Vegas is back at it! This time Ben was home to see his SpiderCat ways…
My afternoon snack was a banana with PB and a Vitatop. It was way too carb-heavy and threw me into a hungry frenzy by 5:30. I ate a piece of bread with a Babybel while making dinner. 
I made the best egg sandwich ever! I bought turkey bacon for a special Valentine’s Day recipe (coming soon) and wanted to give it a whirl tonight. I don’t eat “real” bacon so this was a new treat of sorts. I still don’t think meat is my thing, but I’m trying to figure it out right now. Expect a lengthy post on my thoughts on this in the near future 
I topped the eggs with a Laughing Cow and ketchup and the bread with jelly. I’m into this phase called, “I will put jelly on anything once”. Ever tried it? It’s good. 
Help me out on this: I first went to grab a bagel thin for this sandwich when I realized it would be a lot better with “real” bread. But, part of me hesitated. I thought – Why use “real” bread when I can use thins for only 110 calories?!
I felt guilty for using a higher cal bread, when I had more diet friendly options. I don’t like that 
Most of the time I do use sandwich or bagel thins, but when I want a real piece of bread I shouldn’t feel bad about it.
Has this happened to anyone else???
After dinner I had some studying to do, but I ended up nodding off! I woke up kind of abruptly and grabbed the first treat I saw – A Reese’s PB Heart I got for Ben. (In my defense I bought him more than one.)
I was not hungry. I was tired for it and it was gone too fast. Then I went to go eat some cereal (because that’s what I do when I’m tired). Luckily, I stopped myself from doing too much damage. But, I’m sad at myself because I know better than this. Boo.
Trader Joe’s Tuesday!
I got these Mochi Ice Creams for Ben because he loves all things coconut. These ice cream treats are dairy free and come in mango, coconut and chocolate. I tried them and can never enjoy the chewy outside, but some people love it.
Speaking of… This is a good article on what to get and what to skip from TJ’s.
You shouldn’t feel guilty for eating “real” food. Trust me, real bread is so much more satisfying.
Monica, I know what you mean about the bread. I work at a bakery so I can have free awesome whole grain bread whenever I want. But I still used to buy crappy 40-cal grocery store bread with tons of weird stuff in it because it was fewer calories! Or use those flat-out things (which I do still like for wraps). But a PB&B on a skinny wrap is just not nearly as satisfying as one on whole wheat bread. It is an ongoing struggle for me too.
Ohhhh I love the Cadbury, already had one last week and it isn’t even close to Easter, oy! But they are so good, I don’t care 🙂
For a long time, I would only eat sandwich or bagel thins and I was so used to them that I forgot how good real bread is. I was being too restrictive and it made me feel really deprived. Now I’ve finally started eating real bread again, and I’ve sworn never to go back because it’s just not as satisfying and the calories are definitely worth it to me but it took a while to not feel guilty about it. Don’t let those thoughts take hold! Its a slippery slope, believe me.
Reese’s Hearts are awesome but I’m actually excited for Cadbury eggs to start showing up at the store!
I already saw the Cadbury eggs this week!
In your defense, those Reese’s hearts are extremely tasty!!! I LOVE those!!! I love bagel thins, but you’re right sometimes you just need the real thing!
I completely understand what you mean! The theory I go with is asking myself why I am making the decision. If both sound equally good I’ll go for the lower cal but if I am picking it BECAUSE it is lower cal and I feel guilty for having the real thing I make myself have the real thing because I shouldn’t feel bad about any food! I think you made the right choice for you mentally, good job =).
Caitlin
I used to eat 40-calorie bread, but when I had to gluten-free the lowest calorie bread I found was 80 calories a slice. Doubling my bread calories anytime I wanted a sandwich freaked me out at first. (Especially because it is a lot smaller than my usual bread!)
It’s probably why I rarely eat bread anymore, silly, but I don’t really miss it. I eat my sandwich fix-in’s all open-faced now and just make sure I have some awesome tasting chips to go with it. FSTG chips always rock!
Monica, I can definitely relate to being afraid to eat real bread. But at the same time, I find the real stuff to be much more filling than a bagel thin or sandwich thin. Plus, if a sandwich was basically your dinner, you would have been absolutely starving if you had only used a bagel thin!
Don’t beat yourself up about the candy/ cereal. I think it’s safe to say, we’ve all been there and done that. I mean, I ate a whole bag of oreos on Monday without even thinking twice, haha.
In my opinion (and please remember that I barely know how to feed myself) you should eat a bigger dinner to avoid late night snacking. I’d be hungry too if all I ate was an egg sandwich and some broccoli. I know you don’t count points, but sometimes it’s helpful to think about how many calories you’re allocating to a specific meal.
Thanks Katie 🙂
I am very anti-points, but I do try to ball park calories in my head. My sandwich was about 400. And I also ate an 80 calorie cheese and 80 cal piece of bread while cooking it!
I was mostly bothered because I wasn’t hungry, just tired…
That makes sense! I hate when I eat for the wrong reasons. But today is a new day =) By the way, I love your blog. You manage to crack me up all the time. I, too, have a psycho cat (actually two, haha).
I don’t do that with yogurt because I think of the Light & Fit as just empty fake sugary calories and greek yogurt as a protein source 🙂
I actually use the light n’ fit as a treat for myself! I LOVE greek but my school has the low cal stuff and I love the flavors but not a fan of the aspartame, not a “splurge” treat but a “not so good for my body” treat!
