Project Core: Day 31 (8/29/2007)

Breakfast
I proclaimed it community breakfast day at work. For my contribution, I Core-ified my breakfast hashbrown casserole by using fat free cheese, fat free milk and Canadian bacon. I also used my new MISTO to lightly spritz a bit of olive oil over the potatoes. I did also spray a little olive oil over the cheese, which helped it from getting too plastic-y.

• Hashbrown casserole
• Peach
  

Lunch
It is Casserole Day today.

• Spinach casserole
  
• Chicken breast on spring mix green salad
• Banana
  

Dinner
This go-around I made polenta chips using a tube of polenta from the store. I have to admit that it sliced really well. The convenience was nice but why buy something for $3.99 when I could make it for around $0.50?

• Spinach salad with julienned Canadian bacon and loads of veggies
• Polenta chips with dip made from FF Greek yogurt and dried veggies
• Apple wedges
  

H20: 96 oz

Summary
I am going to continue on with Core for the time being. I need to get a game plan together, though, for making the program work better for my daily life. I'm getting there, I promise! I'm tying up a big side project this weekend and will have a little breathing room.

Yay! A Ravelry Invite!

Woohoo! I finally got my Ravelry invitation!

Hmm... hope they didn't see how many times I've been using their status checker to see if the list was moving or not.

Project Core: Day 30 (8/28/2007)

Breakfast
Scrambled eggs and polenta has become a breakfast staple for me. I really enjoy it though. I slice a little leftover polenta, season it with some kosher salt, garlic and freshly ground black pepper, then brown it in a non-stick. I like leftover polenta better than freshly made for some strange reason. The eggs were seasoned with some minced onion and pepper. The only letdown was the apple. I've had better.

• Scrambled eggs
• Polenta
• Apple wedges
  

Lunch
Leftovers!

• Roasted pork tenderloin
• Spinach casserole

Dinner
I tried out Alton Brown's method for broiling steaks on a lovely cut of beef fillet. It produced a LOT of smoke. My kitchen looked like a Cheech & Chong movie was being filmed there. The results were worth it! Also had some leftover spinach casserole and some apples sauteed in a nonstick with some spices.

• Broiled beef fillet
• More leftover spinach casserole
• Pan-sauteed apples
  

H20: 96 oz

Summary
This was the end of my 30 Day Core experiment. I need to think about how to proceed over the next day or two. Will post more shortly!

Waiting for Ravelry

Woohoo!

I just did a lookup on ravelry.com* to see where I was on the waiting list. Any day now, y'all!

Found you!

• You signed up on June 22, 2007
• You are #10547 on the list.
• 127 people are ahead of you in line.
• 18576 people are behind you in line.
• 35% of the list has been invited so far

*Ravelry is a knitting and crocheting community that allows users to organize your stash and projects, as well as share and network with other knitters/crocheters. They have a pretty long waiting list, as you can see!

WW - The Early Years

Take a look at this.

I am, frankly, amazed that anyone managed to stay on WW if these recipe cards are indicative of the programs of the past. Um... fluffy mackerel pudding, anyone? Oy.

Her commentary is killer. That Candyboots... she makes me giggle.

Project Core: Day 29 (8/27/2007)

Breakfast

Breakfast was a fast 'n dirty affair. I slept a little longer than I should have.

• Eggs scrambled with polenta cubes and onion
• Peach

Lunch

• Whole wheat penne with broccoli, tomatoes and shrimp

Dinner
I thought I'd try a new recipe for dinner tonight. I came across a core spinach casserole recipe online that intrigued me. I made some modifications and posted the recipe here. It reminded me quite a bit of a spinach casserole that my mama made when we were kids. That one is also Core so I posted it as well. (Note: the experimental casserole was decent but I really prefer the original.) In other news, the pork tenderloin was excellent. I rubbed it with coarse stone ground mustard and oven roasted it on my cast iron grill pan. I know I've said this before but I'm all about the cast iron these days.

