Treading Lightly

Another beautiful day;  can’t ask for a better holiday weekend!  I woke up without a spring in my step;  more like a hobble.  But, I wanted to get my exercise done first thing, so I headed to the basement and hit the treadmill.  Lightly.  I didn’t want to do any further hip damage, so I decided to just walk on the treadmill.  To beef up my walk, I put on my weighted vest and wore 18 lbs. while walking at a mild pace for 40 minutes.  The extra pounds help it feel like a better workout.  Here I am in my vest  (looking quite scary, I might add)…

Next up was breakfast.  I went with an Open Faced Mushroom Cheese Omelet.  Very filling …

Big daughter wanted to rearrange her room, so we all helped her out with moving furniture and de-cluttering.  It took quite a bit longer than we expected.  The girl’s got some stuff!  We finally decided to take a break for lunch.  I took out a new soup to try from Trader Joe’s – Latin Style Black Bean…

Great nutritionals (except for the sodium – yikes!)…

To go with the soup, I heated up some leftover Chicken Fajitas…

The fajitas were good, the soup…eh, not so much.  It wasn’t bad, it was just okay.  There was a strong black pepper taste that kept hitting me in the back of the throat and I wasn’t digging that.  I ended up leaving a bit in my 1 cup bowl, too.

Then, it was back to the de-cluttering.  Since, I was on a roll, I worked on some of my own downsizing, too.  I love chucking things out!  I also had a pile of recipes and scraps of recipes written on paper here and there, so I gathered them together and worked on organizing some of them.

I took the task outside to take in some of the beautiful day.  All that looking at recipes made me hungry!  I snacked on a Chobani Nonfat Peach Greek Yogurt while soaking in the sun…

The dinner plan tonight was PIZZA!  It’s been a while since I’ve had some.  I made some regular dough for the husband and daughters and found a whole wheat crust in the freezer that I had pre-baked a million years ago, so that worked out for me!  It was a pizza party for 4.  Everyone got their own just the way they liked it…

I used the leftover Grilled Veggie Salad from last night to top my pizza.  I used a bit of marinara and lite mozzarella.  It was delish, even though part of the crust broke off from bending in the freezer…

I made a spring mix salad dressed with balsamic to go with it…

and had a little more pizza…

After dinner, we all went to a local trail for a family walk.  Here’s my peeps…

It was a great way to end the night!

Hope you all had a great Saturday!

ONE GOOD THING:  After a frustrating phone call with a family member, I really wanted to eat something.  Anything.  I was tempted to just shovel something, but instead, I acknowledged the feeling, had a big glass of water, a deep breath and got out of the kitchen.  Phew!

A Valentine's Treat

I missed you all last night, but the husband and I had a date night and got home a little too late for me to blog! Well, actually we had a date "day and night" since the daughters are sleeping at the grandparents! So, here's a quick update on my day....


It was beautiful in the morning, so I decided to get in my 5K Sunday(making up for Saturday!) in the great outdoors. It was a nice run and my foot felt fine during it, so I'm glad I gave it a rest. When I came in, I settled into a bowl of 1/2 c. quinoa granola, 1/2 c. blueberries and 1/2 c. unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze for 4 POINTS...



Lunch was a bowl of Tabatchnik vegetable soup and leftover whole wheat veggie pizza for 8 POINTS...


A little while after lunch, I did Level 1 Shred. I noticed my foot acting up part way through. I toughed it out because I knew I was going out to eat with the husband and I wanted to make sure I burned those calories!!!

And here those calories are...

We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. They make their own chips and salsa - to die for!!! I had planned to only eat 4, but the restaurant was packed and we had to wait a bit for our dinner, so I ended up eating more like 12! They were delish! I have no idea how to count them; they aren't greasy, but they are fried, so I don't know - maybe 6 POINTS?? I'm not gonna get too crazy about it - they were good!

For dinner, I chose the vegetarian fajitas which were made up of peppers, onions , mushrooms and tomatoes...

Since there wasn't that much to these, I counted them as 3 POINTS mainly for the oil that they use to make them. They were served with small corn tortillas of which I only ate 1 for an additional 1 POINT. For a side, they give you a salad of shredded iceburg lettuce, tomato, 1 tbsp. guacamole and sour cream -the real kind! I took off the sour cream and added a little of the salsa to my salad instead.

