Christmas Food Anxiety

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

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

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:

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

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

Thanksgiving

I actually had a pretty good Thanksgiving.  We went to my cousin's for dinner, and then to a friend's house for dessert.  This is the first time I've gone to my cousin's for dinner and was concerned about what might be served.  He is a chef (owns his own restaurant), so I was mostly concerned that most of the food would be "restauranty" kind of food and very high in sodium and fat.  I started stressing out about it and wishing the day was not all about the food, and that it would be more about visiting with relatives.  So....I made the decision that it was NOT going to be all about the food, and I would MAKE it about visiting.  How to accomplish this I thought....planning!

So that's exactly what I did!  I planned to have a good, filling breakfast shortly before leaving the house for my cousin's.  I also planned to bring food to leave in the car in case I didn't want to eat what was offered and was hungry when I left.  I also planned to bring a dessert that I knew the points plus value for.

I had three eggs, 1/2 cup of black beans, 2 strips of center cut bacon and an apple with 1.5cups of skim milk at about 11am.  It was more food that I usually eat, and I was little fuller than I like, but I figured it would keep me from eating more than I wanted to eat at lunch/dinner.  We left around 12 to head to my cousin's, where lunch/dinner was going to be served at around 2. 

All my planning paid off, as he had made traditional Thanksgiving food and it didn't look overly fatty (yeah!).  I had what I estimated to be about 5oz of turkey, about 1/3 cup of stuffing, a 1/3 cup of carrot/turnip, 1/3 cup of squash, 1/3 cup of macaroni & cheese (homemade), 1/2 a piece of cornbread, and two mini cupcakes that I had made.  Surprisingly, I was not stuffed or full after eating all of that.  I was quite satisfied however, so that made me happy.  It also made me happy that everyone else was moaning and groaning about eating too much and I was quite content and satisfied!

I was hungry later when we got home and had a serving of pasta, sauce and 1.5cups of skim milk for dinner.  I also had an apple later on for a snack.

All in all, I was happy with Thanksgiving and feel I had a good day.

I did end the week having gone over my Weekly PP by 11, but that was not solely due to Thanksgiving.  I tend to eat my daily PP and about 6-7 of my WPP on a typical day anyway.  I could never survive on 29 Points a day and I don't know how people do, lol!  I would be starving all day long.

I will try to post tomorrow with the results of tonight's weigh-in!

~Chelle

An Update.............

Thought I'd post an update for anyone still reading this, lol.  I know I've been bad about posting - a lot has been going on in my life right now and I don't always think to come and post.  I am currently working full-time at a Temp Job, so I'm pretty tired when I get home at night.  I am going to try to post each week on Wednesday, rather than thinking I'll do it everyday, lol.

I am still sticking with Weight Watchers!  To date I have lost a total of 82.6lb since joining Dec 7th, 2010.  Yes, it's almost the 1 year mark (next week) and I'm getting pretty excited about it!  I am now attending meetings on Tuesday night (rather than lunch-time like I was when I was working part-time), so the total does not include this week's weigh-in.  I am going to try to take a long lunch next week and go to my "old" meeting.  It's where I started....where I attended most of my meetings, and I would like to celebrate with them, lol.

Adjusting to working full-time has had it's ups and downs.  Up until a few weeks ago, I was working 3days a week, 5hrs a day.  I am now working 40hrs a week.  The biggest challenge (other than not being tired) has been food and not being hungry all day.  I have found that I can not eat a lot at each "meal" or I feel full - and I do not like feeling full.  This is what I've been doing (times are approximate), but am trying to think of ways to change it up a little:

7:30am - Eat breakfast on my way to work. Usually a packet of Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal with blueberries and chopped up apple mixed in, 1.5cups skim milk and sometimes a banana if I'm still hungry.

10:00am - Have a small snack at my desk.  Usually a Chobani yogurt and fruit (either banana, apple or some clementines).

12:00pm - Lunch.  Lately it has been 5-6oz lean ham, fruit.  Sometimes I'll have a flatbread with it w/a wedge of Laughing Cow on the flatbread.

3:00pm - Snack of Chobani and a fruit.  Sometimes I'll have a few almonds when I leave work at 5 if I'm really hungry.

6:pm/7pm - Dinner which usually consists of 4-5oz of protein, vegetable, sometimes a starch, 1.5cups skim milk

10pm - Snack of banana, flatbread and 1T peanut butter.  I can't fall asleep if I'm hungry, and this is the time I get hungry.

The food I have varies, but this is a typical day.  I also drink 6-8 cups of water throughout the day at work.

I have been trying to figure out reasons why I get hungry so soon after eating (at least it seems like it to me).  I suspect part of it is the amount of food I'm eating when I eat, but I really can't eat more that what I am without feeling full. 

Choosing to eliminate certain foods.....

As promised, here is the follow up post to the one about food additives. 

I have decided, for various reasons that I'll get to, to severely reduce the amount of soy that I consume.  I would like to eliminate it all together, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that commitment yet.  How did I come to this decision?  Read on!

My WW leader has mentioned a few times that those that have had cancer (whether in remission or not) should not be eating soy, because it can cause it to come out of remission, and encourage it to grow.  It got me thinking.....that if soy was so bad for those that were diagnosed with cancer, why should "the rest of us" be eating it.  I did some research online about soy and the pros and cons of eating it.  I came to the conclusion that there really wasn't anything good about it.  In my research I learned that the different compounds in soy mimic hormones, specifically estrogen.  I took it all in, and didn't really give it much more thought at the time.

 

One day, a few weeks ago, I was upset having heard from two or three recruiters that I did not get jobs I had interviewed for.  I was alone in the car and had a mini-meltdown...I couldn't stop crying and the only thing that made me feel any better was screaming at the top of my lungs over and over.  Among my rantings while crying, I kept repeating "What's wrong with me....I never used to be like this."  I started thinking and trying to figure out what had changed semi-recently (the last 6 months or so).  Yes, the job thing is stressful, but it seemed to be something more than that (I have been unemployed for about 2.5yrs, and it was fairly recent that this was happening).  I realized, after thinking for a bit, the feelings that I was having lately were irritability, general moodiness, almost no patience, frustration that came on all of a sudden with little prompting, etc......pretty much the symptoms of PMS.  Except it was all the time, not just before my period (which is the only time it used to happen). 

 

I remembered what I had read about soy, and when I got home started looking at the ingredients on the foods I eat, especially those I eat on a daily (or almost-daily) basis.  I found that the oatmeal I have been eating a packet of every single day (some days two packets) for close to 4 months had soy protein as it's main source of protein!  I was buying the name brand (Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal) but had switched to the store brand because it was cheaper.  I found that just about every canned tuna has soy in it (I was eating almost a can a day for the last week or so), and most baked goods contain soy.  

