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Monday, July 7, 2008

Lazy Monday



After the 4 day weekend where each day felt like a Sunday, instead of the day that it actually was, I welcome getting back to the complete normalcy that is Monday.

Monday is also one of my favorites because it's the one day of the week that I have off. Well, kinda. I still train one client. But that's it. The rest of the day is completely mine

Monday for me also means tightening back up the reins on my eating habits. One way I look forward to that is making sure I have all my low cal, healthy goodies lined up and waiting for me. One of my favorite little low cal munchies are these babies:



It's not the wafers so much as how they taste when you put cool stuff on them. My absolute favorite topping for these bad boys is French feta cheese. Now, I know what you're saying; "Feta cheese??!! Oh my!! The calories! The SODIUM!". Well, dang it, you can curtail how much you put on there, okay? I put one ounce and spread it across 4 crackers. Now let's do some math:

2 of these crackers are 40 cals. I use 4 crackers, equaling 80 calories.

1 ounce of French feta is 90 cals. So, altogether, this tasty little snack of mine comes out to 170 calories. I also have about 5 strawberries, or a cup or raspberries on the side, bringing the total somewhere around 210 to 220 calories. Sodium? Well, yeah, there's a few hundred mgs of sodium in this particular snack. Sue me! I will not spend my days avoiding any and all salt. I drink plenty of water and also sweat it right back out at the gym. I can cut my sodium elsewhere.

This snack is also very satisfying, and I'm thinking that the multi grain fibery crackers have a lot to do with that. I eat this, I'm happy, and not looking for something else to snack on for a long while.

I had it for breakfast today. I might have it again tomorrow. We'll see.

Here it is, sans berries:



Okay. Now can we just talk about French feta? I LOOOOVE French Feta cheese! Of all the fetas, it's the smoothest, creamiest, yummiest one. Now, the one I got today is not as smooth as I'm used to. I discovered that I will need to go back to my favorite Russian deli in Jackson Heights to get the smoother quality of French feta to which I have become accustomed. There, they have one that is absolutely spreadable, and almost tastes like butter! This one today is inferior in comparison, but still was tasty, no doubt.

I was introduced to French feta cheese by an ex ex ex ex ex boyfriend, who happened to be Italian. Go figure. He also introduced me to Soppresata salami, but that's a whole other story! :). I still have a bad Sopressata habit to this day!

But until I met him, I'd been eating the Greek variety feta, and liking that just fine. Once I discovered the French, THAT was over QUICK!

So, anyway, this is my healthy snack of the week. Give it a try. You might have something new to look forward to. And even if you don't do the cheese thing, get these Finn Crisp wafers. You can think up all kinds of stuff to put on them, and they're yummy, low calorie, and most importantly, FILLING, which is what you want when you're trying to cut the cals. You can make a snack out of six of them if you use some other topping besides cheese, and will still be in the very low calorie snack range. Enjoy!

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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

You need to do an infomercial. You have me tempted to go try it out.

Does the amount of time "ex" is mentioned an indication on how removed you two are? Just asking. Don't mind me... I can be overly curious at times.

I like your calorie breakdown. It always puts it into perspective.

Petula said...

Those wafers sound yummy! Believe it or not, I've never had any type of Feta cheese on crackers so I'll have to check that out. Yea, that's a lot of sodium, but you take care of that right fine! LOL... btw: love your blog - thanks for dropping on me.

The Fitness Diva said...

Hey, Urban, if you're a person that likes cheeses and things that you can pile stuff up on and get inventive with, then the Finn Crisps will work for you. You can get crazy with them, for real, and the crispy crunch they have is like YUM! Yeah, I guess I should do a commercial for them! lol

Yes, all the x's mean how many years ago that was (and also roughly how many exes! lol).

Hey, Petula, thanks for stopping by. Feta cheese will only work on this kind of cracker. You try some saltines or something, and you'll be in salt hell! lol
Thanks for stopping by!
You can check in next Monday for the next low cal snack of the week.
I'm making that a new feature of my blog.

Have fun and stay healthy!

Monkey Suit said...

Great information on this site. 7Your body looks great too. What is the secret?

Anonymous said...

That looks really good. Now I'll have to search for some French feta--I had no clue it even existed.

The Fitness Diva said...

Thanks, Monkey suit, for your compliment. Hey, it's not easy...
and at times I do let it slip just a bit (especially in the winter).

But when the summer comes, I like to wear the type of clothes that look good on you when you're slimmer. I show skin! lol
I run, roller blade, play tennis, stay active and find new ways to work out that I enjoy, and while all that's going on, I try to watch what I eat enough to make a difference. I struggle with the eating thing like most people, but I'm able to balance it out when I'm really determined.
I try to set goals for myself, like looking good for a vacation, a photo shoot, a big event coming up (and I make sure there are enough of them so I stay on it) or just some new, smaller size clothes that I bought. I find that having a goal and another reason to work out besides the usual helps.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Fitness Diva said...

Hey, Luckygirl, French feta is the best! If you're able to find the smooth, creamy kind I'm talking about you will just DIE when you eat it! ;)

You'll know you have that one when it doesn't crumble and break apart while you're spreading it on a cracker.

Jules said...

Wow! I'm so glad you dropped in on my site too. I am having some issues with my weight that I have never had to deal with.

I have a doctors appt. this morning to have my thyroid checked. I am a hair under 5'10" tall. Been too skinny all my life. Could eat until the cows came home and never keep any weight on to speak of.

Now in the past few months 20+lbs of fat cover my entire body and my belly looks hideous. Now, I haven't really changed my eating habits and am willing to give some excuse to that, but come on! I feel like the hulk.....I went from a size 6 to a 10 in 60 days.

I had half my thyroid removed 10 years ago. I get it checked every so often and never had to take thyroid meds. I just had it checked a few mos ago when this started and it was fine.

Sorry for the bio....I meant to say.. You have awesome tips and are an inspiration!

hahahah That was the "readers digest" version!
jules

The Fitness Diva said...

Hey, Jules, sorry to hear you're going through that. I know that would drive me nuts.

I hope you can figure out what the problem is. If you haven't changed your eating habits, then it definitely has to be something of a medical nature. Hope they figure it out soon.
Good luck to you, and thanks for dropping in.

Jules said...

Hey Grrrl,

I didn't make my doc appt, but you have definitely motivated me to begin eating better anyway.

I have always been a 90% carb eater and at 46 I guess I just can't do it any longer.

I listed your blog on my sites. You have a excellent writing style. I feel like I'm sitting across the table having coffee with ya. (crystal lite for you).

Have a good day. Can't wait to look tomorrow to see if ha hit the Bosu today. That looks effing hard!

The Fitness Diva said...

Thanks so much, Jules! I'll list you on my favorite sites as well.

Keeping my fingers crossed for ya.
Yeah, cut those carbs...they are diet killers!

Take care

Unknown said...

I'm a cheese freak too. Feta, blue, brie, you name it I'll eat it. But my absolute favorite is imported English Cotwold. (I buy it at iGourmet). It's very spicy and an ounce seems very decadent.

Moderation and portion control really is the key with high fat / high sodium. I usually drink a gallon of water over the course of a day so sodium usually gets flushed.

I'm going to try those crackers.

 
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