Day 47: A few new recipes

Breakfast was a bowl of Cheerios (5P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), total of 9 Points Plus.

I got creative and tried some new recipes today.  I absolutely love the coconut rice at Friday's, but I do not love the points for it.  I also don't think it's available anymore.  So, I decided to try to make my own.  I looked online for some recipes and found one that I thought I could handle.  It was jasmine rice and lite coconut milk (the kind in the can).  I used a rice cooker, because bad things happen when I try to make rice on a stove.  The recipe I found was 2 cups of jasmine rice, one 14oz can of lite coconut milk, and enough water to bring it to the right level in the rice cooker.  For my rice cooker (and I believe all models vary slightly), the rice ended up being 3 full rice measures (my cooker came with a measuring cup for the cooker).  Once my cooker is done, it switches to 'warm' and sits for 15 minutes before the rice is done. 

It smelled absolutely wonderful in the kitchen while it was cooking!  It tasted pretty good too, but was not wet like the one at Friday's was.  But it had a very nice coconut taste to it, so I was happy.  Good thing - cause it made 6 cups of rice!  Since I usually eat rice a half cup at a time, it will last a while, lol.  I may use it in a stir fry to use some up.  I will attempt it again.  Next time I think I will use two measures of rice, the same can of lite coconut milk, and then water to bring it to the right level.  I think there will be more coconut flavor this way.  I am also going to check it when the cooker switches to 'warm'.  I think it will be wetter and more like what I was expecting this time.

To go with the awesome coconut rice, I made a chicken satay using a sauce packet I bought.  It was chicken thighs cut up and fat removed, sliced celery and the packet of sauce (very low sodium too!). 

I also decided that roasted acorn squash sounded good.  Yeah.....I don't always eat the foods you'd think go together.  I took an acorn squash, cut it in half and scooped out the seeds and stuff.  Then rubbed each half with a half tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and drizzled each with a tablespoon of real maple syrup.  Cover and bake on 400 for 30 minutes, take foil cover off and bake another 30-45 minutes, depending on how you like your squash.  I scooped out the squash meat and the liquid and mixed them together in a bowl and ate the entire thing, lol.

So, lunch was one serving of the chicken satay (7P+), a half cup of the coconut rice (3P+), a half acorn squash (2P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+) for a total of 16 Points Plus for lunch.

Dinner was decidedly un-creative compared to lunch, lol.  I had two Van de Kamp's frozen fish fillets (5P+), some of the macaroni salad from the other day (2P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 11 Points Plus.

So, today I ate 36 Points Plus, using 1 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 36 for the rest of the week.

Day 46: Lazy Day

So, today was just a lazy day at home.  I tend to have more of these than I probably should.

Breakfast was Bisquick pancakes (6P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+) for a total of 10 Points Plus.

Lunch was half a can of Chunky Soup Corn Chowder (4P+), and a roll up sandwich consisting of lavash bread (1P+), turkey lunch meat (1P+), lettuce and two tablespoons Kraft Free Ranch dressing (1P+), for a total of 7 Points Plus for lunch.

Dinner was a bowl of Multigrain Cheerios (5P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+) for a total of 9 Points Plus.

I was hungry later, so I had two packets of Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal (8P+) with frozen fruit in it (0P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 12 Points Plus. 

I ate a total of 38 Points Plus today, using 3 of my Weekly Points Allowance, leaving me with 34 for the week.

Day 45: Shopping with a Friend

I started my day with a good sized and absolutely delicious breakfast.  I scrambled two Eggland's Best Eggs (3P+), cut up my leftover baked potato from last night and cooked that in the frying pan with some Pam (3P+), a breakfast sausage (2P+) and two cups of milk (4P+).  Breakfast totaled 12 Points Plus.  I love cooked potatoes with breakfast.  I absolutely love hashbrowns, but seem to be unable to make them the way I like them, lol.  Today's potato's were a new idea, and it worked out beautifully.

After breakfast, I picked my friend Muffin up and we headed out to do some shopping.  While we were out, we of course got hungry.  We opted for Subway, and I got a six inch veggie delite sub on honey oat bread.  This is what I always get, and I love it.  I had lettuce, tomato, onion, spinach, banana peppers, green peppers, cucumber, and I don't remember what else, lol.  It was everything except pickles, olives and hot peppers.  I also had them put a little bit of honey mustard sauce on it.  The whole sandwich totaled 7 Points Plus, and I had water to drink.

We then headed back to her house after shopping and hung out with her kids for a while.  Dinner time came, and I was asked to stay for dinner.  I had a hamburger with no bun (7P+), a half cup of frozen corn (2P+), one cup of Knorr mushroom rice (3P+) and twelve ounces of 1% milk (4P+).  I opted for no bun with my hamburger.  I'm not a big bread eater, so this really wasn't that much of a sacrifice.  I was actually happier with no bun, lol.

I ate exactly 35 Points Plus today, so did not use any of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, and still have 37 of them left for the week.

