"Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life."

BREAKFAST

A lovely bowl of oats with coffee.

1/2 cup oats

1/2 red delicious apple

About 1/4 cup dried cherries

1/2 tbsp. crunchy Skippy's PB

Instant coffee mix

I originally made overnight oats with the cherries and coffee, but heated it up and added the rest in the morning. Instant coffee isn't good as an actual beverage, but is a nice addition as a spice. Yes, coffee is a spice.

LUNCH

 

Sammie:

Arnold Thins

Turkey lunchmeat

Romaine lettuce, tomato slice, onion

Laughing cow cheese wedge

Side:

Nectarine

1/4 cup vanilla yogurt

Pistachio's

SNACK

I ate lunch after work today so it was around 3:30 or 4. I went to Matt's house and was still too stuffed so I passed on dinner, but around 9:30 my tummy was growling while we had a mini marathon of watching Are You Afraid of The Dark (Does anyone remember this show? A blast from the past!) so I pulled out a Kashi pumpkin granola bar. I stole one of his hot wing pretzel's and a few fries from Wendy's later on.

DINNER

Leftover baled turkey penne pasta with added broccoli
Morningstar chick'n patty

DESSERT

1/2 of my apple from breakfast dipped in some yogurt and PB.

Let me be honest with you with my craving...for the past two days I have been craving a Wendy's chocolate m&m twisted frosty and must fulfill it before I eat everything in site. I turned one down two days in a row, but nothing will satisfy the craving. If I can get it made in a small cup I will, if not I am afraid of the outcome. It is what it is. I must find an avocado recipe tomorrow or I will end up pitching the one I bought and I hate wasting food. Top priority. ;) Studying for my permit test is my actual priority right now. I broke it down into a 2 week period to make sure I will indeed pass. This is something I need to do for everyone, not just myself. That thought alone is keeping me motivated. Staying motivated and positive is coming along well.

Hope everyone is having a good week so far!

"People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be."

BREAKFAST

Another oatmeal pancake has made its way into my week, a chocolate pancake at that. Yum. I am slightly obsessed. 

Pancake:  

1/3 cup oats

1/2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa 

1/4-1/3 cup egg whites, the kind from the carton

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon to taste

Topping:

1/4 cup vanilla yogurt, which I will use less of next time...it was smothered

4 whole raw pecans

1/2 banana

Last night I stumbled upon Eat Me Delicious where I have discovered a great selection of decadent baked goods I want to whip together, but I will save myself the suffering and wait until a party occurs to stuff my face make these lovely goods as a treat for everyone to enjoy. Peanut butter squares with milk chocolate and oats, marshmallow crunch brownie bars, and oreo crunch brownies. OH MY! The blog is based on vegetarian cooking and baked goods most of which look delicious. Although I am not vegetarian, I do not eat a lot of meat and enjoy exploring recipes that are vegetarian and vegan.

LUNCH

Again, this is "dinner" as my lunch. 

Italian sausage is delicious, probably because it's not exactly good for you. We don't have this very often at my house and I love it when we do. When I was younger I despised Italian sausage, was I crazy? Italian sausage packs a mass amount of flavor alone. It looks kind of gross cooking though? Oh well!

Simple salad with tbsp. balsamic vinagrette dressing. Only 5 calories! 

1/2 baked sweet potato with 2 tbsp. Chi Chi's salsa.

And of course, Italian sausage.

This evening I will be tackling my disaster of a room. Boy have I been a bit lazy these past couple of weeks or what! I blame it on this Pennsylvania weather. The highs for this week are in the low-mid twenties with snow every day. Is it Spring yet? Better yet, is it summer?

VEGAN COOKIES

Alright, so I didn't very much done tonight aside from a good ab exercise and cookie baking. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com and within the hour I was baking them. Instead of eggs and butter I used apple sauce and although it gives the cookies a drier and tougher texture than a normal cookie, it's healthier and still tastes great. Next time I will be using more apple sauce though so they aren't as dry. I had two of these, one fresh out of the oven before my workout and one after. Tomorrow's breakfast? Cookies! A note: My mother actually liked these! Considering they weren't made as a normal cookie I was very surprised by this.

1 cup oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 cup apple sauce (preferably unsweetened)

1/2 cup raisins of choice

1/2 cup walnuts or other nut of choice

Makes: 24 small cookies

Preheat oven to 350. Spray baking sheet with vegetable spray.

