"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.

"Touch passion when it comes your way...it’s rare enough as it is. Don’t walk away when it calls you by name."

Today was an odd day of eating...I basically rolled out of bed and went to get Chinese with some friend, which I was disappointed with. I ordered chicken and broccoli without sauce, but I received it with a reminiscence of brownish liquid. Hmmm. I had the lunch special so I managed to eat all of the broccoli, carrots, and chicken. I also had around 1/4 cup of white rice. The local Chinese restaurant we went to didn't have very many options at all. Tofu, brown rice, and steamed veggies was my original option. I may have still been half asleep because it didn't cross my mind to take a photo, sorry.

LUNCH

Sammie:

2 slices whole wheat bread

A bit of peppered turkey lunch meat

Lettuce, tomato

My side was a apple and yogurt salad 

DINNER

I was in the need of something on the lighter side after my previous meals today.

 

Dried cherry and walnut salad with strawberry vinaigrette (I'm head over heels for these cherries)

After work tonight I managed to get some groceries. After reading various food blogs I've decided to try a few things I haven't before: Amy's black bean and veggie soup, laughing cow cheese, ground turkey, and kashi pumpkin pie bars along with other things. Reading blogs has opened my eyes to many new foods and dishes along with providing tons of inspiration. I thank every one who continually blogs about their journey.

Almost forgot...last night I snuck in a cup of hot cocoa. I mixed together 2% milk, 1 tbsp. Hershey's cocoa, some Splenda and cinnamon all in my new mug. Even my stirring spoon is a cute santa.

I will be taking tonight to reflect on the year and make my 2010 resolutions. Good luck to everyone in the new year, I can't wait to see what you have in store.

"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. =] 

"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability. "

BREAKFAST

A lovely bowl of mess...

1/3 cup Bear Naked apple cinnamon granola

1/3 cup Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt

1 small apple

Originally I was going to have a bowl of cocoa oats and a banana, but I don't have any ripe banana's...someone at the last one. Sigh. 

By the way, I recently signed up for Food Buzz. Check me out:HERE. 

LUNCH 

Matt had a gift card for Pizza Hut, so that's we went there along with his sister. We ordered bread sticks and a medium pepperoni thin crust pizza.

I had a bread stick dipped in some marinara sauce and 2 slices of pizza. I blotted all of the grease off of the pizza as usual because it grosses me out. I'm still too camera shy to bust it out in front of everyone for my blog. After lunch we decided to head to a mall we haven't been to in awhile...well, the weather here worsened as we drove. Longest trip to a mall ever. I exchanged a shirt from the other day and Matt found a book on sale at Border's, which is going out of business soon.

DINNER

Sammie:

1 Arnold Thin

Peppered turkey lunch meat

Lettuce, onion, tomato

1 small apple with cinnamon

OTHER

A nice cup of Celestial apple cinnamon tea. I have been waiting all day for this! Matt has been a bit sick for about a week now and it has finally passed on to me. I woke up feel tired, weak, stuffy, achy, etc. This cup of tea hit the spot.



I managed to sneak a few pieces of hard tack candy from Matt's stash tonight. I was looking for watermelon, but I kept getting cinnamon and gave up. Haha. 


The weather here tonight is cold and very snowy. For me, this is a terrible mix. I will have nothing to do with the cold. Yuck. Tomorrow I want to warm up with a nice bowl of oats with some cocoa. Off to bed now because I am super super sleepy with this cold!

"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!

"The only thing bad about a holiday is it is followed by a non-holiday. "

BREAKFAST

3/4 cup Danon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt 

3/4 medium gala apple

A same old, same old kind of breakfast so I chose not to photograph it. I also had a little taste of the chocolate mousse my Dad was making for tomorrow. Mmm! I wish I could have just thrown my apples into that mixture. Haha.

HOLIDAY FESTIVITY

We visit the DuBreucq (My Dad) side of the family on Christmas Eve. My grandma started a new tradition for us this year with Oplatek waffers. Oplatek is just a mixture of water and flour, but most people buy it instead of making it. The waffers come in little sheets, but we sliced them up so that we didn't spread any unneccesary germs. My grandma said she always ate hers like little sandwiches with honey in between, so we did also. Traditionally the head of the house hold gets the pink waffers, but we had to make a fe exceptions. My grandmother is full of interesting things to try.

I started dinner off with 4 lovely home made potato pierogi with home made horse radish sauce on the side, 2 slices of turkey, and a nice salad with strawberry vinaigrette. I gave the other slice of turkey to my Dad because I was too full. I could have stopped after the salad and about 2 or 3 pierogi, but they only come once a year so I finished them off.

After dinner my younger cousins played the "right and left" game. I'm the oldest grandchild, so I don't play anymore. Haha. Every one always has fun with this, even just watching it. My grandma read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas after the game and then we get ready to go downstairs and open gifts.

I had a slice of pumpkin roll, my favorite! I also had one of these mini chocolate chip cookies, which were one of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted. They had a cinnamon flavor to them and I love my cinnamon, plus they were packed with chocolate chips.

This is no ordinary box, it's a Japanese "trick box". All of the grand kids got a different box in which we had to figure out how to open to get what was inside. Not as easy as it sounds let me tell you. Grandma wanted to give money to the older grand kids this year, but needed a clever way to do it and sure enough this was a great idea. She even wrapped them in Japanese newspaper that was in the boxes she received them with from an Ebay vendor. We also do gift exchanges with one of our cousins every year to make it easy on us, there are 13! I got a nice set of silver bangle bracelets, just when I was thinking earlier that I wish I had some nicer bracelets to wear.

 

My parents and I. =]

Oh, I also had a nice tasting of some smoked kaibasi my pap made...I love that he'll buy a cheap kaibasi and jazz it up his own way. I also tasted half a piece of peanut butter fudge from my Aunt Cherise and Uncle Trevor...it tasted like peanut butter bon bon's, good thing there was only one piece in the container of goodies they gave us or I would have wiped those babies out. Tomorrow I will be going to my grandma's (My Moms) for early dinner around lunch as usual. I can't wait to dig into that chocolate mousse. ;) 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!