A Little Lethargic

I guess because this is the first week back to work after vacation, that must be the reason why I've been so tired in the evenings.  It is seriously all I can do to go to the gym, shower, make dinner and sit down for an hour before it's time for bed.  Tuesday night I even said to Joel at 8:45 PM (I go to bed between 9:30 and 10 PM), "I wish I could just take a nap before I have to shower before the real bed time."  I barely had the energy to shower! 

Still, I've managed to make it to the gym 3 days this week, and I will be there tonight as well.  Tuesday and last night were hard - I didn't want to be there, and my legs were just so heavy.  I'm sure this is due to the low energy.  Because I'm only doing a half day of work on Friday, I'd like to challenge myself to get to the gym for 5:15 AM on Friday, so that I can meet my 5 days per week goal.  As much as I'd like to think that I would find time to walk at my sister's, I know that won't be the case.

I had a gain at last night's WW weigh in, not surprisingly.  

This weekend we are traveling to my sister's house for her town's big garage sale weekend.  I have several totes/boxes worth of stuff that I'm taking in hopes of it getting sold, and whatever doesn't sell will be donated to the local Goodwill or Salvation Army.  This will be a huge help in clearing out a lot of unused/unwanted items from our condo.  After a little over a month of living in our place, we still have a spare bedroom that cannot even be used because there are still boxes in there filled with stuff!

By the way, thank you for the encouraging comments to yesterday's post!  I'm just going to keep doing this.. no matter how long it takes!

Battling Weight Loss

Tonight is my mid-week weigh in at WW.  I do not anticipate this going well and will be happy if I have a loss from 2 weeks ago - even if it's only 0.1 lbs!

I made it to the gym on both Monday and Tuesday.  Yesterday was a challenge to go - Joel is still recovering from sickness and he wasn't going, and when I got home I just didn't want to go - I wanted to sit around and hang out with him!  But I quickly remembered what I read often on all the blogs I follow - that you never regret a trip to the gym.  And so I went for 40 minutes on the elliptical, that started off with very heavy legs.

Joel asked me when I left if I'd bring home McDonald's.  I wasn't craving it by any means, but I was considering it because I just didn't feel like making dinner.  Though after that sweaty workout, I couldn't justify going to McDonald's for dinner.  Those types of justifications are probably why I'm still gaining/losing the same 5+ lbs when I should be well on my way to my goal after 9 months of attending the gym regularly.  It's sad and defeating thinking that I'm still virtually at the same place I was when I started attending the gym back in November 2010.  A friend mentioned getting checked out by a doctor to make sure my hormone levels were okay.  I actually had my thyroid tested about a year ago and that checked out just fine, so I'm hoping that hormones are NOT to blame.  

I know that today I rarely follow the plan to a "T", and most times I haven't been even coming CLOSE to following it to a "T" and so I know a lot of that is to blame.  But even in the past when I've done WW, the weight still came off very easily in the beginning, and I've never been able to achieve perfection following The Plan (meaning, I never went a full week without going over Points values at least one day out of the week - and this was before the Weekly Points Plus allowance).  I know I'm capable of losing a lot of weight - I lost 50 lbs when I was a junior in college and kept it off for a little over a year, and that was with plenty of heavy drinking nights and late night runs to Sheetz!

I want this weight off once and for all, and I want to be able to live life to it's fullest.  I know that when I do achieve this biggest life goal I have for myself, I'll have the confidence to do anything I want to do... because this has truly been the hardest thing I've ever had to do for myself in the 27 years I've spent on this earth.  It wasn't the first day of college, or finding a job, or even the first day of going to work in Washington, DC, or any other situation that has scared the absolute crap out of me.   

Still, this is my journey, and however long it takes and whatever obstacles I have to battle, I'll do it. 

Hey Ya'll!

Joel and I had a safe and awesome trip to/from Savannah, GA.

We spent 10+ hours in the car (we stopped a few times on the ride down and back), but the actual drive time was 9.5 hours.

We spent half of our week in Savannah and the other half in Tybee Island.

The time spent in Savannah was filled with LOTS of walking.  In the first full day there, we walked over 6 miles on just the self walking tour alone!  We made sure to check out as many of the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil hotspots as we could, including a tour of the Mercer-Williams house.

We toured the entire Historic District, along with the River district. We did a lot of shopping and did a few guided tours as well.  We took a river boat cruise.  We rode around in a trolley bus listening to ghost stories about the townsfolk (Savannah is one of the most haunted cities!) and also took the lovely Paula Deen tour :).

