Long Weekend Getaway!

Today was filled with busy stuff and just getting myself ready to go to San Diego tomorrow. My baby brother lives there and it has been over a year (far too long) since I've been down to see him. I love the flight there only about an hour and 30 min. Perfect amount of plane time, get on board, drink your drink, have your trash collected, and get ready to land. :) I am packing my camera and plan on taking lots of pictures. I also plan on being as OP as I can be. Even my brother wants to help me stay OP! Even though it's just a long weekend, we will stop at the store when we can to pick up some goodies that will get me though the visit and manage to stay on track.

Lunch was a handful of raw almonds and a yummy green monster smoothie packed with so much spinach I actually counted it as a point! It was very filling and tasty! Dinner was a wrap ( I'm on a roll with these!) and some baked zucchini sticks with ranch dip. YUM!

In this wrap:
1 tablespoon light sour cream w/ ranch dip mix
1 Garden Burger- original
a few leaves of spinach
diced tomato
diced cucumber
shredded raw beets( I wore gloves today!)
shredded carrots

I loved the garden burger in this. I will definitely use this combo again soon. Along with the baked zucchini I used the ranch dip/light sour cream mix.

Ok everyone, don't miss me too much! lol Have a great weekend and I will let you all see how much fun I had when I get back! BYE! :)

awww look how cute we were! :)

Lunch ideas

I tend to do a lot of salads in the summer for lunch due to the heat. I need variety in my life so I switched it up this week with some wraps. The key to a healthy wrap is the wrapper itself. (no not you- the tortilla! hehe ) You can really blow it by choosing a bad tortilla. Ever read the NI on some of those wraps/burritos at the chain places like Chipotle? These are the ones that I like...I prefer the whole grain white version.
The great thing about this idea is that you can add whatever items you want to in these. Make a salad and toss with your favorite dressing, add it to the wrap, fold it up, and eat. Its super easy! Yesterday I looked to see what I could use in mine. I had 2-3 slices of turkey in the fridge left from Panini night. Out came the turkey along with a slice of light swiss cheese. Smeared on 2 tablespoons of hummus, a handful of spinach, tomatoes, salt and pepper. There was lunch for Monday. I actually packed this up to head to my parents house. They make a great traveling lunch!
Today I remembered I had some falafels in the freezer. Ive had these forever due to buying a HUGE box at Costco. They are good- but remember I need variety, so I slowly go through large quantities of stuff like this. Ok this was a delicious lunch today...here are the ingredients:

1 LaTortilla Factory whole grain white wrap
2 tablespoons light sour cream
costco falafels- 2 balls
2 tablespoons diced cucumber
1/4 cup shredded raw beets (yeah my fingers are all stained now!)
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 tomato
6 spinach leaves
2 sprigs of green onion-diced



This was so good! Very filling and very point friendly (5) for all of my WW buddies out there! :) Does anyone else eat differently when it gets warm outside? What are some other lunch ideas that you like? I'd love to hear what everyone likes. :)

Have a great day everyone! :)

Weekend Fun/Weigh in stats

Today was WI. I can't believe how much I weight...or dare I say how little I weigh. Lol I honestly can not remember the last time I weighed this amount. 176.8! I was down 2.4 this week bringing my total with WW to 36.8 and my grand total to 55.2! I think what cheers me on lately is the fact that I've seen a few people recently that I have not seen in months and even years. When they are shocked to see me, and tell me how good I look I feel in a way that it helps me to let it sink in- that I am not the same person I once was. It is a great feeling! :)

I had a wonderful weekend! Had a fun day with my mom on Saturday and then spent lots of time with my boyfriend the rest of the weekend. Took lots of pictures to share...

