This is based on the diet soda & milk combination my mom passed along to me recently. She told me that milk is one of the hardest things to get enough of, and that was a topic of conversation at a recent meeting. And Priscilla brought up the concept of a drink equal parts soda and skim or 1% milk. Use diet cream soda, or diet chocolate soda, and its a really nice drink that's big enough to be satisfying, and cheap enough in points.

So I took it one step further, and added ice and ice cream in my blender.

Milk Shake Freezy

(2) 1 cup skim/1% milk
(0) 1 cup ice
(0) 1 cup diet soda (frex, double-fudge)
(2) 1/2 cup fat free ice cream (or lowfat, as long as its 2 pts per 1/2 cup)

Place all items into a blender and cycle on high to chop ice. Pour into a LARGE cup. This could actually be shared for a 2 point drink, or keep it all to yourself for what tastes like a decadent treat. If you make a chocolate shake, sprinkle in some cinnamon extract for an extra snap of flavor.

I picked up this boxed rice mix out of curiosity recently. The brand is Seeds of Change, and the flavor is Tuscan Style Rice & Beans. It makes 3 one cup servings, of 3 points each, or 5 points 1 1/2 cups. And 1 cup is a VERY filling serving.

Even in the microwave version the rice & beans are toasted in a small amount of oil first, which adds flavor. This boxed mix is great! The points are low, the flavor high, and its organic on top of all that. This one is a definite keeper.

Breakfast

(2) 2 slices light multigrain & 1 tbsp i can't believe its not butter light
(1) 1/2 c egg substitute
(2) 1 slice cheese
(2) mix ham & surimi

Lunch

(5) udon noodles
(0) sauce
(1) surimi
(0) vegetables

Dinner

(2) stir fry vegetables w/ surimi and not-chicken
(3) 1 cup seeds of change rice

Late Night Snack

(6) milkshake
(0) 1 cup double-fudge diet soda
(2) 1 cup skim milk
(2) 1/2 cup fat free chocolate ice cream
(2) 1/4 cup low fat cinnamon ice cream

(24) total points for the day

20-25 points available per day
140-175 points per week

(31) Sunday 6/23
(22) Monday 6/24
(29) Tuesday 6/25
(25) Wednesday 6/26
(26) Thursday 6/27
(24) Friday 6/28
(28) Saturday 6/29

(185) total for the week

over by 10 points total (1.5 per day)

Breakfast

(2) 1 cup kashi good friends
(1) 1 cup fresh locally grown strawberries

Lunch

(1) 2 slices arnold light multigrain bread
(1) 2 slices price chopper fat free turkey
(1) 6 slices hilshire farms ham
(1) 1 slice fat free cheese
(2) 8 oz skim milke & 8 oz double-fudge sugar free soda

Afternoon Snack

(2) 1 oz baked cheddar ruffles

Dinner

(5) leftover chicken & spaetzle
(10) small ice cream sundae

Late Night Snack

(3) 1 oz snapea crisps

(28) total points for the day

Breakfast

(3) 1/2 sm banana, strawberries, 1 c heart to heart kashi
(1) grandma's guilt-free lemon muffin

Lunch

(5) leftover chicken & spaetzle
(3) sesame raisin crunch luna bar

Afternoon Snack

(2) 94% fat free popcorn

Dinner

(5) weight watchers santa fe rice & beans
(4) fat free double chocolate ice cream w/ strawberries and fat free cool whip

Late Night Snack

(1) 2 grandma's guilt-free pumpkin cookies

(24) total points for the day

Breakfast

(2) 1 c heart to heart kashi with 1/2 c blueberries

Mid-Morning Snack

(1) chocolate grandma's guilt-free muffin

Lunch
(4) homemade bread
(2) crandberry sauce
(2) sliced turkey
(4) stuffing
(3) potato

Dinner

(6) Leftover chicken & spaetzle

Bedtime Snack

(2) skinny cow ice cream sandwich

(26) total points for the day

Tonight's recipe was created by my wonderful garden. It may still be early in the season, but I have wonderful herbs and salad stuff.

