I was faced with the challenge of eating out yesterday, for both meals, and sticking to my allowed meal plans.  I'm proud to say I ate, enjoyed myself with friends and lost 1 lb for the day! 


Meal One - I was at the office all afternoon on Saturday and ran out of the house without my lunch.  What to do? What to do?  I went to Chick-fil-A and grabbed a Chargrilled Grilled Chicken Salad.

By now, I can pretty much eyeball protein and veggies and select 3.5 ounces  of protein or 1/2 of each of my two veggies.  I ate 3.5 ounces of the chicken, 1/2 cup of the lettuce and my tomatoes.  I ordered the salad without dressing, I didn't eat the cheese, and I didn't open the croutons or sunflower seeds.  The salad that was left over, I took it to my sweet mama to go with her dinner.  While it's not recommended to go out to eat, sometimes it is a necessity, and it can be done! 

Meal Two - A friend came into town and we wanted to get together for dinner to visit.  I selected Cheddars because I knew they had veggies that I enjoy every time I go there.  I ordered a sirloin steak, green beans and steamed broccoli.  While the green beans were way over salted for my tastebuds that haven't had salt in 12 days, it was a pretty "legal" meal all things considered.

I was not going to beat myself up this morning if I jumped on those scales and there wasn't a loss, but I was so proud when I looked down and I was down another pound!

This can be done.  I can do this.  I am doing this. 

What a week it has been!  It's been one of "those" weeks around here.  Are you a stress eater?  I AM!!!!!!!! When I am super stressed, give me CHOCOLATE or something crunchy and salty like the perfect chips and salsa!  Yesterday was a STINKER of a day.  I was out running errands in the afternoon and it hit me, the I MUST HAVE SOMETHING RIGHT NOW OR ELSE type of feeling, right before you burst into tears or explode.  All I could think was how badly I wanted guacamole and chips with salsa or a Braum's chocolate ice cream cone!  As soon as I realized what was going through my mind, I made it stop.  I asked myself, Really, you want to undo this great feeling you have had and set yourself back three days for a few chips???? I think NOT.  I kept driving.  I drove right past every single yummy stop along my way and as soon as I got back to my office and settled back in, this is what I had...

EMERGENCY STASH OF GF PRETZELS...6 PRETZELS - NO GUILT!!!!

WATER WITH LIME...REFRESHING!

 I am so glad the weekend is here and it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy the long weekend.  It is so unbelievably hot and even at dinner time it is still sweltering outside.  I couldn't bring myself to step out back and fire up the grill last night. I opted for a yummy Spinach and Mushroom Omelette for dinner last night and it hit the spot!

Ingredients
1 egg plus 2 egg whites
1/2 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
Garlic powder, onion powder, cracked black pepper, dried parsley flakes

Directions
Heat non-stick skillet and saute mushrooms on low heat until tender.  In place of oil, I added a tablespoon of water to the skillet after it was hot and the mushrooms were cooking.  The water evaporates so your mushrooms aren't wet, it just helps the mushrooms soften and brown.  At this point I added a sprinkle of my seasonings.  Feel free to add salt if you are not watching your salt intake. 
I have an omelette pan and it makes FABULOUS omelettes.

This pan is from Williams-Sonoma.  Mine is an older version of this pan but makes great omelettes!

Whisk your eggs together and pour into your non-stick skillet or omelette pan if you have one.  Next, place your spinach and mushrooms ontop of the egg mixture and sprinkle with your dried seasonings.  Cook over med-low heat and roll over if using the pan or fold in half if using a skillet.  Slide the omelette onto a pretty plate, sprinkle with parsley and ENJOY!!!

BE HAPPY! BE ACTIVE!  BE THOUGHTFUL! HAVE A GREAT DAY!

I ventured out tonight.  I made "Spaghetti".  I bought a spaghetti squash when I was doing my shopping for the week and thought I'd try my hand at a no-carb, no fat, no dairy spaghetti dinner.  It was WONDERFUL, didn't taste squash at all and was very light.

 I used Jennie-O 99/1 Turkey Breast, browned in a 

non-stick skillet with lots of dried herbs.

I cut the squash in half lengthwise, 

placed it in a dish with 1/4 cup of water 

and microwaved it for ten minutes.

Then I used a fork to shred the squash.

I used diced no-salt tomatoes and 

seasoned with lots of yummy Italian spices.

I measured out my tomato sauce for two servings, 

two servings of the squash,

then measured two servings of the turkey.  I made

Since I can only have two veggies at a time, 

I only added bell pepper and onions to my hubby's portion,

because the squash and tomatoes count for your two veggies.

It was delicious! I had to use other photos - my camera battery died!

It was a fabulous meal & even my part Italian hubby liked it!  SUCCESS!!!

RETRACTION....I am so very sorry but I misspoke in my last post.  My dear friend AMANDA brought it to my attention.  The birthday party this weekend was in fact NOT Ava's first birthday party invite.  Ava attended her BFF little Miss Taylor Beth's 3rd birthday party a few weeks ago.  She had the CUTEST horse cake and she loves her sock monkey from her Auntie Amanda!!!

What a wonderful weekend! My sweet girl and I attended a little friend’s 5th birthday party on Saturday and enjoyed a breezy morning outside. I was so excited to take her – it was her first birthday party invite! Then we headed out for an afternoon of fun swimming with Daddy at Mimi and Papa’s house. Let me tell you, I feel F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C!!! I have so much energy. I’m not tired all the time. I actually want to be busy instead of kicking back. Feeling good is such a wonderful blessing! Yesterday I was up and busy working around the house until 4:00 p.m. AND I didn’t feel bad at the end of the night! That is a miracle for me! The past couple of days I have found that I’m getting full very fast on the 500 calories a day. I’ve had to force myself to eat the remainder of my last two meals. That is just amazing to me.


I love to cook so retraining myself to cook with no salt, no oils/fats and no carbs is quite a challenge; a challenge that I LOVE. I haven’t really missed carbs that much but I do miss the salt. It is forcing me to experiment with lots of different spices and ways to mix what I am allowed to use to create foods that EXCITE my tastebuds!

Over the weekend we enjoyed grilled fish, grilled hamburger patties and a wonderful grilled chicken salad. I love to grill and with this change of eating habits it makes life a lot more simple to dice or slice up some fresh veggies and toss a couple of meats on the grill for dinner and lunch and be done with it.

Here’s a quick and easy vinaigrette I threw together last night for my salad.

Vinaigrette
2 Tablespoons Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
½ Teaspoon Braggs Sprinkle
¼ Teaspoon Garlic Powder
¼ Teaspoon Onion Powder
½ Teaspoon Dried Onion Flakes
¼ Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 packet of Stevia

Directions
Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl and drizzle over salad. Makes enough for one salad.

4 DAYS...10 POUNDS OFF...I AM DETERMINED!!!!!!