Tasty Tuesday!

Good evening, guys! Welcome to another edition of Tasty Tuesday. Today is an example of... imperfection. Which is cool, you need to not just see me on my "perfect" days. I'm PMSing bigtime, and you know what that means: SNACKS. Also: HUNGRY MONSTER!!!

This morning started off with 40 minutes of this:

With this:

Breakfast was a giant bowl of delicious oats! 1 cup of oatmeal (dry) is the perfect amount for me. It makes a large amount and keeps me full all morning. This bowl was made with almond milk and topped with sliced banana and some leftover canned fresh pineapple! So good.

Lunch started off great, but then turned into a PMS-crazy-MEGAMEAL!!! I started with leftovers: 1 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup black beans, some canned tomatoes and a teaspoon of olive oil. YUM.

This is when things went downhill... I opened up some Almond Dream "bites" which are seriously the most amazing ice cream treat that I've eaten since going vegan. DELICIOUS!!! There were 7 left, about half a serving, and I ate them all...

Long story short: I ate the rest of the flatbread (5 servings!) and the rest of the hummus (4 tablespoons!) Luckily, this GIANT, PMS-inducede mega-meal kept my tummy full for several hours. I wasn't even kind of hungry until 10 pm. That's insane! Also ate (not pictured): Coconut Cream Pie Lara Bar. Yep: mega meal! Note: I didn't consider these Flatbreads to be a trigger food. Now I'm reevaluating...

For dinner, I had a green monster! In this GM: 2.5 cups spinach (steamed in the microwave first), 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 large frozen banana, 1/2 tablespoon flaxseed, 2 ice cubes

Cheers!

Tasty Thursday!!!

Tasty Thursday is brought to you by Forgetful Tuesday... ;-)

I drank 2 big jug fuls of my WW mug water, one before lunch and one after lunch. Love this jug! Seriously, if you don't have a nice 32 oz water jug, I highly recommend one! It's such as easy way to make sure that I always get in at least 64 oz of water daily. Breakfast was a delicious bowl of oatmeal (1 cup dry) made with unsweetened vanilla almond milk (1 cup) and a chopped up banana. YUM.Lunch was seriously amazing. On this open-faced sandwich: 2 Morningstar Farms chik'n grillers patties, 2 tbs hummus, and 1/2 an avocado. On the side I had baby carrots and cherry tomatoes, sprinled with pepper.I really don't know why, but after that gigantic meal I was still hungry, so I ate my Lara Bar early (had planned it for late afternoon) along with 6 redvines. Everything in moderation, folks! My afternoon snack was a can of no-sugar-added peaches. (recycled picture, since I forgot to take a picture of these! I swear this looks exactly the same.) On my way to class after work, I couldn't help noticing this. Whose skinny thighs are those? Mine!!! How exciting to recognize that my thighs are no longer overweight. I hope that each and every one of you reading this has either already had this moment, or will have it soon. It will not soon be forgotten... I have thin thighs. :-)

Before class began, I enjoyed some more baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. Seriously, carrots are nature's crackers, and cherry tomatoes are nature's kettle corn. So sweet and salty!

I had to take this picture in the school dirty bathroom, just to show you a cute new outfit! That's right, I have an hourglass shape, and I'm wearing stuff to show it off, FINALLY! I am loving my new-found confidence, and I'm hoping that I don't bore you too much with "Wow, don't I look great now" thoughts.

Dinner was 1 cup of a mixture of barely and brown rice (cooked together in the rice cooker, YAY, how exciting that I can do that?!), 1 cup of ff refried beans, and a can of tomatoes. Loved this combo!

Now, I have to get back to THIS. Anyone want to write my International Relations paper for me? Hmmm? ;-)

P.S. Just had to add: All pictures that have a steering wheel in them were taken while PARKED. Just in case anyone was worried! :-)

Tasty Tuesday!

I started the day off right with a high-intensity workout on the Wave. I find the way my legs look in this picture hilarious!
Next up, a giant bowl of oatmeal made with oats, banana, light soy milk, and a tad of vanilla almond milk. With my morning Diet Cola and lots of water! Once again, this oatmeal was eaten half at 8am, and a bit more around 10:30. Didn't end up eating all of it this time, just wasn't that hungry.

