I've been a little anxious the last few days, about Christmas. More specifically, Christmas Dinner. I know....it's only one meal, but for me I guess it's important.
It was decided that we are going to my brother's for Christmas this year. Ok, no big deal - he lives about 10 minutes away. Him and his fiancee were over the other night for dinner and we started talking about Christmas and they happened to mention what they were cooking. I honestly believe the only thing I want to eat is the turkey and corn (unless there's butter on it). I can't even remember all that they are making, because I started tuning out when everything sounded fat-ladden. So, what are they making? Here's what I can remember:
Turkey (roasted, not deep-fried THANK GOD!)
Stuffing (which in and of itself isn't so bad, but I've chosen to not eat Soy and pretty much all stuffing has it)
Green Bean Casserole (I make a version with caramelized onions instead of the French's fried onions, and don't think I can stomach the fried ones)
Yam Balls (not sure what's in them, but they sounded highly fattening)
Mashed Potatoes (with sour cream and cream cheese - they are not so delicious, they made them a few weeks ago)
Fried Pickles (I believe deep fried)
In addition, I believe every pie known to man is going to be there: Pumpkin, Pecan, Apple, and a few others. Did I mention, there's only FOUR of us that are going to be there? Five pies for four people...REALLY?!?!?!?! It's actually disgusting me that there's so much dessert for the four of us. Plus, she's all excited (my brother's fiancee) to be setting out "munchies" for before dinner. Blah! Who needs extra munchies with all that food!
I even tried asking if I could bring the Green Bean Casserole, since they were cooking so much food. Nope, they're all set, already bought everything. Ugh! I shouldn't be so annoyed but I am.
I feel like I have no choice in what I'm eating, except to not eat. I have not said anything because I don't feel other people should accomodate me if I'm going to live and eat in the real world. I will, however, say something if there is butter all over the corn! I don't put butter on anything. I cook with it, but that's it. I don't feel it improves the flavor of food - it just hides it behind butter flavor - which I don't like. In fact, I may bring my own can of corn and peas with me just in case, then I can heat them up in his microwave.
I may also buy a fruit platter to bring. I thought of a shrimp ring, but she's allergic to shellfish - so that's out.
I hate hate hate having to rely on someone else for virtually everything I'm going to eat.
My WW meeting is tomorrow, and I may have to bring this up and see what everyone else has to say about it. It's making me quite anxious - much more than I should be. I hate that it's becoming about the food. It should be about spending time with my family and not about the food. I'm the type of person that needs to plan everything out, so for me, it ends up being about the food.
~Chelle
Monday, December 19, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Powerful Foods
That was this week's topic at my WW Meeting. More specifically....Simply Filling Technique. The concept of this is quite simple, really, it's based around the WW Powerfoods, and is VERY similar to the old Core Plan that I tried last time I was a WW Member. Rather than counting Points for everything you eat, you only count points for foods that are not a PowerFood. To do that, you are given the weekly Allowance of 49 Points to use on non-PowerFood foods. In addition, you do not have to count your two teaspoons of healthy oil.
I have found lately that I tend to be eating more and more of the PowerFoods than non-PowerFoods. I've also noticed that there are weeks that I will go over my Daily Points and my Weekly Points and still lose weight. Looking back - most of my food those weeks were PowerFoods. After learning more about Simply Filling it all kind of makes sense.
I've been toying with the idea of trying Simply Filling but didn't really know enough about it to go ahead and try it. I'm glad that was the topic of this week's meeting. So, in this week's tracker, I've decided to keep track of what I'm eating and seeing what the difference in Weekly Points would be if I were doing Simply Filling rather than counting points. So far (2 days in) I've noticed something quite interesting.....the amount of Points I would have counted on Simply Filling is not that much different than the Weekly Points I've used normally (within 1 or 2 a day). Still not sure if I'm going to try Simply Filling......having to count everything sometimes keeps me in check with my eating.
