Shopping Escapades

What a day! I have been running around since early this morning. I had to be at big daughter's school by 7:45 for a presentation that she was giving on "Women I Admire" and she chose me! Very sweet and I was very dorky and teary the whole time. I am retaining a copy of the essay and making extra copies, laminating them and wallpapering her room with them when she turns 16. Just as a reminder for when she is banished to her room for saying, I hate you and the classic, You're soooooo mean! Not that I am expecting any of that to happen with her - she is very sweet and will remain so I'm sure. But, you always gotta have backup ;)

Anywho, I brought a Banana Date Breakfast Cookie with me since I knew I wouldn't be coming home for a long time after the presentation. A good portable 2 POINT breakfast...

After the presentation, I headed straight to one of the million stores I had on my list for the day. I needed to shop for summer clothes/bathing suits for the daughters and myself. I don't think I mentioned this yet, but we are going on a family trip to Florida and we all need updated summer things. I am thankful and happy that not many of my clothes fit from last summer. Some shirts are fine, but no bottoms fit. But for some reason, shopping was not a joyous event. I don't know what has happened to me, but I seriously dislike shopping. I KNOW! It's crazy! The only logical explanation I have is that the husband has been hypnotizing me while I sleep, chanting...you hate shopping...don't spend money...shopping is baaaad. If you knew him, you would know this could happen =] In the midst of my shopping torture, I stopped for an apple snack that I had stored in my handbag...

Two pairs of capris, a skirt, a shirt and two bathing suits(not mine) later, I was able to head home for a late lunch. I toasted a Kim's Light Bagel and topped it with baby spinach, roasted peppers and 3 sliced mini mozzarella balls. A side of carrots and a wonderfully ripe plum made up this terrific belated 5 POINT lunch...

A little later, I was feeling hungry, so I decided to have a real deal Larabar...

After making my homemade Larabar, I was interested to see how close they were in taste. I ate 1/2 which is 2 POINTS for the real deal and the homemade. Here's what the real Larabar looks like...

It was terrific and basically identical to the homemade recipe. Now seeing the real Larabar, I realized that I processed the almonds too much when I made it- there should be more chunks than when I made it. Since many of you have asked, here is the link to the recipe I used: http://www.cleaneatingonline.comhttp//www.cleaneatingonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59:larabar-recipe&catid=39:snack-recipes&Itemid=59
Awesome stuff!

Dinner was chicken mushroom stroganoff using leftover chicken from last night. I used 3 oz. chicken breast and mixed it with a mushroom thyme sauce that I made from ...
I put the mixture over 2 oz. whole wheat noodles. It was a huge portion...


add a delicious green salad ...

And it was one filling 9 POINT dinner! But, you know, I always save room for dessert even when I go shopping for bathing suits and have scarred my retinas...

I still have no bathing suit :( Can't commit. But, I DO have chocolate marshmallow frozen yogurt :)

Have a great night =)

Weigh In Day

Thursday is weigh-in day. I get a double whammy; weighing in for the BLBE2 and Weight Watchers! Thankfully, I did not disappoint my A-Teamers! I am down 2 lbs. this week (also, making up for my gain last week)! Now, what really sucks it that I missed my 70 lb. mark by .2! Can you believe that, .2???!!!! So, I'm at 69.8 lbs. lost; think I should just "round that up"???!!! That's o.k.; next week I'll make it...

I made sure to get in my workout this morning. I started with a treadmill run, but , my leg really started to pain me. I tried to push through it, but it was a weird type of pain, so I decided it wasn't worth an injury. I got off the treadmill and tried the elliptical instead. No pain, so I stayed on that for 30 minutes. I followed that up with Level 1 Shred. You know it!! Shred Count - 23 days left!!! I had some baggy sweatpants on and noticed that during the jumping jacks, my thighs were "clapping", too. Eewww, gross :( More shredding is needed...

So, breakfast was a la car because fine dining is not allowed in my WW meeting :) I had a Banana Date Breakfast Cookie and an apple for 3 POINTS...



Lunch was a falafel salad for 4 POINTS...

