Day 23 Wednesday

Woke up feeling the PMS bloat. I will so not get on the scale because I will just discourage myself, even if I know it's all water retention. Which as a side note, I've been way thirstier than I usually am.

Before starting yet another crazy day I happily had the Double Chocolate Muffin. Aside from the top being a little weird and sticky, this is a total thumbs up, pretty easy to eat breakfast-though not on the go. It's too sticky to eat on the move without a few napkins or wetwipes on hand. I felt fine after eating it and needed to get started on my errands before every place got crowded (have you ever been to the craft store after 2? You'll spend more time on line than shopping) so I didn't have the other 2 breakfast portions I am meant to. Try as I might 95% of the time I can only eat one of the three, even if I am eating late and after the gym.

Lunch: Creamy Tomato Soup. I ate this super fast in between errands. But even though I wasn't supposed to, I had a piece of the fresh bread I had picked up as part of DH's dinner, with a piece of Mini Babybel Light cheese. It's the PMS!

Missed my afternoon snack again. I'm much more of a night time snacker than midafternoon; especially since I no longer have a desk job.

Dinner: Vegetarian Chili. It was mostly various beans and soy. In this instance I like soy as an ingredient. Boca burgers are one of my favorite things in the world. I think perhaps in the second month, if I feel a rut with lunches or dinner I'll swap an entree for a veggie burger; they are low calorie and pure protein. Anyhow, this chili was really good, albeit a puny serving. Even DH thought it was good (and seemed slightly disappointed that I liked it because it meant he couldn't finish it). It wasn't too spicy which is a total plus and it was very thick and rich. While that bode well for my taste buds and tummy it did not for photography.


Dessert: I was so stoked for this. It was the Chocolate Cake, but I was futzing with it. I first cut it in half length wise, leaving me with 2 still decent sized pieces of cake. I microwaved a few sliced strawberries and blackberries with a little bit of low sugar raspberry preserves (a free food, but I didn't even use a spoonful, just enough to melt down to a sauce). I spread 1/2 of the warm berry mixture on top of the bottom half of the sliced cake. I then squired a little fat free whipped cream (free food) on it then topped that with the top of the cake, poured the rest of the berry mixture and another squirt of the whipped cream. In retrospect I should have a) left them as 2 pieces to last longer and b)squirted the whipped cream on the side because it all melted into the berries. There wasn't need to warm the cake because the berries were warm enough to take care of that. It looked so good I couldn't wait to find where I put my camera and dug in. So, so good. I was sad that I ate it before 9pm because it meant I was done for the day.

Day 22-We've made it to Week 4

Alright, I'm at the 4th week of the program, I've lost weight and I don't want to kill myself. Good times. I decided I would do one more month. But of course I am making changes. The second month might be much harder since I'll have even less options, though there are a couple of things I am adding in (there's a mashed potato lunch thing? How did I miss that?). As a bonus of sorts, I will be on vacation in Ireland for a week or so (where I won't post daily updates) so there's meals I'll have saved for when I get back and will finish up the program after I return. Just have to remember to cancel as soon as I get back. I also plan to try and stick with the program as much as I can, while still enjoying my vacation.

Breakfast: I got to the gym late so I got home late, and still had no skim milk. So I just ate the Crispy Rice cereal dry and stirred some into my 4 oz Fiber One strawberry yogurt. I couldn't eat any fruit because I just wasn't hungry enough. The name of the cereal makes you think of Rice Krispies; they do not taste like Rice Krispies. They aren't as sweet. They are okay in their own way, but disappointing if you're expecting some snap, crackle and pop.


Lunch: This did not quite work out right. I had some unexpected travels and wasn't able to prepare and pack some carrot sticks or anything like that. So while out and about I tried to find the healthiest thing I could nibble on because it was pushing 4, I still wasn't home and I wanted to eat desperately. I managed to find a bag of Chicken Jerkey. I love this stuff. I ate more than a serving but the stats are pretty decent so I didn't feel bad about my choice.

Afternoon Snack: was non existent, again.