I have decided, that should I try Simply Filling I'm going to modify it a bit for me. You see....the oatmeal I eat for breakfast every day is Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal, and it is not a PowerFood. Plain, no sugar added, unflavored oatmeal IS a PowerFood. I looked at the boxes in the store of many different oatmeals and none of them have the amount of protein in them that the Quaker WC one does, and the Quaker WC has less sugar than some of them do. So, I've decided to count the Quaker WC as a PowerFood for Simply Filling and limit myself to one packet a day.
I've also decided that the Chobani greek yogurt that I eat, I'm going to count one a day as a PowerFood. Again, there is so much protein in one of them, compared to regular plain fat-free yogurt. If I eat a second one in the same day, I will use my Weekly Points and count it.
Those are really the only two changes I am going to make. Simply because in order for plain oatmeal or plain yogurt to be palatable to me, I'd have to add so much into it that I'd end up counting the same amount of points for it as the flavored.
I am also trying to do this with as little artificially sweetened foods as possible. I know I eat a lot of them, probably more than I should. The water I drink everyday is flavored/sweetened with Splenda, and I'm sure there's other stuff I'm eating also (I just can't think of them right now, lol).
I've also been thinking about the 26Points that are supposed to be my new Daily Target. I upped it back to 29 because I am hungry a lot, and eat quite frequently. After some research (and detailed tracking for a few weeks), my leader and I have determined that I'm just one of those people that it doesn't take a lot of food to satisfy me at any one time (I don't like feeling full after eating), and therefore I need to eat every 3 to 4 hours to stay satisfied. I'm not eating a lot of junk, in fact, very little of what I eat is junk. I'd say that 99% of the Points that I eat in a week are used on healthy food.
I've also been thinking about adding activity to my daily 'schedule'. Not sure yet how or where it's gonna go, as my days seem pretty full already, and walking in the dark after work is not a good idea alone. I've been looking into water aerobics but it's tough to find an affordable place around that has it. I'm going to keep trying to figure this out.
So this week I lost another pound, so my total loss is now 84lbs.
~Chelle
I have found lately that I tend to be eating more and more of the PowerFoods than non-PowerFoods. I've also noticed that there are weeks that I will go over my Daily Points and my Weekly Points and still lose weight. Looking back - most of my food those weeks were PowerFoods. After learning more about Simply Filling it all kind of makes sense.
I've been toying with the idea of trying Simply Filling but didn't really know enough about it to go ahead and try it. I'm glad that was the topic of this week's meeting. So, in this week's tracker, I've decided to keep track of what I'm eating and seeing what the difference in Weekly Points would be if I were doing Simply Filling rather than counting points. So far (2 days in) I've noticed something quite interesting.....the amount of Points I would have counted on Simply Filling is not that much different than the Weekly Points I've used normally (within 1 or 2 a day). Still not sure if I'm going to try Simply Filling......having to count everything sometimes keeps me in check with my eating.
I have decided, that should I try Simply Filling I'm going to modify it a bit for me. You see....the oatmeal I eat for breakfast every day is Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal, and it is not a PowerFood. Plain, no sugar added, unflavored oatmeal IS a PowerFood. I looked at the boxes in the store of many different oatmeals and none of them have the amount of protein in them that the Quaker WC one does, and the Quaker WC has less sugar than some of them do. So, I've decided to count the Quaker WC as a PowerFood for Simply Filling and limit myself to one packet a day.
I've also decided that the Chobani greek yogurt that I eat, I'm going to count one a day as a PowerFood. Again, there is so much protein in one of them, compared to regular plain fat-free yogurt. If I eat a second one in the same day, I will use my Weekly Points and count it.
Those are really the only two changes I am going to make. Simply because in order for plain oatmeal or plain yogurt to be palatable to me, I'd have to add so much into it that I'd end up counting the same amount of points for it as the flavored.
