January 31, 2010 - Day 28

Here's the justification for today's breakfast (via one of my friend's FB status): "Weekends were made for excessive carb consumption."

For breakfast

1 everything bagel with as minimal cream cheese and butter as possible (530 calories; 11 points)

1 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (70 calories; 2 points)

No lunch today... too busy shopping.

For dinner

2 servings of Papa Murphy's Chicken, Bacon, Artichoke De-Lite pizza (450 calories; 10 points)

Water

Snacks

1 slice of apple (20 calories; 0 points)

1 diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 1095

Total WW Points: 23

Total "Flex Points" left for week: 18

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 1

Exercise
100 crunches

January 30, 2010 - Day 27

For breakfast

2 Pop-Overs w/ 1 tbsp of honey (200 calories; 4 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

Smart Ones Chicken Parmesan (290 calories; 5 points)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of grilled salmon (230 calories; 6 points)

Asparagus/peppers (100 calories; 2 points)

1 serving of pasta w/a lttle pesto (150 calories; 3 points)

Water

Snacks

1 glass of milk

1 ginger cookie

Total Calories (roughly): 1400

Total WW Points: 30

These numbers are complete estimates. I'm giving a lot of points/calories to my 2 snacks that I had. I was doing well... no snacks all day, but then, at the end of the day, I couldn't resist. I guess you could say I choked. :)

Total "Flex Points" left for week: 22

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 2

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

100 crunches

January 29, 2010 - Day 26

Whoah! Today was an intense exercise day. Not only did I do my normal routine, I also tried out a Zumba class at the local Y. Man did that kick my butt! It wasn't just that I didn't know the steps (although I was able to pick them up pretty quickly); it was that we never stopped moving. Well, we did, but that was just for the song to change. So we had a 15 second break or so about every 3 minutes. And for those 3 minutes, we were going - it was definitely high impact for sure!

For breakfast

1 english muffin with peanut butter (220 calories; 5 points)

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 grilled cheese sandwich on multi-grain bread (240 calories; 5 points)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of sauteed shrimp (190 calories; 3 points)

1 serving of brown rice and quinoa w/sauteed peppers and onions (120 calories; 3 points)

Water

This whole dinner was super yummy! Not bad for not knowing what to do with the shrimp I took out early this morning. :)

Snacks

1 serving of WW ice cream (140 calories; 2 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 1010

Total WW Points: 20

Flex points left: 33

Days left in "flex points" week: 4

Exercise

About 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

100 crunches

1 hour Zumba class

More housework - I was listening to my iPod while doing this, and I *know* there was dancing around in there. :D

January 28, 2010 - Day 25

Yay! I returned to the gym for some exercise and it felt really good! I definitely needed that! Wait... did I just type that?!?

For breakfast

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 tuna and mayo sandwich with american cheese on multi-grain bread (250 calories; 4 points)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of grilled garlic and herb chicken (120 calories; 3 points)

1/2 serving of Italian creamy garlic Rice A Roni (130 calories; 3 points)

1/2 serving of steamed brussel sprouts (20 calories; 0 points)
* Wow, I knew these were good for you but I had no idea just how good they were. Here's what one site said: "This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Riboflavin, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese." It's a good thing I (and Riley!) like these. We have these a couple of times a month.

Water

Snacks

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

1 rice cake with peanut butter (130 calories; 3 points)

1 serving of cheerios w/skim milk (140 calories; 3 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 865

Total WW Points: 17

Flex points left: 34

Exercise

About 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

200 crunches

Housework - Among other things, I scrubbed all of the floors in my house by hand... a good work out for the arms!

All in all, today was a really good day!

January 27, 2010 - Day 24

I had every intention of going to the gym today. Riley had a doctor's appt around 9:30, but I was going to drop her off at daycare after that and then head over. However, the doctor's appointment took like an hour and a half, and Riley was very upset at the end of it (she needed to take this medicine from a breathing machine for about 10 minutes which upset her GREATLY). So I took her home and we hung out for the day. We even got to go visit Cam and take him out to lunch after our story time at the library.

For breakfast

1 high-fiber muffin (130 calories; 2 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1/2 of a clementine (10 calories; 0 points)

1 bbq beef burrito (290 calories; 5 points)

Water

For dinner

2 tacos (350 calories; 7 points)
* I had a little dollup of sour cream and a bit of shredded cheese on each. Cam did a great job on getting whole wheat taco shells, which a bunch of fiber in each. Good stuff!

Water

Snacks

1 diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

A handful of chips with a little bit of guacamole (150 calories; 3 points)
* These numbers are an estimate. I really didn't have much at all, especially the guacamole, but we did get them from Chipotle when Riley and I took cam for lunch. So I think these numbers are good estimates.

A handful of animal crackers (60 calories; 1 point)

A box of mini-smarties (50 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 1100

Total WW Points: 20

Flex points left: 34

Exercise
Nothing, except for playing outside with Riley.

January 26, 2010 - Day 23

For breakfast

3/4 of a high-fiber muffin (100 calories; 2 points)

1/2 of a clementine (10 calories; 0 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 bowl of Total cereal w/skim milk (140 calories; 3 points)

A few bites of Light Progresso soup (50 calories; 1 point)
* The increase in calories comes from the cheese I put on and the cornstarch I put in to thicken it up.
* I didn't really like it, but I would have had more. However, my daughter LOVED it and ate almost the entire can.