Day 44: Macaroni Salad

Breakfast consisted of two Eggland's Best Eggs (3P+), two Johnsonville breakfast sausages (3P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+), for a total of 10 Points Plus.  It seems that most of my breakfasts end up just around 10 Points Plus.  I always have tended to prefer a bigger breakfast than most people do.

Lunch was some leftover steak tips (7P+), and a half serving of the macaroni salad that I made up (3P+), for a total of 10 Points Plus.  I forgot to take a picture before I started eating, so this picture was taken partway through.

I kind of threw together the pasta salad you see in the picture.  I used some leftover penne, chopped up some onions, yellow pepper, orange pepper, tomato and celery, and mixed it with some zesty italian dressing.  Here is a closeup picture of it:

I made a sandwich for dinner with some leftover fish.  I used one serving of Lavash bread (1P+), spread a tablespoon of Miracle Whip Free (0P+) on it, put some lettuce and veggies in it (0P+), put two Van De Kamps fish fillets (5P+), and a slice of Kraft cheese (2P+) and wrapped it up.  I also had half of a baked potato with it (2P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  Dinner totaled 14 Points Plus.


I was hungry later, so I had a packet of Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal (4P+) with some frozen fruit in it (0P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+) for a total snack of 8 Points Plus.


I ate a total of 42 Points Plus today, using 7 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 37 Points Plus for the rest of the week.  I have nothing special planned for the weekend, so I will probably use them evenly throughout the week.

Week 6: Weigh-In Day

For breakfast today I had a packet of oatmeal (4P+) with some frozen fruit mixed in, and two cups of skim milk (4P+) while waiting for my meeting to start.  Breakfast totaled 8 Points Plus.

On the way home, I stopped at a Verizon Wireless store and ended up getting myself a new phone!  The store was on my way home from my meeting.  I ended up getting the Droid Incredible - I love it!  But, didn't love it so much the day I bought it, lol.  The salesman in the store had shown me how to use Google Maps for navigation (I had previously been using VZ Navigator).  Well........I didn't realize he left it running, and didn't show me how to turn it off.  I left the store, and got on the highway to head home.  The phone was nearly dead, so I pulled into the breakdown lane to plug the car charger in (bought the accessory pack that included the car charger, hard case and protective film for the screen).  Plug the charger into the car, and can't figure out how to plug it into the phone!  The hole in the phone didn't look like it matched the end of the charger, and I didn't want to force it in.  So, I decide to turn around and go back to the store, thinking I had the wrong charger. 

Meanwhile, the phone had started 'talking' to me, telling me how to get home.  So, of course, when I turned around to go back to the store, the phone is recalculating the directions trying to get me home.  For the life of me couldn't figure out how to turn them off!  I admit, I was probably more distraught than I ought to have been, but that's me sometimes.  Every time it talked I'd scream at the phone to shut up!  LOL  Anyway, I got to the store, and it was the right charger, and he showed me how to turn off the navigation.

I got back in the car a much happier person and headed home.  Stopped home and had a bowl of cereal before heading to the grocery store - never shop on an empty stomach!  I had a bowl of Multigrain Cheerios (5P+) with two cups of milk (4P+) when I got home.  I had two servings of cereal.  In my world, one serving of cereal is never adequate!

My WW Leader told us about a very easy, simple way to make Fra Diavolo pasta.  I love it, and have tried to recreate it at home.......with very little luck!  It was so easy, it was funny!   A jar of Classico Spicy Red Pepper sauce.  That's basically it!  I was afraid it would be too spicy, but it was good.  I bought that and some lobster at the store.  Had them steam if for me (thank god stores do that!!).  I also bought a lot of other stuff at the store, but those were the most interesting, lol.

So, I made the Fra Diavolo when I got home, because I was hungry, and the lobster was still hot.  After cleaning out the lobster meat, I ended up with approx 3/4 cup of lobster (2P+), had a serving of Barilla pasta (5P+), the sauce (the P+ are negligable, since I use a scant 1/4 cup, so I don't usually count it), and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  It was soooooooooo goooooooooood!!!!!!!!!

For dinner I made a chicken stirfry.  I was really in the mood to cook today!  I took four skinless boneless chicken thighs (I do not eat white meat) and cut them up, raw, into bit sized peices and marinated them in some soy and ginger marinade that I had in the fridge.  I also cooked up a bag of Success Rice Brown Rice.  This is the only brown rice I can eat, the others are just weird, lol.  I heated up a wok until it was nice and hot, added some olive oil and waited for that to heat up as well.  Tossed the chicken in and cooked it until it was done.  Took that out and tossed in a bunch of cut up veggies (onions, peppers, carrots, celery).  Took those out when they are done.  Scrambled one egg and tossed that in the wok, took that out when it was cooked. Put the rice (cooked)  in with some soy sauce and stir fried, then added back the chicken, vegetable and egg and cooked for a min or so.  It looked and tasted good!   The portion I had for dinner was worth 8 Points Plus.

So, today I hate 40 Points Plus, using 5 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 44 for the rest of the week. 

