Day 27 - Sometimes the Diet is Difficult

Good Evening.

A little late tonight. Was a really big day today. When I awoke, it was a rush. The normal raisin bran crunch was in my cereal bowl, then it was a busy time as I prepared my Mexican Bean Casserole dish as my daughter, two grandchildren and my ex were coming over to help clean out the two sheds that have stuff from even 23 years ago!

The casseroles were all prepared and ready for the oven before they arrived. Once they arrived, we got right to work on the sheds, clearing stuff and finding boxes of paper ready for the burn pile. We worked for a couple of hours, then I went into the house to get the lunch ready. The casseroles were put into the over (I made enough so daughter and my ex could take some home for the evening meal.) Then time was spent chopping the toppings - cilantro, green onion, tomatoes, and avocado. Also sour cream was in the mix. Just in case you're curious, the casseroles consisted of boiled, shredded chicken added to a big bowl of garbanzos, black beans, kidney beans, white beans and pinto beans. Throw in a bag of frozen sweet corn and mix all that up with a can of tomato sauce and a pint of salsa. Prepare the casserole dish by a light spray of virgin olive oil, then crushing corn tortilla chips into the bottom to make a crust. Next, make an even layer of the bean mix over the tortilla chips, then an even layer of shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese. Add another layer of each and put into the oven to bake at 350 degrees for about 1/2 hour or until cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbly along the edges, signifying that it is hot.

All of them, even the little ones aged 2 and 4 ate with a gusto. I'm not sure if it was the casserole or all the fresh air and work in the shed, but they certainly made short order of the food on their plates.

After our lunch, we went right back to work. We made another dent in the project and all of us became a bit weary. My daughter knew it was time to take the little ones back home as they were becoming a tad .... well, you know how little kids get when they get tired.

Finally everybody was gone, and I was pretty tuckered out myself. The day wasn't over, as my 94 year old landlord's caretaker called to advise that they were stopping by for a visit. My landlord and I have been friends for over 25 years, so it was a welcome visit as he is now in a memory care facility.

I rounded up some crackers and a glass of wine for everybody. (Due to my efforts in weight loss, I didn't have any cheese or other snack-like items to share.) We visited until evening time.

And so now here I am. I don't know what the calories were for today. I suspect they weren't quite the best. What I do know is that the exercise/walking, etc. between yesterday's zoo trip and today's efforts in the shed burned a lot more calories than I have done in the last 7 or 10 days combined!

Tomorrow promises to be a beautiful day outside - before the rains come over the weekend. I may just get into the car and head back to the zoo with my camera. THIS TIME, though, I'll bring my own food/snacks/lunch, whatever, rather than slip into zoo hamburger mode.

I must get back on track, as I'm afraid I'm slipping a bit. I am, though staying away from all the chocolate, cheese, snack-type items. It's going to be a long road. I AM committed to getting rid of the 80 pounds! I'll MAKE it before 2017.

See you tomorrow! Keep the faith!

Day 26 - Taking a Break - The Zoo

Good Evening!

This morning I had my usual, as I planned on heading out the door and taking some time at the zoo. Being cooped up in this house for the past several days was taking it's toll and I needed to get out, not to speak of needed to get some exercise. So off to the zoo I went. I also wanted to experience the new Hopji Lodge that is at our zoo. Fancy, fancy restaurant, as zoo's go. Long and short, I rather fell off the wagon at lunch today, as they didn't have salads and I just ended up with a burger. I'm glad that it didn't taste all that good. Next time, I'll be bringing my own lunch, or eat either before or after. So, today isn't a day to talk about the healthy food, but a day to depart from the usual and just show a few photos from my day.

I hope you enjoy - this is all at our zoo, except for the helicopter photo that was taken from the fields near to where I live. He was crop dusting as I was headed out this morning.

I hope you enjoyed your short trip through the Fresno Chaffee Zoo. Please pardon the last X-rated photo, It was certainly something to see though!

