Just Say No

What a crazy weekend! We've been partying it up with all the graduations, so it's been a whirlwind couple of days. Yesterday worked out o.k. I ate fairly decent and only really caved with some jelly beans and a couple chocolates at the party. Not too horrible, but I did end up eating a bunch of Cheez-Its when we got home. I didn't count POINTS, but I think I may have still been in the ballpark.



Today, I took my time waking up and decided to have breakfast before working out. I was craving a sandwich, so I made an egg and cheese on TJ's Organic Spelt bread for 4 POINTS. It was so good...





After watching some E! True Hollywood Story, I got the urge to run! I headed to the treadmill and pumped out a good 35 minutes. I kept my pace faster today; it was a nice push.





The daughters had some friends over to play and we decided to grill for lunch. They had hot dogs and I went with a Ranch Turkey Burger with a slice of Weight Watchers Pepperjack Cheese. I opted to go "bunless" (oh, how I wish ;) and had a side of the Crunchy Curls, grapes and carrot sticks for 7 POINTS...

Then I headed out to help my friend move some furniture. She rented a UHaul and we cracked up about it the whole time because we are both princesses, yet we were bouncing around in this UHaul determined to show our brawn by moving this heavy furniture into her house. We were grunting and sweating like we were doing some crazy challenge on the Biggest Loser Ranch. It was hilarious. And a nice sweaty, strength training workout!

Since I knew I would be getting home close to dinner, I had prepped ahead with a crockpot dish. I saw a recipe for Pineapple Luau Chicken on Bev's blog, so I thought I would give it a try. The only change I made was to use pork tenderloin instead of chicken since I had some on hand. I threw in some broccoli, green onion and served it over 1/2 c. brown rice for a great 6 POINT dinner...

I ended the night with a serving of Breyers Fat Free Double Churn French Chocolate Ice Cream with a topping of freeze dried blueberries!!! This was a great combo for only 1 POINT...

I found these guys (you know where!) recently and they are unbelievably good! They are crunchy and sweet...

Best of all, look at these facts! The whole bag is only 2 POINTS. There are a TON in there and could keep you munching for hours. Note to self: when feeling munchie, grab the crunchy blueberries!!!

I feel like a wad. A whale -ish wad. Just thought I'd throw that out there. I'm retaining a small pond despite my efforts to drink mass quantities of beverages today. I need to stay home now. No more parties. I need to be in control of what I am eating, "make" what I am eating and not be distracted by parties where I have to keep dodging certain "areas" that contain cake, cookies, chocolate and candy. Yep, stay home. And just say no...

One more thing - some cool news! The nice people at Dominex Eggplant ,who make the delicious eggplant cutlets that I love, have offered to send my readers a dollar off coupon to try out their product. Send an email with your name and address to : sales@dominexeggplant.com and write "Trim The Fat Coupon" in the subject line and they will be glad to send that out to you!

Have a great night!

Cookies In The House

It was a 2 hour delay for the daughters this morning, so we got to sleep in a bit and start slow for the day. I was able to get in a good 40 min. on the elliptical before getting little daughter off to school, too. Then, I dug into a breakfast egg sammie made with one egg white (the last egg!), baby spinach and a slice of 2 % cheese on a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel. I also had a bit of little daughter's sliced banana, all for 3 POINTS...



After that, I headed out to the grocery store for some much needed staple items (bread, eggs, oj). I'm always on the lookout for something new to try and I stumbled upon these...


After I got home and took a closer look, I seemed to remember trying these before and thinking they were just o.k. I decided to give them another whirl for lunch today. I popped one in the micro for a minute and instead of eating it "burger style", I made it into a wrap. I used a La Tortilla Factory Smart and Delicious Tortilla , cut the patty in half to fit on one side, topped it with a shredded lite string cheese, lettuce, tomato and wrapped it up! The nutritionals for one of these patties is 70 cal., 1.5 gr. fat and 3.5 gr. fiber which is 1 POINT. Can't beat that! To go with this yummy Boca Bruschetta Wrap, I had a serving of Soy Crisps and a sweet Fuji apple for 6 POINTS...

When the daughters got home from school, they requested chocolate chip cookies for a snack so I got to work making some while they did homework. I spent a minute "pumping myself up" for this task because I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to control myself with these guys. Not only do I love cookies, but I love cookie batter just as much!!! Big troubles were ahead! But, I decided to make the cookies more "user friendly" for myself by altering the recipe a bit. So, I took the Original Nestle Toll House Cookie recipe and revamped it to make it a My House Chocolate Chip Cookie! They came out great and the daughters devoured them! Here's what you'll need to make these:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 stick light butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Beat the butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy. Add egg and applesauce beating well.
2. Gradually beat in flour, soda and salt.
3. Stir in chocolate chips *( I used the mixture of mini and regular b/c it's what I had on hand)
4. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes.
6. Cool and store in airtight container.
7. Makes 40 cookies 1 POINT each or 2 cookies for 3 POINTS

And of course, I had to have one two of these guys...

