Soy creamer!

Gave this Trader Joe's soy creamer a whirl after reading the list of chemical ingredients in my
regular half n half. Had to have Dave pick this up for me when the Stop & Shop near me didn't have anything remotely resembling an all-natural creamer. The text conversation went something like this:

Me: Can you pick me up some soy creamer at TJ's?
Dave: Ew. But yes.

The verdict? Two thumbs up! It has basically the same consistency as the half n half but with a hint of sweetness. And only 15 calories / 1.5 g of fat per serving.

Can you smell the vitamins?

I made a couple interesting things in the past couple days. Last night's dinner was one I "whipped up": a turkey sandwich with cheddar and avocado, with some yam fries. I dipped them in some plain yogurt with honey. They were awesome, I can't wait to make them again. Then this morning after bodypump I replenished some protein with a breakfast burrito on a whole wheat tortilla with cheese, egg, salsa and sour cream. And coffee.

Not sure how the rest of the day is going to play out. The K-man is with his shooting club, but I'm planning to go to the mall to use my 30% at Gap/BR and participate in the Boston Store Goodwill sale.

Have a great Saturday!

Oatmeal

Hey team. I tried to work some more fiber into my diet this week by having oatmeal for breakfast. Since oatmeal by itself is a little gross, I made some combinations to make it a little tastier.

The first one is Quaker plain instant oatmeal, with a banana and one tablespoon of peanut butter. The second is regular oatmeal (old fashioned) with half a pear, walnuts and honey.



Tonight for dinner I made a veggie wrap - spinach, avocado, red and green peppers, olives and feta on a whole wheat tortilla. I also had some pita chips and hummus, and a cookie.

My workouts this week included the usual routines - Bodypump, yoga, step aerobics, kickboxing and a little treadmill. I'm taking off today and tomorrow from the gym, but plan to be back at 8am on Saturday for more b-pump.

Tomorrow is my weigh-in day, so wish me luck!

Cookie update

I made pumpkin/oat/walnut/raisin cookies over the weekend, but now they are all kind of smooshy and overly moist in the container. Maybe I should cook them longer or something. They taste ok, but the texture got weird.

Do you have a cookie recipe you like that has some combination of healthy stuff without too much oil or butter?

More Sunday!

I have all this free time today! I went to the grocery store for Round 2. Here are a couple things I got: A Kashi frozen meal, whole wheat waffles, ground turkey breast. I wanted extra lean, but they only had lean. I also got a couple things to take to the food drive at work tomorrow.





The pumpkin in the top pic is for these cookies. It's a recipe from Carrots N Cake, with pumpkin, walnuts, oats, raisins and a few other things. They came out really, well, I will post the recipe. When I went to buy the pumpkin, there was only ONE can left, and it was all dented and pushed way to the back. I only needed to use 1/4 c. so I divided up the rest and am freezing it. I will let you know how that goes.

Turkey tacos for dinner, maybe I'll snap a pic of those, too!

Another Sunday post.

Hey team! This week totally got away from me so I haven't posted since last Sunday! I did take some pics, though, so here's an idea of some good stuff I've been eating.




I made some Mediterranean tuna salad: white tuna, spinach, red and green peppers, red onion, kalamata olives, with a little olive oil. This is what it looked like when I packed it for my lunch. I had it on a toasted sandwich thin. Go protein!



On Friday, so the K man could observe Lent, I made a shrimp dish. It doesn't look totally appetizing here (also, my pan looks crappy, ick), but it was a no-recipe adventure containing: shrimp, zucchini, artichoke hearts, shredded carrot, whole wheat pasta, pesto, red onions, red peppers and a little spinach. It turned out well, and was tasty with a little feta on top.



And here are my Quaker oatmeal squares in my gorgeous Fiestaware!



I got a super early start today, so I've already been to breakfast (turkey sausage, egg and cheese on a good grains bagel) and been to Whole Foods. Well, I was already on that side of town! It seduced me into $35 worth again, even though I was only going to get yogurt. Some of my other items: red pepper, avocado (on sale, so I bought 2, even though I said I wouldn't), hummus, feta, canned tuna, yogurt, apples, pears, bananas, Stacy's chips (also on sale), mushrooms, a couple Luna bars. All pretty good stuff, I think. I'll be making some veggie wraps and salads this week, along with oatmeal and chocolate milk.

The scale and I were slightly at odds again this week. Even though I am eating tons of great stuff and working out like a crazywoman, it's hard to get that number to go down. My clothes are fitting slightly better (yes, yes, I know this should be the measure, not the weight number) and I feel good generally, but it's disappointing to not see the number go down. I assume I am building muscle, which is good for many reasons. I have to remind myself that the WW people are smart, and they have told me that if I stick with their program, it WILL work.

So, I'm sticking with it!

Have a great Sunday!

An exercise in moderation.

Well team, after the disappointment of a weight gain and my refusal to record it (don't judge), I am happy to say that I did not consume whole pies in desperation. Rather, I stuck to my guns and managed to enjoy some delicious eats without going overboard. Mostly.

Friday night the K-man and I went out for the traditional Wisconsin Lenten staple: fish fry. Most restaurants now offer a baked option, so I went with Parmesan-crusted walleye. It was very good, and I had french fries and a couple spoonfuls of coleslaw. And a Miller Lite.

Saturday I made a fritatta, which actually turned out to be scrambled eggs with veggies and turkey sausage mixed in. Not pretty, but tasty. Saturday night was pizza (buffalo chicken) and I had 2 pieces, with big spinach and tomato salad with fat free ranch dressing. It was a good combo, and I didn't feel deprived of pizza.

Today, Sunday, we went out for Mexican food for lunch (my parents were in town), and I had 3 chicken tacos on corn tortillas. I also had a taste of the nacho appetizer, and a Dos Equis Amber. So, despite 3 meals this weekend that I didn't cook for myself, I think I did respectably. I am finding though, that having the points change over on Friday means that I used many of my Allowance points already. I will have to earn some with exercise this week.