This is our weekly trip to the produce stand:

I LOVE CHERRIES! (I am eating some now as I type! lol)

We had fat free Ball Park Beef hot dogs for our BBQ day on Sunday, with home fries.:)



I was crackin up because I was pushing my "buns" together for the picture. Those Arnold's Thins don't stay closed without some help! Lol

More home made cooking on Monday with Panini Night! This came out so good! Oven roasted turkey, light swiss cheese, fresh basil, roasted red peppers, and caramelized red onions. I used the spray butter to coat the bread and just popped these on the George Forman grill, super easy and very delicious! I made a lightened up waldorf salad to go with dinner.


That about sums up my weekend in pictures. :) I loved the long weekend, we had a lot of fun! I hope everyone had a fun time as well!

I had what everyone calls an NSV this week as well. :) I went shopping and grabbed a few shirts to go take into the dressing room. I grabbed all Large. I came out, looked at my Mom, and smiled. I needed MEDIUMS! I used to wear a 1X!!! When I came home and confessed my shopping spree to Sean, I quickly added in the size of the shirts I bought and all he did was smile. I guess I got away with that purchase! hehe :) Later that night I was wondering, how tight were my undies before that the XL still fits me now? Hummm lol

Have a GREAT night everyone!

Food, friends, weekend fun.

I forgot to post the pictures form my lunch with my friend Tina. She made a WW recipe chicken and dumplings the night before and we enjoyed the leftovers along with a salad.
It was yummy and had that comfort food feel to it. :) Tina and I like to swap healthy recipes and talk about weight loss so its easy to stay on track when I get together with her. We keep each other in check! :)

I spent Saturday with my Mom. We were busy getting errands done and doing a little shopping together when the WHERE DO WE WANT TO EAT question came up. Not that there is a shortage of restaurants over by where she lives, but I can't seem to decide where to go. I had my new favorite gadget with me (Iphone) so I knew I could look up some NI at a few places. We decided to go to Chili's- they have a guiltless grill buffalo chicken sandwich that is mighty tasty. According to the NI the sandwich is 10 points. I must say it's worth every point. I love it, I do not feel deprived when I get it, do not feel like I am ordering/eating something healthy. YUM! A side of broccoli comes with it with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Back at my parents house we made Chinese chicken salad for dinner. We used the Trader Joe's sesame soy ginger vinaigrette as the dressing and topped the salads with a tablespoon of crushed peanuts and crunchy noodles. That was a treat for me! I can not keep either of those in my pantry- I will sit down with the bag and munch on them till they were gone! lol The salads were delicious and even with the special extras was a great healthy dinner.

I have a few more meals planned for this holiday weekend and a few treats decided on for myself. I will share my meals adn treats with you all soon! I hope everyone is having a fun and relaxing weekend! :)

It's all fun and games until the game HURTS YOU!

Ok so today is the first day I can sit to pee and not cry out in pain. lol Yes, you know you are out of shape when a video game kicks your butt! That EA Active game is really a great workout! I love it, and when I couldn't to do the lunges or squats for the past 2 days I did try other workouts on the game. I love the cardio boxing and I still have not even began to try all of the games available. Its loaded! Some questions that people were asking me were the cost: it was $59.99 but I saw if you buy it at Best Buy you get a $10 gift card with it. So for all you bargain hunters shop there! Oh, and nope it was not hard to find. They had about a hundred of them on the shelf when I walked to the electronics section. I've also seen a ton of Wii game consoles and Wii Fit balance boards out there. Maybe the rush has worn off. Back when the balance board came out I had to RUN to the back of the store to get one. I might of had to push a few people away-but don't worry, no little kiddies got hurt. Actually there were no kids in line to get one, it was all adults. lol :)

Food- I was busy running around getting stuff done before the weekend and I came home hungry!! I didn't feel like making something, so I looked to see what I could grab FAST! Im the freezer we had some Amy's frozen burritos. Love these! They are a little explosive in the microwave though. lol Oh and a baggie with carrot sticks and jicama. Fancy lunch huh? :) Dinner tonight will be better I swear, and not served on a paper plate. I will snap some pics later.

