I'm siiiick (in a whiny voice)

I went to the doctor today.  I have a double ear infection.  Now I have an excuse for not working out yesterday or today.  However, I got on the doctor's scale and it was 5 lbs higher than the one at home.  What??  Sad!!!  I am getting up early tomorrow to go to the gym, though, I promise! 

I'm hungry and sleepy so I'm going to post the past two days and vamoose!

Tuesday: 
Breakfast - Special K Protein Meal Bar - 170 calories
Lunch - leftover pasta (350 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cake
Snack - Starbucks Tall Hot Chocolate with Nonfat Milk - 250 calories (I got the whipped cream)
Dinner - Chipotle chicken burrito bowl - with chips from home that have few calories - 800 calories

Total:  1720 calories

Wednesday:
Breakfast - Special K Protein Meal Bar - 170 calories
Lunch - Fried Chicken breast - 200 calories (this website said 131 http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-chicken-breast-i5059 but I don't believe it.  A KFC breast has 200 so I went with that.  This was from the school cafeteria), salad (50 calories)
Dinner:  Frozen Pizza - I threw away the box, so I don't know. It's pepperoni thin crust.  But look at it this way...my total thus far is 420 (which explains my massive headache at the moment)
so even if it was 1000 (which it's not), I'm still doing okay. 

Total:  I say around 1100. Not bad...maybe some frozen yogurt for dessert?

Overcooked Pasta

Do you know what happens if you drop pasta before the water is completely boiling?  It comes out really gummy, almost overcooked.  Last night I thought the water was close enough, so I went ahead and dropped the pasta.  Mistake.  When I tasted it 10 minutes later (the recommended cooking time for ziti), it was really mushy on the outside and raw on the inside.  Yuck.  I made the ziti with bowtie pasta instead.  It was still yummy!


Breakfast:  Special K Protein bar - 170 calories
Lunch;  leftover pasta (400 calories), grapes (60 calories), 100 calorie cakes
Dinner:  Buffalo chicken cutlets with risotto (600 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream cone - 180 calories (new cones)

Total:  1510 calories - and I went to the gym this morning (yes at 5am)

Back to the real world...

I haven't blogged over the past four days.  I haven't been terrible, although, I did enjoy Thanksgiving.  There may have been a few other splurges here and there (chicken minis are delicious!), but I've definitely been better than in the past.

I love peanut butter pie.  That was probably one of the highlights of Thanksgiving.  My aunt made a peanut butter pie with peanut butter, cream cheese, some yummy crust (oreo?), hot fudge sauce, and whipped cream.  It was delicious.  I have no idea how many calories (a lot), but I ate one piece on Thanksgiving and took home two (small) pieces that I ate on Friday and Saturday.  But hey, that's better than three pieces of pie on one day, right?

So tomorrow's back to work...fifteen work days until Christmas break!  I generally do better with controlling what I eat when I'm working, though.

Anyway, here's today...You'll notice my lunch and dinner are both pasta.  This wasn't planned...I had the leftover spaghetti in the fridge and it seemed better than going out and spending money (and eating lots of calories)...

Breakfast:  Lucky charms - 150 calories
Lunch:  leftover spaghetti - 400 calories, 100 calorie snack (brownies)
Snack:  grapes - 60 calories
Dinner:  Ziti with marinara and asiago cheese sauce (500 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 200 calories

Total - 1410 calories - and I went running, too!

Sleeping Late?

When I'm off, I'm fantastic about working out. I've either been to the gym or been running three days in a row.  I know that may not happen on Thursday or Friday, but still...my goal is four times a week and I've already been three times. 

So this morning, I hear Caleb at 5am in his room.  He recently transitioned to a "big boy bed", so whenever I hear him I have to check out what's going on in the video monitor.  Glen went and changed him and tried to put him back to bed.  A little after six, I hear "Hi, Mommy."  I open my eyes and see a little face.  Why does my child get up so early?  His mommy loves to sleep!! Crazy kid.  I will say, he was pretty cute, though.

Monday:
Breakfast:  Lucky Charms - 150 calories
Lunch:  leftover Chicken Pesto Pasta - 350 calories
Snack:  Yogli Mogli - 250 calories
Dinner:  Buffalo Chicken Pasta - chicken with celery, carrot, onion, garlic and pasta mixed with a tomato/hot sauce mixture and topped with shredded pepperjack.  500 calories (1.5 portions)

Total:  1250 calories - and I went running!

Tuesday:
Breakfast:  Special K Protein Meal Bar - 170 calories
Lunch:  Chicken Quesadilla - 350 calories, chips - 150 calories
Snack:  Cookie - 150 calories
Dinner:  Buffalo Chicken Cutlets (cutlets covered in Shake N Bake) and risotto - 550 calories
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total:  1500 calories - and I went to the gym!

Monitors, Doctors, and Mexican food...

Saturday was my cheat day.  There was a doughnut, hot chocolate, and Frontera involved in my day. 

This morning, woke up to Caleb with a fever and wheezing.  We decided I would take him to the doctor while Glen went to church.  Unfortunately, we also realized Glen had a flat tire (nail).  So he had to change his tire so he could drive his car to church while I drove to the doctor.  Plus, yesterday we bought a cheap (in relative terms) video monitor that was so terrible you couldn't see ANYTHING when it was dark.  So I drove back to Alpharetta to visit CHOA and to return the monitor for the more expensive model were you can actually see what is going on.  On the upside, Caleb has really taken to his big boy bed.  He loves it and actually stays in the bed when we tell him to. We'll see how long it lasts...

I'm planning on going running in a little while.  Maybe that will improve my mood....

Breakfast:  Special K Protein Meal Bar - 170 calories
Lunch:  Chicken Quesadilla (350 calories), chips (150 calories)
Snack:  cookie - 130 calories
Dinner:  Chicken Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta - 500 calories
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories
Total:  1390 calories

Thursday/Friday

Thursday:
Breakfast:  Special K Protein Meal Bar - 170 calories
Lunch:  Leftover Cowboy Spaghetti (400 calories), grapes (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  Poppyseed chicken - 500 calories
Dessert:  ice cream cone - 200 calories
Total:  1420

Friday:
Breakfast:  Special K Protein Meal Bar - 170 calories
Lunch:  Leftover Cowboy Spaghetti again (400 calories), grapes (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Snack:  QT Hot Chocolate - no idea how many calories, but YUM!
Dinner:  Chili (400 calories), and whatever else my friends bring me to eat (I'm having friends over tonight)!!
Total - 1120 + an appetizer, dessert, and the QT Hot Chocolate

Tornadoes!

Today, there were tornado warnings in the area so Caleb's daycare had a tornado drill. They put all the kids in the bathrooms (no windows) in the various classrooms. I can only imagine trying to get all the kids in the bathroom. Not only that, but how many 2 and 3 year olds will sit still (in a bathroom with a bunch of other kids)?  I'm so sad I didn't get to see this. On the positive side, kudos to daycare for being safe!

Wednesday:
Breakfast:  Special K protein meal bar - 170 calories
Lunch:  Cracker Barrel - surprisingly low calorie.  Two pancakes (220 calories), 3 slices bacon (65 calories...can you believe that??), 1/2 container syrup (100 calories). Lunch only totaled 385!!! I was shocked when I looked up the calorie counts.
Snack:  Cheese Its - 140 calories
Dinner:  Cowboy spaghetti - 450 calories
Dessert:  I'm out of ice cream.  :-(  I guess I will have a Christmas Tree Cake!  140 calories
Total:  1285 - and I ran about 2 1/2 miles at the park today!

Tuesday was very busy, so I'm just posting my calories.

Breakfast:  Special K protein meal bar - 170 calories
Lunch:  Chili (400 calories), 100 calorie cake 
Snack:  one slice pizza (250 calories).  I had a headache and thought it would help (food helps my headaches).
Dinner:  Chipotle - 800 calories

Total:  1720 calories - yes, I went over.

Christmas Tree Cakes

Confession:  I love Little Debbie's snack cakes.  Unless it has nuts, there really isn't one I don't enjoy.  My favorite are the chocolate squares with white icing inside. They're twin wrapped. Back before I counted calories (way before, I haven't eaten these for years), I loved twin wrapped snack cakes. Now, I only eat one and only once a year...Christmas Tree Cakes.

My mom had a snowman cookie jar and she used to put Christmas Tree Cakes in the snowman.  They are about 140 calories each, so it's not a terrible treat.  Anyway, these remind me of Christmastime (uh, obviously as they are shaped like Christmas trees).  Today when I opened my lunch my husband surprised me with....a Christmas Tree Cake!  Yay!  Merry Christmas!

Breakfast:  Special K Protein Meal Bar - 170 calories
Lunch:  leftover ziti (400 calories - smaller portion), grapes (60 calories), Christmas Tree Cake (140 calories)
Dinner:  Buffalo Cutlets/Risotto (550 calories) - cutlets dredged in Buffalo Shake N Bake and topped with some cheese and risotto cooked in chicken stock.  The risotto says 300 calories prepared online, but 150 on the container.  Whatever...I calculated it with the higher number.
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total: 1450 - and I went to the gym!

Week 1 results

I hate to admit it, but this whole recording calories thing works. I lost 2 lbs this week. I also made it to the gym four times last week.  I'm not dieting as much as I am trying to be mindful of how much I am eating and trying to keep my calories around 1500 a day.  Most days, I come in under that. Today I will be exactly at 1500.  I choose to eat most of my calories at meal time because I would rather have a good, satisfying meal.  For me, this is a lifestyle change. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that I have to record the calories to kepe this lifestyle change going.  It helps keep me aware of what I am eating.

Weekends are hard.  I can stay home and totally control my meals, but that's no fun!  So, in reality I will probably do some splurging on the weekends. Saturday night was my splurge...Cheesecake Factory.  Even so, I shared my meal with Caleb (because he said, "Mommy, I want pasta!" when he saw my dinner) and shared my cheesecake with Glen.  I never eat a whole piece there anyway, they are huge and REALLY sweet. 

Saturday:
Breakfast:  Cheerios - 150 calories
Lunch: Chick fil a Chargrilled sandwich (290 calories), soup (190 calories)
Dinner:  Cheesecake Factory - 4 Cheese Marinara with chicken, 1/2 piece Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake

Total:  Well, 730 before dinner.  I only ate about 2/3 of the entree because Caleb decided he really liked it too, which was probably a good thing. 

