March Wrap Up

March 2011


$ at grocery = 220/45

$ at restaurant = 137/80

fast food trips = 2.5/2

pounds lost = 5/10

exercise miles = 25/20 (plus 14 miles walking around Disneyland)

Day 239

Breakfast (700): Ham, Cheese, Apple Muffin (250)

Snack (1100-1200) - String Cheese (80) and a small bag of Chili Cheese Fritos (180) leftover from yesterday's hotdog lunch.  I wasn't going to take any chips, but those are my favorite!  I did force myself to save them until today...

Lunch (230):  Asian Style Veggie Beef Dinner (420) with extra spinach and broccoli (25)

Dinner (600): mymeal - Basque Chicken (300)

(730) - Walked 2 miles.

(830) - Lil Drum (135)

Daily Total:  1390

Much hungrier today.  And the scale popped back up too :(  Was down to 221 on Tuesday -- back up to 224 today and I've been soooo with it!  ugh.  stupid water or exercise or whatever causes that.

Day 238

Breakfast (800-1000) = Chicken Mushroom Crepe with apples (240) plus spinach and tomatoes.

Lunch (1200) = School Awards Picnic - 2 hotdogs on bun with ketchup and mustard (500?)

Snack (300pm) = string cheese (80) and box of raisins (130)

(630pm) - mowed the lawn and took a bunch of branches of the tree.

Dinner (800) = not real hungry, but seemed smart to eat... mymeal - tortellii with green beans and arugula (330)

(900) - Got hungry later... well, not really hungry, but definitely wanted to eat... Lil Drum (135)

(930) - tortilla with artichoke dip, arugula and tomatoes (150)  Counted calories and thought this would be okay, though I realized even as I was eating it that I didn't need it.  Also, realized now that I ate a snack I'd forgotten about in the afternoon - tortilla with 1.5oz of turkey and a bit of artichoke dip (100)  ugh.  Feel icky this morning... full.

Daily Total = 1665

Day 237

Breakfast (800 - 1200): Spinach Ricotta Crepes with sweet potato and veggie sausage (310).  Added a bit of butternut sqaush, tomatoes, and extra spinach. (30?)

Lunch (200) - Turkey Tamale casserole with broccoli (330)

Snack (500) - Lil Drum (135) and Carrots with hummus (120)

Dinner (830) - Broccoli/Beef Dinner (400)  Too late for dinner, felt weighed down and ick the next morning.

(930) - Lil Drum (135)

Daily Total: 1455

Sheesh -- a bit hungrier today, but not majorly.  I decided to forgo the long walk since I walked a ways yesterday.  I DID test myself to see how fast I can run a mile now.  I finished in 12min 30 secs.  I jogged 9 of those minutes at a 5-6mph pace.  I'm finding that 5.5 - 6mph is a comfortable fit for my leg length and stride... Any slower and I feel stilted like I'm going to trip.  I just can't keep the pace up forever.  However, I was able to jog for 2 min, then walk for 1 rather that the other way around!  Pretty pleased.  I used to miserably count down the seconds until the minute of jogging was up.  This time, I was surprised that I didn't even look down at the clock until a minute had already passed!

I also went to get my blood pressure taken today.  I'd forgotten to take my medication for the entire week, so I decided to take the opportunity to see what the effect would be.  My BP was 123/76 -- without the meds.  I'm going to email the doc to see if it's okay to stop taking them.  yay!

Day 236

Breakfast (800 - 130) - Spinach Ricotta Crepes (370) with a little roasted butternut squash and a few cherry tomatoes (50).  THe side was the apples with cranberries and walnuts.  Cooked at 630am, but not eaten right away.  Ate bites throughout the day... didn't even finish it until about 130pm.  Just not that hungry today - again - due to tom? idk.

Snack (4pm) - String Cheese (80)

Lunch/Dinner? (530) - Chicken with cheese/broccoli sauce (blech), barley pilaf (yum) and a butternut squash puree (not a good batch) (<400) Added a big handful of spinach.

