You Spin Me Right Round

I can’t stop singing that dopey 80’s tune.  But, it pretty well describes my morning.  I was still having vertigo issues and the medicine I took the night before made me drowsy to boot.  I actually went back to bed for a bit in the morning, too.  Don’t like that feeling, but I had to do it.  Anyway, I finally felt decent enough to make breakfast.  I went with Chobani nonfat yogurt sweetened with NuStevia and topped with strawberry syrup, pomegranate arils and granola crumbs…

Really good!  I loved the crunchy addition of the pomegranate arils (aka seeds!).  This is the season for pomegranates and I picked one up at the supermarket the other day along with a cool brochure from the POM people with instructions on how to open one.  I have always just hacked away at it, but now I know the “proper way” to open this beautiful guy…

and you can, too…

It worked perfectly and I got many more arils, especially non-butchered ones, than when I just hacked away at it –LOL!

I slowly worked on some house cleaning, then realized that I was starving and ready for lunch.  When I’m like that, the first thing that jumps at me is what I choose.  Today, leftover pizza was the winner…

With some awesome cantaloupe and grapes.  Hmmm… I miss summer:(

I spent some time doing research on my vertigo diagnosis.  I love doing research (it’s the old paralegal in me) and I love the easy access to all info via the Internet.  It’s so easy to come up with questions for doctors when you have info at your fingertips!  Anywho, what I found was a bit disheartening.  Without getting into a bunch of medical mumbo jumbo, I basically found that there  is no specific, guaranteed  cause or treatment for Benign Positional Vertigo.  The general treatment is a series of exercises or maneuvers that the doctor performs to help move debris from your inner ear to a less sensitive place within your head.  Many of these exercises I can do as a home treatment.  So, I decided that I would try to do these and see if it would rectify the situation.  There is a decent success rate with doing these, however, BPV may reoccur.  But, I’m willing to try it so as not to have to take any medication (Antivert) which, oddly enough, has a side effect of possible dizziness!!!  Huh???  The disappointing part is that while doing these maneuvers, I have to be careful not to put myself in a position that’s counterproductive to moving the debris – no leaning too far back or flat, no bending over with head down, no sports activities involving lying flat (weight bench, yoga, pilates) or too much jostling of the head (RUNNING!!) and I need to sleep propped up on pillows for a bit.  For now, running is out.  Major bummer since I was all juiced up to start racking up my mileage :(  But, if I’m going to lead a “healthy” lifestyle, I have to do ALL the things needed to keep me healthy which includes paying attention to my body’s needs.  So, I may be benched for now, but hopefully not for long!

I felt a little frustrated after my research session and I took it out on myself by eating!!  Aaaah!  I made up some homemade almond butter…

and ate a whole lot of it!  Then I snacked on most of these guys…

and there may have been a few Cheez-Its involved, too.  Moving on…

I finished off the whole shebang with a hearty, carby bowl of Creamy Bowties with Asparagus…

made with Chavrie goat cheese, parmesan and a bit of milk.  YUM!

Have a great day, everyone!!!

Fridays Are For Dates + Pizza

I love Fridays!  I love them even more when the husband is off from work and the daughters have school.  Instant date time with no sitter required !  Our big date plan was to go for a walk together.  I know, we’re really wild and crazy ;P 

I made sure to get in some breakfast, but one that wouldn’t be too heavy.  Yogurt sounded good this morning, so I went with some plain nonfat Chobani with fresh strawberry “syrup”.  I topped it with some granola crumbs.  It was really good…

Because I was using the plain yogurt, I decided to sweeten it with a packet of NuNaturals NuStevia that I received a while back…

  Now, I have to say that in my quest to reduce the amount of artificial sweeteners (especially Splenda), I have tried stevia as a sweetener in my coffee/tea.  One word –blech.  I wanted to like it, but I couldn’t get past the bitter aftertaste.  The NuNaturals product claimed to be non-bitter, so I was interested to see if that was the case.  I used about half a packet in my yogurt this morning and it was great!  No strange aftertaste and just the right amount of sweetness.  I think with stevia, less is more and you do need to play around with the amounts to get the level of sweetness that you like.  For me, half the packet was perfect.  I’m looking forward to trying it out in some coffee or tea and see if it still holds the non-bitter claim.  Also, Ron at NuNaturals was kind enough to send me quite a few of their products to try out which included baking blends and extracts…

Might make for some good sugar-free holiday treats!  Thanks, Ron:)

After the daughters were off to school, the husband and I set out on our walking date.  With the dog :)  We walked at a good pace for about 50 minutes and 3.5 miles.  It was a beautiful morning!

On the way home, I had a craving for coffee, so we stopped for a small Pumpkin Latte Lite…

I can’t believe I’m saying this, buuuuut, I think this was better than Starbucks!  Gasp!

