Which Way Is Down???

I was back to my normal early morning workout today. I did 40 min. on the elliptical before getting little daughter off to school. I really like that routine; I'm not sure why I got away from it the past few weeks. It's so good to be done by 7:45 a.m. and ready to start the day!

I dreamed of almond butter last night! Crazy, right?? Food is always on the brain and, unfortunately, on my thighs, too :) I incorporated the dreamy homemade almond butter into my breakfast by topping a Weight Watcher's Petite Bagel with it. I had some sliced banana on the side (probably would have been good on top, too) for 4 POINTS...

I had a craving for flatbread pizza after seeing the delicious recipes in the book, The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great. I decided to try out the quick flatbread dough recipe which was so easy. I used a mix of whole wheat and bread dough to make these and they were terrific! They resemble a crispy tortilla, but a tiny bit thicker. I'll be making these and using them a lot. Here's the recipe so you can, too:

• 1 cup bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 c. warm water, plus extra if necessary
• 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Mix flour and salt in food processor. Mix water and oil and pour over the flour mixture; process to form a soft dough ball. If dough is too stiff, process in another tbsp. if warm water. Continue to process until dough is well kneaded, about 15 seconds. With floured hands, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into quarters (*I did three). Working with one quarter at a time, toll dough out to about a 12 by 4 inch rectangle, dusting with flour and turning as necessary to keep it from sticking. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Top with favorite toppings and bake.

I rolled these out and prebaked them, that way I can have them ready made for instant pizza! Each flatbread is 2 POINTS if you get 4 breads and 3 POINTS if you get 3 breads. A great bargain!

I topped mine with 3 tbsp. of homemade pizza sauce, chopped red and green peppers, garlic thyme mushrooms and 1/3 c. Weight Watcher's Shredded Mozzarella then baked it at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. Delish!!!!! The possibilities are endless for these! There are many amazing sounding combos in the book, too. I'm excited to try them all!

I had a bowl of berries on the side for a wonderful, filling 7 POINT lunch...

Isn't that yummy??!!!

I got in a little trampoline jumping with the daughters, then got a St. Patty's Day dinner going. I made flat cut corned beef (MUCH lower in calories and fat), roasted red potatoes, roasted broccoli and a whole wheat raisin soda bread. The soda bread was only 2 POINTS per slice and was a big hit with the husband and daughters!

My plate was 4 oz. corned beef, 4 oz. potatoes, 1 c. broccoli and a slice of soda bread for a 9 POINT feast...

I did have dessert tonight, even though I felt pretty full and probably should have skipped it. But, the strawberry sauce was "going bad" in the fridge and the angelfood cake was "getting stale" (*wink, wink), so I didn't let it go to waste...

This was still not a good On Program day. In the afternoon (before trampolining), I had a big spoonful of almond butter, some Cheez-Its and a macaroon. Don't know what to do about that. I'll keep trying; that's all I can do. Hopefully, I can rein this in before the scale takes off in the wrong direction on a regular basis. OH NO!!! STOP THE INSANITY!!! I don't want to go up...that is the ...

Time for Biggest Loser:)

Homebound- Day 2

Little daughter is still sick, so another day in the house. One would think I would get a myriad of things done around here, but on these sick days, I tend to sit with the sickie all day and not do much of anything! House is still a mess, clothes unlaundered, food barely made. I have had zip in the creativity dept. lately with my food. I really need to get some planning done with some new recipes on the menu to spice things up around here! I gotta get a fire goin under this butt! So, onto my boring food today...



Breakfast was whole wheat pumpkin blueberry pancakes that I had in the freezer with a side of 1/2 Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt (split with little d -why do they have to eat MY stuff!!) topped with a few slices of banana for 3 POINTS...





After breakfast, I forced myself to do Level 3 Shred. Hanging around the house has made me very lazy, but I knew this was the only exercise I was going to do today, so I did my best "bad-ass" workout. Jillian was happy; she told me so. She says that at the end; it's way after the part when she tells you she wants you to feel like you're gonna die ;) Only 4 days left, Shredders!!!