730pm - Walked for the heck of it, even though I walked yesterday.  Took each dog out and didn't time how long it took.  Jogged a little to see if the dogs liked to run with me.  I have to really get going to get the german shepard to actually start to jog.  She can almost fast-walk what my jogging pace is... her legs are so long!  Walked a total of 2.13mi.

Snack (900PM) - 100 cal of cereal with milk.  170 cal pizza (totilla, artichoke dip, ham, arugula, tomato)

I ate 100 cal of hummus with carrots total in the afternoon and evening.

Daily Total: 1270

Day 235

Up at 8am, weighed in at 221.5lb - significantly lower than yesterday - hope it's not just water loss!  Ate 35 cal of banana (the rest was too mushy) and 5-6almonds (40cal).  Walked 2.76miles with 6 spurts of jogging/running.  Been too long since I walked for real, like for exercise, almost 2 weeks.  I walked a ton in Disneyland, but it was leisurely. :)  I could tell today was a bit tougher on my body and even with the running, my pace was barely under a 15 min mile.  That's okay - back on it this week.

Breakfast (900am) - turkey, avocado, apple muffin (260)

Lunch (230):  Turkey Cranberry Quinoa (390) with a bit extra roasted butternut squash and arugula (30?)

Dinner (630):  Chicken burrito bowl (300) with 5 cherry tomato (20) and a spoon of fat free sour cream (15)  Ate a little over half.

(830): Small piece of carrot cake (1"x3") - 250?

(900) - finished the other half of my dinner.

Daily Total = 1340
Just not very hungry again today...  Suppose that's good, but seems odd!  Wasn't really even hungry for dinner ... but ate early because of timing issues.

Day 234

Breakfast (900): Turkey(2oz), Avocado (23g), apple on cinnamon raisin muffin (250) with a few strawberries

Lunch (200PM):  Balsamic Chicken with roasted tomatoes, quinoa, roasted veggies and arugula (330).  Reheated well, though it wasnt frozen, so not a true test.  I added balsamic, but too much -- it overwhelms the flavor of the tomato/honey.  Will try less next time, then none.  The chicken was very good, not overcooked at all.

Snack () -none

DInner(630) - tritip with BBQ sauce, estimate 5oz serving (375?), half a cup of mac and cheese(200?)

Out (800 - 1000) - 2 vodka tonics (400) - Darts and dice!  :D

Daily total - 1555cal 
So even if I underestimated the dinner slightly, still did pretty okay.  And I didn't struggle to save up the calories...  I just wasn't super hungry.

My Meals #2

On a cooking spree this weekend...

First, I made Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes, adapted from Oxmoor House (whatever that is, I just found the recipe on myrecipes.com).

Adapted Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 tablespoon honey

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

Balsamic vinaigrette salad spritzer (such as Wish-Bone)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; place tomato mixture on a foil-lined jelly-roll pan. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until tomato skins burst and begin to wrinkle, stirring once. Transfer tomatoes to a bowl, scraping juices into bowl. Stir 1/4 teaspoon salt into tomato mixture.

3. I chose to bake the chicken breasts, covered in the oven, instead of pounding and sauteeing.

4. Place chicken on individual plates; coat each breast half with 2 to 3 sprays of balsamic spritzer. Spoon tomatoes evenly over chicken. 

I forgot to put balsamic vinegar on each chicken, I'll try it when I heat it up, but I thought the taste was already good!  I also created 5 servings by portioning off a couple oz of each breast to make a 5th serving.  I added a 1/4 cup of quinoa and a serving of roasted zucchini/eggplant/redpepper.  I would probably add some spinach or arugula when I heat it up. 

Total for meal = 330cal (200 for chicken and tomato, 50 for roasted veggies and 80 for the quinoa) I figured calories based on the actual products and quantities that I used.  Each meal cost about $3.13 (lots of fresh veggies).

