My Top Five Lists

MFP-ers are always looking for new ideas on here about everything from snacks to workouts to surviving the weekends (yeah, I need advice on that last one myself!). So, I thought I'd list out some of my favorite things to give others new ideas.

My 5 Favorite Snacks:
1. Apple slices with Better N Peanut Butter (chocolate) - 180 calories
2. Fiber One Brownies, Chocolate variety - 90 calories
3. Hummus with Special K crackers - 170 calories
4. Greek Yogurt (Chobani, Dannon Oikos and Fage are the best) - 120-160 calories
5. String cheese or colby jack cheese sticks - 60-80 calories

My 5 Favorite Exercises:
1. New Rules of Lifting for Women
2. Turbo Fire
3. Running
4. Stairmaster (I've grown to love it)
5. Crossramp machine (kind of a mix between a stairmaster and an ellipcal)

My 5 Favorite Breakfast Ideas:
1. Breakfast sandwich with egg patty, slice of cheese on an english muffin - 230 calories
2. Oatmeal - 150-200 calories
3. Bowl of Multigrain Cheerios with soy milk - ~200 calories
4. English muffin toasted with some peanut butter - 200 calories
5. Veggies egg scramble with some cheese and avocado on top (from my favorite brunch place) - Unknown calories, but delcious and not horribly unhealthy

My 5 Favorite Ways to Get More Protein:
1. Grilled chicken breast for diner
2. Greek yogurt
3. Soy milk
4. Protein granola bars
5. Low or no sodium added lunch meat

My 5 Favorite Snacks that Taste Like They Should Have A Ton More Calories:1. Fiber One 90 Calorie Brownies in Chocolate
2. Better N Peanut Butter Chocolate - only 100 calories per serving!
3. My Protein smoothies - Greek yogurt, protein powder, soy milk, a bit of Trop 50 juice and some frozen fruit - Tastes like a delicious milkshake/smoothie but has less than 300 calories and the same protein as a chicken breast
4. Fage 0% Greek Yogurt with Mango Guabana or strawberry Goji - 120 calories
5. Jello 60 calorie no sugar chocolate pudding

My 5 Favorite "Swaps" to Reduce Calories in Dishes
1. Greek yogurt in place of eggs and oil in recipes, also good in place of Sour Cream
2. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter instead of real butter (honestly, tastes the same...)
3. Truvia instead of sugar in my coffee
4. Light soy milk instead of real milk (not hard, I'm lactose intolerant! LOL)
5. Balsamic vinegar instead of salad dressing, its only 15 calories per tablespoon and tastes delicious.

My 5 Favorite Things I Don't Have to Worry about Anymore:
1. Not being able to find clothes I want to buy in my size
2. Fitting into any size seat and on any amusement park ride without worrying about annoying the person sitting next to me by spilling over into their space
3. Walking up steps or a hill with someone and still being able to carry on normal conversation, since I'm not completely out of breath.
4. Wanting to bury myself under the sand at the beach or hide under the water in the pool while wearing a bathing suit, let alone my bikinis! Love my bikinis, haha...
5. Feeling out of place in the weights side of the gym. Yes I have muscles, yes I'm squating with a 95 lb barbell, and yes, I'm using that weight bench!!!

So, there you have it. Please feel free to add on to any of these lists in the comment section with your own ideas! This post is meant to share and inspire :)