Potluck

Today was my first potluck at my new school. I have never seen potlucks done up this way. Decorated super cute and I think everyone brought something. Including me. The theme was to bring your favorite dish. Seriously, there were like 15 crockpots on one table. I made a family recipe called pretzel salad. It is a delicious desert that is like a light, fluffy version of cheesecake. It is not too bad for you fat and calorie wise, however it still holds no nutritional value (as do most delicious foods).

I brought my 350 calorie lunch and sat in the middle of it all and did not eat one bite. Mostly because I could not stop at one bite. Especially since some made lots of delicious smelling egg rolls.

One of my co-worker's husband is doing P90X with me. I send her text messages challenging him to "bring it" which pushes him because he cannot be outdone by a girl (although I am one bad-ass girl sometimes). Anywho, she tried to get a picture of me pigging out to send him but was disappointed at my healthy eating.

I am on my sprint toward the finish here. I am not willing to screw it up for some eggrolls and store bought cookies. I work too hard for that. Speaking of, I did the spinning/cycling class tonight. Sweaty, sweaty girl. It is so much easier to do 100 pounds lighter than the first time I tried it. But it is still at the bottom of my list as far as exercise I enjoy.

I do not know how Lance Armstrong (or any man for that matter) does it. My tailbone hurts alot now that there is less fat on it. Certain ab exercises are awfully painful. The seat on this bike was too (and I had a padded one). So I discovered if I push my butt off the back a little, there is no pressure on my tailbone. But then my lady bits get to hurtin'. So I would stand up and pedal until I could get the feeling back. The good news is that I could stand and pedal for most of the class because my knees don't hurt anymore. Yeah for weight loss!

I think I burned a TON if calories so I may go back next week. We shall see. I wonder if taking 1 spin class per week will even make a difference. I am still gonna do my other stuff but this class is supposed to help me shape up my mid section. Time will tell I guess.

I think it is time to start sharing recipes. I will start. You go ahead and post some on your blog too. I will look for my weight watcher Thanksgiving ones because they were really good. TJ at TJ's test kitchen helped me with this one because she is so awesome. It is a trail mix recipe. Here it goes:

1. 1 cup multigrain cheerios
2. 1/4 cup almonds (chopped in half)
3. 1/3 cup craisins (sweetened dried cranberries)
4. 2 Tablespoons sweetened shaved coconut
5. 1 1/2 ounces of dried mango (cut into bite sized pieces)

This yields 3 servings at 2/3 cup each. It comes in at 220 calories, 5 grams of fat (only because of the almonds), 3.3 grams of fiber and 3.3 grams of protein. You could do 1/3 of a cup for less calories but then you get less protein (and you would not get to eat as much).

I have been eating this for my snack for the past two weeks and I love it! It replaced applesauce and rice cakes. This stays with me longer and actually has nutritional value.

What have you been cooking in your kitchen?