I am “Over The Top” for THIS Froyo!
Filed under: Body For Life, Product Reviews, Restaurant Reviews
Today was a fantastic Monday ~ doesn’t that seem wierd to hear me say that for a “Monday”? The odd part is I have no real apparent reason LOL. I started my day off with a fantastic double workout which really set the tone for the day. I felt amazing after getting in a good sweat session.
After my Power Hour workout, I was pretty much starved! So, I had a Banana Nut Pumpkin Butter Muffin with a nice smear of Homemade Healthy Pumpkin Butter ~ SO GOOD, I cannot describe it.
I got my protein in the natural way with this amazing Berrylicious Smoothie.
1/2 c TJ’s 0% Greek Yogurt
1/2 c FF Milk
1/2 c Fresh Frozen Blueberries
1/2 c Fresh Frozen Strawberries
1 Tbsp Flax Seed
It was so incredible thick and creamy that I couldn’t drink it on my way to work. I had to wait until I got a spoon ~ oops!
I wanted salty and crunchy for my mid-morning snack, so I whipped out some Salty Pepper Somersaults.
I had 1/2 the bag as one serving for 3 Weight Watcher Points. I LOVED the nuttiness of the sunflower seeds with the salt and pepper spices.
I was looking forward to my lunch since I thought of it yesterday. It is nothing fancy at all and I had to use our super cool bowls at work (don’t mind the mismatching – it all works the same to eat off of.) I started off with an Herby Salad that I topped with Trader Joe’s Low-Fat Cranberry Walnut Gorgonzola dressing after snapping the picture.
I took a 1/2 c serving of my Crockpot Molasses Baked Beans over 3/4 c Trader Joe’s Organic Frozen Brown Rice….
Mixed it all together and had the perfectly balanced complete meal – so amazing and only 5 Weight Watchers Points!
After lunch, I still wanted something else. I knew I was full and I had strawberries, but, I think I just wanted something else. I told my co-worker Starbuck’s – she said Froyo and I said ~ Yup, that sounds the same! 
We headed out to the NEW Over The Top Shop! I heard they had Pumpkin
Froyo and I was all over getting some of that!
But, they didn’t have Pumpkin today 
There were 6 other delicious sounding flavors listed though. No worries, that just means I have to go back!!!
With fun recipe ideas ~ Love the All Natural Idea!
Having my own cup and a machine can be dangerous. The owner was nice enough to give me sample cups to try each flavor ~ It was hard to pick which I wanted.
Then, I turned around and saw this! Holy toppings ~ how do you decide when you have this many to choose from….
Plus a bar filled with caramel, chocolate, marshmallow and more plus COLD toppings.
It was really tough, but after about 5 minutes of randomly talking to myself I picked Fat Free Cake Batter and Fat Free Chocolate Froyo with sprinkles, Heath Bar Crunch and a few Yogurt Chips ~ MMMMMM!!! Total highlight of my day! I think I could eat FROYO everyday!!!
When we got back to work, my little “sugar” high kicked in and we kidnapped my other co-worker’s massive zucchini so I could quickly take a picture with it. Seriously ~ isn’t this the HUGEST zucchini you’ve ever seen?! Ya, ignore my cheese face smile ~I was laughing way too much when this picture was snapped!
On my way home The Husband informed me he wanted a simple dinner. I LOVE him when he picks things like this for dinner!
This Pacific Foods Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soup is full of flavor and honestly does not taste like boxed soup at all. I LOVE the nutritionals ~ it isn’t loaded with fattening cream and you can recognize everything they put in the box.
I topped mine with a sprinkle of shaved parmesan and freshly ground pepper.
While the soup heated up, I baked some Whole Wheat Salt & Pepper Pita Chips for dipping.
Plus peppers cooked in olive oil and sea salt.
Dessert Pita Chips just might be my favorite new thing!!!
Salted Whole Wheat Pita Chips + Homemade Healthy Pumpkin Butter + 1 Laughing Cow Lite Wedge = LOVE!!! This tasted like Pumpkin Cheesecake! You can have an entire pita plus 1 LC wedge plus Pumpkin (or Apple Butter if you don’t like Pumpkin – MOM!) for 3-4 Weight Watcher Points. This is only 1/2 a pita served up.
