Part 2 Day 2

Well... big shocker. I gained 1.5lbs. After yesterday I really am not surprised. I have been playing this dieting game for over 10 years now and I have a pretty good idea of how my body responds to certain foods. I think the 2 guilty culprits from yesterday were the 711 sushi (i still love you though) and the chicken. While you would think the chicken was the most innocent thing on my menu I used a lot of salty seasoning for it. So with the high sodium from that and the high sodium soy sauce i just HAVE to pour all over my sushi - the 1.5lbs makes sense. Glad I figured that one out! Now I'm off to go find Carmen San Diego.
Game plan for today: eat very little and drink TONS of water.

9:00am: Tuna & Garbanzo Beans Salad (kind of)
** So I'm getting ready to move out of my apt in a few days which means no grocery shopping. This was a haphazard meal put together with whatever I could find. In case this sounds good to any of you - although I'm almost sure it doesn't - here's what I used for this one:
1 Can of Tuna
1/2 Cup of Garbanzo Beans
Pickle Relish
Splash of Light Rice Vinegar
Dijonnaise
Light Miracle Whip
Dash of S&P

5:00pm: Lean Cuisine

There you have my day. I know it sounds a little minimal but let's be honest here, I'm not wasting away or anything.
And btw, I did violently search through my purse at work for some extra change to get a bag of chips or something but I had no luck. Relax... they would have obvi been Baked Lays.

*** Since I am posting this on Friday morning I can happily report that 1.5lbs is now gone. Yay!! Mission accomplished. =)

Part 2, Day 1

Part 2 started off for me in kind of a less exciting way than Part 1. I sorta forgot all about it until later in the day. I guess this is why long term dieting is so hard. We, well I, get bored. I get the instant gratification from losing the first few pounds and then it just starts to get kind of... blah. Need to figure out a way to get past that phase and keep pushing forward. Sigh....

I decided on a goal weight for the next 2 weeks. As of this morning I am 2 lbs away from that goal weight (I was 3 lbs away last Friday.) I kind of have a feeling though that I may be back to being 3 lbs away after my poor performance today. =/

9:00am: WW Blueberry Muffin

1:30pm: Half Chicken Salad & Half Greek Chicken Wrap - St. Tropez Bakery
** Yum. This was a great lunch after a very nice walk along Hwy 101 with my diet/exercise partner extraordinaire. For anyone in San Diego I highly recommend this spot for breakfast and/or lunch. http://www.sttropezbistro.com/
Although a warning to anyone on a diet with a sweet tooth - try to avoid going near the bakery case. You will be very tempted with the delicious looking pastries and things in there. I am proud to say that today we resisted the temptation =)

5:00pm: Yogurtland Frozen Yogurt
** After a somewhat rough day (not including the walk) I decided that I needed some fro yo to make me feel better. Sprinkes are like therapy. What? It's better than going to get blacked out or something! Geez.

6:30pm: 711 Sushi
** So this is when things start to get a bit out of control. I was forced to go to 711 because SOMEONE (not me) had to have mac & cheese for dinner and we were out of milk. So once I was there I spotted my favorite quickie sushi on the shelf and I just could not resist. I'm weak, I know.

7:30pm: Fiber Gourmet Mac & Cheese and Chicken
** I told you I was out of control. I was pretty full at this point and really didn't need to eat anything else for the night. But once again SOMEONE was hungry and had to have it. So I slaved over the stove like I was some sort of 1950's housewife and made that someone his dinner. Once it was all done I had to have at least some. I didn't take a huge portion or anything but I just didn't need to have it in the first place. Oh well.

So that was Day 1 of Part 2 of my diet, challenge, whatever. Not great by any means. But life goes on. Tomorrow will definitely be a good day. Gotta stay positive, right?

**BTW that someone up there goes by the name of Tim. And I was totally kidding. I can't blame him for my bad decisions. Although I can definitely blame him for those cheese fries a few days ago. C'mon pal.

Hello I'm Still Here!!

Hi Again!
I decided to give myself a little break from the diet and from having to report everything I eat. It was nice but I'm ready to get back. With the great results of my first challenge I've decided to keep it going. Not to downplay my success or anything but anyone who is a regular dieter like I am knows that the first few pounds you lose are always the easiest. As long as you do a diet right you'll always drop something right away. It's the next part that is the hardest. So to keep up with a realistic weight loss plan I have decided to make my next goal 3 lbs in 2 weeks - starting tomorrow. Well actually the goal is to lose 3 lbs from where I was at on Friday. So if I start tomorrow 1 lb up then I have to lose 4 lbs. Make sense? Aside from an unfortunate incident with some cheese fries a few days ago I've managed to avoid any major disasters during my break so hopefully I'll be in good shape tomorrow.

