Day 20: His Almighty Noodliness Blesses My Diet

You gotta love Pastafarianism.  

BREAKFAST - 330 Calories

I really loved the Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew from Starbucks so I decided to get that again only in the tall size to save a few calories (plus I never finish the grande).  I was running really short on time today so I had to get breakfast here instead of McDonald's.  So I went for the Low-Fat Turkey Bacon Breakfast Sandwich.  It is pretty tasty! This is their description, "Sizzling reduced-fat turkey bacon and wholesome cage-free egg whites are paired with the rich creaminess of melted, reduced-fat white cheddar cheese on an organic wheat English muffin. So good and surprisingly only 230 calories."  It really was good, even though I prefer the McD's breakfast bowl because it does not have wheat... for some reason, wheat has been hurting my stomach so I am trying to stay away from it.

LUNCH - 373 Calories

I had some Tom Kah Gai for lunch.  It was delicious.

DINNER - 289 Calories

For dinner I wanted OODLES OF ZOODLES!  (I hope you read that in a Julia Child voice).  So I used my spiralizer and did a very simple Zucchini Noodle (2 Large Zucchinis) with Baby Bella Mushrooms (1 oz) in a Tomato & Basil Sauce (1 Cup).  It needed more veggies but it was still good as it was.  Although I had to add some of my Chevre and Onion Salt to it to give it a little more flavor.

I miss high calorie foods.  I feel that my cooking range is very limited these days, especially since my good friend Henry launched his blog Wolf & Blossom .  Now all my meals look like college cafeteria food. lol... Dammit, Henry!  In all seriousness I am so proud of him!! He is doing these really cool dinners that you can RSVP for online.  Check out his blog and see!  It would be a super special date idea if you have good intentions but suck big donkey ***** in the kitchen.

so GO GO GO!  Check it out!!!

Day 19: Cavalier Win!

Congrats to the Cleveland Cavaliers!

I have not always been a big basketball fan, but if I get invested in watching a team climb their way to the top I can get REALLY into it.  Man oh man is Lebron James talented!  I had a great time eating bad stuff while I watched him play.  

BREAKFAST - 416 Calories

I stayed home and cooked myself breakfast this morning.  I do not know why I keep forgetting to take pictures of the things I make... This morning I made a breakfast scramble with egg whites, crimini mushrooms, onions, red peppers, and 2 slices of bacon.  It was the bacon that made this breakfast higher than my usual breakfast.  I need to get turkey bacon...but then again I do love regular bacon so maybe the extra calories are worth it.  Yes... yes they are.

LUNCH - 140 Calories

I may be off on this calorie projection as it was a bowl of fruit that I bought from Von's so the nutritional value was not included.  But it was mango, strawberries and blueberries.  I ate the whole bowl.  And then I ordered Thai food.

DINNER - 727 Calories

I honestly just said 'F it.  I'm ordering Thai food.' because I wanted to watch the game and I didn't want to cook.  So I ordered Ka Prao Kai Dao from Ka Prao Thai Cuisine and OMG YUM.  No one makes it like they do!!  They use sauteed minced chicken with basil and garlic chili sauce. Topped with a fried egg and served with jasmine rice. Just delicious!  

Tonight I spent a LOT of time playing Twilight Princess & when I finally wanted to go to sleep there was ANOTHER spider looming above my bed on the ceiling.  Where is Link when I need him???

Day 18: Making up for the popcorn incident.

I did really well today!

BREAKFAST - 360

Modified McStar

Today I decided to try the Cold Brew with Vanilla Sweet Cream!  It was a grande and only had 110 calories!  It's REALLY good if you like potent coffee.  I was craving something different today and was very pleasantly surprised with this one.  It is going to be a repeat item but maybe a tall next time.

LUNCH - 185 Calories

I really need to make a better effort to stop going to fast food places.  I mean it is good to know that there are healthier options when you do go but I feel like I keep posting pictures of fast food items instead of things I made.  And I forget to take pictures of the things I make when I DO make them!! Ugh!  Well this lunch was tasty and very low in calories.  I went to El Pollo Loco and had 2 chicken drumsticks with a side of steamed broccoli.  Very satisfactory.

DINNER - 114 Calories

Deconstructed Vegetarian Portobello Mushroom Pizza. I really wish I had taken a picture of this one.  Basically I preheated the oven at 400 degrees.  While it was heating up I cleaned 2 portobello mushrooms by pulling off the stem and removing the black gills under warm water with a spoon.  Then I pat them dry and placed them on a baking sheet that I sprayed cooking oil on to keep sticking to a minimum.  Once the oven was ready, I popped the mushrooms in for 5 minutes with the top of the cap facing down.  In those 5 minutes I quickly chopped red bell peppers and sweet onions and grabbed the cheese and tomato basil sauce.  At the 5 minute mark I pulled out the mushrooms and spread a tablespoon of tomato basil sauce (I use my favorite, Bertolli!) each into the caps, then I added the onions and bell pepper and topped it with 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese each (it's all I had!) and put them back in the oven for 15-20 minutes.  Once done, I cut them up and put them in a bowl and sprinkled some more Parmesan on them.  They were really delicious and super low in calories.  Then I played Twilight Princess for HOURS.  It was another good night.

Riding off into fun times chopping at anything that moves.

Day 17: I tried to be good... I really did. But I love popcorn.

It started off great...and then gradually went downhill.

BREAKFAST - 340 Calories

My usual McStar.

