Maintenance - Day 6

Well, so far so good.

I haven't yo-yo-ed as much as I expected to. I lost close to another 3 lbs, then gained just over a pound back yesterday, but that was totally my own fault. I went over calories. Not going to do that again, let me tell you! haha

I've found some really great recipes online that I want to try. It's amazing how many recipes can be made sugar-free by substituting Splenda instead of sugar, and how many recipes are gluten/starch free.

Example: I was on King Arthur Flour, perusing their products, books, ingredients, etc, and drooling all over my keyboard. I love KAF almost as much as I love Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table....and I guess Chef's Catalog, too. But seriously, I LOVE KAF.

Imagine my surprise when I started following them on Twitter, and found that they were doing recipes for Passover (which I believe is next week....I'm not Jewish, so I wouldn't know for sure). Anyway, one of the recipes they had was for a chocolate cake. OH MY HEAVEN! I so want to make this cake. You have no idea. It looks so good! It does use sugar, but that can be easily substituted out for Splenda. And the chocolate chips...well, you can order unsweetened chocolate chips from KAF. I supposed you could use unsweetened baking chocolate and chop the crap out of it, but whatever's easier for you.

Anyway, I'm seriously thinking about making this cake next week. Maybe I'll take it up to my parents' and we can all enjoy it together on Easter. I'd love to see their surprise when I start eating a chocolate cake! haha

Also, did you know that Almond milk is lactose free, unsweetened, and tastes like watered down skim milk (or blue milk as it's fondly known at our house)? It's not bad with peanut butter cookies. My husband gags everytime I get it out, and it is a little pricey, but it's not bad. Definitely an option I'm going to keep in mind. It only has 40 calories per 1 cup. How much does milk have? Ummm...more than that, I'm sure. :D Definitely a healthy alternative to my binge-drinking milk and cookies/cake days of old. (I used to love milk)

And cream cheese muffins are delightful with a tablespoon of Sugar Free Log Cabin Syrup drizzled over the top. Oh they are to die for!! MMMMMmmmm MMMMmmmm.....I want one now. Good thing I don't have any left in the fridge!! haha

Sugar free candy's not so bad either. You have to be careful, because the calories are still higher, but there's no sugar, so it's okay to have some in moderation. I personally LOVE the Werther's sugar free hard candies, the Dove raspberry truffles, and I'm liking the Russel Stover's peanut butter cups. I haven't tried any other kinds yet, but so far the Werther's are my absolute faves. I'll let you know as I try the rest of the stash (I bought some of everything a few weeks ago in preparation for maintenance, just in case I got a sweet tooth craving).