Focus on Dairy

As I have chosen Weight Watchers to help me heal my body, I think it's about time that I followed the process in its entirety. It doesn't do me any good to stay within my points if I don't eat the right kinds of foods. Nor would it do me any long-term good to eat the right kinds of foods if I were going to sit on my butt all day long. And even exercise cannot be the stand-alone piece of the puzzle that returns me to health.

A key piece of Weight Watchers is eating the right combination of foods. There are good health guidelines to include liquids, dairy, fruits, vegetables, vitamins, whole grains, good oils, and proteins on a daily basis. Leaning on one area and ignoring another will not bring me to a sustainable level of health.

Liquids are the easiest for me. I'm supposed to have 6-8 eight ounce glasses of liquid each day. And since that doesn't necessarily have to be water, I have ABSOLUTELY no problem here. I am a heavy drinker – Diet Coke is my constant companion. Yes, I drink too many; but right now, let's consider this area covered. I'll work on the "water switch" later.

Then comes Dairy – 2-3 portions daily. I haven't been doing so well here. I don't care for milk; and unfortunately, a daily serving of Mexican cheese dip isn't such a good idea. I definitely need help in this area.

So, this week, I am going to focus on dairy. I'm going to make a strong effort to increase my daily servings and to make changes that I can live with on a long-term basis. Here are a few ideas and each count as a single serving:

Weight Watchers ice cream – they have some amazing flavors. My favorites are the cookies and cream chocolate ice cream bar and the round chocolate ice cream sandwich. Yes, I love chocolate. And these two items are so good that I don't think about the fact that I'm not at Cold Stone Creamery having something decadent, yet incredibly fattening.

Laughing Cow low-fat cheese wedges – my favorite is garlic and herb, eaten in the middle of the afternoon with some pretzels. There are several other flavors; and these can be added to a sandwich, spread on whole-wheat crackers, or even used to disguise the crunchy raw mini carrot. (I LOVE carrots, but cooked please!!)

Yogurt, the low fat version, of course – There are so many different varieties of yogurt that there shouldn't be any opportunity for boredom to creep in. Flavors range from mixed, exotic, or tropical fruits to popular pies (Boston cream, key lime, chocolate mousse).

If you have other suggestions for adding dairy to my daily life, I'm all ears.