I started out today with the idea that today was the day I was going to take control of my diet again.

Boy, was that a mistake … or rather a series of them.

First, I woke up before 10 a.m. and didn’t actually get out of bed until 12:30 because I was busy writing. The good news? I added a very nice set of scenes to my novel. The bad news? I didn’t eat breakfast, so …

When I left the house for lunch, I was starving. I went out for half a sandwich and some soup — chicken & white bean chili — and ended up getting an oatmeal scotchie, too. Those are quite possibly my favorite cookies (with the exception of Thin Mints).

Then I headed to work, where the newsroom (that’s us) was hosting a Hawaiian luau in the conference room. Not only did I have 3 slices of ham & pineapple pizza then … but I ate two more later on, because the leftovers were hanging around the newsroom.

I skipped dinner, having eaten the two additional slices at about 6 p.m. … but then at about 9 p.m., I started munching on some trail mix. And when I got home from work at 1 a.m., I ate a pulled pork sandwich. (At least it was a HG recipe, so it was only 4 Points!)

Aargh!

I need to stop that, pronto! Hopefully, signing the paperwork with the attorney next Tuesday will help.

But I don’t want to wait until Tuesday to regain control. In the morning, after I dedicate some time to sending out two query letters to potential agents, I’m going to get in some kind of workout. I’ve been letting those slide, what with all last week’s snow shoveling (which doesn’t really count) and the chaos that has become my financial situation.

Got sidetracked over the weekend with the Boyfriend (which extended into Monday, because we’re both off on Mondays), but I was back on track today.

Needless to say, the year so far has not been a great one for my theme, “just do it.” I’ve had moments, but most of the time has been spent NOT doing what needs to be done.

That changes now. I need to do this for myself … I need to do it to stop the scale’s creep in the wrong direction (up another pound since last Monday’s official WW weigh-in).

Today was a great day. I stayed in my Points, without eating any FPs, and I got in 20 minutes of exercise — a 15-minute walk, plus extra walking and some toning exercises while I watched “The Biggest Loser” season premiere that I taped earlier tonight. Right now I’m drinking green tea while I blog and watch the show, but as soon as I’m done blogging, I’m going to pick up the weights.

For dinner, I tried a new recipe. I bought the Hungry Girl recipe cards with part of my Christmas gift card from my brother and sister-in-law, and made the sesame peanut noodles (using tofu shirataki noodles). They were pretty good, though I think I prefer the “Hungry Girlfredo” fettucine Alfredo swap. Maybe if I bulk them up a little with some ham or chicken or something … I was hungry too soon after eating dinner. Had to have some beet salad and then some almonds shortly thereafter.

Then again, the total for all that food was just 7 Points (4 for the noodles, 1 for the beets and 2 for the almonds). That’s not a bad total for dinner (especially after several days of overindulging).

Here’s the Tweet, Eat, Post chart for the day:

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

Goals for Wednesday:

• Eat just 23 Points, using perhaps 2 or 3 FPs (no more)
• Get at least 10 minutes of exercise
• Drink at least 8 8-ounce glasses of liquid (mostly H2O)
• Track every morsel that goes into my mouth

Totally do-able, I know!

I had a pretty good day overall. I got in a nice walk and only ate 27 Points total.

Subtract the 2 APs I earned on my walk and I only used 2 FPs. (I’m going to discount the fact that I doubt I have any left for the week after that rough patch.)

Have I mentioned that I love Hungry Girl? I baked up some of her Butternut Squash Bake after lunch, and had some as a snack, and then another serving with dinner. Delicious! Except I’m beginning to think it’s not just Burger King onion rings that don’t agree with me. The onions in the squash bake seemed to give me gas, too.

Here’s the Tweet, Eat, Post version of my day. I’ll try to add some pictures later, when I get them off the camera.