I made cookies today. They have tons of healthy ingredients - oats, flaxseed, whole wheat flour, cherries, walnuts.

I also went grocery shopping
Some of my loot: turkey, whole wheat wraps, oranges, peppers, spinach, pinto beans, olive oil, frozen shrimp. I made this salad for my lunch tomorrow


Spinach, grape tomatoes, red onion, green pepper, hard-boiled egg, carrot and a little feta, with low-fat balsamic vinaigrette. I'm planning to have it with an orange and 2 york patties, plus 2 cherry cookies and a Greek yogurt for snacks. Then, BodyPump after work.

Have a great Sunday evening!

Do clementines make you fat?????

Oh. My. God. I worked out super hard this week, didn't eat junk and ended up with 18 exercise points left over. But, this morning, the infernal scale told me that I was up 1.5 pounds. WTF? I am NOT recording that! I better be building some serious muscles in a place where I can't see them yet.

So, team members, this is where you talk me off the ledge by telling me that WW really does work, and I should keep doing it, and that my weight will go down if I stick with it. That this is one of those "challenges" they keep talking about, but the combo of veggies, skim milk and step aerobics will come through for me in the end.

Right??

Gah.

Anyway, I am still gonna put some hurt on some pizza tonight, because I have been planning that all week!

Last chance workout!

I was so tired today, but I dragged my booty to zumba anyway. Tomorrow is my day to weigh myself, and this week I actually ended up with a bunch of exercise points leftover, so I'm feeling pretty good. After the gym I had some egg salad, and made a smoothie with some leftover tofu. It also has frozen strawberries, frozen mango chunks, fat free raspberry yogurt, skim milk and strawberry jam. They are kind of high in points (4) but a cold, fruity treat. I made 2 extras to freeze for another day.


Yesterday after BodyPump and some time on the elliptical I stopped at Jimmy John's for a beautiful and protein-y roast beef sandwich. It was delicious!!!

Hopefully I will sleep well tonight, and be ready for Friday, pizza and movies!

My eats for today.

After 2 whole wheat waffles for breakfast, this is what I'm going to eat while I'm at work.




Morning snack: Oikos honey yogurt, 2 pts
Lunch: Amy's frozen entree (6), clementines (.5), York peppermint patties (2)
Afternoon snack: apple (1), 1/2 c. Quaker oatmeal squares with 1 tbsp. raisins and 1 tbsp. dried cherries (4)

I have to eat a big snack because I'm going right to the gym after work and won't have time for dinner till almost 8:00. I'll have a scoop of Greek casserole and some milk and call it a day.

Bump bump! It's Wednesday!

Who has two thumbs and just OWNED that kickboxing class?

This girl!

First, I want to say hooray for Susan getting back in the saddle and not letting a couple trips to Sonic derail her quest for a healthy balance.

Here are a few thoughts and photos from the last couple days.



This is the Greek casserole I made. A layer of brown rice, sauteed veggies on top (spinach, grape tomatoes, red onion, artichoke hearts, mushrooms) topped with a combo of smashed-up tofu and feta. Kalamata olives, too. 3 points per serving.


This is what it looks like when I take it in my lunch, which I've done the past 2 days. I might have it tomorrow again for dinner.





I made egg salad twice in the past few days, since it's a favorite of the K-man and super easy and cheap. One whole egg, chopped with 1 tablespoon of low-fat mayo on a sandwich thin is 4 points, and definitely satisfying.

Also today I had a turkey wrap for dinner, (no pic, though) and a post-gym snack of chocolate milk and 2 banana oatmeal raisin cookies.

Whew, it's late! Gotta get to bed so I have energy for Bodypump tomorrow. And work. I should definitely also go to work.

No spiffy pictures this time

But I did want to post the butternut squash soup recipe, as promised. This came from Dave's coworker's "Slow cooker Italian recipes" cookbook and it was delicious! SUPER easy to make, and it's all natural. Don't know what the WW points for it are, but with no butter or cream, I can't imagine it's too bad.

(Before you begin: everything gets pureed at the end, so don't worry about your chopping skills!)

1. Chop and saute 1 medium sized onion. After about 6 minutes, add two chopped up garlic cloves and continue sauteing for a few more minutes, until everything is soft.

2. Put the following into your crock pot:

the onion/garlic mixture
approx. 1.5 pounds of peeled, cubed (2 inches or so) butternut squash
two medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (1 inch or so)
three fresh sage leaves
4 cups of chicken broth

3. Let it cook for four hours on low.

4. After 4 hours, put everything from the crock pot into a blender and puree.

5. You're done! Salt and pepper to taste, and some chives or asiago cheese on top would probably also be delish.

Gah!

I have been woefully negligent in posting to this blog. Mostly because I'm finding it harder than I thought to be healthy in 2010. I have good weeks, but then a couple weekend days of Sonic cheeseburgers and greasy dive breakfasts throw me off. But enough of the b*tching; this is a new week with new resolutions!

First, I went to Trader Joe's yesterday and practically bought the whole store. My favorite acquisition? Their "Fiberful" bars. Just like a Fruit Roll-Up, but with 60 calories, no fat and 6 (yes, 6!) grams of fiber. Not really a lot of protein but for a sweet snack after a meal, they are perfect!


This week's meals include:

- slow cooker butternut squash soup (that promises to be creamy without cream or butter) with salads as my lunches;
- risotto with low fat jalapeno cheese and roasted red peppers (dinner);
- cilantro-lime chicken with brown rice (dinner);
- and a couple of other items TBD.

I will also be registering this week for the BAA's 2010 5K. I ran it last year and it's a great race - all downtown (read: easy terrain) and it's the day before the Boston Marathon, so they have you finish at the same finish line as all the hardcore runners. Way cool!