Have a great day! Tomorrow is a day with the grand-kids and I'm making my famous Mexican Bean Casserole!

See you then!

Day 25 - Broccoli Soup Without the Cream

Good Evening Everybody! As I mentioned yesterday, I had an early appointment this morning. I grabbed a quick bowl of my favorite cereal and headed out of the house. The meeting went well and actually went into the lunch hour. After the meeting, there were some things that needed picked up at the grocery store (in anticipation of my daughter's visit on Thursday) and by the time I got home, it was well into the early afternoon. I decided to tackle the broccoli soup that I spoke of a few days ago.

The ingredients are pretty simple: cooked broccoli, cashews, garlic, vegetable broth, salt and pepper. Basically, after steaming the broccoli, you just blend the heck out of all of it. It was pretty good, but needed something, so I added grated Parmesan cheese. Takes a little getting used to but overall pretty good.

Well, I guess that's not the prettiest picture, but it is healthy and low on calories. Imagine the calories if I had used cream! Yikes.

Basically I had a bowl of this mid afternoon and will have another later this evening.

One study has shown that people who eat an abundance of broccoli had a reduced incidence of bladder and prostate cancer. It's also one of the top 20 foods on the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index, which scores foods based on the ration of a food's nutrients to it's calories. Sounds good to me.

We're still not getting a massive amount of viewers and that's not the objective here. It is, though, very interesting to see where our visitors come from. Here's the tally from today:

United States	157
Germany	24
Brazil	6
Poland	6
Nigeria	1
Ukraine	1
Vietnam	1

Well, that's all for today. I must get a little more clever with my menu items. I'll do a little research and see what surfaces.

Have a great evening!

Day 24 Weigh In Day - A Little Progress

Good Evening -

Today was Weigh-In-Day, and here's the progress. A total loss of .8 pounds. I was sure hoping for more as the last two weeks were so great! Nevertheless, I have to focus on the fact that it was more PROGRESS!

Here's the Weeks:

Day 1 - 235.8
Week 1 - 233.2
Week 2 - 226.8
Week 3 - 226.0

Total to date - 9.8 pounds.

My goal going in was a minimum of 1.5 pounds per week, so I'm way ahead of that 4.5 which is my minimum goal. There, now I feel much better!

This morning I gave the scrambled eggs/cottage cheese/smoked salmon a try. Calories equal 334. The cottage cheese seemed to make the eggs seem somewhat lighter. It was good enough, but not great. I probably won't do that again. As to the smoked salmon with it, I don't know what the big deal is, and I definitely won't put the salmon with the eggs again. The rosemary on the plate is just there to make the picture pretty.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was going to make the broccoli soup today, but the cashews that were supposed to go in it turned out to be honey roasted, so I'll give the cashews away and get the right kind tomorrow. Long and short of it, I ended up with another chicken cobb salad from Farmer Boys. I had half for lunch and half for dinner. Even though the picture below shows bacon in the salad, I have them leave it off, due to the high calories. Calorie count, just under 662.

Total for the day = 996. Still way under the daily recommended. I must try real hard to lose at least my 1.5 pound minimum for next week.

And speaking of cashews, did you know that just a small handful of cashews has nearly as much protein as a large egg? Eating cashews regularly has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Here's something that the National Geographic says, "While calorically dense, cashews can be part of a successful weight-loss plan if consumed in moderation." Then that means it's ok to put them in my broccoli soup!

Meanwhile - tomorrow morning, it's back to cereal as I have an early appointment, then a stop into the grocery store as I'm going to make my Mexican Bean Casserole on Thursday - daughter and kids are coming to visit and help clean out the shed. OH! That's right! I'll get to chase the kids around, that will help with burning calories!

Have a great evening all!

Day 23 - A Movie Day and Still Within My Guidelines

Good Evening from California!

