Third Green's a Charm

Well – I had a great snack today but I have no pictures! My boss called us into our break room to have a “chocolate break” with (gasp!) truffles from The Chocolate Spike – you know I went for that  :) I had 1/2 a plain chocolate truffle and 1/2 one of their hazelnut/dark chocolate turtles – those things are amazing. I wish I had pictures because they were all so pretty! I promise to have pictures/reviews of the next ones. I just haven’t really told anyone at work about the blog yet and I didn’t want to just come down to the break room, whip out my camera, and have to tell the whole story this afternoon.

Since we needed some food, Nick and I took a trip to the grocery store after work before heading home. I’m glad we went because we needed more than I remembered, and I bought my Forbidden Food.

 

Once we got home, Nick put a frozen pizza  in the oven for himself and I whipped up a quick taco salad! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of these things.

tacosalad

 

The plan was to have some of the chicken chili, but the weather was just screaming for a salad – not soup! It was absolutely beautiful here today and it made me angry I was working inside all day  :) I can’t wait until every day is like this for a while.

I layered fat free refried beans, a black bean burger, romaine, chopped tomato, 1/4 avocado, and a few black olives.

Then…..it was time.

Introducing my Forbidden Food for the challenge:

cococrm

Hello love  :)

Why was this my forbidden food?

Well, I decided on this because I had avoided buying it for a while and it was the first thing that came to mind. I haven’t bought it until now because it’s expensive ($5.50!) and because I normally have a hard time eating just a serving of ice cream – especially out of these pints. 4 servings? Are you kidding me? :)

And – can I tell you? I think it was fate! We went to Kroger after work, there was barely anyone in there (all the college kids are out drinking for St. Patty’s Day, I’m sure), and I was so excited to pick out the flavor. I got to the frozen case and this was the last coconut milk pint left – period. Looking at the labels, I know that they normally have the cookie dough and mint flavors, but there was honestly ONE pint left and I picked it up as fast as I could!

So, tonight I bought it and ate it.

I had one serving topped with a little Hershey’s syrup….

icecrm

 

…and it was heavenly. The absolute perfect way to end my day. The milk coconut taste was all throughout it, and I loved the mix of coconut and vanilla flavors.

To be honest, I had some struggles doing this challenge already:

  • In the store, I saw the price again and thought “maybe I should pick something else for the challenge”
  • In typical Brandi fashion, the first thing I looked at was the calories/fat/fiber (thanks WW!) and had a hard time deciding whether to actually get it again
  • Once home, I was debating whether to have it tonight or waiting until a day I worked out
  • I weighed out a portion before having it instead of just eyeballing it like normal people

I think these reasons are why I wanted / needed to do this challenge.

I haven’t really talked much about WW on here because I can’t say too much since all their actual info is copyrighted and I don’t know that people want to know that much MORE about what I eat!

Quick background: I’ve been doing WW for over 5 years now and it’s such an ingrained habit to go by their good health guidelines and figuring up points. I follow their Core/ Simply filling program, which basically means that most whole foods (lean proteins, veggies, fruits, ff dairy, whole grains) are “point free” and I only count points for those things not included in that list (i.e., nuts, ice cream, bread, etc).

I honestly wonder sometimes if I’ll ever be able to eat normally, without calculating points. One big reason I decided to do this challenge was to challenge myself to start moving away from counting points and try to eat healthy and balanced and not worry about it. I know that will take me a long time – and in case you’re wondering, I did count points for this treat – since I’m still following WW right now. Don’t get me wrong – WW is a great program and it’s what helped me lose my weight and keep it off for the last 4 years! I just want to find out if I actually have it in me to do this on my own, without using a program as a crutch. It’s going to be a long process, but I have to start somewhere.

Whoa – I didn’t mean to write that much  :)  Well, I guess you know more about me now -even if you didn’t want to  :)

What a great challenge, Vani! I’m so glad you came up with this – I think this is the perfect time for it.

 

I’m going to finish watching American Idol while I edit this document some more, then bed.

See you tomorrow – hope you enjoyed your St. Patty’s Day!

16 comments

  1. I’ve been craving a taco salad lately! Yours looks great!

  2. now I’M jealous of YOUR office :-) mmmm, chocolate spike.

    i can so relate to your forbidden challenge thoughts! i did ww, too, (though only for about a year), and i did core for the 2nd half of it while i was “maintaining.” for 6 months, i really didn’t eat nuts, pb, dried fruit, or any other number of healthy things because they weren’t core and i didn’t want to count points! i loved ww and core bc i learned SO much about healthy eating and nutrition, but i also still have the mindset that i need to balance every “splurge” with a workout or with less food later, etc etc — it becomes less about intuition and more about facts. that’s why i love this challenge, too! my forbidden food doesn’t even have nutrition facts printed on the label :-D

  3. I think your challenge is a GREAT idea. It’s so freeing to be able to step outside those ‘fear food/bad food/dieting’ rules and allow ourselves treats in moderation. WE ONLY LIVE ONCE!!!

    That ice cream looks divine!!! I’m a huge coconut fan! Gonna be looking for it next week :-)

    Have a great night,
    Erika

  4. I love this forbidden foods challenge, and the funny thing is, when I saw the container of that ice cream, the first thing I thought was “how many Points?”
    Great job and great eats!

  5. Awesome, Brandi!!! A) I LOVE that coconut milk ice cream; B) Despite the “struggle” I think you maintained a really healthy attitude about it (and I’m glad you were able to enjoy it!), and C) I don’t think there’s anything not-normal about measuring out your portion! i think that’s a responsible way to enjoy it:-)

  6. I understand this all too well! As you probably know, I share your goal of eating “normally” without calculating points all the time. I think we will both get there! I’m trying to do a better job of eating what I want… and then figuring it out. I’ve learned enough that I seem to be able to make pretty good choices, but I still like checking it all in at the end of the day. Baby steps, right?

    Your taco salad looks so good!!

  7. Great job with your forbidden food today! While I don’t count points, I count calories, and also wonder whether I will ever be able to eat “normally”. You made good choices today! And I do agree that measuring out your food is a sensible way to enjoy it!

  8. I’m so proud of you, Brandi. I am glad you decided to get the ice cream anyway.

    I am complete faith that you will eat normally one day!!

  9. Brandi,
    Way to challenge yourself with one of my new favorite treats. Isn’t that ice-cream so good? I really have a hard time with the pints as well – they really should say 1 to 2 servings instead of 4. :) I try to combine my ice-cream with something else like oats or nut butter because one little scoop just doesn’t do it for me. Always leaves me wanting more!

    It is so hard to find a program that works for you and then try to ween yourself from it. What has always worked for me is calorie counting, but I’m really trying to get away from it. Such a hard habit to break, and I totally freak out that I’m going way over if I don’t count.

    Just keep doing what you’re doing. Trust yourself – you sound like you’re on a good path. :)

  10. I have been meaning to buy that Ice Cream as well, but have shyed away from it for the reasons you listed above. Maybe I should take you up on the Forbidden Foods Challenge and a buy a pint for myself.

    The whole thing with WW that scares me is the fact that you feel if you need to mantain then you will be counting points for the rest of your life. That’s why when I started to lose weight I made it a point not to fall in any of those traps so I could learn to eat, healthy balanced meals with out worrying about counting or measuring. I do say kudos for you though to stick with the plan and maintain such a great weight loss for so long because of it. :)

  11. That ice cream looks so good!

    Great job with the challenge!

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