Food Splurge ($$, not calories)

I did something that seemed crazy to me at the time, and still seems crazy. (Hmm, maybe I overstated the first line, the punchline is going to be anti-climactic.)

I paid $6.99 for a jar of pickles. They are all natural, made the old fashioned way (don't ask me what that means) bread and butter pickles. I couldn't resist. I grew up B&B pickles. My Grandma made them. The first time I had a dill pickle, I was not impressed. That was *not* what pickles were supposed to taste like. I've become a little obsessed with them, lately, and the grocery store doesn't have any that don't have high fructose corn syrup. (well, not the grocery store that is not Whole Foods) So, when I saw a huge jar of them, I just couldn't stop myself.....even the outlandish price did not stop me.

So, what about you? What food items have you splurged on?

(And the pickles are delicious, by the way)

I said "no" to cake? wha?

Today is my father in law's 63rd birthday.  Jim calls and tells me his mom made a cake and we should go over to their house.  Well, I had a doctors appointment today at 4:20pm, then off to Target to get my medicine (which took forever because they kept messing it up!)  so I had to call and find out ahead of time to see if there was going to be actual "food".  I cannot leave my doctor's office and have cake for dinner.   But alas, there were a few hot dogs, brats, salad, mac & cheese.  So I had 1 brat, a big salad, and a helping of Kraft mac & cheese.  So then cake/ice cream time comes around.  It's Pineapple Upside Down cake - my FIL's favorite.   Luckily, I'm not a huge fan of pineapple so it wasn't horrible to say no.  Now if it would have been chocolate cake - this story would have a different ending.  This is going to sound cheesy but my hubby brought me a Dr Pepper 10 (DELICIOUS) right before the passing out of the cake and and that really satisfied my sweet craving.  Soon I will start sounding like the commercial and saying Dr Pepper is for dessert.  LOL!

I ate so well today. I've only eaten 1254 calories today.  I want a snack right now but don't know what to eat.  Who wants to eat veggies at 10:30 at night?  I should just chug some water and go to bed.  *sigh*

My diet and I have been on vacay!

Geesh - could I LET anymore time pass between my initial post and this one? Could this holiday BE a worse day for my diet?!?!? First, BEER, and green beer - I LOVE BEER. I am such an Irish girl. Second, corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, soda bread with lots of Irish butter - need I go on? Worst of all though - those damn Shamrock Shakes! They are my favorite, and I've only allowed myself one so far this season.....even though I've wanted many, many more.

Life has unfortunately gotten in the way of everything else lately. First it was the stress of work, then it was travel for work, then it was travel to the lake last weekend, now it's St. Patty's Day. I'm finding that an excuse to eat poorly is right around every corner. Pretty frustrating actually! Sadly, before last week began, I was down 13 whole pounds, the best I've done in YEARS, and now with all the eating out last week and this weekend, I'm back up 3. It sucks, I haven't worked out the last two nights because of feeling lousy, and I'm seeing the negative results! Still, I can't be frustrated, 10 pounds in 2 months is a great accomplishment, and I should stop COMPLAINING!

I just need to get back on the band wagon. Today I had my Smart One ravioli for lunch (270 calories) and a Kashi bar for a snack (130 calories) and a mini-cheddar cheese snack (90 calories), so far today - 490 Calories - nothing else until I hit the gym later tonight. Then sadly, we have a corned beef and cabbage cooking in beer in the crock pot at home, and Ray and I are allowing ourselves some Boulevard tonight too. That little crapper is down 20 pounds already and counting, I hate men and their speedy metabolism!! Sorry, this truly sounds like me just griping, and it's kind of because I am! I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things tonight with the gym, and am really looking to hit that 15 pound mark in the next month or so. Once I do that, then the 20, and 25 pound mark aren't so scary any more or nearly as daunting!!

I just hope we all can continue to push one another, I know this weekend is going to be another BAD weekend. It's Devin's birthday coming up, and we're going out to Bucca di Beppo to celebrate - AND she has requested my homemade dark chocolate cake with butter cream frosting - so we're all in trouble. :) Guess I'll probably be working out twice on Saturday and Sunday!! YIKES!

Still, as long as I keep seeing reward in the form of the scale continuing to go down, I feel like I am doing something. I just have to keep watching the calories and eating as healthy as I can - a slip up every now and then is allowed - right??? Well, here's to the slip up, because tonight's beer and corned beef is definitely going to be one! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am dressed for the gym!