Water

For dinner

1 breaded chicken breast w/a little gravy (200 calories; 5 points)

1/2 serving of parmesan couscous (110 calories; 2 points)

1 serving of roasted broccoli w/parmesan cheese (75 calories; 1 point)

Water

Snacks

1 diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

1/2 box of mini-smarties (25 calories; 0 points)
* I shared this with Riley today as a treat - wow did she like this!

Total Calories (roughly): 870

Total WW Points: 15

Flex points left: 35

Exercise
Nothing, except for playing outside with Riley.

January 25, 2010 - Day 22

Yuck. I was so tired today, that I couldn't see straight! So after dropping Riley off at day care, I went right home when I should have been going to the gym. Long and short of it ... no exercise today. :(

****** WEIGHT UPDATE: 141 pounds (via home scale) *******
This means that I am down 7 pounds since starting this diet a little more than 3 weeks ago. In fact, I now weigh less than I did pre-pregnancy! Woot!

For breakfast

High fiber oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 bbq beef burrito (290 calories; 5 points)

1 Cutie (aka: Clementine) (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner

1 fillet of breaded, parmesan dover sole (240 calories; 5 points)
* Not as good as the last time I made it, but still tasty.

1 serving of cauliflower mash (40 calories; 0 points)
* I found the idea for this in a fitness magazine, and it seemed an interesting way to cook cauliflower. The result: Not bad. It probably isn't my favorite way to eat cauliflower (I think it has something to do with the texture), but I'd eat it again.

Water

Snacks

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

1 Smart Ones peanut butter cup sundae (170 calories; 3 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 1000

Total WW Points (roughly): 17

Flex points left at the end of my week: 14!!!

Exercise
Nothing.

January 24, 2010 - Day 21

What a rainy day it was today. This equaled no motivation to go to the gym. I'll go tomorrow, for sure. I did make some pulled pork for the first time ever, which got my house smelling really nice! Too bad how many calories are in it, although there's also a lot of protein which is good!

For breakfast

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 turkey sandwich with fat-free mayo and romaine lettuce on multi-grain bread (160 calories; 3 points)

A few pieces of pear (20 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of pulled pork (573 calories; 12 points)
* I'm actually flabbergasted at how many points this is. And this time it pretty much all came from the calories. Jeesh. At least my pulled pork was awesome!

1 small corn on the cob (70 calories; 1 point)

Water

Snacks

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

A 90 calorie snack pack (90 calories; 2 points)

1 serving of cheerios in skim milk (140 calories; 3 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 1113

Total WW Points (roughly): 22

Flex points left: 14

Exercise

100 ab crunches

January 23, 2010 - Day 20

Yikes! Cam and I decided to go out to lunch with Riley after our errands about town. This ended up being Red Robin. I thought to myself, "Okay, try to get something healthy." This, I thought, would be the salmon burger. Nope. I was wrong. Even after I ate only 1/2 the bun, I still ended up with 15 points for the meal. Stupid di'jon sauce that came on it! And then I ate too much for dinner. Oh well... it's the weekend, right, so that's allowed? :S

For breakfast

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 grilled salmon burger (800 calories; 15 points)
* Without the sauce, I would have only been looking at 9 points... still not great, yeah, but so much better!

Water

For dinner

1 serving of (leftover) tortellini w/prosciutto and peas in a cream sauce (520 calories; 11 points)

Water

Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 1390

Total WW Points (roughly): 29

Flex points left: 17

Exercise

200 ab crunches

Does weeding the back lot count? My legs hurt after crouching down for a long while...

January 22, 2010 - Day 19

Today I went food shopping after I worked out. I can't decide if that was harder or easier for me. On the one hand, it was hard because I had just burned off some calories which meant that I was a little peckish. So, in that sense I wanted to buy everything in sight. On the other hand, I was in the "weight-loss" frame of mind, so in that sense it was easier. I probably spent longer then I wanted there because I ended up reading every label looking at calories, serving size, fat, and fiber. In the end though, I did pretty well and didn't get too much junk at all. So yay for me!

For breakfast

Before working out:

1/2 English Muffin w/margarine (100 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

After working out:

1 serving of Total cereal w/skim milk (140 calories; 3 points)

For lunch

1 Smart Ones baked ziti (320 calories; 6 points)
* This was really tasty. I'm going to have to buy this one again.

Water

For dinner

1 serving of tortellini w/prosciutto and peas in a cream sauce (390 calories; 8 points)
* This was another WW recipe that I had copied from my friend. It is so easy to make and so darn delicious. It's only supposed to be 6 points per serving; I had a little too much. :/

Water

Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 990

Total WW Points (roughly): 22

Flex points left: 26

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine
* Another day on the weight interval setting. Woot!

100 ab crunches

Pushing Riley in the laundry basket up and down the hallway really fast. Now that's a workout for the legs!

