Blah, Blah, Blah

I know you guys are probably tired of hearing me complain about the morning, so here it is…my last one…why does it have to be dark in the morning??!!  Okay, I’m moving on… :)

I was looking forward to another Banana Oat Smoothie …

Yummy and filling!  I added a few strawberries to this one, too…

Then, it was off to the gym.  I wasn’t feeling it, though.  Not so gung ho!  But, once I hopped on the elliptical and started watching my boyfriend, I felt better.  He did an interesting segment on metabolism.  Did anyone catch that?  He said that keeping your heart rate lower(less intensity) and exercising for a longer period of time is what burns the fat.  I didn’t realize that!  I always thought pumping up your heart rate through the roof is what burns it, but he says elevating your heart rate like that dips into your sugar (glycogen/carb stores) because your body needs the energy to power the intensity of the workout.  I guess that’s okay, too because it burns calories, but it seems that the slow burn is better for fat loss.  Hmmm… I may try that experiment.  I have noticed my hunger levels/cravings going way up since I’ve been sweating it at the gym.  Maybe I’ll try not to huff it so much with the cardio stuff and keep it going longer.  And I love doing the weights, too, so that counts for the slow burn also.  We’ll see;  you know I love my experiments! 

I was ready for lunch a little on the early side.  I decided to use up some of the leftover Italian Chicken Salad (thankfully, I halved the recipe or I would have had tons!)  and made a wrap with it using a Joseph’s Lavash Flatbread and had some baby carrots on the side…

I still wanted some crunch, so I broke open these new multigrain POPchips that I picked up at Target…

They were pretty good;  like a thin rice cake.  I liked the cheddar flavor, but overall, I think I like the potato variety they make better.  Didn’t stop me from eating a good sized serving, though…

When the daughters came home, I doled out the snacks.  I did some extra snacking myself.  Just picking here and there, a few of this and a few of that.  It was mindless, so mindless in fact, that I can’t even remember what I ate!  I wasn’t feeling my best, physically – kinda achy and just blah, so I think I was just “feeding” to try to feel better.  Uh, that doesn’t work.  Just sayin’.

Tacos were on the menu for dinner.  I finally came across ground chicken breast in the supermarket (only have ever seen the regular ground chicken), so I thought it would be great for tacos.  I wasn’t much in the mood for anything after noshing in the afternoon, but I decided to make a Chicken Taco Salad to get in some extra green stuff.  In the mix…

• romaine and boston lettuce
• tomato
• red pepper rings
• 2% shredded cheese
• 1/2 c. cooked ground chicken breast (w/taco seasoning)
• 2 tbsp. guacamole
• 2 tbsp. salsa

It was very tasty, but I didn’t quite finish it all since I was full and feeling yuck…

Tomorrow’s another day!!!  Hope you had a great one!

ONE GOOD THING: Ummmmm, I got nothin’.  No!!!  Now, that’s not positive!  Okay, I slapped myself upside the head.  Let me try it again…

ONE GOOD THING:  I got in a good workout at the gym, even though I didn’t feel that into it :D  Better, right?!

Question(s) of the Day:  What do you think about Dr. Oz’s metabolism boosting info?  When you workout, do you go for the slow burn or the "pumped up” heart rate?

I'm Just Not Getting It

Everyday I wake up with all good intentions of being on track. I know what to do. I know what it takes to lose weight. I have been doing this since July 29, 2007. I haven't been perfect. I have had detours, but this particular detour that I am taking is especially long, winding and moves treacherously close to a cliff with a steep drop to fatdom come. I don't know why this is happening. Not sure why I can't wrap my brain around getting these last pounds off. I want to. I want to be a Lifetime member. But, apparently I want BROWNIES a lot more...


I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning! So terrific! I wanted to go on an outdoor run this morning, but ended up getting sidetracked with housework, so I headed to the elliptical for a weighted (18 lbs.) 30 minutes and then did 10 minutes of weights and tricep dips. Before my workout, I had a breakfast from the freezer. I found some whole wheat pumpkin blueberry pancakes that I had made a while back. Luckily, I wrapped them well, so they were in perfect eating condition. I had 2 with some low cal syrup for 2 POINTS...



