Wednesday 11-30-11

Today has been an absolute struggle for me, from start to finish.  I woke up super grumpy from a poor night's sleep and wanted to sleep in but I couldn't because I had too much to do before our 12 o'clock showing.  I felt tired and off all day, and when I lack energy I tend to want to eat.  After breakfast I went ahead and pre-tracked all of my meals and snacks with the hope that it would keep me on track, but I still wanted to munch all day.  I still haven't gotten a formal workout in since I've been back from Oklahoma even though I know it will help my energy levels. I don't know why I find it so difficult to get back into the swing of things when I take a break for a week or so.  I did take the kids for a walk today since it was so pretty outside and I needed to be gone during the home showing.  (My car keys finally arrived from Oklahoma today, but not until a couple hours after the showing.)  It was nice to get out in the sunshine, but it still didn't do much for my energy.  I still wanted to munch.

After lunch my desire to snack got so bad I decided to sleep it off and ended up napping with the kids until hubby got home form work.  I felt a little better and after all my snacking my planned dinner only went a point or two over my daily target.  But then after dinner we all sat down and watched the Polar Express and the hot chocolate scene made me crave hot chocolate something fierce.  I ended up baking cookies for the family and making peppermint hot cocoa  to drink with it.  I only ate 3 of the cookies but they were not WW-friendly so I used a whopping 20 weekly points today.  I don't know why I am so ravenous today.  It's awful and I feel out of control.  Baby girl seems to be in a growth spurt and is nursing pretty frequently so that could be part of it.  I need to snap out of this though.  It's only Wednesday and I have already used 36 of my 49 weekly points!  Anyway, before this post gets any longer here is what I ate today:

Breakfast (12 pts)
Avocado bacon cheddar egg white omelet with homemade salsa and fat free sour cream plus two organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes

Snack (1 pt)
Light string cheese

Lunch (7 pts)
Chipotle chicken breast wrap with organic baby greens, cilantro, 1 Tbsp spicy ranch, Sargento reduced fat pepper jack cheese and a low carb tortilla plus two clementine cuties.

Snack (2 pts)
A 3/4 oz slice of cheddar cheese

Snack (1 pt)
Small banana spread with 1/2 Tbsp reduced fat creamy Jif peanut butter

Dinner (17 pts) 
Turkey burger with an Indian twist on Trader Joe's garlic naan with curried light mayo, cilantro, red onions and cucumbers plus 3 oz baked Ore Ida sweet potato fries with extra curry mayo for dipping.

Dessert (16 pts)
3 dark chocolate peppermint kiss thumbprint cookies with peppermint cocoa topped with fat free Reddi-Wip and a sprinkle of Andes peppermint chips. Super delicious but not really WW friendly.

I have major guilt over my snacky day, mostly because I woke up with a plan to eat no more than my daily target of 36 points plus and also because we're halfway through the week and my only exercise has been a leisurely walk around my neighborhood.  Tomorrow will be better.  I have my car keys back so I will be able to get out with the kids and hopefully get out of my silly funk.  I'm tired of being tired and I don't like feeling out of control like this.  Yuck.  Well, that's all I got tonight.  Thanks for reading!

Tuesday 11-29-11

Hey guys, I'm going to make this short.  I need sleep. This is what I ate today:

Breakfast (8 pts)
1/2 c. egg whites, 2 slices Oscar Meyer center cut bacon, 2 slices Sara Lee Delightful whole wheat toast with Smart Balance light and 2 organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes with Splenda.

Lunch (16 pts)
Leftover DiGiorno self-rising pepperoni pizza and baked shoestring fries. Horrible, I know. Ugh.

Snack (0 pts)
2 clementine cuties

Dinner (10 pts) 
Grilled chipotle rubbed chicken breast with homemade salsa, 1/2 c. pinto beans and organic salad with grape tomatoes, 2 oz avocado slices, cilantro, a sprinkle of 2% Mexican cheese and 1 Tbsp Spicy ranch dressing.

Late night snack (6 pts)
Tortilla chips and my delicious homemade salsa. Worth the 4 weekly points I used to eat it.

I used 40 pts today, 4 over my daily target.  I wasn't planning on using weeklies today but oh well.  Tomorrow is a new day.  Goodnight folks.