Very tasty, although I only ended up eating about half of it. I also left about 1/4 of the fajita dish, too. So, I'm guessing I didn't do too badly...

After dinner, we went to the movies to see the Oscar-nominated, Slumdog Millionaire. It was an amazing movie. I don't usually go for oscar-type movies; they are generally hyped up, but this one deserves the hype. An interesting story of survival, love and destiny.

The husband and I came home to our quiet home and snuggled in for a great night of......

UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP!!! Whooo hooo! Any of you that have kids that don't sleep through the night KNOW how important and special this is!!!!! LOL!!

All in all, a great night with the husband and a good night's sleep! A wonderful Valentine's treat!

Pizza And POM

Hey, happy Friday! This has been a fun weekend type of day since the husband and daughters were off today. We got to sleep in a little and mosy around. I went for an outdoor run this morning for about 30 minutes, then hopped right in the car to pick up some groceries for our pizza night with my in-laws. I didn't get to eat breakfast after the run, so I picked up a Starbucks coffee with sugar free vanilla syrup and some nonfat milk for 1 POINT to get me through...


When I came home, I made a yogurt granola bowl. I used a Fiber One Vanilla Yogurt topped with 1/2 c. of quinoa granola for 4 POINTS...


I bet you're asking "what the heck is quinoa granola?" Well, I came across this recipe in Bob Greene's Best Life Diet Cookbook. I have never been a fan of quinoa, mainly because I didn't really know how to use it. I know it's a "wonder grain" being that it is considered a complete protein. I'm always willing to try something again, especially if has the word "granola" in it! I LOVE granola. So, I made this last night in anticipation of eating it for breakfast today. I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it a little more POINT friendly; basically I just dropped a tbsp. of the nuts to lose a POINT. I used a combo of dried cranberries, raisins and almonds. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know. I forgot to copy it down before I came to post! Too lazy to venture to get it ;) Anyway, I liked this and it stuck with me a really long time (about 3 hours)! After breakfast, I got in my Shred. I must be honest - this was a half-assed Shred. I was tired from my run and not in the mood to do it, but I knew I wouldn't be able to fit it in later tonight. I mainly concentrated on the strength training and sort of bagged the cardio. I think it still counts though, right??!!! Only 15 days left!

When I was finally ready for lunch, I was READY for lunch! Funny how it hits you all at once! I needed something quick, so I threw together a turkey sandwich using 2 oz. turkey, lettuce, tomato and a squirt of dijonnaise on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. I also had a serving of TJ's Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips (love these!) and a juicy orange. A fast 5 POINT lunch...

After lunch, we went for a "neighborhood clean-up" walk. I have been noticing during my outdoor runs that my neighborhood was getting "trashy" with random items that didn't make it into the trashcans or blew away, etc. We put gloves on, got a big trashbag and walked the whole neighborhood picking up all the debris. We filled the whole bag! It doesn't look like much when it's strewn all over, but it adds up! So, not only did I get another exercise in, I also did community service!! Two birds, one stone :)

The in-laws came for pizza night and to hang out with the daughters. I made 3 pizzas: 1 plain, 1 pepperoni and a whole wheat with lite mozzarella, baby bella mushrooms and baby spinach. I went with 2 slices of whole wheat and a salad dressed with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch for 8 POINTS...

Along with our dinner, I made everyone a fancy POM spritzer! Diana at POM Wonderful was kind enough to contact me and ask if I would be interested in sampling this POM Wonderful 100 % pomegranate juice. I have been intrigued after seeing it at many of the grocery stores, so I was excited to have the opportunity to try it! Our pizza party was the perfect opportunity to make these lovely spritzers...

Everyone loved it! It is not as tart as I thought it may be. The husband and father-in-law loved it straight up the best! After reading about all the health benefits of this "wonder" juice, they loved it even more! Especially the parts about prostate health and erectile function - you know how men are! LOL!! The website is full of amazing recipes, too (love all the cocktail recipes- see you can be healthy and have a few drinky poos!). An 8 oz. serving is 3 POINTS, which is a little POINTY, but when cut with some sparkling water, it's basically free. I only used 2 oz. of the juice and the rest was water; put in a wine glass and garnished with a slice of lime. Fancy and free!

