As I said in an earlier post, I bought the Jawbone UP -- actually two, one for me and one for my husband -- because with school starting, I wanted to have some extra incentive to keep us both active as school was starting to avoid Death by Sitting Around.

I like the look of the UP -- it's a pretty basic band that wraps around the wrist. It is available in several colors but mine is basic black.  My wrist is about 6" around so I ordered the medium, which fits well with some breathing room. On one end, there is a removable cap that says "Jawbone." On the other is the only input device on the UP itself, a simple button. Various button-pushing patterns are used to switch the UP from active mode into sleep mode and back again, to time activities, and to set the band in "Power Nap" mode.  There is no display on the up other than a small glowing sun and moon.

The UP is designed to interact with an iPhone or Android device -- the cap pops off to reveal a plug that fits into the headphone jack for syncing, recommended at least twice a day. This is also where the device plugs in for charging -- the wristband is supposed to hold a charge for 10 days or so. Jawbone UP users are supposed to wear their devices 24/7, except when charging or doing something like swimming where the band would be immersed in water. The UP is water-resistant and can be worn in the shower, but is not recommended for swimming.



The app also can track mood and food.  I, however, am used to logging my food with Lose It!, and since I have the Premium version, I can connect it directly to the UP app and my calorie information is pulled into the UP app. The UP app, in return, sends activity data back to Lose It! -- once a certain calorie threshold is exceeded, a calorie bonus is added to Lose It!

One thing I really notice, and commented on yesterday, is that using the activity tracker to interface with Lose It! results in much less calorie credit for exercise than tracking the activity in Lose It! directly. I have my baseline activity in Lose It! set to "Sedentary." Yesterday evening, though, this is what I saw in Lose It! even though I had exceeded my 10.000 step goal in UP, "burn 95 more calories for bonus":



Even though I'm tracking in Lose It! and not in the UP app, all my nutritional data seems to get pulled over to UP just fine.  Instead of tracking individual items, though, it just pulls the four meal categories that Lose It! allows: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.  The app displays in a very simple interface how my nutritional breakdown compares to the USDA guidelines for someone of my size and gender. I had a whole egg yesterday and half and half in my coffee, and the app didn't like that.

The Jawbone UP does seem to be working for me as a behavior-modification device . Last night I came home from teaching class and felt totally wired. I talked Jesse into going for a walk so I could earn a few extra steps. It helped me to calm down and get to sleep. Today, as I'm writing this blog post, I have the Idle Alert set to 15 minutes -- every time the band buzzes I'm supposed to get up and move around.  I am going to tone that down for the workday to 30 minutes.  I also love the Power Nap function -- I used it yesterday. This function sets the band to sleep mode with an alarm that will be between 27 minutes and 45 minutes, depending on how much the user is moving around. Yesterday I slept soundly for about 25 minutes and then was awake when it buzzed.  That little catnap really did help me feel refreshed. I can tell from my sleep tracking that I'm not getting quite enough sleep, and this is something I plan to work on.

What are the downsides to the UP? As I mentioned earlier, the single-button input makes it hard to set to stopwatch mode -- the gesture is just too similar to what I need to do to set it to sleep.  Another common complaint among Jawbone UP users is that the band is not as durable as they had hoped -- at  of around $169 (Amazon affilate link) the band would be expected to last quite a long time, but some users are complaining that their band only lasts a few weeks. I am hoping I won't have that experience -- I would be pretty upset. The most common way the band seems to go bad is by not holding a charge -- mine seems to be doing just fine so far, but my husband's has been needing a charge every day or two instead of the 10-day span, which doesn't bode well. There is a one-year limited warranty on the product, but it is only valid if the band is purchased directly from Jawbone or an authorized reseller. The other complaint I have seen on the Jawbone forums is that it is much too easy to lose the cap. This does seem like a pretty big design flaw.  The manufacturer seems to send out replacements for the first one, but after that the replacements are three for $9 with a shipping cost of $4.95.  The band functions fine without the cap but it would look ugly. I would hope that in a future release the cap will either not detach completely or will have some sort of chain to attach it to the band, or some other workaround for this design flaw.

