On Weekend Cheating: Scary Math

One of my favorite shows of all time is "Cheaters." I think it's hilarious.
"I thought you loved me." 
"Baby, but I do love you. We were just doing my taxes in that hotel room."
     See, it's funny. Not so sure what this says about me. Now what I think would be REALLY hilarious would be a "Cheaters; The Food Version" reality show and they could come right on over to my house starting on Friday afternoon and stay until Sunday night. They would have plenty, I mean PLENTY, of footage.

     Are you like me? Do you cheat on weekends? Are you good all week and then, as Friday happy hour approaches (happy=heading for the weekend, more help with the kids, sleeping-in becomes a possibility) you start sort of loosening up? Maybe you head out to eat with the kids and get a burger instead of a grilled chicken salad. Then on Saturday you hit the zoo and indulge in a funnel cake, following by pizza later on. Sunday brunch, oh how do I love thee? All you can eat pancakes, here I come. Sunday night dinner with friends? Hello chips and salsa and guacamole, and then, of course, brownies for dessert. UGH! If I am being totally honest with myself, I will say that my weekends are sabotaging my efforts to lose those last few pounds, to trim that mama pooch once and for all. I go through every weekend with a devil on my shoulder, pointing to "ooh, that's looks yummy" on the menu.

     So ladies, I did some math. SCARY MATH. Grab your number 2 pencils, ladies. If I cheat on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, that equals to 3 days a month. At 4.3 weeks in a month, on average, that's equal to 12.9 cheat days a month, which is way too close to 15 days. (Frown.) That means I have been cheating nearly 1/2 of every month. ("Psycho" or "Jaws" theme music please.) As we approach the weekend I plan on keeping that figure in mind and perhaps, just order that grilled chicken salad instead. Cheat days or meals are OK... cheat vacations every weekend, not quite.

See Mama Eat: Strawberry Shake

A few days ago I chided rotten Ronnie for introducing America to his new line of McCafe smoothies, no-doubt delicious concoctions that are loaded with sugar, sugar and more sugar. It's a shame, though, because I love smoothies. I make them all the time at home. I love the crock-pot-like simplicity: toss in a few easy ingredients and blend. I use the Magic Bullet and have for years. It's my smoothie operator and probably the only thing I am not embarrassed to admit I got from one of those marathon informercials. I prefer frozen fruit because there's no pre-washing involved-- times always ticking away!-- and the icy fruit thickens the shake. I also use almond milk. It's lower in saturated fat than cow's milk and is a yummy alternative. Here is my new creation in response to McDonald's latest diet bomb...

MTM's Strawberry Shake
(Why? 'Cause it taste EXACTLY like a strawberry milkshake, I swear!)

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop of all-natural protein powder (I love, love, love Jay Robb Whey Protein and I've been around the block on protein powders, I tell ya!)
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed (a super-ingredient!)

Put the ingredients in a blender and shake it! 

(Depending on your brand of protein powder, this smoothie rings in at about 200 calories with 25 grams of protein, a good, good way to polish off a workout or make when you wake.)

And now, totally unrelated to this post and rather random, but stuck in my head all morning since I started throwing strawberries in the Magic Bullet, is this message from Sade...