Back to business....

9:30am: Scrambled Eggs w/ Fat Free Cheese
** Blah blah boring. Had to use real eggs cause I haven't been able to go grocery shopping lately and it's all I had. Turns out I'm much better at cooking with Egg Beaters than I am with real eggs. Kinda sad huh?

11:00am: V8
** I have a slight obsession with V8. It's like if I see it in front of me I have to drink it. Like it's out of my control. I kind of feel the same way about tomato juice but I think I like V8 better. Unless I'm on a plane - then it's tomato juice all the way.

3:30pm: Lean Cuisine Pizza
** I came home absolutely starving. My lame 2 scrambled eggs breakfast didn't do too much for me. So I picked the biggest Lean Cuisine I could find in my freezer. I love these pizzas. They're also pretty great for late night drunk eating.

4:00pm: Bush's Veggie Baked Beans
** Soooo I was still hungry after the pizza. Geez. These beans are pretty good. High in fiber, etc. Probably should've waited a little while for that pizza to kick in but oh well.

7:30pm: Half of a Chicken Salad from Baja Fresh
** Pretty light. Lettuce, chicken, salsa, and tortilla strips.

So that's it for today. Hopefully my little midday binge doesn't hurt me too much on the scale tomorrow. We'll see.

The Results

6 pounds lost in 2 weeks.
Done and done.
My next challenge will officially begin next Wed....

Day 14!!

This is it. Today is the final day of my 5 lb challenge. My official weight today is X-6lbs!! Yahoo! If I can keep this up for one more day it will be a great start for my soon to come next challenge.

11:30am: Homemade Cottage Cheese with an Apple
** YUM. One of my most favorite snacks/meals ever. I have this with regular low fat cottage cheese too. 1 apple, cottage cheese, and splenda.

2:30pm: Fiber Gourmet Pasta & Chicken Salad
** Canned chicken, Fettuccine, Miracle Whip, Relish, S&P....

8:30pm: TJ's Chicken Wontons & Brown Rice
** Another success from TJ's frozen food aisle

I'm a little bit worried about my final weigh in tomorrow. I know that even if it goes up a bit it's still ok. I didn't eat badly today but I feel like just to ensure a good result tomorrow I should've stayed away from the carbs and sodium a little bit more. BUT like I said, I will be totally ok no matter what it says tomorrow. I feel good about my progress and I'm excited to keep it going.

There will certainly be quite a few obstacles coming up for me over the next few weeks. First and foremost is money. Having none is an obstacle on it's own but having none while you're trying to eat healthy is a whole different story. I easily drop over $200 every time I go grocery shopping. Well at least every time I go grocery shopping my way. There are ways around spending a fortune on food and even though I hate doing it I'll figure it out.
My next obstacle is called March Madness. Don't ask me how I ever got involved with anything sports related but turns out it's so much fun! I think it has to do with being able to print out my bracket and carry it around with me at all times. And even though for the 2nd year in a row I had nothing to do with filling out my own bracket I still take full pride in "my" picks. And I'm pretty sure I'm gonna win. Ok so anyway... the obstacle here is that watching basketball pretty much always equals sitting at a bar and drinking like a thousand beers. Not so diet friendly. But on the bright (kinda) side, with my TWO new jobs I wont be able to watch all the games. So even though it wont be as much fun as last year, at least I wont totally screw up the diet.
Well there are a few more changes coming up for me that could make this tough but nothing I can't handle.

Thanks for reading. See you soon! =)

I am Jessie Spano

I'm super behind on posting. Turns out you have a lot less time to do stuff you like once you get a job. Especially one where you don't get to play on the internet all day. Sigh.....

Well just to keep all of you up to date... I am officially down 5 lbs! Yay yay yay!! My 5 lb challenge ends on Friday so the goal for the next 4 days is to keep it off.

I should be able to post for real by Thursday, maybe tonight, I don't know. There's just NO TIME! There's never any time!! I tried looking for that video btw but I didn't really have time. See... there's no time! Ok you get it. See you soon!!!!

Day 8

Day 8 Weight: X-4.5 lbs

I made it through the first week of my 5 lb challenge. Yay! Seeing that I was down 4.5 lbs this morning was a great feeling. I know some people think it's crazy to weigh yourself everyday. Most trainers/nutritionists/etc don't think it's a good idea either. For me, especially when I'm trying to lose weight, I think it helps. When I start my day off with a good number on the scale (like today) it motivates me to keep going! Like why would I screw it all up today with a bad day when I'm doing so well? On the other hand when I start my day off with not such a good number on the scale it motivates me to keep going too! It's a good kick in the ass reminder that maybe I wasn't so good the day before and now is the time to get back on track before I ruin it all.