Sunday:
Breakfast:  Cheerios - 150 calories
Lunch:  Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla (500 calories because I used two fried chicken strips (no skin) left over from the dinner Caleb didn't eat last night, chips (150 calories)
Dinner:  Ziti with Tomato-Basil and Asiago Cheese sauce (600 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream cone (200 calories)

Total:  1500 calories - and yes, I went to the gym.

Cravings...

I've been craving Long John's Silver. The yummy battered fish and hush puppies. I know...who craves LJS?  (No, not pregnant).  I haven't eaten it because I looked up the calories online.  Omg.  Plus, the sodium there is ridiculous.  There is less salt in the Dead Sea. 

I don't really have anything interesting to say.  So, here's the last two days.  I was a little bad, but I'm still proud of being bad and coming in well under 2000 calories.

Thursday:
Breakfast - Special K Protein Meal Bar - 170 calories
Lunch - leftover chili (350 calories), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner - thin crust supreme pizza - 1000 calories...I was hungry.  No I didn't eat the whole pizza...I ate less than 1/2. 
Total: 1680 calories - still not terrible especially with a splurge!

Friday -
Breakfast - Special K Protein Meal Bar - 170 calories
Lunch - I was in a meeting that provided lunch, so choices were limited. I had a turkey sandwich, cheese doritos (150 calories...they were in a bag with the info), a cookie.
Snack - popcorn (60 calories...said so on the bag)
Dinner:  Lemon chicken pasta - 400 calories
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories
Total:  760 + lunch (and lunch couldn't have been that bad).  Plus, I worked out!

I jinxed myself

After my blog yesterday about "doing what we have to", I totally hit the snooze button this morning and somehow screwed up my alarm and was almost 30 minutes late getting up.  On the bright side....I still was NOT late to work!  Go me!


My menu:
Breakfast:  Special K Protein Meal Bar -170 calories
Lunch:  I had to have a school lunch so my choices were limited. Fried chicken thigh (I googled "fried chicken thigh" and got 250 calories.  I didn't eat the whole thing,and I peeled off a lot of the skin, so I'm going to say 200 calories), salad (100 calories), a little whole wheat pasta salad (light italian dressing) (200 calories...I didn't eat a full serving). So about 500 calories total.
Dinner:  Homemade chili with extra lean ground beef and crackers- 500 calories - that's with a "larger" serving, too.
Dessert:  I don't know...but I'm allotting 200 calories.  I may be out of ice cream, but there's definitely Halloween candy around here!

Total:  1370 calories

Early morning workouts

I believe we do what we have to do. I've been trying to go to the gym a few mornings a week before work.  My goal is 3 times a week and maybe once on the weekend.  I went today (my second trip this week) and I always feel great afterwards.  The problem is that I can have an entirely logical conversation with myself at 5am when the alarm goes off about why I don't actually need to go right then.  It's only 25 minutes earlier than my usual wake up time so it's not like I'm losing lots of sleep.  So why do I stay in bed more often than not?  Simple - I don't have to go to the gym.  I have to be at work on time so I always am.  You know how many times I've been late for work in the 10 years since college?  I can probably count it on one hand and have some fingers left over.  I always make it where I have to go on time because it's not an option to be late. But the gym is different.  I don't have to go there so I talk myself out of it at 5am.  I usually regret that conversation at 5:30am. I need to create a situation where not going isn't an option.  So...who wants to join me on the elliptical machines 3 mornings a week?

My menu:
Breakfast - Special K Protein meal bar - 170 calories
Lunch:  leftover cowboy spaghetti (450 calories), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  Chipotle - chicken burrito bowl with rice, chicken, peppers, onions, corn salsa, tomatillo salsa, cheese (630 calories) and chips (160 calories...chips from the store have far fewer calories than Chipotle chips).  I love Chipotle and even with it I did okay with my calories today.

Total:  1570 calories

Cowboy Spaghetti

I've noticed that when I'm counting calories, I focus my calories to meal times. I would rather have a satisfying meal than a bunch of little snacks. I'm usually honest about how much I'm eating - that whole recipe calculator allows me to enter the number of servings that I really make.  I'm sorry, I've never seen a box of pasta make 8 servings in real life.  Anyway, here's today...I'm realizing how carb-loaded my diet seems. On the bright side, I use Smart Taste pasta - so it has the nutritional value of whole-wheat pasta. 


My menu:
Breakfast - Special K Protein Meal Bar (170 calories)
Lunch - leftover chicken pesto pasta (350 calories - smaller portion), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner - cowboy spaghetti - (450 calories)  This stuff is great.  Ground beef, tomato sauce, bacon, onion, garlic, worcestershire sauce, and some hot sauce. I usually top it with scallions and a little cheddar cheese. 
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1260

Back on the wagon...

This past weekend, I went to New Orleans.  I ate for four days.  I had po-boys, crabcakes, shrimp ravioli, and beignets.  At the end of this my time, I felt like someone was going to have to roll me on the plane.  Since June, I've tried to work out and be mindful of my calories, but I haven't been posting my daily caloric intake. At the end of this weekend, I got on the scale.  I lost 15 lbs in the four months was posting daily (a pound a week...I'll take it), and I've gained 10 lbs back.  I have to be honest...I was pretty excited that I hadn't gained all and more back. But, my clothes are getting tighter, so time to return to blogging.  T-minus 30 pounds to go. (As a side note, it's also time to return to my 3-4 times a week early morning gym visits...)

So, it's time to return to reading labels, entering recipes online, and googling every food I eat to find out how many calories there are.  I'll probably take off a day here and there (it's the holiday season!), but I'm going to try and be good, or at least prepare for when I'm not by eating lighter beforehand.

So, today I want to introduce you to the Special K Protein Meal Bar. I discovered these when I went to QT after the gym one morning on the way to work.  I needed something that would fill me up until lunch. These are AWESOME.  They taste great (I recommend peanut butter and chocolate) and I'm not usually hungry again for a few hours.  Plus, they only heave 170 calories.  The downside is that they are expensive. But, Kroger does have them 10/$10 on occasion, so we stock up. Don't confuse them with the snack bars...very different.

My menu:
Breakfast:  Special K Protein meal bar - 170 calories
Lunch:  Chicken Quesadilla (350 calories) chips/salsa (160 calories) = 510 calories
Dinner:  Chicken Pesto Pasta with Sundried tomatoes = 500 calories.  This stuff is awesome.  It's sauteed chicken in garlic and red pepper flakes tossed with pesto sauce, sundried tomatoes, and bowtie pasta sprinkled with feta cheese.  I found it on allrecipes.com. It's delicious!!
Dessert:  ice cream cone (lowfat caramel ice cream) = 200 calories.  The cone helps me with portion control, and it's only 70 calories.  On days when I have 70 calories to spare, I add it to the ice cream.

Total:  1380 calories - and I went to the gym!

Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla

I'm so proud of my lunch today - a homemade buffalo chicken quesadilla.  I do realize that I probably didn't invent anything new, but I did make this for myself for the first time.  A tortilla, skinless/boneless cooked chicken leftover from the chicken spaghetti I made last night (my menu yesterday needs to be slightly altered, but the chicken spaghetti has the same number of calories as the baked ziti that I listed, so no biggie), pepperjack cheese, hot sauce, and fat free ranch dressing.  It was delicious!  As I have previously mentioned, I love anything that has been "buffalo-fied".  I should open a restaurant that only has buffalo items on the menu.  YUM!

Anyway, here's my menu for today:
Breakfast:  cereal - 150 calories
Lunch:  buffalo chicken quesadilla (300 calories), baked cheetos (100 calories), grapes (50 calories), oatmeal creme pie (160 calories)
Dinner:  Hmm...probably the ziti that I didn't make last night...500 calories
Total:  1260 (and I worked out too!)

A Rolo McFlurry?!

 Are you aware that McDonald's has launched (for a limited time) a Rolo McFlurry?  Really?  How yummy does this sound? I haven't had a Rolo in years.  I loved them as a kid, so I was excited to see this.  I managed to restrain myself today (it was 10:30 in the morning when I saw it on a sign), but I can guarantee it's coming in the near future. 

I went shoe shopping this morning with Caleb.  Glen is at church doing a car wash, so Caleb and I were on our own. I thought about taking Caleb to wash cars, but somehow this didn't seem to be the best idea.  So we went to Kohl's, TJ Maxx, DSW, 2 different Ross's, and Marshalls.  I'm trying to find dressy, but comfortable black and brown shoes for work.  I did find a pair of black sandals, but no luck on the brown shoes. Caleb found a pair of Elmo tennis shoes.  He was super excited about them, and they were on clearance (he's a bargain shopper, too) so we bought them. 


I think I'm going to go get a library card.  I haven't checked out a library book in forever.  Any suggestions?  I have a short list, but I think they are mostly new releases which means I will be number 434 on the list.

Thursday:
Breakfast:  Cereal - 150 calories
Lunch:  Leftover spaghetti (400 calories)
Snack:  part of a Cinnabon at the mall (Have you ever had one of these?  I shared it with Glen and Caleb, they are like a little slice of heaven. YUM!)
Dinner:  Buffalo chicken cutlets and risotto (600 calories)
Total:  1150 + part of a Cinnabon

Friday: (I worked out today!)
Breakfast:  cereal - 150 calories
Lunch: 2 chili dogs (400 calories)
Dinner:  I went to a dinner party - I had a cheeseburger, a few chips, a few bites of potato salad, pickle, apple pie with a scoop of ice cream

Saturday:
No breakfast.  I ate a couple handful of goldfish on my shopping expedition with Caleb (we were hungry) 100 calories. 
Lunch:  Subway turkey sandwich, pretzels, 100 calorie brownie (570 calories)
Dinner:  ziti with tomato basil marinara and asiago cheese sauce (500 calories)
Dessert: ice cream - 130 calories
Total:  1300 calories

Summer, Day 1.

