This morning I took Ruby for a 50 minute walk at Windy Hill which is, as the name suggests, a hill and thus pretty good exercise. After I took her home, I went shopping. Of course, I hadn't taken the precaution of eating anything at home after my walk, so by the time I got to the pet food store I was feeling hungry. Ah, I think, I can feel a coffee at that Starbucks right there coming on. So I buy my nonfat decaf latte (nicknamed the "Why Bother?" by the staff in our local Starbucks) and add to it a Fruit, Nut and Cheese Platter (460 calories) as that is the only thing available to eat that isn't cake.
It consists of half an apple, a small wedge of brie, a little cube of gouda, and a slice of cheddar, accompanied by two wholewheat crackers and what appears to be a quarter cup of unsalted almonds with dried cranberries. It was actually pretty tasty and filling, and generally just what the doctor ordered.
The breakdown of nutrition reveals 29g fat, 34g carbs, 6g fiber, and 19g protein. I'm not really sure where all that carbohydrate is coming from, but there you are. Plug it into the WeightWatchers calculator and get out 12 points spent. Yikes! I guess I can see where it is coming from now I reflect upon it... The apple would count as zero points. The almonds and cranberries can't be more than 4 points, and the crackers surely no more than 2. So the cheese must be the remaining 6 points, which makes sense when you consider that one ounce of brie is 3 points all by itself.
The other thing I wanted to comment on was the price. It cost $4.95. I reckon that, even on a generous calculation - given that Starbucks can buy everything wholesale - the contents can't cost more than around $2.50 (cheese $1, apple $0.50, crackers $0.25, almonds and cranberries $0.50, packaging $0.30). So the markup is around 100%. Not a bad way to make a profit, eh?
Showing posts with label points. Show all posts
Showing posts with label points. Show all posts
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Mmmm, Bacon's Up.
It's Wednesday, and that means cleaners at our house. They take over the entire house and clean every room simultaneously for a total of four hours. That might make it seem like we live in some kind of mansion, but we don't. We do have a nice house, but the main factor is their obsessive need to clean every surface, move every piece of furniture, and even tidy up inside drawers and cupboards. My usual strategy is to go out for lunch as it is impossible to eat while other people are working so hard.
Generally on a Wednesday, the diner at Stanford - the Palo Alto Creamery, Fountain and Grill, to give it its proper name - calls to me. And Ruby. We typically go for lunch, or brunch, or whatever you want to call it, and Ruby enjoys a little under-the-table treat, before we head off for a walk. The wait staff often bring her out a bowl of water and a dog biscuit, which she never eats as she doesn't like "milk bones" as they are called. Today lunch was two poached eggs, hash browns, four slices of crisply cooked bacon, and a slice of cracked wheat toast with raspberry jam, plus decaf coffee. This comes to a princely 14 Weightwatchers points, and worth every one of them. Ruby enjoyed her morsels of bacon and potato. In the past I have bought a side of bacon just for her, but I think we need to watch her weight too... and having an extra side of bacon on the table is no inducement to good behavior for Dr Mom!!
We rounded off our lunch with a 50 minute walk at the Palo Alto Baylands (worth 3 points).
Generally on a Wednesday, the diner at Stanford - the Palo Alto Creamery, Fountain and Grill, to give it its proper name - calls to me. And Ruby. We typically go for lunch, or brunch, or whatever you want to call it, and Ruby enjoys a little under-the-table treat, before we head off for a walk. The wait staff often bring her out a bowl of water and a dog biscuit, which she never eats as she doesn't like "milk bones" as they are called. Today lunch was two poached eggs, hash browns, four slices of crisply cooked bacon, and a slice of cracked wheat toast with raspberry jam, plus decaf coffee. This comes to a princely 14 Weightwatchers points, and worth every one of them. Ruby enjoyed her morsels of bacon and potato. In the past I have bought a side of bacon just for her, but I think we need to watch her weight too... and having an extra side of bacon on the table is no inducement to good behavior for Dr Mom!!
