Not surprisingly, a few MONTHS ago Kara Richardson Whitely sent me her book, Fat Woman on the Mountain: How I lost half myself and found happiness. It’s been on my must read list since meeting Kara at last years FitBloggin’ conference. She mentioned the book would be coming out this fall and I was happy to get her email when it did.

The book is about Kara’s journey to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. Kara isn’t you typical mountain climber. She is an inspirational 120lb loser. In the book, she spends a couple of chapters talking about her childhood and weight struggles but her story is so much more than weight loss. It’s an inspirational tale of a woman who set a goal regardless of her weight or what people thought of it.

In her own words…

At age 30, I was lost within my own body.  I dreamed of climbing
mountains but the only thing that went up was my weight — to
about 360 pounds.

During one New Year’s Eve, it all changed when I wrote down
what wanted to do instead of how many pounds I wanted to lose.  I decided to look at weight loss as a lifelong journey and I got
moving. I resolved to climb mountains.

How inspirational is THAT?!? As someone who let her body image get in the way of life for too many years and I can totally relate to Kara and her story. Her book was moving, inspirational and motivating. REALLY motivating. While I was reading it, the husband was starting to get worried that I might sign up to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. That’s how much I was talking about it.

Kara woke up one day and just did it. No excuses. No feeling sorry for herself. She put in the work and did the best she could. There is nothing more motivational than that.

Click here to order Kara’s book, Fat Woman on the Mountain: How I Lost Half of Myself and Found Happiness.

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

In the meantime, I thought I’d give you my thoughts on the new(er) Apple Crumb flavor. I tried it two ways. First defrosted when they were delivered and then toasted straight out of the freezer. By far the second way was my favorite.

When I opened the first package the smell was DIVINE. Very apple crumb but the "crumb" wasn’t too "crumby" which was disappointing. That’s the part I was most excited about. The flavor was good and there was chunks of apple in the top which was nice.

Since I wanted more "Crumb" I decided toasting one would help and it did! Today I took one out of the freezer and popped it straight into the toaster on level 5. The result was a nice crusty outside and a warm middle. It would be delicious warmed apples and cinnamon with a scoop of Bryers free. I’m getting all warm and fuzzy just think about it. :)

Bottom line is if you like the Blue Bran you’ll like the Apple Crumb. My favorites are still the Chocolate Mint and the Dark Chocolate Pomegranate. What can I say? I’m a chocolate girl at heart. :)

For those that don’t know, Vitatops are all around 100 calories, 1g of fat, 6g of fiber and 1 WWP. They may be found in the freezer section of your grocery store but you can also buy them online by clicking here. Be sure to use my code, RonisWeigh for 10% off!

Has anyone else tried it yet? Thoughts?

Full Disclosure: Vitalicious is a Roni’s Weigh Sponsor they supply products for me to sample. However all opinions expressed in this post are my own as the always are.

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

I can’t say enough good things about these soups! They are hearty, filling, and tasty without being salty. They are all Vegan and 5 of the 7 flavors are Gluten Free. And the best part… I can pronounce everything on the ingredient list!

Each box is two servings (and rightfully so, it’s a big box) but they are so low in calories the whole box makes a perfect lunch. Especially considering how filling it is.

I haven’t tried all the flavors yet but I will! Here’s a breakdown with nutritional information for the entire box. That’s 2 servings.

Black Bean (Vegan, Gluten Free, LOVED IT)

Ingredients: Filtered water, black beans, vegetables (onions, bell peppers, celery, carrots, garlic), organic brown rice, vegan natural flavor, potato starch, yeast extract, sea salt, organic lime juice, cilantro, spices.

240 calories, 2g of fat, 10g of fiber, 12 g of protein, 4 WWP

Lentil Soup (Vegan, Gluten Free, LOVED IT)

Ingredients: Filtered water, lentils, vegetables (onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, garlic), organic brown rice, organic wine, vegan natural flavor, yeast extract, potato starch, spices, sea salt.

