Best-laid plans

Work got in the way of my healthy dinner plan tonight.

I decided not to do the Crock Pot BBQ because I wanted beef stroganoff (a lightened-up version of one of my fave low-carb recipes). I took the beef out of the freezer and left for work.

However, by the time I got a chance to take my dinner break, it was an hour later than I normally go … and we were close enough to finishing for the night that it didn’t make much sense for me to leave.

That’s when the wheels fell off my wagon: I munched on popcorn and Goldfish crackers. (At least I didn’t hit the vending machine, eh?)

And when I got off work at 11 p.m., I didn’t do what I should have, which was head home and cook dinner for myself.

Nope. I ended up at the Wendy’s drive-thru instead. More proof that old habits die hard.

Well, it was still a more successful day than the one before. It’s a start!

Long, cold winter

I know, it's just an excuse — but this damn cold weather has been making it tough for me to stay OP.

I haven't been exercising. It's tough to walk with 3-foot-high snow piles still covering the sidewalks, and every time it starts to melt, we get more.

The weather is also making me not want to cook. I'm stuck in an "I don't care" kind of mood, where eating out — be it fast food or something else — just sounds easier. As a result, I haven't been planning ... and consistently eating more than I should.

Well, it has to stop. I know, I've said that before — then promptly let myself get derailed again. Getting to a meeting will help. Friday is payday, and I intend to set aside the money to go that following Monday.

Until then, I'll be back to taking things one day — one choice — at a time. Today's start? The first thing I ate when I got up this morning was a 100-calorie pack of Emerald Natural almonds. I love snacking on almonds.

Next up, finding something healthy for lunch and putting dinner in the Crock Pot. HG BBQ Pulled Chicken, here I come!

Out of practice

Yoga isn't all that easy to do when you haven't done it in a good long time and you're trying to fight off a curious dog.

I succeeded, though. Got in a 20-minute yoga workout. Other than that, my activity level was in the toilet. Either I need to buy a new pedometer or I've reverted to couch potato days. The pedometer only logged a little more than 1,500 steps — for the entire day.

Ugh. :P

At least I stayed OP on the food front. I've eaten 26 1/2 total Points today. I may add 1 or 2 for a snack ... or maybe not. I'm not all that hungry at the moment.

Gasp! Did those words just come out of my mouth?

Goal for Tuesday: Beat today's step total. It shouldn't be hard.

Ask and you shall receive

Just last night, I was lamenting the fact that my week was activity-free and I vowed to earn at least a few Activity Points this week.

This morning, Tina over at Carrots N Cake served up her 2010 Yoga Challenge.

I love yoga whenever I bother to do it. In fact, every time I make it to a class, I think to myself, "What took you so long?" So of course I jumped right on Tina's challenge bandwagon.

Yep, that's me: Comment # 41. I said I wanted to make yoga a regular part of my life this month — at least three times a week.

To get me started, I borrowed a Web site from one of the comments above me, yogadownload.com. I was worried it'd be expensive, but all the 20-minute classes are free. I'm going to download one and get started just as soon as I finish this post.

Perhaps exercise will help me budge the scale faster.

Yes, this morning's encounter with the scale was a bit disappointing. I know I shouldn't complain, having dropped from 198 to 193.2. That's down 4.8 pounds!

However, last Friday the scale was at 190.8 ... so 193.2 is a disappointment, especially after an in-control weekend.

Oh well. I refuse to let it keep me down. I lost 4.8 pounds in my first OP week in I don't know how long. That's a fantastic result! :D

I plan to keep up the great work this week. This morning started with a glass of almond milk and Hungry Girl's Egg Mug Classic (2 Points) topped with a little salsa.

For lunch, I'm thinkin' enchiladas. I made them again Sunday, and this time I was able to eat them. They were delicious ... and I still have beans and sauce to use up, so I can make another batch. Think I'll enjoy a salad with them this time, though.

Not the most stellar day

But I'm still putting it in the "win" column.

Sure, I didn't get any exercise — again. I drank more diet soda than H2O. And I ate a little more than I should have, starting with a burrito from my favorite burrito place for lunch (no breakfast because I overslept). The choices were a little calorie-heavy and nutrition-light, from the post-burrito TCBY 96% FF coffee-flavored yogurt to my burger dinner.

But I also kept track of every bite. Right now, the day's total stands at 29. I may or may not have a (very) low-Point snack when I get home from work. I'm leaning toward yes, because I'm a little hungry. Maybe BBQ soy crisps and salsa, to sneak in some more veggies.

And before choosing to eat that Whopper Jr. & onion rings for dinner, I thought twice. I knew I had the Points for the burger, and my FPs would pay for for the rings. (I still have 6 1/2 FPs left for the week, which ends Sunday.)

I know, I know. There's no rule that says I have to eat every last FP. But there's no rule that says I can't, either. And I say if it's helping me stay OP and not feel deprived, I will savor every single one.

Here's my pledge for tomorrow: Some kind of exercise. Maybe I'll see if the roommate wants to wii. And with the promise of more snow in the forecast, there'll likely be shoveling. Ugh. That's no fun.

Lesson learned — again

I know I've discovered this once or twice before, but when I'm tracking Points properly, I often find that things aren't as bad as I feared.

Case in point: Today's smoothie from Starbuck's — only 4 Points. But the last few times I ordered it (already in "what the hell, I've already shot the day" mode), I continued overeating for the rest of the day.

Today, armed with the knowledge of how many Points I was actually consuming — not as many as I'd feared — I managed to finish the day having eaten just 29.5 Points. (That's 5.5 FPs used, since I'm allowed 24 these days.)

And that was with eating out — TWICE. I had my favorite lunch, a slice of pizza and caesar salad from Picazzo's, and went to Taco Bell for dinner.

At Taco Bell, knowing that I'd only had 16 1/2 Points for the day, I ordered two grilled steak tacos (fresco style, for 6 Points). I even treated myself to an order of cinnamon twists, which took me to 25 1/2 total Points eaten. Usually when I go to Taco Bell on a Friday night, I'm already in that "what the hell" mode and I order something gooey, cheesy and really bad for me.

My after-dinner snack to carry me through the rest of the night at work was another package of those Special K Fruit Crisps. Then, when I got home from work, I had a Bagel Thin with 1 T RF cream cheese.

I avoided the Girl Scout cookies on the communal desk a few steps from mine, in part because I knew my Points total was under control for the day.

It's nice to know how much I've actually eaten, instead of fearing the worst. It keeps me from going off the deep end and eating everything in sight. And that, my friends, is a wonderful feeling. I'd like to have it more often.

A welcome surprise

Today is what Tina over at Carrots N Cake would call Cookie Friday.

Instead of a cookie, I decided to treat myself to a Vivanno Chocolate Banana Smoothie from Starbucks and was surprised to find that it's a much healthier choice than I thought.

I'd ordered one a couple of times before, thinking I was doing real damage to my daily Points total. But when I actually took the time to ask about its nutritional stats, I discovered it's really not that bad: Made with skim milk, it has 250 calories, 2 grams of fat and 6 grams of fiber, for a Points total of just 4.

Bonus: It has 18 grams of protein, so it's a snack with staying power. Cool, huh?

Guess that's what happens when I track the way I'm supposed to — I find things I thought were bad aren't so bad after all.