So another Friday is upon me. I think today will be a good day. No plans for happy hours or any other major obstacles that could get in my way. I am scheduled to work all weekend so that will help out as well. It also happens to be St. Patty's Day weekend and I think I owe to myself to celebrate a little as well. We'll see what happens.

10:00am: 1 piece of toast (Sara Lee) with Trader Joe's Egg White Salad
** This is a really good option for a quick and light breakfast. The Egg White Salad from TJ's is another one of my faves. It comes in 2 flavors - Egg White & Chive and Ranchero. Both are delicious. The Ranchero has a little bit more flavor so I usually eat that one first. You can always add some more seasoning to them if you find them bland. The entire container has only 100 calories in it and is super high in protein. I would highly recommend buying one or both of these if you are looking for a good low cal snack. There's nothing better than being able to eat an entire container of something and still know you only had 100 calories max.

12:00pm: Cobb Salad w/balsamic vinaigrette dressing
** Chicken, eggs, avocado, tomatoes, carrots, mozzarella cheese.
I made sure not to eat the entire salad so I could leave room for some fro yo. I didn't get any yesterday so I'm craving it more than ever right now.

3:30pm: FRO YO!!
** It was even better than I thought it was going to be. I am quite happy right now. And for the record I made sure to pick the lowest calorie flavors. I did break down and add some chocolate and rainbow sprinkles to it BUT I looked it up and it turns out sprinkles are not really that bad! Only around 35 calories for a tablespoon. They do have a lot of sugar which isn't too good but who cares - it was delicious.

7:30pm: Broccoli & Chicken Pasta in a Mozzarella Cheese Sauce
** This was a meal put together by only using ingredients I already had in the kitchen. I borrowed some ideas from other recipes I had and just gave it a shot. Turned out to be quite good I think! Here's what I used:
Fiber Gourmet Fettuccine
Broccoli
Chicken Breast
Cherry Tomatoes
Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese/Parmesan/Feta
Half & Half
Garlic, Garlic Powder, Vegeta, EVOO, S&P, Cayenne Pepper
For a meal that sounds like it should be super high in calories but isn't, I think it was quite a success. I will definitely make it again. Possibly using Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze instead of half and half. That will save a lot on the calories and will still taste great. I think any cheese would work for this recipe. I just happened to have a bunch of fat free mozzarella. Goat cheese (my fave), blue cheese, gorgonzola, etc... would all probably be just as good.

I had a pretty good Friday I think. I ate good food without ruining my diet. I do sometimes worry when I have a heavy-ish meal for dinner that it will lead to a gain on the scale the next day. I tried to make sure I didn't eat too too much for that reason. Either way I'll be ok. No diet panic attacks for this girl.

No Day But Today

I am happy to say that my reason for not posting yesterday was not because I was too tired or lazy or bitter. I was out seeing one of my favorite Broadway musicals of all time, Rent. It's an unbelievable feeling to see this show again after so many years. The music and lyrics of Rent have been burned into my brain since the first time I saw it. This time around was honestly better than I remember it. From the minute the show started to the minute it ended my emotions were all over the place - crying, laughing, remembering. One of the show's main messages is "No Day But Today." And after seeing it last night, I can't help but be inspired to live my life a little more like this everyday. No regrets about the past and no fears about the future. Live in the moment and live each day to the fullest.
I have digressed a bit from my intended blog theme. Let me see if I can tie this all together....
Living each day to the fullest to me means spending time, most importantly, with the people I love. No diet is worth giving up time with friends and family. For someone like me who tends to go a little far with dieting - that is an important reminder. However, I want to live a long and healthy life that I can enjoy. I want to feel good about myself. I want to stop wasting precious minutes of my life trying on one thing after the other just to find an outfit that fits. I never want to skip out on going to the beach again just because I am too afraid to be in a bathing suit. Pool parties are supposed to be fun. They are not supposed to induce a panic attack.
So in the end it comes down to balance. I need to focus on my ultimate goal but not lose sight of what is important in life. Find a way to stay on track without pushing your friends away. And for those of you who do not struggle with this as much as others, please remember to support your friends who do. We all love happy hours and nachos - yes. But sometimes going for a walk or cooking dinner at home is fun too.
So that's my transition from Rent to food. For an incredible description of someones experience with Rent (having nothing to do with food) please click here to read my incredibly intelligent and articulate friend Kayla's writing about it.