I am also trying to do this with as little artificially sweetened foods as possible. I know I eat a lot of them, probably more than I should. The water I drink everyday is flavored/sweetened with Splenda, and I'm sure there's other stuff I'm eating also (I just can't think of them right now, lol).
I've also been thinking about the 26Points that are supposed to be my new Daily Target. I upped it back to 29 because I am hungry a lot, and eat quite frequently. After some research (and detailed tracking for a few weeks), my leader and I have determined that I'm just one of those people that it doesn't take a lot of food to satisfy me at any one time (I don't like feeling full after eating), and therefore I need to eat every 3 to 4 hours to stay satisfied. I'm not eating a lot of junk, in fact, very little of what I eat is junk. I'd say that 99% of the Points that I eat in a week are used on healthy food.
I've also been thinking about adding activity to my daily 'schedule'. Not sure yet how or where it's gonna go, as my days seem pretty full already, and walking in the dark after work is not a good idea alone. I've been looking into water aerobics but it's tough to find an affordable place around that has it. I'm going to keep trying to figure this out.
So this week I lost another pound, so my total loss is now 84lbs.
~Chelle
Thursday, December 8, 2011
One year..... 365 days..... 8,760hrs..... 525,600min..... 31.5M secs.....
Yes, it has been one year since I re-joined WW! I joined Dec 7th, 2010. Yesterday was one full calendar year since joining. I have changed quite a bit over the past year. I will attempt to talk about it in this post, lol.
So.........how has the year gone? Pretty well I'd say! I am down 83lbs from one year ago and I am so happy! Due to work (yay!) I have not been able to attend my 'regular' meeting for the last month or so, but wanted to celebrate my 1yr Anniversary with the people that I know the best. So, I took a long lunch from work and went yesterday. It was so nice to see everyone again and especially nice to hear that they've all been asking the leader about me and how I was doing!
First, I'll start with Me. Here are some pictures I put together to show how much I've physically changed over the past year:
These pictures were taken of me, tonight, at my friend's house. We found a pair of pants and a shirt that I had given to her (that I used to wear) and took some pictures with me holding them.
The pants, and the shirt, are both a size 26/28 from Lane Bryant.
Thoughts/Observations from the past year:
* The quality of food matters more than the quantity of food - related to this.....fuller fat versions of food are more satisfying to me than fat-free or low-fat versions. Real Food for Real Living!
* I care a WHOLE lot more about what I'm eating than I ever thought possible!
* I'm much happier removing/limiting soy in my diet
* I now add olive oil to my oatmeal - if ANYONE had tried telling me I was going to be doing this, I'd have told them where to go! lol
* It's much easier, in some ways, than I thought it would be to do this again
* I love the attitude change from diet to lifestyle
* I now realize how much "bad" and "junk" food it out there, surrounding me everyday. I am sometimes in awe that I don't succomb to it.
* I realize how badly other people eat and want to clue them in, but realize it all has to be a personal choice.
* It starts to disgust me, at times, walking through the grocery store. I now realize how much "bad" and "junk" food it out there, surrounding me everyday. I am sometimes in awe that I don't succomb to it.
* I used to love to eat out, now I do it when I have too. It's no longer all that exciting because I know how bad the food is for you that's being served. Even the "healthier" options!
* I am much more aware of what's in the foods I'm eating than I ever thought possible. I even care about it too!
* I can't believe it took me so long to go into a Trader Joe's! I could live there, lol.
* I am solely responsible for my success on this program. No one else, just me. Everything I eat is a choice - sometimes a good choice and sometimes not - but it's MY choice and no one else's!
* It's ok to not be perfect - as long as you're being reasonable and aware. Likewise, it's ok not to track for a week on vacation - as long as it's a conscious choice and you stay aware of what you're eating.