It felt so good to overcome that potential for disaster by remaking the recipe and the daughters were none the wiser! They loved them and when the husband came home, he commented that the house smelled sooo good :)

Well, good thing I buttered them up with the cookies because I had a very healthy (a.k.a. eeewwww that's gross) dinner planned! I made Tuscan Chicken with Spinach and White Beans and it was delicious! For this, I used:

• 1 pound chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp. sundried tomato packed in oil, chopped
• 3 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 1 cup fat-free chicken broth

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray. Add chicken, sprinkle with thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook chicken until browned.
2. Add beans, sundried tomato, spinach and broth. Simmer for 10 min. or until chicken is done.
3. Makes 4 servings at 4 POINTS per serving.

So much flavor! I love the creaminess of the beans, too. I served this over small pasta for the husband and daughters. I ate mine as is with a hearty whole wheat roll. A fabulous 6 POINT dinner in minutes...

I ended the day with 1/2 c. Breyers Fat Free Double Churn Caramel Swirl Ice Cream and another My House Chocolate Chip Cookie for 2 POINTS...

I also couldn't resist a nice hot cup of coffee with some cream for 1 POINT!

A great On Program day for me!! Yay! I love when that happens =)

Off to watch the Biggest Loser!

Homebound- Day 2

Little daughter is still sick, so another day in the house. One would think I would get a myriad of things done around here, but on these sick days, I tend to sit with the sickie all day and not do much of anything! House is still a mess, clothes unlaundered, food barely made. I have had zip in the creativity dept. lately with my food. I really need to get some planning done with some new recipes on the menu to spice things up around here! I gotta get a fire goin under this butt! So, onto my boring food today...



Breakfast was whole wheat pumpkin blueberry pancakes that I had in the freezer with a side of 1/2 Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt (split with little d -why do they have to eat MY stuff!!) topped with a few slices of banana for 3 POINTS...





After breakfast, I forced myself to do Level 3 Shred. Hanging around the house has made me very lazy, but I knew this was the only exercise I was going to do today, so I did my best "bad-ass" workout. Jillian was happy; she told me so. She says that at the end; it's way after the part when she tells you she wants you to feel like you're gonna die ;) Only 4 days left, Shredders!!!



For lunch, I wanted a giant shaker of salt with shavings of chocolate on the side. I didn't think that would look very nice on the plate, so I opted for a Chicken BLT using a leftover thin sliced chicken breast (1 1/2 oz.) on an Arnold Sandwich Thin, topped with 2 slices of center cut bacon, lettuce, tomato and a tiny squirt of Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch. On the side, I had a serving of Baked Cheddar and Sour Cream Lays Chips and a sliced apple for health's sake. A salty-licious 7 POINT lunch...



Just like yesterday, more chips followed along with some chocolates all while reading my new book that I got at the library, Intuitive Eating ! Seems I need more work in this area ;) So, here's a positive- during this eatfest of salt and sweet, I downed a TON of water! That's good, right?? Definitely got in all my WATER today! The bloat has set in and I am fairly certain that I have gained 40 lbs. today :0



Dinner was quick and easy. The daughters wanted breakfast for dinner - cool! I went with the same for myself. I made an egg sammie made with egg whites, baby spinach and a slice of 2 % cheese on a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel along with a side of carrots and grapes. An easy, healthy, back on track 4 POINT dinner...

I'm just gonna keep trying. Keep reeling it in everytime I go off the wagon. There is no other choice; just keep on keepin on. Eventually, it will click and I'll be on a roll again. Right???? Right!!!

And brownies are on the wagon!! At least these guys are. They do not cause "pudge" - the box says so! Best of all, they are only 2 POINTS. I went with a naked one tonight...

Okay, tomorrow is a new day and it will be another homebound day with little daughter. I have pretty much eaten every salty and sweet snack in the house, so I think I should be pretty good tomorrow!!LOL! I plan on making a new and exciting dinner that no one will eat except me because it will be healthy and POINT friendly and I will spend the day dancing around the house singing, "what have you done today, to make you feeeeeel proud". It's gonna be a great day =0)

Changing It Up

I woke up this morning to a little snow! Much to the daughters' dismay, it was not enough to get out of going to school! Awwww. More is supposedly on the way tonight, so they may get their wish tomorrow. Frankly, I would love to sleep in a little, too. I've been awfully sluggish the past few days.

