Category Archives: Heathly

Day 10 Weigh-in Funfest!

Posted on by

Good Sunday to ya!

It has been a cool and rainy day in Tallahassee. It’s a nice change from the sauna it has been. This morning, I hopped on the scale (actually I didn’t hop on because it’s generally dangerous for fat people to jump on anything) and I lost 1.6 pounds! At first I was a little disappointed, but then Megan put it in context for me. She pulled out a can of soup and said “you lost this off your body this week.” That’s pretty cool (my wife is a stud) and considering I didn’t work out at all I’m pretty stoked about it.

Lunch: (I skipped breakfast again unintentionally. Fail.) Today we had a luncheon after church and they had sandwich stuff available so we ate there. It was a pretty good spread and the fruit medley was fantastic (I have always been an endorser of fresh fruit, especially when it’s only 1 point.) They had some bags of chips and I saw that the regular lays had 10 grams of fat in them for the serving of the small bag. Bad news bears. So I snatched the last bag of Sun Chips which was only 3 points. I figured out my sandwich was 5 points (skipping the gross looking processed cheese was worth it.) and I just stuck with ice water.

Snack: So since I started this thing I’ve been going on and on about the Emerald Trail Mix Berry Blend pouches that I thought were only 3 points. Well folks I have been duped. I’m usually really good about reading nutritional facts but this packaging is really confusing. I guess in my mind (even though I’ve looked at the facts many times) something in individualized packets would just be one serving. Turns out there are 2 servings in a 1.81 ounce pack, making it 5 points instead of 3. This is really frustrating to me because it is obviously intended to give the consumer a false sense of how healthy the product is for you. Granted, it’s still only 5 points and they are super filling. Anywho, the moral of this story is to watch out for these traps because next time it could be on something really bad like a doughnut or a candy bar. (This is The Scandal referenced on Facebook BTW)

Dinner: we had some amazing Tacos with Salsa from the WW cookbook. They are super filling and only 4 points for one taco (that’s with light sour cream and salsa.) So I had 3 tacos for 12 points.

Dessert: This evening I learned a lot about how much your eating habits and tastes can change over a short period of healthy eating. Tonight we went to Hiro’s Yogurt on Tennessee which is one of my favorite dessert shops in Tallahassee. It’s one of those places where it’s self serve yogurt and self serve toppings and you pay per ounce. Last time I went there (the first day of my diet pre-blogging) I went a little off the deep end.

Exhibit A: This is what I had the first time I was there. (This picture is named “ice cream fail.jpg” on my computer)

Exhibit B: This was tonight. Instead of chocolate I got Taro flavor and instead of sundae toppings I got strawberries and blueberries. The yogurt was 102 calories for 1/2 a cup so it came out to 4.5 points. I was really proud of myself about this because my sweet tooth is what got me in to this obese mess so I know substituting fruit for refined sugar is going to make this sucker work.

So today I came out at 30.5 points. Which is funny because I was full all day long but yesterday after eating out twice totaling over 40 points I felt empty.

My Tip of the Day: If you want to keep track of your points or to at least try out WW, bookmark this points calculator on your iPhone or iPod Touch (or what ever inferior product you might have) and just try it out this week. All you need to calculate your points is the calories, fat, and the fiber content. So try it on this week.

Day 9

Posted on by

Howdy!

It has been a whirlwind of a day! The Noles won big time and the Rangers clinched the AL West so I would classify that as a legit day.

Lunch: Before the game we indoor tailgated at Wingstop with our bud Matt. Wingstop is one of my favorite eateries ever so it was a real treat but my first real eat out  challenge. For some frustrating reason, they don’t have their nutritional information on their website (which is shady) but luckily when I was doing my calorie homework (which I suggest everyone doing when they know they are going to eat out) I found them online posted independently. Megan and I split 5 lemon pepper and 5 garlic parmesan and each had our own fries (I think their fries are better than their wings. Any time you sprinkle sugar on fries you know it’s going to be epic.) The wings were 8.5 points and the fries were 9 points of pure Heaven. I know that’s a bit much but we have been pretty good so it was a nice little treat.