We rounded off our lunch with a 50 minute walk at the Palo Alto Baylands (worth 3 points).
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Snacking is bad for you - shock
Well, it's not bad for you if you then reduce the amount of food you eat at the meals. In fact, eating many small meals are better for you than a small number of big meals. But the harm is done when the meals are normal, and the snacks are additional. I'm just reviewing my points for today, which came in at 43. I earned 10 activity points today (walked the dog twice for a total of 80 minutes, dance class tonight with about 90 minutes activity). So I spent my daily allowance of 29, my activity earnings of 10, and squandered 4 points from the weekly floating allowance.
If I look back on the scores for the day, I spent 4 points for breakfast, 12 points for lunch, 13 points for dinner, and 13 points on snacks. If I had not eaten the snacks, then I'd have been a more reasonable one point over the daily allowance. (Are you following this?)
Ergo, if one stops snacking, one should lose weight faster. QED.
Mind you, the snack in question was a large latte and a chocolate croissant from the Mayfield Bakery, so they were points well spent.
If I look back on the scores for the day, I spent 4 points for breakfast, 12 points for lunch, 13 points for dinner, and 13 points on snacks. If I had not eaten the snacks, then I'd have been a more reasonable one point over the daily allowance. (Are you following this?)
Ergo, if one stops snacking, one should lose weight faster. QED.
Mind you, the snack in question was a large latte and a chocolate croissant from the Mayfield Bakery, so they were points well spent.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Keep on Snacking
I haven't eaten anything very extravagent this week, so I am hopeful that there will be a small loss on Wednesday. We did have "smorgasbord" lunch yesterday at a friend's house - involving bagels (sharp intake of breath), salami (ouch) and various other bits and bobs - but this followed a 90 minute walk at Fremont Older, with a lot of uphill.
Anyway, today I wanted to share with you a tale of two chewy bars.
First exhibit, the "Pure Fit" bar, granola crunch flavor. 210 calories. Vegan, gluten free, blah blah. Verdict? Looks like dog poo, tastes like dog poo, smells like dog poo...
Need I say more than that I nibbled the end and then threw it away. Bleugh. I didn't bother to work out the points, as I'll never eat one.
Second exhibit, the KIND fruit and nut bar in apricot and almond flavor. Now that's more like it. Crunchy, chewy, sweet and salty all at once. Alas, it costs 5 weightwatchers points. FIVE. That is the same as two boiled eggs and a slice of toast.
These snack bars are a killer.
Anyway, today I wanted to share with you a tale of two chewy bars.
First exhibit, the "Pure Fit" bar, granola crunch flavor. 210 calories. Vegan, gluten free, blah blah. Verdict? Looks like dog poo, tastes like dog poo, smells like dog poo...
Need I say more than that I nibbled the end and then threw it away. Bleugh. I didn't bother to work out the points, as I'll never eat one.
Second exhibit, the KIND fruit and nut bar in apricot and almond flavor. Now that's more like it. Crunchy, chewy, sweet and salty all at once. Alas, it costs 5 weightwatchers points. FIVE. That is the same as two boiled eggs and a slice of toast.
These snack bars are a killer.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Not a Very Successful Week
I have got to the end of another week, and my points score is -2. That means I've eated all the points for each day (29) plus all the points for the week (49) plus all the points I've earned through exercise (16 this week). Not a very good result.
I can tell you exactly where the problems arose. First was that hazelnut blackberry muffin at Peet's Coffee on Wednesday: 14 points, more than a whole meal. Then there was the meal out with my friends on Thursday, that I calculated at 29 points all by itself. Saturday lunchtime was also a rather scary 21 points, a result of eating a bacon cheeseburger and a few fries at the cafe near Windy Hill. My excuses for that one are (1) the kids needed to eat at the end of a walk, and (2) the cafe only sells pizza and burgers.