By the time I got home it was pretty close to 6 so I decided to make my quick little salad, and even though dairy isn't a dinner option I used the one I missed in my afternoon snack in my salad (fat free feta cheese). I got to have the dinner entree I missed the other night- Chicken Pasta Parmesan. It was really good. The sauce was sweet with a little bit of spice. The chicken itself was a bit meh. The pieces are kind of puny. But otherwise a good solid pasta option. Could have used a little more cheese taste. And it was really hard to not grab a piece of bread to have with this. I suppose that's a habit to break since that's carb overload.


Dessert: Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies. Though I prefer a chewier cookie these hit the spot mostly because there are a few of them in the pack. Think Famous Amos cookies in terms of size and texture. I was still kind of hungry so I thought a sugar free pudding couldn't hurt.

Day 21 Monday

This is the end of week three and at last weigh in it's just about 10 pounds. However at this point in the plan we combine it with the settling in of PMS symptoms. There are three things I want at these points in time: cheese, chocolate and lush fresh (multigrain) bread. And I can't eat them in the comforting PMS doses. So we'll see how I hold up. I'm also not weighing myself as regularly for a while. I might want to kill myself.

So after a weekend of barely eating I started my day off with a hardboiled egg before heading to the gym for an hour on the treadmill (4 miles). I wasn't hungry before I left the house, but after showering and such I got super hungry. My breakfast options set out for the next few days involve milk which I don't have. I had a pear while doing some work online. Before I knew it the clock said 12:00 and I didn't see the point in adding another breakfast item. However come 1:30 I was wicked hungry. It's catching up to me there.

Lunch: Oh look, something new. New to taste and oh so hopeful: Black Beans & Rice. Just in case it didn't work out I had a few lunch options left over from days I didn't eat. So I wasn't super worried that it could be gross. It's beans and rice. I grew up on that; though we were more of a kidney bean household than black beans. But I do like to use black beans in salad and in quesadillas (I use canned Goya but I always rinse that liquid stuff off). I kept picturing this as more of a soup than rice and beans because on the picture there are decidedly more beans than rice. Happy to say it was a good mix of both. It set up very well, and though it doesn't look pretty and it was a little spicier than I would have preferred (thanks to chili powder at the bottom of the ingredient list) it was very tasty. Perhaps the next one I will add a little fat free sour cream (which I didn't have on hand). I wound up taking a long walk to my brother's house and picked him up some Wendy's on the way (not torture since I don't eat fast food anyway) and while there I got myself a side salad to at least complete some of the veggie requirement. I missed a dairy/protein though.


The tummy ache that I thought signaled hunger was still annoying me by early evening leaving me to wonder if I was hungry, my insides were mad at me or this is just the joy of the onset of PMS. Regardless, John had made plans for us to meet up with some people for after work drinks and we left too early for me to have the dinner entree I set out, which I really want to try and for some reason only have one. My plan was to hopefully be able to get some sort of small salad and have the dinner when I got home. Unfortunately, the salad turned out to be a pile of lettuce which is so incredibly unfun. By they time we got home it was 10pm and a little late to have a dinner entree (damn!).

Of course I had the dessert: Chocolate Nougat Bar with Peanuts and Caramel. Where has this been? It was just like a snickers bar. I loved it. I'd put it between the Peppermint Cookie and Thin Mint Crisp in terms of taste, texture and satisfaction. This dessert really delivered.

Days 18, 19, 20_the Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was a fail on so many levels. I was just too busy and too out of the house for extended periods of time to really stick with the program and eat all the meals. I pretty much just wound up eating fruit and reduced fat cheese (ok and more bread when I hadn't eaten all day).
Friday I did have a somewhat proper lunch. I had the Chicken Salad again. It's still just ok and way too goopy. Once again it was all about having some of that fresh bread! I had it with lettuce and tomato and for my protein I had a serving of edamamae. I tossed the beans with some Nutrisalt (low sodium salt) and fresh lemon juice and they were Yum!

