My comments?

This is a tough one – lots of pros and cons. I guess the key is proper implementation.

At first glance, it seems like a wonderful idea. Yes, the health and well being of the students is primarily the parents’ responsibility — but with the amount of time spent in school, a healthy & active lifestyle should be supported & encouraged by the schools.

As always when our “well-intentioned” politicians [cough, cough] get involved, there is more to it than what first appears on the surface.

First, will the kids, especially the obese ones, be medically screened for safe participation?

Will BMI and weight stats be treated with the HIPPA privacy they deserve as elements of a medical record?

Kids are horribly cruel. Just ask this former fat kid. Will the schools be able to create a supportive environment that won’t further traumatize the kids that need it the most and further ingrain a loathing of exercise, group activity, and self?

Will the schools be able to create a program with enough variety in the types of activities offered to instill a love for exercise and a desire for creating healthy lifestyles rather than another competitive playing field for the jocks?

Will the schools make sure that ALL kids are participating in these healthy activities by NOT scheduling tutoring, make-up work, remedial studies, etc during this valuable time? And will the library and computer labs be unavailable as alternatives – removing the element of choice for the student?

Can, and will, they open the program to FAMILIES? When I was growing up, the playgrounds, tracks, and fields were open to the public after hours, on weekends, and through the summer. The schools in my area are fenced and locked down before parents get home from work. PTA/PTO could get involved here with rotating volunteers to make facilities open to parents and kids while still protecting the property.

Will they back-up the nod to this element of a healthy lifestyle by removing the cr@p from the breakfast & lunch menus and the vending machines? Healthy meal and snack choices should NOT be *optional* for the student on school property – even the well-intentioned parent has no control over what their child spends his or her lunch money on.

And while I’m on that rant, can the school begin to teach by practice PORTION CONTROL in both the cafeteria and vending machines??!! And, and, and … what about enough TIME to actually eat lunch?

Sounds like a good idea on the surface, but it all boils down to implementation.

What do you think?!

I’ve been really conscious about getting my water (goal – 3 20-oz bottles), making sure I’m getting 2 fruits and 3 veggies every day, and not snacking after 9pm.

Breakfast this morning a bit different – 1c cantaloupe, 1 100-cal bagel, and 1T Chunky Almond Butter. 5 points. Really good.

Last night’s meatloaf went over well. Dumping the whole 8-oz can of tomato sauce in the mixture made it alittle wet and the result was alittle crumbly. Dumb. I knew it the minute I did it. Next time, I will only use what “feels” right, and dump the rest ON TOP.

Never found a WW potato recipe that I wanted to try. Ended up putting the way I usually prepare them through a recipe calculator, and it turned out to be 3 pts per potato, so that’s what I did.

7 small red potatoes (approx 2″ in diameter), quartered with skin on and boiled (timer for 15 minutes once they came to a boil). Drained and tossed with butter & chives. They were so good, I had another potato for my evening snack

Here’s the deal. I usually toss with 3T of stick margarine, so I know exactly what I use.

I have the Land O Lakes Light Butter Spread w/Canola Oil. Running the recipe, points per potato were NO DIFFERENT for 3T or 4T. So I used 4. lol Just for grins and chuckles I ran the recipe with regular (tub) Sheds Spread and stick margarine. Again, same points for 3T and 4T. The Land O Lakes has Omega 3’s, so I used that. Now. To be honest, the only reason I went 4T vs 3 (or even cutting back to 2) was that I had had NO fats all day.

Larry cracked me up … “Can we really eat these?” HELL YEAH!

It’s not that I think SB doesn’t work. I lost 10 pounds over the first 4 weeks. Nothing to sneeze at. I’m sure if I stayed on it, I would continue to lose, but I seem to be having some fundamental problems with it.

First, I was not able to stick with Phase 1 for even one of the three weeks I was on it. Switching to Phase 2 saw an immediate weight gain, even though it was alittle easier and I was sticking to it fairly well. It took a couple of weeks after the switch to start seeing anymore weight loss. A single day of falling off the carb wagon saw the gain of every painful pound loss that week. For the 6 weeks I was on Phase 2, the scale had just continued to bounce up and down. This doesn’t bode well for sustained weight loss for me.

I can’t explain it. I’ve been tracking calories, and my intake remained low (sometimes too low) even when I was not staying on program. What I did see was the % of fat seemed alittle too high – even though most of those fats were “good” fats. That may be the source of the problem for me, but drop those fats down, with the restricted carb list, and I was miserably hungry and moody.