Looking forward to a nice long weekend with my family. I hope everyone has a fun time planned!

:)

EA Active Game Review

Ok, I've only used this game now for 2 workouts. Yesterday I played with it- got a good workout but it took me a while to decided how to "play" it. Now I figured out that you can create your own custom workout OR use the pre-set ones. I love the "game" even more. With other exercise-themed games I felt like you play- then have to stop and pick another selection- taking too much time in between each exercise. Adding a custom workout you can pick a dozen different things to play and do them all in one workout without stopping. It tells you how long you've worked out, calories burned ( based on your height an weight that you entered in the beginning of the game) and awards you trophies as you go. I kinda like that! :) This is by far the best exercise Wii game that I own. You do not need the Wii Fit Balance Board with this game- however you can use it on a few select workouts if you have it.

Bottom line- its not really a GAME when you wake up and your sore from the squats and lunges from the night before. lol I feel like I got a good workout! I did a custom boxing workout this morning and my arms are feelin it! Here are a few pictures from playing it:





I have so many more things to play around with on here! There is a sports section that I have yet to try! Baseball, inline skating, volleyball!! Wow...I need to rest for a little bit then attempt those! Anyone else run out and get this game yet? I'm curious if anyone else enjoys it as much as I do. :)

Dinner was so good yesterday! Peek back a post to check it out if you haven't seen it yet. I froze a huge container of that sauce for leftovers soon. Hope everyone has a good day! :)

Well Alrighty Then!

I am up. Only .6 and I hate to pull the old "its that time of the month trick" but whatareyagonnado right? I'm not fussin over it...just movin on.

Yes, it is true. I was the geek waiting outside of Target this morning when they opened to get the new EA Active game for Wii. I am about to insert the disk after I blog...so expect a review soon! On first look at the commercials I feared that the thing that you strap around your leg wouldn't fit me. EA was thinking ahead of me and added a strap for the larger users. But to my shock I didn't need to use it! WOW! It must be HUGE already. lol Ok so heres what came in the box: The game and the leg strap holder thingie and a resistance band that you have to assemble. I wanna try it so let me tell you about my other things to share... Last night for dinner was turkey burgers. Not a new recipe same old- same old. Then lunch today was rushed so I took out a frozen thingamajig: This was a whopping 6 points! It was OK as far as the taste...but some of my cheese stuck to the box and I was not about to let those points go in the garbage. Yes, I resorted to eating off of the box. Don't mess with me-remember I have cramps. lol

I saw a few bloggers talking about making TVP (textured vegetable protein) So of course I had to try it. I have used something similar in the past Boca soy crumbles and I didn't care for it. However the way Heather made it then told us that we can add it with ground meat made me think I could bulk up a small amount of ground turkey to make a bigger meal and for way less points/calories. Here is what I made:

The bottom layer is spaghetti squash that I cut open-cleaned out the seeds and roasted for just over an hour at 350 degrees. I prepared the TVP -measure and pour boiling water over portion you wish to use- then I added it to a skillet to "brown" adding Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder to it. After that was finished I added 8 ounces of ground turkey to a pan to cook. Can you tell which one is which?
In another skillet I added 2 teaspoons canola oil, chopped garlic, diced bell pepper, carrots, and mushrooms. Sautéed a few minutes. Added 2 cans diced tomatoes and one can of sauce, salt/pepper. I cooked this for about 20 min. then threw in the "meats". I just tried a small spoonful and I must say I love it. I can not tell that its not all ground turkey. I am having some trouble logging into the e-tools on the WW web site today but I attempted to figure out the points and I THINK its only 3 points for a HUGE 1& 1/2 cup serving. Add a point for 1 cup of spaghetti squash and that makes a very low (4 point) tasty dinner! I can't wait!