The church where her and her current husband were married.

My honest assessment overall on some of the things we did is this: I pictured the River District to be a little more....."cool" - filled with sidewalk-dining eateries, coffee shops, antique stores, local arts stores etc.  Not really the case at all.  I know the town is probably trying to maintain the original "look" to this part of town, but I just wasn't impressed.  The shops were mainly those that you find at the beach - filled with stuff that is "Made in China".  The ones that pertained to local artistry were way out of our budget!  We stopped into a few bars and had drinks and even ate dinner down there at one point, but this was definitely not what I had pictured and not my favorite part of Savannah.  I enjoyed the Historic District most - the tree lined streets were definitely in full swing!  As for the PD tour - the only things we really did that were exclusively PD related was going to tour the church her and Michael were married in, which sits on a property that Paula has invested a lot of money in - a boys home called Bethesda.  The rest of it was spent driving us around to various local shops (including a candy store and cookie store).  Overall, I still really enjoyed the tour - we had an awesome guide who knows PD personally and told us a lot of stories about how she got her start in Savannah and on the Food Network.  

Of course, I had good intentions of trying to stay On Plan while on vacation, and I failed..... miserably.  I took some WW friendly snacks, and while the trip started off well, it quickly went downhill.  I'm not good at staying On Plan when eating out.  Whats the point in eating out if you have to order things you really don't want to eat?  Despite all our walking, I still gained weight on this trip.  I actually even took the scale with me, with the intention of weighing in each day to help keep me on track.  Instead, I became scared of it and only weighed in on the first morning  (which, btw, I did have a loss that morning - why couldn't I keep the momentum going??) :(.

not exactly the type of homes I imagined, but still pretty none the less

I weighed in last Friday at 261.2 - no surprise.

part of Bonaventure Cemetery - from The Book

I'm jumping back on the wagon this week and giving it another go... as per the usual.

The Lady & Sons Restaurant (Paula Deen's place!)

We then spent the latter half of the week in Tybee Island, and I worked on finishing The Book while sitting with my toes in the sand :) - I LOVE this life!  I would give up my current situation in a heartbeat if I knew that I could survive comfortably with some other job near the beach if I could do this on a more regular basis - but then again, who wouldn't?

Joel fished a lot - and only caught sharks.

We definitely loved our vacation, and even though it was a long drive, we were grateful and blessed for a safe and uneventful journey to/from Virginia. 

Anything else you care to know about Savannah?

Back at it again folks...

I'm Famous!

I was recently featured on The PriorFatGirl's website!  Jen, PFG creator, asked her readers to send in pictures of themselves covered in sweat for her "Sweat is Beautiful" campaign.  Well, It's not really a campaign - I cannot think of the word to use... but she wants to promote the beauty of sweating.... working out.... and the awesomeness associated with that...

Joel and I are somewhere in the middle... Of course I have white on and you cannot see a single bead of sweat on me, but trust me, my shirt was soaked.  Joel, however, had on navy, and his shirt was also soaked, but again, the light was too bright, and the pic was with my Blackberry. 

Courtesy of PriorFatGirl

I felt so honored to be featured on the PFG website.  If you're not already reading the PFG blog - get over there lickity split and check those ladies OUT!  There are 4 awesome women (Jen, the CEO ~ haha; and her posse: Elle, Lindsey and Ali), all at different points in their weight loss journeys, who give unique perspectives on the challenges and glories of losing weight. 

If you're reading this on Friday.... then I'm most likely en route to Savannah!  There will be many-a-post about it soon!

Sleepy Thursday.... and Vacay!

I'm feeling very lethargic and stressed today.  Tomorrow morning, Joel and I leave for Savannah, GA for the next 7 days.  I have not been getting good sleep all week, struggling to fall asleep right away, as I normally do, and instead laying there tossing and turning for an hour or more.  It has caught up to me today, finally.  My bags are not packed, but a list is made.  I just need to DO it.  I decided to leave work at noon today, work from home the rest of the day, so I can get some stuff done while being at home.  This will help relieve the stress factor for sure.

Back to weight loss crap :)

Last night was to be my second WWM, but the leader was not able to make it due to the severe storms we had roll through the metro area, and subsequent traffic backups.  Welcome to DC folks, the city that cannot handle any kind of weather what so ever (including sunshine - sometimes that can prove to be blinding when trying to drive on the highways in the morning/afternoon)!  Instead, I just weighed in and left.  I did have a great loss since last week, but as I said yesterday, I'm only going by my Friday weigh in's officially.       