Today a friend came by and we enjoyed a movie marathon. My breakfast - same old thing - I'm going to change it up tomorrow and try scrambled eggs with cottage cheese and smoked salmon. That will be interesting.

Lunch was also a repeat of yesterday. The cauliflower Parmesan cheese casserole was so good, my friend decided to join me for lunch, then we did movie marathon as mentioned above.

Late afternoon, we pulled out the smoked salmon and crackers. The Norwegian Smoked Salmon from Costco is really fantastic! I curtailed my desires, though and only had four crackers with salmon.

You might ask, "Gee, don't you ever get rally hungry?" I'll have to tell this story in answer to your question. About 7 years ago I quit smoking - almost cold turkey. It was when the e-cigarette first came out. I made the decision to say goodbye to tobacco forever and used the e-cigarette as a crutch. It took about six weeks of using my "crutch". Then all of the sudden, I realized that I would leave home to go out on sales calls and found out after being out for 6 hours that I had left the e-cigarette at home. I knew then that I had totally kicked the habit. I did not even ONCE cheat and go back to tobacco, not even one puff! (That's one of the reasons I'm fighting this weight battle today.)

Regardless, in answer to your question, to this day, I have moments when I have a HUGE craving for a cigarette. I wait it out about 30 to 45 seconds and it subsides. The same thing is happening here with the weight loss efforts. I get moments of wanting to eat, munch, chow down on SOMETHING. I have found that if I just wait it out a minute or less, and apply myself to something else - washing dishes, watering plants, getting laundry started, anything, the moment passes and then before long it is time for the next planned meal. It is working.

Tomorrow will be a big day of news for you. First, I mentioned the new scrambled egg dish, then for the mid-day meal, I'm making a new broccoli soup recipe I found, made with broccoli, a small amount of cashews, broth, garlic and salt. The reviews were great! So I'll have some new photos and recipes to share with you tomorrow!

The BIGGEST NEWS tomorrow will be my Monday weigh-in! And no, I don't cheat and step on the scale at all during the week. I ALWAYS wait until Monday morning first thing. I can't wait to learn what this week's results are!

Until tomorrow.... have a pretty peacock kind of evening!

Day 21 - Who Knew Cauliflower Could Taste SO Good?

Quiet Saturday here. Had the usual breakfast of Raisin Bran. Boring, huh? But I sure like it!

220 calories.

I made a mocha coffee drink for a late morning snack - a Mocha Hazelnut coffee. It tasted way too sweet for me - my taste buds have to be changing. The drink was probably 100 calories - between the chocolate and the milk. The coffee didn't have any calories, nor did the hazelnut as I used sugar free Torani.

Late lunch was a Parmesan Cauliflower bake that was OH MY GOOD! Here's the link to the recipe:

Parmesan Cauliflower Bake

Note, in the recipe above, they use ramekins to bake it in. I did the same as evidenced by my photo. I do think, though that if you wish to use a casserole dish, it would be fine, but I'm sure the baking time would have to be increased.

I also had a baked Mahi-Mahi filet.

The total dinner was only about 190 calories. It was enough for me. Except, I COULD have eaten a whole lot more of the Cauliflower. It was just awesome!

There's our little peacock friend!

Here's a little info on cauliflower. It's best not to boil it as it leaches the nutrients. It can be roasted or grilled instead. Cauliflower may reduce the risk of bladder, breast, colon, prostate and ovarian cancers. The orange variety contains 25 times more beta-carotene than the white. The purple contains anthocyanins. (Whatever those are) Ah, I looked those up on Google. Pretty complicated explanation. Have a look if you're so inclined:

Anthocyanins

And, for the fun of it, below is a photo of a purple cauliflower I grew right here in my little planter box a couple of years ago!

Have a good night, tomorrow a friend is coming over and I'm cooking the cauliflower dish for her!

See you tomorrow.

Day 20 - All Things in Moderation

Good Evening!

