Week Three and a Recipe

After my zer0-pounds-gained last week, this last week brought a loss of 2.5 pounds, bringing my total lost so far of 7 pounds! Baby steps, right? I realize that I probably need to start trying new recipes to keep the eating excitement up. I have a dusty Weight Watcher's cookbook in my bookcase that I will be cracking open this week.

I can't tell you how much I *love* the fact that I kept this blog the last time around. I feel like it's a trail of {non-fat} breadcrumbs that I left for myself to follow back to the goal. Especially during this difficult season of life, it makes figuring out what to eat or how to adjust my attitude regarding health, much, much easier. I re-read lots of my old posts and am reminded of low-fat snacks I liked or encouraging perspectives I had. It's as if the me from the past is giving advice to the me of the present!

Since it's summertime, I love me a good, cold glass of Iced Tea. So refreshing! But all that sugar? It's a healthy diet buster! So I make a 'lighter' version. I have slowly cut back on the sugar, replacing it with Splenda. Not completely, though. Being the Foodie that I am, my taste buds still need the clean taste of the sweet sugar to balance out the Splenda.

Light Sweet Tea
2 Family-size brew tea bags {or enough small bags to make 8 cups}
4 cups hot water
1/4 c. sugar
1/2-3/4 c. Splenda
4 cups ice water {2 c. water w/2 c. ice}

I make a quick version of Iced Tea. I microwave the first 4 cups of water until hot. Add the tea bags. Let steep for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and 1/2 c. Splenda {taste for sweetness and add more if needed}. Stir well to dissolve. Pour into your pitcher. Add the ice water and stir well. I like to leave my family-size tea bags in the pitcher; I don't know why. Habit, I guess. If you're using the small tea bags, try replacing one with peppermint tea. So, so yummy!

With the less amount of Splenda, the tea flavor is a little more pronounced. Not like McD's Sweet Tea, which compared to this is more like....sugar water with a splash of tea!