For lunch, I wanted a giant shaker of salt with shavings of chocolate on the side. I didn't think that would look very nice on the plate, so I opted for a Chicken BLT using a leftover thin sliced chicken breast (1 1/2 oz.) on an Arnold Sandwich Thin, topped with 2 slices of center cut bacon, lettuce, tomato and a tiny squirt of Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch. On the side, I had a serving of Baked Cheddar and Sour Cream Lays Chips and a sliced apple for health's sake. A salty-licious 7 POINT lunch...



Just like yesterday, more chips followed along with some chocolates all while reading my new book that I got at the library, Intuitive Eating ! Seems I need more work in this area ;) So, here's a positive- during this eatfest of salt and sweet, I downed a TON of water! That's good, right?? Definitely got in all my WATER today! The bloat has set in and I am fairly certain that I have gained 40 lbs. today :0



Dinner was quick and easy. The daughters wanted breakfast for dinner - cool! I went with the same for myself. I made an egg sammie made with egg whites, baby spinach and a slice of 2 % cheese on a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel along with a side of carrots and grapes. An easy, healthy, back on track 4 POINT dinner...

I'm just gonna keep trying. Keep reeling it in everytime I go off the wagon. There is no other choice; just keep on keepin on. Eventually, it will click and I'll be on a roll again. Right???? Right!!!

And brownies are on the wagon!! At least these guys are. They do not cause "pudge" - the box says so! Best of all, they are only 2 POINTS. I went with a naked one tonight...

Okay, tomorrow is a new day and it will be another homebound day with little daughter. I have pretty much eaten every salty and sweet snack in the house, so I think I should be pretty good tomorrow!!LOL! I plan on making a new and exciting dinner that no one will eat except me because it will be healthy and POINT friendly and I will spend the day dancing around the house singing, "what have you done today, to make you feeeeeel proud". It's gonna be a great day =0)

Drooling Dogs

Back to the early morning grind; up and at em! I sent big daughter off to school and went to the basement for my early morning workout. Wow, it seems like I haven't done this in a long time. I guess I've been taking advantage of the outdoor runs more than I realized! I did 30 huffy minutes on the elliptical while watching boring morning TV- so tired of all those talking heads! Then, I got little daughter off to school and came home to Shred. Yes, still Level 1! There are only 11 days left of this challenge and I think I am looking forward to burying Jillian in my pile of unused exercise DVD's for a while!!! Nah, not really, just ready to give it a break for a bit. However, the husband is hooked on doing this 2 days a week and he's the type A that once he starts a routine, he sticks with it foreeeever!

For breakfast, I had a big dose of heartburn due to arguing with our health insurance company over a claim. I was on the phone for a while, so by the time I got to eat, I was starving! The first thing I saw was smoked salmon. I toasted a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel and topped it with a Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and 1 oz. of the smoked salmon for 3 POINTS...

For lunch, I had a bowl of Black Bean Soup, a turkey BLT using 2 oz. turkey, 2 slices center cut bacon, lettuce and tomato on an Arnold Sandwich Thin and some carrots. Delicious and filling for only 4 POINTS...

I debated on eating something else afterward because it was such a low POINT lunch and I'm trying not to eat an afternoon snack. But, part of this "listening to my body" experiment this week, is to actually LISTEN and not eat just to eat. I was full and that should signal the end of eating, so I let it go. Turns out, after the daughters came home, I felt munchie and grabbed a handful of TJ's bbq popped chips that the daughters were munching on. I did take a moment to realize that I wasn't actually hungry, but it's almost like I'm one of Pavlov's dogs in that, the girls come in the door from school and I am ready to eat!!! Just like those drooling dogs! I ended up heading to my bedroom and having the daughters come with me to work on homework! I had a feeling that if I stayed in the kitchen, it would've gotten ugly!