Monday 11-28-11

Hello friends!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We had a great one in Oklahoma.  We got back Sunday afternoon but were pretty exhausted, so we were all in bed by 8 p.m. or so.  Hubby accidentally left my car/house keys in our rental car in Oklahoma and we are waiting for them to be mailed back. I hope they get here soon.  We rented a car so we could get around yesterday (to go run errands, grocery shop and get our Christmas tree) but I have to return it by noon today.  I am trying to get back into the swing of things.  I tracked about 3/4 of the time while in Oklahoma, mostly guessing at points values since I was mostly eating other peoples' cooking.  I felt like I did very badly while I was there because I grazed a lot, but weigh in said otherwise.  I somehow managed to lose 1.1 lb.  I am 127.9, inching closer and closer to my personal goal of pre-baby weight (124 lbs.)  I'm .1 below my WW goal on paper, but I won't let myself go into maintenance mode until I have reached my personal goal weight or all of my pre-baby clothes fit comfortably, whichever comes first.  Anyway, this is what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast (9 pts)
My lightened up version of Jack in the Box's Ultimate Breakfast sandwich (burger bun, egg whites, ham, bacon, cheese) and 2 organic skim milk lattes

Lunch (9 pts)
Flame grilled Boca burger in a Sara Lee white wheat bun with light mayo, mustard, ketchup, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onions and light colby-jack cheese.

Dinner at McDonalds in the mall while waiting for my new phone (23 pts)
Grilled chicken club sandwich, medium fries and Diet Dr Pepper

Drink while trimming the tree (7 pts)
1/2 c. low fat egg nog + 1/4 c. organic skim milk (to make my drink bigger) + 26 g rum. I sipped at it all night to make it last.  Even "low fat" egg nog is super rich.  I think I'll do half a serving next time with more skim milk to dilute it. (That might sound weird, but the first ingredient listed on the nog carton is milk/cream, and it tasted the same to me diluted! I don't like it so thick anyway!)

I used 12 weekly points yesterday because of my unplanned dinner.  We went to the mall to pick up the kids' portraits from Sears and decided to upgrade my phone while we were there.  (My Droid 1 was on its way out, it seemed.)  It look much longer than we anticipated so the dinner I planned to cook at home went out the window; we still had other errands to run plus a Christmas tree to buy after the mall, and it was already dark when we left there.  I hope to get a workout in today and will most definitely be cooking dinner.  I am happy to be home with my kitchen again, where life is a little more predictable.  Thanks for reading!  Be back tonight.

Sunday 11-20-11

Hi guys!  Sorry again for the day-late post.  Last night after I finished uploading my food pics to my comp my Internet stopped working.  After messing with it for a long time I gave up.  I tried posting a blog from my phone but it was way too frustrating.  Thankfully my hubby fixed it before I got up this morning, so here I am. I was splurge-y last night.  I was so good all day and even worked out and had a super light dinner so that I'd stay within my points without using the rest of my weeklies, but my hubby kept bugging me all night to bake cookies.  (It was raining super hard and we were watching Christmas cartoons! It just felt mandatory!)  I kept refusing because I didn't have points left for cookies and didn't want to torture myself baking a delicious something I couldn't eat, but ultimately I gave in. I have been craving chocolate and peppermint together ever since that day I tried to get a skinny peppermint mocha from Target Starbucks and they were out of syrup or whatever, and seeing all the holiday inspired deliciousness on Pinterest every day surely doesn't help my cause. Blah...so I went wild and ate every weekly point and dipped into my activity points and it showed on the scale this morning because I was up .2 of a lb.  This could also be because I didn't nurse baby girl right before weigh in like I usually do and it could also be weight gain from all the weight lifting I did this week. My pre-pregnancy jeans fit better this weekend so I really think that's part of it.  Muscle is more dense than fat and I do seem to be taking up less space in my clothes.  I also know that I didn't always make the best choices last week so I'll have to try harder this week. (Thanksgiving week, gaaah!)

We leave for Oklahoma early tomorrow morning, so I am nervous about how this week will go.  On the plus side we did decide at the last minute to rent a car while we're there so that we aren't dependent on other people for rides, which means a little more freedom. This means I can go buy my organic skim milk, egg whites and other staples if I want to and that should help enormously.  Anyway, this is what I ate yesterday, Sunday November 20th:

Breakfast (12 pts)
Egg white omelet with neufchatel & scallions, 2 links of turkey sausage, Everything bagel thin with neufchatel & 2 organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes

Snack (5pts)
Organic pear & baby arugula salad with homemade honey dijon vinaigrette, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese and golden raisins

Lunch (13 pts)
Buffalo chicken salad sandwich (inspired by a Skinny Taste dip that I love) on a Sara Lee White Wheat bun, celery sticks, a slice of reduced fat Colby Jack cheese and a chocolate cherry bomb green monster smoothie (frozen banana, organic baby spinach, frozen sweet cherries and Soy Slender chocolate soy milk in the blender.)

