1".  Then, for "Meal 2", you grab one of the protein shakes.  For snacks, you can have their meal bars, which come in a variety of flavors.  "Meal 3" is up to you.  You can make a healthy dinner of your own or you can use one of the recipes on the Special K website at:  http://www.specialk.com/ProteinEffect.

I've found it to be a pretty easy plan to follow so far and I've been able to cut down a lot on my snacking and I'm loving all the products included in the plan.  

The protein shakes actually taste really good.  Usually, I hate protein shakes because the flavor is so awful and powdery, but these are similar to yogurt smoothies so you can enjoy drinking them.  They keep you full so you don't need to reach for junk food.

I'm a huge sweets person, literally the type who could have dessert for dinner and even I think the meal bars are delicious and satisfying for my sweets cravings.  My favorite flavors are the cranberry almond and the caramel peanut.  The bars are also fairly large so you feel like you are getting a substantial amount, unlike some other meal bars, where you really need to eat 2 of them to get full.

The cranberries and icing on this bar are a yummy combo!

I typically follow my own dinner recipes, but last night, I did try out the Spicy Asian Chicken Stir-fry from the Special K website and it was awesome so I'll be experimenting with more recipes from there.

I've been on the plan for the last 3 days and I'm feeling a lot better.  I've noticed that I was able to work out longer at the gym and I've lost about a pound.  I'm looking forward to seeing the results in 2 weeks.  I will keep you guys posted on my progress!