And finally, a huge shout out to Amy! She has total perseverance - she has made it through two months of WW, keeping to the healthy food and exercising, and she's still updating the blog! And not only updating, but channeling Tina (of Carrots n Cake!) to make the posts even better by adding pictures of her food. Plus, who am I kidding - I am envious of her Fiestaware!

Some photos of random things in my kitchen.

So I am digging the adding of photos to the blog, but I am still a little awkward about it. For example, I took a photo last night of my fish preparation, but then forgot to take one when I served it. So, for now, just bear with me and my slightly weird illustrations.

Yesterday I made some cookies from a health.com recipe. Susan Sarandon supposedly eats them. Ok sure, but I had all the ingredients so I gave it a try.

Banana Chocolate Chip cookies
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Makes 16 cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup oat flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup plain soy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 ripe banana cut into small pieces
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or other favorite nut
1/3 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips

1. Preheat over to 350. Combine first 6 ingredients (through sugar) in a bowl. Wish together oil, soy milk and vanilla in separate bowl. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients, stir to combine. Fold in banana, walnuts and chocolate chips.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough onto pan with small ice-cream scoop. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown, turning baking sheet halfway through. Let cool on wire rack.

My substitutions: I didn't have oat flour (who does?) so I used whole wheat flour because I thought it might have a similar density. Instead of raw sugar I used 1/4 c. regular white and 1/4 c. brown. I used regular skim milk in place of soy milk. I used walnuts and added raisins, as the K-man has sacrificed chocolate for Jesus, so I wanted to make something he could eat. They turned out well, and tasted a little like banana bread. And it made 18 cookies instead of 16.


Last night I made fish for dinner. I bought some haddock fillets at Whole Foods, and added a scoop of pesto, shredded carrots and shredded zucchini. Then I steamed it in a parchment packet. It looked like this



I used a "parchment heart." Fold a piece of parchment, and cut a heart shape out of it, big enough for all your fish and veggies. Coat with cooking spray, then load everything in. Fold around the edges, starting with the "cleavage" of the heart. When you get to the bottom point, twist, and it should stay sealed. I baked for 15 minutes at 450. I liked this preparation because I only used a little oil, so it was very healthy. I wish I had taken a pic of it after it was cooked!

Now, I am having coffee, and

going to make some oatmeal with banana and peanut butter. I'm volunteering at our booth at the Auto Show today, then bopping over to Target to buy a new yoga mat. Mine is getting all crumbly, and it's embarrassing because it sheds little orange pieces all over the room.

Have a great Sunday! Go USA hockey!

Hooray for Saturday!

Good morning! Well, almost afternoon. I got up early today to make it to BodyPump at 8, and I even added a little more weight to some of the tracks so I can keep getting results and not let it get too easy. I don't know if BodyPump could ever really be easy, though.


When I came home I had my post workout snack: chocolate milk. I love these little bottles. It has 100 calories and 8 grams of protein. I also read an article (would health.com steer me wrong?) that it can help keep you from getting sore the next day. It tastes like a treat, but is only 2 WW points.





Not too long after that I had lunch. I had a turkey sandwich with cheese and mustard on a toasted Arnold's sandwich thin, with 2 clementines and a few sweet potato tortilla chips. The chips and citrus were part of my Whole Foods trip on Thursday. The brand of chips is "Food Should Taste Good." I really like them. The tea is Tazo Cucumber White. I wanted coffee, but didn't see any reason to be caffeinated on a lazy Saturday afternoon!

I also ate 2 small York peppermint patties, but the shiny wrapper made them hard to photograph!

I am making haddock for dinner tonight, steamed in parchment paper with zucchini and carrots. Couscous on the side, and possibly a fudgesicle for dessert. Or a beer. That's kind of like dessert, right?

Have a great Saturday! I'm going to read and take a nap. :-)

PS A couple notes from the last few days: On Thursday I went to a new kickboxing class. I hadn't been to that one because it doesn't start till 7:30, which is kind of late. But I really enjoyed it, it went SUPER fast, and was not nearly as torturous as the class Becca and I used to go to. On Friday I gave in to a craving and had a cheeseburger and fries before our work event. It was pretty tasty, and now I think I am good for a while!

Good morning!

Happy Thursday! Thought I'd see if I had time for a morning post today... Here's my breakfast, 2 whole wheat waffles. I am also having coffee.

I spend a lot of time thinking about my lunch. Planning ahead helps keep me away from the vending machine. So, here's what I have.

Homemade vegetable soup. I make it in my crockpot, then freeze individual servings.


Here's the rest of the contents of my lunchbox: a banana, Chobani peach yogurt, 2 York peppermint patties, crackers and a Fiber One bar. I add freezer packs to my lunchbox because I don't like using the communal refrigerator.

Last night we got a bunch of snow just in time for the evening commute, so I did not make it to bodypump. I am working late tonight, then planning to go to kickboxing for the first time. I haven't tried it before because it's at 7:30, which is kind of late, but should work out for me tonight.

I am still experimenting with adding the photos, maybe next time I'll put them all in the center or stagger them or something.

Have a great day!

And we're back.

Hi team! I had a wonderful vacation to New Orleans, where I ate beignets, red beans and rice, a muffaletta and lots of cookies. I didn't count a single point! Now it's back to regular stuff.

In an attempt to make an extremely boring topic more interesting, I'm going to try to add some photos as I brazenly emulate Tina of Carrots N Cake.

For dinner tonight, I am making egg salad sandwiches with roasted potatoes and salads.



I have Fiestaware dishes in a variety of colors. You should be jealous, cause they're awesome! I made 2 salads, mine has onions and olives, his does not.

So, hopefully some more interesting posts to come as I experiment a little more with the photos. Hope you're having a good week so far!

