Will Power

Would you like bread? No thanks (OMG I would love bread!)
Any wine with dinner? No thanks, water is fine (I want a whole bottle, are you kidding me?)
Apps anyone? Eh, it's ok. I am just sort of feeling dinner. (Everything looks so good! I will have a bite of each)

Haha, ok so maybe not that dramatic, but I have been seriously will power crazy these past few days. I have cut back on drinking during the week and have learned to eat only healthy options while out to dinner. Sticking just to the entree. I love dessert so much so looking at the menu is as far as I get with it.

Dinner last night was good. All of us had different expectations since Deleece and Deleece Grill & Pub are two different menus. We went to the more expensive place which ended up being great, but the menu was smaller. I was kind of craving a turkey burger which they didn't have so I went with the albacore tuna with chipotle sauce (on the side.) This came with sweet potato fritters, mushrooms and leeks. Mighty tasty! Everyone liked their dinner too. I was struggling on what to get b/c the chicken looked great as did the salads.

This morning I skipped the gym. I am walking after work with Christina which I am so excited about. I need a break from the gym.

My meal plan for today is:
Breakfast - Fit and Active Key Lime Pie yogurt with granola
Mid-morning snack - string cheese
Lunch - I made a salad from a deli down the street. It had lettuce, chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, light feta cheese and peppers. I also got blue cheese dressing on the side. I had some soy buffalo nuggets at work so I had this on top of my salad.
Mid-afternoon snack - apple and laughing cow wedge
Dinner - TBD. I may just pick up a subway sandwich before my walk with CP.

I weigh in tomorrow and hoping for good results! I have worked really really hard this week and my will power is at a 10!

I will fill you in tomorrow am.

PK

Soup time!

It feels like Thursday today. Am I the only one that feels that way? I think that means I need a vacation! It just so happens that Monster and I booked a trip to NYC today for Halloween weekend! I am on top of the world excited about this trip. I can't wait to tear up the town with Hannie, Brady, my cousins, etc. It's long overdue and I am so excited Monster finally gets to see one of my favorites cities!!! He is a lucky duck though. He travels to DC right from NYC. Hitting two of my faves in one week!

So I have been on a soup kick. This is a perfect lunch or light dinner. I usually go for the healthy choice or the lighter/less sodium versions. My gotos are new england clam chowder (one day I will have the real thing!) gumbo, chicken and dumpling, mexican tortilla, etc. I will basically have anything as long as it's not creamy or bad for you. I had soup for dinner last night and soup for lunch today. Better spread it out or I am going to get sick of it!

Last night I did 30 minutes of cardio and abs. It was a good work out even though I meant to do 60 mins of cardio. Oh well. I was antsy to get home and watch Glee! OMG, I loved it. I ended up re-winding a few songs and just smiling the whole time. I remember coming home to my old apartment and I would look in Lindsay's room and she would have the biggest smile on her face during Glee. I had the Lindsay face on last night. I mean seriously, Britney Spears and Glee! Can't beat that.

I also snacked on some pita chips and hummus while waiting for my dinner partner who just so happened to show up right as Glee ended.

I had a few baked lays and new england clam chowder (healthy choice version) with oyster crackers for dinner. It was a random dinner (I seem to do that a lot) and perfect for a chilly night. My dinner partner (Monster) had the left over pizza from Dominoes. Kind of glad it's out of the house. No need to have that staring at me.

Today I got up and did 50 mins of cardio at the gym. My legs are hurting a bit so I may take tomorrow morning off and just plan on going for a walk with Christina tomorrow night. Doesn't that sound lovely?

Here was today's meal plan:
Pre-work out - 90 calorie cereal bar
Post - work out - banana yogurt (light and fit Dannon) and granola
No snack
Lunch - surprise surprise - Healthy Choice Gumbo soup with a Fit & Active Southwest Pocket
No afternoon snack
Dinner - We are going on a double date with Kate and Terry tonight. I'm excited to try out Deleece on Southport for dinner.

I will fill you in tomorrow on my healthy choices. I am going no booze tonight.