I made a delicious dinner of pan-seared thyme pork chops and garlic potatoes. So simple. I used very thin center cut pork chops and seasoned them with salt, pepper and thyme. I sprayed a large nonstick pan with cooking spray and browned the chops. While they were browning, I cut small potatoes into chunks and placed them in a large bowl. I added 2 minced cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and 1 tsp. olive oil and tossed it together. I removed the browned chops from the skillet, added the potatoes and browned for a few minutes. I added the chops back to the skillet along with 1 cup of chicken broth. I covered and simmered for about 15 minutes until potatoes were done. At the end, I added a bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I paired it with a salad with Kraft Light Three Cheese Dressing. A great family pleaser dinner (yes, they liked it!!!) for 8 POINTS...

I was very excited for dessert tonight! Remember this???.....

I love this!!!! A yummy 3 POINT dessert!

Okay guys, you know what time it is.....

*singing* what have you done today to make you feel proud.....

Not For Beginners

Holy Crap! Level 2 of the Shred is not for beginners. I don't even know if it's for intermediates! What the heck, Jillian???? I thought I might give Level 2 a try today, for something different. Well, it sure was different! OMG, there were these plank exercises and these "walking push-up "things and Jillian was saying things like "bad-asses" and "I want you to feel like you're going to die"!!!!! AAAAHHHH! I thought I might cry half-way through-lol! Um, I think it's back to Level 1 for me. I don't want to die, Jil. Really. I just want to get all sweaty and huff and puff. I'm thinkin that is good enough, right?? Shred Count - 20 more days! -of Level 1 :]



It was a beautiful balmy day today!!! I had the urge to run outside again, but decided to take it "easy" and just do the Shred (which I found was NOT easy!). I was in the mood for a big breakfast, so I made salsa eggs using 3 egg whites, 1/4 c. salsa and 1/2 oz. Cabot's 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese. I toasted a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel and added a 1/2 oz. of the Cabot's cheese over the top. Yummy, filling and 3 POINTS...







Lunch was the leftover whole wheat eggplant veggie pizza and carrots (6 POINTS)...

My snack was a Fiber One Strawberry Yogurt (these are so good and creamy) and a Weight Watchers Oatmeal Raisin Mini Bar (o.k., but not my fave) for 2 POINTS...

This wonderful weather brought out that summer grillin feeling! I decided on burgers on the grill. The husband and daughters were thrilled! I only had club rolls, so I made the burgers in a rectangle shape instead of round. I used 96% lean ground beef which is awesome and only 3 POINTS for 4 oz. I topped my burger with a slice of 2% cheese, sauteed mushrooms, onions, ketchup and a couple pickles. An amazing 6 POINT burger! Can't have burgers without fries, so I had a side of oven baked frozen fries ( 3 oz. is 2 POINTS) and a side salad with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch...

And 2 days without dessert is enough punishment for anyone, so I had my usual Vitatop with PB2. Oh, how I have missed it....

The brownies are.... outta here! Whew! Thank goodness. That is a first for me. I have NEVER not succumbed to brownies. And I do mean brownie with an "s" on the end! I don't need no stinkin brownies; I got my Vitatops and they are waaaaay better anyway. Uh, huh ;]

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

The Routine

Hi, I'm baaaack! I got in the routine of posting about my day in the evenings, so it felt weird to be out of my new routine and have to post in the morning! But, now I'm back to the evening and I find I like it so much better; it's relaxing and a nice way to wind down :)


After posting this morning, I headed out for my 5K Saturday run. It was awesome! It's so invigorating; I still cannot believe I can run that long and that far without stopping! I really am addicted now. I think I have decided on a 5K race in May, but before I give ya the details, I gotta round up some peeps who said they would do it with me. Stay tuned...


I came in and decided on cereal for breakfast since I wasn't too hungry after the run. I had 3/4 c. Puffins, 1 c. unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze and 1/2 c. blueberries for 2.5 POINTS...



