The other white drink

When I was about 6 years old, I had a book called "All about me". It's a 1/2 written book with blanks and open spaces for you to tell all about who you are at the time. You trace your hand. You draw an imaginary city. You say things you've learned about the world. And of course the basics - favorite color, favorite food, favorite songs. My favorite food? Cheese.

That's never really changed. As a snack? Sure - string or slice? As an appetizer? Bring it on - fancy in wedges or fried up in a basket while watching the game. Breakfast? Cottage cheese with fruit. Lunch - the reason for eating most sandwiches, or in the simple purity of an insanely grilled cheese sandwich. Dinner? Roll cheese in corn tortillas, add cheese to the top and I'm good to go. Dessert? How about paired with pears and wine? [And yes, these were all just off the top of my head in less than 30 seconds. Imagine what I could do if given time...]

I've always felt that way about the whole darn dairy section. But as the healthier-me cut back on fat and calories, I saw less and less of my friend cheese. I miss it, but I appreciate those few moments when a bit of feta takes a salad to a new level. Or that one slice of real Swiss helps me forget that I'm eating diet bread and counting the calories of every piece of shredded carrot on the sandwich. I don't think I'll ever completely let it go.

But, healthier-world me has been getting a bit concerned. How many of our natural resources go into creating a gallon of milk? And while I may be keeping mine organic and non-fat, is there something else I could do to make an even better choice? To put less pressure on our farmers to make cow food and encourage them to make more people food?

It was a hard decision, but I decided to buy Soy Milk. I'm not saying it's the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship or anything. I will be trying a few brands to decide which one is the right one for me. I may slide back a bit but I really think I might make this one stick. Some reasons why?

- A cow needs to drink 2 gallons of water for every gallon of milk she'll make that day. Add to that the water used to raise the crops just so she could eat them and you have a TON of water going into dairy production. Sure, soy has to be grown, just like the cow's food, but that still means I can save 2 gallons of water for every gallon of soy milk produced.
- A dairy cow creates 120 pounds of "waste" each day. Ick. Now sure, some of this will get turned around into good things. I watch dirty jobs. I know. BUT - according to a Senate report on animal waste, a small farm of just 200 cows will create as much nitrogen in the sewage as a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people.
- Finally, let's look at the numbers:
- Organic Skim Milk, 1 Cup - 90 Calories, 0 Fat, 130g Sodium, 13g Carbs (0 Fiber, 12g Sugar), 9g Protien, 10% Vit A, 2% Vit C, 30% Calcium. (From my common brand)
- 8th Continent Light Soy Milk, 1 Cup - 50 Calories, 2g Fat, 115g Sodium, 2g Carbs (0 Fiber, 2g Sugar), 6g Protein, 10% Vit A, 30% Calcium, 6% Iron, 25% Vit D, 25% B2, 15% B12
- So, less calories, less sodium and less sugar in Soy milk. Skim milk has less fat and more protein.

Is there a trade off? Sure. But for now, I'm going to give it a shot. I'm hoping that both healthier-me and healthier-earth are better for it.

A dose of reality

This is why I hate skinny people.

Ok, not skinny people [I have many skinny friends that I love and adore], but the never-been-anything-but-skinny people who write weight loss articles.

I decided to join this other website for a bit. Kick the tires. I have found some interesting tools, but I'm certainly not in love. Absolutely will never replace TDP. Starting to dislike it more and more. But as part of checking them out I said "Sure! Send me your daily healthy recipe email! I could take that and find some fun inspiration!"

Wait till you see what crap they sent me!!! Dreamy Chocolate Fudge!!! WTF?

Dreamy Chocolate Fudge

Serves: 50

Indulge with this creamy delight.

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 cups sugar substitute

2/3 cup evaporated

2% milk

2 tablespoons stick butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS1. Combine sugar substitute, evaporated milk, butter and salt in a medium size heavy saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Boil and stir 5 minutes. Remove from heat. 2. Stir in marshmallows, chocolate chips and vanilla until completely melted and smooth. Pour mixture into foil-lined 8-inch square pan. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm to the touch. Remove foil from pan and fudge. Cut into squares. Refrigerate any remaining fudge

NUTRITION INFO

Calories: 38

Fat: 2.2 g

Carbohydrates: 5.8 g

Protein: 0.4 g

Worst of all - check out the servings. This recipe is supposed to make enough for serve 50! 50 servings of fudge? That's a lot of fudge. But wait - they make it in an 8x8 pan. Fckrs! That means each piece is 1.6 inches by .8 inches (approx 1 1/3 inch by 3/4 inch). Seriously. Yea, that's all the freaking fudge one person is going to f-ing want. Serves 50 my ass. Better yet - serves 50 my skinny friend's ass!

And if this fudge was cut into normal sized pieces? Say 2 inches by 2 inches? That's 16 servings. Which means the calorie count just went up to (Drum roll please....)

118.75 Calories

6.875 g Fat

18.125 g Carbs

1.25 g Protien

Listen. Folks want to lose weight. They really do. But what kind of f'd up advice is it to tell folks who obviously have issues eating well to MAKE FUDGE!!!

Want to lose weight? Eat fruit. Drink water. Exercise. Craving chocolate? Fat Free/Sugar free chocolate pudding is always good. Try one of the millions of 100 calorie pack options. Or ya know what? If you really want real chocolate - eat a small freaking piece of real chocolate. One square of Ghirardelli's Dark Chocolate is just 55 calories. Real chocolate.

It's all about moderation people. You don't make a whole pan of fudge when you're trying to be healthy. Because far too many of the folks that email was sent to would be far too likely to eat the whole pan of fudge. I got this email from them less than a week after joining their site, with no activity after the first day of joining. If Suzie is just 2 days into her weight loss, feeling weak and wanting support - what responsible group is going to send her a fudge recipe?

Let's get real.

Death by embarrasment

I think I may have mortally embarrassed The Girlfriend today.

We went to dinner, and while I chose one of the best places in the area - I knew that evil calories and sodium lurked behind every innocent chicken breast and lettuce leaf. So I did what any responsible dieter would do. I asked to see the restaurant's nutritional information guide.

It was almost a fatal blow. She tried to convince me it wasn't necessary. She did the hand over the eyes "you can't see me" move to the waiter. It wasn't pretty.

A few moments later when our server returned with a 3 inch binder filled with nutritional information he cautioned, "It's not good. You won't like anything you see here. You might not even want to look before you order." Kinda ruins the whole thing then, doesn't it?

So, turns out I'd picked the best item on the menu before I even got the nutritional info. After the pat on my back - I was overwhelmed by the sodium content. Over 2K mg's for chicken tacos?? Are these things brined before they're cooked? I don't get it. It's insane. 5 gigantic glasses of water later (ok, 3) I was hoping I'd helped to even the score, yet privately knew it wasn't true. I still needed to make up for the half of a smoked turkey leg from the State Fair last night. Not pretty. But darn tasty - and better than the Fry Bread taco I really really wanted. Much better.

3 days in a row huh? I think I'm impressed with myself. And not just for the blogging.

Nice...