Happy Birthday Baby!!

Today is my little daughter's 7th birthday! Wow, time sure does fly! She and my big daughter made the grand plan as to what we were going to do today. Before we got started, I got in a quick 20 minute run, then showered and headed out to begin the celebration.



Our first stop was Starbucks. The daughters love fraps as much as I do, so they wanted to go there for breakfast. While the daughters dug into their fraps and donuts, I sipped my Mocha Light Frappuccino and dug into a BlueBran Vitatop that I brought with me for 3 POINTS...



We hung out at Starbucks for quite a while, then made our way over to a toy store for some browsing and playing. Such a fun little store! Of course, we couldn't get out of there without a small present for the birthday girl!

Then, we were off to pick up lunch at one of their favorite places - Chick-fil-A. They wanted to bring lunch home and have a picnic, so we did just that. I spread out the blanket and they ate their yummy lunch. I snagged a fry or two, but quickly made my lunch before things got out of control! My lunch was a Dr. Praeger's Tex Mex Burger on a whole wheat english muffin topped with a slice of Weight Watchers American and some sauteed peppers with onion. Delish! I added a serving of yellow watermelon and carrots for my side. A filling 6 POINT lunch...

After lunch, these guys came to the door....

HOLEY DONUTS!!!! I won these from Danica's giveaway and have been anxiously awaiting them! I was VERY tempted to dive right in, but I contained myself! Instead, I put each one in their own baggie and labeled it with the POINT value. That way, I won't be tempted to defrost a whole box and then "have" to eat them all! Looking forward to trying these soon :)

Our party-goers (grandparents) came for birthday dinner later in the afternoon. We got right to eating with a starter of Bruschetta with Asiago...

Then came the family favorite (and birthday girl's too!) - ravioli...

some rustic bread ( a must on our table)...

Grilled bratwurst and onions (left) and Chicken Sausage with spinach and feta over sauteed red peppers (right)...

I also made hot Italian sausage with hot fried peppers, broccoli and salad. I didn't get a pic of those before everyone dug in, but here's a pic of my plate...

I ended up eating another piece of bruschetta and a taste of hot sausage, but I was able to dodge the ravioli! Not too bad; I'm estimating about 13 POINTS.

For dessert, of course we had birthday cake - triple chocolate mousse cake! I didn't want to tempt anyone with a picture ;P In an effort to have a healthy alternative, I made a blueberry crisp...

I had a serving topped with fat free whipped topping for 2 POINTS...

It's super late now, but I'm determined to fit in my 10 minute strength routine, so off I go!

Have a great night everyone =)

Today I Suck

Today I suck at the Weight Watchers program. I suck at eating healthy. I suck at making good choices. I suck at exercising. I suck at intuitive eating. This has caused me to have to suck in my gut to button my pants tonight. Yes, I'm having a pity party. It's my party and I'll cry if I want to ;) Sorry. I know tomorrow will be better. But, today....I suck.

I won't even go into the massive amounts of snacks and cookies and cheese and pretzels I ate this afternoon. Ugh, believe me, I don't want to relive it all. And I decided I am going to stop pychoanalyzing to figure out the "why". It just happens. Sometimes you just feel like eating like there is no tomorrow. Then, there are other days when you feel like you got this whole healthy eating/weight loss thing in the bag. I'm not going to dwell on it. I think I realized today that "this day" will not be my "every day" like it used to be. I don't want to go back to being that 234 pound girl. I can't even imagine it. So, I'll write this day off and get back on track for tomorrow. My goal (ugh - there's that elusive WORD!) is to have more ON days than OFF. I can do that :)


Alright, I am going to now be Polly Positive and show you all the healthy eats I had today!
I am feeling an addicition brewing for Becca's milkshakes! This morning, I made one with 2 oz. fresh mango, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp. sugar free, fat free vanilla pudding dry mix, 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze and ice. So delicious for 2 POINTS...




A while later, I had a Banana Nut Vitatop for 1 POINT...


Lunch was a Dr. Praeger's Tex Mex Burger with lettuce and Laughing Cow on a honey wheat bun. Gotta have the soy chips! And some grapes rounded out this tasty 8 POINT lunch...

Here's where things went awry, but I'm not talking about that, remember ;)

And dinner was boneless pork chops with a light mushroom cream sauce, pan-fried potatoes and Gram's green beans for 8 POINTS...

No dessert because...well, you know;) If you can't button your pants, it's not a good idea. But, speaking of dessert..... I won the BSI challenge this week with my Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Glaze! Thanks, Lara for that exciting news; it really made my day!

That's all for me, tonight. Hope you all have a great night and don't forget, there's still time to enter my FitNutz giveaway! I'll be back tomorrow night with the winner :)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Is it ever going to stop raining??? I began to build an ark today. If I see zoo animals walking down my street, I know we're gonna be in trouble :)

No outdoor activity due to the weather. I'm not one for running in the rain, so I'm waiting for the sun to cooperate so that I can get out there. The elliptical was my workout of choice this morning. I wore my weighted vest and bumped up the resistance for a nice sweaty 40 minutes, then did 30 tricep dips and 15 wall pushups. After my workout, I experimented in the kitchen. I wanted something different for breakfast and I searched through one of my old recipe binders and found a recipe for bulgur cereal. I decided to make a version of that which included these two powerhouse grains...


What developed was Apple Cinnamon Bulgur Cereal. It was so filling and delicious! I am not a big fan of oatmeal, mainly because of the consistency which seems "gluey" to me. This hot cereal recipe is reminiscent of an oatmeal bowl, but with a much better texture. I enjoyed this big 3 POINT bowl very much...

Great texture...