Dinner: We had two (delicious) challenges in one day! We went out with some friends to celebrate our friend Leah’s birthday (the same Leah from yesterday’s post) at Outback. Once again, we had done our homework and found out that The Grilled Chicken on the Barbie was the only pseudo low point entree  in a place full of high calorie bombshells. It was a real eye opener to us because like most of us we always filled up on their awesome bread. I was good and only ate one piece (about an 1/8 of the loaf) with no butter which was only 1 point. Since my side was only steamed vegetables, I decided to get a house salad which in hind sight might have been a mistake. Outback only has one light dressing which was a variation on french dressing (super lame) so I was got ranch which I knew better but I didn”t want to eat it dry. So that was an 8 point mistake. The Grilled Chicken on the Barbie with the veggies side was a whopping 14 points (delicious fail.) Thank goodness for flex points right?

So today I totaled out at 40.5 points which was 7.5 points over. Frankly I’m mad about it but we did eat out twice in one day and we never do that (and probably won’t from now on.) Luckily though I was good and had only used 6 flex points in the week so I used 13.5 out of my 35 available flex points.

Tomorrow is weigh in day!!! and I’m really nervous about it. I don’t feel like I’ve done near as well as I did last week since I didn’t get to workout this week. However, next week is a clean slate and that’s what we all have to remember. See ya tomorrow.

Day 8 (IT’S FINALLY FRIDAY!!!!!)

Posted on by

Sup G skillets!

It’s Friday! I don’t know about you but it has been a long week and I’m ready for some college football and maybe a Cowboys win? (If you are reading this Jerry Jones… call up Bill Cowher and offer him a coaching job… or at least meet me halfway and fire Jason Garrett.)


Breakfast: So I don’t know if this is a trend, but in both at ACU and FSU there have been a Starbucks in the libraries. Which is fantastic because I had an early study group today and I needed the caffeine. But anywho, earlier this week I posted a question about what was your favorite Starbucks light drink. As I was rushing through my iPod Touch to find the responses while I was in line, I was asked what I wanted (I hate it when they ask the people further back in the line what they want. I know it saves time and all but we have been conditioned to know what we want when we are at the cash register, not 4 people back, but that’s for another blog.) In my haste I looked up at the board and saw Mocha Light Frappuccino. So I decided to go with that. I have to be honest it kind of tasted like Chocolate Slim Fast which is not my favorite but my breathe still tastes like toothpaste so who knows how good it actually was (but I’m not optimistic.) One the other hand, its not too bad for you. It only had 167 calories, 2 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber so it was only 3 points for a Grande. I did miss the whipped cream but you gotta do what you gotta do right?

Lunch: Once again, I was on campus and I didn’t bring a lunch (which I should have brought one but I kind of ran out of time this morning and we are out of lunch meat (Fail2 ) but it worked out because I ate a Pollo Tropical with some people from my class. I tried the Chicken TropiChop with Bean and White Rice. Last time I didn’t get the combo and I wished I had because they don’t have free water cups (lame right?) so I go the combo which came with a side and a drink. Sides are usually what got me especially since one of the sides was mac and cheese [insert Homer Simpson mmmmmmmm soundbite here] but I was good and had the Balsamic Tomatoes which were really good and only 2 points! The TropiChop was only 11.5 points so so far so good today!

Snack: 14 amazing almonds for 2 points

Dinner: We did the leftover dance this evening which was fine for my because I think Uncle Jim’s chili gets better after aging in the fridge for a day or two. Growing up in Texas, Friday nights in the fall (but in Texas it was still summer) were dedicated for high school football and nothing else. My favorite concession food (other than sausage in a tortilla) was Frito pie. Tonight, in honor of Hillsboro playing Maypearl (not really) we made Frito pie with tortilla chips. As always, it was awesome. 12 tortilla chips were only 4 points, the chili was on another 4 points, and the WW cheese was just 1 point!

Dessert: We had some friends over and we made our favorite Disney World treats: Pineapple Floats!!!!! We originally found these treats during our honeymoon at Disney World and it hit the spot during that super hot July. They are a great lighter answer to root beer or coke floats and if you get some Publix Low Fat Vanilla Ice cream it’s the prefect treat. The 1/2 cup of ice cream was on 2 points and a cup of pineapple juice was only 3 points!

