How Today Is Shaping Up

I started today off with a very pleasing breakfast. You should know that I love breakfast. No, really, I cannot do without breakfast. A day without breakfast is a day with a ragingly grumpy Donna. You never, ever want to see me on a day that I’ve not had breakfast.

Ok, so, today’s breakfast was a miniature whole wheat bagel. Yes, really, the Thomas brand makes cute little miniature bagels. They really are filling despite their size. So, anyway, back to what I was saying. I had a miniature whole wheat bagel with a dab of diet cream cheese, along with a warm yummy bowl of instant grits (made with water, not milk). That little meal was enough to satisfy both my taste buds and my tummy.

Not sure what lunch will be but I’m thinking it might be worth making the long trek out of the boondocks and into the “city” for some Taco Bell. Yes, Taco Bell! Why? Well, ok, first off, I love Taco Bell. It fits right into my love of junk food and love of Mexican food. (Don’t tell me it’s not Mexican food. Sure, I know it’s not “real” Mexican food, but that’s what we call it down here, k?).

So anyway, one would normally think Taco Bell would be off-limits on a diet, right? This “one” would think so, yes. However, I just received an email newletter from SparkPeople that included an advertisement for Taco Bell’s newest offering. They now have what they call their Fresco menu, which has 9 items with 9 grams of fat or less. Checking it out, I see that each item would fit into the 300 or so calories for a meal. Could even eat two of some items. Pretty cool. I doubt I’ll actually go into the city today for this, but the next time I’m there for some other reason, I may “indulge” myself with a little Taco Bell. Emotionally, I’ll feel like I’ve eaten something fattening, but I won’t really have cheated. That’ll be fun!

No idea what’s up for dinner yet. Decisions, decisions. So many to make. Will let you know when I know.

Later, y’all.

We need your support! Even if it’s just wishing us luck every now and then, we’d be grateful. Of course, linking to the contest or becoming a sponsor would be very cool too, and would be appreciated by the winning charity, I’m sure!

Me and My Lousy Memory

Doh! I totally forgot that tonight is Turkey Meatball Sub night! That’s my reward for suffering through icky salmon last night.

Had a nice bowl of cut up fruit for lunch, including honeydew melon, cantaloupe, red and green grapes, and strawberries. Melons do a really good job of filling me up.

Really looking forward to the turkey meatball subs tonight. Bought whole grain sub sandwich bread and Healthy Choice diet tomato sauce, so the sandwiches should be both yummy and diet-friendly. Haven’t checked the scales lately. Plan to do an official weigh-in on Friday (one week after the first weigh-in).

That’s all for today. I’ll check back in tomorrow, y’all.

We need your support! Even if it’s just wishing us luck every now and then, we’d be grateful. Of course, linking to the contest or becoming a sponsor would be very cool too, and would be appreciated by the winning charity, I’m sure!

Stuff I Just Bought For This Diet

I just went to the grocery store to get more Arizona Diet Green Tea with Ginseng, because I absolutely love that stuff, and it has 0 calories. Unfortunately, they were out, so I threw a short temper tantrum (in my mind, I didn’t actually make a scene), and bought other things to calm me down. I ended up with several boxes of Special K cereal bars (90 calories each), lots of fruit (already chopped and mixed in bowls - ready to eat), and some low fat popcorn. Just knowing I have munchies makes up for the lack of the tea. I will need to find some place that has the tea though. I really love it.

Fake Eggs And Salsa

I decided to give fake eggs a try. I guess they aren’t really fake, but they aren’t exactly real either. I’m talking about those liquid eggs that come in a carton (like a milk carton). They are fat free and cholesterol free. I believe they are really just egg whites with yellow coloring added. In any case, I scrambled some of that up this morning with a little salsa to make my own version of heuvos rancheros (fakos rancheros). How’d they taste? Well…they were edible. A little on the dry side, but not bad. I added a miniature whole wheat bagel with nofat cream cheese to the meal, and the combination was a good one. Not a bad little breakfast this morning.

I haven’t yet planned out the menu for the rest of the day yet, (or been “informed” either), so I’ll let you know later what that will be.

