Spark People

Most successful diets include calorie counting. It's just a part of the drill. When you count calories, you can avoid consuming more calories than your body can burn in a day; eating more than you burn leads to weight gain. If you're looking for an easy way to track your calories, sparkpeople.com might be a good place to start. The site is free to join and offers access to a free calorie counter and much, much more. The weight conscious online community includes several weight loss tools, and it even provides users with a nutritional plan suggestion. You can use the site's tools to personally select your own nutritional plan and set goals for yourself. I'm aiming at 10 minutes of cardio a day and drinking 8 ounces of glasses of water per day. The message boards are also fun to dabble with if you're the type to like a little competition or friendly support. Some members create challenges, such as losing 15 pounds by December, that others can accept. I think it helps some people stick to their diets when they are a part of a group aiming for a common goal. You can link to sparkpeople.com on the right side of my blog.

The BEST Low Fat Honey Fried Chicken Recipe Ever!

How many of us dieters crave some delicious fried chicken but have to go without because of all of the fat involved? They say that the best creations and inventions come from those in need, and I was in need of some fried chicken this past Friday. I stopped for gas at a station located next to Popeyes, and the smell of the fried chicken stirred up a strong craving within me. So, I went home, and I got creative. The outcome was quite frankly amazing. Here is what you do:

1. Use a bag of flavored croutons (I used garlic flavored) and ground them into a powder almost. Ground them into as small of pieces as you can. I poured mine into a ziplock baggy and then used a hammer to just pound them into powder.

2. Take skinless/boneless chicken breasts and slice into strips.

3. Season the chicken the way you like- I like a little garlic pepper and salt.

4. Using about a cup and half of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray (ICBNBS), fry the chicken strips until they are near done.

5. Pour the powdered croutons on a plate,

6. Heat up a cup of honey and 4 tablespoons of ICBNBS in a bowl using the microwave, about 30 sec.

6. Dip your strips into the honey/ICBNBS mix and then roll the strips in the powdered croutons.

7. Put the strips back in the pan and continue to fry.

8. Drizzle honey over the frying strips of chicken and sprinkle more of the powdered croutons on as the chicken fries.

9. Crisp both sides of the chicken and you're done.

If you do it right, it will be dee-lish, and far less fattening to your typical fried chicken dish. Enjoy.

* You can use chicken pieces with skin, but it is more fattening that way.

Pork in Cheese?

Remember the days when vegetarians ordered cheese pizzas because they didn't want to eat meat? It's ironic to know that cheese pizzas are not necessarily vegetarian foods; in fact, there is a high probability that the cheese on the pizza was made with pork or beef enzymes. It's becoming harder and harder for people who do not want to consume animal products to avoid eating foods that are made with pork or beef. A grilled cheese sandwich used to be the substitute for vegetarians during lunch at my old elementary school; how ironic that those kids were chewing on the insides of a calf or pig's stomach. When did eating only the foods that you want to eat become so hard? If you're a vegetarian, you might as well go completely vegan to be safe. But, if you're not a vegetarain and are instead a Muslim, a Jew, or Hindu, you may not want to give up cheese; however, if you want to follow your faith and avoid eating pork or in the case of Hindus, beef, then you just might have to give up that dairy product.
When people order cheese pizzas or a vegetarian pizza at that, they may not be getting what they want at all. Instead, they are getting cheese that contains rennet which comes from the stomachs of slaugtered animals, such as pigs or calfs. Sounds delicious right? Wrong.
I miss the days when cheese was from milk and not from pigs. As a Muslim, I am finding it impossible to eat at any restaurants outside of those that are halal. I simply don't know what ingredients are used in restaurant foods. Does the bowl of clam chowder that I'm ordering have mono-dyglicerides? Does the bread and butter that I'm served have mono-dyglicerides or pork enzymes pervading through the food? I don't know. And because I don't know does not excuse me to eat the products when I do know of the possibility of those products being haram.
I am calling for action from all of those out there who believe that people deserve to know what they are eating. I said it before, and I say it again- it is time to start calling out all of the food restaurants that claim specific items to be vegetarian when those products are indeed made with animal products. Complacency will get us no where. We must act. And, we must act now. First, stop eating at resturants that cannot provide a list of ingredients that go into their foods, and more specifically, a list that is clear and identifies animal products unambiguously. Second, call up restaurant companies and demand to know if they use animal enzymes in their foods. If they do, and you have consumed a product that was labeled vegetarian (vegetarian pizza, vegetarian sub, vege burger, etc), but it wasn't, then get a lawyer and sue. Your rights have been violated. Third, spread the word to others who do not know about this issue. People all over are ignorant about the fact that cheese is not a vegetarian product. Furthermore, neither is bread a vegetarian product. And finally, if you have the ability to do so and you are Muslim, only shop at halal grocery stores and restaurants.

