Excuses and ice cream.... we're back!

Oh my word.  Talk about LAZY people!!!  OK, maybe we aren't lazy, just super busy which is why this blog has taken a back burner this past year... I'm sorry- I'm sure we've lost a number of readers, but hopefully we can build up the "following" again... I've been doing a lot of thinking and a number of things in my life are going to change and improve... One of those things is Wake Up and Glisten!

So... I thought I would start the blog back up with a post about one of my most favorite things... ICE CREAM!!!!  I LOVE ice cream... That might be an understatement... I really, really, really LOVE ice cream.  This does not bode well with my weight loss and health goals...

I wanted to share my thoughts on ice cream, and a healthier solution to still get that "ice cream fill"...

First of all.. what is it about ice cream that I love?  I really enjoy the coldness and sweetness of it.  As we all know- sugar is addicting (especially refined), and since we crave the things we feed on, it makes since that I want ice cream EVERY NIGHT...  So, the other night I was wanting ice cream, but I've been doing really good this week on my eating plan, so I didn't want to throw it off.  I remembered a dessert that an old roommate told me about and that is basically frozen bananas, pureed into an ice cream-like dessert.  It totally satisfies my ice cream craving, and is so much healthier for me!!

I thought I would take a minute and compare some of the nutritional facts between my favorite ice cream (Haggin-Daz Peanut Butter and Chocolate) and the Banana ice cream I make at home (becoming a new favorite)...

Banana :                                                                         Almond Milk:

Haggin Daz:

In case you can't read the stats:

Haggin-Daz:
serving size- 1/2 c
Calories 340
total fat- 23g
carbs- 26g
sugars- 22g
Protein- 8g
All that for 2 cups of ice cream...

Now, for the banana ice cream-
ingredients- banana and almond milk

Serving size 1 banana
Calories- 105
total fat- 0.4g
carbs-27g
sugars-14g
protein- 1.3g

Almond Milk-
serving size- 1 cup
calories- 30
total fat-2.5g
carbs- 1g
sugars- 0g
protein- 1g

When I make it, I use 1 1/2 bananas and 1 c of almond milk, and that yields about 2 cups of ice cream... So, either way i eat 2 cups of ice cream, but one is 1360 calories and the other is 195... now, I will add peanut or almond butter sometimes and that adds 190 calories, but still... 385 calories for 2 cups is much better than 1360 for 2 cups...

Just a thought!    And after a great workout, I usually have some calories to spare, so I don't mind "splurging" on 385 calories for dessert!  Tonight, I still have a 360 calorie deficit!