So, how did I do at weigh in?  I lost 2.6 lbs!  That's a total of 17.2 pounds lost :)

Day 42: Eating Out

Today was a Holiday here, Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday.  A very good friend of mine and I went out to eat this afternoon.  I think this might one of the first times I've eaten out since re-joining WW.  I haven't told this particular friend that I joined WW.  She's skinny, and always has been.  Although she was very supportive the first time I joined, I found that she didn't quite understand some of the issues involved with trying to lose weight.  Plus, if this is a change of eating habits for me, and a lifelong commitment, then I don't see why people should know.  It's just me, lol.  I find it easier to stay On Plan when everyone else doesn't know.

Breakfast was two packets of Quaker Weight Control oatmeal (8P+) with a banana mixed in, and two cups of skim milk (4P+), for a total of 12 Points Plus.

I figured that we would probably go out for lunch or dinner (we usually do, she doesn't cook much), so after I had breakfast I started looking online for nutrition information for places we like to eat.  I ended up narrowing it down to Friday's or Ruby Tuesday, two of our favorites.  I looked online and put together a meal at each place that I was happy and willing to spend the Points Plus on.  She asked me later in the afternoon if I knew where I'd like to go, and I told her the two I thought of.  She was thinking Ruby Tuesday, so that's where we went!

I love, I mean LOVE the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday!  I'm not a big salad person, so this is quite feat!  I decided I would have the unlimited salad bar and they have a plain grilled salmon.  I prefer my food grilled and cooked plain anyway, so this was nice to have found online earlier in the morning.  I did not want any of the side dishes, I figured the salad would be my side dish.  So, I told the waitress I did not want the side dishes, and she gave me the salad bar for free!  I didn't expect that, but it was nice! 

So, what did I have on my salad?  Lots of good stuff :)  Lettuce, carrots, onions, tomato, lean ham, green peppers, grapes, and light ranch dressing.  I apologize the photo is blurry - I did not realize it until I got home!

 I counted 5 P+ for the salad dressing, 3 P+ for the croutons and 1 P+ for the ham on the salad.  If you've never had Ruby Tuesday's croutons they are to die for!!  They are made from pumpernickel and are made there.  They are slightly crunchy on the outside and slightly soft on the inside.  They are especially good if they are warm when you get them!

I also had their plain grilled salmon:

I counted 4 P+ for the salmon.  My whole meal out came to 13 Points Plus.  I realize this may not be entirely accurate, but I feel I made a pretty good effort in determining the P+ for the foods, and estimating the portion sizes.  Also, I ended up with 13 Points Plus for the week left over, so I'm sure that made up for anything I didn't get exactly right.

I wasn't hungry until later that night when I got home, and I had two packets of oatmeal (8P+) with frozen fruit in it, and two cups of milk to drink (4P+) before I went to bed.

I ended up eating a total of 37 Points Plus today, and using 2 of my weekly Points Plus Allowance.

Weigh In is tomorrow!

It's been a while..........

Holy smokes!   I came in today to apologize to no one (I thought) that I haven't been posting much because life got a little crazy, and found out I actually have a follower!!!!!  I am so excited!! 

I was thinking of doing a weekly post (as you can see, daily ones haven't been getting done), but I am going to make a renewed effort to post daily!

I have been On Plan and losing even though I haven't been posting.   I am going to try to get them done today, I have some great pictures of my food too!

~Michelle

Day 41: Baby Shower

So, I had a baby shower to go to today.  I have been working most of the week on the cookie favors and the cake for the shower.  I was not privy to what food would be served at the shower beforehand, so didn't really know how to plan and prepare for it.  The best I could come up with was to have breakfast, and a filling snack before the shower, and to try to make healthier choices while at the shower.  I knew the cake that I was making would not be low in points either, and I wanted to have a piece, so that was more incentive to choose wisely!

I had a packet of oatmeal (4P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 8 Points Plus for breakfast before leaving the house (I had a two and a half hour drive to the shower). 

I brought a packet of oatmeal (4P+) with some frozen fruit in it to eat before the shower started. 

While at the shower, there was lots of food available to choose from: chicken wings, keilbasa, pasta, swedish meatballs, finger sandwiches (chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad), fruit, veggies, half tortilla roll-up sandwiches, soda, punch (both spiked and not), and of course the cake.

I chose to have two of the half rollup sandwiches (roast beef and cheese) (8P+), five slices of keilbasa (5P+), celery, grape tomatoes, and lots of veggies. So, the food was relatively good at 13 Points Plus.

Then, I had a slice of cake.  This was chocolate cake with a peanut butter/reese's pieces filling, and frosting in regular buttercream icing.  I figured the points out whe nI returned home, and it turned out that one slice of the cake was 16 Points Plus.  Yes, you read that correctly - 16 Points!  It was delicious, but don't know if I'd have had a full slice had I known that going into it!

I was hungry for dinner, so picked up a Subway Veggie Delite sub for (7P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total dinner of 11 Points Plus.

So, I ended up eating 52 Points Plus today, using 17 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 15 weeklies left for Monday.

Here is a pick of the cake that I made:

Yes, that's a cake.  The lampshade is not edible, but the lamp base (between the faux wooden planks) is.  The cake mimics the lamp that she picked out for the nursery.

Day 40: Chicken Stir Fry!

