I’m baaaaack!  LOL!  See, I can’t stay away all that long   Thank you for your nice comments about the blogging schedule.  I didn’t mean to sound dramatic or like I was taking a long break.  Just wanted to say that if I don’t get to posting a day or two that all is well;  I’m just doing life stuff   Also, thank you for not making me feel like a complete freak in the blog posting and reading “time suck”.  I really appreciate knowing that many of you feel the same way!

On to the day…

Okay, THIS has GOT to STOP…

  (my front yard)(my back yard)

And believe me, since I took these pictures, it has gotten worse!  The trees surrounding my yard are literally bent over and touching the ground with heavy, wet snow.  We got about 20+ inches  on top of the 28 inches from Saturday!  Reeediculous!  The daughters are off from school (obviously) until next Tuesday!!  It’s gonna be a loooooong weekend

I was a little nervous about being snowed in.  Snowed in, trapped in the house (which I should be cleaning…baby steps ) and refereeing quarreling daughters is a recipe for a major snackfest.  I tried to stay cognizant of that fact and distract myself from any sudden urges to eat without being hungry.

I started the day with a Pumpkin Oat Bran muffin from the freezer…

These kept so well in the freezer.  After a quick 30 seconds in the micro, it tasted as fresh as if I had just baked them.

Gotta have the joe…

A while later, I wrangled the daughters into doing the Power Yoga DVD with me.  They really liked it, although complained that it was soooo hard!

We did the whole 30 minutes cuz we’re warriors …

Clearly, we need more practice.

After 857 loads of laundry, I decided to fool around in the kitchen.  With food, ya pervs.  With making food, ya real pervs

I got to work making some Cuban Black Bean Patties.   This is a recipe that I’ve had for a while, but did some tweaking to it.  They are really easy and flavorful with a hint of smoky spice.

Cuban Black Bean Patties

• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar or jalapeno jack cheese
• 1/8 cup red onions, chopped fine
• 3 tbsp. cornmeal

Place 1 1/2 cups of beans in a medium bowl with garlic, cumin, salt and cilantro.  Slightly mash beans with a fork.

Place remaining 1/4 cup of beans in a food processor with egg and puree for about 30 seconds.  Add bean puree to partially mashed beans and mix.  Add cheese and onion;  combine well.

Divide mixture into 4 patties.  Place cornmeal in a shallow dish and dredge patties on both sides.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Coat with cooking spray and add patties.  Cook for about 5 minutes on each side.

(*note – wait the full 5 minutes before flipping so that the patties have time to hold together. )

These come to 2 POINTS per patty or 140 calories and 1.5 grams fat.  Mine are calculated using Cabot’s 75% reduced-fat cheddar, so if you are using another cheese they may be a little higher.

I served my Cuban Black Bean Patty on an Arnold Sandwich Thin with some spinach and the sweetest orange ever! 

Sun!!!

I stuck around the kitchen a while longer trying out another recipe.  I was going for a low-fat brownie recipe, but it was an epic fail!  I had to toss it.  I’ll call it…divine intervention

The afternoon passed without incident of oversnacking.  I had just the right amount –  lite string cheese and Wheat Thins…

We all stood around the windows for a bit, marveling at the never ending  throwdown of snow…

Then, I got to making dinner – simple breaded chicken cutlets, baked sweet potato fries and broccoli with garlic and evoo…

Perfect comfort food for this snowy night!

Total – 22 POINTS

Have a great day, everyone!

What is your favorite cold- weather comfort food?

I really enjoyed reading all your responses to my last post with respect to weighing in on the scale!  I so admire those of you who do not have scale issues! And those of you that do, now that I have diagnosed us all with schizoscaleia, we can form a support group and maybe get a discount on meds

So, let’s talk about running.  I was scheduled for a run today.   I decided to tackle some hills for a change of pace and my neighborhood has a couple good ones.  I usually don’t eat before I run.  Eating first just doesn’t sit well with me and I feel slower when I run.  Isn’t that odd?  Generally, you should fuel your run, am I right? 

I’ve been feeling like I’m struggling for energy during my runs.  I’ve only been doing a max of 3.1 miles at stretch, but my legs feel like lead from the get-go.  I have to really push to get them to move faster.  I’m not super concerned about kicking up my time;  I would just like to feel stronger as my running progresses.  And I don’t feel that.  I feel like my running is kinda stagnant.

I decided to try eating breakfast again before heading out today.  I’ve tried protein before, so I opted for carbs this time with a Pumpkin Oat Bran Muffin…

I let that settle while I did some housework that never ends, then set out.  My stomach felt pretty light, but the run was like molasses.  Sometimes, I almost felt like I was running in place!  My energy level just isn’t there.  Any ideas on how to make it better???  Help!!

I managed to squeak out 2 miles, then came home for more trampolining!  I made sure to stretch afterward to help the hammies:)

Lunch turned out to really be a snack.  I got caught up with some phone calls, so I had to rush out for a coffee date with my friend, Rosemary.  I ended up just grabbing snacks for the car ride…

I met up with Rosemary and her cutie-patootie baby boy at Brew Ha Ha.  They have a cool, new menu posting of Healthy Choices including the calorie amount for each item…

I went with java…

Not as pretty as the picture

After getting my baby fix, I headed home to get the daughters and fix up a real lunch.  And I had some fun mail to help out – some Dave’s Killer Bread that I won in Kristi’s giveaway…

It looked good and hearty!

I used a slice for a toasty Black Bean Dip and cheese sandwich…

and paired it with a cup of Progresso Southwestern Vegetable soup…

I did not love that soup at all.  Too zesty for me!

