Family Time

As I mentioned yesterday, my nieces and my sister are already in town for Thanksgiving.  Love it!  Last night we had some fun family time.  The sister, Audrey and I went to Academy and got the kids some new shoes.

I made my baked tilapia for dinner and we enjoyed a glass of white wine while it cooked.  We also had salad with awesome balsamic dressing.

After dinner we watched football and the kids played, so of course I harassed them with pictures.

Courtney

Chelsie and Lindsey

Over the weekend my Mary Engelbreit daily calendar had one of my favorite pictures on it.  Yesterday it got cut out and pinned to the bulletin board above my desk.

It's true.

Today the pen color will be yellow, since it just seems right.  Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Tell me, do you have family time planned for Thanksgiving?

Weigh In

You can find the weekend recap in a separate post...I didn't want my pity party to take away from good news.

Let's start with the weigh in.  I started not to get on the scale this morning and just post that I had gained.  I knew I had, I stopped tracking about Wednesday last week and I knew there was no way I hadn't gained, plus (skip ahead to the next paragraph if you wish to avoid TMI) I was PMSing like a crazy person and I am still feeling bloated this morning.  Anyway, I thought it would be better to just face the music, put on my big girl panties and deal with it.

And what did I find?  Well, that I am dealing with a 6 pound gain.  Awesome.  I have considered that some of that is probably water weight, and I am sure it is.  Great.  It doesn't change the fact that I did not listen to my body or my mind for that matter last week.  I was lazy, my workouts were not super strong and they were not as consistent.  What makes it worse?  I knew that moving more would make me feel better; but that didn't get me off my butt for a workout.  It is SO frustrating and discouraging to me...I know that working out makes me feel good, but I was still lazy.

Then there was the eating.

There was some that was thoughtful fabulous indulgence, for example Daniel and I had dinner at Canopy on Saturday night.  I ordered the herb seared scallops with asparagus and butternut squash risotto and balsamic reduction.  It was delicious and worth every calorie.  I ate until I was satisfied, but not too full and then stopped.  It was great and I felt good about it.

There was some eating that was thoughtless and useless, like a stop for fast food after a party (and a few too many cocktails) on Saturday.  Did I enjoy it while I was eating it?  No, not really.  I was actually thinking about how I wouldn't be happy with myself later.

Now, what do I take away from this?  On the positive, I am learning.  I was right about how I would feel about the fast food...I felt terrible Sunday morning.  Not from a headache and hangover, but because my stomach was so unhappy with me.  I can walk away from the experience knowing that once I make the connection to actually listen to my head and my body that I will have made leaps and bounds of progress.  Right now I am still at baby steps, but at least in my mind they are steps in the right direction.  Now just to master the listening to myself.

What's my plan for this week?  I plan not to be intimidated by Thanksgiving.  I do not have to overload my plate and there will be healthy choices to make.  I plan to focus on my family.  My nieces are in town, there is a lot of opportunity for activity points to be had with three energetic gals.  I plan to take it one day at a time.  I am heading for yoga at lunch time, I am excited...yoga always makes me feel good.  Tonight I am making my baked tilapia for dinner.  It's easy, delicious and HEALTHY!

Here is how the weigh in broke down.

Previously: -8.6
This week: +6.0
Total:          -2.6

All I can do is move forward and continue to improve, right?  Right.

Weakness

Yes, I am amazing and strong as referenced in Tuesday's post How Strong Am I? but I also have weaknesses.  Last night that weakness came in the form of a happy hour on the balcony with my husband.  It was fun, we enjoyed some lovely red wine...my favorite right now is Hayman and Hill Meritage, a delicious blend.

After too many glasses of wine I then ate too many calories for dinner.  Oops.  It is a good thing I was so strong on Monday and Tuesday!  I guess I need to be strong again today and work out even harder, so that is what I will do.

In unrelated news, I chose the picture for our Christmas card.  This will be the first year we do a Christmas card with a picture.

