Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
fat-free cheddar cheese
Fat-free plain yogurt w/ vanilla extract, splenda and strawberries

Snack:
94 % fat-free microwave popcorn

Lunch:
small salad from Schnucks w/ the usual
strawberries

Snack:
Chocolate Fat-free, Sugar-free pudding made w/ skim milk

Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta
shrimp sauteed in chicken broth, garlic, parsley, & fat-free margarine

Snack : (at Paula's)
A few cucumber slices & dip
A few (maybe 5-6) baked tostitos w/ corn bean salsa stuff

Activity: Treadmill 23 minutes (yes, I squeezed a little time in after I got home from Paula's...)

Weight: 133.8
Gained .4 (almost a 1/2 of a pound)....guess that's not too bad considering the 3 day weekend and a taco bar last week. So, I'll just have to make sure I behave all week. :o) I really only have one day this weekend that should be bad, but hopefully I can have almost all of my points to use then. Three weeks until vacation....not seeing that I'll loose much more before then, but I'll be happy just not to gain anymore before then.

***

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

I was a bad, bad girl....all month long, work has been treating us to something every Wednesday (breakfast, ice cream, lunch, etc.) for the celebration that we are having. Well, today they had cake....not just any cake, but cake from a very yummy bakery and not just one kind either. I couldn't talk myself out of it, even after having a gain this week. I had, not just one, but 2 pieces through the day!! (Had to try them both). When it was all over, I was just so disappointed with myself! But it's done and over....just have to work extra hard this week (except Saturday) to make up for the used points already. What a way to start a new week.... (I'm just glad that today was the last of them treating us to stuff for a while.)

Lunch:
1/2 of a left over grilled chicken breast
small salad from Schnucks w/ the usual
Chocolate pudding-fat free, sugar-free made w/ skim milk

Dinner:
Homemade baked potato wedges
grilled Mahi-Mahi (or however you spell it)
corn

Activity: Treadmill 40 minutes

So yesterday I wasn't exactly good. I did fine until the afternoon/evening snack (french fries & hot wings) & a few drinks. I did manage to get a walk in yesterday morning and the first part of the day I had a salad & a Blue Bunny HealthSmart, Fat-free, Sugar-free fudge bar. Then for dinner we had fat-free twice baked potatoes (really good), grilled steak (but I am not sure what kind) and salad. Anyway...on to today...

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
Fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Snack:
another banana

Lunch:
Large Salad tray from Schnucks w/ the usual toppings

Dinner:
Grilled chicken breast- boneless, skinless
green beans
baked potato w/ fat-free spray margarine & fat-free cheddar cheese

Activity: Treadmill 36 minutes

Tomorrow is weigh in day..... ugh....

Holiday Weekend

This weekend I wasn't keeping track of points, but I know that I used alot. I didn't go completely overboard, but I didn't exactly hold back either. It was just a long weekend (so far) of get-togethers with eating and drinking. So, to finish off the 3 day weekend, I am hoping to be good today, just as I would on Monday of any other week. I walked on Saturday morning and will make sure I get a walk in today sometime. Well see when Wednesday comes how bad the weekend really was.

Weight: 133.4
One pound at a week...better than nothing. I was hoping that I could loose another 5 pounds before our trip, but going one at a week I won't quite make it. Especially, with the up coming weekends...but, I'll still try. :o)

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
strawberries w/ Splenda

Breakfast:
Weight Watchers Chocolate Smoothie made w/ skim milk (woke up late...no time to cook)
1 banana

Snack:
1 banana (yes, another one)

Lunch:
Large salad from Schnucks w/ the usual stuff

Snack:
Imitation crab meat

Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta cooked with fat-free margarine,
garlic & imitation lobster
1 Blue Bunny Health Smart, fat-free, sugar-free fudge bar (0 points)

Activity: Treadmill 35 minutes

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Snack:
94% fat-free microwave popcorn

Lunch:
Small salad from Schnucks w/ the usual
New Red potato salad

Snack:
1 banana

Dinner:
Grilled boneless, skinless turkey breast
Corn
Oven fries (I know I'm not supposed to have potatoes twice in one day, but I was trying to come up with something easy & quick....)

