This Little Piggy Went Home

Ugh! You know it's not gonna be good when a post starts with "Ugh"! I just got home from Gram's birthday dinner at my parents house and I am stuffed. Like a pig. Before I get into all that, let's start with this morning...


I woke up this morning and after a bit of paper reading, I headed to the basement for a 45 minute run on the treadmill. I didn't feel like going outside even though it was a beautiful day, so the treadmill and mindless TV worked out great. After my run, I toasted up my favorite Ezekiel english muffin and topped it with 2 tsp. homemade almond butter and Smucker's sugar free grape jam for 3 POINTS...


I spent some time fooling around on the computer and catching up on the blogs; the morning flew by!

I searched around the freezer for something different for lunch and decided to go with these...

These are like mini egg rolls and are filled with a mixture of cabbage, celery and carrots. Very tasty! They would make a great party snack.

The nutritionals...

I ate the whole box (2 servings) for 6 POINTS and a cup of cantaloupe for a nice 7 POINT lunch...

Okay, now comes the piggy part. We went to my parents' house for Gram's birthday dinner. Something about going home evokes the need to eat mass quantities of food!! I certainly indulged to the fullest. Here goes...

My bowl of fettuccine with Bolognese sauce...

A spoonful of pappardelle with Bolognese sauce...

That was just the first course! Here were the rest of the dishes...

Asparagus with creamy bacon ranch sauce...

Perfectly roasted chicken...

Broccoli with garlic and olive oil...

Breaded veal chops (Gram's fave) AND breaded pork chops...

Rustic Italian bread and Gram's homemade whole wheat...

My plate...

There was no counting; all caution thrown to the wind!

After helping with the dishes, I helped myself to an Italian chocolate (which are ALL OVER the stinkin house!!)...

And then, we had birthday cake!!! I forgot my Vitatop, but REALLY, what would be the use at this point! Here was my big honking piece sliver...

Chocolate cake, fudge filling, buttercream icing with white and milk chocolate mini curls. HELLO! If there was a Weight Watchers Police, I would be in jail. No bail granted. But, I have to say, mmmmm....mmmmm....everything was delicious! I was in the "what the heck" mood and had at it! I gotta snap out of it though, because I don't want to try to put my jeans on one day and say "what the heck" when they don't fit! So, I know I've said it before and I'll say it again, time to refocus. I'm going to keep saying it and saying it until I get it. No going back.

Hope everyone had a great weekend=)

Feelin Fine Friday

I feel so much better today! Must have been all your well wishes!! My body really fought this cold and didn't let it come out full force thankfully! I even got to stay in bed a little later since the daughters were off from school. Then, I got up and rolling. I had a great strength training session. Today was back and biceps; I worked them pretty hard - my arms were shaking after I was done! I do miss the cardio with this new routine I'm trying. I'm looking forward to 5K Saturday tomorrow! Who knew???!!

Breakfast was a wonderful combo of Ezekiel english muffin (plain ones) topped with PB2 and Smucker's Sugar Free Grape Jam. I have to say that the Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin are much better than the plain which is a bit on the bland side. Both are such hearty muffins and really stay with you; the husband is HOOKED on the Cinnamon Raisin ones! I also had a hard boiled egg white cuz it looked good! A good looking 3 POINT breakfast...


Lunch was a turkey BLT on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. So tasty! Center cut bacon is a bargain; 2 slices are 1 POINT (check the brand - some are more) and add so much flavor. I had a serving of Creamy Ranch Soy Crisps and 1 c. cantaloupe for a delicious 6 POINT lunch...


And I just needed a teensy bit of sweet, so I grabbed 2 Chocolate Macaroons for 1 POINT...

I took little daughter to the library in the afternoon. I LOVE the library! I know, such a dork. I read some books to little daughter, then got a few books for myself. And what do I get??? Yep, cookbooks and diet books!!! It's a horrible obsession. I can't resist new diet books that have recipes in them. I read cookbooks like novels and I wonder why I am preoccupied with food morning, noon and night! I picked up the new Biggest Loser Family Cookbook; looking forward to trying out some recipes:)

Speaking of recipes, I made up a crazy one of my own for dinner! I had 4 beautiful zucchini in my fridge and every time I looked at them, I pictured them stuffed with cheese! I would add cheese to everything if I could!! So, I came up with Breaded Cheese Stuffed Zucchini...