• Mustard rubbed pork tenderloin
  
• Spinach casserole
• Apple wedges
  

H20: 36 oz

WPAs: 0 of 35

Summary
The day was a good one but I didn't drink nearly enough water. Not sure why. I just had a hard time getting it down. I need to really push the H20 this week.

Project Core: MIA

Sorry I went MIA for the last few days! I spent quite a bit of time working on some side projects. Between that and the storm over the weekend that caused some major havoc in my apt complex, I was pretty well booked.

I was following program... more or less. I say that because, while I was eating Core foods, I ate WAY too much of them. So I suppose you could say that I was on program... but kind of not. My internal switch controlling my hunger impulses was totally off and I wasn't as proactive about getting things in check as I could have been.

I'll return to daily posting as of today. I'm still chasing after the perfect baked polenta chip recipe. I also have a new obsession: panna cotta. It is simple and easy... yet rich and satisfying. I'll post more about my panna cotta adventures in the next day or two.

I did get myself a little present. How cute are these mini trifle bowls? I have all sorts of plans for them. I did a Core espresso panna cotta in them last week. It was excellent. Rich and creamy without being overly sweet. I also have visions of savory layered dishes, one in particular with cubed polenta. More on this in the future! (Update: these little trifle bowls are also sturdy. This evening, I accidentally knocked one from the top of the fridge. It ricocheted off the refrigerator door and bounced around on the kitchen's unforgiving tile floor. And, amazingly enough, there wasn't a single nick or crack.)

In other news, I think that I'm going to have to start limiting the caffiene. I've just been drinking way too many caffeinated beverages and, much as I love a good cup of coffee, it is starting to affect my sleeping patterns. Lately I'm wired up until around midnight and subsequently have a tough time getting up in the AM. So... this week I'm going to cut out all caffeinated bevs after noon. Hopefully this will make a difference.

Project Core: Day 25 (8/23/2007)

Breakfast

• Scramble of eggs, diced Canadian bacon, green peppers, onions and carrots
  

Lunch

• Baked potato with a cup of chili poured over (4 WPAs)
  

Dinner
Was at the boss man's house, working on a project for him this evening. He offered to fire up the grill and make burgers for us.

• Lean hamburger on bun (2 WPAs for bun)
  
• Asst veggies
  
• Corn on the cob
  

H20: 96 oz
WPA: 31 of 35

Project Core: Day 24 (8/22/2007)

Breakfast
One of my current favorite breakfasts...

• Shirred eggs with fresh herbs
• Oven roasted potatoes, onions, carrots and green peppers

Lunch
The boss man bought lunch for the office. It would have sent me WAY over in WPAs so I sat it out. (Really annoyed me that there wasn't any question about getting something that I could have too.) Should have brought something but I left in a hurry in the AM.

Dinner
Made dinner for the boss man and his visiting sister. Kind of made me feel like a chump after the lunch incident but c'est la vie. I'm just being pissy. I'll get over it. On a positive note the pannacotta was most excellent. I'll post my recipe and a few variations shortly.

• Chicken fajitas
• Refried black beans
• Sauteed onions with green and red peppers
• Espresso Core pannacotta
  

H20: 96 oz
WPA: 25 of 35

Schedule Craziness & Thoughts on Core

I'm finally getting caught up with my journals after the nuttiness of the last week. I've been unbelievably busy and just need to take a little time to unwind and regroup.

Today is the 24th day of my 30 day experiment with Core. Here are a few observations that I've made. Your mileage may vary.

HardCore
The first few weeks I was doing the program hardcore and trying to avoid using WPAs. I started to feel really good. I started to lose some of the bloating that I was getting in my feet and legs. Cravings went away and I didn't have an urge to snack all the time.

Using WPAs
Over the past several days, I've relaxed quite a bit and have been liberally using WPAs for non-Core items. The snacking urge is back in a major way. My feet and ankles have started to swell again. I discussed WPAs at the last meeting I attended with the leader. She's a substitute leader from another meeting. She's quite knowledgeable about the program and has been very successful in her own weight loss. She scolded me in the nicest possible way about not using the WPAs, saying that WW wouldn't have worked them into the program if they weren't beneficial. I have to disagree in some small way. I suspect the WPAs were added in to give the plan some extra flexibility not because of any specific health benefit. (Not that flexibility isn't a good thing!)