Daniel likes to reference the Friends episode where Mona and Ross are talking about doing a Christmas card together.  He jokes, "Are we ready to do a Christmas card together...it is a big step."  So funny...I do love Friends and yes after all these years I still watch it on DVD.

The pen color today will be yellow since I need a bright, strong, awesome color to inspire me.

Enjoy your Thursday!

How Strong Am I?

On Tuesday our office kitchen looked like a trick-or-treater exploded in it.  I am not kidding, candy and cookies galore.

Kit Kats are my fave.

I know this since I got to look at it all while heating up my lunch.  Good times.  I am happy to report I resisted the temptation.  I had no candy...or cookies for that matter.

Hello more Kit Kats

I know that indulging in a piece would not kill me or ruin my week, as long as I accounted for it.  I just chose not to indulge.  It seems that I am stronger in my resistance when I have had a good weigh in.  I am feeling extremely motivated and good about my progress right now, that I didn't want to risk having even one piece (since sometimes one turns into two, then three...).

Do you feel like you are more motivated when you are making good progress?  I am pretty sure if I had had a bad weigh in on Monday I would have a few pieces of candy on my desk right now.  Anyone else have that problem?  It is a vicious cycle.

Not to mention I am getting closer to my 10 pound goal which comes with this reward.  I would rather have these awesome shoes than 10 pieces of candy.

(source)

Wonderful Wacky Wednesday

I have been very energetic this morning!  It feels great!  I was up at 5:30 for some coffee with the husband before a two mile walk with the workout buddy Rebecca.  After my walk I watered plants and cleaned...I was so productive!

Sammy spilled a little coffee on me which was not so pleasant.

Bad Dog!

But you really can't stay mad at this face.

Tonight I am playing darts again for the last time this season.  I am mostly happy about that.  Darts is fun, but it messes with my evening schedule and after a less than stellar start to the week food wise, especially following this weekend (which you can read about here: Weekend Recap and Weigh In) I don't need any speed bumps in my schedule.

On the positive side, my Weight Watchers community friends rock.  As mentioned the start to my week has been kind of crummy food wise and last night I had a Jimmy John's sandwich for dinner, delicious, but super high in points...I told my husband I had sandwich eaters remorse.  And I posted this on my Weight Watchers profile.

Support like that is awesome!!  I have had a great morning and I plan for a great day.

The pen color today is black.

Spooky

I hope you have a fabulous day!!

Weekend Recap and Weigh In

The weekend was jam packed!  There was wine, a little sickness, lots of football and some new jewelry.  Let's get started with the recap!  :)

There was wine with friends.

Old Friends

New Friends

On Saturday I had my first University of Houston tailgating experience.  It was lots of fun!  Rebecca is a UH alum and she invited me and Daniel to join her friends at the game.

Rebecca's brother Jake, rolled up with his BBQ pit on a trailer and made fajitas.  They were delicious.

Texas pride

The guys next to us were doing it right.

Bloody Mary Bar

And someone brought cupcakes from Crave Cupcakes...delicious.

And they had spirit...

Go Coogs!

The game was at 3:30 and the weather was beautiful.  The Cougars ran right over Marshall...the score was like 63 to 28.  Good times.

Robertson Stadium

Kicking a Field Goal

Touchdown Celebration

Touchdown Celebration II

Shasta and Rebecca (far right)

Shasta and me

On Sunday I made soup for the week.  It was kind of an on the fly soup...so I will let you know if it is any good...I brought it for lunch today (crossing fingers).  I also watched football, did laundry and made jewelry.

Wearing these today

Love how yellow the yellow walls make my pictures look. Oops...lesson learned.

The weigh in did not happen this morning.  I did not get on the scale on purpose since I know what it would have told me.  After the weekend of mediocre food choices and no exercise and then the feeling of (advanced apology for TMI) PMS bloating I knew better than to get on the scale and bum myself out more.  Instead I skipped the scale and walked 2 miles with Rebecca this morning.  I might revisit my weigh in around Wednesday or I might just wait until next Monday.  You like surprises right?  The walk definitely improved my outlook and I am ready for yoga at lunch today.  I will make this a good week.

