MILESTONE: Lost 40 Pounds, finally!

Okay, I thought yesterday was Sunday. hahahahha. I got ahead of myself with the SUMMER SLIMMIN' CHALLENGE check-in.

But that's fine. At least I did check in.

Today, I hit a milestone I've been so looking forward to. I've lost 40 pounds. Yay.

I weighed in at 258.6.

So, 40.4 pounds to be exact.

The extra protein is totally helping.

Today, hubby wanted a burrito, so we did a LIME takeout. I was afraid I'd do my bingey thing like I usually do with Italian or Mexican (my two major bingey fave cuisines). Nope. I ate a good amount of the lower carb South Beach beef burrito I ordered. But I didn't finish it. This is a RARE occurrence, having leftover burrito. Me loves burrito!!!

I left about 1/4th, which I wrapped for a leftover snack. I didn't finish the guacamole (I usually do) or the salsa (I usually do) and I didn't have a single tortilla chip. I had a few mouthfuls of refried beans, and have plenty for high fiber snacking.

Really happy I didn't go nuts.

Hoping my last two SS Challenge weigh-ins are satisfying ones.

This is a new week. Let's be very good to our bodies....

My First Four Summer Slimmin' Challenge Meals: And I went for Convenience BIG TIME!

Yeah, I am not in the running to be America's Next Top Chef. In fact, I blissfully swanned through my formative years without learning to cook. In fact, I shamefully confess that I skated right up to age 22 without learning culinary skills, and I only bothered when I met hubby and started experimenting with some light meals for him after our engagement.  I still recall trying to make a custard with my best pal (who also wasn't much of a cook) and calling my elder sister to ask her what the heck a "water bath" was, and I still am not sure what a braising is.)

This is especially ironic since I love watching cooking shows--Giada, Mario, Gordon, The Contessa, Iron Chef, etc--where I have learned SOME stuff...

Yeah, sure, over the years I'd make some boxed stuff--remember those weird pizzas from Chef Boy-R-Dee you prepped at home back in the 70's?--and would do breakfast for my nieces and nephews (eggs and pancakes are easy, right). And I could prep sandwiches and heat up cans of soup.

But all those wonderful down-home Cuban recipes my mom made, I feel a lot of regret at not asking her to teach me. I really do. And I feel a little bummed that my ill health in childhood meant my mom would scoot me out of the kitchen with "don't get your hands wet"--another reason she never let me do laundry, a skill I learned from hubby after we got back from the honeymoon--as she believed it would make my asthma worse. (Old wives' tales.)

Pretty much, I still avoid cooking anything fancy or elaborate. I remember too vividly getting up from our dinner table when we were newlyweds and throwing out the food that came out inedible. I make great veggie lasagna. I'll make simple sauteed chicken or pork. I tend ot eat veggies with minimal heating (steaming, sauteeing, nuking). I have a tiny, inefficient kitchen with nearly zip counter space, which is only a hindrance since I'm just not a nifty, efficient cook. I manage the simplest of meals, that's all.

I've talked to hubby about maybe taking some cooking lessons--I'd have to take vegetarian, cause all the ones I checked on locally that are regular cooking classes, feature a lot of seafood--which I am terribly allergic to and hubby detests--and a lot of meat cuts I refuse to touch . (I have this raw meat icky-phobia.)  So, I've done minimal research into finding a vegetarian cooking class for beginners, but the only ones I saw so far that looked promising were for raw cooking and I don't wanna go that route. My husband just wouldn't eat it. It would be a waste of time and produce.

Anyway, I've kept my meals so far very simple and convenience-based, meaning I am going to take a look at my stock of canned food accumulated over the last couple of hurricane seasons that have gone ignored. (I have to do a look-see every couple years for what canned goods have expired, and it's now early hurricane season and I have to do that.)

So, don't expect any Mario Batalli or Gordon Ramsay or Bobby Flay or Nigella Lawson beauties in my meal plans. Expect "ready in fifteen minutes" type of meals, until I can get those lessons. :D

Here we go:

Breakfast yesterday was437 cals (including supplements)--1 orange, 2 cups coffee with sucralose, 2 slices ww toast, 2 eggs scrambled, 1 slice 2% American cheese, Strawberry-water (I chop fruit into water to give it the fruit essence flavor.)

Lunch:  2 cups organic arugula with 1/8 cup of shaved parmesan, a can's worth of Amy's Chunky Tomato Bisque soup with 1/4 cup skim milk and 1 serving of FiberGourmet Rotini added; 1 cup Rainier cherries, strawberry essence water. Not shown: 1/2 scoop Any Whey unflavored mixed with 1 scoop BSN Dessert Lean cinnamon roll flavor protein (as this meal was not high enough in protein). Total count for this (including protein and supplements)--741 calories.

