Snack of the Week: Veggie Straws

Hello all!

I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things with Snack of the Week posts.  This week's snack has been one of my favorites for a few years and I mentioned it briefly when I began blogging back in 2010.

Veggie straws!

 These snacks are super delicious and super low points! The serving size is 38 straws (yes, I said it 38!). The points plus value is 3 points plus!  That's insane! There must be something magical about this delicious snack!

 Just for reference, here's a serving size of 38 straws! Supposedly all natural and made from veggies, these crunchy, salty treats get an A+ from this girl!  They are a bit hard to find. I got these at Albertson's here in Louisiana, but I've seen them at Sam's Club and sometimes Bi-Lo (up in SC).  If you can find them, give them a shot! If you are like me, you won't be disappointed!

Halloween is quickly approaching and candy season is upon us. I just wanted to take a minute to give a little friendly advice. In my opinion, it is not wise to deprive yourself of something you are craving when you are dieting, but instead to eat it in moderation. With that being said, don't feel like you have to deprive yourself of candy on Halloween for the sake of your waistline. On the other hand, don't feel like you have to eat an entire bag of Reese's miniatures either (your waistline WILL HATE you). Instead, find a happy compromise so that you don't miss out on the sweet memories (pun intended) of Halloween without sacrificing your hard work for the week. Kyle and I have gotten only tiny candy bars for our Halloween celebrations. When we bought candy for our church's Trunk or Treat we followed 2 instructions: (1) Get candy WE wouldn't mind eating leftovers of and (2) don't have too many leftovers!  As a result we have about 25% of a candy bucket full of these little guys:

It's little teeny Snickers, Reese's, KitKats, Twix and the like. I call them fun fun size (because they are the smallest you can get). These bad boys are 1 pointplus per piece, so Kyle and I can have a couple every day if we want to and still not carry around a ton of guilt.

Happy Halloween everyone!  Snack smart!

Until next time,
BK

Back on track (finally)

Hello everyone!

Happy Wednesday and happy weigh-in day!

I don't have long to blog so I'll get to the nitty gritty!

Current weight: 282.4
Kyle's current weight: 259.0

I lost 2.2 this week (1.3 of that is new weight)!  I am happy to have re-lost the 0.9 I gained during mid-terms and especially nice to be back in the negative!  Over 70 pounds lost since my heaviest!  Kyle also lost the weight he gained during mid-term stress AND 0.9 of new weight!  We're excited.

I finally feel like my life is getting back to normal after mid-terms.  It got really dicey there for a while, but I survived my mid-terms with B's and turned in my last big project for a couple of weeks, so I have some room to breathe!

Kyle also got a job very recently at Barnes and Noble!  It's a seasonal position until something in accounting opens, but he's getting a lot of hours and so far he really enjoys it! :)  I'm proud of him for grabbing a sweet job and working hard for us. He's kind of the best!

So back on track and hopefully back blogging twice a week like I should!  I'm so sorry I got so spacey there for a while, but life is in a state of disarray.  Thanks for reading and sticking with me, even when the entries are way too short.

Keep on keepin' on, everybody!

Until next time,
BK

This post is late late late, oh so very late!

Hello everybody!

I feel like that Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland (I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!).  It's been way too long since I've posted.  Mid-terms are now over and life has finally gotten back to normal!

I missed the weigh-in post this week, but Kyle and I did weigh-in Wednesday morning as scheduled.  We both had gained.  I had gained 0.4 and Kyle had gained 1.5.  We are back on program though and exercising like we should!  My body is super duper sore, but very pleased to be back on schedule!  Life happens and when it does, you pick up where you left off and move forward!

In good news, I went clothes shopping today, which was VERY overdue. I had 1 pair of jeans that fit normally (about 5 super baggy pairs), countless work pants that were so baggy they were almost falling off, and quite a few tops that fit like dresses.  So I sucked it up, went out and went shopping. I assumed that I was a size 26 in the pants, since my 28s were too big and I hadn't been a size 24 in years. I put on a pair of size 26 work pants and realized, much to my amusement, that they were too big!  So I nervously tried on a size 24 and sure enough, they fit wonderfully!  I had gotten so used to clothes being too big that I forgot what it felt like for clothes to FIT.  I know I asked Kyle and the saleswoman at least 5 times if they were SURE the pants weren't too tight.  Not only was I a size 24 in dress pants, but also in JEANS!  I bought two pairs of dress pants for work, two pairs of jeans, and also picked up two new work-appropriate tops.

