Breathing Space

BANANA OATMEAL COOKIES

Oatmeal cookies with a banana twist

Banana ripening: 2 weeks
Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 1 hour
Makes about 30 cookies, easily doubled

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 very very ripe banana
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1-1/2 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned or quick, not instant)
• 1 cup coconut, preferably unsweetened

Preheat oven to 350F.

Melt butter in a small dish in microwave, 10 seconds at a time. Transfer to mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, thoroughly mix in sugars, banana, egg and vanilla.

Scoop the flour, baking power, baking soda and salt onto the butter mixture without mixing in. With a fork, lightly combine the dry ingredients on top, still without mixing in. Now use the mixer to combine the flour mixture and the butter mixture. Stir in oatmeal and coconut.

Drop dough by tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake for 11 – 14 minutes until set and golden. Cool 5 minutes before removing from tray but do remove or will stick.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Cookie: 98 Cal; 3g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 16g Carb; 1g Fiber; 58mg Sodium; 11mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

Posted on July 30th, 2008 by breathingspace
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The new plan… going great! The downside, I only have 3 flex points left for 4 days :o( Oh well, I will just have to be super smart about my food for the next couple of days. Yesterday I did walk 27km, it took 4.5 hours! I am a little sore today, but it is  a good pain. Kinda like a constant reminder of how much I am capable of! I know you can burn off points with exercise  but I am not entirely sure how it works. Today I am going out for dinner with an old friend. I am seriously only in the mood for a salad with chicken. Carbs aren’t even slightly tempting me right now, probably because I had a sandwich for lunch and some crackers.

My cousin’s girlfriend is going to see if I can come along to a meeting with her as a guest to see if it’s something that would work for me. I mostly just want the materials that they get in the meetings… like the compact version point counter, point slider, exercise counter, etc.

Anyways, hope everyone is doing great!

Posted on July 28th, 2008 by breathingspace
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So I started weight watchers… so far loving it. I love the flex plan and being able to allocate my points for each day and not just having a set limit. That being said… I am an awful cheater at dieting. I find myself nibbling here and there and thinking to myself ‘this wont count, I will be good from now on’. Today for example, I was doing great until I got to work. I was eating lunch and then there it was… the cinnamon roll. Somebody brought a box in, they looked delicious, so I had one. I was starving and only had a salad, fruit, and pretzels for supper. So I counted it as 3 points extra and called it even. Really I am sure it was about 5 points. THEN… there was a coconut cream pie downstairs. How could I resist, it’s my favourite. 2 small slices later I was feeling a little disappointed in myself but justified it by the fact that I am walking 25km tomorrow. Then my shift was over and I come home… oddly enough…. hungry. My stomach is a bottomless pit at times. So I had a handful of chocolate chips and a bowl of cereal (that I am finishing as I type this). I feel like a HUGE failure and have completely lost track of the points for today. I will likely use all of my flex points if I count today properly. What is wrong with me?!? Why am I always so hungry at work and have no willpower?? Has anybody else experienced this? I feel so lost right now.

Posted on July 27th, 2008 by breathingspace
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Hello all!

So my cousin’s girlfriend has persuaded me to start the weight watchers program. I hate counting calories, but still require a method to keep track of what I am putting in my mouth. She has lost 20 lbs so far and is looking great! I cannot afford the meetings, so I am going to attempt it solo. I have found some great websites that give point values and point calculators thanks to the weight watchers forum on 3FC. I am very new to all of this and just hoping for the best. I think I am going to try the flex plan–20 points a day with 35 points to use throughout the week. I think I can stick to that a bit easier than strict amounts per day. This way I can save up if I know I am going out for dinner or something.

I am pretty sure that nobody out there is reading this… but if you are please comment so I know you exist!!

*Jill*

Posted on July 24th, 2008 by breathingspace
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So I have found a major downside to counting calories. It is a pain in the a**. I like to eat a variety of foods, and ones that typically are not readily available on a calorie counter. Yes, I could take the time to input each ingredient of every recipie, but after awhile this becomes tedious and makes the entire calorie process seem slightly obsessive. So I am deciding to take a break from calorie counting. I reasonably know how much I should be eating, and the general nutrition of foods. I am going to go for 3 days without counting and see how it goes. Another new thing I will trial for 3 days is not eating after 8pm. Wish me luck!

Posted on July 19th, 2008 by breathingspace
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Posted on July 16th, 2008 by breathingspace
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http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=jbastara

Here you can see what I am eating each day and my weight loss progress… enjoy!

Posted on July 16th, 2008 by breathingspace
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Hello all!

So yesterday went relatively well. I planned my day out to account for 1250 calories, approximatley. That was all fine until there was a birthday cake at work… black forest to be exact. Everyone was eating it, I know I shouldn’t have, but I knew if I didn’t eat it I would likely feel deprived and binge later on. I just had one smaller sized piece, about 250 calories worth. Then when I came home I was still really hungry and wanted to unwind, so I popped myself some popcorn (300 calories) and watch Grey’s Anatomy. So all together yesterday ended up being 1750-ish calories. Not too horrible considering I am supposed to eat 2200 to maintain my weight. Oh, you are likely curious as to my weight and height and all that info… here it is:
Starting weight: 160
Current weight: 151
Height: 5′6″
Age: 22
There you have it. Today is going well, oatmeal with berries for breakfast, cracker for a snack, and lunch is coming up soon. I am thinking a nice salad with chicken would be nice. Anyways, I have a midterm tomorrow and I am seriously procrastinating on the studying. Later.

Posted on July 16th, 2008 by breathingspace
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So I took 2 days off of counting calories and where did it get me?? 2 pounds up, that’s right, 2 lbs!! Maybe it’s just water weight, or whatever… who knows, all I know is that the scale this morning shocked me back into diet mode. I will be using this blog to journal my calories, thoughts, emotions, and on occasion just plain ramble. I haven’t tallied the calories for today yet, but once I do they will be posted. I use fit day… I will get the link for all who are interested so you can see what I eat everyday… haha, like that is really interesting to anyone. Anyways, I am about to run off to the gym and then to work. Later.

Posted on July 15th, 2008 by breathingspace
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This will be my place to vent, share, and hopefully inspire. Enjoy.

Posted on July 15th, 2008 by breathingspace
Filed under: Ramblings | 1 Comment »