Belly be gone!

i think i’m craving fruit that we don’t have in the house.  watermelon.  cantaloupe.  honeydew.  cherries.  i want some!!!  all i have are apples and pineapple in a cup.  but i want the other stuff.  and i can’t get it.  because there is no gas in the car.  because i have DH’s car.  and i tried to put gas in the car tonight.  but i couldn’t figure out how to get the D*#N gascap off.  lefty loosey, right?  well the frickin thing wouldn’t come off!!!!  so until he can look at it and show me what stupid thing i did to prevent me from getting the gascap off, well…then i’ll just have to want fruit.

i had to go to the bank this morning, first thing, so i went to the grocery store next door to get a couple of things. i found some goodies i cannot wait to try!!! i bought mrs. freshley’s snack away oatmeal yogurt sandwiches. i think that’s what they’re called. they’re like the oatmeal cream pies from little debbie. i thought they were pretty good. they’re between 1 & 1.5 points, depending on how you count ‘em! i ate one at lunch even though i wasn’t hungry just b/c i wanted to taste it!

then, when i was getting some fiber 1 bars (i was good & only bought one box…although i should’ve bought a few since they’re always gone when i look for them!), i found the quaker simply harvest oatmeals. i think they’re all about 2.5 points. i bought one box of each flavor, b/c they were on sale!!! the grocery said they’re normally $5/box!!! holy cow!!! but with my kroger plus card, they were less than $3/box (i think), which is why i bought one of each to try. haven’t tried it yet…can’t wait. maybe i’ll have one tomorrow for b’fast.

and then i wandered over to the health/organic section, since it was next to the pharmacy section & i wanted some cold meds. i was glancing at all the bars, looking for the snickers nutrition bars. i found one!!! i haven’t tried it yet, but i have it at work waiting for me! i forgot which flavor it was…maybe some kind of chocolate crunch?! i need to taste it soon.

i’m excited for this b/c we’re going on vacation soon, and i might just bring some of all of these (fiber 1, snickers nutrition, simply harvest) for breakfasts. i do eat breakfast, but not a lot. i don’t like going for breakfast at restaurants b/c i feel like it’s a waste of money for what i like to eat. or rather, the amount of food i like to eat for breakfast. ok…that was a side ramble. seriously…so i need b’fast to get my day started, and i know that these are low points and probably filling, so i really just might schlep all this in my luggage so i have breakfast to eat!!!

hmmm…i think that’s all i found at the grocery. i’m now contemplating eating something else. i’m not that hungry, but cantaloupe & honeydew sound SOOOO good. but we don’t have any in the house!!! and by my calculations, i have 4 or 4.5 points left!!! is that possible? maybe i undercounted some foods?!?!?!

at last week’s meeting, we talked about quick & easy recipes. i won’t post them all until i try them…wouldn’t want to pass along anything w/o knowing what it’s like.

so, the leader mentioned taco soup. i’ve made a similar one before, but i tried hers. w/o meat - it’s 1 pt / cup. with meat (lean ground turkey or 93/7 beef), it’s 2 pt / cup. at least according to my meeting leader. i haven’t put it through any of the recipe builders.

here’s the base of it:

3 cans of beans - any beans (i drained them b/c i don’t like the liquid the beans are in)

2 cups of water

1 can corn

2 cans of diced tomatoes (can use rotel, also…when i made it last night, i used 1 can tomato, 1 can of mild rotel)

1 packet taco seasoning

1 packet of ranch dressing mix - this is optional - i used it

throw it in a pot and heat until mixed and warmed through.

i used meat - ground turkey.  i just ground the turkey, then threw it in the pot w/everything else.

other alternatives…the other recipe i have made used hominy instead of corn.  if it’s about the same nutritional value as corn, then i think i’ll use it next time b/c i like the texture better than corn.

the other recipe i made would ground the meat, then add the taco seasoning & some water to the meat.  then the seasoned meat would be added to the rest of the ingredients in the pot.

anyhow…it’s yummy & quick & easy!!!

i wanna eat.  and i want to eat calorie, fat-laden foods!!!!!!!!!!!!!  sort of…

last week i noticed in the late afternoon, i wanted to eat b/c i was bored.  rarely did i give in, but my mouth was bored.  and most of the time, the chewing gum didn’t help.

today…i think it’s b/c it’s been a rough / long day so far, and well, i just want chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!

