Review Vega energizing smoothie - Tropical Tango

I had tried Vega Smoothies years ago and was not very impressed.  But they have a new ingredient mix and some new flavors, so I thought it was worth trying again.  My local grocery store sells individual packets, which is not a very good deal in the long term, but is great for trying things out! Today I tried the Vega Energizing Smoothie Tropical Tango.  You can mix the powder with water, milk, or milk substitute, I used water.  A single serving packet makes one cup.  The color, an orange with a tint of green to it wasn't particularly promising, but once I tasted it and noticed that the prominent taste - to me, at least - was mango, it made me think of a blend of greener and oranger mangoes.  The smoothie was surprisingly sweet, although it had that slightly bitter edge that often comes with stevia sweetened items.  (Again, the idea of some greener mango could also explain that.)  It was definitely good enough that I plan to buy more and I look forward to trying the other new flavors.  The nutritional value is where the Vega Smoothies really shine though.  In only 95 calories you get 10 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, only 2 grams of fat and 9 grams of total carbs.  The protein comes from peas, SaviSeed, hemp, and rice.  There are enough greens to count as 2 servings of veggies.  As someone who is eating a little bit often, this is amazing.  If you were eating more, you could eat this and safely expend some calories on junk food.  (Even on my diet it allows for some empty calories if I want them!)

You can get more info at the Vega website - govega.com Leave a comment below if you'd like me to email you a $5 coupon to use on their website.

Or you can Buy at Amazon (usually a little cheaper unless you get the coupon, but not as much selection.)

See Your Doctor Before Going On A Diet - Magnificat's Turn

Magnificat had her doctor appointment (a veterinarian, of course) on Friday.  She had a couple of medical issues to deal with besides her diet.  She is over-grooming, probably due to her flea allergy, and  she is super stressed out over the cat who belongs to the people who live in the other half of our house but isn't allowed inside anymore and tries to get in via our house.

The flea allergy is actually why Magnificat needs to go on a diet.  Overweight cats are at very high risk of getting diabetes on their second and later Prednisone shot and she's already had two when her flea allergy flared up so badly that oral Prednisone isn't a good option.  Our goal isn't to make her a skinny cat, just to reduce her weight enough that she can safely have the medication she needs when she gets into fleas. (The house is under control, we don't have carpet, we use Fleabusters(amazing!) and she gets monthly flea treatment, but our whole neighborhood is infested with fleas. Plus they don't usually die in the winter.)

Because of her stress from the other cat and flea allergy flairs, the vet suggested a new prescription food for her - Royal Canin Calm.  She's only been on it for a couple of days (and mixed with her previous food), but I think I see a difference.  The vet also thinks that she may do less comfort eating on this diet since it is formulated to provide more of the parts of food that are comforting.  And, she figured out exactly how much Magnificat should eat daily to lose weight on this food.  She gets a 1/4 cup morning and evening and then another 1/8 to 1/4 cup served in food toys and puzzles.

With cats, it is crucial that they get enough to eat every day because if they burn too much fat, they can get something called 'fatty liver' or feline hepatic lipidosis (on the other hand, feline obesity is a risk factor for this as well.)  For this reason, it is probably more important that cats have their weight loss program supervised by a veterinarian than that humans do.  (However, every vet I've ever used is more than happy to have their regular patients drop in for a free weighting and have their staff keep an eye on the chart for dangerous weight loss or gain, so it's not like Weight Watchers where you pay for your weekly weight in.)

Me - Starting Out

I'm fat.  Not just overweight, I've tipped into obesity.  Most of my adult life I've slowly meandered from thin to fat and back again as I've lost track of the strict hold and lifestyle necessary to keep the weight off.  Currently, I'm the heaviest I've ever been - though only by about 5 lbs.  I realized recently I've never had a good job, a good relationship and been a healthy weight all at the same time.  That needs to change.  So the other day, I saw a Nurse Practitioner at a weight loss practice. I have a diet that involves eating quite low calories and relatively high protein about every 2-3 hours.  This will be a challenge for me because I'm both a vegetarian and allergic to many of the common forms of vegetarian proteins (soy, whey, eggs and mushrooms.) On the other hand, I'm really excited because she feels confident she can get my hypoglycemia under control (a real frustration for me as I will go too low (blood sugar in 70's) while exercising before I feel hungry or tired.) Also, unlike any other weight loss program I've been involved in (and I've tried a lot of them with more or less success), they are brutally honest about the difficulty in losing weight and keeping it off. So, here's to a new start!

Before Photos

So, here we are in all our fat glory.  We won't tell you exactly how much we weight (well maybe Magnificat will, she is proud of her gloriously large size), but as you can see from the photo, we both qualify as clinically obese.  Since I'm a writer, we'll be sharing what we learned before trying to lose weight and what we learn as we go.  Magnificat does not believe in exercise so we will be trying different toys to see if we can get her to change her mind.