I Inspire others!!

So I have done something great! I have inspired one of my roommates (the one who has been my roommate since the very beginning of college) to join Weight Watchers! We had a little heart to heart today where she asked me all about what WW is and how I do it. She told me that she has been feeling down about herself lately and thinks that maybe joining WW will help her feel better about herself both inside and out. I personally don't think that she needs to lose any weight... but I just want to see her happy, she is one of my best friends. It will also be easier for me to stay focused and stay motivated if she is doing it too. It will be interesting to see how she does, I'm so happy for her. And, she told me that I inspire her! EEEE! =)

Today was a good day, it's not Monday....so any day that isn't Monday is a great day!

It was sunny and fairly warm. I walked 2.8 miles with my roomie, it was FUN! It took us about 70 minutes. It added a decent 4 points to my activity point bank. I also did pilates with her after we got back from walking. That added some points to my bank too!

Today was my low point day so I stuck to my main 24 points that I'm allowed. YAY!

Tomorrow is my very high point day, which is good because we are surprising my roommate with a cake and dinner because she got into the nursing program at our school, which is VERY hard to get into and only 60/500 got in! She tried to get in last year but didn't make it and was devastated. So, we are all so happy for her and we are throwing her a little surprise congratulations party. It's going to be fun! =)

No creative recipe's today. No dancing today either. =( Oh well, Thursday's dance class is near!

How was your Tuesday?

Until next time,

Karla =)

Monday's aren't my friend..

No, I don't like Monday's.. in case you haven't noticed!

It was tough getting back into "school-mode"... and I have been up to my eyeballs in homework that I didn't do over break. Whatever......that's what I get for ignoring my homework and pretending it didn't exist!

Today was a great day food wise. I stuck to the Wendie Plan, which seems to be working well.

And I also had a great day work-out wise. I walked for a good hour and a half on the track at school. I battled the 895320mph winds... and my face is now chapped. But, it was worth it!

4 activity points later, I was thankful that I stuck it out!

Well, this was a boring post.. I'm going to bed early, I've got early class tomorrow and I haven't woken up at 7am in a whole week! Ehhh..

Until next time,

Karla =)

MMM! Buffalo Chicken Calzones!

So I am back at school....it's been a boring day. I have been catching up on homework and trying to ignore my growling stomach because today is a low point day. The only good thing about today was my weigh-in this morning. AND.....

My Buffalo Chicken Calzones!!!!!!

If you have been reading my posts since the beginning, you know that I love buffalo chicken! I love hot sauce! YUM. But, buffalo chicken is not so healthy.. especially when it's served with blue cheese. So, here is my spin off of a buffalo chicken calzone.

-1 cup WW shredded mozzarella cheese
-1 chicken breast (diced)
-2/3 cup of tomato sauce
-1 tsp hot sauce (I used a bit more because I like it HOT!)
-1/3 pound pizza dough crust

This makes 4 SMALL servings. 5 points per serving.

Preheat oven to 450. Cook the diced chicken in a pan sprayed with cooking spray. Then in a large bowl, combine cooked chicken, tomato sauce, cheese, and hot sauce. Mix well.

Roll out the pizza dough so that it makes a 12 inch circle. Cut into fourths. Spread 1/4 of the chicken, cheese, tomato sauce, and hot sauce onto half of each fourth. Then, fold the dough together well so that it doesn't open. Cut small slits into the top of each calzone, place each calzone onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.So this is what they look like before going into the oven ^

And... here is what mine looked like after 15 minutes of baking in the oven. It was SO YUMMY!
I dipped mine into light ranch dressing, it was good!!


Hope everyone has a good Monday! =)

Until tomorrow,

Karla =)

Another pound down!

I weighed in at 167.5 !!

-1 pound from last week!

YES!

I think this Wendie Plan is working, along with all the exercise I did this week!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, because it is almost over! I move back into school in a few hours......back to all the homework that I didn't do! = O

Until tomorrow..

Karla =)

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage

One word.....YUM.

Everyone needs to try this recipe.

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage!!

Serves- 10
WW Points- 12......Yes, a little high...but WELL worth it, especially on the days when I can use my weekly points!!!

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
• 4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped....I didn't use onion b/c I'm not a fan!!
  
• 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
• 4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, cut up about 2 tablespoons
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
  
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I'm allergic to cinnamon so I only used a pinch)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
• Coarse salt and black pepper
• 1 pound penne (I used whole wheat!!)
  
• Romano or Parmigiano, for grating

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil, and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.

