They Say It’s Your Birthday

Hey everyone!  Hope you all had a great weekend :)  I had a really nice birthday and relaxing weekend with the family!

My birthday started off with a 3 mile run in glorious weather, then a cup of fall – Pumpkin Spice coffee…

in my “meanie” mom cup :)

When it’s your birthday, you have to have cake for breakfast!  No?  Oh, it’s just my rule I guess!  I made a Chocolate Brownie Cake Yogurt bowl using plain yogurt, crumbled Lucky Chocolate Cake (tastes like a brownie!) and chopped walnuts.  Yum in a bowl…

Part of my birthday wishes for the day included a visit to our church to help organize and pack up Thanksgiving food baskets for needy families.  I asked the husband and daughters to participate with me and we got the job done in no time!  Along with other helpers, we packed up close to 60 boxes filled with canned goods, pasta, cornbread mixes, stuffing , juices and desserts…

I was pretty hungry when we got back, but didn’t want to eat a huge lunch knowing that much more “birthday food” was to come later.  I opted for turkey and cheese on a Pepperidge Farm Deli Flat and some carrots…

Later in the afternoon, we headed to my parents’ house for my birthday dinner.  Mom started us off with proscuitto wrapped breadsticks…

Shrimp cocktail…

I had both…

Then, the hot appetizers came out :  mini crabcakes, raspberry and brie in phyllo, lobster tarts and scallops wrapped in bacon.  I tried not to go too crazy and plated a few…

But, ended up digging in to those x2!

After that settled, we sat down at the beautifully set table…

and began with a first course of Rigatoni with Bolognese Sauce…

I don’t drink often, but decided to indulge in a little vino…

Are you full, yet?  I was, but wait, there’s more!!!

The main course was served family-style and included all my favorite dishes :  Veal Valdostana, broccoli with garlic, marinated portabella mushrooms, salad and crusty rolls.  I filled my plate with tastes of it all…

The veal was delicious…

I ate my piece, but left almost half of everything else because I was stuffed!  That and I needed to save room for CAKE!!!!

And my MIL’s famous Pumpkin Squares…

I had a half piece of both!

I opened gifts (Mom got me a fun new exercise gadget – I’ll display that tomorrow!) and we called it a night.  The husband rolled me out to the car like Violet from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory…

I need juicing immediately!

Have a great day, everyone :)

ONE GOOD THING:  I was able to get in a good run before the eating marathon!

Another 5K Day!

I woke up this morning with all good intentions of trying out my treadmill 5K for the second day. I headed to the treadmill and about 14 min. into the run, I began having second thoughts! It's funny how your mind can really mess with you. I was coming up with all kinds of excuses as to why I didn't need to do a 5K run for another day in a row! Finally, I got in a groove (and something interesting came on the TV), so I pushed myself to finish it! I even beat my time from yesterday by 40 seconds! Just goes to show the power of the mind and unfortunately, mine likes to talk me into things(like wolfing down tons of snacks -more on that later) or shall I say out of things(like staying on program- again, more on that later).



So after this wonderful run in the scenic basement of my home, I decided to have cereal for breakfast. I love these Barbara's Bakery Puffins. A 3/4 c. serving is 90 cal., 1 gr. fat and 5 gr. fiber which comes to 1 POINT....







Instead of going with milk, I used them to top 1/2c. plain yogurt with 4 sliced strawberries...

For lunch, I decided to have a "redo" of my meal the other day. I browned a Spinach, Fontina and Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage, served it on a light hot dog bun. This time, I filled my plate with apple slices and a serving of Sea Salt and Pepper Rice Chips for a filling 7 POINT lunch...

This afternoon was spent hanging out with little daughter (big daughter was at a friend's house). We played games, Wii Fit and read. Then I made a snack that I haven't had in a long time - cheesecake pudding!

I love instant pudding; it really is ready in an instant! Which is essential for someone like me who lacks the virtue of patience. I topped my cheesecake pudding with a few slices of banana and 1/4 graham cracker crumbled. I know you're probably thinking, can't this girl eat ANYTHING plain???

That was really good, by the way. Kinda like a banana cream pie. It was filling for only 2.5 POINTS. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "it should've been enough, but it wasn't". Much of the remainder of the afternoon was spent snacking. Heavily. Which is probably how I will feel tomorrow. I don't know why I kept snacking. I actually was having conversations with myself that could be likened to a tennis match: back and forth, back and forth. I talked myself into eating stuff, then talked myself out, closing packages and pantry doors. Then in again, then out. WTF???? Pardon my potty mouth. But, as I always conclude...move on...NEXT!

Hi, I'm back! Yes, feeling better - back on track. Don't worry I'm not Sybil. Just feeling veklempt and had to regroup. Soooooo, on to dinner. We had some leftover roast beef from the freezer and along with that, I made a butternut squash puree and some crinkle potatoes...

I topped off the night with dessert. I know, I can hear the tsk, tsk from here, but I was still in the mood for the sweets. I had a serving of Breyers Fat Free Double Churned Caramel Swirl Ice Cream and a WW peanut butter cookie...

I feel full. Kinda sickish. As I sit here writing this post, my muffin top that's coming out of my jeans now feels more like a donut. Eeewww. What's a girl to do? Another 5K day tomorrow, you say??? Well, okay =(

I Won!

Not the lottery, unfortunately. But, this win was pretty good! Kristi at Healthy Living was having a fun Ghiradelli Chocolate Giveaway. You had to guess how many pieces of chocolate she had in her bag and I got the closest guess! I was so excited; I never seem to win anything, so this was cool! And it's CHOCOLATE!! Now, not eating them with be the hard part...



I am going for Day 2 of eating right. I started off this morning with Power Pumpkin Pancakes with a little low calorie syrup and some strawberries(5 oz.) with a dollop of plain nonfat yogurt(no Cool Whip!)...





Yummy and filling. If the midmorning hungries come, my plan is to stop by Starbucks for a Cafe Misto that fellow blogger, Kristi at Healthy Living told me about, also. Thanks, Kristi!! It just might save me from eating the wrong things, so that I have more room for your CHOCOLATE!!!

Long List

I made a long to-do list for today. I'm trying to get organized and part of my agenda today includes finishing up Christmas cards and taking inventory of the daughters' unwanted/unplayed with toys so that I can give them to Goodwill. We'll see how that goes!



A low key breakfast was in order this morning. I don't know why I haven't had much appetite in the morning. I need that to be the case in the afternoon when I really like to munch! Anyway, I decided to get in my dairy requirement with 1 cup of plain nonfat yogurt (I do use a little Splenda in this, I can't stomach it plain), some sliced banana and 1/4 c. of my cinnamon granola...



The banana was nice and sweet. A tasty combo.

Time to "organize"; be back later...