Drooling Dogs

by Marisa

Back to the early morning grind; up and at em! I sent big daughter off to school and went to the basement for my early morning workout. Wow, it seems like I haven’t done this in a long time. I guess I’ve been taking advantage of the outdoor runs more than I realized! I did 30 huffy minutes on the elliptical while watching boring morning TV- so tired of all those talking heads! Then, I got little daughter off to school and came home to Shred. Yes, still Level 1! There are only 11 days left of this challenge and I think I am looking forward to burying Jillian in my pile of unused exercise DVD’s for a while!!! Nah, not really, just ready to give it a break for a bit. However, the husband is hooked on doing this 2 days a week and he’s the type A that once he starts a routine, he sticks with it foreeeever!

For breakfast, I had a big dose of heartburn due to arguing with our health insurance company over a claim. I was on the phone for a while, so by the time I got to eat, I was starving! The first thing I saw was smoked salmon. I toasted a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel and topped it with a Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and 1 oz. of the smoked salmon for 3 POINTS…

For lunch, I had a bowl of Black Bean Soup, a turkey BLT using 2 oz. turkey, 2 slices center cut bacon, lettuce and tomato on an Arnold Sandwich Thin and some carrots. Delicious and filling for only 4 POINTS…

I debated on eating something else afterward because it was such a low POINT lunch and I’m trying not to eat an afternoon snack. But, part of this “listening to my body” experiment this week, is to actually LISTEN and not eat just to eat. I was full and that should signal the end of eating, so I let it go. Turns out, after the daughters came home, I felt munchie and grabbed a handful of TJ’s bbq popped chips that the daughters were munching on. I did take a moment to realize that I wasn’t actually hungry, but it’s almost like I’m one of Pavlov’s dogs in that, the girls come in the door from school and I am ready to eat!!! Just like those drooling dogs! I ended up heading to my bedroom and having the daughters come with me to work on homework! I had a feeling that if I stayed in the kitchen, it would’ve gotten ugly!

I made a delicious dinner of pan-seared thyme pork chops and garlic potatoes. So simple. I used very thin center cut pork chops and seasoned them with salt, pepper and thyme. I sprayed a large nonstick pan with cooking spray and browned the chops. While they were browning, I cut small potatoes into chunks and placed them in a large bowl. I added 2 minced cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and 1 tsp. olive oil and tossed it together. I removed the browned chops from the skillet, added the potatoes and browned for a few minutes. I added the chops back to the skillet along with 1 cup of chicken broth. I covered and simmered for about 15 minutes until potatoes were done. At the end, I added a bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I paired it with a salad with Kraft Light Three Cheese Dressing. A great family pleaser dinner (yes, they liked it!!!) for 8 POINTS…