LUNCH - 470 Calories

My sweetheart brought me lunch so that we could go home and play MarioKart8 on my lunch break.  This is why he is a keeper.  470 calories is a little higher than I usually shoot for, but he picked up a really tasty BLT salad with chicken from Von's that was bug free and delicious.  It came with an avocado ranch dressing which I only used 1/3 of since I know that is where most of the calories are.  He also picked up a tall iced coffee sweetened w/extra soy so I was pretty damn hyper this afternoon.

DINNER - 905 Calories (fail)

A fail, but a delicious one at that.  For dinner, we went to In N Out and I ordered a protein style cheeseburger with fries and root beer.  I know... shame on me.  But dang it, it was good.  Next time I need to exercise willpower and say no to the fries and root beer.  The burger alone is within my calorie budget but it is still something I don't feel I should eat often because of the high cholesterol (60mg!)

THEN I went to the movies because I just couldn't wait to see Finding Dory!  It was SUCH a cute movie!  But of course it meant that I just HAD to get popcorn, WITH butter.  So that came to 300 calories which put me over my 1,360 calorie budget by 655 calories.  Boooooo.... Worth it.

I had a good night.  I slept like a baby. A food coma baby.

Day 16: I blame the Cav's

Today was a good day, just not for my diet.

I know, I know... and the best thing about doing this blog is that I had a dear friend *shakes fist* check in on me because as you can see, I was behind on my blog posts.  She said, I am just checking in because you haven't blogged and YOU said that if you weren't it was because you are eating bad stuff!  LOL.. Right you were.  *hangs head in shame*.  So yes, I have had some trouble getting back on the health wagon and today was no exception.  But I fervently blame the Cleveland Cavaliers!! I had to go see them play, so naturally I made my way over to BJ's, ordered a pizza and beer and..a salad.  You know..cause health and stuff.  Oh crud.. I skipped everything I did RIGHT!  Ok so here is how the meals went for me today.

BREAKFAST - 340 Calories

The good start McStar!

LUNCH - 440 Calories

I met Damion for lunch today and we went to Subway.  I ordered a turkey sub on wheat, no cheese, with spinach, bell pepper, onions, tomatoes, salt & pepper and vinegar.  And a bag of flaming hot cheetos... :( it get's worse.

DINNER - 1,381 Calories

OH..MY..FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER.  The regret doesn't fully hit you until you write out the 4 digit calorie count.  Was it worth it?  Hell yes.  Should I have run a few miles after?  Probably.  But guys... The Cav's killed it last night!! Lebron was doing some Magic Johnson type shiz.  It was impressive!  We were getting in yelling matches with Golden State fans and making new friends with nearby Cav fans... it was so much fun.  Plus, you know...Peanut Butter Milk Stout Beer.  YES.  We ordered the BJ's Classic and even got a medium instead of a large.  Though I suppose we would have been satisfied with a small...  It just looked so good!!  So yes, today was a diet fail, but I will gladly trade it for a CLE CLE win.  :)

Day 15 - Results Day...I don't want to talk about it.

Safe to say, my birthday weekend sabatoged my Results Day.  

I did not even weigh myself because I was scared to look... But After I did, I saw that I did not lose or gain anything!  So that's ok.  I lost a LOT that first week so I still feel good about my progress.

BREAKFAST - 340 Calories

I had the McStar again.  Why change a good thing that works?

LUNCH - 374 Calories

I CAREFULLY checked the Arugula and Goat Cheese salad this time.  I literally took leaf by leaf and checked for 'extra protein'.  There was none to be found this time.  PHEW... So I added avocado and gave my coworker the other salad.  She knew about the protein incident so she also carefully checked her salad before eating it.  I'm glad that incident didn't scar me cause I like this salad.

DINNER - 449 Calories

I couldn't help it.  I was craving pho and I gave in.  It was way over my sodium budget but come on... what is life without a small bowl of pho every once in a while??

Day 14: Protein is protein.

Today was a day of easing back into my diet.  

This morning I did my usual...

BREAKFAST - 340 Calories

Should I come up with some kind of nickname for this meal?  Maybe... the McStar?  That's hot.

LUNCH - 374 Calories (or less...)

I went to Von's to pick up veggies and fruit for my fridge and decided to pick up the Arugula and Goat Cheese salad that I loved so much earlier this month.  I love it so much I picked up all 3 that were there.  I went home and quickly put everything away, cut up half an avocado and put everything together in a bowl.  When I was on the last few bites, I saw something...staring back at me...

Blegh!! I spit out the mouthful I had just bitten and kept repeating to myself.. 'It's just protein Caresse...just some extra protein.  Lots of people eat it around the world..you would eat it for survival..do NOT throw up..NO..do NOT do it.  CALM DOWN." Annnnnd that was the end of my lunch...It saved me a few calories, so... that is the bright side.

DINNER - 332 Calories

Thanks to my dear friend, Brenda, I received a Spiral Slicer from Amazon that helps you shave zucchini into noodles!  So for dinner I decided to try making Thai Ka Prao on a bed of Zucchini Noodles and it came out REALLY tasty!  I just followed the recipe from TasteNirvana.com (with Turkey instead of chicken) and then put in the sauteed zucchini noodles in the end.  If you want a step by step recipe, let me know in the comments.

I had a few calories left in my budget and I had a sweet tooth so I went to Starbucks and ordered a Mini Smore's Frappuccino.  It is 230 calories so I didn't feel badly about it.  Until I remembered the Harry & David Truffles that I ate at work earlier in the day because the bug in my salad left me a little hungry... fail.  So I went over 117 calories today but.. I will be better tomorrow...maybe.

I feel you cat.  I feel you.