Second, I made a Beef Tagine with Butternut Squash from Cooking Light.  This one was not as successful.  Still okay, but not going to make it a bunch.  The flavor is too strong for me and the beef cut I picked turned out tough when cooked in this method. 

Adapted Recipe...

Yield: 4 servings (I made 5 servings)

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (don't have, don't like, used a bit of nutmeg instead.)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (1-pound) beef shoulder roast or petite tender roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes  (Couldn't find anything labeled "roast" so I bought what I always buy... london broil.  I think it's too lean for stewing though.)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 shallots, quartered (used 3)

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 pound) (tried to find the precut, but unsuccessful.)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro  (forgot to add my frozen cilantro, will add when I reheat.)

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add beef; toss well to coat.

2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef and shallots; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Add squash; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until squash is tender. Sprinkle with cilantro.

I packaged with a 1/4 cup of quinoa and a serving of green beans.  The total calories count for the meal is 360cal.  The stem was 250, quinoa 80 and green beans 30.  Each meal cost about $2.70.

This morning I made Spicy Basque-style Chicken from Cooking Light. I really liked this one, though I changed the recipe quite a bit.

Adapted recipe...

Yield: 4 servings

1 teaspoon smoked paprika (too much paprika after the tagine, so I used ancho chile pepper)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast tenders (I just chopped the leftover chicken breasts into large chunks, had about a pound.)

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic (used frozen)

1/4 cup sliced green olives

2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (Didn't read well, only used one can, but I liked it.  I think two cans might be too much...)

1/4 cup finely chopped prosciutto (forgot to buy.)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (will maybe add frozen cilantro or basil when I eat it.)

Combine paprika and pepper; sprinkle evenly over chicken. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds. Turn chicken over. Add olives and tomatoes to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes.

Remove chicken from pan. (Didn't do this, but then I didn't have as much liquid to reduce.) Increase heat to medium-high; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with prosciutto and parsley.

I added a 75 calories serving of frozen brown rice and a serving of green beans.  Total calorie count 330cal (chicken mixture = 190, rice = 75, beans = 35).  Each meal cost just under $2.

Done for now and definitely need to cancel a BMD box or two... There's a bunch of meals in the outside freezer too!



WeighIn March 26

I didn't report in last week... I was out of town, but weighed in at 226 when I got back -- up a pound.  Current March 26 weighin = 224lb.  Down 2 pounds and a new low.  I've been super snacky this week and ate food a number of times when I wasn't hungry and didn't need it...  and the "feasting" while I was out of town didn't help.  Though I didn't do terribly, it wasn't great either.  Trying to get back on track this week.  Still lost this week, but I'm not where I wanted to be.  I'm trying to deal with that mental issue too... any loss is good loss and slow is best, but I want to get it gone already!

Day 233

Breakfast (645AM):  Turkey, Apple, Avocado on cinnamon raisin muffin (260)

Snack (100AM): Half a string cheese (40) and a quarter of a hershey bar (55)

Lunch (1200):  MyMeal: Turkey Tamale Casserole with green beans (330).  It heated from frozen pretty well and tasted good.

Snack (230):  Half a string Cheese (40)

(430) - 150 cal of potato chips and 30 cal of hummus with a slice of red pepper.

Dinner (800):  4 oz of lean london broil (200) with 65 cal of quinoa with lemon juice, 1/3 cup of roasted eggplant and zucchini and a large handful of argula, wilted. (total about 300)

Snack (900-1100):Lil drum (135) and a bakery cookie (250)

Daily Total: 1590

My Meals #1

A week ago I made 5 servings of cheese tortellini with refrigerated tortellini.  I used canned tomato sauce and diced tomato (no salt) to create a sauce with onion, basil, balsamic vinegar and crushed red pepper.  I added a serving of green beans or broccoli to each tray.  The total for the whole meal was 340 calories.  Total cost per serving = about $2.