Planning
Planning is a big part of success on WW under the best of circumstances. My goal is to go into each day with a plan but to stay flexible so you can roll with whatever punches come my way. Obviously I do better some days than I do on others. I have found with Core that I have to double up on my planning efforts. I know part of it is working with a program that is new and learning to live within the guidelines.

My Overall Impression
I do think that the benefits of Core do outweigh the shortcomings. I feel good enough that I think I can deal with the inconvenience of the program constraints. Failure to plan is my own shortcoming and that is something that I really need to work on if I'm going to continue with the Core program. I do also need to spend some additional time researching available options so my meals aren't so freaking boring. I do think that the Core program is a good one... if you can work within the guidelines.

Project Core: Day 23 (8/21/2007)

Breakfast

• Shredded wheat cereal with FF plain yogurt and a banana
• Probiotic yogurt shot (1 pt)
  

Lunch
The boss man was out of the office so I had to run some work errands at noon. I didn't pack a lunch and was starving so I grabbed something from Wendy's.

• Baked potato with a small serving of chili (4 pts for chili)
• Apple
  

Dinner
Leftover stew from night before. I wooshed the rest down the disposal. Twice was enough. I can't get past those crumbles.

• Improvised stew of chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, black beans, corn and veggie 'meat' crumbles
• Peach
  

H20: 64 oz
WPA: 25 of 35

Project Core: Day 22 (8/20/2007)

Breakfast

• Shredded wheat cereal with FF plain yogurt and a banana
• Probiotic yogurt shot (1 pt)
  

Lunch
A friend of mine came into the office and brought lunch with her from a Mexican take out place. They're really good about special requests so this meal was very nearly Core. (I forgot to ask them to omit the rice so I'm using WPAs for it.) It was excellent.

• Chicken taco salad w/ grilled chicken on a bed of lettuce with beans, rice, lots of fresh salsa - (3 pts for rice)
  

Dinner
Not one of my better efforts... but it was quick and reasonably well-balanced. I usually like this combination but the addition of the veggie 'meat' crumbles was what threw this off. This particular brand had a rather bizarre texture.

• Improvised stew of chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, black beans, corn and veggie 'meat' crumbles
  

H20: 64 oz
WPA: 21 of 35

Project Core: Day 21 (8/19/2007)

Breakfast

• Scrambled eggs w/ veggies
• Peach
• Probiotic yogurt shot (1 pt)
  

Lunch
I was at the boss man's house again, working on a project for him. He cranked up the grill and made burgers. They were Core, as the beef was lean. The bun, however, was not.

• Hamburger w/ tomato, onions, pickles & bun (3 pts for bun)
• Baked tortilla chips (4 pts)
• Peach
  

Dinner
Dinner at the boss man's. He was out and about so I heated up some leftover chili. Again, should have bypassed the cheese.

• Chili
• Cheese - 4 pts
  

H20:96 oz
WPA: 17 of 35

Summary
I am struggling. Over the last few days I have been fighting the urge to snack and I've been eating too much of the Core things at meals. The first few weeks on the Core program, I was really satisfied and didn't have this persistent hunger that is following me around. I have to tie it all into using those extra WPAs for non-Core items. I need to be smarter about using them. I won't completely rule out their use... but I do need to be a little more cautious with their use.

Project Core: Day 20 (8/18/2007)

Breakfast

• Scrambled eggs w/ veggies
• Peach
• Probiotic yogurt shot
  

Lunch

• Grilled chicken breast on green salad w/ toasted polenta 'croutons'
  

Dinner
Dinner at the boss man's. I was working on a project for him and he offered to cook chili. It was good and was actually Core. (Lean ground beef, tomatoes, beans, onions, etc.) The cheese, however, was not. I should have bypassed it but I didn't.

• Chili
• Cheese - 4 pts
  

H20:96 oz
WPA: 5 of 35

Weekend Posts

Good morning, all!

