Dieting Cook's Blog

Day 99…Short Day

dietingcook — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:44:05 +0000

I was at work by myself almost all day, so when someone finally came in and then left at 3:00, so did I! I’m tired of being the only one there all the time, so I hightailed it out of there and went to visit Carla. So much better than work… Typical food day, nothing exciting….

Breakfast: Lowfat vanilla yogurt with wheat germ and strawberries; apple cinnamon oatmeal (NS); coffee.

Lunch: Leftover BBQ chicken, potato pancakes and corn.

Dinner: Bruschetta Gardenburgers on sandwich thin with lowfat cheese, tomato and banana peppers; whole wheat pasta with lowfat mozzarella cheese.

Day 98…Nothing Unusual

dietingcook — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:37:36 +0000

A typical Sunday with typical errands and weekend meals. I’m going to get right to the pictures….

Breakfast: Egg Beaters with Canadian bacon and tomatoes on lite Enligh muffin; coffee.

Lunch: Saladworks BLT salad – romaine lettuce with tomatoes, radiatore pasta, chicken and chickpeas with lite ranch dressing; wheat roll.

Dinner: BBQ chicken breast; potato pancakes with FF sour cream; corn.

Day 95…Indian Summer

dietingcook — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:30:38 +0000

If a nice, mellow summer is called Indian Summer, what is a hot spring called? This is ridiculous…we are running air conditioners already in the beginning of April. The poor flowers don’t know what to do. The forecasters say we are getting bad thunderstorms tonight which will cool it down by the weekend. I sure hope so, I hate when we don’t get spring.

Onto the food! Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Sweetened Nutri-O’s (NS) with skim milk, blueberries and blackberries; 1/2 lite english muffin with lowfat cottage cheese; coffee.

Lunch: Southwest fajita (NS); chicken chipotle ranch salad.

Dinner: Beef and broccoli stir-fry with rice.

I had to take a picture of my lunch for tomorrow because I ate the beef and broccoli I set aside for dinner before I took the picture. The stir-fry was really good and pretty low-fat as far as I can tell. It was beef, broccoli, carrots, onions, garlic and water chestnuts over white rice. The sauce was made from oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar.

I bought a different salad for lunch today instead of my usual Mediterranean. I am going to go back to it. This one was okay…it was chicken, corn, black beans, greens, monterey jack cheese, salsa and red onions with a chipotle ranch sauce. The sauce was hot! I only used a little bit, but that was plenty, the salad tasted okay by itself. I did add some of the chicken, onions and cheese to the fajita for a little more flavor. The fajita rocked, as usual. It is definitely one of my favorites.

Day 94…Sinkhole Alert!

dietingcook — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:13:41 +0000

The sinkhole out front has opened up! Never a dull moment in my life… I called both the plumber and the streets department, but getting the city to do something around here is like, well, I won’t say. Let’s hope it is fixed soon because people apparently don’t know how to park when there is an obstacle! Not much new on the food front, meals are starting to all look the same. Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Sweetened Nutri-O’s (NS) with skim milk and blueberries; lowfat cottage cheese on 1/2 lite english muffin; coffee.

Lunch: Chicken salad (NS) on sandwich thin; black bean, tomato, corn, hearts of palm and chickpea salad with olive oil and tarragon vinegar.

Dinner: Turkey Gardenburgers on sandwich thin with lowfat cheese, tomato, bbq sauce and banana peppers; Baked Lays.

I still didn’t really enjoy the turkey gardenburgers, but I had two left, so I figured I better eat them. Funny thing about cottage cheese, the only brand I like is Breakstone’s (I’m sure I have said that before). Even funnier thing is I figured out today that I only like Breakstone’s 2% small curd. I didn’t even know there was a difference, but apparently I bought the large curd and it tastes totally different! Weird, huh? I guess I really have to pay attention to the cottage cheese now! Great, one more thing I have to worry about in my life…

Day 93…The Carpet Diaries

dietingcook — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:59:27 +0000

I love my dogs to death, I really do. But tonight they tried my patience… Throughout the years they have destroyed many things in the house. I have had to replace sofas, mattresses, even drywall because of their separation anxiety. It seemed to get better for awhile, but now they have done the unthinkable. I came home to a big hole chewed through the wall-to-wall carpet, right in front of the front door. We are talking $6,000 carpet here, the best of the best at the time I had it installed ten years ago. Granted it is not in the best shape from wear and tear, but still…

Thankfully I have some wooden flooring from the dining room left over, so I am going to have someone help me cut out the carpet and lay down some flooring, kind of like a threshold when you walk in. I hope it looks nice. No matter what, I still love them.

