Small victories

Breakfast was a chocolatey pretzel Special K bar and a cup of milk. 5 points

I missed lunch, but had a banana as an afternoon snack.

I had a headache this afternoon and ALMOST called Charles to have him bring home KFC, but I took some meds and decided to proceed with my plan for dinner. I'm proud of myself. :)

I've realized that my desire to have a 'pretty' picture of my dinner on my blog has made me not only choose to prepare more than 1 vegetable, but also to choose more colorful vegetables at dinnertime. Writing here has more than one healthy side effect (keeping track of what I eat, being accountable for what I eat, AND now eating healthier for presentation purposes. LOL) For dinner tonight I had 3 oz of boneless, skinless chicken breast cooked in chicken broth seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, & Greek seasoning (3 points), 1/2 cup instant butter & herb mashed potatoes (3 points), peas (I thought peas were free, but apparently they're not. 1 point for the peas), 1/3 cup of corn, which would have been 2 points (butter was added), but I only ate a couple of bites, so I'm counting 1 point, and 2 slices of french bread with ICBINB (3 points). 11 points for dinner.


For dessert I had an Edy's individual size ice cream cup, Peanut Butter Cup flavor. It was small so I bought it thinking it would be 4 or 5 points, but it turns out to be 7. I have it available, so I'm going to get it out of my freezer tonight and only buy Weight Watchers or Skinny Cow ice cream cups from now on. It was worth every one of those 7 points though! LOL 7 points

Sunday Dinner

I had oatmeal for breakfast this morning. 4 points

For lunch I had some leftover Chicken & broccoli fettucini. 7 points

For dinner we had pot roast. Yum! The only complaint I got from the family was that there wasn't enough of it. That's an unusual complaint. Usually they're so picky that they don't like anything I cook. I had 3 oz of roast (6 points), 1/2 cup mashed potatoes (3 points), green beans, carrots, and 1 roll with ICBINB (3 points). 12 points for a fabulous dinner!


For dessert I had some Ritz crackers spread with cream cheese and strawberry preserves. SO good! 5 points

Weigh In Week 8

I lost 3 pounds this week!!!! That's amazing since I ate 'worse' this week than ever. That puts me at 16.8 pounds total lost! This week I had 224 out of my allowed 203 points (that doesn't include the 49 extra points per week), which was 110%. Each week I've gone over I've lost more than when I haven't.

I had an early lunch instead of breakfast and lunch. I had a Lean Cuisine lasagne. Man, those things are good! 8 points

I had some of Charles' sweet tea this afternoon, so I'll count it. 2 points

For an afternoon snack I had a Weight Watchers coffee cake and 1/2 cup of milk. 5 points

For dinner I made Chicken Broccoli Fettucini from emealz. It was 7 points. I also had a piece of french bread with ICBINB (2 points) and a 2 point salad. 11 points. For dessert I had 1/2 Breyer's Smooth & Dreamy Coffee Fudge Brownie light ice cream. 4 points

New mindset = new me

Special K raspberry cheesecake cereal bar this morning. Very good! 2 points

For lunch I had the other half of my Logan's Mesquite Grilled chicken from the other day. I put it on a Logan's yeast roll with some sauteed mushrooms. 7 points

For a snack this afternoon I had 9 mini Oreos. 4 points

For dinner tonight I had a 4 oz pork chop with Chop House marinade (4 points), 1/2 cup chicken flavored rice (4 points), sauteed mushrooms, steamed carrots, and 2 slices of french bread with ICBINB (3 points). 11 points for dinner and it was yummy! I love cooking dinner these days and that is so WEIRD because it is SO not me. I like having control over what I'm eating and knowing I'm staying within my points, not to mention saving money. What a difference a new mindset makes. It's amazing really.


For dessert I had 1 square of Godiva dark chocolate. 2 points

Back to routine

I had a Special K bar for breakfast. 2 points

Today was my first opportunity to have a nap in over a week, so I took advantage of it. No lunch today.