January 21, 2010 - Day 18

I can't believe I squeezed in some exercise today. Not that it was difficult to do logistically; more that I'm just proud of myself for doing it. Another good thing is that the scale at the gym said I was 144. My home scale said I was 144 on Monday, but I think the one at the gym is more accurate. Either way, I'm definitely losing weight, which is awesome! And I can totally feel it too... my clothes are definitely fitting me better. OH! And someone at work today (who I haven't seen since before Christmas break) said I look like I've lost weight. Woo-hoo!

For breakfast

1 high-fiber blueberry muffin (130 calories; 2 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

A serving of (leftover) sauteed ham and butternut squash (215 calories; 5 points)

Water

For dinner

1 bbq burrito (290 calories; 5 points)

Water

Snacks

1 small piece of dark chocolate (68% cacao) (40 calories; 1 point)

1 small banana (90 calories; 1 point)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

1 serving of animal crackers (120 calories; 2 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 955

Total WW Points (roughly): 18

Flex points left: 30

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine
* Not only am I proud of myself for going, I'm proud of myself for doing the weight training program again. At least there were soaps on the TV that I could watch - both Days and GH! I chose GH.

100 ab crunches

January 20, 2010 - Day 17

Yay! I did some exercise today. Good thing too, since I had a most delicious, but fattening, dinner. :)

For breakfast

Before working out:

1 serving of high-fiber, maple and brown sugar oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

After working out:

1 english muffin with peanut butter (220 calories; 5 points)

1 cup of cantaloupe (90 calories; 1 point)

Water

For lunch

A bowl of cheerios with skim milk (140 calories; 2 points)

Water

For dinner

1 slice of homemade white pizza with sausage and red pepper (??? points, ??? points)
* This was bad, but oh so good.

Water

Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 685 + x

Total WW Points: Really 12 + y, but since I only had one slice, I am going to count this as 24 total points. I know 12 points for a slice of pizza is a lot, but I did have sausage on it, plus it was a thicker crust, and I made white sauce. (IT was pretty yummy, thanks for asking!) I just figured that if 2 slices of the Papa Murphy's light pizza was 10 points, then 1 slice of mine would be about the same, maybe a little more. This also puts me at the max points that I want to eat a day.

Flex points left: 30

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine
* Man, was this hard. I did the weight training program today on the machine, so it went from level 1 to level 8 every 4 minutes. Sucky!

100 ab crunches

January 19, 2010 - Day 16

Yay! Another good eating day! Tomorrow will hopefully be both a good eating and exercise day! :)

For breakfast

1 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (70 calories; 2 points)

For lunch

1 grilled cheese sandwich on multi-grain bread (240 calories; 5 points)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of sauteed ham steak, butternut squash, and broccoli (215 calories; 5 points)

Water

Snacks

1 slice of orange (20 calories; 0 points)

1 blueberry muffin (130 calories; 2 points)

1 cup of french vanilla hot chocolate (80 calories; 2 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 755

Total WW Points: 16

Flex points left: 35

Exercise
A walk around the neighborhood with Cam and Riley, as well as playing with Riley in the back yard. I am most definitely going to the gym tomorrow after I drop Riley off at daycare. :)

January 18, 2010 - Day 15

Today was a MUCH better day than yesterday! And I stepped on the scale this afternoon, and it registered 144 pounds. 4 pounds down! Woo-hoo!

For breakfast

1 serving of high-fiber, maple and brown sugar oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

1/2 of an english muffin w/reduced-fat margarine (90 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 turkey and fat-free mayo sandwich with romaine lettuce on multi-grain bread (180 calories; 3 points)

Some cantaloupe (60 calories; 1 point)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of chicken pot pie (?? calories; 4 points)
* I don't know how many calories this is, because I got this recipe from a friend and I forgot to write down the caloric info (and I didn't feel like calculating it). This is mostly because when I wrote down the recipe I did write down the number of points it was (it was a WW recipe), so I felt that was enough.
* Oh, and this pot pie is fabulous!

Water

Snacks

1 blueberry muffin (130 calories; 2 points)
* This was amazing. I bought Fiber-One blueberry muffins, because I was looking for snacks that were not too bad for me. These are high in fiber (hence the name) and are so good! I was a little worried, because I don't like the Fiber-One cereal, but my fears were for naught!

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

1 package of Smarties (50 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 755 + x

Total WW Points: 18

Exercise
Nothing. Seriously, I have to start doing something again!

January 17, 2010 - Day 14

I'm a little late in posting yesterday's events. Perhaps it's because of what happened yesterday:

My day -

For breakfast

1 banana (90 calories; 1 point)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

It started off well, then we went out to the Olive Garden to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday. Bad move on my part.

For lunch

1 serving of Olive Garden salad (350 calories; 8 points)
* There is 26 grams of fat in 1 serving of this salad!!! I went to their website and was flabbergasted! People go in their for the soup and salad, and probably think they are being really healthy. Holy cow!

1/2 mozzarella triangle (165 calories; 4 points)

1/4 serving of Shrimp Manicotti (260 calories; 5 points)
* This is less then 1 serving of the salad!!!

1/2 breadstick (75 calories; 1 point)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of dinty moore stew (210 calories; 5 points)

1 serving of egg noodles (210 calories; 4 points)

Water

Snacks

1 serving of Total in skim milk (140 calories; 2 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 1570. Yeah, that sucked. I'm shooting for 1400 or lower. Oh well.