Just a note about Almond Breeze: I have been reading about this on the WW boards for a long time and have seen it a lot on the blogs. My mom has even tried it. I've been hesitant because I'm a big fan of Soy Slender , but I saw it at Trader Joe's and decided to give it a whirl. It doesn't have much of a taste at all, so I wouldn't recommend drinking it on its own. However, I really liked it in my cereal. The cereal was the star instead of being overpowered by the milk, if you know what I mean. The nutritionals are great, too - 1 cup is 40 cal., 3 gr. fat and 1 gr. fiber ( 1 POINT). I also used it in my coffee and it was good! It didn't curdle like the soy milk does:)


Lunch was really late today. I ended up not eating until about 2 :30 p.m. I had to run an errand and then I was busy prepping pizza dough for tonight's dinner. When I finally got around to it, I just wanted the quickest thing I saw. I went with a Weight Watcher's Petite Bagel topped with a Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and 1 oz. smoked salmon (yum-e!). I added a sliced apple for a total of 4 POINTS...


There was no time for a snack as we had big daughter's basketball game at 4 (they won -yay!). It was a great game; really exciting! Yes, I am the LOUD MOM that hoots, cheers and claps for all the girls from the bleachers!! The grandparents all came to the game, so we had everyone back for pizza. I made 6 pizzas: 2 plain cheese, 2 pepperoni, 1 plain whole wheat with lite mozzarella and 1 whole wheat with eggplant dip for the sauce, sauteed mushrooms, roasted red peppers and lite mozzarella. Using the eggplant dip instead of traditional sauce was so tasty and basically free in the POINTS department. This dip is only 1 POINT for 1/4 c. and I probably used that for the whole 12" pizza! I ate 2 slices of the eggplant veggie pizza and some salad with evoo and vinegar...

and another small slice of the plain whole wheat ...

So delish! I counted about 12 POINTS for the pizza dinner with salad. I have a feeling this may be on the high side, but I'd rather be on the high side after using many of my Weekly Allowance POINTS these past few days.

After dinner, I dismissed myself from our lovely company and headed to do The Shred. How's that for stickin to the Challenge????!!!!! Shred Count - only 21 days left!

And I have good news to report - there was no BROWNIE incident today! I have to thank Sue for her great idea of having to post a brownie infraction every time I would even take a smidge of one! I did think of that all day today and it did help me stay away from those evil things! You Rock, Sue! The husband and daughters have been chowing down on them and last I looked, there are only 2 left. I think I'm home free - yay!

Off to bed early again tonight!

Oh, are you looking for my dessert??? I felt satisfied after dinner and doing The Shred, so I decided to forgo dessert for tonight. I thought if I "forced" myself to have something, I might start digging into more (i.e. brownies!). When you're feeling good, ya gotta go with it ;)

Have a great night, everyone!!!

The Grind

Back to the grind this morning! I was up at 6 a.m., got big daughter off to school and headed to the basement for my normal elliptical workout. I was able to pull off 40 min. before little daughter needed to get ready for school. Breakfast was a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel with PB2 , a tsp. of Smucker's Sugar Free Grape Jam and 1/2 an apple for 3 POINTS...


After breakfast, I headed out to meet my friend, Rosemary for coffee. We meet up every couple months at the same place; we drink coffee and solve all the world's problems! I had a super-sized coffee with 1/2 c. skim milk for 1 POINT....

Rosemary had decaf because she is preggers!!!!! Yay!!! So excited; can't wait to meet the little guy...

After solving all the world's problems (in only an hour - we should get jobs at the White House!), I ran some errands and headed home for lunch. It was late and I was starving!!! A hazardous combo, but I was able to get lunch quick enough before any picking started. I made a hummus, roasted pepper and spinach sandwich using 2 tbsp. hummus, 1/2 roasted red pepper and handful of baby spinach on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. I had a side of carrots and a serving of pretzel sticks to go with it. A crunchy 5 POINT lunch...

Believe it or not, I had no time for a snack this afternoon! I was all over the universe, shipping daughters from one place to the next. Their social life is much more exciting than mine! So sad :( I rushed home to get dinner together, which was.... you guessed it, Pizza! I wasn't quite sure whether or not I would tempt fate and eat pizza or just go with my own dinner. It got so late, I decided to give it a whirl again. I was able to survive last week's Pizza Night and since I didn't eat a snack today, I had plenty of POINTS to play with for dinner. I followed the same plan as last week: chew gum during cheese grating, have a good slice (this week was thicker crust, so I had one big slice instead of two small), have a big salad with it on the plate and - my newest addition- get the husband to wrap up the leftovers!!!! That way there is no picking. From start to finish! It was awesome! Pizza was yummy, salad was great and it was plenty satisfying for 9 POINTS...

