You CAN Have It All

I have spent much of my dieting life saying, "I can't have that" or being asked by someone if I can "have that" when I was on a diet. This is one reason why I loved the Weight Watchers program so much. I was able to have whatever I wanted as long as I fit it into my POINTS allotment. But, what I noticed starting to happen was I would find ways to finagle fitting in less healthy choices just to prove to myself that I could have it. I rearranged my menus often to accomodate that sweet treat at the end of the night regardless of whether or not I wanted it. Or, I would make sure to save enough POINTS for a cookie or chips with my lunch or even to have an afternoon snack.

Years of deprivation diets and skipping meals led me to believe that I wasn't allowed to eat certain things. It became ingrained in me that there are good foods and bad foods. And knowing this , of course, made me only crave those bad foods even more. There the cycle began of killer cravings, caving in to those cravings, eating mass quantities to get my fill for the next however long and then the crescendo of crushing guilt and failure. Massive blows to the self-esteem.

What I am beginning to realize is that there is no good or bad. Well, okay, there are deep fried oreos which I'm pretty sure are bad ;P But, really I look at it as better and best choices. Nothing has to be off limits. If you are commited to living a healthy lifestyle, you CAN have it all. In moderation. Just acknowledging that has been a huge change for me. It has changed how I fill my plate and the choices I make. It has curbed those feelings of deprivation because now if I see a brownie or a bag of chips, I know I can have them. I have been taking half the portion that I think I would want because I know that I can always have more if I truly want it. More times than not, I am feeling satisfied with what I had and don't reach for more. But, I know it's there if I want it and that takes all the pressure away =)


Playin' Pool

More hot, soupy weather today! This called for a pool day for sure! I did some house stuff this morning and settled in to a great breakfast of Post Trail Mix Crunch Cereal (love) with some strawberries and unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze...

Before heading to the parents' pool, I served us up some lunch. I had a turkey hummus wrap with baby spinach and roasted peppers and a side of sweet red grapes...

At the pool, I did a noodle riding workout (so silly looking!), swam a few laps and carried the daughters on my back around the pool. Pretty good strength workout, there!

I stopped for a late afternoon snack: some Triscuits and a plum...

That tied me over until dinner time. Tonight was leftover/ eat the freezer stash night...

The Chicken and Broccoli with Garlic Sauce reheated nicely...

I paired it with a TJ's stir fried vegetable egg roll...

I ended up leaving a few bites of egg roll and brown rice on my plate; another first! I have always been the President of the Clean Plate Club ;)

I might have to send my resignation letter...

Have a great night everyone!

An Evening With Joe

Hey everyone! We got in late last night, so I have been spending the day catching up on housework and blogs. You all have been busy!


I really missed my bike ride this morning. It was so fun to be able to ride around the shore town and it seemed so easy to get in 4 or 5 miles in a day. I may have to look into where bike trails are near my home. A new form of exercise to throw in the mix! As for my exercise this morning, I broke out an "oldie but goodie"- Leslie Sansone's Walk Away The Pounds. Kelly over at Happy Texans had mentioned this a couple days ago and I remembered I had it, so I gave it a whirl this morning. I was able to do the 3 mile (43 min.) with no problems. I have the one for abs that comes with resistance bands, so it was a nice full body workout.

After the workout, it was breakfast time. I decided to try something else new, a wafflewich! I've been salivating over these since seeing them on Danica's blog, so I tried my own version today. I used these Eggo waffles (2 for 2 POINTS) ...



smeared with 1 wedge of Laughing Cow Light Cheese and one egg white. It was delicious and a filling 3 POINT breakfast...



After more blog reading and a trip to Trader Joe's, I was ready for lunch. I was in the mood for a big salad today. I decided on a Turkey Bacon Ranch Salad using romaine lettuce, 2 slices center cut bacon, tomato, 1 tbsp. Kraft Light Three Cheese Dressing topped with my Ranch Turkey Burger for 5 POINTS...

and some beautiful blueberries and watermelon for 1 POINT...

The afternoon munchies came to visit, so I did end up digging into a box of reduced-fat Cheez-Its and a handful of chocolate covered raisins. Later, I was thinking that I should make a serious effort to take pics of these munchies when they occur. It may be a "tool" to help jar me out of that mindless eating mode. Either that or I'll just be extremely mortified to have to show all that junk! Hey, whatever works ;P

And tonight, I had dinner with Joe. No, that is not my husband; just all eats came from my home-away-from- home, Trader Joe's. First, was one of these...

then, 8 of these guys...

and for some veg, 1 cup of this yummy mix...

Altogether, now...

It was an awesome "heat and eat" dinner for only 6 POINTS! Gotta love all the great Weight Watchers-friendly food at TJ's!

And I couldn't resist a little (okay, maybe not so little) piece of organic dark chocolate to finish the night (2 POINTS)...

So, just to update you on some things... I tiptoed to the scale this morning, hoping for a good result considering all the exercise I was getting in at the shore, and thankfully, the scale was nice and slid me a 2.5 lb. loss since my last WI. I'll take it! Nice to see it heading down toward that goal number again! Another thing is that I've decided to stop my "Counting Experiment". If you remember, I was going to try to start my day's POINTS allotment at lunch instead of breakfast in an effort to help me with the afternoon munchies. I can't say that it didn't work. It actually helped pull me out of that funky eating mode I was in, but what I found is that it was too hard to "reset" myself if I fell off the wagon. It just seems easier to start the day fresh, rather than the middle of the day or later in the evening, if that makes sense. And actually, I've stopped being compulsive about counting every POINT, too. Now, hopefully that doesn't bite me in the big rear-end, but I don't want to stress about figuring out how many POINTS is in every little morsel that I eat. Mostly where I'm applying this strategy is going out to eat and eating at someone's house. I will always "mentally" count POINTS for my meals as best as I can. It really is the same thing as calorie counting and I need a general knowledge of how much I am putting in my mouth. But, let's face it, it's difficult to POINT count or calorie count when you are eating out or away from home. I will always do my best to make the healthiest choice possible. That is my lifestyle change. It has to be that way for always.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!