Day 44 Disney Edition

When you wish upon a star…

I’m pooped. Really pooped. Today, we had a blast walking (a lot) around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. So here’s the deal, I somehow left the pedometer in my hotel room (I have no freakin’ clue how) but I did some research online and looking at the distances around the parks (yes… someone has actually posted them) and it’s safe to say that we walked at least 10 miles. Pretty nuts. Tomorrow we are going to Animal Kingdom in the morning so I will definitely bring the pedometer (it’s right next to my phone and wallet so I won’t forget it!) Also, one more housekeeping item. The weigh in will be on Monday not tomorrow. We don’t have a scale here and since we weigh the first thing in the morning, we will just do it then. Now, on to business.

Breakfast: I just had an apple (2 points) and 2 servings of almonds (2 points.) Like I’ve said before, that is such an awesome combo and it really gets you going in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: Like I was saying last night, this trip is all about saving money and saving calories (well it was, but more on that later.) We packed ham sandwiches, oranges, carrots and kashi bars. It was hard to eat a squished sandwich with the dare I say sexy aroma of turkey legs wafting through Frontierland, but I got through it. The sandwich was 4 points, the orange was 1 point, the carrots were freebies and so was the gallons of water I drank. As my facebook status stated last night, Orlando water is terrible so we brought some purified from home (so smart) and keeping hydrated at Disney is half the battle. Oh yeah, and later for a snack, I had a 3 point Kashi bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epcot Food & Wine Festival (sans the wine): So the Epcot World Showcase was packed for it’s International Food and Wine Festival (which we didn’t know about but was a pleasant surprised.) There were different food pavilions throughout the park so we each picked a dish to try.  Megan decided to get a roasted corn and cheese empanada from the Argentina pavilion. It was really good! I got the perogie and keibasa with caramelized onions from the Poland pavilion. It was over priced and the portion was too small to split but it was also really good. Points wise, haven’t a clue. I was proud of myself though because the Canadian pavilion had Nanaimo bars which are so amazing but sooooo bad for you (main ingredient: butter icing.) After much temptation, I stood my ground (it helped that the line was too long at that point lol) and absolved from the desserts there.

 

Dinner: This evening, we hit up our favorite counter service (Disney term for a fast food stop) Tangerine Cafe. I had the lamb and chicken plate with hummus, tabouli, a cold cous cous salad and a piece of crispy bread. It was so good after walking around all over God’s green goodness. (Oh yeah, and like 4 glasses of ice water. Hooray for hydration!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert: After walking around Disney, we thought we should go walk around some more at the Super Target by our hotel. Luckily, there was a Starbucks inside the Target so I got the standard Iced Grande Chai Tea Latte (4 points.) (While we were in the Starbucks area, someone stole our cart that had stuff we were going to buy! Lame.) After the caffeine kicked in, we re-got all the stuff that we had already gotten. Then later, someone else took our cart again!!! What the crap! Stupid tourists. So we had to go get everything AGAIN! AHHH!!!! Anywho, one of the things we got was a two pack of the WW ice cream cups. The Peanut Butter awesomeness was 3 points. They had some other ones that were 2 points also. We were both really impressed with it so I think we will get them again.

 

 

So today was a little nuts not really knowing how many points the Epcot food was (I looked for third party posts but surprising no one has any. All of them say if you drink a lot of water, stay away from the sweets and walk the whole time you will be fine) but the points that were countable was 19 points. Between walking everywhere and my the 18 flex points that I had left for the week (they will reset tomorrow,) I’m not too worried. I realize that’s a slippery slope to just think it’s fine but sometimes it’s an unfortunate necessity. Disney should have that information available, but I’ve already ranted about that.

Oh yeah! So we stopped at the hotel office so Megan could run in and get directions while I was chilling in the car. I’m sitting in the car minding my own business and this lady who was not Megan opened the door and tried to get in the car. I was like “Hello? Can I help you?” She looks at me with a terrified look she go “BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” Then she slammed the door. I laughed so hard that Megan said she could hear me outside the car (as I’m typing this, I’m still laughing out loud about it.) See ya tomorrow.