Activity: Treadmill 35 minutes

Sunday (Yesterday):

Breakfast:
1 banana

Activity:
Treadmill 23 minutes

Snack(s):
2 dill pickle spears
Baked Tostitos & corn/bean dip
a taste of the other 2 dips that were there (spinach & southwest ranch of some sort)
a few pieces of cheese & sausage
cucumbers & dip
(Not sure how many points to count for all that)

Drinks:
1 1/3 Cosmo (3 points?)
2 Miller Lites (4 points)

Dinner:
New Red Potato Salad
Hamburger w/ cheese on a wheat bun (not sure on points...what kind of burger & cheese, I'm not sure)
A taste of potato casserole

All in all, this weekend wasn't too bad. I am just going to say for now that I used the rest of my points and hopefully didn't go over too much. I'll try to estimate my points later.

New Red Potato Salad

3 pounds unpeeled red potatoes
4 eggs, hard boiled
1 1/2 cups fat-free mayonnaise (or fat-free Miracle Whip)
2 tablespoons skim milk
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup sliced celery

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add red potatoes, and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop into 1 inch cubes. Place in medium bowl.

2. Boil eggs (to make hard boiled eggs...I think everyone knows how to do that, so I'll skip that part....) Peel & dice hard boiled eggs.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together mayo, milk, distilled vinegar, green onions, salt & pepper. Pour mixture over potatoes, and mix together with the eggs & celery. Cover & chill in refrigerator approximately 2 hours before serving.

****
This recipe is Core, not sure how many flex points. I left the celery out because I didn't have any and I'm not a celery fan anyway. I liked this, but think it needs a little more salt, but I guess most people would salt & pepper their own serving to their liking. This gives me something else to bring to the summer gatherings (besides a veggie tray) that I know I can eat. :o)

Activity: Treadmill 35 minutes

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
Lean diced ham
Fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Lunch:
Whole wheat pasta
Shrimp sauteed in chicken broth, garlic, parsley and fat-free margarine

Snack:
Whole-wheat grain Wheat thins and a little bit of light cheese spread (not sure hoe many points, but at least a few anyway....)

Dinner:
Pork loin chop- center cut
grilled veggies
New Red potato salad

Drinks:
4 Shreks w/ sugar-free Red Bull (8 points)
3 Miller Lites (6 points)

Not tooooo bad....better than last weekend.... :o)

Yesterday-

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
strawberries sprinkled w/ Splenda

Lunch:
Leftover pork loin from last night
Small salad from Schnucks w/
green onions
diced hard-boiled eggs
shredded carrots
cucumbers
fat-free ranch dressing

Snack:
Chocolate Fudge pudding-fat-free, sugar-free made w/ skim milk

Dinner:
Lean round steak
Baked potato w/ fat-free spray margarine
green beans

Drinks:
2 Shreks made with sugar-free Red Bull- (4 points)
2 Miller Lites (4 points)

Activity: None

Herbed Garlic Mashed Potatoes

1 medium head garlic
1/2 cup low fat, low sodium chicken broth
3 potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 cup warm skim milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Slice the top off the head of garlic to expose the cloves. Place the whole head and the broth in a small casserole dish & cover. Bake for 1 hour; remove dish from the oven & set aside.
3. Boil the cubed potatoes in water for 20 minutes or until soft. Drain. Add the warm milk and olive oil. Beat with mixer until potatoes are fluffy. Add the herbs.
4. Gently squeeze the garlic out from each of the cloves, leaving behind the skins. Add all the garlic pulp to the potatoes. Beat again and season with salt & pepper.

***
These were pretty good, I did do just a couple things different....didn't add the full cup of milk- only a little more than a 1/2 cup. I think that it would depend how "creamy" you like you mashed potatoes. Next, I didn't have any thyme so that got left out completely and I was afraid that 2 tablespoons of oil would be too much, so I only added 1. I think next time I will try it with 2 just to see. I thought that they needed more garlic flavor, but Mike said it had plenty of flavor. Possibly next time I will also season with a little bit of garlic powder...we'll see. Anyway, in the end we all liked them, so I will be making this again.