This blog has also changed/transformed over the last year. It started out as a daily accounting of what I was eating, with some introspection thrown in. Since my life has gotten busier, it's become more sporadic and about whatever it is that I feel like talking about, lol. My intention is to post weekly, somewhat about my weekly meeting, but not necessarily. I think this might be an easier goal to accomplish than posting daily.
I was re-reading some of my first posts on this blog earlier today, and found something that I'm glad I still whole-heartedly believe and practice (though I've had my moments, lol). It was on Dec 14th, 1 week after started WW and the day before my first weigh-in (in which I lost 6.4lbs HOLY COW!):
"I am eating better, healthier foods, in reasonable quantities, and am not starving. In my mind, that makes it a successful week, regardless of what the scale says."
~Chelle
So.........how has the year gone? Pretty well I'd say! I am down 83lbs from one year ago and I am so happy! Due to work (yay!) I have not been able to attend my 'regular' meeting for the last month or so, but wanted to celebrate my 1yr Anniversary with the people that I know the best. So, I took a long lunch from work and went yesterday. It was so nice to see everyone again and especially nice to hear that they've all been asking the leader about me and how I was doing!
First, I'll start with Me. Here are some pictures I put together to show how much I've physically changed over the past year:
 |
| Me - Years before I ever thought of joining WW |
These pictures were taken of me, tonight, at my friend's house. We found a pair of pants and a shirt that I had given to her (that I used to wear) and took some pictures with me holding them.
The pants, and the shirt, are both a size 26/28 from Lane Bryant.
Thoughts/Observations from the past year:
* The quality of food matters more than the quantity of food - related to this.....fuller fat versions of food are more satisfying to me than fat-free or low-fat versions. Real Food for Real Living!
* I care a WHOLE lot more about what I'm eating than I ever thought possible!
* I'm much happier removing/limiting soy in my diet
* I now add olive oil to my oatmeal - if ANYONE had tried telling me I was going to be doing this, I'd have told them where to go! lol
* It's much easier, in some ways, than I thought it would be to do this again
* I love the attitude change from diet to lifestyle
* I now realize how much "bad" and "junk" food it out there, surrounding me everyday. I am sometimes in awe that I don't succomb to it.
* I realize how badly other people eat and want to clue them in, but realize it all has to be a personal choice.
* It starts to disgust me, at times, walking through the grocery store. I now realize how much "bad" and "junk" food it out there, surrounding me everyday. I am sometimes in awe that I don't succomb to it.
* I used to love to eat out, now I do it when I have too. It's no longer all that exciting because I know how bad the food is for you that's being served. Even the "healthier" options!
* I am much more aware of what's in the foods I'm eating than I ever thought possible. I even care about it too!
* I can't believe it took me so long to go into a Trader Joe's! I could live there, lol.
* I am solely responsible for my success on this program. No one else, just me. Everything I eat is a choice - sometimes a good choice and sometimes not - but it's MY choice and no one else's!
* It's ok to not be perfect - as long as you're being reasonable and aware. Likewise, it's ok not to track for a week on vacation - as long as it's a conscious choice and you stay aware of what you're eating.
This blog has also changed/transformed over the last year. It started out as a daily accounting of what I was eating, with some introspection thrown in. Since my life has gotten busier, it's become more sporadic and about whatever it is that I feel like talking about, lol. My intention is to post weekly, somewhat about my weekly meeting, but not necessarily. I think this might be an easier goal to accomplish than posting daily.
I was re-reading some of my first posts on this blog earlier today, and found something that I'm glad I still whole-heartedly believe and practice (though I've had my moments, lol). It was on Dec 14th, 1 week after started WW and the day before my first weigh-in (in which I lost 6.4lbs HOLY COW!):
"I am eating better, healthier foods, in reasonable quantities, and am not starving. In my mind, that makes it a successful week, regardless of what the scale says."