Day 43 (My Favorite Number!)

Честит Хелоуин

(That’s Happy Halloween in Bulgarian. They didn’t have Transylvania and Happy Halloween in Romanian is the same in English so this works.)

Fall is finally back in Florida! It has been miserable all week so a beautiful crisp morning was perfect.

Breakfast: This morning, I put on pair of khaki shorts that I just washed and they are already loose! I need to buy some new pants soon! Who knew losing weight would be so expensive lol. Anyways, I made some bacon (2 points) and eggs (4 points) before Megan had to go to class. Burnt bacon is the best thing ever. (You know it’s true.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: I had to run some errands and since I didn’t want to eat leftover spaghetti (not because it was leftovers, I just don’t think it’s worth the points.) I stopped by Publix and tried a new Amy’s that I haven’t had.. well kinda. I bought Amy’s Enchilada Verde, which is the enchilada version of my favorite Amy’s dish: Tamale Verde (the Verde sauce is just that good!) It was awesome! The enchilada isn’t as big as the tamale but it comes with black beans and since beans is rice is my favorite thing about Mexican food I was stoked. (Plus with the black beans, it has 8 grams of fiber. Hooray for regularity!) The meal was 8 points. Definitely better than 10 points of delicious, but disappointing spaghetti.

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Did I mention we are going to Disney World this weekend!?! So stoked! We needed to get out of town for a while so since we have season passes we decided to head down south. So we were just going to eat sandwiches this evening, but we were both starving on the road so we decided to stop at Sonny’s in Lake City… with out being able to look up the points (all the more reason I really need an iPhone!!!!) We both knew that it was going to be bad news bears so we just went with the pulled pork sandwiches… that had 2 garlic toasts for bread. (yikes) I had a baked sweet potato for the side. We finally got to the hotel and I looked up the calories (I was impressed that Sonny’s even had it available unlike that shady Cracker Barrel.) The sandwich was 19 freakin’ points and the sweet potato was only 5 points. I learned my lesson to do my homework before for most situations. A necessary evil for weight loss.

 

 

 

I saw this in this shady truck stop that we stopped at. Hooray for backwoods Florida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right now I’m at 38 points, 5 points over. Live and learn.

Tomorrow will be interesting because every time I’ve been to Disney, we have had the dining plan which is 2 meals and 1 snacks in the park. (Oh so many calories.) This time we brought stuff for sandwiches, vegetables, water bottles, kashi bars, and almonds. Should be a lot less points and a lot less money. Plus I brought a pedometer to see how far we walk. I’m really curious to see how many miles you walk in a day a the most amazing place on earth. See ya tomorrow.

 

Day 42

So the Rangers lost. Awe well, it was just game 1. Moving on…

Last night on Facebook, I mentioned that I had this awesome realization. Before I get in to it, I just want to preface it by warning you I might have overhyped it a little but so sorry if I got your hopes up to high. So a few years ago, I really wanted to get Wii Fit. I figured if I got it, it would kick start my weight loss (I have tried a ton of times, but it has never worked as well as this time FTW!) Anywho, I had a friend who brought his Wii Fit board over and we were going to play on it. I went to get when no one was watching and the program was like “Wow! You weigh too much! You can’t use the board!” (The board has a 330 lb capacity) I got off as quick as possible before anyone could see the demoralizing message and the embarrassment on my face. Well, with this past weeks weigh in, I CAN ACTUALLY BUY Wii FIT AND PLAY IT!!! I’m really stoked about it and it is officially back on my Christmas wishlist! Like I said, it’s not much, but it’s all about celebrating the little victories along the way.

Breakfast: I was going to make a wafflewich, but when I cut in to my banana, it was all black and gross so I threw it away (sad days.) Instead, I just had waffles (3 points) and peanut butter (5 points.) Sorry that the one was bitten in to. I was hungry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: I got the pot stickers again. All I have to say is pure 5 points of deliciousness. For dessert, I had a honeycrisp apple (2 points) and a fudgesicle (1 point.) Such an awesome dessert combo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: So what teacher would have a test on the night of the FSU game/World Series/Big Bang Theory/The Office? I guess a teacher who doesn’t like fun/awesome things. Anyways, I had a test tonight from 5-8 so I didn’t get to eat for a while. Megan some spaghetti (just sauce and noodles. We usually put squash, cucumbers and other awesome veggies in there but not tonight.) I had 15 points worth of spaghetti which is a lot of points, but not a lot of spaghetti. Regardless, it was good.