Have you used the UP or any of the other activity tracking device?  Does it seem to have changed your behavior? Please let me know in the comments -- my idle alert just went off so it's time for me to get moving.

The "sedentary" calculation on Lose It! must really overestimate calories, or at least have a different definition of the word sedentary than I do. Ever since I plugged in my Jawbone UP, I earn far fewer calories for exercise than I did when I entered workouts manually.

I also recently bought a pair of the  bands (Amazon affiliate link) in a his-and-hers deal on eBay. My husband and I can get very sedentary during the school year -- we are both good about working out regularly, but in between those workouts we spend a lot of time sitting, partly for work but also goofing off on the computer or iPhone, watching TV, etc.  There is a feature on this that reminds the user to get up and move every 15 minutes. It also tracks sleep, activity, mood, food, and integrates with apps like My Fitness Pal and Lose It! I am still learning how to use it and will have a full review soon, but in the meantime you can check out Rebecca Regnier's video review. One thing I will caution -- though she says you can swim with this in the video, the instructions for the UP say you can shower with it but that they do not recommend swimming with it. There is a way to log activity separately and I will probably just do that.

It may turn out to be just a toy, which is why I didn't want to pay full retail. I was deciding between the  (Amazon affiliate link) and this and this just seemed less complicated. I had seen people complaining that the battery on the Flex died at inopportune times with no warning and the little piece that actually counts steps seemed too easy to lose. I like that the UP plugs right into my phone with no extra pieces. I didn't want a clip-on pedometer because I was afraid I would lose it.

Have you found anything new that has helped you work toward your goals?

It's late and I still haven't posted, so I thought that just for fun, I'd just share some of my doodles from the DrawSomething game for the iPad. It's not even a game, really, because it's usually pretty easy to guess the other person's drawing. It's more of a chance to play.  There's a new version but I like this one and I have earned a lot of colors and don't want to start over again with only black and white and primary colors.

I don't always draw such detailed drawings, but I only save the ones I like best.

These guys listened in while I talked to Margo. My cats are big emotional eaters. When I'm not home they eat about twice as much  as when I'm there.

I had such a great conversation with Margo yesterday. I think we ran a little over.  You can listen in on BlogTalkRadio. Margo's on vacation, so I thought I'd put up a few of my notes about the links we mentioned to pique your curiousity:

My mother's cat -- not sure what emotion she's feeling here

I will be on Margo's podcast tonight to discuss emotional eating. You can catch it live on BlogTalkRadio at 3:30 PM Pacific Time, which is 6:30 for me. It appears that Margo's website does the time zone conversion automatically, but if not, here is a converter. If you don't get to listen live, it will be recorded and available at the link after the show.

The good news: I'm down a pound from last week. The bad news: I have been bouncing around the same few pounds all summer long. Looking at my longer-term trends, I'm seeing that I started the summer at a lower weight that I'm ending it. My famous graph is making a reappearance to illustrate that.

There's no doubt I have made progress in other areas. I feel stronger and fitter after all my summer training. I look better in pictures than I did at the beginning of the summer. Still, I'm feeling a definite need to regroup and make some changes.

It's hard to focus on multiple goals at the same time. My races have been my focus this summer. I did a lot of swimming, especially. Last night was my last open-water swim of the summer. Though I love swimming and the open-water swimming definitely builds muscle, it's not as good for weight loss as Spinning, and I took a hiatus from my Spin classes to focus on outdoor exercise. As much as I love outdoor workouts, I miss the community aspect of the gym. Now that the school year is getting ready to start, Spin classes will get back on the schedule. I registered for my old standby Thursday morning class and will have the option of doing other classes (the YMCA/JCC uses a buy-one, get all option for Core classe). I have two YMCA/JCC centers nearby so I am going to get both of their schedules and plan my fall exercise routine.