I kept pretty busy this weekend with the side project I had going on so I wasn't able to log those few days. I'll try to get caught up shortly. The weekend was good though I didn't go to my Saturday morning meeting. It wasn't perfectly Core and I did use some WPA's. I do feel good about it though. Most of my meals were cooked by others and, with some adaptations, I was able to stay on program.

Andrea in Yellow

In keeping with my endless fascination with silly online toys, here is the Simpsonized version of little Felix and myself. (I photoshopped in his white tummy and paws. And the depiction of me will be a little more accurate once I've followed the program a while longer!)

Project Core: Day 19 (8/17/2007)

Breakfast
A strange breakfast, to be sure. But it was all stuff that I had on hand and ready to go.

• Baked chicken breast (leftover from a few days ago)
• Banana
• Sauteed onions and peppers
• Probiotic yogurt shot (1 pt)
  

Lunch
I was alone in the office and I got a little psycho.

• Cinnamon Toast Crunch - 10 points
• Corn dog - 5 pts

Dinner
I considered doing something extremely light or skipping dinner altogether but decided that it would be counter-productive in the long run. Instead, I set about to do something nice for myself as a way to unwind and put the day behind me. I broke out my cast iron grill pan and broiled the steak. (I'm still getting the oven-grilling thing worked out. I didn't quite get these right but I'm getting better. Should have used the Broil High setting instead of the Broil Low.) During the last minutes of cooking, I tossed the broccoli in the steamer, slid the cookie sheet of plantains in, and plunked the peaches down on the grill next to the steak. Everything was wonderful but the grilled peaches were phenomenal. They'd be lovely with raspberries and a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream.

• Filet of Beef
• Oven baked plantains
• Steamed broccoli
• Grilled peaches
  

H20: 64 oz

Weekly Points Allowance Used: 25 of 35

Summary
Everything up to 2:00 or so was a whirlwind. I let myself get too caught up in the stress. As much as I can regret the cereal and corn dog debacle, it did serve a purpose. For the first time, I caught myself and thought "what are you doing?" Ordinarily I'd have probably kept going after the 2nd bowl of cereal--knowing full well that I was sabotaging my efforts--and beat myself up emotionally over it later. I find myself thinking about that episode a little more objectively. Maybe I'm finally at a place where I can leave that particular demon behind.

Its Always the Quiet Ones

I snapped, y'all.

I'm not sure what brought it on. Maybe it was the thought of the crazy busy workload for the next few weeks. Maybe it was the side project that I've committed to for the weekend. Maybe it was the client who, after reviewing a video clip I edited for him, complained that he couldn't understand what he was saying on film. (He had been talkingreallyquickly and not enunciating as well as he might have. Somehow, I am supposed to correct this.)

So... had you come into my office around 1:30 this afternoon, you would have seen me hiding in the corner with a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a corn dog. I liberated them from my boss's stash. Then... I topped it off with another bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

2 healthy-sized bowls CTC: 10 Points
Corn dog: 5 Points

The value of my boss not walking in and seeing me scarfing his food? Priceless

Project Core: Day 18 (8/16/2007)

Breakfast
A baked potato is perhaps an odd choice for breakfast. It was quite a pleasing meal though and I happened to have everything on hand and ready to go.

• Baked potato with Canadian bacon, peas, red onion with a FF vinaigrette
• Probiotic yogurt shot (1 pt)
  

Lunch

• More leftover cabbage roll casserole
  
• Grapes
• Baby carrots
  

Dinner
At long last... The last of the cabbage roll casserole. It was something that I'll definitely make again... but not for a while! That is, I suppose, one of the downsides of being single. Sometimes you have leftovers for days.

• Even more cabbage roll casserole
• Sweet cherries
• Spinach salad with strawberries
  

H20: 96 oz

Weekly Points Allowance Used: 9 of 35

Summary
I feel good about the week so far though I'm not doing as well with the required dairy servings as I should be. I think I'll look for a multi-vitamin with some additional calcium to offset the lack of dairy in the diet. If I get it from the yogurt shot and other sources, I should be OK. I think I got a little too happy with the Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt on the cabbage roll casserole. I've starting puffing up in the legs/feet a little. The snacking urge has left me again so I think I'm past that for now.

