Don't Forget To Bring IT

Hey all! Another glorious day weather-wise. I started off with a 40 minutes treadmill run that went much better than yesterday! I felt strong from the beginning and got in a good groove so, I even upped the ante and ran a little faster than normal. It was great!


After a shower, I made a bee line for the kitchen and made breakfast. Salmon was calling me this morning, so I went with a Thomas' Light English Muffin topped with a Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and 1 oz. of smoked salmon for 3 POINTS...


I spent the rest of the morning getting in some laundry, then it was time to head out to another nephew's graduation party. My original plan was to eat before we went to the party and just have some fruit or salad while there, however, I wasn't hungry at all before we left, so I opted to wait until we got there to eat something. Dun, dun, dun, duuuuun! I told my sister-in-law that I would gladly bring a dessert to the party, but the most IMPORTANT thing I forgot to bring was.................... WANT POWER!!!!! Darn it! I needed to pack that stuff up and whip it out BIG TIME! There was some spread at the party and although, I started off with the best of intentions, all self control was lost by the end of the evening! Here's how it started...

Soft pretzel sticks (for some reason, these are my kryptonite - LOVE THEM), carrot sticks and broccoli..... quite virtuous, don't ya think?

Then came the big guns. A vat of homemade meatballs...

pulled pork.....

thinly sliced roast beef....

homemade baked ziti...

macaroni salad....

Grandmom's potato salad...

beautiful fruit salad...

delicious spinach salad with mushrooms, egg and bacon...

Here's my plate with a small roast beef sammie, fruit salad, and only itty bitty tastes of the "bad stuff". Pretty good, eh??

After this my camera broke and I was unable to take anymore pictures of the extreme number of unmentionables that I continued to eat throughout the night ;P Just kidding. My camera didn't break, but my Want Power was completely MIA. Gone. Bye bye. Nowhere to be found. I dug into 3 more (at least) pretzel sticks while chatting and hanging out. There were bowls of chocolates on every table that I was able to dodge, however, my sister-in-law is a FAB-U- LOUS cookie baker and there were gobs of cookie trays that I kept "visiting". I am sorry I didn't take pics of them, they are so delicious looking. But, I realize that food blogging is a multi-tasking job that includes the use of both hands which is, at times, difficult when you are too busy shoving mass quantities of cookies in your mouth. Booo! Well, just for the fun of it, I'll throw out a "here's a positive". I did jump around playing badminton for about an hour. I am sure that burned off at least half a cookie. Yep, definitely a good calorie deficit there.

So, everything we do should be a learning experience, right? Okay, today I learned...

1. Go with your gut( or else you'll get a bigger one) and stick to your original plan. Eating first, then going for a salad or fruit would have limited the number of choices when it was time to eat.
2. Do not sit for long periods of time at a table with a bunch of chocolate.
3. Do not stand anywhere NEAR the cookie table; especially when there are super irresistible ones that would love to make your hips their new home.
4. Don't forget to bring the WANT Power. Bring it, use it and reuse it.

I will end my tale of woe as I always do. Ready.... everyone say it together.....

There's always tomorrow........ =)

When A Plan Comes Together

Back again! Hope you all had as beautiful a day as it was here. The sun was shining, no humidity and a light breeze. Just perfect! I was tempted to go for an outdoor run, but decided the impact on my hip might not be as harsh if I stick with the treadmill for a while. I did 40 minutes; 14 of which completely sucked. Those first minutes seemed brutal for some reason. I was not feeling strong at all, but I perservered, then got into a groove and it was fine for the rest of the run. Watching The Hills kept me entertained during it, too.

After the run, I made a breakfast burrito with a small La Tortilla Factory tortilla, 3 egg whites and salsa. It was only 2 POINTS, but very filling...


So filling, in fact, that I wasn't ready for lunch until 1:30! I dug around in the fridge and found some of the bbq baked tofu that I made (last week??). It still looked decent, so I made a bbq baked tofu sandwich on a honey wheat bun with lettuce and a slice of 2% cheese. Delish! On the side, I had a serving of crinkle potatoes, an apple and a fruit and nut bite for dessert. A voluminous lunch for 8 POINTS...


