Humbled + Houseworkout

Wow, I was completely floored by all of your comments on my last post.  When I asked what you liked best about my blog, I really was hoping to just get some feedback as to what you come here to read and see so that I wouldn’t continue to bore the pants off you for the next year, but truly , I did not expect all of the wonderful things that you said!! *blush*  THANK YOU.  Really.  For taking the time to comment, for coming here to read my babbling and for sharing “my table” with me :)

 

Breakfast was the first thing on my mind this morning!  I took out a Ginger Apple Oat Breakfast Cookie from the freezer, nuked it for 20 seconds and decided it needed a topping.  I waffled back on forth about trying the Barney Butter on it and finally just went for it!  I added one tbsp. as my “icing”…

Awesome!  I liked the ginger/almond butter combo!  Now, I have a way to use up that $9.50 jar!

I had to trade the gym this morning for a workout at my parents’ house!  Well, I wasn’t planning it to be a workout.  I was going over to help with more home improvement projects and cleanout (they are preparing to sell their house).  But, heavy box lifting, squats, cleaning mirrors, sweeping and running up and down steps 400,000 times can definitely count for some kind of workout!  My gluteus maximus was a little sore by the end of the day!

We broke for a late and quickie lunch.  A simple soup and sammie combo… Trader Joe’s Organic Lentil Soup

and an open faced turkey and cheese with spicy brown mustard…

I helped with a few more things, then left with a carful of items to drop off at Goodwill (Dad, you don’t miss that 70’s disco picture still, do you???)  :)

I was home for all of about 20 minutes before having to head back out with little daughter for religion class.  I had to volunteer in the office during that time and made sure to bring my snack with me.  But didn’t get to eat it.  There was a whirlwind of stuff for me to accomplish, so I didn’t have time to get to it, but my stomach was letting me know it was NOT happy.

When we got home, I got right to making dinner.  I found myself looking for snacks.  I got that panicky feeling of “ I have to eat something”.  I noshed on a couple pretzels while prepping dinner and knew I was should stop because I felt close to the edge of binging on a bunch of stuff;  I was getting in that zone.  I stopped for a second, came into the moment and said to myself, “I am not going to starve to death.  I can wait a few more minutes until dinner is ready.”  And a sense of relief came over me.  I realized, yes, I am hungry, but no, I will not die of starvation if I have to wait another 10 minutes for dinner.  Whew, disaster avoided :)

And I got to enjoy a dinner of  Mexican “Baked” (micro) Potato topped with black beans, salsa and Cabot’s 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese and a side salad with Kraft  Light Three Cheese Ranch dressing…

So Good!  And definitely tastes better when you’re hungry ;P

If you haven’t checked it out yet, don’t forget to enter My Favorites Giveaway!

ONE GOOD THING:  Not giving in to my overwhelming desire to eat the house down while cooking dinner!

Have a great day!

Twenty-Four Seven

Fall is in the air.  At least it felt that way this morning.  It was cool and breezy, which is fine by me.  I love fall and the cooler weather makes me want to get outside and run!  But, I’m not sure my hip will cooperate :( 

I felt in the mood for some Pilates this morning, so I popped in the cheapo DVD, I bought and did about 35 minutes of the video before starting on some breakfast.

I didn’t have much in stock since we just got back from the shore, but there were a few eggs left so I decided on an Antipasto Open Faced Omelette using 3 egg whites and the leftover antipasto topping from my Chicken Antipasto last week…

It was a very flavorful start!  And can’t forget the Teeccino…

Then, it was off to the produce store.  Look at this stash…

 

I got spring mix, brussel sprouts (don’t say eeww!), cauliflower, romaine hearts, sliced mushrooms, cucumber, baby spinach, zucchini, parsley, celery hearts, honeydew melon, strawberries, gala apples, fuji apples, nectarines, peaches, blueberries and a loaf of crusty Italian bread.  All that for $29!!!! 

