1 Cup vs 1/2 Cup

Matt here......

My buddy John is not making this Weight Watchers mission any easier by posting these insane mouthwatering pictures of chocolate caramel sea salt tarts and delightful looking doughnuts that could stop traffic. Thanks John for all the support, I appreciate it. 

This past Saturday yours truly was ready for his weekly weigh-in. I was feeling a bit anxious and wanted to see how I did after being pretty strict and counting every crumb that made it's way into my dish. Saturday mornings are the moment of truth and make me start to second guess myself. I'll say things like, "Maybe I should of had a 1/2 cup of rice instead of a whole cup", "Maybe I could have done without that bowl of cereal" or "I should of added some cayenne pepper to speed-up my metabolism".

Unreal...1 cup vs. 1/2 cup. Mr. Dainty. Wait, let me go put my make-up on and fix my skirt.   

During the week you could say I put away a few pomegranates (my favorite), Red Delicious apples the size of pumpkins (Thanks Costco) and enough bananas that would make King Kong proud (All zero point foods on WW).

Being a "carb-oholic", the night before weigh-in I make sure to ease up on all the evil foods and salt. Oh and by the way did I mention that I'm a salt addict as well? Uh Yeah. Can we stack the odds any higher against me succeeding on this mission? On the doctor's scale (conveniently located in the basement next to the exercise equipment that hasn't moved in 2 years) I go. Scared to death that I did something wrong or miscalculated my points during the week, I start to move the little metal scale slider trying to pin-point my weight right down to the quarter pound. Yes, 3 pounds lighter! What a relief, 3 weeks and 9 lbs. Whew, now I can enjoy the rest of my weekend and forget about "1 cup vs. 1/2 cup". 

Earlier this week, my wife and I went to her favorite place Whole foods for lunch. She chose to go with her usual favorite salad stuff (You can bank on some kind of Kale, Cabbage and Beets to be included in that container). I on the other hand went in a different direction and did a little browsing of the various food stations whole foods had to offer. Wouldn't you know, I found myself in a trance at the brick oven pizza station. Sure you must be thinking I was ready to cheat huh? I know, given up on me already. Nope, not me, I went for the Balsamic Broccoli Rabe and Pesto on Flat Bread Pizza. Yeah Baby!

27 days into this. Stay tuned.

For the love of Peanut Brittle

Matt here ...

Has your kid ever come home from school with one of those catalogs offering the most delicious looking chocolates? Sweets ranging from dark chocolate truffles to chocolate covered pretzels, cookies, gourmet hot chocolate and yes my all-time favorite, Peanut Brittle.

Ahhhhhh Peanut Brittle.

The kind where you run the risk of losing 3 teeth and detaching your gums right from the roof of your mouth. It really is one of my favorites and well worth the risk of requiring some serious dental work.

The problem with ordering from those catalogs is by the time you get your stuff, your kid is graduating from college. It's true. Recently, I came home from work and noticed a big box in the living room that just came in the mail. It was torn open with papers everywhere from the packaging but my eyes made it right to the box of gold. The Brittle. Our eyes made contact and for a moment everything just STOPPED (slight pause) and all I could hear is Etta James sing....."Attttt laaast....my love has come along". For a moment it felt like it was just me and the Peanut Brittle alone in the room. The box I ordered from like 3 years ago had finally arrived.

So hear I am 18 days into counting Weight Watchers points and having to figure out how I am fitting in this sugary beast into my daily point allowance. There is no way I'm turning my back on this one.

Like most things on Weight Watchers you have to weigh your portions. I know, big pain in the ass. But if your gonna do it right you need a scale.

So, I break out the scale, tear open my new box of happiness and check to see how much of this brick with nuts (I said "brick") I can have.

3 points for this little niblet? Are you kidding me? Please look at that picture. Talk about portion control. This wouldn't satisfy a gnat.

So to make sure I don't have more then a fairy fly portion, I put them in 3 point Ziploc bags.

The next order I place is for the gourmet hot chocolate, that has to be lower in points, I think. 

Until next time.

Food - It's a sick but tasty habit

Matt here ...

As John mentioned in his last post, we are incredibly excited to share with you all things food related. How it impacts our every move and why it's in our every thought. Well maybe not every thought, but every other thought. Food is the main ingredient in our "Bromance". Allow us to now take you into our culinary world where we will reveal all of our deep, dark secrets and bizarre habits we both share around one of life's greatest pleasures ... food.

The opening line to one of my favorite movies is "As far back as I could remember I always wanted to be a gangster". Don't know the movie? You're no friend of mine. Google it and get back to me.

Anyway, I can relate to that line since my life is kinda similar in that "As far back as I could remember I was always fat". Not big boned or husky or stocky, just plain fat. Plain and simple. No sugar coating allowed. I feel the need to keep it real or keep it to myself (I think I just made that line up).

Back in the summer of 2012 I lost 55 lbs. Big accomplishment. I was on top of the world. I did everything by the book and swore I would never go back to old habits.

WRONG.

1 year and 55 new "friends" later, all at about a pound each, and I was back to square one. Ugh, watta waste.

I "met" my 55 new friends due to some weird eating habits:
- Eating too many potato chips because the bag said "100% Whole Grain".
- Eating too many Edy's Ice Pops because they were "sugar free".
- Eating too much ice cream because it was "1/2 the fat".
- Eating too much dark chocolate covered Acai berries - dark chocolate and Acai is good for you, right?
- Eating one too many bowls of cereal because it had "Flax Seed"
- Drinking too much diet soda. Hey, it's diet right?
- Spending 30 minutes peeling a Pomegranate and following it up an hour later with a Ham and Cheese on Italian Bread (Hey it's OK, I had the Pomegranate earlier).

Now do you see the sick mentality I have?

On a positive note, today is day 13 on Weight Watchers for me and I am down 5 lbs so far. I'm back to logging points and weekly weigh-ins. It's tough, but so is pushing past XXL.

The one thing I would say will never end, is the obsession I have with needing food for the long ride home from work. I pack it religiously every day as it is my security blanket. For example, today was an apple and Chobani Yogurt with of course ... wait for it ... wait for it ... POMEGRANATES!

I'll continue to monitor my successes and failures here and even share some of my absolutely amazing tips. 

Let's do this.



Matt