One of the engineers brought me a present: a bunch of fancy cookies from the first class lounge at the airport! The ingredients were all vegan, and it was so tiny that I counted two of them at 1 PointPlus, since I really have no clue.


Lunch started with a Green Monster smoothie made with soy milk, flax seeds, spinach, dandelion greens, kale, a banana, and some unsweetened applesauce.

Hi to Stacey on the couch! Don't mind the crazy glare on his glasses.

I was still a little hungry, so I had some leftovers of barley with black beans and veggies! Mixed a teaspoon of EVOO in there, too.

I packed a baggie of veggies and a sandwich for school. I only ended up eating a few of these, and none of the sandwich. Wasn't hungry for it!

I did enjoy a late afternoon clementine... okay, two. ;-)

No, I wasn't driving when I took this, but yes that is my steering wheel!

This is what I'm eating right now for a late dinner. Some more leftover barley and beans with some toast. 1 tsp of EVOO drizzled on the toast.


Thanks to Megan for the name idea of "Tasty Tuesday". I love it! BTW, if you read my blog and don't read Megan's, that crazy! Hers is way better.

*edited to add: I ate an additional 5 pieces of light wheat bread late last night!!! Note to self: stop buying this for awhile, it's clearly a trigger food for me.

Food Pictures!

The responses were pretty much unanimous: You want to see pictures of my food! :-) So, I decided to post the last three delicious meals that I've eaten.

Chocolate Peanut butter and banana toast!

6 PointsPlus

Ingredients:

-2 slices whole wheat bread, toasted
-1 small banana, sliced

-1 tablespoon Peanut Butter & Co. "dark chocolate dreams"

Lunch, bowl-style

10 PointsPlus

Ingredients:

-1 cup leftover brown rice

-1/2 cup bean trio (canned, rinsed and drained)

-1/2 cup corn (canned, NSA)

-salsa, to taste

-1 teaspoon EVOO

Barley, beans, and veggies!!!

8 PoinstPlus

Ingredients:

-1 cup barley (I just found out that I can cook barley in my rice cooker!!!)

-1/2 cup bean trio (leftover from lunch)

-lots of steamed broccoli and carrots

-1 teaspoon EVOO

Back to school- meal #1

(not actual pictures of my food, but you get the gist)

1) peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread

-PointsPlus: 6

-to be eaten on the drive to school

2) homemade trail mix (recipe coming later tonight!)

-PointsPlus: 9

-to be eaten during class

3) celery sticks

-PointsPlus: 0

-to be eaten...whenever.

What I eat Part #3- Weekends!

I eat a lot more on the weekends, usually. I also tend to eat more salty things, more processed things, and more "junk" food in general. Most of the time, I will ignore the GHGs completely on Saturday, and only half-ass it on Sunday.


This is not what is recommended on either Weight Watchers OR The Kind Diet, but I want to be perfectly honest on this blog. I eat more and poorly on the weekends.

However, I don't throw it all away and binge anymore. Now, it's controlled chaos. :-)

Typically, my weekend will begin with a weigh-in on Saturday morning (or afternoon, whenever I wake up). After that, I will eat a banana or another piece of fruit before heading to the gym with my boyfriend. After an hour of working out, we return home and I will usually eat an entire Amy's pizza and some Ore-Ida steak fries. This meal is usually 30 PointsPlus.

Very delicious. Very filling. I am usually full/satisfied until 8 or 9 pm after this 2-3pm mega-meal.

At that point, I will usually eat some vegetables and some fruit. And sometimes leftovers from Friday's dinner (rice, beans, veggies, evoo). Otherwise, I will eat some air-popped popcorn with EVOO.

My typical Saturday ends with about 40 PointsPlus eaten. I get 29DP and 49WPA, so it's all good. Eating this "mega-meal" of pizza and fries after my weigh-in just feels so right to me. I love it, and I look forward to this meal all week.