Yesterday, I made 8 servings of a Turkey Tamale Casserole adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.   My adapted recipe...

Turkey Tamale Casserole

Yield: 8 servings

1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided

1/3 cup fat-free milk

1 egg 

1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn

1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)

1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained

Cooking spray

1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)

1 20-oz pkg of ground turkey breast (98%lean), crumbled and browned

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 6 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with cooked turkey; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces.  Top with avocado or FF sour cream. (didn't have any sour cream, so I used avocado.)  Calories per serving: 300, 330 with a serving of frozen veggies.  Cost per serving (including the veggies) = about $2

I ate one serving and pacakged the rest with a side of green beans or broccoli.  I liked the meal a lot.  It filled me up and satisfied my craving for Mexican food... and I really like the ground turkey.  I've missed it. :D

Could have used less cheese and still gotten good flavor.



Day 232

Breakfast (700) - Chicken Mushroom Crepe with apple/cranberry side (240)

Snack (930) - half a string cheese (40)

Lunch (1200) - My Meal - Tortellini with tomato/spinach sauce and green beans (330).  First time I've eaten one of my own meals that was frozen in a BMD tray.  The packaging was still tightly closed.  The tortellini and green beans were fine... what seemed like a LOT of sauce when packaged turned out to not be so much.  And the spinach wilted into the sauce did not freeze and microwave well.  It wasn't terrible, but would have been better (and still convenient) to include it at the last minute when I microwaved.  That's how I do it with the BMD meals...

Snack (?) - one Taco Bell Taco Supreme (230)  Big time craving satisfied.  Carrots and hummus (110)

Dinner (?) - BMD Picadillo (230) with a tortilla (55), 28g of avocado (45) and a few grape tomatoes.

Snack (?) - pudding cup (100) and a late night reeces candy bar (235) ugh.

Daily TOtal - 1620

Day 231

Breakfast 630am - spinach ricotta crepes with sweet potato (310)

Snack 10am - banana (100)

Lunch 12pm - Lasagna rollatini (390)

Snack - 4pm - tortilla (55) with 2oz of cheese (ate too much while cooking) (240)

Dinner - 6pm - serving of Turkey Tamale casserole with green beans (330) with 30 cal of avocado

My Meal - Turkey Tamale Casserole.  Adapted from Cooking Light.

Snack - 8pm - Lil Drum (135)

Daily Total - 1590


Feeling more on track today, though I'm still ravenously munchy -- not hungry, but cant stop thinking about food.  If I can distract myself, like on the computer, then I'm okay...

Day 230

Breakfast - Berry Crepes

Snack - Ham, cheese muffin

Lunch - 9oz of food from chinese take out at the grocery store, and a nutrageous candy bar... :(  Had a BMD with me, but didn't eat it.

Dinner - Indian buffet.  Had some soup, a samosa, chicken tikka masala, tandori chicken, and a few bites of a curry.  Had a little rice pudding for dessert (1/8 cup).  Had one naan bread.  Not terrible, but not great either.  Felt like crap later too.

About half of this was leftover.  I had no idea what I would like!

Day 229

No idea... Not terrible, but not great... Ate a few things i shouldnt have.  Like popcorn and cheetos right before dinner time.  And carrots and hummus.  And a serving of quinoa with frozen veggies.  Those were my snacks... !!

Starting to remember --
Breakfast was cinnamon sweet potato pancakes with frozen berries and no syrup
Snack - String Cheese and 100 cal of pretzels
Lunch - Southwest chicken wrap
snacks - see above
Duinner - ??  Mom's pasta/spinach/tomato sauce bake?  I think so...  so maybe it was a pretty crappy day.