~~ALL THANKS TO RACHAEL RAY!!

I made minor changes to this recipe just to make it more healthier and less points. Another thing I could have done to make it less in points is to reduce the amount of sausage I put into this. I could have gotten away with 1/2 a pound instead of a whole pound.

You can barely taste the pumpkin.....I know.... it sounds like this recipe would taste SO horrible... but really, it doesn't. If any of my readers end up trying this (which I encourage you to!!) pleeeease, let me know how you like it. I made this for my parents and BF tonight and they all loved it!!! =)

Here are my pictures...
Here is the pan with the white wine, garlic, pumpkin, chicken broth, cream, sausage, and bay leaf. You can see the leaf on top. =)


And here is the final product. Doesn't look too flattering...but don't judge a book by it's cover! It tasted great!! It is more of a fall/winter meal, but it hit the spot! =)

..So my Spring Break is pretty much over... the week went by so quick. Too quick. But... I am looking forward to getting back to my apartment and spending time with my roommates.

** High point of the week: I earned 37 activity points this week!! THIRTY-SEVEN! WOW!

Tomorrow is my weigh-in day. I am hoping and praying and crossing my fingers that I have lost this week!! More on that tomorrow..

Until Then,

Karla =)

Recipes!! =)

So here are my latest crazy recipes. I think of these recipes in my head, usually right before bed. Along with going through all of my dances in my head. Haha.. ohhh the crazy things we think about right before bed...

Anyway, usually.. I get an idea for a recipe right before bed. Sometimes I get up and write it down. Here was one of them...

Shrimp Salad.

But instead of just shrimp salad, how about a shrimp salad sandwich! My Grandma in Maine would ALWAYS make shrimp salad wraps and lobster wraps when I came up with my family. I love both. I LOVE seafood! So I made a low-fat shrimp salad sandwich and I had REALLY high hopes for it. But a few things went wrong..

I cut up large shrimp into 4 small pieces. So I had about 2 cups of chopped shrimp by the end of it. I then added 4 tablespoons of fat free sour cream and 4 tablespoons of light mayo. Then I added a teaspoon of relish (my grandma's trick)... and I added 1 tablespoon of pepper because I love pepper and I thought it would add more flavor. You could add tomatoes or chopped onion, but I don't like either of those, so I don't. I refrigerated the shrimp salad for a few hours... then I added about 1/4 of the mixture to my wheat wrap. I rolled it all up and took the first bite and it was BAD.

Here is what made it bad... TOO MUCH SOUR CREAM! anddd... TOO MUCH PEPPER!

So, here is my new and BETTER recipe for shrimp salad wraps..

2 cups chopped shrimp
4 tablespoons light mayo
2 tablespoons fat free sour cream
1 teaspoon relish
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

(again, you can add tomatoes and onion)

Mix well, refrigerate, serve on an 8 inch wheat wrap...it will be lovely! =) And mine was only 3 points...yours might be more or less depending on what types of ingredients you use.



My next recipe was a low-fat chili dip, which I do not have a picture of. BUT... here is what I came up with. I LOVE CHILI! And I love dips that I can dip a big ol` chip into!! =)

I bought Hormel Fat Free Turkey Chili- no beans! And I also bought fat free cream cheese and fat free grated cheddar cheese. Here is what I did. I took an oven safe square pan, about 8 inches....... and I spread 8oz. of the cream cheese on the bottom. Then I evenly poured the turkey chili on top of the cream cheese... and then sprinkled the grated cheddar on top of the chili. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put the dip in there for about 10 minutes or until the cheese on top is melted. This makes a great low-fat party food!! It was pretty darn good!! Even the BF liked it! The whole entire pan of chili dip is 16 points and there is about 8 servings, so each serving is about 2 points, NOT BAD!!

My third recipe that I tried out tonight was a stuffed chicken breast. I stuffed it with spinach and mushrooms! Two of my favorite things! I hammered out the chicken breast until they were nice and thin. I placed a slice of thin cut ham on top of each flattened chicken breast...then I thawed my package of 8oz of frozen spinach and dried it out a bit. I combined the spinach with 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and placed about 1/5 of the spinach/cheese mixture on top of each of the 5 breasts with the ham on it. Then I had been cooking sliced mushrooms, so I put the cooked mushrooms on top of the spinach mixture on each breast.

Then I rolled up each breast and stuck spaghetti into them to hold them all together. I used to use toothpicks until I almost killed myself when I started eating it...... I forgot the toothpick was in there!! So now I use spaghetti, and the spaghetti holds the chicken together real well and cooks right into the chicken so that I can just eat it and I don't even notice it!!

