More Shopping...UGH!

Another day of run, run, run. Unfortunately not how I wanted to run! I actually planned an outdoor run for this morning, but big daughter realized that she forgot an assignment and I had to meet her up at school to sign it. So, I ended up fitting in my run on the treadmill before taking little daughter to school - thanks to the husband who was able to attend to her while I ran. I did a good 40 min. and felt great after!

Once I got everyone set, I headed for the remainder of the shopping escapades. Before I left the house, I grabbed my breakfast to eat in the car -again! I don't love eating on the run, but the Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin with 1 tbsp. lite cream cheese (3 POINTS) made it an enjoyable experience...


I finally sucked it up (more like sucked it IN) and bought myself two bathing suits. One-piece, basic black. No do-dads or patterns to draw attention. Boring, I know :( But, I got one at a major bargain at Target - it was on clearance for $8.74 !!!! Seriously, it's not hideous; it was just on sale!

After recovering from bathing suit shopping, I went to eat!! I met my sisters -in -law and mother-in-law for lunch at Bertucci's Italian Restaurant. The food is really good here, but the rolls are exceptional. They are made with pizza dough and baked in the wood-fired oven. Mmmm! But, I decided NOT to eat them because I knew I would have white rolls with dinner tonight and didn't want to bog down my system with too much junky bread. Wish they made them with whole wheat! Anyway, what I DID eat was a portion of the "table salad"...

Nothing special. Just bogus iceberg with cucumbers, tomatoes and an olive with an Italian vinagrette dressing. I only had a bit, so I counted it as 1 POINT for the dressing. I also ordered the Tuscan Minestrone Soup which was delish! I couldn't find any nutritional information for this anywhere on the internet, so I'm guesstimating it at 5 POINTS...

When the daughters came home from school, I was ready for a snack. I had a fuji apple with 1 tbsp. of homemade almond butter for 3 POINTS...

I did some extra snacking, too. Nothing too extreme- a handful of Peanut Butter Puffins and a handful of reduced fat Cheez-its. I wasn't hungry and I knew the whole time I was snacking that I was just using up some nervous energy. I guess being able to recognize that during the snacking instead of after is a step in the right direction. The next step would be to tell myself to KNOCK IT OFF! Baby steps ;)

Later, I got dinner going. I made mini burgers( or sliders as they are now called )with ground beef. My mom had seen these made on a cooking show by spreading the ground beef evenly on a cookie sheet, baking it whole and then, cutting it into squares to fit on the mini buns. I decided to give it a whirl and it worked out great! It took no time at all; way better than forming a bunch of mini patties! I served these on Pepperidge Farms soft dinner rolls (12 in a pack). For a side, I made Bacon Ranch Coleslaw using a package of coleslaw mix dressed with a mix of 1/4 c. Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch Dressing, 1/4 c. buttermilk and 4 slices of crumbled center cut bacon. This was a hit with the daughters who NEVER eat regular coleslaw!

I had two mini burgers and 1/2 c. coleslaw for 8 POINTS...

No big dessert tonight since I had the "snack attack". I did indulge in a little bit of dark chocolate...

I needed the antioxidants :)

I'm off to give my attention to the Biggest Loser. I've been watching bits while posting and can I just say Ron needs to GO! UGH!

Have a great night =)

5K Saturday and Pizza Revenge

Hope everyone is having a good Saturday! I woke up a little slow; my cold seems to have surfaced. It's mild, but I was still slow going. My first thought was no way am I exercising today, but as I got up and moving around, I realized that I didn't feel as badly as I thought. I donned the sneakers and headed to the treadmill for another 5k Saturday! This was my second time and I was able to run without stopping again! I even beat my time from last week by 3 min.; I went from 61 min. to 58 min! I felt really good afterward. Depending on what I have going on, I may try it again tomorrow morning!



After my run, I had some breakfast of 3/4 c. Puffins, 1/2 c. high fiber cereal, 4 sliced strawberries and 1 c. Soy Slender...









I was craving lots of fruit today and I actually decided on what fruit I wanted before what I would have for the main part of my lunch! I went with a ham wrap with lettuce and tomato, orange slices, grapes and 1/2 oz. Kettle Baked Potato Chips. An altogether yummy 5 POINT lunch...


My peanut butter cravings surfaced again and I also wanted some yogurt for a snack, so I put them together. This was an interesting combo! I used 1/2 c. plain yogurt and mixed it with my BFF - PB2 to make peanut butter yogurt! Sounds weird, right? It was good, though. To make it even better, I crumbled a Weight Watchers Peanut Butter Cookie over the top...

Wow, 3 POINTS of PB heaven!

The husband and daughters devised an evil plot to get their pizza that I deprived them of last night! It was decided that we should go out for dinner and of course, they chose Bertucci's, which is an incredible brick oven pizzeria and Italian restaurant! This place is hard to be in; even though it is a chain -type restaurant, everything is so delicious. But, the item that is the toughest for me is this...

These dough ball rolls are right up there with brownies in the temptation department! They are served with a dish of flavored olive oil for dipping! Evil, evil, evil!!!!! So, I tried to be a good Weight Watcher and moved the rolls and the dipping oil to the other end of the table. I allowed myself one of these rolls, but I waited until the server brought my salad with fat free Chianti dressing until I dug into this doughy goodness...

Along with my salad, I ordered a cup of the Tuscan Minestrone Soup which was delicious and warmed my stomach on this cold, cold night...

I did break off another bite of roll, but didn't eat any of the pizza that was swirling around me! Whew, glad that we got out of there before any damage was done! It's a little rough going out to eat, especially when I knew that I used most of my Weekly Allowance POINTS yesterday on that mindless after lunch snacking. Overall, I was happy with my choices tonight. I have to understand that everything I ate was delicious AND good for me, even if it wasn't what I would have eaten "in the old days" (i.e. giant calzones, heavy pasta dishes, way more than one roll!). As a matter of fact, I commented to the husband on the ride home, that I couldn't imagine eating or ordering the menu items that I used to when we went there. I could almost remember the "after feeling". You know, like that stuffed and lethargic just want to lie down feeling. Again, I acknowledged my progress in this journey of trying to eat healthy! Cool!

When we got home, we played a little Wii bowling and tennis, then I had some dessert. It got away from me last night, but no way can I go 2 nights without some!!! I continued on with my peanut butter craving and had my usual dessert, Deep Chocolate Vitatop with PB2/Fluff icing. This was the last of my PB2 (sniff, sniff), but I have some on order. Can't live without the stuff, now...

The husband brought the remainder of the daughters' pizza home and one of those doughy devils home. I am using Angie's trick right now of imagining that it fell in the toilet!!! LOL! Hey, we gotta do what we gotta do to stay outta trouble!

Hope you're all staying out of trouble, too! I know, I'm NO FUN...