Shall we go back to more important things?

I've never been to Savannah, but have always wanted to go.  Why?  Well, before there was the "butter lady",
I just liked how the town rolled off my tongue - "Savannahhhh" - sounds so pretty and relaxing and lovely. 

Then I fell in love with Paula Deen, the butter lady.  Her restaurant and store are high on my priority list of places to visit when we arrive.

She's so beautiful - I hope I look that good when I'm her age!

I just picture Savannah as being the perfect town - lots of flowers, pretty tree-lined streets, right on the water, NICE people, just the right amount of people - not so overly populated like DC, pretty plantation-style homes with perfect lawns, cutsie shops.. etc.  Everything I want in the town of my dreams!

Have you been there before?

Disaster Averted!

I've been meaning to do a review of this cool little device I purchased a little over a month ago called the MyTrak. Well, perhaps because of this neglectful attempt of a review, the MyTrak decided to take a hike from my hip!

As I was standing in the Metro station yesterday waiting for the train, I touched my hand to my hip - a customary practice of mine since wearing the MyTrak - I'm constantly checking it to see if I've achieved "green" for the day (more on this in another post). My heart dropped when I realized it was gone.... Shoot! This little baby cost me over $150 (by the time you buy it and the membership - it's a pricey investment). Honestly, I figured I was screwed and I immediately accepted that the MyTrak was gone - what is the sense in worrying about it? Yes, it cost me a pretty chunk of change, but this strange calm came over me. Normally my blood would immediately start boiling over and the "Pritt" would come out (a play on my last name - i.e. the term we use when my father gets upset!) Still, it could be ANYWHERE - panicking and letting this ruin my day was not going to help. Also, I didn't feel like leaving the station to go retrace my steps - I just accepted that it was gone. I'd figure out how I was going to move on from it later.

As I boarded the train, I began thinking about when I last remembered having it. I knew I had it around 2 PM yesterday, but I had been all over the office between 2 PM and 4 PM by the time I left for home. I figured I'd just let it go and look for it in the office Wednesday morning when I got in. Then, I quickly remembered that the cleaning crew comes in at night, and I didn't want it getting taken or thrown out by one of them. I immediately called and texted 3 of my coworkers to check the area around my desk and our conference room. Low and behold my friend Sarah found it! THANK YOU JESUS! I will never neglect you again my little, pink computer on my hip!

Courtesy

Disaster averted, and the little lady is back with me today, snug against my hip once again. Phew! I need to get insurance on this thing - is that even possible?

Today is my second weigh in since going back to Weight Watchers meetings. I don't like weigh in's with clothes on... and at the END of the day, instead of the beginning! But I can't exactly strip down to my birthday suit for the meetings ;)... clothes it is!

While I'm still considering Friday's to be my official weigh in day (with Joel and on our home scale), I like the idea of having the WWM in the middle of the week to help keep me accountable. It's like a little pick-me-up to keep me on track until Friday. I am definitely looking forward to another fulfilling meeting tonight.

As a side note, I'm still continuing my cooking challenge at a rapid pace - I've been cooking and baking through 2 of my cookbooks like a crazy woman. And while this blog is for me to work through my weight loss issues, the recipes I post are for the audience in case you want to try them out on your own. Are you even interested in seeing the recipes I make, or should I just post pics and not the recipes? Do you even care about the food at all? Let me know your thoughts - I enjoy constructive criticism!

Weekend Challenges

Staying On Plan during the weekends is tough, especially when you have a lot of things planned.

Saturday we had a party for a friend of Joel's.  I drank 10 beers.  I'm glad this is not a regular occurrence in my life anymore!  I don't know how I managed to drop 50 lbs in college (on WW) while still managing to drink like that on a weekly basis.  

I also went out to dinner with friends on Sunday evening.  It was an Italian restaurant and they had gnocchi that I could NOT resist!  I was mindful and ate until satisfied and took the rest with me.  The entire dish seemed like it could have fed 2-3 people sensibly.  However, later that night I had the remainder of the dish... and I was definitely not hungry - just eating it because I wanted it, not because I needed it!

It's amazing how focused I can be on Weight Watchers Mon-Thursday (I either don't work on Friday's or I work from home and I consider Friday the weekend), but come the weekend I lose site of the goal and then it's like I have to start myself over again come Monday morning, getting my head back in "the game".  