Total WW Points: 31. YIKES! But... I went and looked at my flex points for the week, and I'm okay. Granted I'm not sure how many points I consumed yesterday, but I'm pretty sure that my stew w/one dumpling wasn't more than 10 points. So, I'm just treating yesterday like I was on target with 19 points. So, even with today's debacle, I'm still actually under pace, meaning that I have 12 flex points left for the rest of the week (which is only 2 more days).

Exercise
Nothing. Yeah, I need to get back to working out.

January 16, 2010 - Day 13

My day -

For breakfast

1 serving of high-fiber, maple and brown sugar oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 tuna and mayo sandwich with american cheese on multi-grain bread (230 calories; 3 points)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of stew + one dumpling (?? calories; ?? points)
* I'm at my in-laws, and since I didn't make it, I don't know what went in it. It was very good though!

Water

Snacks

1 fun-sized snickers bar (80 calories; 2 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 505 + y

Total WW Points: 10 + x

Exercise
Nothing. I drove up to see my in-laws and then proceeded to lounge around.

January 15, 2010 - Day 12

Oh, today was bad. Real bad. Take a look-sees:

For breakfast

1 english muffin w/reduced fat margarine (180 calories; 5 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

So, it started off alright. But then, I stepped on the scale and noticed I wasn't losing any weight, so instead of getting re-affirmed to stick to my diet, I went the other way. Maybe it was all the rain today. Or maybe it was the incessant TV watching.

For lunch

1/2 pound of on-top-of the stove macaroni and cheese (900 calories; 18 points)

Water

Yeah, that wasn't a typos folks. One half frickin' pound of pasta! The only saving grace (and it's a small one for sure) is that is was the low-carb pasta.

I'm not real sure what happened. I mean, seriously. I was just going to eat 1 serving, and before you know it. Bam! It's all gone. I should not be allowed to eat this meal again without supervision. I love it too much! Ask my husband - I will eat it until I feel sick. That's not good, right?

And the best part? That I didn't even get off my lazy ass to go to the gym, because I was too busy watching a Friday Night Lights marathon. I did do 250 crunches on my ab-lounger. Big whoop.

The upside of eating so much food is that I wasn't really hungry for dinner. So, all I had was a bowl of cereal.

For dinner

1 serving of Cheerios in skim milk (140 calories; 2 points)


Total Calories (roughly): 1255

Total WW Points: 26 - although this is only over my 2 points for my day, I'm actually within my week's points, since I hadn't used a lot of my flex points. But seriously, 70% of the points came at lunch. Damn. I'm pretty sure that's not the way to lose weight, not to mention the lack of fruit, vegetables, and protein in my diet today. Double damn.

Oh, yeah, this was not the healthiest of days for sure.

January 14, 2010 - Day 11

For breakfast

1 english muffin w/reduced fat margarine (180 calories; 5 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 serving of chicken, broccoli, cheese pasta bake (400 calories; 7 points)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of Progresso light beef pot roast soup (80 calories; 1 point)
* I still don't like soup but once I thickened up the broth it wasn't bad. Riley absolutely loved it!

Water

Snacks

1 rice cake with peanut butter (130 calories; 2 points)

A handful of animal crackers (100 calories; 2 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 960

Total WW Points: 19

Exercise
Not much. I strolled (and I do mean strolled) with Riley around the neighborhood. Although, I did have to carry her around for about half of it, so that's like doing weight training right? She's around 30 pounds!

January 13, 2010 - Day 10

It occurred to me today that this was the first time that I've really dieted. I did have a brief stint back in the day where I actively attempted to lose weight, but that certainly wasn't what you would call a diet. So, I'm proud of myself for getting this far AND for doing it in a healthy way. :)

My day -

For breakfast

1 serving of high-fiber, maple and brown sugar oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

1 tuna and mayo sandwich with american cheese on multi-grain bread (230 calories; 3 points)

1 tangerine (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner

1 serving of chicken, broccoli, cheese pasta bake (400 calories; 7 points)
* I think casseroles are awesome.

Water

Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)

1 package of mini delights, 90 calorie pack (90 calories; 1 point)

1 rice cake with peanut butter (130 calories; 2 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 1120

Total WW Points: 18

Exercise

30 minutes on the elliptical machine

100 crunches on the ab-lounger

January 12, 2010 - Day 9

Another good day. I hope this continues! I really do think that this blog is part of the reason for my success. I know that each night I have to account for everything I eat so I can put it down here. It's crazy, as I realize that only 1 or 2 people are reading it, but if it works, it works.

My day -

For breakfast

1/2 of an english muffin w/reduced-fat margarine (100 calories; 3 points)
* I would have had the whole thing but Riley wanted the other half. And I'm a good mommmy. :)

1 serving of Total w/skim milk (140 calories; 2 points)
* This was actually good!

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point)
* I upped the calories and points for my 1/2 cup because I realized that I had been putting more creamer in then I thought. Good thing I went out and got the fat-free kind. Not that it'll be completely better...

