Making It Through Day 2

I woke up to another nice morning. I was tempted to go for an outdoor run, but my ankle has been bothering me a little, so I opted for the elliptical instead. I did a weighted 35 minutes and 20 tricep dips. The weighted vest makes a big difference. I don't realize how heavy it is until I take it off! And it's only got 18 lbs. in it right now!


After the workout, I made a quick bowl of cereal: Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Fiber One, strawberries and 1/2 c. skim milk for 3 POINTS...

I was in the kitchen after that doing some "cook ahead" meals. I was in the mood for some coffee, but after I made it, I decided I would rather have something cold. I dug out the blender and made a "frappucino". I used 1/2 c. skim milk, 1 c. brewed coffee, 1 tsp. instant espresso powder, 1 tbsp. sugar free caramel syrup and lot of ice. This was definitely a big serving - like a "venti" ;) All for only 1 POINT...

Lunch was al fresco since it was so nice. I had a hummus sammie made with 2 tbsp. hummus, baby spinach, tomato and pickles on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. A sweet fuji apple and barbeque soy crisps were great sides for a 6 POINT lunch...

After lunch, we headed to the movies. The daughters each wanted to see something different, so the husband and I decided to divide and conquer. The husband and little daughter went to see Monsters vs. Aliens and big daughter and I saw The Hannah Montana Movie. I enjoyed the movie, although her "twang" seriously gets on my nerves. And once again, thanks to Disney for making yet another movie where the mother is dead! Sheesh! Anyway, there was no out of control popcorn shoveling thanks to the fact that big daughter wanted Twizzlers instead of popcorn. I'm safe with Twizzlers, so it was all good :) By the time we got home, I was ready for a snack. I went with 1 oz. Penny Sticks honey wheat pretzels and a lite string cheese for 3 POINTS...

An hour later, my stomach was growling! Seriously growling, not just "hmmm... I feel like eating something". I drank a bucket of water, but that didn't help with the growling, although it did help me stay out of the kitchen because I was spending loads of time in the bathroom!

I got dinner going before any crazy snacking could occur. I made garlic thyme chicken thighs on the grill (technically, the husband is grill master!) and sauteed kale and white beans with hearty Italian bread for the family and a slice of Trader Joe's Sprouted Flourless Wheatberry bread for me. What a delicious 7 POINT dinner...

I wasn't in the mood for a big dessert, but I still wanted a little sweet. I decided on these...

I love these little chocolate chip cookies! What I think is neat about them is that they are very crispy, but yet have not been baked! They have not been heated to more than 75 degrees which helps keep the nutrients intact. I think because of that, they can be considered a "raw food". They are made with soy protein and fruit and vegetable concentrates made up of apple, broccoli, carrot, cranberry, orange and tomato.. All I taste is sweet yumminess! A serving is 5 little cookies for 130 cal., 4 gr. fat and 3 gr. fiber which is 2 POINTS...

Perfect with a cup of tea which I did not feel like making! Just as perfect on their own :)

Well, I made it through Day 2 of my "fresh start"! My stomach is having the nerve to growl right now! I guess it got used to having tons of crappy snacks shoved into it, so now it's complaining. But, *fingers in my ears* la la la la la, I can't hear you!!!!!!!!

Going to bed to dream of ..... six pack abs =)

I'm Just Not Getting It

Everyday I wake up with all good intentions of being on track. I know what to do. I know what it takes to lose weight. I have been doing this since July 29, 2007. I haven't been perfect. I have had detours, but this particular detour that I am taking is especially long, winding and moves treacherously close to a cliff with a steep drop to fatdom come. I don't know why this is happening. Not sure why I can't wrap my brain around getting these last pounds off. I want to. I want to be a Lifetime member. But, apparently I want BROWNIES a lot more...


I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning! So terrific! I wanted to go on an outdoor run this morning, but ended up getting sidetracked with housework, so I headed to the elliptical for a weighted (18 lbs.) 30 minutes and then did 10 minutes of weights and tricep dips. Before my workout, I had a breakfast from the freezer. I found some whole wheat pumpkin blueberry pancakes that I had made a while back. Luckily, I wrapped them well, so they were in perfect eating condition. I had 2 with some low cal syrup for 2 POINTS...