 

 

 

 

Right now, I’m at 31 points, but there is a lot of TV to watch tonight so I will be dipping in to some weekly points. That’s what they are there for right? See ya tomorrow.

Day 41

WORLD SERIES!!!!

So stoked, but I wish I wasn’t so busy so I could just sit down and watch it instead of having to do stuff between innings. Regardless, it’s going to be pretty awesome.

Breakfast/Brunch: Megan woke up a little late to class so I had to drive her to class (I got her there in record speed because I was a NASCAR driver in another life.) When I got home, I caught up reading the blogs I follow on my Google Reader which if you have a lot of RSS Feeds that you always read this is really handy, and tried these Kashi Blackberry Cereal bars we bought this week. It was 2 points and fantastic.

(On to the brunch portion.) After Megan was done with her class, I went and picked her up and we decided to go on a breakfast date. She was feeling Cracker Barrel, which was tempting to me also, but until they put up some nutritional info I’m not going back. So we decided on The Crepe Vine (before you tell me, I’m aware of the lack of nutritional information on their website. However, they only have 2 locations. They get a free pass. Hypocritical? Maybe. Awe well.) Anywho, we both had The Bicycle which had a veggie patty, eggs, cheese, and up to 5 veggies. It was so amazing. I was really impressed. It came with this creamy cajun sauce which was good, but after a taste I already knew how bad it was going to be so I just didn’t use it. After much research, I came to the conclusion that it was 15 points. A little much but considering I ate it at around 9:30 and I didn’t have to eat something again until 4:30 (3 point granola bar) I think it was worth it.

 

 

 

Dinner: We fired up the rest of the leftover chili and there was a little left when we divided it up so I had a little more so it was 7 points. Then Megan and I split a wedge of WW jalapeno cheese (looks and tastes like the Laughing Cow counterpart.) We split the wedge with a few chips which was a total of 2 points. We were thinking those wedges would make a good, low fat queso if you used all the wedges and and skim milk. Has anyone tried that? If so, let me know how it went.

 

 

 

 

 

Right now, I’m at 29 points but since the Rangers game just started I might snack on a honeycrisp or something like that. Go Rangers. See ya tomorrow.

Day 40

Yes… It’s been 40 days since I have started this Internet phenomenon. Legit.

Breakfast: After lusting at it on A Girl Who Loves Cupcakes, I decided to finally make my own Wafflewich except I made a bigger version. I bought the Eggo Multi-grain waffles (the Publix ones are better) so I used 2 waffles (3 points,) 2 tbs of pb (5 points,)  and half a banana (1 point.) It was so epically amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: I decided to buy the Smart Ones Swedish Meatballs and I was disappointed. I already had some preconceived notions of how I was going to like it and I was exactly right: nice idea, but doesn’t work as a diet food. Luckily it was only 5 points so whatever yo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercise: This afternoon I really had the urge to do some form of exercise and I wanted to go jog because I need to start training for the Turkey Trot. Today in Tallahassee is was like August all over again. This afternoon it was 80 but with the humidity it was 89 and the A/C was way to nice to be outside. After a contemplating Facebook status, my FB support team (which also included A Girl Who Loves Cupcake) encouraged/guilted me to go so Megan and I went for a jog! We went up and down our street (which is super hilly) and went 1.03 miles. I was pretty slow so it was the wakeup call I needed that I need to get ready for this 5K that’s less than a month away. It’s awesome to have that kind of encouragement so thanks again guys.