Here is a link to a list of brand of cheese that only use vegetable rennet. http://cheese.joyousliving.com/CheeseListBrand.aspx

Days 11-15 of My 30 Day Diet

Keeping up with a blog, a diet, full-time teaching job, and law school has taken it's toll on me. Unfortunately, I'm finding it very difficult to blog at all. What this means that instead of daily updates on my my diet, I may have to post weekly. I will try to post as frequently as possible, and hopefully soon, things will be a little easier for me allowing me more time to blog.

Day 11

1 slice of wheat toast 70 calories . 5 fat

1/2 banana 55 calories .5 fat

1 bag of light popcorn 110 calories 1.5 fat

Chicken and rice 360 calories 7 grams of fat

1 bowl of Corn Flakes 160 calories 0 fat

Day 12

1 1/2 bowls of Reese's Puffs cereal 200 calories 3 grams of fat

pretzels 200 calories 1 gram of fat

1 bowl of oatmeal 160 calories 2 grams of fat

Left over Chicken and Rice - 360 calories 7 grams of fat

1 Weight Watchers Chocolate Cake 100 calories 3 grams of fat

Day 13

Cheat Day

Day 14

Another Cheat day

Day 15

1 slice of wheat toast with jelly 90 calories .5 fat

1/2 banana 55 calories .5 grams of fat

yogurt 100 calories 0 fat

pretzels 200 calories 1 gram of fat

Garden Burger Sandwich 300 calories 12 grams of fat

Weight today 128.3

Day 10 of My 30 Day Diet

As I write this entry, my butterscotch nibbles are chilling on top of the counter. That should give you a clue as to how well this day of dieting went for me. It started off really well, and then I got to my night class. One of my classmates had a batch of butterscotch nibbles that drew attention from other classmates. Soon, I could not resist the excitement, and I asked to sample the treat. It was dee-lish, and it was addicting. I couldn't bring myself to ask for more, so I sat the rest of the hour craving more and planning my stop to the grocery store later. Needless to say, I am now way over my calorie and fat allotment for the day. I'm not going to bother stating what I ate, but I will post the recipe.

Butterscotch Nibbles

1 package of butterscotch morsels

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup chocolate chips

8 cups of Chex Cereal

simply heat the peanut butter and butterscotch in the microwave for a minute and afterwards stir in the cereal and chocolate chips. Spread onto wax paper to chill.

Common Ignorance

About three weeks ago, my niece called me to tell me about something that happened to her at her school. This year is her first year in high school. She was really excited about being in the ninth grade, and for the first few weeks, all I heard from her were good stories about her days in the ninth grade. But, three weeks ago, she had a run in with an ignorant hall monitor. The hall monitor asked to speak with my niece; she wanted to know what nationality my niece was. My niece informed the hall monitor that she was half Pakistani and half African American. The hall monitored responded with, "Oh, well you can't wear that thing on your head. We have a no head dress policy." My clever niece responded by telling the hall monitor that she was Muslim, and that she was required to wear her hijab as part of her religion. The hall monitor scolded my niece and said, "Girl, when I asked you what your nationality was, you was supposed to say Muslim"

My niece was shocked that an adult could be so ignorant. But, unfortunately, I was not surprised. On more than one occasion someone has either assumed that I was from the middle east because of my head cover or asked me what my nationality was and then responded with, "Oh, I thought you were Islamic" when I inform them that I'm African American. Muslims are not a nationality; they are followers of the religion Islam. Yet, so many people assume being Muslim means to be Arab or foreign, not American, and frequently, not black.

There are millions of Muslims living in America. Muslims come in all races and nationalities, and their presence exist in every state across the country. If this is the case, why is ignorance of the Islamic cultural so prevalent, especially in US public schools? Muslim girls should not have to be singled out and told they can't wear their hijabs because of "No Hat" policies. Teachers and staff at public schools should be educated about Muslim students' First Amendment rights to practice their religion without interference from the government, and they should recognize a Muslim girl when they see her in her hijab. I'm sure that most teachers would clearly recognize a Jewish student in a yarmulke. How is it that in this day in age, especially after all of the publicity Muslims have received in the media since 9-11, people are still ignorant about Muslims and their cultural traditions?

Day 9 of My 30 Day Diet

I'm not going to check my weight again until Sunday; I have been so rushed in the mornings that it has been hard to even take the time to get on the scale. Today, I stayed within my calories, but I had too much sugar. Tomorrow I need to make it a healthier meal day.

Breakfast

Corn Flakes 160 calories 0 fat

Snack

4 long stick pretzels 200 calories 1 fat

Candy - 400 calories worth 11 grams of fat

Dinner

Chicken Sandwich 300 calories 7 grams of fat

Granola Bar 100 calories 3 grams of fat

______________________________________________________________

1160 22 fat