March 10, 2010 - Day 65

Wow, another hungry day for me. I tried to make smart choices and eat healthy through out the day. I wonder if my increase in working out and activity in general has something to do with it. Hopefully it's that and not that I'm just needlessly eating.

For breakfast

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

1 trail mix bar (140 calories; 2 points)

Maple and brown sugar oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

1/2 a banana (45 calories; 0.5 points)

For lunch

Water

1 turkey ham wrap w/cheddar cheese, mixed greens, fat-free mayo, and alfalfa sprouts (215 calories; 3.5 points)

1/2 cup of green seedless grapes (55 calories; 1 point)

A handful of mixed nuts (85 calories; 2 points)

For dinner

Water

1 serving of angel hair w/shrimp and asparagus (390 calories; 7 points)

Snacks

A handful of Kashi Crunch! cereal (50 calories; 1 point)

1 Special K strawberry cereal bar (90 calories; 2 points)

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

1 dark chocolate/oatmeal cookie (100 calories; 2.5 points)

Total Calories: 1325

Total WW Points: 25.5

Total flex points left: 30.5 of 35

Days left in flex points week: 5

Exercise

Zumba!

150 ab crunches

March 9, 2010 - Day 65

***** Weight update: 133.8 lbs *****
So, my weight loss rate is down since that number represents a little less than a pound in almost 2 weeks. But, really. I couldn't be any happier - I didn't gain anything b/c of my conference travels. Yay!

For breakfast

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

1 nutri-grain strawberry bar (130 calories; 2.5 points)

3/4 of a serving of shredded wheat w/skim milk (150 calories; 2 points)

For lunch

Water

Smart Ones 3-cheese ziti marinara (320 calories; 6 points)

For dinner

Water

1 serving of maple dijon chicken w/sweet potatoes (245 calories; 4.25 points)
* Score another for the crockpot! I love using one. It's so easy to throw something healthy together and forget about it, which is great on days that I am watching Riley. Then I can spend more time playing with her!

1 cup of steamed broccoli (54 calories; 0 points)

Snacks

1 Skinny Cow low-fat fudge bar (100 calories; 1 point)

1 Special K strawberry cereal bar (90 calories; 2 points)

A handful of Kashi Crunch! cereal (50 calories; 1 point)
* Sooo good! I love this Kashi brand. Everything so far has been yummy!

Total Calories: 1104

Total WW Points: 19.75

Total flex points left: 35 of 35

Days left in flex points week: 6

Exercise

A little over 45 minutes on an elliptical machine

150 ab crunches

March 3, 2010 - Day 59

Wow, for some reason I was really hungry today. Nothing seemed to satisfy me, and I just kept wanting to eat. Hmph. :/

For breakfast

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

3/4 multi-grain english muffin (110 calories; 2 points)

1 Kashi trail mix bar (140 calories; 2 points)

For lunch

Water

Leftover penne w/peppers and sausage (250 calories; 5 points)
* I have to say that I love this meal more every time I eat it. So yummy!

For dinner

Water

Pasta w/marinara sauce, meatballs, peppers, and zucchini (500 calories; 9 points)
* This is a guess. I think it might be a little bit of an overestimate, but I'd rather go over in my estimates

Cabbage + 2 tsps of ceasar dressing (50 calories; 1 point)

Snacks

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

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

1 piece of dark chocolate (57 calories; 1 point)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1342 - Wow, I sure ate a lot today. Like I said above, I was just so hungry today, and I'm not sure why.

Total WW Points: 25

Total flex points left for week: 31 of 35

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 5

Exercise

150 ab crunches

No Zumba today. :( I think this week is going to be bad (i.e. a few pounds will be added on to my weight instead of being subtracted). I'm off to a conference tomorrow until Sunday. And I'm pretty sure it's going to be difficult to eat low calories/low fat food. Oh well. At least there's a fitness room at the resort I'm going to, so that's something at least. :)

February 24, 2010 - Day 52

So I had every intention of making spinach lasagna today but got side-tracked by going to a movie with Cam in the middle of the day. And depending on how you look at it, this was either a good or a bad thing. Diet-wise: bad; Everything-else-wise: good! The movie theater we went to serves food (pizzas/salads/burgers/etc) directly to you at your seat. Totally amazing. We've done this before at a different theater in town, but this place just opened last fall and is mere minutes away from the university. So, we had to go. Plus it was our Valentine's day gift to each other, since we didn't do anything on the actual day.