Yesterday I promised to send along what the National Geographic's new publication says about alcohol, chocolate and coffee. Here it is!

Alcohol. "Any alcoholic beverage (beer, wine, liquor) is beneficial to heart health, as it raises "good" cholesterol and reduces inflammation. That's good news! The bad: High alcohol intake is a strong risk factor for breast cancer and can be a major source of excess calories in the diet."

Chocolate. Chocolate is beneficial to heart health, including improvements in blood pressure, lipoprotein levels, and insulin resistance. It's also a good source of manganese, copper and iron. But remember, chocolate, especially milk chocolate, contributes calories and sugar to the diet, so enjoy it only in small quantities.

Coffee. Coffee is the top source of phenolic antioxidants in Americans' diets. Drinking 2 to 4 cups daily may increase longevity and reduce risks of type 2 diabetes, liver cancer, and gall bladder disease. The only downside they mention is to be sure to skip those coffee drinks that are full of sugar!

The above photos are fun, as this chocolate is made right in my home town (don't worry about the copyright, I own the FresnoHasTaste website and took the photos above). Previously I never really liked any chocolate but milk chocolate, until I tasted the Molucca, made here in Fresno. They make several levels of chocolate of semi-sweet nature, and I really have enjoy their Indonesia chocolate. Just a note - I rarely eat the chocolate, now that I'm on the "Peacock Program". In the three weeks I've been on the program I've had only a total of 2 of the squares the size you see in the cup. That in itself gave me a little pick-up when I needed it! If you have a local chocolate producer, give their product a try!

And, so for today's intake: This morning I had a bowl of the Raisin Bran Crisp which I really love! (250 Calories) Lunch was late today, as my friend got off work late and we didn't finish lunch until almost 3:00. My lunch was the GOOD burger in a bowl from the restaurant I ate at two weeks ago.

It was great and the calories were acceptable! (540 Calories)

I'm still full from lunch, so again this evening I'll snack on some whole wheat crackers and smoked salmon. (155 calories)

Total calories for today: 945. Not bad!

Looks like tomorrow is going to be a "Stay-at-Home" day. I'll behave food-wise. I've been wanting to try a new recipe that is a cauliflower casserole dish. More on that tomorrow.

Have a GREAT day!

Day 19 - Lunch in Town and A Good Magazine

Good Evening!

Breakfast, again the usual. I will say, though that I am pretty happy as I have restocked my shelf with the Kellogg's Raisin Bran Crunch! Love that cereal, so I'll have that tomorrow.

Received a call from a past co-worker who wanted to have lunch, so we met at Marie Callender's. We talked about weight loss a bit and he said that he was also working toward weight loss and staying away from carbs. He ordered the hot turkey sandwich - hmmm - turkey and mashed potatoes, stuffing, on bread and loaded with gravy. I said nothing other than it smelled good as I enjoyed my crispy crunch chicken salad with chicken, apples, mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, lettuce and won tons. The salad was yummy! As it is a special meal and not on the regular menu, I'll count it as about 300 calories (I ate only half - as there was more than I could eat in one sitting)

Dinner tonight will be light - cottage cheese and a side of smoked salmon - 195 calories.

As I was checking out of WalMart this afternoon, I spied this National Geographic special magazine on Superfoods! I didn't even look at the price and just put it into my cart and purchased it. Arrived home and found the price to be $13.99 - YIKES! Glad, though that I didn't look in advance or I wouldn't have purchased it. It's a neat magazine with great photos of all these super foods, by category. With each food, they give a history, how to choose the best and good uses for them, then they explain each food's health benefits, etc. Some foods they give recipes on and others just good suggestions of ways to prepare them.

Here's a for instance: Strawberries: created in 18th century France, they are a cross between two berries. They also tell us that when choosing berries not to rely on their smell. They also said that if the berries are green- or white-tipped they will not ripen after picking. Strawberries are a great source of vitamin C and help protect against heart disease and cancer. One study was done that showed that the women who ate the most strawberries had a 1/3 less risk of heart attack!