I started my day with two scrambled eggs (3P+), two breakfast sausages (3P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 10 Points Plus for breakfast. I also had some picante sauce with my eggs.

I found a recipe online for Thai fried rice, and decided to give it a try today.  I didn't have everything called for in the recipe, so I improvised with what I had.  I took four boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut them up and marinated them in a soy ginger marinade.  I also pre-cooked two cups of Success Rice Brown Rice, and cut up some peppers, onions and celery.  I heated some olive oil in a very hot wok, and when the oil was hot, added the chicken and stir fried until they were cook, then set them aside.  Then scrambled two eggs and cooked those in the wok also.  Took those out and set them aside with the chicken.  Then put in a little more oil into the wok and put in the onions, peppers and celery, and a little bit of minced garlic.  Cooked those for a few minutes, then added in the two cups of rice and some soy sauce.  Cooked those for a few minutes and added back the chicken and egg.

It came out awesome!  I divided it into four servings, with each serving being 8P+.  I had a little more than one serving, and counted 11 Points Plus for it, along with a glass of water to drink.

I had another serving of the chicken stir fry for dinner (8P+) and paired it with two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 12 Points Plus for dinner.

I was also decorating a cake all day, and tracked 2 Points Plus for the bits of frosting I tasted throughout the day.

I ended the day having eaten 35 Points Plus, still leaving me with 32 Weekly Points Plus for Sunday and Monday.

Day 39: More pictures!

I'm trying to make a concerted effort to photograph my plate before I start eating.

For breakfast, I took the other half of last night's baked potato and cut it up into chunks and cooked it in the frying pan (3P+), then I heated up one of my breakfast sausages (2P+) in the pan with the potatoes.  I then scrambled two Eggland's Best Eggs (3P+) with some salt, pepper and dill.  I also had two cups of milk (4P+).  Breakfast totaled 12 Points Plus.

I made another wrap like yesterday for lunch.  This time I doubled the meat that I put into it.  Turns out that one serving of meat is just fine, it was a little much and it also caused the wrap to split, lol.  The wrap consisted of Lavash Bread (1P+), Kraft Free Ranch Dressing (1P+), two servings of Oscar Mayer lunch meat (3P+), lettuce, tomato, shredded carrots and a slice of Kraft Singles cheese (2P+).  I also had two cups of milk (4P+) with lunch, for a total of 11 Points Plus.

I was making Rice Krispie treats for some cake stuff I am doing, and had a little left over.  I love RKT, so I had a little bit (2P+).

Dinner was, again, leftovers.  I took a half cup of saffron rice (3P+) and mixed it with a half cut of frozen corn (2P+) and added a little Picante sauce to it.  It was sooooo good!!!!  Tasted a lot like mexican rice!  I also had four ounces of steak tips (7P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 16 Points Plus.

I ate 41 Points Plus today, using 6 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 32 Points Plus for the rest of the week.

Day 38: Clean Up Day

I did not end up having a proper breakfast this morning, since I woke up late and had to be at an appointment.  So, I chugged down two cups of milk (4P+) before heading out the door.

This is the cup I drink my milk from.  Two cups comes right to the top of the ear, so it's pretty easy to measure!

I fully expected to be home within an hour, so didn't think it would be a big deal to wait to have breakfast.  Well, after my appointment (which ran late), I had to stop at the grocery store for some groceries.  Among the groceries I purchased was Living Lettuce.  It is grown hydroponically and packaged with root ball attached, so it lasts longer without going bad.

When I got home, I was famished!  So, I decided to try making a wrap for lunch.  I used a half of a Lavash Bread (1P+) spread with two Tablespoons of Kraft Free Ranch dressing (1P+).

I then layered lettuce leaves, six slices of Oscar Mayer lunchmeat (three ham and three rotisserie chicken) (1P+), a slice of Kraft Singles (2P+) and some slices of tomato.

I rolled it up and it looked good!!!!!  I added a half cup of saffron rice (3P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 12 Points Plus for lunch.

I was a little hungry later on, so I had two cups of Multi-Grain Cheerios (5P+) with a banana (0P+) and two cups of milk (4P+).

I had leftovers again for dinner later on.  I had four ounces of steak tips (7P+), half a baked potato (2P+) and a half cup of corn (2P+).  I had water to drink because I did not want to use that many weekly points to have two cups of milk.  Dinner totaled 11 Points Plus.

Not sure if it was the lack of milk with dinner, or because I did not eat breakfast before leaving this morning, but I am feeling hungry right now.   If I need to, I will have a snack and update the blog!

So, today I ate 36 Points Plus, using 1 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 42 for the week.

So, why was it Clean Up Day???  I am a hobby cake decorator, but I don't always put everything away when I'm done with it, lol.  So, today I gathered all my cake stuff that seemed to be all over the house and put it all away where it belonged.  It took a little while, but I did not try to count AP's for it since it was mostly leisurely activity.


Edited to Add:

I stuck it out for a few hours, and was still hungry, so I had a packet of oatmeal (4P+) with some frozen strawberries in it.  This leaves me with 38 Points Plus for the remainder of the week.