I tried pouring some white grape juice over the pieces of chicken before I put it into the oven for more flavor.....but next time I make this, I will definitely forget about doing that. The juice didn't do the chicken any justice. So, I baked these stuffed breasts on 350 for about 1/2 hour. They came out real nice!
Here you can see the ham sticking out, as well as the spaghetti sticking out. You can also see the white grape juice that it cooked in.... next time I won't be doing that.

Here you can see what the chicken looks like when I cut it straight down the middle. Tons of spinach, you can see the mushrooms too!

I made fettuccine alfredo to go along with it. That was really simple. I just took 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, and 1/4 cup of whole milk plain yogurt... and I heated it up in a pot at about medium heat. I stirred occasionally and when my 8oz. of WHOLE WHEAT fettuccine was done boiling, I quickly added about 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese to the creamy mixture and added the fettucine to it. IT WAS AWESOME!!! It was 6 points for about 1/4 of the fettuccine alfredo. Not bad. I even put some of the leftover alfredo sauce on top of my stuffed chicken....YUM!!!!! =)
Tomorrow night is going to be even better. Tomorrow night I am doing a Rachael Ray recipe that I plugged into WW and made it a lot more "healthy" and low in points. It is called Pumpkin and Sausage with Pasta. It is amazing and I can't wait to post about it tomorrow!!

Until then,

Karla =)

Just Dance!

So I think I have been dancing this whole day! =)

It rained today, quite a bit. So, I was not able to get a walk in. I did the next best thing though! I danced! I have this BIG piece of wood that I bring into my living room and place on the floor. I tap dance on it so that I can hear the sound.

I danced for about an hour, NON STOP! Then, tonight I also had my dance class for an hour and then I stayed later and danced for another half hour before I got kicked out of the place! I feel so good right now. It's a great feeling!!

But, I only feel good because I am trying to avoid thinking about the pain! My legs are throbbing and I can't feel my toes because they have been jammed in my tap shoes all day! The balls of my feet are also all tingly from all the tapping. It helps to know that I gained a total of 7 activity points from all the dancing I did today. HORRAY! =)

I know I said that I was going to post the recipe's that I have tried so far this week. But, I think I am going to hold that off until tomorrow because I have another recipe I want to try tomorrow too and I will post all the recipes in one big post! Some of the recipe's I have tried have been good, and some have been kind of gross...oh well.... I cook, taste, and reflect on what changes I need to make! Sometimes the recipes I think of don't turn out so well, and sometimes they do. That's what makes it so much fun to experiment with recipes. Luckily the ones that I don't like, other people do like so that I don't have to throw anything away. I would hate to waste food!

So, more tomorrow about the recipes. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day! The BF is taking me shopping! We're going to go to a mall in upstate CT that we don't go to very often. It will be fun to try things on and boost my confidence!

I hope everyone is having or had a great day, I can't believe my Spring Break is almost over....*tear* =*( I plan to make the most of these last few days!!!

Until tomorrow,

Karla =)

A New York State of Mind

So I got home from NYC yesterday and decided that I was going straight to bed, so I didn't post anything last night. Man was I tired. My day yesterday started bright and early. I was up and out of bed by 7am, my BF picked me up around 8am and had made me a coffee! I got about 2 sips into it before his and mine spilled all over the floor in his car...=( Oh well.

It took us about an hour and a half to get to NYC. The traffic wasn't too bad, and we were able to find a parking space at the South Street Seaport. We hung around there for awhile and took pictures with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. No one was around, so it was basically just us. It was nice, and the water looked so pretty because the sun was reflecting on it. It was a gorgeous morning but DAMN was it cold!! AND SOOO WINDY TOO!!!!Anyway, after walking around South Street Seaport, we decided to head over to Battery Park and check out the Statue of Liberty. We were able to see it real well because it was such a nice day. We weren't at Battery Park very long though because it was soo cold by the water. So, we headed uptown and walked for about 2 1/2 hours before reaching our lunch destination. Of course, we made short stops along the way up at Canal Street where I bought one of those fake bags for about $20...gotta love that! We also stopped at Bryant Park for a short breather. We walked up and down 42nd street as well trying to find the New York Mets Clubhouse Shop. Didn't find it which was a big letdown for the BF...we are both avid Met's fans. Oh well...next time when we have a better map!