All together, I had dinner with my Pumpkin Family while The Husband watched football.
I made up a POM Peach Passion White Tea Tea spritzer to go with dinner. It was tasty, but, I am not a big fan of peach so it wasn’t my favorite flavor. I LOVE the Blackberry POM tea best!
I feel like I’ve been typing forever tonight. I am off to relax with The Husband and read! Recipes, recipes and more recipes to be posted soon!
NIte!
The Power Hour
So I am only about 6 weeks late in thinking of this idea. I thought it would be a good idea to create a category for my Body For Life workouts as a great way to jump to they workout of the day. I will continue posting my workouts to this category even after I complete the challenge. Plus it’s a fun organizing technique!
Not that I am by any means a workout guru or expert, but, I thought it might also be a fun way to share my workouts and maybe give you all some ideas. I’d LOVE if you added your ideas, suggestions and comments on your workouts too because I know I can use all the workout ideas I can get.
That being said, here is how today went down. Since I took the weekend off, I decided to do a double workout to make up for it today ~ My HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and my Lower Body Workout (LBWO).
HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING INTERVAL
minutes 1 & 2: 3.5 mph
minute 3: 4.0 mph
minute 4: 5.0 mph
minute 5: 5.5 mph
minute 6: 6.0 mph
minute 7: 4.0 mph
minute 8: 5.0 mph
minute 9: 5.5 mph
minute 10: 6.0 mph
minute 11: 4.0 mph
minute 12: 5.0 mph
minute 13: 5.5 mph
minute 14: 6.0 mph
minute 15: 4.0 mph
minute 16: 5.0 mph
minute 17: 5.5 mph
minute 18: 6.0 mph
minute 19: 7.0 mph for 30 sec & 8.0 mph for 30 sec(level 10 ~ all the way!!!)
minute 20-21: 3.0 mph (cool down)
LOWER BODY WORKOUT:
Quads
Leg Extensions
12 reps at 30 #
10 reps at 35 #
8 reps at 40 #
6 reps at 35 #,
12 reps at 30 #
Dumbell Squats
12 reps at 50 # – Definite 10!
Hamgstrings
Backward lunges off the step
12 reps at 20 #
10 reps at 30 #
8 reps at 40 #
6 reps at 50 #
12 reps at 30 #
Leg Curls
12 reps at 25 #
Calves
Seated Calf Raises
12 reps at 20 #
10 reps at 25 #
8 reps at 30 #
6 reps at 35 #
12 reps at 30 lbs
Seated Angle Calf Raises
12 reps at 30 # 10 ++!
Abs~ performed VERY SLOW for each side no weights added.
Obliques – both sides with a crunch in the middle
12 reps
10 reps
8 reps
6 reps
12 reps
Leg Raises
12 reps – 10!
Jello legs, but, that is such a good thing! This entire workout took me 55 minutes from start to finish. I spent the last 5 minutes stretching.
What do you all think of the idea having my workouts as a separate post? Yes, no? Maybe? Doesn’t matter….LOL! Feel free to be honest
Two New uses for Pumpkin Butter
Today was a fun day of relaxing, visiting with friends and family plus making TWO new recipes ~ Banana Nut Pumpkin Butter Flax Muffins and Molasses Baked Beans. Both were big hits and I am glad I got it right on the first shot. I now officially owe you all 3 recipes this week. Once I have a chance to type them up with the stats I’ll post them.
We were up bright and early this morning to head over to Home Depot and our friends house for more fence fun. Before heading out the door, I had a slice of Nature’s Pride 12-Oat Bread topped with 1 Tbsp Almond Butter & 1 Tbsp Healthy Homemade Pumpkin Butter – Wow! Adding freshly ground dry roasted almond butter to this mix is AMAZING! I can definitely see this in my future again. PB+AB = LOVE!