By today I had lost hope. I ate some chocolate and a brownie bite at lunchtime because I knew I had gone over my allowance. For some people, that knowledge would make them stricter with themselves. Doesn't work that way for Dr Willpower.
I can tell you exactly where the problems arose. First was that hazelnut blackberry muffin at Peet's Coffee on Wednesday: 14 points, more than a whole meal. Then there was the meal out with my friends on Thursday, that I calculated at 29 points all by itself. Saturday lunchtime was also a rather scary 21 points, a result of eating a bacon cheeseburger and a few fries at the cafe near Windy Hill. My excuses for that one are (1) the kids needed to eat at the end of a walk, and (2) the cafe only sells pizza and burgers.
By today I had lost hope. I ate some chocolate and a brownie bite at lunchtime because I knew I had gone over my allowance. For some people, that knowledge would make them stricter with themselves. Doesn't work that way for Dr Willpower.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Further Cake Horror
I was yet again killing time before going to Reading Partners, and I yet again ended up at Peet's Coffee. I had my usual medium nonfat latte (3 points, and a "power food" according to Weightwatchers); but I also yet again succumbed to the temptations of the pastry and cake cabinet.
Today I opted for a Hazlenut and Blackberry Muffin, which was a whole lot tastier than the reduced fat thing I had on Monday. Alas, it cost me as many points as a whole meal - fourteen. Yes, that's 14 points for one muffin. Here's the nutritional breakdown of the item:
500 calories
Fat 26g
Carbs 62g
Fiber 2g
Protein 8g
Sodium 450 mg
Given that I had got into the habit of eating a coffee shop cake or pastry every day, I can see why I was piling on the pounds. I brought home the Peet's nutritional guide and just did the points calculation for all the items I might be tempted to eat. The lowest is the Lemon Poppyseed Muffin, weighing in at 260 calories and 7 points. It turns out that the muffin I ate today is the costliest, tying with Gingerbread Loaf Bread at 500 calories and 14 points. The reduced fat items tend to come in around 11 points, because the reduction in fat is made up by an increase in sugar, in an attempt to get the product to taste decent.
If you try to lose weight by eating reduced fat sweet items, you are clearly just kidding yourself.
Today I opted for a Hazlenut and Blackberry Muffin, which was a whole lot tastier than the reduced fat thing I had on Monday. Alas, it cost me as many points as a whole meal - fourteen. Yes, that's 14 points for one muffin. Here's the nutritional breakdown of the item:
500 calories
Fat 26g
Carbs 62g
Fiber 2g
Protein 8g
Sodium 450 mg
Given that I had got into the habit of eating a coffee shop cake or pastry every day, I can see why I was piling on the pounds. I brought home the Peet's nutritional guide and just did the points calculation for all the items I might be tempted to eat. The lowest is the Lemon Poppyseed Muffin, weighing in at 260 calories and 7 points. It turns out that the muffin I ate today is the costliest, tying with Gingerbread Loaf Bread at 500 calories and 14 points. The reduced fat items tend to come in around 11 points, because the reduction in fat is made up by an increase in sugar, in an attempt to get the product to taste decent.
If you try to lose weight by eating reduced fat sweet items, you are clearly just kidding yourself.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Cake Horror
This morning I had 45 minutes to kill between dropping off Little Starlet at school and getting to my volunteering gig in Mountain View. It was also perishingly cold - I even had to scrape the car before setting off from home. So the temptation to head to a cosy coffee shop was strong.
I ended up in Peet's Coffee - http://www.peets.com/ - which is a locally based chain. I had a nonfat latte, so far so good; but then I succumbed to the baked goods counter. Oh woe is me.
I now know that a slice of Peet's Reduced Fat Chocolate Cherry Cranberry Bread is worth 11 Weightwatchers points. It contains 70g of carbohydrate! And it didn't even taste that good.
