Planning out points, death by jalapenos

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I'm thinking about making nachos tonight, with some refried beans, salsa, and sour cream. It'll be 8 points though, which is quite a lot, and it wouldn't actually be all that much food, so I'm still not 100% sure. There's also some leftover pasta from a couple days ago that should get eaten soon, which would be 5 points.

I remember back when I used to get 24 points a day.... *wistful sigh*. Now I only get 20, and sticking to only 20 is really tough. I think I need to pare down my breakfast and lunch. I've been finding that I typically get home from work with 7 or 8 points left, and then after a 2 point snack (which is especially important if I've just gotten home from a run) and some dinner, I'm done with my daily points or even over sometimes. And I've found that planning for an after dinner snack is really important for me, because I always want something to look forward to after dinner - but I hate having to use weeklies or APs for that post-dinner snack all the time, because I can't seem to fit into my daily points. When I had 22+ points a day, it was simple. Now, not so much.

I keep trying to plan certain dinners, but I can't bring myself to make anything that's 6 points or over. Which essentially means making nothing with cheese. *weep* I LOVE cheese, but even the low fat cheese is so high in points when you add it to stuff. I keep wanting to make a vegetable lasagna but I know it's going to be like 8 points a serving (I just can't bring myself to use non-fat cheese... I might as well eat plastic. I mean cheese is inherently made of fat. If it's non-fat, is it still even considered cheese? What's it even made of? Ick.), and I just don't have enough points in the day for an 8 point dinner. Sure, I could eat a smaller portion, but then I know I'll be hungry later. Sigh. CONUNDRUM.

The other frustrating thing is that I never seem to be able to find a good baking night. I like to bake stuff when I have a good 4 points left for the day - so I have 2-3 points for trying whatever it is that I made, and 1-2 points for tasting batter, licking spoons, etc. Lately though, it seems that every single night I have to put it off yet again, because I don't have any dailies left (this week I ate a lot of my weekly points early on, too, so I only have one left plus APs).

I think I need to reorganize my daily points, and utilize my weekly points better.

Anyway, along with the lasagna, I've also been meaning to make nachos (as said above). I think I'm gonna suck it up and make a refried bean dip with lots of veggies - tomatoes, salsa, peppers, onions, jalapenos, etc. I love jalapenos. Plus, boosting veggie content always helps me stay full for longer.

How do those people who only get 18 points a day DO it? Major props to them. I wait in terror for the day when my 20 points a day drops to 19....

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Speaking of jalapenos:

First note to self: When making a sandwich at night for the next day's lunch, don't expect to be able to chop up jalapenos for it and then a little while later, take out your contact lens.

Second note to self: When one eye is burning in excruciating pain, don't expect to be able to wash off said jalapeno residue from your hand with just water and then be able to take out the other contact. You will, in fact, end up with both eyes in severe pain. You need to scrub your hands with soap and water.

Third note to self: When you wake up the next morning, don't stumble into the bathroom all sleepily and forget that your contacts are probably still contaminated with jalapeno juice, despite rinsing them and putting them in fresh contact solution. Do NOT attempt to put them back into your eyes.

After all is said and done, 1. I'm not blind (phew), 2. I need a new pair of contact lenses, and 3. My boyfriend is awesome, because he fashioned a little eye-rinse station out of a shot glass for me. How freaking cute it that.

Me: "OH MY GOD IT BURNS"
Pete: "Here, take this"
Me: "NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR VODKA SHOTS, PETE"
Pete: "Rinse your eyes with it!"
Me: "WITH VODKA?!?!"
Pete: "It's water!"

Ahem. What. I was a little out of it.

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I updated my photos! I know there's only a 3 pound difference from the last photo I posted, but I don't care, I like pictures =D Check it out on the sidebar to the right!

Oh, and my meal plan for the day:

Breakfast:
peach (1 pt)
Oikos yogurt (2 pts)
1 Weetabix biscuit (1 pt)

Lunch:
Hummus on an arnold thin with cucumbers, lettuce, and dreaded jalapenos (2 pts)
Progresso minestrone soup (3 pts)

Total: 9 points so far

If I get hungry later on at work:
100 cal pack of nuts (2 pts)

Dinner:
Maybe nachos! (8 pts)
Or leftover pasta? (5 pts)
Or something completely different (? pts)

Any of you guys have good, low point dinner ideas?

Weighing in, bread making, meal plan

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Meal plan for the day:

Breakfast:
apple (1 pt)
greek yogurt (3 pts)
1/4 cup fresh strawberries (0 pts)
homemade blueberry muffin (2 pts)
coffee with a little bit of milk (.5 pts)

Total: 6.5 pts

Lunch:
green peppers (0 pts)
raw green beans (0 pts)
garlic hummus (2 pts)
half a PB & J sammich (3.5 pts)

Total: 5.5 pts

Dinner (9 pts left):
As usual, I'm not sure yet. I might make some veggie lasagna. I keep saying that, but when I get home I never want to put that much effort into cooking.

