Taking the Reins

Not only do you not disclose your nutritional information (which I imagine is HEINOUS!), you have also changed your menu and removed the TURKEY LITE! Seriously, throw me a freaking bone here. I was just beside myself when I found myself in this new Quizno’s today and my standbye (which I believe is one of 3 sandwiches they’ve ever disclosed calories for) was not there. I ended up ordering a turkey sandwich with no sauce, no cheese….but it was regular, so I only ate half. Of course I was starving afterwards and sure I’d eaten a million points. Argh. I hate getting trapped like that! If I were alone, I would have walked out in a rage and gone hungry. Anything is better than feeling like you are making the wrong choice for nothing.
To vent further, Quizno’s has made no effort whatsoever to cater to a dieting crowd, be it low carb or low calorie. All the soups today were creamy, they were served in a bread bowl (I mean, come on, let’s add insult to injury here), half the sandwiches are served with bacon, all the salads come drenched in fattening dressings….there is literally NOTHING there for the health conscious dieter. They even eliminated the Baked Lays in line. Like the “3 ingredient” lays…potatoes, oil, salt….are better! PLEASE! I was so angry. No wonder Americans are obese. When something as innocuous as a sandwich becomes so full of fat and calories, we are all doomed.
On a more positive note, I haven’t been hit with the ravenous nighttime munchies yet. I just ate a bowl of lettuce with some Trader Ming dressing, so hopefully that has taken the edge off a little. Now, what to find for dinner that’s low in points and doesn’t involve dishes?! Man, I’m so lazy after work.
Food Points
Coffeemate creamer with coffee 1
2 All Bran Bars (separated by 6 hours, I’ll have you know) 4
1 cup of grapes 1
String cheese 1
Fiberful bar 1
Quizno’s smoked turkey sandwich, 1/2 of a regular, no cheese, no sauce 8
Salad with Trader Mings dressing 1
1 cup Fiber One Flakes with 1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Breeze 3
Hostess 100 calorie chocolate cupcakes 1

Totals 21

I hope I didn’t submarine my day.
We were taking a beautiful walk in San Juan Capistrano on America’s oldest street when suddenly we came across this gorgeous cottage surrounded by flowers. The deck wrapped around the building was bustling with diners….so I ran over to the sign and to my great pleasure it was a tea house! Now, I haven’t had a proper tea since I went to England to visit my friend and had the works in Brighton, so I was definitely due. My husband protested heartily, but I trumped him and in we went. I don’t feel I was too bad. We ordered a pot of English breakfast tea, 4 sandwich triangles (equaling one whole sandwich), a cup of fruit, and a blackberry scone. I will admit, I had some cream on my scone….that’s how you really do a scone. Hubby ate half of everything, so that minimized the guilt I felt. I am not sure how to estimate points on this, though? Do I call it 10 and hope that covers it? Starbucks scones range from 8 - 16 points. If I say mine was 12 points total, then that is 6 for my half. The microscopic sandwiches could not have been more than 3. And my dab of cream 1? Well, I’ll call my wonderful, sinful, totally funny and whimsy teatime 10. The look of horror on my husband’s face at the portions (they were dainty) was enough humor to last a week!
Here’s my day so far. I’m thinking lots of vegetables tonight?!! I’d work out, but my knee is about ready to have a full blown flair-up and my legs are so sore they hurt to touch. I might be able to do an upper body circuit tonight with some abs, but anything that’ll earn me activity points will probably hurt too much. I hate getting old.
Food Points
Coffeemate creamer with coffee 3
1 cup Trader Joe O’s and 1/4 cup Almond Breeze 2
1 cup of grapes 1
1/2 of the Quaker chocolate 90 calorie pack 1
Hostess 100 calorie pack cupcakes 1
High tea– 1/2 scone, 1/2 sandwich, dab o’ cream 10
Artichokes, ICBINB 0
Coldstone Like It Sinless Sweet Cream, no topping 3
Fiber One Bar 2

Totals 22
1 flex point used. 0 activity points. (Although we did walk for 20 minutes, lost, in San Juan capistrano today, but we’ll err on the side of caution)

Just got these at Costco today, in 3 different flavors….cinnamon, chocolate, and peanut butter. Opened the chocolate tonight for a bite, and let me tell you– -one word came to mind:
SAMOAS!!!
Yes, they taste like the Girl Scout cookie. Maybe they don’t have the caramel and they aren’t big at all, but boy do they taste good. Somehow the granola has the texture of coconut, so I was tricked. I love them!