Have a good night!
PK

Steak Fries

Why am I obsessed with fries? I think its an obsession with potatoes. I can never pass up fries. How do people have leftovers of french fries? I wish they would eat them all so I wouldn't be tempted. I thought about this today when I was out with my co-workers for a client b'day lunch. I ordered a healthy salad, even skipped the roll and I couldn't pass up a handful of fries. It's fine b/c I have the points to eat them, but I don't need them. Grrr.

Sorry about my rant :).

Last night I lifted for 40 minutes. It was a good work out, even though I am not too sore. I love feeling sore! It's so weird, but it makes me feel like I worked so hard.

I had soup (healthy choice chicken and dumpling) with oyster crackers for dinner. I paired this with my 2 left over soy nuggets and some baked lays. It was a strange dinner, but i was so hungry!!!!!!! For my late night snack I had 100 calorie mini cupcakes with a dab of peanut butter. Such a good way to end my day.

Today I slept through my alarm and decided to work out this evening. I came to work and had a simple breakfast of yogurt and granola (yum!)

No snack was needed as breakfast filled me up big time.

Lunch was a Grecian Salad from Kerryman with light feta cheese. They drenched the salad in dressing (fail,) but it was ok since it was balsalmic vin. I also had a handful of steak fries which I am still dreaming about.

My late afternoon snack was an apple with laughing cow spread.

Dinner tonight will most likely be soup again or some left over pizza from Sunday.

Off to the gym!
PK

Maybe I am not ready for fall weather!

Happy cold Monday!!!!!!! I was frreezzzing coming to work today. Who knows how to dress during this season? Obviously not I. I always say that I am ready for Fall, but I need a few more sunny days.

I had such a wonderful weekend and I feel very refreshed today. Friday night I met friends for dinner at Hub51. I had a few cocktails on Friday including 1 Bud Select at Happy Hour, glass of malbec with dinner and glass of champagne for my after dinner drink. I also ordered a Bud 55, but that's like water so I don't think it counts. Dinner was a turkey cobb salad from Hub. I asked for no bacon and light on the cheese so basically it was lettuce and roasted turkey. Probably won't order this again...We were celebrating an engagement and a few birthdays so the 2 orders of carrot cake were a crowd favorite! I only had one bite and I am so glad I did.

Saturday I didn't wake up until 11am (whoops.) I had a homemade breakfast wrap (wrap from Aldi, egg beaters and pep jack cheese) and that tied me over until the apps that were served at the Hull Baby Shower. After breakfast, I made pumpkin chocolate chip bars to bring for the shower. I had a small sliver, but they were tasty!!! I am not a huge baker, so it was fun to try something different.

Saturday was my free day so I had a taste of everything at the shower. Pita chips and hummus, a few chips and guac, chicken, salad and pasta salad. Delish! The hosts also got a cake from Bittersweet on Belmont and it looked too pretty to eat! I had a bite and they for sure know how to bake cakes. I also had a miller light and a apple cider rum drink that made me pretty drunk! Haha, not sure I can handle that drink again.

We met a few others at Southport Lanes where I had about half a MGD 64 and hummus with pita and veggies. I was beat so we hit it early.

On Sunday, I was a major bum. I had an egg wrap for breakfast and left over couscous with my soy buffalo wings for lunch. A very random lunch. I hit the gym in the afternoon for an hour of cardio and decided to walk home and ejoy the weather. It was cool out, but very enjoyable. I also was wearing my hawkeye sweatshirt and wanted to support them loud and proud after their huge butt whopping against Ball State on Saturday.

Dinner was interesting...Monster and I decided to order the $5.99 medium pizza special from Dominos for dinner. I have been hearing about their new crust, so why not? We ordered 2 pizzas - 1 for him and 1 for her. I went with extra light cheese (there was no cheese on my pizza) mushroom and spinach. Monster went with mushroom and sausage. I was hesitant about the 'za because Lindsay called me trashy (haha) for ordering it. I thought it was yummy! I even have enough for today and tomorrow - both meals if I wanted.