Along with the great “Good Seed” bread came a really bad, bad thing…

Dave’s Sin Dawg cinnamon roll bread!  Unfortunately, it’s a sin how many calories this is, dawg!  A  teeny, tiny 2 oz. piece is 200 calories and 8 grams of fat.  It is made from healthy and mainly organic ingredients, but is too calorie dense for me!  And believe me, it is HARD to only eat 2 oz. of this guy!

I was lacking in the veg department, so I gathered up the leftovers in the fridge for an interesting dinner.  It may look weird, but it tasted great!

• leftover broccoli rabe
• leftover roasted butternut squash
• 5 oz. potato, diced and pan-fried
• 3 egg whites
• 2% cheese

Now, where did I put that cinnamon bread??? Kidding!

Total:  24 POINTS

Have a great day, everyone!!

Questions for the runners:  Do you eat before your run?  Does what you eat make a difference in the strength of your run?

Question for everyone:  What’s your favorite kind of bread?

I have a disorder.  It’s called schizoscaleia.  Okay, I made that up, but it can be real!  I have characterized this disorder by some of the following traits:

1. delusions of weightlessness
2. hallucinations of seeing goal number on the scale
3. hallucinations of being a contestant on The Biggest Loser
4. social isolation due to tight jeans
5. extreme paranoia that every passerby is mentally weighing you because you have blasted your weight and weight loss goals all over the blogosphere
6. strong urges to obsessively weigh yourself alternating with anxiety produced at the sight of the scale.

That is just to name a few.

So, because I am schizoscaleic, I have been back and forth all day trying to decide whether I should get on the scale.  It’s been a full week of Hammer Time and I’ve been wondering if I should weigh myself to see if I’ve made progress this week.  If I did it, I would be going against the initial rules that I set up for myself.  Yet, I’ve had a good week and seeing the number on the scale (hopefully) come down might spur me on even more!

But, what if I didn’t like the number I saw?  What if it wasn’t good enough?  What if it wasn’t the loss I was expecting?  What if I didn’t lose at all?  What if…what if…what if???

This is the type of crazy scale trap that I did not want to fall back into.  I’ve had the angel and devil on each shoulder all day.  Each stating their case as to why I should or should not get on the scale.  My decision?

You’ll have to wait to the end of this post!  Muwahahaha!! 

****

Let’s talk food!

I hit the gym, bright and early, for 40 minutes on The Arc Trainer and 10 minutes of  upper body circuit weights.

Breakfast was a Chocolate Cranberry Chia Muffin Top and a Fuji…

I’m really digging these…

and, of course, some java…

After breakfast, I ran an errand and limped around the house for a while trying to clean up.  Man, my hammies are so sore from trampolining!  Who knew it could be such a great workout?!  Either that….or I’m just old   No comment.

I was excited for my lunch today.  I have a folder of recipes to try and I’ve been wanting to make this forever…

Black Bean Dip
(from The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook)

• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 clove fresh garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 tbsp. lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup diced fresh tomato

In the bowl of a large food processor fitted with a chopping blade, combine the black beans, onion, bell pepper, garlic, lime juice, lemon juice and spices.  Pulse the ingredients until mixture is paste-like and creamy but still slightly chunky, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary.  Transfer the dip to a small bowl and top with tomatoes.  Serve immediately or refrigerate in plastic container for up to 3 days.

Makes 7 (1/4 cup) servings
Per serving:  42 calories, 3 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, trace fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 grams fiber, 169 mg sodium.

A half cup serving is only 1 POINT!  I’m all over it! 

I used the dip as a spread and made Black Bean Bruschetta….

• 2 slices of Bakers Wheat Bran bread, toasted
• 1/2 cup Black Bean Dip
• 1/4 cup diced fresh tomato
• 1 oz. Cabot’s 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese, grated

So, so good!  The dip had such a great, fresh flavor to it. 

Paired with grapes for a sweet side…

Later in the afternoon, I fixed up a yogurt bowl for a snack.  In the mix…

• 1/2 cup plain nonfat Chobani greek yogurt
• 1/8 tsp. NuStevia (from packet)
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• crumbled Pumpkin Oat Bran Muffin

Then, I got to chopping!  I bought a bunch of fresh vegetables, so I chopped up zucchini, mushrooms, red onion, yellow pepper and japanese eggplant to roast up for dinner.  I baked some tofu as well;  combined them both, and called it dinner!  Topped with diced tomato and grated parmesan, it was a delicious meal…

GTG – Day 8:  Total – 22 POINTS

Okay, ready for the news????

NO WEIGH

I’m not doing it, yet.  I decided that weighing in weekly is not healthy for me at this time. I had a really good week.  I ate well.  I exercised.  I drank my water.  I followed the Healthy Guidelines.  I didn’t binge, overeat, feel deprived or feel as if I was on “a diet”.  No, this is my lifestyle.  This is the way I live.  For good.  So, to me, this week was a success and I don’t want the scale to tell me otherwise.  I don’t want to live or be ruled by the scale.  I have an unhealthy relationship with it and I have allowed the scale to dictate want kind of day I am having for far too long.

I won’t avoid it completely, though.  It was instrumental in getting me back on track and steering me toward goal.  But, it isn’t the end- all, be- all tool for me.  I don’t feel that getting on it weekly will be a good indicator or necessarily reflect all of the positive changes that I have been making throughout the week.  So, no weekly scale for me.  I’m planning on either every 2 weeks or maybe even 3!  I’ll keep you posted!

ONE GOOD THING:  I’m finding help for my Schizoscaleia

Have a great day, everyone!!!

What are your feelings about the scale?  Do you have a love/hate relationship?  Do you weigh daily, weekly…never?