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.
Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Life and Death Adventures
I went off to my San Jose meeting this morning sustained by nothing more than a bowl of rice chex and a cup of chamomile tea. By leaving the house ten minutes later than I intended, I prevented myself from stopping off at the Starbucks next to my meeting place. Of such confluences of unintended actions are diets made, methinks.
After that meeting I headed back to Palo Alto for my lunch meeting at Lavanda, on University Avenue. My host was already there, so we got straight into business and ordering. After he chose a club sandwich, I felt compelled to order from that part of the menu too - and my eye alighted on the croque monsieur. I am very partial to croque monsieur, and I was awfully hungry. It was tasty too. (For those who do not know, a croque monsieur is a grilled sandwich with ham in the middle and cheese melted on the top. A croque madam is the same, but with the addition of a soft-yolked fried egg on top. Extra yummy.) My concession to health was to reject the side of French fries in favor of mixed salad leaves. I drank fizzy water and a filter coffee sweetened with Splenda (bleugh).
Alas, Weightwatchers thinks that the average croque monsieur comes in at a hefty 12 points, so maybe it wasn't the best choice. Cheese rarely is. But it was worth it!
After lunch, I was almost run over. For real. I waited at the lights at the crossing. The lights changed, and I had the walk signal. i stepped out into the road - at the same moment that a large mom-mobile hurtled towards me, screeching its brakes, and ending up in the middle of the intersection with cars coming at it along the road that was on green. I just stood there, somewhat surprised. It literally missed me by a foot or so. If I had been walking slightly faster, I'd have been in hospital now. It turns out that a woman I know was actually in one of the other cars at the intersection, and when I saw her later in the day she commented on how impressed she was by my cool reaction: No banging on the offending car, swearing or anything. Well, it's that famous British stiff upper lip, isn't it?
After that meeting I headed back to Palo Alto for my lunch meeting at Lavanda, on University Avenue. My host was already there, so we got straight into business and ordering. After he chose a club sandwich, I felt compelled to order from that part of the menu too - and my eye alighted on the croque monsieur. I am very partial to croque monsieur, and I was awfully hungry. It was tasty too. (For those who do not know, a croque monsieur is a grilled sandwich with ham in the middle and cheese melted on the top. A croque madam is the same, but with the addition of a soft-yolked fried egg on top. Extra yummy.) My concession to health was to reject the side of French fries in favor of mixed salad leaves. I drank fizzy water and a filter coffee sweetened with Splenda (bleugh).
Alas, Weightwatchers thinks that the average croque monsieur comes in at a hefty 12 points, so maybe it wasn't the best choice. Cheese rarely is. But it was worth it!
After lunch, I was almost run over. For real. I waited at the lights at the crossing. The lights changed, and I had the walk signal. i stepped out into the road - at the same moment that a large mom-mobile hurtled towards me, screeching its brakes, and ending up in the middle of the intersection with cars coming at it along the road that was on green. I just stood there, somewhat surprised. It literally missed me by a foot or so. If I had been walking slightly faster, I'd have been in hospital now. It turns out that a woman I know was actually in one of the other cars at the intersection, and when I saw her later in the day she commented on how impressed she was by my cool reaction: No banging on the offending car, swearing or anything. Well, it's that famous British stiff upper lip, isn't it?
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Groaning Waistbands
Oh my goodness, the fondue meal. Talk about excess.
We started with the ridiculously large and unnecessary salad that comes as part of the meal. Hubby warned our guests not to try to eat it, most of it, or even any of it, but they didn't listen. Then came the cheese part. Yummy. Bacon/Cheddar/Buttermilk and beer mixture, with bread and veggies. Delicious.
Then came the meat part. Two Fondue Feast Combinations, comprising scallops, prawns, tuna, boar, duck, beef, other fish, ostrich, and other things I've no doubt forgotten about, all grilled (or as Brother John pedantically pointed out, fried) on the hotplate in front of us.
And then the piece de resistance, the chocolate fondue dessert. After much discussion, I took charge and ordered the Triple X, which is milk chocolate and fudge; eaten with fruit and bad for you bits like profiteroles.
We also downed a bottle of wine.