Off to go get sweaty. Have a GREAT night everyone! :)

Sunday -Monday Shopping and living in HELL. lol

Just in case you can not read this- yeah its a little dark- it reads 103 degrees. This is not NORMAL weather for us right now. I want SPRING!! Sunday was hotter than Saturday. Oh fun! I am being super sarcastic because I do not do well with this kind of heat. I feel gross, sticky, sweaty, oh yea- and FAT! Something about being dressed in as little as possible always reminds me just how big I am. I do not wear sleeveless or tank tops in public so I manage the hot weather in a tee shirt or other short sleeve shirt. I see other people wearing sleeveless who are weight challenged. ( is that appropriate? I just call myself fat- I want to be nicer to others.) Anyway...I just cant see my flabbiness out there like that just yet. Man I am rambling...

We went to the produce stand on Sunday. Love the prices there! We have been buying pineapple from them for a few weeks now and yesterday they lowered the price to $1.50! WOW! The tuscan melons, and the honeydew were a buck! Yeah $1.00! Whoo hoo! So this is $22.00 worth of fruit/veggies for the week. I unpacked and Sean helped me take a pic:
In my new cookbook The Eat Clean Diet we tried the greek salad recipe. It was good- and with it being so hot it was a good idea to do a salad. I had to stop and get some fat free feta cheese and forgot the olives-oopps! But it was tasty!

We did nothing yesterday. Besides take goofy pictures... I hate when the weather makes me feel so bad. I look forward to the cool down we are having the rest of the week. Today I went grocery shopping and planned meals for this week. I liked posting the pictures of my trip last week...so I think I might try to do that more. Here ya go!
I saw these in the freezer section at Trader Joe's. They are fully cooked so I thought I would give them a try and toss them on salads. Even use them today-or maybe not. They were gross. I went to cut them after I defrosted them and one side was slimy and then I had to smell them....I threw them away and I know Trader Joe's does a 100% return if you are not satisfied but I think as Sean would say, "I am going to take a loss" Haha! What would I tell the guy at the counter in customer service- they were slimy?? Oh well! So here is my lunch without the chicken. lol Are my salads starting to all look the same?

Ok...tonight I am cooking. I will take pictures and share tomorrow. Weigh in tomorrow! I wish the nervous feeling would go away each night/day before. Geeezz I've been doing WW for 18 months! Do people get awards for being the slowest loser? lol BYE!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Saturday was my Mom's Birthday. Out to lunch us girls went! On my way over I saw the temperature when I got to my parents house and knew we were in for a HOT day.
It had been a while since we took a drive out to Phillip's Farm for lunch so we decided to go there. Yummy chicken tortilla soup, and 1/2 tri-tip steak sandwich was my lunch ( I guessed 20 points? Anyone agree/disagree?)


After we ate lunch, and couldn't stop raving how good it was, we walked around the farm.


On the way back home we saw this! AAAHHH!! 100!!!
What do you do when it reaches temperatures like that? Head to the Sno-Shack for a snow cone! Whoo hoo!!


When we came home worn out from the heat we both had wished we ordered whole sandwiches at the farm to be able to nibble on the leftovers. It was so good! We both had no idea what to do for dinner and as we discussed it got a call from my Dad saying he was leaving work early to join us. We went out for dinner to Mimi's and I ordered the Chopped Cobb salad that is on the FIT & Fresh Menu (they changed the name-used to be Lifestyle Menu) I had this salad before, its the perfect size and I love the fat free balsamic dressing that they serve with it. They list the calories at 399, and they give you the fat content, but no fiber. I can't remember the exact fat- but when I came home to calculate last time it came out to 8 points.

It was such a nice day, besides the heat! Always fun to go out with my Mom, and it was so nice to be surprised with dinner out with my Dad as well. Another HOT day is upon us today! Off to get my shopping list put together for the week and decided how much clothing I will add to my already sweaty body today! Ewwww! lol Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! :)

Friday Fun!

