Hello Tiffy!

Today was pretty blah, nothing comes to mind that was too exciting. After the refrigerator fiasco yesterday of course I had nothing for lunch today so I went to Burger King and did alright. I got a Tendergrill (AKA Grilled Chicken) sandwich and some Apple Fries and a Diet coke! There was mayo on the sandwich but I think I will live though it. A friend of mine thinks the BK Apple Fries taste like they are dipped in formeldahyde, but actually, I think they are quite delectable, they are also extremely cute, cut into frie shapes and they are kinda yellowish, I would be fooled (considering my current state of eyesight I could be fooled by just about anything). We all know apples taste alright but these are actually really crispy and juicy and delicious. Not sure how they do it but who knows, maybe it is because they are peeled and air-sealed fresh. There is also something about someone else cutting your veggies and fruits for you, pre-cut fruit is big business and you feel like you are 5 again which is always special

I really want to go shopping and buy some new clothes but I keep putting it off until I lose a few lbs, so we will see. I want to work out again soooo badly I was doing great when I lived in CA but it just harder here and..  I would rather go spend time with J if I am going to put off work instead of go to the gym (it isn’t like I want to anyway, don;’t get me wrong - but if I am going to put off work I want to be with him instead). I also find I am tired here and sleep way too much. I feel extremely unhealthy and want to do a lifestyle change I am just too lazy yet. J hinted that he wants to go to the gym I want to go with him if he goes. Maybe we will see, I have heard this frm him before. I guess I am not the only one that has trouble getting on the right foot.

Oh, right now I am being entertained (oh I mean possibly bored to death) by World Series of Poker. The game isn’t bad to play, and not all that bad to watch sometimes but I am so damn tired this is not helping. You know Austin isn’t all that bad in general but I am telling you I would enjoy life a lot more with just one job. I guess that goes without saying, but I am just feeling ragged. Ragged ragged ragged. I feel guilty at almost all times, I mean I should be working 24 7 in my opinion how dare I enjoy dinner away from my computer, or consider talking to my best friend instead of work. I just want to take a week off ya know? My last day off that was officially a day I was not expected to work (not including the moving days which I drove, or moved stuff, or unpacked stuff) was August 2007. Ever since then I was at the start up which we did not get days off. then working from home which, well, every day I should be doing at least a little something and now I am contracting as well which well I basically get no paid days off. I miss days off. Yes I do slack from time to time — but since I get to spend my slack time feeling guilty it really doesn’t count in my opinion. I even feel guilty in my sleep. Speaking of sleep.. I think I will go feel guilty now….

Dear guy-that-brought-in-Burger-King-for-lunch-today,

Die.

Love,
Tiff

A good way to not eat too much is to accidentally smear garlic/onion flavored cream cheese on a cinnamon raisin bagel…. 2 bites and you are done!!

Yes, I am back on this again. I technically signed up yesterday but that is going to be stricken from the record. Lets take a look at this and discuss my problems shall we? Notes below.

POINTS^® Tracker entries

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Morning
1/2 item(s) Cinnamon raisin bagels	2.5
2  tbsp Cream Cheese	3
Subtotal	5.5
Midday
1  serving(s) Lean Pockets Red Peppers and Pepperoni	5
Subtotal	5
Evening
2  medium potato(es), baked	5
1/3 cup(s) Reduced fat shredded 4 cheese Mexican style blend	2
2  can(s) or bottle(s) beer	5.5
Subtotal	12.5
Anytime
No entries for this meal time.
Subtotal	0
Food POINTS values total used	23
Food POINTS values remaining	4
Activity
No entries for activity.
Activity POINTS values earned	0
Check off these important items daily:
Water          Milk & Milk Products     Fruit & Vegetables        Multivitamin   Healthy Oils     Activity

What have we learned today?

