4/19/11 - Win-ning!!! Food reviews...

Okay, the Charlie Sheen reference may not be that timely, but, hey, this food is Win-ning! Speaking of Charlie Sheen, I just got back from California yesterday and had a great time. Time difference is messing with my head a little, but good friends, great food, great hookah. Miss that LA weather! It was nice to sit in the sun and enjoy the cool breeze and delicate views of mountains and palm trees.

Next stop? Baltimore, Maryland. I have never been to Maryland, but I head out in the morning. Will be back for my Good Friday weigh-in!

The Turkey Pepperoni Pizza is A-mazing! It tastes like delivery and the crust is crispy and delicious! Not crispy as in firm, but crispy as in it tastes like it is drenched in fast food mojo! I cannot believe this is diet food. I added some jalepenos to mine. There is no picture of the pizza cooked because, I, um, left it in the toaster oven a few seconds too long and had to saw off one of the burnt edges. Guess what? Still amazing!

Great meal! Not 10 out of 10 for me, because it is just not my cut of tea or container of ravioli (?) But it was tastely and, if you like ravioli, you will love this dish!

Okay, first I have to admit something. I HATE cooked carrots. Hate. However, in this entree, they are so fresh, they taste great and the entire meal is a treat. The broccoli is delicious!

4/14/2011 - Who's Hungry for Delicious Food??

So, I am beginning my 3rd day of a 6 day journey. I have really missed LA. Landing at midnight, LA is much more illuminously* impressive than Vegas. You can see the sprawling veins of the city for miles in each direction, pulsing with that invigorating Los Angeles energy. Energy that has magnetic hope, optimism and fervor. Fell fast asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, even though I fought it because I wanted to soak in the electricity of home. Woke this morning to palm trees and gorgeous weather. It is so lovely. Busy, beautiful, broken LA. On the mend, economically, with such fight in her soul. It feels good to be here! 

Nutrisystem tastes great wherever I eat it! Here is one of my top 3 desserts and a demonstration of how I love to eat it.  

Place Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies in Bowl.

Sprinkle with about a tablespoon of water.

Nuke for 15 seconds in the microwave. Get "free" cool whip out of the fridge.

Add 1 Tablespoon of Fat Free, Sugar Free Cool Whip.

Devour and ask yourself, "is THIS diet food?!?!?!"

*I believe I created this word, but it felt right! See what LA does for the soul? I am inventing words!!!

4/10/2011 - Traveling Commences in zero minus 24 hours

Well, it's almost time to hit the road. In fact, this month and several weeks of next month are the debut "Rebecca World Tour" for my new gig at work.

Last week, I was supposed to go to Wisconsin, but that flight was missed due to being stuck in 4 hours of traffic from an unexpected storm that left traffic closing debris on the freeway. (The freeway in NC was actually closed for 12 hours!!)

So, Tuesday morning at like 5am, I hit the road en route to Tennessee for 2 days, then LA for 4 days. Excited that I may have a few hours to catch up with some old friends in LA.

But traveling means planning for my diet. Breakfast is easy...a scone or muffin, coffee, 3 egg whites or 1 egg, and some fruit. Lunch and dinner...usually have a lunch bar, huge salad and some form of protein. Snack/dessert...Peppermint Patty. I will be having to attend a lot of dinners, but I traveled for 11 days during my first month on NS and lost 15 pounds using the lunch bar for breakfast method.

Wish me luck, but better yet, wish me happy solid planning!

On another note, my weigh in will be delayed due to traveling, will be returning Sunday around midnight, so I will update on Monday!

Will post on the road!!

4/8/2011 - Friday Fun Day Weigh-In!

So, relo recovery weigh-in time! Time to check-in on the weigh down, but first....let's look at some food!

This was my first experience with frozen food and also, French Toast is one of those favorites that I have been missing and made attempts to make on my own.

When I opened the package I have to admit that I was shocked that it was only 1 piece of toast. French toast is the type of food that should only be served in pairs, not unlike sausage links, eggs, pancakes, pieces of toast, tacos--okay, I digress....