Dinner (9 pts)
Very light breakfast sandwich with ham, light cheese, egg whites and Sara Lee Delightful bread and a small homemade pumpkin spice pancake with fat free Reddi-Wip, pumpkin pie spice and walnuts

Dessert (18 pts!!!)
3 homemade dark chocolate candy cane Kiss thumbprint cookies and hot cocoa made with Diet Swiss Miss, peppermint extract, Splenda and topped with fat free Reddi-Wip and 10 g Andes peppermint chips. So freakin delicious.  I only baked 9 of the cookies last night and froze the rest of the dough in balls so they're ready to bake another time.  They definitely hit the spot for my chocolate/peppermint craving!

Thanks for reading friends.  I will try to get back on here tonight, even if it's just for a quick post, to update about what I ate today.  I have a busy day of cleaning and packing ahead of me so if I don't update tonight that's why.  I doubt I'll be updating when I'm in Oklahoma but you never know.

Saturday 11-19-11

Hubby and I did a lot of running around today in preparation for Tuesday's trip to Oklahoma.  My parents took the kiddies for us so that we could get in and out of stores more quickly, and so they could spend time with them since they'll miss them so much next week.  I know I said yesterday that I was going to resist eating at a restaurant while my parents had our kids, but I totally gave in.  We were out for so long and we were pretty famished so we decided to try the new Smashburger.  (We meant to go to Subway but changed our minds at the last second.)  I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich a la carte since I had a feeling it would be in the double digits points-wise and I drank a diet soda instead of the wine I really wanted to have.  After our meal hubby suggested they might have nutritional info available since they're a chain, and they did!  My sandwich was 15 points plus! I was super happy I didn't order fries.  After lunch we got a lot done and we even got started on Christmas shopping, which was fun.  All in all it was a great day and I am happy to report that I used exactly all of my 36 points plus and not a point more.  Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast (10 pts)
Breakfast burrito with 44 g frozen hash browns cooked in olive oil, onions, tri-color peppers, 1/2 c. fat free egg sub, 2 slices center cut bacon, 1/2 oz reduced fat cheddar cheese, homemade salsa and a low carb flour tortilla. I also drank two organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes.

Lunch at Smashburger (15 pts)
Spicy Baja grilled chicken sandwich (pepper jack, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, onions, spicy chipotle mayo and fresh jalapenos on a spicy chipotle bun) and a Diet Coke.  I am so happy I resisted fries and alcohol.

Dinner (10 pts)
Blackened tilapia, 1/2 c. lemon and herb wild and long grain rice pilaf and organic mixed baby greens topped with 1 Tbsp Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch dressing.

Dessert (1 pt)
1 very large honeycrisp apple diced and baked with 1 Tbsp Smart Balance Light, 1 packet of Splenda and a whole lot of Korintje cinnamon. It was delicious and reminded me of a crustless apple pie, yum!

This is the best I've done on a Saturday in quite a while, so I am very pleased with myself.  I didn't get a formal workout in though, but at least I wasn't totally sedentary either.  I was pretty busy all day.  Now I am going to go lay on the couch and enjoy some movie time with my hubs.  Good night all!

Friday 11-18-11

Hey guys, happy Friday!  Today was pretty cool.  The hubby ended up working from home today and only til about 1:30ish so we got a lot of family time today.  It also meant that I was able to hit the gym in the middle of the afternoon, which was awesome.  I did get a bit splurge-y tonight, but I'm still within my weekly points so it's ok.  Plus I exercised a lot this week.  This is what I ate today:

Breakfast (8 pts)
Egg whites with lots of veggies, light cheese, 2 slices center cut bacon, 1 slice Sara Lee Delightful wheat toast and 2 organic skim milk/hazelnut lattes.

Lunch (10 pts) 
1/2 leftover Indian inspired turkey burger on 1/2 Trader Joe's garlic naan, hot curry mayo, cilantro, red onions and cucumber slices, 3 oz baked sweet potato fries and a Diet Shasta Cola.

Post-workout snack (4 pts)
1 slice Sara Lee Delightful wheat bread spread with 1 Tbsp reduced fat peanut butter and organic granny smith apple slices

Dinner (8 pts)
A big bowl of homemade crock pot chicken tortilla soup topped with reduced fat pepper jack, lime, Baked Tostitos scoops, homemade salsa, 1 oz avocado slices and garnished with cilantro.

Dessert (6 pts)
A bowl of fruit salad modified to lower the points. I think some people call it Ambrosia salad, but growing up we just called it fruit salad.

Dessert #2...oops (14 pts)
3 dark chocolate hazelnut kiss cookies and Diet Swiss Miss made with water and topped with 7 g mini marshmallows.