That's just a small part of what they told about strawberries. There's a lot to learn from this magazine!

Just wait until tomorrow when I tell you what this book says about alcohol, coffee and chocolate! It's a lot of fun!

Have a good night and an even better day tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by.

Day 18 - Shopping for Groceries - New Recipe

Good Evening!

Let's get breakfast out of the way first - same old cereal. 200 calories

It was a beautiful day out and there were errands to run, so off I went to town. I'd happened upon a fun looking recipe on Facebook from "Tasty" (they always post great recipes). So I did some grocery shopping to get the necessary ingredients. Here's their recipe:

One Dish Salmon/Potato/Asparagus Bake

As I was shopping, I decided to modify the recipe. While shopping for the fish, I learned that the Salmon had 340 calories per portion. I looked at the Mahi Mahi Nutrition Info and found it has 95 calories per portion. Salmon went back into the case and the Mahi Mahi came home with me.

Also, the asparagus just didn't look good to me at two different stores, so I opted for zucchini instead.

Here's the pan for the first go into the oven.

After 25 minutes, the pan comes out and the Mahi Mahi was added:

Another 10 minutes later, it was dinnertime!

Of course, there's our friendly peacock getting in on the action.

My best guess for this dinner's calories is 228 plus the oil and honey to round it up to 250.

My lunch was hosted by Costco as I shopped, a sample of tuna (it was yuck), a tiny paper cup of popcorn (that was GOOD!), and a sample of brie cheese (that was heaven!). Let's call that 100 calories. I checked the calories on the brie cheese, thinking it would be huge, and it is high, but not as high as I thought - a full cup of brie cheese is 480 calories. I would venture to bet that's a whole lot less than a full cup of cheddar cheese!

So, it looks like this day was about 528 calories. Still seems like quite a small amount of calories. I must say, though that I'm not hungry. I feel fine. And of course, there's still the wine tonight!

Three things I learned today while shopping:

1) Land O' Lakes has a fat free Half and Half. It's only 20 calories per serving. Maybe I can enjoy some coffee with some half and half now and then!

2. Hershey's is now making a chocolate syrup called Simply 5 - 5 simple ingredients. It has 45 calories per tablespoon rather than the 100 calories in the regular chocolate syrup. Maybe one day I'll have a Mocha Frappuccino!

3. The Torani Sugar Free flavored syrups have ZERO calories! I do love some hazelnut in my coffee!

Well, that's it for today! Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Day 17 - A Rainy, Stay Inside Kind of Day

Good Evening.

Pouring down rain today. It's great as we need it. Winding down on the last of sales for this publication, so it was a good day to just take it easy.

The usual cereal was my breakfast.

A friend of mine texted and asked to have lunch. I told her that if she wanted, it would have to be here, so she brought a salad for me and she enjoyed some of my left-over chicken cabbage soup and a deli sandwich.

The salad she brought was reported to be 300 calories by the delicatessen that made it. I doctored it a bit when it got here by adding an egg and some sauteed mushrooms. NOTE: I saute the mushrooms in the Marie Calendar Light Italian dressing, so I'd give the mushrooms 30 calories, the egg 110 calories.

The deli didn't skimp on the salad at all, and I was only able to eat half of it. Total calories for the salad 440. Only 1/2 eaten, I suppose that makes it 220 calories. Almost not enough! But I was full.

After lunch we enjoyed a couple of movies on Netflix, and I made her an iced mocha coffee. It looked pretty enticing, so I made a second one for me. Calories for this should be around 220 as I use non-fat, sugar free ice cream. She drank hers right down. I brought mine to the table and could only enjoy about 1/3 of it. I think my taste buds are changing as I have removed so many sweets from my diet. It seemed too rich and again, the 1/3 seemed quite enough.  I'll give it 100 calories to me for this little snack.