Exercise: After the jog, I had a Honeycrisp Apple (2 points of amazing awesomeness) and a Fudgescicle (1 point)

Dinner: Megan use to always make curry and she finally made it again!!! I was so stoked/starving and oh man did it hit the spot. It was green curry with onions, potatoes, and an orange pepper. We use to put chicken in it but we both think it’s better without any meat and it saves us points. With brown rice it was only 11 points. We were both so full after.

 

 

 

 

 

Snack: After our church bible study, we went out with a few people to Chili’s. Luckily we had already eaten the aforementioned curry. We just had Diet Coke and chips and salsa. At first we weren’t going to get any chips but I borrowed my friend David’s iPhone to check up the points. (All the more reason for me to get an iPhone (YOU HEAR THAT SANTA!?!)) The basket was 12 points so we split it was 6 points for each of us. The icing on the cake was that the salsa was perfect tonight! It wasn’t watery at all like it usually is so that was awesome.

Today I came out at 34 points. Soooo awesome. See ya tomorrow.

Oh yeah… WORLD SERIES TOMORROW!!! LEE.

LINCECUM. AWESOME.

Day 39

What a day…

It has been a nutzo day. First, I woke up from a crazy dream involving Cliff Lee, crack babies and L.A. Then, I called an admissions office at FSU and this lady kept calling me a liar without any context or knowing who I was. I also thought (like the rest of our class) that we had this pop exam that our professor has been talking about all semester. I studied all afternoon and we didn’t have it today. (Bad grade averted.) So it’s been a crazy start to the week but I have a good feeling the week is going to get better. Let’s talk about some food!

Breakfast: We bought Kashi Honey Sunshine again (so awesome!) I was 3.5 points with skim milk. SO GOOD!

Lunch: I warmed up the always awesome Amy’s Tamale Verde and then added some Wal-Mart salsa (I know I’ve said it before, but Wal-Mart salsa is so good and so cheap!) It was 9 points.

Snack: A while back, I Kashi had a promotion to trade a “bad snack” (which was just a picture gallery on their website of unhealthy things online) for one of their products. It finally came in the mail the other day in this package shown with the Kashi snack that I chose, and a $1 off coupon for a box of any Kashi bars. The PR side of me really liked this promotion because it was cost effective and gave consumers that wouldn’t fork over the money for something healthy a chance to try them for free. The aspiring health nut side of me really really liked it for pretty much the same reason. Our society has grown accustom to 99¢ McDonald’s burgers so anything that’s more than that isn’t worth it because it doesn’t make you full. We need to get away from the idea that we have to be full all the time and that spending a little extra now will save you in blood pressure pills and hospital visits in the future. (The documentary Food Inc., which is what got Megan and I to initially look more closely at what we were eating, covers the subject and it’s really interesting. If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely watch it.)

Snack: While studying at Starbucks (which is becoming a Monday afternoon tradition) I had an Iced Chai Tea Latte (4 points) and my sample Kashi Trail Mix bar with cranberries (2 points) I was nice and gooey. So delicious and filling.

Dinner: (Speaking of tradition) we went to Chick-Fil-A for college night. I had the 8 piece nuggets (6 points) and a small fry (7 points which is way too many points for not that much fries. ) We use to split a large fry which was 5 points for half and I think it might have been more fries so we might need to go back to doing that. Oh yeah, and 2 packets of BBQ sauce (2 points)

I came out to 33.5 points so only .5 over which wasn’t too bad for eating out one meal. See ya tomorrow.

(Quick side note. Has anyone watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks? What a trippy movie.

Day 38: Weigh In Super Fantasticness!!!!!!

Sorry my faithful readers (especially David Schubert) for the last 3 posts coming out really late. It’s been one of those weeks. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen anymore. Alright, down to business.

I lost 3.4 pounds this week! So I’m now at 330.2!!! I was super stoked. I’ve been on a hot streak of weight loss and I’m hoping to keep it going! So far, I’ve lost 26.8 pounds (legit) and I am 89.4 pounds away from my 100 pound goal!!!! Right now, going off my past averages, the goal of breaking 300 by my birthday in January is almost within reach.