Herbed Chicken

(18) 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
(0) 1/2 c mixed chopped fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme)
(1) 1 tbsp "I Can't Believe Its Not Butter Light"
(0) 2-3 baby bok choy (or spinach, or other leafy green)

Chop the herbs and mix with not-butter to make a paste. Lay out a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Place chicken thighs on one half of foil. Salt and pepper to taste. Spread herbs over top of chicken. Place leafs of bok choy or other leafy greens over chicken thighs.

Fold the foil over and seal long end. Seal each side end to form a packet. Place on indirect heat on the grill for 25 minutes.

Open and enjoy!

Makes:
3 servings of 6 points each OR
4 servings of 5 points each OR
6 servings of 3 points each

Garden Fresh Spaetzle

(0) 1/4 to 1/2 cup finely chopped mixed herbs (marjoram, summer savory, rosemary, sage)
(1) 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
(1) 1/2 c egg substitute
(12) 1 1/2 c flour
(0) 1/2 to 3/4 c water
(0) 1/2 tsp salt
(0) 1/4 tsp baking powder
(2) 2 Tbsp "I Can't Believe its not Butter Light"

Finely chop and then crush herbs in a morter and pestle, adding the olive oil to dampen.

Place egg substitute in a bowl and whisk. Add 1/2 c water and flour, and mix thoroughly (avoid the whisk -- it gets stuck in it). Add more water until a good consistency is achieved. Add salt, baking powder, and herb mixture, and mix thoroughly.

Place spaetzle maker (looks like a grater with huge openings and a cage on top) over a pot of boiling water and drip spaetzle dough into water. Simmer 2 minutes.

Drain (there always seems to be water retained with spaetzle, so don't worry about them being dry). Toss with not-butter.

Makes 4 servings of 4 points each.

Breakfast

(2) 1 cup kashi good friends & 1/2 cup blueberries

Lunch

(6) 2 sundried tomato chicken sausages
(0) caeser calorie free dressing
(0) fresh baby greens (from my garden!)
(2) bag of ultralight popcorn

Afternoon Snack

(3) toasted nuts and cranberry luna bar

Dinner

(5) Herb spaetzle with not-butter
(5) Roast chicken thigh

Bedtime Snack

(2) skinny cow ice cream sandwich

(25) total points for the day

Comfort food is the bane of a dieter. Or at least, its certainly my difficult point. Most comfort foods are high in fat and have that wonderful gooey texture... all things that I just shouldn't be having.

Weight Watchers helps. I mean, they do have some really good entrees that are comfort foods. The mac and cheese and the tuna noodle casserole are two of them that I just can't do without.

I seem to spend a lot of my time trying to find ways of having comfort food without it being high in points. Chocolate... especially chocolate. I crave chocolate.

Jenn pointed out to me this weekend that I only seem to crave chocolate when I can't have it. She's probably right. The entire time I was pregnant, when I shouldn't have had all that caffeine sort of compound, not to mention nuts, I totally craved chocolate covered nuts. And now that I'm dieting again, I find myself daydreaming about chocolate ice cream, or brownies, or cake...

I'm starting again, aren't I?

I think that it is that when I can't have something I love, I start to crave it. Cheese falls into this category as well. And salami. Okay, so I'm weird. Oh, forgot peanut butter. I cannot find any way of making peanut butter fit the diet. *sighs*

Breakfast

(2) 1 c heart to heart and 1/2 c blueberries

Morning Snack

(0) carrots
(1) grandma's guilt free pumpkin muffin

Lunch

(4) weight watcher's macaroni & cheese

Afternoon Snack

(too much) carrot cake from vanilla bean (i couldn't resist!)

Dinner

(7) chicken fingers
(6) macaroni salad

(20 + ?) total for today

Breakfast

(2) 1 cup heart to heart kashi

Lunch

(5) Weight Watcher's Tuna Noodle Gratin
(2) 1/2 cup fat free chocolate ice cream

Afternoon Snack

(3) 1 oz snapea crisps

Dinner

(6) Weight Watchers penne pollo dinner

Evening Snack

(1) 2 grandma's guilt free lemon cookies
(3) "just jelly" sandwich with country kitchen light italian, fake butter, all fruit

(22) Total for the day

I couldn't weigh in yesterday morning, since I was out of town. But this morning I'm back to 170, so I'm back to where I was two weeks ago. *phew* Gotta keep the downward motion going!!

