Pineapple Angel Food Cake Recipe- 2 Points Plus

Ingredients:

• 1 box Angel Food Cake mix
• 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple in own juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together until well blended.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
3. Once cool, cut into 24 pieces.

I found out about this recipe at my WW meeting. I like to keep mine in the refrigerator and top it with a dollop of Cool Whip Free. It’s a cool and refreshing dessert—and only 2 points per serving!

Transformation

“Transformation is not a future event. It is a present activity…That is why you must bring everything that you have to give in every moment…And it doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s not about perfect, it’s about effort. When you bring that effort every single day, that’s where transformation happens, that’s how change occurs.”

– Jillian Michaels

Finally Friday?

This week has flown by! Usually I say it’s FINALLY FRIDAY, but today it’s more like, What? It’s Friday ALREADY?

For breakfast this morning, I had Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal with milk along with a bowl of fruit for 3 points.

I forgot to make a pot of coffee to restock my stash in the fridge, so no iced latte this morning. Instead, I sipped on Duchess Grey tea for 0 points.

I agree with those of you who commented on yesterday’s post that I should pick a weigh in and stick with it. My official weigh in is my home weigh in and I want to stick with that one because I feel it is more accurate and there are just no variables when it comes to weighing in the morning. I go to the WW meetings not to weigh in, but for the meetings and the motivation. That was my intent when I started attending them, and it’s still my intention today. The meetings are very helpful to me. So I will try to take my WW weigh in’s with a grain of salt, knowing that they are not my official weigh in’s. I may not even post my WW weigh in’s on here anymore because maybe that is making them seem more official to me, when I’m really not all that focused on them. And I am not putting more effort into one or the other because my ultimate goal is not one weigh in day, it’s losing weight period—no matter what day it is. I actually weigh everyday and have found it to be very effective for me. But for tracking purposes, sticking with one day and one official weigh in makes the most sense because we all know how our weight can fluctuate from one day to the next! I will continue to weigh everyday and at the meetings, but only count my home weigh in on Wednesday mornings. And besides, I am seeing results unassociated with the scale—my new “smaller” clothes are getting too big, I’m buying smaller clothes, and hubby tells me he can tell I’m getting smaller! No more head games! I lost 3.6 lbs. this week and I’m sticking to it!

I wasn’t feeling well on my first break, and I think it was because I needed to eat something. I had a piece of toast topped with a Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge, turkey, and a sliced tomato for 3 points.

Hubby had lunch all ready to go for me today. I had 2 TJ’s Tomato Basil Turkey bratwursts along with 1 1/2 pieces of corn on the cob for 10 points.

I also had sliced tomatoes for 0 points.

And finished it up with a serving of Blue Bunny mint chip ice cream for 4 points.

After I was done working, hubby and I headed to hubby’s parents to pick up some fresh sweet corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, and canned and frozen produce. Yummy! So we’re planning on enjoying some of that for supper along with something grilled! I’m going to sign out now and just relax for the rest of the evening with my best friend!

Have a great weekend!

Need to Refocus

Thursday’s are a great day because Hubby comes home! So the day is a little brighter when I wake up in the morning.

For breakfast, I had a Thomas Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin with Honey Nut cream cheese, a bowl of fruit, and a glass of milk for 7 points.

As usual, I made my iced latte for 1 point.

On my first break, I snacked on a sliced apple with peanut butter for 3 points.

Shortly after, my Mom left for home. Thanks again for coming, Mom! I had a lot of fun!

For lunch, I ate 2 BLT sandwiches made with turkey bacon for 8 points.

For some reason, I was craving potato chips, so I ate a bag of Pop Chips for 3 points.

And I finished it off with a Lite Peach Yogurt for 2 points.

On my last break, I ate a package of Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters for 4 points.

I also sipped on a Yerba Mate tea all afternoon for 0 points.

I finally mailed out all of the coupons to those of you who won them—so sorry it took me a few days but you should receive them soon!!

I was planning on working out after my Weight Watcher meeting, but hubby got home earlier than usual! My sister and I agreed that this time we would allow 1-2 rest days per week instead of going hardcore for 30 days—sometimes life happens and we’re both ok with that for our little challenge. So today was my rest day.

Hubby got home super early today, in enough time to take me to my WW meeting!

