Ride On

Finally!!!! Some sun! We woke up to a beautiful morning. The husband and I decided to ride bikes to go get some bagels for the morning's breakfast. It was a nice 2 mile ride in the sun! While everyone chowed down on giant bagels, I made my cereal bowl of 3/4 c. Puffins, 1/2 c. Almond Breeze and strawberries for 3 POINTS...



After breakfast, I took another 2 mile bike ride to return a movie. I am loving this bike riding! I was thinking during my ride how nice it would be to live in a little town where you could ride your bike everywhere. I would have one of those cruiser-type bikes with a cute wicker basket on the front. I might even wear a big hat with a giant flower on the front! LOL!


Before heading to the pool for the afternoon, I made an easy lunch of leftover roasted chicken breast with lettuce and a half slice of cheese on a small whole wheat roll. I had more carrots and pineapple to go with it. A quick 5 POINT lunch...

We spent the afternoon swimming in the toasty pool. I love heated pools! I took the opportunity to do more pool exercises (about 40 min.) and then goofed around with the husband and daughters in the pool. It was a great time!


We headed home late in the afternoon and I was starving! I dug into some pretzel sticks...

and some Annie's Cheddar Bunnies...

Mom and Gram made another wonderful dinner tonight. I was feeling hungry, but I mentally prepared myself before sitting down. I took a few minutes to "talk to myself" and figure out what my game plan was going to be. I thought about exactly how I wanted my plate to look with the prepared food and told myself to stick with my plan. My plate looked just like it did in my mind...

I enjoyed every bit, passed on the bread, and put my silverware on my dish and pushed myself back from the table when I was finished. I was still engaged in the table conversation, but wasn't tempted to add more food to my plate. I felt good about that =)

And after dinner, guess what I did?? Big daughter and I went for another 2.5 mile bike ride! I'm a ridin' fool today! When we got back, I dug into a bowl of Breyer's Fat Free Vanilla Ice Cream topped with about 1/4 c. freeze dried blueberries and a squirt of Hershey's Special Dark syrup for 3 POINTS...

Another day of sun is on tap for tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to some beach lounging! See you tomorrow; have a great night!!!

Best Laid Plans

I had all intentions of starting off anew by attending my Weight Watchers meeting this morning, but little daughter got a cold so, I kept her home from school to rest. I didn't let that stop me. The sun was shining and I felt happy and excited to get "back to basics" today. I got out my tracker (whenever I go to my meeting, I grab a few extra just in case I can't get there for a while), put the date in and kept it out the whole day so that I could journal everything I ate.


The first entry was a breakfast of Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin topped with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light Cheese and 1/2 c. fresh pineapple. I had a robust cuppa joe with Silk Soy Creamer to go with it. A 4 POINT fresh start...

Oh, and I should have started out by saying that you may notice my pics look a little different. My camera was involved in a fatal freak accident this morning! I had it on my upstairs console table in the hallway and the husband came out of his office, threw a box on the table which knocked my camera off. The camera fell onto the carpet then bounced up in the air and through the spindles of the banister and fell to the first floor! May it rest in peace :( It surely wasn't the greatest quality camera, but it's done me well enough for the time that I've had it. I had been thinking of getting a new one, but it was an unneccesary expense...until now. So, I'm in the market for a new camera, but until then, I will be using little daughter's Kodak Easy Share! At least it's got 8 MP and I have to say that it seemed to do a much better job with close-ups than my old guy. I do notice that the picture lighting isn't the greatest, but I'll have to make due for the time being.

Lunch was a Buffalo Turkey Burger on an Arnold Sandwich Thin with lettuce and 1 tsp. Marie's Chunky Lite Blue Cheese Dressing. Along with it, I had 2 crunch, 1 sweet (trying to cover all my bases of possible munchie cravings); 1/2 oz. Penny Sticks Honey Wheat Pretzels (I love these which may be a problem:), strawberries and yes, Mom - carrots! A terrific 6 POINT lunch...

It was such a beautiful day so I got little daughter out for a tiny walk in the neighborhood and went to visit a neighbor for a bit. She was tired so we didn't stay out very long. After big daughter came home from school, we were all ready for a snack. I decided to try out the Blueberry Oikos Nonfat Greek Yogurt that Kristina from Stonyfield Farm sent me...

