Rice...or is it?

Question of the Day: Rice in Bowl #1. Rice in Bowl #2, or is it?

I am trying something new with my food choices. I have been counting my points on and off again for the past 11 years - ever since Kimberly was born and the dreaded body changes of having babies set in.

I still remember after having Kimberly and wondering what that extra blubber was on my guttal region. In fact, I seriously thought it was somehow related to the c-section, so it would magically disappear on it's own.

No siree. It did not disappear on it's own. I even had the gall to ask my male doctor at my 6-week follow-up if it was just a side-affect from the surgery, or if it was indeed, F-A-T. He nonchalantly informed me that yes, it was indeed, Fat. I would like to think a female doctor would have been a little more kind about the bad news.

I attribute it to all those chocolates they delivered to my office the December I was in my last trimester of her pregnancy, oh, and of course, February too. Sadly, the extra 40 pounds gained from that pregnancy, only 10 decided to remove themselves from my frame. The other 30 or so I had to fight off by counting my food points. Every, single, ugly, point. Even apples were a point at the time! And I only had a few points a day to spare. Remember, I had to save points for my bowl of Cheerios before bed - that and my buttery bowl of popcorn after dinner.

Fast forward 11 years, and I am still counting points and fighting every pound that tries to demand it's way into my life. I dream of the pre-pregnancy days when food was all a luxury, with nary a worry about how many points, calories, or fat content landed their way onto my mouth-watering taste buds.

Alas, counting points did their job. I have to thank weight watchers for helping me out with all 4-post pregnancy fattage moments. I have hit a point though where counting points has not helped the 'muffin-top' that is the bain of many a women's guttals, including mine.

I am determined to get my pre-pregnancy tummy back. You know I'm determined when I considered looking into cutting back on my carbs, something I have never - Never - NeVeR even considered because I love me some potatoes, pasta, rice, and bread - the very essentials of every single dinner meal in our home. Mashed potatoes are my absolute favorite side dish - I'll even eat them for lunch.

When I moved out of my folks house way back when, they couldn't figure out why there were always so many mashed potatoes left over after dinner, and the fact that no one ate the leftovers from the fridge either. It was then they realized I was the sole eater of leftover potatoes, and I really did have several helpings of the stuff at dinner. I even beat my brother-in-law Justin in a mashed potato-eating contest - and he Loves the stuff too!

Okay, so this has turned into a reeaaallly long epistle about carbs - I really, and I mean really, had no intention of going on and on about this, but then again, you guys do remember I am a writer, right?

So, back to the rice and rice-look-alike picture. I decided last week after doing quite a bit of research about carbs, that I would cut back on the stuff. All of the bad ones anyway, and eat the foods that will actually work for me, not against me, which is what a lot of the bad carbs do - yup, they sit on our thighs, guts, and bums, just jamming away storing the fat your bod thinks it so badly needs. Well, okay, it needs fat, just not the pooch on my belly that rolls out over my jeans.

So, enter cali-rice!! While the rest of my clan enjoyed their hawaiian haystacks with rice, I enjoyed it with the most delicious cauliflower rice - it was actually quite tasty, something I didn't expect. I liked it so much, I had the leftovers for lunch the next day, and I'm looking forward to my next cali-rice dish!

Okay, it's not always as exciting as it's cracked up to be. Tonight, we had roast, carrots, potatoes, and my mother-in-law's famous muffins (which by the way mom, we make every Sunday with our dinners because they're so good), and I had to bypass the oh-so-yummy muffins and potatoes in favor of....cottage cheese. I know, not the most yummy replacement, but it is what it is.

We'll see how it goes, but so far, I'm seeing improvement. My goal is to stick with it for 6 weeks and see if I can tell a difference. Who knows, I might just get addicted to the cauliflower rice. Oh, and I did give up my Cheerios for breakfast in favor of a special low-carb, high protein Special K cereal. It's not too bad, but I very much miss my Cheerios. I think I'm looking forward to having those back even more than potatoes.

In the words of Tony from Power 90, Bring it on!