No snack attack this afternoon! My lunch took me all the way to dinner. Maybe the 8 POINTS is the amount I need or it could have been the combination of filling foods that kept me satisfied and not looking to munch. I hope that's the ticket :)


I planned a nice, healthy dinner, but the husband and daughters had a different plan - PIZZA! I let them go the pizza route, but stuck to my dinner plan for myself ...

Chicken and Broccoli with Garlic Sauce

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. chicken breast cut in 1" pieces
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 c. broccoli florets
• 1 1/2 c. fat free chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 2 c. cooked brown rice

1. In a large skillet, heat oil and garlic and cook 1 minute. Season chicken with thyme, salt and pepper and add to skillet. Brown on all sides for 3 minutes.
2. Add broccoli; cover and cook 2 minutes.
3. Add 1 cup broth, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through(about 5 minutes).
4. Dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1/2 cup broth, add to skillet and simmer 1 minute.
5. Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings. 5 POINTS per serving. Each serving is 1 cup chicken mixture and 1/2 cup rice.

I found this recipe in one of my old WW recipe binders. It is quick and delicious! Best part is now I have 3 additional servings that I packed up and put in the freezer for those heat and eat dinner nights! Definitely a keeper...

I had plenty of room for dessert, so I made up my old favorite - Deep Chocolate Vitatop with PB2 icing for 2 POINTS...

and a blueberry crackshake (2 POINTS) to wash it down...

The daughters were intrigued by my crackshake and came running with their straws to take a taste. Some taste! They ended up drinking half of my shake - booo! It's okay; I don't mind sharing the health ;P

Another good day in! I'm hoping to get to my WW meeting this Thurs.; it's been a while and I really miss it! I like going to the meeting; I just don't always love the weighing part! I have been avoiding the scale the past couple of weeks, but I'm going to stay the course this week and see if the scale speaks good things to me =)

Have a great night!

Good Times, Bad Pics

Just wanted to give you guys a quick recap of yesterday. We were at my nephew's graduation party last night and didn't get home til late. I had to hit the hay right away!


I started the day off with a 35 min. treadmill run. It was great and quick, but my hip still bothers me afterward. Hmmm... may have to check into that. Anyway, I was in the mood for something different for breakfast. I have been craving a Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar since stealing a smidge of little daughter's the other day. Yes, she likes Larabars! Since, I was able to recreate the Cherry Pie version, I thought I would give the Peanut Butter a try. Here's what I used to make this Peanut Butter Cookie Bar:

• 1 oz. dried pitted dates (about 4-5 dates)
• 1/8 c. dry roasted peanuts
• 1 tbsp. rolled oats
• dash salt

1. Place dates in small food processor and pulse until paste forms. * sometimes I have to add a drop or two of water, depending on how dry the dates are or you can always soak them first.
2. Add nuts,oats and salt. Pulse until nuts are finely chopped.
3. Lightly spray a 1/2c. measuring cup with cooking spray. Spoon mixture into cup. Cover with plastic wrap and press firmly to mold cookie. Turn over and tap against counter to unmold.

This makes one cookie. Nutrition facts (calculated using calorieking.com): 207 calories, 8 gr. fat, 4 gr. fiber. 4 POINTS.

It turned out great! The oats aren't necessary, but I thought it was a nice addition. It was the perfect craving buster...



Seriously good...


That held me over pretty well until lunch. I planned on a bigger lunch, even though we were going to the party tonight. I went with a grilled chicken wrap(made with 2 oz. grilled chicken, slice of Weight Watchers Pepperjack and salad mix in a La Tortilla Wrap), carrots, TJ's Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips and cup of Tabatchnick Vegetable Soup for 7 POINTS. Excuse the bad pic...

Love this 1 POINT soup...

Right before getting ready for our evening out, I had a snack attack! I wasn't really hungry, but I wasn't able to "talk myself out of it" either. I grabbed a handful of pretzels and some cheese for 5 POINTS. No pic, so..... it really didn't happen, right??? I snapped out of it and told myself to REFOCUS!