I topped it with 1/2 c. Kashi Go Lean Crunch for a yummy 3 POINTS...

I have to say that I LOVED the Blueberry flavor!! It was definitely sweeter than the Vanilla and had quite a few tiny blueberries in it. I realized that I am not a fan of plain unsweetened yogurt. I think it's an acquired taste, and I HAVE TRIED, but it's not for me. I need the sweetness to fully enjoy it. This Blueberry flavor fits the bill! Now, I'm looking forward to trying the Honey flavor (if I can find it - haven't seen it yet)!

Dinner was heat and eat tonight. I have lots of leftover Easter ham, so I heated that and served it with leftover Gram's green beans and mashed potatoes (Diner's Choice Brand). My plate came to 6 POINTS...

And for the grand finale, a Chocolate Skinny Cow for 2 POINTS...


This was a good day! I decided I wasn't going to think so much about exactly what I'm eating. By that I mean, I'm not going to drive myself crazy with making sure that I'm only eating "clean" foods (though I think I prefer them now) or worrying that I might be eating too many bread-type items, chips or even dessert! I'm just going to do my best to get in my Healthy Guidelines, stick to my Target POINTS and eat whatever I'm craving while doing all this. It worked when I first began this journey and I think it will work for getting me over this hump and to goal. I am regaining that same enthusiam as when I first started. I put up some "visual aids" (pics of women with rockin , but attainable bods) in various areas of the house - mirrors, refrigerator, etc. to help me keep my goal in the forefront of my mind. It's a soft porn convention around here! The husband is thrilled =) Hey, whatever works ; p

Sweet Treats

Happy Valentine's Day! A day of love, romance and.....CHOCOLATE! The husband was so sweet to give me these beauties instead ...

So lovely and will last much longer than chocolate would ;) The daughters got some goodies and lots of chocolate, but *eyes closed* I have no idea where that chocolate is!

Well, today I decided to not do my 5K Saturday. I wrestled with myself on this, but I have been having issues with my right foot (planter fasciitis is acting up) and I thought it would be better to give it a rest. I still did the Shred - only 14 days left! I hope to make up the run tomorrow - it'll be 5 K Sunday instead! A question for all you runners out there: how often do you run? Is it bad to run everyday? Do you vary the duration of your runs? Okay, that was 3 questions! I'd appreciate any feedback on that since I'm new at this!

After shredding, I made a Thomas' Light English Muffin with PB2 and a tsp. Smucker's Sugar Free Grape Jam. I had a bowl of sweet strawberries to go with it. A satisfying 3 POINT breakfast...
For lunch, I went with some leftovers. A little different from my normal lunches. I thought I'd see if this was any more satisfying for me than my traditional lunch. I had a serving of leftover turkey meatloaf, asparagus and 1/3 c. of israeli couscous for 8 POINTS...

Like dinner for lunch! What do I call that...dunch or dinch??!! I don't know, I'll just call it good -even the second time around!

Now, I have been thinking about trying to eliminate my afternoon snack. If I try to eat according to my body's needs, then most days I notice I don't really "need" a snack, but I eat one for fear that I will be ravenous by dinner and eat the house down. So, the past couple days, I haven't felt hungry in the afternoon and I have been foregoing the snack. It was okay. I was able to wait for dinner and didn't feel the need to overeat. However, today I became hungry around 4 p.m. and since we had big daughter's basketball game late, I knew I wouldn't make it until dinner which would be around 6:30-6:45. I decided to have 2 hardboiled egg whites and a lite string cheese for 2 POINTS...

Guess what? Then this triggered the munchies! I had a handful of pretzel sticks...

and a handful of TJ's Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips, 3 small chocolates (I opened my eyes!) and a handful of M&M's. I used my Weekly Allowance POINTS for all that, so I'm o.k., but that was an interesting experiment! I think it may be better for me to avoid an afternoon snack because it seems like when I do lately, it's a snowball effect. I think I will make a goal this week to not snack in the afternoon and see how that works out. I will make sure I eat a bigger breakfast and lunch to get the calories I need. I'm keeping dessert though! We'll see how this goes...


