Olive Garden: Before and After

On Saturday afternoon, Drew's parents gave me the best birthday present- they watched the kids so we could go out!!

I knew they had other things to do so we decided to stay in our neck of the woods. Plus we drove the Mustang, which has no A/C (it's a '67).. making me a little glad we didn't drive to far.

There's a new Olive Garden that recently opened up near us. We haven't been there in probably years (switched to Jonny Corino's) so we figured that would be a good option. I love to eat out and if you just take the time to research it, there is NO reason why you can't enjoy good food. And enjoy, I did.

I figured I might as well share what I used to order and what I ordered on Saturday. :o)

BEFORE:

Appetizer: Spinach Artichoke Dip
One half of that is 7 points. Drew knows how much I love Spinach, Cheese and Artichokes, especially all mixed together, that there may have been a few times where Drew let me eat a little more than half. Such a giver. What! I'll go ahead and own it: oink, oink. I can't help it! So good. I don't know if this includes the bread to dip it in.

Side Salad w/ the Dressing on it
If you could stop at just one serving (Bahahahaha) it's a whopping 9 points. NINE! It's all the oil in the dressing. I know, it made me sick to discover that too. Although I do skip the croutons so it was probably slightly less..

Breadsticks: At least 3
3 points each. Ouch.

Entree: Ravioli di Portobello
The entire plate is 15 points which is actually less than I thought it was (next time I'll probably order this!). However, I always only eat half of my entree's because I ate extra salad.. you know, trying to make smart choices and all that... LOL I ate the other half for lunch the following day. Sometimes I would order the Seafood Alfredo: 24 points. Double Ouch.

Total: I figured for what I ate, it was aprox. 40 points, maybe more. For one meal. And that's w/ no specialty drink or dessert so add those on and.... I'll just stop now.

AFTER:

No Appetizer.
It was lunch time and there was no need to eat that much food, especially with the avilable options.

Breadstick:
I only ate one (3 points). That's right, ONE!! Drew was my witness. He was happy to make up for my lack of eating.. I think he had five. ROFL The trick is to eat. very. slowly. VERY. SLOWLY. S*L*O*W*L*Y

Salad:
Did you know that they offer a light dressing and of course you can ask for it on the side? The only N/I (nutritional information) they offer on the website is that it's has less than 2 grams of fat per ounce (the serving cup is 2 ounces.. I ate aprox. half an ounce). Not bad at all! Works for me. Drew thought it was as good as the normal stuff. And I skipped on the croutons and I dipped my fork in the dressing before I ate a bite. I did eat two olives. And most importantly, I resisted the urge to pour the dressing on and mop it up with my lonely breadstick. :-D I enjoyed 2 servings of salad. I'm guessing it was 3 points, maybe less?

Entree:
They had their dinner menu going on and I had done my research on the lunch items. I thought as much as I could about everything I had looked at and ended up ordering the Shrimp Primavera. Total points was 15. But I'm used to not finishing an Entree and so that wasn't an issue and I ate until I was full which was aprox. 1/3 of the plate. Turns out that's only 4 points. LOL (I just looked up the chicken special that Drew ordered and it was 31 points!)

I did also order a specialty drink that was 5 points but it was really good.. next time I'll share one with Drew to cut down on the points.

Grand Total: 15 points, possibly less.

And I was FULL for quite awhile.. no need for afternoon snacks.

Props to Olive Garden for having such extensive Nutritional Information on their website!!

http://www.olivegarden.com/menus/garden_fare/nutrition_information.asp

Fiber One Waffles

First thing is first: I'm talking about Waffles.

Go ahead, say it in your best Donkey voice.

I'll wait.

"... and in the Morning? I'm making Waffles!"

Good, now that we have that out of the way, I can continue.

For Christmas I bought Drew an awesome waffle maker.. you pour the batter in it and then flip it over resulting in huge round circles of yumminess. mmmmm

The first time after I joined WW that we had a waffles, I didn't research it first and I figured it wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, with the mix we used and Drew's way of making it (a lot of batter) it ended up being FIFTEEN points. :-O

Since then, I'm always on the look for a way to enjoy it in a more healthful way and in a mix, because I'm lazy.