Project Core: Day 17 (8/15/2007)

Breakfast
Really wish I had been quicker on the draw and taken some pictures for the blog. Breakfast was tasty and satisfying... and pretty!

• Shirred eggs with fresh herbs
• Oven roasted potatoes, onions, carrots and green peppers
  

Lunch

• More leftover cabbage roll casserole
  

Dinner

• Chicken breast coated in cornmeal and texmex spices
• A coarse salad made of avocados, red onion, tomatoes and carrots
• Sweet cherries
  

H20: 96 oz

Project Core: Day 16 (8/14/2007)

Breakfast

• Pan sauteed Canadian bacon, onions, peppers and potatoes
  

Lunch
I was crazy hungry most of the day, starting around lunch time. Don't know what brought this on all of a sudden. The potato mixed with cottage cheese and pickles was surprisingly good. Kind of like a hot potato salad.

• Leftover cauliflower fried 'rice' w/ chicken breast
  
• Baked potato mixed with FF cottage cheese and pickles
  

Dinner
I'm running short on a few of my staples. After taking a brief survey of my pantry, I realized that I had the ingredients to make a simple Core unstuffed cabbage roll casserole. I do love a good cabbage roll. I'm short on time but I'll try to post my recipe later on tonight.

• Cabbage roll casserole
• Steamed broccoli
  

H20: 96 oz

Summary
No clue what brought on the sudden urge to scarf everything in sight today. I'd like to say that it didn't affect me but I did wind up eating way more at dinner than I would have ordinarily.

Project Core: Day 15 (8/13/2007)

Breakfast

• Probiotic yogurt shot (1 pt)
• Banana
• Scrambled eggs with grilled veggies
  

Lunch
After enjoying the baked potato that I had the other day, I decided to stash a few potatoes in the fridge at work. Handy thing to have on hand for a quick and hot meal. I nuked one up, topped it with some things that I had on hand and was good to go.

• Baked potato with Canadian bacon, FF cheese, broccoli and a bit of FF bleu cheese dressing
  

Dinner
I came across a recipe for fried 'rice' that used grated cauliflower in place of rice. It intrigued me so I gave it a go tonight. You certainly won't close your eyes and think you've been transported to your favorite Chinese restaurant. But as far as veggie stir-fries go, it was something that I'll definitely do again. The flavor was nice and it is a great way to pack in some veggie servings. It was also very filling. I only finished half the serving and packed the rest for lunch the next day. (See recipe.)

• Fried 'rice' with scallions, baby peas and chicken (2 pts)
  

Evening Snack
OK, so what I'm about to say here is in violation of Weight Watchers snacking regulations and now the snacking police are going to come after me. I know the Core snacks are fruit and popcorn, etc, etc. I'm breaking the rules a tiny bit and making a snack out of Core foods. To the right you'll see the results of an experiment with polenta. (See recipe.) The baked polenta chips, while still hot from the oven, are really a tasty dipper and a perfect way to use leftover polenta.

• Polenta chips with FF onion dip and guacamole
  

H20: 96 oz

Weekly Points Allowance Used: 8 of 35

Project Core: Day 14 (8/12/2007)

Breakfast
I was going to spend the better part of the day at the boss mans' house, working on his projects. Geared up by having a hearty breakfast.

• Steel cut oats
• Canadian bacon
• Scrambled eggs with sauteed veggies
• Banana
• Probiotic yogurt shot (1 flex point)
  

Lunch
Worked straight through lunch. Lost track of time and by the time I looked at the clock, they were getting the grill fired up for dinner.

Dinner
Dinner at the Boss Man's again. He had friends over and grilled some salmon and some steak. I did pretty well though the rice wasn't brown. But that's what the points allowance is for. They all had key lime pie and brownies for dessert. I excused myself and went back to work on my projects. I really wanted the pie and would have had a tough time with it sitting 6 inches from me.