After getting the daughters and myself dolled up, we headed to my nephew's graduation party. Can't believe he's graduating from high school! Sniff, sniff! It was a wonderful party put on at a restaurant complete with a DJ and a delicious buffet. But, I was able to remember: WANT POWER! I decided on a small chicken drumstick, roasted potatoes, green beans and salad. I ate the chicken (which was about 4 bites), a bite of the salad (too much dressing, so didn't want to waste calories on that), all the potatoes and most of the green beans. I'm estimating it at 7 POINTS (another bad pic, sorry!!)...

WANT Power kept me from eating the delicious looking cake, which I felt good about! Hey and no rolls either, which looked great, too! It was a nice time and so good to see my nephew hanging out with his friends and having a fun time! Just love him so much :)

So that's the scoop! Hope you're all enjoying your Saturday! See ya tonight =)

WANT Power

I'm driven by WANT power today! Well, that and all of your amazing encouraging comments! Thank you so much for your kind words; it really does keep me going :) I hope that article gave some of you an extra boost, too and insight into, perhaps, a missing piece of this weight loss journey that we are on.

I'm excited about trying out this new POINT tracking experiment. It was strange, though, to put this morning's breakfast on last night's tracking day! I woke up hungry, too, which doesn't normally happen, but I decided to push off breakfast until I got in my workout. I did a 35 minute weighted stint on the elliptical, then got to making some eats. I went with 3 scrambled egg whites with a slice of 2% cheese and 1 tbsp. salsa and a half serving of TJ's Multigrain Savory Thins for 3 POINTS...


I don't think I've mentioned these before. They are a tasty cracker! Basically a rice chip with added grains and seeds....


A full serving is 17 crackers and only 2 POINTS! I just went with 8 crackers this morning, which was plenty...

A little later, I fed my Frap addiction with a homemade Caramel Lite Frap made with coffee. 3 tbsp. fat free half and half, 2 tbsp. sugar free caramel syrup and lots of ice. Good stuff and this one's only 1 POINT...

For lunch, I made another version of turkey burgers - Ranch Turkey Burgers! For these, I used

• 20 oz. ground turkey breast
• 4 tbsp. Light Ranch Dressing (I use Kraft Light Three Cheese Dressing)
• 1 tsp. Hidden Valley Ranch Dry Mix ( packet)
• 1/4 c. chopped scallions

1. Mix ingredients and shape into 6 burgers.
2. Cook about 4 minutes per side.

I ran this through the Etools Recipe Builder and came up with 3 POINTS per burger. I grilled mine and served it on a honey wheat bun with lettuce and pickles. It was great! The key to turkey burgers is to NOT overcook them; otherwise they get all dried out. But, these were cooked just right and had a nice flavor to them. I served it with 1 cup cherries and 1/2 c. leftover barbecue bean salad. A filling 8 POINT lunch...

Later in the afternoon, I felt like having a snack. I decided on a filling snack of High Fiber O's, 1/2 c. nonfat greek yogurt and 1 tbsp. dried cranberries for 3 POINTS...

Dinner was heat and eat. I'm trying to dwindle down the freezer stash! I decided on 2 TJ's stirfry veggie eggrolls and a bowl of Tabatchnick Vegetable Soup for 5 POINTS...

It was just right! I WANTed to fit in dessert :) It's okay; I had the POINTS, but I kept it simple. Just a plain, old Deep Chocolate Vitatop with no accoutrements for 1 POINT...

And it was just fine and hit the spot ;)

Now, I still have 4 POINTS left for breakfast tomorrow! For some reason this little mind game/tweaking helped out today. It's new and different. Also, I like the fact that I feel like I am eating quite a bit of food, yet I go to bed knowing that I still have POINTS left for the morning. It's all robbing peter to pay paul, so to speak, but hey, it's something different. When I look at my day, I'm just tacking on a couple more POINTS to lunch and taking them away from dinner. But, I think it may be a better way to eat overall anyway. Many Europeans eat this way, too with their largest meals being eaten midday and lighter in the a.m. and late evening. My parents eat that way when they visit Italy every year and come home having lost weight despite large multicourse midday meals. And you know, French women don't get fat ;P Well, until they come to America and eat at Mickey D's.