I know the 'weekends' are a huge complaint for many of us trying to lose weight - but how do YOU combat them?

HilJoe Competition - Week 1A + Prayer Request

As I was getting ready to post our weigh in this week, I received a text message from my mom informing me that my cousin's father passed away unexpectedly.  This is a cousin who was married in to our family, so I'm not related to her father.  Still, it is heartbreaking none the less.  Death has been such a lasting theme in my life over the last year that I am to the point where I fear answering my phone when my mom calls at odd times.  Just in 2010, I lost my uncle tragically, and my grandparents died within 1 month of each other in November and December.  *Sigh*

I ask that you please pray for the Misurda family over the next several days - they will certainly need all they can get.

That news took the wind out of my sails, so I'll just share the weigh in below.  We both lost this week, and I won.

Joel (6'): 239.6
Hilary (5'8"): 257.6

I lost 3.6 pounds from last week, Joel lost 0.7.

Enjoy your weekend!

Living Life, Making Friends

Since we moved back to the Old Dominion, one of my goals has been to try to make friends. One of my other goals has been to start attending Weight Watchers meetings.

It's a sad but true fact blogger world - outside of work I am friend-less. Part of this is self-induced, and part of it is my lack of ability to find a good, quality friend outside of my office. Actually, most of it is self-induced. I hate living in this city - I want to leave it sooooooo badly! Therefore, I have never fully tried to put down roots here because I always anticipated leaving ASAP. Well, five years later and this train is still parked in the station and doesn't look like it's pulling out anytime soon... so really, let's stop delaying a fulfilling life just because of our living arrangement, and let's start changing something about it! Ugh... anyhow, I'm getting off track....

Uhh, so let's kill two birds with one stone, shall we? I thought, what better way to make some buddies than at Weight Watchers meetings? When I used to attend meetings previously, I made a friend who kept me wanting to go back each week. While she slowly quit attending the meetings, I kept going, but didn't have much to look forward to (the crew at the only meeting I was able to attend was a little nutty!). So eventually I left too, but I left the state, not just the meeting!

As I walked through the doors of the meeting center last night, I couldn't help but be excited. Seeing all of the Weight Watchers memorabilia surrounding me, and just the overall aura in the place was just the motivation I needed. The thing I enjoy most about meetings is that we're all here for the same reason - to lose weight. No matter our age, sex, goal-weight, whatever - losing weight is the commonality that binds us together, and I love that. I love when you can find a common ground with people no matter what your background.

I weighed in with our leader, Sharon, who was awesome from the get go. And while I was planning on attending meetings on Thursday nights, I'm going to stick to Wednesday's after all. There were a few young women in there, and it could not have worked out any better! I decided to stay after the meeting to get the face to face update on Points+, since I have been doing it strictly online since it's launch. When the meeting ended, a mother-daughter duo stayed after to discuss some challenges with Sharon. As they were leaving, Sharon informed me that Christina (the daughter) is her superstar member. She summoned Christina back in to the room to introduce us and it turns out that Christina has lost a total of 90 pounds so far! So awesome. So inspirational. Christina was friendly too, and was like "I come to this meeting time every week - I hope to see you next week." Perfect!

A Getting to Know Me Survey - Ha!

I'm not gonna lie - I love these surveys!  I thought it'd be a fun way for those of you who read my posts to get to know me a little better :).  Thanks to From Before to After: A Journey Through Weight Watchers and Spoonful of Me for posting this!

It's called the 11 Layers of Me:

LAYER ONE: On the Outside--

Full Name: Hilary Janelle

Birthday: April 4

School: 2006 graduate of Penn State University, enrolled for a second degree at College of Southern Maryland

Major: Management Information Systems (Penn State), Nursing (CSM)
Current Location: the Old Dominion (Virginia)
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Brown/Blonde
Righty or Lefty: Right
Zodiac Sign: Aries

LAYER TWO: On the Inside

Your Heritage: German
Your Fears: Flying, Snakes, Heights
Weakness: Reese Peanut Butter Cups
Goal(s): To become a registered nurse in the near future, to hit my weight goal and maintain it for the rest of my life!
Relieve Stress: Reading, Boozin, Shopping

LAYER THREE: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow--

Your thoughts first waking up: Nooooooooo!
Your bedtime: 10 PM
Your most missed memory: having close-knit friends - I miss the college days of having all my friends close by...