I have SO enjoyed having company the last week. It is also nice to get back to cooking healthier meals though. Tonight I had Garlic Greek chicken breasts (4 points), green beans (free), Chicken & Broccoli flavored rice 4 points for 1/2 cup), and 2 thin slices french bread with ICBINB (3 points). 11 points for dinner.



I had a dessert from Logan's tonight, the Nutter Butter Fudgeslide, which is 5 points. Then, while watching Survivor from last night, I had a cup of India Spice Chai tea with French Vanilla creamer and a Tablespoon of sugar. 2 points

Trying to do better

I had brunch at Tudor's biscuit world today with my parents. I haven't eaten there since I started my program. I had a biscuit with gravy and sweet tea. I'm counting the food at 12 points and 2 for the tea because I don't think I had more than 8 ounces and 8 oz is 2 points. So 14 points for breakfast/lunch.

I had a snack of 4 melba toasts (1 point) and 1 wedge of The Laughing Cow cheese (1 point). 2 points.

For dinner we went to Logan's with my parents. I refrained from having a roll. It was tough. I had half of my Mesquite Grill Chicken and, going from the nutrition information online, the whole thing was 4 points. So the half I ate was 2 points. I also had broccoli (free) and a house salad with no dressing (2 points). 4 points for dinner. That may or may not be accurate, but I'm going with it since I only have the nutrition information to go from. That left me with 9 points left for today, so I'm going to leave it at that.

Too. Many. Points!!

I had Oatmeal for breakfast. 4 points

For lunch I ate at Tamarack with my mom. I had some pork bbq (7 points), green beans with mushrooms (free), and roasted potatoes (5 points). 12 points for lunch

I had a piece of dark chocolate Godiva this afternoon. 2 points
We had our Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet tonight. I was going to have a Lean Cuisine meal for dinner before I went, but then I was a afraid there would be "good" food there and I'd eat anyway and then will have eaten double for dinner. So...I just ate at the banquet. I had a spoonful of mac n cheese (counting 5 points), some hot potato salad (4 points), 2 meatballs (7 points), 1 chicken nugget (2 points), and here's the kicker...a cupcake (5 points) and a piece of cake (9 points). Yikes!! So, let's see...32 points for dinner. OUCH!!

I guess I won't be having a late night snack tonight. :(

Ryan's

I had a Special K vanilla crisp cereal bar for breakfast this morning. 2 points

For lunch I had a Smart Ones cheese ravioli meal. 7 points

The kids got haircuts at the mall today and they both wanted a slice of Cookie cake with icing. I HAD to taste it. I had 2 bites (1 from each kid) and counted it as 2 points.

I had a Special K raspberry cheesecake cereal bar for a snack around 4:30. 2 points. My parents are coming into town and we're supposed to eat at Ryan's tonight. They won't be here until late, so I needed a snack. I hope I'm able to eat reasonably at the buffet though.

I wasn't too bad at dinner. I had some pulled pork (5 points), bourbon chicken (3 points), white rice (4 points), a salad (2 points), green beans (free) and 1/2 of a roll (5 points). 19 points for dinner.

Steak again

Cereal bar for breakfast. 2 points

We had Subway for lunch and I had a 6" Subway Club. 8 points

For dinner I went to Texas Steakhouse. I had a 6 oz ribeye (12 points), green beans (1 point), part of the red bliss potatos (4 points), 1 roll with butter (4 points), and then half of the half portion of onion petals (5 points). I also had sweet tea with my dinner tonight, but it wasn't very sweet, so I'm going to count it at 4 points. Grand total: 30 points. Ouchy! lol

Weigh In Week 7

I lost .8 of a pound this week. That's better than nothing I guess, especially since I have eaten out several times this week. That's a total of 13.8 pounds!

