To Eat Cheesecake; or Not To Eat Cheesecake? That is the Question

I don't know about you, but when "dieting" I miss those foods (especially sweets) that I love so much. I do fairly well for a while, skipping the dessert table....denying myself because of the calorie content. Next thing I know......boom! I've eaten an entire chocolate cake.

Knowing this I have tried to find healthier alternatives to some of my favorites. Hopefully this way I won't feel like I am denying myself some of the things I love so much.

Here is a recipe I have found for a dessert that tastes similar to cheesecake, but has 1/5 of the calories of a slice of traditional cheesecake.

Traditional New York Style Cheesecake has nearly 500 calories per serving. This recipe has only 80 calories per serving.

Ingredients:

Low fat graham crackers

8 oz. fat free cream cheese (softened)

1 cup cold skim milk

2 tbsp. lemon juice

1 small box of sugar free instant vanilla pudding

8 oz fat free Cool Whip

1 can lite cherry pie filling (can substitute any flavor of lite pie filling)

Directions:

Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with whole graham crackers.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth.

Add milk and lemon juice to cream cheese and beat until smooth.

Stir in pudding mix.

Fold in Cool Whip.

Spread half of cream cheese mixture over graham crackers.

Repeat with another layer of graham crackers and cream cheese mixture.

Spread pie filling over the top.

Refrigerate overnight

Enjoy!

Makes approximately 20 servings

Weekly Health Progress

Weight loss can be maddeningly frustrating at times. Trying to change your lifestyle into something more healthy is even more daunting. I look over my over all goals and there are times that I despair because it seems impossible.

I started out at 210 lbs. If I am to get to a healthy BMI number, doctors and the charts say that I need to be around 135 lbs at my heaviest to still be in that healthy range. I don't put much stalk into these charts; because I firmly believe they are just guidelines and each individual is different. Now I didn't come to this conclusion because the idea of losing 75 lbs scares the crap out of me (even though it does). I came to this conclusion because I didn't always used to be heavy and at one point in time I was a healthy active individual. I only reached that BMI goal weight once in my life and when I was there you could count my ribs.....anyone looking at me could see it wasn't a healthy weight for me and my body.

I felt my best and looked my best when I was around 150 lbs. Which is why for my my current goal is to be around 150-160 lbs. Why the extra 10 lbs cushion? Because I have had two children since then and it is a realistic number for my personal health.

50-60 lbs is still a lot to lose and is daunting. I know from past experience trying to lose weight that it can be very discouraging as well. Which is why this time around I am focusing on the health rather than the weight. But changing your entire lifestyle is just as overwhelming.

I was offered an analogy the other day which I think is worth sharing.

"Weight loss and healthy living for beginners is like eating an elephant. You try to do it all at once you are going to choke and fail at best.....kill yourself at worst. The only way to conquer the challenge is to take each small bite one at a time."

Simple advice, but many of us (including myself) forget to follow it.

So instead of trying to conquer everything at once I have decided to concentrate on a few simple goals first.

Goal #1: I will monitor my weight. I didn't even own a scale for years and it is during those years that most of this weight creeped up on me. I will be mindful of when I start to gain weight and try to spot any triggers for it.

Goal #2: I will eat at least one serving of green veggies with each lunch and dinner. Even if this is a pre-bagged salad, or canned veggies popped into a microwave. This will help to fill me up with fewer calories as well as making sure that I am balancing my diet a bit better.

Goal #3: Drink more water. I don't really drink soda and coffee; but I still don't get enough water to keep myself hydrated well. I need to start carrying a water bottle with me.

Now you will notice that I haven't set up a goal for exercise yet. This is mostly because I don't want to set myself up for failure. I start a new job at the end of this week and I have no idea what my schedule will be like. Once I know what that is I can better plan exercise that works well for me and my life style.

Stats update:

Starting weight: 210

Current weight: 206.8

I lost 3.2 lbs!! Woo Hoo!!!

Measurements:

44 in bust (.5 in loss)

39 in waist (.5 in loss)

48 in hips (.5 in loss)

15.5 in upper arm (no loss)

1.5 inch total loss. Yay!!

I still get really winded after 50 yards and can do 10 push-ups