Unecessary snack (6 pts)
A handful of roasted pumpkin seeds and 2 sugar free mini peanut butter cups

Ok, ok, I went a little nuts with chocolate today. I am craving it like CRAZY.  But it really could have been much worse. (At least that's what I'm telling myself.)  I'm going to try to stick to my 36 pts tomorrow to make up for today's madness.  I can't believe I ate about 59 pts+ today, woah! I only have 18 weeklies left for the rest of the weekend, but all of my activity points are in tact and I refuse to dip into those.  My parents are babysitting for us tomorrow so that we can run errands for our upcoming trip (diapers, cold weather clothes, baby food etc) and I am going to try to resist eating at a restaurant.  I have a rough idea of tomorrow's menu in my head so I'm going to do my best to stick to it.  That's all I can do.  Well, thanks for reading.  Good night folks!

Thursday 11-17-11

I had a very productive day. I had a nice leisurely breakfast and coffee with the hubby followed by an intense cardio/weights/ab workout and shower all before the kids got up for the day.  I had to take baby girl in for immunizations and blood work today.  Her sad little face broke my heart. She cried so hard that she fell asleep right after we left the building.  After we left the doctor we went to an Indian grocer I've been curious about so that I could gather some authentic spices for tonight's dinner.  I was so hungry from having worked out so early that I gave in to temptation and ate a delicious snack while I was there. (The store was also a vegetarian Indian restaurant.) Plus I knew I still had to stop at Sprouts for produce and it's never a good idea for me to go in there hungry. Hubby has joined me on my health kick so we have been going through produce (and other staples) at record speed, in case you're wondering why I seem to hit up grocery stores daily. After the grocery store I took care of stuff around the house, or at least as much as the kids would let me do, and then prepped dinner.  After dinner the hubby and I relaxed and streamed some documentaries on Netflix, stuff that made my head spin. Anyway, before I get off on some crazy tangent here is what I ate today:

Breakfast (8 pts)
Egg whites scrambled in sauteed onions, red, green & yellow peppers, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes and topped with reduced fat pepper jack cheese and homemade salsa, plus two organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes, 2 slices of center cut bacon and 1 piece of Sara Lee Delightful wheat toast.

Post-workout snack (5 pts)
A small bit of leftover Moroccan-spiced apricot chicken on a bed of couscous.

Snack at Bharat Bazaar (4 pts)
1 Indian potato samosa dipped in a little chutney

Lunch (8 pts)
A huge salad of mixed organic baby greens, balsamic vinaigrette, 2 oz Trader Joe's just chicken, Trader Joe's lite havarti cheese, 10 g dried cranberries, diced apples, radishes, celery, sliced red pepper and a 1/2 oz of cashews. This was my attempt at recreating the salad I had the other day at Yellow Deli. The only difference was the addition of diced granny smith apples (oh, and my vinaigrette wasn't as good since it was from Stater Bros. Next time I am making my own.)

Dinner (16 pts)
Turkey burgers with an Indian twist served in garlic naan with 3 oz baked sweet potato fries and reduced fat hot curried mayonnaise. I used fresh cilantro, red onions and cucumbers for burger toppings. (The cucumbers served as a cooling agent to counteract the heat of the yummy mayo.) I found this recipe when googling inspiration for newer, more exciting ways to eat super lean turkey burgers. I cut out half the oil and used 99% fat free ground turkey and light mayo to lighten it up further. It was phenomenally delicious, seriously the best turkey burger I have ever had. Even the hubs told me it was even better than a beef burger, and that's saying a lot coming from him. I could have made it super light by using whole wheat pita or eating them protein-style but I still had leftover Trader Joe's garlic naan from yesterday that was begging to be used. The naan itself was 7 pts since I used a whole piece folded over as my "bun" but it was so worth it! Seriously people, make this recipe as soon as possible! Sorry for the paragraph, haha, but this was a good one.

Pre-blog Snack (2 pts)
1/3 of a leftover Indian-inspired turkey burger patty spread with 1 tsp of hot curry mayo, yum yum yum! And a navel orange.

I used 43 of my 36 points plus today, but I don't feel bad because I exercised a ton this morning and I need to eat (and drink) more when I exercise intensely so I don't kill baby girl's milk supply. I used 7 weekly points today, but I still have a whole 39 to get me through the weekend. Ok, that's all folks. Have a great night!

