Sunday 3-13, Daylight Savings and "V"s birthday party

So the concert last night was great. I swear, my little brother is one of the most talented musicians that I know. He taught himself to play sax because his band needed a sax player. He first picked it up last week! So we fully enjoyed watching as “T” switched from flute to sax, to drum, to percussion gourd and then to maracas. In his other bands he plays bass, drums, flute, and just about anything else he touches! So amazing! “J” and I met up with my other musically talented brother and his adorable girlfriend, my mom, our friends “F” and her husband “B” it was a great show. But with the time change, we got home and to bed at 3am. Yikes!

So we woke up early at 8am, and I sent “J” to the store to pick up some last minutes for the “V”s party. It was a big group, but manageable, and really fun. “V” had a blast and was very grateful for all of his gifts, his manners made me really proud. There was a lot of scrambling but everyone thought it was great. After the last guests left, “J” and I attacked the house cleaning, and I started feeling exhaustion setting in. So the minute we had finished with the floors and loading the dishwasher, I immediately fell asleep in the recliner.

So we are now up and about and waiting for our South Lake friends to come by for dinner. We are all monitoring our diets, so I hope everyone is ok with leftover party pizza, a salad and Costco cake. I have been calorie careful today, it is only the second time since I started this whole thing that I have not exercised so I want to stay within my calories for the day, weigh-in is only a couple of days away!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/otm25?date=2011-03-13.

Saturday, 3-12 Happy Birthday Brother!

First of all, Happy Birthday to my oldest younger brother, "D!" I know it has been a good one, and we have been thinking of you all day. Love you!

Busy day today, barely any time to write. I am getting ready for “V”s birthday party tomorrow. We have family in town and trying to get the house in order. I have eaten really well today, and proud of it. I started my day off with Skinny Buns and cream cheese and salmon, yum. Then I hit the office and did a major overhaul. We have had a busy day around the house, and I had prepared by throwing my chili into the Crockpot at 8am today. So dinner was good, and since I had a pretty low calorie day, I treated myself to a Cadbury Crème Egg for dessert. Now we are waiting for my friend “S” to come over to babysit so we can go watch my brother’s band Jahzilla play at a local bar. Hoping to make it a somewhat early night as it is daylight savings. Limiting myself to 1 Skinny Bitch tonight so I can function in the morning, wish me luck!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/otm25?date=2011-03-12.

Friday 3/11

Last night’s fundraiser was a success; we raised a lot of money for the school. I didn’t realize that I would not even get a chance to sit down all night; I worked hard selling those raffle tickets! So “J” and the kids dropped me off at 5:30, I had eaten an artichoke to hold me over. While I set up, “J” took the kids to Uncle Vinnie’s so he could have pizza and they could have breakfast. He was even so kind as to bring me a slice while I was working. By the end of the evening I was beat, and one glance at MFP showed why. I exercised too much for the calories I had eaten yesterday, my net calories were less than 800, and it should be over 1200! So on the way home I ate another half of pizza and treated myself to a Cadbury Crème Egg. I had more calories I could have eaten, but I really do not like to eat after six. So the moral of the story is, be sure to eat enough during the day, or you will regret it later!

Today was another busy one, dropped “P” off at preschool and “V” and I hit up the Goodwill, Dollar Store, Party City and Winco. It was nice to be able to mark a lot of things off my to-do list. Then “V” and I raced back to get “P” and drove to South Meadows to pick up “J” for lunch. We went to In N Out, but not before I did my research. Determined not to make the same mistake as yesterday, I made sure I ate enough calories at lunch! So I ordered the cheeseburger, protein style (sans bun, wrapped in lettuce, I like it better this way), and ¼ of a basket of fries. Grand total for lunch: 430 calories. Not bad for fast food! And delicious!

Then the kids and I headed back home after dropping “J” at work. It was still early for nap, so I turned on Just Dance and busted out 45 minutes with the kiddos. I am getting much better at all of the songs, I probably have a 10000 score or better on about 60% of the songs. And yes, I have danced to ever single song, and even two that we downloaded. It is so cool to see “New High Score” after dancing to a song. Can’t wait to bust a move next time we go to a dance club, and of course to consequently embarrass everyone with me!  