Food	Units
zucchini, grilled w/ 1 tsp olive oil	1
sandwich thin w/ 2 oz ham, wedge lc light, ff mayo, honey mustard	4
2 clementines	1
pumpkin fluff	1
ww 2-point double chocolate bar	2
hg cheesy butternut squash bake	2
ff tuna salad w/ crackers	3
bbq chicken sandwich	4
butternut squash bake	2
jell-o sf chocolate mousse	1
1/2 oz. peanuts	2
ww brownie	2
100-cal pk cocoa-roasted almonds – love em!	2
Total:	27

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

Anyway, since it worked for me last night, I’m going to try it again: I won’t be having snack when I get home from work, and I will be getting up early(ish) to take a walk before I head to the NaNoWriMo “Thank goodness it’s over” party at Barnes & Noble at noon. (And, just for good measure, I WON’T be eating cheesecake like I did last Sunday at BN.)

I just finished doing what I said I was going to do: No snack after work, and a walk first thing when I woke up. (It was late morning, since I didn’t get up until 10:30 … but it was still first thing!)

With breakfast and lunch behind me, I’ve consumed 16 Points.

Apologies for the delayed post. I’d actually planned on doing this one a few days ago but thanks to my loving hubby I’ve been down with the sick. Thankfully I’m feeling much better now though.

With holidays coming up, family out of the country, and classes starting in January I’ve got a lot of little things to do. Classes to sign up for, presents to wrap and ship, and of course, holiday baked goods to make. So naturally I went for something quick and easy today.

HungryGirl has once again come to my rescue! I decided to try out HG’s Veggie Loaded Tangy Tuna Salad from HungryGirl 200 Under 200. They have a whole chapter dedicated to salads such as this, which is just dang impressive in my opinion.

This tuna salad was quick to whip up and tasty to boot. The longest part was the chopping of the veggies. I may just keep some pre-chopped so I can throw this together even quicker before work or in the mornings for lunches. Which, by the way, this salad would be perfect for in sammich form.

I love the flavor of this. The honey mustard adds a really nice tang, and the veggies add a satisfying crunch which keeps the salad from seeming to soggy. Not being a huge fan of veggies myself, I found that my favorite part of this mixture was the bell peppers. I have to say though, I couldn’t really taste the carrots at all, so I’m not quite sure what they add aside from nutritional value and crunch.

As you probably gathered, I used this salad to make sammiches. Just a few slices of toasted bread and you’re good to go! The recipe says that this makes 2 servings. I found that this made enough for exactly four sammiches. Four delectable heaping tuna salad sammiches. Mmmmm…

Oh yeah! While typing this I realized that I completely forgot to add the dash of salt and pepper! Doh! Honestly though I don’t miss it all. I think this is plenty flavorful as it is, but I’m sure some people would notice the absence.

Quick Tuna Salad Sammiches – with Veggie Loaded Tangy Tuna Salad from HG 200 Under 200

5 or 6oz. can tuna, flaked and drained
½ c. finely chopped sweet bell pepper
¼ c. finely chopped carrots
¼ c. finely chopped celery
1/3 c. fat free mayonnaise
2 t. honey mustard
1 t. sweet relish
dash of salt and pepper
8 slices of bread, toasted

• Combine mayo, honey mustard and relish in a small bowl. Add tuna, followed by veggies. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pop bread into toaster. Once toasted, place a quarter of the tuna salad on one slice of bread and top with another slice. Makes 4 sammiches.

Oh yeah again! The original recipe called for the 6oz can of tuna, but alas, I only had a 5oz can. I just used that instead and everything turned out delicious

-Morgan K.

I love breakfast foods. Pancakes, waffles, bacon, english muffins, bagels, and of course French toast! Sadly though, Dear Husband is not a fan of French toast. Something about not liking soggy bread. Go figure.

Being the considerate wifey that I am, I save my soggy bread makins for times when I’m by myself. It’s become my guilty pleasure food. You know, the type you watch while reclining on a luxurious bed of pillows in a comfy bath robe watching trashy TV. Mmmmmm……

Anyway, I recently came across a pretty nifty book in the local library, Hungry Girl Recipes and Survival Stragetgies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World. This is a seriously fantastic book with a ton of low-fat alternatives to some down home favorites, including HG’s Cinnamonlicious French Toast.