Quick note

Just wanted to say hi and give a fast update on how things have been going this week. After having some leftover weekend pizza hanging around for my Monday shot at the scale, I changed my weigh-in day to Friday. That's the day Susan does hers, so it must be ok! I did well with eating, I had some salads, oatmeal with peanut butter (pretty good, actually, I'm not a huge oatmeal fan), apples, yogurt and some homemade cookies. I made it to Bodypump twice, step once and zumba once, so I feel on a good track with the workouts too.

It's all in preparation for my upcoming (in like 8 hours!) trip down South to visit Toni and Scott! I can't wait, I haven't seen them in sooooooooo long, almost 3 years! They were living in Virginia Beach at the time, so I am stoked to see their house and meet their puppy and catch up. I will be eating a lot of amazing things and not caring. I've already decided. :-) Next week, I will be back to my regular routine, so I'm going to enjoy the special occasion to the fullest.

Shout out to Anne, if she is reading this: Congratulations on your engagement! I'm so happy for you! Love you and wish you all the best!

Oy.

Work has been mad busy, yo, so I haven't really gone to the gym much in the past week or so. I did go to yoga on Saturday, though, which was great. I've gotten my coworker Heather into as well (Hi, Heather!) so she's been going with me. A motivation buddy is never a bad thing.

Shameless plug for my yoga studio, which offers amazing $5 community classes:
www.backbayyoga.com

I've been trying to balance the lack of gym with super healthy eating. Sandwich thins, lots of veggies and fruit, egg whites, low fat cheese. Also, do LOST marathons count? It's like all the island fish and fruit eating makes me healthier by osmosis.

Oh, Monday.

It was a busy weekend over here! A wedding, a birthday party, a baptism and the Superbowl. All of which included food, all of which I ate. I tried to enjoy the food, keep it under control, and not worry too much about it. Well, guess what? I didn't work as hard this week, and it showed right away. My legs were too sore to work out on Thursday, I had skipped Zumba on Monday, and didn't exercise for the entire weekend. Yuck! This is no good, and I am going to try not to do it again. This week I should be able to make it to all my exercise classes, and I don't have any food-related events. I need some veggies, stat, so I'm going to stop after work for some salad ingredients. Back on the wagon twice as hard this week! However, next week I will be on vacation (hi, Toni!) so I'm not totally sure what to do about that. We will probably be walking a lot, but the food will be irresistible. So, I guess I will find a few things to indulge in, and maybe moderation will be my key. I will eat a few bites of something delicious and then pass along the rest (hi, Scott!).

Hope your week is starting out well and fiberous!

Ouch!

My legs are so sore today. So... I would NOT recommend going to bodypump and aerobics right in a row. Ugh. I didn't sleep well, and now I'm tired, sore, and slightly grumpy. I'm also feeling a little bored with food, so I'm changing things up with a Samosa wrap for breakfast and oatmeal for dinner.

I have been wondering about some points-related things. I know the people at WW are smart, and good at what they do, and I trust that if I can come out ahead (or even) every week I will continue to lose weight. But Bodypump seems to only count for 3 points, when I put it in as weight training. Step aerobics counts as 8. Is that because it's cardio? And then the other day, I walked for 30 minutes (hill intervals at 3.5, not super fast but I was sweaty) and did the elliptical for 30 minutes (varied incline and resistance) and only got 2 points! That's the same as 45 minutes of yoga, and I was *definitely* working harder on the elliptical. Gah.

So here's my question for you: Is there anything that you count on your own, if there's either no option on the list, or if you feel that the list doesn't really reflect the value of that food/exercise?

A bold choice.

Today, at the suggestion of the instructor (now would be a great time to do some cardio!) and my workout buddy Sarah (I did it last week, you'll be fine!) I went to both Bodypump and step aerobics tonight. It was not a wise choice. I was already tired when step started, but since I know the routine I was able to make it through. As shaky as my legs already feel, I better wake up with an ass half the size of the one I fell asleep with. Just sayin'.

Whew, I'm going to finish my pasta and mushrooms and read my book and go to sleep! Both yoga and zumba tomorrow, I want to be rested!

Ugh.

Well, after my excitement this morning about meeting my first goal, I fell off the wagon a little bit... I was hungry all day, for no reason, other than maybe I was bored and wanted to distract myself a little from this hard task I am working on. So I had some peanut M&Ms. It doesn't sound like much, but it's 6 points. And then Bec and I went out for dinner, where I ate 11.5 points' worth of sushi. The sushi was definitely worth it, but I don't think the M&Ms were. Not that I feel guilty about it, but I am now down to 20 points per day and will have to be extra careful, especially since this coming weekend I will be out of town and encountering mounds of bacon everywhere I go.

So, I am still excited about my first goal, but it's just a reminder that I have to continue to keep track of everything, because it is working!

Bikini season, here I come!

I lost half a pound this week, to get me to my first goal weight! Woot! Now I've reset my goal, and recalculated my daily points to help me keep going down! Some things I've learned.

If I'm going to buy an avocado, just buy one, not 2. They are good, but so high in fat.

Arnold's sandwich thins are awesome. Add some egg white and low fat cheese, and I don't even miss Einstein's. Well, maybe a little.

Think of creative ways to get vegetables. I'll throw shredded carrot and zucchini into anything, sometimes you can't even taste it.

Ok, have to get ready for work. Have a good Monday!