Wednesday:
Low Sugar Oatmeal
Healthy Choice Frozen Meal
Motts Healthy Harvest Applesauce
Leftover corn & rice & beans
Trader Joes Veggie Gyoza's
A few bites of a Lean Cuisine Frozen Meal

Thursday (so far):
Thai Chicken Salad
Jello Pudding Snack - 60 cal

Since I didn't post yesterday at all I'll go ahead and put this one up now. I'll have a regular full day tomorrow. As far as the rest of the day today goes I'm thinking of getting some fro yo at some point. Mmmmm. Dinner will be healthy. I think. ;)

Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow.

PS... Day 7 Weight: X-4lbs (yay!)

And I'm Back... Challenge Day 5

Day 5 Weight: X-4lbs

So I took a little break from posting for a couple of days. For one I was just a little bit tired (this is hard work you know, ) and secondly I was a kind of disappointed with the underwhelming response I got from my last post. I was really looking forward to getting your feedback on the workout songs. So either not as many people are reading this as I thought, or those of you who are reading are just too lazy to respond. Or maybe you guys just don't go to the gym? Either way I have decided to stop pouting and move on.
Thank you very very much to those of you who did take the time to help me out... Ms. Wilde, Tim, Lauren, and Anonymous. Your suggestions are all fabulous and I'll be thinking of you guys when I'm miserable at the gym. I'll have the new play list ready to post soon.

I started my new job this week and in terms of dieting I think it will be a very good thing. It has me on my feet all day and gives me no time to do any kind of mindless eating - which I tend to do when I'm at a desk all day long. We'll see how it goes, hopefully I am right.

1 piece of Rocky Mountain Toast (1 egg & low cal Sara Lee bread)

Persian Cucumbers w/Artichoke Tapenade
** Seems like a weird combo, I know. But I like to mix weird things. It's just a really quick and fresh snack.

Jello 60 cal Pudding Snack
Motts Healthy Harvest Blueberry Delight Applesauce
** These are both really good healthy snack options especially if you are looking for something sweet.

Chicken & Shrimp Fajitas, Red Beans & Rice, Corn
**The chicken fajitas were from none other than Trader Joes. This is another delight from the frozen foods section. You get the veggies, chicken, and seasoning all in one bag and, of course, it's all very healthy. I added in some shrimp too pretty much just for quantity. For the tortillas I used one of my WW staple items - La Tortilla Factory tortillas. The smaller size has around 50 calories and 8 grams of fiber. If you are dieting you need these tortillas! You can use them for anything... wraps, burritos, fajitas, etc.
The red beans and rice were one of those Knorr/Lipton Cajun Sides. It's not particularly low cal or anything but not bad at all as a side dish, especially if you are splitting with someone.
And the corn was from a can.. nothing too special there. I used a dash of cayenne pepper pretty much over everything in the meal just to give it an extra little kick. It all turned out great.

Thanks for reading! See you tomorrow. :0)

5 lb Challenge: Day 2

Day 2 Weight: X - 2.5 lbs

As much as I would like to, I cannot officially celebrate this as my halfway point. My body has a very quick reaction to, well to anything really. Basically my weight fluctuates by 2-3 lbs daily. So just depending on the next few days of eating I could potentially hit my goal early... but the real challenge is to keep it at that weight and then keep going for more. Does that make sense?
Nonetheless, losing 2.5 lbs is a great feeling! With that dreaded happy hour out of the way now I am feeling confident and ready to keep this up.

Just another thought about the diet. Because of my sort of extreme personality I usually tend to go for a much quicker type of weight loss. Like... it's Monday and I need to lose 10 lbs by Friday - that type of thing. We all know that the faster you lose the weight, the faster you will put it right back on. That's why fad diets are not really so good for you. They do not teach you a realistic long term way to eat. It's just a quick fix. Instant gratification.
Since I don't have any major events coming up right now there is no reason for me to go the quick fix diet route. I know I'll be better off in the long run by doing it this way. However, if anyone is looking for some quickie diets with great results let me know. I'll give you scoop.

10:00am: Egg Beaters Omelet w/Corn, Jalapenos, & Fat Free Feta

2:00pm: Handful of Pomegranate Arils (seeds)

4:00pm: Homemade Cottage Cheese w/ Persian Cucumbers & Cherry Tomatoes
** My wonderful mother is nice enough to make homemade cottage cheese for me once in a while. I think it's absolutely delicious and could probably eat it everyday if I had it.
I make this little salad with regular low fat cottage cheese too. The key is to season it with salt and pepper. It's a great and refreshing snack or meal. Great if you are looking for a light lunch.