This recipe (conveniently, in  my case) serves one, but could be doubled with no problem. Now, the recipe also calls for a no calorie sweetener packet as a topping, but I opted to swap that out for some good ol’ powdered sugar. These would also be pretty tasty topped with some maple syrup too. Oh yeah, somehow a bit of nutmeg and cloves found their way into the batter. It’s crazy how that happens sometimes

Cinnamon French Toast – adapted from HungryGirl

3 slices bread
1/2 c. fat free liquid egg substitute
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. vanilla extract
dash of nutmeg and/or cloves (optional)
powdered sugar for topping

• Mix egg substitute, vanilla, cinnamon and spices, if using, in a small bowl. Dip both sides of bread in egg wash, careful not to let it become too soggy (it might tear).
• Cook bread over medium heat in a lightly greased pan, about 1-2 minutes on each side. Once cooked, plate and freely shower with powdered sugar or drizzle with maple syrup. You can also top with extra cinnamon if you like!

Tell me that does not make you want to lounge around as you eat this! Throw in a glass of milk, chocolate of course, and possibly a side of fresh berries and you’ve got yourself a decadent breakfast feast!

-Morgan K.

Today should have been another stellar, OP day — but it wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped.

I started off strong with a 3-Point breakfast and a 3-Point snack, but by the time lunch rolled around, I was starving. I stopped at Subway for a buffalo chicken 6-inch sub on honey-oat bread. I tried to order sensibly, getting just the sandwich instead of the meal with baked chips. I was hungry enough to devour an apple on the drive from Subway to the house … and I sliced up a zucchini and grilled it on George to go with the sandwich. That made for an 8-Point lunch, so I was already down 14 for the day.

Then the trouble really started. I had a Diet Soda Cupcake (2 Points), some Hungry Girl-inspired homemade Doritos (corn tortillas sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled with a mixture of taco seasoning and Land O Lakes sharp cheddar seasoning, for 1 Point) and two clementines. I also snacked on a chewy granola bar (2 more).

And that left me with very few Points — 3 to be exact — for dinner. I ate a stuffed pepper and a salad with EVOO and balsamic vinegar (5 Points) and then had some SF Jell0 mousse (1). The after-work snack was some homemade popcorn, bringing my grand total so far to 27 Points.

No exercise to offset what I ate today. The walk fell by the wayside as I finished up my Golden Heart entry. So that means I’ve used 3 FPs for the day — IF I don’t have a snack when I get home tonight … and that’s a BIG if. My post-work snacks are probably just habit by now, but I swear my stomach is rumbling right now.

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

FPs used today: 3; Total used for week: 4.5.

Tuesday was a successful Day One for my WW week. I ate 27.5 Points but took a 50-minute, 3+ mile walk that earned me 3 APs. That means I only used 1.5 Flex Points for the day. Considering I usually use all 5, I’m not complaining.

Pay no attention to the sink full of dirty dishes. Hungry Girl’s Cheesy Butternut Bake is SO worth the cleanup.

I met with a writing friend for an impromptu write-in this morning at Starbucks. I thought I was making a decent choice with the low-fat cinnamon swirl coffee cake.

Boy, was I wrong. According to the Starbucks Web site, that little slice of heaven had 290 calories, 7 grams of fat and 2 grams of fiber, for a WW Points total of 6.

Add that to Hungry Girl’s Egg Mug Classic I had before I left the house (to avoid ordering something I’d regret, don’t you know!), and I consumed 8 Points for breakfast.

Lunch, from Subway, was another 8 Points, leaving me with just 8 more for the rest of the day.

Aargh! I’ll never get through an afternoon snack, dinner and late-night snack on just 8 Points.

In an earlier post, I reviewed the new Mint Chocolate Vita Top from Vitalicious. The batch of Vita Tops I had received was so minty that I could hardly finish eating one.

Then, I received word that Vitalicious had trouble with some early batches that had too much mint flavor. I received a second order of Vita Tops, free of charge (which I thought was very classy), and these were indeed less minty.