Day 37: Snow Day!!!

I tried something kind of new for breakfast.  I purchased a package of Joseph's Lavash Bread to make rollup type sandwiches with.  I melted a half teaspoon (0P+) of butter in the frying pan and put in some sliced orange and yellow peppers, some sliced onion, and the insides of one of my breakfast sausages (2P+).  Once these were cooked, I took them out of the pan.  I then scrambled two Eggland's Best eggs (3P+) in the pan and when they were almost cooked added back the veg/sausage mix.  I mixed them together a little bit, then put them on the Lavash Bread (1P+) with a little salsa (0P+) and rolled it up.  It was very tasty, but the salsa caused the wrap to rip apart.  I also had two cups of milk to drink (4P+) for a total of 10 Points Plus for breakfast.

I spent most of the afternoon working on some cookies for a baby shower on Sunday.  Went out about 4PM to shovel snow.  We got about eighteen inches of wet heavy snow.  It's tough work shoveling that!  A neighbor ended up coming over to snow-blow part of our driveway and help with shoveling the hard, compacted stuff from the plow at the end of driveway.  I was outside for 45 minutes, and estimated that I was shoveling for about 25 minutes.  This earned me 3 Activity Points Plus. 

When I came back in, it was almost 5pm, and I realized I hadn't had lunch, lol.  I had leftovers from yesterday.  Four ounces of Steak Tips (7P+), a quarter cup of Mushroom rice (2P+), a quarter cup of saffron rice (2P+), a quarter cup of peas in butter sauce (1P+), a quarter cup of frozen corn (1P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 17 Points Plus for dinner.

I was hungry later, so heated up some barbecued beef and noodles (8P+) and put it in one of the Lavash bread (1P+) and had two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 13 Points Plus.

I also had a quarter cup of Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream this afternoon for 2 Points Plus.

So, I ate 42 Points Plus today, using the 3 Activity Points I earned and 4 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance.  This leaves me with 43 for the rest of the week.

Week 5: Weigh-In Day

Breakfast was oatmeal and milk during my meeting.  I made two packets of oatmeal and added frozen fruit to it, but was only able to eat the equivalent of a packet and a half of oatmeal (6P+) and also drank two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 10 Points Plus.  This is the second time that I thought it would have been fine to just have one packet of oatmeal, so I think from now on, I'll make one packet to bring to eat for breakfast.

After my meeting, I headed to a craft store and then to hang out at a friend's house.  I had an appointment nearby at 4pm (meeting is at 12:30), so rather than drive all the way home and come back, I hung out with her.  I ended up having 6 frozen meatballs (without sauce) for lunch, and those were 13 Points Plus.

I headed home after my appointment and was quite hungry when I got home.  I had started to prepare dinner before I left the house in the morning.  I marinated steak tips in a mesquite lime marinade, and sliced carrots with a mandolin for one of the vegetables.  WORD OF CAUTION:  ALWAYS use the hand guard with the mandolin!!!!  How do I know???? I'm missing a sliver from the side of my thumb! 

Dinner consisted of four ounces of steak tips (7P+), a half cup of Carolina Saffron Rice (2P+), a third cup of peas in butter sauce (1P+), a half cup of carrots (0P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 14 Points Plus for dinner.

I lost 2.4 lbs this week!  My total weight loss to date is 14.6lbs.  I also lost another Points Plus, so my new daily target is 35 Points Plus.

I ate 37 Points Plus today, using 2 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 45 Points Plus for the week.

I have a baby shower coming up on Sunday, so I'm trying to save some Weekly Points Plus for the shower, since I have no idea what kind/type of food will be served.

Day 35: Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day.  Slept late, ate late, went to bed late, lol.

Breakfast was two cups of Multi-Grain Cheerios (5P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 9 Points Plus.

Lunch was leftover Cranberry Porkchops (5P+), a half cup of Pasta Roni (3P+), a half cup of frozen corn (2P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 14 Points Plus.  I also had a banana after dinner.

Later I was hungry, and it was kinda late, so I had two packets of oatmeal (8P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 12 Points Plus.

I wasn't hungry anymore, so left 1 Points Plus uneaten.  I ate 35 Points Plus today, and left 12 Weekly Points Plus uneaten.  Weigh-In day is tomorrow, so my Weekly Points Plus Allowance will reset to 49 tomorrow.

Day 34: Eggless Pancakes

So, I wanted pancakes for breakfast, except there was one big problem - no EGGS!  I use Bisquick to make my pancakes, and it takes eggs.  Pancakes from scratch need eggs too!  So....I went online and started searching for Eggless Pancakes recipes.  I found one that used the following ingredients:

 

First, the recipe said to mash the banana in a bowl.

Then mix in two cups of water with the banana.

Then mix all the dry ingredients together.

Then mix the wet and dry ingredients.

It seemed kind of thick when I put it in the pan.

So, I added a little more water to the batter to thin it down.  It helped.

I cooked the first pancake, and broke it in half to taste it.  It was ok, but not very good.  It needed some sweetness, so I added some granulated sugar to the batter in the bowl. 

