Little Things Mean A LOT

I was up way too early for a Sunday - 6 a.m.! Boo! Believe me, I wanted to fall back asleep, but it wasn't happening. I finally got up at 7, got dressed and headed to the supermarket to pick up some needed items. When I got home, coffee was the first order of business! Then, I dove in to one of these guys that I picked up while shopping...



Doesn't that sound terrific? Cheesecake yogurt with graham cookie pieces...what's not to like?! And only 100 calories to boot. I decided to kick it up a notch by making it Blueberry Cheesecake Yogurt! It was a great 3 POINT dessert, um, I mean breakfast ;)


I worked on tons of laundry all morning and did a little blog reading. Before I knew it, lunch was calling. I had always wanted to try out a "Crack Wrap" that I had seen making the blog rounds a while back. Basically just some cheese and hummus in a wrap and grilled. I opted to bulk mine up with some sauteed baby bella mushrooms, red onion and roasted red pepper, then added it on the tortilla spread with Laughing Cow Light and 2 tbsp. hummus. I pan -grilled it until lightly brown. I paired it with some cherries, carrots and 1/2 serving of Kettle Baked Potato Chips. A plateful for 5 POINTS...

Ooey gooey goodness...

Then it was off to my parents' pool for swimming and Sunday dinner. I took the opportunity to get in some pool exercising - noodle cycling -sit on the noodle and "ride" it like a bicycle - I know that sounds ridiculous and semi-perverted and believe me, it looks equally ridiculous as it sounds, but you feel a good burn ;) I also got in some pool weight exercises ( biceps and shoulders). It was fun and relaxing and probably burned off about 2 of the 1000 calories that I was going to eat for Sunday dinner :( Actually, I think I did okay. We started off with pasta (of course!) and I gave myself a teeny bowl so that I couldn't fill it up with rigatoni ragu goodness...

Next up was barbecued ribs, chicken, salmon teriyaki, assorted grilled veggies, salad, corn and whole grain bread. My controlled plate contained salmon, grilled peppers, baby zucchini, sweet potato half, grilled radicchio, salad and a slice of bread with a smattering of an amazing Parmesan Butter imported from Italy...

I may or may not have had another small slice with another teensy bit of butter :0

For dessert, I made a trifle with chocolate angelfood cake, sugar free fat free vanilla pudding, light whipped topping, strawberries and blueberries...

I had a scoop in a cute dessert glass...

And I may or may not have had another little scoop :0

I think I will run tomorrow =)

I'm off to pack ; I'll be heading to the beach for a few days with my friend and her daughters. I hope to be blogging, but I'm not sure if I'll have internet access there or not, so if I'm MIA for a few days, I'll be sure to catch up with you all on Thurs. !

Have a great night!

Branching Out

Today was a lot better. I got right to the exercise; no fooling around. I thought my run might be a little weak, but it was great! I got in a nice, strong 40 minutes. Much needed after the eats yesterday.


Breakfast was a whole wheat cinnamon raisin english muffin topped with 2 tbsp. PB2. A delicious and hearty 3 POINTS...


After breakfast, I cleaned up and did something I never thought I would do. I joined a gym! I am now a proud member of Planet Fitness. They are having an amazing deal right now of a year's membership for $99. It's a cool place with tons of weight machines, ellipticals, bikes, treadmills and a 30 minute express workout circuit. I thought it was about time that I got out of my basement with my archaic fitness equipment although, it has done me well all this time. I'm really excited about trying something new and I'm looking forward to getting a good weight training routine together. I'm hoping this will be just the thing I need to drive me to goal! I won't get to the gym very often until the daughters go back to school, but I wanted to join now while the special was going on (which is only until July 22, if you're interested). So, more on my new gym adventures when I get there...

Lunch was a leftover barbecue chicken calzone (about two-thirds of the calzone) and some super sweet cherries that my MIL brought us. A delicious 7 POINT lunch...

Snack time called in the afternoon and just to prove to myself that I can eat only 1 serving of friggin' Cheez-its, I portioned out a serving for 3 POINTS...