• 4 medium zucchini
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 c. seasoned Italian breadcrumbs
• 4 light string cheese sticks
• 1 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

1. Cut zucchini in half, leaving stems on. Hollow out the centers with a pairing knife and spoon.
2. Season zucchini with salt and pepper.
3. Dip each zucchini shell into beaten egg, then into breadcrumbs.
4. Cut each cheese stick in half and place one half in each zucchini shell. Sprinkle top with breadcrumbs.
5. Spray a baking rack with cooking spray and place over a baking sheet. Place zucchini on baking rack and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
6. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15 -20 min. or until browned and cheese is melted.
7. Makes 4 servings - 3 POINTS per serving (2 halves). Serve with marinara sauce for additional POINTS.

Before going in the oven...

and after....

These were really tasty! I ate mine dipped in a bit of pizza sauce. Yep, tonight was pizza night! I indulged in a small slice along with my stuffed zucchini and a bit of salad with Kraft Light Three Cheese dressing. A yummy 9 POINT dinner...

After a serious game of Connect Four with little daughter, I had dessert...

another sweet Banana Cream Pie! This time I used some ground up Trader Joe's Holiday Ginger Cookies for the crust and omitted the butter. I liked this better than the graham crackers! Awesome and only 3 POINTS!

A busy day is on tap tomorrow, so I better get busy on the ZZZ's! Have a great night!

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!!!!!!

You Said Let's Shred!

The February Shred Challenge is on - thanks so much for my buddies who decided to join me! You guys are awesome and you know misery loves company!! So here's what I'm thinking, how about we take our measurements now and then, again at the end of the Challenge? That way, we can really document the difference in our bodies (hopefully, along with the weight loss, too!) At the end, we can post our results(only if you feel comfortable doing that). I took measurements of the following body parts: arms, chest, waist, hips (lordy) and thighs (double lordy). After that information, I should Shred morning, noon and night ;)

Now for the food...
The daughters had a snow delay this morning, so we got to fiddle around this morning before getting to school. I ate breakfast with little daughter while she read her books to me. I had a lite english muffin topped with 2 tbsp. PB2 and a tsp. Smucker's Sugar Free Grape Jam and 1/2 sliced banana for 3 POINTS...



When everyone was off to school, I headed to the basement for a 30 min. treadmill run. Then, I went straight into The Shred ("no resting "as Jillian would say). Whew, my legs were burning! But, after seeing those measurements...ugh...I got some work to do!!!

The rest of the morning was spent cleaning myself up and then, the house. I was sprucing up the kitchen when my delivery of Vitatops came! Oh JOY, look at this stash...

I ordered 4 different flavors: Triple Chocolate Chunk, Double Chocolate Dream, Deep Chocolate and Banana Fudge. A chocolate extravaganza!!! I can't tell you how badly I wanted to dive into that new Banana Fudge flavor, but I exercised great restraint and decided to save it for dessert :)

Although, chocolate was on my mind for lunch, I went with a Boca Burger on an Arnold Sandwich Thin, topped with a slice of 2% cheese, lettuce, tomato and a squirt of ketchup. A side of carrots and a giant pear took the place of my beloved chips, but I seem to be doing o.k. without them! A "filling foods" 5 POINT lunch...

My afternoon snack was a chocolate Vitatop a Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt topped with 1/4 c. blueberries, 2 strawberries and 1/4 c. high fiber cereal for 2 POINTS...

The husband and daughters were having hot dogs and mac n' cheese for dinner tonight. Real low-cal ;) I took the opportunity to have something that would completely gross them out. I made an omelette using 3 egg whites, 1 Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and 2 oz. smoked salmon. I had a side salad with Marie's Lite Chunky Blue Cheese and a mini ciabatta roll (2 oz.). A scrumptious 7 POINT dinner...

And NOW, the best time of the day....DESSERT!!! I had to try the Banana Fudge. OMG!! It did not disappoint! Great banana flavor with yummy chocolate chips. If you love banana bread with chocolate chips but hate the calories, this is your new friend! I had to up the ante and top mine with some PB2. Holy Guacamole...

Since I have a vault filled with Vitatops, I'm fairly certain that I will be having this for dessert every night. Makes me happy, although you may be sick of seeing it after a while ;D

Thanks again, Shredders! Shred Count - only 24 days left!

The Grind

Back to the grind this morning! I was up at 6 a.m., got big daughter off to school and headed to the basement for my normal elliptical workout. I was able to pull off 40 min. before little daughter needed to get ready for school. Breakfast was a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel with PB2 , a tsp. of Smucker's Sugar Free Grape Jam and 1/2 an apple for 3 POINTS...


After breakfast, I headed out to meet my friend, Rosemary for coffee. We meet up every couple months at the same place; we drink coffee and solve all the world's problems! I had a super-sized coffee with 1/2 c. skim milk for 1 POINT....

Rosemary had decaf because she is preggers!!!!! Yay!!! So excited; can't wait to meet the little guy...