I prepped the romaine lettuce right away to put together my lunch salad.  I made up a Southwest Chicken Salad using big handfuls of romaine, 1/4 c. black beans, 1/4 c. frozen corn (defrosted), cherry tomatoes, 1 oz. reduced fat cheddar cheese and chicken breast (about 2 oz.) chopped.  I topped it with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch dressing.  It was so tasty and filling…

Some avocado would have been great in there, too, but I forgot to buy some!  Next time :)

As filling as the salad was, it still left me wanting a  little something.  I thought about grabbing crackers or pretzels, but feared that would lead to lots of munching.  Then, I saw these guys and thought they would be the perfect something…

After lunch, more shopping…Walmart for a few dry goods and school supplies, then Trader Joe’s.  Food shopping is an all day affair!  I did make a pit stop in between to drop off some bags and have a snack…

I finally made it home just in time to start on dinner.  Pasta was on the menu, but of course, something a little different for me.  I picked up a new item at Trader Joe’s – Seafood Sausage – and I was dying to trying it out…

A real find at only 110 calories and 3.5 grams fat per sausage…

I decided to make Seafood Scampi for one because the husband and daughters would rather starve than to try it!  LOL!

I sliced the sausage and pan fried in  1 tbsp. evoo and 1 clove garlic until cooked through.  I added about 2-3 tbsp. white wine and simmered for a minute, then added some chopped parsley.  I served it over whole wheat spaghetti and topped with a little parmesan.  Delish…

So, you may be wondering why I titled this post 24-7.  Well, I realized today that I think about food 24-7.  Seriously.  All day long.  I probably dream about it, too.  I am always thinking about what I should and should not eat.  I think about whether or not eating something will help me lose weight or contribute to weight gain.  I bargain with myself.  I wheel and deal.  I try to push these thoughts out of my mind and then, think about how great it is that I am not thinking about food!  Ugh!  I really do feel compulsive when it comes to food.  I think about it always.  It rules my world.  I am most definitely a novice to the concept of intuitive eating.  I’m not even certain that someone like me can even wrap my brain around it or ascertain what it means to be able to eat according to my body’s needs.  Is this something I can truly learn?  Is this something that can eventually come naturally to me?  I guess I’m scared that it isn’t possible for me.  I may be too far gone;  too old to learn “new tricks”, too accustomed to living life on a diet that I am unable to see the other side.  That grass sure does look greener, though…

Have a great night, everyone =)

You Wanna Play, You Gotta Pay

That was my motto this morning as I headed to the treadmill for another 5K run! I figured if I am going to have these moments of uncontrolled snacking, I better be making up for it with the exercise. Hopefully, that will balance it out. The scale will tell. Thankfully, not until Thurs. :)

After my super sweaty run, I went with a little breakfast of 3/4 c. Puffins and a Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt...



A reader mentioned to me that I might need to bump up my breakfast to help with the afternoon munchies and I have actually been thinking that same thing to myself! With this more intense running, I seem to be hungrier, so I will try that the next few days and see if I notice a difference.

For lunch, I decided to make a big salad. My thinking was that all the crunching might be beneficial in curbing the munching that may be approaching in the afternoon! I made a Chicken BLT Salad with 2 oz. chicken (Perdue short cuts), 2 slices of center cut bacon, lots of lettuce and tomato topped with 2 tbsp. Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch Dressing. Awesome, flavorful and took a while to eat! A great 5 POINT lunch...

I resisted the urge to find something else to crunch on and got myself busy. The daughters and I spent much of the afternoon cleaning out our basement of old/unused toys to be shipped to the Land of Misfit Toys, otherwise know as, Good Will. There was lots to give away and also, lots to throw away. Why we hold on to things with missing parts, broken, etc., I don't know. My car is packed to the brim for Good Will and the garbagemen are going to hate us this trash day!

Around 4 :00, I figured I should have a snack before I got to the dangerous time before dinner. I made more hummus (this is an addiction for sure) and paired it with a cut up Arnold Sandwich Thin and carrots. This has to be my favorite 3 POINT snack!

Dinner was pasta for all tonight. Of course, the husband and daughters wouldn't dare eat pasta that is possibly mixed with anything resembling a vegetable, so they got plain spaghetti with butter and cheese. I decided to "get craaaaaazy" and mix mine together with veggies. Eeeeeewww, they said. What do they know????? My delicious dish was made with 3 oz. (dry) Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni , 5 baby bella mushrooms, chopped roasted red pepper , 1/2 c. frozen cut leaf spinach sauteed with garlic, and a cheese sauce made with 1 wedge Laughing Cow Light Cheese, 2 tbsp. parmesan cheese and 1/4 c. fat free milk. Mmmmm...so yummy. This was a ginormous portion. I was feeling piggish and I had the POINTS, so I went for it! This all-you-can-eat plate was 9 POINTS...

Still had room for dessert, believe it or not! I had sugar free ,fat free cheesecake pudding with a drizzle of Lighthouse Reduced Sugar Caramel Dip...