 

I realized that immediately throwing away everything that had soy in it was going to create a HUGE bill at the grocery store, so I decided to eliminate soy from the things I ate every day, like the oatmeal and tuna.  Those that I only eat occasionally (bread, bagels, cake) I decided to not be too concerned about for now.  At some point I will, but it's less important to me right now. 

 

The light mayo that I was using to make my tuna salad has soybean oil as the first ingredient.  I looked for mayo without it, but only found full fat mayo and was not willing to count the points for full fat mayo.  I found it after I had returned from the store (I had gone searching for soy-free versions of stuff I ate daily) and was not going back.  So I decided to try using sour cream instead of mayo (the points are a whole lot less than mayo).  It tasted just as good as with mayo (at least to me).  So, I am now using sour cream in sandwiches (which I don't eat very often) and for making chicken and ham salad.  

 

The other day, I made an egg salad with the sour cream instead of mayo.  It was pretty bland.  I actually put salt and pepper in it (I almost never put salt on food, I just don't like it).  So, I started looking online for mayo recipes, etc...  Well, one link led to another to another, and I ended up finding a recipe for a lo-fat mayo made from greek yogurt.  I made it this afternoon and it was super-simple!  A 6oz container of Chobani plain greek yogurt, a tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of dijon mustard.  The recipe really didn't have any directions, so I mixed the mustard and yogurt together first, then whisked the mixture while I slowly added the oil.  In reading how to make real mayo, it has to be done very slowly - I didn't know if it mattered with the yogurt but did it anyway.  It looked like a thin mayo.  The recipe said it will thicken in 24 hours, so I put it in the fridge and am currently waiting.  We'll see what tomorrow evening brings!

 

The peanut butter I eat everyday also had soybean oil as it's main ingredient (besides peanuts).  I looked at the ones I had at home, and the Peter Pan that I have does not have soybean oil in it.  I promptly threw away the other 3 opened containers of three different peanut butters (I LOVE peanut butter and love variety!).  When I went to the store, I looked and found that Skippy Natural w/Honey does not have soybean oil in it's ingredient list.  I love peanut butter with honey mixed in, and this is the only honey one that does not have soybean oil in it.

 

There are a ton of foods that have soy in them though.  The bread that I love has it, as does the ice cream I love.  Since I don't eat these every day (a loaf of bread lasts me a month or more), I have decided to forgo giving them up right now.  When it's time to replace them, I will look for soy-free versions of them though.

We'll see how my theory holds up next time I'm faced with a situation in which my emotions could take over, but I feel better (at least in my head) not eating as much soy as I was.  I have always been more emotional than other people, but lately it has been an out-of-control feeling, which I don't like at all.

~Chelle

Do we really know how the food we eat affects us?

There are so many additives and such in the food we eat today.  I'm not going to try to delve into and explore all of them, there'd never be enough time (bonus: I wouldn't run out of topics, lol!).  There are two in particular that have affected/influenced the way I have chosen to eat lately.


Aspartame  (NutraSweet)

It's in almost any sugar-free or "diet" food available in the store.  Growing up as an overweight child (with an overweight mother), when we wanted soda, it was diet soda.  Somehow my brother got away with drinking regular soda, though I did not.  I also seemed to prefer the taste of the diet sodas versus regular soda. 

As an adult, I have a few friends that have varying degrees of sensitivity to aspartame.  One can drink an occasional soda, one gets migraines from drinking more than a few sips, the other gets violently ill from drinking as little as a sip of it.  I've always felt bad for them that they had to drink regular soda or no soda, while I enjoyed all the diet soda that I wanted.

About a year and a half ago (or so, I really don't know how long it was), I realized that drinking so much caffeine was not doing me any good (think top-of-your-lungs screaming at other cars on the road).  So, I stopped drinking all caffeinated soda of any kind.  I would occasionally drink caffeine-free diet soda, but it was hard to find in restaurants - I did not buy soda for the house.  One day (after a few months of not drinking any soda) I had a caffeinated diet soda.  I got a headache later that day and assumed it was the caffeine.  So, a few days later, in an effort to figure it out, I had a diet caffeine free soda.....still got a headache.  A few days after that, I had a regular caffeinated soda....NO headache!  It was like a light bulb going off!!!  The aspartame seemed to be causing the headache.

Well.....sooooo much stuff suddenly made sense!  My entire life (from when I can remember back to) I have always gotten headaches very very easily.  There were always other reasons to explain the headaches (hair too tight, loud noises, etc....).  I even had a perpetual headache the entirety of my senior year at college when I got my undergraduate degree.  I literally lived on tylenol (thank god I still have a liver!) 24/7 for close to 8 months (excluding vacations at home).  I had not yet learned about ibuprofen, so tylenol was what I took.  That time, the headaches went away if I was home, so I think it was mostly stress.  They have not returned like that yet. 

Since I realized about a year ago about the aspartame, I have avoided it at all costs and have not had the frequency of headaches that I once had.  It hasn't always been easy to find substitutes for the products I used to enjoy.  If it were not for WW, I would be drinking the full sugar versions of everything.  However, I do not want to count the points for these items, lol.  I researched aspartame and the other artificial sweeteners in an effort to find something that I could live with.  I decided not to try the other, long-time artificial sweeteners (Equal, etc....).  I also read up on Stevia and Splenda.  I came to the conclusion that none of them are all that great for you, BUT each person needs to decide for themselves what they want to do.

The lesser of the evils seems to be Stevia (and Truvia, which is made from Stevia I think).  The only area any of this has really been an issue is flavored beverages.  I love flavored water, but almost all of it is sweetened with aspartame.  I have found a few brands that do not though.  They either use Splenda (which may not be any better, but doesn't give me headaches) or Stevia/Truvia.  Crystal Light Pure and Hansen's (I can find it in Hannaford and some Walmart's) use Stevia/Truvia.  There is also a store-brand of Crystal Light Pure at Walmart that uses Stevia/Truvia.   There may be other, not-well-known brands of them out there, I read the labels on all new ones that I see.  Hannaford sells a store-brand of sparkling water that is sweetened with Splenda.  I love it, and it satisfies the soda craving sometimes, but I try not to buy it too much.  As for soda, there are not many out there that I have found.  Pepsi One is sweetened with Splenda and is 1 calorie per serving.  There is a new soda out called Zevia which I believe is sweetened with Stevia.  I have not tried them yet.  At $5-$6 for a six-pack of them, versus $4 for a 12-pack of Pepsi One, I'm going with the Pepsi.  Plus, the PepsiOne has caffeine.  The only reason I really drink soda is for the caffeine, when I need it.

