Excellent

I got on the scale this morning and I am up 1.2 lbs. Excellent. Whoooo Hoooo. I am doing a great job. Of gaining weight. Excellent, really excellent.



Okay, I got over it because really I can't get bummed about it when I know that I am not doing my best. The afternoon snacking has gone way out of bounds and apparently, my exercise is not making up for it. My body didn't want nor does it need those extra snacks and it's letting me know about it. So, I just have to try better that's all. I went out for a run this morning. It was 30 min. and a bit weak, but I think the dreary weather and my bummed out mood contributed to that. When I came in, I talked myself out of going to my Weight Watcher meeting this morning. I knew I didn't want to weigh-in, so I figured I would just skip it. But, I talked myself back into it because I knew that I should go to the meeting; even when I'm not doing my best something always speaks to me during the meeting and helps me refocus. That was true again today. The meeting focused on emotional eating, stress eating, eating "just because" and how to change/find alternatives to those behaviors. HELLO!!!!!! Just what I needed. I also spent some time talking to a Lifetime member after the meeting (Hi Chris!!). We talked about the trials and tribulations of getting the last 10 pounds off and she gave me lots of insight into what maintenance is like. I am so looking forward to it!!!

On to the food... (warning- it's weird today and not exactly healthy)

I had a quick breakfast in the car on the way to my meeting of a Kim's Light Bagel topped with Laughing Cow Light Cheese for 3 POINTS...


I had to stop at the supermarket after the meeting. While I was there, I was starting to get hungry and picked up a bag of "puffy" pretzels. I opened it and snacked on a few. Hundred. Did I learn nothing this morning???!!!! When I got home, I was still munching on them although I decided to put them in a bowl instead of eating out the bag. I also had a lite string cheese and a new Weight Watchers Cookies and Cream 1 POINT bar....

I blew it. I really blew it with all those pretzels. But, instead of classifying it as a "binge" and continuing to crank out the food, I decided I would figure out how much I ate and count it so I would know for sure how the rest of my week would need to play out. But, how do you figure handful after handful of pretzels? I decided to weigh what was left in the bag and deduct it from the net weight of the pretzels. Whoa. I ate 5 1/2 servings out of a 10 serving bag. And because my POINT slider doesn't go that high, I had to plug in the numbers on Etools POINTS Calculator. It was 605 cal., 2.75 gr. fat and 5 gr. fiber. Guess what that equals??? I literally closed my eyes as I clicked on the Calculate button and peeked through my fingers. 12 POINTS. 12 POINTS!!! For pretzels!!!! Ugh. Add in the string cheese and cookies and cream bar and I spent 14 POINTS for this chow fest. But, then a lightbulb went off. I still have 5 POINTS left for the day! And I didn't even touch my Weekly Allowance Points yet either. So, even though I felt like I blew my day/week out of the water with eating a half bag of pretzels, I didn't. That was EXCELLENT!!!!!

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing homework and then I headed out for dance class with little daughter. Instead of sitting around chatting with the moms for an hour, I decided to run for another 20 min. in the parking complex. I still had time to come in to chat before the girls were done, so it worked out great! No, Excellent :)

But what do you do with only 5 POINTS for dinner? I planned on hot dogs and black bean soup for tonight and I was able to fit that into my budget for myself. I had a Dietz and Watson Gourmet Lite Beef Frank on a light bun, 1 c. black bean soup and carrots with a tbsp. homemade almond butter for all 5 POINTS...

None left for dessert, but I'll manage ;) I don't want to dig into the WAP yet, gotta save them for some parties this weekend.

I'm glad I figured things out today. It really changed my outlook and I feel a bit stronger again, like I can refocus and stay on track. Which is most excellent =)

The Pursuit Of Saltiness

I craved the saltiest food today! This TOM is really a pain; literally. I felt like a blob this morning and too tired/achy to do my exercise. I knew I would need to find a way to do it later because I need to burn some of the calories from yesterday's sabotage snacking! I may have sabotaged myself this week, but I AIN'T quittin'!!!! There is a show of progress; my former self would have quit trying to eat healthy after binging like that. I would have felt defeated. But, I have come too far now, so no quitting. Onward!

