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!

Totally Tofu

I peeked at the scale this morning. I was scared that it might ruin my day. As much as I say to myself that the scale doesn't matter, it does. A lot. It dictates my day. Good number = good day, lots of motivation and general happiness. Bad number = bad day, sometimes overeating and most definitely overall bitchiness. Lucky for my family members, a good number appeared. Not a great number, but I'm showing a teensy loss which makes me feel good about my approaching official weigh-in on Saturday at WW. Hopefully, I can get back to wear I was before this last few weeks of "on and off trackness" :)


After my visit with the scale, I headed to the treadmill for another 35 minute run. I've been really into running this week! I know it's not the best to do it everyday, but so far my hip has been cooperating, so I'm going with it! I've also been going with cereal for breakfast. I'm finding that it fills me up and is very satisfying, especially bulked up with lots of berries. Today was 3/4 c. TJ's High Fiber O's, 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze and 1 c. of blueberries for 3 POINTS...



Lunch was a bbq baked tofu sammie on spelt bread with lettuce, tomato and a slice of 2% cheese. I added in some more red superfoods with 1 c. watermelon and a fuji apple for a 6 POINT lunch...

Baked tofu... up close and personal...

The daughters declared it to be Taco Tuesday, so it was tacos for dinner! I joined in the taco festivities, but with a twist. For me, it was Tofu Taco Tuesday! Don't say eeewww! It's great. Really. First, I took 1/2 block of Nasoya Lite Firm Tofu, squeezed between paper towels to remove excess water and crumbled it in a nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray. Next, I sprinkled 1 tbsp. homemade taco seasoning over the tofu and mixed in. I let the tofu crumbles "brown" for about 10-15 minutes until the tofu dried out and resembled "ground beef/turkey" (it does, TOO!!!)....

I ended up only needing half the mixture, so I saved the other for another time. I assembled my tacos using 2 yellow corn taco shells, 1/2 oz. grated 2% cheese, lettuce, tomato and 2 tbsp. guacamole. I paired the tofu tacos with a cup of organic black bean soup and carrot sticks for an amazingly delicious (and messy) 6 POINTS...

Seeeeee??? Not so yucky right?!

I had plenty of POINTS left for a beefed- up (haha) dessert, but I ended up wanting 1/2 c. Breyers Fat Free French Chocolate Ice Cream with 1/2 Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar crumbled on top...

That was an awesome 3 POINTS!

So, I technically was able to go without a snack this afternoon again. I did have a couple of bites, licks and tastes which probably added up to a POINT, maybe 2. I tack those on at the end of the day, just in case. I feel like I have a good groove going now and I am happy without all the afternoon snacking. I've been talking myself through it when I feel like I might grab something and I realize that I am not hungry. It's just that whole habit thing of wanting a snack when the daughters get home. Breaking that habit will take some behavior modification and I know it won't happen overnight. But having these last few days under my belt make me feel assured that it IS possible :)

Have a great night everyone!

Minefields All Around

Rain drops keep falling on my head. Lots of them. It has been raining all day, nonstop! And it's chilly. This does not feel like June! But, I'm sure it'll be hot enough before we know it. Since the weather was not cooperating, I decided on some indoor activity this morning. For something different, I popped in the Shred DVD and let Jillian whip my butt for 20 minutes. I haven't done it in a while, but I wasn't as weak as when I first started it back in Feb. Such a great workout in a short amount of time!



Then, I dug into some breakfast. Today was a Banana Nut Vitatop with PB2 for 2 yummy POINTS...





I spent the rest of the morning at little daughter's school for a year end picnic. They held it indoors due to the rain. They had their beach towels set up all over the gym and we served them their lunch on their towels. Oh, the temptation! Fresh, hot soft pretzels! Fresh, hot, cheesy pizza! Thankfully, I was serving the pizza instead of handing out the pretzels. Both are trouble, but the pretzels would have done me in. I was able to dodge them. Funny how I watched all the skinny moms digging into the pizza without a care in the world. Can it really be that easy? Can you just eat a slice or two of pizza and let that be it? No triggering a foodfest of grand proportions? Ah, that is the life! While the kids were having sno-cones scooped out for them, I cleaned up and made a bee line out of there and straight home to make a healthy lunch. I went with a big chicken and white bean salad with tomatoes, basil and a sprinkle of goat cheese...