I am working out after work today and plan on lifting for about 30 - 40 minutes. My meal plan for the day is as follows:
Breakfast - Egg White, soy sausage, laughing cow sandwich
No Snack
Lunch - 2 pieces of no cheese pizza (ha) from Dominoes and watermelon
Snack - baked lays and hummus
Dinner - Soup with soy nuggets

I have some portabello mushrooms at home that I need to use this week. I am thinking of making some pasta with mushrooms for one dinner and a mushroom pizza for another. I stole this idea from my girl Hannah. In college she used the mushroom as her crust and added sauce and mozz cheese over it. Yum!

I am going to work hard all week and pray for more than .2 on Friday! We have a busy week and weekend ahead, so getting to the gym is major important.

Wish me luck!
PK

.2 Grrr...

Happy Friday All!

I had a wonderful dinner with my man Nate last night. We went to Sunda and shared edamame and some delish sushi. All rolls were healthy and we had plenty left over. It's tough not to order the really good/bad rolls with spicy mayo, tempura, etc. That's usually Nate's go to, but he was a trooper with me last night and stuck with the garden veggie, sunda summer roll and a few of the tuna rolls.

I went to WW this morning and lost only .2. It's better than nothing, but I was really hoping for more. This going out to eat business has to stop! This weekend I have plans to eat out on Friday and Saturday night and then again next week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I really need to watch my portion sizes at the restaurants. That will make a big difference.

Anywho...

Breakfast this morning was an egg beater wrap with light pepperjack cheese and some giard.
I'm skipping my mid-afternoon snack as I am not that hungry.
I packed a spinach salad for lunch with soy nuggets and some pretzels.

I have dinner tonight at Hub51. I plan on having a beer or two and then sticking with one sushi roll or a salad. I will have to see how I am feeling.

I will try to be in touch this weekend! If not, def on Monday.

Have a good one!
PK

J. Alexanders

OMG, have you been? It's outstanding. I am seriously obsessed with this place. A few of my old roomies make fun of me b/c there was a time that this was the only restaurant I would want to eat at. In Chicago when there are clearly amazing restaurants and new ones opening every day, I just loved J's.

Kate took me to dinner last night for my birthday (it's very over, haha) and I went a different route for dinner at J's. My go-to is the veggie burger with israeli couscous, but I was craving a baked potato. I was talking about baked potatos so much that I convinced Kate to get one. haha.

I decided to try their soup of the day which was gumbo and of course ordered a baked potato with all the fixins on the side. I tend to use all the fixings on my b potato when I ask for them on the side b.c it's a better portion size. When it comes with everything already on the potato, they just scoop them up and throw them on. You have no idea how much butter, s.cream, cheese, etc they actually give you.

Dinner was a 10! A few tricks I tried for dinner are:
-They put croissants down right in front of us prior to our entrees arrival. Kate and I both picked at one and didn't even finish it. Next time I may ask them not to bring them. :).
-In my gumbo I asked them to include very little rice in the soup. I didn't want the calories and the soup was so delish that I didn't need the rice.
-I skipped a glass of wine. I wasn't really in the mood to drink and I went for water instead.
-I skipped carrot cake. J's by far my friends has the best carrot cake in the city. I know I know...Hub's is good too, but I still love J's more!

I had plans on going to the gym this am, but got up in the middle of the night and decided I wanted to sleep instead. I really like working out in the am, but I wanted to give me body a rest. My legs are super sore. I did some yoga when I woke up, but nothing crazy.

Meal Plan:
Breakfast - 2 pieces of 45 calorie toast with laughing cow and a soy sausage
Snack - Key lime yogurt (100 cals from Aldi) and a 1/3 cup of granola
Lunch - Fit & Active southwestern pocket, salad
Snack - pretzels and hummus

Tonight for dinner, I am meeting one of my fave boys, Nate. We are going to Sunda and I plan on eating light. Maybe one roll of sushi, miso soup and edamame? That sounds delish already.

Wish me luck! I am weighing in tomorrow am. I hope it goes well.

XO!
PK

Happy Hump Day!

Happy Hump Day all. Sorry I didn't get to this yesterday. It has been busy at work and I'm trying to stay on top of eating well and working out with this chaos.

Yesterday I got up early and went to the gym for a lift session. I dread the lift sessions, but I love the sore feeling it gives me the next day or two after. I saw one of my work friends there too, so that was fun! After 45 mins of lifting, I was off to get ready for work.