I made up for it by eating a cheese sandwich for dinner.
I ended up in Peet's Coffee - http://www.peets.com/ - which is a locally based chain. I had a nonfat latte, so far so good; but then I succumbed to the baked goods counter. Oh woe is me.
I now know that a slice of Peet's Reduced Fat Chocolate Cherry Cranberry Bread is worth 11 Weightwatchers points. It contains 70g of carbohydrate! And it didn't even taste that good.
I made up for it by eating a cheese sandwich for dinner.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
I Like Weightwatchers' Recipes
Weekends are definitely harder. I've only managed 30 minutes out with the dog today, because this morning I had to supervise Little Starlet and two friends organizing themselves for a bake sale (the torture - I have to bake cake for it) on Friday in support of Pennies for Peace (www.penniesforpeace,org), so Hubby took Ruby and himself out without me.
Then Deep Thought arrived back from her soccer practice bearing chocolate chip cookies from Peet's Coffee. She had, for the very first time, taken herself off to Peet's after practice to buy a hot chocolate - how the babies grow - and her altruistic impulses insisted that she not return empty handed. Cookies were duly stowed for dessert after lunch.
For lunch we had tilapia with boiled potatoes, asparagus (which the children pretty much refused to eat) and home made hollandaise sauce, courtesy of the Weightwatchers website. I have always avoided making hollandaise sauce, despite it being a critical ingredient of Eggs Benedict, which is one of my favorite meals, as the story goes that it is very hard to make. Poppycock, I say, it turned out to be very easy. The Weightwatchers recipe was: 1/3 cup butter, 2 egg yolks, 2 tbsp water, dash of salt, lemon juice to taste. Whisk the egg and water together till frothy. Then put over a double burner and continue whisking. As the mixture begins to firm up, pour in the butter (already melted in the microwave) and whisk some more. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice and salt to taste. It worked really well and was worth only one point.
Then we had half a cookie each, which was five points. Yikes.
I think the main thing about the points system is the way it makes you size up your food choices. Will I get as much satisfaction from the 4oz pot of yoghurt for four points or the seven crisps (yes, I mean individual crisps)? For five points I can have two boiled eggs and a slice of toast - or half a cookie. Of course, you don't always want to be eating egg etc, and sometimes the craving for sweet is almost overwhelming. Tonight's experiment in snack food is going to be cottage cheese with strawberries, in a 100 calorie pot courtesy of Kraft.
Now all I have to decide is what's for dinner: cottage pie or baked potatoes?
Then Deep Thought arrived back from her soccer practice bearing chocolate chip cookies from Peet's Coffee. She had, for the very first time, taken herself off to Peet's after practice to buy a hot chocolate - how the babies grow - and her altruistic impulses insisted that she not return empty handed. Cookies were duly stowed for dessert after lunch.
For lunch we had tilapia with boiled potatoes, asparagus (which the children pretty much refused to eat) and home made hollandaise sauce, courtesy of the Weightwatchers website. I have always avoided making hollandaise sauce, despite it being a critical ingredient of Eggs Benedict, which is one of my favorite meals, as the story goes that it is very hard to make. Poppycock, I say, it turned out to be very easy. The Weightwatchers recipe was: 1/3 cup butter, 2 egg yolks, 2 tbsp water, dash of salt, lemon juice to taste. Whisk the egg and water together till frothy. Then put over a double burner and continue whisking. As the mixture begins to firm up, pour in the butter (already melted in the microwave) and whisk some more. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice and salt to taste. It worked really well and was worth only one point.
Then we had half a cookie each, which was five points. Yikes.
I think the main thing about the points system is the way it makes you size up your food choices. Will I get as much satisfaction from the 4oz pot of yoghurt for four points or the seven crisps (yes, I mean individual crisps)? For five points I can have two boiled eggs and a slice of toast - or half a cookie. Of course, you don't always want to be eating egg etc, and sometimes the craving for sweet is almost overwhelming. Tonight's experiment in snack food is going to be cottage cheese with strawberries, in a 100 calorie pot courtesy of Kraft.
