March 18, 2010 - Update

So I haven't posted in a while. On my last post, I discussed how I wasn't going to calculate WW points anymore. Apparently I meant that I wasn't going to calculate points, calories, or meticulously watch/post everything I ate. :/ Which is fine - the point of stopping was to see if I could continue to (a) lose weight and, more importantly, (b) make smart choices regarding food without doing all of the extra stuff.

So, today was the (a?) moment of truth - the first time I weighed myself since stopping. And my weight is .... (drum-roll please) .... 131.7 pounds. Yay! I lost about 2 pounds in a little over a week. Only about 6.5 pounds to go until I reach my goal weight! What's even more exciting is that I think I am now officially considered to be in a healthy weight range (i.e. I am not overweight anymore!).

So, I just thought I would share that with you. I'm still going to my fitness classes - Zumba about 3 times a week; Pilates/Yoga once a week; and sporadic times at university rec center when I want to do a little something. I've cut back on the ab workout at home - I get a great ab workout at the fitness classes. So, come bathing suit season, I hope to rock an amazing swimsuit (not that I go swimming ever - it's more just that I could if I wanted to).

March 11, 2010 - Day 66

I've decided that I'm going to stop calculating WW points and calories. Well, I'll probably still put the calories down if I know them, but I'm not going to go out of my way to calculate the calories for casseroles and the like. The point of stopping now is that I want to see how I do while I'm still weighing myself pretty regularly. Since I don't want to be calculating points for the rest of my life, I want to see if I can maintain making smart choices without the push of calculating the points. If it doesn't work (i.e. I start gaining weight), then I'll go back to the tracking them. But for now, I'm done. :)

For breakfast

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

1 Nutri-Grain strawberry cereal bar (130 calories)

For lunch

Water

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

A handful of green seedless grapes (25 calories)

A handful of mixed nuts (85 calories)

For dinner

Water

1 chicken patty burger w/remulade sauce and lettuce on a bun

1 serving of chicken caesar pasta with chicken

Snacks

1 trail mix bar (140 calories)

1 tall mocha w/skim milk

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

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 8, 2010 - Day 64

I'm home!!! I tried to do well at the conference, and for the most part I think I succeeded. I didn't starve myself and didn't feel guilty when I ate some dessert or muffins. But I also didn't gorge myself. I'm going to the university rec center tomorrow which is where I weigh myself, so we'll see how I did. I'm not expecting to have lost weight this past week; just don't want to have put too much back on. :D

For breakfast

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

3/4 multi-grain english muffin w/margarine (100 calories; 2 points)

1 trail mix bar (140 calories; 2 points)

1 banana (90 calories; 1 point)

For lunch

Water

1 turkey wrap w/cheddar cheese, mixed greens, fat-free mayo, and alfalfa sprouts (205 calories; 3.5 points)

For dinner

Water

1 fish fillet w/remulade sauce (150 calories; 3.75 points)

3/4 cup fried rice w/shrimp (120 calories; 2.5 points)

Snacks

Soy chocolate milk (140 calories; 2.75 points)

Mocha w/skim milk (175 calories; 3 points)

Total Calories: 1185

Total WW Points: 21.5

Exercise

Zumba!

150 ab crunches

March 6, 2010 - Day 62

Conference day 3. Man they sure do pile on the food here. My weigh-in tomorrow is not going to go well I think. :D

For breakfast

1/2 cup of coffee w/non-fat dairy creamer & minimal sugar

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

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

For lunch

3/4 of a turkey, cheese, and guacamole wrap
* I was so proud of myself - I ate most of it with the onions and tomatoes that came inside of it. For those who know me well, that's HUGE!
* I also skipped the apple pie for dessert.

Water

For dinner

1/2 of steak and black beans.

All of my rice and peppers

1/2 of flan

1/2 cup of decaf with just cream... no sugar!

Water

Snacks

1/2 of chocolate chip cookie

1 small bran muffin

1 kahluha and milk

1 Special K cereal bar

Exercise

About 35 minutes on a stationary bike

50 ab crunches

March 5, 2010 - Day 61

Conference day 2. I found the fitness center today. Can you believe that I woke up extra early (6am) to go there?! The conference started at 8:30 and went all day until 6pm. So, this was really the only time I could go if I was going to go.