That's about 420 or 450 calories for the day. I really don't think that's enough. I'm going to have to try adding some more calories to my diet. No, not going hog wild, but really, Under 500 isn't enough for one day. No, don't think I'm going after cheeses, sweets and carbs. I do think some more fresh meat might be in order. One other thing I might mention is that the turkey in the deli salad had to be processed turkey. One bite of it and I was overcome by the salty taste of it. I honestly think my tastes are changing due to being on this program of mine for over 2 weeks now.

I also feel it necessary to note here that I am NOT a dietitian, I am not a physician. I have no professional training in diet, other than what we all learn from cruising the internet, what we've been taught in school, etc. I'm just a gal who recognizes the need to reduce my weight by about 1/3 and am on the quest to do so!

Have a great evening all! See you tomorrow!

Day 16 - Weigh-In Monday! And Some Goals

Weigh In Time again! Now 2 weeks into my Peacock Program (a name I came up with due to all my new peacock dishes)! I actually dreamed about stepping on the scale before I woke this morning! So - First thing when my feet hit the floor, I headed for the scale. I was totally delighted! Here it is!

6.4 Pounds!

YES! More than I had wished for! Seems like more than possible, but I checked it twice! Here's a funny thing, when I first stepped on the scale, it read 104.6. There's NO WAY that could have been possible, of course. I stepped on it a second time. Still 104.6. Upon examination, the button on the back had been pushed and changed the reading to kilos! HAHA.  So, I fixed that and then stepped up to the happy 6.4 pounds lost.

For the record, here's the weigh-in's:

First Weigh-In - 235.8 pounds
Second Weigh-In - 233.2 pounds
Third Weigh-In - 226.8 pounds

Total so far, 9 Pounds!

It's working! I don't expect to lose six and a half pounds every week, but I'll take this one!

This morning's breakfast was my usual bowl of cereal.

Lunch was in town with the gal who wasn't able to make it last week. I ordered the "Burger in a Bowl" and it was good, although not as good as the one I had at the other restaurant last week. Here's a photo:

Calories today would be right around 800 again. I'll have a little smoked salmon as a snack tonight on whole wheat crackers and call it good for today!

Here's something that came to mind that I might share with you. I've shared my goal of reaching 150 pounds by the end of the year. Here's also some things that I'm looking forward to seeing happen:

1. Easier to put on my socks and tie my shoes. I'm already feeling a little better about this!

2. Getting into my old blue jeans.

3. Having my old jackets be able to be buttoned or zipped up.

4. Being able to sit in a booth at a restaurant without my stomach touching the table.

And a first goal to celebrate will be to see the scale tip at under 200 pounds.

Thank you all for stopping in to follow along with my weight loss efforts. You all might be interested to see where the hits are coming from. It's interesting to me. Below is the count for all time since day one:

United States 109 Germany 14  Brazil 5 Poland 2 Ukraine 1

A few interesting notes: 

The Germany hits are interesting as they come each day within minutes of my posting. Every day. I have to suspect that it's the same person following me religiously. THANK YOU, GERMANY!

The five hits from Brazil all came yesterday, which I think is odd. Maybe one person came back five times to different posts? Or just a coincidence? Anyway, I hope you follow along, Brazil!

And as to the United States - please keep in mind that I'm not promoting this blog. I haven't posted it on Facebook. The only thing I've done is tell three people that I'm close with about it and some of those are their hits. Otherwise, all United States hits are random.

Thanks for stopping by! Looking forward to writing more tomorrow.

Day 15 - BUSY Day - Checking In With A Short Post

Good Evening! As to the diet, I stayed on track today - same stuff as usual. It's starting to sound like a broken record. Cereal, pears and cottage cheese, leftover chicken, mushrooms, zucchini for dinner. Right around 800 calories.

It's a short post today as my daughter came down today and we went through OLD stuff in the shed. Some things I gave to her and we ran across a LOT of old photos. Very busy day!

