LOOOONG Day!

Yesterday was great but very long. We walked 12,552 steps yesterday. Not sure what distance that would equate to. We had a great time. Nathan ended up having a stomach virus a couple hours prior to leaving but we survived. He slept the entire train trip home (thank goodness). Ate quite a bit of junk but I am preparing myself for the week. Easter dinner at my Grandma's house will be the end of the not-so-great-eating spree I am on. Will be making up my menus tonight for the week and go the grocery store after leaving my Grandma's. It will work out great. I will be absolutely stuffed so I won't go crazy with the snacks. Back to the gym Monday. Since I have made my exercise schedule I haven't had a full week at work yet. This will be the 1st week of my 5-day workouts. Hopefully the scale will show it. I am going to try hard to put my scale away for the week. I am going to weigh myself Monday morning and put it away until next Monday. I think I am psyching myself out when I weigh so much. Hello. My name is Amy and I am a scale junkie. I know it's a problem. I just can't help myself! I will begin the 12 steps. My 1st step being PUT THE SCALE AWAY!!!

What day is today?

Not much to say today...Feels like a Saturday. Mall food and a movie (popcorn included). Getting ready for our train ride tomorrow. At least we will be walking a lot maybe burn off the calories from today.

A Couple of Food Reviews

I thought with my hummus experience that I should be venturing out and trying new things. Unfortunately the 3 things I tried were not so great.

1. Heavenly Desserts- The Original Sugar-Free Fat-Free Meringue Cookie- Vanilla. I knew was too good to be true. The box says 10 cookies=40 calories. Yeah, right. I couldn't get past 2 cookies much less 10. They left a horrible medicinal flavor in my mouth for quite a while afterwards. It also had a warning on the box that excessive consumption may have a laxative effect. Who could actually excessively consume them? They were horrible! The entire box (minus 2) is already in the trash!

2. Little Debbie- 100 calorie Snow Puffs. These were just alright. It is a soft fudge cookie/cake, topped with a marshmallow puff and coconut. I guess if I like marshmallow a lot I would really like this but I am not a huge fan of marshmallows. If you like chocolate covered marshmallows, this desert is for you!

3. Quaker mini Delights- Caramel Drizzle- I thinks my standards were way up there with this one. I was hoping for another Cinnamon Struesel but I wasn't that lucky. They taste alright but they aren't the cinnamon. It was more rice cake tasty than caramel.

Well, that's all for the new foods. My brand new huge Kroger has the grand opening tomorrow so I am sure to find a couple of new things to try.

New show on TLC

I watched a new show called "I can make you thin". It was pretty good. Although I did fall asleep toward the end. It is some British guy that is a motivational speaker. I think the show will be a 6 week series. I will continue to tape it and watch and see if he has any useful information. He had 4 golden rules. 1. Eat when your hungry 2. Eat what you want 3. Eat consciously 4. Stop when you think you are full. A big thing with him is setting your fork and knife down in between bites. You should be chewing your food at least 20 times and taste and enjoy it. You should not be doing anything other than eating. I'm all for that but it is so hard. I am so used to shoving my food in my mouth before I can even taste it. I don't sit down and relax and enjoy my food. I think I always eat more than I should because I eat so fast, my brain doesn't have enough time for my stomach to catch up with it.

Food Journal, pretty good today

Granola Bar-90
Fruit Salad-50
Beef and Noodles-280
Salad-45
Brussel Sprouts-25
Chips-75
Crackers and Hummus-160
Pork Chop and Rice Bake-325 (www.recipezaar.com Recipe # 95115-substituted pork loin chops for the chicken)
Green Beans-15
Total- 1065

Tomorrow I have a couple of food reviews.

Monday

Pretty good day today. I am trying to ween myself of Benadryl. I am an addict. I take it every night to help me sleep. It is wonderful. I haven't had any since Thursday night so I am not sleeping as good as a normally do. I know it is not a good idea to take medication nightly so you don't have to say anything. This last statement is going directly to cdotbdot and cukeedo. I can't get your new spelling down. My mind is now fixated on the old one and can't seem to pin down the new spelling. Went to the gym this morning and did 20 minutes on the elliptical and followed up with an upper body workout. I think I finally have my mind around the whole weightloss/exercise issues. Hopefully it will stick with me and I will continue to stay motivated. I wish you luck at the Y, very good way to reward yourself. I on the other hand tend to reward myself in ways in which I should not (Pizza, Hot Wings, a single with cheese from Wendy's with a biggie fry...the list could go on and on).

My food journal for the day:

Granola bar- 90
Chicken and rice- 300
Squash- 20
Cucumber- 20
Mini quakers- 90
Tortilla roll-up- 186
General Tso's Chicken- 323 (www.recipezaar.com Recipe #: 162379--DELICIOUS- but a little on the spicy side--use 1/4 tsp of red pepper for a less spicy version)
Crackers and Hummus- 160
Total- 1189 (still wanting a nighttime snack so I may go over by 160--not too bad for being so munchy today)

Tried something new...and liked it!

Went to Wal-mart today for a "few" things...ended up spending $180. This is the reason I despise Wal-mart. I can go to Kroger for a few things and only get a few things. I think it is because I don't know my way around Wal-mart so I have to go down every aisle and see things that I want that are not on my list. The boys also want things that they would not want from Kroger (or that Kroger does not provide). Case in point...The boys wanted a corn dog from the deli. I decided to get them one since they had not had lunch (I on the other hand had a healthy lunch of left over Chicken and Rice--I'm such a bad mom :)). Standing in line by the refrigerated specialty cheeses I noticed a container of hummus. I have never tried the stuff but see it in a lot blogs so I decided to buy some. But then, I thought, no crackers to go with my hummus. Down the cracker aisle I went...found the moderately healthy ones (Kashi whole grains). $ 180 later I'm at home and trying my new found "dip and chips" THEY WERE WONDERFUL!!! I got the Roasted Garlic Flavor. I have to say that this will be a staple in my house now, even Nathan liked them. It was a good thing to munch on while cooking dinner. The hummus has 50 calories fro 2 tbls and the crackers 130 for 15. This was the perfect size for a little before dinner snack.Tried two new recipes this weekend--Arroz Con Pollo and Beef Tips with Noodles. Both were pretty good. Not sure where I located the Arroz con Pollo but the Beef Tips with Noodles I found at http://allrecipes.com Recipe ID: 23915

Off to get ready for the week...Starting with the gym in the morning!

Slacking a bit

Time flies... I had not realized I had not posted since Wednesday. Thursday was a good day, stayed within my calories, went to Kickboxing class, had a good day. Friday not so good. I did work out in the yard all morning but Nathan had a friend over so McDonald's for lunch and Pizza for dinner. Today has been good. I've been working out in the yard for the last 3 hours, eating some grapes and a granola bar for breakfast and 1/2 sandwich and chips for lunch. Still have a bit of yard work to go and have a chicken and rice dinner cooking in the crock pot. I didn't get on my elliptical as I had told myself I would but I have been working and sweating in the yard. Good trade off I suppose (3 hours of yard work compared to 10 minutes on the elliptical). Tomorrow I will definitely get on the elliptical if I am not working in the yard. Well off to plant...