Hallelujah!  I am dressed to go to the gym!  I'm making an new mix workout on the Ipod---- drinking my very first "Green Monster" shake...and its delicious!

Have a great day everyone!!!!!

The Floor Is On Fire

Songs like this are why I injure myself at aerobics class. This song was played in a zumba class that I took. I love it. My problem is when the adrenaline starts pumping, I either don't notice or completely ignore my feet starting to hurt. So, I overdue it, and then can hardly walk for a few days.

I got some new shoe inserts, though. So, that has been really helping. I went for a walk last night and tried running a little bit. I wouldn't let myself push it a whole lot, but it was nice. When it comes to exercise, I like to push it. I *like* that feeling of sweating profusely, breathing hard, and pushing yourself past what you think you can do. I just have to be aware that I can't go from 0-60 and not expect to hurt myself.

End of a long week....

Right now I'm so tired of thinking about food.  The right food.  The wrong food.  How much to eat.  When to eat it.  Ugh.  I look at recipes all the time and I'm suddenly struck with the exhaustion of it. I don't wanna anymore. <sigh> Life is so unfair.  The medication I'm on has made me gain some weight this last month - not too thrilled about this development.  I'm too depressed right now to even think positively about anything right this second.  But Journey just came up on my I-Tunes and Journey always makes be happy....and interestingly enough the song is "Be Good To Yourself".  Is God listening to me right now?  Now, it's Michael Jackson "Beat It".  Weird and oddly good timing.

Didn't make a good dinner choice.  Breakfast has now become the standard SF Apple & Cinnamon Oatmeal.  Lunch was Phad Thai, but I didn't really eat much of it.  So I was STARVING at 6:00 (still at work) and the hubby tells me the KU game is on tonight (which means I don't get to go out to dinner).  So I order some pizza and pick it up on he way home.  Once again another dinner gone to hell.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to doing something fun that isn't part of an errand, or cleaning the house, or anything that remotely looks like I "have" to do it. Well, except for some laundry.  Jim and I are supposed to be having a "date day"  We'll see how that goes.  Another KU game on.  I love KU, but I'm really ready for the college basketball season to be over.

I'm finally going to make the Green Machine drink tomorrow morning. I'll post a picture of the results.  

Well, I'm going to go snuggle in bed with a book for a while.  Good night my friends.

Goals and Choices

I'd say my ultimate goal in terms of my health would be to naturally make good choices *most* of the time. I want to be one of those people that puts the fork down when I start feeling full. I want to not have a cookie, just because it's there. I want to order a sandwich with a side salad and not feel sad that I'm not getting the french fries. (I ♥ french fries) I could go on and on.

This week, I've been doing that... for the most part. I've been making good choices, and honestly not thinking about it very much. I've had some stressful days, and yet still managed to come home and make vegetables, as opposed to using that as an excuse to over indulge. Don't ask me how I'm doing this, because it's not my natural nature. I'm just hoping it continues.

Here I go again on my own....

I really need to get all the junk I have out of my house and find other ways to reward myself at the end of the day.  But I really really really want that cookie or potato chip.  It will make me feel good inside.  Soothe my mad day away.  Not to get off track but since I mentioned cookies did you know that Keebler now has a Chocolate Chip Cookie made with applesauce?  Chocolate Chip Treasures?  Something like that.  They are soft and chewy.  A nice alternative.  Speaking of applesauce/apples...I found THE BEST treat at Sam's Club.  It's this HUGE bag of Cinnamon Apple Straws.  They are a similar texture to the Veggie Straws if you've had those.  These Apple Straws are aaaaaamazing.  You really get that tart apple taste.  And a serving is 38 straws, 130 calories, 16 carbs, 7 g fat,  2 g fiber, 1 g protein.  I can't stop snacking on them.  I've already counted 38 straws to take to work tomorrow.

I've been watching a lot of weight loss shows lately.  "Too fat for Fifteen", "I Used to be Fat", "Heavy" (haven't watched yet - on the DVR), "Ruby", and tonight I watched the "Biggest Loser - Couples" for the first time this season.  You would think I would be more motivated physically to just "move" by watching these shows but lately the motivation is lacking.  I'm so pumped in the morning and by the time I leave work that feeling is deflated.  I have been working crazy hours so when I don't get home until after 7 the desire to work out is nil.   Do I just not want it enough at this right moment? Is sitting on the couch more important?  I've tried the goal thing.  Like losing so much weight by this person's wedding date, or summer, or whatever.  I seem to start the diet and I'm good for 2 weeks and then one slip-up and I fall off the wagon and its hard to control myself all over again.  <sigh>   All I can say is tomorrow is a new day - every meal is a new opportunity to make the right choice.  