Wednesday 11-16-11

Today was a busy day of errand running, and I also got in a work out while the kids napped.  (They napped at that same time again, woo-hoo!)  It was a relaxed evening.  I got to watch a Netflix dvd with the hubby after dinner, "I Love You Man."  Loved it.  If baby girl cooperates and sleeps all through the night I am hoping to get an early morning workout in tomorrow.  We have a 12 o'clock appointment for her to have her iron levels checked, since we put it off due to illness. In other news, I can't believe Thanksgiving is in eight more days.  How did that happen?!  We still have a lot to do before our trip.  I'm a little stressed about it.  Anyway, back to the topic.  This is what I ate today:

Breakfast (10 pts)

Avocado-bacon-reduced fat pepper jack egg white omelet with salsa and light sour cream and two organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes with Splenda.

Lunch (7 pts) 

Baby spinach salad with honey roasted butternut squash, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, gorgonzola cheese and homemade honey dijon vinaigrette. (Recipe by the brilliant Gina of SkinnyTaste.com.) 

Pre-workout Snack (1 pt)

Small banana and a light string cheese

Dinner (14 pts)

Moroccan-spiced apricot chicken with couscous and 1/2 serving of Trader Joe's tandoori garlic naan sprayed with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray.

Dessert (7 pts)

6 oz container fat free vanilla Chobani yogurt + 2 Tbsp homemade pumpkin butter + 1/2 oz chopped pecans

I used 3 weekly points so that I could top my yogurt dessert with nuts, but again I don't mind using extra points on days I have a hard work out.  I used 39 points of 36 but I'm still in great shape for the weekend, points-wise.  Well, I better get back to my poor teething daughter.  Have a great night all and thanks again for reading! 

Tuesday 11-15-11

Today didn't turn out like I planned it.  I slept in kind of late after an extremely long night with baby girl. She was up all night like a newborn!  My plan for today was to do a little bit of light cleaning, make up my menu for the next six days, grocery shop, take baby girl in for blood work and exercise.  The hubby called and asked if I could get the house ready for a showing instead, so I did.  Fortunately he got off work at a reasonable time and the four of us went on a mini-grocery trip together so we'd be gone for the showing.  When we got home there was no evidence that it even took place, which was a bit irritating since I rearranged my whole day for it and didn't get a formal workout in because of it.  Oh well.  Having a yummy late dinner and watching some Glee, New Girl and Raising Hope made up for it.  I love Tuesday nights.  Anyway, this is what I ate today: 

Breakfast (9 pts)

1/2 c. fat free egg sub scrambled in butter flavor nonstick spray, 2 turkey sausage links, 2 slices Sara Lee Delightful whole wheat toast and Smart Balance Light and two organic skim milk/fat free vanilla caramel lattes with Splenda.

Lunch (9 pts) 

Leftover chicken marsala, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and 1 1/4 c. broccoli lightly cooked in fat free chicken stock. (A shout out to my Tio Jaime for that idea!  He does something like this every year at our Christmas Eve get together, and it's great.)

Snack (1 pts)

Light string cheese

Dinner (17 pts)

Chicken fajitas made with onions, green/red/yellow peppers and mushrooms and topped with light sour cream, homemade salsa, 2 oz avocado slices and eaten with 1 Romero's low carb flour tortilla, 1/2 c. refried beans topped with 1 Tbsp 2% Mexican blend cheese and (not pictured) 1 oz of Baked Tostitos Scoops. 

I used exactly 36 of 36 pts today.  I was tempted to have some of the hubby's dark chocolate he picked up at Trader Joe's this evening, but I resisted since I didn't exercise today. It was hard to watch Glee without munching on dessert, but I made it through by chugging lots of water.  Well, I better get to bed and sleep while I can.  I'm crossing my fingers that baby girl goes back to sleeping through the night soon.  Good night and thanks for reading! 

Monday 11-14-11

Hi friends.  Today was a pretty good day.  I took the kids to lunch at the Yellow Deli so we could catch up with some friends.  My son had a blast with his buddy.  Then we came home and played together.  The kids and I danced together to a cd we got at a friend's birthday party a while back, and I also got a formal workout in before I made dinner.  Weigh in this morning went well.  I was down 0.9 of a lb which is awesome considering all the cookies I had this weekend.  I'm at my WW goal again, but my personal goal is just a few pounds away. I am going to try to have a very good week since next week is Thanksgiving and we'll be going to Oklahoma.  Between airport food, fast food and other peoples' home cooking I always end up gaining weight in Oklahoma, so I am hoping to lose at least a pound or two before going in case that does happen.  That's not to say I won't try to stay on track while I'm there, but you never know.  Anywho, this is what I ate today:

Breakfast (9 pts)
Breakfast sandwich with egg whites, 2 oz Buddig ham, 2% American cheese and Sara Lee Delightful wheat bread and two organic skim milk/fat free vanilla caramel lattes with Splenda.

