Monday weigh-in

I lost 0.5 lbs this week. Not as much as I thought, but better than nothing I guess. I am on a weird cycle where I'm losing either 1/2 - 1 lb and the next week I lose about 4 lbs, then back to 1/2 - 1 lb. It averages out nicely for the month, it just sucks on those days when you really don't see much movement on the scale.

Monday meals
B-1/2 c fatfree yogurt, strawberries and blueberries, walnuts and cracklin oat bran cereal, soy milk latte

S-tangelo

L-turkey spinach quesadilla(whole wheat tortilla, 1 wedge laughing cow garlic herb cheese, spinach, turkey, peppercini's & roasted red pepper) grilled in a pan w/a spritz of pam
a kiwi
carrot sticks

S-tea
clif zbar

D-whole wheat spaghetti topped w/veggie & turkey sausage mix
1/2 a zucchini, 1/2 cup broccoli florettes, 2 cloves roasted garlic, EVOO, 1/2 cup canned italian diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup spinach leaves
1.75 oz lean turkey sauce

Treat-44 calories worth of dark calories

***will edit later to add meals***

Congrats on half a pound! I had similar weight loss, bigger one week than the next, it's all good!

Monday

Breakfast - 1/2 cup Nature's Path pumpkin flax cereal, Trader Joe's fat free Greek yogurt with honey

Lunch - 3 tacos (finally finished up all the leftovers) - made with veggie crumbles (mixed with spicy taco seasoning), blue corn shells, home-made guacamole, chopped spinach leaves, roma tomato, salsa and a little low fat cheddar cheese

Snack - tangelo

Snack - tall skinny mocha, 1 Cliff nectar bar

Dinner - home made pizza - organic sourdough crust, spinach, a little low fat feta, spicy sauce, onions, garlic, sun dried tomato

So far today

B-oatmeal, walnuts, flax seed meal, orange, soy milk, tea

L-turkey, whole wheat pita, carrots, hummus, strawberries, yogurt

I will update later...supper plans are gonna have to be something quick. I think it better include something green (Spinach or Broccoli)

Oh thank you Glory! I definitely needed to hear that, I just want to make sure things are going along normally I guess.

I did my longest walk yet, 2.325 miles (I love gmap pedometer!) and I felt really good too! Yay!

B-I made 2 days worth of steel cut oats, 1/4 cup dry for each day...man that stuff really swells up b/c I have an entire bowl full of oatmeal right now, lol! I also added 1/4 cup pumpkin for each day and some pumpkin pie spice. I topped it off with 2 tbsp walnuts! Delicious
lowfat sugar free soy latte

L-turkey & spinach quesadilla(ww tortilla, one wedge laughing cow garlic herb, spinach, turkey, roasted red pepper, peppercinis)
tangelo

Todays water tally-40 oz-my goal for the day is 64 oz! This is a HUGE deal for me b/c I don't like water

Congrats on your loss, AndLy!

I've been craving roasted beets like crazy lately, so they're going to be a big part of my dinner today!

breakfast: more meusli, this time with more berries than apple (blueberries, strawberries and raspberries), tea with lemon

snack: kiwi berries

lunch: turkey sandwich on grain bread with spicy mustard, spinach, sprouts, tomato, avocado and roasted red peppers. Strawberry kefir and apple slices.

snack: marcona almonds and a "Tillamoo" (pre-portioned Tillamook cheddar cheese that I got from Costco!)

dinner: baked chicken and roasted veggies! I've already got them prepped for the oven tonight - beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, asparagus and some green beans. I'm going to roast them in a little olive oil until they're sticky and delicious, then top with a bit of Maldon salt and cracked pepper.

dessert: haven't decided for sure - but I might melt my last little dark chocolate bunny and dip some strawberries into the chocolate.

I'm going to have to try that pumpkin oatmeal - I love pumpkin AND oatmeal!

Tuesday

B - 1/2 cup of oatmeal, 2 spoons of apple butter

S - ruby red grapefruit segments, sliced strawberries

L - I haven't been feeling 100%, so I just wanted soup. Went downstairs and got a small bowl of vegetable beef barley and 3 packs of plain old saltines.

S - no sugar added cocoa

S - orange

S - celery sticks, 2 tbs natural peanut butter

D - I am making home made pasta sauce with tomatoes, fake crab (love this stuff, heh), red cooking wine, sun dried tomatoes, onions, garlic over whole wheat pasta. I add some spinach to my plate before I add the pasta/sauce, when I stir it up, it wilts down nicely. My boyfriend doesn't like wilted spinach, so it's an easy compromise.

Here you go! I normally make it with a bag of Moringstar Farms veggie crumbles, but occasionally I switch it up (like the crab tonight). I've made it with ground turkey and spicy chicken meatballs. For the crab version, I just threw an entire package of fake crab in after I added the tomatoes. They go in the pot in big chunks, as I stir it, they kinda...unwrap. Hard to explain, but they won't stay in big chunks!