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
lean diced ham
Fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Snack:
1 Banana

Lunch:
Last night's left-overs
Chocolate fudge pudding, fat-free, sugar-free made w/ skim milk

Dinner:
Grilled marinated lean pork loin
Baked potato w/ fat-free spray margarine
green beans

Activity: Treadmill -35 minutes

Didn't turn out to be such a bad week after all....

Weight: 134.4

It kills me to think that I could be loosing more than just a pound at a time if I wouldn't have such "bad weekends"....Oh, well...

Breakfast:
Egg Substitutes
lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Work is providing lunch today, not sure what they are having. So, again I am sure I'll be starting my new week with using points right away......We'll see...

***
Lunch:
Penne Pasta with red sauce (estimated about 6 points)- about a cup
Small slice of bread- (1 point...wasn't quite the size of a regular piece and it didn't have any butter on it)
Salad with an oil/vinaigrette dressing (I'm assuming that it was probably olive oil, but I'll never know...) :o) I loaded most of my plate with salad and so I would only have a little bit of room for the pasta.

So here I am again at the beginning of the week and already using points....lunch could have been worse. I was glad when I found out they weren't having pizza or something too "fattening". I went to work prepared to skip whatever dessert they were going to offer with lunch and brought my own "afternoon snack/dessert" to beat the temptation....

Snack:
1 banana
Chocolate pudding, fat-free, sugar-free made w/ skim milk

Dinner:
Grilled Chicken
Grilled Veggies (squash, zucchini, sugar snap peas, & onions)
Herb Garlic mashed potatoes (I'll post recipe later...I was so excited when I found out at Em's that you can make good mashed potatoes without all the butter & milk...searched for more recipes) :o)

Activity: Treadmill 39 minutes (not sure why I didn't go that extra minute longer....)

Reality....

I decided to go back last night and try to figure my points that I had used over the weekend. Well.....it was bad. I have calculated that I have gone about 25 points over for the week. Just about all of my weekly points allowance was used on Saturday alone! And most of that was alcoholic beverages. This is the reality of what it will be like in Mexico.... on a daily basis. I'll be using about 7 weeks worth of points! I'll probably gain a few pounds while there. Then, there's only a couple weeks to "be good" before the float trip, in which I'll gain that weekend too. Anyway....

****

Whatever happens this week, it's my turn to blame it on PMS!

Activity: Treadmill- 25 minutes (yes, I actually walked this morning! Trying to plan ahead since we might not be home tonight)

Breakfast:
Egg Substitutes
Lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Snack:
94 % fat-free microwave popcorn

Lunch:
Salad from home w/
cucumbers
sliced up left-over steak (from last night)
fat-free mozzarella cheese
fat-free ranch dressing
1 pack Chaquita Apple slices

Snack:
Chocolate pudding, fat-free, sugar-free made w/ skim milk

Dinner:
Baked "Fried" chicken- (not sure how many points 2-3?)
green beans
mashed potatoes (not made with milk & butter)

Banana Cream Pie

Here's the recipe for Banana Cream Pie that I made on Mother's Day if anyone is interested. I had quoted it earlier that it was 3 points per slice, but it's actually 2 (Core + 2, but if you are following Flex, you'll have to figure it out)

BANANA CREAM PIE

1 Ready-made Reduced Fat Graham Cracker Pie crust (If you use the regular, then it's 3 points)
3 Bananas
2 1/2 cups skim milk
1 package fat-free, sugar-free Banana Cream Instant pudding
1 package fat-free, sugar-free Vanilla Instant pudding
2 cups fat-free frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Slice 2 of the bananas and arrange in bottom of crust
2. Pour milk into a medium bowl. Add pudding mix and whisk until thoroughly combined. Fold in 1/2 cup of the whipped topping. Pour into pie shell.
3. Chill at least 3 hours. Garnish with remaining whipped topping and slices of remaining banana.

