Life Is Like A Bag Of Chocolates

Hey guys!  I’m a little off my blogging schedule – not enough hours in the day, ya know?  I’m faltering with my “to-do list”!  I started off great but, I got side-tracked with other things and now my list is a mile long again.  Pffft!!

The morning began with the growl of my stomach.  That is one annoying alarm clock ;P  Breakfast was definitely in order before gyming it.  I munched down a Thomas’ Light Multigrain English Muffin with homemade almond butter and a pear…

Almond butter is so good.  And sooo hard to control!  I could eat gobs of it, but I have to keep reminding myself:  A serving is 2 tbsp., a serving is 2 tbsp.  Yes, I chant this as I spread it :)  I have received some requests for this recipe, so here it is…

Homemade Almond Butter

• 1 cup whole almonds, roasted
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. olive oil (not extra virgin)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place almonds on a baking sheet and roast for 7-10 minutes. Watch closely to not burn.
2. Place nuts in food processor and pulse until nuts are fully chopped.  Add salt, honey and oil.
3. Continue to process until creamy;  this may take 5-7 minutes.
4. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.
5. Try not to eat the whole thing.
6. Good luck with that :)

Then, I drug myself to the gym.  I know that’s not a word, but it is when you don’t want to go to the gym.  Drug is way worse than dragged ;P  I usually like the gym, but since I’m restricted to the recumbent bike  til this dizziness goes away, I’m less than thrilled.  For some reason, the bike just doesn’t do it for me.  It’s boring and I don’t feel like I’m doing much of anything  for a workout.  I did try to pump up the resistance, which definitely was a challenge, but it’s still just “meh” to me.  Maybe, I’ll learn to like it??

I was ready for lunch after my non-exciting gym experience.  I couldn’t wait to get some food.  It was one of THOSE days.  Lunch was a Health is Wealth Chicken Free Patty on a deli flat with guacamole, chopped tomatoes and spinach.  Some soy crisps and carrots filled up the rest of my plate…

But not the rest of my stomach!!!  No, really my stomach was full, but my brain did not get that memo.  It was too focused on these Halloween candies…

My favorite…

A close second…

What I thought I should have instead…

What I did have… all of the above.  And CHEEZ-ITS!  I hate those friggers!

Dinner, as if I needed it, was a delicious bowl of Cheesy Polenta with mushrooms and asparagus…

I used this Polenta recipe from Everyday Food …

 

It was a beautiful thing.  So is chocolate.  I know it so well :)

ONE GOOD THING:  I did not eat 105 pieces of chocolate :D

Question of the Day:  What is your favorite exercise machine at the gym/home?

Weigh In Day

Thursday is weigh-in day. I get a double whammy; weighing in for the BLBE2 and Weight Watchers! Thankfully, I did not disappoint my A-Teamers! I am down 2 lbs. this week (also, making up for my gain last week)! Now, what really sucks it that I missed my 70 lb. mark by .2! Can you believe that, .2???!!!! So, I'm at 69.8 lbs. lost; think I should just "round that up"???!!! That's o.k.; next week I'll make it...

I made sure to get in my workout this morning. I started with a treadmill run, but , my leg really started to pain me. I tried to push through it, but it was a weird type of pain, so I decided it wasn't worth an injury. I got off the treadmill and tried the elliptical instead. No pain, so I stayed on that for 30 minutes. I followed that up with Level 1 Shred. You know it!! Shred Count - 23 days left!!! I had some baggy sweatpants on and noticed that during the jumping jacks, my thighs were "clapping", too. Eewww, gross :( More shredding is needed...

So, breakfast was a la car because fine dining is not allowed in my WW meeting :) I had a Banana Date Breakfast Cookie and an apple for 3 POINTS...



Lunch was a falafel salad for 4 POINTS...

For a snack, I decided to try one of these Kellogg's Fiber Plus Bars. I have been hesitant to try these because I have had, um... issues, with the Fiber One Bars and they have been banned from my home due to noxious fumes :) These Kellogg's Bars, however, did not have the same effect on me, thankfully. These are very "candy bar-ish" tasting, which isn't a bad thing, but I kinda wondered if they might be a trigger for more sugary treats the rest of the afternoon. I seemed to escape the perils today. Anywho, these bars are 120 cal, 4 gr. fat and 9 gr. fiber (2 POINTS)...

I also, munched on a handful of big daughter's chips, so I counted 3 POINTS for those cuz they were the "real deal"!

It was a rush home night due to little daughter's dance class, so dinner was breakfast! The husband and daughters had eggs, bagels, hashbrowns, bacon and they did manage to choke down a couple of carrots with this cholesterol fest. I have been jonesing for pasta lately, so I made 2 oz. whole wheat cappellini, added some sauteed mushrooms and roasted pepper and "sauced" it with some eggplant dip that I made the other day. I topped it with a bit of chopped parsley and 1 tsp. parmesan. What an awesome combo!!! A wonderful 6 POINT dinner...

Bet you can't guess what my dessert was!!! Yeah, yeah... lovely Vitatops! I changed it up a bit for you though; I had a Triple Chocolate Chunk Vitatop with 2 tbsp. fat-free Cool Whip and 2 sliced strawberries (thanks for the idea, Mom!)...

Mmmmm....good to the last crumb!

A couple quick NSV's today : I made double chocolate chip cookies this morning for big daughter's class and didn't eat any; I made cupcakes for husband and daughters tonight - picked at one -eating half - counted it - threw the rest away; I wrote down every morsel today; I filled my jug with water and drank it all.

Goal for next week: To not sabotage myself - I want to hit that damn 70 lb. mark!!!

Lotsa Fruits and Veggies!