When we got home from big daughter's game (they won - YAY!), I rushed to get dinner on the table. I made the husband and daughters some gnocchi with marinara sauce and a side of broccoli. I decided to have a Salmon Roulette and a side of broccoli for 4 POINTS...

I also made another fancy drink with the POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice.

This time, I mixed 2 oz. juice with some Sprite Zero. Very refreshing!

Valentine's Day would not be complete without these decadent chocolate covered strawberries. I decided to count them as 3 POINTS since one was a bit bigger than last night's...

I'm off to snuggle with my honeys tonight! Hope everyone had a sweet day!!!!!!

The Pursuit Of Saltiness

I craved the saltiest food today! This TOM is really a pain; literally. I felt like a blob this morning and too tired/achy to do my exercise. I knew I would need to find a way to do it later because I need to burn some of the calories from yesterday's sabotage snacking! I may have sabotaged myself this week, but I AIN'T quittin'!!!! There is a show of progress; my former self would have quit trying to eat healthy after binging like that. I would have felt defeated. But, I have come too far now, so no quitting. Onward!

For breakfast, I wanted to try one of these new (to me) Vitatops...



I love corn muffins, so I was excited to try these. I can't say they really taste like a corn muffin. I think they are more on the "wheaty" side, but still taste good, especially for 1 POINT! With my Golden Corn Vitatop, I made an egg white omelette with a handful of baby spinach. I let loose with the salt shaker ,too! It was more like a salt omelette with egg white!!! eeewww - but, it tasted really good to me today...


I finally dragged myself out of the house to do some grocery shopping. I was starving when I got home and I fixed a quick lunch while putting the food away. I looked for the saltiest things I could find. I went with a bowl of Tabatchnik Vegetable Soup, a Dietz and Watson Gourmet Lite Beef Hot Dog on a light bun with mustard and dill relish and a serving of crunchy, super salty pretzel sticks!!! Salt, salt and more salt!! I am probably going to weigh 14 lbs. more tomorrow with all this salt!!!! But, boy did it taste goooood! All for 5 POINTS...

I felt like something sweet afterward, so I had a Weight Watchers Peanut Butter Cookie for 1 POINT...

I tried to have something with a little more protein for snack to get me to dinner without an oversnacking incident. I went with a hard-boiled egg white (with salt!!), light string cheese and half an orange...

The husband and daughters had an early dinner tonight, due to big daughters basketball practice. While they were eating some leftovers, I put on my sneakers and headed to the basement for a treadmill run/walk. My Dad gave me a Polar heart rate monitor that he is no longer using and I have been excited to try it! I put it on (it's a chest strap and a wrist watch) and watched my heart go! I decided to run and walk to get more of a high intensity interval-type workout. It was good, but quick. I clocked out in about 30 minutes because I had to tend to little daughter, but I'm glad I fit it in.

I made myself a heat and eat dinner of this...

I know, more salt! I try not to eat frozen dinners because of this, but I had this in the freezer and thought I should use it up. Glad I did; it was awesome! I don't usually say that of Lean Cuisine dinners, but this one is a keeper. It is parmesan crusted fish with penne pasta, veggies and a tomato sauce. The fish was delicious and moist with a crispy coating and the pasta was al dente and had a nice flavor. I would definitely buy this again! I paired it with a salad dressed with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch. A yummy 7 Point meal...

I bought a boat load of berries at the store today, so I made a Berry Sundae for dessert. I used a serving of sugar-free, fat-free cheesecake pudding topped with 5 oz. sliced strawberries, 1/2 c. blueberries and a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip. YUMMMMMM!

I'm glad I was able to regroup today. Part of that was just eating whatever I was craving (hence, all the salty stuff) instead of eating what I thought would be a better or more well-rounded choice. There's always tomorrow for that.....