Lunch at the Yellow Deli (approx 16 pts)
Cranberry & cashew salad with balsamic vinaigrette (using the fork method, so I only used about a quarter of what they brought me), celery, carrots, havarti, red peppers radishes and deli chicken added. I also had some bread on the side. The menu said it came with whole wheat sourdough, but not sure if that's what I had.  It was kinda sweet and it had raisins in it, so I guessed on the points.  I also drank water and had the tiniest bite ever of my son's peanut butter cookie.

Dinner (11 pts) 
Chicken marsala, garlic & herb mashed potatoes and asparagus roasted in garlic infused olive oil.

I used exactly 36 points today and got in a workout, woot!  This was a great start to my week.  Goodnight friends.  "See" you tomorrow.

Sunday 11-13-11

Hi all!  This concludes my first week "back on track" with Weight Watchers Points Plus.  Not a perfect week since I only squeezed in two formal workouts and didn't meet my veggie quota every day, but it's still much better than I did all of last month.  We'll see what the scale has to say about it in the morning.

Today was rather slow-paced, though not as slow-paced as yesterday. It was a warm and mild day and the hubby worked again.  I wanted some much needed gym time so I dropped the kids off with my parents and they had a fun day with their cousin.  I was able to go to the grocery store for some staples (milk, bread, organic salad, etc), have a quiet leisurely lunch alone and then I went to the gym for some elliptical cardio.  It was a good day.  I ended up dipping into weeklies because I baked more of those double dark chocolate hazelnut cookies form yesterday, but miraculously I still have a few WPs to spare plus all of my activity points in tact.  This is what I had today:

Breakfast (13 pts)
Soy chorizo, potato & egg white burrito on a whole wheat flour tortilla with 1 oz 2% Mexican blend cheese and homemade salsa plus my two organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes.

Lunch (9 pts)
Leftover Italian inspired turkey & cheese meatloaf with 1/2 c. roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a cup of plain, steamed veggies with a Diet Shasta Cola to wash it all down.

Dinner (9 pts)
2 c. bowl of menudo with lime, cilantro, diced onions, oregano and crushed red pepper flakes. (I feel like I am getting sick! I forgot to mention that before.)

Dessert (15 pts!!!)
3 double dark chocolate hazelnut Kiss cookies and a glass of organic skim milk

Drink (3 pts)
1 c. high pulp orange juice. I don't usually like using points on juice, but I always seem to crave it when I feel a cold coming on. I woke up with a sore throat and I hope it doesn't turn into anything else!

I used 49 pts today, not the smartest thing the night before a weigh in, but it's ok.  I indulged in some treats this week but it could have been much worse. I'm just excited I was able to exercise self control around those cookies I baked yesterday, and happy I was able to refrain from using every single weekly point.  Well, that's all I got for yas.  I'll report back on my weigh in tomorrow. Good night!

Saturday 11-12-11

Today was the laziest day ever.  Hubby was on-call and worked most of the day, so the kiddos and I just stayed at home all day long (in our pajamas) enjoying the rain.  We watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and just relaxed.  It was nice.  I ended up baking some very sinful cookies, an adaption of a 4 ingredient cookie I saw on Pinterest.  The recipe made 2 dozen cookies, which would have been dangerous, so I only baked a dozen of them and froze the rest of the dough balls for another day.  I finally just enjoyed my cookies.  I wanted to savor them so I waited til I was done cleaning my kitchen and the kids were asleep.  (Well, baby girl is actually awake right now, but she's just hanging out with her daddy quietly. She missed him today and he just got home.)  Anyway, this is what I ate today:

Breakfast (14 pts)
Breakfast burrito with bacon, fat free egg sub, hash browns (in canola oil), turkey sausage, Mexican blend reduced fat cheese, homemade salsa and a flour tortilla plus my usual organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes

Lunch (10 pts) 
1 oz whole grain angel hair pasta topped with the last 1 c. of my spicy Italian turkey sausage & chunky veggie spaghetti sauce.  I also made myself some garlic bread with Trader Joe's artisan bread and garlic infused oil, but a certain two-year-old food bandit jacked it off my plate! Just as well. Lunch was point-y enough.

Dinner (11 pts) 
Italian-style turkey meatloaf (my own yummy recipe I created today), roasted garlic mashed potatoes and fire roasted veggies in a balsamic butter sauce.

