Take the Diabetes Risk Test

Today is American Diabetes Alert Day.  You have a greater risk for Type 2 diabetes if:

• You are overweight.
• You are age 45 and older.
• You have high blood pressure.
• You have a family history of diabetes.
• You get little or no exercise.

Go take the free risk test at the American Diabetes Association web site to find out if you are at risk. You only have to enter a few pieces of information which include your age, height, weight, lifestyle and family history.

I scored a “5” with a low to medium risk, mainly because I’m overweight. It suggests I keep my weight in control or lose weight, stay active most days of the week, and eat a diet of low fat meals high in fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods.

Check it out at www.diabetes.org/risk and view the at risk weight chart too.

Girl Scout Cookies and Weight Watchers

Girl Scout Brownie - Michelle

Our first boxes of Girl Scout cookies arrived last Friday. There were 2 boxes which my husband had ordered from his friend. He only shared a few Somoas with me.

I had ordered several boxes from a neighbor, but had yet to receive them. Well, I got my six boxes today, and my dilemma is what to do as a Weight Watcher.

I have a long history with the Girl Scouts, as I was one. View the lovely photo of me in my Brownie outfit (very figure flattering) in the 1980’s. My mom was even a leader for my troop for a number of years.

We had fun singing songs, going on trips and camping, but one of my best memories is of the cookies. Our house would be full of the cases of cookies, where my mom had to sort and distribute them to the girls in her troop.

My favorites are Thin Mints, Samoas and Trefoils who have kept their lovely 70’s shape throughout the years.

Now I have a daughter of my own who can join the Girl Scouts when she starts school, but that’s a few years off.

I know I can count the points for the cookies, but for me, it’s hard to resist only having 3, 4 or 5 cookies. I usually can eat half a box of cookies a day. My 6 boxes could be gone before the end of the week. I know I can freeze them too, and the Thin Mints in particular taste particularly yummy frozen.

I looked up the points, and the best amount of cookies for the points turns out to be the Trefoils with 5 cookies for only 4 points. I had even ordered a box of the Sugar Free Chocolate Chip cookies to try, but turns out you only get 3 cookies for 4 points!

Here are the points values that I calculated from Little Brownie Bakers.

Cookie	Amount	Points
Trefoils	5 cookies	4
Thin Mints	4 cookies	3
Samoas	2 cookies	4
Do-si-dos	2 cookies	3
Tagalong	2 cookies	4
All Abouts	3 cookies	4
Sugar Free Chocolate Chip	3 cookies	4
Lemon Chalet Cremes	1 cookie	2

So far today, I’ve only had five Thin Mints (and put down 3 points on my WW tracker), but it’s going be hard to make it through tonight, the rest of the weekend, and heck, even the rest of the week. What’s a girl to do?