As today's post is so short, I'll share one of the photos. This is my family. Mom and dad in the front. Us three sisters in the back. I'm on the left - blonde with short hair and black dress. I'm the oldest. The middle one in the picture is the middle sister, 2.5 years younger than me, and the one on the right, the youngest, 11 years younger.

This picture is again serving as an inspiration to me. This was about 10 years ago at my mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. I believe I can get back to looking like this! Persistence! YES!

Meanwhile, tomorrow is weigh in day! Once again, the anticipation is killing me! Will advise first thing tomorrow! Sure am hoping it's going to be a good one!

Til then! Thanks for checking in with me and my Peacock Program! I'm going to make it!

Day 14 - Still on Track - The Stay-At-Home Days are the Hardest

Good evening all!

Yes, today was another stay-at-home day. Although it's a weekend, I had reports to do in the morning, and when I sit at the desk in front of the computer is when I get the munchies. Nevertheless, I did not succumb.

The breakfast was yet routine - Simply the Fiber Once cereal as yesterday:

Breakfast - 170 Calories

I'd like to share a photo of my new dishes - which I am sure you are all aware of. Plus my new glassware. The big thing with this is that I totally cleared out all my cupboards of the old and brought in new that I really like! My old was a mix-mash of this and that that I had acquired over the years and was really not appealing. I should have taken a picture of it for you. It's gone though! All the new stuff - it reminds me ALL THE TIME of getting back into my smaller sizes. I LIKE it and my focus now is on liking the dishes and the reclaimed kitchen - while all that reminds me to keep the calories in check. Here's a picture - for the fun of it.

It's working for me. Basically it's a crutch which I didn't use each of the last two years when I made this attempt. This time it's WORKING! The constant reminder.

I used to be a BIG TIME cigarette smoker - even my family said that I would be the last person they ever expected to stop smoking. It's been eight years now since I stopped. My crutch there was the electronic cigarette and I made the choice. I put down tobacco one evening and NEVER even touched it again. I puffed on the e-cigarette for about 6 weeks, then one day when out on my sales calls, about 3:00 PM, I looked for the e-cigarette and realized that I had been without for about 7 hours. It was then that I knew I had kicked the habit.

This habit of eating (and I've done it for so long as a reward for my hard work) is so much harder than quitting the tobacco! Many would not understand it, but that is true with me. I HAD to find my crutch and it's with getting the fun and beautiful things for my kitchen. I hope you understand.

Nevertheless - lunch was the Pears with Cottage cheese and cinnamon - who would have thought that cinnamon would enhance such a thing, but it's really nice!

Lunch - 221 Calories

This is NOT a good plan, but I skipped dinner tonight. Got busy with issues here on the ranch and dinner got pushed to the side.

One thing I did to was make one more of those coffee things. The coffee is only 1 calorie. The ice is zero calories - The no sugar added ice cream is 80 calories and the 2% milk gives 70 calories.

Afternoon Snack - 151 Calories

This is NOT a healthy way to eat. It happened today, what can I say.

Total Calories for the day - 542 Calories

NOT good - yes, tonight I feel a bit hungry. It's about time for sleep, so I'm not going to pursue the food. The good - I'm WAY under my calorie count. The BAD - not a healthy way to eat. It's one of those kind of pass/fail kinda days. Due to healthy nutrition, it's probably more on the fail side than the pass side.

As Scarlet O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day."

See you all tomorrow and thanks for stopping by!

Day 13 - Birthday Party for Daughter - Teppanyaki Fun

The day started as most every day with a bowl of Fiber One cereal - 

Breakfast - 170 Calories

The noon meal was a very special occasion as we celebrated my daughter's 28th birthday! We went out to Teppanyaki and had a wonderful time. I was ever watchful NOT to set myself backwards in my weight loss efforts so below is how the meal panned out for me.