5:00pm: A few slices of dried pineapple with chili

7:30pm: Artichoke Penne Pasta and Asparagus
** This pasta dish turned out quite delicious. It is made with Gerties Artichoke Tapenade from Costco. I found the recipe on the jar but made a few changes to lower the calorie count. It called for penne pasta, butter, parmesan cheese, and of course the tapenade. I used Fiber Gourmet Penne, Reduced Fat Parmesan, and Brummel and Brown Spread in place of the butter. Brummel and Brown is so good as a butter substitute. It's perfect for baking, cooking, whatever. And the stats are even better... 45 cals per serving.
I saute the asparagus in a pan with some olive oil cooking spray, lemon juice, garlic powder, and Vegeta Gourmet Seasoning. Right before I serve it I sprinkle with a little bit of Reduced Fat Parm.

9:00pm: Yogurtland Fro Yo
** I am very proud to say that I made this dessert as diet friendly as possible. I checked the nutritional info and picked the 2 of the flavors with lowest calories. Then I weighed it out to make sure I didn't get more than I needed. And of no toppings. I do love my chocolate sprinkles (rainbow ones too) but it was just as delicious without them - I promise. It came out to around 110 calories. Totally worth it.

I feel pretty good about my day today. I also got in a great workout thanks to my favorite trainer/bff. I do feel like I ate a little bit on the heavy side in the evening and it may show up on the scale tomorrow. Anyway, I'm not too worried.

One last thing... And this one is important so listen up!! I need to do a little makeover on my Ipod Shuffle and I need your help. I'm looking to put together a super motivating super fun workout mix. So please send me your favorite workout songs. Anything that will keep me on that treadmill just a few minutes longer. Post a comment, send me an email, facebook me, whatever! Once I have it all together I'll post it on here so that you guys can use it too if you'd like. Check out the video below if you need some inspiration. =)

I am depending on you guys so pleeeease don't let me down! Thank you thank you thank you!

Don't Say Diet

Waking up this morning I immediately started thinking of ways to justify pushing back my 2 week challenge. Just a few days... I'll start on Monday. No no no. I start a new job on Monday and the last thing I need is to be psycho about what I eat on my first day of work. Cause I'm always psycho on Day 1. Plus, I'm sick of starting diets on a Monday. This is why I made such a big deal about starting today... Friday! I am ridiculous. Ok I'm starting today. Happy hour is still up in the air. Ugh... life is tough.

So since the challenge was to lose 5 lbs in 2 weeks I need to make sure to document my weight daily.

Day 1: X lbs (you swear I'm posting my actual weight online. ha ha.)

Egg Beaters Scramble w/cheese, onions, and green peppers

Lean Cuisine Fettuccine Alfredo

Ok so I reluctantly agreed to go to happy hour with the promise of free drinks and a NO BURRITO support team at my side. Here's the damage:
3 Amstel Lights = 95 calories each; 2 WW Pts each
1 Shot of Patron = 105 calories
1 Vodka Soda = 100 calories
Southwestern Cobb Salad - Not a healthy salad. Probably could've gotten a burger for the same amount of calories. BUT I prefer salads most of the time and I only ate about 2/3 of it so hopefully that helped a bit.
3 Fries dipped in Ranch

Overall I think Day 1 was not a complete disaster. I guess we'll see what the scale says in the morning but I can tell you this much... It could have been A LOT worse. Like a lot.

At the end of the day, when push comes to shove, it is what it is.

Thursday

My day today began with an inspirational little chat with my one of my favorite dieting buddies. We have been dieting and exercising together probably since we were in our early teens. Having a good friend to pair up with while you're trying to lose weight is always a huge plus. Although I must say that as much as we motivate each other to stay on track, we tempt each other to cheat maybe even more. So maybe it's not a match made in diet heaven but I happen to think it's a whole lot more fun this way.
Despite the fact that this "friend" is trying to convince me to go to happy hour with her tomorrow, I think I may resist the urge and go with my plan to start my diet on Friday. And do you know what that means??? That means that today I get to eat anything I want! Fan-fuckin-tastic.

Nonfat Sugar Free Vanilla Latte
1/2 Bagel w/Cream Cheese
** This wasn't in the plan for the day. BUT it happened to show up in front of me so.. I caved.

