Reset Day

Ah! Reset Day! It's seriously like Christmas EVERY WEEKEND!

The way I've decided to use my weekly points is to use most, if not all, of my weekly smartpoints the day they reset. It's pretty convenient that my Reset Day is also Weigh In Day and the day my 35 Weekly Smartpoints all come back to me.

My husband and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day today, so that we could go where ever we wanted and I wouldn't have to really worry about keeping within my points. We HAD planned to go to Olive Garden, but to be honest, to keep within my smartpoints there I would have had to order something I would/could eat during the week. And that's boring. I had planned to get the garlic and herb chicken with a side of steamed broccoli and a side of grilled shrimp...just to keep within points. We had made this plan on Sunday...and by Wednesday, I was hating it. So, I pulled my husband aside and asked him if he would be OK if we switched plans for Saturday. I just simply told him that I really didn't want to go to Olive Garden anymore but rather...

I needed a bacon cheeseburger.

Yeah, yeah...whatever, you don't NEED a bacon cheeseburger. You're right. But the desire for one was DEFINITELY real. My husband agreed; he thought I'd never ask :)

The morning started off with my usual peanut butter and banana sandwich. Remember? I LOVE peanut butter...can't live without it! No picture for that one, but I'll take one for next week :) I use 1 thinwich sandwich, any brand will do. I just get the kind that's available at Costco. Papa's Organic Thinwich Sandwiches for 3 smartpoints a sandwich. Then, I spread Chocolate PB2 on both sides (2 T equals 1 smartpoint) and slice 1/2 a banana, laying the delectable circles on one half of the sandwich. Top it off, and enjoy the bite. Enjoy the other half of your banana right along with your 4 smartpoint sandwich.

My second meal of the day consisted of a FLAVOR FAVE: Quest Bar S'mores Flavor (4 smartpoints) as well as my Chocolate Strawberry version of my The Devil Done Me In...With No Regrets meal.

I split the recipe into 3 so that I could have one as well as share with my 2 co-workers in between meetings. It was HEAVENLY. M&M couldn't believe how delicious it was, and my other receptionist friend Sunshine couldn't either...Recipe?? Okay, okay, you DON'T have to beg!

The Devil Done Me In...With No Regrets: Chocolate Strawberry
Makes 3 individual servings for 3 points a serving
1 individual cup of Dannon Greek Light & Fit Strawberry Yogurt
3 Oreo Cookie THINS
3 T of Cool Whip Lite
10g of Jell-o Sugar Free Chocolate Pie Filling Pudding Mix
1.5 T of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
Low calorie sweetener
5 washed strawberries

Friday morning I cut 5 washed strawberries into little chunks, which came to about 1/2 cup of strawberries and sprinkled a no calorie natural sweetener all over them. This gets the strawberries to get juicy after they have been in the fridge for a while. I let the strawberries set in the fridge for about 6 hours...Just had them in there while I went about my day. Once the strawberries were nice and juicy, I stirred up my 1 individual cup of Dannon Greek Light & Fit Strawberry Yogurt and then drained the strawberry juice into the mixed yogurt. After it was well mixed, I added 10g of Jell-o Sugar Free Chocolate Pie Filling Pudding Mix to the yogurt along with 1.5 T of Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. Mix those ingredients together until smooth.
In each of the 3 little personalized cups (I just used the Glad snack size tupperwares) place a thin layer of strawberries on the bottom, then a layer of yogurt, 1 OREO cookie THIN, a layer of yogurt, another layer of strawberries, and then top each little cup with 1 T of Cool Whip Lite.
I let those babies sit in the fridge until the next morning; you want them to be able to sit for a few hours so that the cookies will soften. Once the cookies are softened, then you are ready to seriously enjoy!!

M&M text me a little earlier this evening saying that she is so excited to make this little dish and that her mouth waters just thinking about it. Sunshine told me that before leaving work today, that little treat made her morning.

See? And it TOTALLY tastes like a huge point spender...but each portion is only 3 smartpoints!! Yes, that's right ONLY 3!! And it is so rich a filling that you'll be satisfied with just 1 serving. I won't tell if you eat it all though...you've got weeklies...USE THEM! ;)

Work finished up and I was SO EXCITED to go and enjoy a delicious bacon cheeseburger with my husband for lunch. I stopped by the house to get him and get Little Man situated with lunch while Cookie watched him so we could have a mini day-date. Remember my sugar cookie I saved earlier in the week to have today? It wasn't super appetizing anymore. I decided to cut it in 4 and share with my family. I ate my smaller 1/4, equalling 2 smartpoints and I will not be having a cookie like that anytime soon. It really wasn't worth it...didn't taste as good as I remembered them.
But my lunch, THAT was so delicious. My husband and I have REALLY cut back on our eating out. When he bit into his burger (having gotten the same as me) he said, "I can see what you mean at getting to the point where eating out is a treat. We eat well during the week, but this burger, out and about, is delicious. SO good." Yeah, when you eat out every once in a while...the food DOES taste good and it IS a treat!! We ended up getting the Little version of our burger, which only means 1 patty. Neither one of us got fries, but my husband did enjoy a soda with his meal...