I started my day off with a 90 calorie cereal bar before the gym and then granola and vanilla yogurt for my real breakfast post work out.

No morning snack yesterday. Lunch was carrots, pretzels and hummus and a Fit & Active Southwestern pocket. It was tasty!

My afternoon snack was an apple with laughing cow - swiss cheese wedge.

I had one of my last b'day dinners with Ally last night. We went to May Street Market for some wine, apps and desserts. I have been working out extra hard this week and was able to save some points to enjoy dinner to the max last night. We shared apps which included: salmon and tuna sashimi wraps (we didn't love this,) half order of fried green tomato (yummo) and mussels & frites (amazing amazing amazing!) We basically licked the bowl of the mussels, haha. It was awesome. We had 2 desserts too. The cracker jack ice cream and trio of cupcakes (they are famous for these.) Both were awesome. I would love to try dinner there some time soon. The tofu looked outstanding there!

I got up this am for a 60 minute cardio work out. I love bringing my ipad with me to the gym. I just read and the time flies by. I actually did 65 mins of cardio because of this. It started the day off wonderfully. I treated myself again with the reduced fat english muffin sandwich from Starbucks and a pumpkin spice latte. My order is classic for this drink. Hannie and I used to love going into bucks and saying this order. Tall pumpkin spice latte, 2 pump, skim, no whip. Haha. We thought we sounded cool...prob just the norm for the staff at bucks. Oh well!

I am going to be super hungry today. I can feel it. I am going to eat a few of the cheddar cheese rice crackers for my mid-morning snack and then go with soup and soy nuggets for my lunch. I may need to head to whole foods for some fruit. I'm craving watermelon or grapes.

I have dinner plans tonight with Camp Kate! I need to do some quick fall/winter shopping in the old hood before we grub. I am in a total shopping mood!

Have a good day!
PK

Case of the Mondays

Well Friday was not as successful as I hoped at WW, but I got up and went with the attitude of if I gained, it's been a fun few weeks and I can back on track no problem. So of course I went and I gained. It's ok though. Not every week will be easy. I'm ready for these disappointments too. It gets me to work harder.

Friday came and gone and to be honest, I don't recall any meals that I ate, whoops. I do know that I went to happy hour after work and passed up sangria. My team decided to go out for one last summer hoorah and sangria pitchers were flowin. I went with a diet coke. I also split some pretzel bites with Monster, but had maybe 5. Just wasn't in the mood.

On Saturday I got up and worked out. It was an easy 45 minute work out, but I brought my book and just zoned out. I spent most of the day doing things for me. I had a mani/pedi after my work out, spent the afternoon with a few of my girls, made a great crock pot chicken dinner and shopped a bit. We went out for a bit on Saturday night and I had 2 MGD 64's just b/c. I wasn't even in the mood. I called it an early night and was so happy not to be hung over on Sunday.

I didn't eat much during the day on Saturday. I had a small sandwich and a cup of soup. I had a rice crackers from Aldi for a snack. I wanted to save up for the crock pot chicken dinner! I also made veggies and baked potatoes. It was a really good dinner and I can't wait to make this dinner again.

On Sunday we skipped breakfast and went to Frances Diner for lunch. I went the breakfast route for lunch though and had a veggie omelette with a piece of wheat toast. This was a good sized omelette and it tied me over unti dinner. Dinner was left overs from Saturday night except I made couscous for the side and Monster provided chips and guac. Such a great way to end the weekend.

This morning I packed my gym bag for after work and breakfast/lunch and snacks for the week.

I started my day out with an egg wrap. I used one of my wraps from Aldi with egg beaters, light shredded cheese and one soy sausage.

My mid morning snack was more of the cheddar cheese rice cakes! Yum. These are a great light snack.

Lunch was a cup of the couscous from last night and my remaining chicken from the dinner on Sat. I brough 2 pieces of 45 calorie bread to eat with the chicken. I also had a few carrots to join my lunch.

I skipped my afternoon snack as I wasn't too hungry. I am excited to get to the gym tonight and have a great work out! I am going to bring my book and hit anywhere from 50 - 60 mins of cardio.