For breakfast

1/2 cup of coffee w/non-fat dairy creamer & minimal sugar

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

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

For lunch

Water

Oh, this was a real mix. I had tofu; spinach salad w/oranges, dressing, and almonds; peppers; chicken; broccoli; and beef. This sounds like a lot and it probably was. But, there were little bits of everything. I think I was most impressed with the fact that I didn't take a roll, nor did I take dessert.

For dinner

Water

1/2 of a turkey, salami, prosciutto and cheese sandwich

1 small mocha gelato (132 calories; 3 points)
* This is compared to 280 calories and 14 g of fat in a small ice cream cone! And this was soooooo much tastier!!!

Snacks

A cup of mixed nuts

A half of banana muffin

2 bites of a banana

Guacamole and chips - probably should have skipped this one!

Exercise

About 35 minutes on an elliptical machine

Some free weights with the arms/legs

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. :)

March 2, 2010 - Day 58

They say sodium is the silent killer. So, ideally I should be watching out for that too (as well as the numerous other things like balancing out sugar, protein, fat, fruit/vegs, and grains). I think a person would go nuts if they tried to keep track of all of this stuff all the time. But just for today I wanted to see how much sodium I'm intaking while I watch my caloric intake. I'm not going to do this after today because I'll lose my mind if I do.

After doing some reading, it seems that we should absolutely not get more than 2400 mg of sodium per day (although there is some debate on that number). For those that have high blood pressure, it is recommended to be less than 1500 mg. For comparison, they say that average sodium consumption per person per day in the US is 3375 mg of sodium, with 75% of this coming from pre-packaged foods. So almost 1000 mg over the maximum. Yikes!

Oh, and one last thing on this subject. Table salt is not equal to sodium. Table salt is 40% sodium and 60% chloride. I should have paid more attention in chemistry class, since I had no idea!

For breakfast

1/2 cup of coffee w/vanilla creamer (35 calories; 1 point; 50 mg)

High fiber oatmeal (160 calories; 2.5 points; 290 mg)
* I decided to use half WW points. I've seen many other people do it, so I guess it's okay. I don't think I'll do it all the time, but this is so close to 2.5 (it was like 2.57) that it seemed silly to round all the way up to 3 like I have been.

For lunch

Water

Leftover penne w/peppers and sausage (250 calories; 5 points; 400 mg)
* It was the sausage in this meal that really upped the sodium. It contributed 375 mg of the 400!

For dinner

Water

1 Subway Roast Beef on 9-grain bread (310 calories; 5.5 points; 840 mg)
* #1, O_o on the sodium! Crazy!
* #2, I was so proud of myself for this dinner. We decided to go to the mall and then check out the food court. All of my favorites were there. Orange chicken, baked ziti, pretzels... but I resisted and just had a few bites of Cam's sesame chicken and rice and instead opted for the much healthier sub. I gotta give it up to Subway. Not only is their nutritional information for each sub listed prominently right as you order (which I verified on-line when I got home), they also provide you with options if you are on a low-fat, low-calorie, or low-sodium diet. Guess which one I didn't look at? :)

A couple of bites of sesame chicken and rice (125 calories; 2 points; 350 mg)
* A guess based on what I read on-line.

Snacks

Some cantaloupe (30 calories; 0 points; 14 mg)

Kashi trail mix bar (140 calories; 2 points; 105 mg)
* These are super low in sodium! Yay, because I love these soooo much! I think I'm going to have to try the cereal soon.

1/2 of WW strawberry yogurt (50 calories; 0.5 points; 55 mg)
* I didn't plan on having this, but Riley wanted yogurt sooooo badly and this was all we had in the house. She never finishes a whole yogurt, so I got half.

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points; 140 mg)

1 oatmeal/dark chocolate cookie (100 calories; 2.5 points; 80 mg)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Sodium: 2344
* Wow, this would have been so much lower if I had cooked at home tonight as was the original plan. So, I guess that's the moral of the story. At least I'm under the 2400 maximum, albeit just barely. :/

Total Calories: 1205

Total WW Points: 21

Total flex points left for week: 35 of 35

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

Exercise

150 ab crunches
* This was all I could handle as my legs were like jelly today!