I text M&M and just said, "I could CRY this tastes so good". I almost did, I seriously got choked up..which surprised myself. I quickly got it together and ate this S-L-O-W-L-Y. I cut it in half and ate each half VERY slowly, making sure to put the burger down in between bites and have quite a few gulps of my water before moving on to the next bite. My friends, this beautiful burger had mustard, grilled onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce,  grilled mushrooms, bacon, cheese, and BBQ sauce. I had fry sauce on the side (takes care of mayo and ketchup...but I control how much) to dip my burger into. For this lunch it was a delicious, no regrets, 26 smartpoints. Thank you Weeklies. A member was shocked that I was willing to just spend 22 smartpoints on a burger, she yelled out "It better be worth it!" Well my friends, it was. Oh yes, it totally was.

I had really wanted something sweet for Valentine's Day...a caramel apple sounded SO good. So yeah, we went to the caramel apple shop across the street and I enjoyed a caramel apple that was seasoned with chile powder, salt, and lime. It's a pretty typical candy seasoning in Mexico. The counterlady let me sample the apple, I told her that if there was white chocolate on it...it would be even more delicious. The owner in the back said she'd do it for me without any extra charge. So, I ordered a Chile y Sal y Limon Caramel apple drizzled with white chocolate. A regular caramel apple is 11 points, so I counted 3 extra points for the white chocolate drizzle. I planned on only eating half, which would take my 14 smartpoints down to 7...but...

I ate the whole thing by myself...and didn't regret a single bite. I spaced it throughout the day, savoring each bite. And I will probably be getting another one next Saturday...it was THAT good.

My husband wanted to catch me "savoring the moment" because he thought it was too funny. But seriously, the deliciousness of this apple is beautifully depicted in the pictures my husband took of me. No shame, my friends, no shame.

Pure Bliss. Soft, spicy, creamy, chewy, and crisp. Perfect depiction of a light, not so heavy in sugary stuff, caramel apple

We arrive home after wishing my in-laws a Happy Valentine's Day and my husband runs downstairs. He not ONLY surprised me with a BEAUTIFUL necklace and earring set that I had been dreaming of as my reward for achieving my goal (I turned it away because it was a little too expensive when I checked the price...but sneaky him got it at a GREAT deal) but also this beauty...

An Edible Arrangement...Flowers and fruit tied into one. I seriously LOVE these things. When I was younger, my dad's work would send my mom these edible arrangements after each baby she had. I was seriously looking forward to the day when I would have a baby just to get one of these. And, I actually got like 3 when I was in the hospital after my surgery with Little Man. These things brightened my day. My dear husband ordered me one WITHOUT chocolate because he wanted me to know that he was supporting me and knew that I was still wanting to be careful on Valentine's Day. He figured if he got EVERYTHING covered in chocolate, I wouldn't eat it all (which he was right) and he wanted me to enjoy it all, so he asked for no chocolate on his order. Isn't that awesome? Yep, I ate the WHOLE thing...0 smartpoints and totally delicious. Little Man ate all the grapes, Cookie ate 3 of the pineapples and a couple strawberries...but I ate the rest.

As far as dinner was concerned, I kind of got carried away updating my blog, so dinner ran later than I intended. The boys just wanted pizza. Nothing fancy, but just pizza. Of course, that sounded good to me...but I really didn't have enough weekly points to spare on a 10 smartpoint single slice of pizza. So while my boys were enjoying this...

I enjoyed this

This little pizza beauty was 1 Bubba's Light English Muffin (2sp), 2 T of Prego SmartLight Traditional Spaghetti Sauce (0sp), 1 oz shredded mozzarella part-skim cheese (2sp), and 1 sliced Aidells Chef Bruce Chicken Meatball, Italian Style with Sun-Dried Tomato (2sp). That little pizza was delicious, filling, simple to make and only 6 smartpoints for the WHOLE MEAL. I toasted the English muffin by itself first, then put the sauce and cheese and meatball on top to toast again. It turned out perfectly, not mushy at all. My steamed squash and carrots were 0 smartpoints, seasoned with McCormick veggie seasoning, and an Opal apple (0sp)...recommended to me by a member to purchase at Trader Joe's. Seriously, SUCH a delicious apple. It was a great treat. I felt satisfied and topped it off with a small shortbread cookie, (heartshaped and brought all the way from Hawaii), with one side dipped in chocolate, that I counted for only 2 smartpoints. It was way more worth it than that 1/4 of a sugar cookie I had earlier. Ya live and ya learn, right??

After all was said and done, I found myself looking through the pantry and the fridge for ANYTHING else that I could manage. But you know what, I came to. I caught myself and remembered that I am really NOT hungry, I enjoyed everything I ate today, and now it's time to just brush the teeth and step away. Anything that I could possibly want, it would be better to DEFINE it and THEN enjoy it...rather hunt until I feel like "I'm good". So yeah, another successful baby step. I didn't keep going after my shortbread cookie, and I've finished the night with 4 weekly smartpoints still left in my favor :)

It's not a diet people, this is real life. You CAN still have cheeseburgers...WITH BACON...you CAN have a caramel apple WITH white chocolate and all those good things. You just plan for it, be accountable to it, savor it, and move forward. Life goes on, whether you eat what you enjoy or not. So do it wisely, and you'll find success along the way.

Happy eating!

Camille