I'm getting terrible at daily blogging.  I frequently don't remember until I'm laying on the sofa half asleep, and then I don't want to get up and do it. Remember when I wrote every day?  But, yesterday was my last day of work for awhile (I <3 summer vacation!). So here goes today:
        Breakfast:  cereal - 150 calories
        Lunch:  2 chili dogs - 400 calories (light hot dogs and light buns!)
        Dinner:  Spaghetti -400 calories (or poppyseed chicken if my mood changes - also 400 calories)
        Ice cream - 130 calories
Since it's only 9:45 in the morning, I don't really know what snacks I may eat.  When I'm at work, I rarely snack because it's not conducive to my job.  In the summer, though, it's much easier to grab a snack during the day, especially when I'm giving something to Caleb.  Today our exciting summer agenda includes:  going to the doctor.

Oh boy.

Shopping Woes

Today I went shopping for new work clothes.  Isn't it amazing how the same size fits you differently?  I can get a skirt and a dress in the same size from the same store, and one will be too big and one will be too small.  I must have tried on 50 different things today. I bought 3 dresses, two tops, and two sweater cover-ups. For the first time ever, I went to Brooks Brothers. While I do own a couple of interview suits, they're from Macy's, so I've never even priced stuff from Brooks Brothers.  (I should add here this was the outlet).  HOLY MOLY, that place is pricey.  I bought two dresses that were 40% off, and they were still a "regularly priced" item in my opinion. A suit from there would be at least $350.  My wedding dress didn't cost much more than that!  The one I bought at Macy's was $80.  I will say this, though...sometimes you get what you pay for. Everything I tried on there fit perfectly and was extremely well-made.  I'm petite, so I frequently have issues with things being too long, but their stuff was perfect.

Anyway, I do have a point.  I say this all the time, but when you're trying to lose weight, go to your favorite store and try something on once a week. Eventually, you'll start to see a difference in the way clothes fit you. It's the most motivating weight-loss tip for me.


Friday:
Breakfast - chocolate chip bread (guessing 150 calories)
Lunch:  leftover chicken ravioli (400 calories...not as much as the night before)
Dinner:  Buffalo chicken cutlets and risotto (600 calories)
Total for the day: 1150

Saturday:
Breakfast:  chocolate chip bread (guessing 150 calories)
Lunch: Chargrilled chicken sandwich, soup (from Chick-fil-a) 490 calories
Snack:  Chocolate chip bread
Dinner:  Scalini's for my mom's birthday (two weeks late)
Total for Saturday:  790 before the dinner...

My Carb-filled Day

Remember when I used to blog every day and tell you what I ate?  Yeah, that got old.  I mean, it worked for sure.  I blogged daily until April, and I lost 15 lbs!  Then I quit, and I lost um....nothing.  I didn't eat badly or anything but I didn't make it to the gym quite as often.  Or maybe I ate more and didn't really think about it because I wasn't blogging.  I'm not sure. I guess I'm going back to daily blogging.  Luckily, summer has arrived and I have more time.  Well, slightly more time. 

So today has been a pasta-filled day.  That makes it a yummy day!  For breakfast I had a piece of chocolate chip bread that one of my room parents had made, and it was delicious (no idea on the calorie content.  Lunch was leftover cowboy spaghetti and an oatmeal cream pie (540 calories total), and dinner is baked ravioli.  This isn't as bad as it sounds.  Costco sells a chicken and mozzarella ravioli, that I mix with a traditional tomato-basil sauce (crushed tomatoes, olive oil, lots of garlic, and basil).  I cover it with mozzarella cheese and broil it in the oven.  It's about 500 calories per serving, and it's delicious. So 1040 calories, plus the piece of chocolate chip bread.

 I didn't work out today but I did pack lots of boxes and move them around my room today.  Then I made Glen move them to various other locations. I think the box packing counts, right?  Probably would count more if I didn't enlist Glen to help. Oh, well.

Stress-Induced Eating

I've always been one of those people who thought that stress-induced eating was always an excuse.  I mean, we make the choice to eat foods that are bad for us.  But, sometimes, especially after I started cataloging all my food, did I realize that I regularly succumb to this.  I remember when I was living with my mom that on bad days I would refer to it as a "Pizza Day".  This meant that I had earned the right to eat pizza.  Preferably pizza from Atlanta Pizza and Gyro with feta cheese.  Feta cheese makes everything better.  That's for a different blog, though.

At any rate, yesterday I was tired and grumpy.  I don't know that I had a particularly good reason, but I was feeling it yesterday.  So, I decided that since I had book club, that I would skip the workout and have dinner beforehand rather than waiting until 9pm to eat.  I convinced Glen (it took NO convincing) to come to On the Border (we had gift cards).  Of all the restaurants, OTB is not one of the healthiest. I mean, they have healthy options, but I did not opt for those.  I opted for yummy.

Comfort food gets its name for a reason.  You feel comforted when you eat it.  Other than the brief passing guilt of eating unhealthily, I did feel better afterward. Hmmm. I guess the problem is when every night requires comfort food.  However, as you can see, I was really low on calories on Monday and Wednesday.   This makes up for it, yes?

Monday:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover poppyseed chicken, apple, oatmeal creme pie (600 calories)
Dinner:  cowboy spaghetti (400 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories
Total:  1290 calories

Tuesday: 
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover cowboy spaghetti (400 calories)
Dinner:  On the Border - one chicken enchilada, one cheese enchilada, rice, chips/salsa  (too many calories to count)
Dessert:  Strawberry Creme Frappuccino (well...I'd already fallen off the wagon)

Wednesday:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  Lean Cuisine Ravioli, salad, apple, oatmeal creme pie (400 calories total)
Dinner:  Chili (400 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories
Total:  1090 calories

Randomness...

When was the last time you had a McDonald's french fry?  I bought Caleb a cheeseburger and fries recently, and I ate one of his french fries. They were awful! I love fries with honey mustard, so it's not like I don't enjoy the occasional french fry.  But these were awful.  For a long time, I worked at a BBQ restaurant in Conyers while I was in high school and college.  I learned something important there:  never cook fries in the same oil that you fry anything else (chicken fingers, corn, mozzarella sticks, etc). I don't know that McDonald's is frying anything else other than chicken nuggets, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep the oils separate.  These particular fries tasted like the oil had been used for many other things.  At any rate, it cured me of my McDonald's fry love (sorry, Mickey D's...I still have other enjoyments...apple pie...mmmm).

This weekend was busy,  but I was pretty good. Saturday I woke up with a terrible headache.  I was scheduled to go to Chattanooga to see Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt (I know, exciting) so I had to get rid of the headache, pronto.  I was out of my migraine meds, and the pharmacy wasn't going to open before I left,  so I had to improvise.  I've found one of the best aids for getting rid of a headache is caffeine and sugar.  So, for breakfast, I had a blueberry fritter (that I have been wanting for a week) and a coke. My head still hurt so I ended up stopping for some Excedrin Migraine.  Success!  There is a ton of caffeine in these pills, so I was a little jumpy, but at least my headache subsided.

For lunch, I had a bbq sandwich and a few cheetos (Caleb helped eat the small bag). I don't know how many calories.  For dinner, we had pizza.  FYI:  Pizza Hut Supreme pizza with extra cheese and sauce on a thin crust is AWESOME.

Sunday it was back to my regular diet. Captain Crunch for breakfast (150 calories), leftover pasta for lunch (500 calories), Reese's PB Egg (150 calories, Snack: popcorn (100 calories), and poppyseed chicken for dinner (400 calories), and ice cream for dessert (130 calories).  Total for Sunday: 1430.  Not bad, and I went running today, too!

Sweating = Exercise?

Today was Field Day.  It was hot (though not as hot as recent days).  Here's my question.  I spent all day standing in the sun on my feet.  I didn't really run (the kids did!), so I don't know that I can argue that I was actually exercising.  Do you actually burn calories by standing in the sun and sweating?  It really wears you out.  I am exhausted tonight!  If you don't, that's totally unfair.  If I'm going to be as worn out as I am, I should have at least burned some calories.

I've been terrible about my daily blogging.  I've had a lot going on after work, and when I get home I haven't been in the mood to blog.  At any rate, here's 3 days of menus.
Wed:
Breakfast - cereal bar -160 calories
Lunch:  SmartOnes Ravioli (270), salad (50), apple (50), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  Pizza (too many to count)
Total:  630 + pizza...probably about 1600

Thur:
Breakfast - cereal bar -160 calories
Lunch - 200 calorie pizza, apple, salad, 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  Fajitas - 400 calories
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories
Total:  1190

Friday:
Breakfast - cereal bar -160 calories
Lunch:  Chick-fil-a sandwich (440), apple (50), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  Ziti with tomato basil and asiago cheese sauce. (500 calories)
Dessert: ice cream - 130 calories
Total:  1280 calories 

.

Migraines...

My head is killing me.  I hate having migraines because there is simply no relief.  This particular migraine hasn't lessened at all, even after taking my special migraine medicine. It's starting to make me feel nauseous. The cure?  Yummy dinner!  I don't know why, but two things (combined with medication) almost always take away the headache: full calorie coke and pizza.  I know that cokes are often used to lessen a headache (that's what I did while I was pregnant.  We had to have "emergency cokes" on hand at all times).  Pizza?  Not usually a remedy.  Tonight, however, there will be no pizza.  Unfortunately, there will also be no Holly cooking.  Glen is bring me home a Chipotle burrito.  Not a burrito bowl (which is 630 calories the way I make it), a real burrito with it's 200 calorie tortilla and everything!  This will surely cure my migraine! (P.S. - Yes, I went to the gym today)

Yesterday, I was also really good.  I had a cereal bar for breakfast (160 calories), leftover spaghetti, fruit, and 100 calorie cake for lunch (550), and buffalo chicken cutlets and risotto for dinner (600 calories).  Add in dessert (200 calories), for a total of 1510.  I also went running yesterday afternoon, and I thought I was about to die.  I was so hot by the time I was finished.  I don't know how people run in the summer.

Anyway, my calorie intake BEFORE the Chipotle dinner is 830 between breakfast and lunch.  I figure we're looking at about 1000 calories for dinner...so 1830.  Still not horrendous!

Blogging Break

You may (or may not) have noticed that I didn't blog this week.  You might assume that means I wasn't mindful of my calorie intake, but that really wasn't the case.  I was good every day this week, with a little splurging over the weekend.  I even lost a pound.  I'm not going to go back over my daily menus, but trust me.  I behaved. Mostly.  Glen lost his job this week, so we've been a little down.  I also had a crazy busy week, and the laptop wasn't working, so blogging required me to go to the basement to the computer down there. Somehow, it just didn't happen.