So, a pretty good eating day! No crazy snacking. I need to keep focused these next few days since there are no more Weekly Allowance Points left before weigh-in on Thurs. Funny, I'm not so anxious about my WW meeting weigh-in, but my BLBE2 weigh -in skitzes me out!!! I guess that's a good thing! Whatever works to stay on the course...

Have a great night, everyone!!!!

Progress Not Perfection

Progress, not perfection. Hmmm, that's the realization I have come to with regards to my eating habits. I have come a long way in the past 17 months. I have lost 68 lbs., I exercise every day and I eat well. Now that I am in the home stretch, I think I am feeling anxious to get to goal and transition into the maintenance phase of life. From the start of this journey, my motto was "doesn't matter how long it takes", but it seems that I am no longer feeling that way and almost have a sense of urgency to finally get to goal. I thought about it a lot today and I am trying to readjust my thinking to take one day at a time. I also realize that I tend to look at my meals individually and so, when I go off track a little or overeat at a meal or snack, I believe that eradicates all the other good meals I had! When I look back at my Tracker, sometimes it's not as bad as I thought. Somewhere along the way, I began to think that losing this weight means that I will alway eat "perfectly" or else the weight will come back. I know that's crazy. No one is going to have a "perfect" menu every day and it's the cumulative meals that matter. So, that's where I'm at today. Okay, enough psycho-babble and on to the food!

Breakfast was (after a great 45 min. interval elliptical workout!) a toasted Arnold Sandwich Thin with PB2 and some coffee...


I went with a ginormous salad for lunch today! I used lots of lettuce, leftover roasted carrots, cucumber, a Health is Wealth Chicken Free Patty sliced on top and 2 tbsp. Kraft Light Three Cheese Dressing. No chips today, but I did have a sundried tomato and garlic roll on the side (that's the blob on the right of the plate!)...


A ridiculously big lunch for 7 Points! I was full for sure!

I sat down to a nice snack while helping little daughter with homework. I had some grapes, a half serving of pretzel sticks and a pumpkin choco-chip cookie. A sweet and salty snack for 3 Points...

Dinner was a heat and eat - all from the freezer. I had a Salmon Roulette from Trader Joe's, some mixed veggies in cheese sauce and another sundried tomato and garlic roll, all for 8 Points...

I finished the night with some tea and 2 more pumpkin choco-chip cookies for 2 Points...

* just a note on the cookies- I liked them so much better today. I stored them in a plastic baggie and they became really moist, almost like little muffins or cakes. Very yummy!

I'm so excited to watch the start of The Biggest Loser tonight, so I'm gonna sign off and head to TVland! Have a great night!!!

A Quickie

Okay, everyone get the minds out of the gutter:) I mean this will be a quickie post because the one resolution I have made so far is to get in bed by 10:30 p.m. every night! I think this may be a tough one; but I'll give it a whirl.

I wanted breakfast to include on of these guys that I made last night...



They are cocoa oatmeal cookies! I found the recipe on a wonderful blog, Carrots N Cake. A nice healthy tasting cookie. I thought it would taste great crumbled on 1 cup plain yogurt sweetened with a little Splenda...

For lunch, I went with a roast pork sandwich again. I used 3 oz. of roast pork, a slice of 2% cheese and some roasted peppers. Mmm. A side of carrots and Sea Salt and Pepper Rice Chips were plenty to go with it...

Or at least I thought. Once again, I went astray this afternoon with some pretzel sticks, cheese, chocolate, etc. Ugh. I will not fret about it. I will just keep on with the intention to eat the right things and hopefully, I will catch on for more than a couple of hours a day!!!!! Okay, that looked like fretting right there, but really, I'm not;) Cool as a cucumber, that's me...

So, dinner is..... you guessed it- Friday Pizza Night. I made homemade pizza tonight and decided I would have some since I have been in such control with my eating;) Actually, I did o.k.! Probably because I was disgustingly full from the aforementioned crappola this afternoon! I had a slice and some carrots with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch Dressing...

After dinner, we headed to my in-laws. We all went for a drive around the neighborhood to see some elaborate Christmas lights and then returned to their house for dessert. Need I say more????