I had a Special K cereal bar for breakfast. 2 points
Chicken Poblano Lean Cuisine for lunch. 7 points
For dinner we grilled BBQ chicken thighs. I had 2 thighs (6 points), potato salad (7 points), 1 mini corn on the cob (1 point), 1 dinner roll with ICBINB (3 points), and I counted 1 extra point for the extra BBQ sauce. 18 points for dinner.

After dinner I had a Skinny Cow Chocolate fudge brownie ice cream cup. 4 points


Then I ended up having some buttered popcorn later. I'm counting 6 points, but I'm not sure how many points' worth I ate. That put me over 8 points for the day, but I do have 49 extra weekly points that I can use.

Busy busy day

Today was a busy day. Charles was home from work and we spent the day out and about and then home cleaning, preparing for weekend guests.

I had a Special K cereal bar for breakfast. 2 points

Remember, Charles was home, so we had lunch out. We went to Texas Steakhouse and I got the exact thing I had on Sunday (6 oz ribeye, red bliss potatoes, green beans, and part of the onion petal appetizer). 20 points

That left me 7 points for dinner. I had 1.5 pieces of tilapia (4 points) and some steamed green beans (free). 4 points for dinner.

I had a square of Godiva chocolate for dessert. 2 points
And then I had 16 pretzel sticks while watching TV. 1 point

Ice cream. Yum!

Red delicious apple for breakfast. It wasn't as good as my Ambrosia apples.

For lunch I had a Lean Cuisine Chicken with Penne Pasta. 8 points
We went to Chick Fil A for dinner and I had the Southwestern Grilled Chicken salad with FF Honey Mustard dressing. 9 points

When I got home from dinner and shopping I had a snack of 2 pieces of french bread with ICBINB. 3 points Then I had a Weight Watchers ice cream for dessert, chocolate fudge brownie. 4 points and my new favorite dessert. It was very good and a lot of ice cream for only 4 points.

Dinner Success

Special K cereal bar for breakfast. Surprise, surprise. 2 points

I had a Smart Ones for lunch, chicken fajita pizza. It was good, but 10 points. That's more than I was expecting.


Dinner was very good tonight and miracle of miracles, the WHOLE family liked it. I had a 4 oz pork chop with garlic powder & Greek seasoning (4 points), Knorr Chicken and Broccoli flavored rice (4 points), Lima beans (points), & 1 slice of french bread with ICBINB (2 points). 12 points

Tuesday

I had a banana for breakfast this morning because I was in a hurry.

For lunch I had an apple and 1/4 cup of almonds. 5 points

I had 1 square of Godiva dark chocolate this afternoon. 2 points

For dinner I had a Lean Cuisine lasagne (8 points), 2 thin slices of french bread with ICBINB (3 points), and a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and bacon bits with raspberry dressing(2 points). 13 points for dinner.

For dessert I had a SmartOnes Fudge Brownie a La Mode. 5 points

Just Go With It

Cereal bar for breakfast. 2 points

I had my hair cut and colored today and the only appointment available was at noon. I meant to eat lunch before heading out, but I got busy going through pictures, so no lunch for me.

At the last minute this afternoon I decided the hubby and I would go to dinner and a movie for Valentine's Day. We only had an hour before the movie started by the time he got home from work, so we went to KFC for dinner. Since I missed lunch I had exactly enough points available. I had 2 original recipe thighs (with the skin) (14 points), 2 biscuits (10 points) and a small mashed potatoes with gravy (3 points). 27 points for dinner. The movie we went to see was Just Go With It with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston. It was VERY funny. I reccommend it.

A day of eating out

I had a Special K cereal bar for breakfast this morning. 2 points
For lunch we went to Texas Steakhouse and I used 20 points. 10 for the 6 oz Ribeye, 1 for the green beans, 3 for the half portion of red bliss potatoes, and I counted 6 for the part of the onion petal appetizer that I ate.

Then for dinner we had Subway. 8 points for a 6 inch Subway Club.