Mix ingredients in medium bowl. 

Drop rounded teaspoon fulls onto baking sheet. 

Bake for 10-14 minutes.

Allow cookies to cool slightly before removing from pan.

DINNER

Sammie:

Arnold Thin

Morning Star veggie chick'n patty

Lettuce, onion

Sauce:

1 tbsp. fat-free miracle whip

Unknown amount of hot sauce

Chili powder

Red pepper flakes

Side of carrots and celery

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. "

BREAKFAST

Oatmeal pancakes! Recipe courtesy of Kath Eats Real Food.

How I made my lovely pancake:

1/4 cup Quaker oats

2 egg white

1/4 tsp. baking soda

Vanilla extract

Cinnamon

I topped it with a medium warm apple, 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt, and walnuts. Delicious! Thanks again Kath for providing a new way to eat my oats.

I also had a cup of this Celestial tea. If you haven't tried this flavor yet I suggest doing so. If nothing else, boil this in a pot instead of lighting a candle. Hah.

LUNCH 

Okay, lunch wasn't anything special at all. I just put together the quickest thing I could think of.

Salad:

Romaine lettuce

1/2 cup re-fried beans (Left over)

Tomato, onion, and jalapeno "salsa"

Sprinkled with sharp cheddar cheese 

Dash of chili powder for spice

I also had half of an unphotographed orange a bit later.

DINNER

This was left over from my parents dinner, minus the fries.I haven't had a real hamburger in months! Oh, it was delicious. (This is also on a small plate, it makes everything look huge. I didn't have room for my fries either.)

Hamburger:

Lean ground sirloin burger

Arnold Thin

Lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles

Mustard

Side of white corn

Fries:

1/2 medium sweet potato

Season salt

Vegetable spray

I microwaved the potato for about 1:30 to make it tender ans sliced into strips.

Heated the oven to 450, although I think 400 may do the trick.

Sprayed my baking sheet with vegetable spray.

Arranged fries on baking sheet and sprinkled with season salt and spray a coat of vegetable spray.

Cooked for around 10 minutes.

I've never had baked sweet potato fries and of course will be eating them more often. Yes I do like my fries more on the burnt side, just like my eggs. 

I am still feeling my work out from yesterday and am worried that if I continue tonight I may strain my muscles too much. Being a beginner with exercise I can't be sure if the soreness is alright to work through or if I may injure my muscles. Research will be at hand. I also need to take my measurements tomorrow morning before I forget so that I can track my progress.  

Did I mention that I got my email from Food Buzz last night about becoming a publisher?! Tomorrow I will be filling out my contract and sending it in. Blogging has been a key element in my life the past couple of months and I am determined and excited about giving inspiration to others as well as keeping my self motivated on this journey.If you haven't checked out Food Buzz click my link under my about me. The website has tons of yummy recipes and great foodies.

Alright, see you tomorrow guys! I'm off to find more great recipes to try.

"Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment."

BREAKFAST

Medium banana

Kashi pumpkin pie bar

This was my first time trying the Kashi bars and I did like it, but most of the reviews I read said this one did tastse like pumpkin pie and to me it wasn't close. I am very picky with my food textures and this was a good medium between crunchy and chewy. Like I said, I do like it, but next time I will be trying a different flavor. 

LUNCH

My Mom made a ton of sauerkraut with kielbasa, smoked sausage, pork, and hot dogs so of course I had to have something. I chose to have smoked sausage of half an Arnold Thin with sauerkraut to top it off. I made veggies my main concern in my simple salad with 1 tbsp. balsamic dressing. My lunches and/or dinners will most likely contain sauerkraut ingredients for the next few days. 

DINNER 

I was basically starving by the time I ate dinner, but yet again I kept it easy. After not getting much sleep and getting up in the morning for work I can't say that I feel like doing much of anything. Tomorrow I will be sleeping waaaaay in. =D Anyway...

1/2 cup oats

1 medium banana

1 small apple

Dollop of yogurt 

Cocoa and cinnamon

Can I eat this everyday for every meal? Haha. 

My bed will be seeing me earlier than usual tonight. *Yawn*

"One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things."