~Chelle
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Hunger
I weighed in on Tuesday night and I was up .4lbs from last week. I was not upset by it at all. I said in my meeting last week, that I would be ok with a gain as long as I had felt that I honestly made good choices on Thanksgiving. My leader remembered and called me out on it this week (she knows I wouldn't mind), and most of the people there seemed surprised that I was ok with the gain. They will learn soon enough that I say what I mean and I mean what I say. My leader knows me well enough to know this already, lol. She was not surprised that I had a good attitude about the gain.
So, on to this week's......focus.....I guess we could call it. I have been noticing the last few weeks or so, that I get hungry again pretty soon after eating (within 1 to 2 hours). This is something that is relatively new for me. During my meeting, I decided to track the week in detail. Not just the food and points that I eat, but the times I eat and how hungry I am when I eat. I made this decision in the hopes that it might shed some light on why I'm so hungry so much. I also asked my leader if she would take a look at my tracker next week, and told her why, and she readily agreed. I know the program pretty well (as least I think I do, and my leader thinks I do too), but you never know - she might be able to see something that I'm not seeing.
On my drive home, I started thinking about what I've been eating during the day for the last few weeks (generally, not specifically), and I realized something.......I haven't been eating many fats during the day, and I used to. Lately my breakfast and lunch have been oatmeal, fruit, skim milk, lean ham, apple, fat free yogurt and popcorn. I have not purposely avoided the fat, it just wasn't in what I've been eating lately. So, I decided to add some fats back into what I'm eating, and took a look at where/how I could do this:
Switching from skim milk to 1% or higher is not an option at this time - I just don't like the 'mouth feel' of anything other than skim milk. 1% tastes creamy to me, lol.
I was bringing two Chobani yogurts to work each day (presumably for morning and afternoon snack) which were sometimes 0% and sometimes 2% - I paid more attention to the flavor than the fat %. I bought enough Chobani's so that I can bring one 2% and one 0% to work each day. The 2% is for my morning snack (which I always seem to need), and the 0% is for a snack later in the day if I need it. I won't give up the 0% because I love all the flavors, so this is the compromise that I came up with.
I was bringing 4-5oz of lean ham for my lunch, along with an apple. I'm actually surprised that this filled me up for lunch, but it did. What I've been doing this week is bringing egg salad. I use Egglands Best Eggs since they are two eggs for 3 Points, and I feel they are a better nutritional choice (and taste better) than regular eggs. I hard-boiled them and cut them up, then mixed them with two Tablespoons of Lite Safflower Mayo (tough to find light mayo NOT made with soybean oil). I use the light mayo because I just don't want to count the Points for real mayo. I am still bringing the apple, but am also bringing a piece of cheese to have with the apple if I so desire. It's Land o Lakes Snack'n Cheese. I LOVE it! It's individually wrapped, 1oz piece of REAL cheese (not lowfat) and it's only 3 Points.
In addition to the second Chobani yogurt, I am also bringing a favorite snack that I sometimes have at night at home. It's a Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flatbread (no Soy!), I spread it with one Tablespoon of peanut butter (which is actually more peanut butter than it sounds like), and wrap it around a banana. It's sooooooooo good!!!! So far this week I haven't eaten it (well...only yesterday, since it's not that late yet today, lol).
I am also bringing a serving of Orville Redenbacher's air popped popcorn that I popped in the microwave at night. It's so simple! I put one serving on kernels in a paper bag, fold over the top of the paper bag and put in the microwave and pop just like microwave popcorn - but with no fats! I then put the popcorn in a bowl, and spray it with canola oil (found it at Trader Joe's) and mix it in, then repeat a few times. I then sprinkle in either cinnamon sugar, cocoa sugar (Christmas Tree Shop is GREAT!), or powdered cheese, and stir it up. It gives a little flavor to the popcorn and the oil helps it stick. It may not be enough to count as a serving of oil, but it helps.
I had a tough time finding popcorn seasoning that does not contain Soy. All of the ones I found had it, so I started thinking "outside the box" and found other ways of flavoring the popcorn. So far the cheddar cheese is my favorite, followed by cinnamon sugar and then the cocoa sugar.