So, the experiment continues! But, danger lurkes at my nephew's graduation party tomorrow evening :0

I will keep reminding myself : I'VE GOT THE POWER!!!

Have a great night =)

Soul Searching For A New POINT Of View

I woke up with a lot on my mind this morning. It all had to do with my weight loss journey. I haven't been happy with the way things are going, or shall I say, not going. If you're a regular reader, you know I keep lamenting about my difficulty with getting to my WW goal weight. I've been playing with those last 10 pounds for months now and it's wearing on me. I was thinking today that you are all probably tired of listening to me winge and whine about it, too! But, this has become a place to not only document my eats for the day. I realize it is a therapeutic exercise to blog every night. I write about my frustrations with myself, my trials and tribulations and it all seems to help me move on and be able to start over when I've gone off track. Sometimes, I feel badly to have you all put up with my boo-hoos and pity parties, but I began this blog as a tool to help me through the remainder of my weight loss, and as much as I don't want to bore you with it all, I have to maintain the integrity of why I started this blog to begin with. That being said, I really did some soul searching today. I was feeling like I've lost it. Lost my desire to keep losing. Lost my will to keep going with this and hit goal. I thought maybe this is a sign that I am just done. I am okay at this weight and I should just get on with my new healthy life. But, I'm not feeling it. I need to keep going, but how do I get the strength to keep going, the drive, the will? Well, I came upon THIS article on Wellsphere that gave me the answer I was looking for. It's not will power that's missing; it's WANT POWER! This article spoke volumes to me! It's exactly the boost I needed. So I give you my New Point of View: There is no such thing as will power, only want power! Spread the word, not the icing!!!





So, I came up with a new plan for myself today. I devised it over my breakfast of a whole wheat cinnamon raisin english muffin with a tsp. butter for 3 POINTS...


Okay, this may sound weird to those of you that count WW POINTS, but I think this may be my answer. I am going to start my tracking day with lunch. I will start off with my 21 POINTS at lunch and subtract the day going to breakfast the next morning. Why? Well, it seems that I really have trouble in the afternoons with snacking. So, I thought if I start at lunch, make lunch bigger and end with breakfast, if I had an "incident" or maybe overate a little in the afternoon, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to only have a couple of POINTS left for breakfast. But, if I kept it the same and overate leaving me only a few POINTS for dinner, that would leave me feeling deprived and sad. I know this may seem like a strange way to look at it. It's mind games. It may or may not work or make any difference at all, but it dawned on me today and I felt excited to try out this "experiment". We know all that matters is "calories in, calories out" in a 24 hr. period, so who cares what meal starts your 24 hr. day, right?


So, I decided to embark on my new plan at lunch, making it as "big" as necessary to feel full. Guess what? I wasn't so hungry today! Murphy's Law. But, I know that the afternoon has been rough lately, so I just ate what I was in the mood for and therefore, had lots of POINTS for later, just in case. Lunch was an almond butter and sugar free jelly sammie with carrots and sour cream and onion rice chips for 6 POINTS...

and a Grande Mocha Lite Frap for 2 POINTS while picking up a few things at the supermarket...

Well, that took me all the way to dinner! I decided on a quick dinner of Trader Joe's Chicken Chow Mein (split with big daughter) for 6 POINTS...

and for dessert, a Weight Watchers CandyBar Ice Cream Bar for 3 POINTS...

That leaves me with 4 POINTS for breakfast tomorrow! I know it's just switching things around, but for some reason, I felt much better using my tracker this way. If anything, it's at least a fun twist on my "old" program. I'll still be blogging the same way, beginning with my breakfast, but I'll just be counting that breakfast with my previous day's POINTS.

If you made it through this everlasting post, I commend you! Thank you for listening to my rambling and for all the wonderful comments and suggestions. I really appreciate you coming along for my crazy ride :)

Have a great night !

Nightmare On Hormone Street

I am hormonally challenged today. I feel tired, annoyed, happy, frustrated, bored, excited, tired and more tired. How's that for a skitzy lady? It must be that time. Could be why I wanted a basket of chocolate this afternoon! Pfft! And I was being so "intuitive" with my eating these past few days :( Well, I got back to counting today, with the exception of the chocolate incident. But, there's always tomorrow. That I can count on...