Day 228

Got up early and walked for exercise, not just rambling around.  Walked about 1.6 miles.  Then another 2.4 spread over the morning.  I did notice that the amount of walking this weekend didn't kill me like it might normally.  In fact, I really wasn't much tired or sore/stiff at all.  Felt totally fine walking this morn, would have walked farther, but ran out of time.  The 10 miles over the last two days weren't strenuous or anything, but it was still 10 miles...

Breakfast - Sesame Bagel with 1 oz peanutbutter and a banana.

Snack - 1 piece of thin crust pizza

Lunch - Not much to choose from at the airport -- the prepackaged salads and sandwiches had a lot of high calorie add ons, so I just ate at McDonalds... :D  I had a single cheeseburger and I shared a medium french fry.  First time since last August.  It was good, but not amazing...  I can live without.

Dinner - ??? cant remember  I think a small serving of pasta baked iwth spinach and tomato sauce...

Day 227

Breakfast at the hotel -- sesame seed bagel toasted with 1 oz of peanut butter and a banana.

Snack - Chicken skewer with asparagus

Ate two pieces.

Lunch - Chicken Fajita Salad

Snack - Ice cream scoop

Dinner - Tony Romas - Order grilled mahi mahi with double veggies as my sides.  Drank 1 vodka tonic.

Snack - part of a chocolate peanut butter candy (like having 1 peanut butter cup)

Walked over 5 miles today, spread over the whole day.

Day 226

Out of town this weekend with friends... ate okay, but not great.

Breakfast - normal ham, apple, cheese muffin

Lunch grilled chicken sandwich with french fries.

Snack - scoop of ice cream

DInner - dinner at our favortie restaurant to hang out and drink -- had two Hurricanes with blackened snapper.  Unfortunately, the snapper came with sauteed potatoes with bits of bacon and a lemon/butter sauce.  And no veggies... that really tweaked me out.  I missed them more than I thought I would.

I'm sure they are a few snacky items that I forget about...

Walked about 5 miles today, over the whole day.

Day 225

BReakfast: Turkey Muffin (267)  I feel terrible today... too much crappy food this week, not sure what exactly is to blame, but it's catching up with me.

Snack:  Apple and 11 almonds (150)

Lunch: BBQ Pork (380)

Snack:

Dinner:

I made some of my own frozen meals last night... I purchased fresh cheese tortellini (turned 4.5 servings into 5) and made a sauce with canned diced tomato (nosalt), tomato sauce (no salt), shallot, basil, balsamic vinegar and spinach.  THe canned creatien has sooo much less calories and sugar than the jarred sauce.  Added a serving of frozen green beans.  Totaleds around 340cal for teh meal and I made five to put in the freezer.  Pasta seemed like an easy place to start... looking forward to trying some others.  Hope the freezing works well, thinking about investigating vaccuum sealers.  Total cost each meal was about $2.

Day 224

Breakfast: Spinach Mushroom Crepes with avocado (400)

Snack: Alomnds, banana, and some craisins (200)

Lunch: Rice with Chicken, Chorizo and Lentils (280), added spinach.

Snack: Carrots and Hummus (Waited long time with out snack and got overly hungry, ended up feeling a little out of control at dinner too.) (140)

Dinner: At friend's -- Tacos  I had one taco and made a taco salad, with tomato, avocado, a little cheese, and FF sour cream.  Estimate 400cal  Also had a piece of pie (and wanted MORE, but didn't take it.) = 260 cal (estimate).

Total: 1800

Day 223

Breakfast: Turkey Muffin (267)

Snack: String CHeese (80)

Lunch: Salmon with red pepper (220)

Snack:  Students stopped by with pizza, ate one piece (260) and a couple of breadsticks (200), not intending to eat another piece, but did (260)  It was sooo good.  sigh.  On the up side, she also brought DrPepper and was disappointed no one wanted one, so I took one.  Drank a few sips and didn't like it at all.  I used to loooove DrPepper.  It doesn't taste how I remember and the carbonation felt weird.  I switched back to water.