NEW Healthy Choice All Natural Entrees Frozen Meal: Pumpkin Squash Ravioli
** When it comes to my frozen meals I'm pretty much Lean Cuisines all the way. I sometimes dabble in the WW Smart Ones but for the most part I'm all about the LC's - only when they're on sale of course. Healthy Choice meals for some reason have always been at the bottom of my list. Well, last time I was at the store I noticed what I thought was a new brand of frozen diet meals. Turns out it's the new packaging on the NEW Healthy Choice - All Natural Entrees. So I decided to give them a try. So far so good! This one was quite delicious. Similar to LC's Butternut Squash Ravioli but I think this one gives you more ravioli and less calories.

Leftover Green Beans & Brown Rice

Passion Fruit
** It's not just a Bath & Body Works scent... it actually is a fruit! My mom grows these in her backyard and is quite generous with them. Dee-lish.

Hebrew National 97% Fat Free Hot Dog w/Kraft 2% Cheese & Low Sugar Ketchup
** This snack comes from the days of Low Carb dieting. Although the Low Sugar Ketchup is new. It's made by Heinz. Ketchup is just one of those condiments you would never think of worrying about when you're on a diet but if you check the stats you'll see it's pretty high in sugar. The low sugar kind tastes just as good (i think) and saves you a little on the calories.

Spicy Pickle Turkey Panini
Spicy Pickle is about a block away from my place in Little Italy. They serve paninis, subs, salads, and soup. This place is good for a quick bite. They have really good turkey and just generally delicious ingredients. I also really like this place cause it reminds me of being in Colorado =)
My panini: Sausalito turkey, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, pepperjack and chipotle mayo
So my dinner was good. Not diet good. But you know, good good. And overall my day was ok. I didn't do anything disastrous but I didn't do anything great either.

I am still being tempted to go to happy hour tomorrow. This is my eternal diet dilemma. Do I give in and go to happy hour, convincing myself the entire time that it doesn't mean I have to go off my diet when really everyone knows that the minute you start drinking it's only a matter of time before you say fuck it and end up eating a California burrito at 2am. OR do I proudly announce to the world that I am, once again, on a diet and unless you want to come get a salad with me then I'll just see you never? What's a girl to do? Sigh...

I Heart Trader Joe's

Light Yoplait Yogurt w/Lowfat Granola

Corn w/Lowfat Cheese
Bush's Baked Beans - Vegetarian
** I know these last 2 sound kind of strange. Sometimes I just really like eating canned food. It's quick and easy and I think it's delicious. Although not all agree so I'll just leave it at that.

Thai Shrimp Gyozas, Prig Khing Green Beans, and Brown Rice
** This was a delicious and healthy Trader Joe's dinner. If there is anyone left in the world who does not shop at Trader Joe's yet, stop what you are doing right now and go. I am a huge fan of this store. For some reason I think a few people group this store in with Whole Foods and assume it's just as pricey - but you couldn't be more wrong. Trader Joe's is some of the most affordable grocery shopping you can do. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE WHOLE FOODS but I can't quite afford it at the moment so I wont get into that right now.
Ok so back to TJ's. I would highly suggest that you start off by taking a stroll down the frozen foods aisle. It is nothing like the frozen foods you would find at a grocery store. It is SO much better. The food tastes better, is better for you, and is definitely cheaper. I just can't say enough.
The Thai Shrimp Gyozas and the Green Beans both came from TJ's frozen foods. I am obsessed with these gyoza's. I have been buying them for years. They come in veggie too. Super low in calories and WW Pts. This was my first time buying the green beans and as expected they were delicious as well. And then obvi the brown rice.. nothing special to report there.
Trader Joe's is always my go-to when whenever I throw a party, dinner party, etc. They have lots of dips and things like that. They've also got a lot of little hour d'oeuvres (that is weird word to spell) in the frozen section. Everything there is just so quick and easy to make you really can't go wrong.
A quick warning about TJ's though... If you buy any fresh produce or fruit there eat it right away. It will go bad quickly. I'm not sure what they do differently than regular grocery stores but I just know it's pretty much always the case. So don't buy more than you need.
Last thing and then I'm done. Don't leave the store without buying yourself at least 2 (or 6) bottles of Charles Shaw wine aka "Two Buck Chuck." No joke - it costs $1.99. It's not the best wine you'll ever have in your life but knowing that you only paid $1.99 for it makes it taste a whole lot better.

Oh yeah that reminds me... I did have some wine with dinner too. Maybe half a bottle or so?

Tuesday

I am starting to think that I may need something new to do. Something to shake things up - eating wise. Maybe like a little lose 5 lbs goal for myself? I didn't really feel like going on any sort of official diet right now but I don't know how much anyone really wants to read about me sitting around eating like a fat ass all day. So maybe just a quickie challenge. Lose 5 lbs in 2 weeks? That's do-able I think. I will think about it some more. Maybe do something really crazy like start it on Friday. I mean... who starts a diet on a Friday? Anyway... we'll see.