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Speaking of effort and cooking, I DO want to make some homemade bread really soon.

Like, maybe tonight.

However. I have a strong feeling my bread is going to fail.

Indeed, Skeptical Cat. I agree. I keep reading different articles about how to make homemade bread (with no bread machine thingy) and they're all like "MANY THINGS CAN GO WRONG AT EVERY STAGE OF MAKING BREAD AND BELIEVE ME THERE ARE MANY STAGES SO HOLY CRAP YOUR BREAD IS GONNA SUCK" and I'm like "Yes, I believe you."

Regardless, bread making (or some type of semblance of it) shall occur. Don't worry, I'll document each step along the way so when I'm a super awesome bread maker in the future we can all look back and laugh. =)

Hm. If I make homemade bread, maybe I'll skip making the lasagna and instead have a veggie burger ON the homemade bread. Holy crap, I'm a genius. I can actually make like a little sandwich. If the bread is edible, that is.

Cross your fingers. =P

On a separate note, I sneaked a peek at the scale this morning, even though my weigh in isn't until tomorrow morning.

139.8!!!

So I just have to make sure that holds til tomorrow when my weigh in is official =P But wow, was it nice seeing 13-something on the scale. Baking bread will be good for tonight, I think. It's time consuming but also not something where I'm going to be licking the batter left and right.

Meal Plan, running, etc

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Bfast:
Chobani peach yogurt (3 pts)
apple (1 pt)
half a slice of banana bread (2 pts)
Coffee with a splash of milk (.5 pts)

Total: 6.5 pts

Lunch:
Green peppers (0 pts)
Hummus (2 pts)
Kashi GoLean Cereal (2 pts)
1% milk (2 pts)

Total: 6 pts

Dinner (8.5 pts left):
Ummm I need some time, and I'll figure it out. It all depends on whether or not I want to actually MAKE something, or whether I just want to pick up some sushi or grill a veggie burger and call it a day. I'm thinking the latter. Making stuff takes time and energy, and I am very much ready to relax tonight.

Mmmm.... sushi.

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Yesterday I ran (drum roll please...................)

6.1 miles! In 1:03:16. Freaking awesome. It's the longest I've run in a long time. I felt pretty good for most of it, but slow. Especially towards the end, I was really plodding along. But I have to start somewhere!

I don't want to weigh in on Thursday. I was very much on plan yesterday, and will continue to be today, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but I think my weekend nom sessions really put me back a bit. I'm going to be so discouraged if I see another 141.2 or 140.8 or whatever. I KNOW it's just a number, but it really does affect my outlook for the rest of the week. So I'm tempted to just wait until next Thursday to weigh in, after I've had a good solid week of OPness. But I know I should hold myself accountable, too. It's a conundrum. I think I'll wait to see how I feel on Thursday morning.

I made this apple cake recipe yesterday than turned out tasting like crap. Well - I take that back - it tasted fine, seeing as how it was made of sugar and flour and apples and such. Yum! How can you go wrong! It was the texture that was messed up - it was kind of mushy, like it was underbaked, only it wasn't underbaked, because I did the whole toothpick test and it came out fine. And I cooked it a little hotter than I should have, because my oven is shitty and won't get the temperature right. I put it to 350 degress, and next thing I know, it's up to 410 (I have a separate internal thermometer that I check) so I turn it down to 340 or so, and then next thing I know, it's at 260. Wtf. It's very difficult to bake stuff when the temp keeps fluctuating! Sigh.

Then again, it might have been mushy cause I forgot to put salt in. Whoops. Or maybe it was too many apples? Apples are pretty moist. Maybe they made the cake too moisty. Who knows. I'll post the recipe later on and maybe some of you baking connoisseurs can figure out where I went wrong.

21 days to make a habit

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Meal plan for the day:

Breakfast:
1 apple (1 pt)
South Beach bar (3 pts)
Chobani greek yogurt (3 pts)

7 pts total

Lunch:
Fiber One cereal and 1% milk (5 pts)
Emerald nut pack (2 pts)

7 pts total

Dinner (7 pts left):
Sauteed spinach (0 pts)
Veggie burger (2 pts)
Arnold Thin (1 pt)
Laughing Cow cheese wedge (1 pt)
Salsa (0 pts)
Salad (0 pts)

Dessert:
Half a slice of banana bread (2 pts)

I've got a lot of processed foods in my meal plan today, which isn't ideal, but I'm not going to stress about it too much. I'm just happy to eat within my daily points.

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I've been on and off tracking my points for the past few weeks. They say it takes 21 days to create a good habit, right? I think that's kind of a load of shit in some situations, because I was solidly on plan for way more than 21 days at the beginning of WW, and where am I now? Teetering on and off the tracks. But regardless, I think 21 days is a nice amount of time to be on plan, so there we have it. Today's day one. Holy crap, this could be a new challenge.