Here are my meals from today:

Breakfast: Lowfat vanilla yogurt with wheat germ and strawberries; maple brown sugar oatmeal (NS); coffee.

Lunch: Whole wheat orichette with broccoli, tomatoes, turkey sausage, olive oil, lemon juice and parmesan cheese.

Dinner: Bruschetta Boca Burgers on sandwich thin with lowfat cheese, tomato, avocado and banana peppers; black bean, tomato, corn, hearts of palm and chickpea salad with olive oil and tarragon vinegar.

Loved the bruschetta burgers! My new favorite. Very fresh tasting. I will definitely be buying these again.

Day 92…Easter Monday

dietingcook — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:13:50 +0000

Happy belated Easter everyone! Some days I do so good taking pictures and then sometimes I just outright forget. There was nothing really exciting over the weekend anyway except for Easter Dinner I made Italian style pork roast, spaetzle, green beans and carrots. I had some of each dish and topped it off with pound cake and whipped cream. At least the whipped cream was lite!

I am sitting outside right now as I type this…it is so beautiful out. Today’s high was 77 degrees, normal for this time of year is only about 60. While I like the beautiful evenings, I hate when we don’t really get a spring and it turns to summer weather right away. I miss those 60 and 70 degree days.

Today was pretty uneventful, the weather changes are wreaking havoc on my sinuses, so I have had a headache all day. But that’s about it. Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Lowfat vanilla yogurt with strawberries, wheat germ and crispy rice cereal (NS); coffee.

Lunch: Ravioli with meat sauce (NS); mediterranean salad.

Dinner: Turkey Gardenburgers on sandwich thin with bbq sauce, avocado, tomato and hot pepper rings; whole wheat orichette with Smart Balance margarine and lowfat cheddar cheese.

I know the macaroni and cheese wasn’t the best option, but I had some pasta leftover from my lunch for tomorrow and the cheese was reduced fat, so I’ll let myself slide on that. I really enjoy the gardenburgers – my favorites are the grilled chicken and the regular varieties. These turkey ones were okay…the problem with buying them around here is that the stock doesn’t seem to rotate much and I get ones that taste like they were in the freezer too long. I find that very odd for such a big metropolitan like Philadephia. I think I am going to have to start paying a little more money and get them at Whole Foods where they probably sell more frequently.

I can’t believe it has really been three months! And while I am not anywhere close to where I wanted to be weight-loss-wise I am still very happy that I am still 20 pounds down. People are starting to notice, especially in my face. When I look in the mirror, I still see a fat face, but with a little more definition. But I am proud of myself for even making the small, healthy changes.

Day 89…Good Friday

dietingcook — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:14:12 +0000

Actually, I don’t know why I titled this post Good Friday, it means nothing to me. The best thing about it is that I get a half day off from work! With my free time I went to the grocery store and washed one of the dogs. I bought this new gizmo last year that you connect right to your hose and it washes and rinses the dog in about 5 minutes. It was awesome! The afternoon was beautiful, about 80 degrees, but the water was freezing cold, so I only washed Trooper who has a thicker coat and is always hot. The water was way too cold for Cody…he can be a wimp sometimes. I will get him though….

I am cooking Easter dinner on Sunday and taking it over to Chris’ parents house. My house is in such disarray from unfinished renovations and the dogs, so I cook and then deliver. I love cooking for other people…I love all the oohing and aahing when it tastes good. So I bought all that stuff today so I won’t have to deal with the crowds tomorrow at the grocery store.

Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Nutri-O’s (NS) with skim milk and blackberries; 1/2 lite english muffing with lowfat cottage cheese; coffee.

Lunch: Gardenburger on sandwich thin with ketchup, fat free cheese, tomato and banana peppers; sweet potatoes.