So, I've been living without aspartame for a year or so (like I said, I don't know exactly when), and it seems to be going good.  I drink a lot more water than I used to, which is not a bad thing.  It certainly helps to get in all the water I'm supposed to drink per WW.

Stay tuned for another post about another food I've decided to reduce/eliminate from my diet. 

Diet....that word has so many connotations to it.  The first one people usually think of is a weight-loss diet.  There are many many others out there.  Diabetic diet, weight-gain diet, etc....  The diet I am talking about is a nutrition diet (that which makes up what we eat).  The definition from Wikipedia is: In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism.  So, this is the one I think of when I say the word "diet".

~Chelle

Why does WW work for me?

I've been asked this question by a few people, mostly in my WW meeting, including my leader.

I once said to her, "when I follow the plan, the weight seems to come off pretty easily."

I've been reading the WW boards lately, and thinking about this very topic.  I think I may have come to some conclusions/insights as to why it seems to work for me, so far at least (I'm not superstitious, but I don't want to jinx anything either, lol).

1.  I eat every single one of my Daily Points Allowance, as well as my Weekly Points Allowance.  If I earned Activity Points - I'd eat every one of those too.  Occasionally I'll have 2-3 of my WPA leftover on a Monday night (I get weighed on Tuesday, and my week begins on Tuesday).   If I don't eat the vast majority of them, I don't lose weight.

There are many people that don't and can't eat all of their Daily and Weekly Points Allowances - according to them, they will not lose (or even gain) if they do.  I think it has more to do with what they are using their points on, rather than the fact that they are eating them. 

2.  I am not a big fan of bread (of any type), so therefore, I do not eat a lot of it.  When I do want bread, I want good bread.  My bread of choice is Arnold Oat Nut bread.  It is 3P+ per slice of bread.  A 16-slice loaf of bread lasts me between two and three weeks.  I have started freezing it in 4-slice packages so that it won't go bad and get moldy.  I also enjoy portuguese muffins, grilled in a pan with 1/2 teaspoon of garlic bread spread.  On the rare occasion I have a hot dog or hamburger, I prefer Martin's Potato Rolls.  I've decided I'm no longer going to eat food that I don't actually like.  It's just not worth the points for it.  Will I eat other breads/rolls if I'm at someone's house.....usually, but in my own home I buy what I prefer.

3.  I eat a lot of protein at meals.  I usually have four or five ounces of protein at every meal.  If I don't, I don't stay satisfied as long.  I love eggs.  I probably eat them 5 or 6 days a week.  My egg of choice is Eggland's Best eggs.  They have more vitamins than regular eggs, and two of them are only 3 P+.  I eat two at a time.  I also have lo-fat maple sausages with them most of the time.  I fry them in 1/3tsp of butter if I'm making fried eggs.  If I do scrambled or an omelette, they are still cooked in 1/3tsp of butter, usually with 1/3cup Jimmy Dean Sausage Crumbles mixed in, instead of the maple sausages. 

4.  I drink/eat a lot of non-fat dairy.  I drink between 4.5 and 6 cups of skim milk every day.  I love it, I always have.  It is 2 P+ per cup, and I'm perfectly ok with using up to 12 of my daily points for milk.  I experimented a little while ago, and unless I have milk with every meal, I do not stay satisfied as long.  Some meals I have 2 cups, others 1.5 cups - it really depends on what I feel like.  I also eat a non-fat Chobani yogurt most nights as part of my snack.  If you never thought you could like Greek yogurt - I urge you to give Chobani a try!  In most stores, it's around $1, and that's not much to try something new.  I never thought I'd like greek yogurt, until a friend urged me to try it.  YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM is all I can say to that!

5.  I don't deprive myself of anything I really want.  I am fortunate, that a bite or two is usually enough to satisfy most cravings.  I can eat one or two really good french fries without inhaling the whole container.  I can take one bite of a candy bar, without eating the rest of it.  I love nuts, and have started having 1/2 - 1 ounce of nuts most nights with my snack.  Satisfaction occurs in the stomach, as well as in the brain, in most cases.  I know I'm in the minority as far as the cravings-thing goes.  I really wish I could explain it better.  When I'm eating the proper portion and types of food, I just don't crave "junky" and overprocessed foods.

6.  Most of my daily and weekly points are used on real, actual food.  Very little of them are used on junk food.  Yes, I do have a piece of cake when it's a birthday, and occasionally will order dessert in a restaurant, but not very often.  I've also noticed that I'm just as satisfied with a half serving of cake/dessert/etc, as I am with a full serving.  I have one ice cream that I absolutely love....it's Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip.  I don't like other mint chocolate chips - they just never taste right.  Breyer's is all Natural, and there's not artificial green coloring in the mint ice cream.  It's white.  It's the best I've ever tasted!


~Chelle

The last few months.....

Hey everyone!  I sincerely appreciate any of you that are still reading my blog, I know I've failed at blogging daily (or even weekly or monthly, lol!).  Things have been a little crazy lately and I'm trying to get back into blogging on a more regular basis.

Like last time, although I haven't been blogging, I HAVE been continuing to follow the Points Plus plan and working it the best that I can.  To date, I have lost 68.4lbs, that's an average of about 2lbs a week!   I am down below 200lbs!  I have to say, it's an awesome feeling!!! 

I even went away to a Cake Decorating Convention in Charlotte NC this past week and managed to stay on plan and lose 1.8lbs this week.  I pre-planned and brought foods for breakfast and lunch.  I was driving down, so it was a little easier than if I had flown down.  I LOVE LOVE milk, but was not sure if I was going to have a refrigerator to keep it in, so I brought Carnation Instant Breakfast (the premixed one) No Sugar Added.  I bought the chocolate flavor.  It wasn't milk, but it satisfied the milk craving until I got home and was able to drink it again!  I also bought Chobani Greek Yogurt (I had a cooler that I could have kept it in with ice if needed) with me.  Those pretty much comprised my breakfast every day, except for two of the days when we were provided breakfast.  For lunch I brought Thomas' Hearty Bagels (oat and honey), packets of peanut butter (thanks to minimis.biz!!  Love that site!), and Hannaford version of Special K cereal (more protein than Kellogg's brand).  Every night before bed I weighed out two servings of the cereal (4pts total btw), and packed my lunch in my bag.  I grabbed my breakfast stuff out of the refrigerator (yes we got one!) and took off for the day.  Dinner was really the only meal that was up in the air, but I did ok. 