Here's one of my new outfits!

So excited!  It's refreshing to see results from the exercise and healthy choices! :)

Until next time,
BK

Kyle's Birthday!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

It's Kyle's birthday today! :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!

Current weigh: 284.2
Kyle's current weight: 259.9

You read it right, I gained half a pound this week. I'm disappointed, but honestly I expected it!  We've been celebrating Kyle's birthday all week long (with cupcakes, meals out, pancake breakfasts) and I've been eating more than I should. Luckily, we haven't been eating TOO terribly crazy or else the gain would have been more. Life happens, celebrations happens, back on track this week. It's my first gain since June, what does that tell me? I need to do better!

On the other hand, birthday boy lost 0.7 pounds!  :)

We also only exercised one time this past week, which has us both feeling like we are dragging. We're looking forward to getting back in our workout schedule!

Not sure what else to report. Life is still busy for us both. Kyle is still job hunting (he didn't get the job at the other accounting firm... boo) and I'm right in the thick of mid-terms! Eventually, things will even out and my entries will stop being so short!

Off to finish my day of class and then wrap up birthday celebrations tonight with dinner at our favorite sushi place! So nice to finally be able to spend a married birthday together!

Have a great week everyone!

Until next time,
BK

Snack of the Week: Goldfish Snack Crackers

Hey everybody!

This week's Snack of the Week is also a throwback to a childhood favorite that is surprisingly not bad for you: Goldfish crackers!

The things I love about goldfish as a salty snack:

• They come in a LOT of flavors, like cheddar, parmesan (picture above), flavor-blasted pizza, etc.
• They are baked, not fried.
• You get quite a few in a serving. You get 60 Parmesan goldfish for 4 pointsplus! SIXTY!  That's the listed serving size!  They vary depending on the flavor (51 for flavor-blasted pizza, 55 for original cheddar), but always 4 points plus!

In case you can't tell from the last snack of the week and today, I love salty, cheesy snacks!  Next week I'll try to post a sweet snack!

Until next time,
BK

Yay October! :)

Happy October everyone!

I'm so happy it is finally fall and I'm happy that it is weigh-in day!

Current weight: 283.7
Kyle's current weight: 260.6

We both lost weight again: I lost 1.6 and Kyle lost 1.1!  Talk about a happy couple!  I was a little nervous this week because there were quite a few meals out and even a trip to the movies (complete with unbuttered popcorn!). I had to use some of my activity points, which I do NOT like doing, but we stayed on program!

I'm super happy this week because I reached my next goal: I'm under my wedding weight (284)!  That means that I've stopped re-losing my old weight and now I'm losing new weight. I finally feel like I'm making real progress and breaking all new ground.  Even though I'm keeping on doing the things I've always done, cognitively this is a big shift for me!  This is the lowest I've weighed in years and I can't wait to keep going!

Life is still super busy and I apologize (yet again) for the lack of blog posts. I have a Snack of the Week post that I'll post later today and I already owe you all the Farmhouse Chicken and Dressing recipe, which I'll try my best to remember to post this week!

October brings a month of new weight-loss challenges.  One week from today is Kyle's 23rd birthday! The next week will have lots of celebration, eating out, and I'm even baking him his favorite cupcakes. But I'm confident we can make it work while staying on program!  My mom's birthday is a few week as well and if I were in the same state as her, there would be even more celebration!  October is also Halloween/fall candy month!  Kyle and I have already bought some candy corn (19 pieces are 4 pointsplus)!  It IS possible to eat candy in moderation, so be sure not to deprive yourself too much during this season, but just keep yourselves in check!  I know I'll be indulging some weekly points in some Halloween candy!

I hope everyone is doing awesomely!

Until next time,
BK