After dinner clean-up, I decided to Shred it up! Dare I say, I am addicted to this now?? Am I crazy?? Addicted to quads so sore, I can barely get up or walk up and down the steps without ooohing and aaaahing? Addicted to my stomach being so sore that when I laugh, I want to cry? So bizarre that I feel the strong urge to continue to torture myself in this fashion. If I belonged to a gym, I may be able to call myself a "gym rat"! Scary ;)

When you Shred, you need to eat dessert. Okay, Jillian doesn't tell you that, but I think after she has kicked your butt all over your living room floor, you should be allowed to eat whatever dessert you want! Counterproductive, you say? Yeah, I guess you're right. But, after that beating, I decided to reward myself with a big berry dessert! I used a Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt and topped it with 3 sliced strawberries, 1/4 c. blueberries, 1/2 Kashi Raspberry Chocolate Fruit and Grain Bar crumbled and a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip (3 POINTS)...

That wasn't too dangerous, see?!

Hope everyone had a great Friday! It's going to be a tricky eating time since it's Superbowl this weekend! What are your plans for staying on healthy eating turf?

Changing It Up

I woke up this morning to a little snow! Much to the daughters' dismay, it was not enough to get out of going to school! Awwww. More is supposedly on the way tonight, so they may get their wish tomorrow. Frankly, I would love to sleep in a little, too. I've been awfully sluggish the past few days.

This morning, I waited until the daughters were off to school to do my workout. I wasn't in the mood for the normal treadmill or elliptical workout, so I decided to pop in some DVDs. First, I did an 8 minute Tae Bo. Remember that blast from the past???! Boy, I forgot how sweaty and huffy you can get in just 8 minutes! ( Minds out of the gutter, people!) Then, I moved on to Pilates for Dummies. Yes, that is the name and yes, I could be classified as a dummy in this area :) It is pretty tough; there are some exercises that I can't do at all because of my sensitive lower back, but I followed through with the rest. It was a nice change of pace!

After my workout, I made the yummy egg sammie on a Weight Watchers petite bagel with egg white, baby spinach, slice of center cut bacon and slice of 2% cheese. I could eat this 3 POINT breakfast every day!



I ran some errands after that and also headed to Target where I picked up Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I've been reading about it on all the blogs and since it was on sale for 13 bucks, I decided to give it a whirl. I came home and made lunch which was a ginormous salad. I used 3 big handfuls of lettuce, 2 oz. chicken, 1 hard boiled egg white, 1 light string cheese sliced up, tomatoes and carrots. I topped it with 2 tbsp. Marie's Light Blue Cheese Dressing. A colorful 5 POINT lunch...

For snack, I had a Weight Watchers Vanilla Yogurt with 1/4 c. blueberries and 3/4 c. Puffins for 2 POINTS...

I have been craving meat (along with salt!) so I made an Italian Meatloaf for dinner. The husband and daughters had tater tots along with their meatloaf, but I just stuck with Gram's green beans for a side. OK, I DID pop a couple tots in my mouth, so I'll count a POINT for those! Did you know that only 8 tater tots are 3 POINTS???? Who eats just 8 tater tots??? Unheard of! Anyway, this was a super tasty 8 POINT dinner...

After dinner, I thought I would give "the Shred" a try. Holy Crap! I can tell Jillian and I are gonna have a love/hate relationship! It's not an easy workout, but it's only 20 minutes! My legs were shaking when I was done! But, I NEED to work off those calories - I took a peek at the scale this morning. I was prepared for the worst; it wasn't as bad as I thought, but still not good (up 1.4 lbs.). Weigh -in is Thurs; I'm not looking good for my A-Team :( We'll see - maybe I can exercise for 6 hours tomorrow!!!!

