Playing Catch Up

Sorry for the lack of posting in recent days.  I've been terribly busy.  Here's one I started on Sunday but didn't get a chance to finish and post.

"So I was up at this week's weigh-in.  It was only 0.4 pounds, but I still didn't like to see it.  I think most of it was due to stress.  I ate the same way that I usually do.  I even earned a few more activity points than normal.  I was retaining water like crazy as well.  I think a lot of that had to do with the high temps we had at the beginning of the week.

I went back and forth as to wether or not I wanted to start reducing the amount of weeklies that I eat and see if that makes a difference on the scale next week.  I have decided that I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing to see if this week was a fluke or if I'm trending. 

Today I proved to myself that I can eat brunch out without blowing my points.  Today was my dad's birthday, and he wanted to go to brunch at M&S Grill as his birthday meal.  We've been for brunch before, and it's really good.  I was a bit worried going into it this morning, but I went in with a plan.  They always have really good fresh fruit, as well as peel and eat shrimp.  We were seated right next to that table, so I decided I would start there.  I loaded up my first plate with a bunch of fruit, some shrimp, as well as a salad.  I used just a smidge of their caesar dressing.  The entire plate was 3 points.  I knew that if I ate this stuff first I wouldn't eat as much of the hot stuff.  As for hot food, I had about an ounce and a half of ham, 2 slices of bacon, 1 poached egg, about a 1/4 cup of potatoes, and 3 ounces of tilapia for 8 points.  So far I'm at an 11 point brunch.  For one meal on a special occasion, that's not bad at all.  What killed me was the 4 point bloody mary and the 8 point red velvet cupcake.  But I thouroughly enjoyed both of them."

This week is off to a much better start.  I've been extra hungry this week, which happens sometimes.  It's been a struggle to stick to my points, but the scale is moving down.  I hit a new low on my scale at home this morning which made me really happy.  I'm hoping that all of the activity points I earned over the weekend by walking will pay off.  We leave for vacation in 3 and a half weeks and I really want to hit my 10% before we go.  I'm going to miss 2 weigh-ins while we're gone and my goal is to just maintain.  I'll be super happy if I actually lose over vacation.  Since we're spending some time in Washington, D.C., I know I'll get a lot of walking in, which should help.  But, in the 9 days that we're gone, 4 and a half of those will be spent in the car, which can be really dangerous.  Any ideas for car friendly, point friendly snacks would be much appreciated.

Pizza Pizza

This is my new favorite dinner!  We decided to make home-made pizzas tonight for dinner.  Some of the girls at Weight Watchers were talkin about how they used Flatouts to make pizzas.  What's a Flatout you ask?  It's kind of a mix between a pita and a tortilla.  Well, really it's just a thicker tortilla.  But they are really good.  I found some Italian Herb ones at Walmart and figured they would make awesome pizzas.  Here's what I put on mine.

1 Italian Flatout (2 points)
1/2 package of Boboli pizza sauce (1 point) - if you're going to make more than 1 pizza at a time buy the big packs and use half on each pizza
56g Canadian Bacon (2 points)
1/2 cup Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese (2 points)
Onions
Tomatoes

If you read carefully you would noticed that this entire thing is only 7 points.  Load it up with as many veggies as you want for free!  Now if only I could find some 1 point complimenting breadsticks I'd be in heaven!

Christmas In May

As I've written before, I'm always on the look-out for low cal/low points recipes and foods.  Not once did it dawn on me to try to reduce the points in some of my favorite "bad" recipes.  I also never really bothered to check the points on some of my favorites because I just assumed they wouldn't be worth the points.  This has been a HUGE mistake.  Let me explain.

Last week I was working on my grocery list.  I'm getting kind of sick of my usual snacks, as they pretty much all seem to be chip related.  All of the sudden my grandma popped into my head.  I started thinking about all of the yummy food that she used to make.  Then I thought of one of her holiday specialties, ham roll-ups.  In case you don't know what a ham roll- up is (Sarah, Lisa, Rachel - I know you know what I'm talking about), it's where you take a piece of ham, slather on some cream cheese, and then roll up a dill pickle inside it.  I don't know why I had never bothered to check the points on this ymmy treat before.  Probably because we only have them at Christmas.

