Little Things Mean A LOT

I was up way too early for a Sunday - 6 a.m.! Boo! Believe me, I wanted to fall back asleep, but it wasn't happening. I finally got up at 7, got dressed and headed to the supermarket to pick up some needed items. When I got home, coffee was the first order of business! Then, I dove in to one of these guys that I picked up while shopping...



Doesn't that sound terrific? Cheesecake yogurt with graham cookie pieces...what's not to like?! And only 100 calories to boot. I decided to kick it up a notch by making it Blueberry Cheesecake Yogurt! It was a great 3 POINT dessert, um, I mean breakfast ;)


I worked on tons of laundry all morning and did a little blog reading. Before I knew it, lunch was calling. I had always wanted to try out a "Crack Wrap" that I had seen making the blog rounds a while back. Basically just some cheese and hummus in a wrap and grilled. I opted to bulk mine up with some sauteed baby bella mushrooms, red onion and roasted red pepper, then added it on the tortilla spread with Laughing Cow Light and 2 tbsp. hummus. I pan -grilled it until lightly brown. I paired it with some cherries, carrots and 1/2 serving of Kettle Baked Potato Chips. A plateful for 5 POINTS...

Ooey gooey goodness...

Then it was off to my parents' pool for swimming and Sunday dinner. I took the opportunity to get in some pool exercising - noodle cycling -sit on the noodle and "ride" it like a bicycle - I know that sounds ridiculous and semi-perverted and believe me, it looks equally ridiculous as it sounds, but you feel a good burn ;) I also got in some pool weight exercises ( biceps and shoulders). It was fun and relaxing and probably burned off about 2 of the 1000 calories that I was going to eat for Sunday dinner :( Actually, I think I did okay. We started off with pasta (of course!) and I gave myself a teeny bowl so that I couldn't fill it up with rigatoni ragu goodness...

Next up was barbecued ribs, chicken, salmon teriyaki, assorted grilled veggies, salad, corn and whole grain bread. My controlled plate contained salmon, grilled peppers, baby zucchini, sweet potato half, grilled radicchio, salad and a slice of bread with a smattering of an amazing Parmesan Butter imported from Italy...

I may or may not have had another small slice with another teensy bit of butter :0

For dessert, I made a trifle with chocolate angelfood cake, sugar free fat free vanilla pudding, light whipped topping, strawberries and blueberries...

I had a scoop in a cute dessert glass...

And I may or may not have had another little scoop :0

I think I will run tomorrow =)

I'm off to pack ; I'll be heading to the beach for a few days with my friend and her daughters. I hope to be blogging, but I'm not sure if I'll have internet access there or not, so if I'm MIA for a few days, I'll be sure to catch up with you all on Thurs. !

Have a great night!

Branching Out

Today was a lot better. I got right to the exercise; no fooling around. I thought my run might be a little weak, but it was great! I got in a nice, strong 40 minutes. Much needed after the eats yesterday.


Breakfast was a whole wheat cinnamon raisin english muffin topped with 2 tbsp. PB2. A delicious and hearty 3 POINTS...


After breakfast, I cleaned up and did something I never thought I would do. I joined a gym! I am now a proud member of Planet Fitness. They are having an amazing deal right now of a year's membership for $99. It's a cool place with tons of weight machines, ellipticals, bikes, treadmills and a 30 minute express workout circuit. I thought it was about time that I got out of my basement with my archaic fitness equipment although, it has done me well all this time. I'm really excited about trying something new and I'm looking forward to getting a good weight training routine together. I'm hoping this will be just the thing I need to drive me to goal! I won't get to the gym very often until the daughters go back to school, but I wanted to join now while the special was going on (which is only until July 22, if you're interested). So, more on my new gym adventures when I get there...

Lunch was a leftover barbecue chicken calzone (about two-thirds of the calzone) and some super sweet cherries that my MIL brought us. A delicious 7 POINT lunch...

Snack time called in the afternoon and just to prove to myself that I can eat only 1 serving of friggin' Cheez-its, I portioned out a serving for 3 POINTS...

And that was it! Mainly because there wasn't much left in the box ;P

More leftovers for dinner. I'm trying to be good about using up stuff in the freezer and fridge. I made Veggie "Fried" Quinoa -Italian style...

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• couple tbsp. chopped red onion
• 1/4 c. diced carrot
• 1/4 c. diced zucchini
• 1/4 c. diced mushrooms
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1 tbsp. parmesan cheese
• s + p
• pinch of dried oregano
• pinch of red pepper flakes

Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a nonstick pan. Add ingredients and stir-fry until veggies are slightly softened....

I also had the leftover tomato, cucumber and mozzarella salad ( minus 1 mozzarella ball -given to big daughter)...

A nutritious 10 POINT dinner...

It was such a beautiful night, we went for a leisurely family walk after dinner. Then came back home for dessert. I had a No Pudge Brownie - straight up - for 2 POINTS...

Now, I'm ready for some relaxing! Have a great night, everyone =)

No Fooling - It's A Larabar Giveaway!

My scale is roadkill. I have run over it with my vehicle until it resembled something like a smashed aluminum can. Okay, daydream over. But, it was a lovely thought. As you can guess, the scale was not my friend this morning. I got on and sirens wailed and red lights flashed, warning of self-destruction. No fooling that thing. You can fool yourself but, the scale will always yank you back into reality. The reality is that the whole 80/20 rule that I seem to be unintentionally practicing lately, is not working. If you do the program 80% of the time, but the other 20%, you are shoveling cookies, snacks and chocolate, it's gonna catch up with you. No doubt about it. Exercise, schmexercise. If you don't eat right, you will not lose weight. I spent the morning giving myself this lecture and, well, throwing a pity party, too. You know the drill, you've heard me crying about it in many other posts. So, *in my best Forrest Gump voice* that's all I have to say about that :D

Breakfast was a repeat of the other day: smoked salmon with Laughing Cow Light on a Thomas' Light English Muffin for 3 POINTS...

More cheesiness for lunch. I was dying for a good old grilled cheese! I made one using 2 slices of Arnold Natural Whole Grain White Bread and a slice of American and a slice of Asiago. I paired it with some sweet cherries for a quick 7 POINT lunch...

After lunch, I headed to Trader Joe's to pick up a couple of things. While I was there, I noticed they had all of my favorite Larabar flavors! I eyed up the Peanut Butter Cookie right away and broke into that as soon as I got home...

A most delicious 4 POINT snack!


I chilled out with the daughters this afternoon, then made some dinner. Pepperoni and Cheese Strombolis (made with whole wheat crust) and orzo soup for them and eggplant for me! I love the Dominex Eggplant Cutlets and since I had some left in the freezer stash, I thought it would make a good dinner tonight. I topped them with a bit of light mozzarella. Plain, simple and delish. I went with some watermelon slices for a light tasting 7 POINT dinner...

No dessert tonight. I'm full. Of fat. That's all I have to say about that.


So, since TJ's had only my favorite Larabar flavors (Cherry Pie, Apple Pie, Cashew Cookie and Peanut Butter Cookie), I thought I would get them all to giveaway to one lucky winner!!!!!



All you need to do is leave me a comment with this post telling me which flavor you would like to try. One winner will get all 4 of my faves! I'll choose the winner, using random.org, on Thurs. June 4. Be sure to check back Thurs. night when I'll announce the winner. Open to all, since I'm doing the shipping :) Good luck!!!!