This morning, I waited until the daughters were off to school to do my workout. I wasn't in the mood for the normal treadmill or elliptical workout, so I decided to pop in some DVDs. First, I did an 8 minute Tae Bo. Remember that blast from the past???! Boy, I forgot how sweaty and huffy you can get in just 8 minutes! ( Minds out of the gutter, people!) Then, I moved on to Pilates for Dummies. Yes, that is the name and yes, I could be classified as a dummy in this area :) It is pretty tough; there are some exercises that I can't do at all because of my sensitive lower back, but I followed through with the rest. It was a nice change of pace!

After my workout, I made the yummy egg sammie on a Weight Watchers petite bagel with egg white, baby spinach, slice of center cut bacon and slice of 2% cheese. I could eat this 3 POINT breakfast every day!



I ran some errands after that and also headed to Target where I picked up Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I've been reading about it on all the blogs and since it was on sale for 13 bucks, I decided to give it a whirl. I came home and made lunch which was a ginormous salad. I used 3 big handfuls of lettuce, 2 oz. chicken, 1 hard boiled egg white, 1 light string cheese sliced up, tomatoes and carrots. I topped it with 2 tbsp. Marie's Light Blue Cheese Dressing. A colorful 5 POINT lunch...

For snack, I had a Weight Watchers Vanilla Yogurt with 1/4 c. blueberries and 3/4 c. Puffins for 2 POINTS...

I have been craving meat (along with salt!) so I made an Italian Meatloaf for dinner. The husband and daughters had tater tots along with their meatloaf, but I just stuck with Gram's green beans for a side. OK, I DID pop a couple tots in my mouth, so I'll count a POINT for those! Did you know that only 8 tater tots are 3 POINTS???? Who eats just 8 tater tots??? Unheard of! Anyway, this was a super tasty 8 POINT dinner...

After dinner, I thought I would give "the Shred" a try. Holy Crap! I can tell Jillian and I are gonna have a love/hate relationship! It's not an easy workout, but it's only 20 minutes! My legs were shaking when I was done! But, I NEED to work off those calories - I took a peek at the scale this morning. I was prepared for the worst; it wasn't as bad as I thought, but still not good (up 1.4 lbs.). Weigh -in is Thurs; I'm not looking good for my A-Team :( We'll see - maybe I can exercise for 6 hours tomorrow!!!!

I decided to have a post-Shred dessert. I heated a CranBran Vitatop in the micro and added some sliced strawberries and a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip. A great 2.5 POINT finish. Mmmmm....

OK, I'm off to give the Biggest Loser my full attention! Hope you all have a great night =)

Run, Eat, Read

Hi Everyone! I'm going to try to make this post quick, as I am deeply into reading Twilight and can't put it down! I got this for big daughter for Christmas. She has already seen the movie, but hasn't had a chance to start the book. I decided to read it to "check it out" and see what all the hubub was about and now I know!!!! It is very enticing, dark, but romantic at the same time! It's neat because I get to a certain part and then ask big daughter about it and she tells me what happened in the movie. We're sorta having our own book club! Fun ! Okay, so let's get with the food...



This morning, I headed to the basement for my "5k Saturday" treadmill run. I think I will definitely try and keep this routine. I was hurting a little from my outdoor run yesterday. It affected me differently than the treadmill; I guess the impact from the asphalt is a little rougher. Anyway, I powered through which felt good afterward. For breakfast, I made the same egg sammie as yesterday. I was actually salivating when I was on the treadmill, thinking of this breakfast! It is a very yummy 3 POINTer...







For lunch, I morphed the Crispy Buffalo Chicken Tenders leftover from the other night into a yummy wrap. I reheated the chicken in the toaster oven to recrisp/reheat them and placed them in a La Tortilla Factory Smart and Delicious Tortilla with some lettuce, shredded carrots, chopped celery and 1 tbsp. Marie's Light Blue Cheese Dressing. Wow, this was amazing! Just went with a side of Kettle Baked Potato Chips for a terrific 7 POINT lunch...




A little after lunch, I made some Coffee Cocoa...

Before going to big daughter's basketball game, I had a snack of 3/4 c. Puffins, 1/4 c. high fiber cereal, 3 strawberries and 1 c. Soy Slender...

After the basketball game, we came straight home and I got started on dinner. I was making Shrimp Scampi over Linguine for myself and just straight-up spaghetti with marinara sauce for the husband and daughters who would not touch shrimp with a ten foot pole. Oh, the horror! It was terrific, they don't know what they are missing :) I made a side of sauteed spinach with garlic. This was a nice 8 POINT dinner...

Unfortunately, during the dinner making process, I started noshing on some crackers, pretzel rod and hummus. I shut it down pretty quickly, though. However, I didn't think until after I had already done the deed, that I should have employed my "gum trick" from last night! DUH! That would have worked. I did recognize while I was noshing that I wasn't hungry, just feeling a little anxious(those games do that to me!); so maybe next time I'll be able to talk myself out of what I am recognizing!!!