Now all I have to decide is what's for dinner: cottage pie or baked potatoes?
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Weekends are Hard
Not having such a successful day today, though not for lack of portion control or not over-eating. The problem today is that the options have been too calorific.
Breakfast - rice chex and milk (while I cooked the kids a cheese omelette with beans)
Lunch - whole wheat bread stick with sunflower seeds (9 points!), cheese, and one slice of ham
Snack - Starbucks nonfat milk latte and a biscotti (which was 5 points all on its own!!)
Dinner - Quesadilla, for which the tortilla came in at 5 points too.
So today (so far) I have eaten my daily allowance, plus exchanged all my activity points, and eaten one point off my weekly allowance of 49. (For those who don't know, the Weightwatchers system gives you a daily allowance of "points", in my case 29, plus a weekly allowance, which I think is 49 for everyone; and you can earn points from doing exercise which you are then allowed to exchange for food points. You can either save your activity points and spend them at the end of the week, or you can exchange them on a daily basis. I chose the latter, as it seems more honest.)
Despite this discouraging total, I have to express some satisfaction at my willpower in Starbucks. They had holiday gingerbread for sale, which I really like. 440 calories per slice, with 74g of carbohydrate, adding up to a mighty 12 points according to the Weightwatchers calculator. That is more points than I have been eating for either lunch or dinner this week.
Given that I'd got into the habit of eating a cake or pastry every day, no wonder I had hit 160 lbs.
Breakfast - rice chex and milk (while I cooked the kids a cheese omelette with beans)
Lunch - whole wheat bread stick with sunflower seeds (9 points!), cheese, and one slice of ham
Snack - Starbucks nonfat milk latte and a biscotti (which was 5 points all on its own!!)
Dinner - Quesadilla, for which the tortilla came in at 5 points too.
So today (so far) I have eaten my daily allowance, plus exchanged all my activity points, and eaten one point off my weekly allowance of 49. (For those who don't know, the Weightwatchers system gives you a daily allowance of "points", in my case 29, plus a weekly allowance, which I think is 49 for everyone; and you can earn points from doing exercise which you are then allowed to exchange for food points. You can either save your activity points and spend them at the end of the week, or you can exchange them on a daily basis. I chose the latter, as it seems more honest.)
Despite this discouraging total, I have to express some satisfaction at my willpower in Starbucks. They had holiday gingerbread for sale, which I really like. 440 calories per slice, with 74g of carbohydrate, adding up to a mighty 12 points according to the Weightwatchers calculator. That is more points than I have been eating for either lunch or dinner this week.
Given that I'd got into the habit of eating a cake or pastry every day, no wonder I had hit 160 lbs.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Return of the Settled Insides
Not quite so vegetarian today, though still not a fully fledged meat eater. Today's food:
Breakfast - rice chex and milk.
Lunch - 2 egg omelette with a bit of cheddar cheese, and a side of baked beans. Fat free yoghurt.
Afternoon - Starbucks latte with fat free milk. Resisted cake.
Dinner - Angel hair pasta with a small piece of tilapia (a flat white fish), in lemon juice and capers.
Today I am feeling pretty hungry, but the insides have settled down considerably. You will notice that there is not so much as one lettuce leaf on the food list for today. Lemon juice can be risky, as acid can play havoc with my innards, but so far so good since dinner. (I keep mistyping "good" as "food" which I presume is deeply Freudian in some way.)
I walked Ruby Dog for an hour this morning and consequently have five points saved up for a little something in front of the telly after the kids have gone to bed. Mm, could it be a quarter cup of trail mix? And, yes, that is as small a quantity as it sounds.
Breakfast - rice chex and milk.
Lunch - 2 egg omelette with a bit of cheddar cheese, and a side of baked beans. Fat free yoghurt.