Then we walked up to Times Square and went to the place where we wanted to eat. It's called Mars 2112...I had heard of it before and had kind of always wanted to check the place out. We checked their website before heading to NYC just to make sure where it was and when we got there, it was completely vacant and looks like it was shutdown.....we were so bummed!! It is supposed to look like the planet Mars. Not that I would know what that looked like, but I was excited because I totally love those cheesy themed restaurants!! Oh well.... we picked the next best place and that was the Stardust Diner!! I love it there because my dance class is called the Stardusters.. so I always thought that I should work at the Stardust Diner! In case none of you know what the diner is, basically the waitresses and waiters are REALLY good singers. They sing tons of Broadway showtunes while you eat. A tad on the cheesy side, but they are pretty good singers and the BF and I had a great time.
If you can see, the top floor of the Stardust Diner is the Capezio dance shop. The plan was to go there right after eating at the diner and when we left the diner, we totally forgot about the dance shop and we had walked too far to turn around....BUMMER! I was pissed....oh well!!!

Here is my BF with the empty milkshake glasses....boy were they gooooood!
Oh...and guess who we saw? The Naked Cowboy....have any of you heard of him?? He's hilarious...I don't know how he does what he does in 40 degree weather... look at what he is wearing...or ... ISN'T wearing..Haha... he sure can attract a crowd though... he had a whole bunch of girls my age all around him!

We went to the Hershey store, which was right nearby where the Naked Cowboy was, and look what I found... I found a 5 pound Hershey Bar. People, this bar was 25o calories for 1/50 of the bar. That means that this whole entire bar of chocolate is 12,500 calories!!!!!! WOW!! And I plugged in the Calories, Fat, and Fiber into my WW POINTS calculator, and guess how many points it was...............306 POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hahaha.. my face is priceless in this picture. It weighed a ton!!!!

Anyway, here is the BEST part of the whole day.... I WALKED VERY BRISKLY FOR 16 MILES! AND...according to my BF's pedometer, we walked a total of 31,254 steps!!!! It took us another 2 1/2 hours to get all the way back from midtown Manhattan (about 55th street) all the way back down to the South Street Seaport. Those stoplights are a pain in the butt though because every few blocks, you are constantly stopping for traffic. But we walked so briskly that the BF kept asking me to slow down! I thought it was a decent workout though...and it added 16 points to my activity bank (as I like to call it).

Needless to say, my feet are still hurting, even more so today than yesterday. My legs are fine because I have worked out everyday this week. It's just my feet that pounded pavement for 5 hours yesterday that really hurts!!!

When we got back to South Street Seaport, I was dying of thirst, soooo I was totally craving a HUGE lemonade. So we got 2 large lemonade's and drank them outside on the deck of Pier 17 at the seaport. We sat in chairs that reclined back and just watched the water. It was probably one of the most relaxing moments of my life. I was so happy.
And that was the end of my day... It was great, and I needed it!!! Hope this post wasn't too boring for all of you who ended up getting this far! For those of you who haven't been to NYC, hopefully you will someday! It's a place that I think everyone should go to at least once in their life. It has so many historical sights, so many endless opportunities. It's such a huge place that sometimes I feel like an ant walking around there. Actually, scratch that...I ALWAYS feel like an ant walking around there. But I think NYC is a great place, it's even better if you are into musicals, plays, dancing and theater like I am. I am just waiting for the day when I can go there and try out for the Rockette's! I've got a ways to go, but trying out has always been one of my dreams even if I never make it!! =)

So, here ends the super long post. I'll have more tomorrow about the recipe's that I have been making!! Until then....
~Karla =)

YAY!

Okay, so my consultation went alright. Nothing too terrible. But, I do have to have my wisdom teeth taken out in early summer.. YUCK. I am going to have intervenus? Haha, I can't spell. "IV" as they call it. I think..

I have never had that before.. so that is scary, but I can't worry about that right now...I have things to look forward too. Like...............

I'm going to New York City tomorrow!!!!!!!! Deep down I think NYC should have been my place of birth. There are so many dance opportunities there. My BF is taking me there and we are going to be walking the ENTIRE time. So, bring on those activity points. And.... I will have my camera with me, so expect some pictures for next time!! We are going to be driving down there early tomorrow morning, so I have to hit the sack...I'm so tired. Barely got any sleep last night.

The Wendie Plan is going very well so far. I kept Sunday at 24 points and today at 30 points. Tomorrow is another 24 point day which I think I can do! Plus earning all those activity points will be soo helpful!! No subway or taxi's for me!