Last week I found this at the store and figured I would give it a try as the serving size is 1/2 cup of mix (not prepared) is 3 points.

I followed the directions on the back for the waffle version only in an individual size (going off of the mix serving size).

-1/2 cup of mix
-1/4 cup plus slightly more of water
-1 1/2 tsp. oil

Total points is 5.

I measured out 1 TBS of regular Aunt Jemima syrup and put it on the side. I have a huge hatred for soggy items so I put mine on the side and dip it in. Last week my brother-in-law told us that whip cream and syrup is really good together and turns out he's right. So, I measured out Two Tablespoons of regular cool whip (because that's what I had) and added it to the side as well. Each one is 1 point.
I had around half of the syrup and whip cream left by the time I was finished so I only counted 1 point total for the two of them- next time I'll measure it accordingly.


The entire plate was 6 points. Now THAT is my kind of waffle. And it tasted good!

And this is yet another example of how it's possible to really pack on the calories and fat when you think you really aren't being that bad. If you're my husband, you would make the serving size much larger than needed, you add some butter on (well, a light spread not real butter) but then fill each little spot with syrup. It really adds up!

Can't wait to have Breakfast for Dinner again with some delicious fruit on the side.

P.S. I tried some Sugar Free store brand syrup awhile back and it's NASTY! Don't do it! I did have some Smucker's Sugar Free at IHOP once and it was ok. I just stick with the reg. stuff now but measure it out.

Being better.

I have had such a hard time tracking points the past few months.

I'm not surprised.. usually I get really into something and after about six weeks, I fade back. I was impressed with myself that I made it a few months.

But my weight loss has hardly been much the past what, two months, so I obviously need to do something more about it. Yesterday, the scale was up .4. On saturday it was down 1.5 and I saw a number that I haven't seen since the year 2000. I think that was the motivation to actually follow through tracking, etc.

And yesterday, I tracked all of my points. Every single one.

My friend Trish posted about what she ate the other day and I loved that insight- it was a big reminder that I wasn't getting enough fruits/veggies in. Plus I easily get stuck in ruts with what I'm eating (again, remember that 6 week thing??).

So here's what I ate yesterday. It was a lot- I was super hungry yesterday. But like I tell people, if you are choosing the right foods, it's just fine to eat that much. There's no starving on this end!!

Breakfast:
1 slice Sourdough Bread- 4 pt (it was a little larger than the serving size)
(this was given to me on Sunday, fresh from San Fran, when I picked up my friend from the airport.. I heart Sourdough Bread!)
1 mug Coffee- 0 pt
1 TBS fat free caramel vanilla creamer- 0 pt
1/8 cup skim milk- 0 pt

(met a friend mid-morning and then went to the store so no snack)


Lunch:
10 baby carrots- .5 pt
1 mini cucumber- 0 pt (sooo cute! found at Costco)
3 TBS Fat Free Ranch dip- 1.5 pt
(used fat free sour cream and fat free hidden valley dip mix)
4 romaine leaves- 0 pt
1 serving Chicken Salad- 3 pt
(I chose to eat the salad on the leaves rather than bread because I knew I'd want more sourdough bread later)
1 sheet Reduced Fat Graham Cracker- 1 pt


Snack:
1 serving Blender drink- 2.5 pt
(used 1 small can pineapple juice, 4 baby carrots, 1 banana, 1 clementine, 6 large frozen strawberries and about a cup of a 5 spectrum blend of frozen fruit from Costco. I usually use 1 cup of skim milk to get some dairy in but we ran out earlier in the day) Made 3 servings- each is 2 pt but I drank the rest of Carson's.
1 Eggo Lowfat Multi-grain waffle- 1 pt
5 squirts of I can't believe it's not butter spray- 0pt

Carson is enjoying his drink.. he loves it. Nice since Hayden hates it (the whole mixed items thing)