Dinner tonight will be a medley of random letter P leftovers. Pot roast, pork, and pizza. I might do a breakfast burrito. Also, I bought these cute fingerling potatoes that came with a pesto salad recipe on the back I have wanted to make. We’ll see how it goes. After that I will be going to Book Club at “K”s house. I am planning to bring my favorite snack, popcorn. No one has read the book, so we will probably give in another month, but we all can’t wait to get together!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/otm25?date=2011-03-11.

Thursday 3-10

Last night was busy and “J” and his friend “J” went out. So I ended up watching Glee, which I had missed on Tuesday, and baking cookies for the bake sale at “P”s preschool fundraiser. That took forever, and there was a lot of mess to clean up. I chose not to sabotage myself and baked white chocolate chip cookies, which I hate, so I wouldn’t be tempted to sample. I don’t even know how they taste! But I was so kind as to send “J” off to work with some today. Slept hard and woke up early.

Rise and shine! I had to be at the dentist to get some fillings. So we were up, dressed and fed by 7:50am when I dropped the kids at the neighbors’ house. Then off I went to see Dr. Sala, who I love. I was scared at first, but didn’t feel anything. So that was good. The nurse told me that I had gotten a lot of anesthesia, so I should drink caffeine to flush it out and exercise. When I returned home and picked up the kids, I had a cup of plain green tea and made plans to meet “F” and her kids at the mall for a walk. I guess the dentist will be good for a healthier lifestyle.

So it was 10:00 am, and the kids and I headed to Costco, and then to the mall. There we met “F” and did 1 ½ miles around the mall, then went to the play area and finally to the food court for lunch. Kids got Hot Dog on a Stick, “F” and I had sack lunches, thank goodness my numbness had worn off. Then we headed home, I put the kids down and did 45 minutes on Just Dance. Now I am tracking it all on MFP and going to pre make some PB&J’s to freeze for the kids’ lunches this week. Then off to the fundraiser to sell raffle tickets. The timing is weird for meals so I think I will eat an artichoke before I leave, then eat something later.

BTW, my NSV (non-scale victory) this week is that I fit into all of my jeans now, except the ones that are now too big! The 10s are still a little tight, but I expect to be back in them within a few weeks. Yay!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/otm25?date=2011-03-10.

Wednesday, 3-09

So last night was great, but I can’t say so much for dinner. We got out of the house and arrived right in time for our reservation at Beaujolais. The wait staff was mediocre, and the food was about the same. We started with cocktails; the seasonal salad: mixed greens, beets and half a tomato, & escargot in garlic butter, both were pretty good. Really I prefer Rapscallions’ escargot with Roquefort. I had looked through the website and was going to order the Lamb Shanks, but then found that they were no longer on the menu. So I chose the Beef Bourguignon, knowing I would control my own portion. “J” ordered the Squab. It was then that I realized that Beef Bourguignon is glorified Pot Roast. I took Spanish in school, not French! The meat was, well pot roast, (I ate only 4 oz of the meat for portion control) the sauce was flavorless, and the potatoes boring. The veggies were good. “J”s squab was great with a sweet port sauce and delicious roasted potatoes. I was jealous. Finally for dessert we ordered some Blood Orange sorbet, and that was really good. It was kind of disappointing to drop that much money on crappy food, but it is always a pleasure to have a date night with my hubby. All was not lost. Live and learn!

Afterwards, “J” and I met up with “F” and her husband “B” to the Waterfall. I had heard that there was a Hookah bar downtown, and around Valentine’s Day there was a Groupon for it, so I bought it for “J.” So we all met up there for Raspberry Mint Hookah and more cocktails. We had a great time with "F" & "B." Funny thing was that we all learned that “Waterfall” is aptly named, some pipe or something burst in the ceiling and it poured water from the ceiling the whole time we were there! But the service was good, and with the Groupon, each couples’ total was $12. We will definitely go there again, I recommend it! Had so much fun we didn’t get home until 11:30.

Today started early again. We got up; I took “P” to preschool and headed to South Reno for some Thrift shopping with “F.” Found some cute things including some Disney trading pins for only $1 each and a toy accordion for “V” that is super cool for $3. We lost track of time and rushed back to pick-up “P” and then rushed to get “P” the Grade 1 purple ballet leotard at Reno Town Mall. Of course, she is so petite; they don’t have her small size in stock, so we are waiting for our special order. We ate lunch in the car and then headed to ballet. Got a chance to catch up with the other parents while “P” and “V” danced and then headed to Raley’s to pick up lettuce and crab for the crab salad I am making tonight. Now is downtime with both kids down (well “P” is screwing around in her room but “V” is asleep) I am going to wait for them to get up from nap so we can Just Dance together. Then “J” should be home at 5:30 and it should be a low key evening, hoping to get half way through our final Tudors disc from Netflix.

 http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/otm25?date=2011-03-09.

