There have been three “very bad” weekends this summer, meaning significant and uncharacteristic weight gain.  All three have been camping weekends.

All three weekends have involved significant exercise of the biking persuasion, and I try to plan for good eating, but it just doesn’t happen.  I bring healthful snacks but end up stuffing myself silly on roasted marshmallows (one of the great joys in life!).  Cravings go out of control and I eat anything crunchy/salty/sweet I can get my mitts on.

I always hope that I’ll have lost weight or at least maintained due to the exercise, but so far, that’s not what’s happened.  I end up about five pounds up, several of which fall away (probably because of all the salty foods and sporadic hydration), but it takes me the better part of a week each time to get back on track.

How do you think I should handle this?  Should I get stricter with myself and beg Daniel (in advance!) to limit me to just four marshmallows and keep me from all snacky foods offered by others?  Or should I just quit whining, enjoy the weekend, and plan on the “recovery” week?

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Since we’re running low after all the recent riding, I looked online a week or so ago and ended up buying a small supply at my local bike shop. The shipping from the online places just kills the value, and even when you hit a free shipping sale, the product prices aren’t super-stellar.

Enter Amazon Grocery. I thought I might as well look and see what they offer, and though they don’t have all of my favorite products, I was able to find Carb Boom! for $0.84 per serving, and Clif Shot Bloks (which I love) for$0.60 and $0.64 per serving (for the Lemon Lime and Orange flavors, respectively). Sadly, they don’t have the Piña Colada flavor, which is my favorite, but their great prices inspire forgiveness.

The kicker?  Free Super Saver shipping means those prices are the one’s I’m actually paying.  Sweeet.

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I tend to eat meals on my down days that are closer to 200 or 250 calories, but I’m planning to change this because there are some significant benefits to doing five 100-calorie meals. Many people do better when they eat more often. As far as I can tell, this is both physical (blood sugar levels and so on) and psychological (it feels less like starving ). More meals also build in more nutritional diversity.

My tastes are likely not your tastes. I did a lot of my research on NutritionData, which I highly recommend—you might be surprised at what you learn there.

Here are my top five picks:

• Spinach salad with mushrooms and homemade dressing. A cup of spinach plus a half cup of white mushrooms (I really like mushrooms) weighs in at just 56 calories, leaving plenty for one of the delicious-sounding low-calorie homemade dressings I’ve found (all three recipes are based on cottage cheese, so I’m going to try them starting tomorrow after I go grocery shopping).
• Apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon. I like all things apple sprinkled with cinnamon. A medium apple (2.75″ diameter) is about 72 calories.
• Half a baked potato with sour cream. Potatoes have roughly 1 calore per gram, and I figure half of a medium sized potato would be about 75 calories. Throw in a dash of salt and 2 tablespoons of fat-free sour cream and you’re at an even 100. Or combine with the next item for a big splurge.
• Steamed broccoli. Broccoli and spinach are about the only green veggies I eat, but happily, they’re both super nutritious. I can fit two cups (cooked!) into 100 calories. Dash of salt and I’m a happy camper.
• Sliced mushrooms dipped in marinara sauce. Mushrooms are so low-calorie it’s ridiculous, and they’re also very high on the Fullness Factor scale. A half cup of sauce ranges between about 50 and 70 calories, depending on what kind you buy. With your remaining 30-50 calories, you’re looking at six to ten large mushrooms. That’s a lot of mushrooms! (Of course, I may be the only one who thinks that’s a good thing…)

This post is part of the “Top 5″ ProBlogger Group Writing Project.

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Daniel pointed to the Balance Bar 100 Calories snack bars with some amusement. They were $.77 each, which fit the “cheap” requirement, and obviously 100 calories. There were three varieties, so I picked up one of each (none of them appear to have whole nuts in them, which is a deal-breaker for me).

I recently tried the Vanilla Caramel Crisp flavor. My initial reaction was kind of ho-hum, because the first bite definitely had that sugar alcohol twinge to it. I kept eating, though (this is a very small snack bar!), and after that first bite, it was actually very good. It’s pretty sweet (and just for the record, I am the girl who has never met “too sweet”) and the caramel really tastes like caramel. Mmmm… caramel…

What is this snack bar good for? Snacks! It’s definitely not a meal replacement (seriously, it’s 100 calories, what do you expect?) but it’s perfect for tiding me over until I can make a decent meal. It’s also a good option for satisfying a craving for sweets without blowing my calories for the whole day.

I’ll definitely be buying more of these, though I’ll try to limit them to real “on the go” situations, since they’re still quite a bit more expensive than some other 100-calorie snacks (applesauce and popcorn come to mind). But it’s always nice to have another option when the munchies come calling!

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