We began with their soup and salad. I asked my niece who was seated next to me how I should count the calories of the soup. She has been in the restaurant business for over 20 years and said that this soup is a basic chicken stock. Upon looking up the calories for the soup, it shows 20 calories. I'll count it for 30 to be on the safe side. 

The salad with peanut dressing was a little too strong for me as this particular restaurant pours it on with the dressing. I took about three bites, then handed it over to my niece. The total calorie count on this salad is 160. I'll give it 40, but I'm sure I didn't even eat 1/4 of the salad.

Salad and Soup - 70 Calories

Here's the killer on the table. Japanese Hot and Spicy with teriyaki sauce. From what research I can only figure this has about 110 calories per tablespoon! This is something to totally stay away from! But it is ever so good! Below you will see that I only had 5 bites of my fried rice and just barely dipped the bottom of my fork into the hot and spicy. I'll give it one tablespoon of calories although I venture to say it was closer to a teaspoon.

Hot and Spicy - 110 calories

Meet our chef. He was a good one with all the jokes and witty responses. The kids really got a kick out of him. It's always fun to have one of the best chefs cooking for you and serving your meal.

Enough of singing accolades for the chef. Next up was the shrimp! Now, I have to explain that my daughter, who was seated to my right, and I chose to order two different entrees and split them. She ordered the shrimp and I ordered the filet mignon. We then split each entree in half.

My portion of the shrimp was four shrimp. When I researched Japanese Shrimp, my calorie count on this would have been about 200.

Shrimp - 200 Calories

Meanwhile, our clever chef had started the fried rice. Oh Lord, I love that Japanese fried rice. Upon research, I learned that one cup of the fried rice is 290 calories. As mentioned before I had five forkfuls so gave myself a 50 calorie count (remember, I gave myself 110 calories above for the hot and spicy that I also love dearly). BUT, I was able to satisfy my taste buds.

Japanese Fried Rice - 50 Calories

Next up, our chef was preparing the veggies (zucchini, onion, mushrooms). It was his turn to shine, as he prepared the onion volcano and gleaned the attention of all the little ones around the table (my grandchildren).

Nevertheless, the chef served up our veggies. Upon research for teppanyaki vegetables, the usual portion is 140 calories. I ate half and gave the remainder to my daughter to put in her To-Go box.

Veggies - 70 calories

It's about time for the meat to show up! The food was so good, that I was pretty consumed by the meal and had almost forgotten the camera. Soon enough, though, I remembered and snapped a photo of the filet. Remember that my daughter and I split the filet (one portion is usually 249 calories.) Thus, I consumed 125 calories from the meat.

Filet - 125 Calories

Of course what's a birthday party without the birthday CAKE! Red Velvet Cupcakes were the birthday fare of the day. I learned that each cupcake has a value of 180 calories upon my research at home this evening. When the cupcakes were before me, my granddaughter was seated on my lap and was enjoying working at the icing on the cupcake, then abandoned it. I took two bites out of the cupcake. Therefore, my best guess is 40 calories.

Cupcake bites - 40 Calories

After the lunch, it was great - as my daughter's husband took my two grandchildren on his quest to Home Depot, allowing my daughter and I some time to go shopping at TJ Maxx. Believe this! The FIRST time I've been alone with my daughter since before my (now 4 year old) grandson was born! It was fabulous! It was my treat to her and she found a couple pair of jeans, 2 pair of shoes, some make-up and hair conditioner as well as a couple things for the kids and her husband. Of course, I couldn't go shopping without coming home with something for myself. I found the blue glasses that I was looking for to complete my Peacock Program collection of eating and drinking ware. I'm happy with what I found!

And, now - here's my best guess for total calories for the day:

TOTAL - 835 Calories

What I'm telling you is true. And the guess for the calories is only my best educated guess. The proof will come on Monday - when it's our next Weigh In Ceremony!

See you all Tomorrow!