October Walking Update

Updated!

month	total steps	average steps per day	number of steps ahead of pace for the year
January	454200	14,652	144,200
February	353400	12,621	217,600
March	382500	12,339	290,100
April	313900	10,463	304,000
May	339100	10,939	333,100
June	336800	11,227	369,900
July	332600	10,729	392,500
August	374900	12,094	457,400
September	337900	11,263	495,300
October	211200	7,040	213,500

Wow, so... October bit it when it comes to steps. I've been having some womanly health issues and haven't been walking anywhere nearly as much as I should. Things will get better in November, I hope!

Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Vitatops

The final new-to-me vitatop review for now. ;) I've written about their banana fudge vitatops and vitabrownies (both of which I wouldn't buy again), and their triple chocolate chunk vitatops and their chocolate mint vitatops (both recommended!). They're pricey, but given the 100 calories and all the vitamins in there, it's a much better snack than my usual 100-calorie cookies from Keebler/Nabisco ;)

I took this one out from the freezer in the morning and put it in my lunch bag to go to work. I ate it about 3 1/2 hours later, and it was definitely room temperature by then. (They supposedly thaw in 30 minutes but I've never checked.)

This is a good one. I don't know if I really tasted much pomegranate flavor - I got some sort of a fruity undertone, but it wasn't much. It was fine though. The dark chocolate flavor was good, and the chips were tasty. I wouldn't tell a friend who loves pomegranates that this is a MUST BUY for them, but for me, who likes poms but isn't a fanatic, it's fine. This is definitely a tasty treat (and probably rocks even more when warmed!).

Nutrition Facts
Calories 100
Total Fat 1.5g
Saturated Fat 0.5g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 140mg
Total Carbohydrates 21g
Dietary Fiber 6g
Sugars 11g
Protein 3g

Chocolate Mint Vitatops

Now, this is a flavor I've been looking forward to trying - I LOVE mint! I've written about their banana fudge vitatops and vitabrownies (both of which I wouldn't buy again), and their triple chocolate chunk vitatop (which I would buy again - and in fact did order in this latest round!). Keep in mind that the main drawback here is the price - but you buy 'em online in a 24 pack and chuck 'em in the freezer. It's just hard to keep that much space open in the freezer ;) (It's not a huge box but my freezer space is very limited!)

I tried this one at room temperature over the weekend, and I declare it a success. I cannot wait to try it heated - this flavor with melty action is going to be great!

It's got a good amount of mint kick to it, but it's not overwhelming at all. Nice little chunks of chocolate (they're never as big as they look in the pictures, sadly).

These may be my new favorite flavor. ;)

Nutrition Facts
Calories 100
Total Fat 2.5g
Saturated Fat 1.5g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 150mg
Total Carbohydrates 26g
Dietary Fiber 6g
Sugars 13g
Protein 4g

Banana Fudge VitaTops

I've written about other VitaMuffin products in the past - their vitabrownies (not recommended) and their triple chocolate chunk vitatops (recommended). I haven't ordered any in awhile since they're really pricey and I haven't seen any good specials in ages.

Last week they ran a free shipping offer with a Halloween pack where you could choose four chocolate flavors to make your own pack. I ordered on Monday morning, which their web site said would have the products arriving to my door on Thursday. They didn't even ship my package until Wednesday, and it came on Friday (which was nervewracking because we were heading out of town for a long weekend and I didn't want these to stay outside that whole time!). I chucked one of the banana fudge and one of the chocolate mint into my bag and took 'em with us on our trip.

I tried the banana fudge a day later, at room temperature. I almost always eat vitatops from the freezer, popping them in the microwave for 30 seconds so they get warm and melty. Since this one was room temperature, it wasn't warm or melty, but it was still okay. I did not get much of a banana taste in this product, which was very disappointing. I am a huge fan of bananas and was really looking forward to this item! I've had their banana nut vitatops in the past, and they're tasty (would be even better without the nuts!).

Overall, I guess I can't really recommend these? It's a hard call. I've now tried all four of the flavors I bought, and this one is just okay. I wouldn't throw them out, but I wouldn't order them again. There are better flavors.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 100
Total Fat 2g
Saturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 220mg
Total Carbohydrates 24g
Dietary Fiber 5g
Sugars 8g
Protein 4g

Fruit 2Day Mango Peach

Fruit 2Day's web site says "It's not a juice. It's a snack."