Midnight Snack

(4) Nutz Over Chocolate Luna bar

Breakfast

(1) Kashi good friends cereal
(1) 1/2 banana
(1) strawberries
(1) Grandma's guilt free goodies bran muffin

Lunch

(2) 2 one point hotdogs
(1) 2 slices country kitchen light italian
(1) 3/8 oz slice cheese
(2) 8 oz 1% milk + 8 oz diet double chocolate soda

Afternoon Snacking

(don't know) Other Meeting at Mark & Priscilla's

Dinner

(1) 2 slices country kitchen light italian bread
(2) 1/2 can low sodium tuna
(0) smart beat mayo
(1) 1 slice fat free cheese

(3) Cheerios to snack on

(21 + ??) total points for the day

Well, we've got a new blog engine on the block. Per Julia's suggestion I decided to take a look at Moveable Type which has definitely improved how this blog functions. There are now categories, like Journal, Recipe, Product Review, and Rambling (which this definitely is). So I can organize archives by category eventually. And best of all, if the test I am currently conducting works, I can blog from my BlackBerry!!

Snapea Crisps, distributed by Calbee, are addicting. Surprisingly addicting. I opened the bag and handed one to my mother, one to my husband, and ate one myself. And we all immediately agreed we wanted more.

They are not as healthy as I would like -- if they could make them with less fat I would be happier of course. And I don't think I agree with their billing of them as a salad accessorie. They are a rice/pea based extruded puffy sort of snack, so I think they would lose their crunch quickly with a salad dressing. My husband likens their texture to the Andy Capp fries. I'm thinking sort of like a soft Funion, or the various Booty snacks, or cheesy puffs.

They are 150 cal, 2 g fiber, and 8 g fat. This brings it to 3 points per serving, which is 1 oz, which is a surprising large amount of puffy snapeas. And there are 3.3 servings per bag, so about 10 points per bag. The carbs are 14 g per serving, so that's 1 starch exchange on the diabetic diet.

These are a definite keeper.

Soy Crisps, from Trader Joe's are a nice little snack. Think rice cake, but thinner and not so chewy, and in this case, with a light barbecue flavor. Each serving has 6.5 g of soy protein, so these fit in well with my goal of getting more heart healthy soy protein into my diet.

Each serving is 110 cal, 2 g fiber, and 2 g fat. 17g of carbs, so if you're looking at them from the diabetic perspective, its one starch exchange. For Weight Watchers points, it is 2 points.

The whole bag has about 3.5 servings, so I can either eat 28 crisps for 2 points (definitely better than rice cakes!) or the whole bag while gaming (er, not beyond the realm of the possibilities) for 7 points. This one is going to be a keeper.

Breakfast

(1) 3/4 c mixed kashi good friends and health valley bran flakes
(1) 1/2 banana
(1) 1 big strawberry and 1/2 nectarine

(3) Total breakfast points

Lunch

(1) 2 slices country kitchen light italian bread
(1) 6 slices carl buddig beef cold cuts
(1) 3/8 oz slice american cheese
(0) smart beat fat free mayo & champagne garlic mustard

(3) Total lunch points

Afternoon Snacks (at WEF)

(2) 1/3 bag soy crisps (see the product review)
(0) carrots

Dinner

(5) 1 cheese enchilada from Trader Joe's
(4) 1 chicken enchilada from Trader Joe's
(0) big salad

(too much) Ice cream

(17) Total except for the ice cream

Lost that wagon again...

I started off wonderfully. I had a breakfast of cereal and blueberries. Then I went out to lunch, and planned to eat very little for dinner. So all that was good and would have brought me in around oh, 25 points.

Then we had a bad day, and Deb (er, that would be not me but Deb R.) decided, after keeping IT hopping for the past few weeks, she would treat us all to ice cream. Like I could resist Ben & Jerry's AT MY DESK!! So I ate some...

I figure, I had points left over yesterday, right? And I walked today? And I'll just have to be GOOD tomorrow. Then it'll balance out. Ah, the joys of points!!

Today was my best day yet, AND involved a great new recipe.