Dinner:  FInished off the leftover dinner from last night (600)?  AND had a lil Drum (140). 

I wasn't real conscious of it, but I think overeating in the afternoon (and pizza) made me more hungry and more anxious to stuff my face with food.  Plus, I;ve been real letahgic the last couple of days and a little light-headed.  Not sure if its the food, allergies, or slightly low blood pressure... ?  Pulse has been oddly low.  Resting is at 60bpm.  Stopped by hospital to get BP taken and it was normal, so... ?

Day 222

Breakfast (630): Turkey muffin (267)

Snack:  Small Apple (60)

Lunch (1200): Turkey Chipotle Chili (440)

Snack: CornTortilla/Artichoke/Spinach/Tomato pizza (150)

Dinner:  Dinner out at a favorite restaurant with out of town friend.  Ordered my favorite Balsalmic Skirt Steak.  COmes iwth mixed veg and mashed potatoes and an unfortunately large pile of fried onion strings.  I have ordered this many times int he past, though it would have been like 2 years ago... the plate was soo FULL of food!  I don't know if their portions are bigger, my habits are smaller or a combination, but I was shocked!  I would have asked for no fried onions if I'd known there'd be so many -- I ate most of them.  THen I ate about 2oz of the beef, a few bites of potato, and a few veggies and I was full!  So I packed it up to take it home.  I ate another small portion around 9pm, a few bites of each item.  No dessert.  I'm counting half today and half tomorrow and estimating that half was about 600calories. 

Daily TOtal:  1517

Day 221

Lost an hour of sleep due to DST.  Got to bed by 2am, which was really 3am.  Woke up early at 730 to go walk, since I missed it yesterday.  Ate a half a banana and a few strawberries (100).  A bit short on time, since I snoozed a bit.  Walked 2.53 miles in 35 minutes.  Added some spurts of jogging today.  Don't love it, but I can feel my heartrate increase and different muscles are ... not sore, but stretched?  So, probably a good thing.  And I was surprised how just a few minutes of jogging had a big impact on improving my pace.
Not real hungry after working out... Leaving for church at 930.  Took pretzels (100), string cheese (80), and an apple (80) with me for lunch.  Got hungry around 1030, finished the last of the apple at 100PM. 
Hungry by the time I got home.  Ate lunch @ 130PM -- Chicken Fresco (410)
Cake Tasting at 4pm.  Had bites of 5 different cakes (350???)
Dinner (600PM):  Had a few bites of eggplant casserole and a small piece of bread (150)  Stopped and got a chicken fajita pita with no cheese on way home at 900PM. (234)

Daily Total:  1504

Day 220

Overate last night, not real hungry this morning, had a half a banana and a few strawberries (100).  Cleaned up around the house.. Packed up some more clothes. 
Lunch around 1100AM  Chicken with couscous and extra spinach (450).  Met up for bridesmaid dress shopping.  Tried on some dresses; wasn't super happy with how they fit, but it wasn't as traumatic as it would have been 60 pounds ago.  Then, I would have probably not agreed to be in the wedding.  It was hard to assess how the dresses look.  I can't really see myself anymore.  I don't know how I look compared to average.  On one hand, I know I look a lot better than I used to... but then I think maybe that's all it is.  idk.  Anyways, Didn't get a JambaJuice when we stopped.  DId have coffee later (black iced) and Starbucks was giving away free "petite" desserts.  Got a salted caramel square.  They were advertised as less than 200cal, so I'll just count 200.
Dinner was out at a Mexican place.  Not even really a struggle to avoid the tortilla chips anymore.  Ordered a chicken salad (200) with avocado(40), tomato and no dressing.  Added some salsa.  I was happy with the meal -- didn't feel deprived.  The chicken was really good.  Had one 8oz magarita (200?).  Walked to another bar, again avoided tortilla chips and had one vodka tonic (200?).  Ended night around 1am... I was a bit hungry then, but drove home and went to bed.  Drank water.