Then I nibbled on some chocolate covered almonds (no pic). Mistake #1 !

Even though it was such a beautiful day, I ended up spending most of it inside :( Hate that! Did some more house cleaning, then made some lunch. I have been craving salmon again. Last time I was at the grocery store, I picked up this...

The nutritionals are great: 60 cal. and 1.5 gr. fat per serving which is 1 POINT. The bag serves 2, so even if you ate the whole thing, it's only 3 POINTS. A healthy bargain! I decided to make this into salmon salad. I mixed in a bit of onion, chopped celery, dijon mustard, 1 tbsp. lite mayo, fresh parsley and a squirt of lemon. I wish I had fresh dill - it would have been perfect in here! I served the salad on an Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bun with a side of cantaloupe and 1 oz. Penny Sticks Honey Wheat Pretzels for an AMAZING 8 POINT lunch...

I heart salmon salad...

I spent the rest of the afternoon prepping for pizza night and hanging outside with the daughters. Oh, and snacking. I kept moving back and forth from pantry to fridge. The damage was deep. Pretzel sticks, more chocolate covered almonds, lite string cheese, pepperoni. The stuff cellulite is made of. I felt my hips widening with every bite. Mistake #2.

I made a healthy pizza for dinner. Why, you say? Beats me. Dare I say, to "try to get back on the wagon"??? Yes, I will say it. Not buyin it? Yeah, me neither.

I bought some spelt flour a while ago and thought I would make pizza dough with it. Here's the recipe I used (adapted from www.recipezaar.com):

• 2 c. spelt flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. yeast
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. honey
• 2/3 c. warm water

I mixed all the ingredients in my stand mixer until a dough formed. I did need to add a bit more water to have it all come together. I thought the baking powder was a strange addition , but I did read that wheat -free crusts have a tendency to not rise very much, so I believe this may have helped along with the yeast in that department. I left the dough to rise, which it did quite a bit, then spread it into a well greased (with cooking spray) pizza pan. I always pre-bake my crusts before topping and I did with this one also. I put it in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Then, I topped it with my homemade pizza sauce, fresh baby spinach, fresh mushrooms and about 1/2 c. part skim mozzarella. I ran the pizza dough ingredients through the Recipe Builder and came up with 4 POINTS per serving (4 servings). With my toppings, 2 slices came to 8 POINTS. I served it with some salad dressed with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch for another 1 POINT...

Very filling and very delicious. I really liked the way this crust came out. It was light in texture, yet hearty enough to hold up the toppings. It had a mellow taste; lighter and a bit less bitter than whole wheat crusts come out sometimes. If you're looking for a new pizza dough recipe, give this a try! And if you're gluten-free, this is your dough!


To end my evening, I had this...

Plus another few bites of the "hard, crunchy edges" that no one wants to eat. I totally talked little daughter into making these with me. Mistake #3. I labeled it "an experiment" as I wanted to try to use up some plain nonfat yogurt in the fridge that was on it's last legs (plus I'm not a fan of plain yogurt anyway)and thought I would mix it with a box of regular brownie mix that I just happened to have lying around. This is the way to make No Pudge brownies, but I wondered if it would work for a regular brownie mix. Well, it works. They are good and fudgy. I will call them Fat Ass Brownies. I have no idea of the POINTS; I was too lazy to calculate and not inclined to think that it even mattered at this point. The husband and daughters liked them and wolfed down quite a few which is good for me. Less to look at tomorrow when I "begin again".

This up and down is exhausting me mentally. I'm not sure what to do to get my fires burning again for more than a day or two. I am heading to my WW meeting tomorrow morning; maybe that will do it. I'm hoping after I see the number from the scale on my member book, in black and white, that it will give me the wake up call I need. I peeked on my own scale today and it's not looking good. At all.

Sorry to be such a downer tonight. I know I just have to keep trying. I know I say it over and over, but I don't seem to be getting it. But, I'm going to keep doing it. Keep trying. Keep starting everyday with resolve to stay on program. Fake it til I make it =)