So, I was 1 point over, which isn't too bad for having eaten out 2 meals.

Weigh In Week 6

I was down 1.2 pounds today, for a total of 13 pounds since I started. Woo hoo!!

I had a Special K cereal bar for breakfast. 2 points

I had a banana for a mid-morning snack.

We went to Charleston today, so I had Fazoli's for lunch. I had a mushroom chicken alfredo mini bake with broccoli added (10 points) and 1 garlic breadstick (4 points). 14 points for lunch at Fazoli's isn't bad, but I certainly could have eaten a bigger portion.

For dinner I made a Cheeseburger Pie from emealz. I thought it was good and give it 3.5 stars, but everyone else in my family hated it. 10 points for that and 2 for the salad = 12 points for dinner.

Happy Meatloaf Day!

I had a Special K cereal bar for breakfast. 2 points

For lunch I had a SmartOnes lasagne, in order to compare it against the Lean Cuisine lasagne. While both are good, I like the Lean Cuisine lasagne better. 7 points

I had an ambrosia apple while waiting on my oil change this afternoon. That is the best tasting apple I think I've ever had.

For dinner I made a meatloaf recipe from emealz. It was very easy and I liked it a lot. The only problem is that I bought Italian ground turkey by mistake, so it was a little spicy. The kids hated it, but Charles liked it, but would have liked it better without the kick. 5 points per serving. I also had 1/2 cup loaded mashed potatoes(3 points),green beans and 1 dinner roll with ICBINB (3 points). 11 points for dinner and I am stuffed.

Chicken...take two!

Oatmeal for breakfast on this cold, snowy morning. 5 points (I added brown sugar and a dash of milk. Otherwise it would have been 4 points.)

For lunch I had my last Lean Cuisine Chicken Poblano meal. I hope I can find some more. It took us a while to find this batch. 7 points

For dinner I had chicken tossed in olive oil and Greek seasoning (4 points), 1/2 cup white rice (3 points) and 1 dinner roll with ICBINB ( 3 points). 10 Points for dinner tonight which leaves me some points for dessert. I bought some single serving ice creams at Kroger tonight. They ended up being more points than I expected (5 or 6), but that's okay on nights when I have it available I guess. The Skinny Cow ones I got are only 4 points, so I guess I'll stick to those next time.

I had the Edy's brand Mocha Almond Fudge individual serving. It was 6 points and very good.

Dinner was not appreciated

Breakfast this morning was a Special K cereal bar and 1/2 cup of milk. 4 points

For lunch I had 5 Ritz crackers with cream cheese and strawberry preserves. I had this written down as 5 points from the Super Bowl, but I think I used fat free cream cheese that day. This was regular cream cheese. I'm going with 6 points.

I made a Rachel Ray recipe for dinner tonight. It's called Garlic Roast chicken with Rosemary and Lemon. I thought it was just okay, but everybody else hated it. I kind of felt like I was eating a Christmas tree. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. The chicken I counted as 4 points (2 for the chicken and 2 more for the olive oil and chicken broth), roasted garlic & parmesan mashed potatoes for 3 points, canned green beans for FREE, and 2 slices of thin french bread with 1 T Country Crock margarine for 4 points. I'm out of ICBINB, which is too bad because teh ICBINB is much better than the Country Crock and half the points. 11 points for dinner.


For a snack tonight I attempted to have pretzel sticks with Hershey's syrup. It tasted better in my head. I gave up on it after 9 sticks. 32 sticks would have been 2 points. I'll count 1 point and move on. I had a fun size Snickers with almonds instead. 3 points

Applebee's

I had a Special K Honey Nut cereal bar for breakfast this morning. 2 points

For lunch I went with the Lean Cuisine spaghetti and I didn't really like it. The noodles were too spongy. It was 7 points, but I also had 2 pieces of French bread with ICBINB for 3 points. Buttered bread makes everything better! And no, I CAN'T believe it's not butter! 10 points for lunch.