NEW YEAR'S EVE

BREAKFAST

1/3 cup Quakers Oatmeal

1/3 cup Dannon Light and Fit yogurt

1 small apple

Lots of cinnamon

This was my first time trying the oatmeal and yogurt combo and I must say I liked it a lot. The yogurt gave my oatmeal a creamy texture without being too creamy. Generally I like my oats more on the sticky side. Yogurt and oats for the win.

LUNCH

Toasted Arnold Thin with original Laughing Cow Cheese

1 small apple that isn't pictured 

The laughing cow cheese was purchased the other day and I couldn't wait to try it. Why haven' I tried this cheese sooner? It's the perfect cross between cream cheese and soft cheese. I do prefer my cheese to have a stronger flavor, but I was still very satisfied and will continue to purchase them. I tried to keep my lunch very light because I knew lots of New Year's celebration was in store.

FESTIVITY

It was great to finally go out for New Year's! Yes, I live with my parents and they are indeed protective and I can't blame them one bit. Well, lets say eating more than you drink on New Year's is not such a good idea. I haven't binged like this in a LONG time. In all honesty I am rather embarrassed about how much I actually did eat and knowing that people acknowledged it as well. Get ready for some of the things I ate: Hot dogs and sauerkraut, bun included, bbq little smokies, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, tortilla chips with yummy spicy guac, pie....yuck. Hanging out in the kitchen where all the food is while drinking is a terrible idea. In the new year social eating is one thing I need to tackle.

My lovely friend Cortny mixing up our "jello chugs". I had my first jello shot!

Let me tell you a bit about Cortny...she is a wonderful free spirited person. She's a vegetarian, recycles, and love whole foods and Trader Joe's. Oh and she also loves yoga. She just may be a foodie's best friend, when she isn't drinking of course. ;) We had a nice discussion about food, nutrition, and exercise last night. When she found out I've never been to Trader Joe's she immediately opted to make a trip with me soon. Exercise is really our downfall...we discovered we like and dislike the same things about it and are thinking of becoming work out buddies to stay motivated. Yay.

I also had my first jager bomb. ;) Indeed, I was pretty excited about it after hearing a lot about them.

Awe. Matt and myself. (Yes, that's another jager bomb.) 

Over-all I really enjoyed bringing in the new year with my boyfriend, our friends, and our friends friends. It's always a good time with them. A lot of fun, but nothing too crazy. 

 On to the resolutions...

Now I really don't like making resolutions, I prefer to say "things I would like to do or improve".

• Drive! - It's true everyone...I do not have my driver's license. Why you ask? I am past the blaming my parents for making me wait to drive, now I am procrastinating. Part of me is terrified to drive. I know I need to get over the fear of driving, because it's something I need to do to function.
• Enroll in college. - Again, procrastination. I AM enrolling this fall for paralegal studies. I changed my mind a few times on my major and I finally have my mind set. Originally I wanted to go for theatre, but I feel being a paralegal is much more stable in times of economic turmoil.
• Eat less processed food. - I find it difficult to make a lot of food because: A) I am not experienced in the kitchen. B) It isn't easy making meals for one. C) I don't want things to go to waste. 
• Learn more about exercise and utilize it by making a workout plan. - I have never been fond of exercise and I don't know if I ever will be. I hate sweating, as bad as that sounds. It's not that I'm lazy, I just don't like the feeling of pushing myself physically. There has to be something out there I can get into! I do like yoga, but I need to incorporate it more. I've lost the weight I wanted to, now it's time to tone up.
• Read more. - Simple, I need to read more! Technology can be such a time waster.
• Save money. - With school coming and possibly a car of my own I need to crack down on my spending. I must realize and education is more important than petty things I don't need.
• Be more social and outgoing. - When I was younger I would talk to anyone and everyone about anything, but lately I have been more on the reserved side. Being outgoing will benefit in many ways, especially career wise. Also, I think me being more on the reserved side has made me boring. I'm not looking to be crazy and loud, but I need to let loose.
  
• Recycle. - Over the past year or two I have been talking about it, but I haven't made the steps. I posed it to my parents and they feel it's more of a hassle than anything unfortunately. Even if I recycled myself it's more of a contribution than I currently am making.
• Explore new hobbies. - Sometimes I need an outlet, but I don't have much to turn to. It's time to look for new hobbies! 
• Show more appreciation. - I know I don't praise people enough for the wonderful things they do and I must. 
• Strengthen relationships. - In general with my parents, boyfriends, friends, etc. I have a need to feel closer to people lately.
  

