Survival Eating

As I alluded to last week, I spent Memorial Day weekend camping out with my family in the lovely metropolis of Trego, Wisconsin.  A great time was had by all, but it did raise a number of challenges with regard to meals.  When I thought about all of the things I used to enjoy on these weekends like S’mores, chips, hot dogs and hamburgers nothing came to mind that fit the parameters of my new lifestyle.  Additionally, there was the challenge of being at a campsite and not having all of the culinary comforts of home. (Like for instance the use of a George Foreman grill because your oven is broken.)  Between my crafty planning prowess, my mom’s shopping power and some newly tuned taste buds I came up with the following twists on the meals everyone else was eating.  Some of these might seem pretty disgusting..well one in particular, but they kept me within my calorie limits and most importantly they kept me full. 

The Good

The Bektastic Sloppy Joe Bowl: Take one part my mom’s amazing sloppy Joe’s, cut up 3 baby dills and add in a cup of cottage cheese.  Mix and enjoy.  (or not..I have been told that this is quite disgusting, but I like it and I ate it twice!) Make sure that you eat this one slowly though...there is a lot of potential for a stomach traffic jam because of all the protein-y goodness.

Salt and Pepper Pistachios: These are amazing, but you should resist the urge to pour out those loose pistachios at the bottom and pop them directly in your mouth because with them comes all the pepper that has been resting on the bottom of the bag.  I had to learn this lesson twice!

Diet Caffeine Free Coke: Now, technically I am supposed to try and curb my love for the Diet Coke, but when you take away the calories and the caffeine it’s practically water so I was forced to indulge if only to keep myself hydrated!  Other than that, it serves absolutely no purpose. In the future I should probably avoid this kid of gluttony, but a girl has to have one treat. 

Turkey Burgers:  Once I slathered them up with ketchup, onion and pickles I didn’t even notice that I was missing the bun. Normally I would spruce these up with some White Trash Seasoning Salt (a.k.a. Lowry's) but all we had was salt and pepper this time.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus: Despite my mom’s declaration of it looking like baby poop, it tasted awfully good on carrot sticks.  I ate plenty of this in place of the delicious chips I would have normally enjoyed.I am not going to lie to you and tell you that it is just as good as chips or delicious Cheetos, but if you eat it fast enough you are too full to care.  The red pepper adds some tangy deliciousness and you almost forget that there is a carrot in there if you are eating enough of the hummus.

The Bad

250 Calorie Hot Dogs:  I didn’t check the caloric value until after I had crammed it down, but it was probably not worth the 250 calories that it deducted from my daily intake.  Darn my  mom for buying the high quality hot dogs that all come from the same animal.  In the future a beef, turkey, who-knows-what blend will probably be much more calorie friendly. 

Blueberries: No matter how hard I try I just can’t get behind these.  And when mixed with the pungent plain yogurt I claimed to be getting used to last week it created a chorus of gag worthy bites.  I am going to give these little blue devils one more chance when I grind them up in my protein shakes, but if that doesn’t work I am going to bid them adieu!Also...what is with that tiny little hairy leaf they have on the top?  Are you supposed to eat that?  Blueberries are just too hard!

But, as you can see, there was WAY more good than bad and it lead me to success as I am now down 4 pounds!!!  

Now, I bring you the weekly breakdown.

Best Food of the Week:

Jenny-O Pre-made turkey burgers with tomato and red pepper

Worst Food of the Week:

Oatmeal Raisin Power Bar….Gag.  It tasted like sawdust being held together by Rubber Cement.  (Yes…many moons ago I tasted the Rubber Cement in art class and let me tell you…you don’t EVER forget that taste!)

Best Exercise of the Week:

Do a squat and then hold it for 5 seconds before standing up again.  Repeat this 10 times to make a set and then do 3 sets with a minute in-between them.  Super good for the booty and we are all going to want to be shaking that this summer!!

Best Workout Jam of the Week:

We are going old school this week with a little AC/DC You Shook Me All Night Long—relive the school dances of your youth!

Becky Today (Technically this is from the weekend, but you get the idea):