Breakfast was an Arnold Sandwich Thin with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light and 2 tbsp of hummus. A yummy 3 POINT combo...


Then, I headed out to take Gram to get some bloodwork. After that, we picked up my Mom, went back to Gram's living community and met my Dad and nephew for lunch in one of the restaurants there. I ordered a Mediterranean Veggie Wrap made with romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, red pepper hummus and feta and a side salad with lite Italian dressing on the side. It was very good! I estimated it at 6 POINTS...

Later, I had a snack of prunes and an Italian fig cookie for 4 POINTS...

Then came my second "snack" which was all the chocolate in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Yes, it's a real place. No, I can't tell you how to get there ;P Oompa loompa doom-pa-dee do. Can you tell chocolate makes me crazy?? Sigh. Moving on....

Dinner, as if I needed it, was the last of the leftover Greek lima beans mixed with orzo for 8 POINTS. I love these beans! If there are any Greek blogfriends out there who have a recipe for this, I would love to have it!!! Who knew lima beans could be so good...

I'm not thrilled with how things went down today, but I'm hoping tomorrow will be better. I feel like I am in limbo right now. I'm not at goal yet, I want to lose more, but I'm just "hanging out" and not giving it the hard core press I need to get to the end. Any suggestions??

Have a great night everyone =)

Too Many Leftovers To Count

We have so many leftovers from the bbq yesterday! My fridge is stocked full. I did give some away to family as they left, but we are still filled to the brim. I decided, in order to go through some of the leftovers, that I would eat what we have without driving myself batty trying to figure out POINTS for everything. Scary, I know. I am entering dangerous territory here. I equate not counting POINTS (or even calories for that matter) with being "off program". Off program = weight gain. Or does it? Can I do this? Can I not count what I am eating and still lose weight? I'm not sure. Especially with these leftovers! But, it is an idea I have been toying with for a while. I don't think I am completely sold on my ability to do it yet. I haven't made goal YET and I don't want to change up anything drastically until I get there. But, for today at least, I "forgot" about counting and started on Operation: Fridge Clear-out.

Breakfast was 1/2 c. of nonfat greek yogurt and 1 c. of leftover fruit salad...



Lots of lounging went on today. It was so relaxing after all the running around I have been doing the last week! I decided to not do any formal exercise today. It kinda felt good to take a day off.


Lunch was leftover Sundried Tomato and Pesto Turkey Burger and those amazing Greek lima beans. I have to try and recreate these! They are so good! I had a full cup of those and thankfully, I have about 1 more serving left, so you will be seeing them again. I decided to go bunless for the burger and topped it with a slice of Parmesan cheese and 1 tbsp. bruschetta...

The remainder of the afternoon was spent polishing nails and toes (mine and the daughters'), then jumping on the trampoline. The husband set up the hose at the top of the safety netting and turned it on "mist" so we all got misted with the water while we jumped around in our bathing suits. It was fun and a great way to cool off on this hot and humid day.

We stopped jumping for bit to enjoy a nice cool treat...

Dinner was leftover hot dogs and burgers for the husband and daughters. I opted for the remainder of the eggplant parmesan and a side of Italian green bean and potato salad...

After dinner, we played badminton in the yard. We suck. Well, at least the daughters and I do! The poor husband was waiting so patiently to be able to get a volley going. We were lucky we got it over the net! We kept missing it and the game ended with me running so athletically to slam the shuttlecock that I overswung and landed flat on my face. I banged up my knee and was rolling around on the ground holding it, half laughing and half crying! The husband and daughters were on the ground hysterical laughing at my wonderous athleticism. Yep, I definitely put the "bad" in badminton ;P

No formal dessert tonight, although they are quite a few of those leftovers that I would like to dig into! I did have a few bites of chocolate mousse cake when getting it out for the daughters and thankfully, they finished the rest of that!