Simple enough. This isn't nearly close to what I would liek to accomplish, but I like to have ideas and won't beat myself up over not accomplishing something. This past year I accomplished my weight loss goal and then some. I am very proud of myself! =] I will have to post my weight loss story soon. Off to my New Year's Day post.

"Optimism is the foundation of courage. "

BREAKFAST

I saw a lot of rave about cocoa oats, so I decided to try it today. I will be making more of this in the future. I've never added dried cherries to anything either, again I will be doing more of this.

1/2 cup Quaker Oats

1/4 cup dried cherries

1 tbsp. Hershey's unsweetened cocoa 
Cinnamon and a little Splenda to add some spark

Unfortunately I have to work a weird shift at work today. Not so much weird, but I don't like working shifts that make me stray from normal eating habits. I'll have to pack something quick I can eat in 15 minutes. Nothing is worse to me than being forced to eat in a 15 minute time frame, I prefer to take my time and savor it. 

 LUNCH 

I was a bit pressed for time so I grabbed the quickest thing from my house I could think of.

Cheese ravioli Lean Cuisine meal

1 small apple 

Odd thing about mentioning the 15 minute break thing today, I found out that we will no longer have 15 minutes breaks. When we work 6.5 hours we will get a half an hour for our break. I worked 3-9:15 today, not getting home until around a 9:45...a normal person eats within this time frame. I am by no means a morning person so I eat later and don't want to eat around 2 before I go in for my shift and the eat after 10 the next time I eat. The body needs food at least every 6 hours from what I hear and I personally feel the need to eat something within 4 or so most of the time. I am very frustrated with this. I did get a nice surprise from a co-worker today though. As I walked into our break room I noticed a gift bag with my name on it...I got a nice Christmas mug set with some yummy cocoa. I'll have to try the cocoa and take a picture of the mug soon.

DINNER 

"Taco salad":

Left over salad from my parents dinner 

1/2 cup Ortega fat-free refried beans

2 tbsp. salsa

Jalapenos

Chili powder to spice up the salad

8 reduced-fat Wheat Thins

DESSERT

1/2 Peanut butter and chocolate Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich

A few dried cherries (I think I'm hooked after trying them this morning)

A few of my friends stopped by my work tonight and invited me out for some Chinese tomorrow afternoon. I really haven't had to face Chinese with a group of friends since I've become health conscious, I've avoided it. I am thinking of getting steamed veggies and unbreaded chicken with sauce on the side, if at all. Cream cheese won-tons with duck sauce are my weakness, but I promise to myself that I will not touch them. 

In the past week or so I haven't followed a very healthy diet or exercised as much as I'd like, especially with me not feeling well. There is a noticeable difference to me in what I look and feel like from eating too much junk and not exercising. The pants are fitting a bit snugger it seems. ;p I do know that I will be getting back on track and then some. Like I said before, the holidays make me a bit weak just as they do with anyone. Good news is...I am stable enough to not let myself continue with the rut. 

Did I mention how cold it is here? Under 13 degrees! Brrrrrr! Hope everyone is staying nice and warm. =] 

"Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of."

Holiday/Post-Holiday Recap aka Mega-post

Sorry for the lack of pictures! I've been a bit too busy to think about wiping out my camera every moment. I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday and hope everyone else did too. I'm excited to wear all of the new clothes I got. =] It's a big confidence booster to fit into the sizes I wear now and such a motivator to stay this way. 

Christmas Eve 
BREAKFAST
I kept it super light due to the fact we were eating "dinner" so close to us waking up and didn't want to be too full to eat the goods. I had a banana and a cup of coffee with a tablespoon of cocoa, a teaspoon of nondairy creamer, and a packet of Splenda.

LUNCH

Mashed potatoes, tons of mixed veggies, and a giant dinner roll! I don't eat ham, so I didn't exactly have a way to incorporate any meat or protein into my meal. After I finish my plate I took some time to socialize before digging into my Dad's wonderful decadent homemade dark chocolate mousse. The recipe he uses is by far some of the better, if not the best chocolate mousse I have ever had. If my body could handle it, I just may have eaten to entire bowl. ;) But, mousse is rich, especially dark chocolate mousse, so I may have had about a half cup.