For lunch

1 Lean Cuisine Macaroni and Cheese (200 calories; 3 points)
* Not as good as the real stuff, duh! :)

Water

For dinner

1 fillet of breaded, parmesan dover sole (240 calories; 5 points)
* OMG! Was this good! I'm always on the hunt for good fish recipes, because I never can seem to make it that well. I found a recipe online and it's super easy; bread the fish w/the cheese and breadcrumbs (+ pepper and lemon zest if you wish) and put under broiler for 3-5 minutes per side depending on thickness. Awesome! Riley gobbled her initial portion right up and kept asking for more and more!

1 serving of mint peas (100 calories; 2 points)
* A big hit also with both Riley and me!

Water

Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee (35 calories; 1 point)

Bites of Riley's lunch and a cut-up pear (???; 3 points (?))

Mini Delight Chocolately Mint 90 Calorie Pack (90 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 1100 (I have no idea; it was 990 w/o factoring my bits of Riley's food, so I added on another 110. Seemed reasonable to me.)

Total WW Points: 21

Exercise
Nothing. Riley wouldn't leave me alone for more than 5 seconds, so going off and doing any type of exercise thing was not going to happen. I would have taken her for a walk around the neighborhood, but it was raining out all day. Yuck. :(

January 11, 2010 - Day 8

Happy birthday mom! For your birthday I decided to go to the gym! Just kidding. :) Not on the gym part, because I did go there. Turns out that I have a free membership to the university gym. Woo-hoo!

I also stepped on the scale this morning right after I woke up and it was 144.5 (-3.5 pounds off of my starting weight). Weighing myself after my delicious dinner, I see that the scale reads 146.5 (-1.5). So, my real weight is somewhere in there! Yay! I'm doing it! I'm losing weight!

Regardless, I gotta say that after a week into this New Year's resolution, I do feel better - both about myself and with myself (if that makes any sense). I have a little more energy, feel like I fit my clothes better, and just really think this is good for me (both physically and emotionally). So, I'm motivated to go on!

My day -

For breakfast

1 english muffin w/a little butter (210 calories; 5 points)
* I shouldn't have used the real butter on this.

1 orange (well not an orange, but like a tangerine small thing) (25 calories; 1 point)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (20 calories; 1/2 point)

For lunch

1 chicken sandwich with fat-free mayo and romaine lettuce on multi-grain bread (235; 4 points)

Water

For dinner

2 servings of Shepard's pie (450 points; 11 points)
* I absolutely love this dinner, which is why I had that second helping. Shouldn't have, I know. I think it'll be healthier when I get reduced-fat ground beef, which is where a lot of the points came from (well, that and the real butter I used for the instant potatoes).

Water

Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee (20 calories; 1/2 point)

1 rice cake with peanut butter (130 calories; 2 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 1130

Total WW Points: 23

Exercise

35 minutes on an elliptical machine
* This was the equivalent to about 2.7 miles, and I burned a little over 300 calories.
* My goal is to visit the gym at least 3 times a week (MWF). It's easy now since school is out of session. It's going to be harder once the semester starts since it's going to be packed and the multi-purpose room isn't that big. So, I'll have to make sure and scout out the best times to go!

January 10, 2010 - Day 7

My day -

For breakfast

2 Pop-Overs w/ 1 tbsp of honey (200 calories; 4 points)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (20 calories; 1/2 point)

For lunch

1 ham and cheese sandwich with mustard and romaine lettuce on multi-grain bread (220; 4 points)

Water

For dinner

Sausage and Roasted Vegetable Penne (415 calories; 10 points)
* I got this recipe from watching Food Network's Ten Dollar Dinners, and Cam and I both LOVED it! We decided though to skip the grape tomatoes next time as we both didn't like them.
* We used DreamFields Low Carb pasta which we used in Tucson, and just recently found here in Salem. If you haven't had it, it tastes really good and it only gives you 5 carbs per serving. It really does, as I had to monitor my blood sugar level when I was eating this and my levels didn't spike at all after eating some! It also has 5 grams of fiber!
* It's the sausage in this recipe that gives you all the points; it's fatty but worth it!

Water

Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee (20 calories; 1/2 point)

3 grapes (10 calories; 0 points)

1 package of Smarties (50 calories; 1 point)

Total Calories (roughly): 935 calories

Total WW Points: 20 points

Exercise

A semi-vigorous walk around my neighborhood (about 1 mile) pulling Riley in the wagon

Playing outside with Cam and Riley

Trans Fat - Bad!

Too much trans and saturated fats can lead to heart disease! Let's try to cut back, shall we? Here's a list to help me (and perhaps you) remember.

Top 10 Bewares

1. Spreads: Stick or tub margarines

Instead: Soft-tub margarines? I'm a little confused on this one as it seems that everything spread-like has it. So giving it up completely would be the ultimate best, but the article suggest soft-tub margarines and to read the labels.

2. Packaged foods. Cake mixes, Bisquick, and other mixes

Instead: Do it yourself baking is the best!

3. Soups: Ramen noodles and soup cups

Instead: Crock-pot it, or for those on the go, reduced fat or fat-free canned soups.