And, I am tired of the restricted carbs. Period. I “get” the good carb vs bad carb.

What the 6 Week Body Makeover taught me about sodium, South Beach has taught me about carbs and fats. I feel I have been successful in reducing the refined carbs as much as is feasible. I’ve replaced all white breads, bagels, and muffins with whole grain/high fiber varieties – even using “light” 100-calorie versions of those. I’ve replaced all regular pasta with the Smart Taste (higher fiber) brand, and white rice with brown — and reduced pasta/rice consumption to once or twice a week.

As far as fats go, we have nearly eliminated red, fatty meats from our diet. We are eating more lean poultry and fish, and getting more nuts and beans in our diet.

Sweets & added sugars are a no-brainer. First to go on any diet, and I don’t miss them. Much.

I did WW a long time ago. The exchanges program, well before points. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been sort of watching points as well. To eat enough on SB to not be miserable took me well over the recommended points allowance on a regular basis. What I remember about WW, and see with the Points System, is that the biggest pitfall is not choosing wisely. There is also a danger of becoming delusional with the 35 weekly “bonus points” But I think that as long as you are determined to adopt healthier eating habits, it is a no-fail system. More important, for me, there is no “avoid list.” My daily allowance is 20 points. If I want 2 9-point slices of Meat Lovers Pizza, I plan for it. And still have 2-7 points for the rest of the day.

Counting points can be problematic until you have a cheat sheet of points for the foods you eat the most of. I’ve found some lists if you are interested.

The daily allowance of points drops as you lose weight, but like the weight loss, the points drop is gradual. There’s a short series you use to calculate your daily points:

1. The first two numbers of your weight. (So if you are 150-159, you get 15)
2. Add 2 points for females (12 points if nursing) or 8 point for males.
3. Add points for age: 17-26 add 4 points; 27-37 add 3; 38-47 add 2; 48-57 add 1; and over 58 add 0.
4. Add points for height: under 5 ft add 0, between 5′0″ and 5′9″ add 1, and over 5′10″ add 2.
5. Add points for activity: If you spend most of your day sitting down, add 0 to your weight watchers points total. If you are occasionally sitting but mostly standing add 2. If you are walking most of the time add 4. If you do physically difficult work, add 6. This one was tricky. While I sit most of the work day, I stand for phone calls, cooking, cleaning, and laundry and move around as much as I can – and I add as much activity or exercise as I can. I split the difference between the lower two and gave myself 1 point.

This site is difficult to navigate, but has alot of good lists and menus:

http://quiddity.cc/rachel/diet/wwfoods.htm

Wish me luck – I’ve adjusted my goal to be down another 10 by the 4th of July, and back into the “healthy range” by the end of summer!

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Another Daytona 500 has come and gone, with Jamie McMurray taking the checkers in an exciting finish. Denny Hamlin came in 17th, and we’ll take it! Anytime your driver finishes at this unpredictable track, and in the top 20 no less, is a good day.

I’m not sorry to see Jamie win. He was part of my Fantasy Team when I was playing, and he’s a good guy. Last season was not a good one for him, and leaving him Roush’s odd man out and without a ride when NASCAR implemented a new four-car rule for owners. It was good to see him start off with a bang, and refreshing to see so much emotion in Victory Lane.

The race was a good one, with a record setting number of lead changes and lots of close racing. A few wrecks, no “big one” — and no injuries. Well. Unless you count the asphalt. A pothole between turns 1 and 2 resulted in two red flags for repairs – nearly 2-1/2 hours of down time.

I had to agree with some of the drivers who said, “Just set a cone on it, and we’ll drive around it – it’s not like we don’t know it’s there.” But calmer heads and safety prevailed. A tire blow out in a turn at 190 mph would make for a pretty ugly outcome.

You couldn’t ask for more excitement when they finally came to the finish with three Green-White-Checker restarts. Love the new rule allowing multiple attempts at a GWC restart if the leader doesn’t take the white flag before a wreck causes a caution.

In the past, if a caution came out on the restart, the field was frozen and the race was effectively over. And it happened enough to make many race finishes boring. Great move by NASCAR – this is going to make for some thrilling finishes.

Dale Jr’s comment after the race really sums up why the Daytona 500 is just so much fun, “It was all a blur — I was just going wherever they weren’t, I really don’t enjoy being that aggressive. But if there was enough room for the radiator to fit, you just kind of held the gas down and prayed for the best.”