DINNER

This is when I realized my eating was getting a bit out of control....I had about a 1/4 piece of my paps kaibasi on an Arnold Thin (Which I have recently tried and absolutely love! How have I lived without these babies?!) and some spicey brown mustard. Well, for dessert I had a nice big slice of my grandma's pumpkin roll.

Day after Christmas

BREAKFAST

A banana, which was ripened to my perfection, Danon Light and Fit yogurt, and some Special K Protein Plus. Mix together and yum. 
LUNCH

Matt's aunt had a big Christmas party and this woman is a fantastic cook! She use to own a Cornucopia, but now she just does catering. No, she does not do the ordinary rigatoni and fried chicken catering. I should have taken a shot of her fabulous buffet if nothing else. I had the best roast beef I have tasted on a roll, lots of fresh veggies, and two giant slices of my favorite fruit...cantaloupe. Of course I couldn't pass up the table of sweets either! The first thing that caught my eye was toffee cheesecake. I could have went with the usual piece of chocolate or cookie to save on calories, but I figured what the hey. Delicious! Man, I sure was stuffed. We didn't stay long because we had some things to get done, but it was a nice short visit. Sometimes Matt thinks I don't enjoy doing things with his family, but I'm really shy when I don't know people. I love that he's a family man and would do anything with his family.

SNACK

Matt decided after not really eating any of the fabulous food his aunt made he'd go to Taco Bell after our crazy day returning things at the mall, shopping, and going to Sam's Club. They didn't have the apple empinada so they gave him two cinnamon twists....guess who ate a bag? Me.

DINNER

Alright, lets pretend this section does not exist. I told myself after today I would get back on track so i went crazy eating everything! I had some sandwich spread on an Arnold Thin, a piece of leftover crazy bread, and a piece of pumpkin roll. No...it didn't stop there. As I was passing the living room I noticed my bag of Lindor truffles and took them with me upstairs....this is the part where I get disgustingly sick. I will be saving my 60% cocoa heavenly truffles for a time in the future where I can begin to handle sweets again.

All in all I feel good that I can blog what I have eaten to motivate me to do better in the future. We all have our slips, even major ones. I am doing my best to stay positive with this and get back on track. Recently I have found many great blogs and really feel inspired! Food blogging is helping me more than you may know. 

Today--December 27

BREAKFAST

1 medium banana

1/2 to 2/3 cup Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt

(I scraped out the last bit so it would all be used before pitching it)

1/4 cup Bear Naked apple cinnamon granola

Bear Naked All Natural Granola Apple Cinnamon (12oz) All Natural Granola

Made with REAL whole grains.
Hand-crafted in small batches, yielding unique, soft-baked texture
Voted "Best-Tasting Granola in the Country" (Men’s Health, Mar 2005 & Organic Style, Nov 2004)
All-Natural, Bearly Processed and Utterly Naked Ingredients... that you can actually pronounce!
Vegetarian friendly
Kosher certified
Bear Naked products are priced at a premium level, because Bear Naked sources the best-tasting, highest quality ingredients they can find. For example, they use whole almonds and walnut halves, not almond and walnut pieces. In addition, Bare Naked granola is still made by hand, which is labor intensive. Bear Naked products are all natural and, by definition, all natural products cannot contain preservatives. As a result, Bear Naked does not use any artificial ingredients or preservatives, including MSG.

Bear Naked® is naturally sweetened with just a kiss of honey. They selected to use honey in their recipe because studies have shown it is low on the glycemic index, providing a long, steady source of energy instead of a spike and crash. Honey is also a natural source of antioxidants.

I give this product a big thumbs up! The taste is unbelievably good and sweet. The granola is in tiny clusters, some is broken up though, and I love the dried apples. I actually got my bag for only $3 at our local Big Lots store. This product usually runs around $5 a bag. 1/4 cup is 140 calories so I enjoyed mixing mine with the yogurt and will continue to use their line of products. If you check out their website: eatbearnaked.com you can view their product information and order if you like. By saving bags you can earn points to cash in for a t-shirt or a reusable bag. Nice.

