Let’s Try This Again

Pouring rain.  That was the sound of the morning.  It looked like the day was going to be a total washout:(  I wasn’t up for bike riding in a torrential downpour, so I decided to do a 10 minute Pilates workout that I found on Sparkpeople.  I definitely felt the burn;  I am really enjoying adding in this new form of exercise!

Breakfast started off with a nice cuppa Teeccino….

We bought limited groceries since we were here for just the weekend, so my choices were eggs and bagels.  I opted for both and made a bagel sammie using half a bagel, 1 egg white and reduced fat cheddar cheese…

Yum!  That held me over for most of the morning. 

Finally, the skies shifted and the rain dried up!  I took the opportunity to hop on my bike for a quick 20 minute ride before lunch.

We decided to try packing lunch and going to the pool again.  The husband and daughters rushed over to the pool and I made up the picnic lunch.  I had a lovely crabcake waiting for me in the fridge, so I decided to eat my fancy lunch before heading to the pool…

Look at how big this guy was…

and filled with all crab…

I ate it “lettuce wrap” style with some deliciously sweet homegrown tomatoes on the side.  Then finished with a nectarine topped with a ray of light…

Hooray for sun!!!!  We were so thankful for the sun to join us while we swam at the pool!

We were famished by dinner time and decided on Chinese takeout for an easy dinner.  This gets a little tough for me;  Chinese food doesn’t usually fill me for long and I try my best to stay away from all the fried dishes.  But, I was in the mood to try something that I don’t normally order , so I “branched out” and got the Shrimp Lo Mein…

It was so good!  I paired it with a non-Chinese dish – baby arugula, romaine and tomato salad.  Gotta get in the extra veggies!

I couldn’t help having another forkful or two of Lo Mein…

A while later,  chanting started… ice cream, ice cream, ice cream…

We stopped in a new ice cream place that serves gelato.  Oh no.  There is no way to resist the creamy goodness of gelato.  I made sure to choose the most “screaming with calories” flavor…Chocolate Raspberry Brownie….

To. Die. For.

Okay, I’ll be honest here, I am sucking horribly this week at intuitive eating and leaving the dieting mentality behind.  I have guilted the bejesus out of myself for the past week and am having a really hard time listening to my body’s satiety cues.  I realize that being in tune with yourself takes so much practice.  It is very hard to let myself go and trust myself.  I really need to be focused with this approach;  it is not something that comes natural to me.  At all.  I’m a little scared, too.  I’m scared of the scale and what it’s going to say when I get on it next.  I’m scared of food and what eating “the wrong things” or “more than I should” will do to my weight loss efforts.  I’m scared to dig deeper and figure out exactly why I eat the way I do and why I feel the need to comfort myself, in a variety of situations,  with food.  I feel like I’ve ventured into a sort of “food addiction” rehab.  I think it’s worth the work;  I’m just scared of what happens during the detox period…

Hope you all are having a glorious Saturday!

Question of the Day…  What is your favorite Chinese takeout dish?

The Last Hurrah

Happy Friday!  I am posting from the shore again;  the daughters insisted on coming one last time before school starts.  Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating :( 

This morning we woke up to cloudy skies…

Then the rains came.  When it let up, I took the opportunity to go out for a bike ride…

On the way back, the rain started up again :(  I made it back, mildly soggy, and started on some breakfast:  1/2 bagel with whipped cream cheese and a nectarine…

And a cup of…………….

Don’t worry!  I didn’t cave in to the coffee, although I have reeeaaally wanted to!  After doing some research, I found an alternative.  It’s called Teeccino and it’s touted as an herbal coffee…

It’s actually not made from coffee beans at all.  It’s made from organic carob, organic barley, organic dates, organic chicory, almonds and organic figs.  Neat mix, right?  I actually found this at my local Giant supermarket in the natural foods section.  I was excited to try it;  so I brewed some up this morning.  It is brewed just like coffee which is also cool since it allows you to continue the “morning ritual”!  The verdict:  I really liked it!  It does resemble a mild roast coffee flavor.  I was only able to find the Hazelnut flavor in my market which was okay, but I think I’d really enjoy the Java flavor which may resemble coffee even more.  So far, I’m sold!

Breakfast didn’t hang around very long and I was feeling hungry by 11:00 am.  Too early for lunch, so I had a few almonds to tide me over…

The rains cleared out a bit, so we planned on having a beach picnic for lunch.  I started packing up sandwiches.  Mine was avocado, tomato, baby arugula on whole wheat pane bread…

As we were heading out the door, the skies turned gray again!  We decided against the beach and had our picnic by the pool instead.  I added some whole grain tortilla chips to my lunch, first a handful, then a few more…

Thunder rudely interrupted lunch, so we went back home.  I finished lunch with a juicy nectarine…

After playing some card games, we ventured out into the rain for an ice cream break.  I tried out No Sugar Added Moose Tracks…delish…

More rain, more games.  Then, it was time for dinner.  We had a pizza and sushi night!  Those things don’t necessarily go together, but it was good!  I went with a few pieces of sushi (with wasabi – yum!), a small piece of pizza and salad…

I tried another piece of sushi and noshed on more crust…

I finished off the night with a small slice of chocolate cake…

And 5 more games of Sequence of which I won NADA!

I definitely did a lot more eating than I really wanted to today.  I think being stuck in the house just left me like a bottomless pit!  I’m trying not to feel guilty and just move on.  It’s a hard habit to break…

I’m hoping for clear skies tomorrow and looking forward to a good long bike ride!!  I hope Mother Nature gets my memo :)

Have a great night, everyone!