• Grilled salmon
• Steamed rice (4 points)
• Salad
• Snow peas
  

H20: 100 oz

Weekly Points Allowance Used: 5 of 35

Summary
Spent all day at the boss man's house, working on asst projects for him. I didn't have any problems staying OP, as I'm not going to go digging through someone else's fridge. He did, however, bake brownies and had a big plate of them sitting in my full view. All afternoon. That was tough. I let myself get too hungry throughout the day, which didn't do me any favors.

Project Core: Weigh In (8/12/2007)

This was the second WI after having been following the Core program. I was down 4.4 lbs. Yay! I know I won't safely maintain high losses every week and that this will taper off to a more practical number. Still, it is nice to see the numbers drop.

Project Core: Day 13 (8/11/2007)

Breakfast
The beginning of a very busy day. I took on a side job for the boss man this weekend so, after weigh in, I spent most of the morning and the early part of the afternoon buying supplies and assorted notions.

• Fruit salad with a little plain FF yogurt as a dressing
  

Morning Snack
Good weigh in! Yay! (See post.) Got myself a nonfat latte from Starbucks as a prize. Part of me cringes for spending $4.00 on what is basically a little coffee and milk. But it was a real treat. I love the burnt caramelly flavor of the espresso roast they use. Plus it got me a dairy serving.

• Nonfat latte
  

Lunch
Stopped at home for a quickie lunch between errands for my side job and actually starting the side job. Lime and chili powder on shrimp is such a crisp, summery thing. Mmm.... Also made some dip using FF sour cream and a packet of onion soup mix. Kind of a guilty pleasure. I tried to make some FF onion dip from scratch but my seasonings were WAY off. Need to try that again.

• Baked potato w/ onion dip
  
• Shrimp pan sauteed with a little lime juice and chili powder
• Baby carrots
  

Dinner
Was at the boss man's house working on his project so I had dinner with him and one of his friends. NY strip steaks. I stuck with the WW prescribed portion but it was tough not to go for more. They were really good. He had marinated them in some really good seasonings before grilling them. Mmmm....

• NY strip steaks
• Salad with tomato, FF cheese, hard boiled egg and FF vinaigrette

Evening Snack
Experiments with polenta! I'm determined to make a chippy-cracker type of thing by baking sliced polenta. As soon as I have a recipe perfected, I'll post it. The batch was off the mark a bit. But it has promise!

• Baked polenta chips
• Salsa
  

H20: 96 oz

Project Core: Day 12 (8/10/2007)

Breakfast
I've been trying not to use the 'bonus' points but I really miss having the probiotic shots in the AM. I haven't yet found a FF plain yogurt shot so I'll just use the extra points.

• Probiotic yogurt shot - 1 pt
• Steel cut Irish oats
• Banana
  

Lunch
I don't do salads as meals often. I think I overdosed on them in college. I have one every once in a while and enjoy them... but that's enough to tide me over for a while. That being said, this was a really good salad!

• Big salad with spring mix greens, turkey breast, FF mozzarella, chopped apple, red onion, carrots, celery, etc, etc, and a FF vinaigrette
  

Dinner
Tried to keep it light as I had a weigh in the following morning.

• French onion soup
• Baked chicken breast
• Steamed veggies
  

H20: 96 oz

Summary
Sorry it is uninteresting today! I was zonked and, well, some days are just like that!

Project Core: Day 11 (08/09/2007)

Breakfast
I had a large amount of polenta left over from dinner last night. I froze most of it and will use the rest of it over the next day or two. I've not read any notes from anyone on freezing polenta so that is a bit of an experiment. For this morning, I sliced the cold polenta and pan fried it along with some Canadian bacon.

• Pan fried polenta with FF sour cream and lots of fresh salsa
  
• Canadian bacon
• Strawberries
  

Lunch
Leftovers... this reheated very well. I love the texmex flavors of the stewed beans and veggies with polenta. I tossed the polenta cubes on the stew like croutons.