I decided to bake on probably the worst day this week. It is a little warm to be baking today, and if you know me-most of you don't REALLY know me-but when I bake something always goes wrong. lol Take today for example, I have been watching the new show Cook Yourself Thin and they made oatmeal raisin cookies. Simple enough so far right? Well I took their recipe and added it to the WW-Recipe Builder and it came to 4 points per cookie. I sat and thought why not do without some butter, add more applesauce than they already used and instead of real eggs, eggbeaters- so you can see where I am coming from right? Take away more of the bad stuff. Well that does not always make for a perfect cookie. lol First I had no raisins, no biggie-I will use dates. Then I go and leave out the low fat milk from the first batch that I put in the oven. DOH! I swear I suck at baking! Wanna see my oat balls? lol


Ok so here is the ingredients- how did I go so wrong? lol

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup egg beaters
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup applesauce-unsweetened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup dried dates-chopped
2 tablespoons whole toasted flax seeds
1/4 cup low fat milk

measure, mix, mix, add, stir, bake 350 for 17 min. :::Sigh::

HELP! :( Hey I just ate one... YUM! lol So this recipe made 30 cookies bringing them to 2 points each!!

New issue... ever feel like you don't know who you are anymore? I passed by this place today on my way home from running errands. Yeah so that place and I were very close, personal friends way back when. I used to get these: We had a love-hate relationship. I loved them but they hated my tummy. I got so sick after I ate them, but I kept going back. Why did I do that to myself? Not only did I get that sandwich, I would get the largest one that they had (extra peppers), along with curly fries. I thought about how good that would taste as I drove past it. Even salivated a little thinking about it. Can I just tell you that place is literally within steps of my front door. I have changed, and it feels good. :) What did I come home to eat for lunch you ask? Tuna w/light mayo/celery/wheat germ (who am I? lol) with 24 carefully counted out crackers, and carrot sticks. Man those curly fries would have hit the spot! Haha!

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE! :)

ME day! :)

I had the blahs this morning. Not really sure why, humph. I was suppose to go drive over to a friends house to go for a walk but it got canceled. That was ok with me mainly due to the fact that I like to walk when the sun is going down to avoid a sunburn. You have no idea how bad I burn people, its not an excuse I swear. lol I knew it was going to be a beautiful day, so I decided to declare it a ME day! I got dressed, and hit the next town over that is full of shops that I like to look in. Lots of walking and just a little buying. :)

I have a hard time shopping in smaller stores. Small meaning not Kohl's, Jc Penny, Target, Macys type stores. I could never shop in the cutsie little places, well mainly because I could not fit into their clothes. Unless the sign read PLUS SIZE I didn't bother. But who wants to enter a store with that title outside, not me. So I managed to survive shopping in the larger stores-hitting up the plus size departments incognito. Today I went in a few stores, tried clothes on, and even made a purchase. I wandered into H&M and didn't feel out of place. Didn't feel like everyone was looking at me wondering what I was doing in the store. I used to shop with my "skinny" friends years ago and as they were shopping I was following behind, looking at all of the clothes, thinking how badly I wanted to fit into them. They always asked me, "you didn't find anything?" and I would always say no. I always felt awkward about going shopping. Not today, I felt great. :)

As I shopped and walked around I decided that I would get something for lunch. What to have was the question. There are lots of places over there to eat but not one that I could think that had the WW points online or nutritional guide available. Sad that they don't make that more available to consumers. I would probably eat out more if I was more aware of the calories in dishes, come on and do something already! I walked past a place that I know I love. I stopped and read the menu outside. Buckhorn Grill is the name of the place. They have the best roast beef sandwiches. They do tell you how many ounces it is and the roll is not too big...so I decided to order it. I normally get the onion strings with it and I can smell them when I walked into the restaurant. TORTURE! lol Makes it really hard to order the salad as my side with the light dressing! I loved every bite of my lunch. I even ate the croutons that tasted like they were dipped in butter. I pushed the meat over to 1/2 of the bun and was able to throw some of the roll away. I whipped out my trusty new iphone to calculate my lunch and figured it out to be 12 points. Hefty as far as my lunch time standards are concerned, but I feel good about my choice. Wanna see my lunch? Yeah I once again busted out my iphone-see how handy that thing is!!