March 1, 2010 - Day 57

Overall today was such a satisfying food and exercise day. I felt like I got a really nice workout in at Zumba (I think knowing the routines helps me a lot), and the food I ate today was do delicious. I like days like this.

For breakfast

3/4 of a multi-grain english muffin w/smart balance (110 calories; 2 points)

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

For lunch

1 peanut butter and jelly on multi-grain bread (215 calories; 4 points)

Water

For dinner

Penne w/turkey sausage and peppers (275 calories; 6 points)
* This was so unbelievably good! Cam stuffed himself, declaring that he wouldn't be able to eat again until next Monday. Riley gobbled hers right up. And I am still feeling satisfied and happy after eating this meal. What a great recipe. Thanks, Parents magazine!

Water

Snacks

Garden Vegetable Wheat Thins (120 calories; 2 points)

1 Kashi trail mix bar (140 calories; 2 points)
* Both the Wheat Thins (which apparently is a new variety) and the trail mix are sooooo tasty!

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

1 chocolate donut hole (52 calories; 1 point)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 982

Total WW Points: 19

Total flex points left at the end of the week: 22.5 of 35

Exercise

Zumba!

200 ab crunches
* I'm trying out some new ab exercises. In addition to the ab lounger, which I'm still using, I'm trying to work on my side abs as well as my lower abs by doing some ab exercises I found in Shape magazine. Hard, hard, hard. :)

February 28, 2010 - Day 56

I think my problem with snacking lately is that I stay up too late. Take yesterday fore example. I just looked at the amount of snacks I had, and I was like O_o! But then if I factor in that I was up until 1am, it doesn't seem as bad. Granted they weren't the healthiest of snacks yesterday (that's a different issue), but that aside, it kind of makes sense that I would eat more if I stay up later. Experts say to eat ever 3-4 hours If I'm extending my day by that amount of time (assuming a lot of people got to bed around 10), then I should get to eat more. Right? Well, that's what I'm going with anyway. :)


For breakfast

1 banana (105 calories; 2 points)

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

For lunch

Ham and cheddar cheese on multi-grain bread (w/dijon mustard) (220 calories; 4 points)

Water

For dinner - It's leftover night again!

1.5 spinach lasagna rolls (300 calories; 6 points)

Water

Snacks

A handful of mixed nuts (140 calories; 3 points)

1 cafe mocha w/skim milk (175 calories; 3 points)

1 oatmeal/dark chocolate cookie (100 calories; 2 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1085

Total WW Points: 21

Total flex points left for week: 22.5 of 35

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

Exercise

45 minutes on an elliptical machine

100 ab crunches

Just general housework and yardwork - Cam kept telling me to stop to sit down and rest. I was like the little energizer bunny today. :)

February 27, 2010 - Day 55

It's interesting how different instructors approach the same class. I took a pilates class at the YMCA earlier this week, which was definitely more like a yoga class. Today at the university I took a pilates/yoga fusion class and it was way more pilates than yoga. Man, those pilates push-ups are killer!

Also, since I am starting to exercise more and have lost some weight, I went and recalculated the target number of WW points that I get each day. Good thing I did, since as it seems, I am now allowed 21 points per day before going into my flex points. This is important for me to keep on checking, since as I've read, if you start exercising more and more but don't adjust points (i.e. you don't eat enough to replenish yourself) you'll actually be doing more harm than good. Not only will you not lose weight, more importantly you'll be depriving your body of the nutrition it needs to stay healthy.

For breakfast

High fiber oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

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

For lunch

1 spinach lasagna roll (200 calories; 4 points)

Water

For dinner

Santa Fe chicken (300 calories; 5 points)
* I hate it when I only have the # of WW points per serving and not the # of calories as well as I did for this recipe. Then I just have to totally guess. Well, I guess I could've figured it out if I was careful, but seriously. That's too much work.