(Left) Megan slurping her float down

(Below)Our friend Leah trying not to laugh

So today totaled out at: 31.5 points so not too bad of a day. Enjoy your Friday evening and I’ll see ya tomorrow. Go Noles!

Day 7 (Yep. It’s been a week.)

Posted on by

Τι είναι Up (That’s What’s Up in Greek. I don’t know any other languages, but I know how to use Google Translate. I would have learned Spanish but my Spanish teacher in High School was this crazy old bat named Ms. Tirey. Once again that’s for another blog.)

Breakfast: I woke up this morning feelin’ like P Diddy. Drank some coffee and ate some Kix. Nothing too exciting. There wasn’t much left in the box so it only came out to 2 points. In answer to your question: yes, this is my own Kix stock photo.

Snack: I brought an Emerald Trail Mix pouch to class to munch on (3 points Holla!) I usually try to bring something to snack on or I’m starving and I won’t pay attention.

Lunch: We had some leftover ground turkey so Megan cooked it up along with some broccoli and added it to some marinara for a delicious spaghetti sauce on top of some whole wheat noodles. Even if you are not dieting, you should still eat whole wheat pasta because it has a better taste and it’s a lot better for you. So anyways it was only a 6 points super filling lunch. It’s funny what 6 points can because that’s how much a candy bar is so it’s all about making smart decisions.


Snack: While I was trying to study for my test this afternoon, I cracked open a Smart One Vegetable Pizza Mini’s and they were awesome!!! In my other life (before dieting) I would go to town on anything that had the word pizza in it, no matter how greasy and gross; but especially Bagel Bites so when I saw these at WalMart I had to try them. They aren’t greasy at all, the portion size is really good, and for only 5 points its a great snack.

Dinner: After a long day I was ready for some stick to your ribs dinner. Tonight we had Uncle Jim’s Chili. Named after Megan’s uncle, this recipe won my heart when Megan and I were engaged. Now we have modified it to a vegetarian dish and frankly you don’t miss the meat. We use to eat it over white rice, but then transitioned to eating it over a baked potato which is even better and less points. The chili itself was on 6 points for 2 cups! The potato was 2 points. We sprinkled some WW mexican style cheese which was 1 point and threw a dab of light sour cream for 1 point. Not too bad for a 10 point meal!

So right not I’m only at 26 points but I’m pretty stuffed so I might grab some fruit later.

By popular demand… my wife’s awesome grilled chicken and veggies recipe from yesterday. See ya tomorrow!

Roasted Veggies:
This is a modified version of the ww recipe
Bundle of Asparagus
Onion- cut into petals
1 Pepper- Whatever color you prefer
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
4 tsp of olive oil
A few generous splashes of balsamic vineger

Combine and pop in the oven at 450 for 30-45 min… depending on how crispy you like them

Makes 4 servings at 2 points each… We usually have two servings each so 4 points!

Spicy Sauteed Chicken
4 tsp oil (vegetable or olive oil is what we use)
1/2 red onion chopped
Adobo seasoning
Oregano
Rosemary
Garlic
Cayenne Pepper
1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

There is not much rhyme or reason to this recipe. I decided to chop the chicken into one inch cubes because that is what the ww orange chicken recipe calls for and it had worked really well the night before. That is also why I used 4 tsp of vegetable oil (Since olive oil is more expensive I try to save it for recipes that you can taste it more… like roasted veggies!) I had 1/2 of a red onion already chopped in the fridge so I tossed it in the heated oil with the chicken. To that I added a couple shakes of adobo seasoning. You can find this on the Hispanic food aisle and it’s really handy to have around. Be careful because it can make things a little salty (it is kind of like a Cavender’s or Tony’s in that respect…) About a 1/2 tsp each of oregano and rosemary. About 2 cloves of chopped garlic (I have it in the pre-chopped jar so I scoop it into everything I make) and a dash of cayenne to give it a little heat. Sorry this isn’t more specific… it was a meal I threw together last night but turned out great!

Makes 4 servings: 4 points each

Day 6

Posted on by

Greetings! (I’m trying a new opening every time.)

