I have decided to share my thoughts on some of the foods I tend to eat and since I eat at my desk at work, to save time and save money, I tend to eat either leftovers or Weight Watchers Smart Ones meals. In doing so, I thought "What the heck, I'll let the whole world know what I think of them."

So for better or worse, here is my review of Weight Watchers Smart Ones Picante Chicken & Pasta.

After cooking and stirring, the first thing to notice is the smell. The smell is very nice with the various ingredients blending quite nicely. So nicely in fact that one of my co-workers wondered where I went for take out. He was impressed by the smell alone and has decided to try it this week.


Visually the meal is pleasing as far as a microwaved dinner can be. I was not that impressed visually.

However, after tasting it, I was hooked. Overall, the dinner was slightly spicy, yet not spicy enough to take away from the dish. The various ingredients blended well. The chicken was tender and not overcooked as I have had in the past with frozen dinners. The beans were done just right and the pasta was not mushy.

The meal is 5 points, with 260 calories and 4 grams of fat.

I give it 4.5 forks. I will definitely buy it again. I would suggest you try it as well and let me know what you think.


Here is the nutritional information:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size:255g
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 260 Calories from Fat 35

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 4g 6%
Saturated Fat 0.5g 3%
Monounsaturated Fat 1.5g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 25mg 9%
Sodium 480mg 20%
Potassium
Total Carbohydrate 32g 11%
Dietary Fiber 4g 16%
Sugars <1g
Protein 23g
Vitamin A 6%
Vitamin C 15%
Calcium 6%
Iron 8%

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Okay, being sick is the best way to lose weight.

Two and a half pounds in 24 hours. Now to just keep it off and keep going!

I had to weigh in this morning. Had to. I wasn't really surprised to find out I had lost some weight, though losing 2 pounds was a surprise. You see, I caught some stomach bug last night that other members of my family has had and I won't go into gory details, but let's just say that I had nothing left anywhere after my body was finished with the sickness.

Today's dinner was the first real meal I have had in almost 24 hours; that's how bad it was.

I did make it to work today, but that was not fun. I spent more time having bio breaks than it seems I did work, but I made it through the day. I still feel a little queasy, but I will make it.

Now, what's funny is that I went to work on the treadmill and bike yesterday at the gym. I did 1.80 miles on the treadmill, in 30 minutes, and an additional mile on the bike in 5 minutes. I was using the bike to cool off. I still plan on training for a sprint triathlon, and will make that, but it will take me a good while.

So anyway, that is how to lose 2 pounds in 18 hours. Get sick, lose everything you had during the day and then don't eat for 24 hours.

Hope your day was better than mine.

I hope that everyone who reads this had a very Merry Christmas!

I received what I asked for, specifically work out clothes and a new mp3 player. I really like my new 4 gig player, and have loaded it up with 6 playlists from Rhapsody. I suppose that one of the next posts I do will be a playlist special. I tend to listen to some interesting music when I work out, so just be prepared.

I start working out again tomorrow, simply because we have had some things happen in our life at the moment. We may be on the verge of losing one of our dogs, a female long haired dachshund named Annie. Annie has been in the family for 5 years now, and is just like one of my daughters. My wife is currently at the vet with her. My daughters and I are waiting on word back from the visit. I am hoping it will be a good call, but we are prepared for the worst.

I will post more a little later on. I just wanted to get back into the habit after taking a little time off for the holiday.

I will not be back to blogging until after Christmas, so I wanted to take this time to wish you and yours a very blessed and merry Christmas.

Take time out to say thank you for all the things that have blessed you this year, be it family and friends, or whatever.

See you after Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Eric

Last night was a fun evening. My wife turned on the back burner of our cooktop and left a full bag of sugar not right next to it, but close to it, then came to talk to me. Next thing you know, the smoke detector is going off, the kids are yelling "FIRE!" and I run in to see a four pound bag of sugar on fire, about 5 inches below our wood cabinets.

Needless to say, the bag went into the sink, sugar on the floor, the sugar that was not burning that is, and baking soda went onto the fire.

Now, my wife happened to have had a camera in her pocket and snapped this picture right after the bag had went into the sink, but before the fire went out.



So now we are out of sugar, and salt apparently because I was looking for that to put the fire out, but couldn't find any.

All in all, no real damage to anything, two very good girls who yelled what they were supposed to have yelled, and my wife will now make sure we have salt on hand.