(3) Heart to heart kashi + peaches

(4) 2 Morningstar Farms pizza style veggie burgers
(2) 2 country kitchen light wheat buns
(0) calorie free Walden Farms blue cheese dressing
(0) tomato

(4) Chocolate Powerbar (okay, so I had a craving!!)

(13) Total points before dinner

Dinner was amazing!! I made a pasta primavera sort of thing that came out SO good.

Sauce:
(3) 1 c fat free half and half
(6) 1/2 c shredded romano cheese
(0) chopped carrots and zucchini
(0) 1 vidalia onion chopped
(0) Lotsa garlic chopped
(2) not-chicken strips
(2) 2 tsp olive oil (for browning onion and garlic)
(13) Total points for sauce

Pour the sauce over 3 cups pasta. This makes four servings. With a total of 22 points, each serving is not even six points, which allows for a sprinkling of cheese over the top. Whee!!! I took a little more than one serving, so I'm saying 7 points. Even at that, it was a HUGE dinner, like major comfort food, and SO low in fat and points! WHEE!!

(7) Pasta primavera
(1) Bite of chocolate peanut butter chip cookie (I baked for Dani's graduation)

(21) Total points for today so far

I will have a 2 point skinny cow ice cream sandwich in a little while, after I've gotten a bit more done, like oh, cleaning the kitchen and more laundry. No walk today, although I forgot to record my walk yesterday! So yay! Today is my best day yet. I'm getting the hang of this just in time to go away for the weekend and probably make a mess of it. *groans*

Unfortunately, today's log started in the middle of the night. The kids had a constant parade of keeping us up last night -- we didn't really get decent sleep until after 4am! -- and I was starving twice. So the first two items occur long before breakfast.

(2) 2 slices country kitchen light italian bread with i can't believe its not butter light
(2) banana

(2) 1+ cup heart to heart kashi
(1) peach

This turned out to be a yummy breakfast, and one I *would* have done again if my daughter hadn't eaten half of the last peach. And not in a way that I can eat the other half tomorrow. *sighs* Kevin needs to learn to cut her fruit up or see it wasted. Especially when she's only really trying to stall going to bed.

(0) fresh baby greens with homemade salsa
(6) weight watches basil chicken
(3) non fat sugar free chocolate frozen yoghurt with sprinkling of peanuts

(1) half bag of ultralight popcorn

Janice is helping me with my diet. Don't think she knows it though. *grins* Basically, she is sharing my popcorn, which keeps me eating only half the bag, which is good for me. And she gets popcorn, which makes her happy. So all is perfect there!

(9) grilled chicken sandwich w/ one slice fat free cheese
(1) sugar free fudgecicle

(27) Total points for the day

Even through the stress, tonight wasn't too bad, although there was one piece of chocolate that shouldn't have happened.

(1) Two slices country kitchen light italian toast w/ spray butter
(2) 2 not-sausage patties
(1) One slice fat free cheese
(1) Not egg, scrambled
(4) Low fat chocolate ice cream with a sprinkling of peanuts
(2) Piece of chocolate

(11) Total for dinner
(29) Total for the day

Okay, I went over. That piece of chocolate really tipped it. I was at 27 before that, which was high end but tolerable. And tomorrow, the walking begins again, assuming the weather is up for it!! I've GOTTA start getting out of the office anyway, before I go beserk!

Lunch today was leftover Chinese from last night. I'd guess around 8 points, but I'm going to estimate 10 just to be sure.

(1) Peach for a snack
(0) Carrots for snacking
(10) Leftover Chinese
(4) Lemon Luna bar

Plus this morning's 3

(18) Points so far today

Which is far higher than I should be, but well, not TOO bad since I'm only planning on eating Weight Watchers for dinner. Or salad. Maybe just mostly salad.

Let's see if I can get this right. New week, new resolution. And next week, while we're traveling, I'll still have better access than I did last weekend. So *fingers crossed* this'll work out from now on. I'm going to be doing my damnedest.

I have my doctor's appt today to check weight and blood pressure. So I can see how different his scale is from my home one. I think my home one is off by about 5 pounds (too low). So right now, I've regained those two pounds I lost, so my weigh in weight is 172, and my fully clothed ready for work weight is 177. I'm guessing it'll be about 182 in Dr. Patil's office. So we'll see.