Breakfast:

This morning I tried to cook some eggs and for the first time I burned the crap out of them some how. The smell was unbearable lol. Luckily, I bought a Lean Cuisine Denver omelet sandwich. It was pretty bad, processed eggs are not my favorite and that’s all it was and for 5 points it was not worth it.

Lean Cuisine Denver Omelet Sandwich: 5 points

Glass of Orange Juice: 3 points

Lunch:

It felt like I hadn’t eaten out in like forever (it’s been like a week lol) andI had some time to spare so I ate at the Pollo Tropical on campus. Now I don’t know  a lot of Spanish, but I’m pretty sure Pollo Tropical could be translated as “Grilled Chicken Awesomeness” it was fantastic. I had the 1/4 chicken combo with black beans and rice and a roll. Usually I would eat the whole thing including the plate and silverware, but I’m slowly developing this mindset that it’s okay to eat until you are full, but not stuffed. If you say “well Nathan, I have to get my moneys worth!” The reality is that you’ll never get your moneys worth because food is marked up too high anyways. That use to be my mindset too. Anywho, I only ate half of the rice and didn’t eat the roll so I’m pretty proud of myself.

Pollo Tropical 1/4 Chicken Dark Meat w/ Skin: 7 points

1/2 of the Entree White Rice: 2 points

The Entree Serving Black Beans: 1 point

Snack:

Banana: 2 points

Dinner:

Megan made her famous (well… famous to me) grilled chicken and grilled vegetables.

It was also fantastic, but it was quite a bit of points.

3 servings of grilled chicken: 12 points

A ton of grilled vegetables: 4 points
So the total today came out to 36 points which is 3 flex points over. That also included eating out. Overall… I ate well.

See ya tomorrow.

P.S. Did you watch Biggest Loser last night!?! How has it inspired you?

Day (High) 5

Posted on by

Sup yo’s!

Today has been on of those weird off days where life is running a little askew to normal. My morning class was boring, it took me like 45 minutes to catch a bus, and it’s so hot!!!! (I have a theory it has to do with Twitter going bananas and it just shifted the world’s axis, but that’s for another blog.)

Breakfast:

I committed a cardinal sin and did eat a full breakfast. I just ate another pack of the Emerald Berry Trail Mix (if you can’t tell I love that stuff!) So I only had 3 points

Lunch:

I brought my lunch to school and it was alright. My sandwich was only 4 points and my banana got smashed so I only ate half of it which is 1 point.

Snack:


FSU has this really cool free standing Starbucks (which is where most of this blog was written) and I wanted to get a cool drink to fight off the heat. I told the barista (is that what they are called?) that I wanted to get something that was light but wouldn’t curdle in my stomach (gross I know sorry.) Starbucks, in the past, has been my dietary weakness. I really like the Iced White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream which is a redonkulous 18 points (in non WW terms: 720 calories and 49 grams of fat. AND THATS JUST FOR A GRANDE!!!!!!!!!! OMG YALL!!!!!!!!!) So anyways, he recommended the Passion Fruit Lemonade Ice Tea so I gave it a shot and the venti is on 70 calories (1 point.) Legit huh? BTW if you haven’t been on http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ they have a lot of calorie counts for a ton of different restaurants. Check it out.

Dinner:

Dinner couldn’t have come at a moment too soon! As you can imagine I was STARVING!!!! I was going to get a Snickers (to quote my Facebook, I was about to turn in to Betty White) but the machine wouldn’t take my quarters. Lame!

Anywho, we made the Orange Chicken with Broccoli from the newest WW cookbook (page 164) and it was fantastic. It was only 6 points a serving (which includes rice) and so I had seconds.

Orange Chicken with Broccoli: 12 points

2 glasses of milk: 4 points

So the total right now is 26 points but I plan on grabbing a little something (healthy of course;) a little later.

Biggest Loser 10 is on. You best be watching it! See ya tomorrow!

P.S. What’s your favorite healthy snack? Don’t say: chocolate, steak or lobster because they have already been mentioned lol.

Day 4

Posted on by

Good Monday Y’all!!!

It’s been a beautiful day down here, but I’m ready for some cooler weather! I’m at 85% today and I’m ready to get feeling better. I really want to go jog today but I think I’ll hold off until tomorrow.