After solving all the world's problems (in only an hour - we should get jobs at the White House!), I ran some errands and headed home for lunch. It was late and I was starving!!! A hazardous combo, but I was able to get lunch quick enough before any picking started. I made a hummus, roasted pepper and spinach sandwich using 2 tbsp. hummus, 1/2 roasted red pepper and handful of baby spinach on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. I had a side of carrots and a serving of pretzel sticks to go with it. A crunchy 5 POINT lunch...

Believe it or not, I had no time for a snack this afternoon! I was all over the universe, shipping daughters from one place to the next. Their social life is much more exciting than mine! So sad :( I rushed home to get dinner together, which was.... you guessed it, Pizza! I wasn't quite sure whether or not I would tempt fate and eat pizza or just go with my own dinner. It got so late, I decided to give it a whirl again. I was able to survive last week's Pizza Night and since I didn't eat a snack today, I had plenty of POINTS to play with for dinner. I followed the same plan as last week: chew gum during cheese grating, have a good slice (this week was thicker crust, so I had one big slice instead of two small), have a big salad with it on the plate and - my newest addition- get the husband to wrap up the leftovers!!!! That way there is no picking. From start to finish! It was awesome! Pizza was yummy, salad was great and it was plenty satisfying for 9 POINTS...

After dinner clean-up, I decided to Shred it up! Dare I say, I am addicted to this now?? Am I crazy?? Addicted to quads so sore, I can barely get up or walk up and down the steps without ooohing and aaaahing? Addicted to my stomach being so sore that when I laugh, I want to cry? So bizarre that I feel the strong urge to continue to torture myself in this fashion. If I belonged to a gym, I may be able to call myself a "gym rat"! Scary ;)

When you Shred, you need to eat dessert. Okay, Jillian doesn't tell you that, but I think after she has kicked your butt all over your living room floor, you should be allowed to eat whatever dessert you want! Counterproductive, you say? Yeah, I guess you're right. But, after that beating, I decided to reward myself with a big berry dessert! I used a Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt and topped it with 3 sliced strawberries, 1/4 c. blueberries, 1/2 Kashi Raspberry Chocolate Fruit and Grain Bar crumbled and a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip (3 POINTS)...

That wasn't too dangerous, see?!

Hope everyone had a great Friday! It's going to be a tricky eating time since it's Superbowl this weekend! What are your plans for staying on healthy eating turf?

Gnawing, Lunching, Snacking

I have that gnawing feeling today! I have wanted to eat all day. I have kept it under control so far; my TEAM ANGIE members are on my mind and helping me hold it together. For those that may be wondering what that means, I signed up for the Biggest Loser Blog Edition 2 Challenge; you can click on the link in my sidebar for more info. I'm excited about it (and nervous, too) and hoping it's the booty kickin I need to get these last pounds off! Thanks to Angie and Lynn for putting this together for a second"season"! Anyway, on to the food...



After my 45 minute run on the treadmill (yay, me!), I had a yummy breakfast of PB2 and a tsp. Smucker's Sugar Free Grape Jam on an Thomas' 100 calorie English Muffin and a 1/2 c. of applesauce, all for 3 POINTS...









After breakfast, I headed out to pick up my Gram for an afternoon of shopping. We stopped for lunch at Panera where I had a delicious garden vegetable soup, 1/2 of a turkey sandwich and an apple...

I should have been satisfied with such a great lunch, but the gnawing feeling was still there so I nibbled on a small Hershey's Dark Chocolate with cranberries and almonds that I snagged at Gram's house!

After dropping Gram home, I stopped at Starbucks and got a tall nonfat, sugar-free cinnamon dolce caffe misto for a nice 1 POINT treat...

And this afternoon's snack was some popcorn, split with big daughter. I definitely needed the "volume" of this snack to keep me munching so that I didn't go for some other, more tempting treats ...

Well, I'm off to make some dinner for myself because we all know what the husband and daughters are having tonight! (hint : Friday Night!!)

Doing Hard Time

The weather is so mild today, so I ditched the treadmill and decided to head outside for a run/walk. It was brutal; my body was aching and my breathing was rough! I stuck with it, determined to do 45 minutes of "hard time". I'm glad I did. After a while, it felt invigorating and motivating. Step one in the right direction ;)



For lunch, I had some of Gina's Split Pea with Ham Soup. I made it last night in the crockpot. It's really good; Thanks, Gina! I also had PB2 and Smucker's Sugar Free Grape Jam on an Arnold Sandwich Thin and some grapes...



A very filling 6 Point lunch. I'm feeling pretty good so far (I just typed fat!). I can make it through this day being on program!