Ummm...

I have this feeling this blog is going to become my own personal diary.   This is not a sit back and read Susie's crazy daily diatribe blog! LOL!

Just Another Manic Monday....

Last night I drank a pop (Dr. Pepper 10 - really good!) too late in the evening (man, I'm becoming old!) so when I laid down at about midnight I wasn't even remotely tired.  So after about 30 minutes of tossing and turning and pondering all the things I could be doing since I wasn't sleeping I decided to get up and make my lunch for the next day.  Usually, if I don't make the lunch at night I won't bring anything in the morning.  I'm a "sleep as long as I can push it" girl.  So I got up and made breakfast and lunch and did the dishes and played around on the computer a bit until I felt tired enough to finally fall asleep (about 2am).  So I'm a bit tired today but not too bad.  I brought some Sugar Free (SF) Apple and Cinnamon Oatmeal (really tasty!), half of a banana, and coffee with SF French Vanilla non-dairy creamer for breakfast.   225 calories.  I've been using Myfooddiary.com to keep track of my food.  I started it forever ago and I find that I don't want to cancel it because I have so much food I have manually entered on the site that it sounds exhausting to do it again somewhere else - but maybe when I get a fancy phone like Meghan. :)  So, I'm working on keeping the calories around 1200.  Apparently my healthy lunch cost me 534 calories (plain pulled pork we made in crockpot, mustard, light wheat hot dog bun, light key lime yogurt, celery/carrots.  Man. That's alot of calories for all that healthy stuff.  It has to be the pulled pork that's killing it.  So in order to lose 1.5lbs/week I have 475 calories left over today.  Which, isn't bad.  My ONE goal today is to make it to the gym.  I don't care how long I work out, I just want to get there.  My reward is to use the steam sauna.  Ahhhhh!  I can feel the muscles relaxing as I write this.

Sunday Breakfast

I have to admit, I was motivated to make a healthy breakfast by the thought of potentially posting and talking about it.

My favorite way to cook is to go through my fridge, dump things together, and see what happens. Rarely do I make something I won't eat, but it's not always a concoction I would force on others, either. I usually cook from recipes when I have people over, as I'm afraid to take the risk that I will go a little too crazy with my spices and no one will like what I make.

So, for breakfast I made scrambled eggs with green peppers, green onions, spinach, tomatoes, and lots of fresh parsley on top. I seasoned it with pepper and sweet curry powder. I have an abundance of curry as I accidentally bought it twice. So, much of what I eat these days is seasoned with curry powder. I read somewhere that it's good for you, so I feel like I'm being extra nice to myself by using it. I also made a smoothie with yogurt, frozen berries, and a little orange juice. It was all very tasty.

Here is a recipe that also uses curry powder than I plan on making soon. I made it once before, and I've been itching to make it, again.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spicy-Vegan-Potato-Curry/Detail.aspx

Hello Saturday Night!

The day has been busy since my decadent breakfast.  Dishes, picking up the house, went to the Mall with Emily and boy oh boy, so was the rest of Johnson County.  It was like Christmas at the mall.  I could barely find a parking spot. There must have been something going on I wasn't privy too. After the mall I headed to Sam's club were I picked up a tub of spinach so I could try this new shake, "The Green Monster". I'm excited to give this a whirl. 

http://greenmonstermovement.com/?page_id=39

I also picked up a Rotisserie chicken.  For dinner I made mashed potatoes (with some of that new Philadelphia Cooking Creme) and some sauted asparagus. YUM.  Our night consists of babysitting our nieces.  We had to bribe Izzy (3 1/2) to "try" the asparagus.  She was absolutely convinced she didn't like it, before she even took a bite.  I attempted to bribe with candy.  She could have a Hershey kiss if she took a bite of asapargus.  After about 15 minutes of back and forth she finally decided to take a bite.  She said she liked it but didn't want anymore.  Then immediately it was, " where is my candy?"  LOL.  Man, I love this little girl.  Her baby sister, Lily (11 mos), was adorable.  Thought everything was funny.  Thankfully she is sleeping peacefully in her Pack 'n' play right now.  Last time she would not go to sleep and I had to hold her for about 5 hours until her parents came to get her.  Not that I mind holding a baby...but 5 hours is a long time!  Thank goodness I could reach the TV remote.

Like Susie.....I am a blog virgin!