I didn't track what I was eating, but decided to make healthy choices and see how it went.   I even had dessert one night and had bbq pork for dinner!  I love this plan!!  There is no food that is off-limits!!   I also brought tons of the "water sticks" as I call them, to flavor the water and make sure that I drank all of my water each day.  I had soda once or twice because I was exhausted, but did not have very much of it.  I did not pass up anything that I really wanted to eat.  A very dear friend flew in from Holland to drive down with me.  She even brought me a small box of real Belgian chocolates from Belgium!!  I had a few on the trip (and shared with my friends that were there) and have decided that I am having one a day until they are gone.  I love them, and still want them, but it needs to be in moderation.  They are sooooooooooo decadent and delicious!!!!!!!!!!

This week is gonna be tough, lol, I think I ended up eating a little more last week than I am used to, because I have been hungry all week long since I got home.  I have already used all of my weekly points plus allowance and it is only Saturday.  I looked back, and except for the chocolates, all of the points I have been eating are for real food, not junk.  I will continue eating when my body is hungry this week, and if I use more points, then oh well.  I'm ok with whatever happens on Tuesday when I get weighed.

~Chelle

Tuesday, May 17th

Yes, I skipped a few days.  It appears as though the food that I entered in the WW online tracker, is no longer there for some of the days.....and there's pretty much no way I'm going to remember what I ate those days.

Today was weigh-in for me.  I lost 2.2 lbs, for a total of 48.8lbs so far!  I believe I had about 8 of my WPA leftover from last week.

So, today I had a half serving of Kix cereal before I left for my WW meeting.   I was up early and was hungry, lol.  The kix were 1 P+.

I then had breakfast at my meeting, after I got weighed, lol.  I had a packet of Quaker Weight control Oatmeal with a half ounce of craisins, a half ounce of golden raisins, and some frozen strawberries and blueberries mixed in.  I also had 2 cups of skim milk. Breakfast was 10 P+.

I was running errands after my meeting, so lunch was on the run.  I ended up having a Kashi peanut butter bar, and a Land O Lakes Snack Cheese for lunch.  Lunch ended up 6P+.

For dinner, I made my own version of pulled pork.  I took a pork tenderloin, cut it into three pieces and put it in a saucepan with a can of cola (not diet) and a good amount of ketchup.  Once it boiled, set it to a simmer, and let it go for about 45 minutes or so.  Until the pork was of pulling consistency.  I then took the pork out of the pan, and using two forks pulled it all until it was shredded.  I then put the shredded pork back into the sauce in the pan, and let it cook until it was thickened.

I had 5oz of the pulled pork, 2oz of cooked pasta and a half cup of corn.  I also had 2 cups of skim milk.  Dinner was 13P+.

I was hungry later, so I had a snack of 1oz mixed nuts, 1/2oz of cheese, a Chobani yogurt, and 1.5cups of skim milk.  My snack was 13 P+.

I ate 42 P+ today, using 12 of my WPA.

~Chelle

Eggs

I love eggs.  I really really love them.  I love them scrambled, fried, poached, omeletted (I don't really think that's even a word, lol).  I can't imagine not eating them 3 or 4 times a week for breakfast.  Lately, in my WW meeting and on the WW message forums, I've been noticing more and more that people are eating egg beaters (or some other egg substitute) rather than actual eggs.  Yes, I know they are less Points Plus than an egg, but what about eating real food, rather than processed.  I'm sure I eat my fair share of processed foods, but I've been slowly trying to eat less of them. 

It just seems, to me at least, that I'd rather count the points for real eggs, rather than sacrifice the flavor and nutrition of eggs, for a substitute.  I really noticed it a few weeks ago.  I went to Cracker Barrel with my family for dinner, and figured I'd get the egg substitute omelette, rather than the real egg one.  You know what....it had no taste what so ever!  It was very bland, and didn't even have the same consistency of a regular omelette.   It was actually kind of gross, but I wasn't going to wait for more food to be cooked, so I ate it anyway.  I did, however, vow to never order egg substitute in a restaurant again!  I decided right then and there, that it would always be worth it, to me, to eat real eggs.

At home, I have Eggland's Best.  They just seem like they have more nutrition in them than regular eggs.  I don't know if they really do, but I think so, and that's what matters.

So, that's my take on egg vs. egg substitutes.   Feel free to comment!

~Chelle

Friday, May 13th

I spent the day out with a friend today, mostly hanging out, but did some shopping too.

For breakfast I had 1.5cups (2 servings) of Quaker Cinnamon Life cereal, with 1.5cups of skim milk.  Breakfast was 9P+.

I brought my lunch with me to my friend's house (she's an awesomely good friend, so I knew she wouldn't care).  I brought the leftover sandwich from Panera from a few days ago.  I ended up only eating about half of the leftover, with water to drink.  Lunch was 7P+.

I had a Chobani yogurt for a snack later, before we went to the grocery store.  The yogurt was 3P+.

Dinner was a beef stirfry that my friend made.  I had a third cup of brown rice, and approx 4oz of stir-fry beef, vegetables, and a small drizzle of marinade mixed in.  Dinner was 6P+.

I was hungry when I got home, so I had a cheese stick, a Chobani yogurt and 2 cups of skim milk.  Snack was 9P+.

I ate 34 points today, using 4 of my WPA.

~Chelle

Thursday, May 12th

Breakfast today was a cooked breakfast (my absolute favorite!!!!!!!).  I had two Eggland's Best eggs, one maple sausage (lo-fat), 2oz of leftover baked potato cooked on the stove and 1.5cups of skim milk.  Breakfast was 8P+.

Lunch was more leftover pulled chicken.  I had 2.5oz of chicken mixed with a half cup of frozen corn and a third cup of coconut rice, and put into a flour tortilla.  I also had 1.5 cups of skim milk to drink.  Lunch was 12P+.

Dinner was some steak that we had bought at the grocery store.  I had a 3.5oz steak, 4oz of leftover potato, a half cup of frozen corn and 1.5 cups of skim milk.  Dinner was 12P+.

Today I ate 32 points, using 2 of my WPA.

~Chelle

Wednesday, May 11th

Today I met some good friends for lunch, followed by shopping!  (Who doesn't love shopping!)

Breakfast today was two servings of Cinnamon Life cereal, a banana and 1.5cups of skim milk.  Breakfast totaled 9P+.

