Food Exercise Find: At-home workouts

Sarah — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 23:13:42 +0000

This section of our site is usually devoted solely to new and/or interesting products of a culinary nature. But we’ve decided to change things up a bit because with all of those New Year’s resolution gym-goers, we haven’t been able to get on the treadmill at the gym since January 2nd and we thought it might be a good time to recommend some tried and true at-home DVD/VHS workouts.
Tae-Bo – Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo cardio kickboxing workouts were extremely popular a few years ago, before the Yoga and Pilates craze. We’d also traded in our roundhouse kicks for downward facing dogs for a while, but a timely Christmas gift reinstated our love for these workouts. Any of the Tae Bo workouts are good, here are some of our personal favorites:
Billy Blanks’ Tae-Bo Cardio	Billy Blanks’ Tae-Bo Flex
This one is good for people who are new or who haven’t done Tae Bo in a while.	This one is a little more intense and focuses more on muscle strength.
Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds – We can’t say enough good things about Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away the Pounds program. This workout has been there for us through thick and thin. This is one workout that both beginners and intermediate exercisers can benefit from because it has its roots in something that is basic and natural to all of us – walking. We’ll admit that Leslie can be a bit grating, but the workout is simple enough to be able to put it on mute, blare your favorite workout music and just get into it. Here are some good ones:
Walk Away the Pounds WATP 2-Pack	WATP Super Challenge
This package is great because it has 3 workouts in one – a basic 1 mile, an intermediate 2 mile and a more challenging 3 mile. It can be tailored to your time availability and level of athleticism – we love that!	A 4 mile challenge!
Denise Austin – Denise Austin is the woman every at-home exerciser loves to hate. She’s perky to the point of annoying and her hair is always just so perfect, but darn it, her workouts are always good! Here are some of our picks:
Burn Fat Fast - Cardio Dance & Sculpt	Power Zone: Mind, Body, Soul
If you’re looking for a fun dance workout, this is what you’ve been looking for. Not impossible for the coordination-impaired (like ourselves).	This workout is a blend of yoga, pilates, and dance – all performed standing up. This is probably a little too easy for hard-core exercisers, but great for those at an intermediate level.

Perdue Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Cutlets

Sarah — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 23:23:12 +0000

We all know that making an easy, healthy lunch can sometimes be a huge challenge. With fast food calling your name and the hassle brown-bagging can sometimes be, it can be tough to find a happy medium between something fast and something you won’t regret later. That’s why we absolutely LOVE Perdue’s low-fat fully cooked chicken breast cutlets. They have just 140 calories and 3 grams of fat each (3 points) and come in two flavors – Homestyle and Italian. Both are good, but we prefer the Italian seasonings for an extra kick. Bring these to work with two slices of light white bread (we like Pepperidge Farm Light Wheat), pop one in the microwave and you’ve got yourself a delicious 4-point lunch! Or chop one up and stick it on top of a salad – the possibilities are endless!

If you can’t find them in your grocery store, order them online here: Perdue Chicken Cutlets

Edy’s Light Pumpkin Ice Cream

Sarah — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 18:47:27 +0000

We know we’ve mentioned Edy’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream before, but their new Pumpkin flavor made us think it was time for a reminder! A limited edition available only until the end of November, this delicious ice cream would be perfect on top of Pumpkin Pie, Apple Cake, or all by itself. And with only 100 calories and 3 grams of fat, this ice cream wonder clocks in at just 2 points per half cup. Serve this at your holiday get together and no one will ever know it’s light!

Edys, Dreyers, Dreyer’s

Mrs. Butterworth’s Sugar Free Syrup

Sarah — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 21:44:30 +0000

Ok, we’ll admit it. We like our pancakes and french toast with maple syrup, and lots of it. That’s why we’re so excited to find that Mrs. Butterworth’s Sugar Free syrup actually tastes like the real stuff, but with only 35 calories instead of the usual 100+ per serving! So, if you’re like us and have a hard time sticking to the serving size for this one, you won’t be breaking the calorie bank. Try it with our Banana Oat Pancakes or make a light french toast by dipping some light bread in egg substitute, spray the pan with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and sprinkle with cinnamon when you’re done. Maple-icious!

