I Can Motivate ME

The other night I found myself using my old laptop, it stays up in my office most of the time now because it is big and heavy and gets really hot on my lap #firstworldproblems... I KNOW but still I prefer my tablet for surfing in the living room and general entertainment. But anyways I was on my old laptop which stores my multitudes of old pictures and decided to go back and look at some photos from when I was at my heaviest and then when I was at my lightest...both were EXTREMELY motivating for me, to see myself at how bad I let my weight get, and then to see how hard I worked to lose so much weight and then to realize how I'm standing in a middle ground now, and I have two options. Let myself go back to how large and unhealthy I was (not really an option) or work hard, take control and get back down to where I worked to be, where I felt good, where I was happy and where I was healthy. So I made a couple before/after shots to look at and hopefully I can use my own images to motivate myself and to inspire myself when I'm feeling down. I have decided that I'm brave enough to post some of these so here is one for today. The picture on the left was taken at a family reunion probably around  2007. I basically wore Old Navy ribbed tanks every day thinking they would hide my body (they didn't) and black cotton gaucho pants with elastic waists, thinking they were flattering (they weren't). The picture on the right is from summer of 2009 I went camping with my family. It's just amazing for me to see how a ribbed tank looks so different on a 260+ lb body vs 160 lb body. 

                                                 BEFORE                               AFTER

So I worked from home this morning and used two of my favorite products to make an egg white sandwich. All Whites for 0 points plus and Hormel Turkey Pepperoni, 1/2 a serving is 1 points plus. 

 

For lunch I took some leftover pasta and sauce and mixed it with red peppers and peas. 8 points plus

My afternoon snack was an apple with greek yogurt fruit dip (greek yogurt and PB2)

After work the bf wanted to go look at a snow plow someone had for sale (boys and their toys) so I decided to be a nice gf and go with. It was almost 7pm when we were done and I was a HUNGRY BEAR. So we stopped at Potbelly and got sandwiches. I had a lot of points left for the day so this was acceptable for me. I get the Mediterranean which has hummus, red peppers, cucumbers and feta then I add chicken. With a side of baked kettle chips I was pleased.

Nighttime sweet treat with my remaining 4 points, ice cream!

Crock Pots of Doom

Saturdays are the best days ever. I wake up before the bf, eat breakfast and drink my coffee while relaxing. I did some menu planning from my Pinterest Meal Planning Board and made up a grocery list. Did my shopping at Super Target, which was eerily quiet for 11am on a Saturday morning- but hey I'm not gonna complain about that!
One of my exciting finds that I have been wanting for quite some time was mini casserole dishes. Sometimes I like to make meals but the bf prefers more starches and veggies and I prefer an even balance of starch, veggie and meat. This way we can have the same dinner just the way we like it!

 In the evening I was going to a co-workers 50th birthday party. I knew it was at someone's house so the food options would be limited so I planned ahead and left a lot of points for the evening. I was unaware I would be faced with the crockpot trio of DOOM! Meatballs, little weenies and queso dip. Oh the delicious simmering meat products and ooey gooey cheesy dip, I had some...and I'm not ashamed, I sampled some of everything, without going overboard. Even though it wasn't very healthy and the only veggie involved was carrots, I got to feel like a normal person and know that I don't eat like that every day.



For breakfast I mixed 1TBS of PB2 with a Chobani bite, pineapple and caramel greek yogurt. It made a yummy peanut butter, caramel fruit dip for my apple. Paired with a side of toast with Earth Balance it was filling and delicious. 

    

At lunchtime I made Annie's white cheddar shells with frozen peas. Comfort food for sure! At only 8pp though I didn't feel too bad about it, and it kept me pretty full all afternoon.

And here is my plate of shame  food from the party. Oh and my beer too..hey a girl's gotta have fun once in a while!

How do you handle parties with these kinds of food options? Resist everything? Sample in moderation? Or go all out and really enjoy eating everything there is?