I also will have a little more structure starting the 26th -- both of us will be back in school. I will miss our lazy summer days but it is much easier to get on a regular workout and eating schedule when we are both working, believe it or not. I need to do a better job of planning meals and my eating during the day. One great thing -- Lose It! upgraded their Premium meal-planning feature so that I can plan future meals or exercise any time during the day. It used to only work for future days.  I tried it out last night and it's great.

The temptation has been to relax, enjoy the summer... and I don't regret that. My husband and I are both so busy during the school year that I'm glad I enjoyed our time together. The only problem is that we don't have the income to spend the summer traveling and seeing the world, even though we have the time for it. So we did the fun things available in our area, like baseball games and visits to local restaurants.  I am going to miss our time together even though I am a creature of habit and thrive on my routine. A long-term goal of mine is to see if I can find a position that allows me a little more balance all year long, instead of intense activity and long, boring breaks.  Preferably a better-paying one.

I also don't regret focusing more on racing than on weight loss -- I'd rather be an athlete than a dieter, and now I have some new goals to reach for. For the fall, now that my injury has settled down, I will focus more on biking/Spinning and running.  I also plan to either find a strength-training class or choose a couple of days to be my strength-training days at the gym. I want to work up to being able to do an Olympic-distance triathlon (1500 m swim, 40K bike, 10K run) on my own and not as part of a relay. To do that, I need to get and stay injury-free.

I was feeling very discouraged yesterday, but now that I have some perspective and a plan I feel more hopeful. I am still close to the lowest weight I have been in years. The difference in weight is about 5 pounds, nothing to get too worked up about. It was a moment of catching my breath before diving in again.

Reading "junk food is the ultimate child abuse"
— Brooke Randolph LMHC ()

I'm all for healthy kids but this goes a little too far, IMHO.
— PerfectImperfect ()

Doesn't it trivialize child abuse to suggest it's the same as feeding your kid potato chips?

— PerfectImperfect ()

There is some evidence that sensible steps, like changes to WIC that make fruits and vegetables more available, are helping reduce weight problems in young children. Making sure that kids have safe places to play could help. Looking at ways to revamp food assistance to help families make better choices could too. I'm all for smart steps like this, but let's ditch the hysteria, fat-shaming, and perfectionism. It isn't helping.

One of the highlights of my summer was swimming at Oleander with Team Toledo. Mile swims around a man-made, kind of stinky lake might not seem like an obvious choice for a peak experience, but it made me feel strong and powerful and part of a group.  Tomorrow is the last open-water swim and I am really going to miss it. There will be other training activities, and I plan to find one or two that I like and continue with those.  The last time I was an active member, I made the mistake (encouraged by my sometimes too-gung-ho husband) of thinking that I had to do everything. I was living in Bowling Green at the time and it was exhausting driving to Toledo to do all these different activities after work.  I burnt out. And then I gained weight and used it as an excuse to quit. I didn't want to go until I looked like I belonged. I thought I'd get fit and start going again. That hiatus lasted about 5 years. Last year I joined but didn't actually do anything. This year, even though I'm still not the super-fit girl I want to be, I started back and have really enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, there are still times that I feel self-conscious -- I'm in a swimsuit, after all. But I just do it anyway. Sure, there probably are people who think negative things about me, but there probably always will be.
This is what I thought about when I read a couple of blog posts and comments that seemed to suggest that people who have weight to lose shouldn't bother to buy nice clothes, wear makeup, or otherwise take care of themselves in any way except trying to lose weight. I can't understand how that would help us accomplish our weight goals, and in the meantime (and because weight loss takes a long time, there is a long meantime) what message does that send to us and the people around us? What if I never get "there" (because, considering that most fashion models and actresses wear a size 0-4, and I have never been smaller than an 8 as an adult), does that mean I shouldn't even bother?

Believe me, I definitely have "why bother" thoughts, so I know the place they are coming from all too well. But I don't think they are productive. I have always had more success sticking to a my food and exercise plan when I'm taking good care of myself in other ways. It all comes from the same belief that I'm worth the trouble and the time it takes. That belief doesn't come from just telling myself that -- it comes from acting as if. Trying to wait until the negative thoughts go away to give myself permission to live doesn't seem like a great plan. That's why I always loved -- she gave women permission to dress for the body they had.