Well, I'm off to bed, hope everyone had a great Monday... I actually did for once! =)

Night!!

Until next time,

Karla =)

Weigh-In and The Wendie Plan

So today was my weigh-in day. I am down another .5lbs. Which is great, but I would love to see more. I really need something to jump-start my body and start losing more increments of weight again.

So, I think I might try this Wendie Plan that I have seen many people trying in the other blogs that I read. Does anyone know any tips or information about this? Is it good or bad for me? Does it work? Etc.. I'd love to hear from anyone who knows anything at all about it!

Here is the problem, the Wendie Plan is not really for people on the WW Momentum Plan that I am on. At least, that is how I take it. So I am a bit confused on how I am going to do this, but basically I'm just going to follow the simple rule that the Wendie Plan is all about...and that's mixing up my points each day. The schedule is as follows, according to the Wendie Plan,

Day 1-low
Day 2-high
Day 3-low
Day 4-very high
Day 5-very low
Day 6-high
Day 7-med. high.

So, since I am allowed 24 points per day, that would be my low day, because I want to be sure that I am eating the 24 points a day and not going under. Then, for the high days, I will use my weekly points.. I guess this means that my schedule will look something like this,

Day 1- 24 points (the lowest amount I can have)
Day 2- 29 points
Day 3- 25 points
Day 4- 34 points
Day 5- 24 points
Day 6- 29 points
Day 7- 26 points

This would mean that I end up using 23 weekly points throughout my week on those higher point days. I feel like now that I have this kind of alternating points schedule, I won't be using my weekly points every day and this will make me more conscience of when I use them. Because a lot of people, including WW have said to use those weekly points, but now I feel as though I will be using them a lot more efficiently.

I also plan to workout every day this week, including today. It is B-E-A-UTIFUL outside and I plan to take a nice long walk with the BF today. I am also trying out SO many new recipes that I spent most of my day yesterday concocting! I am so excited to try them out! =)

Tomorrow is my damn tooth consultation... wish me luck =/ I know I'm being a huge baby, I'll be fine! I just hate the dentist, and doctor, and everything in between!

Until next time,

Karla =)

TGIF!

It was a great Friday! I enjoyed the first day of my Spring Break doing absolutely nothing!

Of course I did do laundry, a few chores around the house, and got to see my favorite little 3 year old...my cousin, Adam. I went to the park with him and my boyfriend for awhile and ran around like a crazy person! It was fun! =) Although it was so much chillier than it was yesterday. Oh...and when I woke up this morning, it was SNOWING!

Thankfully, it stopped within a few minutes and I was able to enjoy the nice day.

I was a bit snacky today. I was feeling hungry all day, maybe it was because of all the running around I did with Adam earlier. Who knows.

I was able to chew more on the right side of my mouth today (where the sore is that I mentioned yesterday). It still is very sore and I am still very nervous for Monday. But I must keep my dumb thoughts aside and look forward to tomorrow!

Tomorrow is a day of cleaning up this pigsty that I call my bedroom. I am rarely here, so all of the clutter just piles up. It's also a day of walking!!!!!!! I will do it!

I am also going to a birthday party tomorrow for one of my aunt's who just recently had a birthday on St. Patrick's Day. There is going to be pizza and cake so I will eat wisely and probably use up the rest of my weekly points. I am really thinking there will be a weight loss this week. I feel good, and I feel optimistic. Hopefully the pizza won't ruin it!

This was another boring and short post... if you got all the way down this far, Congrats! I'm glad I kept your attention! Haha...

Until next time,

Karla =)

I need it to be Spring Break already..

Today needs to be over and tomorrow needs to go by fast!

I have 2 midterms tomorrow! Ughh..

I have been studying like a mad woman and even had to skip pilates today...my body isn't happy with me about that.

I did go to Cold Stone and only had to use 1 indulgence point. YAY ME!

I LOVE cold stone's sinless ice cream. Only 3 points for a like-it size of sweet cream sinless ice cream. LOVE IT.

This is just a short post...now I have to go back to studying about how people learn and also about the human psyche... YAY.....

My next post..I'll be on SPRING BREAK!

WOOHOO!

Until then,

Karla =)

Soooo full.... of ENERGY!!

So today was a very energetic day. I walked 2 miles...not that big of a deal..but it felt good! I was going to walk more BUT I was walking outside on the track and all of a sudden, a lacrosse game was starting and I had to leave! Oh well...

So I came back to my apartment and did my 50 minutes of pilates. It was so much easier to do because I had just walked (briskly!) for 2 miles.