but i haven’t really given in to it.  while i have a pineapple cup & carrots in the fridge, i ate 1 point worth of quakes, and 1 point work of hershey’s dark chocolate kissables.  not too bad.  and i’m now drinking some tea for my throat.

and i think my puppy hates me!  :(  we’ll see what happens after work.  she adores DH!  but she doesn’t follow me around the way she follows him around.  this week is my week to bond w/her, so we’ll see how well that goes.

and…older relatives are either not doing well or passing away.  some of whom i’m close to, others not so close.  but there’s been 3 incidents / deteriorations in the past week.  :(  i think it’s rougher on my parents than me, though.  but it’s still sad.

and…i’mthisclose to making 10% and i didn’t make it last week!  :(  only .8 more to go…that was what my losses were the past 2 weeks.  i would LOVE to make 10% before vacation, and i think i can.  and i hope i can at least maintain it during vacation!!! 

ok…that was my whine for the day.

for some reason, i LOVE this!!!  it’s 3 pts!

english muffin - i use a thomas whole grain, 100 calorie muffin…i know it’s 1 point.  i don’t quite remember the exact name of the muffin.

laughing cow cheese - spread on muffin

top with trader joe’s tomatoe-less corn salsa

you get sweet, spicy, & creamy all in one!!!!!!!!!!  YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hope i’m not getting sick.  :(  i wouldn’t be surprised if i was getting sick.  but i think i might.  i took a little snooze last night & when i got up to go to bed…i had what felt like the beginnings of post nasal drip.  and i had it this morning.  i just haven’t been getting enough sleep.  i don’t like the cold - and work is usually FREEZING.  just because it’s hot outside doesn’t mean it has to be an igloo inside.  i’ve noticed that with most businesses over the past few years.  they think that because it’s 80+ degrees (and it’s much hotter right now) that the inside needs to be at 50-something!!!  ok…so not enough sleep…cold indoors while hot outdoors…oh, and at bunko the other night, someone wasn’t sure if she was sniffling b/c she was getting sick or b/c of the air quality we’ve been having. 

meanwhile…on the scale front - the home scale went back up  :(  tomorrow is official WI.  we’ll see what that scale says.  i think i know the culprit(s) of the home scale going up…i just have to get through today and keep on trekkin…

although…i think i had a mini NSV yesterday.  yesterday morning when out w/the puppy & running around, i noticed my pants were kinda falling down.  so while at work when i went to the restroom, i looked in the mirror to see how the pants were fitting - i would wear them painted to my body b/c i refused to believe they were too small & b/c there was nothing else i had to wear.  well…i noticed a little bagginess in the tush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  what?!  my pants were no longer painted on?!  woo hoo!!!

angel:  DON’T EAT THE COOKIES

devil:  EAT THE COOKIES!!! 

 angel:  YOU’VE BEEN DOING WELL…

devil:  TAKE A WIFF.  DON’T THEY SMELL GOOD? 

angel:  YOU’RE HUNGRY…IT’S ALMOST LUNCH TIME.

devil:  COME ON…WHAT’S A LITTLE NIBBLE?  C’MON…YOU CAN HAVE A LITTLE NIBBLE OF ALL THE FLAVORS?  OH, YOU ATE HALF A COOKIE?  NO PROBLEM?

angel:  YOU REALLY WANT TO WAIT UNTIL LUNCH WHEN YOU CAN GET A WHOLESOME MEAL.

yup…that’s what’s playing on in my head.  it’s a co-worker’s bday, and the girls she supervises brought in cookies for her bday.  they look like the kinds from the store…so they’re good size cookies.  and they smell good.  and i’m hungry.  and i’ve held back.  i just got some water from the kitchen, and i could smell the cookies.  and i want ‘em…but i don’t…but i do…especially the one with the ginormous chocolate chunks in it!!! 

it’s almost lunch time.  i’m gonna try to hold off another 15 min or so…and then i’ll go home and let stella out, see DH, eat lunch, and hopefully be too full to want to nibble on the cookies!!!

so…we have a new addition to our family.  her name is stella.  she weighs 10 lbs.  she’s very cute.  and has the softest hair.  and she likes DH more than me.  although i sometimes get kisses.  and she’s very funny!!!  and she wobbles when she runs.  and she’s really good about going to the bathroom in her designated spots.  however, she doesn’t like her own home.  she has already escaped it once.  and she cries when she has to go into her own home when she doesn’t want to.