Little later snack when I was really munchy:
1 diet coke w/ lime- 0pt
10 baby carrots- .5 pt
2 TBS Fat Free Dip- 1 pt

Drew was almost home from work and I wanted something sweet:
1 Oreo stick thingy - 1 pt

Dinner:
Cilantro Cream Chicken- 7 pt
(I used 3/4 lb cooked chicken I had in the freezer and made 7 ounces (dry weight) of higher fiber Penne pasta (3.5 servings) but 1 ounce was for kiddos that wouldn't eat it all mixed together and I used mushrooms instead of red pepper). YUM! Oh, and I calculated 1 serving as 6 points but I ate a little extra.
1 slice Sourdough Bread- 3 pt

After dinner snack:
2 Ande's mints- 1 pt (yes, each one is just .5!!)

I really didn't need it because I wasn't hungry but I was really munchy snack before bed:
1 mini bag of popcorn- 1 pt

Water through out the day- 0 pt

Grand Total: 28
Daily Points: 28

I definitley could have made some healthier choices and nomrally I do- I pretty much never eat 7 points of bread in a day. mmmmm so yummy. Just can't resist so I made it work.

Scale: down a pound this morning. :-D

Still fighting.

Well, apparently I'm still fighting with my scale.. and I think I won't win. I'm going to have to buy another one. GRRRR

The first number (and second) showed that I was exactly the same. After that point, it said I gained. Whatever. So I'm choosing that I stayed exactly the same. :-D

Not losing is actually not that unexpected for this past week as it was the 10 year anniversary of my brother's death. I did have an afternoon where I ate six one point cookies. But considering that I could have totally pigged out, I'm ok with that. To be honest, emotional eating is something I've been working on for years. YEARS. I've definitely improved.. no more eating an entire bag of chips, half a package of cookies or huge bowls full of ice cream when I'm upset!

After starting Weight Watchers and I was tracking my points all day long, I was suddenly aware of other triggers for emotional eating. Like when I'm getting us all ready to leave somewhere, I would grab a snack. But I wasn't just leisurely enjoying a cookie, I was inhaling two at a time. No wonder I was gaining weight! Now I try to be aware of possible.. anxiety.. times and if I really need something, I make sure it's just a 1 point cookie, some pretzels or a big glass of water (or diet coke).

Over the weekend there was a night that our (Indian) neighbors invited us over for a birthday dinner and like last week, I tried to pick what I thought was point friendly but really I don't know. Maybe they dump lots of butter in their rice or their chicken was marinated with oil. Know what I mean? It's always hard figuring out what to eat in those situations. I'm hoping I sweated enough to cancel out what I might have gained. lol Maybe that's why my neighbor is small! And at the Air Show on Saturday, I had some snacks that I would have normally avoided (frozen lemonade, etc). But I also walked a LOT.

After all of that rambling, I forgot to share my happy new though.

I lost INCHES!!

Arms, waist and thighs are all down a 1/2". My rear end is down 1".

*happy dance*

I've been camping out at around this weight range for awhile now but it's nice that my clothes are fitting differently. In fact, I desperately need new shirts. Before I could wear my old shirts and they just looked bigger.. they definitely look sloppy now. What I can wear and look ok in, is limited. Although my awesome husband says I look amazing in everything. ;o)

I told my mom that for my birthday (in less than 2 weeks!) that I want her to watch my kids so I can go shopping with my sister. It's really hard with all of our crazy kids plus my brother John, but I hope it works out.

Speaking of my birthday.. you know what that means.. a big fat piece, guilt free, of carrot cake!! YUM!

Chicken Salad... oh how I love thee...

I love chicken salad.

I didn't really know this until about a year ago. Before then I thought it was just so-so . Who knew something as simple as a sample at Costco (say that five times) would change my thinking? I never even had a chance to walk away. The taste.. the texture.. the crunch of the celery.. deeee-licious! Yum!

Something I have given up entirely since starting Weight Watchers is mayonnaise/miracle whip. I love it all. And previous experiences with the reduced/non-fat versions left me incredibly disappointed. Ick! Nasty! And I wasn't about to waste oodles of points on the real stuff. I instead choose to moisten my sandwiches with Light Laughing Cow cheese.