I think I'm ready to get back to counting tomorrow. We made a good dent in the tough stuff today, so tomorrow should be easier to figure out. Hopefully the scale won't "figure out" that I haven't been counting :)

Have a great night!

Barbe-Cue The Food

Hey All! It was a late night, so I'm back this morning for a recap of yesterday's eats and the bbq. Let's get to it...cue the food....

I started off the morning with an outdoor walk/sprint run for 45 minutes. I walked most of it, but every lap would throw in a couple 20-30 sec. sprints. It was a pretty sweaty workout! When I came in, I hit up the blender for a pineapple crackshake for 1 POINT (I really am addicted!)...



Then made a quick breakfast of 2 slices of TJ's Spelt Bread topped with 1/4 c. Spinach Artichoke Hummus for 4 POINTS...

It was a filling breakfast and more than I usually "spend", but I wanted it to be able to hold me over until the bbq eats came out. I knew we were having a lot of food and my plan was to eat whatever I wanted. I know that doesn't sound much like a plan, but I thought long and hard about this. Normally, when I have a big eating function like this, I stress. I stress about what I'm going to eat, how I'm going to eat it and how on earth I am going to stick to my POINTS and even try to calculate them without driving myself crazy. Then, I become so focused on those things that I'm not even enjoying myself. Also, if I tend to go astray from my original plan and just start eating whatever, I feel badly afterward that I didn't stick with my original plan. Guilt; it's a killer! So, my only real "rules" for today's bbq were:

1. Wait until all appetizers are placed on the table; choose whatever looks good and put it on a PLATE.
2. When the main food comes out, eat whatever looks good and take small portions.
3. Eat until satisfied; don't shovel more food just because it's there.
4. Choose whatever dessert looks fabulous and don't feel guilty about it :)

That was it! I managed to accomplish all those things with the exception of #1. Turns out, I didn't have much time to sit down for appetizers, so I did a grab-thru of a couple of carrots with hummus and a spanakopita (pics below).

Here were the appetizers....

Mom's antipasto served with sliced baguette(not shown)...

Hummus with carrots, cucs and pita chips(deadly, but I controlled myself)...

Spanakopita (phyllo stuffed with spinach and feta cheese)...

Now, here's where I fell down on the food blogger job! Hard to be the hostess, getting all the food out and take pics before everyone digs in :( I'll show you my choices then, tell you what I missed. My plate was Sundried Tomato and Pesto Turkey Burgers topped with a slice of Parmesan Cheese (TJ's sells this -so clever!) and (moving clockwise) Italian potato green bean salad, baked veggies, macaroni salad with ham, cheese and peas topped with hb egg, barbeque bean salad and greek lima beans (brought by a friend - so delicious)...

Now, I tell you what I passed up. There was tortellini with bolognese sauce, eggplant parm, salad with mandarin oranges, almonds and feta cheese, Bubba burgers (yes, the husband makes me buy these fatty things), Nathan's hot dogs and grilled chicken breast with bruschetta topping. Whew, I think that's everything. I wish I got pics; it all looked so good :(

If you think that was a ridiculous amount of food, wait ....here's the dessert table...

We had chocolate mousse cake, italian cookies, a big fruit bowl, Mom's fruit tart, chocolate angelfood cake, spanish bar cake and an ice cream sundae bar with different flavored ice creams and toppings which included M&M's, toffee bits, milk chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, brownies, sprinkles, hot fudge, caramel sauce and whipped cream. Crazy!

I went with a slice of Mom's fruit tart (amazing), slice of chocolate mousse pie and fruit because these looked the most fabulous to me (rule #4)....

Turns out my eyes were bigger than my stomach, so I ate the fruit tart, half the chocolate mousse cake and a couple bites of fruit. I felt pretty full. But, I think because I gave myself the go ahead to eat whatever I wanted, I stopped eating at the point of fullness. If I had went about this party the way I normally do (with a plan, sticking to it, yada yada) and started to dig into the dessert, I would have forced myself to eat it all regardless of whether I was full or not because I already "messed up". Weird mind games, I know.

So, I don't know about you, but typing this post is making me HUNGRY! I'm off to have breakfast. Enjoy your day and I'll see you tonight :)