LUNCH

Turkey sammie:

1 toasted Arnold Thin

Peppered deli turkey

Lettuce

Tomato

I can't wait to have another one of these tomorrow. I'm boring, I could eat these every day.

1 small/medium apple

1/8 cup walnut halves

Cinnamon

1tsp vanilla extract

SNACK

Sorry for the terrible photo. I need to run these back downstairs because they tempt me. I had only one and it was delicious. Lindor truffles are one of my ultimate chocolate favorites!

DINNER
I was in the mood for eggs tonight and I came up with this tasty combo...

Sammie:

1 Arnold Thin (I'm on my last one. Oh no!)

1/2 cup egg beaters with onion and ground black pepper

2 slices of tomato

1 slice yellow American cheese

Side of small apple slices with cinnamon

My fruit choices with cinnamon are repetitious, I know. This is the first time using this sandwich combo and it just may become a regular. Mmmm so good. I love sandwiches and never find them boring as most people do. Personally, I don't need very much variety in my diet to be happy.

As much as I don't like to admit it, I was a coach potato today. Naturally I go to bed late so I will be working out tonight. Yesterday I took a day off of working out, although I don't have much of a routine anyway. One thing I'm working on is becoming knowledgeable about exercise. Baby steps!

"He who wishes to secure the good of others, has already secured his own."

BREAKFAST

1/3 cup Quacker's oatmeal made with water
1/8 cup Sunmaid golden raisins 

Cinnamon to taste

1 packet Splenda
Estimated calories: 183 

I have the next two days off of work and I am looking to get some things done around the house, especially with my disaster of a room. Usually, I don't let things get so messy...I think this cold weather is bringing me down. Tonight I will be going out to see my boyfriends band Sektor 7 play so it should be a good night. 

 LUNCH/DINNER?

 

Tacos:

2 "8 whole wheat tortillas

1 Morning Star south west veggie burger split 

1/2 slice of yellow American cheese 

Lettuce, onion, tomato 

Estimate calories: 316

DESSERT

 

1 peanut butter and chocolate Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich

Estimated calories: 150 (I think this is a good number of calories for an ice cream sandwich considering I've seen some around 300!)  

In all honesty, I'm not sure I'm really in the mood for dinner dinner. I woke up a bit late and don't want to eat anything to heavy late tonight. If I get hungry I'll probably snack on some wheat thin crackers. 

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."

BREAKFAST 
(Not pictured)

1/2 cup Quacker's oatmeal made with water

1/2 small apple

1 packet of Splenda 

Cinnamon to taste 

Estimated calories: 202  

This was the first time I remember making oatmeal with water instead of milk and personally it wasn't my favorite. Oatmeal made with milk has much more flavor too me, plus it is sweeter. Using water to save calories is a good idea, but I won't use the method as often. 

"LUNCH" (More like dinner)

Burger:

2 slices Sara Lee whole wheat bread

1 Southwest Morning Star veggie burger

4 jalapeno slices

Mustard

Salad:

Lettuce, onion, and tomato

1.5 Tbsp. Kraft fat-free caesar italian dressing

Estimated calories: 288

I haven't had the south west veggie burger until today and I must say that I love it even more than the garden burger! It has a nice taco-like flavor to it. The back of the box suggests adding it to a salad to make a taco salad, which I will have to try. After making the burger I realized that I didn't need to ass anything to it because it already tastes fantastic. 

DINNER/SNACK? 

(Not pictured)  

3/4 cup Danon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt

1 small apple 

Estimated calories: 157 

Originally I was hoping to make a banana smoothie, but the banana's still aren't ripe enough. In a day or two they should be ripened to my liking. 

DESSERT

2 pieces Hershey's special dark miniatures
Estimated calories: 84   

SNACK

(Not pictured) 

I ate this snack a little close to my "lunch", but I was pretty hungry after work and didn't want to wait.

1 celery stalk cut in pieces

2/3 Tbsp. Philidelphia fat-free cream cheese

Estimated calories: 17

I bought a jump rope today in hopes of cardio exercise, but I failed at choosing a good jump rope. I bought the cheapest one I could find without thinking that it looked to light. I got a little bit of a work out with it, but over-all it was too frustrating. I will most likely purchase a beaded rope the next time I'm out.   

OVER-ALL CALORIC INTAKE:749

This is shocking to me considering I'm so full!