Anyway, so, I need to confess that I've been considering cheating. I was at Costco last week and walked by my love and instead of continuing, I slowed down my pace. I shot a few glances to the side and even ogled a little. After the innocent flirting, I gave into temptation and walked over.

I whispered sweet nothings to the container.. I even expressed the anger I've had for not being able to eat it- let it all out. Who knew I had missed it so much??

I used my mad texting skill to see if my sister could google the nutritional information.. maybe Costco by chance had a miracle chicken salad that was amazingly healthy for you. Yeah, that's why I'm not fat. Right.

My sister didn't respond and I almost gave in until I decided to be resourceful. I waltzed over to the pre-packaged chicken salad and noted it's nutritional information. I figured out that 2/3 of a cup was almost 30 points. sigh That's more than my daily points! Even half a serving wasn't worth it.

I considered stomping my feet in attempt to protest. Instead, I chose to pout and mourn a little.

And I walked away.

The Chicken Salad has not left my mind since that time though. After several days of this, I decided that today was the day to do something about this unhealthy obsession. I searched and googled. And I found a recipe!

I felt very Trish like as I prepared the recipe. Look at me actually making something!!


Chicken Salad
3/4 pound cooked chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
1/3 cup dill pickle or sweet gherkins, finely diced
1/4 cup reduced calorie mayonnaise
2 TBS reduced fat sour cream
2 TBS parsley, fresh, chopped
1 TSP dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Place all ingredients in a large bowl; mixed until blended.

(this my largest bowl- the others were being washed in the dishwasher)

Yields about 2/3 cup per serving (that's a lot!!)
Only THREE POINTS per serving!!


My version: used dill pickles, reg. mustard and no parsley (didn't have any). A little extra pepper. Chicken had already been cooked and shredded and was in the freezer.

We ate ours on Sara Lee Wheat Bread (3 points for two slices- if you use the low calorie bread it would have been 2 points.. meant to buy that but didn't.. sad for me). And because I had the points and love cheese, I had a slice of Sargento reduced fat Colby Jack cheese (2 points).


We also enjoyed watermelon and low fat cottage cheese (I only ate 1/4 cup- 1 pt or 1/2 cup is 2 pt).


What we thought:

The boys won't eat anything mixed together so they had just plain chicken and the side items.

Aubrey picked out the pickle and celery because they were spicy. Um.. not sure where that came from since she is The Spicy Queen!! And really, celery? Spicy?? At least I had a good laugh over that.

Drew thought it was great and loved how light it was. He had two sandwiches.

Me: I thought it was FaBuLoUs! It was everything I imagined and hoped it to be. I found that 1/3 cup or so was pleanty on a sandwich (for all of us) so I had some on the side as well. Plus it was so simple to make, it's crazy! This will definitley be something will enjoy on a frequent basis and probably on rolls instead of bread.

I'm so glad I didn't cheat. And, I'm SO glad there are leftovers for lunch tomorrow!!!

If you know of any variations to make this even better, please share!!

Down a pound.. I think??

My oh-so-reliable digital scale is giving me trouble. We're fighting. It first said I lost almost 2 pounds this morning. I had gained weight earlier last week (I can't help weighing in daily) so I was surprised.. stepped on again and said I only lost .4. Tried again and it was almost 2 pounds. Then it was 1 pound down. grrrrrrr

So I've decided 1 pound. lol

I was tracking my food but was gaining so I got discouraged and went back to doing it in my head. And it went down after that.

Although maybe some of the weight loss is from this:


On Saturday I had 13" cut off and 12 were donated to Locks of Love.

I lightened the exposure so you could see the cut a little better.


I looove it! So easy to do and it feels great.

Oh, back to the weight loss.

So yeah.. not sure what's going on.. little frustrating. Oh well. As long as it keeps moving down and not up. lol

I don't have anything else really profound to say and my house has been greatly neglected today.. so I better hurry and read other blogs because I have a lot to clean up. All about priorities. ;o)