I ate 1/2 of my points by 1pm, so it’s been rough tonight! I don’t know why I have days like this, but I just roll with the punches.
For lack of anything better to say, here’s my day:
Food Points
Coffeemate creamer with coffee 2
TJ’s Light String Cheese 1
Dannon Lite n’ Fit Yogurt 1
Minestrone soup w/ 2 Wasa crackers 3
TJ’s Fiberful bar 1
Sugarfree pudding 1
Green apple 1
1 Tbsp Trader Ming’s dressing, 1 cup Romaine, tbsp slivered almonds 1
Pria Bar 2
5 ounces chicken with 1 cup brown rice and roasted asparagus 8
100 calorie pack of Hostess cupcakes 2
Totals 23
Flex points used: 1, Flex Points Remaining: 24

The creative juices aren’t flowing tonight, so apologies in advance for my lack of inspiration.
Today was a day. Nothing spectacular. No weird eating urges. No binging. I went to spinning tonight and probably lost 10 lbs in sweat. Seriously gross, but it makes me feel like I worked hard. Had a huge salad for dinner with my lemon pepper tuna, slivered almonds, a slice of Jalsberg light cheese, and my sinful Trader Ming’s Sesame Ginger dressing. There’s really nothing like a good salad.
So, here’s the damage for the day:
Food Points
Coffeemate creamer with coffee 2
TJ’s Light String Cheese 1
TJ’s Fiberful Bar 1
Grilled chicken breast with sauteed veggies 4
Hostess 100 calorie pack (chocolate ones– YES!!!) 2
1 Klondike Slim a Bear fudgesicle 1
1 small green apple 1
1 packet of SF hot cocoa 1
2 Wasa crisps with 1 wedge laughing cow light 2
My huge tuna salad 5

Totals 20
Activity points earned: 5 (spinning rocks my world!)
Flex points: 25 remaining

Today’s VA Tech shooting just took the wind right out of me today. My cousin and her husband are alumni, and I’m about 5 years out of school myself….and I cannot fathom showing up to lecture hall and being shot for no reason. I’ve just been stunned and nauseous all day long. It sort of puts my eating into perspective, but in the spirit of accountability, here’s my menu for the day:
Food Points
Coffeemate creamer with coffee 2
TJ’s Light String Cheese 1
Dannon Lite n’ Fit Yogurt 1
Chipotle chicken salad w/ black beans, lettuce, and Tabasco (talk about not filling) 8
Hostess 100 calorie pack (chocolate ones– YES!!!) 2
100 calorie granola bar 2
2 cups of mixed veggies– broccoli, carrots, and cucumbers 0
1 packet of SF hot cocoa 1
2 Wasa crisps with 1 wedge laughing cow light 2
1 cup butter lettuce with 1 tbsp fat free feta and 1 tbsp Trader Ming’s Sesame dressing 1
1.5 cups Fiber One Flakes with Almond clusters and 1/2 cup Almond Breeze 4
Totals 24
Activity points earned: 30 minutes on Elliptical, interval…..3 pts (320 calories)
Flex Points Used: I ate 10 last night. Please don’t ask. I’m ovulating. (That’s what I tell my dear husband when he questions my binges….he doesn’t like anything having to do with girly business and just leaves me alone) Suffice it to say I binged on lots of fiberous cereals, strawberries, and jello, so it wasn’t all THAT bad. Anyway, 25 left for the week. This is day 2. (oops)

Amidst a slightly gloomy day (and by CA standards, that means we saw the sun most of the time but it did rain for maybe a 1/2 hour!), hubby and I hit the local Henry’s supermarket to grab some veggies for the week. And what booty I found! (Clear your minds! I mean this in the pirate sense of the word booty….arrrrr)
I came home with 2 bags of lettuce, a bag of baby spinach, two cucumbers, 2 zuchinni, a summer squash, kiwi fruit, strawberries, a bag of carrots & broccoli, and asparagus. Mmm Mmm Mmmm…..it’s going to be a great week. I came home and chopped up my cucumbers, then placed them in baggies with the carrots and broccoli so I can snatch them up in the morning and take them to work with me. I also made a dip with french onion dip mix and fat free sour cream. 4 tablespoons = 1 point, and I’m anticipating that this will last me two days. I also got Wasa rye crisps that I’m going to eat with my Laughing Cow light wedges for 2 point snacks. I figure they won’t be as bad for me as the 100 calorie packs, and they may actually fill me up.
Dinner tonight was chicken breast with sauteed onion, zuchinni, and summer squash in garlic, salt, pepper, a dash of EVOO, and some ICBINB spray. I also added a side salad with a tablespoon of Trader Ming’s Sesame Ginger Dressing— it’s like candy and only 25 calories for 2 tablespoons. I’m STUFFED!!! Which is a good thing, because I suspect I’m out of points in a major way. Today was just a snacky kind of day, and I never tallied my points. So, the table below might show some devastation as I reveal the day’s damage:
Food Points
Coffeemate creamer with coffee 3
1 cup Kashi Go Lean with 1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Breeze 3
TJ’s Fiberful bar 1
Trail Mix Bar 3
Hostess 100 calorie pack (chocolate ones– YES!!!) 2
100 calorie pack of Mini Butter-flavored rice cakes (quaker?) 2
Mini pistachio flavored frozen yogurt 2
2 cups lettuce with 1 tbsp dressing 1
5 ounces chicken breast 5
Sauteed veggies 0