Today was the first time I gained at WW. I’m trying not to let it play with my head because I had a loss on my official weigh in yesterday. But WW showed me gaining 2.6 lbs. for the week, which is funny because last week I stayed the same at home and then lost a ton at WW. I usually eat a salad or something light for lunch on weigh in day but we were out of lettuce and I think my lunch was extra salty which may have attributed to the huge gain. Just trying to move on, and also understanding that this week my eating has been a little indulgent, but I am tracking those points!

Hubby and I had a nice supper out after the meeting. Once again, I wasn’t planning on hubby being home for supper, so I didn’t plan ahead for going out to eat. We ate at Pizza Ranch and I’m happy with my choices. I requested a thin crust ham and pineapple pizza and ate that along with a BBQ chicken piece and a salad. I’m estimating my points at 13 points.

And I had a soft serve cone for 5 points, which consequently dripped all over my shirt. Hubby’s fell over onto his shorts. What a mess! haha I guess it’s too hot for soft serve!

My goal for this coming weekend is to get in as much activity as possible and to eat more “clean.” Usually I am a little more lenient with my eating on the weekends, but this week was a little turned around for me and I was more lenient during the week. It’s time to buckle down and get back into DIETING mode. I need to start being more strict and focus on eating healthy foods. Basically, I feel like I need to hit that reset button and get focused on my goals and what’s going to help me reach them. Life happens, but it’s important to be on track the majority of the time. I’m not off track and still haven’t used all of my weeklies or anything, but I just feel like I need to refocus and think about my goals again.

Now I’m just looking forward to some quality time with my hubby!

Weigh in Day and a Mother/Daughter Day

I woke up early this morning, even though I had the day off and I stayed up later than usual last night, but I laid in bed and read a book and it was relaxing and wonderful. I just finished up Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. I love her writing. It is a collection of short stories and very well written, as usual!

I stepped on the scale this morning and was delighted to see 201.4—not only is that my lowest ever, but it’s a 3.6 lb. loss for the week!!! WOW! Now that’s motivating! I’ve lost 86.6 lbs. so far and I earned another 5 lb. star on WW online this morning. Yippee! I’m getting really close to ONEDERLAND and my 90 lb. goal!

This also means that my Daily Points Target was recalculated and was lowered by 1 point. Onward and downward!

I got my workout out of the way first thing. Day 3 of Jillian’s Ripped in 30. As always, I am loving yet another one of Jillian’s workouts. I love her 3-2-1 system. 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs. I always feel like I’ve worked my whole body when I’m done. I burned 281 calories today!! I really stepped it up! And guess what? I can hold myself in push up position and raise and lower myself—not all the way down yet, but I’m improving!!

For breakfast, I had Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal (I really like this stuff!) and a big bowl of fruit for 3 points.

After breakfast, I headed outside to mow the lawn. It was a SUPER workout today. It was muggy and I was DRIPPING in sweat. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life. It took me 51:36 and I burned 398 calories! NICE!

And then my Mom and I headed out for our Mother/Daughter day. I was a little hungry after mowing the lawn, so I snacked on a WW string cheese stick for 1 point.

I also made an iced latte for 1 point.

We spent a little bit of time exploring the Amana colonies. This is a German settlement in the middle of Iowa dating back to the 1800’s. It was interesting to walk through.

I LOVE this sign:

I picked up this:

Can’t wait to try it!

There are these beautiful ponds in the area with real Lilly pads—they’re fascinating to me and so beautiful!

We ate lunch in Middle Amana at the Rose and Thorn Public house. We started with some breaded mushrooms for 5 points.

I ate a Cobb salad, which was really light on the toppings, which was perfect! 8 points.

And then we headed to a Tanger Outlet Mall for a little shopping. I picked up a couple of shirts, one of them was an Under Armor shirt for working out in—LOVE. Protect this House—isn’t that what this is all about. Taking care of the bodies that we live in? Love it.

I also found out that my top has shrunk yet another size at Old Navy. I just recently started buying XL’s and now I’m down to a Large!! Even though the scale isn’t dropping significant numbers weekly, I am seeing HUGE differences in the way my clothes fit.

And I always have to try something at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory because I rarely get to go there and I LOVE chocolate, as we all know. I had a Dark Chocolate Pecan Bear Claw for an estimate of 6 points.

At another mall we went to, I splurged on some Clinique skincare products. I’ve been wanting to get some quality skin care products for my face for quite a while—it actually wasn’t such a bad deal—about $40 for all of this:

Hopefully it works and keeps my skin clean, clear and radiant! So far I like how it makes my skin feel, but I think I like the gel moisturizer better than the one they recommend with the 3 step system.