=)

Progress Not Perfection

Progress, not perfection. Hmmm, that's the realization I have come to with regards to my eating habits. I have come a long way in the past 17 months. I have lost 68 lbs., I exercise every day and I eat well. Now that I am in the home stretch, I think I am feeling anxious to get to goal and transition into the maintenance phase of life. From the start of this journey, my motto was "doesn't matter how long it takes", but it seems that I am no longer feeling that way and almost have a sense of urgency to finally get to goal. I thought about it a lot today and I am trying to readjust my thinking to take one day at a time. I also realize that I tend to look at my meals individually and so, when I go off track a little or overeat at a meal or snack, I believe that eradicates all the other good meals I had! When I look back at my Tracker, sometimes it's not as bad as I thought. Somewhere along the way, I began to think that losing this weight means that I will alway eat "perfectly" or else the weight will come back. I know that's crazy. No one is going to have a "perfect" menu every day and it's the cumulative meals that matter. So, that's where I'm at today. Okay, enough psycho-babble and on to the food!

Breakfast was (after a great 45 min. interval elliptical workout!) a toasted Arnold Sandwich Thin with PB2 and some coffee...


I went with a ginormous salad for lunch today! I used lots of lettuce, leftover roasted carrots, cucumber, a Health is Wealth Chicken Free Patty sliced on top and 2 tbsp. Kraft Light Three Cheese Dressing. No chips today, but I did have a sundried tomato and garlic roll on the side (that's the blob on the right of the plate!)...


A ridiculously big lunch for 7 Points! I was full for sure!

I sat down to a nice snack while helping little daughter with homework. I had some grapes, a half serving of pretzel sticks and a pumpkin choco-chip cookie. A sweet and salty snack for 3 Points...

Dinner was a heat and eat - all from the freezer. I had a Salmon Roulette from Trader Joe's, some mixed veggies in cheese sauce and another sundried tomato and garlic roll, all for 8 Points...

I finished the night with some tea and 2 more pumpkin choco-chip cookies for 2 Points...

* just a note on the cookies- I liked them so much better today. I stored them in a plastic baggie and they became really moist, almost like little muffins or cakes. Very yummy!

I'm so excited to watch the start of The Biggest Loser tonight, so I'm gonna sign off and head to TVland! Have a great night!!!

Bye Bye Christmas

See ya Christmas. Later. Don't let the door hit ya! That's how I felt today as I was putting away all things Christmas. It was a great holiday season, but I am ready to put it all behind me (unfortunately a lot of it ended up ON my behind) and start anew! Getting on the scale this morning did help me with this new found motivation I have today! Not a pretty number:(



I was so busy helping little daughter clean her room this morning that I "forgot to eat" breakfast. Okay, that phrase could never be part of my vocabulary, so in all honesty, I just didn't want to stop what I was doing to eat something. Weird for me. No, I don't have an extremely high delusion-causing fever! When we finished cleaning I noticed it was pretty close to lunch, so I decided to just go with a slice of apple cranberry bread to tide me over...







When lunchtime rolled around, I decided to go with something different - pasta! I don't usually eat pasta at lunch. I fear it won't hold me through the day, but today I gave it a try. I used 2 oz. of Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne and topped it with 1/2c. of leftover black eyed pea salad from New Years lunch. I also sprinkled 2 tbsp. grated parmesan over it. Oh my greatness, this was so delish and only came to 6 Points...




Suprisingly, it held me over pretty well. I was busy putting away the Christmas decorations and cleaning, so I'm sure that helped, too. When all was done and put away, I sat down to a lovely snack of sliced pear, Lighthouse Reduced Sugar Caramel Dip and a 1/2 serving of pretzel sticks...

Now I'm off to catch up on some reading. See ya!

Uneventful

Hi Everyone! It's been an uneventful, but busy day hanging around the house (if that makes sense??). I got in a good run on the treadmill this morning. I went a little harder than I normally do on a Sunday, but I felt inspired by my conversations with Katie on Friday nite. I really want to try to run a 5K race sometime in the spring. I have to start practicing running outdoors. We'll see. Anyway, my food today was uneventful also. Nothing creative or overly exciting(hope I don't bore you!). Just some good eats.


This morning I had a ham, egg and cheese sandwich. I used some ham, 1 egg white, a slice of 2 % cheese and a Thomas' Light English Muffin. Really tasty and better for you than Mickey D's...





For lunch, I made a veggie wrap using 2 tbsp. of hummus, some shredded carrots and a handful of baby spinach rolled in a La Tortilla Factory Smart and Delicious Tortilla. Have I told you how much I love this hummus? I know, you're bored. Sorry! (but... it's great!!!!) Along with the wrap, I had a serving of pretzel sticks and a sliced plum. All this goodness for only 6 Points...

