Fun In The Sun

What a gorgeous day! The weather is so perfect; I'm really enjoying this summer :) I woke up feeling "normal" with no dizziness, so I was looking forward to my long run. It was great! I was able to crank out an hour and felt strong the whole time; no need to pep-talk myself through it.


I was starving after that and couldn't wait to eat breakfast. I went for another Quinoa Cranberry Bran Muffin and a sliced white nectarine for 3 POINTS...


It was too nice of a day to do anything other than swim! The daughters and I packed up lunches and headed over to my parents' pool to swim.

Lunch was a poolside picnic. I packed a salmon and egg salad wrap, carrots and some sweet watermelon for 6 POINTS...

We swam for another 3 hours! I tried to do some laps. Again, try being the operative word- no swim team for me anytime soon :( I also did walking laps back and forth in chest level water for about an hour total, and a few sets of bicep curls with the pool dumbell weights.

All that exercise called for a snack. More watermelon for 1 POINT...

I finally dragged the daughters out of the water and headed home. I planned on a quick pasta dinner for them, but decided to make a frittata for myself using 1 egg, 2 egg whites and leftover roasted potatoes with green beans for 6 POINTS...

I couldn't resist a piece of baguette on the table (2 POINTS)...

I was in the mood for chocolate for dessert, so I had a 1/2 c. serving of Breyers Fat Free Double Churn French Chocolate Ice Cream with a Hershey's Extra Dark with Pomegranate(the BEST!) crumbled on top for 2 POINTS...

That sure hit the spot!

Now, for the best news of the day. I paid a visit to the scale this morning. I wasn't going to. Remember HERE when I decided that summer would be maintenance and I wasn't going to worry about counting perfectly? Well, getting on the scale this morning showed a 3 lb. loss from my last weigh-in! I was so psyched to see that number back again. I have been doing my best to continue to make healthy choices and I do count POINTS when I can, but don't worry if I'm out somewhere. So far, so good! I think taking that stress off myself for the summer has made it easier. I'm just not thinking about losing constantly. I know I will eat this way for the rest of my life, so in a way, nothing has changed except for the pressure I put on myself to get to goal and be a "perfect" Weight Watcher. Now, I'm just doing what I can do and hopefully, it will get me to where I want to be. Whenever that may be. And I'm totally okay with that :)

Have a great night!

Water Works

I woke up ready to go this morning! I put on the kicks and headed right to the treadmill. I got in another strong 40 minute run. I was wondering if I would be feeling strong running 2 days in a row and it seemed to work out. I like when I don't feel like my feet are dragging through the whole run. I'd like to push myself into an hour long run once a week to see if I can increase my endurance. Baby steps right now....

I didn't feel like much breakfast after that, so I just had a Quinoa Cranberry Bran Muffin with a 1/2 tsp. smear of light butter for 3 POINTS...


I liked these even better today. They are definitely a hearty muffin with lots of texture. The cranberries are a great addition along with the hint of cinnamon. The husband "forgot" to try them this morning, so no review from him. Maybe, I can talk him into a guest review tomorrow!


After breakfast, the daughters and I donned our bathing suits, packed a lunch and headed to swim at my parents' pool. The water was perfect for me - 82 degrees! We splashed around a little, then got out to eat our lunch. It was PB+J all the way around! I made mine with 2 tbsp. PB2 and 1 tsp. jelly on Arnold Whole Grain White. Alongside, I had 1 cup of Trader Joe's Organic Lentil Soup and some watermelon. It was a satisfying 6 POINT lunch...

After lunch (no, we did not wait an hour!), we got back in the pool and did lots of exercise. I did some pool weight lifting (biceps and triceps), jogging and leg exercises. I also tried to swim a couple of laps which are so hard because I am not Dana Torres, but even my lame way is a great cardio workout!


When we came home, I started on dinner. But first, I needed a snack...

White nectarines are so good this time of year! I also grabbed a string cheese and a cracker, but made sure to stop there. Whew, it was a close one, though.

I planned on grilled lean burgers for dinner. I decided to go bunless (don't I wish) and just topped my burger with a slice of Asiago cheese, ketchup and a couple pickles. I made roasted potatoes with green beans for a side. It was a flavorful 9 POINT dinner...

I almost didn't have dessert. Almost. I'm pretty sure I could have gone without it, but I think it's another habit I have created. I'll need to work on that one. Baby steps :) After all, what would life be like without dessert?! This little harmless scoop of Breyers Fat Free Double Churn French Chocolate topped with some sliced almonds and a teensy squirt of chocolate syrup surely can't be all that bad.... it's only 3 little POINTS :)

I'm off to get in my 10 minute strength routine. Hope everyone had an easy Monday!