Yay, the sun came out today! Still bitter cold, though. I felt so thankful for my basement exercise equipment as I headed to workout knowing that I didn't have to brave the cold to get my sweat on! I opted for the elliptical today instead of another 5K. I think my knees appreciated the break!



For breakfast, I tried the "beef it up" experiment to see if it might make a difference in my afternoon munchies. I was kinda stumped as to what to have. I don't like to spend more than 3 POINTS, so my choices are a bit limited. I decided to not pick a breakfast-type item and went with 2 oz. ham, 1 Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and a handful of baby spinach on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. Delish! I loved it and it stuck with me until lunch...







I had major grocery shopping on my agenda today. My first stop every week is always a produce store. They have a massive selection of fruits and vegetables. They bag mostly everything and you just ask at the counter for the items you would like, so the only downside is that you are not "hand picking" your items. Every once in a while, I get a bad apple or something, but generally everything is awesome and dirt cheap. Here's a look at my loot...





That's red leaf lettuce, celery, strawberries, 2 dozen eggs, 3 bags carrots, large navel oranges, green seedless grapes, golden delicious apples, gala apples, tons of plum tomatoes, sweet potatoes. parsley and broccoli. This abundant crop was only $23.00!!!! Can you believe it?? It would have been almost double if I bought all this at the regular grocery store. Now, who says eating healthy is too expensive!



Then, I was off to the grocery store for everything else. I perused the natural foods aisle while there and found this...

It's a dry falafel mix that just needs water added to form delicious falafel patties. If you're not familiar with falafel, click here for a description. I thought this would be a great lunch, so I made up the patties and cooked them under the broiler. Falafels are traditionally deep fried, but the broiler is obviously the healthier choice! Although, the package states there are 8 servings per container, I got 13 patties which came to 80 cal., 1.2 gr. fat and 3 gr. fiber per patty. That is 1 POINT per patty or 3 POINTS for 2 patties. These falafels are generally served in a pita which is soooo amazing, but I forgot to get some at the store. So instead, I made a Falafel Salad with 2 patties, lots of red leaf lettuce and chopped tomatoes. For dressing, I happened to have some tzaziki dip (cucumber yogurt dip) which is perfect with falafel. I used 2 tbsp. (35 cal. = 1 POINT) of the dip thinned with a splash of fat free milk and drizzled it over the salad...

This was AMAZING!!!! I will definitely have this again! Mmmm.... for 4 POINTS!! Even though this was filling, I felt like something sweet afterward. I cut up one of those huge navel oranges and munched on that, too...

The rest of my afternoon was spent helping with homework and cutting up vegetables! When they are prepped, it's easier to want to eat them, right?!

It was just the daughters and myself for dinner tonight. They campaigned for breakfast for dinner which was fine by me! I decided on the same for myself. Another food find that I got at the store today was these Weight Watchers Petite Bagels for 1 POINT!

I haven't been able to get the Western Alternative Bagels at my local supermarket. They stopped carrying them for some reason and I really don't want to spend the bucks to order directly from the company. I do miss my 1 POINT bagels :( So, when I saw these, I thought they may be a good fill-in, even though they are a bit smaller. Well, actually they weren't as tiny as I thought; here's a visual...

So my dinner was an egg white omelette with mushrooms, onions, baby spinach and Laughing Cow Light Cheese, a "petite" bagel with 2 tbsp. hummus and 2 orange slices. A delicious 6 POINT brinner...

Okay, one last "new" food find. I got these guys today, too (um... for the kids)...

CHOCOLATE frosted mini wheats??!!!!! Yeah, I can't pass that up. Oh, and I had a coupon, so it was meant to be! One serving is 52 biscuits. Who the heck is going to count out 52 biscuits??? Life's too short. I use a scale to weigh almost everything I put in my mouth, so this would be no exception. If you do the same, 52 biscuits = 55 grams. This serving size comes out to 200 cal., 2 gr. fat and 6 gr. fiber = 3 POINTS. A little on the "pointy" side, but a half serving (26 biscuits for you counters) is only 1 POINT. Makes a yummy topping for some yogurt...

And that was my dessert! I love those little guys. Nice and chocolatey.

Well, this was a super long post but, I do want to say that I think the "beefy" (or should I say "piggy") breakfast was a score! In case you didn't notice, I ended up not having an afternoon snack!!! I did have a cup of coffee and for today, that was enough to take me to dinner! Works for me! I'll take all the non-supersnacky days I can get!

Gonna finish watching the Biggest Loser; have a great night :)

Yucky

I know I already established that I feel pudgy, but now I'm adding yucky. Yucky and pudgy. I think it's the weather, which is also yucky. Okay, time to snap out of it!

My lunch was not yucky; it was YUMMY! Yucky weather = soup; soup= sammie. I had a delish grilled cheese, spinach and bacon!! Really easy- just a slice of 2 % cheese, handful of baby spinach and a slice of center cut bacon cooked in the micro (gets a lot of the fat out this way) between 2 slices of light seedless rye -spritzed and grilled. My soup was the Trader Joes Creamy Tomato. My cup runneth over...


I was munchie again today. I have been picking all day. Little bites of this and that; I didn't even keep track. The pudge will continue I guess. In an effort to clamp down on this picking, I decided to have a real snack. I picked popcorn for its volume factor...


Dinner was "heat and eat"again. Remember this dinner?? I had made my own "frozen dinner" with leftovers from the other week. I nuked it and ate it right out of the container! Laaaaazy!

I still feel like eating. I grabbed these Hostess 100 calorie Strawberry Cakes to nibble while I am posting...

Goal for tomorrow -

Do not feel pudgy AND yucky at the same time :1