we picked up our puppy on sunday.  she’s a bouvier des flanders and she’s 8 weeks old.  she’s named after the belgian beer - stella artois.  and the cutest fluff ball around!!!  DH is at his parents and took her w/him and she had fun running around and playing with some of the other dogs.  and apparently she passed out and he was wondering if he should bring her home since she’s sound asleep on her back!  i had bunko tonight and was just too tired to go to his parents, even though they’re only a few minutes away. 

so…i had mixed thoughts about what having a puppy was going to do to my weight loss.  i was down .8 last week, which, while sounds right for last week, is a little lower than what i’ve been down on a weekly basis.  so i decided i was going to be as good as i could before picking up stella.  ate OP & exercised when i could.  she cried all night on sunday - made me realize i may not get as much 6am exercise in…or any for that matter.  and then i stepped on the scale monday morning — it was the first time the home scale was below 130!!!  (but this is still less than the official WI scale) .  ok….encouraging!!!

so…now it’s thursday.  my eating has been pretty much OP.  i’ve probably dipped into my FP some, since i haven’t been exercising as much.  BUT, i have made my runs!  so, i’ve run 3 times this week, just no walking days.  i am not the best sleeper to begin with.  and with stella’s crying/barking/howling throughout the night…you bet i’m tired!!!  i’m hoping she gets over the crying thing soon….it’s only b/c we’re trying to crate train her.

i’ll post pix soon!!!  i have other things i want to share, it’s just been a busy week.  that, and i think that DH gets a little jealous/lonely when i go upstairs to catch up on everyone else’s goings on and blog myself!!! 

i went to my meeting today - another .8 gone!  woo hoo!!!  of course i wish it were more, but i’ll take it!!!  that makes a total of 13 gone…just a couple more from my 10%!!!  i think things might slow down some for the next couple of months…we’ll see.  but stella joins our family tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!  she’s an 8 week old bouvier des flanders puppy!  and september is gonna be crazy w/holidays, travel, birthdays.  not to mention vacation the end of august.  i’m glad i’ve done as well as i have for now, since i need to gear up for things to maybe slow down until mid october.  BUT, i will definitely do everything i can to make good choices and still get in some exercise.

so…stella.  yes, we are getting a puppy.  and i’m SUCH the procrastinator.  i wanted to get certain things done around the hosue before she came.  did i? no.  we did our first big petsmart run today.  man…dog stuff is EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!!  granted, i know the pet industry is something like a 4 BILLION dollar industry.  now i see why.  and i know it’s not our first trip to petsmart.  we are currently housing our vacationing dog…that’s what we call DH’s bro’s dog.  she sometimes “vacations” with us…that’s just when she stays with us.  she is too funny and really smart.  this morning when we were outside, she started chewing on something - she dug up a bone that she had buried a few months ago!  (it’s been that long since she’s been w/us)  anyhow…i think she will be gone by the time we come home w/puppy.  we thought we’d be able to pick her up around lunch time, but the breeder called & won’t be available until 3PM.  DH is NOT very happy about that.

we’re off to dinner & movies w/the neighbors.  need to get ready…DH is calling me…more tomorrow…

not to obsess on the missing point, but i had a realization in the middle of the night…when i am barely awake & walking to the bathroom.  i think the reason i’m so affected by this loss of a point is because of when i snack.  i have a hard time feeling full during the day, sometimes.  i’ve tried having fruit & veggies - but sometimes an apple just makes me hungrier.  so i go for the sometimes not as nutritious snacks that i can get for 1 point.  not 2 points - like a YUMM-DILLI-ICIOUS fiber 1 bar - but 1 point.  i get a little stingy on my points during the day.  i like to make sure i have enough for dinner…so my snack of choice these days is quakes.  and i’ll pull out 7 and eat just those 7.  and a lot of times, that will fill me up.  but if not, i may eat 14 of them.  and for whatever reason, i’ve never really allowed myself to dip into AP & FP.  not sure if that is good or bad.  i just haven’t.  although i will be tonight since we’re going out to eat w/friends.

speaking of which…after we made plans, i started wondering if we picked the best place to eat!!!  just b/c i have WI tomorrow in the morning…we’re going for thai.  i don’t remember if that has a lot of sodium or not!!!  uh….oops.  oh well…i’m gonna go, have a good time, eat in moderation, and enjoy it!!!  because i love thai food and i haven’t had it in a long time.  hopefully i’m not tempted to get the spring rolls - YUMMO - or if i am, that someone else will share them w/me!!! 

happy friday!!!