At the grocery store I found Oscar Mayer deli ham (smoked) for 1 point per 3 slices.  Then I picked up some fat free cream cheese, for 1 point per 2 tablespoons.  Add in some Claussen pickles and you're set.  I figured out that I can have 6 ham roll-ups for 4 points (1 slice ham, half a small Claussen pickle, and half a tablespoon of fat free cream cheese per roll-up.)  Hello 10am snack!  Plus, unlike the pop chips I've been eating, this snack has protein. 

No more waiting for Christmas!

Life and Loss

This has been a very rough weekend.  I was very excited to go to meeting on Saturday morning and weigh-in because I thought I was down about a pound, and I love seeing that on the scale.  It was a small miracle because I ate chicken finger and fries at the ballpark Friday night, and I even licked out the tub of ranch they gave me.  I had the activity points to cover it, but I try really hard not to eat those.  Anyways, I was sitting in my mom's living room, waiting for her to put her shoes on, so I decided to check Facebook on my phone.  I hadn't had a chance earlier (yes, I'm addicted to FB).  As I'm scrolling through posts, I came across one that made my heart break.  A very dear friend of mine had passed away.

Roy was not just any old friend.  Roy was like my surrogate grandfather.  I met him at church back in 1994 when my family moved to Dayton, Ohio.  He played grandpa to all of the kids, but I always felt like Roy and I had a special bond.  I was just entering the 8th grade.  He could be onery, and was stubborn, but he was also very caring, genuine, and wise.  He helped me work through a lot of things in high school and beyond.  When I moved back home in 2003 because I was getting divorced, he was there for me, whenever I needed to talk.  I felt like he really, truely listened, without judging. 

Shortly thereafter, my family moved here to Kansas City, and he and his wife moved to California and I figured I probably wouldn't see him again.  I sent cards, and every once in a while we would talk on the phone but it was few and far between.  Well, last year, I accepted a new position at work and found out that I was going out to our plant in California for a week.  When I told my dad where I was staying, he said, "You better call Roy, he lives about an hour from there."  What were the odds?  So I called up Roy-Boy and we made dinner plans.  We had a fantastic conversation.  I caught him up on my life and convinced him that I finally had my head on straight.  It was such a joy to share dinner with him.

I figured I might get back out there maybe one more time to see him, but, sadly that was not meant to be.  He went home to be with Jesus and his beloved wife on Friday night, after taking a nasty fall the week before.  This world has lost a truely great man.  While I rejoice because he is no longer in pain, it hurts.  It hurts badly.  Everything else just seems a little less important right now.

Roy made an impression and an impact on everyone he knew.  He will truely be missed. 

Starting Weight: 210.4
Current Weight: 193.4
Total Lost: 17 lbs

Food Finds

I am always on the look-out for new recipes and diffent foods that are really good points bargains.  I spend hours going through cook-books or recipe websites.  I'll spend hours at the grocery store calcuating the points values on countless foods, trying to find the best bang for my points buck.  Today, I seem to have hit the jackpot thanks to Weight Watchers and my boss's boss's wife.  (yes, there should be 2 boss's there.)

First are the tortillas.  I got an email from my boss's boss's wife telling me about some 1 point tortillas she found.  I was excited to hear about it and was planning on picking up some to try this weekend.  Well, much to my surprise, one showed up on my desk today! (Thanks Nicki!)  After dinner I decided to try it.  Let me just tell you, they are fantastic!!!  Here's the info...

Ole Mexican Foods - Xtreme Wellness High Fiber, Low Carb Tortillas
71 Calories, 2g fat, 5g carbs, 12g fiber, 8g protein

These are burrito size tortillas, and with that much fiber, very filling.  I'm seeing all kinds of new dishes on my menu like tacos, quesadillas, breafast burritos, and enchilladas.  I actually dipped the one I had tonight in some salsa and it was fantastic just like that...and only 1 point!