I didn't eat again until dinner when I had a plain salad of mixed veggies with fat free cheese. I was going to have something else but I just wasn't that hungry. Plus my brother got a new dog and brought her over. It was however slightly cruel of DH to have me call in their chinese/sushi order when I couldn't have any. Ok, I stole the fortune cookie.
I did have Friday's dessert which was Buffalo Pretzel Sticks. Much like the last bag of pretzels these were pretty broken up too. I liked those honey mustard ones from the other week but these weren't as good. Well, they were, they were just spicer than what I was looking for in a snack. I'm sure had I let DH try one he would have liked it.
Saturday I started off right having the Cinnamon Roll. This time I spun it in the microwave for a little while. I think a little while longer it would have been so much better. The outer ring of the bun still had that funky texture but the inner ring tasted pretty good. And the icing melting sure helped also. Picture is a little blurry. sorry.I had another reduced fat string cheese again. God, I love cheese.
I was busy and out of the house so I didn't eat again until dinner, when DH and I went out to our regular spot. Had the salad with grilled chicken and though I only wanted 2 glasses of wine, I got a third on the house. Yeah, I drank it.
Sunday I wound up not eating until dinner when I grazed on some chopped veggies, fruits and yes fat free and reduced fat cheeses.
Monday we start our whole new issue with making the plan work.

Day 17 Thursday

I really really have to get a digital scale. I want to make sure my eyes aren't playing tricks on me (plus if it reads half pounds that would still be a good motivator). But let's just say, I'm still all smiles.

Breakfast: Was going to be pancakes again but had to run some early AM errands for the DH and myself. I switched it with another chocolate chip granola bar which I ate while out and about. I staggered breakfast with a banana and an egg before I left (and had the bar an hour or two later).

Lunch: I had very very late again. How do I have no time to eat when I work from home? I had the Pasta Parmesan. To it I added half a pouch of chunk light tuna as my protein and also more broccoli and about 6 cherry tomatoes as my veg. I dunno, it tasted a little off today as opposed to the last time. I know the only difference is I added tuna this time instead of chicken but that wasn't it. Maybe since it has to stand for 6-8 minutes to thicken and fully cook the pasta it got a little too cold and that was it. It sure looks pretty though. I didn't totally finish this. Maybe next time the whole packet of tuna and spin it in the microwave again. Or half tuna half reduced fat parm or something.
Afternoon Snack: Since I ate lunch at 4:30, this snack went a little sideways in the time department. Again I had some string cheese and I also had a few grapes.

Dinner: Good thing the DH was working late so that I could make both of our dinners late. I had something new tonight. It wasn't one of my selections. Either way this Sloppy Joe is mercifully meat free. Now I don't typically eat sloppy joes so like that broccoli soup from last week this is a total taste experiment. I got to pair it with a small roll, and today I happened to pick up some lovely whole wheat rolls for DH. I used half of one for my Sloppy Joe. I may have been more excited about the roll though; I really miss fresh bread! It had a weird taste to it that I can't quite put my finger on it. It looked like sloppy joe, but saucier than the photo on the packet. I guess I expected more of a tomato sauce kind of taste to it. I thought there was way too much for a roll so I only had half, but I didn't finish that half. I was saddened to waste the bread. I didn't eat a salad like I really should have. I'll level with you-since I tossed the majority of the dinner I ate the other half of the roll with reduced fat cheese. Sue me.

Dessert: Chocolate Caramel Bar I'm not sure if I picked this or not. If I did then it's not what I was expecting. The picture makes it appear that the bottom is a layer of chocolate. It's not, it's just coated. I didn't really taste any caramel at all to this. There was a weird aftertaste to it. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. DH finished it and agreed. I checked the ingredients and it's primarily soy based. I know I don't like those kind of "treats" so I'm sure it's related. This was just plain unpleasant.

Day 16-Wenesday

Looks like there's another pound lost, sweet.

Breakfast: Double Chocolate Muffin. Hello old friend. Still rich and tasty. Though I have noticed the muffins and even dessert cakes have oddly flat tops. Also had a hard boiled egg and a banana. Not all at the same time though. Don't know if I'm supposed to eat it all at once or not but I just can't.
Lunch: Sigh, I was running around all day doing errands for the DH/boss man and missed lunch..completely. Good thing breakfast was staggered.