Afternoon - Starbucks latte with fat free milk. Resisted cake.
Dinner - Angel hair pasta with a small piece of tilapia (a flat white fish), in lemon juice and capers.
Today I am feeling pretty hungry, but the insides have settled down considerably. You will notice that there is not so much as one lettuce leaf on the food list for today. Lemon juice can be risky, as acid can play havoc with my innards, but so far so good since dinner. (I keep mistyping "good" as "food" which I presume is deeply Freudian in some way.)
I walked Ruby Dog for an hour this morning and consequently have five points saved up for a little something in front of the telly after the kids have gone to bed. Mm, could it be a quarter cup of trail mix? And, yes, that is as small a quantity as it sounds.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
New Year, New Start
Hello again. It's been a while.
Dr Mom weighed in this morning at 160.6 lbs, again a record for heaviness. The first day of the year didn't go so well, food-wise, involving as it did a cooked breakfast, a burger for lunch, three mince pies, a Flake, pasta with cream for dinner, and a bowl of trail mix. But against that I have to mention the five hours sleep of the night before, and in such circumstances it is essential to keep eating tasty junk food in order to stay awake.
But today is the start of a brave new world. Again.
I was just watching some video of myself dancing on New Year's Eve. Tummy. Large boobies. Expansive bottom. And did I mention the tummy? Oh dear, really got to do something about that.
First step is to re-awake Weightwatchers. I logged in and discovered it had changed in my absence. It's like some perverse version of the supermarkets moving all the food around to make you spend more. Turns out that they have recalibrated all the foods so that I now have a higher point availability for each day and extra for the week (29 and 49 respectively). So it must mean that one point no longer roughly equals 100 calories - some more subtle algorithm is in play. Bah.
Hungry. Must drink tea.
Dr Mom weighed in this morning at 160.6 lbs, again a record for heaviness. The first day of the year didn't go so well, food-wise, involving as it did a cooked breakfast, a burger for lunch, three mince pies, a Flake, pasta with cream for dinner, and a bowl of trail mix. But against that I have to mention the five hours sleep of the night before, and in such circumstances it is essential to keep eating tasty junk food in order to stay awake.
But today is the start of a brave new world. Again.
I was just watching some video of myself dancing on New Year's Eve. Tummy. Large boobies. Expansive bottom. And did I mention the tummy? Oh dear, really got to do something about that.
First step is to re-awake Weightwatchers. I logged in and discovered it had changed in my absence. It's like some perverse version of the supermarkets moving all the food around to make you spend more. Turns out that they have recalibrated all the foods so that I now have a higher point availability for each day and extra for the week (29 and 49 respectively). So it must mean that one point no longer roughly equals 100 calories - some more subtle algorithm is in play. Bah.
Hungry. Must drink tea.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Perfect End to Dinner
As forecast, we went to Country Gourmet - http:://www.country-gourmet.com - for dinner: Basmati rice with stir-fried vegetables and chicken. I'd forgotten that they serve gargantuan portions, so I only ate about half the rice, all the chicken, and half the veggies. Deep Thought had a tuna melt, which looked rather good and was clearly a better size for a regular human being. Little Starlet had a garlicky pasta dish which had an overwhelming aroma. Both the kids finished off dinner with a sundae, from which the teeniest bites were consumed by parents.
On the way home, Little Starlet threw up in the back of my car. My nice, clean, ten day old car. I have wiped the vomit off the back seat, but I guess my first stop tomorrow will be the car wash.
On the bright side, I participated in the children's dance class this afternoon, so I think that counts quite adequately as 30 minutes of vigorous exercise.
On the way home, Little Starlet threw up in the back of my car. My nice, clean, ten day old car. I have wiped the vomit off the back seat, but I guess my first stop tomorrow will be the car wash.