It was Scout night and I didn't want to eat dinner at 5:00 PM, so we decided to eat out after Scouts. We went to Applebee's. I was thinking I hadn't done well, but once I got home and figured the points according to the nutritional guidelines, it seems I didn't do too bad after all. I had a 7 oz sirloin (6 points), 1 cheese stick (2 points), 1/2 of my portion of garlic mashed potatoes (4 points) and the seasonal vegetables (1 point). 13 points If I had known the cheese stick was only 2 points I would have had another one. LOL It was so good!

Chocolate got me through the day...and night

I was in horrible pain with my back last night so I didn't sleep a wink. After Charles rubbed me down with Ben-Gay at 5 AM I was able to sleep. You know what that means...no breakfast. LOL

For lunch I had 2 cucumber sandwiches and 8 pieces of bruschetta. 6 points total.

Since I didn't have a brownie yesterday I decided to have one this afternoon. 5 points I also had 1/2 cup of milk. 2 points

For dinner I had salmon (7 points), 1/2 cup brown rice (2 points), 2 thin slices of french bread (1 point each) with 1 T ICBINB split between them (1 point), and a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, bacon bits, and 1T raspberry dressing (2 points). 14 points for dinner.



I was a little disappointed after putting my points from dinner into my calculator and seeing that I only had 2 points left for the day. Having a brownie with milk in the middle of the day will do that to you though. :) In order to not feel deprived, I had 1 square of my dark chocolate Hershey bar (1 point). Now I've had my chocolate and I feel fine.

Super Bowl Spread

I slept in this morning, so I had oatmeal for brunch. That's okay though because I'm sure I'm going to get in PLENTY of points with my Super Bowl food this afternoon and evening. :)

My Super Bowl spread:


So here is the rundown of what I ate this afternoon and evening. I had predetermined that I was going to make appetizers for today and that I was going to count the points, but eat what I wanted. And that I did.

6 cucumber sandwiches (8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 c mayo, dry italian seasoning, dill sprinkled on top) = 9 points
5 ritz with cream cheese and pepper jelly = 5 points
5 ritz with cream cheese and strawberry jam = 5 points (SOOOOO good)
6 sausage balls = 21 points (YIKES!!)
8 melba toasts with bruschetta = 3 points
3 Wavy Lays with French Onion dip = 2 points
2 Chinese chicken wings = 4 points
3 TGI Friday's potato skins with light sour cream = 7 points

Grand total = 56 points
If only I had skipped the sausage balls. They are so good, but MAN are they high in points. If it wasn't for those I'd be okay. Counting these points up really shows me how bad some foods are though. Eating this stuff with no regard for calories, day in and day out, is how I got into the mess I'm in now.

Weigh In Week 5

UGH! I am SO disappointed this week. The scale had stayed pretty steady all week, so I pretty much starved myself the last 2 days hoping to get at least a 2 pound loss. But no such luck. I lost .6 pounds this week. Yes, at least it still went down, but I've been being so diligent! It's frustrating. I ate 78% of my allowed points this week(158/203). I suppose I should go back to eating most, if not all, of my points each day. I may be slowing down my metabolism.

I had a banana for breakfast.

Lean Cuisine lasagne for lunch. Yum! 8 points

I had a cup of India Spice Chai tea with vanilla creamer and sugar this afternoon. 2 points.

Well, I took care of that problem of leaving too many points. LOL We went to Texas Steakhouse and I ended up going over my points. I would have been okay, but the 2-for-1 deal came with an onion blossom appetizer and it was just too good. I had a 6 oz ribeye (I counted it at 10 points), green beans (1 point), red bliss potatoes (5 points), 1 roll with butter (4 points) and several pieces of the onion (I counted 5 points). 25 points for dinner. That put me over by 6 points I think. Tommorrow is going to be even worse, but that's okay because I'll get back on track on Monday.