So, first of all, I absolutely LOVE this idea. I think Susie had an absolute brainchild with this one, and I'm so excited that we all can share our recipes, thoughts, struggles, and success on here together!

Today has been a busy, HECTIC day in our house, but we started it out right with a healthy brunch - which we took a slightly weighty recipe - and made it a little bit better. I have posted the link below to the Ultimate Frittata:

http://www.food.com/recipe/the-ultimate-breakfast-frittata-25219

We unfortunately didn't have bacon, so we used imported salami (which we had in our fridge), and instead of mushrooms, we threw in asparagus, shallots, red bell peppers, and sliced tomatoes on top. I have NEVER seen the kids inhale a breakfast so quickly, it helps that they adore asparagus, but man, it was a hit! And for a small serving, it was only 300 calories! Loved it!

Another great recipe I was telling Susie about last night, is my friend Clarissa's Energy balls - they are a GREAT snack, super filling, and delicious - if you are a peanut butter fan, which I am! I made these tonight and am chilling them for the week, Ray and the kids are excited to try them, and they are roughly about 65 to 70 calories per ball. :)

Clarissa's Energy Balls

1 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter (I use all natural peanut butter)
1 or 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Toasted Wheat Germ
1/2 Cup Nonfat Dry Milk
1/2 Cup Honey

Mix together thoroughly, roll into little balls, then roll in wheat germ (or crushed nuts, or granulated sugar) and chill. (I always roll in additional wheat germ!)

And finally....to round out our day, we had Greek Chicken and Potatoes for dinner, with carrots and dill and a little butter as the side. I never thought my husband would love chicken and potatoes, but he absolutely RAVES over this dish. He actually REQUESTS it! We do about 3 to 4 chicken breasts, and about 4 medium sized russet potatoes. Then in addition to the salt and pepper, we throw in some Greek seasoning (you can buy at any store, or get from the Spice Guy at The River Market!), and finally add a little white wine to the cooking liquid. It normally takes longer than the 35 minutes, but is WELL WORTH IT!

http://www.food.com/recipe/greek-chicken-and-potatoes-93596

Hope you all enjoyed my first post, looking forward to all the goodies this blog will bring, and sharing with you all! Happy Saturday!!

Breakfast - Bubba's Benny

Well, didn't do so well for breakfast.  I was annoyed our power was out and didn't want to eat cereal with the boys.  Then miraculously the power came on.  I was excited because I knew there were two pieces of bacon left that would go great with a poached egg on toast.  But sadly it turns out the hubby ate the bacon the other day.  "Sigh".  What was I going to do now?    I remembered I had bought some Jimmy Dean sausage that was on sale.  So I forged ahead with the idea of a poached egg on toast with some sausage on the side.  While I was cooking the sausage I was thinking - do I want to just eat this like this?  Then I decided maybe this should be a sausage gravy.  If you've ever been to First Watch they have an extremely decadent menu item called Bubba's Benny.  It's biscuits, poached egg, smothered in sausage gravy.  Mine was different as I didn't have biscuits - used Sara Lee 7-Grain 45 calorie "Delightful".  I made a white roux with some flour and skim milk.  I put the poached egg on the bread and put the sausage gravy on it.  I probably should calculate the calories.  Carb wise I think I'm okay - the bread only has 9 carbs per slice, hardly any carbs in egg and sausage.  The flour was approximately 15-20 carbs.  I'm supposed to only eat 45-60 carbs per meal.  You have no idea how difficult that can be at times!

Low Fat Blueberry Scones

Low Fat Blueberry Scones
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 servings • Calories: 216 • Points: 4.5 pts • Points+:6  pts

• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 (half stick) cup frozen butter
• 3/4 cups light buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400°.

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.

Using the large holes of a cheese grater, grate the frozen butter into the flour. Mix well with flour.

In a medium bowl, mix the buttermilk, egg and vanilla.

Using a fork, slowly stir in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, until all the mixture is moistened.

Do not over work the dough. Fold in the blueberries.

Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat, or parchment paper. Drop large spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet (to avoid tough scones, do not press or compact). Bake in the center rack 18 minutes. Remove and let them cool about 5 minutes before eating.

My first attempt at blogging

Not sure I'm doing this right....but HERE WE GO!

Many of us have started a new weight loss/health adventure this year so I decided to attempt to create a blog so that we could all communicate with each other, provide encouragement, share personal stories, recipes that taste great to help us through this journey we have embarked on.  I am welcome to any suggestions.  I will attempt to make this a great and fun blog (provided you all help)

Love ya!