Challenges and choices

My parents were in town this weekend for my dad's birthday, so we did a lot of fun stuff! A hockey game, the symphony, MPM, and some serious eating! I think I did well choosing, though. On Friday we went to a sports bar where "vegetable" is a 4-letter word. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and half an order of onion rings. And a Miller Lite, but just one! Saturday we went to Trocadero, a French restaurant on the East Side. I had a salad with grilled steak, cheese and dressing on the side so I could use just a little. I also had a Hennepin beer. K-man and I shared a chocolate crepe for dessert, which was so much better than getting an appetizer! It was probably a million points, but I think I estimated fairly. And it was delicious! This morning, instead of the bacon extravaganza that could have been the all-you-can-eat buffet, I opted for a veggie fritatta, with zucchini and tomatoes. It was really good, but I think it had a ton of cheese. At least cheese counts for calcium!

I had a snack of a piece of toast with almond butter before the gym, now I'm about to have a roast beef sandwich and watch the Grammys, possibly flipping back and forth between cartoons on Fox.

Nothing too exciting on the menu this week, unfortunately. More sandwich thins, soup and Amy's wraps. But, I suppose when I get tired of those things, I will find something else! There's a possibility of half-price sushi tomorrow, but I have to confirm with my ladies first.

Have a great night!

Zumba

I heard a rumor today that zumba is now going to be a sign-up-and-pay class. It blows. Isn't that why I pay a membership? Not that I will mind the $1 or whatever it will be, I just can't always go to the same classes every week. I have yet to substantiate the rumor, though...

I have been eating really boring stuff. Vegetable soup, egg sandwiches, apples, yogurt. But my parents will be in town this weekend, so I'll have to figure out where we're going so I can check out the menu beforehand. If I go there already decided, I'm less likely to order the Fried Stuff Sampler, which is popular here in Milwaukee.

I don't know if I'll have much time to work out this weekend, but I will try to squeeze it in between a tour at work, and various other things that are more fun. Have a great weekend, hope you've been cooking something delicious!

Thumbs up...

for Amy's Organic Indian food. So far, I have enjoyed the Mattar Paneer, the spinach tofu wrap and the samosa wrap. A little expensive (another thing I will *have* to go to to WF to get), and the tofu wrap was 7 points, but they were really good. I recommend them if you like a little curry flavor in your life!

And Double Thumbs Up to Susan for running 2 miles and dispelling the crankiness! Woot!

Sorry...

to those of you who thought that Team VR had become Just Amy. After battling and defeating an ear infection (who knew adults still get those??) with my good friend Mr. Z. Pack, I'm back. I'm going to gloss over the Italian feast, the steakhouse binge and the huevos rancheros large enough to feed a third world country from last weekend and commend myself for just doing two miles on the treadmill. I had a lot of pent-up crankiness so I ran until my little legs couldn't run anymore.

Boring food week so far due to lack of inspiration. Salads for lunch and an egg white omelette last night for dinner. Now I'm just waiting for the pre-husband to get home with the sub stuff so we can build sandwiches and watch more Dexter. The Dexter Diet... If all else fails, you won't be hungry after watching one of those episodes.

Update

My legs hurt from Bodypump and my head hurts from the birthday party. Maybe a walk later, since it's a heat wave in Miltown at 43 degrees, but there's also some football that will need watching. Go Saints! I have plans to make cookies and soup later on, so it should turn out to be a pretty nice Sunday. After I take some aspirin.

Highlight Reel

Hi Team! It's been almost a week since I put anything up here. Don't worry, I've been working hard. Here's a recap:

My meal plans got thrown off this week by going out to dinner on Monday night. I had seared Ahi Tuna at Maxie's Southern Comfort, and it was awesome! Plus a piece of cornbread, and a few bites of key lime pie. After days and days of spinach and egg whites and nonfat yogurt, it tasted so good, and I didn't regret one bite!

I went to step class for the 3rd time, and it's getting a little easier. I am learning the routine, so then I can actually focus on my muscles instead of worrying about falling.

I tried to make a 3-minute breakfast cookie, like I saw on the Carrots N Cake site. A little egg substitute, a few oats, a little sugar, microwave it and it turns into a big fluffy cookie. Wrong! Mine burned, and my whole apartment still smells. Fail.

Last night we went to the Admirals hockey game with another couple, and had dinner at Turner Hall beforehand. They are supposed to have one of the best fish fries in town, but I didn't have one! I knew I would feel gross, so I had a chicken schnitzel sandwich with a salad.

This morning I went to a new exercise class, BodyPUMP. I think they capitalize it to make it look scary. It was definitely hard, but I didn't want to die. It's focused on strength training, and is pretty complicated, with a step bench, barbell, different weights, hand weights and a mat. I got most of the moves, but will have to experiment a little with how much weight to use for the different muscle groups. Then I did 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, and came home and made a big, protein-y breakfast sandwich. I feel pretty good! The only disappointing part was that Bodypump only counts as 3 exercise points. I think strength training is almost as important as cardio, and should count for more. Alas, I will follow the rules and count it as 3, and try not to have too many beers at the birthday party tonight!

I'm off to Whole Foods to stock up on some veggies and yogurt (the Oikos in the 4-pack, they ONLY sell it there!). Then maybe I'll take a nap! Whew!

Have a great weekend!

Meh

I've been struck by the common cold that seems to be circling (at least no swine flu!) so my health kick has been somewhat halted for the time being. I can't smell anything thanks to the congestion, so in turn I have little appetite - at least I'm not overeating too much. However, I also can't hack the gym right now so I'm kinda just laying around and thinking healthy thoughts.

I do have a new recipe for creamy tomato barley that I'm going to try out tonight, and if it works then it'll be lunch for the rest of the week.

Good morning!

Hi Team! Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend so far. A few highlights from the last few days for me:
I definitely exercised my butt off this week. Zumba, step, the elliptical. I'm planning a walk outside today, since it's finally above freezing here. Or I might go to the gym so I can walk and watch tv. I don't have cable, so I like to catch up that way. If I'm watching a new episode of What Not To Wear, I can spend the whole hour on the elliptical and be totally entertained!