Breakfast:

I think I have found the breakfast superfood: Kix cereal. It really fills you up and has a ton of fiber and little fat (as it should because it’s just puffed corn right?) One serving size is a 1 1/4 cup and 1/2 a cup of skim milk which is not too bad. I’ve been bad about unintentionally saving my points for later in the day so I had two servings of the kid tested, mother approved goodness.

That is what 5 points of Kix looks like. Legit

Lunch:

Last week, I bought some Hebrew National 97% fat free hot dogs that were on sale and they are awesome! I wish I would have bought like 6 packages of those bad boys because they were like 40% off what they usually were (maybe because they were poison… awe well.) Anyways, I know that hot dog buns are generally pretty bad so I just put the dogs on some Pepperidge Farm Ancient Grain bread, added some mustard and ketchup and it rocked for a quick lighter lunch.

(As you can see I’m no food photographer, but I’m sure it would help if I used my camera and not my phone.)

So here is the break down:

2 Hebrew National 97% Fat Free Hot Dogs: 2 points you can beat a point a hot dog

2 slices of Pepperidge Farm Ancient Grain Bread: 4 points

(Ketchup and mustard are freebies… I think.)

Dessert/Snack: Emerald Trail Mix Berry Blend pouch. 3 points

Dinner:

We ate out on our porch for the first time and it was pretty awesome. Megan us made a hot turkey sandwiches with soup. I had the Campbell’s Chicken and Sausage gumbo and it was also fantastic.

Turkey sandwich with a slice of provolone: 7 points

Campbell’s Chicken and Gumbo: 5 points

Snack: Another heaping bowl of Kix (I’m kind of a fan) 5 points

Total: 31 points

I know you’re not suppose to get up to the minimum but I’ve eaten well today so it’s hard to get up to it. Anyways, if you haven’t seen The Town, go see it. It was awesome. See ya tomorrow.

Day 3: Weigh In Day!!!!

Posted on by

So today was the big day! The first big weigh on this long journey to healthiness.

[Insert Drumroll]

I lost 10.8 pounds this week! Hooray! At first I didn’t believe but after getting on the scale 3 different times this morning and got the same result I was freakin’ stoked. I know that this happens the first week and a lot of that was water weight but it’s still pretty awesome because lately I had developed this gross fat ring above my waist line and that has been thinned out a bit to that’s a win for me.

This also means that my daily point allotment has gone from 35 to 33 points which is going to be a little of a challenge because I’ve been cutting it close this week.

Megan, my stud of a wife, dropped 6.6 pounds and I’m so proud of her!!!

Breakfast: Again, today was one of those days that I slept in way too late thanks to NyQuil so after I was up and running, Megan made Steel Cut Oats with brown sugar and nutmeg. If you haven’t had steel cut oats, its oatmeal cut a different way than instant that we are all use to. The steel cut have a texture that takes some time to get use to (it’s like eating barley) but they are way better for you and with some brown sugar and nutmeg it was still only 3 points. Not bad for a breakfast that keeps you full all morning!

Steel Cut Oatmeal w/ brown sugar and nutmeg: 3 Points

Lunch:

For lunch I had a Lean Cuisine microwavable lunch that was sub par. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s not that I don’t usually like LC meals but I don’t think I microwaved it long enough so it just was bleck.

Lean Cuisine Grossness: 6 points

Snack: I had some cornflakes which its 3 points for 1/2 cup with skim milk. Not really worth the points. Even when I had two servings I kind of regretted it. Live and learn right?

2 servings of Cornflakes and skim milk: 6 points

Another snack: I tried the WW White Chocolate Raspberry Yogurt which was just fantabulous! It’s only 1 point and it feels like a bucket full of happiness if you use the smallest spoon you have which is what I did. (My Jedi Food Mind Trick of the day!)

This awesomeness: 1 point

Dinner:

Thanks again to the amazing WW Cookbook, we went Mexican again with a Tamale Casserole! Instead of ground beef, the recipe calls for turkey which is way less greasy and you couldn’t tell the difference at all. We also had a salad and I tried the Kraft Free Dijon Mustard which was pretty good and only 50 calories for 2 tbsp.