Lunch was at the 99 Restaurant.  There are so many dishes here that are high in Points Plus, it's sometimes tough to find something that is worth eating and counting the points for.  Fortunately, there are a few dishes that I like there, so I can find something to eat.  Today I ordered the steak fajitas.  According to the nutritional information on the restaurant's web site, and using my Points Plus Calculator, the entire entree is 31 points plus.  Now.....that includes all the tortillas (of which they give you 5), all the cheese (which we estimated to be 3 ounces), all the sour cream, and all the oil that they normally use.  It would also include rice/beans/etc.... except 99 does not give you these, lol.  Since I don't eat all of the high-pointy food, I ordered them, and requested them to be cooked with less oil than normal.  I don't know how much was used, but they were much less shiny than normal - so that was encouraging!  In figuring out how many Points Plus were in the entree I ate, I started with 31 and subtracted 8 (4 tortillas @ 2P+ each, I ate one of the 5), subtracted 9 (3 ounces of cheese), and subtracted 1 (I only ate half the sour cream, not all of it).  That left me with 13, then I subtracted 1 more point for the less oil and I didn't eat all of what was on the sizzle plate (which wasn't even sizzling.......).  I had water to drink, so my lunch was 12P+.

Dinner was 5oz of cooked spaghetti, a little bit of sauce, a leftover lobster tail from Friday's trip to Outback, and half a portuguese muffin grilled with a 1/2 teaspoon of garlic butter.  I also had 1.5 cups of skim milk to drink.  Dinner was 11P+.

I was hungry later, so I had a Chobani non-fat yogurt and some sliced mango that I got at the store.  Snack was 3P+.

I ate a total of 35 P+ for today, using 5 of my WPA.  That leaves me with 32 WPA for the rest of the week.

~Chelle

If I can ever remember to take a picture BEFORE I wolf down my food, there will be photos posted!  lol

Tuesday, May 10th

Today was weigh-in day!   I ended up eating all of my WPA last week, and lost 1 lb this week!   It's been 22 weeks since I joined WW, and I've lost a total of 46.6lbs.......that's an average of 2.1lbs a week!  That's a loss of 17.5% of my body weight!   That's incredible!!!   A member in my meeting had her daughter with her last week, and she said that her daughter weighed just about 50lbs.........I lost an entire KID!!!!!!!    

So, what did I have to eat today???   Well, it was my brother's girlfriend's birthday, so we went out for Mexican food and had birthday cake afterwards, so I used quite a bit of my WPA.

Breakfast was a packet of Quaker Weight Control oatmeal with a half ounce of golden raisins, a half ounce of craisins and some frozen fruit mixed in, and 2 cups of skim milk.  Breakfast came to 10 P+.

Lunch ended up being a Kashi granola bar, since by the time I got hungry for lunch, a regular lunch would have made me too full for an early dinner.  The bar was 4P+.

For Dinner, we went to a local Mexican restaurant.  They put down chips and salsa, which everyone else wolfed down....I had a couple of chips.  They also ordered nachos, I had one.  I was really trying to save my appetite for my entree.  I ordered steak fahitas.  I used one of the tortillas, put a little bit of sour cream, guacamole and refried beans on it (barely a tsp of each), then loaded it with the steak and onions (which did not look shiny/greasy at all!).  I ended up eating about half of the steak/onion mixture, and did not touch the rice or the rest of the beans, or the cheese.  I brought the leftover steak/onion mixture home.  I weighed it when I got home and estimated that I ate about 2oz of the steak, so I counted that, one tortilla, a tablespoon of oil, and a little bit for the sour cream/beans/guac combo.  I estimated dinner to be 9 P+.

We had cake after we got home, I cut a fairly normal (small) piece of cake, and counted 9 P+ for it.  I have calculated the points in my home made cake and frosting before, and it averages out to 15-16P+ for one slice.  Since I had half a serving, I counted 9.

I was hungry later, so had the remaining leftover steak/onion mixture, my own tortilla, sour cream and cheese.  I also had 1.5 cups of skim milk.  My 'snack' was 9P+.  I also had a dessert of mango (which I bought pre-cut at the store!).

I ate a total of 42 P+ today, using 12 of my WPA.  Oh yeah, did I also mention that my daily P+ target went down to 30?  Well, it did.  It's funny.....the receptionists always seem sorry to tell you that you lost a point, but I tell them  "It's fine, that's why I'm here"  lol.

~Chelle

Monday, May 9th

Today is my day before weigh-in, and I started the day with my 31 P+ Target, and 8 of my WPA's.

Breakfast today was a packet of Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal with a half ounce of golden raisins, a half ounce of craisins and a mashed up banana in it.  I also had 1.5 cups of skim milk to drink.  Breakfast was 9P+.

I was out running errands today, so I had lunch at Panera Bread.  I love this place!  I chose the steak & cheddar panini (without knowing the P+ beforehand), an apple (wish I had asked to substitute the fruit cup), and water to drink.  I have found in the past, that a whole sandwich is too much for me to eat, so asked for a paper and bag to wrap up the other half of my sandwich and take it home.  While I was eating, I looked up the Nutritional Information on my smartphone and found that the half a sandwich was 12 P+.  At first I was shocked, then realized that was my entire meal, lol.  There was horseradish in the sandwich (which I didn't realize and don't really like), and it got to be too much, so I only ate 3/4 of the half sandwich.  I counted 9P+ for the portion that I ate.

I had a serving of pasta (2oz dry, 5oz cooked), spaghetti sauce, slice of bread grilled with 1/2 tsp garlic butter, and 1.5 cups of skim milk for dinner.  Dinner was 11 P+.  Did you know that 1/2tsp of butter has 0 P+ value?

As it stands right now, I have eaten 29P+ for the day, leaving me with 2P+ for the day, and 8WPA remaining.

Should I choose to have a snack and use them, I will update this post :)

Sunday, May 8th

Today was Mother's Day!!!!!!   I took my mom out for a late lunch today. :)

For breakfast, I had two servings of MultiGrain Cheerios, 1.5 cups of skim milk, a banana, a slice of toast and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.  I spread the peanut butter on the toast, and sliced the banana up.  I put some of the banana slices on the toast (LOVE pb & banana!), and the rest in the cereal.  My breakfast totaled 14 P+.

My mom requested Veal Parm for lunch, so we went to a little italian place about an hour away that is supposed  to be really good.  I looked up their menu online before we went, and decided on Seafood Fra Diavolo with Lobster ravioli.  I love Fra Diavolo sauce, and was craving seafood - so this seemed to fit the bill pretty good!