230 calories, 1g of fat, 16g of fiber, 14g of protein, 4 WWP

Minestrone (Vegan, LOVED IT and SUPER filling for 2 WWP)

Ingredients: Filtered water, vegetables (tomatoes, onion, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, celery, cabbage, peas, green beans, garlic), red kidney beans, barley, pasta (durum wheat semolina flour), vegan natural flavors, potato starch, yeast extract, spices, basil, organic evaporated cane juice, sea salt, marjoram.

140 calories, 1g of fat, 8g of fiber, 6g of protein, 2 WWP

Roasted Pepper Tomato (Vegan, Gluten Free, Have it packed for tomorrows lunch. :)

Ingredients: Filtered water, tomatoes, roasted red bell peppers, organic evaporated cane juice, corn starch, onion, garlic, sea salt, spices.

160 calories, 0g of fat, 4g of fiber, 4g of protein, 2 WWP

Split Pea
(Vegan, Haven’t tried it yet.)

Ingredients: Filtered water, split peas, vegetables (onions, celery, carrots, garlic), barley, vegan natural flavor, potato starch, yeast extract, sea salt, corn starch, organic evaporated cane juice, spices.

200 calories, 0g of fat, 14g of fiber, 17g of protein, 3 WWP

Chunky Tomato (Vegan, Haven’t tried it yet.)

Ingredients: Filtered water, vegetables (tomatoes, onion, garlic), organic evaporated cane juice, corn starch, sea salt, spices, basil.

180 calories, 0g of fat, 6g of fiber, 4g of protein, 3 WWP

Vegetable (Vegan, Gluten Free, LOVED IT)

Ingredients: Filtered water, vegetables (tomatoes, onions, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, celery peas, garlic), lentils, organic brown rice, vegan natural flavor, potato starch, spices, yeast extract, organic evaporated cane juice, sea salt, parsley.

150 calories, 1g of fat, 8g of fiber, 6g of protein, 2 WWP

Again, the nutritional information I have posted is for the whole box, 2 servings, just over 2 cups of soup. Pretty good calorie bargain if you ask me!

I told you I really can’t say enough but I’m curious what you guys think. Honestly, I never heard of Dr. McDougalls’ until they contacted me and sent me the soups. Am I the only one?

I’m assuming no. So I contacted them and asked if I could give a sample away on the site under one stipulation. If you win you have to come back and let us know what you think in the comments. That’s the deal. Ok? I need to know if I’m the only one that likes these soups this much!

So leave a comment if you’d like to enter the random drawing. Oh! and let me know if you have tried these soups before. I’d love to hear your opinions.

I’ll pick a winner this Sunday! Happy Tuesday everyone. :)

UPDATE: As per the questions in the comments…
Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods® are sold at finer natural retailers nationwide including Whole Foods, Wegman’s, Stop & Shop, Giant, Tops, Shaw’s, Foodtown , Raley’s, Nob Hill, Henry’s, Meijer, Giant Eagle, Publix, Safeway, Albertsons, Central Market, New Seasons, PCC , Vitamin Cottage, and thousands of other retailers. Click here to see all their products on Amazon.

Oh and sodium is ranges from 440-480 a serving.. so double that for the whole container.

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

No such luck. It’s been sitting in my basement for over 2 weeks and I, unfortunately, only had a chance to use it twice. Both times were really great workouts! I just need to find more time to actually use it.

The machine is very pilates like. Which I didn’t expect. It’s got a great padded bench on a really smooth track. The pulley system is simply and I was surprised how it didn’t tangle or get twisted up.

There really are 80 different exercises you can do with the gym and they explain each one on large illustrated cards. There’s also routine recommendations, like upper body, lower body, 6-8 minute workouts and my personal favorite, long and lean. I did that one this morning and let me tell ya, I’m feeling it now.

My only complaint has to do with size. The unit is fairly large and you need a big area to workout as some of the exercises require you to swing your arms.

All in all it’s an awesome piece of equipment if you have the space and funds to afford it. Normally it goes for $1948.05 but right now they’re having a fall sale for $948.05. Click here to check it out.