Totals 22
Well I’ll be! I guess all is not lost.
I didn’t do yoga this morning. Slept until 11am! What has become of me? Well, I do work hard during the week and my weekends are the only time to rest and recover. I guess I deserve it every once and while. And I hit up H&M for a little retail therapy while the hubby was out at work. Got some rockin’ work pants and some cute tanks to wear under cardigans…love it. Also got some workout clothes at Old Navy. Can’t beat their sports bras for $12. Granted, they aren’t that supportive, but who’s watching me?!

…Diet secrets, that is. When a group in my office decided to do a weight loss pool, I offered one of my friends a list of snacks I eat when I need to fill me up….they were dreading their new “diets” and didn’t know where to start. I’m sure you’ve seen them all on various lists all over the internet, but I found it in my e-mail box today and thought I’d offer up my “secrets” to reaching my WW goal. (I’m copying verbatim, so apologies for WW lecturing)
Low fat mozzarella string cheese
Klondike Slim-A-Bear Fudgesicles (they are 1 point, but you can only have 1 and you have to be able to handle sugar alcohols)
Baby carrots
Snap peas with 1 wedge of Laughing cow cheese
100 calorie pack of 94% fat free popcorn
5 cups of air-popped popcorn with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray
100 calorie Pria bars (mint, peanut butter crisp, French vanilla)
Deep chocolate Vitamuffin top (I buy these in bulk from www.vitalicious.com– I am addicted and they are SO good for you and sinful when nuked for 15 seconds)
Thomas’ Light English Muffin with 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
Berries— all berries are good! Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blueberries
1 Small apple
Dannon Lite n’ Fit Yogurt with 1/2 cup of Kellogg’s All Bran
15 Wisecrackers from Trader Joe’s with hummus spread
Veggie burgers— these are a great snack– and some brands taste pretty good, too!
Weight Watchers snacks…they make pretzels, bars, shakes, and little cakes that you can bring as a snack

Thought I would post this recipe that I got from one of our healthy-eating mentors on the Knot, Coolteacher79. Haven’t calculated the points on this yet, but I’ve made it several times and love it.
CHICKEN PARM:
1.5 lbs chicken breast
1 egg white
1/4 c oats
1 large can diced tomatoes w/ Italian seasonings
1/4 c fat free mozzerella
Parsley
Pam
Spray large pan with Pam. Preheat on stove top.
Dip each chicken breast in the egg white, then in the oats, coating each side.
In the pan, sear the chicken on high heat, about 2-3 minutes each side.
Flip chicken back to original side. Cover, and reduce heat to medium.
Flip chicken occasionally and cook until just no longer pink.
Add tomatoes. Cover. Cook on medium until they first start to boil.
Sprinkle ff mozzerella on top. Cover. Cook until cheese melts.
Remove, place on platter to serve. Sprinkle with parsley to garnish.
** This is great served over 1-2 oz. whole wheat angel hair pasta.
Just cook the pasta separately.

15 04 2007
You may remember my lunch from yesterday at King’s Fish House and my subsequent e-mail to their website asking for nutritional information. While I’m a bit disappointed that they didn’t give me any numbers, I’m pretty impressed with my late night response. Clearly, these guys value their customers, and trust me….I’ll be a repeat in the future.
Hi Mtngirlincali,

Thanks for asking! Unfortunately we have just begun to work on creating a system for offering this nutritional info. We are still months away. However, this I can tell you…my recommendation is that you do what my wife, who also uses Weight Watchers does and orders her sauce on the side and her veggies without butter because this is where sso many of the calories can come from. The Seafood and fresh vegetables we use are so naturally healthful and nutritious and even without the added fats are extremely flavorful.