I keep reminding myself that when I hit 150 I get to have more holes in my head. A third hole in the left ear, and a second in the right, and a cartilege piercing up high on the left. That's my current holy grail. Okay, so its a little weird of a reward, but its something I've wanted for a while and well, I feel like if I'm going to be decorated, I'd rather look good doing it!! So it makes a pretty good reward.

If I ever make it all the way to 120 I really wanna get a tattoo. I've been trying to come up with a design that would be business appropriate in a strapless or low back dress. Kevin doesn't think the pentagram on the back of the left shoulder is a good idea, and I guess I can see his point. Even I have consistently wanted it since I was oh, 18 or so! If I'd had any guts as a teenager I'd already have it. *smiles* I have this Robin Wood picture to use as the image -- a pentagram with vines all twisted around it. A wonderful picture, really. But instead I'm toying with a new design that's actually bigger, but a bit more stylish. We'll see. That's probably more than a year ago, in all actuality.

(1) 3/4 c Kashi Heart to Heart cereal
(2) Peach non-fat yoghurt

(3) Total for the day so far

I really really need to be able to blog from my blackberry to do this right. I never get to blog at work anymore, so I haven't kept up at all. Plus I've been being SO bad that I haven't wanted to. Yeah, fel off the wagon again big time. I keep trying, and then there are all these things that just call to me and I screw it up once more.

This weekend is a party, so I'm hoping I can keep myself at least down to a dull roar. We are bringing a fresh salsa with us, and chips. The salsa is healthy, the chips not so, of course. Although I think we'll bring some baked chips too, which would help. I know someone is bringing a veggie platter. There will be chicken sausage there, which is just yummy.

However, I've also made a homemade ice cream cake. The ice cream is light, as are the oreo cookies, but the brownies are normal. And there's just a lot of stuff crammed into a small space. About 30 points worth of ice cream in the cake, maybe 35. Probably a good 15 of brownies. And about a dozen from the cookies. Imagine if I'd made the ice cream full fat!! So figure the whole ice cream cake is 60 points. If it gets sliced into twelve skinny slices, each one is still 5 whole points!! But I've *got* to try it since I've never made it before and I want to know how it all came out.

Gotta take it one day at a time. I think I want to go pick up some more work clothes for spring -- I don't have more than one really good pair of pants, and only a few tops. So I need stuff. And if I can buy things that make me feel good about my weight, it'll help keep me on track.
 

(1) Sans suchre chocolate mousse
(6) Leftovers from last night (spinach & pasta)
(3) Fat free chocolate ice cream

(15) Points so far today

Time to see if the weather will be okay for me to take a little walk down to the grocery store. Need a break from working, and there're a few things we need, and besides, it'll get Ryan and I OUTSIDE!!

Gimme Lean not-sausage is one of those vegetarian foods I love. There are 7 servings in a log, so I can make it into six patties (which are huge) and fry them in a little bit of oil, and each one is still only 1 point!! And they taste really really good.

(4) light bread, fake egg, fat free cheese, gimme lean sausage pattie

Not the best of evenings, but certainly not as bad as the past few days prior to this one. I made ice cream with fat free sweetened condensed milk, fat free half and half, and 1/2 a cup of baking cocoa. Oh, yum! It tastes wonderfully. I ate more of it than I should have, and tomorrow, when its fully frozen, I'll be good and only eat a scoop at a time. Then it'll be about two points. I think there are ways to make it lighter, maybe by stretching the recipe. The hard part about the sweetened condensed milk is that even fat free its a lot of points because of all the sugar. And it does make it almost too sweet. So what I'm wondering is if I chilled a bowl, and whipped the half and half, maybe twice the amount, but the normal amount of sweetened condensed milk, and twice the chocolate I used... yeah, I think that might work. I'll try it next time I can get the ingredients, although I'd have to freeze it in two batches.

For dinner we made a sort of spinach pasta dish. Sautee garlic and onion in a little bit of oil. Add 1/2 pound turkey breast cubed and stir fry all that. Add 1 lb of spinach chopped and let it wilt. We added a small pile of herbs too. Then toss with spaghetti (4 cups cooked) and about 1/2 cup grated romano or parmesan cheese. Makes five servings, and I think each serving is about 6 points. And it was really really good. I've got leftovers for lunch. Yay!