No, it's not a snack either. It's a very frustrating waste of 120 calories.

It's a fruit juice blend with small bits of fruit in it. The Mango Peach flavor I bought contains:

"White grape juice from concentrate, mango puree, peach pieces, orange juice from concentrate, pineapple puree and pieces, acerola cherry juice from concentrate, lemon juice from concentrate, pear pieces, carrot juice from concentrate, natural flavor."

I would've thought - hey, how about just mango and peach in there. But they throw in no actual mango pieces - but pineapple pieces and SIX other juices. What the heck?

I didn't like the flavor and I didn't care for the texture. Yes, it's juice with little bits of peaches and PINEAPPLE (no mango pieces in here) - and the bottle design, though they think it's cute, means you can't actually get all of the fruit pieces out of the bottle. Their web site brags about how this product helps your "on-the-go lifestyle" - but not if you are going to be trying to get this product into your mouth while driving or anything. Sheesh. And it's expensive too - two bottles (one serving each) for $4.

So very not recommended.

Too lazy to type all the nutrition info, but it's 120 calories, 0g fat, 28g carb, 2g fiber, less than a gram protein.

Wii Fit Plus

You know me and my Wii games ;)  Tonight I picked up the brand new Wii Fit Plus game. It's an expansion of the original Wii Fit game that came out last year, using the fun Wii Balance Board.  It looks like the folks at Nintendo listened to all the feedback on the original game.

So, the handy thing is that it has all of the original games and exercises, and it imports all of your data from the original game.  Handy!  

Amongst the bonuses of this expansion:

-- a bunch more games, including some insane balance-oriented games that kicked my butt

-- a handful extra yoga and strength moves

-- the ability to string together a bunch of yoga and strength moves - you can tell it how much time you have and it will put a workout together for you, or you can build your own

-- along the workout route, there are also more built-in workouts, based on what your goals are - things like form or lifestyle.  Work on your arms, or your shoulders, or relax.  Interesting!

-- it counts calories!  A nice move here, but done a little oddly - you can set a calorie goal, but it's based on food.  So, burn off a cup of whole milk, or a bag of chips or a chocolate bar (with calories displayed).  I'd prefer to just say I'd like to burn 200 calories and not equate it with food.  Silly.

More feedback to come, but so far, it's *definitely* worth the $20 for the expansion!

Popchips - Cheddar Potato and Barbeque Potato

The kind folks over at Popchips sent me a box with six single serve bags - and here's my review of the last two. Thanks again, Popchips!

Cheddar is okay.  Definitely get a cheesy taste, but it's not hardcore cheddar action. I *love* cheddar cheese, so these are a bit of a letdown to me.  But the big bonus here is that it is all natural, so no fake day-glo cheesy fingers after eating.

The barbeque chips are where it's at though.  These are definitely my favorite.  They've got a good zing to them, and I really, really enjoyed them.  I haven't had barbeque chips in a long time, but I recall the baked Lays barbeque chips not being nearly as tasty (and of course they have that odd texture).

Nutrition Facts (for one ounce, about 20/19 chips) - cheddar / barbeque
Calories 120 / 120
Total Fat 4g / 4g
Saturated Fat 0.5g / 0g
Trans Fat 0g / 0g
Cholesterol 0mg / 0mg
Sodium 290mg / 250mg
Total Carbohydrates 20g / 20g
Dietary Fiber 1g / 1g
Sugars 1g / 2g
Protein 2g / 1g

September weight loss - neglible

Looking at the straight numbers, I weighed exactly one pound more on 9/30 than I did on 9/1. Throughout the month, my weight ranged almost five pounds - two pounds higher than I ended to three pounds lower than I ended. Why? Stupid eating on a Wednesday night, followed by a weekend party and then my body just went kaput for a bit there on the weight. I had exactly the same weight for six days in a row, not varying with the amount of food or exercise those days. Weird.

My physicsdiet average *is* less than it was at the start of the month, by a whopping 0.5 pounds. ;)

I have re-calculated the number I need to hit to be at my goal weight by my birthday, and it's now 0.23 pounds a day - 1.6 pounds a week. Totally achievable, but I've got our anniversary coming up this month and we're going to get away for that weekend. Would love, LOVE love, to actually see the 180s at some point this year. If I can hit that 0.23 pounds a day, I'd hit 189.8 on Halloween.