Brown rice (85 calories; 2 points)

Water

Snacks

1/2 an oatmeal/dark chocolate cookie (50 calories; 1 point)

Soy chocolate milk (150 calories; 3 points)
* I gotta say, this was really tasty! I bought a little 8 1/4 oz serving of it while shopping the other day on a whim. (I'm feeling like I'm not getting enough calcium each day. Anyway...) Wow! I was pleasantly surprised! Cam drinks the vanilla soy milk since he is lactose intolerant. I just may have to give that a try. Who knows? Maybe we'll all switch over? (That's funny for me to think about, since I have FINALLY made the switch over to fat-free milk.)

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

At Riley's day care open house tonight:

Bites of apple pie and vanilla ice cream (175 calories; 4 points)
* Another guess

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

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1290 - I did a lot of reading yesterday that said everyone needs to get a minimum of 1200 calories. It's interesting that on some days I find that extremely difficult to accomplish and on others it's no problem.

Total WW Points: 25

Total flex points left for week: 22.5 of 35

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

Exercise

Pilates/Yoga class

100 ab crunches

February 25, 2010 - Day 53

So, the theme of the last few days has been spinach, in case you haven't noticed, heh. I bought a big bag of spinach, and when I do that, I usually end up letting it sit there until it goes bad. And I didn't want to do that! So, each night for the past few (well, not yesterday of course) I've tried to figure out how to incorporate spinach into the dinner. The perfect opportunity came yesterday when I saw that Gina's WW Recipes had a great new recipe for lasagna spinach rolls. I just knew that I had to make it!

For breakfast

High fiber blueberry muffin (160 calories; 3 points)

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

For lunch

1 ham and cheese sandwich on multi-grain bread (160 calories; 2 points)

Water

For dinner

1 spinach lasagna roll (200 calories; 4 points)
* Quite tasty, and quite filling!

Water

Snacks

1 cafe mocha w/skim milk (175 calories; 3 points)

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

1/2 of an oatmeal/chocolate cookie (50 calories; 1 point)
* Riley and I made these together! :D

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 920

Total WW Points: 16

Total flex points left for week: 28.5 of 35

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 4

Exercise

Pilates/Yoga class

50 ab crunches

About 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

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 22, 2010 - Day 50

So, I did it! I signed up for a month by month membership at YMCA. Now I can take all the Zumba/fitness courses I like. This is in addition to to the once per week yoga/pilates class I'm going to start taking at the University starting this Saturday. Phew! I better be in shape come the summer, that's all I gotta say.

For breakfast

High fiber oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

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

For lunch

Ham and cheddar cheese on multi-grain bread (w/dijon mustard) (220 calories; 4 points)

A little more than half of WW Strawberry yogurt (60 calories; 1 point)
* This was much better than the other WW yogurt I had.

Water

For dinner

4 bean chili with low-carb pasta and spinach (350 calories; 6 points)
* My first chili. Wow, with this diet I sure am making a lot of firsts! I made this in the crockpot, and man, did my kitchen smell great all day. To make the chili a little heartier and healthier, I decided at the last minute to add in some pasta and spinach. A really, really nice addition. All 3 of us really liked this a lot!

Water

Snacks

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

Chamomile tea (0 calories; 0 points)

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

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 952

Total WW Points: 17

Total flex points left at the end of the week: 30 of 35

Exercise

Zumba class!

100 ab crunches

February 20, 2010 - Day 48

For breakfast

High fiber blueberry muffin (160 calories; 3 points)

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

For lunch

1/2 of a low-carb chicken ceasar wrap (250 calories; 5 points)

1 apple (80 calories; 1 point)

Water

For dinner

1 roasted chicken garlic sausage (140 calories; 3 points)

1/2 ear of corn (no butter!) (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

Snacks

Strawberry fruit and grain bar (130 calories; 2 points)

1 cafe mocha w/skim milk (175 calories; 3 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1010

Total WW Points: 18

Total flex points left for week: 35 of 35

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

Exercise

About 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

100 ab crunches

Weeding in the back lot

February 19, 2010 - Day 47

I couldn't resist - I was intrigued to know, even though I usually go a whole week without checking. So, my weight update is 136.2 lbs.

So, now officially my weight loss exceeds the amount of weight I still want to lose. Woo-hoo! On to the size 8 jeans now!