So, I ate some food at the movie theater and enjoyed myself immensely! Then I went to the gym and did about 30 minutes on an elliptical machine and some crunches. This wouldn't have been so tiring if I hadn't already done an hour Zumba class before going to the movies. :)

Oh, on a positive note, I weighed myself at the gym. I'm now at 134.7 lbs. Do you know what that means? Less than 10 pounds to go!! Woot!

For breakfast

1 multi-grain english muffin w/peanut butter (200 calories; 3 points)

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

For lunch

1/4 of chicken ceasar salad (265 calories; 7 points)

1 slice of "Cleopatra" pizza (300 calories; 7 points)
* It was a thin-crust pizza with ceasar salad dressing, red onions, and chicken on it. I actually have no idea how many calories this slice is, so I looked around at other thin crusts pizzas and tried to make a best guess. Who knows how off I am.

Water

For dinner

1 bowl of cheerios in skim milk (140 calories; 3 points)
* My "lunch" (which really was around 2:30pm) was so filling that I couldn't have eaten a big meal if I tried.

Snacks

1 Kashi trail mix bar (140 calories; 2 points)

French Vanilla hot chocolate (80 calories; 1.5 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1160

Total WW Points: 24.5

Total flex points left for week: 28.5 of 35

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 5

Exercise

Zumba!

100 ab crunches

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

February 12, 2010 - Day 40

I came across this recipe for brownies that substituted the traditional ingredients of egg, oil, and water for black beans. I was intrigued so I needed to try it. OMG! They are delicious! You would never know that there are pureed black beans are in it. They are yummy and rich. The idea is to take a brownie mix, and instead of putting in the e/o/w, puree up a can of black beans and mix it in. When pureeing up the beans, the recipe I saw called for 1 can of water as well, but that turned out to be too much and the mix was too liquidy (and thus the cooked brownies were too spongey). So, do about a half-can of water and then eyeball it from there.

Seriously, if you like brownies, you need to try making the brownies this way. They are lower in fat and higher in protein and fiber. We are definitely going to make brownies this way from now on.

For breakfast

Before the gym:

1 strawberry fruit and grain cereal bar (130 calories; 2 points)

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

After the gym:

2 pieces of multi-grain toast w/peanut butter (190 calories; 3 points)

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For lunch

1 ham and cheddar (fat-free!) sandwich on multi-grain bread w/dijon mustard (160 calories; 2 points)

Water

For dinner

Beef stir-fry w/peppers, broccoli, and onions (350 calories; 7 points)

Water

Snacks

1 black bean brownie (120 calories; 2 points)

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

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1170

Total WW Points: 20

Total flex points left for week: 32

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 3

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

100 ab crunches

February 9, 2010 - Day 37

I'm definitely on a muffin kick lately. It's just so easy - the serving size is there for you already. If I make bread, then I run the great risk of thinking, "Oh, I can just take another little sliver." Plus you can put lots of good stuff in them. Today I made zucchini muffins. They were okay, but not great. Riley loves them though, which is good since they are full of zucchini! I even made it healthier by replacing the oil in the recipe w/apple sauce which apparently is a common substitute. Who knew?

I also found that if I spend time in the kitchen cooking/baking, then I eat less. I guess if I'm just around the food then I'm happy. It also helps when I get myself out of the house, which is why I'm always outside with Riley or taking her to the library (as I did today) or to the store.

For breakfast

1 high fiber oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

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

For lunch

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

For dinner

1 broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken (175 calories; 3 points)
* I don't really know how much this is worth calorie-wise, but it's around 3 points for the meal, so I estimated off of that.

1/2 serving of steamed broccoli (25 calories; 0 points)

Water

Snacks

1 diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

1 Smart Ones Peanut Butter cup sundae (170 calories; 3 points)

1/2 of a zucchini muffin (60 calories; 1 point)
* I'm going to try these again with a new recipe.

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 790

Total WW Points: 14

Total flex points left for week: 35

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 6

Exercise
Nothing, except for playing outside w/Riley

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