My wife also blogged about this on her blog here.

I weighed in this morning and am at 349 now. Still need to lose another pound to get back to where I was before the holiday binge took place, but it'll happen.

Of course, now the real fun begins this week, with us hosting my wife's family's Christmas Eve party this year, and then Christmas happening. Lots of food, lots of beer and wine, and not a lot of exercise.

The good part is that at Christmas I will get my new mp3 player, my workout clothes and other stuff I have been wanting. Then it will be off to the gym.

So no, I am not really even pretending to be on my diet at the moment, but I am not attempting to gorge, or binge or overeat either. It is still hard, but I believe once the habit is formed, it will be much easier, even during a holiday seasson.

I have gained two pounds over the last couple of weeks. Looking at how far I have fallen off my diet, I am actually feeling pretty good. I am attempting to get back on track, but I am thinking that I need to make sure I keep track of my points, regardless of what is brought up to work, or whatever Christmas parties I go to.

I have one tomorrow night to go to, a Christmas party given by a club I belong to, and word has already been given that there are more goodies coming to us at work. I have to get this back under control, period. I have 44 points a day, plus the 35 additional points per week. I can do this. I know I can.

So I will be more diligent and make sure I count the points for all of the stuff offered.

I have been lazy, and I have eaten way too much of the wrong foods.

Cheesecake, Mozzarella Sticks, Homemade goodies from people here at work. Too much, too much, too much.

I have had people tell me that I need to wait until after the holidays to start this, to not worry about the calories, not worry about the weight. It will be easier once all the festivities are over with.

Christmas parties, dinner parties, family parties...When does it end?!

And I feel like I have the munchies. You know, that feeling you get when you just can't get enough to eat, or want to eat everything in site?

I want to hang my head in shame as I have fallen far off of my diet over the past week or so.

It really is hard this time of year.

Breakfast has been called the most important meal of the day and for good reason. I probably don't have to go into detail as to why, but perhaps in another post I will. Suffice to say that I enjoy breakfast and today's was a Weight Watcher's breakfast quesadilla.

Processed food? You bet. But when you are in a rush, it's a great on the go meal!

Point value: 4

So Breakfast today is 4 points.

Here is the rest of yesterday. I really do love my wife and her cooking. She made pumpkin scones for dessert, with homemade whipped cream. I still did not go over my points for the day.

Snack: 3:30 PM Apple 1 point

Dinner 6:00 PM Chili with cheese 17 points

Snack: 2 pumpkin scones with homemade whipped cream 10 points

total: 28

total for day: 42

I did go to the gym last night and hit the treadmill for quite a while. Towards the end of my workout, when I was slowing down for my cool down, I snapped a picture of what I had done. I am including it here:

Yes, that is over 2 miles done. I averaged 3.4 mph, and had a vertical distance of between 400 and 500 feet.

All in all I felt really great!

I have been a little busy lately at work and such that I have not been able to post my meals as I need to. So to catch myself, and anyone else that is interested up, here is yesterday's and what I have for today:



Yesterday, December 10, 2008:


Breakfast 5:45 AM -- 1 cup Kashi GoLean 2 points
1 cup milk 2% 2 points

total: 4


Snack 9 AM Apple 1 point


1:00 PM -- Progresso Barley Vegatable Soup 0 points
Salad (1/2 boiled egg, lettuce, carrots, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, celery) with dressing 3 points
WW Dessert 1 points


total: 9


Mid Day Total 9



Snack: 3:00 PM Snickers Bar 5 points


Dinner 6:00 PM Chili with cheese 12 points
WW dessert cake 1 point

Snack: none


total: 27


Today, December 11, 2008 so far:

Breakfast 5:45 AM -- 1 cup Kashi GoLean 2 points
1 cup milk 2% 2 points

total: 4


Snack 9 AM Apple 1 point


11:00 PM -- WW Meal 4 points
Salad (spinach, tomatoes, broccoli) with Vinaigrette Dressing 0 points
Banana 1 points

Total so far today 14 points.


Now I know, a SNICKER'S BAR? But I totaled up the points at 5 (almond snicker's) and had plenty points to spare. I know the adage of if you deny yourself you will regret it, so I had one.

Have to keep this one short as I have lots of work to do.