Today the pen color will be lime green.

Do you ever skip the scale?

Birthdays and Challenges

My sister-in-law's birthday is on Saturday so last night the girls went to dinner to celebrate.  We went to Carraba's Italian Grill and had a great time.

Dawn and Me

When you are trying to lose weight most eating out situations present challenges.  I prepared by looking at the menu ahead of time and planning what I was ordering for dinner.  I ordered a large house salad topped with grilled chicken and had them bring the dressing on the side.  This was a great option and was only 8 weight watchers points.  I try and look at the menu before eating out whenever possible, it helps eliminate the stress of having to make good food choices while surrounded by friends and so many options!

And then there was the bread basket...and I passed.  I was very proud of myself since their crusty dinner rolls and rustic sour dough bread is so delicious...especially dipped in their olive oil and herb blend.  In life there are choices and I chose Cabernet instead of bread.  I am happy with the decision.

Some of the gals ordered a huge order of calamari and fried shrimp for the table...I won't lie...when it arrived I stressed a little bit about it.  I was worried that I would over indulge.  When the plate was passed to me I took two pieces of calamari and one piece of shrimp.  Win!  That was an additional 3 points for the night and they were delicious!

I am very proud of myself for learning to handle these situations.  When it comes down to it the birthday celebration and spending time with friends and family is what it is about.  You can do all the celebrating you want while still making smart food choices...and as it turns out you have even more fun because that feeling of accomplishment just makes it better.

Dawn's friend Leslie did a great job with decorating the table.  She brought flowers and had a votive candle for each of us.  Isn't that cute?  And so sweet.

A good time was had by all.  We made Dawn blow out her candle twice so we all could get our pictures.  Two wishes...awesome.

Happy Friday to you!  I am only working until noon today and I know I will be counting the minutes!  Daniel and I are headed to the Greek Festival this afternoon.  There will be Greek salad and more wine, oh my!

Happy Birthday Dawn!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

OMG Chicken Piccata

If you read yesterday's post you know that I was attempting a lightened up chicken piccata for dinner last night.  I have made the dish before, so I knew the sauce would be delicious, but I wanted to try something new with the chicken trying to make the taste closer to the original which is pan fried.  It turned out very well...Rebecca and Daniel thought so too.  Here is my recipe, which serves 3.

Ema's Chicken Piccata

For the Chicken

• 6 chicken tenders, pounded flat (about 12 ounces)
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 egg whites
• garlic salt
• lemon pepper
• olive oil cooking spray or extra virgin olive oil sprayed from a misto

Preheat oven to 375.  Dip the chicken in the egg whites and then into the Italian bread crumbs to lightly coat.  Place on a non-stick foil lined pan.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and lemon pepper then spray lightly with olive oil, flip and repeat.  Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, flip the chicken over, then bake 10 - 15 more minutes.

For the Sauce

• 1 cup of chicken stock (I used my homemade stock I talked about in this post)
• 1 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
• 1/4 cup capers, drained
• 1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
• juice of 2 lemons
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 Tbsp Smart Balance light spread
• sea salt, to taste
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with hot water, for thickening

Combine the chicken stock and smart balance in a sauce pan on a medium heat.  While the smart balance is melting add the lemon juice.  Bring to a low simmer, add artichoke hearts, capers, garlic and parsley.  Add the wine and simmer.  Once the wine has reduced add the corn starch wash (usually you do not need the whole mixture, I used about half).  Allow dish to simmer on low and thicken.  Add sea salt to taste.

Happy simmering sauce

Great tip (that I learned from Rebecca)...I always keep a 4 pack of small wine bottles in my pantry (both in red and white). 

They are great for cooking and then you don't have to open a large bottle to use just a little bit.  Unless of course you are planning on drinking the rest of the bottle and then I vote that a large bottle is the way to go.  I used about half of the small bottle.

  

For the Pasta

• 1/2 cup small pasta of your choice (I like to use Orzo a lot, but last night I used Acini di pepe, very similar in texture to Israeli couscous)
• 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
• sea salt to taste

I cook these small pastas like rice letting them simmer covered for about 15 minutes in a smaller amount of liquid until the liquid has reduced.