Spicy tomato sauce with fresh basil and veggie crumbles

3 cans 14 oz tom
1 can 12 oz tom paste
1 onion, diced
garlic (I use TONS)
1 tbs olive oil
Sun dried tomatoes
Fresh Basil
1 tsp dried oregano
Whatever else I feel like - black olives, mushrooms, carrots, zuch
1 package MorningStar Farm Crumbles
Salt
Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
Splash of red cooking wine
whole wheat/spinach pasta

Heat oil in large saucepan. Saute onion/garlic for 5 minutes until translucent. Add veggie crumbles, dried oregano, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Brown the veggie crumbles - stirring often.

While the veggie crumbles are browning, put 2 cans tomatoes (with juice), tom paste, fresh basil and half the sun dried tomatoes into a food processor - blend until smooth.

Put the tomato mixture over the crumbles and stir.

Put the last can of tomatoes into the food processor and pulse until the tomatoes are chunky. Throw these in with the rest.

Add the rest of the sun dried tomatoes and any other additional veggies. Add a splash of red cooking wine. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve over whole wheat pasta (I also like to serve it over grilled polenta)

Is it weird that I already know what I'm going to be eating, for every meal and snack, for the next 5 days? When I plan ahead, I really plan - is everyone else the same way, or do you just plan out meals for the next day?

Things are going very well - I lost 4lbs. this week! It's been a very busy week, and I'm hoping I'll get more time to check out other forums here properly over the weekend.

breakfast: egg white omelet with peppers, spinach, fresh diced tomatoes, onions and some diced turkey. Yogurt and some blueberries.

snack: the last of the kiwi berries I'm hoping I can find some more at the store tomorrow)

lunch: light turkey chili with a small salad (romaine, grape tomatoes, cucumber and grated carrot)

snack: "TillaMoo" and some marcona almonds

dinner: brown rice sushi (homemade "light" dynamite rolls - nori, brown rice, panko-crusted baked shrimp, a little cilantro/chili mayo, green onions and spicy dipping sauce) and teriyaki chicken breast on a bed of sauteed veggies (lots of bean sprouts, bok choy, carrot ribbons and broccoli).

dessert: fresh pineapple macerated in a tbs. of dark rum and a little mint.

Wednesday

B-pumpkin oatmeal, walnuts & a drizzle of honey
lowfat sugar free soy latte

L-ww spaghetti w/veggies and sauce and turkey sausage (1/2 zucchini, spinach, 1/2 cup diced italian tomatoes, 1/4 cup trader joe's marinara)
1.75 oz lean turkey sausage

S-tangelo

S-iced tea
clif zbar

D-

***will edit later to add meals***

walked 2.325 miles again today

Nope, I usually do menu planning twice a week. Sunday afternoons where I plan out Monday - Friday lunch/afternoon snack and Friday afternoon where I plan for Friday night - Sunday night. I usually hit the store at least twice a week for produce. I pretty much know what I'm going to eat for every weekday meal by Sunday afternoon. I don't think it's weird at all if it works for you - it definitely works for me. Having healthy food on hand is key to my success.

I feel weird planning menus out completely for only the next day! That's pretty much a new experience for me. I'm impressed you can do a week in advance.

I've heard that pineapple and mint make a good combination, but it sounds so odd. How do you make it?

Glory, thanks for the recipe! I will try that this weekend.

Didn't do too well today on the SF list--only an orange, tangerine juice, whole wheat tortilla, green beans, and tea. I'll be better tomorrow!

Darkblue, it does sound a little odd, but I really like the combo together! The original idea came from a Jamie Oliver cookbook - he pulverizes mint together with sugar and sprinkles it over pineapple. This was the first way I tried it, and it was really good - but nowadays I don't want the extra sugar. You could just let fresh pineapple (I always buy whole pineapples and slice them up myself, so you get a decent amount of juice while you're chopping it up) sit with some minced mint for about half an hour if you want the simplest version without the alcohol. I don't often use alcohol, but had the room in my calories for it tonight! (Malibu is great, too!)

All I did was put the pineapple in a bowl with some of the juice from chopping it, along with the rum and the mint, and let it sit - it sat for about 2 hours, and by the end it had made a wicked tasting syrup and was really delicious.

I feel like I did pretty well today. Let's see ...

beans - lentils and hummus
blueberries - raw
broccoli - cabbage in my salad
oats - ww tortilla
oranges
pumpkin
salmon - in cream cheese in a tortilla
soy
spinach - raw in salad
tea-
tomatoes - raw in salad
turkey
walnuts
yogurt

Just 7 and I was feeling sooo virtuous. Oh well, my cals are good.