• Baked chicken
• Stewed veggies and beans
• Cubed polenta
• Grapes
  

Dinner
Sounds like a strange combination but it was really good. The eggs and spinach started out as separate but I wound up mixing them up. I'm also trying to be a little more conservative with my food costs. Eggs are a quick and inexpensive protein source. I did both the corn and the tomatoes in my cast iron grill pan. (Heated the pan up in the oven and then tossed the veggies and skillet into the oven for a short while.)

• Scrambled eggs
• Huge pile of sauteed baby spinach w/ fat free ricotta
• Grilled corn on the cob
• Grilled tomatoes
  

Summary
I actually got home at a reasonable hour tonight. I decided to have a low maintenance dinner and spend some time researching Core recipes. I found a few that I'm going to try over the next few days. (The Core onion dip that I tried a few days ago was a bust. Threw it out, which is why I haven't posted about it.)

Thoughts on Core: I've noticed over the last several days is that I'm less prone to mood swings. Hard to say if it is directly related to the change in diet but I doubt it is any coincidence. It is a nice change to feel upbeat and positive most of the time instead of perpetually pissed off.

Project Core: Day 10 (8/8/2007)

Breakfast

• Canadian bacon
• Steel cut oatmeal
  
• Banana
• Pseudo-latte with FF milk
  

Morning Snack

• Grapes

Lunch
I am out of Greek yogurt and I surely did miss it this noon. It has a much better consistency when substituting for sour cream. But... that's what I had in the fridge at work so that's what got used! It has been some time since I've had a baked potato. I usually go for mashed at home but I really enjoyed this for lunch.

• Baked potato w/ FF plain yogurt and loads of chunky salsa
  

Afternoon Snack

• Banana

Dinner
I really need to start making my Core meals a little more interesting. I can feel myself slipping into what is comfortable. Dinner tonight was quick to prepare but the first jump out of the food rut. At the very least, I need to take the time to do something good for myself, like prepare a healthy meal instead of going for convenience. I treated some chicken breast with a dry rub of tex-mex spices and then baked it in the oven in a cast iron skillet. As a side, I made some polenta and topped it with some stewed tomatoes, garbanzos, corn, chiles and black beans. There is a little fat free sour cream as a garnish.

• Baked chicken breast
• Polenta topped with stewed beans & veggies and a bit of FF sour cream
  

H20: 96 oz

Thoughts on Core: So far Core has been a combination of really tough and really easy. I haven't had any problems with eliminating certain foods. In fact, considering certain things 'off limits' has helped me to avoid some less healthy choices. But what IS giving me fits is planning. I had a difficult time planning while I was on Flex. I am going to have to set aside some time every so often to really plan out the next few days. If I don't, I'll be setting myself up for failure.

I have noticed that I haven't been having cravings lately. I have also noticed that my skin is looking healthier and I am not retaining water as badly as I had been.

Project Core: Day 9 (8/7/2007)

Breakfast

• Steel Cut Oatmeal
• Canadian Bacon
• Strawberries
• Banana
  

Lunch
Skipped lunch. Not on purpose. I had been planning on going out but we had a client drop in and I had to assist him until quite late in the afternoon.

Dinner
I love the fact that my homemade guacamole is Core. I really miss tortilla chips with the guac but carrots do in a pinch. The chicken breast was prepped with a dry BBQ rub and then baked in the oven on my cast iron grill pan. And it was really good!

• Baked chicken breast
• Carrot sticks with guacamole
• Steamed mixed veggies

H20: 96 oz

Project Core: Day 8 (8/6/2007)

Breakfast

• Whole wheat pasta and veggies leftover from last night
• Orange
  

Lunch
No lunch. I was planning to go out after my boss got back from his lunch outings... but he wasn't back until pretty late. By then, what's the point?

Dinner
Didn't get home from the office until just a short while ago. LATE dinner tonight. Salty. I'm going to puff up like a blowfish tomorrow.

• Tuna salad w/ FF mayo, veggies, etc.
• Apple
  

H20: 96 oz

Summary
Crappy day today. Craptastic. Craptacular. I think you get the gist of it. Part of it was self-induced, as I managed to screw up a project. The rest of it was all people being awful in general.