Afternoon Snack: By the time I figured lunch (which would have been something I tried before and didn't like, so it's not like I really missed anything tasty) was a Fail it was 4pm. Just nibbled on about 5 or so grapes and another WW string cheese. I am so glad I found these. I am a cheesaholic.

Dinner: I decided to eat in stages; start with the salad and then make the entree-Southwest Style Chicken Wrap-later. I tossed together a romain leaf, half a small plum tomato, some cucumber, carrots and celery as my 2 veggie servings (have a mentioned how glad I am that all my fave salad fixins are unlimited?) with 2 tbsp of fat free Italian dressing. It's amazing how easy it is to underestimate just how much dressing one would actually use if not measured. I also figured that since I missed lunch it couldn't hurt to add some shrimp and fat free feta cheese, both of which I weighed to accurately plug into the nutrisystem online calorie counter. When I had the wrap I had the little tortilla with it. It's still not impressive but at least it accompanies this meal better than the buffalo chicken. For my dinner fat I had a 100 calorie packet of Wholly Guacamole. Super yummy. I keep these in my freezer and defrost them whenever I make something remotely Tex Mex. I believe I will start thinking of this more as a quesadilla type than wrap type meal.

Dessert: Peppermint Patty Cookie. Best.dessert.ever. Words cannot continue to describe this. It completes me.

Start of Week 3 Day 15-Tuesday

I'm down another pound or so this week. Wheee. I really need a digital scale. But a pound is a pound and I'm pretty sure it would have been 2 had it not been for the copious amounts of wine consumed this weekend. For it's hit or miss tastes, it continues to deliver as promised (lose 1-2 pounds per week).
Breakfast: Blueberry Muffin. It's back. I decided to toast it this time and spritz with a few sprays of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray, which is a free "food." Not a huge improvement but toasting helped. I didn't realize until after that I could have used a little bit of low sugar jam, which I have and thought of putting on the muffin. If there's another one I think I will toast and jam the next time. And this muffin actually had a few decent sized blueberries. They must have smushed some into the muffin before taking the picture for the package. I had this with an egg, which I pretty much inhaled after returning from the gym. I was pretty full and missed my fruit serving.
Lunch: Tomato Soup. This one is hard to photograph. But it's not hard to eat. It's one of the richest tasting meals in my opinion. I feel like there's a bit of cheesy taste to it. And there's nothing wrong with that! Though I did have a craving for a cracker or two to have with it. I ate this kind of late, but I had a little salad as my veg and protein/dairy servings at a bit of a more reasonable lunch hour (cherry tomatoes, cucumber, fat free feta and fat free italian dressing).
Afternoon Snack: Weight Watchers makes a really tasty mozzarella string cheese. But I forgot the fruit again, blast!

Dinner: Italian Herb Flatbread Pizza. I was really pretty hungry by the time I ate this. I added some diced tomatoes and 4 slices of turkey pepperoni. I ate it so fast the cheese burnt the roof of my mouth. I had some carrot sticks as my other veggie serving. I figure maybe the turkey pepperoni can count as the fat in this case. I can't find it in my little guide. I also don't have a picture because I tore into it before remembering to shoot it.

Dessert: Double Chocolate Almond Cookie. This tasted a bit more brownie like than the brownie did. Though texture wise a little odd for a cookie, it was pretty good. I think it could have been better, but it was good. What I would rather they do with these awesome rich cookies, is make them small so you can have more than one. I also had a kiwi as my fruit.

I went to bed feeling kind of hungry. I really should stop skipping eating.


Bonus: DH came home early and wicked hungry so he decided to try one of those Ravioli's I couldn't have because of the mushrooms in the sauce. The picture has these 2 big nice rounds of ravioli, and that's what you get: 2. The picture, or rather the lighting or some other trick, makes it look full of a lush white ricotta. Not so much in real life. It didn't look very full and it was more of a tan color. When DH was done, he looked at me and said, "What have you got to eat?"
I could probably extract the 2 rounds and rinse them and then cook them in a regular sauce. I'll save that as an option for when I get to something else inedible. That's basically two dicey choices right there.