Breakfast: I made some toast (2 points) 1/2 a serving of peanut butter (2.5) and 1/2 a tsp of honey. This whole time that I have been measuring out my honey I have been using 1/2 tsp but the serving is 1 tablespoon so really what I have been counting 1 point is more like .5 point if that. That was a rare, positive surprise.

Lunch: After church, we went to Panera Bread. I was really impressed when we walked in and they had the calories listed on the menu! Legit. Megan and I split the Artichoke Turkey (half was 8 points. Ouch.) and I has the Cream of Chicken with Wild Rice (8 points) and the side baguette was 3 points. I definitely should have gotten the Tortilla Soup (Megan had it and it was amazing and only 4 points) instead of something cream based. The baguette was so worth it because it was soft and delicious (not to mention it was 3 times the size of an Olive Garden breadstick which is also 3 points sadly.) It was the first time in a while that we had white bread so it was a nice treat, but very high in points.

 

 

Exercise: I went and played Matt in racquetball this afternoon. I didn’t really get going until around game 3 so I got schooled the first few games. Regardless, it was a blast.

Dinner: I made Uncle Jim’s Fantastic Chili and it was just 5 points. As always, it was great.

Dessert: I went out with some friends from my Sunday night small group and we went to Hiro’s (I think I should just work there since I’m there all the time…) I had the classic Taro with Strawberry and Sugar Cone which was 4 points. So good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I totaled out at 33 points. That will work! See ya tomorrow.

Day 37 Part 2: Party and Such

Celebrate Good Times Come On!!!!

We had an awesome party with our AFC peeps tonight! We watched “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and then attempted to have a dance party but that was an epic fail but we had a blast anyways! Megan went as a witch and I went as the before Richard Simmons (my other arm said Sweatin’ To The Oldies.) Here are some pics:

Breakfast: 21 almonds is 3 points. So amazing and filling. How can you get it any better you ask? A 1 point honey crisp apple. Eating them at the same time? Holy smokes. What a legit breakfast.

Lunch: I went with my friends Leah and Daniel to the Greek Festival. The smell of fried deliciousness and grilling meat filled the air so I was starving as soon as we got out of the car. I had a gyro and it was so good. It was the best tzaziki sauce was the best I’ve ever had. You could actually taste the cucumbers! It wasn’t that big of a gyro but it was still about 13 points. Since it was a Greek festival, where there is food, there were PASTRIES!!! They had tables and tables of lust in delectable treats form. This was a sample of some of the things that they had. I didn’t have anything because I knew that there was no way to know how many calories there were, plus I had to at least try one cupcake that Megan slaved over.

Snack: When I was watching college football (since I wasn’t cleaning for the party) I had some chips and salsa which was like 4.5 points. I wish it was socially acceptable to eat salsa with a spoon. (My Grandpa did that with the salsa at Abuelo’s but no one cared because he was old. I guess I have that to look forward to when I’m old.)

Dinner: We decided to grab something from somewhere since our cupboard is pretty bare. I had seen this grilled chicken joint called California Grilled Chicken. We both had the skinless boneless chicken with yellow rice and black beans. (Does any know if yellow rice is better for you?) Going off of Pollo Tropical it was like 11 points (I get the same thing there and that’s how much it is there.)

Party: As you can see from the party pics above, we made a ton of cupcakes… for other people. I would be lying if having a brazillion cupcakes all around the house, but I was a trooper and ate only 1 cupcake which we figured out were 5 points [insert cringing face here] Then I had 7 points worth of Cape Cod Salt and Pepper chips. They are so good. It was a big temptation but I survived another day.

Today I totaled out at 44.5 which super sucks because I really didn’t feel like I had eaten anything substantial. Such an awful feeling. This week I went 15.5 points in to my flex points which is still less than half, but most of them were out of today so that cant be good. Tomorrow morning is weigh in (oh boy.) This has been such an off week that I’m not expecting good numbers. This is going to suck, but I think it might be the wake up call I need so we will see how it goes. See ya tomorrow.

Day 35!

Fogyás sziklák!

So my Rangers didn’t clinch their trip to the World Series last night, but this way they’ll clinch it in Arlington instead in front of those lame Yankee fans.