Yesterday was a not-great eating day, but I think I managed to do alright. We ate lunch at Culver's, where I had a cheeseburger and fries, my first in quite a while. It was delicious! It was a lot of points, so I had a bowl of vegetables for dinner. Then I went out for a birthday, where I had a couple of beers and a piece of cake. Those were also delicious. I counted everything fairly, so it should all work out, I hope! I was feeling less muffin-toppy this week, which is a good sign. I don't expect to lose all the weight I want to in just 3 weeks, so I'm happy with some forward motion, even if it's slow according to the scale.

What was something delicious that you cooked this week? I made chicken salad, with celery, walnuts and cranberries. One of my faves, similar to what you can get at a deli, but much better for you when you can control all the ingredients.

Have a great Sunday!

It's all about balance, right?

It was my coworker's bday, so they twisted my arm into going along for the lunch buffet at Maharaja. It was so good. It always is! Except, today were no samosas. It was mildly tragic, but ok in the end, because usually I eat like 4 of them. And at 3 points each, it would have doubled the count of my lunch.

So, almond butter. It's made of almonds. It's delicious. It's full of fiber and protein and no preservatives. Except, when I put it on a sandwich thin with a little honey, it's SEVEN points. I might as well eat a bagel with cream cheese, which is 8. Dang. I know, the bagel has no nutritional value, and I am better off with the almond butter. Bah. For 9, I can have some egg and cheese on that bad boy and really enjoy it! Double bah.

Anyway, my Indian lunch balanced out with step aerobics tonight, which went better than last week. I remembered most of the routine and was able to follow along with almost all of it, while reaching a 6-8 on a scale of 1 to 10 of how hard I was working. Tomorrow there will be more yoga at work. Unless B and I are still going for burritos. Then, no yoga. :-) That means this week I will take off Tuesday and Thursday from the gym, but I'm planning to hit it Friday after work, and on the weekend.

I haven't cooked anything special lately, just the chicken soup from the weekend that I'm going to finally try tomorrow. Also, I am planning to weigh myself again tomorrow. Usually I stick to once per week, but on Monday it seemed I had only lost half a pound, and then on Tuesday it seemed that I was down 1.5 more from that. I think my scale is accurate, so I might try a twice-per-week check in. Will keep you posted on that.

Ok, probably enough rambling for now, but a shout out to Beth, a Gamma Phi girl from back in the day. She's great, and I'm happy that she wants to read along with Team VR!

Endorsement of the Greek casserole

I made it last night, and apart from making the condo smell like feta (Sorry, Dave!), it turned out really good! I omitted the artichoke hearts and substituted basmati rice for the brown rice. Definitely a good and tasty lunch treat, with lots of fiber, veggies and lean protein (with the feta, you can't even taste the tofu).

I also put my Healthy Streak to the test last night... by going to the Cheesecake Factory. If you've never been there, just know that the menu is as lengthy as a Danielle Steel novel and twice as bad for you. I ended up getting a small beet/arugula/apple/pecan/goat cheese salad (no dressing) and a small side of stuffed mushrooms. Considering the average size of a CF entree is the stuff heart attacks and obesity is made of (but SO delicious), I think I fared rather well. Of course, I did have a piece of red velvet cheesecake (layer of cheesecake, layer of red velvet cake, repeat twice more) but everyone needs a splurge once in a while!

As an add-on to Amy's post, Kashi oatmeal is also disgusting. Gritty and crunchy, but not in a good way. I recommend Trader Joe's oatmeal, personally! Less expensive and still good for you, while being yummy. As yummy as oatmeal can be, anyway.

Kashi 7 Grain Puffs

They are gross! They taste like those crackers that Susan had at her apartment, the kind that tasted like something you might feed a horse. I'd definitely rather have Cheetos. But the cereal is only one point, so at least I can wash it down with some yogurt. I think I'll stick to the GoLean Crunch, I liked that a lot better.

Also, I know many of you have been eating them since they came out, but I finally bought some Arnold's sandwich thins, and I really like them! I got the multi-grain, one point each, definitely a good addition to my regular menu.

Check out Tina over at Carrot 'N Cake. She's doing an I'm-turning-30 Shape Up, so follow along with her!

French Fries and New Gym 2

I had a slight panic on Friday when I realized that I had eaten 10 points' worth of French Fries for lunch! Susan managed to talk me down, and I had still eaten my soup and my other healthy stuff, so there were no worries. I took Friday off from the gym, but over the weekend the K-man and I went to the downtown Y. Usually I go to the South Shore location. The downtown one is pretty cool, it's in a mall that used to be awesome and is now kind of a dump. The building is rectangular, with an open center to look down onto the lower levels, and they have an indoor track that goes all the way around. They also offer a lot of classes there, and I imagine it's a popular lunchtime and after work spot. Be careful, though, they charge SIX DOLLARS for parking! On Sunday, we just parked on the street.

Today was also the Packer game, which turned out to be the last one of the season. And no, I don't really want to talk about it. At the party, I had 2 beers, a couple peppermint patties, a sandwich, some fruit and a scoop of potatoes. It helped that I ate before I went, so I wasn't starving. The food is always delish and there's so much of it, but hopefully no one was offended that I didn't eat too much. I'm sure no one noticed, and I felt a lot better than if I had eaten a whole plateful of cheesy potato casserole and 2 pieces of cake.

Weigh in tomorrow... I'm a little nervous, even though I didn't swap out all my activity points this week. Are you really supposed to use all of them? So, I should still have lost some weight, even with the french fries, and half an order of cheese curds on Saturday night.

On the menu this week... salad, soup (a new recipe, white bean and chicken), maybe grilled cheese, and planning to make black bean burgers on sandwich thins. I also got a new kind of cereal (Kashi 7 Grain puffs) so we'll see how that is.

Hope everyone had a healthy weekend! It's definitely time for bed.

Success!