Supper: Healthy Choice Classic Meatloaf frozen dinner (my SparkPeople stats had me low on iron and folate, so I decided to have something with beef and have romaine), 1/2 cup spinach, 2 cups romaine with garden veggies (peppers, cukes, tomato) with 2 tbsp Annie's organic Sesame Goddess dressing, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 cup watermelon (dang, it was so sweet), and cantaloupe-essence water. This supper was 622 cals.

Breakfast today: 3 egg white scrambled with chopped tricolor peppers and onions, tomato with EVOO (1 tsp), 1/2 cup mango, 1/2 cup papaya, 2 slices ww toast with 2 slices 2% American cheese, kiwi-cantaloupe essence water. I used Herbamare to salt my eggs (adds a bit of celery/herb flavor, which is nice).  This breakfast was 455 cals, including the 9 calories for my supplements.

So, how was your first day and second morning in Summer Slimmin'? Are  you cooking beautiful, produce-filled meals? (You must be better in the kitchen than I am!)

Happy day to you!

Fiber Gourmet's Got Lasagna and Spaghetti now, and I Found A Crazy Yummy Supermarket Latte without Sugar and With Whey Protein Made with Skim Milk

Okay, so I'm trying to stock my kitchen with stuff that I like but in a lighter/better versions for weight loss.

First off, while I need to really cut back on my sugars (I have been way too indulgent in Godiva chocolates due to hubby's romantic and generous impulses, and well, my dark chocolate obsession), I really love pasta and have been having nearly daily desires for it (though I haven't had any since, er, Monday, when I had half of a take-out serving I shared with hubby of fettucine marinara).

I had used Fiber Gourmet back when I first started this blog and found it okay if you had a really tasty sauce. Claims that it's just like regular pasta is horsepucky. It's not. It's got a different texture and a blander taste. However, it does have INSANE amounts of fiber and so it did actually fill me up for an extended time. With a good marinara and some parmesan, or a light Alfredo with chicken, or some broccoli and garlic and EVOO, it was okay and filling and gave me that pasta fix. So, I'm gonna try the lasagna. (If you want to try it, too, and are ordering either lasagna or spaghetti, the two new items, then just use code FREE SHIP to ditch the shipping costs.)

I need to start cooking again (been eating out, take-out, and delivery diet meals), and I need to make stuff hubby can eat and take for lunch. Lasagna is a winner there, since it freezes great, reheats great, and can be modified in so many ways (lean ham and light swiss or ricotta, veggie and low fat cheese, lean ground beef and marinara, mexican style, etc). 

Since they have a free shipping special now, I decided to give it a shot. Got the lasagna and got some rotini pasta (that I can use when I get a mac-n-cheese jones). Due to the high fiber, these don't affect blood sugar like regular pasta (and affects it less, I hear, than the Dreamfields pasta I use now that is higher-fiber, lower digestible carb than regular pasta).

We'll see how that goes.

I'm also a latte junkie. I normally go twice a week minimum to Starbucks for a sugarfree vanilla latte fix. However, I don't like the Starbucks latte with skim milk. I get it with 2%. I find the skim milk one just too watery. However, this week, I discovered Emmi's Caffee Latte Light over at Fresh Market and I am in love. It comes in a small serving (a bit under a cup) in a nicely shaped container reminiscent of coffehouse take-out cups.  One serving of 7.7 ounces has 80 calories, no fat, 440 grams of potassium (great for those of us with HBP), 12 grams of carbs, 1 gram  of fiber, and 8 grams of protein. The first three ingredients are: fat free milk, espresso coffee, whey protein concentrate. It's sweetened with Sucralose, not sugar.

This stuff tastes so good, I like it better than the skim milk latte at Starbucks, and I like that the ingredients are pretty simple and calorie-counting friendly. For me, as I'm lazy about making lattes at home (having to clean the espresso thingie makes me just opt for tea most of the time), I want to stock up on these for when I get that "gotta have a latte" moment. It offers 25% of daily calcium needs, so that's a happy thing.  (And for WLS peops, it seems to be suitable from what I see in the stats and can, doubtless, be supplemented with extra whey and still taste good.)

I can't remember how much it cost, but I'm assuming less than a tall Starbucks latte.

Any great happy calorie food finds out there this week?

Yummy looking Creamy Chicken Enchilada recipe, 250 cals per serving

I love enchiladas. Cheese (which I've made at home) and chicken being my two faves.  I was emailed a nifty-looking recipe for Creamy Chicken Enchiladas that I wanna try!

Here it is. If you make it, let me know how it turned out.

Mmmm. Mexican food.

Time To Get Serious In the Kitchen & on the Move! & A Tasty Microwaveable Soup!

What I ordered minutes ago:



And what helps with Mexican cravings at lunchtime:


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