Dinner: Whole wheat orichette pasta with balsamic roasted tomatoes, onion, brussel sprouts and chickpeas topped with lemon juice, olive oil and parmesan cheese.

I had some sushi as an afternoon snack; I was at the grocery store and got hungry. I bought the california roll which is filled with avocado, carrots and an imitation crab stick – I don’t trust tuna or eel from the supermarket. My dinner was delicious! I am really starting to like the whole wheat pastas, I remember my mom used to make it when we were kids and it was always so grainy and blah-tasting. But the pastas today are really light tasting, not heavy at all. And with the roasted vegetables and a squirt of lemon juice, yum. I really do like eating healthy…when we were eating those fatty meals in Florida, I just didn’t feel good at all. I think I am going to stick with this for a while.

Day 88…I’m Back

dietingcook — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:57:33 +0000

Well, we have been back from Florida since Monday night. Our trip to Jacksonville was so much fun! Chris met my sister, her new husband and my two nieces for the first time. We ate like kings…it was not good. Some airport food, tacos and margaritas one night, finger sandwiches and cake at the wedding, diner breakfasts and Chili’s. The only homemade meal we ate was at my sister’s house on Sunday night. We bought a bunch of seafood and some salmon and ate that along with sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans. It’s been good to get back to my own food. I am reintroducing some NS meals and would like to be back on it 100% and exercising soon.

Here is a pic of all of us from the wedding (minus my sister’s husband). My mom said she could tell I lost weight in my face, it didn’t look as “puffy.” I’ll take that…

My mom, Chris, me, my niece Emily, my sister Tara and my niece Becka.

I am still down about 20 pounds, no gain and no loss even after all the non-diet foods. Here is what I have been eating since I have been back on schedule.

Breakfast: Sweetened Nutri-O’s (NS) with skim milk and strawberries; 1/2 lite english muffin with lowfat cottage cheese; coffee.

Lunch: BBQ sauce over beef, beans and rice (NS); Mediterranean salad with viniagrette.

Dinner: Gardenburgers on sandwich thin with fat free cheese, bbq sauce, tomato and banana peppers; sweet potatoes.

Day 80…For my fans

dietingcook — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:47:18 +0000

Thank you for the wonderful welcome back to the blogging world! It does make me feel better to be accountable for my eating. I am proud to report that I have not been doing any snacking in the afternoon or at night. I had two pieces of leftover pizza for dinner tonight, but let me tell you, that is a far cry from the four or five I used to polish off a few months ago. Oh, and one more day of work before we leave for Florida! I will be more excited once I get our packing done, but I always wait until last minute for that. I am not taking any NS food, I will just have to be mindful of what I am eating.

Breakfast: Harvest nut bar (NS); lowfat vanilla yogurt with wheat germ, strawberries and blackberries; coffee.

Lunch: Ravioli with meat sauce (NS); Mediterranean salad.

The Mediterranean salad is my new favorite thing…it has romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, cabbage, feta cheese, kalamata olives, a stuffed grape leaf, chickpeas, roasted eggplant and a falafel with Mediterranean viniagrette. It is delicious, probably not all that lowfat, but still pretty darn healthy. One every week or so isn’t too bad, right?

And like I said, dinner was pizza. No pics.

Day 79…The camera is back

dietingcook — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:58:15 +0000

Due to popular demand I am re-starting the blog and the pictures. The updated news is that the company I work for is definitely closing. There has been lots of drama in the past week and I got the news today that my co-worker, who is also the vice president is moving on. That’s it…I am the only one left besides my boss. I assume we are just going to close the doors and I will have to find a new job. That’s life…I am actually feeling kind of relieved that I won’t have to deal with my boss for much longer. Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Maple brown sugar oatmeal (NS); 1/2 lite english muffin with lowfat cottage cheese; strawberries; coffee.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with roasted asparagus, roasted tomatoes, lemon, olive oil and parmesan cheese.

Dinner: Flame-broiled garden burgers on sandwich thin with bbq sauce, banana peppers and tomatoes; roasted potatoes with ketchup; carrots.

The potatoes and carrots are leftover from Sunday’s dinner when I made a pork roast. I also ate a piece of pizza from Chris’ dinner. That was a bad decision, but it tasted good. Tomorrow is another day.