I'm calling Week 1 of 2010 a success. I ate more fruits and veggies, curbed the cookie intake and managed to hit up the gym three times. Plus today at lunch, so that'll be four times this week.

In retrospect (from the whole five days I've been in health-mode), I think the best thing I can do to keep this up is to make sure I have healthy food at home. When I haven't gone grocery shopping, I end up eating junk at home and junk at work.

Tonight, I shall celebrate with a margarita. Maybe two.

Veggies!

I have been getting tons of veggies, fo' sho'. This week I had salads, Greek casserole and soup. I had a little bit of a splurge this morning with an egg and cheese sandwich on a bagel (9 points), but have been good the rest of the day. For dinner I'm planning to have whole wheat pasta with more veggies (artichoke hearts, zucchini and mushrooms) with tomato basil sauce. I'll probably make some oatmeal cookies later - they're made with whole wheat flour, and count as 3 points for 2 cookies.

I did not work out on Tuesday (good to take a day off once in a while). Last night I went to step aerobics, and it was pretty tough! 8 activity points for that, but I had to work for all of them! It was a good workout, and I think the second time would be easier, if you're a little bit familiar with the routines. We also had yoga today at work, which was a little easier than Monday's class, but not much. I could smell the calories burning, just by bending!

We were supposed to get mountains of snow in Miltown today, but so far it's about 4 inches of fluffy stuff. I already shoveled, so I'm just going to hang out in my sweats and watch tv.

Oatmeal-Date-Chocolate Cookies
from health.com
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. regular oats
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lightly beaten egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. chopped, pitted dates
3 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter, add brown sugar. Stir until smooth. Combine flour through salt. Mix in butter/sugar mix, and add egg, vanilla and dates. Add chocolate. Mix well and spoon by tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, until tops are dry to the touch.

I only used dates the first time, it's a good base to use anything else you like - raisins, cranberries, milk chocolate chips. Tonight I'll use a couple handfuls of peanut butter chips, cause I think that's all I have in the cabinet. The recipe says it makes 32 cookies, but I get 24 out of it.

There's a recipe for a skinny eggnog latte! It was love at first sight.

http://weight-watchers-points-recipes.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Jen for the link! Team VR is hoping that Jen becomes an avid fan of our healthy living blog, for sure.

Just Say No!

I passed up the muffins at my HR class this morning in favor of fruit
and a cereal bar. Nancy Reagan would be proud.

Did I just date myself with a 1980s reference?

Sent from my iPhone

Baby steps

1. I swapped out the flavored creamer at work for my own fat free half n half.
2. I'm using natural spray margarine instead of the tub stuff.
3. I'm walking up the stairs when I can (work, T station, etc.) instead of taking the elevator.

Last night I sauteed some summer squash in a bit of olive oil, added half a cup spaghetti sauce and served over whole wheat pasta for a vege-tastic fiber-filled dinner. Yum!

Dave is also going to the gym tonight (unprovoked by me!) so I'll tag along. This is when it's good to have a partner in motivation. When he wants to go to Sonic for dinner? Not so much;-)

But... I'm not coordinated...

Whew! Big day today. First, some good things I ate. Kashi cereal, an apple, an orange, some bean soup. I also had a Chobani yogurt, pomegranate flavor. I really like Greek yogurt, I don't even eat Yoplait any more, but these bad boys are 3 points. I think I would rather have plain with honey for 2, or an Oikos individual serving for 2. So, maybe those won't be in the regular rotation. I also had some more Greek casserole for dinner, which was really good. I'm planning to take some in my lunch tomorrow.

I also worked out TWICE today! Woot! We had yoga at work, where the instructor tortured us with the pigeon pose. Then this evening I went to my first Zumba class at the Y. I understand why people like it, it's part dancing and part aerobics, and it goes pretty fast so you don't have time to worry about being coordinated. Which, of course, I am not. I think I will keep going, especially if it will get me a body like the instructor, who was pretty smokin'.

So, that's 6 total exercise points for today, pretty exciting. I lost 4 pounds last week (I'm pretty sure it was just Holiday Weight), so that is good motivation to keep going!

And if you see Susan and her iPhone, bump her!

In honor of Susan finally joining the 21st century

I may be the last person out there to have purchased an iPhone, but for all of our readers (hello? is this thing on?), I found this article about iPhone apps that can help you keep your new year's resolutions (eating, exercise, money, fewer hookers, etc.).

http://mashable.com/2010/01/01/iphone-new-years-apps/

I was just being lazy.

Ok, here is the Greek Casserole recipe. I have blatantly stolen it from another blog, who got it from somewhere else, which is kind of like public domain, right?

Ingredients:

* 1-1.5 cups cooked brown rice or other whole grain (quinoa is good)
* 1 T olive oil
* 1 small onion
* 1 bulb garlic, chopped, or one tablespoon minced garlic from a jar
* 1 bag baby spinach
* herbs
* 1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half, or one can diced tomatoes
* 1/4 to 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
* 1/2 block firm tofu, drained & pressed
* sliced black olives (optional)

I also added mushrooms, kalamata olive slices (instead of regular black), and quartered artichoke hearts.

Directions:

* Cook brown rice or other grain as directed.
* Preheat oven to 375 *F.
* Heat olive oil in skillet and add onion and garlic.
* Wash the spinach and squeeze dry.
* When the onion has become limp and tractable, add the spinach and whatever herbs you like (plus the mushrooms). (Miss Conduct used dill, oregano, basil, and black pepper, but advises against adding salt since it’s already in the feta.)



* While that cooks, spray an 8X8 pan with non-stick spray and spread the rice (or other grain) evenly across the bottom.
* When the spinach mixture is just barely cooked, put that on top.
* Finally, put the tomatoes, artichoke hearts and sliced olives on top of that, cover in foil, and bake for about 20 minutes.
* Meanwhile, mix the tofu and feta together using a fork until it’s all crumbly.
* Remove the casserole from the oven and add the feta cheese and tofu topping.
* Return to oven and bake uncovered until topping browns– about 15 more minutes.