This morning I rose from my bed with a strong sensation that my body had not succeeded in digesting anything at all during the night. I think we were all suffering a bit. Little Starlet said it served us right for not taking her with us. However, I should point out that she and her babysitter made a chocolate fondue in our own kitchen, which they ate with strawberries and apple slices, so she isn't having too deprived an existence.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Death By Eating Redux
We spent the weekend at Hidden Villa, a youth hostel about half an hour away from us. It's the oldest youth hostel in the USA, and easily contains the 21 of us in our party (10 adults, 11 kids). It rained on Friday, was dry and windy on Saturday, and has absolutely bucketed down today. On Saturday we managed to do a walk over the hill, then toured the farmyard to look at the chickens and pigs. Friday was board games; Sunday was Easter activities for the kids. ("Why do we have to do so many stupid craft projects?" asks my grateful younger daughter.)
That gives you the basic shape of the weekend.
The main story of the weekend is the amount of food we brought and ate (and, to some extent, brought home again). Friday was baked potatoes with chilli and cheese, followed by fruit; then evening crisps and Roses. Saturday was cereal breakfast followed by bagel lunch - so far so good - but then we had roast chicken, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, brussel sprouts, peas and gravy for dinner (with seconds), followed after the kids were abed by mango upside-down cake and ice cream, with a chaser of cheese and biscuits. I may have managed to eat some chocolate and rich tea biscuits in among that too. We collectively waddled to bed at midnight. This morning began with everything bagel and cream cheese; then lunch was bacon, sausage, fried egg, mushrooms, and half a hot cross bun with butter.
We haven't had a great couple of nights sleep - the beds at Hidden Villa are really titchy and, of course, sharing with the kids feels strange. So we're all rather tired. I had a bit of a nap on the sofa this afternoon... We attempted to go out for a pizza for dinner, but everywhere was shut. We ended up at Il Fornaio, which is a fancier Italian restaurant. In a moment of restraint I had cannelloni con pollo, resisting all the heavier pizza type foods, though the fact it came in cream sauce probably negates all the good intentions.
That gives you the basic shape of the weekend.
The main story of the weekend is the amount of food we brought and ate (and, to some extent, brought home again). Friday was baked potatoes with chilli and cheese, followed by fruit; then evening crisps and Roses. Saturday was cereal breakfast followed by bagel lunch - so far so good - but then we had roast chicken, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, brussel sprouts, peas and gravy for dinner (with seconds), followed after the kids were abed by mango upside-down cake and ice cream, with a chaser of cheese and biscuits. I may have managed to eat some chocolate and rich tea biscuits in among that too. We collectively waddled to bed at midnight. This morning began with everything bagel and cream cheese; then lunch was bacon, sausage, fried egg, mushrooms, and half a hot cross bun with butter.
We haven't had a great couple of nights sleep - the beds at Hidden Villa are really titchy and, of course, sharing with the kids feels strange. So we're all rather tired. I had a bit of a nap on the sofa this afternoon... We attempted to go out for a pizza for dinner, but everywhere was shut. We ended up at Il Fornaio, which is a fancier Italian restaurant. In a moment of restraint I had cannelloni con pollo, resisting all the heavier pizza type foods, though the fact it came in cream sauce probably negates all the good intentions.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Wot No Willpower
Glad to see that OEM has returned to the weight-loss fray, because I need some moral support. I've definitely been slacking in the past couple of weeks. Stinky cold, time of the month, rain...all conspire to stop the would-be slimmer doing anything than eating and sitting around on one's expansive bottom.
Today is a case in point. Here's what I've consumed today:
Rice chex for breakfast;
coffee and scone for mid-morning snackerel;
butternut squash soup, french stick and blue cheese for lunch;
tortilla chips and melted cheese (aka nachos) for mid-afternoon snackerel;
pan-seared tuna with mashed potatoes and cauliflower, followed by homemade apple and blackberry crumble with custard for dinner;
Cadbury's creme egg to celebrate the children going to bed.
Not exactly low calorie.
I did go for a three mile walk this morning along the Baylands. By the time I was half way through it had started to rain. That, combined with the biting cold that lead to actual hail stones later in the afternoon, encouraged me to walk a bit faster, so I was going at 1 mile in 15 minutes. Even so, I don't think I walked off my creme egg. Alas, Little Starlet is off school sick (stinky cold reprised) and Hubby has flown to Baltimore on a business trip till Thursday; so my well-laid plans to do 45 minutes of exercise every day this week (in accordance with the instructions in "Grow Younger Next Year") will no doubt fail dismally.
But are we down hearted? Well, yes actually.