Back home now and time to get some laundry done. Back to reality. lol Oh I cooked the other night- Stuffed Turkey, mushroom, brown rice, peppers and I made so much that we are eating it all week! So no NEW or exciting recipes this week. Sorry :( I will try harder next week! :) hehe

:) hope everyone has a GREAT day!

Working it OUT!

I am always looking for new ways to stay active. I found this NEW WORKOUT! WoW!

I got rid of some UNWANTED FAT!

Down 2.6 today! That brings my totals to 35lbs with WW, 53.4 total. That loss also dropped me into the 170's! 178.6 to be exact. WOW! With the drop in weight I also had to give up one of my daily WW points. It is so sad to see those drop lower and lower. That one point and I were friends in the afternoon when I grabbed a cottage cheese or an apple. :( RIP you will be missed. The 2.6 pounds of FAT on the other hand, nope not gonna miss it!

:) I am smiling BIG today! :)

Grocery Monday/Weigh in tomorrow!!

I came home from Trader Joe's and Safeway and unpacked my bags I looked at the counter and remembered seeing pictures of the same kind on fellow bloggers sites. So here is my 2 store purchases.


We did not go to the produce/fruit stand that I like to go to because Sunday was Mother's Day and we were out of our usual habits and all...so I cringed when I looked at the prices difference of a few items. Carrots for example- yes I buy whole carrots, not baby ones. There is no comparison in taste. Much sweeter! So I gotta peel them and cut them, so what...anyway at the stand we go to they are 59 cents a pound. At Safeway they are 99 cents a pound. Grrrr Why does that bother me so much? lol So total at both stores came to $82.00. I plan on making 4 meals outta that, one of which (stuffed peppers) gets us 2 meals.

Tonight Im using the Eating Right multi-grain angel hair pasta. Never tried it before, so we shall see! I am topping it with garlic sautéed in little olive oil, some fresh tomatoes, and basil. A small side salad to go with it as well. Sounds so good, Im salivating as I type. I need a snack, BRB!

Back with my green smoothie and I got a new cookbook! I needed this so much! Not really-but it looks like a good book! Lol I have more cookbooks than I know what to do with right now, but I love all of them so very much! :) I have read another book by Tosca about Eating Clean and I liked it. She has so good looking recipes in this one.

I had lunch all planned today but I had a call from my Mom, her tv got messed up somehow and she asked if I knew how to fix it. Im not an on the phone kinda helper lol I gotta see it and fiddle with it to see what isnt working...so off I went to my Parents house. I also hooked up her new LCD computer monitor that my brother and I bought for her for Mother's Day. :) Looks good! With the nerd in me all finished with the electronic madness over at their house I got hungry so we whipped up lunch. Turkey sandwich on an Arnold's Thins-light mayo, a pickle, and 2 points worth of lentil soup. YUM!


Ok anyone have any cool apps that they use on their IPHONE? Anyone dig any that they have paid for? I think I've looked through ALL of the free ones already! Lol Seriously I've been far to occupied with this new "toy" lol You gotta wonder when your boyfriend asks if you love your phone more than him...yeah Im hooked. lol

Weigh in tomorrow. Im scared! lol Ive done really well this week and if the scale does not give me a shout out for my hard work I might just have to remove the paper towel that I place on it each week so I can remove my shoes to step on it, and wipe my big toes all over it! That will teach it to give me a gain, right? Haha! 5 days STRAIGHT of exercise has GOT to show me some love!

:) bye

**UPDATE**- Dinner was so good! The Safeway Eating right multigrain pasta was GREAT! 2 ounces came to 3 points (4=7pts.)CAL 190/FAT 1.5/FIBER 4 Here is a pic...oh and no the lemons are not real. :)