LAYER FOUR: You’re picking--

Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi, but I do love me a diet Coke/cherry Coke split from Chick Fil A
McDonald's or Burger King: Mc donalds
Single or Group dates: Single
Lipton Tea or Nestea: Lipton
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee: Neither! Chai!

LAYER FIVE: Do You--

Do Drugs: No
Think you've been in love: Yes - am currently!
Want to get married: Yes
Believe in yourself: I try to

LAYER SIX: In the Past Month--

Drank alcohol: Yes
Gone to the mall: Yes.
Eaten Sushi: Yes
Gone skating: no
Colored your hair: No
Done something exciting: Yes

LAYER SEVEN: Have You Ever?--

Changed who you were to fit in: No
Hid something from someone: Yes


LAYER EIGHT: Getting Old--
Age you're hoping to get married: I cannot foresee a marriage happening at age 27, but I would like to be married by the time I am 29.
Age you're hoping to have children: ehhhhhh... I like being the cool aunt!
Want to travel to: Yes.

LAYER NINE: Perfect Mate--
Best Eye Color: Blue
Best Hair Color: Blonde/Brown (Joel, honey, whatever hair color you have)
Short or Long Hair: Shaved ;)

LAYER TEN: What were you doing--

5 MINUTES AGO: Working
1 HOUR AGO: Waiting in line at Starbucks
1 DAY AGO: Working
1 YEAR AGO: And most likely working

LAYER ELEVEN: Finish the Sentence--

I Love: God, Joel, my family, reading, traveling, shopping
I Feel: sore in my shoulders
I Hate: where I live (the area, not the actual condo)
I Hide: how insecure I am about my weight
I Miss: college and having a a few great friends
I Need: to figure out a way to keep taking classes for the fall semester even though my current school is not offering the classes I need online.

The Benefits of Meal Planning

I've been so proud of myself this week!

Actually, for the last two weeks I completely stuck to my menu plans.  "Menu plan" to me means that every weekend I pick out 3 dinner dishes and 1 breakfast dish to make for the upcoming week.  The breakfasts are the only meal I make ahead.  The rest gets made the same day.  For the past two weeks, I have selected meals that I have stuck to and actually made.  The norm had been that I'd make 2 out of the 3 dinners or 1of the 3.   Sometimes I wouldn't make any.

I found this happening more times that I care to admit while living at Joel's 'ex-house' (not his ex's house, his EX-house!).  I also found this happening a lot just last year whenever my commute was an hour and 40 minutes at night - we ate out A LOT during that time.  I know that the eating out was the reason for this huge weight gain.  I had been easily maintaining at 220 pounds until I moved to that apartment and endured that lengthy commute.  And during that year plus the 8 months living at Joel's ex-house, I put on an additional 40+ pounds.  

The meals I've been making over the past two weeks have been so delicious too!  Some I've shared on here already, and I have upcoming posts to share even more of them.  This week's breakfast was Hungry Girl's Apple Pie Pockets for a whopping 3 Points+ (calculated using the recipe builder and my own ingredients)!  Do you realize that this Apple Pie Pocket is very similar in taste to that of the McDonald's apple pie (7 Points+), but with far better stats?  It's been so delicious this week, and a great way for me to get in some fruits.  

I also made fish covered in dill and a lemon butter sauce (sounds scary but was, again, only 3 Points+!).  I <3 fish!  

Last night we had this sausage rigatoni soup dish with spinach and cannellini beans - again - amazing!

When enough time passes where I've stayed on plan really well and I haven't been eating out, or indulging in fast food, I start to crave french fries and Chick Fil A and all those things that are only good in moderation.  However, over that entire year and 8 months of mainly eating out, etc... there comes a point where you're just sick of it.  No fast food sounds appealing, no chain restaurant sounds appetizing.  

The foods I've made over the last two weeks are not high in calories and have proven very filling and delicious - but I've found that preparing those foods takes work and organization and time, and that's not always something I care to do or want to do.  

Sometimes I'm bored and/or lazy and don't want to go to all the effort.

Yet if I want to maintain a healthier lifestyle, and believe me - I do, then cooking and meal planning needs to remain a priority in my life!   

Blog Giveaways!

Just wanted to share with you 2 giveaways happening at 2 of my favorite blogs....

1. Honey I Shrunk the Gretchen - I love her posts - they're funny and light hearted and full of pics of her doggies... and she's local to the DC area so if you're in that vicinity I'd recommend checking her out!  Gretchen is giving away an EatSmart Precision Plus scale.

2. Coffee with Sabrina (Sabrina is on the Move) - Sabrina is giving away a customized Starbucks gift box!  Scoot over and check her out!