What I did this week:

Monday: Walked for 35 minutes
Tuesday: Morning workout was 15 minutes running and 20 minutes of walking, evening open-water swim
Wednesday: Off -- had done a hard swim and woke up achy
Thursday: Run/walk workout, same as Tuesday morning
Friday: Off
Saturday: Helped with the SuperKids race, pretty active all morning
Sunday: Swim relay leg of the Sylvania Triathlon

My doctor is dealing with breast cancer and is in between chemo and radiation. She had signed up to do this race solo (the duathlon) but decided she wasn't up to it and asked if I would like to do a relay. I had done the swim leg of a relay before so I did that again.  My husband did the run. Here is 2/3 of the relay team after the race -- since I didn't ask M's permission I'm not posting her photo.

The relay racers started with the collegiate triathletes and the Clydesdales (men 200+ pounds). There weren't a lot of relays. I tried to swim hard since I wasn't going to be doing the whole race.  I was trying for a time to beat my former record on this course of 32:32.  The 30-and-up men started about a minute after us.  Usually at a race, they try to put the faster swimmers first (like the collegiates) but this was not the case this time. I was pretty quickly ahead of everyone I could beat in my wave and way behind the rest, and was swimming all alone until I got rammed into by a couple of the fast men in the next wave.  I am used to swimming with other people but not used to taking the full force of a guy in his prime swimming as hard as he can. It was a little intimidating, but I tried not to let it slow me down. To be fair, I also felt my foot make contact with the ribs of a guy in a wetsuit while I was doing the breaststroke to sight. This is not a sport for the timid!

The course had changed a bit since the last time I did it and there was a much longer run from the beach to transition. I think I got even more tired running than swimming -- I didn't want to let anyone pass me on the run in.  My husband had pointedly suggested that I wear my trisuit and Enell for this race -- I had thought about just wearing a swimsuit like I did last time, but he said he noticed last time that I should be wearing a bra. I'm very glad I took his suggestion, especially with the longer run. I am not used to sprinting so I was wheezing a little by the time I got to the place where we were supposed to change chips.

After our biker left, I sat down in a corner for a while and drank a bottle of Skratch.  I was more tired than I remember being in a while. It's 11 hours later and I'm still tired! Because our biker had at least an hour and a half out on the course, I had time to shower and change out of my trisuit. That's why I look so clean in this photo.

I volunteered forl the Sylvania Superkids Triathlon today. I have helped out with this event before, and it's always fun to see the kids competing. I got to help direct the kids coming out of the water toward transition, and then got to help out at the finish line taking the timing chips off the kids' ankles.  So I did get quite a bit of standing around and some bending -- sort of an active rest day.

The littlest kids swam 100 yards and the bigger ones swam 200. Tomorrow I will be doing the perimeter of this lake (pond, whatever), which is about 1500 meters.

It's definitely a different perspective when you volunteer. I was standing near the bike dismount line and realized how many people try to ride right through it, so now I know why the volunteers were screaming. I was impressed with how many kids could swing their leg over the bike and get off while it was still moving, something I have never learned (or even tried) to do in all my years doing triathlon. It's also just a warm fuzzy feeling to be helping out, as long as I am given a clear assignment and know what to do. I have volunteered before when no one seemed to know what I was supposed to be doing, or when I was given an assignment but not any instruction on how to do it right, and that is no fun.  I don't mind being bossed around, I just don't want to stand around.

Hopefully helping out will bring me good karma tomorrow. I will be starting with the Collegiate racers, the Clydesdales (men over 200/women over 150) and the other relay swimmers. So most of the people swimming in my wave will be bigger or faster than me.

I think I can hold my own, though. I have already swum this course about 10 times this summer.

Shooting for a time under 31 minutes. Wish me luck!