And that was it! Mainly because there wasn't much left in the box ;P

More leftovers for dinner. I'm trying to be good about using up stuff in the freezer and fridge. I made Veggie "Fried" Quinoa -Italian style...

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• couple tbsp. chopped red onion
• 1/4 c. diced carrot
• 1/4 c. diced zucchini
• 1/4 c. diced mushrooms
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1 tbsp. parmesan cheese
• s + p
• pinch of dried oregano
• pinch of red pepper flakes

Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a nonstick pan. Add ingredients and stir-fry until veggies are slightly softened....

I also had the leftover tomato, cucumber and mozzarella salad ( minus 1 mozzarella ball -given to big daughter)...

A nutritious 10 POINT dinner...

It was such a beautiful night, we went for a leisurely family walk after dinner. Then came back home for dessert. I had a No Pudge Brownie - straight up - for 2 POINTS...

Now, I'm ready for some relaxing! Have a great night, everyone =)

Sluggy McSluggerson

Sorry I missed posting last night; I was too pooped to post! Frankly, it wasn't the most stellar eating day anyway. You know it always starts off fine ...

I picked up a box of my old favorite when I was at Trader Joe's the other day...

A serving is 2/3 cup (90 calories, 1.5 gr. fat and 7 gr. fiber =1 POINT) which doesn't sound like much, but when you load it on top of 1/2 c. nonfat greek yogurt and 1 c. sliced strawberries, it becomes a mountain of food that was so filling and almost too much to eat for only 3 POINTS...

This bowl held me over for the longest time. I wasn't ready for lunch until almost 2:00! That was a good thing since I was out running some errands and didn't get home until almost that time. I couldn't decide exactly what I was in the mood for, so I went with some random things: a bowl of TJ's organic lentil soup, 3 flax and honey flatbread crackers, 2 tbsp. hummus, carrots and a Mott's Healthy Harvest Peach Medley applesauce. A nice 5 POINT tasting plate...

But, then for some reason, I continued to eat a bunch of junk. A couple of cookies, a couple of chocolates and handfuls of those stinkin' Cheez-Its. I don't know why I must eat nonstop handfuls of those suckers. Really, isn't that ridiculous?? Who the heck cares about flippin' Cheez-Its?? Not like they are the food of the gods or anything. More like food of the devil; at least for me, lately. They need to be off the shopping list for a while; sorry daughters!


Later, I started prepping for dinner. The husband invited his parents over for the "unveiling" of our first tomato from the garden (*cue choir of angels*)...

When I tell you he has been talking non-stop about this tomato for the past 2 days, I am not exaggerating. He is so proud of his tomato-growing skills and has been nuturing this guy like it is a newborn baby! We had a "slicing ceremony"...I know, we need to get out more...

I must give him props; it was delicious! Nothing like homegrown:) Great job, hon!

To go with our tomato, I made cheese calzones, pepperoni and cheese strombolis and, in an attempt to be a little healthier, barbecue chicken calzones for me. Here's some of the "bad" guys...

I also made a grape tomato(not ours), red onion, cucumber and mozzarella salad dressed with a little evoo and vinegar...

For the barbecue chicken calzone, I used ...

• 1/2 of premade Trader Joe's whole wheat dough
• 4 oz. leftover roasted chicken breast
• 1/4 c. honey barbecue sauce
• red onion
• 2 oz. part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

This made 2 decent sized calzones for 9 POINTS each.

I had a one with a side of tomato mozz salad...

Then topped it off with a serving (um, yeah right!) of Breyers Cookies and Cream Ice Cream...

Notice that there are no words like "light, reduced fat or fat free" in the aforementioned brand of ice cream! So good going down....so bad landing on the hips ;P

Oh and to add insult to injury, there was no exercise to be had today either. Stop the insanity!!!!

See ya tonight for a hopefully much better day!

The Project And New Food

I spent the morning "washing that gray right out of my hair". Anyone remember that old commercial?? What a freakin project to do this every 4 weeks! I didn't even exercise this morning. I think I got in enough yesterday for today, though! When the hair project was completed, I had a leisurely breakfast - 3/4 c. Puffins, 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze and a ton of blueberries for 3 POINTS...