The second food find of the day was dinner.  I bought the new Weight Watchers complete cookbook at Costco a few weeks back.  This recipe came out of there.  It's for smoky turkey chili, and it was fantastic! It is a thick chili, not a soupy chili.   Here you go, enjoy!

• 1 pound ground skinless turkey breast (I put it in raw and it turned out great)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 (15 1/2 ounce) cans small white beans, rinsed and drained (I used Great Northern Beans)
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes (feel free to double if you want juicier chili)
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 (4 1/2 ounce) can chopped mild green chiles
• 3 Tablespoons chili powder
• 2 Tablespoons honey (I would probably half this next time because it turned out a bit sweet)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (I couldn't find any so I left it out)
• Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1. Combine turkey, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a 5-6 quart slow cooker.  Stir in all remaining ingredients.  Cover and cook until flavors are blended and chili is slightly thickened, 4-5 hours on high, or 8-10 hours on low.  Serve sprinkled with parsley.

Serving size: 1 1/4 cups
5 Points Plus per serving
232 calories, 2g fat, 32g carbs, 8g fiber, 23g protein
*For an added point you can add 2 tablespoons of fat free sour cream and 2 tablespoons of fat free cheddar cheese.  I highly suggest it :)

Bon Appetit!

Flexibility

I finally figured out why I like Weight Watchers so much better than any other diet I've ever been on.  I LOVE the flexibility it provides me.  This truely is a diet that doesn't feel like a diet.

Take today for instance.  For breakfast I had a can of Spaghettio's with Meatballs.  Yes, it was a kindergarten morning.  That was 10 points.  For lunch, I had a #1 combo from Taco Bell, which included a taco supreme and beef burrito supreme.  That was 16 points.  For dinner I had a salad that consisted of steak, tomatoes, grilled onions, gorgonzola cheese, and balsamic vinagrette.  That was 4 points (less than an ounce of cheese and I barely used any of the dressing).  For desert I had a Kit Kat for 6 points.  My grand total for the day was 36 points.  Now, I only get 30 in a day, but I had 7 of my weeklies left.

How many people do you know that can eat like that on a diet?  Can I eat like that every day?  Well, if I didn't eat the Kit Kat I could.  But generally speaking, no.  But that's the awesomeness of Weight Watchers.  It allows you to eat those so-called "bad" foods when you want/need to, without feeling the least bit guilty about it.  Because of the points system it also provides a good "check yourself" mechanism, that doesn't allow you to go overboard.  Well, you can go overboard, but then you're "off program".  I just love the fact that absolutely no food is forbidden.

I've met a lot of people who do Weight Watchers who eat mostly healthy foods - lots of fruit and veggies, lean protein, reduced fat dairy - and that's awesome for them if they can do it.  That's just not me.  I enjoy my fatty, greasy, carby foods.  I have what most would consider a "cheat" food daily, and that's what works for me.

I love Weight Watchers!

Keep Moving

Today, being the first day of May, I knew I needed to earn some activity points.  I saw this morning that I tracked food, activity, and good health guidlines for 20 days in April, a new high for me.  This month I'm going for 30 days, and I seem to be well on my way. 

My husband and I decided to walk to breakfast this morning.  Like I've said before, I'll do almost anything for a free meal.  Well, then I decided that I was going to do my C25K on the way down.  It was a really tough run.  By the half way mark I was ready to quit.  I think part of it was because I hadn't eaten breakfast yet.  I did eat an apple about half an hour before we left but it just wasn't enough.  I managed to make it all the way through the session, thanks to my husband running beside me.  And then I decided to treat myself by ordering potatoes with breakfast instead of fruit :)

We managed to keep a pretty good pace on the way home, and even ran 1 very small section.  I earned 8 activity points before noon today, and that's a good feeling.  The only downside to my run is the fact that I inhaled so much pollen through my mouth that I'm having massive allergy attacks today and just generally feel miserable. 

Tomorrow is an off-day for the Royals so I've got all evening to earn my 1 activity point.  I think I'm going to try to do week 1 day 3 for C25K, but we'll see how I'm feeling.  I'm actually really sore tonight.  If I can't run, I'm definately taking the dog for a walk around the track.