Anyway, we're beginning a new week.  Only 15 days of school left!  You may remember that I had set a goal after spring break to lose 15 pounds.  I think I've lost 3.5 since I set that goal.  I need to get back into gear and really work hard (and work out!).  I'm looking for some new recipes that are cheap and easy.  Any suggestions?

Bad Day.

I've had a terrible day, so I'm just posting my menu.

Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories, and about 1/3 of a muffin (let's say 150 calories...it was a big muffin)
Lunch:  leftover poppyseed chicken (400 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  spaghetti (400 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 150 calories

Total:  1410

Midnight runs to Taco Bell

This has been a really busy weekend. Friday, I didn't really stick to my calorie count at all. I had a chicken biscuit for breakfast, leftover pasta for lunch, and a boneless buffalo chicken salad from Chili's for dinner. Yum!

Saturday, I did better. I had no breakfast, a quesadilla and chips for lunch (450 calories), a peanut butter Easter egg (150 calories), and Taco Bell for dinner.  Taco Bell was not on the menu, but we had to take Caleb to the doctor at 8pm when we got home from our busy afternoon because he was running a fever.  He had run a small one that morning, and Caleb only runs a fever when there is an infection (or at least that's how it's been so far), so I almost always take him in if a fever persists very long. Well, Scottish Rite at Satellite Blvd was super busy last night, so we didn't leave until 10:30, and then we had to get his prescriptions. It was midnight when we got home.  You know what's open at midnight?  Taco Bell. I had two tacos and a beef burrito (just meat, cheese, and onion).  The tacos are usually about 200 apiece, and a burrito is usually around 350-400, although, I don't think this one was that much because I had so many items taken off (I don't like refried beans or sour cream). At most, that's 800 calories, which is a lot for dinner, but my total is still only 1400 for the day. Go me! 

Today I stayed home with Caleb since he had a fever last night (he's fever-free at the moment). I think we're having quesadillas again for lunch, although I'm really tired of mexican food after lunch and dinner yesterday.  Tonight we're having poppyseed chicken (400 calories).  So maybe I'll get Glen to bring home lunch.  We'll see. I AM going running this afternoon, though.  I'm working out 3-4 times this week regardless of the craziness!

Workout Woes

Well, I got up a little before 5am to watch the wedding (yes, I know I could have taped it, but I wanted to see it live).  I realized I didn't update yesterday.  Sometimes it's hard to write when I don't really have much to say.  I have been good all week, but yesterday was the first day I managed to make it to the gym.  I REALLY didn't want to go.  I was sitting in the parking lot at the gym giving myself a pep talk.  I was so tired.  But, I did feel lots better after I worked out. I could tell I hadn't been there in a week.

My menu:
Breakfast: cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover chili, grapes, 100 calorie cake (550 calories)
Dinner:  ziti with tomato basil marinara and asiago sauce (500 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream bar - 200 calories

Total:  1410 calories

Pet Peeves

Okay, I know my blog is supposed to be about food struggles, but I have a pet peeve I need to vent about. If you are some type of workperson (plumber, exterminator, cable guy, etc), you need to show up on time.  I have had three different people show up ridiculously late for three days in a row.  Monday, we had granite installed.  They were 2 hours late. Tuesday, we had a plumber come.  He was 30 minutes late.  Today the exterminator was supposed to be here at 4pm.  It's 4:22.  I mean, if you want to schedule a window, schedule a window.  But, don't tell me you're going to be here at 4pm, and I rearrange my schedule, and then you show up at 5pm.  Aughhh!!!

Anyway, yesterday I was really good, but I didn't blog because it was a crazy afternoon.  But, since I have plenty of time today while I'm sitting around waiting on the exterminator, I'll update the past two days.

Yesterday:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch: SmartOnes Ravioli, salad, grapes, 100 calorie cakes (450 calories)
Dinner: buffalo chicken cutlets, risotto (600 calories)
Dessert:  Strawberry ice cream bar (200 calories)
Total:  1410 calories

Today:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  soup (220 calories), salad, grapes, 100 calorie cakes (400 calories total)
Dinner:  chili with cheese and crackers (400 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories
Total:  1090

Excuses, Excuses

Man, I have had more excuses recently not to work out.  I didn't blog this weekend because it was Easter and I was super busy. I don't know the calorie content of a lot of what I ate (don't worry, I exercised portion control....most of the time).  I got back on the scale this morning just to see what the damage was, but my weight was the same as it was on Friday.  Yay!  So anyway, I didn't go to the gym today because we are having granite installed (as I am typing this) so I had to come home after school.  Tomorrow, the plumber is coming to hook up our water so I can't work out tomorrow, either.  Wednesday, I have to meet the exterminator.  But, I'm hoping tomorrow and Wednesday will be short visits so hopefully I can get a run in before it gets dark.  Tonight is doubtful.  I also can't cook tonight because we have no water in the kitchen and sorry, I'm not washing dishes in the bathroom.

So...I don't know what's for dinner, but I've only eaten 560 calories so far today, so it doesn't really matter.  I'm going to eat my arm soon, though, if the workers don't finish soon. 

Too much candy!

So in the past week, I've accumulated a ridiculous amount of Easter candy through Easter egg hunts.  I mean, I'm all about Caleb going to the egg hunts, but what am I going to do with all this candy?  No one needs to eat all this, especially me. You see, I tend to think candy wrapped in that small of a package doesn't need to be counted.  The fun part of "fun size" is that the calories don't count, right?  I should probably take it to work, but sometimes that proves to be counterproductive for me as well.

Yesterday, we had some friends over for dinner and we had tacos.  I love tacos. The only problem was that I didn't calculate the calories in everything before I ate.  I had 3 tacos - 2 crunchy, 1 soft.  The crunchy tacos I turned into a salad, and I just ate the soft one. So...600 calories?  It was extra lean ground beef, so the meat had very little fat.  But, there was key lime pie for dessert...which I will be finishing off tonight.  :-)  Thanks, Kelley!

Yesterday:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover cowboy spaghetti (400 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cakes
Dinner:  tacos (600 calories)
Dessert:  1 piece key lime pie.  No idea...calories weren't on the container.

Total:  1310 before the pie.

Today:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover cowboy spaghetti (400 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cakes
Dinner:  Haven't decided yet, but it's not going to be pretty.

Total:  Well, I've only had 710 before dinner, so even a high calorie dinner would be okay.

This is Easter weekend, so I weighed myself BEFORE the weekend and I lost 1.5 lbs.  Happy Easter!

4/20

Did you know that 4/20 is a notable day in our country's recent history?  Oklahoma City bombings and Columbine both happened on 4/20.  Every time I look at the date, that's what I think about.

I don't really have much to say regarding the food part of my life the past couple of days...I was late getting home last night so I picked up Chipotle on my way home.  Today was much better, I worked out and was way below on my calories.  I guess the two days evened out?  At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Tuesday:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  200 calorie pizza, salad (50 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cake
Snack 1:  popcorn, brownie (200 calories)
Snack 2:  Strawberry smoothie with nonfat milk (250 calories)
Dinner:  Chipotle - chicken burrito bowl (630 calorie), chips (200 calories)

Total:  too many...don't want to add it up. 1840.

Wednesday:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  200 calorie pizza, salad (50 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  cowboy spaghetti - 450 calories
Dessert:  lowfat ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1140 - and I worked out!

Mexican Night!

We are trying to incorporate Caleb dinner into our mealtimes.  For a long time, we fed Caleb early, and then ate after he went to bed. But because Caleb is eating regular food all the time (and has been for awhile now), we're serving him whatever we are eating.  Sometimes this works well, other times it doesn't work at all. So tonight we had fajitas and mexican rice.  Caleb loves the mexican rice, but he burned his tongue on the first couple of bites so he quit eating it. He never did actually touch the fajita chicken or green pepper, though.  He would eat the rice off my plate, but not off his own. Weird child.  Anyway, he ended up eating 2 pieces of cheese and some rice.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover lasagna (400 calories), cookies (140 calories)
Dinner:  11/2 fajitas (400 calories), one serving of rice (180 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories
Total for the day:  1410 calories

Ooh, and I ran two miles, too.

All things in moderation

I haven't blogged the past few days, but don't worry, I've been watching what I eat.  Friday night, I went to the Gwinnett Braves game with people from work, and we had food provided in our suite. I ate one hot dog, and some REAL potato chips. I don't know if they were baked or fried (I kind of think baked), but they were delicious.  I also ate a brownie. But, before the game,  I had only 610 calories, so it was okay.

Saturday, I had a cereal bar for breakfast, and a grilled chicken sandwich and soup from Chick-fil-a.  That totaled about 650 calories for breakfast and lunch.  Last night, I went to a wedding.  I ate a bbq sandwich on white bread, some mac and cheese, and green beans. I was very mindful of the portion sizes.  However, I will tell you that I had some of the groom's cake. It was several chocolate chip cookie cakes, with icing layered between. YUMMY!!  I only ate about half my piece of cake because it was so rich, though. So, again, I don't know my total calories, but I think I did okay.

Today, I've been good as well. Tonight, though, is the men's bake-off at church, so there will be cake. I'm not a huge cake fan, but Glen is baking a butterscotch pound cake that is delicious.  I guess I'll be eating dessert before dinner tonight.  :-)  I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast (150 calories) and Subway for lunch (430 calories) plus a cookie (200 calories).

I did get on the scale this weekend, and my weight was the same as it was before spring break. So either, I've maintained for two weeks (which I kind of doubt considering what I ate over the break), or I gained over spring break and then lost it this week (more likely).  I don't know why, but I really am okay with it because I know that I am slowly losing weight in a lifestyle that I know I can maintain.  It might take me a long time, but at least I know I'm doing it right.

Not my week.

