Posts from — February 2009

Whew, the February Shred Challenge is over!!!!!! Holy Moly, that was the longest 28 days of my life! LOL!!! Seriously though, what an awesome workout. I do really like this DVD; it was tough but I loved that it was only 20 min. I think it will definitely remain in my workout rotation, just not everyday like I did for the challenge! Even the husband is hooked and will keep doing it 2x a week. So now for the RESULTS! Was all this Shredding worth it??? Well, I jumped out of bed this morning, popped in the Shred and huffed that baby out for the last time this month, then grabbed my measuring tape for the big reveal. Here’s the inches lost list…

• arms - 1/2 ” each
• chest - 1/2 “
• waist – 1 “
• hips – 3/4″
• legs – 3/4″ each

That’s a total of 4 1/4″ lost! Hey, not too bad for 28 days! Actually, I can’t claim all 28 days; I did miss 2 days and probably had a couple “half-assed” Shreds when I just kinda went through the motions but didn’t give it my all. This wasn’t my only form of exercise; I still got in the elliptical and runs, but I definitely see the difference in my arms the most. I have developed a nice muscle on the sides of my arms, I’m thinking from all those stinkin push-ups! And my abs definitely feel “six pack-ish” under the 3″ layer of fat that is currently covering it. So, even though I am not fully “shredded”, I am happy with my results and proud of myself for sticking with the Challenge. To all the Shredders who hung in there with me during this Challenge, please feel free to post your experience or measurement results in my comments or link to your blog if you are posting them there. I’d love to see how everyone made out! Okay, let’s get to the food…

After the Shred and measuring, I made a quick breakfast of 2/3 c. TJ’s High Fiber Fruit and Nut Multigrain Medley with 1/2 banana and 1/2 c. unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze for 3 POINTS…

Then, I headed to my friend, Rosemary’s baby shower. It was a lovely shower; she got lots of cute stuff for her little guy. A nice buffet lunch was served and I was happy to see some healthy choices. I chose a mixed greens salad, sauteed veggies and about 2 oz. of sliced steak. I had my own dressing packet that I keep in my purse and used that for the salad which made it a friendly 5 POINT lunch…

I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about whipping out my camera at this shower filled with people that I didn’t know, but I sat next to the guest of honor and she knows about(and has appeared) on my blog, so I didn’t feel as odd to take a quick pic! Ugh, the woes of the food blogger!!!

A little after I arrived home from the shower, I was feeling hungry. Big daughter had a late basketball game scheduled and I knew we would be eating a really late dinner, so I made a filling snack of a Weight Watchers Vanilla Yogurt topped with a crumbled Chocolate Brownie Clif Z Bar for 3 POINTS…

Dinner was very late, so I had planned a soup and “make your own panini” night. I went with 1 c. Trader Joe’s Creamy Tomato Soup and a panini made with rustic whole wheat bread, 2 tbsp white bean hummus, 1 Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge, baby spinach and sliced tomato. A comforting and quick 6 POINT dinner…

Since, I showed great restraint today at the shower by not eating the amazing looking cake or THE BROWNIES that were displayed so seductively on a tray, I decided to treat myself to a wonderful dessert. Okay, who am I kidding – you all know I “treat” myself to dessert EVERY NIGHT!!!!! But, anyway, I tried to make this one special; a ” bananas foster – inspired “sundae. I sauteed a medium sliced banana in a nonstick pan coated with a bit of cooking spray then, stirred in Lighthouse Reduced Sugar Caramel Dip to coat bananas and poured this over 1/2 c. Breyers Fat Free Double Churn Caramel Swirl Ice Cream. Mmmm…warm bananas and caramel ROCK! A “better than those brownies” dessert for 4 POINTS…

That’s the day! Hope it’s been a great Saturday! Nite =)

It’s Friday! I am so excited to offer my first Giveaway to my awesome blog readers! The uber-cool folks at NuruPlanet recently sent me their Exercise Anywhere cards to check out and I have to say this couldn’t have come at a better time! I have been interested in changing up my workout routine and want to incorporate more strength training, but where to start??? Well, this solved my dilema! This deck of 30 cards has fully illustrated exercises for every major muscle group, includes sample weekly routines and even a Cardio Lab that features at-home interval training workouts. This is everything you would find in an exercise book or on a fitness website, but all contained on these portable cards that are small enough to fit in your pocket or purse. How cool is that????

And it’s all in the palm of your hand…

So, NuruPlanet has offered to send these Exercise Anywhere decks to 2 lucky winners-USA and Canada only – sorry my overseas friends:( Just leave me a comment to be entered to win; I’ll announce the winners on Monday!!!

The husband and I dropped the daughters off at school and headed out for our “workout date” (with the dog!). We went on a 40 min. hike through the steep and hilly woods. This always makes me feel so out of shape! I am huffing and puffing up the hills like nobody’s business! The husband walks so fast, too , so it’s hard to keep up! It was nice though and the dog had a blast crashing through the woods! He got an awesome workout. Then, we came home and the husband suggested we do the Level 3 Shred together! He does the advanced moves and I do the scaled down version, but it is still darn hard and I am SO changing my name to “Anita” when I am done with this Challenge tomorrow! LOL!!