Lunch was a fiber powerhouse – Mixed Bean Melt and a pear the size of my head…

The Mixed Bean Melt…

• Joseph’s Lavash Bread 
• 1/2 c. pinto beans, mashed
• 1/4 c. chick peas, mashed
• 1 Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge
• handful of baby spinach – you know I put it in everything

Spread beans and cheese on one half of the Lavash.  Add spinach and fold over.  Spray skillet with nonstick spray.  Cook until browned on both sides and warmed through.

Very filling…

As always in this house, Fridays are pizza night!  I usually make our pizzas and alternate between making my own dough and using Trader Joe’s pre-made dough.  I have fooled around with my own dough recipe quite a bit, trying to tweak it and get it just right.  I’m always open to new recipes and when I saw Biz had a No Rise Pizza Dough that’s ready in 5 minutes, I jumped all over it!  I doubled the recipe to get two pizzas and actually ended up making 2 and a small one for me.  For my pizza, I used Trader Joe’s Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade for the sauce, added some baby bella mushrooms, Chavrie goat cheese and a tiny sprinkle of mozzarella…

It was fab!  I ate quite a bit of it along with a side salad of arugula dressed with evoo, red wine vinegar and a shaving of parmesan…

Now, that’s a pizza!

ONE GOOD THING:  I indulged in pizza tonight.  Guilt free.  That hasn’t happened in a loooooong time :)

Happy weekend, everyone!

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!

I'm Not A Tea-totaler

Yay for the sun! I woke up to bright skies for a change which was a terrific feeling! I got up and starting getting ready for a fun day. I didn't make time for exercise this morning, so I officially called this a day off. And boy, was it. It could also be called "The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted". You know where this is going...


I got myself and the daughters ready and headed out to pick up my mother-in-law for a fun treat. Before we left, I had an Apple Pie Larabar for 4 POINTS...


That was the last of the counting. Weight Watchers??? Huh?? Do I do that program??


I picked up my mother-in-law and we all set out to a neat tea room in our area. I have been wanting to take my MIL for a while, so we were finally able to make it here for a belated Mother's Day treat...

We started with some oyster crackers with horseradish...

Both daughters and MIL decided on the Afternoon Tea which included varied tea sandwiches (chicken salad, egg salad, cream cheese and olive, and hummus and cucumber!), mini carrot cake bites, chocolate cake, marble cake and petit fours, and blueberrry, cranberry and butter pecan scones with lemon curd, cream and preserves. All this was served with a large pot of tea for the table. Of all the sandwiches, the hummus and cucumber was the favorite! Funny, I had that same thing yesterday! Now, the daughters want to have it for their next lunch! Who knew?? It was such a delicious spread...

I bucked the system and went with iced tea. It was blueberry mango and it was amazing...


I also decided to forgo the Afternoon Tea (although I had many bites of everything) and ordered from the lunch menu. I chose the Signature Wrap which was a medley of veggies studded with cheddar cheese in a tomato basil tortilla. It was served with a side salad (all locally grown ingredients) and raspberry vinagrette dressing...

The four girls had a great time of eating and chatting in this quaint little place (big daughter was the photographer)...

After that we took a walk through a Veteran's Museum, then headed home. I invited my in-laws to come over for dinner, so they joined us later for pizza. I decided to indulge again, since I am whooping it up today! I had a slice of pizza (plus 2 crusts from the daughters leftovers) and green salad with evoo and vinegar. Mmm...mmmm...

No big dessert tonight, but I did dig into some chocolate covered raisins and a cookie which I downed too fast to take a picture.

I am soooo off program right now. I'm not sure why I'm not caring so much either. Maybe because I know I can't or don't want to do this "free eating" for very long. I have to say that I don't feel very awesome. I'm kinda bloated and feel really groggy/tired. Must be my blood sugar bouncing all over the place. Anyway, it was fun while it lasted... ;)

Healthy Eats

I was striving for healthy eats today. I think the junk foods trigger me to grab for more, so I'm going to try to focus on as much whole foods as possible. It will take some time, I love my junk and have a house full of it that I don't want to waste. Little by little, hopefully I can get to eating a "clean" diet most of the time. We'll see how it goes! You know I love to try these experiments in eating!

Breakfast was 1/2 c. Fiber One and 1/2 c. skim milk topped with 8 strawberries. I also had a mangled hard boiled egg white. I hate when the shell doesn't want to come off! A filling 3 POINT breakfast...


While I was eating this, I thought for a minute that the milk had gone bad. I had just bought this the other date and it didn't expire until April, but it didn't taste right to me. I had the husband taste it, too. Why do we ask someone to taste something when we think it's bad??? It's that weird? Who wants to taste something bad? But, the husband tried it and said it was perfectly fine. I don't know why it tasted weird to me; maybe I'm used to Almond Breeze now.