Tuesday 3-8, Weigh-In Day: Mission accomplished!

So today started off great, so happy to find that I have accomplished my goal and beyond, down 11 pounds exactly. I love seeing these numbers go down and love my BMI going down as well. I am 166.9 lbs and have a BMI of 24.6, which is not overweight anymore, I am normal! Feeling so good, now I am shooting to drop 7 more pounds to be at 160. So exciting. So “J” and are going out on our monthly date night, and heading to Beaujolais for some fine French Cuisine, so I am scouring nutrition info for comparable meals, so I can still keep track of what I am eating. We’ll see!



Finally out of "Overweight Zone"



A "normal" BMI

So I woke up, weighed-in, and then got ready for the day. We went by Raley’s to pick up some cookies for the Rugrats get together this afternoon, and I picked up some other things (including a package of Cadbury Crème Eggs, at 150 calories, they are so worth it). Then we headed to the mall to meet up with “S” for a walk. We did 2 ¾ laps, then let the kids play. Then she and baby “V” headed home, and the kids and I headed to Chuck E. Cheese for the Rugrats Event. We let the kids play there. My kids are really picky, so I always bring a PB&J for them, and I treated myself to the salad bar. I am trying to behave so I can indulge tonight.

Now we are back home and I am planning to rest while “P” is watching Mulan upstairs and “V” is down for his nap. I ended up having a late last minute get together last night with “S” and “F” at a bar. We all went out at 8pm, after the kids were down, then stayed out talking and nursing our 1 cocktail each until 11:45. It was great to be able to vent to my friends, this has kind of been a rough week. It was much needed, but now I am tired! Going to whip up something quick for my brother “T” to have for dinner while he is watching the kids, then lay down, I have been working hard!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/otm25?date=2011-03-08.

Monday 3-07

Well, enchiladas last night were great. I used the Crockpot pork from the other day, mixed it with spinach, and the leftover chopped up stuffed mushrooms, rolled them into a tortilla, topped them with diced green chilies and enchilada sauce. Baked at 350 for 30 minutes, yum! “J” loved it, and the kids had quesadillas.

Today we all went to preschool, “V” to the baby room and “P” and I to her Frog room. It was a pretty trying day. Lots of reprimanding, and it was only me doing it! Frustrating. The weather was crazy and crappy, so playing indoors did not alleviate my stress. Just glad that I am done working there for the week.

We came home, I fed the kids PB&J’s and apples, and I ate the last of my leftover tortilla soup and 4 Cuties. I am so happy that Cuties are back in season, my favorite 35 calorie snack! I caught up on emails then once the kids’ shows on PBS were over; I went into the living room and did Just Dance with the kids. I was shooting for 30 minutes, ended up doing it for almost an hour! So fun! So I got my workout in despite Mother Nature.

Trying to plan out my food for dinner, as I have noticed my sodium intake is going over my allotted 2500g a day. I have looked up everything and realized that it may be ok for me to have a little extra salt a day. I drink massive amounts of water, exercise regularly; have super low blood pressure and Vasovagal response, which all indicate it is ok for me to have more salt. So I am going to keep an eye on it, but not be too bothered if I go over. This brings me to tonight. I am planning on leftover enchiladas and salad from last night, and a Sweet Cherry layered pudding for dessert. I am boycotting High Fructose Corn Syrup, so I am substituting Oregon canned cherries for the sugar free cherry pie filling I used to use. Here’s the recipe, its 191 calories, and worth every bite:

Recipe for a layered pudding with vanilla instant pudding, graham crackers, and cherry pie filling.

Ingredients:

·         14 whole graham crackers

·         1 package vanilla instant pudding -- (6 ounce size)

·         2 cups milk

·         1 cup whipped topping

·         1 can cherry pie filling -- (21 ounces)

Preparation:

Line a 9-inch square pan with whole graham crackers, breaking crackers if necessary. Prepare pudding with milk as directed on package. Let stand 5 minutes. Blend whipped topping into the pudding. Spread half of the pudding mixture over the crackers; top with remaining pudding and crackers. Spread cherry pie filling over top layer of crackers. Chill 3 hours.
Serves 9.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/otm25?date=2011-03-07.