I'm thoroughly annoyed.  The granite people were supposed to be here for our consult at 5:30, so I didn't go to the gym because I wouldn't have time to work out, get Caleb, and get home by 5:30.  So I skipped the gym and came home.  I went ahead and gave Caleb a bath, and fed him dinner at 5:00 so when they arrived he would be done with dinner.  Otherwise, in the middle of everything Caleb would have demanded dinner. So at 5:35 Glen gets home. 5:40 he calls the company to see where they are.  6:00 we find out someone else is coming, but they're just leaving and won't be here until 7:00.  Really?  I could have worked out and been home by now!!  These people are making me mad.  They didn't show on Monday and they are going to be ridiculously late today. 

Last night, I made poppyseed chicken.  When everything was ready, I portioned out some in tupperware for lunch today and then put some in another container for Glen when he got home.  I made my plate and sat down to eat. It was about 8:00. I took a bite...and it tasted a little funny.  I took a second bite and realized it was the chicken. It had gone bad.  I had defrosted the chicken that day, but I guess it was already bad when I froze it. Stupid sell-by date.  What would I do? Caleb was already in bed (no, I didn't feed him the chicken), so I couldn't go anywhere.  I didn't want to order a pizza, we had pizza the night before.  Nothing to do but wait for Glen to get home from church.  He called at 8:45 and I told him to bring me food.  He brought me a salad from Chili's.  It had more than the 400 calories my original dinner contained.  I did however, skip the ice cream last night.

So, despite my best efforts, this week is turning out to be a bust.  I was so motivated, too.  Plus, tonight I'm planning on making ziti with tomato-basil sauce and asiago cheese, but who knows how long this stupid consult will take.  I guess I'll be eating dinner at 9:30 again.

My menu:
Breakfast: cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  SmartOnes ziti - 300 calories, salad (50 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  I'm planning on the pasta - 500 calories
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day: 1240 unless something else happens and I eat something ridiculous.

Good News/Bad News

Good news:  Even though I had another (or maybe the same?) migraine today, I cooked dinner!  Poppyseed chicken, which I make with fat free sour cream and 98% fat free cream of chicken soup.  Yummy!

Bad news:  My head was throbbing so I didn't go to the gym, and I can't go Thursday or Friday because of stuff going on after work.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  same as yesterday - 200 calorie pizza, salad (50), apple (60), 100 calorie cake
Misc:  100 calories (fun pack of candy)
Dinner:  poppyseed chicken with rice (400 calories)
Dessert  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1300

Migraine.

I have a migraine today which means no cooking.  So tonight Glen is picking up a pizza.  See ya tomorrow!

My menu:
Breakfast:  160 calories
Lunch:  200 calorie pizza, salad (50 calories), half an apple (30 calories), 100 calorie cake
Snack:  coca-cola...I had a headache (140 calories)
Dinner:  Pizza (900 calories)  Thin crust pizza really cuts down on the calories...
Dessert:  ice cream- 130 calories

Total: 1610 calories

Mmm....food.

Okay, here's my problem:  I like to eat.  I mean, I know that sometimes I'm an emotional eater. Nothing helps a bad day like some boneless buffalo wings from Chili's.  But, I enjoy eating things that taste yummy.  And I don't care how much Biggest Loser I watch, a plate of veggies will never be quite the same as a bowl of yummy cheesy pasta.  Sorry.

But, unfortunately eating isn't conducive to weight loss, so I find myself trying to get hyped up about some asparagus.  (Sidebar:  that balsamic marinated asparagus WAS really good...but it's still not the same as a trip to Chili's). Don't you wish you could just eat what you wanted?  Why does it have to have consequences?  I'm sure we could blame it on Adam and Eve eating the fruit (ironic that eating is what got mankind into trouble), but I don't remember reading "the Lord shall greatly increase your pain in childbirth and cause whatever you eat to add fat to your hips". 

Anyway, here's my menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover cowboy spaghetti (400 calories), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Misc:  100 calories (I ate a couple bites of Caleb's dinner)
Dinner:  Lemon chicken pasta - angel hair and chicken in a lemon butter (don't worry, way more lemon than butter) sauce.  400 calories
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day: 1250 - and I worked out, too!

35 more days...

Summer starts (for me) in 7 weeks. Of those days, 35 are work days.  This means I need to lose enough weight between now and then to feel comfortable in a swimsuit. Well, more comfortable. I wasn't comfortable at my skinniest by any means.  I should set a goal.  A realistic, obtainable goal. How about 15 more pounds? That's about 2 pounds a week, which I should be able to do.  I've lost 15 so far (or at least I had before spring break), so if I lose another 15,  that would make 30 in all. Yes!  Okay, 15 lbs in 7 weeks. I can do it.

I started off with a good day.  Today I went to the gym for my first workout in awhile, since I didn't work out last week. I did pretty well, I'm really trying to push myself with the levels on the elliptical machine and the amount of weights I'm attempting to lift.  I mean, I'm not ready to enter a body building competition by any stretch of the imagination (nor will I be...I'm SO not a body builder), but I do want become toned, which means I have to continue pushing myself.  I've been pretty good about my menu today (it will definitely be below my 1500 target). 

Breakfast:  frosted flakes (150 calories)
Lunch:  chicken quesadilla (350 calories), chips (150 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  cowboy spaghetti (Rachael Ray recipe - Smart Taste spaghetti with a sauce made of a little lean ground beef, bacon, tomato sauce, hot sauce, green onion and cheese).  It varies with calories depending on what meat I end up buying and how much bacon I use, and how hungry I am. Today, though, it should be about 400 calories.
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total:  1380

Vacation is over...

I don't believe in dieting on vacation. Although I don't really consider what I'm doing dieting, just being more conscientious of what I am eating and controlling my calorie intake.  I find with diets that I eventually go off of them and then gain weight. If I can truly make a permanent (except for vacations!) change, then hopefully it will become the norm.  Anyway...this week I went to Destin for spring break, and I ate what I wanted.  I wasn't completely unreasonable, but there may have been (read: was) some fried foods and ice cream involved in the week. Am I getting on a scale this weekend?  No.  I'll get back on next weekend after a week of being good (better?) and working out again.



Anyway, want to know my menu today? 

Breakfast:  two doughnuts (I was still in Destin).
Lunch:  Grilled chicken sandwich, chicken soup (Chick-fil-a) 480 calories
Snack:  oatmeal creme pie (I don't know how many calories...I think about 200)
Dinner:  Hmm...probably buffalo chicken cutlets and risotto (500 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total: (without the doughnuts) 1320

Spring Break!

Happy spring break!  I've been counting down for awhile, now.  I'm so ready for this week off. So, over spring break I'm not going to be blogging.  I've got a busy week ahead that I'm super excited about.  I'm going to try my best to watch my diet and calorie count, but I'm also going to have a couple of meals where I'm just not going to worry about it. At this point, I've lost about 15 lbs total, so hopefully I won't gain anything back, just maintaining for a week.

See you on the flip side!  (Yeah, I'm not cool enough to pull off statements like that)...

Chipotle night!

I know I've written about Chipotle, but I must tell you one more time...it is one of my favorite places.  Now that I'm watching America's Next Great Restaurant (or something like that), and I see Steve Ellis, I feel like I need to communicate to him how much I like his restaurant.  It's so yummy...and inexpensive (nice word for cheap)...and fast.  Just as much as I like to have boneless buffalo wings after a bad day, I like to have Chipotle.  The bonus is that it has far fewer calories than boneless buffalo anything.  I like most Mexican food, but so much of it is so heavy and greasy, I don't eat it often. But Chipotle is an indulgence that's totally worth it.  Rice, chicken, corn salsa, tomatillo salsa, and cheese.  Yummy!

My menu today:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  200 calorie pizza, salad (50 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  Chipotle chicken bowl (630 calories), chips (200 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day: 1520 calories - and I worked out!

I love pasta!

Have I mentioned that I love pasta?  I wouldn't last 10 minutes on the Atkins diet because I love pasta too much (plus sugar...I love sweet things, too).  I could go months without red meat, but pasta?  No way!  I do try to use Smart Taste or whole wheat pasta or veggie pasta.  That makes it better, right?  So tonight I'm making chicken parm.  It's been on my list for a week and I'm finally making it.  It's chicken cutlets covered in Italian Shake and Bake.  I love the buffalo Shake and Bake, so I'm hoping this one is good.  Then, I cover the chicken in my homemade tomato basil sauce and mozzarella and broil it.  Yum!  I serve it with a side of spaghetti (also in the tomato basil sauce).  I haven't eaten it yet (it's cooking right now!), but I'm starving and this sounds great. 

My menu today:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover cowboy spaghetti (400 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  chicken parm (400 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream (130 calories)

Total:  1240 calories

Just Another Manic Monday...

Not much to report today.  I was pretty good, and I went to the gym. 

My menu:
Breakfast - cereal bar (160 calories)
Lunch:  leftover chili, grapes, 100 calorie cake (550 calories)
Snack:  angel food cake, strawberries, light cool whip (150 calories)
Dinner:  cowboy spaghetti - tomato sauce, ground beef, bacon, and spaghetti with scallions and cheese (just a little) on top (450 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total:  1480 calories

Starting again...

Well, it's been a food weekend for me. Friday I had Ippolito's (Chicken and Sun-dried tomato stuffed shells...yum!), and then a peanut butter molten cake (or half of one).  Saturday I went to Conyers to get my hair highlighted and cut, and I had lunch from Glenn's BBQ (turkey sandwich and small brunswick stew) and dinner from Dynasty (Glen and I split szechuan and sesame chicken).  Yum!  But alas, I didn't lose any weight this week.  So tomorrow, I start again.

I used to say I wasn't an emotional eater.  I was so wrong.  When I get frustrated or upset, I want to indulge in something.  Unfortunately, this week I was frustrated or upset almost every day, hence the menu choices. I did go to the gym three times this week, though, which is probably the only reason I didn't gain weight.

Anyway...it will be hard to figure out my calories today because I had leftover Chinese food for lunch (Hey, we got two meals for me AND Glen out of that). 

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover szechuan and sesame chicken
Dinner:  chili - 400 calories
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Mustard and Pickles Sandwiches...

Okay, so I've already confessed my pickle addiction.  You know I eat pickles with everything...but you may not know that one of my occasional pickle treats are mustard and pickle sandwiches.  Yum!  Low calorie too!  I mean, if you have light bread, you're looking at about 55 calories for the whole sandwich.  Less than an apple! Don't knock it until you try it.  I recommend wheat bread, mustard, and a Claussen pickle.  Slice into quarters and put them on your bread.  Don't you love that I included directions for this?  No, I'm not pregnant.  I just like the sandwich.

