Thursday, December 9, 2010

Healthy Obsessions

7-11!

Okay, so this healthy obsession isn't 100% healthy, nutritionally speaking, but as far as convenience, products and variety, it's good! And, sometimes in the long run it's good for your wallet, mind and body.

I love the flavored coffees at 7-11. I wanted a blueberry one last week, but my bus was there, so I caught my bus instead of stopping in. Next time around, I just happened to miss the bus.

So, no blueberry coffee! At least, not this day. But, they had all these other flavors, Colombian, extra bold, french vanilla, Irish creme, and my pick, butter toffee! Basically, 7-11 has stepped up their coffee game. Better 7-11s have a pretty well stacked DIY beverage counter, complete with sugar substitute, reg sugar, turbinado sugar, skim milk, whole milk, half & half...I really could go on. It's great, lots of flavors, at a decent price, all at your customizing finger tips.

And that's not all. 7-11 has done the DIY to their snacks. They have their own line of snacks, 7-11 branded, with some odd name, I forget. But, they had these cute little mini-muffins. So, I could get a coffee, and a pack of muffins for under 5 bucks, and under 200 calories. They also have bananas, a good grab-n-go option, but their price is a little high IMO, unless you elect to get 2 for $1.

And, they had something else! Extra Dessert Sensation gum with a BOGO coupon! Which, is probably the most awesome gum ATM. Gum stimulates saliva, which contains all sorts of jazz, as well as decay fightin' minerals, so it may be very good for gum & teeth health. Also, the gum tastes pretty much like the dessert, so guilt free flavor in a nice portable medium. Except the strawberry, kind of a let down. Meh.

Thank heaven for 7-11.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Bear necessities, the simple bear necessities

Last night, I could not get to sleep. It was weird, because hours before I sat down on my couch and just passed out. I woke up like 20 minutes later with a good case of ..."whaaaaaaaaa? I was asleeep?"

Then I got to thinking of things, many things. Eventually I got myself into bed, and that's it, no sleep for an hour because of the many thinking of things. Thinking bad.

Later on today, I'm blabbing this to my co-worker and she's notes that maybe I'm hibernating.


(That's totally what I look like after work. Don't judge.)

I laugh, and say, "nooooo...I do that, but I'm not doing that now." Then, I reconsidered her point. I've had random cravings for pretzels, fruit, crackers, egg white sandwiches, cake...carbs!

And today, similar thing...fruit, fruit, crackers, all carbs - all the time. And random sleep.

So, with all that in mind, if this is the time of the year you hibernate, embrace it! Hibernation celebration! Only, do some prep work. For example, look at my cravings, simple sugars yes, but I did strive for fresh fruit, multigrain crackers, and a lone bag of vending machine pretzels without added fat. The cake, while not a fruit, it's a lowfat recipe of my own.

I keep craving items on hand, but only a few. Everything else, I have to brave the cold, the cost and the lack of sleep to get them. I also analyze what I want. This Weight Watcher article is pretty spot on. It's a good way to keep your comfort cravings in check and still be comfortable. Just because you hibernate like a bear doesn't mean you have to look like one.