Breakfast Sandwich
** 2 pieces of low cal Sara Lee bread, 1 slice of 2% Kraft cheese, approx 1/3 cup of Egg Beaters, sliced tomatoes. Another delicious breakfast. Although I'm starting to think that I need to ease up on how much bread I've been eating lately - even though it is low cal and high fiber.

Went to one of my favorite local sushi spots for lunch. Sushi Fix. The greatest thing about Sushi Fix is that it's located in Little Italy (where I live) and is pretty much the only non Italian restaurant in the whole area. And since Sushi is my favorite food and Italian is least favorite food... well let's just say I'm very happy to have it there. And best of all they deliver. I mean sushi being delivered to my door is really something special.
Anyway, had a very nice lunch here with one my bff's, Lauren, after we went on a very long walk all along the harbor downtown. Between the two of us this is what we had:
- Fire Roll: Spicy krab with cucumber topped with spicy tuna
- Spicy Crunchy Cali Roll: California roll topped with crunchies, spicy and eel sauce
- Cucumber Salad
- Seaweed Salad
- Edamame
I can't really say we made the best choices possible on the rolls, at least not when it comes to dieting. But we didn't finish it all which is quite unusual for me when it comes to sushi. So maybe that made up for it. Probably not but oh well. I never regret a good sushi meal.

Mexican Candy
Ok.. so those who have known me since I was a kid know that this is yet another one of my "food" obsessions. Mexican candy is in no way good for you and I would not suggest that anyone start eating it. Although most people I know (other than a few and you know who you are) think that it tastes disgusting. It's not really that high in calories but it's just not good. It consists of a lot of sugar and chili powder and other unknown ingredients. I don't eat it all the time but when I come across some of my favorite kinds it's almost impossible for me to resist. So I'm just going to leave it at that.

Frozen Yogurt!
Yay I love love love fro yo! I love it all - sweet, tart, whatever. Yogurtland is one of my faves. I made sure to get a little bit cause I tend to go a little overboard when it's self-serve. I did, of course, top it with fresh strawberries and chocolate sprinkles. Mmmm.

A few bites of a Lean Cuisine Pizza

Dinner Salad
This is one of those times when I just dove into my fridge and used whatever I had that was fresh and close to going bad. Not bad yet - don't worry. But I hate throwing away food so I wanted to make sure I used what I had before I had to do that. Here is what I threw together:
Green Pepper
Orange Pepper
Persian Cucumbers
Tomato
Jalapenos
Corn
Grilled chicken strips tossed in buffalo wing sauce
Galeo's Miso Dressing - really good salad dressing. Great for a low cal coleslaw.

That's all I've got. See you later friends!

Uh-oh. Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays

Since it's Monday I feel like I should have some sort of goals set for the week. I think I'd like to focus on getting to the gym this week as well as continuing to eat at home as much as possible. Maybe I should even say that I'm gonna try to not spend any money on food this week at all. Like no grocery shopping or anything. That'll be tough. Maybe impossible?

9:30am: Yoplait Light Yogurt & Low Fat Granola
** This is a really nice, really light breakfast. Comes out to 5 WW pts. I'm pretty picky about yogurt because I absolutely hate when there are pieces of fruit in it. So far Fiber One and Yoplait Light Thick and Creamy are my top two picks.

1:00pm: Leftover Lo Mein
** I decided it was best to save money by not throwing away my leftovers. Plus I went to the gym today so I figured that made it ok.

2:30pm: Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich

4:00pm: Think Thin Bar
** This is a really good high protein energy type bar. It tastes like a candy bar and is actually good for you. All the flavors are delicious but my favorite is anything chocolate or peanut butter. I think it's got around 240 calories or so which makes for a pretty good small meal.
(Yes Sophy this came from your house. Can we consider it my payment for running your errands?)

5:00pm: Quite a few handfuls of Oriental Trail Mix
** This was not in my plan. I was stopping by my cute little local market, which I love even though it's over priced, for some milk. I couldn't help myself when I saw the trail mix because I just love it so so much. So, of course, as soon as I got home I just sat around and snacked on it. It's spicy and delicious. Yum.
(I guess my plan for not spending any money on food this week is shot. Oh well that didn't sound like much fun anyway.)