I also had a healthy dinner. It was pizza! Healthy pizza! Sauce-less.. WW mozz. cheese, spinach, and chicken. I've posted pictures of it on here before. It was yet again, SO AMAZING!

Tomorrow night, I am going out with my roommates to ... COLD STONE! Ugh.. thank god they have sugar-less ice cream. That's what I'll be having.

I can't wait til tomorrow because that means the next day is Thursday which means DANCE! Oh, and I have no class on Friday so my Spring Break starts Thursday night!!! SWEET!

Can't wait til Spring Break....I just have to get through 2 midterms....God help me!

Until Tomorrow,

Karla =)

Miserable Monday..

I really dislike Monday's! Especially after my St. Patrick's Day party yesterday. And even worse, I have a nasty cold! Soar throat, stuffed up, runny nose...I've been asking people to repeat things they say to me because my ears are SOO clogged!! But, that didn't stop me from doing my 50 minutes of pilates. Yay for adding 3 points to my activity point bank.

Here are some pictures from yesterday... I did need to use some of my weekly indulgence points..but that's alright.. I had FUN!
That is the pot that the corned beef and cabbage cooked in for about 4 hours. It cooked in 24 cans of beer! It was soooo yummy!There is me with the cupcakes that my Grandma made. They are awesome and it wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without them! They are 5 points per cupcake, but well worth it. They are chocolate chip pistachio cupcakes with vanilla frosting. YUM!

So here's some good news...Spring Break is next week!! I just need to get through this last week and then I'll be able to work out and dance more! YAY!

More good news, I have figured out my Summer vacations this year! Last year, my family and my boyfriend and I went to Ocean City, MD. We have been going there every summer since I was about 10 years old. We aren't going there this year though. We are going to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!! We are going to watch a Philly's game and see all the historical sights like the Liberty Bell and such...

I am also going to Maine for a week in June to visit my Grandparents again. I am sooo excited because I don't see them as often as I would like. I am bringing my boyfriend with me too! Hopefully by then, I will have lost the last 14 pounds that I need to lose. I have lost 15 pounds in 2 months!! 14 pounds to go....I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!!!!!!!

Until tomorrow,

Karla =)

A Small Loser..

The one time I want to be a HUGE loser....

Oh well.. i'll keep trying this week. I only lost .5 lbs =(

It's soo frustrating.. but I hope to try harder and get more results this coming weekend.

Until Next Time,

Karla =/

One of my many boring posts..

Today was an okay day. It rained all day, which really sucked because I love walking and missed not doing it today. I used some of my weekly points today. I did my pilates today too. I now have 15 activity points!! YES!

Tonight, one of my roommates made dinner for all of us with her boyfriend. They made a Pumpkin and Sausage Pasta recipe that was soooo good. I put it into my recipe builder and found out that a serving was 12 points... oh well... it was good, and I was able to use my indulgence points.

I haven't had the time to be creative with WW recipe's this week. Hopefully next week!

Tomorrow is dance again, HORRAY!! I really look forward to dance class all week and was happy that I had a second class on Tuesday. Soon I will post the costumes like I said I would. =)
And hopefully I will be able to walk and do pilates tomorrow.

Here is my latest poem that I wrote for my poetry class..it's a true story!.. about dancing no less! Enjoy! =)

In the Spotlight

The old theatre is dusty and smells of rosin,
I pity those stripped red velvet seats.
Half the twinkle lights bolted on either side of the aisle
no longer light,
the enormous wooden stage just sits there
waiting for it’s dancer’s,
and that bright red curtain has pilled with age.

But my Mother comes alive when she dances
in that spotlight
as it shines down from above.
In her pink satin slippers,
she leaps and jumps,
twirls and swirls around until
reality escapes her.

My heart starts thumping,
as I emulate my mothers every move.
I am captivated by the dust that glimmers in the single spotlight
that lights up her gracefulness.

An old straw broom glides out from behind me,
as a tall, blue-suited man slowly walks out behind it,
breaking my imitations.
“You want to be a dancer?” he softly asks me and chuckles when he receives
No answer.
“…one day, when you dance in that light, you too will feel its energy.”

And here I stand just 10 years later,
the heat of the spotlight is overwhelmingly hot
but makes my adrenaline rush like mad.
The cracks, snaps, and creaks in the floor,
and my brisk heart beats
become the rhythm of my dancing.
Heart, mind, and body are one as I dance
in equilibrium.

And there in the distance,
attached to his broom,
is that man in blue.
How right he was
as I dance to my heart’s song
in that single spotlight.


