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 

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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!