Daily total: 1400?

Day 219

update later...

Day 218

Odd day.  Ate lunch earlier than normal, left school thinking about what to snack on.  Nothing at home sounded good.  Decided to stop and get a salad.  If I split a Wendy's salad into two and don't use the dressing (which I don't really like anyways) its about 250cal.  Big for a snack, but not outrageous.  I'm been starting to... crave is too strong a word, but think about fast food some...  Decided to get an order of the smallest french fry they offer and only eat part in an effort to ward off the cravings.  I don't really want it to be an issue.  I don't want to have foods that are off limits.  I'd rather be able to eat small amounts of anything occasionally and learn to control myself.  So I ate them, well 2/3 of them.  Which totaled 145cal.  And truth be told, they weren't very good.  Nice to know that I'm not really missing out... And confirmation that it's smart to save indulgences for when it's really worth it.  French fries at a fast food joint are not worth it. 
Anyways, not hungry after that little experiment, so I saved the salad for dinner.  Watched some TV when i got home.  Stopped in the middle of a show to put shoes on and go out and walk before it got too dark.  I'm actually really enjoying getting out and walking now.  Who knew?  And it doesn't feel like and fight with myself to make it happen.  Walked 3.1 miles in 47 minutes.  Home and ready for dinner shortly...

Day 217

Off schedule today... Didn't take a lunch because I intended to leave early and go home.  However, multiple people stopped by my room for lengthy meetings and I didn't get home until 4pm.  :(  Thought about stopping for food on way home, but not seriously.  Ate beef and broccoli dinner, a favorite.  Had to be at church from 6 - 820.  Stopped by parents to get dogs. Ate some of a casserole (1/3 cup) with rice, chicken, salsa, veggies, cream of something soup.  No idea, but it was a small serving, counting 200 cal.  Ate a piece of french bread with shedds (120?).  Purposely ate a small serving knowing I was going to eat a better snack at home.  Ate a corn tortilla with dip, ham, spinach, tomato all toasted. (150).   

Day 216

Breakfast (700AM): Turkey, avocado, apple muffin (275)

Snack (1100-1200): String Cheese and 100pak of pretzels (180)

Lunch (215PM): Lasagna Rollatini with 1/2 cup of ff cottage cheese (some mixed in, some eaten while food cooked), extra basil, and 1.5 cup of spinach (480)  almonds (85)

Snack (400):  1oz of cheese and a corn tortilla (170)

Mowed the lawn and then walked (500PM): 3 miles in 45min, including 8 flights of stadium stairs.  Stopped at parents (slice of bread with a bit of shedds (100)), picked up the dogs and walked home another 0.6miles.  Didn't love walking on a somewhat full stomach, consider for next time.  Wasn't a struggle at all to get out the door and moving. 

Dinner (730): Not super hungry...  Ended up eating the leftover jerk chicken from Sunday (110cal) with 1/4 cup of quinoa (55) and a big handful of spinach.  Added some lemon juice.  Finished up with a Lil'Drum ice cream. (135)

Daily Total: 1580

Day 215

No walk today, though it was scheduled.  I've got a fierce cold going on... I can barely breathe.  I still thought I could do it when I got home, but it was already 630PM, starting to rain, and I felt like crap.  Rescheduled for tomorrow.

So, the potato chips are officially gone.  I thought I could buy a couple of individual bags and control what I ate better, but I still ate 4 servings in 2 days.  Not okay.  So, no more regular purchases of potato chips.  The artichoke helped keep me busy while I watched a little TV, but doesn't really correct that problem...  Overall an okay day though.  Probably shifted too many calories to the late afternoon/evening, but... ?  Ate the artichoke with the juice of a lemon and a partial serving of shedd's spread margarine.  For dinner, none of the BMD meals really caught my interest.  I wasn't super hungry and the ones I have in my freezer now are all in the high 300, low 400 range.  I wanted something a bit lower.  I had an Amy's Veggie Tamale to try and I liked it a lot.  Too much sodium, but the other facts were okay.    I miss mexican food, BMD doesn't really believe in mexican food! :(   And it was a good reminder about portion control.  When I opened the package, I thought "ugh it's sooo small!"  But I found that it was a satisfying size once I ate it.