Until next time,

Karla =)

The best exercise day ever!!!!!

So today was AWESOME! =)

I got up not feeling too great... but the day slowly got better. I went for a 5 mile walk today!!! YAY!! Yesterday, I couldn't walk because it rained.. =( And I didn't feel so well...so I didn't do pilates either... but anyway...I was able to do 5 miles of walking today and I felt on top of the world!

Also, I took up another dance class today! It was very fun! =)

Tomorrow doesn't look so well for my walking because I have a very busy day....but I hope that I can walk on Thursday before my next dance class. Walking is wonderful!!

But MAN am I SORE!!!!!!!! OUCH! Especially when I first wake up in the morning..=(

So, I got another dance costume today. Let me tell you....it is HUGE!!! And I'm not even done losing weight yet!! I don't know what I am going to do... hopefully I can take them to a seamstress. No one has really noticed my loss yet, but I sure have, and it feels great!!

Soon, I will post pictures of how the costumes look on me so that you can see how big they are! Also, my 2 month anniversary on the program is coming up, so I will post my before WW and after 2 months on WW pictures. Get excited!! =)

I have been boasting about my loss to all my roommates and just a few hours ago, one of them came up to me and told me to stop talking about it. I didn't realize that I was pissing off my roommates by jumping around the apartment screaming, "LOOK...LOOK AT THESE JEANS!! THEY ARE SOO LOOSE!!".. which I have been doing recently because I am so happy about it.

I guess they are getting tired of it and they have told me that I sound selfish and I sound like I am boasting when I say those things.

I don't feel that way....I feel as though I deserve to be happy. But as soon as I am happy, I feel like someone always has to try and bring me down. =(

Sorry I am happy!!!! I will try not to scream so loud when I notice that my jeans are too big!! Haha..

Hope you all are having a good week so far,

Until Next time,

Karla=)

Frustrated...

So it's already Saturday morning.. midnight-ish... I had a ROUGH day to say the least.

I vented about what happened SOO much today that I am sick of talking about but I'll write about it here so that I don't confuse anyone.

I have this friend..she is more like a best friend to me. I grew up with her, and our families were very close and still are. Although, when my family moved when I was in the third grade, I lost touch with her. But, I can honestly say that I still call her my best friend...we have kept in touch and it wasn't until today that I realized the ONLY reason we keep in touch is because of ME.

Just recently, her mother passed away unexpectedly... it was horrible. I didn't know what to say. I went to the funeral and watched my best friend be crushed to pieces. So, I did what I do best....I wrote. I wrote my heart out. And I gave her a letter.

I haven't heard from her since then. I don't even know if she got that letter. She never said anything...and I thought it was just because she was going through a hard time. Well, tonight...I found out that she was staying over at the school I go to. She goes to a school in Maine which is sooo far away from my school in Connecticut.. so I never see her. I found out through the internet that she was at my school.... SOO .. being the good friend that I am....I called her up. She never answered. So I texted her and asked her where she was so that we could get together. She responded and said that she would call me later as to where we could meet up. She never called. And now its midnight.....so she obviously isn't calling..

I just got off the phone with my Mom, I was hysterically crying... I don't know why... I just lost it. I feel like I do SOO much to try and keep friendships together....not just with her but with a lot of people. I am always the one putting in 110% and I get nothing in return. What do I do wrong? I wish I knew why whenever I make friends, I lose them.

I really thought of this girl as one of my best friends. I have even pictured her being my maid of honor if I ever got married. This isn't the first time something like this has happened and this is the last straw. I am no longer going to be going out of my way to keep in touch....it's pointless.

I feel so horrible right now...I don't even know what to think. Am I being a bad friend by giving up? Her mother passed away and I have been there for her the whole way... I send her emails and I send her letters and it seems as though I am sending them to a ghost or something... never getting responses.

Besides the bad part of the day....my roommates and I went out to dinner and I stayed well within my points. I had a few drinks tonight...haven't in a loooong while. So that was nice too. Made me feel better, I guess.

Tomorrow is a new day.. I am going out shopping with one of my roommates..hopefully I will treat myself!! =)

Hope you all had a good day =)

Until tomorrow,

Karla =)

Does laughing count as activity points???

Does any here watch the Bachelor??? If yes, hear me out. If no, sorry, I just HAD to write this.