I decided to have a post-Shred dessert. I heated a CranBran Vitatop in the micro and added some sliced strawberries and a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip. A great 2.5 POINT finish. Mmmmm....

OK, I'm off to give the Biggest Loser my full attention! Hope you all have a great night =)

I Survived!

Today was a day of some cool non-scale victories! The first was my workout. I postponed my exercise until after getting the daughters off to school. It was such a beautiful, sunny morning(although 30*) that I thought I would head outside to "try" a run. I wasn't expecting much from myself. Running outside has not been something I have been able to accomplish. I barely could make it a block without feeling like I was going to have to call 911! Today, I decided to use the great advice given to me by fellow bloggers/runners which was go slow. I realized that the difference in running outdoors is that you don't have the treadmill to set your pace for you, so you tend to go a little faster and take greater strides. This in turn causes major breathlessness and a potential call for an ambulance. Well, at least for me :) So, I took my time, kept my strides shorter and really tried to focus on my breathing. The first 3 minutes were the hardest; I had to keep talking to myself, egging myself on because after 1 minute, I was ready to quit. My neighborhood is very hilly and I kept thinking that there was no way I was going to make it. But, I ended up making it around one time, then another and another. Before I knew it, 45 minutes had passed! I clocked the mileage in my car later and it was 2.1 miles! Holy Crap! I cannot believe I ran (well, really slow- jogged!) 2 hilly miles. Who am I????? I didn't used to like to even walk! I felt proud of myself for breaking that mental barrier. Now, I feel like a 5k race is within my reach. To be con't on that...

On to the food...
After my "run", I made myself an egg sammie using a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel, 1 egg white cooked with a handful of baby spinach, a slice of 2% cheese and a slice of center cut bacon. Delish! Another 3 POINT beefy breakfast winner...




I had a haircut appointment at lunchtime today, so I decided to wait until afterward to eat lunch, but, to keep my hunger in check, I had a Weight Watchers Berries and Cream Yogurt and a Kashi Fruit and Grain Raspberry Chocolate bar. A filling 3 POINT snack...


Good thing I had a snack. My appointment ran a little long and then, I had to squeeze in some errands before I got a chance to get home. When I got home, my long awaited (it's only been a week, but has seemed like an eternity!) shipment of PB2 came! YAY!!! Oh, how I've missed it! I didn't waste a minute ripping open the box and fixing up a PB2 and sugar free jam sammie on a store brand light english muffin. I slice up and apple and chowed down on this yummy 3 POINT lunch...

Since I ate so late, I really didn't want an afternoon snack. I just made some Coffee Cocoa and sipped on that while I did some housework.

My second non-scale victory came at dinner. It's Friday. It's Pizza Night. Do I avoid it like the plague? Have visions of it "falling in the toilet" -eww? No, tonight I will meet this head on! I will show this pizza who's boss! Right? Right! I had the crusts prepared, made the sauce earlier in the day, now I only had to grate the cheese. Wonderful mozzarella cheese. As I grate, some large pieces break off, too large to plop on the pizza, but too small to grate without shredding my fingers along with it. Normally, these pieces find their way right into my mouth. But, nooooo! I will not let it, tonight. I go into my handbag and grab a piece of super minty gum and pop it in my mouth. Mint + mozzarella is gross, so this worked out great!! I was able to prepare the pizza without doing major cheese damage before the pizza was even ready! Cool! When, the pizza was ready, I cut 2 small slices for myself, made a big salad for everyone and I also, threw some leftover broccoli on my plate. My plate was overflowing with food which made me happy and my eyes were already "satisfied" before I even ate the food. I loved every bite of this! I ate pizza with the family and I did it without being piggy. It was a good feeling. Also, a good 10 POINT dinner...

I can't believe I am saying this, but I could have gone without dessert again, tonight! But, I decided to eat it anyway because in my shipment of PB2 came a sample of CHOCOLATE PB2!!!!!! OMG! I had to try it immediately. I mixed it with a tsp. of fluff and topped my Deep Chocolate Vitatop with the chocoPB2/fluff icing...