Dinner is TBD, but I'm looking for something light and easy.

Until tomorrow :).

PK

Ouchie!

I can't even begin to tell you how sore I am! It's painful to sit down, stand up, move, put on my make-up. It's a little absurd and makes me feel out of shape. Or I guess it could mean that I am working harder. Not exactly sure. All I know is that my 50 minutes of cardio I did this morning was a bit tougher than usual. I was planning on doing 60, but did 50 and abs instead. Nice change.

Anywho...dinner last night was very good. I skipped the gym since I worked until about 5:45. I attempted to leave right at 5 and do cardio before meeting Kyle for dinner, but I got stuck here later than expeceted which was fine. We went to Rockit which I can't get enough of. We split hummus and veggies/pita for an app and I went with the southwestern salad for my meal. This time the dressing was on the side which made for an enjoyable tasty dinner. I saved about half of it for dinner tonight. I may add some soy nuggets or grill some chicken to put on the top. Maybe cut up additional veggies. It will be good no matter what.

Also, Kyle got me a gift card to Sable for my b'day! Yummmmmm!

I can't wait to stop eating out and actually eat the groceries I bought on Monday night. I have half of the groceries sitting on the counter since I can't fit them in my cabinet. Oops! I have dinner plans next Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and then I am done!

In regards to my meals today, I have listed it below:
Early am snack - 90 calorie protein bar from Aldi. This gives me great energy for my work out. Sometimes I got sick to my stomach if I go to the gym on empty.
Breakfast after the gym - multi-grain cheeries with chopped up banana and skim milk. I have decided that I don't like cheerios. I know that's weird, but I seem to force it down and don't enjoy it. I am going Smart Start next time.
Snack - Choco chip granola bar - only 90 calories again
Lunch - Fit & Action Pep Pizza pocket with pretzels dipped in mustard and grapes. I also got a soda because I was feeling tired.
Afternoon snack - apple with laughing cow

My plan for dinner is the salad from last night, but I am going to see how I am feeling when I get home. May dig into something else. You will see tomorrow what the final decision was!

PK

Red Grape Overload!

I have 3 things to say...GO TO JOES! First off, this birthday dinner was outstanding. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is craving seafood or want a tasty steak. The worst part of the night was deciding what to get. I stressed big time. I had in the back of my head that I wanted to be some what healthy. Unfortunately, our friend Ryan (manager at Joes) did not let this happen. He told me to throw that idea out the door. So my friends...i did. I want all out! So glad I did though. It gives me more motivation to stay on track and put these fancy dinners aside for awhile.
The menu from last night is listed below:

Drinks:
Dirty Martini - extra dirty with blue cheese olives
Glass of red wine - Malbec
Bombay Sapphire and Tonic x 2 for Monster

Appetizers - Monster and I shared
Smogasborg of seafood - seafood ceviche, shrimp cocktail, lobster and king crab legs
Crab Bisque soup

Entree -
Parmesan Crusted Halibut - So good and such a big portion!
Roasted Summer Corn - shared side - really didn't make a dent. This was so good. Glad we got this before the season of corn comes to an end.
Lyonnaise hashbrowns with onions - OMG! - shared side - really didn't make a dent, but still dreaming of these.
Filet - Monster dinner. He didn't share either...it's ok :). I had plenty to eat.

Just when it was time to un-button the pants...3 desserts came!
Apple pie with ice cream - I probably could have forced down the whole thing.
Havana Cake - so much better than it sounds. Spongey frosting amazingness.
Banana Foster Cake - It was fine, not my fave.

These desserts were just delicious. We didn't eat too much of them. Monster asked if we could actually bring them home. Is that tacky? I say hell no!

So basically dinner was a 10! Thank you Monster for making my b'day amazing even though you did get a side ache last night from eating too much. Ha!

So today...wow. I am back on WW track. I slept in, so I will be hitting the gym after work for a serious cardio session.

My meal plan for today:
Breakfast - 2 pieces of toast (45 calories each), one laughing cow swiss cheese and a soy sausage.
Mid AM snack - choco chip granola bar
Lunch - Fit & Active Pep pizza pocket from Aldi, pretzels with hummus and red grapes.