The food came and it looked fantastic!  There were six big lobster ravioli's (each one about the size of my palm!), mussles, littlenecks (a type of clam), sea scallops and jumbo shrimp.  I couldn't wait to dig into it!  I took a bite of my meal and the heat (spice) from the Fra Diavolo hit me in the back of my throat like I couldn't imagine - it was soooooo spicy!!!!  I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish the meal, but persevered.  I ended up eating about half of it, along with I think about a gallon of water (lol), and a small piece of bread.  I did some research online when I got home, and estimated that the portion I ate was about 9P+.  I am not all that concerned that I'm right, just that I gave it a reasonable attempt to figure out the points for the food.

I had made my mom a cake for Mother's Day (I decorate cakes as a hobby).  It went against all that I know, lol, but I made her her favorite cake.  Yellow box mix and chocolate canned frosting.  I put everything into the WW Recipe Builder, and put in 12 servings to have an idea of how many P+ a slice of cake would be.  Well.....when I cut the cake later, I ended up cutting slices that were 1/16th of the cake (instead of 1/12th).  I adjusted the Recipe Builder, and each slice was only 9P+!  So, I had a serving of the cake for 9P+.

I was hungry later, so had my leftovers for dinner.  I first put them in a colander and rinsed off all of the Fra Diavolo sauce, lol.  I heated it up with some regular pasta sauce.  I ate most of the leftovers, and had 1.5 cups of skim milk with them.  My dinner was 10P+.

I ended up eating 42 P+ for the day, using 11 of my WPA.

Saturday, May 7th

Breakfast was AWESOME today!!!!!!!!!!!  (I told you I loved breakfast!)

I had two Eggland's Best eggs, two maple sausage links, 2.5oz of the fingerling potatoes cooked up on the stove in a little olive oil, and 1.5 cups of milk to drink.  Breakfast was 11 P+ today.

For lunch, I had half of the leftover panini sandwich from a few days ago, and two cups of skim milk.  I had intended to eat the entire half sandwich that was left over, but I just didn't feel like finishing it.  Then I was going to have a blueberry Cottage Double that I bought at the store (I used to LOVE these and didn't realize they still made them.  Well....I opened it up, stirred it up and took a bite.  I did not like it!

Well..........I wasn't about to continue eating something I was not enjoying, so I tossed it in the trash and took out a Chobani and had that. :)   Lunch (including the chobani) was 11 P+.

Dinner was 5oz of the leftover pulled chicken that I mixed with some frozen corn, and put into two flour tortillas.  I also had 1.5 cups of skim milk to drink.  Dinner was 11 P+.

I felt like a snack later (not necessarily hungry) so I had 1oz of mixed nuts and 1 cup of skim milk.  My snack was 7P+.

Today I ate 40 P+, using 9 of my WPA.

Friday, May 6th

Today I had oatmeal for breakfast.  I have quite a variety of foods for breakfast.  It's my absolute favorite meal of the day (ESPECIALLY if it's cooked breakfast!).  There are some days that I could eat breakfast for every meal of the day, lol!

I had a packet of Quaker Weight Control oatmeal (maple & brown sugar, or cinnamon - don't remember which), with a half ounce of golden raisins, a half ounce of craisins and a mashed banana mixed in.  I also had 1.5cups of skim milk to drink.  Breakfast was 9P+.

Went shopping with some friends in the afternoon.  We decided on an early dinner, so I had a Kashi granola bar for a snack.  I wasn't hungry enough for actual lunch and didn't want to spoil my dinner.  We went to Outback Steakhouse for lunch.  I was craving seafood (at a steakhouse - go figure!), so I ordered the twin lobster tails, baked potato (added sour cream as I wanted it), and a side salad with honey mustard dressing.  I had water to drink since I was out, and could only eat one of the lobster tails (brought the other one home to have later).  Lunch (including the Kashi bar) was 13 P+.

For dinner, later, I had a serving of the egg salad from the other day, and 1.5 cups of skim milk.  Dinner was 10 P+.

I had a snack later that night of chobani yogurt for 3 P+.

Today I ate 35 P+, using 4 of my WPA.

Thursday, May 5th

So much for trying to update daily, lol.   I'll eventually get to it :)


So, for breakfast on thursday I had two Eggland's eggs cooked in the frying pan with two maple breakfast sausages, along with 1.5 cups of skim milk to drink.  Breakfast was 8 P+.

Lunch consisted of a half of a panini from the grocery store (ham, turkey and cheese), and 1.5 cups of skim milk.  Lunch was 12 P+.

For dinner, I cooked up some pork tenderloin that I bought at the store and marinated with maple syrup and dijon mustard.  I also cooked up some fingerling potatoes.  I boiled them on the stove until cooked (did not peel or cut them up), drained them, tossed with a little olive oil and some dill weed.  I had a 4oz serving of pork tenderloin and 2.5oz of the potatoes.  I also had broccoli with a half ounce of shredded cheese on top, and of course 1.5cups of skim milk.  Dinner was 10 P+.

For a snack later, I had a peach chobani yogurt for 3 P+.

I had 33 P+ for the day, using 2 of my WPA's.

Some yummmmmmy chicken!!!!!!!!

I made some AWESOME chicken last night for dinner.  It's an extremely easy recipe - one that I don't even have written down!  I found it years and years ago (probably close to 15?) in a free newspaper at a campground I was camping at (I LOVE camping btw!).  The title is a little weird, but it tastes absolutely fantastic!  So what is this fantastic recipe I keep talking about?????????

Coke 'n' Catsup Chicken.   Yup, you read that right!  It makes this amazing bbq sauce as it cooks!

It's soooooooooo super simple, ANYONE can make it!   You take approx 2 lbs of chicken (I used a package of 8 boneless skinless thighs cause I don't eat white meat chicken, but you can use whatever you want), 12oz of cola (any real soda will work, NOT sugar free!), catsup (I don't have a measurement, but 1/4 cup or so should be good).  Put everything into a saucepan with a cover, set burner on med-high and bring to boil.  Once it boils, turn burner down and simmer approx 45min or so.  THAT'S IT!  It comes out the consistency of pulled pork.  It's sooooooooooooo gooooooooood!!!!!!!!!!!!    As for how I count it.....I put the recipe into the Recipe Builder on the eTools website, and it came up very pointy.  I then realized it assumed I was also eating 1/8th of the sauce (which I don't!).  So, to count it, I simply figured out the points for the weight of the chicken and added 1 point for the sauce.

So.........what did I have to eat today???