4. Fast food: Apple pies, fries, well, just about everything

Instead: Well, I say just don't order it. But if you must, try to go baked or broiled meat, no apple pies, and really share those fries. They may be yummy but a medium-sized fries has 14.5 grams of trans fat. Yuck! And to think all that I consumed when I worked at McD's.

5. Frozen Food: Those yummy frozen pies, pot pies, WAFFLES (?!), pizzas, even breaded fish sticks contain trans fat. Even if the label says it's low-fat, it still has trans fat.

Instead: Try to make sure and get baked not breaded stuff in the frozen foods.

All the rest here are baked stuff. They say there is usually more trans fat in commercially baked products than anything else.

6. Baked goods

a. Cookies and cakes (with shortening-based frosting)

b. Donuts: Oh, I'm so glad that I don't (a) live near an Ob-Co's donut shop and (b) a Krispy Kreme.

c. Cream-filled cookies

d. Pound Cake: You had to see this one coming, what with the name "pound" in the title. Where do you think it comes from anyway?

Insteads on a-d: Use fat-substitute baking products, or just cut back on the bad ingredients. E.g. Try using one stick and a fat-free baking product, instead of the 2 sticks of butter the recipe calls for.

7. Chips and Crackers. Shortening provides crispy texture. Even "reduced fat" brands can still have trans fat. Anything fried (like potato chips and corn chips) or buttery crackers have trans fat.

Instead: Stuff like pretzels, toast, pita bread.

8. Breakfast food. Breakfast cereal and energy bars. Damn! That probably means my oatmeal!

Instead: Whole-wheat toast, bagels, and many cereals don't have much fat. Yeah, but things like contain a bazillion carbs. Is there nothing we can eat in this world?

9. Cookies and Candy. A chocolate bar with nuts -- or a cookie -- is likely to have more trans fat than gummy bears.

Instead:Probably best to just say away from this category all together if at all possible. But we know it's not so gummy bears or jelly beans. Dark chocolate for the choc-o-holics.

10. Toppings and Dips. Nondairy creamers and flavored coffees, whipped toppings, bean dips, gravy mixes, and salad dressings contain lots of trans fat. Yeah, that probably means my vanilla creamer. Sucky, sucky.

Instead:Use skim milk or powdered nonfat dry milk in coffee. Oil-and-vinegar is great for salad dressings, or if you need it creamy, then read the labels!

January 9, 2010 - Day 6

A good day. My in-laws stopped over and Cam grilled up some delicious burgers. Man was it hard to resist those potato bread buns, but that'd be another 200 calories, not to mention the number of carbs! Actually it turned out to be tasty delicious as it was.

I was pretty proud of myself for going on a walk around the neighborhood. Cam and Riley laid down to take an afternoon nap, so I found myself with nothing to do. I thought about television, but since I did so much tv watching yesterday I just couldn't do it. Plus it was a nice day outside... nice and crisp air; perfect for a walk. I guess I could have jogged, but I hate that.

My breakdown:

For breakfast

1 bowl of high-fiber maple and brown sugar oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)
* It's interesting when calculating the WW points. So, this actually has 10 grams of fiber, but for WW you only can count up to 4. I wonder why?

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (20 calories; 1/2 point)
* My staple. Can't live without it, but I am doing good and cutting down. And still no sugar, although the the creamer has enough in it to begin with.

For lunch

1 bun-less bbq cheddar cheese burger (415 calories; 11 points)
* This had a lot of fat yes, but a lot of protein too!

Water

For dinner

1 serving of teriyaki salmon (170 calories; 4 points)

1 serving of brussel sprouts (38 calories; 1 point)

Water


Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee (20 calories; 1/2 point)

About 4 animal crackers (40; 1 point)
* I don't have the package anymore for these animal crackers, but based on my other package these would be about the number [although I think that the ones that I ate are a bit healthier as the ones from the package are vanilla style and the ones are ate are just plain]

A small bite or two of kielbasa (50 calories; 1 point)
* I couldn't resist. It was on Riley's plate, and she wasn't eating it.

A serving of Cheerios w/1/4 cup skim and 1/4 cup 1% milk (150 calories; 2 points)

Total Calories (roughly): 1050. So Cam said he read something on line that said that you shouldn't consume less than 1200 calories a day. Man, this is getting hard. Now I'm supposed to consume somewhere between 1220 and 1400 calories a day? (Yeah, I've decided to go with 1400 calories a day instead of my original 1615 I said on the first day.) That's a narrow window if you ask me. I think I'll just keep eating healthy and balanced (although I do have to get more fruit into my diet).

Total WW Points: 24. That burger killed me, but at least I'm not over target.

Exercise
Yay! I got some exercise today. Not a ridiculous amount but I did much better than sitting on my butt all day watching TV. :) I think I'm going to check out how much taking a Zumba class would cost. I don't want to sign up for a year or anything. I just want to check out one at the local Y or something.

200 (!) crunches on my ab lounger

A vigorous walk around my neighborhood (about 1 mile)

A race home from my mailbox (against Cam holding Riley) and raking the yard, as well as playing with Riley outside (racing around the yard with her in the wagon and walking around the neighborhood with her)

January 8, 2010 - Day 5

So, today was a MUCH better day than yesterday. One reason that it was easier is that my husband has decided to count the calories with me as well as track Weight Watchers (WW) points. I've looked into the points, and I think I like them b/c they take into account the fat you are intaking as well as the fiber. I mean, I can consume under my daily allotted calories for the day but if all of those calories are made up of fat and thus I am at like 300% of my daily fat intake, that's not good.