Mrs Butterworths, Butterworths

Kemps Nonfat Light 80 Yogurt

Sarah — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 11:51:43 +0000

Like the rest of you, we love getting our dairy servings in by eating yogurt. Yogurt is one of those versatile foods that work for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert. But the thing that drives us NUTS is the inability to find a flavored, 1 Point yogurt in the 6-oz container. Call us spoiled, but we want to get the most for our Points!

We are proud to announce that the search for this mystery food is over! Kemps has unveiled an 80 calorie, nonfat, 1 gram of fiber (yes, 1 point!), flavored, 6-oz yogurt! Who could ask for more?

Check to website to see if Kemps are available in your area. If not, write Kemps and ask your grocer to find out more.

Kemp’s

Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Egg Noodles

Sarah — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 20:35:01 +0000

Sometimes, it feels like you really have to sacrifice quite a bit to shave a point off of your pasta. We just tried Ronzoni’s Healthy Harvest Whole Wheat Egg Noodles and flipped for them! At just 3 Points per cup (180 cals, 1 g fat, 6 g fiber), these egg noodles are packed with fiber (which makes them even more filling) and are delicious! We had them with Beef Stroganoff and a Cheddar Garlic biscuit and couldn’t be more satisfied!

Weight Watchers 1 point cakes

Sarah — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 21:51:24 +0000

The Weight Watcher’s community has been buzzing about these treats for a few weeks now, so when we found them in our grocery store we just had to try them. We’ve just completed our taste test and here are the results:

Chocolate Cake (80 cals/3 grams of fat/2 grams of fiber)

If you’re a sucker for Tasty Kake or Drake’s treats, this is for you. You’d never guess it was low-fat and it tastes just like the fat-filled lunchbox treats you used to love. Much like those lunchbox chocolate treats, though, these were tasty but a little on the dry side.

Carrot Cake (80 cals/ 2.5 grams of fat/2 grams of fiber)

These got a thumbs up all around! They have a bit more of an “adult” taste and were moist and chewy. And weighing in at a half gram of fat less than their chocolate counterparts, the carrot cake was a clear winner.

While these were both delicious, keep in mind that nothing is perfect. These are 80 calorie pieces of cake so they’re pretty small – about 4 bites each. They’re the perfect solution to satisfying a craving, but not really a filling snack.

1 Pt English Muffins

Sarah — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 12:56:48 +0000

Straight from the folks that brought us the Original English Muffin that we all know and love, Thomas’ has come out with an incredibly delicious Light version of this nook and cranny-filled breakfast food. Thomas’ Light Multi-Grain English Muffins pack a filling fiber punch – they have 100 calories, 1 gram of fat and 8 (yes, 8!) grams of fiber. At only 1 point a piece, these muffins will keep you full all morning without the calories. Top them with jam, I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter spray, or reduced fat peanut butter. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, make a Sausage Cheese “McMuffin” or have this for lunch as an English Muffin pizza.

100 Calorie Snack Pack Craze

Sarah — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 22:13:02 +0000

We are so excited to see how popular 100 calorie packs have become! These are perfect because you can grab them on the go and you’re guaranteed a healthy snack. It also signals a change in the snack food industry and its great to see that healthy foods with reasonable portions are becoming more accessible. Here are some of the newest and some of our favorites:

Nabisco started the 100 calorie craze with their snack line. They’ve transformed Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Honey Maid, Ritz, Wheat Thins, Cheese Nips, and Fruit Snacks into delicious, healthy snacks. We haven’t tried them all yet, but so far our favorites are the Oreos and the Wheat Thins.

Keebler has recently hopped on the bandwagon with their Right Bites line of 100 calorie packs. They’ve made 100 calorie packs of Sandies and Chips Deluxe. We haven’t had any luck finding the Sandies (but we can’t wait – we love the originals!), but we can vouch for the Chips Deluxe – they’re awesome!

South Beach has also made some 100 calorie cookie packs – Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter. We were a little disappointed in the Peanut Butter (they seemed a bit hard to us), but we are CRAZY for the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.

Before we get ahead of ourselves…

Gretchen — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 17:12:27 +0000

We know that there are lots of new and delicious diet friendly foods out there, but before we mention any of them we thought it was important to mention the best food finds around - FRUITS AND VEGETABLES! Fruits and veggies truly are the backbone of any successful attempt at weight loss and there are so many different ways to eat them, cook them, and generally enjoy them. For a few ideas, check out the Recipe Box and Recipe Swap. Happy munching!