Breakfast was a packet of Quaker Oatmeal Weight Control Oatmeal (4P+) with a half ounce of golden raising (1P+), a half ounce of Craisins (1P+) and a mashed up banana mixed in.  I also had 1.5 cups of skim milk to drink with it (3P+).

I had tried the McDonald's oatmeal a while ago and loved it.  I realized, though, that for the same points, I could make my own, and have a lot more oatmeal to eat, lol.  I've also started drinking 1.5 cups of skim milk with each meal, rather than 2 cups.  It saves a few points in the day, and I haven't noticed a difference as far as feeling satisfied until the next meal.

Lunch was some egg salad that I made up the other day, the portion I had was 7 P+.  Here's a picture of the egg salad:

Dinner was 4oz of the pulled chicken (3P+), an ounce of cooked pasta (1P+), and 1.5cups of skim milk (3P+).

I was hungry later so had another 4oz serving of the chicken (3P+), 1/3 cup of coconut rice (3P+), a half cup of frozen corn (2P+) and 1.5 cups of skim milk (3P+).

I believe that might be all for tonight, but it may not be.  So far I've eaten 36 P+ for today, using 5 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance.  With Tuesday and Wednesday's food, that leaves me with 37 WPA for the week.  I try to use them evenly throughout the week, unless I know I have something coming up on the weekend.  Even then, I will only save half of my WPA for it.  I have to use my WPA throughout the week - I could not be satisfied using only my Daily Points, it's just not enough food for me, I get hungry.

If I end up eating more tonight, I will update the post.

Update:

Ok, so I got hungry like I thought I would, lol.  I chose to have a Chobani yogurt.  I never thought I'd like greek yogurt, but was convinced by a good friend to try it.  It was delicious!!!!!!  the entire serving of Chobani is only 5P+ - pretty good for a snack, imo.  Here is the raspberry one that I had for a snack tonight:

~Chelle

A long hiatus.........

Hello all!

I have been absent from here for quite a while (just about 3 months)....what can I say - life got busy and I lost interest in daily blogging.  My life has calmed down somewhat and I realized I missed the daily blogging on here.  Just because I've been gone, doesn't mean I've gone off-track as far as WW is concerned.  I have been sticking to the plan and seeing the results.

I believe the last time I posted (Feb 2nd) I was looking at a Daily Points Target of 34, and had lost 22.6lbs.  I am very excited to say that I am now down to a Daily Points Target of 31 and have lost 45.6 lbs!!!!!

I am going to renew my efforts and enthusiasm for blogging my weightloss journey :)

~Chelle

Week 8: Weigh-In Day

I did not eat breakfast before my meeting today.  I also ended up wearing my winter boots and not my sneakers today.  I also didn't have to go to the bathroom before I got weighed (I know...TMI, but grrrrrr).  So, in light of all that, I took my boots off to get weighed.

I lost 3.6lbs, but figure some of it is the lack of footwear, lol.  I'm sure it will even itself out next week.  I also lost another Points Plus of food, so my Daily Target is now 34.

I brought oatmeal with me to the meeting.  One packet (4P+) with a banana mixed into it, and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  Due to the snow storm, the center was open but our meeting was not being held, so I got weighed in and left.  I headed home and ate my oatmeal on the way home.  I also stopped at Toys R Us and Walmart to get some things.  I think I was one of three people shopping at Toys R Us, lol!

For lunch I had one serving of the Mexican Meat mixture I made up the other night (4P+) and scrambled two Eggland's Eggs (3P+) to have with it.  I mixed them together and tossed in some picante sauce, and it was really good.  I also had two cups of skim milk with it (4P+).

I was then an very lazy bum and went to my room and crawled into bed to watch tv.  I fell asleep, and napped for about 4 or 5 hours.  I woke up around 9pm and was hungry, so I had a bowl of cheerios (5P+) and two cups of milk (4P+).  I stayed up for a bit, watching tv and on the computer, then made myself a small bag of microwave kettle corn for a snack.  I had that (3P+) and two cups of milk (4P+), and fell asleep about midnight, and slept till morning, lol.

I ate 35 Points Plus today, using 1 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 48 for the week.

Heading to a cake show and competition the end of this week, in NJ, so those WPA's will come in handy!

Day 56, Mon Jan 31st: A new Food to try!

I was going to have oatmeal for breakfast when I got up this morning, but was too focused on getting the car packed up and the teacher to the airport that I didn't feel hungry.

I got all my stuff down to the car and loaded up by 8:30 or so.  The teacher met me downstairs at the car at 9am, and we proceeded to figure out how to fit her suitcases and boxes (to ship home) in the car.  Miraculously we got it all packed in.  Here's a picture of what the back of my car looked like when we were done.  The rest of it looked just a packed in!



We stopped at the post office so she could mail some boxes home, then at the gas station to get gas, then headed to the airport.

I dropped her off at about 10:30 and headed home.  It was then that I realized I was starving!  I decided to try McDonald's new oatmeal that I've heard so much about.  So, I stopped and got one (with the brown sugar added) (7P+), and asked them for skim milk, and was served low fat milk.  I figured, oh well, I want milk.  So I had one cup of low fat milk also (3P+).  It was pretty tasty!  It has apples, golden raisins and craisins in it.

I was starving when I got home, so I heated up some lunch.  I had three ounces of steak tips (6P+), half a cup of coconut rice (3P+), half cup of broccoli and cheese (1P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  I also had a frosted cupcake that someone had given to me (7P+). 

For dinner I cooked up two Jennie-O turkey burgers, threw in a back of VegAll frozen southwest veggies (corn, peppers, black beans), and a cup and a half of the coconut rice.  I cooked it all up and added some picante sauce to it.  I divided it into four servings when it was done. 

I had one serving of the Mexican Meat (4P+), one serving of the lavash bread (1P+), a tablespoon of sour cream (1P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  I really think it should have been two servings made from what I cooked up, because it wasn't very much food, and wasn't very filling.

I had a packet of oatmeal (4P+) with fruit, and two cups of skim milk (4P+) for a snack later that night.

I ate a total of 49 Points Plus for the day, using 14 of my weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 6 Points Plus uneaten for the week.  Weigh-In day is tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Day 55, Sun Jan 30th: Cake Meeting Day

Today was our Meeting Day.  It is an all-afternoon affair with lunch, business meeting, demonstrations and this time we had a yard sale afterwards.

I started the day with oatmeal and fruit (8P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  I was actually craving oatmeal - I don't think I've eaten it in two days!

There was also another class this morning, but I spent my morning running around setting up for the meeting this afternoon.

