Two Week Check In

Hey guys.  I had every intention of posting last night, but I came home late and had to hit the ground running.  I had to get the kids fed and ready for bed, and by the time the little one was down I had to clean up and get my exhausted self in bed too.

Just a quick update then I'm off to do some school work...and to make some breakfast!

I lost 3 pounds this week! THREE! I was so happy to see my work paid off.  I would say it was hard work, but c'mon! I ate ice cream, gnocchi, spoonfuls of Nutella, veggie burgers.  I did not feel deprived at all.  The only "hard work" was getting my butt moving, and well, that is going to get easier as I go.

Speaking of not depriving myself:

Breakfast was a smoothie: Mini ciabatta roll with about a 1/4 avocado. Smoothie: Low fat vanilla yogurt, frozen strawberries, banana, 1 cup of baby spinach.  I knew the green color wouldn't be this pretty once the strawberries got blended, so I took this picture.  Green is my favorite color!

Leftovers for lunch.  Asian vegetables and Italian Gnocchi.  Tasted as a lot better together than I expected, I loved the sweetness of my veggies with the salty dumplings.

Candied pecans

Dinner Veggie burger with caramelized onions and half an avocado.  That is a whole onion on the top that I caramelized myself.  They reduce so much. Sweet potato fries on the side.

Gnocchi Night

I am so excited about weighing in tomorrow, I hope that I am not hugely disappointed though.  I have worked hard at staying under my calories and actually working out, so I hope the scale reflects that.  All I want is to be two pounds lighter!  Will report back tomorrow of course.

Goose is having a hard time falling and staying asleep (crossing my fingers that some teeth cut soon), and I have school work to take care of before bed. So here goes the food:

Breakfast was on the run this morning.  I had I to head to school myself (first day back!) after putting Jam on his bus, and so I grabbed a can of Planters Trail Mix and threw it in my bag on the way out the door. I couldn't find the Kashi granola bars that I bought for days like these, but it turns out I placed them on Jams's snack shelf.

I ate just a handful while waiting for the train.


Instead of having another snack when I got home, I made myself a fancy little lunch. Garden veggie  burger,  salad: spinach, cranberries, candied pecans and balsamic vinegar; a little touch of sea salt took it to another level.  I dropped some frozen strawberries in some orange juice as the final touch.

I must say this setting brightened up the cloudy day for me.

Workout was a 30 minute "Walk at Home" video.   A snack of more trail mix followed

I have been wanting to try making gnocchi and decided to start off with an easy recipe. I found this one, which uses instant potatoes (I know, I know).  The only change I would make is using less salt in the water, if salting at all, and I would add some garlic powder to the dough for a little extra something.  They were a little too plain for me.   I wilted some spinach in some butter, with garlic and fresh black pepper to make a sauce.

The dish was so rich that just half of this was enough for me.  Saved the rest for tomorrow's lunch.

One of these garlic sticks on the side

Numbers:

Totals	1,461	184	70	42	27
Your Daily Goal	2,050	281	68	76	16
Remaining	589	97	-2	34	-11
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Fiber
	*You've earned 200 extra calories from exercise today

Good Night.

Nutella and Zumba

Another Day check in.  I'm getting used to taking pics of everything I eat again.  I used to like that a lot.

My plan was to be totally lazy today, but once I saw that I was going over my calories for the day I just had to move. So I just finished doing 20 minutes of Zumba on the Wii. 20 minutes doesn't sound like a lot, but I am new to it so I felt like I was dying at the end. I can't wait to weigh in on Tuesday and see my results
 
Not sure what happened to my breakfast picture but perhaps it was for the best, the color was not the nicest.  It was my basic strawberry and banana smoothie with a cup of baby spinach added.  Very filling.

I was so hungry when I got home from the grocery store that I forgot to take a picture of lunch.  It was a simple Garden Veggie Burger from Morningstar Farms on a thin sandwich bun. I found out these are the veggie burgers that Burger King uses and I had to buy them.  I always love getting them when I go to BK.  Even with a dab of mayo and ketchup, it was only 255 calories so I was looking for a snack about an hour later.

My candied pecans were waiting, from the batch I made yesterday.  I pre-portioned them in little baggies and put them out of sight in the fridge.  I could eat a panful in one sitting. A spoonful of Nutella followed soon after.  I was in some mood.

"Dessert" actually happened before dinner, and it was so delicious and so worth the calories.  I felt proud of myself for stopping at just one serving, normally I would have gone back for more and then some more. One cup of cookies and cream with another spoonful of Nutella (told you I was in some mood).