I dressed it with a homemade light vinagrette, all for 7 POINTS...

I still felt like having some crunch after, so I decided on this new TJ's find...

Isn't that interesting? They are made with lentil flour and potato starch. You get 31 curls for 2 POINTS...

I just had a half serving for 1 POINT...

They are pretty tasty. They have a bit of an aftertaste to them that I can't quite describe. Kinda fishy?? I know that doesn't sound appetizing, but I don't know how else to explain the flavor. Maybe more like some of those fried chinese noodles. Yeah, that's it! I'll try them again to see if I can come up with a better description :)

No afternoon snack. I'm "trying" to modify my behavior, so I just had some iced coffee today with REAL sugar for 1 POINT...

Well, the husband would like me to modify my behavior all right. I was a starving, nasty, huffy banshee by dinner time! I picked up the daughters from an afterschool playdate, came in and got all huffed up because the husband hadn't turned on the grill and gotten the burgers on yet! Poor guy! My head was pounding, so I grabbed a couple carrots while the burgers finished cooking. I started to feel better, then and more like a human instead of an animal! I munched down my Ranch Turkey burger on whole wheat bun with watermelon and carrots for 7 POINTS...

For dessert, I went with 1/2 c. Breyers Fat Free French Chocolate topped with Hershey's Sugar Free Syrup for 1 POINT...

Blech! That sugar free syrup is absolutely gross! It had a strong chemical taste. Yuck. Ruined the ice cream; I had to chuck it :(

Glad I made it through the minefield today! Next up....another graduation party tomorrow!!! Aaaaahhhhh, get me off this party ciruit!!!!

Have a great night =)

No Fooling - It's A Larabar Giveaway!

My scale is roadkill. I have run over it with my vehicle until it resembled something like a smashed aluminum can. Okay, daydream over. But, it was a lovely thought. As you can guess, the scale was not my friend this morning. I got on and sirens wailed and red lights flashed, warning of self-destruction. No fooling that thing. You can fool yourself but, the scale will always yank you back into reality. The reality is that the whole 80/20 rule that I seem to be unintentionally practicing lately, is not working. If you do the program 80% of the time, but the other 20%, you are shoveling cookies, snacks and chocolate, it's gonna catch up with you. No doubt about it. Exercise, schmexercise. If you don't eat right, you will not lose weight. I spent the morning giving myself this lecture and, well, throwing a pity party, too. You know the drill, you've heard me crying about it in many other posts. So, *in my best Forrest Gump voice* that's all I have to say about that :D

Breakfast was a repeat of the other day: smoked salmon with Laughing Cow Light on a Thomas' Light English Muffin for 3 POINTS...

More cheesiness for lunch. I was dying for a good old grilled cheese! I made one using 2 slices of Arnold Natural Whole Grain White Bread and a slice of American and a slice of Asiago. I paired it with some sweet cherries for a quick 7 POINT lunch...

After lunch, I headed to Trader Joe's to pick up a couple of things. While I was there, I noticed they had all of my favorite Larabar flavors! I eyed up the Peanut Butter Cookie right away and broke into that as soon as I got home...

A most delicious 4 POINT snack!


I chilled out with the daughters this afternoon, then made some dinner. Pepperoni and Cheese Strombolis (made with whole wheat crust) and orzo soup for them and eggplant for me! I love the Dominex Eggplant Cutlets and since I had some left in the freezer stash, I thought it would make a good dinner tonight. I topped them with a bit of light mozzarella. Plain, simple and delish. I went with some watermelon slices for a light tasting 7 POINT dinner...

No dessert tonight. I'm full. Of fat. That's all I have to say about that.


So, since TJ's had only my favorite Larabar flavors (Cherry Pie, Apple Pie, Cashew Cookie and Peanut Butter Cookie), I thought I would get them all to giveaway to one lucky winner!!!!!



All you need to do is leave me a comment with this post telling me which flavor you would like to try. One winner will get all 4 of my faves! I'll choose the winner, using random.org, on Thurs. June 4. Be sure to check back Thurs. night when I'll announce the winner. Open to all, since I'm doing the shipping :) Good luck!!!!