While I do like the correctly made Chocolate Mint Vita Tops much better, and they are not “bad” by any means, they still are not my favorite. I think I would like them more if they had more gooey chips in them; they strike me as a little dry and not as indulgent as some of the other flavors.

For me, the best thing about Vita Tops is feeling like you are having a real, gooey treat (that is a good size) while only spending 1 Weight Watchers Point. This new flavor doesn’t quite fit the bill for me, though it might for some people who are dyed-in-the-wool mint fans.

Those of you who follow Hungry Girl are probably aware that Vitalicious recently launched a new Hungry-Girl-developed flavor for the VitaTop — Chocolate Mint.

Normally I am a fan of all things chocolate and mint, but I have to report that I do not like this flavor of VitaTop. I believe that mint extract is used to give the muffin its mint flavor, and it is a very strong flavor. It reminds me of the time I tried to use peppermint extract to flavor my hot chocolate, but I wasn’t careful and ended up using way too much.

My hot chocolate ended up being un-drinkable, just like the Chocolate Mint Vita-Top is, for me, almost un-eatable.

**UPDATE** I did indeed hear back from Vitalicious. They offered a choice between a refund and a complimentary batch of the new, less mint-y VitaTops. I chose the VitaTops. I will provide an update once I receive them.

My official loss to date is 22 lbs. I haven’t decided on a target weight yet, but I do know I need to lose at least 10 more lbs.

My loss has been quite gradual during the last month or two. It may have to do with my milk production (nursing), which is down from where it had been. I have toyed with the idea of moving my daily points target from 28 to something like 26 — just in my own mind, since I don’t think the eTools will let me tweak like that.

The main thing I have to struggle against is the desire to eat in order to deal with (or, rather, NOT deal with) feelings of stress, anxiety, boredom, and so on. On Saturday, I decided to go off plan, and I wasn’t even hungry at the time. I just WANTED that feeling of eating whatever I wanted, in whatever quantity I wanted. Sort of like a little vacation.

If there’s any silver lining to this cloud, it’s that I do this only once every few weeks or so, and I am back on plan the very next day. In the past when I’ve done WW, those bouts have lasted much longer than one day!

Yesterday I bought Hungry Girl’s 200 under 200 cookbook. I made the Big Bad Burger Wrap for dinner, and I was very pleased. And only 4 Points! My husband, who has started counting calories (go, hubby!!!!) also had one for dinner, and he liked it as well.

Of course, WW has plenty of its own cookbooks, and all (?) their recipes are online. There is just something about Hungry Girl that gets me motivated. Anyone else out there an HG fan?

I think it’s inevitable: You’re on vacation, thus you’re entitled to have fun. Typically having fun equates to heading out for drinks with your partner/friends/family, etc. and, if you’re like me, you order sugar-laden margaritas (which I absolutely adore), fruity daiquiris or a doctored-up martini swirled with chocolate and caramel. Well, if you’re vacationing and trying to maintain your shape, maybe some other drinks should be at the top of your list of menu items to consider!

Unfortunately for those of us who like fruity, blended drinks, many of these diet-killers contain 600+ calories each! That adds up when you’re having a few during a night out! If I am going to down 1200 calories, I would rather it be actual food instead of sipping 1200 calories through a umbrella-shaped straw. Well, good news – there are ways to have fun and be smart about it!

* Light Beer is a winner (if you like beer, which I don’t…) – they’re normally fairly low in calories (think 90 – 120 calories per bottle) and you won’t feel so bad if you have a few!

* For those of you that enjoy wine, a glass will normally contain 80 – 100ish calories and some studies have touted the benefits of consuming a glass of red wine per day — good for the heart <3.

* Rum & Diet : I think this was a huge deal during the Atkins era, but it’s still a good choice (definitely my favorite!); if you get a good tasting rum and mix it with a calorie-free soda (Coke or Pepsi), you get more bang for your buck! In the calorie department, it’s equivalent to having a shot, but with a much greater volume of liquid!