We stopped at Starbuck’s & I took the VIA taste test. I knew which was the Pike’s Place because it was hotter than the VIA. Although I am impartial to the “Pike’s” Place name, I actually liked the VIA better because it didn’t taste burnt or too strong.
I passed on a regular coffee since my heart was already racing and I ordered my usual Grande FF Decaf Latte with caramel drizzle….MMMM!
While The Husband and his friend installed their second fence of the weekend, I visited with our friends and got caught up on my gossip (US Magazine!) He was starving so on our way home we stopped at Rubio’s. This time, no chicken bowl for me – I got what I envy every time we go.
I started with an awesome side salad (forgot to say dressing on the side, but, luckily they didn’t over load it).
Then, I had 1/2 of this bean and cheese burrito with 3 chips. I quickly dumped my chips on The Husband’s plate so I wouldn’t eat them. I was shocked to learn that their plain bean and cheese burrito (regardless of the whole wheat tortilla) is 960 calories (16 Weight Watcher Points)!!! What do they put in their – it’s beans, cheese and salsa? Too bad because it’s so good.
I set out on a mission this afternoon to create the perfect recipe using my Healthy Homemade Pumpkin Butter that I made yesterday. I found a winner with my first try ~ Banana Nut Pumpkin Butter muffins with Flax.
I had to sample 1/2 of one with a little extra pumpkin butter ~ INCREDIBLE! That is all I can say. I LOVE these muffins and they are healthy. Recipe and stats coming soon (either later tonight or tomorrow). I can’t wait to share!
The nephews stopped by and brought us some mini pumpkins to go with our big pumpkin. They said we needed a pumpkin family to decorate for Halloween. So cute!
I finally found a reason to make the Mini Burgers I always see at Trader Joe’s – they have mini buns too. I suppose the grown up term would be sliders, but, they are in burgers to me.
I made full sized burgers for us using the 96% Lean Ground Beef from TJ’s along with grilled corn on the cob x’s 2.
MMM ~ I served my burger up on a Whole Wheat Bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard and ketchup ~ delish!
To round it out, I threw out some snap peas and cherry tomatoes for a side.
Plus a 1/2 c serving of the Molasses Baked Beans that I’ve been cooking since yesterday using my new Canario Beans. These are surprisingly good and I cannot wait to have them with some brown rice for lunch tomorrow. I’ll post the recipe and stats tomorrow – You’ll love it – only 2 Weight Watcher Points per 1/2 cup.
I am back from my Body For Life Hiatus starting tomorrow. I am going to continue with the eating as I described in THIS post, but, I will start my workouts up again tomorrow morning. I really think the little breather helped to rejuvenate my motivation and make me ready to jump back in to finish the challenge strong.
Off to read, relax and enjoy what is left of the weekend. Night all!
A gr8 Saturday!
I had one of the BEST Saturday’s I’ve had in a really long time. What did I do you ask? Well, nothing really fancy, no fun events or anything special. It was just one of those days that I did a bunch of stuff that I wanted to do without a care in the world. I didn’t stress over getting my todo list checked off and really just went with the flow.
My day started off with The Husband bringing me a nonfat decaf latte on his way over to help his friend install a fence. I saved the latte to drink during my Weight Watcher meeting. My meeting was so awesome. My FAVORITE substitute leader was there – she has so much energy and looks amazing. I want to be like her 
But, even more inspiring, there was a 77 year old lady who reached 83 lbs lost!!! How amazing is that?? Seriously, if she can do it, I can do it!
After my meeting, I snacked on a mini apple from my parents apple tree.
Then, headed over to the Farmer’s Market (surprised – probably not!) I LOVE going to the markets and go all the way up until they stop having them, then, go through withdrawals. I have to admit, the market was looking pretty scarce, but, I managed to scout out some good finds.
New to me CANARIO beans – 2+ lbs worth! They are supposed to be like navy, pinto or kidney beans. I am soaking some now to make Molasses Baked Beans in the crockpot. I’ll let you all know what I think.
An organic pumpkin & butternut squash!
A fun YELLOW WATERMELON!
The inside is YELLOW and don’t laugh, but sorta tastes like root beer to me
Cherry Tomatoes!