7:30pm: Amy's Organic Chunky Tomato Soup
** Yum Yum Yum Yum! I was so impressed with this soup. It's low sodium which usually means I'd have to add salt to it (which would kind of defeat the purpose of the low sodium thing.) Anyway, it did not need salt at all. It was very satisfying and only 5 WW Pts for the entire can. It has chunks of tomatoes in it which I think makes it so much better than regular tomato soup. I added some chopped up basil leaves and just a few shakes of low fat Parmesan cheese.
You can find Amy's soups in most grocery stores along with the other canned soups.

Now I must give credit where credit is due. I have always looked around online for good diet and food websites. There are a lot of great ones out there - especially if you're on Weight Watchers. About 4 years ago I stumbled upon a site that quickly moved to the top of my list of favorites and has kept that spot ever since. www.hungry-girl.com is a website and online newsletter which I subscribe to and rave about to anyone who will listen. It's as if the creator, Lisa Lillien, made this site just for me! She sends out daily emails with great tips and tricks for girls like me who love to eat.
A lot of the products and recipes that I use and love have come from Hungry Girl. She also has a great cookbook that is full of recipes as well as a ton of other fun tidbits about dieting and such. I would definitely recommend signing up for the emails as well as getting the book. The emails are free and the book is very reasonably priced. And she's got another book coming out very soon - April I think.
One more honorable mention and I'll be done for the day. For anyone out there on Weight Watchers a really good site to keep bookmarked is www.dwlz.com. Her name is Dottie and from the looks of the site she's been on WW since before I was born. But she's got almost everything covered when it comes to points. When I'm on WW I check this site all the time for restaurant points. She updates it often and has A LOT of restaurants on there. This is a very good resource for anyone who's counting.


Well it's time for me to switch my focus over to the highly anticipated season finale of The Bachelor. Aaaahhh who will he choose?

Thanks for reading! See ya soon. =)

Sunday Funday

After 2 nights of drinking, Sunday Funday takes on a a bit of a different meaning for me than it used to. It means a day to relax and enjoy. And a day to stay away from alcohol at all costs. I just can't hang like I used to, you know?
Just a quick non-food related note... I started my day off by laying at my pool (it was a really nice day here - 75 and sunny) for a bit and continuing my now rapidly growing obsession with reading Twilight. I am reading Twilight thanks to the very high recommendations it got from one of my best friends in life, Kayla, and from my lil sis Casey. I did go see the movie first which made it a bit difficult for me to read the book right after. But now it's been a while and I can confidently say that the movie was great but the book is much much better! Thanks for the tip on this one ladies.

9:00am: Light String Cheese

11:00am: Fiber Gourmet Rotini w/Olives and Marinara
** Pretty small portion of this. I think I only had about a cup of cooked Rotini left from last week.

1:00pm: Mango Chicken Salad from Zanzibar Cafe
** For any local San Diego-ans I highly highly recommend this restaurant. I've been going to Zanzibar since I was a kid when it first opened. There are 2 locations one in Pacific Beach and one in Downtown - East Village to be exact. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food is always delicious and fresh. This is what was in my yummy salad:
MANGO CHICKEN SALAD: GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST, SLICED MANGO, CUCUMBER, JICAMA, GOAT CHEESE, ROASTED ALMONDS & SUN-DRIED CHERRIES, SERVED ON A BED OF MIXED GREENS WITH A SIDE OF SUN-DRIED CHERRY VINAIGRETTE
I mean seriously - how good does that look? Anyway, definitely check it out. www.zanzibarcafe.com


4:00pm Turkey & Pickle Sandwich
** Why am I so obsessed with this meal? Again it was made with my low cal Sara Lee bread, Light Miracle Whip, Oven Roasted Turkey, 1/2 of a pickle, and this time I threw in 1 slice of Kraft Cheese - 2% of course.

7:30pm: Sesame Chicken, Broccoli, White Rice, and Low Mein Noodles with Chicken & Shrimp
** Yes - we ordered Chinese delivery. I know this is not a diet friendly meal at all. I mean if I told you the WW Pts in just one serving of Sesame Chicken you would probably die. But like I said, I'm not trying to diet right now so no need to freak out. I still like to make good and healthy decisions when I eat, but sometimes you really just want Chinese delivery. So.
The real dilemma is this... what do I do with the leftovers in my fridge? Reheat them for lunch today (Monday) and have another not so diet friendly meal OR throw them away to avoid the temptation but feel bad about wasting food and money. Hm... any suggestions?
BTW.. if you're looking for good Chinese delivery in San Diego this is the spot. It's called China Too. They don't really have a website so I tracked down another site that's got their menu.
http://www.campusfood.com/restaurant.asp?campusid=527&mlid=244232

Well the weekend is finally over. Can't really say I did too much for my waistline over the last 3 days but at least I had a good time. Right?