Breakfast 5:45 AM -- 1 cup Kashi GoLean 2 points
1 cup milk 2% 2 points

total: 4


Snack 9 AM Apple 1 point


11:45 AM -- Progresso Barley Vegatable Soup 0 points
Salad (1/2 boiled egg, lettuce, carrots, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, celery) with dressing 3 points
WW Dessert 1 points


total: 9

Here is the final count for the day for my meals:

Snack: 3:45 PM Apple 1 point

Dinner 6:30 PM Homemade pizza 15 points (approximately)
15 chocolate covered pomegrannate seeds 2 points

Snack: Microwave Popcorn 1 Point


total: 36

As I said in the last post, I am back in the saddle again on this, so here are the meals and points so far:

Breakfast 5:45 AM -- 1 cup Kashi GoLean 2 points
1 cup milk 2% 2 points

total: 4


Snack 9 AM Apple 1 point


1:00 PM -- WW Roasted Chicken 4 points
spinach Salad with dressing 3 points
Yogurt 3 points
Cheese Stick 2 points


total: 12


Mid Day Total 17

The last few days have been rough.

I have been off my diet, and have gained 2 pounds back. I am not sure why, but I have just been on a "Munchy" attack lately, where I have been not wanting to stop. But, I still have the loving support of my wife, who is pushing some tough love my way...like informing me she will be a guest blogger if I don't get back on my diet, and things like that, but I am telling everyone out there about it and climbing back into the saddle (again) of diet and exercise.

As I have read, if you fall off, don't quit. Get back up and keep going.

And that is what I am doing.

Breakfast 5:45 AM -- 1 cup 2% Milk 2 points
Oatmeal with PB 6 points

total: 8

1 bag cheetos 3 points

11:00 AM -- WW Chicken Fettucini 7 points
spinach Salad with dressing 3 points
jell-o pudding 1 point


total: 22

Yes, an individual bag of Cheetos. I gave into a craving I have had now for a few days. I'm not craving them any more.

Today is one of those 'oh crap' days here at work. So much so that the company ordered pizza for everyone today. Yeah, pizza.

The fortunate thing is I have only had, up to that point, 4 points for the entire day, as breakfast was a WW Quesadilla.

So without further ado, my points for the day so far:

Breakfast: 4 points
Lunch: 30 points

Total for day: 34

Total remaining: 10

I had to leave work early today, after being informed that my wife was sick at home. Now please know that my wife is the kind of person that has to be dying before she will let me know she wants me to come home because of her being sick.

Now, before I go on to why the title says what it says, let me finish out the days' point totals:

Snack: Yogurt 3 points

Dinner: Omelette (3 eggs, olive oil, spinach, onion, bell pepper, ham) 10 points
WW ice cream bar 1 point

total: 11

Total for Day: 25

So, what made me title the post what I did? Going after ice cream for my kids, and a fudge brownie sunday for my wife from Braum's.

Now, it wasn't the ice cream that I was craving, it was the french fries that I wanted. Braum's has really good homestyle fries, but McDonald's was right across the street! And I LOVE the fries from McDonald's.
But I was a good boy and ordered a Diet Coke instead.

I love my wife but going after the ice cream for her and the kids was torture!

Breakfast 5:45 AM -- 1 cup 2% Milk 2 points
1 WW Quesadilla Breakfast 4 points

total: 6


11:00 AM -- Pot Roast Soup 2 points
Medium Apple 2 points
jell-o pudding 1 point
WW dessert 1 point

total: 6


Yes I am trying to cut the points down. They are down from this time yesterday.

In the hobby that I participate in, I am the club president. Tonight was our business meeting which is held at a Chinese buffet, and a place I definitely did not want to eat at. So what I did was go to Wendy's and have a baked potato and chili, with a frosty. Total points: 21.5

The problem with that is that I had that meal at 4:45. Way too early for me to eat dinner. So when I came home from the meeting, I was famished and I ate a little more at home. Left over spaghetti. My point value total for the entire day is 43.

I need to portion my meals and space them better.

It has been one of those days. I didn't want to get up this morning and go to work. Anyone really want to after a 4 1/2 day layoff from work? So thank God for my wife and her love for me.

She went shopping this weekend and bought lots of WW products for me. Breakfasts, lunches, snacks, the whole nine yards. So breakfast was a WW breakfast muffin at 4 points, and lunch was the WW Orange Sesame Chicken at 7 points.

Now, for lunch I did have a couple of other items, like a salad with lite ranch dressing, and a jell-o pudding, but overall, the points are 11 total.

So for the day so far, points are 15 total.