Sweets sans Guilt

Melissa and I are currently sitting in Starbucks, each enjoying a 'birthday cake pop', one of the new 'Starbucks Petites'.  If you haven't heard of these, go check them out.  I had been waiting for Starbucks to catch up to the 'low-cal' trend, and they finally have.  Each of these 'petites' is under 200 calories, and they are delicious.  Now, I'm not going to pretend that these morsels are particularly healthy, but when dieting has caused me to seriously cut back on the usual sweets I crave, these are the perfect bite-sized solution.  

Already, Melissa and I are brainstorming how to make a 'birthday cake pop' for even fewer calories.  Perhaps for another day.  Right now, we're getting very excited about our first foray into this blog's mission to prepare calorie-conscious cuisine.  We decided to start with one savory dish and one sweet dish.  Tomorrow night, the menu will include 'Snazzy Green Pepper Pizza' and 'S'mores Krispymallow Treats', both found in Lisa Lillien's 'Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200' recipe book.   As you might be able to tell from the title, each of these recipes render full servings for under 200 calories.  This is a very happy thing to hear when calorie-counting has become a part of our every meal.  We'll be anxious to share our results.  Photos will be included!

We thought we'd wrap up this post with a few tips that we've collected.  

Snacks: We highly recommend the Weight Watchers(R) Ice Cream Bars, particularly the Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bar (80 calories) and the Snack Size Chocolate Fudge Bar (45 calories).  These are perfect for when you are craving something sweet, but you'd rather not splurge on the calories.  

Working out:  I've spent the last several months building up a workout regiment that I can stick to.  Melissa's just starting out, and I've shared with her that it's important to start small.  If you start by setting easy goals, i.e. 15 mins of walking/day, you'll be much more likely to reach those goals.  By setting and surpassing the small goals, it will motivate you to do more.

Helpful Apps: Melissa and I are both using the MyFitnessPal app on our smart phones to track our caloric intake.  We are both loving it!  It lets us track our calories and our exercise while keeping us aware of our daily calorie goals.  But not to worry, if you haven't joined the smart phone craze, the same app is available for use online at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/.  It has an extremely helpful food database that has nearly everything you could think of, including many restaurants.  And in the event that the program cannot find the food you're looking for, there is an easy-to-use 'quick-add calories' button to simply enter the number.  

We end with a quote from Bailey, while watching the new animated flick, Rio: "He can't fly... if I were in the movie, I could TEACH him!" 

I hope that Melissa and I can take on this challenge with same unbridled enthusiasm.