Wow!

Today I was in a bad mood because the scale is up 2 pounds from yesterday.  I was feeling like throwing in the towel and having doughnuts and pizza and/or fried pies.  I didn't though.  I ate my normal breakfast.  I got my butt into the car and to the gym.  I came home and had a healthy lunch.  I did my P90X plyometrics.  As I was finishing up I got a call.  I have officially been taken off of my diabetes medication.  I no longer need it.  I have it covered with diet and exercise.  So, take that scale!  I will give a weigh in anyhow though.  Today's weight, 2 pounds and all, is 169.8.

Buffalo Chicken Spread

I LOVE LOVE LOVE buffalo wings.  They are so incredibly bad for you though.  Today I made myself some "buffalo chicken spread".

4.3 oz. cooked boneless skinless chicken breast (chopped into chunks)
1 Tbsp buffalo sauce (I use Frank's)
1/8 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt (I use Oikos)
1/2 tsp ranch seasoning and salad dressing mix (Hidden Valley)

I put all of that into my magic bullet and turned it on.  I let it go until it was very well blended.  This made 180g of buffalo chicken spread, which for me is 2 servings.  The nutrition info for 1 90g serving is:

Calories - 112
Fat - 2g
Saturated Fat - 1g
Carbohydrate - 2g
Fiber - 0g
Cholesterol - 52mg
Sodium - 349mg
Calcium - 111mg

This is still not a low sodium item by any means, but it is a lot lower than regular buffalo wings.  Blending the sauce into the meat allows you to get the flavor without using so much sauce.  It is also tons healthier in every other way than having buffalo wings.  I put a serving of it on a whole grain sandwich thing with a slice of cheddar and had a side of broccoli with some ranch flavor Wish Bone salad spray for my lunch today.  It was awesome and my lunch totaled out at a tiny 276 calories.

Cake!

I learned a new trick.  This idea originally comes from Hungry Girl.  I learned it on 3FC.  You take cake mix and instead of mixing it with the normal items that the directions call for you mix the box of cake mix with 1 can of diet soda.  You can then bake cupcakes so that you have easy portion division.  I tried this for the first time tonight.  I used Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix and diet Code Red Mountain Dew.  This made enough mix for 16 regular size cupcakes of 135 calories each (I used 54g of batter for each).  I suggest using cupcake papers for these because they are so moist they just fall apart.  This would probably not be a good recipe if you were trying to make a cake to decorate or something since it does fall apart.  However, when judging by taste alone this is the BEST red velvet cake I have EVER had!  I didn't use any icing.  It doesn't need it.  It is amazing!  My husband thinks it needs some berries in it.  I'm thinking they'd be better as a side item than IN it.  They aren't really needed, it is awesome as is, but berries are never a bad thing anyhow.

Back with a Vengeance

So for most of March and about half of April I was not really in the game.  I was giving some half-hearted effort for most of it and I actually took 9 days completely off for my birthday week (not something I plan to do in future years).  During that time I bounced between the 175 I had worked so hard to get to by the end of February and about 184.  Part of it is that I started a new job, but I don't think that is a good enough excuse.  Plenty working folks manage to also find time for fitness.  So now I am back with a vengeance.  I plan to post more often as a way to keep myself accountable.  I have also decided to start planning out dinner for the month ahead of time (I already have May done).  I made it simple by sorting the days by meat choice (or lack of meat in the case of meatless Monday).  I am doing Sunday - bird, Monday - meatless,  Tuesday - fish, Wednesday - free day (that will be the day we eat leftovers or maybe go out to eat, whatever we feel like), Thursday - bird, Friday - pork, and Saturday - red meat.  After that was sorted it was just a matter of choosing a prep method, a good carb, and veggies for each day.  I don't usually choose veggies ahead of time though since for the most part what we eat is so simple and fast to prep.  We use frozen veggies, we toss the amount we want in a dish and microwave it, then we can each put seasoning on it as we like.  I have done meal plans a week ahead for a while now, but with the job thing I think planning a month ahead will free up a good deal of time for me. I'm currently at 172.6 and in a size 12.  I would like to be in a 10 by the end of July.  I know I can do that if I just stick to it and stop the excuses, so here it goes.

Lunch time

I left the gym craving red cabbage. Yes, these are the things I have cravings for these days. My lunch was the result.

Tuna melt with veggies and salad:
1 Oroweat multi-grain sandwich thin
1 can light tuna in water - drained
1 slice Kraft 2% swiss
1 cup spring mix salad
1/2 cup raw spinach
Wish Bone Salad Spritzers - Honey Mustard - 7 sprays
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped red cabbage
1/2 tablespoon grapeseed oil

I cooked my zucchini and cabbage in the grapeseed oil with some turmeric.
I popped my sandwich into my little sandwich toaster.
I ate a yummy lunch.

Calories - 350.3
Fat - 12.2
Protein - 33.4
Carbohydrate - 32.8

I could have had 60 less calories if I'd replaced my grapeseed oil with cooking spray, but it can't always be a how low can you go game. Grapeseed oil is good for you and I wanted it, so there!

Awesome breakfast

This breakfast was soooo yummy. It is also more proof that healthy eating does not have to be boring or tasteless.
On this plate:
1 Garden Spinach and Herb tortilla from Mission Wraps
3 servings of south western flavor egg beaters
1/4 cup (38g) of reduced fat shredded cheddar (Sargento)
1 slice of fat free turkey (great value from wal-mart)
9g of onion
35 g of mushroom (Green Giant)
2 tablespoons fat free sour cream (great value again)

I warmed my tortilla in my cast iron skillet and then put it on the plate, cooked my egg beaters with cooking spray and placed them on top. I then put the mushrooms, onion, and the turkey (which I had chopped into small bits) into the pan with cooking spray. I put the cheese on top of my egg beaters, when my onions, mushrooms, and turkey were nice and hot I put them on top and added sour cream. I folded it up and enjoyed a very filling, nutritious breakfast.

465.6 calories
38.6 g protein
43.8 g carbohydrate
12.6 g fat

What's for Dinner?

I am totally not a grilled chicken salad every freakin night kinda girl. This gorgeous dinner is smoked pork chop (2.7 oz.), mac and cheese (about 3/4 cup), purple cauliflower (162 grams), and grape tomatoes (55 grams). To me this is more like comfort food than diet food, but it was all of 380 calories.

For the mac and cheese I used a half serving (1/4 cup measured dry) of Dreamfields elbow macaroni, 5-8 sprays of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, and 3/8 cup of Sargento low fat shredded cheddar. I steamed my cauliflower with lime juice in the water and some fiesta lime seasoning on the cauliflower. The tomatoes are just raw grape tomatoes. The pork chop is from Smithfields and I just browned it in a skillet with some 0 calorie cooking spray.

Eating healthy and losing weight is not going to make me deprive myself. People should enjoy their food.

The nutritional values for my dinner:

Calories - 379.9

Protein - 32.8g

Carb - 36.4g

Fiber - 6g

Fat - 13.1g

Saturated Fat - 6g

Cholesterol - 71mg

Sodium - 1098mg

Calcium - 434mg