Dinner was not as awesome as I had hoped.  I had tried these pork pasteles from Goya before and loved them because they reminded me of these "pasteles en hoja" from my country, but I guess the recipe was changed (I could not find the pork by the way). Since I hadn't been able to find them in a while I stocked up when I saw them at Walmart. So, you'll be seeing them in the next couple of weeks.

I eat them with hot sauce and ketchup.  Avocado on the side was yummy of course. I love avocados.

Watching the Golden Globes.  See ya!

Totals	1,866	639	101	45	28
Your Daily Goal	2,019	277	67	75	16
Remaining	153	-362	-34	30	-12
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Fiber
	*You've earned 169 extra calories from exercise today

Checking In Now

Hi guys,  I was going to wait until Tuesday for a two week check in, but I felt like posting today since I'm so pumped about my progress and newfound motivation.  I'm making an effort to workout a little harder, and have been logging in to MFP every day for  extra motivation.  I'm hoping to lose 35 lb. by  Goose's first birthday, we'll see how that goes.

At my first week weigh-in I was down 2 pounds.  I took a peek today and was down another pound, so it looks like I'm right on track to lose two pounds a week.  I miss the fast losses I saw while low-carbing, but clearly that doesn't work for me long term.


Breakfast: egg whites scrambled with baby spinach, chunky salsa on the side

Snack

I kept it simple for lunch: baby spinach, candied pecans, cherry flavored Craisins, and balsamic vinegar. Some cherries on the side.

Proving to myself that I can use my cooking skills for good (Tofu, veggies, brown rice!), rather than "evil" (insert all of the delicious, yet unhealthy dishes I can make.  Cheesy, fatty lasagna comes to mind).
 I've been on an Asian kick lately so when I saw a marinade being made on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, I was inspired.  The marinade started with soy sauce and dark brown sugar (plus more I can't remember), so I took just those two ingredients plus mashed garlic and marinated some extra firm tofu, for about five hours.  I then pan fried the tofu with super hot canola oil until browned on both sides, The browning happened very fast thanks to the sugar.  The tofu was on the salty side, so next time I'll cut the marinating time in half.   I used two different frozen vegetable blends to make this mix: water chestnuts, squash, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, peas in pods, and carrots, and stir fried them with the same marinade (yep, it was that good).  The vegetables were perfect.  A Minute brown and wild rice cup was served on the side. If not for the sodium content, I could eat this every day.

Here are my numbers for now.  I might add some dessert later on but not sure yet.  Right now my belly is completely satisfied.

Have a good night!

All Whites 100% Liquid Egg Whites - Eggwhites, 0.5 cup	67	0	0	3	0
Earthbound Farm - Organic Baby Spinach, 2 cups (3 oz. or 85 g)	20	3	0	2	2
Pace - Chunky Salsa Medium , 2 tbsp (30mL)	10	3	0	0	1
Shedd's Spread - Country Crock, 1 Tbsp (14g)	80	0	8	0	0
Add Food Quick Tools	177	6	8	5	3
Lunch
Earthbound Farm - Organic Baby Spinach, 4 cups (3 oz. or 85 g)	40	6	0	4	4
Ocean Spray - Craisins - Cherry Flavor, 0.25 c	105	26	0	0	2
Candied Pecans, 1 serving	251	18	20	3	3
Balsamic Vinegar - Balsamic Vinegar , 1 Tbsp (15 mL)	11	5	0	0	0
Cherries - Sweet, raw, 2 cup, with pits, yields	147	37	0	2	5
Add Food Quick Tools	554	92	20	9	14
Dinner
Soy Garlic Marinated Tofu, 1 serving	126	6	7	10	2
Minute Rice - Ready to Serve Brown & Wild Rice, 1 container (125g, about cup)	230	42	5	5	5
Bird's Eye - Normandy Blend Fresh Frozen Deluxe Vegetables, 3 cup (90g)	75	12	0	3	3
Asian Inspired Marinade, 1/2 serving	65	7	0	8	0
Add Food Quick Tools	496	67	12	26	10
Snacks
Candied Pecans, 1 serving	251	18	20	3	3
Add Food Quick Tools	251	18	20	3	3
Vitamins
Add Food Quick Tools
Totals	1,478	183	60	43	30
Your Daily Goal	1,850	254	62	69	15
Remaining	372	71	2	26	-15
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Fiber