For supper, we went to Red Lobster. I started with my salad and a biscuit, which unfortunately turned into two. 13 Points.

For my main entrée, I ordered Coconut Shrimp bites, which is my FAVORITE food, along with mashed potatoes. I ate half of each for a total of 11 points.

I also had about 1/2 of a Non-Alcoholic Pineapple Tropical Freeze for 3 points.

Today was a really fun day! We walked pretty much all day, so it was very active too. I used 19 weekly points today, but this should be the end of the indulgent eating now for a while. But, I did burn almost 700 calories this morning, so that helps! It’s been fun!

Thanks for coming Mom!! I know one song that describes a part of growing up for me is Taylor Swift’s “Never Grow Up.” And while I love the wonderful life that I have made with my husband. Growing up is bitter sweet. And yes, I’ve been away from home for a long time, but every time I hear this song, it brings back those feelings of when I first left home. Saying goodbye to childhood in a sense.  All your life you want to grow up, but then when it happens, it’s bitter sweet. And then you treasure those moments you had Mom and Dad growing up as a little girl. Even those moments with you brothers and sisters, and what you have left are these precious memories. Ok, I won’t get teary eyed, I promise. But Mom (and Dad, too of course), this one is for you because it describes how I feel about growing up. Thanks for being the best Mom in the world—and you are BEAUTIFUL! No matter what you think! Walk with your head held high and believe in yourself. You are beautiful inside and out and I hope to be just as sweet as you. And though I don’t say it often enough, I Love You, Mom and Dad!

To Mom

A Slow Goodbye

I got up early this morning to complete Day 2 of Jillian’s Ripped in 30. I burned 200 calories this morning. I was pretty tired and I wanted to go back to bed, but I got it done!

For breakfast, I ate Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal with a bowl of fruit: bananas, strawberries, and raspberries. 3 points.

I sipped on an iced latte all morning for 1 point.

On my first break, I snacked on a sliced apple with PB for 3 points.

My Mom had lunch ready for me today—which was wonderful! She made us a BBQ pulled pork salad, 1/2 a roll, and green beans for 7 points.

She also made a delicious fruit plate for dessert—0 points.

I was craving something sweet on my last break, so I had a Skinny Cow Peanut Butter Heavenly Crisp bar for 3 points.

And my Mom had supper ready for me when I got off of work too! We had shake and bake style chicken with asparagus and fresh tomatoes for 6 points.

And for a little something sweet, I had a TJ’s Dark chocolate PB cup for 2 points.

After supper, we headed to a nearby town to visit my grandpa in assisted living. It’s a little heartbreaking seeing the once intelligent business man and funny grandfather growing old. He kept asking me what grade I was in and when I was going to graduate. He kept asking me how old I was, 17 or 18? He was a little embarrassed when I reminded him of hubby and that I was about to graduate from COLLEGE and was 25 years old! One time he asked me how old I was, I said I’m 25 and he said, “Isn’t it about time you got married? But don’t just marry anyone—you bring him in here for me to approve of him first!” lol. But it was a good visit and it was good to see him, even though it’s heartbreaking. One thing about seeing someone grow old is that it’s kind of a slow goodbye. You can see them changing and you slowly see you’re losing that person that you love. With my grandma, she was gone so quickly that we really didn’t have time to slowly say goodbye. But anyways, enough sad talk! I love this picture of grandpa and me:

While we were there, they served us soft serve—it was delish! 3 points.

After that, Mom and I headed to the consignment store where I dropped off some of my clothes that are too big—I had made almost $12! I will definitely be making an appointment to drop off more stuff.

I had about 5 points left at this point and we stopped and had coffee and a slice of pie. I know, right? Looking back at my pictures today—I guess I was really craving the sweets! I know that I went over my points for sure, but not really sure how many points it was—I did earn a couple of AP’s from my workout this morning though. I didn’t get a picture the pie. But Mom and I had a nice chat over the pie and coffee and I enjoyed it. I hate coming on here to tell you that I ate a slice of pie when I didn’t really have the points for it. Let’s put it this way—I could do better, but once again, I don’t feel out of control or that I ate the slice of pie for any other reason than to sit down with my Mom and enjoy a moment together. Is there anything really wrong with that? But, believe me, I do know I need to stop with the indulging!! Tomorrow, we have a fun and active day planned—so that will make up for it.

But, I’m just being honest. Take it or leave it. If I have a gain tomorrow, well I’m certainly going to know why! And I’m ok with that. But as of this morning, I am showing a pretty nice loss!!