Day 9 Summary

Total Steps For Day:  10,823  (walk)
Total Calories:    1154
Weight Loss: +.8 lb (4.2 lbs total, body fat % went down .2 %)

Diet Day 9 Breakfast

Today I had the Nutrisystem Buttermilk Waffles and one scrambled egg.  I scrambled the egg with some chopped scallions.  I didn't use any fat in the pan, they came out OK. I use a pretty well-seasoned old, small cast iron frying pay.

I put a little "sugar-free" Vermont Maple Syrup on the waffles which considering I couldn't have butter made them pretty palatable.  I don't eat waffles a lot because they are fattening and I only want homemade, from scratch, and the cleaning of the waffle iron is more work than I typically want to do (yeah, lazy).  I think these frozen waffles were acceptable.  The fake syrup wasn't terrible.  I certainly would not use it unless there was a dietary reason (like now).  REAL maple syrup is one of the healthier, and at least natural, sugars. 

I'm not sure I've ever tasted a typical commercial frozen waffle but I suspect they probably taste the same.  Scrambled eggs are a favorite part of a pretty typical breakfast for me.  We walk down to the farmer's market on Sunday's and buy our cage-free eggs.  This gets us a better quality egg and seven tenths of a miles walk each direction.  Bonus!

Day 8 Morning Snack

I'm trying work in the "Power fuel" protein snacks with simple things that don't require a lot of prep and thus dirty dishes.  I've noticed my dishwasher is filling at an alarming rate with this new diet phase.  These are pecans, 1 ounce (28g) I believe there were about 14 or so pecan halves.  I have a food scale and I like to use it.  Really, all of you out there, BUY ONE.  They are handy, they are fun!  Make a habit of weighing fats and proteins until you really think you know an ounce from 4 ounces.  Then, check yourself every once in a while, make sure you're not measuring incorrectly.  Fats and proteins really add up calorie-wise. 

Day 8 Lunch

Today I had another "melt".  This one was the Nutrisystem Fiesta Melt with brown rice, black beans, corn and cheese.  I never saw or tasted anything that resembled cheese.  Overall, kind of 'meh" on this one.  I would not buy it again.  I like the flavor in general but the wrap is tough and just so-so.  I served with a sliced red bell pepper which I like a lot. 

Here are the wraps on my baking sheet.  I baked them in my counter top convection oven.

The wraps don't tend to brown well, not sure if it's my oven or just the wrap.  I tried broiling them for just a minute or two to brown them up but I didn't want to toughen the dough any more than it already is.

You can see the filling here which proportionally, was fine.  If you made something similar, maybe even a recipe for tamale pie, then used a typical whole wheat wrap, which might work out better.

I love red bell peppers.  They're sweet, crunch and you could eat a pile of them without taking in all that many calories.

Day 9 Afternoon Snack

This is 2% fat Fage yogurt with fresh blackberries. What's not to love about fresh berries and yogurt?  I bought fresh blueberries too, those will be nice as well.

Day 9 Dinner

Tonight is Nutrisystem Chicken Parmesan.  Although it tasted "fine" I didn't care for the coating on the chicken and the spaghetti really clumps up.  Perhaps I didn't heat it properly.  This meal is heated in the microwave oven.  I find when possible it's always best to divide the cooking time in half and stir the contents mid-way through the cooking time.  Some of the instructions call for it, some don't.  I didn't do this and I think that's perhaps why the spaghetti clumped up.  I could not look make it look very good.  I should have put some fresh steamed broccoli on the plate but again, too lazy to make one more side dish and it was getting late and I was hungry.

Here is the entree in its frozen state.  It is presented all in one undivided cooking dish.

It looked "sad" on the plate.  I was pretty hungry so I scarfed it right up.  I'll have to post the recipe for a Quick Chicken Parmesan that is really good.  It includes spinach and if you cut back a little on the cheese it would bring the calorie count down.  The chicken is not breaded.  Here's a picture of the dish served with a side of mushrooms and more of the spinach.

The dinner salad was just simple.  Assorted lettuces from the garden, store bought scallions and radishes.  I don't know why I don't just grow the radishes.  I still have time; I'll try to throw some in the ground today.  I have space and I'm sure I have a seed packet somewhere.

Day 9 Dessert

Tonight was the Nutrisystem Chocolate Cupcake.  This was tasty.  I was running late and I don't like coffee past 7:00 at night or otherwise it would have been really good with a nice cup of coffee.  I have a faint recollection of what Hostess Cream Filled Cupcakes used to taste like and I think this was similar, sans cream filling.  This was a nice satisfying dessert.

On To Day 10

Tomorrow is workout day.  I usually stay pretty busy which is good, gives me less time to realize I'm hungry.  I hope all you fellow eaters have a great week!  I'll be checking in again tomorrow.