Striving To Maintain

Hi everyone! Sorry, I missed posting yesterday. I'm finding my summer days are filled to the brim with entertaining the daughters and by night time, I am just too tired to post. It's been fun though! I'm trying to keep to a schedule as best I can so as to keep the sibling blow-ups to a minimum. So far, so good! What is not so good is my eating plan. While I can't say it's gone to hell in a handbasket, it's just not been up to par. I'm not physically tracking my food, however as a habit, I do mentally count what I am eating. And I'm noticing a lot of picking here and there: crusts off daughters' sandwiches, an extra chip or two, bites of leftovers... you know, that kind of thing. I know from experience that it all adds up in the end. But, my mindset seems to be to just get through the summer without packing on any more pounds. I think I'll have good weeks where I feel completely on track and in a losing mode and then, I'll have others when I'm just trying to get by without a massive gain. I looked at the calendar and see nothing but holidays, parties and vacations in the upcoming weeks. UGH. So, instead of stressing about losing and making it to my goal weight, my NEW GOAL is to get through the rest of the summer without gaining. If I lose, great. If not, that's okay, too. And come September, when everyone is back to where they should be, I feel like I can focus on myself again. Does this sound like a cop-out? Maybe. But, I know the more stressed I feel, the more I want to eat. A lot. Lots of eating = gaining. I don't want to go there. So, maintain is the state I'm striving for!

Now, onto the food...

After Jillian kicked my non-Shredded butt, I made a yummy wafflewich using 2 Eggo Nutrigrain Waffles, 1 tbsp. PB2 and a sliced Fuji apple for 4 POINTS...

Lunch was completely boring. Please excuse my lack of creativity in the lunch department. I've been trying to be good about using leftovers and I also find the usual sandwich, chip, fruit combo to work best during these busy days. So here's today's: leftover grilled chicken in a small La Tortilla Factory tortilla, Kettle Baked Chips (oh, I've missed having these -yum!) and watermelon for 7 POINTS...

Non pictured snacking went on in the afternoon. Not too crazy, though. Just some reduced fat Cheez-its and some No Pudge Brownie batter licks!

For dinner, I tried a recipe from Devin Alexanders' book, The Most Decadent Diet Ever, for Salisbury Steaks in Rich Brown Gravy. It was very good; definitely a family favorite...

Salisbury Steaks With Rich Brown Gravy

1/3 c. egg substitute

1/4 c. old-fashioned oats

1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. onion soup mix

1 tbsp. dried minced onion

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 lb. 96% lean ground beef

3 tbsp. flour; divided

1 c. fat-free, lower sodium beef broth

2 tbsp. ketchup

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

olive oil spray

1 onion, sliced and separated into rings (about 3 1/2 c.)

Combine egg substitute and the oats in a medium mixing bowl. Let stand for 3 minutes to soften the oats. Add onion soup mix, minced onion, garlic powder, pepper and beef. Mix until well combined and then shape into 4 oval patties about 1 inch thick, 3 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches long.

Put 2 tbsp. flour in a medium shallow bowl. Dip the patties in the flour to coat them on all sides. Put the remaining flour in a medium mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in enough broth to form a paste. Then slowly whisk in the remaining broth, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce until well combined. Set aside.

Preheat large nonstick skillet to medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, lightly mist it with spray. Put in the patties and brown on both sides. Pour the broth mixture into the skittlet. Add the onion rings to the skillet. Bring the liquid to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer aobut 15 minutes, flipping patties once, halfway through. Transfer to a platter; spoon onions and gravy over the patties and serve.

Makes 4 patties; 4 servings

1 patty with 1/4 of the gravy and onions has 205 calories, 26 gr. protein, 13 gr. carbohydrates, 5 gr. fat, 60 mg. cholesterol, 1 gr. fiber, 573 mg. sodium

To go with it, I had 1/2 c. high fiber noodles and a scant 1/2 c. peas. A hearty 8 POINT meal...

Of course, I had to have one of the No Pudge Brownies that I made this afternoon. So dessert was a Brownie Strawberry Shortcake for 3 POINTS...

I'm off to enjoy the beautiful evening! Have a great night everyone!!!

White And WINNERS!!!

Boy, did it snow today- everything was WHITE!!! I was thrilled to sleep in a little and putter around the house. I got in a bit of laundry and made some "freeze-ahead" meals. Time flies when you're having fun ;) Really flies. I'm embarassed to say that I am still in my pj's! Well, no use changing now!



Even though, it was a cold morning and I should want something warm, I was in the mood for cold cereal! I think it's because I am addicted to this TJ's High Fiber Fruit and Nut Multigrain Medley. If I am going to keep eating this, I will have to come up with a shorter name cuz this is ridiculous!!! I ate my cereal (how's that???) with 1 c. blueberries and 1/2 c. unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze for 3 POINTS...





Lunch was a roasted pepper, spinach and cheese sammie on whole wheat tuscan pane with a side of split pea soup and a handful of grapes for 6 POINTS...




I felt like having a snack this afternoon, mainly because I was bored moreso than hungry. I realize this is not in accordance with Intuitive Eating, but at least I was able to recognize that instead of going into an eating trance like I normally do. I guess it's all part of the journey;) So, I gave in to my snack attack with a Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt topped with a crumbled FiberPlus Chocolate Chip Bar for 3 POINTS... Can you tell I'm trying to "use up" my "bar stash"??!!

I also ended up grabbing a few other snacks; a couple chocolates and some bites of this and that. I wasn't too worried because I haven't used any of my extra Weekly Allowance POINTS, yet this week. Hmm...seems I say this and then, the next day I go haywire, but I really am committed this week, so there will be no "haywire behavior"!!

Dinner was a serving of Italian Meatloaf, sauteed eggplant, tomatoes,chickpeas and a whole wheat roll. Wait, make that 2 rolls. Yep, more Weekly Allowance POINTS! It was a very brown 12 POINT dinner...

And I can't let the day go without dessert. Here's a childhood favorite with a twist: PB2 Smores! Graham cracker, large marshmallow, 1 Hershey's kiss and PB2. A 3 POINT blast from the past...

Before I head to bed, I have to....... (Shred would have fit really well in here, but...) strength train! Yep, that's my new goal for March! I'm gonna switch things up a bit and do a strength training routine from my Exercise Anywhere cards on M,W,F and save the cardio for the other days. I've been doing cardio every day for 19 months, so it feels a little weird to not be doing that today! But, I'm willing to try it out for this month and see what happens with the scale and my body :) Oh, and speaking of Exercise Anywhere cards, I need to announce the winners of my very first giveaway!!!! The winners are Bre and Me, Only Better !!!! Thanks so much to everyone for participating; I hope to have more giveaways in the future!!

Have a great night =)