Good luck!

July Goals

It's time to check in on how I did with meeting (or not meeting!) my goals for June, and outline my goals for July.

My goals for June:

1. Pass Anatomy/Physiology:  Pending. Both professors said the grades should be posted this weekend, so I'm still waiting on that yet.  I will definitely share the outcome as soon as I know!

2. Plan Meals: Fail. One nice thing about writing your goals down is that you can go back and reassess them after the time has passed for which you wanted to meet them.  I love how naive I was to think that the month of June would be so laid back that I could actually plan my meals each day!  I was not home a single weekend during this month, which is when I do my menu planning!  Not to mention a move and school - this just didn't happen.

3. Find a New Gym: Check! We are the proud members of Gold's Gym!

4. Meet My First Weight Loss Goal: Fail. I'll save the excuses I've already used up above, but this goal WILL be met for July because there will be no reason NOT to meet this goal!

My goals for July:

Courtesy.

1. Go to the gym 5 days a week.  This will consist of 40 minutes of cardio and 1 day per week of weight lifting.

2. Meet my first 10lb goal. I can do this.  I'm 7 pounds away.  I. will. do. this.

3. Plan my meals.  By doing this, it will help me stay within my daily Points+ range.  Also, it will help me start going through my cookbooks, as is another goal of mine.

4. Take my lunch to work every day.

5. Divvy up my Points+ balance for each meal and stick to it.  I have a tendency to just eat whatever I want when I want, regardless of the Points+ value.  Sometimes this works to my benefit, most times it does not.  I plan to use a variation of Christina's method and see how that works for me:

I get a total of 41 Points+ per day.  They will be divided out as follows:

• Breakfast: 10 Points+
• A.M. Snack: 5 Points+
• Lunch: 10 Points+
• P.M. Snack: 5 Points+
• Dinner: 11 Points+

Wish me success!!

The HilJoe Competition - Revitalized!

If you've been following along with my weight loss journey, you know that a few weeks ago Joel and I started a weight loss competition between us.  And while our intentions were good, at the end of the day, our living arrangement at the time was preventing Joel from really committing to it.  And it wasn't just him, I tried hard during those 8 months of living with his mom to lose weight as well, and it simply wasn't happening, despite my awesome attendance at the gym 4-5 days/week.  There's a whole slew of excuses that I will save you from.

So, now that we're out on our own again, and he has been able to join a gym now, the competition is back on track!  Below are our stats.  We weighed in on Friday, July 1 and this is what we're working with:

Joel (6'): 240.3
Hilary (5'8"): 261.2

You'll notice that I gained 4 pounds since last week.  One explanation for this is definitely due to TOM.  Sure, it's not the reason for all 4 pounds gained, but I did hop back on the scale Saturday morning to find that I was 259.8.  I've been feeling super bloated over the last 2 days due to TOM and I'm not too concerned about the gain.  Yeah, I'm not pleased with it, but I literally just got myself back on track after the move.  I'm not worried - I know that the weight will start coming back off soon enough!

Eat What You Love: Brown Sugar Cinnamon French Toast

Another recipe from Eat What You Love!  This is called Brown Sugar Cinnamon French Toast.  I typically make my breakfast for the upcoming week over the weekend.  I would guess that this would have been better eaten fresh out of the skillet, but it still wasn't bad.  Perhaps the issue is that I am storing the cooked items in the fridge, rather than freezing them for the week - I'll try freezing them next time to see if that makes a difference.

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is "delicious/I would totally make this again" and 1 is "gross/bland/boring - never making this again", my rating is:

 4 out of 5!

with just syrup

 

Brown Sugar Cinnamon French Toast (4 Points+)

• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• ¾ cup low-fat milk (I used skim)
• ¾ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ½ Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp Splenda granulated sweetener (optional) (I used 1 packet of Sweet 'n Low)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 slices thick-sliced bread (like Texas toast) (I used whole wheat potato bread)

1. In a shallow bowl, mix together the eggs, egg whites, milk and vanilla extract until combined.  Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, Splenda, and cinnamon.
3. Spray a medium nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat.
4. Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture, coating both sides evenly.  Place the bread into the hot skillet while underside is cooking, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar mixture evenly onto top of toast (pressing it through a mesh sieve makes for a nice coating).  Flip and finish cooking for 3 minutes, checking occasionally, while being careful not to overcook cinnamon sugar-coated underside.

Makes 4 servings.