Spent most of the day in the car, headed to/from my nephew's preschool graduation.

David Kirchhoff has resigned as Weight Watchers CEO.  You can read about it here, , and here. The new CEO, James Chambers, has some interesting experience, considering his new role as Weight Watchers CEO:

He was the President of the U.S. Snacks and Confectionary business unit and General Manager of the Immediate Consumption Channel of from January 2010 to July 2011. Chambers also served from September 2005 to January 2010 in various roles in the North America business unit of Cadbury plc, most recently as the President and Chief Executive Officer. Chambers began his career at Nabisco, Inc. and also held various executive positions with Remy Cointreau USA, Paxonix Inc., NetGrocer.com, Inc. and Information Resources, Inc.

So the new CEO is a traditionally-educated businesss guy (Princeton, Wharton School of Business) who sold the kind of foods ("immediate consumption channel"=snacks and Remy Cointreau=booze and Cadbury=chocolate) that helped members put on the weight in the first place. I am guessing he will not be as visible as David Kirchhoff was. (As of now, there is, interestingly, nothing about this on the WeightWatchers.com press releases site.) Rather, he will be expected to use his expertise to bring Weight Watchers out of the slump that it has been in -- meeting attendance is down and the brand is having trouble competing with free apps.

Or, what is apparently the full quote:

“It is spoken at the right time. It is spoken in truth. It is spoken affectionately. It is spoken beneficially. It is spoken with a mind of good-will.

I actually like the corrected quote better, especially the part about speaking affectionately and beneficially.

I am realizing how much I speak or write what is essentially "fat talk" (I am also guilty of "old talk," to a lesser extent), not realizing how it might be hurtful to others because I'm wrapped up in my own concerns.  I realized after a visit with a friend that I had mentioned my weight in a negative context several times, even though she is also struggling with her weight -- it didn't occur to me until later that she might take these comments as directed at her, even though I am sensitive to the same kind of talk from others.

I recently edited a post in the middle of the night because it struck me how my obsession about how certain clothes fit and/or did or didn't flatter me would strike other people as insensitive (the problem is that feed readers hang on to the first published draft, so I need to do this kind of thinking ahead of time). I get stuck inside my own head and forget to consider how other people might read what I say.

Even when I am just speaking to myself, I probably need to do a better job of doing it affectionately, beneficially, and "with a mind of good-will." I can be true and kind.

I mentioned this dress on my last post but I hadn't had time to take pictures yet. I'm doing BlogHer's August NaBloPoMo so it's not a bad thing to get two posts out of one topic.

This is my favorite item from Gwynnie Bee (referral link) so far. I love everything about it -- the color, the style, the material. Almost everything --- it is a little bit long. But that's not terrible.

I have always liked wrap dresses because the fit is customized -- with my body shape, if I don't define my waist, I look much bigger than I really am.  I own a blue wrap dress that I have worn about a dozen times already. Besides the great fit, the wrap dress is as comfortable as a bathrobe, which has to be what inspired Diane von Furstenberg to create it.

I would consider buying this dress too, but since Gwynnie Bee has this style in several different colors as well as several other true wrap dresses and faux wrap dresses, I'd rather closet a bunch of them and be able to have something different.

We ended up going to the Maumee Bay Brewing Company for dinner, which was definitely a jeans-and-t-shirt place, but I didn't care. The food was amazing and they had free popcorn.  It was a fun, relaxed night. I'm keeping the dress for a while, so maybe I'll find a more suitable place to wear it.

FTC Disclosure: I am currently in a free trial month with Gwynnie Bee, but once that is over, I will cover the costs of my subscription. This post contains my referral link. Like all members, I can earn a free month if other people decide to become paying members through my referral. Other than that, this review is uncompensated.


I already wrote about my experiences with Gwynnie Bee when I first started the service, but I thought I'd give some additional information now that I'm about halfway through my free trial month, which ends August 16.