Dessert (11 pts!) 
2 double dark chocolate hazelnut kiss cookies and 1 c. organic skim milk

Even though I had a mostly lazy day I am pretty tired.  I jinxed myself last night when I said I'd be passing out after finishing my blog; baby girl woke up and kept me awake for 2 1/2 more hours, then woke me up twice more to nurse.  I was kind of a zombie all day, hence never getting of my pjs.  With any luck I will be passing out after I'm done here.  We shall see, but back to the topic at hand.  I used 10 weekly points so that I could have my dessert and milk tonight (46 of 36 pts+), but I still have some WPs left for tomorrow should I want/need them, and weigh in is Monday morning.  I really hope to get a work out in tomorrow.  I was so lazy today, but I felt like I needed it.  Thanks for reading.  I'll be back tomorrow.

Friday 11-11-11

Sorry in advance for the quick post and no pics.  I am EXHAUSTED and am going to crawl into bed and pass out as soon as I am done here.  Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast (8 pts)
Light breakfast sandwich with black forest ham, 2% American cheese, egg whites and Sara Lee Delightful whole wheat bread and 2 organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes

Snack while waiting for pasta to cook (4 pts)
Boca chik'n patty

Lunch (11 pts)
1 oz whole wheat thin spaghetti with 1/2 c. leftover chunky veggie & lean hot Italian turkey sausage spaghetti sauce, and 2 oz Trader Joe's Artisan whole grain bread with 1 tsp garlic infused olive oil

Snack (2 pts)
3 Hershey's dark chocolate kisses

Dinner (10 pts)
2 c. homemade turkey & 9 veggie chili (thawed and re-heated form deep freezer) with 1 oz Mexican blend reduced fat cheese and 1 oz Baked Tostitos Scoops for dipping

Dessert (10 pts but worth it)
1/2 c. rolled oats cooked in 1 c. organic skim milk, cinnamon, Splenda, 3 Tbsp homemade pumpkin butter and topped with 1/2 oz chopped walnuts and 1/2 oz dried cranberries. Sooo delicious for something I just threw together in a few minutes and would make a perfect breakfast on a chilly morning.

I used 45 of 36 pts today, but it's Friday and I usually use weekly points on Fridays anyway. Plus I didn't eat enough yesterday (since I was under my pts target by about 8 pts.)  Ok folks, that's all I got.  I hope your 11-11-11 was epic.  Good night!

Thursday 11-10-11

Hi guys, sorry for the obnoxiously late post but I had a busy day!  I worked on sewing projects and then took the kiddos to get their pics taken with the Sears Santa Claus.  I finished baby girl's turkey shirt and then made her a coordinating skirt and then after I made dinner I got to work on my son's turkey shirt.  I am almost done with it!  As soon as I am done here I am going to finish it and go the heck to sleep.  I'd rather finish while everyone is asleep so I can do it interruption-free.  Much quicker that way.  Anywho, this is what I ate today:

Breakfast (9 pts)
Machaca burrito and 2 skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes

"Lunch" while running out the door to get portraits done (1 pt)
A light string cheese

Dinner (18 pts) 
2 oz whole wheat thin spaghetti with 1/2 c. homemade chunky veggie and hot Italian turkey sausage meat sauce with a slice of garlic bread and 6 fl oz of Moscato. SO delicious, all of it. So excited for leftovers tomorrow! Well, technically today since it's past midnight.

I only used 28 pts of 36 today because I got too busy to eat lunch myself.  I decided my lunch would be whatever my kids didn't eat of their grilled ham & cheese sandwiches but boy child devoured his and the girl one threw much of her's on the floor, and I don't do eating off the floor. Well, I better run. Thanks for reading my super late post!

Wednesday 11-9-11

Hi friends!  I feel like a truck hit me.  I am so sore from yesterday's workout, and I did not sleep well last night.  I got up kind of early too.  I had a busy day of running around.  My two year old got a much needed haircut and then we did some shopping.  The kids are getting their holiday portraits done Friday and I wanted some cute coordinating outfits.  We had lunch at Subway and I could not wake up despite 2 lattes this morning and Diet Coke with lunch.  My phone died while we were eating and I don't have a car charger so I couldn't track my food til I got home.  I stopped at the Starbucks inside of Target and tried to get a skinny peppermint mocha but they were out of the syrup or something, so I got the second best sounding thing which was a tall salted caramel mocha.  I got it with fat free milk and splurged and got whipped cream.  I looked up the points later when I got home and was shocked to find that my tall drink was a whopping NINE points plus, ouch.  That left me with two points plus for dinner so I had to dip into weeklies to eat it.  Oh well.  Anyway, here's what my day looked like food-wise:

Breakfast (9 pts)
Homemade machaca & egg sub burrito and 2 organic skim milk & sugar free hazelnut lattes

Snack (2 pts)
1 slice of cheddar cheese

Lunch at Subway (*15 pts)
6" toasted turkey & pepper jack on 9 grain honey oat (some bread scooped out of the middle) with avocado, spinach, tomatoes, onions, peperoncinis, pickles, bell peppers, cucumbers and chipotle southwest sauce, bag of Baked BBQ Lay's and Diet Coke. *Pts are approximate since I had some bread removed, but not sure how much exactly.