On the bright side, I participated in the children's dance class this afternoon, so I think that counts quite adequately as 30 minutes of vigorous exercise.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Cake and Happiness
We did go out for pizza last night and I was sooooo goooood. I ate half a pizza, when I would normally have eated a whole one (some 1200 calories, according to the California Pizza Kitchen's nutritional menu); and I also shared a salad with Hubby. He suspects that the salad had a fair few calories in it, as he chose the "Thai Chicken Salad" which turned out to have deep fried noodley things on the top and a sweet dressing, but still - ! Salad!
The best part was that I went to bed without a headache and got up in the morning without one too. There may well be something in my mother's theory.
Today I was quite good and a little bit bad. Weetabix for breakfast. Wholewheat pitta bread with curried chicken salad for lunch.
I did accidentally eat a two egg cheese omelette mid-morning.... Well, I was teaching Deep Thought how to make one (for her own snack) and Little Starlet requested one. Then Little Starlet was very rude about Deep Thought's product (which was actually perfect) so I told her she couldn't eat it. And I couldn't waste it, could I? And WeightWatchers thinks that eggs are good - a "filling food". So that was only four points of harm done.
Then this afternoon we stopped off at my favorite coffee shop - the French one - to pick up coffee and snackerel for the afternoon. The kids had been at a dance class and I'd promised them a treat. We each had a very small chocolate cake (1" square) which was delicious, and just the perfect size. I count that as naughty but nice, and in keeping with manifesto points 2 (everything in moderation), 3 (no deprivation) and 8 (one visit to a coffee shop per day).
The thing I am noticing is that I am not wanting to eat so much in one sitting. I had got into the habit of eating till I felt a bit queasy, or had that badly stuffed feeling, and now I am able to stop when I get to the end of what seems an appropriate portion.
Tonight we are having healthy roast chicken, boiled potatoes and some other vegetable. (Hubby is cooking.)
The
The best part was that I went to bed without a headache and got up in the morning without one too. There may well be something in my mother's theory.
Today I was quite good and a little bit bad. Weetabix for breakfast. Wholewheat pitta bread with curried chicken salad for lunch.
I did accidentally eat a two egg cheese omelette mid-morning.... Well, I was teaching Deep Thought how to make one (for her own snack) and Little Starlet requested one. Then Little Starlet was very rude about Deep Thought's product (which was actually perfect) so I told her she couldn't eat it. And I couldn't waste it, could I? And WeightWatchers thinks that eggs are good - a "filling food". So that was only four points of harm done.
Then this afternoon we stopped off at my favorite coffee shop - the French one - to pick up coffee and snackerel for the afternoon. The kids had been at a dance class and I'd promised them a treat. We each had a very small chocolate cake (1" square) which was delicious, and just the perfect size. I count that as naughty but nice, and in keeping with manifesto points 2 (everything in moderation), 3 (no deprivation) and 8 (one visit to a coffee shop per day).
The thing I am noticing is that I am not wanting to eat so much in one sitting. I had got into the habit of eating till I felt a bit queasy, or had that badly stuffed feeling, and now I am able to stop when I get to the end of what seems an appropriate portion.
Tonight we are having healthy roast chicken, boiled potatoes and some other vegetable. (Hubby is cooking.)
The
Monday, January 11, 2010
Heaping Failure Upon Failure
I really am doing very badly at this dieting thing.
I've started religiously putting my food into the WeightWatchers points tracker, and am being reminded (as I was last time I did it) of how monsterous it is that boring stuff can cost so many points (aka calories). For dinner tonight, in lieu of the out-of-date tortellini that I had planned to give us - Monday night has to be a fast dinner because the girls have a dance class that ends late - I ended up serving gnocchi and alfredo sauce. How bland can you get? A small plate, nay, a teeny tiny plate, of this stuff cost me EIGHT points. Oh come on. A chocolate croissant comes out at six.