So...

(2) Fat free chocolate pudding
(2) Chocolate covered soybeans

(Stressful afternoon, which seems par for the course lately)

(6) Dinner
(3) Ice cream

(28) Total for the day

Went out to lunch and a nice walk (about 1/2 the usual walk). Josh & I walked up to the capital to buy lunch and sit up there, which was nice. Its HOT out. Okay, at least *I* think its hot out.

I had a chicken teriyaki wrap with blue cheese, which was probably more points than I should've eaten. I'm figuring it was a good ten points, if not a few more.

Which brings me to:

(15) Total for the day so far

It'll be a better start to the day if I can start out by logging my breakfast! So its already an improvement over yesterday.

(4) Light bread, fat free cheese, fake egg, and veggie bacon sandwich
(1) Extra toast (the bad thing for the morning but it was end slices)

(5) Total for breakfast

Wagon? Was there a diet wagon around here somewhere?

Yeah, fell off. Big time. I know, Weight Watchers says don't regret, don't look back, just move forward and all. But I admit, I'm feeling guilty. I'm also feeling stressed as all hell, so I keep craving chocolate. *sighs* Which has been a big part of it.

Yesterday ended up horribly. 2 slices of pizza and cake and ice cream at the birthday party I took Dani to. Then dinner in the evening.

Today I tried, right up until I got home tonight, still facing hours and hours of work.

(3) Light bread, fat free cheese, fake egg sandwich
(3) chocolate covered soy nuts
(1) grapes
(3) weight Watches of some variety that involved chicken
(0) carrots
(0) sugar free soda
(1) sans suchre chocolate mousse

(11) Total during the day at work

See that wasn't so bad. Then at home for dinner I had a 6 pt Weight Watchers meal. Still not bad.

Then there were the four pieces of chocolate. *innocent look* If I can keep from eating *anything* else until bed, I'll be fine, but I think there'll be a popcorn time coming in a little while because, well, I need to munch on something while I'm going nuts.

If the stress ends at work, things'll be better. Eventually.

On the good side, Josh took me on the hike today and we did it in less than an hour. I really managed to keep up the speed pretty well.

I think I need to make some fat free ice cream with as much chocolate and as few points as I can manage. Maybe that'll help me out a bit.

I looked up the hen again, and came up with 9 points with skin. Considering I didn't eat all of the skin for the half, nor all of the half, I think I should probably revise to about 6 points (its only 4 without skin). But I think I'm done nibbling on the skin again -- that was sobering!

Breakfast this morning was a not-egg sandwich, with Healthy Choice ham, fat free cheese, and Country Kitchen light oat bread. Country Kitchen products are AMAZING! They say right on them that they are trying to create normal bread that is high in fiber and low in fat. And so far, all the ones I've found have been 1 pt for 2 slices, as opposed to 1 or 2 points PER SLICE. This includes the light raisin bread and the english muffins and raisin english muffins. *mm* Yum!

When I can afford it, I think I've found a product I will buy to try baking with. I've been wondering how Grandma's Guilt-Free Goodies does it, to make a product so low in carbs and calories and points when they need to include flour. And I've found the Atkins diet baking product. Its a flour replacement that is, of course, since its Atkins, low in carbs. And calories and points. So I want to buy some to try baking with and see how it goes. The problem? Its SO expensive! Like almost $20 for a canister! I can't see how people can *afford* to buy Atkins products, and it scares me to buy something that costs that much money when I'm not sure if the recipe will fail or not. *groans*

(3) 2 slices light toast w/ spray butter, fake egg, fat free cheese, 2 slices Healthy Choice ham
(1) grapes

(4) Total for breakfast

Okay, I looked it up.

(5) 1/2 cornish game hen, w/ skin

(27) Total for the day (so I'd better not eat anything else!)

I settled on popcorn as the snack of the afternoon. Although I didn't get half as much work as I wanted to done. *pouts*

I'd been looking forward to dinner for days. I had two cornish game hens defrosting in the fridge. We put them on the rotisserie on the grill, and put in an applewood chip can. We also roasted a huge mix of vegetables. We picked the first lettuce out of our garden, and some of the basil I planted today, and made a good salad with the roasted vegetables over it. Mm, yum! Then some of the homemade bread from the freezer.