Breakfast:
2 Tablespoons of regular cream cheese is 3 POINTS. That is pretty pinner if you ask me. However, Weight Watchers makes a VERY good cream cheese that is in a little cup, just barely enough for 1 whole bagel and is only 1 point. Those 2 tablespoons this morning were basically a pasty layer that I could barely taste. There are also very decent low-calorie bagels called Western Bagel that are also amazing, a bit smaller but 1 point as well.  As you can see, I was not 100% prepared for the start of this diet but I did lower my intake to 1/2 of the bagel. To improve this breakfast, the ideal solution would be 1 Western Bagel, 1 portion of the WW cream cheese, and 1 cup of fruit - a lot more food and would still be less points than my pathetic breakfast this morning.

Lunch-
Lean Pockets are very tasty and you can barely tell they are a lot lower of fat and calories than their Hot Pockets counterparts. The downside to this lunch was that while tasty, I was starving from my sad breakfast that I inhaled it. I was starving by 4 o’clock.
To improve this lunch there are too many things to do differently. I need to pack salad or fruit with my lunch as a side if I feel that I must go the way of the frozen lunch. No matter which frozen low-calorie/fat lunch I could have prepared, there will not be enough food to keep me til dinner. However I am going to be realistic (Since I am at work and all)  and expect to have something frozen nearly everyday, and try to pack a salad, nuts, or some fruit for the side.

Dinner-
Well my options were limited tonight due to the fact that we had no meat ready to cook and most of our soups are the creamy fattening ones. I made some potatoes in the microwave and added the WW shredded cheese and pico de gallo and green onions. I am pretty full right now but let me assure you it was not all that delicious. I would have preferered some Fat Free sour cream and it would have been ten times better. Meat would have been good, too. Considering I was in a bind, I think I did decently, and the veggies I added certainly helped the cause, I prefer meat with my potatoes and any kind of meat (chicken or steak or crumbled lean beef) would have made this 2-3 points more and ten times tastier.

BEER
Ok this is something I am on the fence about. I wasted 5.5 points on drinks. That is pretty lame but everyone knows it’s my favorite drink. If I had drank water instead I would have been able to fit in more food. However since I knew there was nothing to really prepare it was easier to make the beer choice. If I had had 2 light beers instead of regular, that would have been 4 points. I like my beer to taste good (in other words I hate light beer), but I probably should have had just one. Heck, while we are at it, I should probably have none. If I tell you I am totally cutting out beer, you may as well make a date with the flying pig tomorrow.

Fruit & Vegetables. Need more. My 2 potatoes and pico and green onions were pretty much nothing. I am not counting the red peppers from the lean pocket because I am not desparate.

Healthy Oils
They say if you follow the plan you must get all your checkmarks. I never understood the oils thing and I don’t care to follow it. I know some people take a shot of flax oil. No thanks.

Activity.
Need time.

I finally got out of bed at 12:30 and the first thing that I thought about was food. I thought Pho would be awesome and when I walked into the living room, J asked me if I would mind getting us Pho. How convenient! Was he in my head? I went and grabbed some (Chicken Pho for me and Beef for him) along with a few chinese pastries from the Sheng Kee next door to the Pho place. I ended up getting bored around 2 or 3 and drove down to Savers in Redwood City. Savers is kind of like a department store of used or broken stuff. I am very partial to Salvation Army type of stores and I have not been to Savers so today seemed like the perfect day to check it out. It was interesting…. I did not find any clothing that I would wear, unfortunately, but the store definitely has potential. I am always in the handbag and shoes section in those stores because you can find some designer purses for cheap if you look hard enough (sometimes). Today was definitely a bust in that department, however the store had so much stuff it was hard not buying crap simply because of how cheap it was. For instance, there were 3-4 electric sandwich makers that were like new and only $3.99 or something. I always thought that those were cute, but I do not remotely need one of those. We have a George Foreman that makes awesome sandwiches and everything else we could want.

The electronics department is a hoot. It is like the perfect example of where people’s stuff goes to die. There were 8-10 VCRs, 5-6 old scratched up George Foremans, Bissel steam cleaners with no cords, iced tea makers, etc, etc etc. It was good times. I spent probably more than an hour in there, keeping an eye out for valuables that were cheap but no dice today. I did pick out a Weight Watchers mug, I have been eyeing these online for some time. Basically it is a giant mug with a straw that has the day’s amount of water so you can make yourself drink your daily water easily. Hehe. It was only 99 cents, but when they rang me up it was 47 cents. Now THAT is a good friggin deal. Online they are 7 bucks plus shipping.

