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 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 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

February 14, 2010 - Day 42

Happy Valentine's Day! This morning I decided to make crepes for the family. Cam loves them, and ever since I've known him, he's wanted to make them. So I figured this would be a nice surprise and something we could all do as a family. It was fun! Riley loved helping, saying over and over again, "Help Mommy! Help Mommy!" and helped add the ingredients and whisk them all together. I manned the grill, and Cam experimented with different fillings. My favorite was honey and cinnamon; Cam liked them with butter and syrup; and Riley liked hers with honey. These were also super easy to make. Gotta love stuff like that! :)

On another note, my weight is now at 138.5 pounds. While that number represents a slower weight loss rate than previous weeks, it's still a loss of weight. So, woo-hoo there! I'm closing in on having lost more weight versus the amount I want to lose. That's my immediate goal for now. Then it's on to fitting into the size 8 jeans I bought at Goodwill today. I tried them on and I can get in them and close them, although not in a super comfy way. But I'm thrilled I could get them on b/c that hasn't happened in a long time!

For breakfast

3 crepes with cinnamon and honey (400 calories; 8 points)

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

For lunch

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

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner
Continuing leftover weekend, I decided to have:

A half piece of turkey meatloaf (100 calories; 2 points)

1/2 of a cauliflower fritter (60 calories; 1 point)

Water

Snacks

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

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 877

Total WW Points: 15

Total flex points left for week: 31

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

Exercise

A little tennis with Cam and Riley (until Riley decided she had enough of chasing balls, and wanted to go down the slides in the play area)

About 45 minutes on an elliptical machine

100 ab crunches

February 11, 2010 - Day 39

Today was another very blah day for me today. I didn't want to do anything - I didn't want to (and didn't) go to the gym. I didn't want to watch TV, read, go out, nothing. I'm not sure what's going on. Nothing, save a smile or giggles from Riley, would cheer me up. I did need to go food shopping so Cam, Riley, and I went together, and my mood improved. Hopefully my better mood continues on to tomorrow. We'll see.

For breakfast

High fiber oatmeal (160 calories; 3 points)

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

For lunch

1 tuna sandwich on multi-grain bread w/fat-free mayo and cheddar cheese (185 calories; 3 points)

1 clementine (40 calories; 0 points)

Water

For dinner

2 servings of Shepard's pie (450 calories; 11 points)
* I was going to make the beef stir fry that's still marinating in my fridge, but since I was in such a mood, I decided to have a comfort food. Plus, the rest of my food choices had been smart the rest of the day, so I figured I would splurge.

Water

Snacks

Diet hot chocolate (25 calories; 0 points)

So for today it's roughly:

Total Calories: 870

Total WW Points: 18

Total flex points left for week: 33

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

Exercise

Lots of weeding - good for the glutes.

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 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

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)