Almond Butter vs. Peanut Butter Snackdown!

Source: http://www.fitsugar.com/Nutritional-Comparison-Peanut-Butter-Almond-Butter-3248632

I recently made a switch from Peanut Butter to Almond Butter.  It was a hard choice, involving many dirty spoons.  So – why switch?  Here is my strange and somewhat researched reasons. 

• All the cool kids in blogo world like it – must be good.  Peer pressure works.
• Cashew butter seems too decadent – almond butter seems to be the nice compromise.
• Perhaps the biggest reason – I can’t control my peanut butter love.  Spoonful, after yummy spoonful is consumed.  PB is filling, yet nutritious.  Sweet, yet not too sweet.  Healthy, yet full of calories and fat.   It is a rather confusing love.    So – almond butter became my new nut of choice – my hope was that I would like it, but not too much….
• Another minor (but important reason) to embrace almond butter is that it is better nutritionally.  This excerpt is from Runner’s World:

            ” Almond butter has about the same amount of total fat as peanut butter but almost twice the monounsaturated fat, which helps    maintain healthy cholesterol levels, says Leslie Bonci, R.D., director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. A study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that eating almond butter for four weeks reduced harmful LDL and raised HDL. Almond butter also packs more bone–building minerals like magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus, and more vitamin E, says Bonci. “Plus, it has a sweeter taste and doesn’t seem as heavy as peanut butter.”

So far I have, somewhat, resisted the urge to go spoon diving into Almond butter – so, I think I made the right decision!

Do you like almond butter better than Peanut Butter – what brand do you eat?

Mental Fitness

Lets face it – we are overweight because of what is going on between our ears (and a slow metabolism – always blame the metabolism:).  In an effort to help our mental fitness, find peace, and happiness I present to you the following random bits of entertainment and information:

7 Thoughts that are bad for your health (see http://www.livescience.com/health/090911-7-bad-thoughts-1.html).  They are – Cynicism, Lack of Meaning, Fretting, Anxiety, Stress, Lack of Control, Gloom and Doom.  Ok, no surprises here….

Work for Happiness (: Challenge yourself to be happy – take the Dr. Oz happiness challenge!  In a nutshell – 1) acknowledge what makes you happy 2) Fake Happiness 3) Divert yourself from bad thoughts 4) perform random acts of kindness. 

If nothing else – perform random acts of kindness (check out: this psychology today article , this wonderful women (Secret Agent L.) and of course, Operation Beautiful) 

Gratitude – complete a gratitude journal.  We all need to appreciate what we have much more.   If you want a good cry – take a look at this video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSMlIM9zLio .  These folks are grateful.

Don’t Compare Yourselves to Others!   Don’t compare yourself to the Joneses – you don’t know what is going on in their house or backyard!  Concentrate on your family and you. 

Exercise –  It does more than just impact our waistline. 

And lastly,

Smile

And no – this cat is not mine:)

What brings you happiness and peace of mind?

Apparently going hungry works.

I journaled and counted calories yesterday.  And while I was mostly aware of how many calories I was consuming (notable exception being Dunkin Donuts Large Iced Coffee with Cream and Sugar is 250 calories) the error of my ways came down to addition.  Damn math.  Apparently, things add up quite quickly.  Who knew:)

Around seven o’clock I was pretty proud of myself.  I thought I had at least 200-300 calories to snack on and…. no.  I was at my limit 1800 calories (as a reminder I am breastfeeding and can’t go below this number).    So I went hungry, very hungry.  I hate this feeling.   All I kept thinking about was an Oprah show – you know, where Bob the trainer and her lament on the latest weight loss strategies and he starts to shill for his own up and coming brand.  Oprah and Bob endorse the stop eating at 8 or 7:30 plan and (this is what kept running through my head) Oprah said (I am paraphrasing)  that hungry feeling is good! It means you are starting to lose weight.     Apparently Oprah was right.  She is a higher power.  Today, I hit a new low 192.4.

Alas… It is time to put up or shut up.

So, my weight took a turn for the worse at the end of the week and so did my eating.  Although I don’t think I ate enough to gain the two pounds that I lost – the digits say otherwise.  This is leading me to rethink my ” no food journal” approach.  Originally, I had planned on having the same thing everyday for breakfast and lunch. Dinner would be meat and veggies. And while I still want to do this – I need to recognize that there is more variety and my snacking needs to get under control.   I need to get under control.  This also includes working out.  I managed to fit in something most days.  However, it is not enough. I need to start brick workouts (two a day – biking and running, swimming and running).  I only have 3 months until the full triathlon.    If I was a betting woman, the odds aren’t good that I am going to make it.    And the overweight man on his mountain bike who passed me (overweight woman on my coolio Giant racing bike)  would agree.   Yea, that was painful.

Looking ahead for the week:   I will..

keep a food journal, not eat processed food, stop eating at 8, limit my carbs, start some brick workouts, and no alcohol.

My weight goal is simply to see the digit 191.  It can be 191.9 and I will be a happy camper.   Ideally, I would love, love, love to see 180 something by the end of the month (please god, please god).     Maternity leave is soon up – and I will be going back to work full time.  I really wanted to be (at least) at my pre-pregnancy weight by then.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that is going to happen.  Sigh.