I think that tracking out my daily menu will help me a lot. I know it's not very exciting for you readers to see that I've eaten an apple for breakfast and some yogurt for lunch, but I'm going to post it because I think it'll keep me more on plan.

I'm ticked off that suddenly this has become really hard work. The first 20 pounds literally seemed to slide right off. I was excited, I was motivated, I lost a good 2 pounds a week for quite a few weeks with minimal effort.

Now, it's a struggle to just stay within my daily points each day. I know I'm stressed (exhibit A: I just moved and my apartment is a MESS, exhibit B: I'm starting a new job in two weeks, exhibit C: my monthly expenses just skyrocketed), and I know that has a LOT to do with it, and I really wish I didn't equate food with de-stressing.

Has anyone else had a dip in motivation? If so, how did you get it back? I'd love to be able to get on a roll like I was on the first couple months of WW.

Quick planning

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Quick planning: my meal for the day

Breakfast:
6 dried apricots (1 pt)
1 ricotta cookie (2.5 pts)
1 small nonfat cappuccino (1 pt)
2 walnuts (.5 pts)
total: 5 pts

Lunch:
grapes (2 pts)
small yogurt (1 pt)
hummus and spinach on an arnold thin (3 pts)
total: 6 pts

Dinner:
uhhhh I don't know yet >.<

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So I'm moving soon into an apartment across town. Which means lots of packing. I'm really hoping it'll go quickly and not take a million days - I want to try and do it in one shot. Pack everything up, bam, ready to go. We'll see. Packing always takes so much longer than I anticipate - it's like, ok, I've got all my clothes together. And my desk organized. Ok. Oh, wait, there's the bathroom. Oh, and the kitchen. Awesome. Oh, and the closet in the hallway. Ugh. How do I manage to have so much STUFF? I can't imagine how people who actually HAVE stuff do it. I'm dirt poor and have very little to my name, and it seems like so much. Bah.

It'll be nice once I'm fully moved in and unpacked.

Challenge, Day 2

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So day one of my challenge (yesterday) went splendidly.

Today poses a bit of a hiccup, however - I'll be going out to dinner with some friends. Appetizers! Beer! Entrees! One of my friends, who is also on weight watchers, and will also be at dinner with us, made a good point a few days ago - we're there for the fun and the company of good friends. It's not always all about the food and drinks.

I looked at the menu and decided on:

Summer Salad: Butter Brook Farms Greens and Tomatoes, Corn, Cucumber, Grilled Onion, Brioche Breadcrumbs, Sweet Basil Vinaigrette.

Most of the menu items I can't eat anyway, because the main ingredient is some type of meat. I'll get the dressing on the side and ask for no breadcrumbs, and I should be good to go - I'm guessing that with the corn and bit of dressing I'll use, the whole thing will be about 6 points, tops. Once breakfast and lunch are eaten, I'll have 10 points left for dinner, which means I can have a glass of wine at the restaurant, too =)

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I discovered the most awesome lunch sandwich.

Joseph's pita bread has 60 calories, 2g fat, and 4g fiber per pita. And they taste really, really good. I took one of these, spread an entire quarter cup of this in it:

(Except I used the garlic kind, not the artichoke spinach). I also threw in some freshly minced garlic (yeah, I'm a garlic fiend), and some fresh, cut up red peppers.

It's a two point sandwich that really fills you up! Craziness. Considering that I was eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which weren't as good at staving away the hunger, yet were SIX points each - this is really awesome. I'm thinking of buying some sprouts soon to add to the sandwich, and using other veggies to throw in there too. Lettuce, tomatoes, onion..... Om nom!

Quick planning

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I'm going to plan out the rest of today, just so I can ensure that day one of my challenge finishes out smoothly.

You see, I had a handful of walnuts - 14 walnut halves total - with my lunch today, and, uh, walnuts are like 325987 points. I thought it would maybe be 2-3 points or so. Nope. FIVE.

So, my day so far:

Breakfast:
Half a peach (.5 pts)
Medium nonfat cappuccino (1.5 pts)
South Beach Living cinnamon bar (3 pts)

Lunch:
Low fat yogurt (3 pts)
1 apple (1 pt)
14 walnut halves (5 pts)

Which brings my total to 14 points for the day, leaving only 7 left for dinner and snacks.

Which makes me a leeeeettle bit nervous.

So here's what I'm gonna do:

Dinner:
1 veggie burger w/ mustard (2 pts)
on a fiberone english muffin (1 pt)
1 bowl Progresso minestrone soup (3 points)

Which leaves me with 1 point for an after dinner snack, which will probably be a WW mini bar. Which is MORE than enough to keep me satisfied. And if I'm hungry before dinner, I can have half of that english muffin when I get home, and then half with the veggie burger.

<3 those veggie burgers and the soup, too.... great choices for quick, healthy, low point dinners.