Gotta watch the grazing!

So the other night I was cooking and the hubby had made himself a plate of cheese and crackers and left it on the counter.  While I was chopping, boiling, steaming and stir-frying all my healthy stuff I was mindlessly eating the crackers and cheese.  I think I had 8 or 9 crackers and at least 3 of them I put cheese on.  When I suddenly realized what I was doing I was shocked.  I always "taste as I go" as I cook - so now I wonder just how many senseless calories and points I put in my body.  Obviously this is easily solved - make sure there isn't anything sitting around that I shouldn't be nibbling on while I work.  And of course, be a little more focused on just what my hands and mouth are trying to do behind my back!

On to more positive notes.  I met a friend at McDonalds for lunch today.  I was a little concerned about what I could have because they aren't exactly vegetarian friendly there.  I chose the Southwestern Salad with no chicken.  I also didn't have the tortilla strips that are supposed to go on top.  Later when I checked the nutritional information so I could enter my points I discovered that the salad, with the strips, dressing, and grilled chicken is normally 11 points.  Salad with the dressing, no strips, and no chicken?  Only 5 points!  That is a 6 point savings!  And there is quite a bit in there - I ended up leaving a few bites in the bowl.  That extra 6 points I then used for an afternoon treat of a Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte (3 points) and one of the new Petite Lemon Sweet Squares at Starbucks (3 points)!!!  I'm all about "lots" - I want a lot of food.  I get discouranged and sad when there is only a couple small things on my plate.  So to get the salad AND the latte AND the sweet treat?  WINNING!!  (thanks CS for going crazy in public!).

I swear - one of these days excersize is going to start coming back into the picture.  I just know it!  

Carbs are NOT my friend!

At least not in the evenings.  I was doing so well yesterday and then I had some toast with my dinner (felt like "breakfast" for dinner - Egg beaters, canadian bacon, fat free cheese - yummy!) but I figured since I had so many points left for the day and we are supposed to try and use them up it would be OK to add 2 small pieces of toast with butter spray.  Tasted so good I had 1 more.  Then for a "snack" later I had a toasted bagel with peanut butter.  Put me over points for the day.  I know there is a lot more I need to figure out besides just "don't eat carbs in the evening" - there are a lot of other issues in my life I need to work out but I think it will be easier to work on those if I get some of the easy "low hanging fruit" out of the way!

I'm excited for today.  Had a delicious grapefruit for breakfast and in a little bit I'm taking the boys on the train downtown to go explore the Public Market.  It's been years since I've been there and my older son wants to check out Beechers Cheese.  They came to his school this week to talk about healthy eating and types of food and he wants to see their place.  If the weather gets really gusty and bad we'll just detour to the Seattle Public Library - the building itself is a work of art and so much fun to explore.  The draw tho is the childrens section - it's huge and completely separate from the rest of the library so kids can be kids and it has a toddler play area for the little one to play in.   I think getting out of the house and walking around (as long as I avoid any non-healthy samples at the market - looking forward to the fuit & veggies!) will be good.  I need to switch up my routine if I want my changes to take hold and actually start losing weight!