"Snack" at Starbucks (9 pts!!!)
Tall salted caramel mocha latte with fat free milk and whipped cream

Dinner (9 pts)
Leftover chile verde pork (see yesterday's post) with cilantro, lime and onions, a flour tortilla and 1/2 c. pinto beans.

I used 45 points plus today, so 9 weeklies and I didn't earn any activity points. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.  Well my oven timer is beeping at me because my iron is pre-heated now, so I better run!  I'm making turkey applique shirts tonight.  "See" you tomorrow.

Taco Tuesday 11-8-11

Today I am grateful for the fact that my two year old napped, and not only napped, but napped at the same time as his baby sister! I got to work out for the first time in a super long time and it felt great. I did my Slim-in-Six "ramp it up" dvd by Beach Body.  I can tell I'm going to feel it tomorrow.  I haven't done this particular workout since before I got pregnant with baby girl.  Before working out I had a pretty productive day of laundry and cleaning.  The kids were a bit wild but they made up for it by napping at the same time, thank heavens.  Anyway, this is what I ate today:

Breakfast (12 pts)
ABC (avocado-bacon-cheddar) egg white omelet with light sour cream and homemade salsa and two organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut lattes with Splenda/

Lunch (9 pts)
2 c. bowl of New England style clam chowder with 10 fat free saltine crackers

Snack (0 pts)
honeycrisp apple slices

Dinner (13 pts)
Slow cooker chile verde shredded pork tacos in corn tortillas with cilantro, lime and onions, 1/2 c. pinto beans + 2 Tbsp 2% Mexican blend cheese, organic salad + 1 Tbsp Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch dressing + 2 Tbsp 2% Mexican blend cheese and a Diet Shasta Root Beer.

Dessert while watching Glee (3 pts)
1/2 c. Trader Joe's 0% Greek vanilla yogurt + 3 Tbsp pureed pumpkin + pumpkin pie spice + cinnamon + 7 g walnuts

I used 37 of 36 points plus today, so I used one weekly point. I don't mind dipping into weekly points on a day I've worked out so I am good to go.  Well, I better run! I've got some yummy pumpkin butter simmering on the stove that needs attention.  Good night.  "See" you tomorrow!

Monday 11-7-11

Hi guys, I'm back! (Again, hopefully for good this time.)  I got up early, weighed in for the first time in a couple weeks and had a crazy day of cleaning like a wild woman until fifteen minutes before a home showing.  At the fifteen-til mark the kids and I left so there was no chance of them making a huge mess before the potential buyers showed up.  As soon as we got into the car to leave my two year old started saying he was "so so sooo hungry" so I started driving in the direction of food.  He told me he "needed" Taco Bell, ha (what the heck?)  I ate off the "drive-thru diet" menu to stay kind of on track and the kids split pintos 'n cheese (no sauce) and a chicken quesadilla before we went off to the store to buy a few grocery items. I still need to plan the rest of the week's dinner menus, but I'm set for the next few days at least.  I needed to get back on track.  I had a super splurge-y October (as you can probably tell from my lack of blog entries.)  Amazingly I am still in the 120s, though just barely.  I somehow lost a couple of the pounds I gained over October but I'm still not where I should be.  This is what I ate today:

Breakfast (9 pts)
1/2 c. carton egg whites cooked in butter flavor Pam, 2 slices Oscar Meyer center cut bacon, 2 slices of Sara Lee Delightful whole wheat toast with Smart Balance light, and a giant organic skim milk/sugar free hazelnut latte with Splenda.

Lunch at Taco Bell (12 pts)
1 fresco style crunchy beef taco and 1 fresco style bean burrito, bottled water.

Sorry for the sloppy pic on a paper plate. I was starving and in a hurry to eat. :) 

Dinner (15 pts) 
Cheese steak sandwich made with 4 oz lean steak, 1 tsp olive oil, onions, red/green/yellow peppers, sliced white mushrooms, Sargento reduced fat pepper jack cheese and two Sara Lee Delightful wheat hot dog buns (because I totally forgot to buy bread at the deli, but it worked well since I toasted it!) Also, 3 oz baked shoe string fries with some ketchup and a Diet Shasta root beer.

I used 36 of 36 points plus today.  My one year old is showing no signs of wanting to wean from nursing any time soon, which is fine by me. I love the extra 7 points a day I get while nursing her and when she eventually weans I will sorely miss them.  Anywho, that's all I got for today.  "See" you tomorrow.