I also like the points because then I don't feel bad about having 2 pieces of amazingly delicious pizza like I did tonight. :D Just like I realized yesterday, moderation, moderation, moderation.

Looking up my points I should be at like 19, BUT you get an extra 35 points a week. So, to account for those, I decided to make my daily max points be 19 + 5. I wrote it like that because the 5 is the extra points shared over a week. By doing it this way I won't feel bad if I go over my 19; it'll make me feel like I have some control over my diet which I need. If I go over my 19 but under my 5, I can add it to the next day if I wish. So that makes me feel good, although I'm going to want to keep it under the 24 each day if possible.

Here's my day:

For breakfast

1 bowl of shredded wheat in skim milk (210 calories; 3 points)
* This wasn't good, but I'll probably eat it again

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (20 calories; 1/2 point)
* I'm not sure there are actually 1/2 points, but since 1 cup of coffee is 1 point, I decided to make a half-cup be a 1/2 point.

For lunch

1 bbq beef burrito (290 calories; 6 points)

Water

For dinner

2 servings of Papa Murphy's Chicken, Bacon, Artichoke De-Lite pizza (450 calories; 10 points)
* This pizza is fantastic! This is up there as one my favorite pizzas. Who would of guessed, especially considering it has both artichokes and spinach on it.

Water

Snacks

1/2 cup of coffee (20 calories; 1/2 point)

1 serving of Smarties (50 calories; 1 point)
* Not the sugar candy - I hate those. These are the Canadian candies that are like (& better-tasting, IMO) than M & Ms

1 rice cake with peanut butter (130 calories; 2 points)
* This is an AWESOME snack! So tasty! I just have to make sure that I'm super careful because of Cam.

Total Calories (roughly): 1170!!! An awesome day calorie-wise! And I'm not hungry.

Total WW Points: 23. So, my fat to calorie to fiber ratio wasn't the greatest apparently. But, I'm still under my target! Woo-hoo!

Exercise
Nada. Zilch. Zero. I was going to do my ab-crunches and then didn't. All in all, a really lazy day exercise-wise as I just watched episodes of Friday Night Lights all day. I feel like I deserve it though after that marathon semester of teaching and then grading for weeks on end!

January 7, 2010 - Day 4

Today was a baddddd day, emotionally speaking. I had just decided that I couldn't take it any more, since I had been feeling hungry since I started this stupid diet! AACCK! I figured I was doing something wrong, because certainly I shouldn't feel hungry 24/7! So I did some research (even looking into the Weight Watcher Points that my aunt told me about), and I got so frustrated! There was too much to take into consideration. So I pretty much said "F*&@ it!" to the whole thing and ate 2 servings of mac and cheese.

But then I got thinking that perhaps that is what I needed. I need to be able to enjoy my comfort foods every once in a while. As long as I balance out the rest of the day, things like my mac and cheese would be fine. And, as you'll see below, it was fine. :) Moderation is the key!

After my daughter woke up from her nap, we took a family trip to the local grocery store and bought more healthy, but still yummy, food. I even bought some of the "Smart Ones" frozen meals by Weight Watchers (they were on sale) just so I could eat a relatively healthy option in a pinch.

So, here's my break down:

For breakfast

1 bowl of Cheerios in 1% milk

1/4 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (30 calories)

For lunch

2 servings of Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese

Water

For dinner

2 servings of fajita mixture
* I put shredded cheese and soy sourcream on top; 1 had a low-carb tortilla

Water

Snacks

1 cup of 1% milk

1 serving of animal crackers

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (30 calories)

1 rice cake with peanut butter (130 calories)

Total Calories (roughly): At some point I calculated all of the of the calories, with the help of my husband. However, I forgot to write down the numbers that I collected, so I can't put them here. However, I do remember that it was roughly 1580. So even though it was a hard day emotionally, it turned out that it was a good day calorie-wise. :) And even with my mac and cheese binge, I still think I made it under the daily recommendation of fat intake. Finally, and most importantly, I don't have that starving sensation! Yay!!

Exercise
Nothing really. But I did do my standard 100 ab-crunches on my ab lounger. :)

January 6, 2010 - Day 3

I thought it'd be interesting to track the number of calories I am eating each day. These are rough numbers that I am getting from either online or the package of the food I cooked. I figured if I was tracking my food, I should try and see if I can keep the numbers of calories I intake under the number of calories I should be eating. Now I went online and found out that for my lifestyle (I put sedentary, although I am trying to [slowly] change that) I should be ingesting about 1615 calories to maintain a weight a 130 lbs. Now, I'm not 130 pounds yet, but since that's where I want to be, I figured I would use that number of calories as my target! (Note that Cam had to go find another site that said that if I weighted 148 pounds and wanted to weigh 130 pounds, then to lose 1 pound a week I'll need to intake only about 1400 calories a day. Yuck. I'll have to decide on that one. For now the magic number is 1615.)