For breakfast

Strawberry fruit and grain bar (130 calories; 2 points)

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

For lunch

Grilled cheese on multi-grain bread w/fat-free cheese (200 calories; 3 points)

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner

Shrimp and Zucchini with Ziti in Light Tomato Sauce (450 calories; 8 points)
* I'm a little unsure of the points/calories here. Listed on the recipe I used, it said 440 calories (I upped a bit since I put a little cheese on) but 5.5 WW points. I have no idea how she got that. Granted I don't know the new formula for WW, but still. So, I just put it up to 8. Better to be safe then sorry.

Water

Snacks

High fiber blueberry muffin (160 calories; 3 points)

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

A small handful of animal crackers (50 calories; 1 point)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 1100

Total WW Points: 19

Total flex points left for week: 35 of 35

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

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

200 ab crunches

February 18, 2010 - Day 46

For breakfast

High fiber oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

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

For lunch

2 rice cakes w/peanut butter (260 calories; 5 points)

Water

For dinner

1 salmon burger (on a roll!) w/cajun remoulade sauce (300 calories; 6 points)

Water

Snacks

A handful of mixed nuts (140 calories; 3 points)

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

1 hershey kiss, dark chocolate (25 calories; 1 point)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 920

Total WW Points: 19

Total flex points left for week: 35

Days left in flex points week (after today) : 4

Exercise

A little over 30 minutes on an elliptical machine

February 17, 2010 - Day 45

Zumba again today! My friend and I are going to sign up for the Y - there is a great special just for this month in which the sign up fee is next to nothing (it's usually $100; it'll be just $14). Then, I just pay on a monthly basis.

The class was fun today. The lady who usually teaches the lunch time class had a baby, so there have been subs filling in. So, the lady I had today was not the same I had the first time I went. One wasn't better than the other; they were just different. Today I felt more like I was back in dance class which I liked.

The neat thing about signing up is that I'll now have access to any class at the Y. So, if I decide that a step class looks fun, then I can go. And since it's only on a month to month basis, I'll have no problem when I leave in June.

For breakfast

2 whole-wheat pancakes w/minimal syrup (235 calories; 5 points)
* Needed to use up the rest of the mix from yesterday. Actually, I hadn't thought t use it right away but after she got up Riley specifically asked for pancakes so I figured why not.

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

For lunch

Smart Ones Fettucini Alfredo (240 calories; 4 points)

Water

For dinner

Roast chicken breast w/no skin (140 calories; 3 points)
* Yay! My first time roasting a chicken. It was really good too - super, super moist!

Asparagus with dijon vinagrette (30 calories; 0 points)

Water

Snacks

1/2 of a large banana (60 calories; 1 point)

1 chicken shu-mai (20 calories; 0 points)

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

Quaker Mini-Delights (90 calories; 2 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 875

Total WW Points: 16

Total flex points left for week: 35

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

Exercise

Zumba class at the YMCA

200 ab crunches

February 16, 2010 - Day 44

In honor of Shrove Tuesday, which honestly I hadn't heard of until last night, I thought it would be fun if Riley and I had pancakes for lunch. Riley had hers in the shape of Mickey ears w/blackberry preserves and I had some with a little bit of syrup. I thought about going to the store to get reduced calorie/fat syrup, but honestly I couldn't be bothered. So, all in all, not the super healthiest of lunches, but at least I made them with skim milk. Plus, it was a *special* occasion. ;)

For breakfast

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

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

For lunch

2 whole-wheat pancakes w/minimal syrup (235 calories; 5 points)

Water

For dinner

Lighter eggplant parm (300 calories; 5 points)
* I have no idea how many calories this is, but it's supposed to be 5 points. I got the recipe from Gina's WW Recipes, which is a great website with lots of yummy WW friendly recipes. Cam thought it wasn't bad, which is saying something since he doesn't like eggplant. I liked it a lot, and Riley loved it (she actually had 4 helpings!).

Water

Snacks

A small handful of pretzels (25 calories; 0 points)

1 cafe mocha w/skim milk (175 calories; 3 points)

A handful of animal crackers (50 calories; 1 point)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 950

Total WW Points: 17

Total flex points left for week: 35

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

Exercise

A walk around the neighborhood w/Riley and a wagon (sometimes pulling the wagon with one arm and holding Riley in the other)

About 45 minutes on an elliptical machine

200 ab crunches