So, I baked this in my toaster oven, added 2 Tablespoons of Free Cool Whip, some Sugar free Syrup and Raspberries. The baking gave the French Toast a nice crisp and there was a light vanilla flavor. It is absolutely delicious!! I loved it with the Fruit on top and served it with 2 turkey sausage links as my protein.

This will definitely top my list as one of my favorite breakfasts!!

The Chicken Fajita Melt...I cooked this baby up in the microwave and served with salad and celery (I am sure you can tell that) and had a Flame Broiled Beef Patty as my protein for lunch (it fits the requirements as long as you don't have the bread or add cheese!!) But back to the Chicken Fajita Melt, it was delicious, it tasted like a fajita, the bread was soft with a hint of sweetness, but this is definitely something I can eat at my desk while I am plugging away at work. FYI: Nutrisystem does NOT recommend eating while you work, so I do try to at least turn away from the computer monitor to scarf my lunch!

Do you think that the Salisbury Steak with Mac and Cheese looks good? I sure didn't.

The box looks okay, but certainly doesn't set profound expectations; but once it was cooking, everyone in my house was suddenly interested in Nutrisystem's new line of frozen meals. They all thought it smelled amazing. I can confirm, it IS amazing. The sauce for both the steak and the mac and cheese is thick and flavorful. If you like pepper, add it, but you this frozen entree is not lacking in flavor. I cannot wait to get my next one!!

Okay, the package doesn't oversell anything here. But if you love ice cream, you will love this dessert. I microwaved for 15 seconds and added a teaspoon of mini chocolate chips. It was really good and I can't wait to experiment more with fruit add ins!

So, how is the old scale doing? I can tell you that I was very surprised with I weighed in today at 210.6 pounds. It is a good number to post and I am happy to report it. Can't wait to keep going. And if you haven't read Nutrisystem's Daily Dose today, I found it very inspirational, "Spring it ON!"

4/6/11 - Hello, My name is Rebecca and I am a doofus!

So, I have been on Nutrisystem for months and just signed up officially a few days ago. I got my frozen foods right away and have been enjoying them for the last few days.

My shelf-stable foods were scheduled to deliver today. So, because I am who I am and incessantly check on things, I checked my order this morning. I wanted to see where my food was and to my surprise I saw that my food was in Fort Worth, TX, the city I just moved from! So, a few minutes later, it said that it was "on the truck for delivery."

So, I went to Nutrisystem.com and saw that SOMEHOW my old zip code was entered on the delivery address. The address was correctly entered as the North Carolina address, but the Zip Code was wrong. It was corrected and the food will be here Monday.

Luckily, since I am as much of a pack rat as someone who incessantly checks on things, I have enough of a stockpile to hold me over for 6 months to a year, but I was excited about getting a fresh infusion of my favorites (Peppermint Patties, Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies, Trail Mix Bars).

4/1/2011 - What was the Damage?

So, when I left for the Carolina's I weighed in at 209 which was my lowest weight in YEARS!! Before we set out on one of the longest family excursions we have ever had, the family wanted to visit a few sentimental meal spots. So, for the two days prior to departure, we visited friends, broke bread, and the adults had a few adult beverages. Though I wasn't perfectly on plan, I was pretty close (minus the libations).

Then we hit the road. 4 days, 1200 miles, and many an argument and fast-food joint later, we arrived in Charlotte. I weighed in at 219. 10 pounds in 6 days! Over a pound a day! And I didn't even eat my favorite foods! In fact, one morning when I was eating pancakes, I was thinking "I wish I had Nutrisystem pancakes!" Did I have Nutrisystem foods? Yes! Why didn't I use them? The dog ate them. I could've and should've done better. I have the skills and should have known how to improvise in a rough spot. In the past 35+ weeks, I have stopped many a time at 7-11 and bought boiled eggs. I royally failed on this road trip.

So, right now I am at 213. So, 4 pounds to being where I was before I derailed myself. What have I learned? I know where my weaknesses are and what I can improve on. I know that sentimentality and driving long distances make me weak. And I know how far I have come to catch myself before I spiral out of control. Was back on plan 100% as of Monday, and 6 of my 10 pounds are already gone. Yay!