Chocolatey Goodness

New Year, new resolutions and goals. My effort to cut back on the soda and eat a little better, has so far been successful. I'm down to only 2 sodas a day, which in itself is a huge cut-back on calories. I'm also trying to be more conscience of what I snack on so I'm not putting empty calories into my body. The biggest reason behind it all, besides generally trying to get healthier, is because of one of the medications (Lyrica) I take is known for causing weight gain. I've been on it long enough now to know this side effect is real, and that it does effect me. It's like fighting an uphill battle, cause I was gaining even though I would only eat once a day - but now that I have cut back on sodas and I'm choosing healthy snacks to munch on through-out the day, which I pretty much force myself to eat a couple times a day, I'm losing some weight little by little. In the last couple weeks I've managed to lose 5 lbs., which to me is a big deal since being in menopause and being handicapped with this medicine it's almost impossible to lose just a pound. Definitely not like in the past when I lost 90 lbs. doing nothing! So in my quest to eat a little better, and not just thrive on fruit - cause really, you need something for those times when you're having bad cravings and need something sweet and decadent. I've found that things I would clearly walk past before while shopping, I am now taking notice to. One thing in particular are the Quaker mini rice cake called "Quakes". Normally I would walk right past rice cakes, but I came across some flavors I thought I would give a try. The first was Cheddar Cheese, which turned out to be unbelievably good. They tasted just like cheese popcorn, and at 60 calories per serving (either 7 mini cakes or 1 regular size cake), it turned out to be a great alternative to chips! So after that success, I decided to try another flavor - Chocolate Crunch. At first I thought it would be some horrible mock-chocolate taste, but instead I was pleasantly surprised. The chocolate flavored turned out to be that snack to turn to when feeling weak and craving something sweet. If you haven't tried these rice cakes, I highly recommend that you do. They aren't flavorless stiff rice cakes, like you would think - cause that's the way they are stereo-typed to be, but I honestly think they will surprise you!