The second one tasted much better!  I ate three for breakfast, and they were ok.  They certainly weren't regular pancakes, but they were better than no pancakes.  I ended up with 14 pancakes total, serving size of 2 pancakes.

Funny enough, my dog loved them!  So, I ripped them up into pieces, and he had them over the next few days as treats, lol.

So, one serving of Eggless Pancakes was 3P+ and I also had two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 7 Points Plus for breakfast.

Lunch was leftover Crispy fish (4P+), a half cup of Pasta Roni (3P+), a half cup of creamed corn (2P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 13 Points Plus.

Dinner was a grilled cheese sandwich (11P+) with two slices of Arnold Oat Nut Bread and two slices of Kraft Singles, a half cup of tomato soup (2P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 17 points.

So, I ate 37 Points Plus today, using 1 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 12 for the rest of the week.

Day 33: A new kind of tunafish!

So, I have been a lazy ass and not posted since Friday apparently!

Breakfast consisted of two cups of General Mills Multi-Grain Cheerios (5P+) with two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 9 Points Plus.

Lunch was leftover pork chops from last night.  I had one serving of the Cranberry Porkchops (7P+), a half cup of Pasta Roni (3P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 14 Points Plus.

Dinner was tunafish.  I took a can of tuna and added onion, celery, craisins and Miracle Whip Free.  The entire mix was 6 P+, I also had one slice of Arnold Oat Nut Bread (3P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 13 Points Plus.

I was hungry later so had a snack of Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal (4P+) mixed with some frozen fruit.  Total was 4 Points Plus.

I ate 40 Points Plus for the day, using 4 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 13 Points Plus for the rest of the week.

Day 32: Some Food Observations

I often look at a serving of food (any food, it doesn't really matter which one) and think to myself "that's not very much food", and my inclination is to have more.  However, since I now am counting Points Plus for the food, I have one serving ( one half serving, depending on the food), and figure if I really want more of it, I can always have more, and just count it.   Well, I've noticed just about every time, that the original amount that I took is plenty, I don't need more, even if I could eat more. 

I've also noticed that I don't seem to be having much trouble sticking to my Daily Points Plus Target either.   I'm sure it helps that I'm not a big fan of bread (never really have been).  My lunches are usually leftovers heated up, rather than a sandwich.  That's fine with me, since the bread I prefer to eat is 3P+ per slice, that would make for a very high points plus lunch!  I have been having two cups of milk with each meal, and sometimes my snack at night also.  I've noticed that sometimes (mostly with my snack) that one cup of milk would be sufficient, rather than two.  I may try having one cup with snack and one cup with lunch and see how that is.  I started having two cups with each meal because it left me more satisfied after each meal.

For breakfast I had two servings of Multi-Grain Cheerios (5P+), a banana (0P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 9 Points Plus.

Lunch was leftover Crispy Fish from yesterday.  One serving of Crispy Fish (4P+), a half cup of Knorr Mushroom Rice (3P+), a half cup of Green Giant Creamed Corn (2P+) and two cups milk (4P+), for a total of 13 Points Plus.

Dinner was leftovers also, lol.  Nature's Place TriColor Tortellini (9P+), quarter cup spaghetti sauce (1P+), a potato hot dog roll (3P+) grilled in a half teaspoon of butter (0P+), and two cups of milk (4P+).  This all totaled 17 Points Plus.

I was hungry later and had a packet of Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal (4P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 8 Points Plus for my snack.

I ended the day having eaten 47 Points Plus, using 11 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 17 Points Plus for the remaining 3 days of my week.

Day 31: A New Recipe

Breakfast consisted of two eggs (3P+), two Johnsonville breakfast sausages (3P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a total of 10 Points Plus for breakfast.

Lunch was a little concoction that I put together.  It was leftover spaghetti (5P+), leftover taco meat (4P+) and a little bit of leftover tomato soup (1P+), for a total of 9 Points Plus.  No milk today, since I forgot to go to the store and there wasn't any left, lol.

I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight.  I call it Crispy Fish.  The original recipe called for chicken, but since I don't really like chicken, and love fish, I used fish.  It was basically two cups of Rice Krispies mixed with some seasonings, an egg (whipped with a fork), and a pound of haddock.  You dip the haddock in the egg, then coat both sides in the Rice Krispies.  Spray a pan, lay the coated haddock in the pan, and bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes.  I also sprayed the top of the fish with non-stick butter cooking spray to help it brown.  It was DELICIOUS!!!   It ended up making four servings (half a fillet per serving).

For dinner I had one serving of Crispy Fish (4P+), a baked potato (4P+) with Kraft Fat Free Ranch Dressing (1P+), a half cup of Green Giant Cream Corn (2P+) and two cups of milk (4P+).  This all totaled 15 Points Plus.

I spent the day baking cookies for a baby shower, and had some dough left over, so created small half-dollar to full-dollar size cookies to quality taste them.  I ate one, so counted 2 Points Plus for it.  I estimated based on one cookie being 4 Points Plus (per recipe builder).  I was also hungry before bed, so had a packet of oatmeal (4P+) with a cut up apple in it (0P+) and two cups of milk (4P+) for a snack of 8 Points Plus.