On Sunday, I will usually stick closer to my DP than on Saturday, but sometimes I don't. My favorite Sunday junk foods are:


-light lays (14 PointsPlus for entire bag)
- double-stuff oreos (4 PointsPlus for 2 cookies)
- boca vegan burgers (3 PointsPlus for 2)
- Sweet Chocolate Dream vegan chocolate bar (12 PointsPlus for entire bar)

I will snack throughout the day on Sunday, occassionally eating a good GHG-infused meal for dinner.

It's not the healthiest plan, but it works for me. Eating like this on the weekends has really helped me to lose the weight. I get the best of both worlds, so to speak. I still get to eat my favorite junk foods, but in moderation.

Actually, since PointsPlus started, I will usually have 25-40 WPA left for the work-week. Which I love! I used to burn out most of the 35WPA on the weekends. No more! I love PointsPlus.

What I eat: Part #2- Dinner and Snacks

My favorite week day dinner is home-made (mostly. I used some canned things in my meal). I cook some brown rice, usually the "boil-in-a-bag" kind. This really helps with portions, because one baggie makes 2 cups of cooked rice.

While that is boiling, I will start cooking the rest of the meal. I usually will start with red wine vinegar and lime juice, but sometimes I use balsalmic and lemon juice. I will add some minced garlic, some chopped red onion. Once the onion starts to carmelize, I add a chopped tomato, a can of rotel (usually original diced tomatoes and green chilles), a chopped bell pepper, and finally, a chopped heart of romaine lettuce.

Salt and pepper to taste. This whole process takes about 10 minutes. Then the rice is done.

Add the entire two cups of cooked rice to the mix. Stir in one cup of beans (I usually will use canned beans, rinsed off, in either black or kidney). Eat half of this entire pot for 7 PointsPlus, but it's a good idea to also add a teaspoon of healthy oil (I use EVOO) for another Point.

Save the other half for the next night, or share with someone.

A simpler version of this meal will suffice for days that you don't want to cook. The convenience foods are more costly, but some days I need a break from cooking! All you need for the simple version:

- Uncle Ben's "ready rice" in whole grain brown

-a bag of Bird's Eye "steamfresh" in your choice of 0-points veggies (I love broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots)

-some canned beans

Microwave steamfresh bag for 5 minutes. Microwave rice for 90 seconds. Add a half cup of beans. For more flavor (and to meet the GHGs) add a teaspoon of EVOO. Salt and pepper to taste. Filling, delicious, easy.

Snacks. I love them! I crave them. I need them! :-) There are some things that have remained the same for me since starting WW, and one of them is my need for snacks. Usually I will eat something between lunch and dinner, and then something else late at night after my workout. Here are some of my staples.

Blue Diamond almonds in BOLD- Wasabi & Soy Sauce. I love these! One serving is 28 almonds, and I get all 28 for a PointsPlus value of 5. It's definately a point-y snack, but it's so filling that I never need more than that. Of course, if you want just 1 PointsPlus, you can eat 7. 14 almonds come out to 2 PointsPlus. But I almost always eat the whole serving. I get so many daily PointsPlus that it works for me.

Fruit. Now that fruit is zero PointsPlus, I eat it like candy. No, I don't "abuse" the zero-point fruit, I just eat it when I really want something sweet, instead of going for cookies. My favorite snack fruits: apples, bananas, clementines, black seedless grapes, canned pineapple (no sugar added).

Redvines are amazing to me. If you like licorice, you'll love redvines. The only boo-hoo is that they have now doubled in Points, so they are an entire point for one stick. I used to get 2 for 1, but you win some, you lose some! It's still a pretty good deal when I really need some candy. I will usually have 4 vines for 4 PointsPlus.

Finally, I like to eat at least one big bowlful of steamed vegetables a day. This wards off other cravings and usually will help me get another healthy oil in, too. I am in love with these Ziploc "Zip n' Steam" bags. Put in a bunch of veggies (I usually use cut up broccoli, baby carrots, and cauliflower), add a bit of water, and microwave the bag for about three minutes. 0 PointsPlus, unless you add a teaspoon of EVOO for 1 PointsPlus.

My next post will be all about what I eat on the weekends!