Tonight Glen surprised me with a date!  He called my mom and asked her to come over so we could go out after my terrible week.  I anticipate lots of calories.  I may score that molten peanut butter cake tonight. So far I've only had 560 calories today, (see Wednesday breakfast and lunch...identical) so I'm not too worried about it.  Plus, I skipped dessert last night, so you can subtract 130 calories (now 1460) for yesterday.

But I'm still not expecting to lose weight this week. 

Pizza dude!

Ten points if you can name the show the title comes from! 

I'm not going to be losing much this week.  Tonight, since Glen wasn't here and I didn't know it until I was already home, I ordered a pizza.  Originally, I planned to have chicken parm, which I will be having tomorrow night so stay tuned for that, but then when it was just me I didn't want to make all that food.  So, I ordered a crispy thin pizza from Domino's. Their thin pizzas have way less calories than regular crusts.  But, I'm pretty hungry...I have to save at least half for Glen, though.  That helps.  Plus, I worked out today. Watch me lose like 5 pounds the week I splurge multiple times.  That would rock...won't happen, but would rock.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover poppyseed chicken (400 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  thin crust pepperoni pizza - Domino's has a handy food calculator.  It's about 750 calories for 3 slices.
Dessert:  lowfat ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day: 1590 - not bad!  only 90 calories over!

Mmm...Peanut Butter

So I didn't blog yesterday because I knew my calorie count was uh, over my goal.  I had a rough day yesterday, so after work Caleb and I met Glen at Chili's.  I love Chili's.  I know it's a chain, but it's still one of my favorite restaurants.  Why?  Three words...boneless buffalo chicken.  Boneless buffalo chicken wings.  Boneless buffalo salad.  Boneless buffalo fajitas.  I love spicy food, and for whatever reason, I love anything buffalofied (new word!!).  So anyway, since Caleb and I got there and had to wait for Glen, I ordered chips and salsa.  They have yummy chips.  We chowed down for awhile.  Finally, Glen got there and we ordered.  I got boneless buffalo chicken wings and lowfat ranch (because that made it all better).  They were delicious.  Perfect amount of sauce, super tender, and the ranch made it perfect.  Yum.

I had planned on dessert.  Chili's has a peanut butter molten chocolate cake.  I knew this would be delicious.  Unfortunately (for me), Caleb decided he was done (you know 22 month olds...when they're done, it's time to leave), so I didn't get the cake.  I was so sad.  I love peanut butter.  I would totally eat it every day if it wasn't so fattening.   I particularly love peanut butter desserts.  Anyway, I will be returning to Chili's (probably this weekend) for a repeat meal. I won't blog that day, either.  :-)

My menu today (much less exciting)
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  200 calorie pizza, salad (50 calories), grapes (50 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  poppyseed chicken (400 calories) I made the whole dish, and realized I was out of poppyseeds.  Caleb and I had to make an emergency trip to Publix.
Dessert:  ice cream with a crushed tagalong - 200 calories

Total for the day:  1160 - and I worked out too!  Making up for yesterday...

Buffalo sandwiches!

I ended up making pasta last night, so I made the buffalo sloppy joe chicken sandwiches tonight (it's a Rachael Ray recipe).  I forgot to add in the bun to my calorie count, so the sandwiches and potatoes are 500 calories, not 300.  The buns have 200 calories (they're jumbo).  I can't convince Glen to buy the low calorie bread because it's like twice the price.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover pasta (500 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  buffalo sandwiches, smashed potatoes with cheese (500 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1390 - and I worked out too!

Cheesecake Factory

This is going to be my weekend update. Last night, I had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  I LOVE this place, but as you can imagine, you can easily eat two days worth of calories in one sitting.  I recommend not going to see the calorie contents.  It will just make you sad.  They do have "weight management salads", and they are probably great, but I didn't order one.  However, what I do recommend is not eating the entire portion you are given, and splitting a piece of cheesecake with someone.

First, I would like to provide an ode to Reese's Chocolate Cake Cheesecake.  I didn't even actually order it (because I would have been the only one eating it, and I totally would have eaten the whole thing).  I just saw the picture...and YUM! It has layers of cheesecake, chocolate cake, and peanut butter.  I'm totally going to find a friend to go and share it with me.

I ended up ordering the chicken and sundried tomato pasta.  It was yummy...I ate all the chicken out of it, and about 1/2 of the pasta.  Then I split a piece of Dutch apple caramel cheesecake with my dad...mmm....

My Sunday menu was less exciting...I didn't work out yesterday or today.  I made it to the gym 4 times last week, and I lost a pound.  I did, however, pulled out some capris today that I haven't worn since the summer of 2007.  That's happy!  I guess the good thing about my closet is that I have clothes sized all the way down to a 6 and up to a 12/14 so I don't have to go buy clothes as I lose weight. 

Saturday menu: 
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Snack:  Twizzlers (100 calories)
Lunch:  Chick-fil-a grilled chicken sandwich (300 calories), fruit cup (100 calories)
Snack:  a few french fries at the zoo - I shared an order with my dad, Glen, and Caleb...Caleb probably ate the most of them. (Side note:  Caleb LOVED the zoo!)
Dinner:  Cheesecake factory chicken and sundried tomato pasta, 1/2 piece apple caramel cheesecake

Total calories:  don't know...don't care

Sunday menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar -160 calories
Lunch:  Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich (370 calories), small chili (220 calories)
Dinner: Probably ziti with tomato-basil marinara and asiago cheese sauce (500 calories)...or buffalo chicken sandwiches with mashed potatoes (300 calories)  This meal is surprisingly low.  It has chicken, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, and hot sauce on a bun.  The potatoes are mashed with skim milk and some cheddar cheese.
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total:  I don't know...depends on what I make tonight - 1330 for the ziti and 1030 for the sandwiches.  Whatever I don't make tonight I will make tomorrow night.

Finally Friday!

All I can say is...thank goodness it's Friday.  I don't have much to write tonight...but here's my menu from today.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover poppyseed chicken (400 calories), 1/2 apple (30 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  Chicken burrito bowl from Chipotle (630 calories), chips (200 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day: 1650 calories - just a little high...but not bad.

780 Calories?!

So this afternoon after I left the gym, I went by Chick-fil-a to get Caleb dinner (our Thursday night ritual, apparently), and I really, really wanted to try the banana pudding milkshake. I knew I had been really good today (570 calories between breakfast and lunch) so I looked up the calorie content on my phone. A small banana pudding milkshake has ....780 calories!!! Are you kidding me?  I can name all sorts of fried or fattening foods that have less.  So, I skipped the milkshake. I could probably create one myself for way less. Hmmm...I know I could...130 calories for lowfat vanilla, half a banana (50), vanilla wafers (say another 75) and maybe some cool whip (fat free has practically none). What is Chick-fil-a putting in these milkshakes?

My allergies are killing me today, so I just took two benadryl. Good thing Caleb's bedtime is soon because I will be asleep shortly.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar -160 calories
Lunch:  200 calorie Digiorno pizza, salad (50 calories), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Misc:  100 calories - three french fries (small ones!) and some of Caleb's goldfish.
Dinner:  poppyseed chicken with rice (400 calories), squash and zucchini
Dessert:  ice cream -130 calories

Total for the day:  1200 and I worked out too!

The Quesadilla Effect

After I worked out today, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things before I went to get Caleb.  I was only in the grocery store for a few minutes, but because it was at the end of the day and after a workout, I was super hungry. I started looking around at the food and daydreaming about all I could eat. Little Debbies?  Crab cakes?  Pizza?  Candy bar?  Fruit?  I was so hungry.  I decided I was not buying anything extra, so whatever my snack was going to be had to come out of the bag. Most of the things were ingredients for dinner, plus some 100 calorie cakes and apples. I decided to go for the apple. When I put it in the back of the car, I opened the bag and took one (thinking briefly about how it had chemicals all over it and needed washing), which I began eating on the way to return the cart.  The apple was practically gone before I made it back to the car.

Allow me to introduce you to the "quesadilla effect".  When I lived in Texas, one of my good friends, Sarah, and I always made dinner together after we worked out. One night, when we got back to the dorm (I lived in the dorms at seminary for 4 months...that's a whole different blog) there was a message from another friend who wanted to see if we wanted to go out to dinner.  I was always up for fun, so I called Sarah to see if she was in.  Sarah said sure, but when I went down to her room to get her to go, I found her sitting in front of the tiny refrigerator, door open, eating a cold quesadilla left over from a restaurant. "I was so hungry and it's going to be like an hour before we get our food!" Sarah told me.  I laughed really hard. So...whenever you are so hungry that you will tear into something without worrying about warming it up (or in my case..washing it), that's known as the "quesadilla effect".  I know some of you have come home and starting eating something out of the fridge the same way.

My menu today:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover cowboy spaghetti (400 calories), 2 tagalongs (140 calories)
Snack:  one dirty apple (60 calories)
Dinner:  Shrimp pasta - this stuff is great.  Garlic and sundried tomato pesto mixed with shrimp and penne (Smart Taste!) with some feta sprinkled in (400 calories). 
Dessert: ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1290 - and I worked out, too!

Sweet Tooth

I have a confession to make:  I have a sweet tooth.  I love sweets..candy, doughnuts, ice cream, etc. So, knowing this, I would like to announce my small victory today:  I passed up cake!  We had a cake at work this morning (from Costco, who makes surprisingly good cake), and I passed it up.  I've never been a big cake eater, but I honestly would have eaten a piece if I wasn't counting calories.  Then, the cake was still around at lunch time, and during my after school meeting, and I never did eat any. Good thing too, because I ended up dangerously close to being above my target of 1500 again.

Tonight I made Cowboy spaghetti for dinner.  Cowboy spaghetti  is pasta (Smart Taste!) and the sauce has 1/2 lb of lean ground beef, grated onion, garlic, hot sauce, tomato sauce, and bacon.  I top it with a little grated cheese and scallions.  It's delicious!