The smallest bunch of cilantro I’ve ever bought & bok choy.
Squash-i-ness!
White Corn!
After my fun trip to the market, I headed over to Barnes & Nobles. This was totally another highlight of my day. I spent some time sitting in the sunshine browsing a bunch of magazines and books deciding what to buy. I did read Tina’s article in Shape and picked up two magazines that had me drooling over their recipes and pictures.
I also picked up the cookbook I’ve been waiting for to come in ~ Tosca Reno’s latest Eat Clean Cookbook.
The table of contents doesn’t do it justice – seriously – there are some awesome recipes with tons of pictures in there. I cannot wait to make some!
When I got home I noticed my neighbors pomegranate tree….I pondered how I could talk her into giving me all those pomegranates
Since I didn’t have much for breakfast, I was STARVING. I had stopped at Trader Joe’s on my way home and picked up stuff to make a Pita Pizza!
Here is a BIG TIP on how to make your pita pizza seem like 4 pieces of pizza! Cut your pita in half so you have TWO big circles and top with your sauce.
Add your favorite toppings. I chose Canadian bacon, pineapple. low-fat mozzarella and a sprinkle of parmesan. Bake at 400 for 7 minutes until your cheese is all melty.
Enjoy as is or cut into 4 slices to have 4 pieces of pizza for 4-8 Weight Watcher Points depending on your toppings. I LOVE these and they really do taste just like the real deal.
1 Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Tortilla (2 WWP)
1/4 c Pizza Sauce (0 WWP)
3 slices Trader Joe’s Healthy Turkey bacon, chopped (1 WWP)
1/2 c pineapple (.5 WWP)
1 oz Low-Fat Mozzarella, finely shredded (2 WWP)
1/2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese (.5 WWP)
Bake at 400 for 7 minutes and enjoy! Makes 1 serving.
When I was at Trader Joe’s I picked up stuff to make salad. I had no idea that the organic blend I bought was an Herbed Salad Mix. OMG ~ I am SO GLAD I bought this without knowing it. The fresh herbs in it are amazing ~ they add a whole new level of flavor to your average salad. It reminded me alot of the herbed salad they served at BlogHERFood09.
My salad included the Herbed Salad Mix and sprinkles of TJ’s Berry Blend, Roasted Sliced Almonds and a little shaved parmesan. I topped it with another favorite TJ’s Dressing ~ The Cranberry Walnut Gorgonzola.
Love the STATS too! I actually like their entire line of low-fat fridge section dressings – they are probably my favorite bottled dressings out there.
You can see the big chunks of walnuts and cheese in it. Oh and it doesn’t taste like stinky cheese either or I wouldn’t eat it
I spent the afternoon in Pike’s Place test kitchen (the name my friend gave our kitchen – love it!) I whipped up some Healthy Home Made Pumpkin Butter that does not use white sugar or pectin. (Recipe coming soon – either tonight or tomorrow).
Since I wanted to see how it compared to the real deal, I did a taste test comparison of Trader Joe’s jarred pumpkin butter vs my homemade version on Nature’s Pride 12 Oat Bread.
TJ’s on the left, Mine on the right!
I couldn’t decide because I LOVED them both! So, I took some over to The Husband’s Mom and she ate it straight up. Then, the unthinkable happened! The Husband who does not like pumpkin tried them out too!!! Shocker! We all agreed that they are good, but, the homemade version was SO MUCH BETTER! TJ’s was more clove like and super sweet, while the homemade version was more pumpkin-y, cinnamon-y and vanilla-y. MMMMM, I can’t wait to gobble it up and maybe bake with it! I am so excited it turned out so well!
After the Pumpkin challenge, I headed over to Target to pick up a few things. I have been brainstorming Halloween ideas for decorating our office since we are having a contest at work. As I was perusing, I had to laugh when I noticed that they have CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS out already right behind the HALLOWEEN ones. Look closely – so funny!
I worked up an appetite shopping so I had a little snack when I got home. 1 c watermelon/cantaloupe.
Plus a handful of lightly salted cashews.