Snack and Dinner are TBD. I will fill you in later on what was decided. As of now I am in a red grape zone. I may have had one too many, but I love them! The grapes I picked up at Aldi on Monday are huge and so tasty! I may be in red grape overload until the gym...Ug.

Have a good day!
PK

363 Days

Well it has been quite the birthday celebration. I have so many to thank for this. The dinners, gifts, parties have just been wonderful! And I get to celebrate until next week. Hooray!

I am going to do a quick run down of the weekend events and then get into this week.
Friday - made homemade meatballs, whole wheat pasta, garlic bread and salad. This was a great meal and i plan on making these meatballs more often. They were very simple. I used egg beaters rather than an egg and the rest of the ingredients were easy (spices, bread crumbs, etc.)
Saturday - breakfast was an english muffin with egg beaters and low fat piece of pepperjack cheese. Lunch was some left over pasta. We had a b'day celebration to watch the hawkeye game so I had a few drinks. I gave myself a pass for Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. Those were the big celebrations with friends, my actual b'day and tonight is dinner with Monster. Dinner on Saturday night was half a panini (chicken, spinach, apple and goat cheese) and a baked potato with the butter and sour cream on the side.
Sunday - I skipped breakfast and had coffee. Lunch was a grilled chicken buffalo sandwich and steak fries (love these so much.) Dinner was left over pasta and salad. I guess i made enough pasta to serve an army. Monster took the leftovers to work on Monday, so this is done.
Monday I got back on the diet and work out wagon. Breakfast was an english muffin with egg beaters and low fat piece of pepperjack cheese again. Lunch was the other half of my panini, low fat ruffles and grapes. Snack was a string cheese. I also had about half a cupcake from my work celebration. I didn't need this, but everyone bought them for me and i felt bad not eating it. Dinner was subway (grilled chicken standard with all veggies and baked lays.) My late night snack was grapes.

I got in 50 minutes of cardio last night and walked from the gym to my old hood to run errands. It was perfect outside. I hit up the grocery store so I plan on eating in after these celebrations are done. I have plenty of food especially healthy food to keep me full for a few weeks. I heart Aldi :). Have I said that before?

This morning I got up and hit the gym for some lifting. I was kind of bored today with it. I couldn't wake up and just had a bad attitude. Once I got to the gym I felt better, but just didn't have much energy. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow's cardio session is better. I had a 90 calorie granola bar to start my day before the gym and give me some energy. When I got to work, breakfast was a cup of multi-grain cherrios with a banana and skim milk. I skipped the morning snack. Lunch was a spinach salad with walnuts, dried cranberries, feta, tomatoes, cucumbers and 4 morningstar buffalo chicken nuggets. I had about a tablespoon of honey mustard dressing to use for my dipping the fork technique that I love so much.

My snack today was an apple with laughing cow wedge and a string cheese. Hopefully this should tie me over until dinner.

Monster is taking me to Joe's Stone Crab for dinner. I can't wait to go. I have never been. I plan on making good decisions, but trying a few different items to complete my experience. More details to come tomorrow.

Have a great night!
PK

The Celebration Begins

Dinner last night was awesome! Christina and I had such a good time and both love Rockit. It was half price appetizers from 4pm - 7pm so we went with the double dips. This has one dip that was a tomato goat cheese heavenly spread and the other was white hummus. The angel on my shoulder told me that the goat cheese was not the best choice so we went with 2 sides of the white hummus. This was served with veggies and pita.

For dinner we shared the southwestern salad. This salad rocks! Unfortunately the kitchen messed up our order and drenched the salad in the southwestern ranch dressing. The server had a fit about telling the kitchen to fix it so I dealt with it and had about half of it. SO half of a half of salad wasn't bad.

Christina surprised me with some great gifts and 4 mini cup cakes from Sugar Bliss. These cupcakes are one of my faves. Before we left, our server brought out a huge brownie nut sundae with ice cream, whip cream and a cherry! It also had a candle that I blew out. One great wish was made ;). We both had a few bites and left it for the trash. ;(. I forgot to mention that I had 2 glasses of Malbec with dinner. This is my favorite wine.