YUM!

Each serving is 1/3 cup pasta with two chicken tenders, covered in the sauce.  I calculated this to 12 weight watchers points...and it was delicious!  I served it with a side salad which was 1 point.

Oh, and I made a discovery yesterday.  As you might know I like to make mocktails, well I found this in the store last night.  Have you had it?

La Croix Cran-Raspberry

I had never seen it before!  And it was fabulous with diet cranberry juice and lime.  Love!

The pen color on this beautiful Thursday is lime green.

Enjoy your day!!

Terrific Tuesday

At least that's what I'm hoping for.  It has certainly started off well.  I walked 1.7 miles with Rebecca this morning and it wasn't too crazy hot out there.  I was back in the house around 6:45 and I did some chores.  It feels good to have checked a couple of cleaning and laundry chores off my list already.

On Sunday my oldest niece, Courtney, turned twelve.  I can't believe she's twelve...it sounds crazy.  Here we are together in 1999.

I blogged about her upcoming birthday in this post: Time Flies.  It truly does.  Anyway, she is a big old 6th grader now.  She got her ears pierced this summer and she is getting into jewelry.  So what better present for my favorite 12 year old than to start her a James Avery charm bracelet.  You Texans will recognize the jewelry.  Courtney called me on Sunday very excited about the bracelet.  She told me her mom text me a picture of her wearing the bracelet.  I was very excited about this.  Thinking a picture of her smiling face holding up her wrist.  This is what I got.

Bummer, but cute bracelet.

For those of you that are not familiar with 12 year old goings on, the peace sign and tie dye is back in.  Good times.  Here is mentioned smiling face with her sister and new puppy.

Last night for dinner I tried something new and it turned out great.  I was inspired by eggplant parmesan.  I baked some chicken to go along with it and had some olives on the side...don't judge...if you like olives and you haven't tried it they are awesome in/with/near pasta sauce.

Makeshift Eggplant Parmesan

1. 1 eggplant sliced in thin circles
2. olive oil spray
3. garlic salt
4. half a jar of pasta sauce (I like Barilla)
5. part skim mozzarella cheese or parmesan (I used mozzarella last night since I had no parmesan)

Arrange eggplant slices in single layer on cookie sheet, spray with olive oil spray and sprinkle with garlic salt.  Roast for 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Spread some sauce in the bottom of a corning ware and arrange a layer of the roasted eggplant, add sauce, repeat until eggplant is gone and remaining sauce is on top of the layers.  Bake covered in the 400 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes until it is nice and bubbly.  Add cheese and bake uncovered until cheese is melted.

Yummy!  This dinner tallied 12 weight watchers points, but I only ate half of the chicken.

Today the pen color of the day is orange!

Happy Tuesday!

Food and Why I Love Auto-Correct

I was not very creative last night on the food front.  We had steak, salad and roasted potato again, but I added roasted brussel sprouts and for variety cut the potato into little squares instead of slices.  Creative!

Mmmmm...

I think brussel sprouts get a bad rap.  A lot of people claim not to like them.  If you think you don't like them I think you should try them again and roast them.  Easy to do, take fresh brussel sprouts, cut off the ends and slice them in half.  Spray them with olive oil cooking spray and toss them with some salt and pepper.  Roast them for about 30 minutes (tossing halfway through) at 400 degrees.

Delicious

I also created a delicious mocktail for after dinner.  For you weight watchers folks, it is only 1 point. 

Refreshing

In my glass: light cranberry juice, grapefruit La Croix sparkling water and lime juice.

This morning I was scheduled to take my mom to the airport.  On Tuesday my workout buddy Rebecca and I were texting about this week's walking schedule.  She started the conversation about whether we were walking on Wednesday.

Ha!  And for the record I am never excited about autopsy duty.  :)

Today we are going with the turquoise pen.  Really, how can you go wrong with turquoise?

Anyone else have funny auto-correct stories to share?