Caitlin
I kinda do that with Diet Coke 🙂
Ha me too! I let myself one or two of either per week =)
I do that all the time! I buy my husband Sara Lee wheat bread, so even though it still has whole grains like my 100 calorie “thins” do, I feel guilty or feel like I’m wasting calories! I hate that I do this but staying under my calorie goal is the only way for me to maintain weight, especially with breads.
I do the same thing with yogurts. Sometimes I will look at my yogurt and think that I could easily buy the Light and Fit yogurt for half the calories, but the greek yogurt has so much more protein and no artificial sweeteners.
I feel you on the bread thing. I used to eat the low-cal bread or Sandwich Thins but they didn’t really satisfy my cravings (I love bread), so I’d end up eating more, anyway.
It also makes me really mad when people “splurge” and eat bread. Whole wheat sandwich bread isn’t really a splurge, IMO. Anyway.
My point is, I eat “normal” bread now and I have no guilt. It’s something I had to work towards but it was totally worth it.
Whole wheat sandwich bread isn’t a splurge. But, when I eat a whole sourdough loaf…
Definitely looking for that dessert at Trader Joes next time I’m there. Never had mochi.
Girl! you are beautiful and amazing and do not need to worry about eating a piece of real bread!! You’ll enjoy the sandwich more which is what really matters, and it will more likely fill you up so you skip on those late-night handfuls of cereal (which probably equal or surpass the number of extra calories swapping in real bread would do 😉 )
I’m actually not a huge fan of packaged bread anyway, so I can take it or leave it. Homemade bread is a different story 🙂
I love spider cat!
If I want regular bread, I eat regular bread. It’s not going to do much, like Caitlin said, with the extra 50 to 100 calories. You figure, if you eat what you want, you’ll be less tempted to eat other things after, because you’ll be satisfied. That’s how I look at it.
It’s funny how even though I gave up calorie counting almost two years ago, I still had all of these “food rules” from years of dieting that I couldn’t shake. It wasn’t until I just found out that I was pregnant that a lot of these went bye bye.
It’s amazing how when you all of sudden your body is changing in so many ways lately, how actually eating what you crave doesn’t seem all that difficult. I just hope that after I have the baby I will continue to eat that way healthfully.
Im actually not a bread lover, so I dont have that trouble but I am a reeeses PB lover!! Did u see they have the reeses eggs out already?! THose are the best because they are big and so much more PB!!!!!! yum!!!
How have I not tried mochi ice cream???
Oh, you are not alone with the bread thing! There are so many times when I think how good just a REGULAR slice of bread would be, but then I always seem to avert to the lite versions. Not really sure why.
Thanks for sharing that article. I can’t wait to read it!
Those mochi look soooo good! 🙂
I know what you mean about feeling guilty… Sometimes I feel bad for eating REAL Pb when i coudl have used some of my lighter options, but everything has its place! And food shoudl be about enjoying the experience as well, and sometimes a bagel thin doesn’t cut it 😉
ugh! I hate tired eating!! I do that all the time!! So frustrating too!!! It’s definitely not intuitive, just like ehh im tired, too lazy to make a smart choice. I just want to snack as I stay up late!! Bad bad bad!! Gum and brushing teeth helps!! Too badly I rarely use my own tips!
ha!
love mochi ice cream!
WWES? What Would Evelyn Tribole Say?
True. Very true.
I think many women have felt that type of diet-guilt. No need to, though! An extra 50 or 100 calories from a piece of whole grain bread will NOT have any long-term, negative consequences. It helps me to use logic when I freak out or feel guilty about my food choices.
It depends how hungry I am if I want “normal” bread with a meal that maybe more calories or something lighter where I’d use a bagel thin. If I was eating chips or pretzels with my sandwich I’d probably opt for the bagel thin. If I had fruit or raw veggies as a side, then I’d go for the “normal” bread!
I definitely have days like that! There’s something about taking naps that make me ravenous. I’m actually feeling pretty hungry right now… thank God there are no cinnamon Cheerios in my house! Too bad I’m the one that ate all of them 🙂
Ditto on the cinnamon Cheerios.
It’s okay to have days like these 🙂 And as for the bread, I think that’s fine. Sometimes life is more than the number of calories in something. It’s good to be mindful, but you’re healthy and balanced, so I think enjoying real bread is not a bad thing 🙂
I absolutely feel the same way whenever I eat “real” bread. I think it’s from years of being afraid of carbs! I feel guilty for feeling guilty- but I try to remind myself it’s ok and have resumed eating 2-3 slices a day. It’s a process, though, I wonder if I’ll ever be 100% ok w/ NL bread vs. lower cal options..
I don’t eat bread very often (we can buy a loaf and have it for 3 weeks in the fridge!), but when I do I usually want it to be the “star” of what I’m making. I did the sandwich thin thing for a while but I sort of felt like they were “empty” calories. I didn’t enjoy eating them and was really only using them as something to hold other stuff together. Now, I buy really good quality yummy whole wheat bread and use it sparingly (like the French do with cheese and chocolate!), so I REALLY enjoy it when I do eat it. Last week I was on a SERIOUS egg, hummus, and avocado sandwich bender, and I savored every bite of nutty, whole grainy, REAL bread. 🙂
Oh my gosh, a loaf of bread barely lasts me 3 days!
I love nutty whole grain bread though 🙂
Ditto! I go through about 3 loafs a week. (by myself.)