* Seltzer v. Club Soda v. Tonic: Seltzer and club sodas are good options — very much like calorie-free sodas and they blend well with your drinks! Tonic on the other hand, a popular mixer, actually has quite a few calories (almost as many as regular soda …. boo).

Also, I think we forget: although fruit juices seem like a relatively healthy choice, juice actually has a lot of calories & sugar. If I’m going to have a drink, I always find that mixing it with a diet soda/juice with no calories is so much more satisfying! Why consume unnecessary calories? Plus, once it’s mixed, your tastebuds can barely tell the difference between regular & diet, but your waistline will definitely thank you!

I think the key is probably not overdoing it. Of course there’s nothing wrong with a few drinks when you’re vacationing– you arethere to have fun, after all! – but overdoing it packs on waaaaaaaaay too many calories and derails your diet, PLUS you’re so much more likely to scarf down the nearby pizza/chips/tacos/whatever food is around that looks greasy enough to satisfy you. You don’t want that; you know that you’ll end up trying to work it off for 9 hours straight on the elliptical. Regardless of how delicious my margaritas are, they are not worth back-to-back sessions of a Group X Class at 24 Hour. Not even close.

———

Here’s a low-cal alternative for Do It Yourselfers (courtesy of HungryGirl.com); it’s soooooo good:

Orange Creamsicle Martini

* 4 oz. diet orange soda, room temp
* 1.5 oz. orange-flavored vodka (e.g. Smirnoff Twist of Orange)
* 1.5 oz. Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup
* 1 tbs. Cool Whip Free

Put all the delish ingredients together and stir until the concoction is lump-free (don’t shake — carbonation & shaking are not a good match!).
Pour into a martini class & enjoy!

———

{Creativity is key in saving calories!}

Enjoy your weekend!

For my girls looking for figure-friendly recipes, check out HungryGirl – my favorite places for making your favorite dishes into low-calorie goodness.

Anyone else have diet-friendly drinks they want to share?

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I get the hungrygirl.com email newsletter everyday.  I usually skim through it and think, “That looks like a good idea!” but I’ve never actually made any of her recipe “swaps”.   So when I saw her superbowl themed newsletter and I knew I’d be making food for the event anyway, I figured it was a good time to try one of her swaps.  I chose the 7 layer dip since it would be an easy crowd pleaser even as healthy choice.

I changed it up a little bit, using avocado instead of butternut squash (didn’t feel like dealing with that), turkey instead of boca meat substitute and real cheese, you gotta have real cheese.

It was a little bit of a balancing act getting all the ingredients prepped and ready, but it came together pretty quickly and was yummy!  It was well paired with pita chips.  We dove in to it early and then about 1/2 of it kind of sat for the rest of the game.  Unfortunately, after sitting it didn’t seem as appetizing, so next time I’ll 1/2 the recipe.

Overall it was a great addition to a normally “bad” food packed day!

So I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m addicted to chocolate, cookies and ice cream.

Obviously none of them have really helped slim, tone or tighten my waisteline … And although I resolved to give up the sweets on January 1st, I can’t really say I’ve been a perfect angel about it. I always rationalize that I deserve it “just this once,” but there have been a lot of “just this onces.”

So now I’m buckling down, sticking to my guns and staying strong. I’ll admit, skipping my usual dose of soft chocolate chip cookies on my way out of the dining hall, hasn’t been easy. But I’ve found a few tricks to getting my sweet fix without all the fat and calories.

Thanks to this awesome website/newsletter I subscribe too, HungryGirl.com, I have Chocolate Vita Muffins in my life. These cupcake-sized, fiber-packed bad boys are as yummy as a soft warm brownie. They come frozen, so I just pop ‘em in the microwave and voila, something chocolatey and healthy.

When I can’t access my beloved muffins, I resort to Diet Coke, or the latest Cherry Coke Zero. These guys are total lifesavers — after a can my sweet tooth is satisfied and my self-esteem, shooting through the roof. I’m so proud of my willpower and of course the weight loss.