Day 44: It's all about planning your meals! I've figured it out.

It is so easy to stay on track when you plan out your meals ahead of time.  If I wait til I'm hungry to start figuring out what I want to eat, I'm thinking with my taste buds primarily, and pressured by what's most convenient/quickest.  Neither of those deciding factors seem to coincide with what's best for my real goal.

I'm having a perfect eating day today, and feeling great about it!  I just figured out I have 6 pts left today, which limits my dinner options.  (Since I know I'll need a little something between now and dinner - a handful of almonds, probably.)  I just planned a grilled chicken over spinach salad meal, with this mango curry sauce I recently bought.  I had to google the nutritional info to make sure it's all good...it's VERY good - very low calorie, good ingredients, no fat, keeps the points low but makes the meal really tasty.  If I workout tonight too, I can even have a sice dish w/ the salad, or a later-evening snack tonight.  (Since I workout quite late, that comes in handy.)

PM update:

That worked out well!  Now I'm about to plan out tomorrow's menu, and then do my workout.  I'm adding some weighted toning exercises each night now.  I don't just want to burn flab.  I want better muscle tone.
I think feeling in control may feel every bit as good as feeling fit and toned.

Today I ate 29.5 pts
Exercise: The Firm Maximum Cardio Burn (w/8-12" step and 10 lb dumbbells.  I hate spelling dumbbells with 2 b's, even if it is "correct".  It's silly.)  Firm Abs, 60 bridges/butt crunches w/ 10 lb weight (-5 pts)
TOTAL: 24.5 pts - make it 25.