I had a hair appointment at lunchtime and some errands to run after, so I ate lunch a little early. I was excited to try these new Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Burger Buns...

They are huge and so hearty! One bun is 170 cal., 1.5 gr. fat, 6 gr. fiber and 9 gr. protein which comes in at 3 POINTS. I went with a Boca Bruschetta Tomato Basil Parmesan Veggie Patty and 1 tbsp. lite mozzarella to go on the hearty bun. I had just enough time for a side of carrots before heading out the door. A yummy 5 POINT lunch...

Lots of cleaning went on around this filthy house this afternoon. It feels so good to have things in order... for 25 seconds. The daughters came home from school. Snack crumbs and spilled drinks found their way back to the floor. Oh well, I tried. After re-cleaning some stuff, I stopped for a snack of 2 small plums for 1 POINT....

Pretty good, eh??? Fruit for a snack. Just fruit. No crunch = no munch. Could this be the secret to keeping from munching away in the afternoon???

And it was pizza for dinner tonight. I had originally planned on making pasta for myself, but it got too late and I was beginning to get a little too hungry. I decided to go with the pizza and a big salad of endive, escarole and radicchio dressed with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar and a drizzle of honey. I took my time eating tonight, trying to really enjoy everything on my plate. I found that one slice and the salad was enough to feel satisified. It was a great 9 POINT dinner...

After more cleaning, I'm calling it a night! I'm posting this while getting a fabulous new hairstyle by little daughter who is VERY rough and yanking out many of my hairs. Hopefully she will get some of the gray ones. YIKES! Ouch, I'm thinking she does not have a future in the world of cosmetology ;) I am also enjoying this Banana Date Breakfast Cookie for 2 POINTS...

Mmmm...works for me! Gotta go "tip" my hairstylist. Have a great night:)

The Grind

Back to the grind this morning! I was up at 6 a.m., got big daughter off to school and headed to the basement for my normal elliptical workout. I was able to pull off 40 min. before little daughter needed to get ready for school. Breakfast was a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel with PB2 , a tsp. of Smucker's Sugar Free Grape Jam and 1/2 an apple for 3 POINTS...


After breakfast, I headed out to meet my friend, Rosemary for coffee. We meet up every couple months at the same place; we drink coffee and solve all the world's problems! I had a super-sized coffee with 1/2 c. skim milk for 1 POINT....

Rosemary had decaf because she is preggers!!!!! Yay!!! So excited; can't wait to meet the little guy...

After solving all the world's problems (in only an hour - we should get jobs at the White House!), I ran some errands and headed home for lunch. It was late and I was starving!!! A hazardous combo, but I was able to get lunch quick enough before any picking started. I made a hummus, roasted pepper and spinach sandwich using 2 tbsp. hummus, 1/2 roasted red pepper and handful of baby spinach on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. I had a side of carrots and a serving of pretzel sticks to go with it. A crunchy 5 POINT lunch...

Believe it or not, I had no time for a snack this afternoon! I was all over the universe, shipping daughters from one place to the next. Their social life is much more exciting than mine! So sad :( I rushed home to get dinner together, which was.... you guessed it, Pizza! I wasn't quite sure whether or not I would tempt fate and eat pizza or just go with my own dinner. It got so late, I decided to give it a whirl again. I was able to survive last week's Pizza Night and since I didn't eat a snack today, I had plenty of POINTS to play with for dinner. I followed the same plan as last week: chew gum during cheese grating, have a good slice (this week was thicker crust, so I had one big slice instead of two small), have a big salad with it on the plate and - my newest addition- get the husband to wrap up the leftovers!!!! That way there is no picking. From start to finish! It was awesome! Pizza was yummy, salad was great and it was plenty satisfying for 9 POINTS...

After dinner clean-up, I decided to Shred it up! Dare I say, I am addicted to this now?? Am I crazy?? Addicted to quads so sore, I can barely get up or walk up and down the steps without ooohing and aaaahing? Addicted to my stomach being so sore that when I laugh, I want to cry? So bizarre that I feel the strong urge to continue to torture myself in this fashion. If I belonged to a gym, I may be able to call myself a "gym rat"! Scary ;)

When you Shred, you need to eat dessert. Okay, Jillian doesn't tell you that, but I think after she has kicked your butt all over your living room floor, you should be allowed to eat whatever dessert you want! Counterproductive, you say? Yeah, I guess you're right. But, after that beating, I decided to reward myself with a big berry dessert! I used a Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt and topped it with 3 sliced strawberries, 1/4 c. blueberries, 1/2 Kashi Raspberry Chocolate Fruit and Grain Bar crumbled and a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip (3 POINTS)...

That wasn't too dangerous, see?!

Hope everyone had a great Friday! It's going to be a tricky eating time since it's Superbowl this weekend! What are your plans for staying on healthy eating turf?