Inspired

I love Roni's Chicken Surprise. I've made it at least a half-dozen times and always eat all the leftovers before they go bad.

For dinner tonight, I let that recipe inspire me to try something new, but similar. I made a skillet meal with lean ground beef, beef-flavored rice mix, corn, green beans and salsa. It turned out pretty well — if a little spicy. (Not sure why I found it spicy. The salsa I bought said it was "medium" and I'm usually OK with medium salsas.)

I wish I'd remembered to take a picture of it, but I'll try to remember to snap one next time I reheat the leftovers.

Here's the recipe for what I'm calling Mexican-style beef and rice:

8 oz. 93% lean ground beef

1 box reduced-sodium beef-flavored Rice-a-Roni

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup salsa

1 cup corn with red and green bell pepper pieces

1 can green beans

Brown beef in a good-sized skillet. Add rice and cook according to package directions, subbing 1 1/2 cups water and 1 cup salsa for the 2 1/2 cups water called for on the box. When you have about 5 minutes of cooking time left, add the corn and beans.

Makes 4 servings, each with 6 WW Points. (I know Roni's Chicken Surprise is 3 servings with 7 Points each, but when I tried to do 3 servings, it came out to 8 Points ... and that was too pricey for one meal.)

Can it really be that simple?

I went to my normal Monday morning weigh-in this morning after a decent but not great weekend ... and I was down 4.8 pounds.

Of course, that still means I'm up 1.2 from two Mondays ago, but down from last Monday. I'll take it. At least it means the scale's going in the right direction. :D

The big difference? I was alone this weekend, after being with the Boyfriend last weekend. Yes, I know I make poor choices when I'm with him. He doesn't have to push very hard for me to say, "I'd love some mac & cheese" or some french fries or microwave popcorn with real butter.

Why? Because, for me, food = fun. When I'm happy and enjoying myself, food is often involved.

I like fun food. A cheeseburger is a heck of a lot more fun than a salad topped with grilled chicken. Mac & cheese is definitely more fun than, say, brown rice. And chocolate cake or a donut will beat out an apple almost every time.

Bad attitude, I know, but there it is. Give me fun foods and I'm a happy camper.

I think that's why I like Hungry Girl's newsletter: She's always dishing up recipes for things like onion rings, cupcakes and faux fast-food faves — and they're all way healthier than the originals.

I need to work on my attitude. It's a lifestyle, not a diet ... and it doesn't mean a steady intake of salads. There's plenty of room in this lifestyle for sensible indulgences.

My favorite salad ... from McDonald's, anyway

I know a lot of people who swear by McDonald's Southwest Chicken Salad — but I'm more of a Chicken Bacon Ranch kind of girl.

I think it's because, after two years on the Atkins diet, I love bacon. (Or maybe I just got along so well doing the low-carb thing because I was a bacon lover to start.)

With its cheese and bacon, the Chicken Bacon Ranch salad makes me feel like I've had something delicious and decadent ... and all for just 5 Points. (The dressing adds something, depending on what you use. I have Kraft light ranch packets in my purse and a bottle of Walden Farms creamy bacon dressing in the fridge — the former has 2 Points, the latter 0. Which one I use depends on where I am when the salad craving strikes.)

Oh, how I wish it would strike more often. I wish I could say I LOVE salads. Unfortunately, when I try to make one a meal, I often walk away wanting something more. This Chicken Bacon Ranch salad really satisfies.

And that's what matters: Finding foods that don't make you feel deprived.

While my coworkers were eating pizza ...

... I was enjoying a California roll from my favorite local sushi place. I've been there so often — always ordering the same thing — that when I walked in today, the woman at the podium knew my name and what I wanted.

Hmm ... maybe I should take that as a sign that I eat too many California rolls. I try to go there at least once every other week (and sometimes more like weekly). But it's a good, filling lunch for few WW Points, which makes it a no-brainer choice for me.

Today, I paired it with a small bowl of cantaloupe I picked up while I was at the bank/grocery store. (There are advantages to having a bank with in-store branches.)

Overall, today was a great day — my first in about a week. I plan to make it the first in a string of great choices all weekend long ... something that will be easier because I'm working and the Boyfriend will be doing his own thing all weekend.