Menu For Today

Ok, so breakfast was a little egg burrito thingy that was about 150 calories. Lunch ended up being a quick slice of roast beef on whole grain bread, with a bit of dijon mustard. Both of those were basically, “quick, last minute, thrown-together” ideas. Dinner will be a little more thoughtfully planned. I’ve been “informed” that we are having baked salmon with cilantro, zucchini, spinach, and mushrooms. I say “informed” because it implies “against my will”. I don’t like salmon. Blech, icky. But I’m told it’s only 2 oz. I mean, how hard could it possibly be to eat 2 oz. of anything. Just one shove, and it’s gone, right? Then, I’ll cover up the nasty taste with lots of cilantro. (I love cilantro). I’ve also been informed that if I eat all my salmon, like a good little girl, I might get a turkey meatball sandwich for dinner tomorrow. That sounds really yummy, and it’s actually on the diet menu, so I’m excited about that. (Oh, and now I’ve been told that I get a baked apple for dessert tonight. Cool, that’ll get rid of the yucky salmon taste).

Surviving Super Bowl

The Super Bowl was a really great game, and yes, I cheated. Not much though. I had some whole grain chips and salsa. I mean, how bad is that, right? Right? Anyway, today everything returns to normal. Grandkids are back home, so no distractions there, and no major events to mess with me. I did have to bring my car in to get repairs done bright and early this morning, so I haven’t yet figured out what the meals will be for today, but that’s next on my to-do list. Plus, today I’ll exercise. Got my little dumbbells sitting here staring at me, so there’s no chance of me forgetting.

The routine isn’t established yet, and that’s the biggest problem for me so far. I’ve been in the same routine for years, so changing that is the hard part. Once the new routine actually becomes a routine, it should be a lot easier. So, now I’m off to scour recipes and such so I can work up some menu ideas. Later, y’all.

We need your support! Even if it’s just wishing us luck every now and then, we’d be grateful. Of course, linking to the contest orbecoming a sponsor would be very cool too, and would be appreciated by the winning charity, I’m sure!

Stream of Consciousness Thoughts

I’m totally digging on whole grain bread. Personally, I would have been eating whole grain breads, but my family wanted white bread. Now that it’s a must, I am totally enjoying it. Not totally digging on some of the whole wheat crackers I bought though. Some are fine…some taste like cardboard. Had tofu for the first time in years. Not sooo bad, though it will never go on my list of things I actually WANT. Brown rice. Yuck. I’ve never been a fan of wild rice or brown rice. I’m not sure I can enjoyably make the transition from white to brown rice. Maybe the taste will grow on me with time.

Exercise. I haven’t done any yet. Wait, not totally true. I did take a 15 minute power walk yesterday, and I’ve been running around after my 2 year old granddaughter all day today. Does that count? But I haven’t yet started on a real “regimen”, with weights and everything. Between the kids and the fake hangover I had today, it just didn’t happen. The kids go home tomorrow, so maybe then I can get into some kind of diet routine.

That’s the stream of thoughts for now.

Is There Such A Thing As A Diet Hangover?

Wow, I’ve felt like I’ve had a hangover all day. The only problem with that is that the closest thing to alcohol I’ve had in months is the Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng I had last night. So, I figure it must be the “lack of junk food” that is causing this hangover. Shhh, don’t read so loud. It makes my head hurt.

Switching To SparkPeople For Now

For the time being, I’m going to do a combination of “winging it” along with semi-following a plan from SparkPeople. SparkPeople is a free site, and it looks pretty comprehensive. If nothing else, I’ll use it to grab recipes from it, even if I don’t follow the plan exactly. If I find other sources of recipes, I might mix and match. But basically, the plan is to stick to about 1200 calories per day (or less), and eat things that are heart-healthy. It’s the heart-healthy part that makes this a little extra difficult for me, simply because I’m not used to paying attention to such things. But I’m confident that the all-wonderful Internet will supply all the info and recipes I need. Oh, and SparkPeople has exercise plans for me too, so that’s a nice plus.

So tonight, we had Turkey Burritos in whole wheat wraps, with black beans and fresh salsa. It totally rocked. Of course, I only ate one, and would have liked to have at least one more, but I contained myself. For dessert, I had half of a really yummy navel orange. That meal was a winner, and will definitely return.

Cancelling eDiets Account Already

Wow, that was a quick and very unsatisfactory membership. I’m already frustrated and ticked off at eDiets. I’ve just been given the run-around by 3 people on the phone about my order, and have been treated to everything from “Duh, I dunno” to rudeness. And on top of all that, they are having major site issues. So, cancelling my account with them asap. For now, we’ll wing it on our own, and if I come up with a better “plan”, I’ll let y’all know. eDiets…lousy customer service.