Oh. my. greatness. Life is too short to not eat dessert :)

Hope everyone had a Happy Friday and had some non-scale victories of your own today!

Bock, Bock

Hi everyone! Did you enjoy The Biggest Loser last night?? There sure are some interesting characters this season! I love the theme song to the show; it always makes me feel so inspired. Anyone know who sings it? Maybe I can get it on my Ipod to listen to when I begin to run outside :)

I thought I'd replay the non-breakfast breakfast today. I was in the mood for hummus (this is becoming a weird obsession), so I spread 2 tbsp. of it on a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel and topped it with baby spinach and sliced plum tomatoes (since I have a ton ). This was so good and filling. This 3 POINT meal took me all the way to lunch ...



My morning got a little off schedule, so I didn't get to workout until around 10 a.m. I went with the elliptical again for a nice 45 min. workout; I think I'll wait until the weekend to try the 5K Treadmill Run again:)

After a long shower, I was ready for lunch. I have so much lettuce that I opted for a Chicken BLT Salad again. I love this tasty 5 POINT salad; the bacon really makes it!

The need for something sweet surfaced, so I ate a handful of grapes...

The afternoon was busy, running the daughters to and fro, so I fixed some coffee for the car ride. I got home close to dinner-making time, but was starting to feel that gnawing feeling, so I had a snack to tie me over...

I had an interesting idea for dinner that I wanted to try out. Basically another variation of the buffalo chicken that everyone seems to like. This time, I thought I would try the addition of a breading and use chicken tenders instead of drumsticks. To make these Crispy Buffalo Chicken Tenders, I melted 2 tbsp. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light Spread in a medium nonstick skillet. I added 1/4 c. Frank's Hot Sauce (enough heat for us - feel free to add more)to the skillet, then 1 c. Japanese Panko Crumbs. I stirred until the crumbs were well coated and kept them toasting in the skillet until the crumbs became dried again. Here's what they looked like...

I transferred the crumbs to a shallow dish to cool. Meanwhile, I lightly beat 2 egg whites in another shallow dish. I seasoned the chicken tenders with s & p, dipped them in the egg whites, then into the crumbs, pressing the crumbs into the chicken. I place the breaded chicken on a baking rack sprayed with cooking spray, then place the rack on a cookie sheet. This method lets the chicken get crispy on both sides. I cooked the chicken for about 20-25 min. at 350 degrees. They were perfectly crisp - YUM! Using one pound of chicken tenders, this recipe came to 4 POINTS per serving (which is about 3.5 oz). Of course, I served the traditional side of carrots/celery with Marie's Light Blue Cheese Dressing (1 POINT). I don't love celery, so I went with a side of broccoli instead...

Well, so far so good. This is day two of better breakfast = no super-snacky in the afternoon. Thrilling! I feel so much better, when I am not fighting with myself all day over whether or not I should eat something! It's exhaaaauuusting :0

I felt satisfied after dinner, but for some reason, it just doesn't feel like a good day without a little dessert! I had the POINTS left (why let them go to waste, sheesh!), so I had a Weight Watchers Peanut Butter Cookie (uh, guess these are salmonella-free cause I'm still here) with 1 tsp. Nutella (<3)...

Speaking of peanut butter, I am anxiously awaiting my shipment of PB2! I was panic-stricken at the thought that it may be one of the salmonella "don'ts", but thankfully, they put out a statement that it is A -OK! Wheeeew! Can't seem to eat my Vitatops without it, now!

Have a great night!

Lotsa Fruits and Veggies!

Yay, the sun came out today! Still bitter cold, though. I felt so thankful for my basement exercise equipment as I headed to workout knowing that I didn't have to brave the cold to get my sweat on! I opted for the elliptical today instead of another 5K. I think my knees appreciated the break!



For breakfast, I tried the "beef it up" experiment to see if it might make a difference in my afternoon munchies. I was kinda stumped as to what to have. I don't like to spend more than 3 POINTS, so my choices are a bit limited. I decided to not pick a breakfast-type item and went with 2 oz. ham, 1 Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and a handful of baby spinach on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. Delish! I loved it and it stuck with me until lunch...







