Wow has it been that long?

I was just looking back to my last post. Nov. 11th. Geeze time flies. We celebrated Thanksgiving last week and now here it is going on the first of December. Life has been pretty much status quo. Thanksgiving was a free for all for my diet. I ate what I wanted when I wanted and as much as I wanted. Thankfully I came through the other side pretty much unscathed. This Monday's weigh in was a wash. I just stayed the same. Wooo Hooo. It could have been alot worse.  Back to the point counting and making better choices. One choice I need to make is doing some cardio. Why is it so hard to be consistent with exercise? Oh wait, that's right I don't enjoy sweating! I know it would jump start my weight loss again and it would only take 15-30 minutes a day but most of the time when I get home I am tired, ready for dinner, oh and then there's the whole homework and bath/bedtime situation. I just don't feel like exercising at 9pm at night. That's ME time for mommy. I guess I could get up 30 minutes earlier than I already do, but 4:30am comes realllllly earlier. By the way did I mention I am soooo not a morning person? I just need to suck it up and decide if I am going to be important enough and make myself a priority. That's what it boils down to. Am I worth the effort? I think I am. Well speaking of 4:30am, it is rapidly approaching so I must be on my way.  Goodnight and eat well!

Everything is better as a panini

A couple of days ago I got a panini maker as a free gift from a program through my work. Why does everything taste better as a panini? I think I am addicted and it's only been a few days. If you pay attention what you are putting in there you can pull off a panini for a measly 4 points. Last night I had a rye bread(1 pt a piece), tomatoes marinated in a smidgen of balsamic vinegar (0 points), a slice of mozzarella cheese(2 points) and some basil. Count it up....4 points total. So I had two! YUMMMMM! And I still stayed well within my points budgeted for the day. So well in fact I wanted to try a new recipe I found for lower fat pumpkin pie. I found the recipe on Snackgirl.com. It's a fabulous website and if you are looking for some creative, tasty alternatives you should check it out. Ok back to important stuff...the lower fat pumpkin pie. Well technically I guess you can't call it pie, it has no crust. It's basically for people who love the middle of pumpkin pie and don't care about the crust. That would be me! According to the website a regular piece of pumpkin pie packs around 320 calories per slice! I know, I know I was shocked too! This version still gives you that pumpkin pie feel but only for around 180 calories per serving. AWESOME! Here's the recipe if you don't have time to check out her site:

2 cups of pureed pumpkin
1 8 oz package of Neufchatel cheese (it's just like cream cheese with 1/3 less fat) you will find it right in the same section where the cream cheese is.
1/4 cup of sugar (start with that and add more to your desired sweetness) 1/4 cup was good for me
1 and 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring Neufchatel cheese to room temp either by leaving it out on the counter or unwrap and microwave for 30 seconds. Use a mixer and blend cheese in a bowl till fluffy. Add pumpkin, sugar and spice and taste. Add more sugar at this point if you desire. Mix in eggs and spoons into ramekins. I used the 7oz size and was able to make 7 servings. Bake for 40 minutes or until the center of the pie is firm.

I tried this last night and it was fantastic. All the taste of pumpkin pie without all of the calories. The only thing I will add the next time is a little dollop of cool whip. It will definitely make an appearance on this years Thanksgiving menu.

A Minor Setback

It was bound to happen at some point in this journey I'm on. Yes, I had a plus at my weigh in this week instead of a minus. Really I was not all that surprised. Last weekend I had a stomach bug so I was probably a little light at weigh in time. Plus that in combination with some Halloween candy and less exercise I mean really what did I expect? It's ok though I am not discouraged. It was a measly 1/2 a pound. Whoopie. I will get back on track this week and reset my focus.Life is hectic, family is good. Work is calling. Eat well!

The journey continues

Well it's been a while, it has been so hectic lately with all the Fall festivities I haven't had a chance to blog. Richard and I have still been keeping up with the WW. We are both doing well. This weekend we both came down with a 24 hour stomach bug, so let's just say it was really enjoyable at our house! Ha! Nothing like a little vomiting and diarrhea to jump start weight loss.Hee Hee. Well Monday was my last weigh in and my total lost is 9.5 lbs. WOOOO HOOO! 3 weeks and 9.5 lbs I'll take it. Halloween candy is my next struggle to face Ughhhhh. Maybe I'll take some to work and pawn it off to patients who have to sit in the waiting room. We have so much of it Darien would never notice. If fact I am sending a bag of chocolate with him to school today because his class is putting together a basket for a silent auction at their fall festival. Hey it's going for a good cause and it gets it out of my house. To me that's a win win situation. This weekend we will be trying a new resturant for our free day. Today is our 9th anniversary so we decided to splurge a little more than normal for our Saturday free meal. I'm excited cause I've heard good things aboout this place. Then we plan on rounding out the evening with a scary movie. It should be fun. Well I've gotta run, work is beckoning me. Till next time, Eat Well! ~~~