It made 4 large servings. Pretty tasty.

Happy Sunday!

Hi Team! I had another good day of eating/exercising. The K-man accompanied me to the grocery store to push the cart, and I stocked up on lots of good stuff: veggies, canned beans, tofu, yogurt, skim milk, eggs. I am planning to eat soup again (it could turn out to be my diet secret), plus various combos of pesto, whole wheat pasta, red peppers, carrots, chicken breast, and spinach. I also promised K-man some egg salad for coming to the store with me. It should make a lot of low-points meals, so I can have one of the leftover Christmas cupcakes still in the freezer...

For dinner tonight I made Easy Greek Casserole, which I got from the Carrots N Cake blog. It combines brown rice, veggies, tofu and feta cheese, and came out delicious. It got all mixed up when I scooped it into my bowl, but I love all those ingredients. You can click over to the right of this post on the Carrots N Cake link and search for the recipe on Tina's website. And 3 points per big bowlful, so definitely worth it.

Good job to Susan, adding the Twitter and Facebook links, too! Woot! Also, thanks for sharing the CNN article. Those are definitely things to consider, and I'm so glad I have Resolution Buddies, even far-away ones!

I also made it back to the gym today, for 30 minutes on the elliptical, and 15 minutes walking. I can usually walk longer, but I was super hungry and feeling a little shaky. Next time I will have to eat a bigger breakfast or something. I was so hungry, in fact, that we stopped for Subway on the way home instead of waiting to cook something.

Back to work for everyone tomorrow! Yoga for us at the museum, and maybe going to a class in the evening so I can gather some exercise points early in the week.

Resolve!

An article from CNN with advice on how to keep your 2010 resolutions:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/12/29/motivation.new.years.resolutions/index.html

Namaste

Tomorrow is the official Be Healthy kickoff. Fo' real. My plans include planning out meals for the week and then hitting up Stop n Shop (and perhaps Trader Joe's or Whole Foods). I will also go to the gym!

To further the cause for embracing positive, healthy changes in our lives, I am also resolving to go back to yoga. After some online investigating this evening (and much yelp.com-ing), I ended up settling on my old yoga studio in the Back Bay (which has, happily, just found a new home a bit closer to me). They offer 90-minute community classes every Sunday at 12:30 for only $5, and I can't say enough good things about them. I went often in 2008 and just loved the bodily workout as well as the de-stressing aspect, but neglected the classes in 2009 because I was lazy. There, I said it. Lazy. And because health extends beyond physicality, Dave has decided to go back to church this year. He will go to mass on Sundays at noon down the street from my yoga studio, which will give us both motivation to leave the house and do things that make us feel better.

I will report back soon with my recipe choices for the week. In the meantime, here's the link to my yoga studio for any Bostonians out there who may be interested.

P.S. - My Chick-Fil-A earlier today was amazing.

New gym

Despite my love of John and his giant biceps at Bay View Fitness, where I have been working out for the past year, I left him to join the South Shore YMCA. They offer a bunch of classes in addition to the standard cardio and weight rooms. They also have a pool, which I hope to use as well. Today was the first day I went to the new Y, and it was pretty good. I wanted to make up for all the sitting and football-watching I did yesterday (on and off for 9 hours, yikes!), so I did a lot of cardio. 20 minutes walking, 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, and 35 minutes on my beloved elliptical, the kind where you don't move your arms. Bay View Fitness didn't have these, so I was only using the treadmill there. All that sweating only adds up to 4 exercise points, but it felt good. I hope to get back in the routine of going, and plan to try out some classes. We're also still doing yoga 2 days per week at work, so even though there's practically no daylight this time of year, I won't be too sloth-like.

Since I was pretty good this week and stayed under my Weight Watchers points, I'm having a gyro for dinner! Woot! Also, Susan went to Chik-Fil-A today. Everyone needs a little treat. My points will reset tomorrow, and it's back to work this week, so it will be back to packing my lunch. I have some soup in the freezer, and I'll be getting some veggies tomorrow at the grocery store, so I should be set with some low-point foods for the week.

Soup!

Happy New Year! We have drank, eaten and polar-bear plunged our way into the New Year, so it's time to get to business. Gym tomorrow. Really.

And a recipe that I have been obsessed with lately. Slow-cooker veggie chili, from myrecipes.com.

This recipe is for a 3-qt. crockpot, and makes about 8 servings at 1 1/2 c. each. It's open to endless variations, I'll mention a few of mine at the end.

1 carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1/2 medium size sweet onion
vegetable cooking spray
1 8oz. package fresh mushrooms
1/2 zucchini, chopped
1/2 yellow squash, chopped
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. seasoned pepper
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
1 12oz can V8 juice (I use low sodium whenever possible)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans beans of your choice (pinto, cannelini, black, navy)
1/2 c. corn

1. Saute first 3 ingredients in a large, nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add mushrooms, zucchini, and squash, saute 3 more minutes. Add chili powder, basil and pepper, saute 5 more minutes.

2. Stir together tomato sauce and tomato juice in 3 qt. slow-cooker. Stir in diced tomatoes, beans and corn, and carrot mixture. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

Note: Cool leftovers, and freeze in plastic freezer containers or zip-top plastic freezer bags for up to 2 months.

This is my favorite recipe lately, since it has only 124 calories and 7 g fiber with almost no fat. I use a whole zucchini instead of half of one plus half a squash. I have used pinto, navy and cannelini beans. I added half a can of vegetable stock to make it a little soupier. I preferred baby portabella mushrooms, but the regular ones are fine. I also experimented with green beans and potatoes, both of which were good.

Ok, back to watching football. Go Bearcats!