I had some ice cream for dessert tonight. I went with some Edy's Slow Churned Peanut Butter Cup ice cream; this is a light ice cream - 130 cal. and 8 gr. fat. Very good! But, honestly, I like the fat free just as much if not better and it's less POINTS. I also had a pumpkin choco-chip cookie from the freezer...

(sorry for this bad pic)

Well, some noshing continued later with the daughters' Goldfish Crackers, nuts and a couple Girl Scout Cookies. I feel o.k. about it because I have the Weekly Allowance Points to use, but I wish I wouldn't eat just to eat. It's over now and I'm glad it didn't turn into something more. Okay, I already went on longer than I told you I would!!!

Into the Twilight...

I Survived!

Today was a day of some cool non-scale victories! The first was my workout. I postponed my exercise until after getting the daughters off to school. It was such a beautiful, sunny morning(although 30*) that I thought I would head outside to "try" a run. I wasn't expecting much from myself. Running outside has not been something I have been able to accomplish. I barely could make it a block without feeling like I was going to have to call 911! Today, I decided to use the great advice given to me by fellow bloggers/runners which was go slow. I realized that the difference in running outdoors is that you don't have the treadmill to set your pace for you, so you tend to go a little faster and take greater strides. This in turn causes major breathlessness and a potential call for an ambulance. Well, at least for me :) So, I took my time, kept my strides shorter and really tried to focus on my breathing. The first 3 minutes were the hardest; I had to keep talking to myself, egging myself on because after 1 minute, I was ready to quit. My neighborhood is very hilly and I kept thinking that there was no way I was going to make it. But, I ended up making it around one time, then another and another. Before I knew it, 45 minutes had passed! I clocked the mileage in my car later and it was 2.1 miles! Holy Crap! I cannot believe I ran (well, really slow- jogged!) 2 hilly miles. Who am I????? I didn't used to like to even walk! I felt proud of myself for breaking that mental barrier. Now, I feel like a 5k race is within my reach. To be con't on that...

On to the food...
After my "run", I made myself an egg sammie using a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel, 1 egg white cooked with a handful of baby spinach, a slice of 2% cheese and a slice of center cut bacon. Delish! Another 3 POINT beefy breakfast winner...




I had a haircut appointment at lunchtime today, so I decided to wait until afterward to eat lunch, but, to keep my hunger in check, I had a Weight Watchers Berries and Cream Yogurt and a Kashi Fruit and Grain Raspberry Chocolate bar. A filling 3 POINT snack...


Good thing I had a snack. My appointment ran a little long and then, I had to squeeze in some errands before I got a chance to get home. When I got home, my long awaited (it's only been a week, but has seemed like an eternity!) shipment of PB2 came! YAY!!! Oh, how I've missed it! I didn't waste a minute ripping open the box and fixing up a PB2 and sugar free jam sammie on a store brand light english muffin. I slice up and apple and chowed down on this yummy 3 POINT lunch...

Since I ate so late, I really didn't want an afternoon snack. I just made some Coffee Cocoa and sipped on that while I did some housework.

My second non-scale victory came at dinner. It's Friday. It's Pizza Night. Do I avoid it like the plague? Have visions of it "falling in the toilet" -eww? No, tonight I will meet this head on! I will show this pizza who's boss! Right? Right! I had the crusts prepared, made the sauce earlier in the day, now I only had to grate the cheese. Wonderful mozzarella cheese. As I grate, some large pieces break off, too large to plop on the pizza, but too small to grate without shredding my fingers along with it. Normally, these pieces find their way right into my mouth. But, nooooo! I will not let it, tonight. I go into my handbag and grab a piece of super minty gum and pop it in my mouth. Mint + mozzarella is gross, so this worked out great!! I was able to prepare the pizza without doing major cheese damage before the pizza was even ready! Cool! When, the pizza was ready, I cut 2 small slices for myself, made a big salad for everyone and I also, threw some leftover broccoli on my plate. My plate was overflowing with food which made me happy and my eyes were already "satisfied" before I even ate the food. I loved every bite of this! I ate pizza with the family and I did it without being piggy. It was a good feeling. Also, a good 10 POINT dinner...

I can't believe I am saying this, but I could have gone without dessert again, tonight! But, I decided to eat it anyway because in my shipment of PB2 came a sample of CHOCOLATE PB2!!!!!! OMG! I had to try it immediately. I mixed it with a tsp. of fluff and topped my Deep Chocolate Vitatop with the chocoPB2/fluff icing...

Oh. my. greatness. Life is too short to not eat dessert :)

Hope everyone had a Happy Friday and had some non-scale victories of your own today!