So I finished the day having eaten 45 Points Plus, using 9 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 28 remaining for the week. 

Day 30: One Month Down

So, I've been following Weight Watchers' Points Plus program for 30 days now.  Including over Christmas and New Year's.  How am I doing?  I'm down 12.2 pounds in those 30 days (4 weeks).  I have no doubt, had I not joined WW, I quite possibly could have been UP 12.2 pounds!  I am glad that I decided to join and actually did join. 

I frequent the WW message boards (on the WW site), and one of them asks a Question of the Day.  Today's question was whether you kept any of the 'fat' or 'skinny' clothes.  If so, why?   I got me thinking.  When I joined WW the first time, I lost 100lbs, and virtually ended up with a brand new wardrobe at one point.  I started wondering today, what happened to all those clothes.  Some are packed away in plastic tubs, while some are still hanging in my closet.  I was shopping one day back then, and found a perfect top/skirt set that I absolutely loved, and screamed 'ME'.  It's hanging in my closet, fully visible on a daily basis.  It was my incentive to keep with WW and not give up.  I'm hoping it works this time!  My goal (at least for now) is to wear it to my 20th HS Reunion in2012!  It's a size 8...I think the last time I was an 8 was in elementary school, lol!

So, breakfast consisted of two Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cinnamon Waffles (5P+), some frozen strawberries and bananas cooked up on the stove (0P+), and two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 9 Points Plus for breakfast.

Lunch was a concoction that I put together to use up some leftovers in the frig.  I took some french-style green beans, black beans, corn, taco meat, and some other stuff and cooked it up in a pan, and added a little raspberry dressing.  This all came up to 7 Points Plus.  I also had two cups of milk with lunch (4P+), for a total of 11 Points Plus.

I had a little dessert after lunch.  I felt like ice cream (2P+).  I've mentioned before that I have a quarter cup of ice cream, instead of a full half cup, because it's just as satisfying as a full serving.  I thought I'd share what that quarter cup of ice cream looks like.  It's in a small dish that I purchased the last time I joined WW, for the sole purpose of making a half serving of ice cream not look so small.

Dinner was spaghetti (5P+), a quarter cup of sauce (1P+), two meatballs (2P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 12 Points Plus for dinner. 

I had a snack later of two packets of oatmeal (8P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), for a total of 12 Points Plus for a snack.

I ate at total of 46 Points Plus, using 10 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 36 Points Plus for the remainder of the week.

Week 4: Weigh-In Day

Today I went to a different meeting than the one I usually go to.  I had to go earlier or later, because I had to pick my brother up from the airport at noon.  My meeting usually starts at 12:30, and the airport is an hour and a half from where my meeting is.  I talked to my leader last week to see where and when she does other meetings (I love her, she's great, so I wanted to still go to one of her meetings).  I found out that she does an earlier meeting on Tuesday mornings, and also does a meeting on Tuesday night.  Well....I tried, but couldn't wrap my head around getting weighed in the evening instead of in the morning, lol, so opted for the earlier meeting.

This week's meeting was focusing on the new Points Plus plan.  It was basically an extended orientation, with comments from those of use that have been on the new plan for a little while.  There were A LOT of people there!  I don't know if there's usually that many, but it was crazy!  Could also be the 'January phenomenon' typical at WW meetings.

I brought my breakfast with me to the meeting.  Two packets of oatmeal (8 P+) with a chopped up apple and banana in it (0 P+).  I also brought my two cups of milk (4 P+), for a total of 12 Points Plus for breakfast. 

After the meeting I headed off to the airport to get my brother.  Picked him up, dropped him off at home, and headed over to a friend's house to discuss travel plans for a cake show in February in New Jersey.  I was starving, so stopped on the way to get a Veggie Delite sub from Subway for lunch.  I brought it with me, I knew she wouldn't mind if I ate it at her house.  I had water to drink, so lunch was 7 Points Plus.

Dinner was some leftover food.  I had a serving of tortellini (9 P+), a half serving of some taco meat I cooked up the other day (2P+), a quarter cup of spaghetti sauce (1P+) and two cups of milk (4P+).  Dinner totaled 16 Points Plus.  I felt like treating myself a little bit and had two of the cakeballs that I made (3P+).

I ended the day eating 38 Points Plus, using 2 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance....leaving me with 47 for the week.

So, how did I do at weigh-in?   I lost 1 pound!  I suspect I might have lost more if I had eaten more of my Weekly P+, since I had quite a few leftover.  Oh well, I am happy anyway!




So, I had a good week - I lost 1 pound!!  Yeah!!!!

Day 28: Lazy Day

So, today was a pretty lazy day.  Spent the day lounging in bed mostly, lol.

I did eat though! :)

Breakfast was a serving of Bisquick pancakes (7points), some blueberry Polaner All Fruit (0pts) and two cups of milk (4pts) for a total of 11 points.