Oh, and then, rice/soy milk with sugar free chocolate milk mix in it. I almost forgot.

(2) 94% fat free popcorn
(4) bread & butter
(0) salad and roast veggies
(2) chocolate not-milk

The question is, how many points in a half or less of a cornish game hen? I'm going to have to go hunt down that information. I tried to resist the skin, but ended up eating some of it because well, its just too good to resist all of it!

(8) Total for dinner except for the hen

(22) Total for the day so far without the hen

I grabbed an apple on the way out the door to run errands, and when we stopped in at the office I couldn't resist chocolate. But I held myself to a minimum amount of chocolate covered soy nuts, so it was only a point.

Lunch was leftovers, and a lot less of them than yesterday's dinner. Plus chocolate mousse, from Sans Suchre, which is only a point. YUM!

Although today I've got to do a lot of work this afternoon, while Dani naps and Ryan plays. Which means munchies needed. Carrots or popcorn or some mix of the two more probably. Just something I can nibble on while I'm doing the stressful stuff. After that I get to do the fun stuff, which counts more as exercise -- planting my herb garden!!

(1) Apple
(1) Chocolate covered soy nuts

(2) Total for morning snacks

(7) Leftover lo mein
(1) Sans Suchre chocolate mousse

(8) Total for lunch

(14) Total for the day so far

Forgot to say I took a half hour or so walk yesterday with Josh. And he's trying to make me pick up my speed, so I was joking that for me it was a jog (I mean, I'm SO much shorter!). But I'm hoping that we can start taking our long walk again when things calm down, and that'll be a good hour long stroll or 45 minutes if I get my little butt in gear, and that latter would be GOOD exercise.

Weighed in this morning -- about 1.5 pounds down! Of course, I'm doing this on my home scale, so I'm doing the best I can. But since it was my first week back to good behaviour, I'm happy. *grins*

Breakfast was the hot cereal again, with strawberries, bananas, and blueberries. I tried not cooking the bananas this time, and didn't add the lemon since I wasn't cutting the food at home and cooking it at work. And y'know, I think it got a little sweeter, therefore a little better, with the bananas cooked. And I think the lemon juice added something. So next time, back in they go!

(4) Hot cereal w/ 1/2 banana and 1 c mixed strawberries and blueberries

(4) Total for breakfast

Let's start with the afternoon snacks. I ate my salad, which I never ate with lunch. Lotsa lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes and rice vinegar and balsamic vinegar, which was excellent. Then I needed chocolate, so I had some more of the chocolate covered soy nuts (YUM!). And finally, I had these wonderful sweet grapes that were on sale at Price Chopper this week. SO worth it.

(0) BIG salad
(2) Chocolate covered soy nuts (these so hit the spot when I want chocolate nibblies)
(1) Grapes

(3) Total for snacks
(13) Total for the day so far

And now onto dinner. I simply *have* to babble happily on this one. *happy little sighs* It was yummy. And it was a lot of experiments tonight. Let's see if I can figure out all the points.

First, a pile of raw spinach to wilt. That's no points. *grins*

Second, the vegetable dish. About 6-8 radishes, quartered. Then about twice that brussel sprouts, also quartered. Add 1 Tbsp I can't Believe Its not Butter Light to a pan and get it sizzling. Add the brussel sprouts and radishes, and some salt. Stir fry a bit, then turn the heat down and cover until the brussel sprouts are tender, and the radishes are translucent. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and stir fry until its gone. The whole dish? One point! Each serving is about 1/4 point. *GRINS*

Third, the big discovery of the night. I had to add meat to the final dish because I was afraid Kevin wouldn't like this one. Turns out he did, and I'm utterly thrilled because I was SO surprised by how *much* I liked it. Lightstyle Steak Style strips. In other words, Tofu cut and smoke flavored to taste like smoked steak. Two points for the whole package, and 4 points if sauteed in oil, which I did. I'm definitely going to buy these again, and I heartily recommend them to anyone who is a meat eater but is trying to get more soy in the diet and less fat. If they can get by my husband, they can probably get past anyone. No, he didn't think they were meat. But he *did* think they were palatable.