Then I nibbled on some chocolate covered almonds (no pic). Mistake #1 !

Even though it was such a beautiful day, I ended up spending most of it inside :( Hate that! Did some more house cleaning, then made some lunch. I have been craving salmon again. Last time I was at the grocery store, I picked up this...

The nutritionals are great: 60 cal. and 1.5 gr. fat per serving which is 1 POINT. The bag serves 2, so even if you ate the whole thing, it's only 3 POINTS. A healthy bargain! I decided to make this into salmon salad. I mixed in a bit of onion, chopped celery, dijon mustard, 1 tbsp. lite mayo, fresh parsley and a squirt of lemon. I wish I had fresh dill - it would have been perfect in here! I served the salad on an Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bun with a side of cantaloupe and 1 oz. Penny Sticks Honey Wheat Pretzels for an AMAZING 8 POINT lunch...

I heart salmon salad...

I spent the rest of the afternoon prepping for pizza night and hanging outside with the daughters. Oh, and snacking. I kept moving back and forth from pantry to fridge. The damage was deep. Pretzel sticks, more chocolate covered almonds, lite string cheese, pepperoni. The stuff cellulite is made of. I felt my hips widening with every bite. Mistake #2.

I made a healthy pizza for dinner. Why, you say? Beats me. Dare I say, to "try to get back on the wagon"??? Yes, I will say it. Not buyin it? Yeah, me neither.

I bought some spelt flour a while ago and thought I would make pizza dough with it. Here's the recipe I used (adapted from www.recipezaar.com):

• 2 c. spelt flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. yeast
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. honey
• 2/3 c. warm water

I mixed all the ingredients in my stand mixer until a dough formed. I did need to add a bit more water to have it all come together. I thought the baking powder was a strange addition , but I did read that wheat -free crusts have a tendency to not rise very much, so I believe this may have helped along with the yeast in that department. I left the dough to rise, which it did quite a bit, then spread it into a well greased (with cooking spray) pizza pan. I always pre-bake my crusts before topping and I did with this one also. I put it in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Then, I topped it with my homemade pizza sauce, fresh baby spinach, fresh mushrooms and about 1/2 c. part skim mozzarella. I ran the pizza dough ingredients through the Recipe Builder and came up with 4 POINTS per serving (4 servings). With my toppings, 2 slices came to 8 POINTS. I served it with some salad dressed with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch for another 1 POINT...

Very filling and very delicious. I really liked the way this crust came out. It was light in texture, yet hearty enough to hold up the toppings. It had a mellow taste; lighter and a bit less bitter than whole wheat crusts come out sometimes. If you're looking for a new pizza dough recipe, give this a try! And if you're gluten-free, this is your dough!


To end my evening, I had this...

Plus another few bites of the "hard, crunchy edges" that no one wants to eat. I totally talked little daughter into making these with me. Mistake #3. I labeled it "an experiment" as I wanted to try to use up some plain nonfat yogurt in the fridge that was on it's last legs (plus I'm not a fan of plain yogurt anyway)and thought I would mix it with a box of regular brownie mix that I just happened to have lying around. This is the way to make No Pudge brownies, but I wondered if it would work for a regular brownie mix. Well, it works. They are good and fudgy. I will call them Fat Ass Brownies. I have no idea of the POINTS; I was too lazy to calculate and not inclined to think that it even mattered at this point. The husband and daughters liked them and wolfed down quite a few which is good for me. Less to look at tomorrow when I "begin again".

This up and down is exhausting me mentally. I'm not sure what to do to get my fires burning again for more than a day or two. I am heading to my WW meeting tomorrow morning; maybe that will do it. I'm hoping after I see the number from the scale on my member book, in black and white, that it will give me the wake up call I need. I peeked on my own scale today and it's not looking good. At all.

Sorry to be such a downer tonight. I know I just have to keep trying. I know I say it over and over, but I don't seem to be getting it. But, I'm going to keep doing it. Keep trying. Keep starting everyday with resolve to stay on program. Fake it til I make it =)