Day 214

Did great for most of the day... Ate breakfast and stopped with 30% left still because I was satisfied.  Saved and ate as a snack before rehearsal... DId okay for lunch, snack and dinner.  I fell apart late night though and ate a ton of food I didn't really even want... I certainly wasn't hungry.  Seriously, except for the apple, everything in the snack area was eaten after 8pm.  :(  I have to get away from the TV or find a way to break the TV=snacking mindset...  For reals, that Russel Stover chocolate doesn't even taste good at all!  It's been sitting on top of my fridge since Christmas and I haven't even thought about opening it until now.  Ate 3 and threw the rest away the next morning.  Still feels wasteful, but not so hard since they tasted crappy anyways.

Day 213

745 - per walk snack - half an english muffin, 1Y almond butter, half a banana (200)

Walked 2.9 miles in 45 minutes.

1045 - Cinnamon Sweet potato pancakes with berries instead of syrup (300)

Snack - almonds, carrtos, hummus (180)

230 - Lunch - beef brisket with bbq sauce. (380)

snack - popcorn with cheetos (130)

745 - Dinner Jerk Chicken with 50g of sweet potato added and 2 handfuls of spinach (ate 70% and realized I was full.  Put the rest away for another time.)  (300)

900 - Lil Drum (135)

Daily Total = 1450

Day 212

Woke up super early again... I'm all off this week.  Getting up early going to bed early.  And I've been super cranky and in a funky mood.  Don't even care that I'm over calories by a lot this week.  And I've been super munchy all week.  Not really hungry, but I can't stop eating... ugh.  TOM may start this weekend, I guess it's related. (hopefully, at least then there's a reason.)

Breakfast (645): Ham, apple, cheddar muffin (245)

Snack (10-1230):  String Cheese (80), Pretzels (100), birthday cupcake (250) - why oh why?  it wasn't even that tasty... :(

Lunch (200PM): Wasn't super hungry, trying to plan for goin out later... picked the chicken/mushroom crepes.  Added some avocado and a couple of herry tomatoes. (335)

Snacks (3-4): Wasn't super hungry... but... I was super munchy.  Need to get away from the TV.  Ate carrots with hummus (80), pumpkins seeds (60), a spoonful of almond butter (90).

HappyHour (615): 2 short vodka presss (400), part of a lightly made chicken quesadilla (250)

Dinner (730): 1 laughing bun (chicken in soft bao-like dough, 1/3 cup rice, garlic green beans, a few pieces of walnut chicken, stirfry chicken and veggies. (720)

Dessert (945PM): Frozen yogurt with berries.  Ate only like 2oz of the yogurt.  Didn't eat the rest cause I was full and it didn't taste that good... (100)

Daily Total: right around 2400.

Day 211

Walked at 6pm (home later than planned) for 2.1 miles in 32:30.  Was actually sort of looking forward to getting home, putting on shoes and getting outside to walk.  So strange!  Partly that's due to the weather... the sun was finally out today.  But partly I was craving the movement.  

Philly Chicken with extra veg and basil





Day 210

Could be a slight under estimate, don't really know, didn't track well this week.  In a funky mood. :(

Day 209

Walked 3.65miles this afternoon in just under an hour (58minutes).
Also add other unaccounted for items -- totaling 400?  I think?  Didn't track well this week.  Ate off plan, but not super excessively.

Feb Wrap Up

February 2011
$ at grocery = 100 /45
$ at restaurant = 100 /80
fast food trips = 1 (kinda)/2
pounds lost = 4.0/10
exercise miles = 11.6/20