I got some fun mail delivered today! Carol from Uncovering Food randomly chose me as her July "Follower of the Month". How cool is that?! No giveaways to enter, just follow her blog and she could choose you as her Follower of the Month! She sent me this package of goodies; well, not just me, she added something for the daughters, too! That sure won them over!


Not long after putting away our goodie bag, I was starving! Maybe knowing I wanted to try these new Dominex Eggplant Burgers for lunch made me extra hungry...

The nutritionals are terrific...

Only 1 POINT per patty!

I followed the skillet method of cooking using nonstick cooking spray...

All burgers must have cheese! My new fave as of late...

One slice is only 1 POINT and full of flavor...

I put my eggplant burger between 2 slices of Pepperidge Farm Light Style Wheat and added additional toppings of baby spinach and roasted red pepper. The usual sides came along - Kettle Baked Potato Chips and a juicy sweet plum...

It was a terrific 6 POINT lunch! The eggplant burger is very similar in texture to a Boca veggie-type burger, but the flavor is definitely bumped up a notch. Some of the veggie-type burgers can be bland, but not these eggplant burgers. They are a great find!

I had some errands to run late in the afternoon and started to feel hungry again. I decided to have a small snack to tide me over. And I do mean small. These mini Clif Bars are itty bitty...

Not sure they are worth the 100 calories! It was an o.k. 1 POINT snack :(

Dinner was a homemade "frozen dinner" of Chicken and Broccoli with Garlic Sauce for 5 POINTS...

and a side of these "heat and eat" veggies...

The whole package is only 90 calories and 1 POINT...

I was in the mood for a big fat dessert! But, I chose a skinny one - Deep Chocolate Vitatop with a scoop of Breyers Fat Free Double Churn French Chocolate and a tiny squirt of light whipped cream for 3 POINTS...

I think I won't be a total slug, so I'll do the 10 minute strength training tonight!

It's almost Friday.......... =]

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!

An Afternoon Visit

Hey, guys! Thanks for showing the husband some love on his first ever blog post! He was a good sport about doing the review and trying one of my healthy creations!

While the hubs was "blogging" this morning, I got right to my workout. It totally sucked. I tried to do Level 1 of The Shred but was feeling a little dizzy again, so I finally opted out. Right in the middle of dumbell rows. I'm not sure what's up with that; I'm thinking there's a sinus issue going on. Oh well. Nothing stops me from eating, though! I moved on to breakfast: 3/4 c. Trader Joe's High Fiber O's, 1 c. sliced strawberries, 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze and a tsp. of sliced almonds for 3 crunchy POINTS...


I cleaned up a bit and got ready for our lunch guest: Aunt Linny! My sister-in- law came over to spend the afternoon with the daughters...



We chatted while I made us all some lunch. Of course, it was PB+J for the daughters, but Aunt Linny was willing to eat "my kinda lunch". I made us hummus, cucumber and baby spinach sammies and ,to go with them, some carrots, watermelon and a 1/2 serving of Kettle Brand Baked Potato Chips. All this for only 4 POINTS...


For our sammies, I used a new (to me) bread - Pepperidge Farm Light Style Extra Fiber Wheat Bread...

The nutrition facts are terrific - a serving is actually 3 slices (2 POINTS), but I just used 2 slices for 1 POINT...

Aunt Linny entertained the daughters the rest of the afternoon with puzzles, stories and play time. Thanks, Linny the girls had a ball! When it was close to dinner, we said our good-byes and I finished up making dinner while snacking on some Triscuits crackers - I think about 4 POINTS worth.

Nothing fancy for dinner tonight, just roasted chicken and a green salad with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch dressing. A simple 7 POINT meal...

I didn't feel much like dessert. My stomach was a little off, but then it wasn't. Weird. Then, I saw these PhillySwirl SwirlStix pops in the freezer and thought they would be just what I needed...

These are some great popsicles. I love the fun flavors! And the stats (click pic to enlarge)...

I chose the Orange Dream and it was the perfect 1 POINT ending to my eats today...

I looking forward to getting in bed! I'm hoping to try out a long run in the morning =)

Have a great night!