For lunch I tried to re-create something I made the other day.  I took two Jennie-O Seasoned Turkey Burgers and cooked them up as ground turkey in the frying pan with some taco seasoning thrown in (found a recipe online).  Then I cooked up a half cup of black beans and a half cup of frozen corn with some of the taco seasoning.  I threw some shredded carrots in for color.  I put everything into a bowl and mixed it up, then added some shredded mexican cheese (less than a quarter cup).  I divided it into three servings, and each serving was 4 points.  I had one serving (4pts) and two cups of milk (4pts) for lunch, for a total of 8 points.

Dinner was a serving of leftover barbecue beef noodles (8pts), an additional half cup of frozen corn (2pts) and two cups of milk (4pts) for a total of 14 points.

Snack tonight consisted of one packet of oatmeal (4pts), some frozen fruit (0pts) and two cups of milk (4pts), for a total of 8 points.

I ended the day having eaten 41 points, using 5 of my weekly points, leaving 12 weekly points uneaten this week.

Day 27: Christmas Day Re-Do, Sort of

Today I celebrated Christmas with my friend Muffin and her family.  She is married with three boys (13, 11 and 9).  We let the children decide what they wanted to eat, and ended up with a menu of rotisserie ham, macaroni and cheese and corn on the cob.  We also had dinner rolls.  The combination was not as strange as it sounds, and was actually pretty good!

So, for breakfast I had two eggs (4pts), two breakfast sausages (3pts) and two cups of milk (4pts) for a total of 11 points.

Lunch was at my friend's house.  I had about eight ounces of lean ham (7pts), a cup of mac & cheese (9pts), two corn on the cobs (5pts), half a dinner roll (2pts) and about eight ounces of Welch's Sparkling Juice (4pts).  After lunch I had a cupcake (5pts) and two cups of milk (4pts).  Everything at my friend's house totaled 36 points.  Yes, it was a lot, but I planned for it and tracked it all. 

Miraculously, when I got home I was hungry.  I opted for a packet of oatmeal (4pts) with a banana and some strawberries in it.  I also had two cups of milk (4pts), for a total of 8 points.

So, today I ate 54 points, using 18 of my weekly points.  That leaves me with 17 of my weekly points remaining.  I am trying to be better about tracking my Good Health Guidelines.  It looks like I had 5 glasses of water today, 3 servings of dairy, and 4 servings of fruit/veg. 

Day 26: New Year's Day

It was a pretty laid back day around here.  Didn't really do much except sleep late, lol.

Breakfast (at 2pm, lol) was two packets of oatmeal (8pts) and two cups of skim milk (4pts) for a total of 12 points.  Was at a friend's house, so no fruit to have with it. 

The next time I ate was around dinnertime.  I had a leftover steak from the other day (5pts), a half cup of mushroom rice (3pts), a half cup of bird's eye corn (2pts), a half cup of Green Giant broccoli & cheese (2pts), and two cups of milk (4pts), for a total of 15 points for dinner.  This was almost too much food.  Next time I have two vegetables with a meal, I am going to decrease the starch that I have with it.

After dinner I decided to have two of the orange snap cookies I made for the holidays.  The cookies are one point each, so that was 2 points.  I also had a cup of milk with the cookies (2pts).  That's a total of 4 points for my little snack.

I was hungry before bed, so I made up a packet of oatmeal (4pts) and added some frozen mixed berries into it. 

I have eaten 35 points today, leaving me with 1 of my daily points left over.  I still have 35 of my weekly points left. 

I am heading to a friend's house tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with her family, so will probably use some of my weekly points.

Day 25: New Year's Eve

So....How did I do at my New Year's Eve party?  Not too bad, if I do say so myself!

Here's what I ate all day:

Breakfast consisted of two ups of MultiGrain Cheerios (5pts) with an apple cut up in it (0pts), with two cups of milk (4pts), for a total of 9 points.

I headed to my friend's house to help her get everything ready.  We started preparing some of the food, and decided it would be good to have some lunch before continuing.  I had some ravioli's that I made the other day using two wonton wrappers and some leftover barbecue beef mixture.  I made four raviolis, at two points per ravioli.  So, lunch was 8 points.

Then the party started!  Rather than try to narrate what I ate at the party, I'm just going to list it.  Like the last party I went to, I tried to remember to put the food on my plate before eating it, so I could see how much I was actually eating.  Unfortunately, we never ended up ordering real food for dinner, so the appetizers were all there was for dinner.

13 taco bites (see yesterday's post for the recipe) = 13 points
2 potato skins (light on the cheese, no other toppings) = 6 points
1 tablespoon sour cream = 1 point
1 hotdog = 5 points
fruit = 0 points
fruit dip (see yesterday's post) = 2 points
4 chips and 4 pretzel sticks = 2 points
1 cherry bomb cookie = 1 point
1/4 of a brownie = 3 points

This all totaled 33 points.  Not too bad.  Thankfully I had brought the taco bites and knew how many points they were - those and the fruit and potatoes are what I tried to stick too.  There were all kinds of cookies, snacks, junk food, etc.....  Instead of hanging around near the table of food, I went and sat in the living room so I wasn't tempted by what I saw.

I ended the day having eaten 50 points, using 14 of my weekly points.  That leaves me with 35 weekly points.