I will try to check back in later in the week and let you know how it's going!
~Chelle
So, on to this week's......focus.....I guess we could call it. I have been noticing the last few weeks or so, that I get hungry again pretty soon after eating (within 1 to 2 hours). This is something that is relatively new for me. During my meeting, I decided to track the week in detail. Not just the food and points that I eat, but the times I eat and how hungry I am when I eat. I made this decision in the hopes that it might shed some light on why I'm so hungry so much. I also asked my leader if she would take a look at my tracker next week, and told her why, and she readily agreed. I know the program pretty well (as least I think I do, and my leader thinks I do too), but you never know - she might be able to see something that I'm not seeing.
On my drive home, I started thinking about what I've been eating during the day for the last few weeks (generally, not specifically), and I realized something.......I haven't been eating many fats during the day, and I used to. Lately my breakfast and lunch have been oatmeal, fruit, skim milk, lean ham, apple, fat free yogurt and popcorn. I have not purposely avoided the fat, it just wasn't in what I've been eating lately. So, I decided to add some fats back into what I'm eating, and took a look at where/how I could do this:
Switching from skim milk to 1% or higher is not an option at this time - I just don't like the 'mouth feel' of anything other than skim milk. 1% tastes creamy to me, lol.
I was bringing two Chobani yogurts to work each day (presumably for morning and afternoon snack) which were sometimes 0% and sometimes 2% - I paid more attention to the flavor than the fat %. I bought enough Chobani's so that I can bring one 2% and one 0% to work each day. The 2% is for my morning snack (which I always seem to need), and the 0% is for a snack later in the day if I need it. I won't give up the 0% because I love all the flavors, so this is the compromise that I came up with.
I was bringing 4-5oz of lean ham for my lunch, along with an apple. I'm actually surprised that this filled me up for lunch, but it did. What I've been doing this week is bringing egg salad. I use Egglands Best Eggs since they are two eggs for 3 Points, and I feel they are a better nutritional choice (and taste better) than regular eggs. I hard-boiled them and cut them up, then mixed them with two Tablespoons of Lite Safflower Mayo (tough to find light mayo NOT made with soybean oil). I use the light mayo because I just don't want to count the Points for real mayo. I am still bringing the apple, but am also bringing a piece of cheese to have with the apple if I so desire. It's Land o Lakes Snack'n Cheese. I LOVE it! It's individually wrapped, 1oz piece of REAL cheese (not lowfat) and it's only 3 Points.
In addition to the second Chobani yogurt, I am also bringing a favorite snack that I sometimes have at night at home. It's a Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flatbread (no Soy!), I spread it with one Tablespoon of peanut butter (which is actually more peanut butter than it sounds like), and wrap it around a banana. It's sooooooooo good!!!! So far this week I haven't eaten it (well...only yesterday, since it's not that late yet today, lol).
I am also bringing a serving of Orville Redenbacher's air popped popcorn that I popped in the microwave at night. It's so simple! I put one serving on kernels in a paper bag, fold over the top of the paper bag and put in the microwave and pop just like microwave popcorn - but with no fats! I then put the popcorn in a bowl, and spray it with canola oil (found it at Trader Joe's) and mix it in, then repeat a few times. I then sprinkle in either cinnamon sugar, cocoa sugar (Christmas Tree Shop is GREAT!), or powdered cheese, and stir it up. It gives a little flavor to the popcorn and the oil helps it stick. It may not be enough to count as a serving of oil, but it helps.
I had a tough time finding popcorn seasoning that does not contain Soy. All of the ones I found had it, so I started thinking "outside the box" and found other ways of flavoring the popcorn. So far the cheddar cheese is my favorite, followed by cinnamon sugar and then the cocoa sugar.
I will try to check back in later in the week and let you know how it's going!
~Chelle
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