I have a meeting of my romance writer's group Saturday, which will make for a long day for me (up early to drive to the meeting an hour and a half away, then back home to work until midnight). That doesn't mean, though, that I have to eat things I know I should avoid. I'm perfectly capable of making good choices — even at a restaurant.

At least I'm going to tell myself I am. I tend to have trouble with that — a bad habit I'd like to change. For some reason, the things I know are safe to order don't appeal nearly as much as the ones that are bad for me. It's like I'm afraid they'll have disappeared off the menu the next time I go to whatever restaurant I'm in, and I'll have missed my LAST chance to eat whatever it is.

Then there's that whole "I'm eating out — why shouldn't I get what I want" attitude to counter. I know that every restaurant meal is not a special occasion and cause to splurge ... but I still have trouble not doing exactly that EVERY darn time I go out.

How do you safely navigate restaurant eating? Any tips on how I can change my mindset?

Too much sugar

I've been thinking: One of WW's eight Good Health Guidelines is to avoid added sugar and alcohol. But I don't avoid added sugar nearly as much as I should.

One of the culprits? Those 100-calorie packs of snacks. They're ONLY 2 Points, I tell myself ... conveniently forgetting that's 2 Points I could be using on something with nutritional value.

I guess it's OK when I only have one 100 calorie pack in a day ... And usually, I'm able to do that. But I've discovered one variety that I have trouble stopping with just one of. That's them over there at the left. Chips Ahoy! Double Chocolate Chip cookies are apparently a trigger food for me. I ate one pack at work Friday, and a couple of hours later, still at my desk, I tore into another one.

I guess I won't be buying THOSE anymore. I should probably cut back on all 100-calorie packs. (The chocolate-covered pretzels are another favorite of mine.) And sugary yogurts. I just noticed that my favorite Yoplait Light (also just 2 Points, but at least it counts as a dairy serving) has the dreaded high fructose corn syrup listed as its second ingredient. I thought those things were sweetened with Splenda.

Hmm. I should have known better. Anything that tastes as good as their Apple Turnover and Pineapple Upside Down Cake varieties CAN'T be good for you, right? :D Well, I guess they are better than the original kind ... And they are delicious. Yum!

I've been flirting with the idea of watching carbs again — not as strictly as I did on Atkins, but surely I can do a lower-carb version of WW and lose the last 19 pounds more quickly than I've lost the first 55-ish ... right?

As expected

I see I now have TWO followers. I wish I had better news to share. The results of my official WI today weren't good: Up 6 pounds.

Yup. From having just 13 to lose, I now have 19. In one short week. I'm not surprised. I ate a lot of crap over the weekend. And I weighed in late in the afternoon instead of in the morning, and I've been skimping on the H2O, which means I'm more than likely retaining water.

Even so, I'm sure some of it's real weight, and that's ridiculous. After two years on WW, I should know better than that. I KNOW I need to track everything and get in plenty of exercise (both of which I did not do, especially late last week and through the weekend).

Anyway, it's like I said last night: I know a few days won't make me pack on all the pounds I've lost. Now's the time to turn things around and start the scale moving in the right direction again.

I know it's possible, because I've done it before. Heck ... I was down 1.8 pounds in less than a full week at my last WI. How'd I do it? Tracking and staying within my Points.

Duh. It's so easy (yet so darn hard).

Off track ... again

I could blame the Boyfriend. I always seem to have trouble staying OP when I have weekends off and spend them with him.

But he's not the only one to blame. If only I could learn to say "no" when the good stuff — like mac & cheese and chocolate malts — are on offer.

I'll blame the dentist for that whole malt thing. I had a root canal Wednesday morning, and my mouth hasn't felt the same since. I told myself I'd let myself have a milkshake on Wednesday, but got it at the wrong time ... right after my trip to the dentist, while my mouth was still mostly numb. By the time evening rolled around, my mouth hurt like crazy and I had a second one to make it feel better.

The mouth was still sore on Saturday. Another malt and a half were on offer, and I said "yes."

Silly, silly me. Now it's time to get back on track. A few days will not make me regain all the weight I've lost ... but if I continue to eat like there's no tomorrow, all bets are off.

Stop me before I munch again!