For dessert, we had some amazing chocolate covered strawberries that my parents gave us for Valentine's Day! I had two of these guys. I'm not exact on the POINTS; I did some searching and came up with 2 POINTS. I don't know, but hey, I'm goin with it! They were DIVINE...

Well, tomorrow's the big day! The day that CHOCOLATE swirls all around you. Everywhere you go! The husband loves me and hopes to live a long life, so I'm fairly certain that he will NOT be giving me any chocolate ;) How about you??? What are your VDay plans? Are you worried about the CHOCOLATE???

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!

The Routine

Hi, I'm baaaack! I got in the routine of posting about my day in the evenings, so it felt weird to be out of my new routine and have to post in the morning! But, now I'm back to the evening and I find I like it so much better; it's relaxing and a nice way to wind down :)


After posting this morning, I headed out for my 5K Saturday run. It was awesome! It's so invigorating; I still cannot believe I can run that long and that far without stopping! I really am addicted now. I think I have decided on a 5K race in May, but before I give ya the details, I gotta round up some peeps who said they would do it with me. Stay tuned...


I came in and decided on cereal for breakfast since I wasn't too hungry after the run. I had 3/4 c. Puffins, 1 c. unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze and 1/2 c. blueberries for 2.5 POINTS...



Just a note about Almond Breeze: I have been reading about this on the WW boards for a long time and have seen it a lot on the blogs. My mom has even tried it. I've been hesitant because I'm a big fan of Soy Slender , but I saw it at Trader Joe's and decided to give it a whirl. It doesn't have much of a taste at all, so I wouldn't recommend drinking it on its own. However, I really liked it in my cereal. The cereal was the star instead of being overpowered by the milk, if you know what I mean. The nutritionals are great, too - 1 cup is 40 cal., 3 gr. fat and 1 gr. fiber ( 1 POINT). I also used it in my coffee and it was good! It didn't curdle like the soy milk does:)


Lunch was really late today. I ended up not eating until about 2 :30 p.m. I had to run an errand and then I was busy prepping pizza dough for tonight's dinner. When I finally got around to it, I just wanted the quickest thing I saw. I went with a Weight Watcher's Petite Bagel topped with a Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and 1 oz. smoked salmon (yum-e!). I added a sliced apple for a total of 4 POINTS...


There was no time for a snack as we had big daughter's basketball game at 4 (they won -yay!). It was a great game; really exciting! Yes, I am the LOUD MOM that hoots, cheers and claps for all the girls from the bleachers!! The grandparents all came to the game, so we had everyone back for pizza. I made 6 pizzas: 2 plain cheese, 2 pepperoni, 1 plain whole wheat with lite mozzarella and 1 whole wheat with eggplant dip for the sauce, sauteed mushrooms, roasted red peppers and lite mozzarella. Using the eggplant dip instead of traditional sauce was so tasty and basically free in the POINTS department. This dip is only 1 POINT for 1/4 c. and I probably used that for the whole 12" pizza! I ate 2 slices of the eggplant veggie pizza and some salad with evoo and vinegar...

and another small slice of the plain whole wheat ...

So delish! I counted about 12 POINTS for the pizza dinner with salad. I have a feeling this may be on the high side, but I'd rather be on the high side after using many of my Weekly Allowance POINTS these past few days.

After dinner, I dismissed myself from our lovely company and headed to do The Shred. How's that for stickin to the Challenge????!!!!! Shred Count - only 21 days left!

And I have good news to report - there was no BROWNIE incident today! I have to thank Sue for her great idea of having to post a brownie infraction every time I would even take a smidge of one! I did think of that all day today and it did help me stay away from those evil things! You Rock, Sue! The husband and daughters have been chowing down on them and last I looked, there are only 2 left. I think I'm home free - yay!

Off to bed early again tonight!

Oh, are you looking for my dessert??? I felt satisfied after dinner and doing The Shred, so I decided to forgo dessert for tonight. I thought if I "forced" myself to have something, I might start digging into more (i.e. brownies!). When you're feeling good, ya gotta go with it ;)

Have a great night, everyone!!!