**I found a web site that had Texas Steakhouse's nutritional information on it and, after putting everything in, I came up with 28 points for dinner. That's okay though. It was GOOD!! :)

Light day

I had a banana for breakfast this morning before going to the Y to workout. I woke up at 6:30 wide awake this morning, which is SO unlike me, so I used it to my advantage.

For lunch I had a Lean Cuisine Chicken Poblano. 7 points

Dinner was 2 pieces of tilapia (5 points) and 1/2 cup of brown rice (2 points). I was going to have a salad, but I was lazy. 7 points for dinner.

At 7 PM I had 2.5 squares of a Hershey Special Dark bar (3 points).

My Moroccan chicken wasn't very rockin'.

Breakfast was an Ambrosia apple this morning.

I didn't have lunch, but I had 6 melba crackers and 1 wedge of The Laughing Cow cheese at 3 PM. 4 points

For dinner I made a recipe from emealz.com called Moroccan chicken. The family protested before it was even finished, but I wanted to give it a chance. I was concerned that it might be TOO spicy, but it ended up being too bland. I give it 2.5stars (I did have seconds though, just out of principle), and I won't make it again. It was 7 points per serving,most of it being due to the pasta. I also had a side salad with dressing and bacon bits - 3 points. 10 points for dinner.

My kids wanted the break and bake cookies this evening, so I made them some. I figured I could have a couple at no great cost. But, much to my dismay, 2 cookies is equal to 5 POINTS! 1 cookie is 2 points. That's a lot! Plus, can I really eat just 2 cookies? And I know I don't want them without a cup of milk, which would add 3 points. That's an 8 point dessert, 10 if I have 3, which is probably the least I could do. Even though I have 15 points left tonight, I don't think I can bring myself to spend that many points at one time on DESSERT. That can't be good. Sigh... They're in the oven right now, so I guess we'll see what happens.

Okay, I held strong. I had a SmartOnes Turtle Sundae instead. 4 points. I did have 1 bite of 1 cookie, but it didn't taste as great as I thought it would, so I decided it wasn't worth the 2 points. I'll count it as 1 point though, since I did have a bite.

Barbecue Chicken

Special K cereal bar for breakfast this morning. 2 points. I SOOO did not want to get up this morning, so I may just go back to bed. It's nice to have that option.

For lunch I finally broke down and had one of the Lean Cuisine Shrimp Scampi meals that has been in my freezer since I started this journey. I bought them when they were on sale and there weren't many meals to choose from, but since then it just hasn't been one that seems appetizing. And, in the end, my instincts were right. It wasn't that good. 6 points

I had a 2 point cup of coffee this afternoon. Raspberry Chocolate Truffle with 2T french vanilla creamer and 1T sugar.

For dinner tonight I made a barbecue chicken dish from emealz.com. My husband and I both gave it 3.5 stars. It was okay, but easy to make, so I may make it again. 5 points for the chicken, according to the web site. I think it's less than that since 4 oz of plain boneless skinless chicken breast is only 2 points, but I'll count the 5. I also had 1/2 cup of white rice (3 points), 1 roll with ICBINB (3 points) and a serving of healthy steamers vegetables. It was a frozen bag of veggies that you steam in the bag in the microwave and this one was in some kind of olive oil sauce that I didn't like. I am sure it was worth points, but since I only had 1 bite I didn't bother to calculate them. 11 points for dinner.


That left me with 8 points for the day, so I had my other Nutter Butter Fudgeslide that I brought home from Logan's the other day for dessert. 5 points

Wendy's for dinner

A nice, crisp, sweet Ambrosia apple for breakfast this morning.

Lunch was a Lean Cuisine Garlic Chicken. 7 points

I had a banana for a snack this afternoon.

We had a Scout meeting tonight, so I used that as an excuse to have Wendy's for dinner. Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, 9 points. Small fries (I ate half), 4 points. Small Chili, 5 points. I still had 4 left for the day. 18 points total for dinner.