Here's the recipe:

Apple Cinnamon Bulgur Cereal

• 1 c. water
• 1 small apple, grated
• 3 tbsp. bulgur
• 1 tbsp. oat bran
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt

1. Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil.
2. Cover and cook on low for about 15 minutes or until thickened.

I added a bit of Splenda for sweetness. It was perfect and kept me full for hours. I'd love to experiment with this more and try banana and/or some dried fruits next time!

While I was out running some errands, I bought a new pair of sunglasses and proceeded to wear them the rest of the afternoon. In the rain. I am willing the sun to come out by wearing my new glasses. So far, not working:(

I drove home, in the rain, wearing my new sunglasses and started on some lunch. I went with a Dr. Praeger's Tex-Mex Veggie Burger on an Ezekiel Bun with a little salsa. I had some grapes and a serving of Baked Tostitos with salsa. Another filling 8 POINT lunch...

More volume for a 1 POINT snack...

Dinner was a Cinco de Mayo celebration - tacos! I made beef tacos for the husband and daughters. They were doing the happy dance; they love tacos! I decided to celebrate along wiht them in a "healthier" way. My personal menu was shrimp tacos with mango salsa and black bean soup. I tried this black bean soup from TJ's...

It's organic, vegan and only 2 POINTS per cup. Very tasty!

For the shrimp tacos, I pan-fried 4 oz. shrimp in nonstick cooking spray. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder and fresh lime. That's it! So easy. I added the shrimp to 2 small La Tortilla Factory Tortillas (50 cal. each) with shredded lettuce, tomato. I topped it off with mango salsa that I made using 1 mango, red bell pepper, red onion, cilantro and/or parsley and fresh lime juice. Muy delicioso 7 POINT dinner...

As you can imagine, I was pretty full from all this. I couldn't help getting in a little sweet, though. TJ's Righteous Rounds hit the spot for 1 POINT...

And a nice cup of coffee with unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze...

I feel good about my eating today. Everytime I was tempted to mindlessly reach for something to snack on, I snapped myself out of it and kept saying...goal....goal....goal....

I gotta get there!

Have a great night and don't forget to enter my fun Dogtoys giveaway!

More Of The Same

I was up and out early this morning to make my WW meeting. Not that I was in any rush to get weighed or anything. No big excitement on the scale. It was exactly the same. I can't be upset about it. I haven't been keeping up with my "following the program to the T" strategy. Too much picking going on. But, I spoke with the receptionist while I was there. She has lost 100 lbs. and has kept it off since 1984. I talked with her about my frustration with myself and about getting to goal. I am coming up on 2 years at the end of July and I really hoped to get to my goal and be on the way to achieving Lifetime status. She told me it took her 4 years to get there. Wow. That made me feel a little better. I'm declaring the high end of my weight range for my goal weight even though it's probably not where I would want to settle in at. But, at the rate I'm going, I don't want it to take a lifetime to get to Lifetime! I can see it now. I'll be a real looker when I get to goal at age 90. I might not have teeth, but I'll be the hottest chick in the nursing home ;P In my thong. Eeeewww. Sorry, did you just throw up a little bit?? Okay, in an effort to erase that visual from your damaged mind, I will get to the food...


After the meeting, I came home and made a breakfast wrap with a La Tortilla Factory Tortilla, 3 egg whites, baby spinach, center cut bacon and a slice of 2% cheese for 4 POINTS...


For lunch I tried these new veggie burgers that I picked up the other day...

The nutritionals are great...

These burgers are made with beans, corn, zucchini, string beans, oat bran and a host of other good veggies. They have a nice kick to them and taste a whole lot like the California Veggie Burger also made by Dr. Praeger. I served mine on an Arnold Sandwich Thin with lettuce and a squirt of lite ranch along with a serving of soy crisps and a fuji apple. A healthy 6 POINT lunch...

I took the daughters to see a play this afternoon at little daughter's school. It was very cute and entertaining. When we got back, I made a snack of 1/2 c. TJ's nonfat greek yogurt, 1/2 c. Kashi Go Lean Crunch, 2 strawberries and a tsp. chocolate syrup for 2 POINTS...

Dinner was pasta and salad for the husband and daughters, but I wasn't in the mood for pasta. Well, I was, but not only 1 cup of pasta! It's just too little of a serving to make me happy. I searched around the freezer and came upon this guy...

It has been in my freezer for an eternity. I'm trying to make sure I eat the freezer stock, so since the date was okay, I decided to eat it for dinner. It's a pretty good bargain for 4 POINTS, but I wasn't having high hopes that it would be good!

I made these to go along with it...

Altogether, a 6 POINT dinner...

But, I only ate some. Here's what I left...

That was one yucky frozen dinner. The chicken was rubbery and "fake", the pasta was flavorless and the sauce was weirdly spicy. The flavors didn't jive. Ick. The TJ's Potato Medley, on the other hand, was terrific! I should have just eaten a big dish of that!

I picked on a roll from the family's dinner, then cleaned up and moved on to dessert. I thought I would give the VitaHearts another try. I had the idea of icing them, so I thought that may redeem them. I made a Chocolate Espresso Glaze by mixing 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa, 1 tsp. powdered sugar, 1/8 tsp. instant espresso powder and 1/2 tsp. skim milk and spread it onto the VitaHeart...

Well, the hearts are still dry, but the glaze was amazing!!! The espresso gave it a prominent flavor making it taste like dark chocolate. So good! I can't wait to try this on the Deep Chocolate Vitatops that I love! Come back tomorrow night; I'll let you know how it is!!

I ended the night with a giant latte made with skim milk for 2 POINTS...

Decaf, of course! Goodnight =)