I had major grocery shopping on my agenda today. My first stop every week is always a produce store. They have a massive selection of fruits and vegetables. They bag mostly everything and you just ask at the counter for the items you would like, so the only downside is that you are not "hand picking" your items. Every once in a while, I get a bad apple or something, but generally everything is awesome and dirt cheap. Here's a look at my loot...





That's red leaf lettuce, celery, strawberries, 2 dozen eggs, 3 bags carrots, large navel oranges, green seedless grapes, golden delicious apples, gala apples, tons of plum tomatoes, sweet potatoes. parsley and broccoli. This abundant crop was only $23.00!!!! Can you believe it?? It would have been almost double if I bought all this at the regular grocery store. Now, who says eating healthy is too expensive!



Then, I was off to the grocery store for everything else. I perused the natural foods aisle while there and found this...

It's a dry falafel mix that just needs water added to form delicious falafel patties. If you're not familiar with falafel, click here for a description. I thought this would be a great lunch, so I made up the patties and cooked them under the broiler. Falafels are traditionally deep fried, but the broiler is obviously the healthier choice! Although, the package states there are 8 servings per container, I got 13 patties which came to 80 cal., 1.2 gr. fat and 3 gr. fiber per patty. That is 1 POINT per patty or 3 POINTS for 2 patties. These falafels are generally served in a pita which is soooo amazing, but I forgot to get some at the store. So instead, I made a Falafel Salad with 2 patties, lots of red leaf lettuce and chopped tomatoes. For dressing, I happened to have some tzaziki dip (cucumber yogurt dip) which is perfect with falafel. I used 2 tbsp. (35 cal. = 1 POINT) of the dip thinned with a splash of fat free milk and drizzled it over the salad...

This was AMAZING!!!! I will definitely have this again! Mmmm.... for 4 POINTS!! Even though this was filling, I felt like something sweet afterward. I cut up one of those huge navel oranges and munched on that, too...

The rest of my afternoon was spent helping with homework and cutting up vegetables! When they are prepped, it's easier to want to eat them, right?!

It was just the daughters and myself for dinner tonight. They campaigned for breakfast for dinner which was fine by me! I decided on the same for myself. Another food find that I got at the store today was these Weight Watchers Petite Bagels for 1 POINT!

I haven't been able to get the Western Alternative Bagels at my local supermarket. They stopped carrying them for some reason and I really don't want to spend the bucks to order directly from the company. I do miss my 1 POINT bagels :( So, when I saw these, I thought they may be a good fill-in, even though they are a bit smaller. Well, actually they weren't as tiny as I thought; here's a visual...

So my dinner was an egg white omelette with mushrooms, onions, baby spinach and Laughing Cow Light Cheese, a "petite" bagel with 2 tbsp. hummus and 2 orange slices. A delicious 6 POINT brinner...

Okay, one last "new" food find. I got these guys today, too (um... for the kids)...

CHOCOLATE frosted mini wheats??!!!!! Yeah, I can't pass that up. Oh, and I had a coupon, so it was meant to be! One serving is 52 biscuits. Who the heck is going to count out 52 biscuits??? Life's too short. I use a scale to weigh almost everything I put in my mouth, so this would be no exception. If you do the same, 52 biscuits = 55 grams. This serving size comes out to 200 cal., 2 gr. fat and 6 gr. fiber = 3 POINTS. A little on the "pointy" side, but a half serving (26 biscuits for you counters) is only 1 POINT. Makes a yummy topping for some yogurt...

And that was my dessert! I love those little guys. Nice and chocolatey.

Well, this was a super long post but, I do want to say that I think the "beefy" (or should I say "piggy") breakfast was a score! In case you didn't notice, I ended up not having an afternoon snack!!! I did have a cup of coffee and for today, that was enough to take me to dinner! Works for me! I'll take all the non-supersnacky days I can get!

Gonna finish watching the Biggest Loser; have a great night :)