For a snack, I decided to try one of these Kellogg's Fiber Plus Bars. I have been hesitant to try these because I have had, um... issues, with the Fiber One Bars and they have been banned from my home due to noxious fumes :) These Kellogg's Bars, however, did not have the same effect on me, thankfully. These are very "candy bar-ish" tasting, which isn't a bad thing, but I kinda wondered if they might be a trigger for more sugary treats the rest of the afternoon. I seemed to escape the perils today. Anywho, these bars are 120 cal, 4 gr. fat and 9 gr. fiber (2 POINTS)...

I also, munched on a handful of big daughter's chips, so I counted 3 POINTS for those cuz they were the "real deal"!

It was a rush home night due to little daughter's dance class, so dinner was breakfast! The husband and daughters had eggs, bagels, hashbrowns, bacon and they did manage to choke down a couple of carrots with this cholesterol fest. I have been jonesing for pasta lately, so I made 2 oz. whole wheat cappellini, added some sauteed mushrooms and roasted pepper and "sauced" it with some eggplant dip that I made the other day. I topped it with a bit of chopped parsley and 1 tsp. parmesan. What an awesome combo!!! A wonderful 6 POINT dinner...

Bet you can't guess what my dessert was!!! Yeah, yeah... lovely Vitatops! I changed it up a bit for you though; I had a Triple Chocolate Chunk Vitatop with 2 tbsp. fat-free Cool Whip and 2 sliced strawberries (thanks for the idea, Mom!)...

Mmmmm....good to the last crumb!

A couple quick NSV's today : I made double chocolate chip cookies this morning for big daughter's class and didn't eat any; I made cupcakes for husband and daughters tonight - picked at one -eating half - counted it - threw the rest away; I wrote down every morsel today; I filled my jug with water and drank it all.

Goal for next week: To not sabotage myself - I want to hit that damn 70 lb. mark!!!

Duct Tape

I need duct tape. Not for a household project -for my mouth. I need to tape it up with the strongest duct tape so that I will not allow anymore junk to find it's way into my mouth. I know it sounds extreme, but I think it will work! Okay, it's not realistic, but I am really having a hard time and I don't know of a way to get out of this overeating pattern. Every morning I wake up with the right intentions, but I head in the wrong direction from afternoon to evening. I need to snap out of this! I am kinda mad at myself for giving in to the whole "oh, it's a holiday - just enjoy yourself" hype because it clearly is something I cannot handle at this time. I don't just "get right back on the wagon". I chase after the wagon for weeks as it is doing the Indy 500 in front of me and I can't catch up with it!! So, maybe I am not ready to NOT be in weight loss mode. I need to stay as focused as I can so that I don't completely go off into "never never want to be there again "land. Well, let's get to the food - there sure was a lot of it...



Lunch today was a white bean, roasted pepper and spinach wrap. I used 2 tbsp. white bean dip, roasted peppers, a handful of baby spinach in a La Tortilla Factory Smart and Delicious Tortilla. I had the usual sides of grapes and Kettle Baked Potato Chips...







But this was not enough. I also had to eat all the crusts cut off from little daughter's PB&J and two handfuls of pretzel sticks.

Snack time was not a mountain of brownies that I wanted very badly. I decided on a brownie substitute...

I crumbled the Chocolate Brownie Clif Z Bar over 1/2 c. plain yogurt sweetened with a little Splenda...

This was a really tasty snack and pretty filling. I will definitely have this again.

I'm not completely sure, but I do think I grabbed a chocolate or two after this. Isn't that sad? I was in an eating trance!

My in-laws came for dinner tonight and I put out most of our leftovers to eat. They had lasagne and I made a baked penne with some leftover whole wheat penne, part skim ricotta and some reduced fat mozzarella. I also had a salad with oil and vinegar and a slice of some reeeally good rustic bread. I think I said I wasn't going to buy this bread again, but "whoot, there it is"...

I ended up having another piece and a half, PLUS some of little daughter's crusts. Wait, there's more. I picked on some more of the pasta and I had 2 of my Gram's deep fried veggies (she makes them every Christmas Eve). Sorry no pics. I think then I can pretend I never ate them!

But, WAIT, there's more...

and sad to say, more chocolate followed:(

I am ready for bed now, however I am probably so sugared up that I won't sleep right. I hope to snap out of this eating. I feel terrible mentally and physically, but it's almost like I can't stop myself. It's getting to the point where nothing is really looking that appetizing, but I am just compelled to eat it. I don't know. I need some "divine intervention" soon!!!! Or duct tape, whichever comes first...