I have included some screenshots showing my closet history. I have had 6 garments so far (the one in the far left in the second screenshot is on its way to me) and unfortunately, three of them were returned without ever being worn.  So far my favorite items were both wrap dresses -- one that I am going to wear out soon, and one that I tried on but had to send back because it was too big. I also liked the orange tank, but I sent it back because I thought it was a little too distinctive to wear again soon.I am still learning the brands and what sizes work for me.

Gotta admit, I would kill to have that body again, but maybe not the hair.  This is what my eyebrows looked like when I didn't pluck them...

(FTC disclosure: These cookbooks were purchased by me with my own money. The reviews are unsolicited, uncompensated, and completely my own opinion.  There are a couple of Amazon affiliate links at the end of the post, which are clearly marked, but most of the links go directly to the Skratch Labs website and are not affiliate links)

Grilled Chicken with Summer Orzo, plated with a small side salad

I found Skratch Labs through some online sleuthing when searching for a sports drink that wouldn't make me sick during my triathlon. I'm happy to report that their Sports Hydration was a big success.

I also ordered their two cookbooks, The Feed Zone Cookbook and Feed Zone Portables. I was curious to see what foods would be recommended for pre-race and recovery for endurance athletes. I was won over by their real-food approach. Most of the endurance sports "food" market is a glut of weird astronaut nutrition: Gummy shot blocks, candy-colored recovery drinks, packets of goo, bars that look and taste like cardboard mixed with twigs.  I can't stomach most of that stuff.  I don't think it is healthy either.

Summer Orzo in the mixing bowl

Most of the time, I do shorter workouts and events and might not need to specifically think about sports nutrition. But I want to start working up to longer distances again, and my husband is also a long-distance runner and coach of a cross-country team. I thought that the book might be a good resource for both of us. Plus, when I ordered, each cookbook came with some extra sports hydration mix, something I was going to want anyway.

On the surface, people who want to lose weight might not seem to have much in common with the professional cyclists who inspired this book. For one thing, cyclists in training might require three times as much food as the average person.

At the same time, though, cyclists do have to be careful to stay lean. They also need to maximize the nutrition they get from their meals.  Instead of accomplishing this through some kind of sports chemistry experiment, sports physiologist Allen Lim and Chef Biju Thomas fell back to the food they grew up with. Lim writes in his introduction that all his years of studying physiology were not helping him make practical meals the athletes would like, so, "like any good scientist, I called my mom." As a result, Lim writes, the cookbook features "recipes from India, where Biju is from, or from China and the Philippines, where my family is from." But both grew up in the United States, and were living in Europe, so there are plenty of other influences here too. There are tacos and burritos, frittatas and panini, a sandwich that looks like a Croque Madame, as well as waffles, pancakes, and hot breakfast grain dishes.

Biryani, one of my favorites so far

Because these recipes were designed for the needs of endurance athletes, they lean heavily on carbohydrates for energy, and there are definitely a few with calorie counts too high for the average weekend warrior. But the calories and other nutritional information are provided so that readers can adjust to fit their dietary needs. The après (after) recipes are designed for after a long workout, so some serving sizes might need to be cut in half to fit into a casual rider's diet. There are also hints on how cyclists make their own adjustments to fit their calorie needs: "At races, I normally recommend the riders eat their fruits and vegetables after they eat the main dish so that we fill them up first on the essential carbohydrates they'll need for the next day. In training, however, we often do the opposite so that the riders can watch their calories and maintain an ideal body weight.

The Feed Zone Cookbook has a lot to offer for active people. Most of the recipes are designed to be built from precooked parts -- rice and other grains can be prepared ahead, and so can much of the meat in the recipes. There are handy instructions in the back of the book for how to prep meats, pasta, and veggies ahead of time. Because many of these recipes were designed for cyclists, there are lots of options that are portable for eating on the go. The recipes are also highly nutritious. There are plenty of vegetables, minimal sugar, and not a lot of fat. None of the food is fake -- no engineered sugar substitutes or fat-free products. As I said, the authors give some suggestions on how to "build your plate" to make the recipes work for people with different energy needs.