I am absolutely disgusted by the utter disrespect that was shown by Jason. I cannot believe that he crushed Melissa's heart ON CAMERA. How disrespectful!!! After asking her to marry him and being engaged for 2 months or however long it was...he ruined things for her. How could you do that to someone? She was heart broken when she heard the news and I was so glad that she called him a few choice words!!!!!

This is REAL...yes, I know it's a reality show...but this is also real life for those two people and he ruined Melissa's life ...right in front of all of America. And, Jason has a son!!! What is he showing his son? Jason should have made his final decision when he proposed...I am sure it's hard but you make that decision and you keep it. Engagement is a SACRED thing!!!!!!!!! And he totally treated engagement like it was like a game..

Did anyone see him cry after he let Molly go???? Maybe if you felt THAT bad, you should have kept her. How could you let Molly go...cry THAT hard...and then propose to someone??? How could you propose to someone else if you really have THAT many feelings for someone else???!! Melissa was soo happy and he totally took that away from her. He embarrassed her.

Yes, I know that he followed his heart...and that this is probably ALL a scam just to get better ratings.. but I DON'T CARE, it's not fair to Melissa.. it's not fair to his son, Ty. He acted like an idiot...not how a 32 year old father should act. He was irresponsible and I am glad he left Melissa because she deserves so much better. I wish her the best of luck in finding someone else. She deserves a good man, she seemed sweet on the show.

WOW.. I'm sorry!!! I just got really heated about this. I have decided I need to stop watching shows like these...they are probably all FAKE... and I'm the idiot that falls for them. =(

Today was a boring day.. didn't do anything fun with food. I did my pilates though, and I danced for 2 hours!! It was awesome! I blasted my music and danced around the apartment with my crazy roommates.. we were all having one of those days and we needed to let out our energy. We taped ourselves and laughed for so long, my cheeks are hurting. Does laughing count as activity points??? If so, I'd have 100 million points!!

Have you laughed today??

Until next time,

Karla=)

Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe for anyone interested!

You Will Need:

22 small reduced-fat cinnamon honey graham crackers, squares, 11 full-size crackers
2 tbsp reduced-calorie margarine
2 cup(s) fat-free cottage cheese
8 oz fat-free cream cheese
1 cup(s) sugar
1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa, dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water
4 large egg white(s)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp powdered sugar


Instructions:

* Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray an 8 inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a food processor, crush graham crackers; pulse in margarine. Transfer to the pan, pressing firmly over bottom and half way up the sides. Refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.

* To prepare filling, in the food processor, puree cottage cheese and cream cheese; blend in granulated sugar, flour, dissolved cocoa, egg whites and vanilla. Pour into crust; set pan on baking sheet. Bake until set, about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Turn off the oven, prop the door open with a wooden spoon, and let the cheesecake cool in oven for 1 hour; cool completely on a rack.

* Refrigerate in pan; just before serving, un-mold from pan and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.


Don't eat it while it's still warm...I tried and it was not good at all! But, when it's cold, it's fantastic! Only 3 points a slice, 12 slices in all.

ENJOY!! =)

*SNOW DAY*

So it snowed SO much today...we probably got about a foot here at my school. We had a snow day, which I was excited for. I slept in, and had some egg beaters this morning around 11am. I did my 50 minute pilates workout and took a loooong shower. I felt so great after doing pilates. I felt SKINNY today!! Do any of you have those days of feeling SO HUGE...and then having those days where you actually feel really good about yourself? Today was one of those good days! I noticed that a lot of my clothes are becoming looser and looser, it's great. I can see my old self again, it'll be here soon!

Today was a lazy day though...I forget how boring snow days are. I had no homework to catch up on, so I watched tv..practiced my dances a bit...and played a board game with the roommates. But, I did do something creative with my time.....I made a new WW recipe! Balsamic chicken with mushrooms, with a side of spinach. Here is what it looks like..


This was only 3 points people, THREE POINTS!! And I swear, underneath all those yummy mushrooms is a piece of chicken! ;-)

Here are some other pictures that I haven't yet posted. Over the weekend, I made a WW chocolate cheesecake, and I made Hay Stack cookies...they are a recipe I found from a WW blog that I follow. If you want the recipe, here is the link.

Here is the cheesecake...12 slices at only 3 pts a slice.


And here are the haystack cookies...only 1 pt per cookie...SOO GOOD!!


So that is my "shpeal" for today...now I have to watch the finale of the Bachelor..another show that I obsess over besides American Idol. =)

Hope you all had a great day...hopeful yours was Snow-less.. I'm sick of all this snow!!!!! COME ON SPRING!!!!!!

Until next time,

Karla =)