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Snack:
94% fat-free microwave popcorn

Lunch:
Small salad from Schnucks w/ the usual stuff on it
1 pack of Chaquita Apple slices

Late afternoon snack:
1 banana

Dinner:
Round Steak, lean trimmed (Eye of round...I think that's what they call it...)
small baked potato w/ fat-free spray margarine & fat-free cheddar cheese
small salad w/ cucumbers, fat-free cheddar cheese & fat-free ranch dressing

Activity: Treadmill- 40 minutes

Another one of those weekends....Saturday night I didn't eat too bad, but I drank a lot (quite a few beers, 2 Shreks, & 2 shots) and then ended the night (morning) with Waffle House. I had scrambled eggs, hash browns a little bit of ham and a piece of whole wheat toast....could have been worse though. At this point, I am sure that I am over on points for the week. Sunday, had the family over for Mother's Day & Birthdays. Again not too bad, but still used some points (about 7-8, that I probably don't even have anymore...) Everything we had was pretty much core, except for the bread and the Banana Creme Pie (3 points a slice....I made it w/ fat-free stuff...It was good!) Anyway, hopefully this weekend should be better, nothing too "wild" planned yet, but we'll see. Just need to make it through the week doing good again. :o)

Activity: Treadmill- 23 minutes (@ 6:40 a.m.....crazy, but I had to fit a little time in somewhere before I took a shower for the day)

Went shopping after I got my hair done, since I only own 2 pair of shorts, 1 pair of capri pants and 1 pair of longer Bermuda-type shorts that I can wear. I was pleasantly surprised at the clothes that I tried on. The size I've been buying lately were somewhat big and I didn't want to spend money on something that would be too big hopefully in another month, so I went the next size down to see how they were. I bought a pair of shorts, pair of capris and a pair of cropped pants....in a single digit size. :o) I also bought a sun dress and top to go with the cropped pants for our Mexico trip!

Breakfast:
None.... busy morning

Lunch:
Lean diced ham
Fat-free cheddar cheese
1 flour tortilla (2 points)
(rolled it up and microwaved, had to come up with something quick...)

Snack:
Chocolate Fudge pudding, sugar-free fat-free made with skim milk)

Tonight, we'll be having a BBQ, so that will be plenty of points I'm sure. :o)

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Snack:
Strawberries sprinkled w/ a little Splenda

Lunch:
Left overs from last night
Chocolate Fudge pudding, sugar-free, fat-free made w/ skim milk

Snack after work:
1 Banana

No dinner- just snacked on veggies, baked tostitos, salsa, and cheese & crackers during and after the purse party. I did, however, have 3 beers AND refrained from eating any yummy cookies. :o)
Not sure how many points, but we'll say 10-12.

Did good today. Had my usual for breakfast, popcorn for a snack, & usual salad for lunch. At work, they sent out an email to everyone to let them know that there was left over ice cream treats from the day before and to help ourselves. I was good....I talked myself out of going and getting one. :o)

Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta w/ shrimp, scallops, & imitation lobster sauteed in chicken broth, fat-free margarine, fresh garlic & parsley. (Made extras so I could take to work tomorrow.)

Snack: Blue Bunny Health-Smart, Fat-free Sugar-free fudge bar- 0 points

Activity: Treadmill 35 minutes

Weight: 135.6

I actually lost this week, must have been the walking to make up for the bad food that I ate over the weekend. :o)

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
watermelon

Snack:
94% fat-free microwave popcorn

Lunch:
small salad tray from Schnucks w/
Lettuce
diced hard-boiled eggs
shredded carrots
green onions
diced turkey
fat-free ranch dressing
1 banana

Snack:
Ice cream bar (like a Brown Cow)- 4 points
(They treated everyone to ice cream today...couldn't talk myself out of it...)

Dinner:
Meatloaf made with lean ground beef (With he extra add-ins, I added a point or 2)
Corn on the cob

Activity: None- hubby is watching a movie in the bedroom....but, I swept & mopped the kitchen floor...should be worth a fraction of a point.... ;o)

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
lean diced ham
fat-free cheese
watermelon

Snack:
94% fat-free microwave popcorn

Lunch:
Left over steak & veggies from last night
Strawberries

Before dinner snack:
1 banana

Dinner:
Grilled chicken
Those one oven fries that I mentioned on here in an earlier post, but a different flavor
Green beans

Activity:
Treadmill- 35 minutes

Bad weekend....

Well, I was doing okay last week...up until the weekend. Ate Ethel's on Friday night, did okay during the day on Saturday, ate too much chips and salsa and had quite a few drinks on Saturday night, the Sunday was okay until we ordered pizza... (we were busy all day and didn't feel like finding something to cook)... I did walk on Saturday morning, but couldn't talk myself into it yesterday... :o(

Today, I am back on track and we'll see on Wednesday what the scale says about my weekend.