The final part was lo mein. I made 4 servings (so we would have leftovers). Four points for each serving of lo mein noodles, and 2 points for the 1/2 breast of chicken per serving. 1 point per serving for sesame oil and sesame seeds. Then bok choy, ginger, and soy sauce. I tried to eat a little less of the chicken part of it, and more of the soy strips. But what I figure dinner was is...

(7) Chicken lo mein
(2) 1/3 package Steak Style Strips
(1) Vegetables and spinach

Given that the strips were on the low end of 2 points and the veggies were really only a quarter of a point or so, its probably only 9 points for dinner, but we'll say 10 and be good. So...

(10) Total for dinner
(23) Total for the day so far

Yay! I can have a sweet snack later on!

Where did my lunch post go???

Um, okay, can I reconstruct this from memory? Eep!

I nibbled on carrots. I munch when I get stressed, and I had a long meeting from 10:30am to 12:45pm. It was supposed to be a half hour. Since it was pretty informal, I sat there and nibbled on carrots (and tried not to whimper as Debbie ate chocolate instead, and yes, that's a different Debbie, not me putting myself into the third person! *laughs*). So that's why I said I needed something I liked to nibble as a guilt free item.

So...

(0) Carrots
(4) Weight Watchers macaroni and cheese (which is a good one -- I'd buy that again)
(2) Fat free devils food chocolate pudding

(6) Total for lunch
(10) Total for the day so far

Mm, I think I've just perfected a wonderful breakfast food. Take slightly less than 1/3 c of the Hodgson Mills hot breakfast, plus 3 x that water. Add in 1/2 banana halved and then sliced, then sliced strawberries & blueberries (enough to make 1 c total of those mixed). A splash of lemon juice, a splash of vanilla, a big shake of cinnamon and a small shake of nutmeg. Cook. YUM! The fruit all melts down into it and flavors it, but there are still hot little fruit pockets that taste like the fruit, too. Sweetened without anything but the fruit.

(4) Hodgson Mills cereal, 1/2 banana, mixed strawberries and blueberries

(4) Total for breakfast

Ryan's still up so this has to be quick. Comments if I get to it later.

(0) Salad with lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, vinegar, cucumbers
(3) Canned boneless salmon
(5) 2 slices no fat bread with light margarine

(8) Total for dinner

(1) 1/2 banana
(2) Chocolate covered soy nuts
(3) Soy candy bar

(6) Total for snacks

(25) Total for the day (guess I'm definitely done, huh?)

Well, I think I've decided to continue to count carrots as no points, even though I think that changed. I've always had success with it, and I desperately need something I don't feel guilty about munching during the day that I really really like. *smiles*

Lunch today is the Weight Watchers Seafood Linguini Bowl, which is one of the ones I really like, even tho its 5 whole points. I've also got a huge salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, and Walden Farms calorie free dressing (I didn't even look to see if it was Blue Cheese or Caesar when I grabbed it this morning). I *love* this dressing. I need to find a place to buy it up here. Otherwise I need to always go buy some when I'm at my mom's, and that's only once a month. *pouts*

Morning Snack:

(0) Carrots
(1) 1/2 c Kashi Heart to Heart Cereal

(1) Total morning snack points

Lunch:

(5) Weight Watchers Seafood Linguini Bowl
(0) Salad w/ Walden Farms calorie free dressing

(5) Total lunch points

(11) Total points so far today

(Take two)

More than a year after conceiving Ryan, I am going back on the Weight Watchers diet. So now I have to relearn everything -- points, foods, good habits. I've got my little Points Finder, and I know enough to make it work with the new system I think.

I've tried a new cereal from Hodgson Mills this morning -- a hot flaxseed and soy cereal. This is also a part of my goal to include drastically more soy in my diet, since its lacking and its good for me. I mixed in cinnamon, sucralose, and half a banana. I also made a little less than the suggested serving in order to try to take it down from 3 pts to 2, since it was barely into the 3 pt margin. Then I had a non-fat yoghurt. Hopefully this will all tide me over until lunch!

(3) Hot cereal w/ cinnamon, sucralose, and 1/2 banana
(2) Non-fat strawberry banana yoghurt

(5) Total breakfast points