Scaled Back.

Hi again.

Well today was relatively productive in that as the official day one of this diet blog I think overall I did well. My husband and I did a load of walking today not because we WANTED to but because we were in search of the elusive and mystical "Weight Scale." Apparently people don't weigh themselves anymore because trying to locate one is like trying to locate a wrinkle on a supermodels airbrushed face. We first went to Joanns in Brandywine (one of my FAVORITE stores) to get the stuff I need to make a garter for my friend Kala's wedding. Then we went next door to Marshalls where I got to look at their selection of hundreds of panties for a panties party in honor of the Bride-to-Be. (I am pretty sure that my panties are gonna win the ugliest award!) ;O) Oh well, this whole ordeal started at about 1130 AM and we didn't finish those stores till 330 PM! Wowza! So we were walking a lot. Holding babies... looking at panties... all that jazz. Well... Ken ran into Target to buy me a scale (because we decided keeping the kiddos in the car would have been easier that dragging them into another store...) Well, they didn't have one. We went to the Exchange & Home Traditions on base... and neither one of them had one. Then it was CVS in Clinton. Yep... that was a big NO! I was beginning to lose hope. Until I went to Walmart. Now I am not a huge fan of Walmart... BUT they had it... in the PAINT DEPT no less. (Believe me I searched high and low and eventually had to ask an employee for help.) So now I have a scale. WHICH MEANS... I now know just how much I weigh. Are you ready to hear the number?? ...

238.2 LBS!

Honestly, that number is lower than I expected. I thought I was somewhere in the 250 range. So, this is my starting point! I am going to weigh myself every Friday and post it on this blog for the entire web to see.

SO, want to hear about the stuff I ate today!?! Since we already planned the meals for the rest of this pay period before I decided to diet its not the healthiest things I could be eating but I think I did pretty well portion wise.

So for breakfast I had 1.5 cups of Multi-Grain Cheerios with a cup of non-fat milk. Then for lunch it was leftovers. "Shipwreck Skillet" Mmmm, it was fantastic but COMPLETELY not diet friendly. Though I only had one serving (1 cup) I have no idea how that impacted my "diet." I ate lunch with a Diet Pepsi. After our walking around everywhere at 5pm (before I went back out to Walmart and CVS) I ate 3 scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream. THIS WAS A BAD DECISION! But I was starving and there wasn't much for me to eat. Probably next time I will opt to having a PB&J on Whole Wheat bread. Now I am about to eat a "Crispy Southwest Chicken Wrap." Which the ingredients for this one don't look half bad... worst thing is probably the cheese. Here are the recipes for the above meals...

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/crispy-southwest-chicken-wraps.html

*Makes 6 wraps*

1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 can black beans, rinsed and drianed

1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)

1/2 red or green pepper, diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

2 cups shredded cheese (I used a combination of monterey jack and sharp cheddar)

Sour cream (optional)

6 burrito-sized flour tortillas

Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. (Optional: on some of the wraps, I dotted the cheese with about 1-2 tablespoons of reduced fat sour cream before arranging chicken and rice mixture down the center - it made the wraps delightfully creamy.) Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray.

Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange 2 wraps, seam-side down, in pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve.

Shipwreck Skillet Dinner

from cookbook "Cheap. Fast. Good."

*Makes 4 servings*

1 cup long-grain rice

1 can fat-free beef broth

1 pound ground beef (I used 97% lean Ground Beef, but I am thinking of substituting this for Lean Ground Turkey)

1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

1 large Onion

1 clove of garlic minced

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in an extra-deep 12 inch nonstick skillet that has a lid. Add onion to the skillet.

2. Add the beef (fresh or partly defrosted) to the skillet and raise the heat to high.

3. Cook, turning and breaking up the meat and stirring from time to time until the meat is crumbled and brown, about 5 minutes.

4. While the meat cooks, add the worcestershire sauce, garlic, and seasoning salt. Rinse and seed the bell pepper and cut it into bite size pieces. Set aside.

5. Open the beef broth and remove all visible fat. Measure out the rice and set aside. Add the broth to the skillet. Add the rice green pepper and corn. Stir well and cover the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium high.

6. Boil, covered, 3 minutes. Uncover and stir well. Cover and continue to boil until the rice is tender and absorbs most of the broth, about 2 more minutes. Season with black pepper to taste. Serve at once or remove from the heat until ready to serve. (don't overcook!).