Anywho, so this morning I was going to wear this old gray cardigan that I haven’t worn since last winter, but it was too big! Like really too big! And then I tried on this other shirt and it was really loose too! (So this is what happens when you lose weight!) Granted, they were XXXL (I generally wear XXL but some things I had to buy certain things a little bigger) but getting out of the XXXL ranks is a win within itself. I’m pretty stoked. Also, my pants are getting looser, but it will still be a little while before I go down a pant size. So not too bad of a morning.

Breakfast: This morning we went to Starbucks before class. I ordered my new found favorite Iced Nonfat Chai Tea Latte (4 points.) When I went up there to get it, I noticed a ridiculous amount of caramel in it so I asked the guy about it and he said “You wanted a Caramel Macchiato right?” So he made my real drink and gave me the other one (score.) The Macchiato was also 4 points but I drank a quarter of it so pretty much 1 point. Then I went home and had waffles which were 3 points.

Lunch: I just warmed up the Campbells Chicken and Sausage gumbo which, if you haven’t tried, is awesome. The can of it is 5 points. I also had a 1 point orange. (I don’t know why I keep changing the color to orange. Maybe because it looks Halloweenish.)

Dinner: We went on our Chick-Fil-A college night date and after this week, a little greasy comfort food sounded so good! We usually split fries but we were both so hungry so we got our own fries. Big mistake. Medium fries were 9 points. Ouch. The nuggets were 6 points and the sauces were 2 points. It was a high point dinner and frankly my 3 points of chili last night more filling which is depressing.

Snack: Megan and I made some 94% ff kettle popcorn while watching The Office. I ate about 3 points worth.

So today I came out to 34 points so 1 point in to the flex points isn’t too bad. See ya tomorrow.

OH YEAH: I almost forgot! I need an costume idea for a Halloween costume for a Halloween party on Saturday. Any suggestions? The best idea will get a shout out in Sunday’s post. GO!

Day 34

Food. It’s Good. Let’s Talk About It.

Breakfast: This morning I made bacon and eggs for breakfast (6 points) and I totally forgot to take a picture. The breakfast was awesome as always, but I think we might need to find some other healthier breakfast options. Any suggestions? (Also a 1 point orange!)

Lunch: We had leftovers! I use to hate leftovers with a passion so I would instead call up people and go eat out which definitely contributed to my weight gain. Now, I really look forward to them for some reason. So the tacos with sour cream are 4 points but today we just had meat and salsa so they were 3 points a piece so it was 6 points (As you can see on our TV, we were watching The Biggest Loser during lunch. I always feel awkward and almost guilty when I eat and watch BL at the same time. Does anyone else feel that way?) For dessert we had leftover pumpkin pie and it had me smittened. That 4 point slice was amazing.

Exercise: My bud Matt and I played racquetball this afternoon and I dominated the first game… and then lost the rest of the games lol but not by much. It was a blast but I am pooped. Since we played for about 70 minutes, Calorie Count calculated that I burned 1,237 calories. Legit.

Dinner: We were in a bit of a rush so we warmed up last night’s chili but there wasn’t much left so I only had 3 points worth of chili which particularly sucks because it was especially good tonight. (Maybe because I was starving?) No Bueno.

Dessert: So Megan has been looking for a low point cupcake recipe for a Halloween shindig we are having this weekend and out friend Jade suggested the Weight Watchers Chocolate Cupcake Recipe. She made them in a mini muffin pan so they were only 1 point a piece. They were really good and chocolaty so I ended up eating about 6 points worth of them. We brought some to church and the reception was overall pretty good!

So as of 10:00, I have eaten a total of 26 points and I have 19 exercise points. Holy crap. In theory I have as many points available as I have eaten today. Needless to say I’m a little grouchy and hungry, but I’m obviously not going to eat 26 points worth of food at 10:00 at night. This conundrum kind of describes how weird this day has been. Here’s hoping for a better tomorrow. See ya then.

One More Thing! Happy Birthday to my Father-in-Law Mark! Thanks for all of your support of the blog and for raising such an awesome daughter 🙂