I LOVED my lunchtime salad so much that I made it up again for dinner, only this time I remembered the tomatoes I forgot to include last time…..MMMM! I am LIVING all the fresh herbs!
I whipped up a quick batch of Shrimp Scampi over Farfalle Pasta. I thought that I was using a fun new pasta shape when I bought the farfalle, but, guess what – it’s just another name for Bow Tie Pasta LOL.
All together I had 12 shrimp for 6 pts with 1 c of WW Farfalle Pasta for 4 pts.
I am not sure if I’ll have dessert tonight or night. If I want something, I am thinking more of that Cantaloupe/Watermelon with some Whipped Cream.
I think we might watch a movie tonight ~ The Poker Club or Mummies are our choices. Can you tell who picked them out?! LOL.
Alright all ~ have a great night! I now officially owe you TWO recipes, maybe THREE by the weekends end. Coming soon…..at some point this weekend
Social Butterfly…That’s me!
Filed under: Body For Life, Daily Eats, Product Reviews, Restaurant Reviews
You all are seriously amazing! Thank you for all the amazing comments on my last post regarding my mid-challenge updates on Body For Life. You each put so much thought into your responses and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your words. I really LOVE that I have so many supporters and people who believe in me. It was nice to know that there are others who can relate to what I am feeling. Thanks for making my day!
Ok, enough mushy-gushiness and onto yesterday’s eats. I knew exactly what I wanted when I woke up. I started out with 1 serving of Trader Joe’s 0% Organic Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt mixed with 1/2 c TJ’s Low-Fat Cottage cheese and topped with a few organic strawberries.
Then, I decided I needed a little crunch. I received this AWESOME box of Nature’s Path Organic Pumpkin FlaxPlus Granola from BlogHerFood09.
I LOVE the ingredient listing and the nutritional stats are not bad. I personally never eat 3/4c of granola and usually use just a sprinkle.
Like this!
I have to admit I am impartial to their Organic FlaxPlus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch as my favorite, but I LOVED this granola. Check out the BIG pieces of pumpkin seeds – YUM!
My co-worker whipped up a batch of Martha Stewarts Strawberry Cupcakes and used the Pillsbury Easy Frost that I gave her to decorate. Don’t they look great?!
Mid morning I had one of my favorite snacks ~ Mini Organic Peppers, Sargenot Low-Fat Colby Cheese, 1/2 a WW Pita Bread (toasted) with a little bit of The Hummus Guy’s Spicy Hummus with Harissa. So good! I could eat this every day.
Does anyone else eat these mini peppers straight up? My co-workers were teasing me about eating a pepper straight ~ I think it’s pretty normal – they are crazy
Lunch was at Buckhorn’s Grill with one of my good friends who I haven’t gone out to lunch with forever. I am seriously the social butterfly this week I guess with all these lunches out but I can’t complain – It’s been fun!
I decided to venture out from my usual salad and have their Little Buck Tri tip Sandwich ~ “4 oz. thinly sliced tri-tip. Served with caramelized onions or Au Jus dipping sauce” It was smokey and tasty. I ended up using some of their BBQ sauce inside instead of the Au Jus.
For my side I picked a green salad with their honey basil vinaigrette. I LOVE this dressing and really need to figure out how to recreate it ASAP.
I stole a couple of sweet potato fries – I seriously have not met a sweet potato fry I didn’t like.
My lunch kept me full all afternoon so I didn’t grab an afternoon snack. When I got home we ended up switching cars and heading over to another friends house. (Yup, social butterfly – that’s me!) We brought Vasquez Deli to our friends and chatted it up about Halloween decorating ideas, movies and just catching up on life. I LOVE simple things like that. For dinner I picked 2 chicken tacos with hot sauce ~ My favorite their since they make their own tortillas.
I am SO glad the weekend is finally here!!! No big plans this weekend so I am looking forward to some relaxing since we didn’t do too much of it on vacation.
I know I am making up a couple new recipes to share with everyone. Fingers crossed they turn out!
Have a fantastic weekend all ~ see you all later tonight!
Sponsors
MY OPEN SKY SHOP
Just a few of my favorite things