It's Sunday Already?

I can't believe how the weeks and especially the weekends are flying by! I didn't have time to post yesterday because of the fantastic Luau party we went to and let's just say, I'm not too sad about not taking food pics while I was there. It was a food fest like you've never seen and I "tried" to make some healthy choices, but there was definitely some baked brie and one too many brownies that landed on my plate or just right into my mouth. It was a good time and for once, I am feeling no guilt about what I ate. Maybe because I woke up and got right back on track without giving it a second thought. I think I finally realize that overeating on a regular basis isn't my "norm" anymore. I don't like it. I can't do it all the time. I enjoy my healthy eating plan and I begin to crave it when I stray a little. Wow, could I finally be getting this? If so, it's a good feeling and gives me hope that long term maintenance might not be so scary after all...





I felt a bit tired this morning, but really wanted to get in a run. I wasn't able to do it yesterday because I had some weird dizzy spell that put me back to bed for a couple of hours. I felt a lot better this morning, so I hit the treadmill. After 5 minutes, I wanted to quit. I just wasn't feeling it, but I kept talking myself out of quitting and before I knew it, I was 40 minutes into my run and felt like I could have kept running for an hour! Running really is a mind game!





After my run, I had a great breakfast of 1/2 c. Trader Joe's Nonfat Greek Yogurt, 1/2 c. mixed fresh berries (stolen from the party!) and a crumbled Quaker Blueberry Muffin Bar for 4 POINTS...




Breakfast held me over fairly well, but at the first sign of a grumble, I got to making lunch. I have been wanting to use this for a while...



The whole package is barely 3 POINTS (click pic to enlarge)...


I decided to make Salmon and Egg Salad...

• 1 packet of salmon
• 2 hard boiled egg whites, chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped celery
• 1/8 c. diced red onion
• 2 tbsp. Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil
• s + p
  
  

I served it in a Weight Watcher Whole Wheat Pita with some spring mix along with some Sea Salt and Pepper Rice Chips and Rainier cherries. A filling 7 POINT lunch...

Later in the afternoon, I felt like doing some baking. I wanted to use up some of the cooked quinoa that I had in the fridge and after doing some research on the internet, I put together a recipe for quinoa muffins...

Quinoa Cranberry Bran Muffins

• 2 c. quinoa, cooked
• 1/4 c. applesauce, unsweetened
• 3/4 c. skim milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. brown sugar, unpacked
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 c. oat bran, dry
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 c. dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a large bowl, mix first 6 ingredients (quinoa through vanilla) until well combined.
3. In another bowl, combine oat bran, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
4. Add dry ingredients to quinoa mixture stirring until fully incorporated.
5. Mix in dried cranberries.
6. Fill muffin cups to the top with batter (about a heaping 1/4 c. per muffin cup).
7. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and store in a tight container or plastic zip bag.

Makes 12 muffins. Each muffin is 134 calories, 2 grams fat, 3 grams fiber, 5 grams protein. (* I calculated nutritional information using www.calorieking.com).

I thought this would be a unique way to use up some of the quinoa that I had cooked for breakfast the other day! These are some hearty muffins...

Of course I had to try one for a snack! Only 2 POINTS and also a nice dose of potassium (234 mg.) and calcium (78 mg.)...

Although, I tried to chase the husband and daughters around the yard to taste my healthy muffins, they weren't going for it. The husband did want to "save" them for his breakfast tomorrow, so I'll let you know if they passed the pain in the *ss picky eater test ;)

I decided to be nice and not torture them with a healthy dinner. They requested Flatbread Pizza again and I agreed. I made plain for them (can we expand our horizons a little, people that live here????) and I decided to mix mine up a bit. I made a whole wheat crust using the ever easy Quick Flatbread Dough recipe, rolled it out and topped it two ways...

• 1 tsp. garlic oil
• sliced tomato
• 1 oz. part skim mozzarella
• fresh basil, shredded

and...

• 1 tsp. garlic oil
• 1/4 c. sliced roasted pepper and onion
• 1 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
• 3 Kalamata olives, sliced
• fresh basil, shredded

The tomato/mozzarella half came to 7 POINTS and the pepper/goat cheese half came to 9 POINTS...

I had a slice of each and a side salad ...

and I couldn't resist another slice which made for a 12 POINT dinner...

I was full, but later wanted a cold one...

A fruit bar that is! These Trader Joe's Mango and Cream Fruit Bars are a great 1 POINT treat.

I'm doing the Sunday night wind down. Hope you all had a terrific weekend =)