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  chicken noodle soup (220 calories), salad (50 calories), apple (60 calorie), 2 tagalongs (140 calories)
Snack:  a couple of handfuls of popcorn and a small brownie (150 calories)
Dinner:  Cowboy spaghetti (400 calories)
Dessert:  the final piece of pie...it comes with two slices in a box...300 calories

Total for the day: 1480 calories

I didn't go to the gym today because I had a meeting after school, followed by allergy shots.  I'll go tomorrow and Thursday, though.

Happy Pi Day!

It was pointed out to me that today is "Pi Day"...cause it's March 14 (3/14, 3.14).  I had a Homer Simpson moment when I heard this because I thought, "pie...mmmm..."  Chocolate pie, cherry pie, apple pie, key lime pie, lemon pie.  I started craving pie, which was fortuitous because when I later sent Glen to Publix to pick up something, he came home with pie.  And I didn't even tell him about my Homer Simpson episode.

Caleb has started eating, or being served rather, the same meals that Glen and I are eating most of the time.  It isn't going too well...Caleb wants chicken nuggets.  Tonight I'm making chicken cutlets using Shake N Bake, (buffalo for us, original for Caleb), so I'm hoping once I cut it up he'll think it's chicken nuggets.  We're also having risotto (Caleb has eaten risotto in the past...but we'll see if he likes it).  He has to learn "this is what's for dinner", but that's harder at home because he knows what is really in the pantry.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover lasagna (450 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  chicken cutlets (250 calories, risotto (350 calories), asparagus
Dessert:  PIE!  300 calories

Total for the day: 1610...a little high...but I did go work out today!

Spring Forward!

Isn't it amazing how much of a difference an hour makes?  I'm sure whoever came up with springing forward thought, "oh, it'll be great! We'll just take away an hour in the middle of the night and no one will notice!"  Well, Caleb noticed.

I went running today in the beautiful weather. It's the perfect temperature for running, even a little on the warmer side.  I always feel so good about myself when I finish running. Tonight for dinner I'm having Lazy lasagna...broken up noodles mixed with sauce, cottage cheese (fat free), and mozzarella (part skim).  SO excited!

My menu:
Breakfast:  honey nut cheerios - 150 calories
Lunch:  two hot dogs with chili (430 calories...I only used two spoonfuls of chili per hot dog, and it was left over from my homemade chili the other night)
Dinner:  lazy lasagna - 475 calories
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1180 calories

Mmmm...Fini's

I weighed myself this morning, and I lost another pound.  I'm trending 1-2 pounds per week, as long as I continue going in the right direction, I'm happy. Tonight we are going to Fini's, which is an incredible Italian restaurant with some friends.  Well, actually Fini's will probably come to us.  It's easier that way with little ones...

My menu:
Breakfast:  Honey nut cheerios - 150 calories
Lunch: 2 hot dogs (190 calories apiece, so 380 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  I'm going to order cheese ravioli, a salad, and eat one roll.
Dessert:  ??  probably ice cream - 130 calories

Total:  Don't know...but figure it will easily be below 2000.

I heart Chick-fil-a

So last night, I stopped by Chick-fil-a to get Caleb a kid's meal for dinner, and I decided to get myself a sandwich for lunch today because I knew we didn't have anything. So I did my research and found out that a regular sandwich with no butter is 380 calories. Not bad! A grilled sandwich is 300...definitely better, but I didn't know how good the grilled sandwich would be cold. Plus, I wanted the regular one. So, I ordered the food and came home.  Once I got home, I realized that I forgot to say "no butter". No!  That was going to save me 50 calories!  I was very sad.

Then, today when I opened my sandwich at lunch, I realized...they gave me a no butter sandwich!  How did they know? Yay!  I was so happy...although some poor person must have ended up with my butter sandwich. I also realized this morning when I got to school that I forgot my workout clothes at home. I ended up asking Glen to pick up Caleb and just came home and went running right after school, so I still got my workout in today. 5 days this week!

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  chick-fil-a sandwich (380 calories), salad (50 calories, 1/2 apple (30 calories), 100 calorie cake
Snack:  a can of coca-cola (I had a headache...140 calories)
Dinner:  Fajitas (400 calories..for three...)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total:  1390 calories

Side note:  I haven't actually eaten dessert the past two nights, so my calorie counts the past two days can be deducted by 130.

I have no willpower...

I think that my profession helps me to control my snacking.  Because eating during the day (except at lunch) isn't really feasible, I rarely snack between meals.  This definitely allows me to eat more during meals because I don't have to count my snacking calories. Many people say to lose weight you have to eat 4-5 small meals through the day.  Not entirely true.  To lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume.  I know there is probably a science to metabolism and the whole 4-5 meal thing.  I'm sure it works...but I still think it works because you are controlling your total number of calories.  Anyway, I don't have time for 5 meals. I barely have time for 3....the first one takes place in the car!  But, I digress. Today I had a half day meeting with various food in front of me to snack on.  There were doughnut holes, wheat thins, pretzels, and pita chips.  Since I rarely snack because I'm teaching, I don't usually have to worry about allowing for those calories.  But, I have little to no willpower when you put it in front of me.  Hmmm...doughnut holes.  But, I ate wheat thins. 

I don't think I could work at a job where I sit at a desk all day because I would eat.  All day.  I worked at the DHR in college, and the highlight of my day was lunch and snack time. So...my hat is off to all of you who work at those jobs and don't consume an extra 1000 calories.  I totally would.

I did go to the gym (fourth time this week! yay!).  Tonight Glen and I are actually BOTH going to be home tonight, so I'm going to cook and we're going to catch up on television we have on the DVR.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Snack:  wheat thins - 140 calories
Lunch:  leftover chili - 300 calories, 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  buffalo chicken cutlets (250 calories), risotto (350 calories), balsamic marinated asparagus
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day: 1430....stupid unplanned wheat thins...It's funny, I get upset about that...but stay tuned for my lunch fiasco tomorrow! 

Hot dogs?

So because Glen is at church on Wednesdays, I'm always on my own for dinner. Frequently, though, Glen is hungry when he gets home (depending on what they have for dinner), so I try to make something with leftovers.  Tonight, I was debating between shrimp pasta (shrimp, rotini, tomato-basil pesto, low-fat feta cheese), which I never make because Glen is allergic to shellfish, and hot dogs with homemade chili. For some crazy reason, I was craving hot dogs, which is really funny because I NEVER crave hot dogs.

Anyway, once I realized the chili would generate leftovers for Glen tonight AND for my lunch tomorrow, I went with the hot dog/chili.  I found light beef hot dogs (90 calories each!) and light whitewheat buns (also 90 calories each). 190 calories for a hot dog seemed really good. I would have bought turkey hot dogs (which only have 40 calories), but I knew we would probably eat them again for lunch over the weekend and Glen won't eat anything turkey - no turkey hot dogs, no turkey bacon, etc. So I made chili and put it in the crock pot and tried to feed Caleb a hot dog (cut up appropriately, don't worry).  Caleb rejected the hot dog. I can't get that kid to eat anything.  He'll eat everything they serve at daycare, but nothing for me. 

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about my dinner...hot dog with a little chili from my bowl, onion, and a side of chili.  Such a random dinner.  Oh, and I entered the chili on my recipe calculator, and however I did it last time must have been wrong, because it came out to like 298 calories per serving.  We'll just say 300.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  chicken noodle soup (220 calories), salad (50 calories), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  hot dog (190 calories), bowl of chili (300 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total: 1150 (or 1340 if I end up with a second hot dog). Either way...not bad.  Ooh, plus I worked out today!

Happy Mardi Gras!

I promise...good blogs will be coming.  But not today. 

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover ziti (500 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  Chipotle - chicken burrito bowl (630 calories), chips (200 calories)
Dessert:  Starbucks nonfat hot chocolate with no whipped cream (190 calories)

Total: 1780 calories

A Case of the Mondays

I don't really have anything entertaining or insightful to say today.  It's Monday...so I'll blame it on that. I did go to the gym, so that's twice in two days. Go me! 

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover poppyseed chicken (400 calories), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  ziti with tomato-basil marinara and asiago cheese sauce (500 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1350 calories

Weekend update

So despite the fact I only made it to the gym twice last week, I did lose 2.5 lbs this week.  Success, I say!  It's so strange to me that the weeks where I am less diligent I experience the best results.  Anyway, I'll take it.

Caleb has been sick this weekend (well, he's been sick all week) so I didn't go to the gym yesterday.  I am going today, though.  Last night I had Genghis Grill for dinner,and though it was yummy, someone has seriously got to redesign that restaurant.  You stand in line to put together your stir-fry bowl, but the line is very long and slow and you're literally standing in front of people who are trying to eat their meal.  The good news is that the nutritional information is on one of my restaurant apps, and my bowl was only 400 calories!  yay!

Anyway, here's yesterday's menu:
Breakfast: none
Lunch:  quesadilla (300 calories) with chips(150 calories)
Movie snack:  Reese's pieces (190 calories)
Dinner:  Genghis grill (400 calories)
Dessert:  Ice cream - 270 calories - it uh, wasn't low fat....
Total:  1310 calories

The calorie count is fine, but a lot of calories came from sweets, you can tell I had a bit of a sweet tooth yesterday...

Today's menu:
Breakfast:  cereal - 150 calories
Lunch:  Subway sandwich (320 calories) with chips (140 calories), chocolate chip cookie (210 calories)
Dinner: poppyseed chicken with veggies (400 calories)
Dessert:  Ice cream - 130 calories
Total:  1250 calories

Too many sick people

I have a sick toddler and a sick husband.  Calories don't count tonight.  (Yes, I do realize I am sabotaging all the great progress I've made this week. No, I don't care). I'll be good tomorrow....or better...

Breakfast: cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  Chargrilled chicken sandwich (290 calories), soup (190 calories)
Dinner:  Chili's boneless buffalo chicken salad with lowfat ranch (ummm...1100 calories).
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories
Total: 1870 calories

Didn't go to the gym.  Too many sick people in my house.

More weight loss! Yay!

So I cheated today and got on the scale.  Sometimes I do that in the middle of the week to see how it's going.  I know people say don't weigh yourself daily, and I don't, but I've never been very good at being patient.  Plus, if I weigh myself on a Thursday and don't like it, it doesn't have to count. Obviously, that didn't happen today or you wouldn't be reading about it.