For breakfast, I wanted to try one of these new (to me) Vitatops...



I love corn muffins, so I was excited to try these. I can't say they really taste like a corn muffin. I think they are more on the "wheaty" side, but still taste good, especially for 1 POINT! With my Golden Corn Vitatop, I made an egg white omelette with a handful of baby spinach. I let loose with the salt shaker ,too! It was more like a salt omelette with egg white!!! eeewww - but, it tasted really good to me today...


I finally dragged myself out of the house to do some grocery shopping. I was starving when I got home and I fixed a quick lunch while putting the food away. I looked for the saltiest things I could find. I went with a bowl of Tabatchnik Vegetable Soup, a Dietz and Watson Gourmet Lite Beef Hot Dog on a light bun with mustard and dill relish and a serving of crunchy, super salty pretzel sticks!!! Salt, salt and more salt!! I am probably going to weigh 14 lbs. more tomorrow with all this salt!!!! But, boy did it taste goooood! All for 5 POINTS...

I felt like something sweet afterward, so I had a Weight Watchers Peanut Butter Cookie for 1 POINT...

I tried to have something with a little more protein for snack to get me to dinner without an oversnacking incident. I went with a hard-boiled egg white (with salt!!), light string cheese and half an orange...

The husband and daughters had an early dinner tonight, due to big daughters basketball practice. While they were eating some leftovers, I put on my sneakers and headed to the basement for a treadmill run/walk. My Dad gave me a Polar heart rate monitor that he is no longer using and I have been excited to try it! I put it on (it's a chest strap and a wrist watch) and watched my heart go! I decided to run and walk to get more of a high intensity interval-type workout. It was good, but quick. I clocked out in about 30 minutes because I had to tend to little daughter, but I'm glad I fit it in.

I made myself a heat and eat dinner of this...

I know, more salt! I try not to eat frozen dinners because of this, but I had this in the freezer and thought I should use it up. Glad I did; it was awesome! I don't usually say that of Lean Cuisine dinners, but this one is a keeper. It is parmesan crusted fish with penne pasta, veggies and a tomato sauce. The fish was delicious and moist with a crispy coating and the pasta was al dente and had a nice flavor. I would definitely buy this again! I paired it with a salad dressed with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch. A yummy 7 Point meal...

I bought a boat load of berries at the store today, so I made a Berry Sundae for dessert. I used a serving of sugar-free, fat-free cheesecake pudding topped with 5 oz. sliced strawberries, 1/2 c. blueberries and a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip. YUMMMMMM!

I'm glad I was able to regroup today. Part of that was just eating whatever I was craving (hence, all the salty stuff) instead of eating what I thought would be a better or more well-rounded choice. There's always tomorrow for that.....

=)

Hot Stuff

The sun is shining, but brrrrrrr, what a cold day out there. Definitely calls for some nice hot food today. Unfortunately, I couldn't start with a hot breakfast since I was not eating before weigh -in this morning, which was.......not so hot! Well, I shouldn't say that. It was not my best work, but it was still a loss - .4 lbs. Hey, I'll take it! My new attitude is to be happy for a loss, no matter how small because it all adds up eventually, right?? So, since I don't eat before weigh-in, I brought along to the meeting a BlueBran Vitatop ( I love that these are only 1 POINT!) and a bottle of water...



I came home for lunch and heated up a bowl of this soup...


Along with that another hot food...

I LOVE hot dogs!! I haven't had one in so long. I know they are not the healthiest thing on the planet, but having one every once in a while can't be too bad! Especially when there is a low POINT option like these Dietz and Watson Gourmet Lite Beef Franks. They are only 60 cal. and 1.5 gr. fat which comes to 1 POINT. They taste great! I had this on a light hot dog bun (also 1 POINT) with some mustard and a little dill relish. I decided to pass on the chips today (can you believe it?) and went with a sliced apple, instead. A nice hot lunch for only 4 POINTS...

I'm into my day for only 5 POINTS so far and I feel pretty satisfied. Guess you have those days. Wish I had them MORE OFTEN!! Anyway, I have a good amount of POINTS slated for a nice sized snack or dessert. Yay, maybe brownies........... ;)