I hope that helps and I look forward to being able to offer more complete info in the future.

Thanks!

Matt

I found them. After weeks and weeks of scouring every grocery store known to man, I finally found the Hostess 100 calorie packs of cupcakes everyone has been raving about. I’m not sure why California isn’t fully stocked with this low cal wonder, but at least now I know where to go. Thank you, Albertsons! At least you are good for ONE type of shopping trip.
I’ve only tried the yellow cake, and it was only so-so. I probably shouldn’t have had anything tonight, but as I was pumping gas, I looked into the car and my darling husband was munching away on my Hostess cupcakes with a sick grin on his face. Naturally, I confiscated what was left of his pack and ate it for myself. I’ve been waiting for these for ages– how dare he eat one of mine, and first, no less!
Had an okay day today. Ate 1/2 of my points by the time we left today for our day of mixed use sightseeing. I’m trying to look at proven developments so I can get a sense of placemaking and different mixes of uses….hoping some of it wil be useful to my job. So today we hit Victoria Gardens out in Rancho Cucamonga, a result of a $300 million public-private partnership between the City and Forest City Enterprises. Very well done, I might add. They developed several “main street” type thoroughfaires lined with quality retail and including several gathering areas that were bustling with music and activity. I loved it! We had lunch at King’s Fish House, which was very health-friendly. I ordered grilled shrimp and scallops with steamed veggies and sauteed spinach. SO yummy. Have no idea what the points are, though, so I’m not journaling today. I figure I start over with flex points tomorrow and had 30 left over for the week, so there’s no way I could go over today with the meal I chose. (Unless it’s like the evil Macaroni Grill, who somehow turn an innocuous grilled scallop salad into 3 Happy Meals) As an aside, I e-mailed them tonight and inquired as to the caloric content of my meal. Let’s see how good their customer service is!
You know, I had some candy, too. I sent my husband to the candy store so I could shop in peace, but that only caused trouble on the car ride home. I ate a few peach gummy things, a black licorice wheel, a dark chocolate turtle, and 2 strips of sour tape. And it was good.
Tomorrow, I’m going to hope and pray that I get up in time to go to my very first yoga class. Everybody tells me I need to relax and get rid of stress, and yoga is usually the next thing out of their mouth. I’ve never been, because frankly, bending into weird shapes and breathing deeply for an hour is not my idea of a good time. I hate admitting that I have done a position called the “downward facing dog,” and I am SO NOT FLEXIBLE. It’s embarassing, really. That’s why I like spinning. Nobody cares about my lack of flexibility, there’s yelling, sweat, hard-pumping music, and I love it. BUT, yoga keeps coming up in conversations. Improving core strength, which will help with my knee issues and my back pain. And the whole stress thing, too. So, fingers crossed that I overcome my fear of yoga and get my booty to the gym at 9:30 am tomorrow morning!

After all this scale frustration, I decided to take my measurements and compare them to the ones I took on Sparkpeople back in January when I tried out their program. I’ll compare them to my original weight and measurements from my wedding dress fitting in September of 2006. Here you go, in inches:

Date Weight Hips Waist Chest
Sept. 2006 178.5 40.5 31.5 42.5
January, 2007 147 38 30 40
April 14, 2007 152.5 36.75 27.25 39

So, I may have gained 5.5 lbs in the past few months, but I’m smaller. Ack!!! I guess that explains why most of my clothes still fit. I just really wish the scale would go down a little, too. It’s all boobs, really. If they’d just shrink a tiny little bit I could get back into my H&M large shirts again. (They really need to learn about women with breasts– it’s impossible to get a good fit there on the top…but check them out for pants. They do great with hips and butt)
Anyway, thought it was interesting. If some of you have gained but feel like you are working hard, take your measurements. I certainly feel like this is enough to keep me motivated for a while longer! (I was pretty down this morning)