Does anyone else have it or tried it? I’m hoping to get into a schedule with it. Working out 2-3 times a week would be nice. I have a question for all you home gym equipment people… do you workout regularly or does it collect dust in your basement? Because honestly, that’s what I’m worried about as I decide to keep it.

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

Of course as I got older I learned more about yogurt and what it is but I still didn’t like it. It wasn’t until I was pregnant that it started to sound appealing. Strange, I know. I literally never bought a container of yogurt until perusing my local grocery story about 3 months pregnant. All of sudden, it sounded good and I’ve been eating yogurt ever since. Go figure. lol

I started just buying the small cups of Dannon or Yoplait, which ever one was on sale Then I moved to the large tubs of fat free plain and started using it in recipes (everything from smoothies to salad dressings.) It’s such an awesome way to add a creaminess without any fat. Soon people where urging me to try Greek yogurt but I didn’t get it. I mean yogurt’s yogurt. Right?

Then I tried Fage. Boy was I wrong. Greek yogurt really is different. It’s thicker, tastier and well, just different! I enjoyed it even more. The problem is it’s not readily available where I shop. I’ve seen it in Trader Joe’s, of course, but my local store doesn’t carry it. So when Stonyfield asked me to try their new organic Greek style yogurt, OIkos, I was psyched! Stonyfield is a pretty popular brand and I know my store already carries their regular organic yogurt.

They shipped me plain, vanilla, honey and my favorite, blueberry. All were delicious. I even used the honey for a quick smoothie idea using mango and banana. I haven’t had Fage in awhile but from what I can remember it has a very similar taste and texture.

If you never tried a Greek Style here’s a bit of info from Stonyfield…

Oikos Organic is the only nationally distributed organic Greek yogurt on the market today.

Called “yiaourti” in Greece, Greek yogurt is thicker than regular yogurt. Authentic Greek yogurt like Oikos Organic owes its lavish texture to a centuries-old straining process that removes the whey (liquid) from the yogurt.

For hundreds of years, Greeks have prized strained yogurt for its richness and creaminess. Before the time of mechanical refrigeration, Greeks also knew that yogurt stayed fresh longer with the liquid strained off. Today we know that straining makes Greek yogurt naturally richer in protein than regular yogurt, and lower in carbohydrates.

Oikos Organic Greek yogurt reflects that tradition as a tangy, incredibly lush yogurt with twice the calcium of the leading Greek yogurt.

Other benefits of 0% Fat Oikos Organic Greek yogurt:

• It’s diet friendly with 120 calories or less, 0g fat and up to 15g of protein per 5.3 oz. serving.
• It includes five live and active cultures, including L. acidophilus, Bifidus and L. Casei.
• It’s certified organic, made with milk from farms that don’t use toxic persistent chemicals and fertilizers, antibiotics or synthetic growth hormones.
• An excellent source of hunger-satisfying protein, Oikos Organic Greek yogurt has no artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners — no aspartame or sucralose, ever!

I also got word that they will be introducing a new strawberry flavor next month. Which I’m psyched for as I’ve always been a strawberry fiend myself. :)

Has anyone seen these at their local stores yet? Have you given it a try? Let me know!

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!

That’s not to say they weren’t good. I had them in the pantry for weeks then one night the husband and I wanted something sweet before bed. So we made the two I was sent to review. To my surprise he actually liked it and so did I. How can you not like warm chocolate cake? It’s WARM CHOCOLATE CAKE! Of course we were both disappointed by the size but for 150 calories what did we really expect?

These are the kind of products you have to take at face value. You want something sweet? A controlled portion instead of eating a honking slice? then yeah, if you are going to eat it anyway, then chose the lesser evil. BUT don’t kid yourself, it’s still evil. First 3 ingredients… Sugar, Enriched Flour Bleached, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil –YIKES!

In the product’s defense they aren’t making any health claims besides the calories. They literally are just "mini" versions of their traditional cake mixes made for the individual who needs to cure a chocolate craving FAST! For that, they do do.

Unless you are reading this on Roni's Weigh or your RSS reader, it is stolen content!