After that I was craving some coffee, and I realized we had nothing to eat for dinner at home so I hit up Safeway with a Starbucks inside. I swear, Starbucks makes grocery shopping so pleasant. I enjoyed a Peppermint Mocha and a Cranberry Bliss Bar. They were both heavenly. I grabbed a frozen pizza and some salad for dinner. I am going to the gym tomorrow so I am eating what I feel like tonight, dammit! Oh right, I never told you about that.

So I was researching gyms in the area and I stumbled across one, Powerhouse Gym. It has a $60 processing fee (39 dollars cheaper than every other gym), and $32 dollars a month (13 dollars cheaper than the next cheapest gym). The yelp reviews on the place were fantastic, and I emailed them to ask if I could get a free pass so I could try it out before I decide to join. They said sure, as long as I redeem his offer before Christmas. I figure it is best that I give it a try. There are 2 gyms across the street from my work but they are super expensive. I would love it to be more convenient but at that price it seems silly. I could technically still use the EA gym but I was not happy with the amount of machines in there. They also did not have an ab machine and I love ab machines. So, tomorrow morning I am going to get up early and try out the gym. It will be hard at first but I really need to get my ass into better shape. It is just sad how much extra fat I have on my body.

As for diet, I am going to stick to a relatively simple lower (but not too low) calorie diet. Egg whites and toast for breakfast, lots of tuna and chicken. I will do 5 days on/2 off for the eating so I can still drink and eat junk on weekends. Even though its better to stick to a diet 100%, I am being realistic and I will want beer and eat along with J on the weekends. If I try to act like I wont, I will just fall off. So we shall see how that goes! I am sick of trying new things and bringing up diets all the time but I will just have to keep trying until something works!

Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli

Fat 9g      Calories 350
Vitamin A - 90%DV     Calcium - 20%DV
Vitamin C - 15%DV     Dietary Fiber - 24%DV
Weight Watchers® Points® 7
Vegetable Servings 2
Wow, this was a really good Lean Cuisine meal.  It is one of the only times I have chosen to go “meatless” in my lunches and I am truly floored. It tastes amazing, and the butternut squash is slightly sweet. I was not hungry afterwards, which is quite a shock, because since I started ditching eating out and started eating Lean Cuisines, I am normally wishing for a little something more after lunch. Not so with this one! It has 5-6 medium sized raviolis, and then TONS of vegetables with a rich tasty sauce. I finished the raviolis quickly but had a plate of vegetables to finish. I made myself finish the vegetables and wow, I was satisfied! I am going to make this one a regular in my rotation that is for sure. For those on a budget, if you sign up for the Lean Cuisine newsletter, you will receive a coupon for $1.00 off of 2 Lean Cuisines. If you use the coupon when the Lean Cuisines are on sale, ($2.00-$2.50 on sale here) you will receive a dolar off and that is a great deal for 2 lunches!

I tried Weight Watchers in the past and it worked… but counting points is bad because even when you reach a good weight you are going to stop the counting and then you can’t eat like a “normal” person (that was me!). Even though nowadays “normal” is fat kinda, isn’t that odd? Anyway, my point is, I am just trying to eat lots of salad. I really like salad. You can’t expect me to live on it, but I do really like it, but I am always tempted by bad stuff! Well J asked me to go to McD’s for him, and I stopped and got a salad from the store on the way. It was NOT easy cause I was starving. It worked out though. I suppose I do have willpower then don’t I? Well it is day 2 of eating salad for dinner and a lean cuisine for lunch. Oh and special k as a late night snack if I want one, cause I actually like special k. The chocolate one is really good! I am learning to like the Lean Cuisines as well. It really takes a while of trying before you find the ones that you like. I actually plan on posting mini-reviews of the ones I try here on this blog. There is a much better site that already does this: HeatEatReview - however that is them and this is basically for me so I remember which ones I like so I buy them again. After you’ve had a lot, you forget which one you hated that sounded good, then you get it again and go “OH YEAHHH! THIS ONE SUCKED!”