Breakfast of Champions

Though you'd never know it from my brownie binge yesterday morning, I do typically have a healthy breakfast. I usually start the day at about 7am with a bowl of Special K with fresh berries and skim milk. By 9:30 or 10am, I'm ready for a small snack, so I keep some healthy choices at work - either a low fat yogurt, some almonds, some fruit, baby bell cheese, etc.

For lunch, I've been sticking with Weight Watchers frozen entrees (which - incidentally - are on sale at Target stores in my area this week. They're $1.80 each, and when you buy ten, you get an instant $5 Target gift card. This week, I bought 20, then went back and paid for the rest of my items and saved $10 buy using the giftcards - woo hoo!). These frozen entrees aren't the most exciting or delicious things out there, but they're not too bad, and they're easy and cheap.

In the afternoon, I usually NEED sweets! I've found an awesome way to satisfy that craving I have. Trader Joe's sells these little tins of chocolate wedges. There are 16 wedges to a tin, and each wedge is 35 calories. One wedge is all I need (usually...ahem). I also will snack on either fruit or cheese in the afternoon.

The rest of the day is the hardest time for me. I'm usually hungry when I get home, so I start snacking or picking while I make dinner. We eat pretty healthy at home - I'm blessed with three kids who will eat ANYTHING, and who love almost every veggie, so there's never, ever a time when I have to make mac and cheese for a picky eater. I think portion control is my biggest issue at night - the second helpings of dinner, or the nibbles and bites that I take while preparing dinner.

I've picked up a few tricks to help me with the evenings, but if you have any others, please share them!

• I try to eat a late snack at work - if I eat something small at 4pm, I'm not as famished when I get home at 6pm.
• I try to have an idea of what we're having for dinner before I leave the house in the morning. This way, I'm not snacking away while figuring out what to have
• For a few of my chicken dishes, I've started to "flatten" the chicken breast by pounding it between two sheets of wax paper until it's thin. Not only does it make the chicken much more tender, you also eat a lot less of it - which is great for portion control, but also great for a budget!

How about you guys? Sample menus of your day? Tips/tricks/downfalls?

**btw, the reason for the Brownie Breakfast? Yesterday was my boss' b-day. I make these INCREDIBLE brownies that he really likes - they're The Barefoot Contessa's recipe, and they're so ridiculously decadent and fattening. Anyway, my boss LOVED them, and, as my boyfriend pointed out, I racked up the brownie points....bah dum dum!