WANT Power

I'm driven by WANT power today! Well, that and all of your amazing encouraging comments! Thank you so much for your kind words; it really does keep me going :) I hope that article gave some of you an extra boost, too and insight into, perhaps, a missing piece of this weight loss journey that we are on.

I'm excited about trying out this new POINT tracking experiment. It was strange, though, to put this morning's breakfast on last night's tracking day! I woke up hungry, too, which doesn't normally happen, but I decided to push off breakfast until I got in my workout. I did a 35 minute weighted stint on the elliptical, then got to making some eats. I went with 3 scrambled egg whites with a slice of 2% cheese and 1 tbsp. salsa and a half serving of TJ's Multigrain Savory Thins for 3 POINTS...


I don't think I've mentioned these before. They are a tasty cracker! Basically a rice chip with added grains and seeds....


A full serving is 17 crackers and only 2 POINTS! I just went with 8 crackers this morning, which was plenty...

A little later, I fed my Frap addiction with a homemade Caramel Lite Frap made with coffee. 3 tbsp. fat free half and half, 2 tbsp. sugar free caramel syrup and lots of ice. Good stuff and this one's only 1 POINT...

For lunch, I made another version of turkey burgers - Ranch Turkey Burgers! For these, I used

• 20 oz. ground turkey breast
• 4 tbsp. Light Ranch Dressing (I use Kraft Light Three Cheese Dressing)
• 1 tsp. Hidden Valley Ranch Dry Mix ( packet)
• 1/4 c. chopped scallions

1. Mix ingredients and shape into 6 burgers.
2. Cook about 4 minutes per side.

I ran this through the Etools Recipe Builder and came up with 3 POINTS per burger. I grilled mine and served it on a honey wheat bun with lettuce and pickles. It was great! The key to turkey burgers is to NOT overcook them; otherwise they get all dried out. But, these were cooked just right and had a nice flavor to them. I served it with 1 cup cherries and 1/2 c. leftover barbecue bean salad. A filling 8 POINT lunch...

Later in the afternoon, I felt like having a snack. I decided on a filling snack of High Fiber O's, 1/2 c. nonfat greek yogurt and 1 tbsp. dried cranberries for 3 POINTS...

Dinner was heat and eat. I'm trying to dwindle down the freezer stash! I decided on 2 TJ's stirfry veggie eggrolls and a bowl of Tabatchnick Vegetable Soup for 5 POINTS...

It was just right! I WANTed to fit in dessert :) It's okay; I had the POINTS, but I kept it simple. Just a plain, old Deep Chocolate Vitatop with no accoutrements for 1 POINT...

And it was just fine and hit the spot ;)

Now, I still have 4 POINTS left for breakfast tomorrow! For some reason this little mind game/tweaking helped out today. It's new and different. Also, I like the fact that I feel like I am eating quite a bit of food, yet I go to bed knowing that I still have POINTS left for the morning. It's all robbing peter to pay paul, so to speak, but hey, it's something different. When I look at my day, I'm just tacking on a couple more POINTS to lunch and taking them away from dinner. But, I think it may be a better way to eat overall anyway. Many Europeans eat this way, too with their largest meals being eaten midday and lighter in the a.m. and late evening. My parents eat that way when they visit Italy every year and come home having lost weight despite large multicourse midday meals. And you know, French women don't get fat ;P Well, until they come to America and eat at Mickey D's.

So, the experiment continues! But, danger lurkes at my nephew's graduation party tomorrow evening :0

I will keep reminding myself : I'VE GOT THE POWER!!!

Have a great night =)

Here's Johnny

I'm starting to feel a little like Jack Nicholson in The Shining; cooped up and going stir crazy! I have not crashed through any doors, saying, "here's Johnny", but it was getting close! A little too much togetherness with little daughter, plus she's feeling better, so she was extra nudgy :) In honor of her "last day" home, I made her breakfast in (my) bed. I sat next to her with my breakfast of 3 scrambled egg whites topped with fresh salsa and 1 oz. lite mozzarella and a toasted Thomas' Light English Muffin; all for 3 POINTS...

We did some schoolwork after eating and I got in some laundry. Before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I found something new for me at the grocery store that I have been wanting to try...

I found these store brand Soy Crisps on the shelf with the rice cake-type items which was probably the right place as that would be exactly how I would describe them. I chose the cheddar flavor which I liked; it was a mild cheddar, not too overpowering. They also came in a ranch and barbeque flavor which sound good, too! A serving of Soy Crisps is about 19 chips and come in at 120 cal., 3 gr. fat, 2 gr. fiber and 7 gr. protein! They are transfat free and cholesterol free, too! A great "chip alternative" for only 2 POINTS!

Along with the Soy Crisps, I made a white bean hummus melt which was inspired by Cooking With Anne , a wonderful blogger who amazed me with her "from scratch" cooking and food budgeting skills for a family of 9! My version of this open faced sammie was made with 2 tbsp. of my homemade white bean hummus spread on a Weight Watchers Pita and topped with sliced tomato and 1 oz. Cabot's 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar and run under the broiler to melt the cheese. I had a sliced apple to round out this yummy 7 POINT lunch...

This was a nice filling lunch and really didn't leave me wanting much in the way of a snack this afternoon. I did have a cup of coffee with fat free half and half for 1 POINT as a warm treat, but no munching. I feel the munchiness from the past few days beginning to subside (thankfully), so I should be completely back on track this coming week!

For dinner, I decided to make myself something special that I KNOW the rest of the family would NEVER eat!! SHRIMP! Eeewwww, they say. I told them that something is wrong with their mouths ;) So, my faaaaabulous dinner was Salsa Shrimp with Feta over Whole Wheat Couscous! I sauteed 8 oz. large shrimp in a nonstick pan with cooking spray, added about 1/2 c. fresh salsa until heated through. I poured this over 1 c. whole wheat couscous and topped it with 1 oz. lite feta cheese. An amazing 8 POINT dinner...