Today is a case in point. Here's what I've consumed today:
Rice chex for breakfast;
coffee and scone for mid-morning snackerel;
butternut squash soup, french stick and blue cheese for lunch;
tortilla chips and melted cheese (aka nachos) for mid-afternoon snackerel;
pan-seared tuna with mashed potatoes and cauliflower, followed by homemade apple and blackberry crumble with custard for dinner;
Cadbury's creme egg to celebrate the children going to bed.
Not exactly low calorie.
I did go for a three mile walk this morning along the Baylands. By the time I was half way through it had started to rain. That, combined with the biting cold that lead to actual hail stones later in the afternoon, encouraged me to walk a bit faster, so I was going at 1 mile in 15 minutes. Even so, I don't think I walked off my creme egg. Alas, Little Starlet is off school sick (stinky cold reprised) and Hubby has flown to Baltimore on a business trip till Thursday; so my well-laid plans to do 45 minutes of exercise every day this week (in accordance with the instructions in "Grow Younger Next Year") will no doubt fail dismally.
But are we down hearted? Well, yes actually.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Crazy for Fondue
I've had another ridiculously busy day, prepping for our RV trip and also the building work in our bedroom while we're away. After my Multi-grain Chex breakfast - which didn't happen till after the kids had gone out to school with Dad - I visited Safeway to buy 15 gallons of drinking water. Then I took popsicles to school for Little Starlet's birthday snack (she turns eight on Sunday), then it was back to the supermarket to do the shopping for our trip.
Hubby appeared back home with our rental RV at about 11:30am, after which I traipsed in and out of the house with armfuls of stuff: pans, bedding, towels, medicines, shampoo, etc etc. I employed several shopping bags, but it was still many trudging trips up and down the plywood path across our battlefield front yard. I truly think it counted as exercise.
The highlight of the day was Little Starlet's birthday dinner at La Fondue in Saratoga. OEM will remember it well, I know, as we went there during the Christmas holidays. We had the cheddar, bacon, buttermilk and beer cheese fondue first course; followed by the meaty grill second course (Little Starlet decided she liked buffalo, but did not care for wild boar or savage duck); and then the course we were all waiting for, the Decadent Chocolate fondue dessert. Yum. About a million calories, but well worth it. The children really enjoyed having a "fun food" experience in a fancy restaurant. We sang Little Starlet "happy birthday" and she seemed pleased by the whole experience.
Hubby appeared back home with our rental RV at about 11:30am, after which I traipsed in and out of the house with armfuls of stuff: pans, bedding, towels, medicines, shampoo, etc etc. I employed several shopping bags, but it was still many trudging trips up and down the plywood path across our battlefield front yard. I truly think it counted as exercise.
The highlight of the day was Little Starlet's birthday dinner at La Fondue in Saratoga. OEM will remember it well, I know, as we went there during the Christmas holidays. We had the cheddar, bacon, buttermilk and beer cheese fondue first course; followed by the meaty grill second course (Little Starlet decided she liked buffalo, but did not care for wild boar or savage duck); and then the course we were all waiting for, the Decadent Chocolate fondue dessert. Yum. About a million calories, but well worth it. The children really enjoyed having a "fun food" experience in a fancy restaurant. We sang Little Starlet "happy birthday" and she seemed pleased by the whole experience.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
This eating out lark is bad news
The problem with having no kitchen is that you eat out all the time. The problem with eating out is that the portions are too big. Plus the food is generally pretty calorific. Plus there is too much temptation all round. I shall be astonished if I am not fatter at the end of our four weeks sans kitchen than I was at the start.
Saturday began with Weetabix. At lunch we ate at Fresh Choice in Mountain View. Fresh Choice is a great place to take kids as there is, as the name suggests, a lot of choice. You pay one price ($4.99 for the kids) and help yourself to the salad bar, the hot food, and the dessert. The hot food includes baked potatoes, pasta, pizza, soup and other random things as the restaurant deems fit. The challenge is not to eat too much. Finding things that are healthy choices is not difficult as the calorie details are given on each item, and things which are low salt, low fat, etc are pointed out with handy little signs. I had various salads, avoided the blue cheese dressing (which is frankly the only thing that makes salad tolerable), and had a bowl of carrot soup with a piece of bread. For dessert I selected a cube of sugar free Jello, a spoonful of chocolate pudding, and a spoonful of low fat "whip". I'd have rather had one of their "decadent brownies" but I was being good.
In the afternoon I succumbed to a coffee and biscuit.