Breakfast:Egg substitutes
Lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Snack:94 % fat-free microwave popcorn

Lunch:
large salad tray from Schnucks w/
Lettuce
diced hard-boiled eggs
shredded carrots
green onions
diced turkey
fat-free ranch dressing
Chocolate fat-free, sugar free pudding made w/ skim milk

Snack:
1 pack Chaquita apple slices

Dinner:
Eye of Round steak
grilled veggies (zucchini, squash, onions, snow peas, & green peppers)

Snack:
Blue Bunny Health Smart Fudge Bar (fat-free, sugar-free)- 0 points

Activity:
Treadmill- 35 minutes

Breakfast:
Egg substitutes
Lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana

Snack:
94 % fat-free microwave popcorn

Lunch:
small salad tray from Schnucks w/
Lettuce
diced hard-boiled eggs
shredded carrots
green onions
fat-free ranch dressing
1 pack of Chiquita apple slices
Chocolate fat-free, sugar free pudding made w/ skim milk

Dinner:
Fat-free refried beans
2 Chicken Fajitas (4 points for the 2 tortillas)
-which was chicken, green, red, and yellow peppers, onions, seasons, salsa & tortillas)

Activity: Treadmill 24 minutes

Have 29.5 points left for the weekend and 1st part of next week. Not too bad... hopefully that should be enough for the weekend, plus I'll probably earn some more activity points over the next 5 days.

Weight: 136.8 (why is it always .8 and not .2, .5 or something...LOL!)

Breakfast:
WW Chocolate smoothie made w/ skim milk
(We're having a breakfast at work, so I had this so I wouldn't be as hungry and hopefully won't eat too many things....here we are at the start of a new week and I'll be using points already....go figure...I'll update the rest later.)

Breakfast (continued at work...)
cantaloupe
honeydew melon
egg casserole (cheese, no meat) -4.5 points (Wasn't sure how to figure this, so I based it upon what is normally in an egg casserole- eggs, bread, milk, cheese)
Stayed away from the muffins and danishes.... :o)

Lunch:
Small salad tray from Schnucks w/
lettuce
diced hard-boiled eggs
diced turkey
shredded carrots
green onions
1 container Campbell's Soup at Hand- classic Tomato
about a 1/2 cup Strawberries

Dinner:
1 lean center pork loin
(marinaded in a season packet with water & olive oil)
baked potato w/ fat-free spray margarine
green beans

Activity: Treadmill 35 minutes

1 Miller Lite beer counts as 2 points. So, 4 Miller Lites should be 8 points right? When I enter in the quantity of 4 beers, the planner calculates it as 7.5 points. Anyone else notice that? I guess they figure that you've peed some of it out by then....or you really didn't take the last two swigs of a few of them...LOL! (Just kidding....)

Breakfast:
Egg Substitutes
lean diced ham
fat-free cheddar cheese
1 banana
1 Weight Watchers Creamy Chocolate Smoothie made w/ skim milk

I ordered the Weight Watchers Smoothie mix on line. I wanted to find another way to get my required milk servings in each day and thought I would give this a shot. I do not like skim milk by it's self and seem to only get milk when I make my pudding. Anyway, I had the chocolate and it wasn't bad. It's kinda like drinking a Slim Fast or something. It's core and if you make it with skim milk rather than water, it counts as 2 milk servings. (Prepared with water is 1 milk serving.) Plus it's packed with lots of vitamins & calcium. :o)



Next time I'll just have it as an "in-between meals" snack or bedtime snack. It was too filling having it with breakfast. Or just have that and a fruit if I don't have time to cook. I would really like to try the Strawberry-Banana mix too.





Lunch:
Small salad from home w/
romaine lettuce
shredded carrots
cucumbers
fat-free ranch dressing
1 cup strawberries sprinkled w/ a little bit of Splenda
Fat-free, sugar-free chocolate pudding made w/ skim milk

Dinner:
Imitation lobster & crab meat sauteed in a little bit of fat-free margarine over top of whole wheat pasta

Activity: Treadmill for 35 minutes

Tomorrow is weigh in day......