After Shred and shower, I went to meet my friend, Jenn ( HI Jenn!!!) for lunch at Cosi. This was my first time at Cosi; it’s a neat place. My eyes immediately went to the desserts, but I shielded them like a horse with blinders and settled on a Bombay Light Chicken Salad with fat-free balsamic dressing and 1/2 of their delicious flatbread. A nice lunch for 6 POINTS…

After a nice chatty lunch, I ran some errands. One of my stops was Trader Joe’s where I found this yummy High Fiber Fruit and Nut Multigrain Medley cereal…

Seriously, could that name be any longer?????? Anyway, it is a delicious mix of high fiber clusters, raisins, cranberries, almonds and pecans (although, not much in the nut dept.). A 2/3 c. serving is 90 cal., 1.5 gr. fat and 7 gr. fiber for 1 POINT. It was a great snack mixed with a Weight Watchers Berries and Cream Yogurt for 2 POINTS…

That held me over nicely until dinner. The husband and daughters had pizza but, I had a craving for burgers so I made a Buffalo Turkey Burger! I took 4 oz. of ground turkey breast and added to it some finely minced onion and celery, a dash of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and 1 tbsp. Frank’s Hot Sauce. I mixed it all together, formed it into a patty and pan fried it in a nonstick skillet. Then, I put it on an Arnold Sandwich Thin, topped with lettuce and 1 tbsp. Marie’s Lite Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing. So delicious, lots of flavor and a hearty serving! I had a side salad with some additional blue cheese dressing to go with this awesome burger, all for 5 POINTS…

I did have a few nibbles of pizza, but only about 2 POINTS worth. Thankfully, I wasn’t that into it tonight. The burger really was satisfying, in flavor and volume. But, I always have room for dessert! My combo tonight was a Banana Fudge Vitatop with 1/2 c. Breyer’s Fat Free Double Churn Caramel Swirl Ice Cream and a squirt of fat-free whipped cream for 2 POINTS…

Banana, fudge AND CARAMEL!!! Yes, it’s a beauuuuuutiful thing =)

Don’t forget to leave a comment here for your chance to Exercise Anywhere!!!!!!

Have a great night!

I was so glad to be outside today!! I was a little disappointed in the weather; I thought is was going to be sunny and warmer for my morning run, but that wasn’t the case. In any event, I got the daughters off to school and headed out for my run. I was a bit weak this run, but after I got going, I felt better. As I was walking my cul-de-sac to cool down, my neighbor asked me if I wanted to walk, so I walked a little with her, too! Hi, Dana!!! Then, I came in to Shred! I realized after posting last night, that I forgot to list my Shred for yesterday afternoon. I got it in, even though little daughter was bugging the bejesus out of me during it!! Anyway, there are only 2 DAYS LEFT to the Shred Challenge! Hallelujah!

After my morning exercise extravaganza, I made a breakfast of Thomas’ Light English Muffin with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light and a Weight Watchers Strawberry Yogurt for 3 POINTS…

I had some shopping to do after, then stopped home to eat a quick lunch. I went with an Arnold Sandwich Thin with 2 oz. turkey, 1 tbsp. white bean hummus, lettuce and tomato, a serving of Soy Crisps and a side of carrots. A speedy 5 POINT lunch…

For a lunchtime goodie, I had one of these Luna Cookies. I have to say they taste more like a “bar” than a cookie. In fact, they have the same texture and chewiness of the Clif Z Bars that I like (hmmm…. they ARE the same company). This Chocolate Mint flavor was 130 cal., 3 gr. fat and 3 gr. fiber which comes to 2 POINTS. It was tasty, but I think the Clif Z Chocolate Brownie Bar is better and much less expensive! I paid 1.69 for the Luna Cookie, but I get the Clif Z Bars at Trader Joe’s for 69 cents! Huge difference, but I am a sucker for packaging and these “looked cute” …

Well, this lunchtime dessert led to another in the form of the last No Pudge Brownie! I counted this 2 POINT treat in my tracker right away and then got the heck out of the house before I started digging for something else! It worked and I felt my munching feeling go away. I was glad about that; I really wanted to stay on track today.

The afternoon flew by with the usual grind of homework and projects. I decided to forego afterschool activities since this was little daughter’s first day back to school this week. The husband was working late, so the daughter’s got to have their choice for dinner. I bought lots of baby eggplant at the produce store today, so I decided to work my dinner around those cuties. I ended up with Eggplant, Tomato and Chick Pea Rigatoni! I sauteed 3 baby eggplant in 1 tsp. olive oil, garlic and a bit of sliced onion. I added 3/4 c. canned petite diced tomatoes ,1/2 c. drained chick peas, some basil, salt and pepper. I let this simmer while I cooked 1 c. rigatoni pasta. I topped the pasta with the eggplant mixture and 2 tbsp. parmesan cheese. Oh my greatness! I think I could eat this delicious 7 POINT dinner every night…

Then, it was dessert – AGAIN! I went back to my good old fave – Triple Chocolate Vitatop with PB2/fluff icing for 2 POINTS…

And that was my back in action/on track day! So, a couple things before I go: a) my BLBE WI sucked royally this morning – +2.8 lbs. But, that was no big surprise since the wagon that I fell off “crashed and burned” this week! b) I feel very relaxed. What I mean is, I am not having a fit or flipping out about this gain. I know why it happened and I know it’s gonna happen sometimes. And I’m o.k. about it. It’s not forever. I am not going backward . I’m not going to gain back 70 lbs. I’m going to keep on trying til I get to goal; then I’m going to keep on trying to lead the healthy lifestyle that I need to so that I can keep the weight off for my lifetime. Yesiree!

Have a great night!