Then later in the afternoon it was Little Starlet's birthday party at a local kids' cooking center. I'd rather do parties at home, but no kitchen makes that a tough prospect. Needless to say I had to eat a scone at the end of the party as my daughter had made them. Dinner was bread and more soup with some double creme soft cheese (not the light option, but very yummy). And then, oh woe is me, crisps in the evening.
Today we ate lunch at The Fish Market on the border of Palo Alto and Mountain View. The food wasn't bad, but the service was awful. I had cajun blackened catfish with potato au gratin (instead of fries, a toss up calorie-wise, I think) and coleslaw (that's grated cabbage in mayonnaise to you). This evening we had dinner at a friends' house: chicken and rice with salad and bread...and more scones made by their children. Maybe I'd better do another walk tomorrow.
Saturday began with Weetabix. At lunch we ate at Fresh Choice in Mountain View. Fresh Choice is a great place to take kids as there is, as the name suggests, a lot of choice. You pay one price ($4.99 for the kids) and help yourself to the salad bar, the hot food, and the dessert. The hot food includes baked potatoes, pasta, pizza, soup and other random things as the restaurant deems fit. The challenge is not to eat too much. Finding things that are healthy choices is not difficult as the calorie details are given on each item, and things which are low salt, low fat, etc are pointed out with handy little signs. I had various salads, avoided the blue cheese dressing (which is frankly the only thing that makes salad tolerable), and had a bowl of carrot soup with a piece of bread. For dessert I selected a cube of sugar free Jello, a spoonful of chocolate pudding, and a spoonful of low fat "whip". I'd have rather had one of their "decadent brownies" but I was being good.
In the afternoon I succumbed to a coffee and biscuit.
Then later in the afternoon it was Little Starlet's birthday party at a local kids' cooking center. I'd rather do parties at home, but no kitchen makes that a tough prospect. Needless to say I had to eat a scone at the end of the party as my daughter had made them. Dinner was bread and more soup with some double creme soft cheese (not the light option, but very yummy). And then, oh woe is me, crisps in the evening.
Today we ate lunch at The Fish Market on the border of Palo Alto and Mountain View. The food wasn't bad, but the service was awful. I had cajun blackened catfish with potato au gratin (instead of fries, a toss up calorie-wise, I think) and coleslaw (that's grated cabbage in mayonnaise to you). This evening we had dinner at a friends' house: chicken and rice with salad and bread...and more scones made by their children. Maybe I'd better do another walk tomorrow.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Addiction is Such a Headache
My headache has continued, though not so badly today. It only came on in the early afternoon. My mother's theory is that I am so addicted to sugar, caffeine, salt, fat and so on, that my body is experiencing a "cold-turkey" reaction now that I have reduced the amount and frequency with which those items are being consumed. There may be something in that.
I was exceptionally good today until 3:30pm. I went for a walk with friends which involved up-hill, breathlessness and everything - so I've done my one episode of exercise this week. (Any movement on that front for you, OEM, if you'll excuse the pun?) As for food, it was Weetabix for breakfast, salad leaves sprinkled with parmesan cheese with a small tin of tuna for lunch, vinegar for the dressing (6.5 WeightWatchers points altogether).
But by the time I picked up Deep Thought from school I was getting a bit desperate. Off we go to jolly old Starbucks for a grande latte (decaf) and a slice of marble cake. It happens that Starbucks had a leaflet on its food values, so this is a piece of marble cake: 350 calories, 13g fat, 53g carbs (incl 33g from sugar); which adds up to 8 WeightWatchers points.
Now Hubby is on the way home and I think we are heading out for pizza.
I was exceptionally good today until 3:30pm. I went for a walk with friends which involved up-hill, breathlessness and everything - so I've done my one episode of exercise this week. (Any movement on that front for you, OEM, if you'll excuse the pun?) As for food, it was Weetabix for breakfast, salad leaves sprinkled with parmesan cheese with a small tin of tuna for lunch, vinegar for the dressing (6.5 WeightWatchers points altogether).
But by the time I picked up Deep Thought from school I was getting a bit desperate. Off we go to jolly old Starbucks for a grande latte (decaf) and a slice of marble cake. It happens that Starbucks had a leaflet on its food values, so this is a piece of marble cake: 350 calories, 13g fat, 53g carbs (incl 33g from sugar); which adds up to 8 WeightWatchers points.
Now Hubby is on the way home and I think we are heading out for pizza.
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.
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