So I am reminded that I need to (1) stick to tomato based sauces, (2) cut down on cheese (a mere 2oz, which is barely enough to dress two crispbread, comes out at six points), (3) drink more tea.
Today I had a meeting in a coffee shop, so I did drink a nonfat, decaf latte - which the local Starbucks guys refer to as a "What's the Point". Truly.
I've started religiously putting my food into the WeightWatchers points tracker, and am being reminded (as I was last time I did it) of how monsterous it is that boring stuff can cost so many points (aka calories). For dinner tonight, in lieu of the out-of-date tortellini that I had planned to give us - Monday night has to be a fast dinner because the girls have a dance class that ends late - I ended up serving gnocchi and alfredo sauce. How bland can you get? A small plate, nay, a teeny tiny plate, of this stuff cost me EIGHT points. Oh come on. A chocolate croissant comes out at six.
So I am reminded that I need to (1) stick to tomato based sauces, (2) cut down on cheese (a mere 2oz, which is barely enough to dress two crispbread, comes out at six points), (3) drink more tea.
Today I had a meeting in a coffee shop, so I did drink a nonfat, decaf latte - which the local Starbucks guys refer to as a "What's the Point". Truly.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Another Disasterous Day
I was doing so well too. We went to the diner this morning, and I elected to reject my usual Eggs Benedict (1,000,000 calories) and have two poached eggs with toast instead. All very modest, and highly approved of by WeightWatchers. Then I had an extremely Dieting Luncheon, consisting of two crisp bread, a bit of cheese, half an apple and two slices of tomato.
Then the girls got into a big grumpy mood. The only thing that would bring them round was a promise to play "restaurant". So we selected our menu, went food shopping, came back and cooked it, and then Little Starlet was the server while Hubby and Deep Thought were the customers (LS and I joined after the paying folks were served). The menu was a thoroughly British homemade deep-fried fish and chips with peas, Heinz treacle pudding with Ambrosia Devon Custard, and mugs of steaming tea. All very yummy actually - though the batter decided that it preferred to cook separately from the fish, which ruined the presentation but still tasted good - but according to WeightWatchers amounted to 19 points.
This brings my daily total to over 30 points (The injustice! After eating crispbread for lunch!) which translates into something like 3,000 calories. (Footnote: From what I can see, 1 point equals about 100 calories. It just makes the numbers smaller for the hard of thinking...? Or perhaps there's more to it than that.)
I feel nice and full, but somewhat horrified. Of course, I should have known better, and served everyone else the fish etc while I stuck with more crispbreads.
Looking on the bright side, I didn't visit a coffee shop today.
Then the girls got into a big grumpy mood. The only thing that would bring them round was a promise to play "restaurant". So we selected our menu, went food shopping, came back and cooked it, and then Little Starlet was the server while Hubby and Deep Thought were the customers (LS and I joined after the paying folks were served). The menu was a thoroughly British homemade deep-fried fish and chips with peas, Heinz treacle pudding with Ambrosia Devon Custard, and mugs of steaming tea. All very yummy actually - though the batter decided that it preferred to cook separately from the fish, which ruined the presentation but still tasted good - but according to WeightWatchers amounted to 19 points.
This brings my daily total to over 30 points (The injustice! After eating crispbread for lunch!) which translates into something like 3,000 calories. (Footnote: From what I can see, 1 point equals about 100 calories. It just makes the numbers smaller for the hard of thinking...? Or perhaps there's more to it than that.)
I feel nice and full, but somewhat horrified. Of course, I should have known better, and served everyone else the fish etc while I stuck with more crispbreads.
Looking on the bright side, I didn't visit a coffee shop today.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
A Chewy Mistake
I was late going to the supermarket and got hungry, so I picked up a chewy bar thing called "Kind Plus Protein" (in Almond, Walnut and Macadamia flavor). 40g bar, 210 calories. I just put it into my WeightWatchers "points tracker" and discovered that it is worth FIVE points - which is the same as my entire dinner last night.
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