I was stuffed when I got home. I put on my sweats, cleaned the kitchen and got into bed. I had plans to hit the gym in the am, but remembered that Kate and I had plans to go wogging after work today. I haven't been in awhile and it will be fun to catch up with my girl Camp Kate.

My meal plan today is:
English muffin with light butter for breakfast. The english muffin is multi grain and low fat.
My mid-morning snack was a peanut butter and choco chip granola bar. I also had some rice chips that are super light and only 2 points. I was so hungry for lunch!
Lunch was a subway sub. 6inch grilled chicken with spinach, pepperjack cheese, tomato and giardinera. I also had some pretzel thins with hummus. Very tasty.
Mid-afternoon snack is some green grapes. I have been on a purple kick lately, but really love green grapes.
Dinner is TBD. I am going to see how I feel after my run. I may make couscous or have a buffalo chicken salad...that is sounding yummy.

Hope you are all having a great day!
PK

I heart buffalo sauce!

Happy Hump Day!

Yesterday's meal plan:
2 pieces of toast with blue cheese laughing cow - don't love this combo
Granola Bar for my mid morning snack
NE Clam Chowder with oyster crackers for lunch with everything pretzel thins from trader joes - i am obsessed!
Pretzel thins for my snack
I didn't eat until 8 so I was starving! I had 3 of the meatless buffalo wings and made couscous with craisins, walnuts and blue cheese. I made 3/4 cup of this and had almost the whole thing!!! I was starvin marvin.

I didn't get a work out in yesterday, but I got back on track today.

I woke up and had a great work out. 60 mins of cardio which included 10 mins on the bike to warm up, 30 on the elliptical which was easy breazy b/c Lindsay did this with me and 20 on the treadmill at an incline of 3 - 12.

I had a piece of toast before I went to the gym so I could get a bit of energy. I need to hit the store b/c I am not sure this is the best thing to have before I go to the gym. It just seems like the easiest and quickest plan.

When I got to work I made a low fat english muffin with laughing cow.
I had a smore's granola bar for my snack
Lunch was a buffalo chicken wrap with the sauce and dressing on the side from Barnellis. I am seriously obsessed with Buffalo Sauce. I feel like I could eat it on everything! Does anyone else feel this way? I crave it all of the time and starting to prefer it over any other condiment!
I also got minestrone soup from Barnelli's, but was not digging it. Just seemed bland today and not worth it. I had about half of it.
I had everything pretzel thins for my afternoon snack. I love these, but I feel like my breath is just awful after eating these.

I am meeting Christina for dinner tonight at Rockit. We have already discussed sharing a salad and dessert!!

Monster gets back from STL tonight so I may skip the gym in the am and sleep in a bit. I also have plans to go on a wog with Kate tomorrow after work. I love wogging! Much better than running. I do need to lift so maybe I will do that in the am. I have some time to figure it out.

PK

Labor Day Weekend!

Gosh the weekend flew by. Very sad to see it come to an end. We traveled to Des Moines on Thursday night and had a crazy weekend with family and friends. Yesterday we got back to Chicago around 4:30 and grabbed dinner with some friends. I always hate leaving family in DSM. It is a different type of fun with family.

The past weekend consisted of the following:
Hair cut
Weight Watchers
Lunch with Steph, her baby Gus and my Mom
Nap
Dinner with Mom and Sis
Stopped by friends house
Watched the hawks
Went b'day shopping
Wedding at Saylorville
Afties at Kevins
Brunch with fam
Day with Binks
Met Angelino's baby boy
BBQ with Monster's Fam
Double decker megabus!

Very busy and I do have to say, I did awesome on my diet! There were a few times that I should have said no, but that is the great thing about WW. You don't have to say no! I do have to report that I lost another 2.2 lbs which gets me to 5lbs! I can't believe it!! 25 more to go to hit my goal. Seems easy, but I know it won't be.

I am getting back on track this week though. I have a big b'day celebration coming up so I need to rememeber to watch portions and booze.

I will catch up later on my meal plan for the day.

PK

D Town Bound!

We are taking the bus back to Des Moines tonight. Ug, I hate the megabus. It is very convenient, but I just wish I was in charge and could stop when I went and where I want...