I ended the night with another No Pudge Brownie iced with PB2. So rich and decadent tasting for 3 POINTS...

So, tomorrow little daughter is back in action and so am I! I am really looking forward to a nice outdoor run in the morning! Gee, never thought I would hear myself say THAT! Strange, but true =)

Have a great night! Oh, and stay tuned for my first ever giveaway this Friday!!!

Not For Beginners

Holy Crap! Level 2 of the Shred is not for beginners. I don't even know if it's for intermediates! What the heck, Jillian???? I thought I might give Level 2 a try today, for something different. Well, it sure was different! OMG, there were these plank exercises and these "walking push-up "things and Jillian was saying things like "bad-asses" and "I want you to feel like you're going to die"!!!!! AAAAHHHH! I thought I might cry half-way through-lol! Um, I think it's back to Level 1 for me. I don't want to die, Jil. Really. I just want to get all sweaty and huff and puff. I'm thinkin that is good enough, right?? Shred Count - 20 more days! -of Level 1 :]



It was a beautiful balmy day today!!! I had the urge to run outside again, but decided to take it "easy" and just do the Shred (which I found was NOT easy!). I was in the mood for a big breakfast, so I made salsa eggs using 3 egg whites, 1/4 c. salsa and 1/2 oz. Cabot's 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese. I toasted a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel and added a 1/2 oz. of the Cabot's cheese over the top. Yummy, filling and 3 POINTS...







Lunch was the leftover whole wheat eggplant veggie pizza and carrots (6 POINTS)...

My snack was a Fiber One Strawberry Yogurt (these are so good and creamy) and a Weight Watchers Oatmeal Raisin Mini Bar (o.k., but not my fave) for 2 POINTS...

This wonderful weather brought out that summer grillin feeling! I decided on burgers on the grill. The husband and daughters were thrilled! I only had club rolls, so I made the burgers in a rectangle shape instead of round. I used 96% lean ground beef which is awesome and only 3 POINTS for 4 oz. I topped my burger with a slice of 2% cheese, sauteed mushrooms, onions, ketchup and a couple pickles. An amazing 6 POINT burger! Can't have burgers without fries, so I had a side of oven baked frozen fries ( 3 oz. is 2 POINTS) and a side salad with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch...

And 2 days without dessert is enough punishment for anyone, so I had my usual Vitatop with PB2. Oh, how I have missed it....

The brownies are.... outta here! Whew! Thank goodness. That is a first for me. I have NEVER not succumbed to brownies. And I do mean brownie with an "s" on the end! I don't need no stinkin brownies; I got my Vitatops and they are waaaaay better anyway. Uh, huh ;]

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Cheesy

Hey, hey, it's 5K Saturday!! I headed to the treadmill early this morning and did the 5K treadmill run. Boy was I sloooooow. My legs were weak and I was feeling tired, so I went at a slow pace which made it take even longer! But, I persevered because I feel committed to this 5K Saturday thing! One hour later (I told you I was really slow), I was finally done. Whew! While I was running, I was watching the Food Network (I don't know why I do that to myself) and I saw someone making fried eggs topped with salsa. I think it may be huevos rancheros. That really appealed to me this morning, so after my run, I made a similar version. I scrambled 3 egg whites in a nonstick pan and topped it with a few tbsp. of salsa. It looked good, but still needed something...CHEESE! I grated 1 oz. of Cabot's 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese and sprinkled the salsa eggs with half. On the side, I had a lite english muffin topped with the remainder of the cheese and broiled for a few minutes. Mmm... a cheesy good 3 POINT breakfast...


The rest of the morning was spent mainly putzing around, reading the paper and hanging out. Laaaazy! Lunchtime came around and I rummaged around the freezer and fridge for something different. I saw Trader Joe's StirFry Vegetable Egg Rolls and went with those. They are only 110 cal each, so I had 2! I had a huge side salad with carrots and Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch. A nice 5 POINT lunch...


For snack, more cheese! This time, I had a light string cheese, 1/2 pear and a half serving of pretzels sticks, all for 3 POINTS...

Dinner was late tonight; big daughter had a basketball game that ran right until dinner time. We decided on a quick pasta dinner. The husband and daughters had ravioli and meatballs that I had in the freezer. Too POINTY for me, so I made some whole wheat cappellini. I sauteed two big handfuls of baby spinach with a tsp. of EVOO, added a sliced Spinach, Fontina, Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe's and combined it with the 2 oz. whole wheat cappellini and 1/4 c. marinara sauce. Awesome! It made a huge serving, all for 8 POINTS...

We all cuddled up after dinner and watched The Game Plan, which was a cute movie. Although, I feel like writing Disney a letter demanding to know why, in almost all of their children's movies, the mother in the story has to be dead!! Aren't these supposed to be "feel good" movies!! Humpf. Anyhoo, I can't let the night go without dessert. I went with my classic - Deep Chocolate Vitatop with PB2 (no fluff - oh, the horror!). This is the best 2 POINT dessert on the planet...

Toward the end of the movie, I also grabbed a couple handfuls of pretzel sticks. I wasn't really hungry, but just felt like munching. No worries, I'll call it 4 POINTS and add it to my Weekly Allowance POINTS. I have to shut it down for sure, though. Don't want to do any serious damage. Just have to get through tomorrow and I think I'll be o.k. this week!

I missed doing The Shred tonight. It's a little late and I'm pretty much ready for bed, but I'm still thinking about doing it. It's only 20 minutes, right?????