No time for a snack this afternoon. I was a cleaning banshee; finished all the bathrooms, did some wash, cleaned kitchen and floors. Somewhere between bathrooms and wash, I made a roasted chicken and some baked potatoes for dinner. I had 4 oz. of the roasted chicken, a small baked potato with some Green Giant Broccoli with Cheese piled on and a sprinkle of 2 % cheddar . I had some spinach left over from last night, so I ate that, too...

Dinner was 9 Points tonight and very filling. I didn't want much in the way of dessert; I never say that, but I guess I really did have some "filling" Momentum- type foods. I made a cup of decaf coffee with skim milk and then decided to add a Gingersnap. It was just enough...

I am so happy with what I accomplished around the house today. I feel like I have a head start on the week ahead. Hopefully, I'll keep my lead... =)

In The Car

I have been in the car off and on all day. It's been crazy! I think I have been in one spot maybe a combined total of 2 hours for the whole day. It was getting close to dinner and I was getting a little hungry, but dinner was going to be later because of running the daughters to activities. I decided to eat a snack anyway that way I wouldn't be too ravenous at dinner. I had some pretzel sticks and 1 oz. Cabot 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese...





Dinner had to be quick and simple tonight. It was just little daughter and me; big daughter and the husband were at a PIZZA party. Little daughter wanted breakfast for dinner so, I decided on the same. For me, I made a three egg white omelette with a handful of baby spinach, sauteed mushrooms and 1 oz. goat cheese. I also had a Western Alternative Bagel with 1/2 tbsp. light butter. Satisfying 5 Point dinner...

I had plenty of Points left for a big dessert. Instead of going for something too crazy(like Halloween candy- yes, we still have some!!) and potentially dangerous, I decided to apply what I learned in my meeting today about choosing healthy, filling foods. I made a Banana Strawberry Trifle using 1 slice Whole Grain Banana Bread, sliced banana, Fiber One Strawberry Yogurt and a bit of Cool Whip Free...

Well, it sure was filling and I guess it should be for 5 Points! I am really full. Hey, maybe those Weight Watchers people know what they're talking about after all.... :)

No Luck

I spent a little too much time getting ready to go to the luncheon, so there was no time for a snack. I was hoping there would be a healthy choice offered at the lunch, but no such luck. The luncheon was set up buffet style and here were the offerings...

• Cream of Mushroom Soup
• Caesar Salad drenched in dressing (can you see it???)
• Tricolor Rotini with Chicken and Spinach
• Beef Chili with Taco Chips and Cheese

And for the kids

• Chicken Fingers and Curly Fries

UGH!!!! This was a tough situation, but what do you do?? Not eat, say screw it and eat whatever you want or just take little bites of everything even though nothing seemed worth it? Well, here's what I did...

I figured the salad and pasta would be the lesser of all evils. I really only had a few bites of the salad, a pasta or two and ate all the bits of chicken and greens. I filled up on Diet Coke!! I had 3 - I'll probably be up all night now since I can't handle too much caffeine. I hate when I have to eat stuff that I don't really want. I didn't think it would be good manners to refuse to eat any of the evil food and I know I wouldn't last until I got home. So that's the best I could do. What do you think you would have done? Post a comment and let me know!



Obviously, I was so happy to get home to have a snack! Jeez, sounds like I'm afraid to starve to death! LOL! It's highly unlikely of course, but days like this sometimes come back to bite me in the you know what. If I'm not feeling satisfied with what I've eaten, the munchies come to get me.



So, my snack was lots of chomping and a little protein. That means pretzel sticks and 1 oz. Cabot's 75% Reduced Fat Cheese...


I feel good; this should hold me til dinner (I think!).

Fill 'er Up

I am like a gas guzzling car lately. I just want to keep eating up a storm. I was surprised that the Egg and Cheese Potato Skins stuck with me as well as they did. They were pretty filling.

For lunch, I decided I needed something with a lot of flavor. I had some club rolls, so I made my Converted Cuban again. I really like this sandwich; so tasty. I had some carrots and a serving of pretzel sticks(my new "chip alternative"). There was lots of crunching going on...


Hope all that mouth moving will keep me satisfied today!!