My new mantra seems to be: there's always tomorrow!!! I'm not fretting, see :D

Temptations

There are temptations everywhere and not the singing kind :) This afternoon, I decided to get a bit of a head start on tomorrow's "Cookie Day", so I made some chocolate covered pretzels. They came out nice and festive looking! But, did they taste good?? I had to make sure, so I ate one and a half! Then I felt bad about it for a minute. Then I decided not to feel bad, I am just cruising remember, I said to myself. I don't have to "lose" this week; just keep my head above water. It seems like these are the conversations I will be having with myself this holiday! But, I kept it with just those pretzels and did not continue down the slippery slope! I figured I should eat lunch fast before I went for other stuff. I made a turkey blt wrap with 2 oz. turkey, 2 slices of center cut bacon cooked in the micro, lettuce, tomato and a squirt of Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch on a La Tortilla Factory Tortilla. Some grapes and a serving of Kettle Baked Chips went with it. A great 6 Point lunch...





I went food shopping and then rushed home to take little daughter to another birthday party! Ugh, these dinner time-ish parties are rough on the weight watcher! I ate a Kashi TLC Pumpkin Spice Flax Granola Bar on the way. This is my favorite flavor; so good...





Well, this was an interesting party. It was at a children's salon/party place. They got hair and makeup done, dressed up, walked a runway, then got to go for a ride in a pink limo! It was insane! While the girls were getting all dolled up, a couple of the moms decided we should go to the pub right next to the party place and grab something to eat since the girls were going to be a couple hours. The menu was filled with amazingly good for you choices such as bacon cheese fries, buffalo wings, fried mac and cheese bites, giant cheeseburgers and a jumbo soft pretzel topped with crabmeat and 2 kinds of melted cheese!!! Thankfully, there was a Gardenburger on the menu!! I ordered that and opted for the fruit salad instead of the potato chips that went with it. Funny thing was that the food took so long to come to the table, we ended up having to take it "to go" so that we wouldn't be late for the girls! So, I saved it for when I got home (which was a 30 min. ride-ugh!) Here's my cold dinner to go...

I finished with my yummy Deep Chocolate Vitatop and PB2 dessert...

I still haven't come up with an eating game plan for tomorrow. I'll sleep on it and maybe it'll come to me in the morning...

Good night =)

Eating Right

So far so good in the eating department today. My cravings and extreme hunger seemed to have leveled off. Lunch held me pretty well this afternoon. I am loving that PB2; you may be seeing it often in various forms. Their website is full of cool recipes!



I ate my snack in the car on the way to taking little daughter to religion class. I had to stay to help out with the class Christmas party which is always plentiful with unhealthy goodies! There was so much junk and the party went on for about 45 minutes, so I'm glad I snacked up with this Eating Right Bar before I went...





I had to help clean up after the party, so I got home pretty late for dinner. I didn't have a planned dinner. I fed the daughters sandwiches before the party. The husband had breakfast for dinner. I was in the mood for a salad, so I made the chicken taco salad again. I used 4 oz. chicken breast this time, 1 oz. Cabot's 75% reduced fat cheddar, lettuce, carrots, cucumber, tbsp. guacamole, tbsp. Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch and 1/2 taco shell, crumbled. (I forgot to add that to my post last time!). A nice, crunchy 8 Point salad...

I ended the night with some Celestial Seasonings Gingerbread Tea(mmm) with a splash of milk and a Soft and Chewy Molasses Cookie...

I am glad there was no munching today. Eating right feels so much better...

Tales Of Woe

How did you like my tale of woe this afternoon??? I thought I'd take the story telling approach so that I wouldn't sound too whiny and complaining!!! Anyway, I got it all out and I feel o.k. with my indiscretion. I know it's not an everyday thing, but sometimes I can't help wondering if that binge-like behavior will ever go away. I guess I can just be thankful that it will not continue; that is something I do think that I am passed.

So, dinner tonight was back on track. The family was having tacos which evoked a dance similar to Pizza Night. That's always good! I decided to have a chicken taco salad. I used 2 oz. of leftover roasted chicken, lettuce, shredded carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, 1 oz. light cheddar crumbled, 1 tbsp. guacamole and a tbsp. of Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch Dressing. Delicious. You may be seeing this again tomorrow!


I tempted fate and decided to make cookies for dessert! Crazy in the head, I know. I wanted to try to rework my Gingersnap recipe into a lower Point/healthier version. I liked the result so far. I'll try it out again tomorrow when my tastebuds are not so drowned out by the massive amount of sugar that I consumed earlier today :)

Well, back on track and maybe I need to run the track, too.... =)