day twenty-six...guilty feelings

I have a confession...for the past few days, I have been getting down on myself and feeling guilty for the things I am eating. I have given myself a little more freedom and creativity when it comes to my lean and green meals, and I am simply not feeling thinner...if that makes sense—so I feel guilty because it must lead back to those lean and green meals. And maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Either way, I need to start treating myself better and feeling guilty for eating according to plan. I am on the right track...there is nothing wrong with that.

With that said, I have a plan. For now on, I am going to have a "treat" lean and green meal on Friday and Saturday or Sunday and every other day I am just going to keep it simple. Simple meaning, a salad with a protein. A treat meal can mean making pizza boats, zucchini spaghetti, or cauliflower pizza. That way, I am still having a little fun in the kitchen, but not all the time. 

Wow...okay...now, let's talk about what I ate today.

Breakfast

I had spare time this morning, so I decided to make an oatmeal waffle. I just mixed the oatmeal with some water and put it in the waffle maker. It stuck like crazy, but it was still crispy and delicious.

Morning Snack

It was a chilly morning, so I made a lovely hot cup of the calorie-burn cappuccino. I can drink this every morning. Love it!

Lunch

Like I mentioned earlier in the post, I am going simple during the week for my lean and green meals. So today, I had a simple, yet delicious chicken salad. I ended up using a new dressing today as well. It is the light honey mustard one made by Annie's. It was soooo good! Paired perfectly with the chicken. Even my cat, Peggy wanted a bite. ;)

Afternoon Snack

I actually wasn't hungry between lunch and my afternoon snack! Yay! I am finally getting over these cravings to eat...or really just to keep my mouth busy. Anyways, I opened up a bag of the cheese pizza bites and ate those for a good 30 minutes. There are a lot of bites in one bag!

Dinner

As I mentioned yesterday, I saved the mac and cheese for tonight. And that is exactly what I had. It turned out way better than any other mac and cheese I have made! Not a bad alternative to the real stuff! I am still trying to snap a decent photo of the mac and cheese, but it is just not photogenic.

Dessert

I have been having a crunch bar every day since day one and am not going to stop doing that now...so I had a cinnamon roll crunch bar for my dessert and loved every last bite of it. I actually almost forgot to eat it because my parents came over to the house I am watching and we were all sitting together watching Food Network's Chopped. We were all so in to it and in awe of how these chefs make a beautiful dish out of the strangest ingredients. But anyways, I did end up remembering and enjoyed the bar while watching.

And just to put a smile on your face, here is the cutest picture of our neighbor's cat peeking over the fence into our backyard to say hello to our two cats.

'Til tomorrow!

xoxo,

Toni

day twenty-three...a girl's night in

Tonight I threw a girl's night in party...I made a ton of food, and guess what? I didn't even have one lick of it! That is such a huge success for me! I know I took a risk by cooking, but I felt confident knowing I wouldn't eat any of it. My parents were also there for a bit and ate what I made. They said it turned out pretty good, so I didn't even have to try the food.

The only thing I will say is that you need to really think about it before you throw a party or cook a big meal. Why? Well, you don't want to stumble yourself. I could not have done this two weeks ago without eating something. So, don't rush anything. Stop and think. Ask the Lord to be with you...it will all turn out okay.

Breakfast
I was able to sleep in this morning...it was soooo nice! But with that said, I got a late start on my eating. So I made a calorie burn cappuccino just to get me started with the day. It was perfect!

Lunch
I went to Starbucks for a bit and when I returned home, I ate my lunch. I tried out these new boca brand meatless crumbles and topped my romaine salad with them. I wasn't the biggest fan of them, but they weren't bad either. I miss the meatballs from Trader Joe's, they are still out of them.

Afternoon Snack #1
I don't know what it was about this bag of pretzels, but they were so good! Like, better than usual. I don't know...maybe I am just getting used to all the odd tastes in some of the food. ;)

Afternoon Snack #2
I had a little time to kill before my guests started arriving, so I thought I would attempt to make waffles using the pancake mix. And it totally worked! All I did was mix the pancake packet with a dash of cinnamon and 4 tablespoons of water. I then let it sit for about 5 minutes to thicken up a bit. I poured the mix into the waffle maker and voila! Waffles! I have actually never made waffles before, so this was a first on many levels. I am just thankful it turned out.



Dinner
At this point, some of my friends had started to arrive along with my parents, so I began making the appetizers for them to munch on while dinner was cooking. While I was doing that, I began munching on a caramel crunch bar. It kept my mouth busy and also helped me not want to pop some food into my mouth...intentionally or unintentionally.

Dessert
After dinner was eaten, I made the girls my top secret chocolate molten lava cakes. And while they were eating those, I decided to eat my dessert as well. So I microwaved a blueberry soft bake and ate with everyone else. And you know what, never once did I feel like I was being left out or wishing I could eat what they were eating. I was content the entire night. And never once did the girls question my not eating the food I was making. They all know about my plan and supported me last night 100%. I love my friends dearly...it is good to have friends who love and care about you when you are on this journey.

Overall, it was a fun night of food and fellowship and watching these two cuties...

I pray your Sunday is a blessed one!

xoxo,
Toni