Anywho - Last night I went to Hub 51 and went with the Tuna Burger and asparagus. I had one half of the bun rather than full. If you have not had this burger, try it fast! It's awesome.

Dinner just didn't satisfy me. I was starving all day yesterday. I think the 60 mins of cardio caused this. I could have eaten all day.

When I got home from dinner I did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned my apt and cleaned my fridge. Never a fun task. I was starving by the time this was over so I made toast and had a laughing cow wedge with it. I just could not get satisfied. Monster mentioned I wasn't drinking enough water. I need to remember this the next time I run for a snack after dinner.

I spent most of the night packing and finished it all this morning. I am ready to get home! I will do my best to blog this weekend, but I may not be back until Monday night or Tuesday. I am going to do the best I can on my diet while I am home. Weigh in is tomorrow so I hope to lose something.

Here was/is my plan for today:
Breakfast - 2 pieces of whole wheat Sara Lee toast with a reduced fat slice of pepperjack cheese and a soy sausage patty.
Snack - Smores granola bar
Lunch - Salad with blue cheese crumbles, cranberries, chopped walnuts and my buffalo soy nuggets. I also had a serving of Pretzle thins.
Snack - I am going to pass on an afternoon snack.
Dinner - I picked up a subway sandwich so I was not tempted to eat somewhere on our rest stop. I went with turkey on wheat with veggies and mustard. Very simple. I also got rice chips to eat with the sandwich. Never tried them before but I found them at Trader Joes. They were cheap!

Have a wonderful Labor Day friends!
PK

I need a vacation!

Happy Hump Day All!

This week has been nuts and I do have to say yesterday was a tough one. We had a client meeting all day and I couldn't say no to some of the treats served for lunch. I did start my day off with a great work out though.

I made a easy sandwich when I got to work for breakfast. It was 2 slices of the whole wheat Sara Lee bread, swiss laughing cow wedge and a soy sausage. I skipped a morning snack as i knew lunch would be a lot.

We ordered from a great gourmet deli in Chicago called Goddess and the Grocer. It's truly one of my favorites. I had one small deli sandwich which was on a whole wheat roll. There was turkey, lettuce, tomato and a jam on the sandwich. I had some red grapes and a small mixed salad (garbanzo beans, cheese, tomato, carrots and lettuce) with a vinagrette dressing from Goddess. I caved and had an oatmeal cookie for a dessert and afternoon snack.

The meeting went well. It was quite long, but good to spend this quality time with the client. Happy hour was held at Kerryman. I did have some appetizers there, but had half of everything. One onion ring cut in half, one quesadilla (basically nothing since I split it and they were tiny,) one chicken tender split with a co-worker. Also, had a nice glass of Syrah. I probably should have skipped the appetizers, but I did want to try a bite of everything. It all looked so great and I decided with my work out in the early am, why not? I had some points to spare. I hope this doesn't show on Friday am while I am on the scale...Really the appetizers weren't bad. I was still hungry when I got home and had a side of the casserole I made on Monday night for Monster and I. It has white rice, peas, chicken and 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup all mixed together. I crunched crackers on top of it and also some paprika. It was a tasty meal that reminded me of my Mom. This was one of her favorites to make us growing up. It has been years since I have had this.

Today's work out was awesome! I got in 60 minutes of cardio. My legs are a little sore and my back/arms are killing me from yesterday. I am not sure if I am bringing my work out clothes home to Des Moines for the weekend. Probably wouldn't hurt to get a few run ins.

Breakfast was the same as yesterday. 2 slices of the whole wheat Sara Lee bread, swiss laughing cow wedge and a soy sausage. For my mid-morning snack I went with a peanut butter choco chip granola bar. Lunch was 99% ff NE clam chowder soup with cayenne pepper and oyster crackers. I also had some red grapes. I plan on having grapes for my snack too :).

Dinner tonight will be at Hub51 with one of my pals. I hope to keep it light and simple. Maybe a salad or tuna burger? TBD.

I need to pack and do laundry for my trip to Des Moines this weekend. DSM is one of my favorite vacation spots and after this week, I need a vaca bad!

I will be in touch tomorrow.

PK