My food day:

For breakfast

1 cup of Quaker Instant oatmeal, golden brown sugar variety (200 calories)

1/4 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (30 calories)

For lunch

1 piece of breaded pork loin (360 calories)

1 cup of sauteed butternut squash and cauliflower (168 calories)

Water

Yay! I ate leftovers! Woo-hoo!!! :)

For dinner

3 pieces of kielbasa (510 calories)
* Slow-cooked in sauerkraut

1 cup of steamed broccoli (54 calories)

Water

Snacks

4 tablespoons of trail mix (213 calories)

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories)

1/2 stick of string cheese (45 calories)

Total Calories (roughly): 1615 (On target!)

Exercise
Nothing really. I did housework all day, plus 100 ab-crunches on my ab lounger.

January 5, 2010 - Day 2

Day number 2 and it was good (on the eating front mainly). Well, except for the afternoon... man was I starving as we were shopping around Target. It was all I could do not to pull into the grocery store at a high speed to buy everything in sight, even after subtly hinting to my husband that we needed to buy food. I think he saw through my ploy and said (paraphrasing) "Nah, let's keep going home." Thanks honey! :)

My day:
For breakfast

2 whole-wheat pancakes w/blueberries and a tablespoon of syrup

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer

For lunch

1 bologna and cheese sandwich w/mustard
* Bread was white (I know, I know...)
* Cheese was American

5 grapes

Water

For dinner

1 slice of Tofurkey w/chicken gravy (I only had chicken...)
* We had this in our freezer after getting intrigued by it on Food Network's "Unwrapped." It wasn't bad. In the words of my husband (not paraphrased) "It wasn't the worst thing."

A 1/2 cup of stuffing (that came with the Tofurkey)

A 1/2 cup of carrots

Water

Snacks

A bite of my daughter's banana (that she had decided she was done with)

About 5 pretzel sticks

1/2 cup bowl of cheerios with 1% milk
* This was to satisfy my afternoon melt-down!

1 mocha latte (w/1% milk)

The following were done randomly throughout the day and mainly because my daughter (21 months) was literally shoving this food in my face! :)

A bite of my daughter's string cheese

A raisin or two


Exercise
Okay I didn't really anything too much today! But I did do...

Does raking the yard for about 20 minutes straight count?

January 4, 2010 - Day 1

Today was a good day! Granted it was only day 1, but knowing in the back of mind that I was going to have post what I ate made me think twice about what it was that I was going to eat. So yay for the blog! I think the hardest part of the days for me will be breakfast (oh I love me my bagels!) and mid-afternoon. So, I'm going to have to try extra hard during those times!

So, here's my day in a nutshell:

For breakfast

3/4 of a banana

1/2 of a bowl of cheerios w/1% milk

1/2 cup of coffee with vanilla creamer and NO sugar (yay me!)

Notes: Still hungry! This is going to be hard! Especially when my husband mentioned the bagel he had this morning. Aack! I want a bagel!

For lunch

1 open-faced tuna melt
* Tuna was chunk light in water
* Tuna had mayo
* Bread was white (I know, I know...)
* Cheese was cheddar

Water

For dinner

1 cup of cauliflower and butternut squash sautee
* Was sauteed in (real) butter
* Vegetables were steamed first
* Was DELICIOUS! I hope that it was good for me, because OMG!

1 breaded pork loin
* Pork was coated with EVOO and then breaded in plain crumbs, garlic, rosemary, and s/p
* Breaded pork loin was baked

Water

Snacks

1 cup of 1% milk

6 animal crackers

1 cup of coffee (w/ vanilla creamer)

Exercise

Jogged 1/2 mile around my neighborhood
* This was SO ridiculously hard! I thought I was going to die from lack of oxygen!

Walked 1/10th of a mile around my neighborhood
* This was when I thought I would die from the stupid jogging I was doing.

Jogged to the mailbox and back (which is about 3/20ths of a mile from the house, one-way)
* I figured why not?

65 ab-crunches on the Ab Lounger

January 4, 2010 - Day 1, Rationale

Okay, here it is... my attempt to hold myself accountable for my New Year's resolution of losing weight. Inspired by the Julie/Julia project (I just saw the movie this past weekend), I figured that writing down a list of food that I ate during the day/how much exercise I got in a journal that no one would see but me wouldn't be enough of a motivator. What I realized (as I was putting my daughter to bed last night) is that I needed to be held accountable at a higher level.

So I decided that each day I will blog about what I've eaten. Now, I'm not putting a time limit on myself like "I will have shed x pounds in y days." But I will say that I would like to weigh at most 130 pounds. Currently I'm 148 pounds, 5' 4", and have a small frame. What that means (according to this weight checking site I just went to) is that I should be in the weight range of 120-132 pounds.

I do realize that just losing weight isn't enough; one should be physically fit as well. This will be difficult for me to do, as I'm not really an active person. But, I am going to try and incorporate exercise to my routine. I can't say that I will do this everyday, but whatever I do (or don't do) I will post here as well.

So, that's it. My New Year's resolution. Even if no one reads this, that's fine. After all, it's for me, and no one else. :)