A serving and a half of the Tamale Casserole: 9 points

2 tbsp of fat free dressing: 1 point

An organic orange for dessert: 1 point (We were going to get just regular oranges at Wal-Mart but they were from South Africa. We live in Florida!!! That doesn’t make a lick of sense so we coughed up the dollar a pound extra.)

The grand total today: 27 points Which is pretty well under but I still ate well today so I can’t complain.

I just want to say thanks again for everyone’s support so far. It truly means a lot to me. See ya tomorrow.

Day 2

Posted on by

Today I’ve been pretty sick… sick enough to not even go to the FSU game (which if you read a couple blogs back that’s a pretty big deal.) For a lot of us, the days we are sick, unless it involves the  stomach, it’s really easy to postpone all diets and pig out to feel better. I tried to avoid doing that by pigging out on watermelon and a bowl of Kix. Let’s do this…

Breakfast:

I kept it simple since I woke up at noon.

Emerald Trail Mix Berry Blend: 3 points These things are great to buy for snacks or breakfast on the go because they fill you up pretty well.

Banana: 2 points We all know how awesome they are

A Glass of Orange Juice: 2 points

Lunch:

With all good sick days, you have to have chicken noodle soup so I cut up some leftover chicken from last night and put it in some Lipton’s. I also added a little Trappy’s Pepper Sauce to add a little heat.

Leftover Chicken: 5 points

Lipton’s Noodle Soup: 3.5 points

Watermelon: 2 points

Dinner:

Arriba! (Yes I’m that lame.)

Megan once again utilized her awesome WW cookbook and she made tacos with this home made salsa that could have been a tomato-cilantro-onion salad. They were amazing.

[This is where a delicious picture should be but it wouldn’t upload #Fail]

3 Tacos: 10 points

Watermelon: 2 points

I’m not counting the brazillion cups of chamomile and water but they are both no points. (Also a ton of Kleenex but that’s gross and I didn’t eat them.)

The Total [Insert Drumroll] Today I used 35.5 points which is 1.5 over (shame shame) but like what I was talking about yesterday, you have 35 flex points and I only used 2.5 of them this week. Legit.

So tomorrow… is Sunday, but you already knew that. We started on a Sunday so tomorrow the flex points reset and we are also WEIGHING IN!!!!! We are going to weigh in the morning and I’ll let you know how I did this week. I think I did pretty well this week so I hope the scale will be gentle. See ya tomorrow.


Day 1

Posted on by

Breakfast:
Butterball Turkey Bacon: 2 slices- 1 point
(Only 50 calories and 3 grams of fat for 2 slices!!!)

Fresh Market Cage Free Eggs: 2 eggs- 5 points
I made scrambled eggs and instead of milk I added 2 tbsp. of Fat Free Half and Half which is only a point which you can do with out, its worth it for fluffy eggs.

Pepperidge Farm Ancient Grains bread: 1 slice- 2 points
Bread is usually high, but you need the fiber so it’s a necessary evil.

Lunch:

For lunch I had my new favorite microwavable meals: Amy’s Cheese Tamale Verde: 9 points. It’s a lot of points but it was so worth it because not only was it filling, but I don’t feel gross I I had spent those 9 points on something greasy.

I added some salsa, which is no points (you heard me right! Salsa in moderation is a freebie!) and then a slice of watermelon which was only 2 points. Not bad for a sweet, refreshing dessert!

<—- In answer to your question, yes, it was as amazing as it looked.

Snack: Orange Juice: 3 points (Worth it because I’m fighting off a cold.)

Dinner:

Fried chicken and mash potatoes. Yes, you heard me right. Megan has an awesome WW cookbook and one of the best recipes is the corn flake crusted baked chicken. The mash potatoes didn’t have any butter, but a very small amount of light sour cream and an even smaller amount of non-fat cream cheese. So here is the point breakdown:

Chicken: 7 points

Potatoes: 4 points

A light cheese biscuit: 3 points

Daily Total: 35

I was only a point over today but its okay because you 35 flex points that you can use through out the week and I haven’t used any yet this week. Overall, I ate really well today and I’m on a diet! See you tomorrow.