I haven’t really thought this one through lately. I’m so fixated by the number on the scale that nothing else seems to satisfy me. After weighing in at 152.5 AGAIN this morning, I just about banged my head against a wall. What is wrong? Why wasn’t it this difficult last year when I went zipping past this number and into the 140’s?
But I sit here and think about the leaps and bounds my body has been through in the past month and a half. I can wear the short shorts and stand next to the skinny girls…and my legs are the ones that are toned. My poochy tummy, which is probably the reason why all those tests indicate I’m prone to future heart disease, is slowly going down. All those crazy ab exercises after spinning seem to be tightening it up and eating away at all the mush. And you know what? I may be the same “bigger” weight that I am right now, but I do feel more confident when I go out. Because I’m fit and healthy. Just a pound over the limit to the top of the BMI chart. Throw me a bone here, Mr. Scale!
So what do I want?
• I want to go on my long-awaited honeymoon with my husband and wear a bikini. Not even a string one. One of those halter types with a little more coverage is sufficient. I just want to be able to wear a two piece without thinking “do they think I’m too fat to wear this?”
• I want to not care what other people think of what I eat. Last summer I didn’t care. But those extra 10 lbs have really changed me.
• When I do have kids, I want to be the MILF! I don’t want to let the pregnancy weight get ahead of me, so I will try to use my foundation that I’m setting now to get me to MILF status in short order.
• I want to be able to do that crazy 300 Fitness test. I’d be Superwoman if I could complete it.
• I want to feel more energetic. Get rid of these daytime fevers. Feel ready to conquer the world, all the time.

I just really want to wear that stupid bikini. It’s SO vain, but I’ve always been the chubby girl my entire life and have never, ever been able to wear one. It seems so silly, but it is my main motivator. Especially living in Southern CA now, where everyone is obsessed with how they look. (Don’t get me started on my forehead lines— I would never ever do Botox, but now I notice them every morning and think to myself, “I hate getting old! I want my hubby to be able to say that he’s got a hot one on his hands, not just a “smart one.”
We’ll keep working on all of that. Thanks, Fat Girl Walking (wish I could call you something else? Our Inspirational Leader? Infinitely Wise one? Sarah?), for this idea. Helps to sit down and really think about these things every once and a while

I had my mind set on “cheating” all day today. Granted, I have 30 flex points in the bank that I can use until Sunday, so it’s technically not cheating. What could have me fixated all day long, you ask? The Costco vanilla frozen yogurt. Gargantuan and creamy, it is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. DWLZ has it logged as 4 points, so it’s usually something I can plan for. Unfortunately, my day went downhill around noon and I ate a few more points than I should have in order to properly space out my day. So, the yogurt was totally going to dip into the flex bank.
Imagine my massive disappointment when the Costco food stand from hell RAN OUT OF VANILLA FROZEN YOGURT….RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY VERY EYES!!! No, I’m sure you can’t imagine it. Because it was such a huge downer– I feared I would break down into tears right then and there. Alas, I controlled myself and held it together, rejected the chocolate substitute, and then proceeded to pout for the entire night. Damn you, Costco. I love you, and I loathe you.
For those unaware, the Costco food stand is a source of much evil. One slice of pizza is the equivalent of nearly one whole day of points!!! That heinous “chicken bake” seems innocuous enough, but it is pure Big Mac in disguise. And the Caesar Salad– boy, I don’t know what they’ve done to it, but it’s so calorically rich you’d be better getting an In n’ Out burger with fries! So, there’s my PSA for the day. If you must, do the berry smoothie. Don’t let the yogurt get you, though. It’s addictive like Coffeemate….er, crack.
Here’s the damage for the day:
Food Points
Coffeemate creamer with coffee 2
TJ’s light string cheese 1
TJ’s Fiberful bar 1
TJ’s Instant Blueberry oatmeal 3
Pria Bar 2
3 large carrots 0
3 ounces of chicken breast with marinara sauce 3
OCoco’s 100 calorie pack 2
2 cups Trader Joe O’s with 1 cup of Unsweetened Almond Breeze 5
Thomas Light English Muffin with 1 TBSP Peanut butter 3
1.5 cups Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds 4
Totals 22
Flex points: 30 remaining
Activity points: None. But surely I earned a few dashing around the new H&M grand opening today. Talk about excitement. Once those crowds go down at the cash register, I’m going to do some real damage.

You know that time. Halfway through the day, when you’ve been insatiably hungry and you now find yourself on pace to bust through all your points before the day is done. Time to go home early and go straight to sleep, because there’s nothing left to do at that point.
Well, I’m there. I’ve eaten 8 points and haven’t even gotten to my lunch yet. And I’m ravenous, just ravenous. I’d like to say it’s because all my rockin’ leg muscles are needing more calories, but we know that probably isn’t the case. After all, the evil scale has placed me back at 152.5 despite my perfect behavior and obscene number of activity points for the week. What to do?? Well, I’m just going to read blogs at work all afternoon. To pass the day, keep my munchy fingers occupied, and to remind me why finding more food to eat isn’t going to make me feel better in the long run.