So, I've been pretty good this week, save one night where we had Chipotle.  I haven't been to the gym as much (although I'm still hoping for four times by Saturday), but I haven't eaten as much.  Anyway...I lost two pounds!  yay!  I guess the real test will be to weigh myself this weekend and see if I've still lost two pounds.  My weight tends to fluctuate up to five pounds within a day...at least on this particular scale. 

I'm super excited about dinner tonight. We're having buffalo chicken cutlets and risotto, which is yummy in itself, but I'm making a side of marinated asparagus. It's a recipe I got from a friend at work, and the asparagus marinates in a mixture of balsamic vinegar and spices.  I love balsamic vinegar and it smells so good.  I rarely (read: never) get excited about vegetables, so you know this has to be good stuff. 

Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  spaghetti - I didn't eat much because my tummy was bothering me...(300 calories), tagalongs (140 calories)
Dinner:  Chicken cutlets (250 calories), risotto (350 calories), marinated asparagus
Dessert:  pie (300 calories) - Glen bought me an individual piece of pie because of my rough week.  :-)  There are two pieces in the box, so the second will be making an appearance this weekend.

Total calories:  1500

The logic in my head...

It's so funny how all reason goes out the window when I get hungry enough.  My day was really busy, and resulted in nothing to eat between 11:30 and 8:00 tonight. By the time I was ready to eat dinner, I was so hungry I would have eaten anything put in front of me.  Luckily, I really didn't want to have to get Caleb out and in the car again so I came home and made the spaghetti I was planning on eating from the beginning. The good news?  I didn't blow on my calories on a pepperoni and feta cheese calzone (oh, if you only knew how close I came).

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch: 200 calorie Digiorno pizza, salad (50 calories), 2 tagalongs (140 calories)
Dinner:  Spaghetti - with Smart Taste spaghetti - a regular portion is probably about 400 calories, but I ate a little extra (remember...8 1/2 hours since my last meal), so I'm going to estimate 600 calories for dinner.
Dessert:  Ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1280 calories

No gym today...but I've been up since 3am (Caleb's asthma has been acting up) and on my feet most of that time, so it has to count for something, right?

Crash and Burn

Terrible day.  See below.

Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  This is a bit confusing...I started off with leftover chicken parm, but I threw it away after a little of it (200 calories..ish) and got some asian chicken bites (going to guess 300 calories), 100 calorie cake
Snack:  Popcorn and trail mix - 150 calories
Dinner:  Chipotle - 630 calories for the burrito bowl, 200 calories for chips
Dessert:  Ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1870.  Good news is that it's still probably less than I used to eat in a regular day.

Girl Scout Cookies

I don't know what it is about Girl Scout cookies that make them so delicious. Perhaps that you can only get them them at a certain time of year?  Perhaps the delicious combination of cookie, chocolate, and peanut butter of the Tagalong?  Or maybe the coconut, caramel, and chocolate of the Samoa?  Regardless, I suddenly lose any amount of self-restraint when the box has been opened.  I've had 3 boxes of Tagalongs and 1 box of Samoas in my cabinet for weeks (along with Thin Mints and Shortbread cookies...but I don't like those as well), and haven't touched them.  Then, yesterday, I opened the Tagalongs.   I ate one (I ended up counting it as part of dessert last night if you're wondering why you didn't see it on my menu).  Today, I ate one again. The can feel "the precious" calling to me from the kitchen. Maybe I should go ahead and eat all three boxes and then I can move on with life. Good idea, yes?

I went to the gym this afternoon, but I had to leave after I finished the elliptical because of the weather.  I came home and did some of my own free weights for awhile to make up for it.

So my menu today:
Breakfast:  cereal bar (160 calories)
Lunch:  salad (50 calories), 200 Digiorno pizza, apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Snack:  Tagalong - 1 (70 calories)
Dinner:  Chicken parm - I sautee the cutlets in a pan with just salt and pepper, then cover in my yummy tomato-basil sauce with some mozzarella and broil it in the oven.  I serve it over spaghetti (Smart Taste!) 450 calories
Dessert:  Ice cream - 130 calories

Total for the day:  1220 calories

Two days in one!

I didn't blog yesterday because it was so busy. I planned in the morning, went running (yay me!), and then went over to hang out with my dad and brother (and his family) last night.  Unfortunately, it was not the healthiest day for me, and I have absolutely no idea how many calories I consumed last night.

Bottom line, after 5 weeks of doing this, I'm down about ten pounds. That's two pounds a week, which isn't terrible.  This week I lost about 1.5 lbs.  I suppose if I keep going at this pace I'll be finished in fifteen more weeks. I'm not losing weight terribly fast, and this week was especially frustrating because I was pretty good all week and ended up working out 6 times!  But, I have to remember that I'm not on the Biggest Loser working out 6 hours a day. I'm trying to do this realistically, in a way that I'll be able to maintain after I reach my goal.

Yesterday's menu:
Breakfast:  McDonald's sausage mcmuffin (370 calories....we planned at mcdonald's yesterday morning)
Lunch  leftover pasta (smaller portion - 400 calories)
 Dinner:  Williamson Brothers BBQ sandwich, a little brunswick stew, and mac/cheese
Dessert:  slice of lemon meringue pie (let's guess 300 calories).
Total:  ???

So, today is Sunday, and even though it's early, my menu is already planned.
Sunday: 
Breakfast:  Cheerios with half a banana (200 calories)
Lunch:  Fajitas (300 calories), chips (150 calories)
Dinner: Chili at church...I only know how many calories the chili I made has, which is about 400 including the crackers and cheese.
Dessert:  I bet there will be something sweet involved....let's guess 250 calories

Total for Sunday:  1300 calories

Grumpy...

This has been a really long, hard week for me.  I think it's a combination of the busy-ness that has ensued our lives in the last couple of weeks and just a hard week at work.  At any rate, today I'm exhausted and feel like I may burst into tears if anyone looks at me wrong.  Just a warning.  :-)

At the doctor yesterday, I was weighed, so I'm not looking forward to my weigh-in this weekend. I mean, I know it was late in the day and fully clothed, but it was still frustrating, because I've been REALLY good this week, and I've worked out 5 times!  I am encouraged by how my clothes are fitting, though.  I know the old adage "muscle weighs more than fat", but I kind of think that's what we tell ourselves to feel better.  At least it's what I tell myself to feel better.  Maybe I'll be surprised. 

So this weekend I plan to relax.  Tomorrow I'm planning with my teammates for the 4th nine weeks in the morning, and then just hanging out in the afternoon. My house needs to be cleaned...maybe someone will want to show it this weekend...that always motivates us to clean.  Saturdays are definitely my favorite day of the week.

Anyway - my menu today:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  Lean cuisine pizza (350 calories), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  ziti with tomato-basil sauce and an asiago cheese topping. (500 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 130 calories

Total:  1300 calories

Soup Diet

Apparently, I've embarked on a soup diet, where I only eat chicken noodle soup.  I had some for lunch today (Campbell's), and then ended up having more with my dinner tonight (Chick-fil-a). The good news is that it's low calorie and fairly filling...the bad news is that I'm soon going to be sick of eating chicken soup.  Tomorrow night I'm making my yummy ziti with tomato-basil marinara and asiago cheese sauce.  I'm excited already. :-)

I had a busy afternoon, first a meeting, then a doctor's appointment with my asthma/allergy doctor.  Apparently, I'm still not breathing clearly, so I'm on more medication for a few more days. At least I'm on the road to recovery, right?  Then, I went to ladies' workout at my church...so I feel good.

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  soup (220 calories), apple (60 calories), fat-free pringles (70 calories), 100 calorie cake
Snack: popcorn (100 calories)
Dinner:  Chick-fil-a grilled chicken sandwich (300 calories) and soup (220 calories)
Dessert:  Ice cream - 120 calories

Total for the day: 1330 - check my math...because it's late and my brain hurts.

The secret to looking skinny is...

So today I discovered how to make people think you are losing weight...are you ready?  It's brilliant!  You wear clothes that are slightly too big for you!  I wore a pair of pants today that I bought right before I got pregnant that are wide-leg, and that I bought in a size larger than I frequently wear because they were so cheap.  Anyway, they were a little baggy, and I got no less than five compliments on how skinny I was getting! So, there you go...just wear clothes one size too big, and you're golden. 

Today was a fairly uneventful day.  I'm on my own for dinner tonight, so I treated myself to Chipotle.  I did go to the gym today (I worked out FOUR days in a row!  Go me!!), so that helps make me feel better about it.  Don't you love how I can logic my way into eating yummy food?

My menu:
Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover poppyseed chicken (400 calories), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Dinner:  Chipotle - burrito bowl with rice, chicken, corn salsa, cheese, and tomatillo salsa (630 calories), chips (200 calories)
Dessert:  ice cream - 110 calories

Total for the day: 1660 calories - a little above my target of 1500, but I burned way more than 160 calories working out today!

Fried foods...

Some people stop eating unhealthy food and don't miss it. They learn about all the preservatives and fat and unhealthy stuff that is in the food and that it does to the body.  They no longer crave those foods they had eaten for so long.  This isn't me. I know fully well why fried foods are bad for you and the negative effects they have on the body, but I still miss them. Mmm...french fries...mozzarella sticks...spicy chicken sandwiches...

I have many of the Hungry Girl cookbooks, and for the most part, I love them.  They have awesome recipes and are especially good at making desserts low calorie.  But, I must admit, their fried foods alternative is less than desirable. They suggest using Fiber One cereal as a coating for various foods, and to bake it off in the oven.  I don't mind the oven part, but have you ever actually eaten Fiber One?  Yeck!  I mean, I know they suggest adding some spices for flavor, but there aren't enough spices in the world to get rid of the tree branch flavor that's in the cereal.

Anyway, I'm not eating any fried foods today, but I'm thinking about them...and therefore blogging about them.  At any rate...here's my menu:

Breakfast:  cereal bar - 160 calories
Lunch:  leftover fiesta pasta (350 calories), apple (60 calories), 100 calorie cake
Misc calories:  100 - a little snacking while waiting on Glen to get home for dinner (a couple goldfish, small piece dark chocolate, a ritz cracker)
Dinner: poppyseed chicken (400 calories) with veggies - squash and zucchini...
Dessert:  ice cream -120 calories

Total for the day: 1300 calories - and yes, I went to the gym!