I'm Tired

The story of my life these days can be summed up pretty easily: I'm tired. It's just how I'm feeling all the time. Anyway that being said I don't have anything new and exciting to tell you guys so I'll just stick to the basics. Here's what I ate today:

11:00am: Costco Falafel Balls, Cucumbers, Tomato, and Hummus
** Very delicious lunch or breakfast or whatever. I used Sabra hummus which is soooo good. You can buy it in most grocery stores. I just used the original flavor but all the other ones are great too. Roaster Red Pepper, Sun Dried Tomato, Garlic, etc.

4:15pm: Frozen Yogurt
** Since I had to move out of my beloved little home in Little Italy I've had to find some new fro yo spots. I've been to a lot in San Diego and I still think Yogurtland is #1. Some have come pretty close but none of the others are quite as delicious, cheap, and just overall perfect. Today I went to Del Mar Swirls. For the most part is was great. Good flavors (not as many as Yogurtland) and not too expensive. My only real complaint was the cups. I like my frozen yogurt cups to be a little bit wider. Like not so much tall but wider in circumference. Does that make sense? See if it's wider I can put all 3 of my flavors (I usually get 3) next to each other and mix them when and how I want to. BUT with the taller cups I pretty much have to put all the flavors on top of each other and then I'm just eating each one on its own. SO anyhow.. that was the only issue. Otherwise I was quite happy. My flavor combo today was: plain tart (always,) espresso, and cookies & cream. And chocolate sprinkles on top. YUM.

7:30pm: Roasted Vegetable Wrap w/ Baba Ganoush
** This tasty dinner was courtesy of my home away from home - Trader Joe's. They have a great selection of wraps, sandwiches, salads, etc. Some are better than others when it comes to calories. This one was 390 calories - kind of high on the fat - 12g - which is why it ends up being 8 pts. But anyway - it was very good and pretty filling I think.

It's now 9:30 or so and I was thinking about having another snack before bed but to be honest I'm just too tired to go all the way downstairs and deal with that. Maybe my exhaustion will be good for my diet. OR maybe these are just the early signs of swine flu. Can we do something about this whole thing please? I mean swine flu, really? It sounds terrible and kind of disgusting actually.

Anyway... that's all for me today. It's way past my bedtime.

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.

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)

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?