Because the authors designed these recipes while feeding a team, most of them are designed for crowd appeal -- nothing seems too "out there." There aren't many difficult-to-find ingredients and the spice levels recommended make the food flavorful but not excessively spicy.  I think they could appeal to whole families. Because most of the recipes are quick to make, they can take the place of takeout on busy nights, and I guarantee that even the heavier après recipes are lighter than the average pizza or delivery option.

Roasted beet salad -- not exactly the way it's pictured in the book

Personally, these cookbooks are very appealing to me.  I love the big, full-color pictures for each recipe. I love the diverse influences and the fact that this food seems rooted in tradition -- the plates look like food from a great little sidewalk café, not from a lab. I love that this cookbook is helping me find ways for CSA produce like beets. Their roasted beet salad recipe reminded me that I actually liked roasted beets in salad, though I took the liberty of jazzing it up with balsamic reduction and some blueberries and goat cheese.  Everything I have made so far has been delicious and satisfying. The Biryani was so good that we have already made it twice, and it was enough for two meals each time. Because I'm not a professional cyclist, I have been trying to go a little lighter on carbs and more veggie-heavy on my other meals on the days that I sampled one of these recipes.

French Toast Cakes

The Feed Zone Portables book is more specialized and, for that reason, might not appeal to people who aren't trying to figure out foods they could eat on a bike or run.  I made a couple of the recipes -- both were variations on bread pudding. They helped me use up a loaf of crumbly millet bread that I had been given free at the health-food store. The French Toast Cakes are not super-sweet and would make a good packable breakfast. They are, as the name suggests, french toast baked in muffin tins.  They are good cold or warmed up.

Chocolate Cakes

The Chocolate Cakes were amazing. They were rich and, again, not super-sweet. Even though they don't look like it, they are another variation on bread pudding. I baked mine in mini muffin tins and treated them like a dessert item. I actually forgot to put the sugar in the recipe when I baked them, and sprinkled sugar on top instead. Since there were only 2 tablespoons of sugar in the whole recipe, this was probably fairly equivalent. I also added a pecan half on the top of each one since they reminded me of those two-bite brownies.  This would be a great treat to take to a potluck or make for a brunch.

Many of the other items, like mini-quiches and muffin-tin pies, would be good to bring to a party. They'd also be a lot better snacks to bring for kids' games and team practices than the typical cookies and chips. Jesse wanted this book to see if there were things he could make for cross-country team events, and I think a lot of these would work. The portables are really designed to be eaten during training, so as long as you have water available they could be slipped into a jacket pocket or into a bike bag to fuel a long training session.

I know some people who read this blog follow paleo-inspired plans. There probably isn't enough in these cookbooks that would work within their boundaries, though there are a few that use sweet potatoes as the base instead of grains or bread. Because different kinds of milks and bread can be used in most of the recipes, there are plenty that would work with a gluten-free or dairy-free diet. A pretty high percentage of the recipes contain eggs, so vegans might not find these books worth the money.  Obviously anyone who wants to avoid or strictly limit carbohydrates would want to look elsewhere.

(Amazon affiliate link)

(Amazon affiliate link)

I think that active people who are looking to fuel their training are the intended audience, especially those who are looking for an alternative to the highly-engineered "sports nutrition" products I mentioned earlier.  But I don't think you need to be a pro cyclist or a marathon runner to make these recipes work for you. You just have to use your head and your hunger to help you build your plate in the way that is best for your needs. The Feed Zone Cookbook is also designed to help people with minimal cooking skills learn to feed themselves better. They need to have mastered a few basics first, but someone who only knows how to boil rice or an egg and cook chicken on the grill could use the tips here to expand their repertoire.

The packaging on my books -- love the artwork!

There are a few recipes on the Skratch Labs blog to give you a preview, if you are interested. You can purchase both cookbooks through the Skratch Labs website, like I did. The books came nicely packaged and included some promotional items -- see the website for details and current offers.


You can also, of course, get and  through Amazon.com (affiliate links).