The lunch buffet consisted of rice, fish, chicken broccoli alfredo, rolls, cheesecake, soda, etc..  I had a half cup of the rice (3P+), a piece of the fish (4P+) and a few bites of the alfredo (1P+).  I did not get the cheesecake, again.  As the Chapter rep, I am the one that runs the meeting and does most of the talking.  This makes me extremely nervous, so I am not apt to eat at much as I normally would.  I had water to drink with my lunch.

After the meeting, and after everything was cleaned up and all my crap was back in my room, the teacher and I went out to eat for dinner.  She wanted to try the 99, so we went there.

I had their turkey tips (without the extra glaze) and ate about half of them (10P+), a plain baked potato (3P+) with a tablespoon of sour cream (1P+).  She got sweet potato fries with her order and insisted I have some (4P+).  I had water to drink with my meal.

After I got back to my room, I had two cups of skim milk (4P+).  Later I was hungry and had a packet of oatmeal (4P+) with grapes, and two cups of skim milk (4P+).

I ate 49 Points Plus today, using 14 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 20 for the rest of the week.

Day 54, Sat Jan 29th: A Day of Cake Classes

Started the day with breakfast at the hotel restaurant.  They had a breakfast buffet set up with eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, waffle maker, pancakes, cereal, fruit and I think some more stuff.

I chose to have scrambled eggs (5P+), a quarter cup of potato hash browns (2P+) and a cup and a half of skim milk (3P+).  I also had some of the fresh fruit they offered.

Then is was off to class to learn how to quill with gumpaste (a sugar paste).

After class, lunch was served.  It consisted up roll up sandwiches cut diagonally in half.  They also offered potato salad, garden salad and cheesecake for dessert.

I had a half of a sandwich (7P+) and water to drink.  I estimated what was in the sandwich and counted the best I could.  I declined on dessert, knowing that cheesecake would not be point-friendly.

One of my room-mates took the afternoon class, which was making flowers out of gumpaste.  The other one and I just kind of hung out in the closed restaurant for the afternoon.  We did run out to get milk for me, but didn't do much else.

After the class was over, we hung out a bit in our room, then decided to head to 99 for dinner.  I thought about looking up their menu and nutrition information online before we headed out, but opted not too.  Boy do I wish I had!

I ended up ordering the Cedar Plank Salmon with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli.  Now, I know salmon is pointy, but it's good for you.  I also know that salmon is usually a good choice in a restaurant.  What I did not know, was Cedar Plank Salmon at the 99 has a glaze on it.  I looked it up when I got back to the hotel, and the 6oz piece of salmon was 20 Points!!!!!  Yes, you read that right - 20!  The same size piece of salmon, plain, is 9 points, so I don't know what kind of glaze was on it.  It did not taste overly sweet, or I would have suspected it.  I only had half the rice (3P+) that was on my plate.  I also had water to drink with dinner.

Miraculously, I was not hungry later that night, but felt like snacking.  So I had some grapes and skim milk to drink (4P+).

I ate 44 Points Plus today using 9 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 34 for the rest of the week.

Day 53, Fri Jan 28th: A Crazy Day

Today was a crazy day.  I belong to a national cake decorating group, and am the head of our State Chapter here in Massachusetts.  We hold four meetings a year, usually consisting of classes on Saturday and our meeting on Sunday.  This weekend is one of those.  We get cake decorators from all over the country to come and teach for us.  This time, we have someone from Michigan flying in.  I offered to pick her up at the airport and bring her back for her flight home.  I have opted to stay at the hotel the meeting is at, it's just easier that way.  As the rep for the Chapter, it is also my responsibility to bring a lot of the necessary stuff to the meeting, and as such, my car was chock full, just about to the ceiling. 

I spent last night packing the car up, so I could just leave today.  I have to get to the hotel, unload all the stuff from the car, and get to the airport by 3:45pm to pick up the teacher.  I also had some stops to make along the way at Walmart and Staples. 

I had breakfast before I left.  I had two servings of Multi-Grain Cheerios (5P+) and two cups of milk (4P+).  I should have thought ahead and packed some oatmeal in my travel mug for later, but didn't think of that.  I did bring oatmeal and grapes for snacks for the weekend.

I ran my errands, and got to the hotel by about 1pm.  I unloaded the car and brought everything up to my room, and met with the Sales Manager to go over some room changes.  I had figured I'd have to leave the hotel by 3 in order to get to the airport on time.  I left about 2:45pm so I could find some food, since I was starving by now.  I ended up stopping at Subway, and getting their egg white Western Omelet sandwich on flat bread (9P+).  I got it and sat down to eat.  I decided to check the flight to make sure it was on schedule, and found out it was early!  So, I grabbed my food and headed out the door and ate it while driving to the airport.

Got to the airport just on time, parked and met the lady at baggage claim.  Good thing I had emptied the car out - she had two big suitcases and her carry on. 

We headed back to the hotel, and got there in time to meet a few other decorators that were going to be rooming with me for the weekend. 

We all decided to have dinner in the hotel restaurant that night.  I ordered steak tips, plain baked potato and steamed broccoli.  The steak tips were so salty, I couldn't eat most of them.  I estimated that I ate about three ounces of them (6P+), the entire baked potato (5P+) and a smidgen of full-fat sour cream (1P+).  I had water to drink.

I had a pudding snack (3P+) later that night that one of the other ladies had brought.  I was craving milk so bad, but was too lazy to go out and find some, so the pudding seemed the closest thing to milk.

I ended up eating 33 Points Plus today, leaving 2 Points Plus uneaten.  I still have 45 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance left.

Day 52, Thurs Jan 27th: Snow Day!

It snowed yesterday, a lot.  So, today was snow shoveling day!

I started the day with two Eggland's Best eggs (3P+), scrambled and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  For lunch I ended up having two servings of Multi-Grain Cheerios (5P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+).

After lunch, I decided to head out to shovel snow.  There was a lot of it!  In the midst of shoveling, I was clearing the end of the driveway.  I was standing, back to the road, shoveling snow.  I heard what I thought was a truck coming up the road.  Next thing I know, I am getting a shower, and am covered head to toe in WATER from the snow plow!  My whole back was drenched and soaking wet.  It was cold!  I decided that I would finish the end of the driveway before changing, since I figured the same thing was likely to happen again.  So, I finished, went in and changed, then went back out to finished the driveway, a safe distance from snow plows.  I estimated that I spent about an hour total shoveling snow today - than earned me 7 Activity Points!

Dinner ended up being pasta (4P+), spaghetti sauce (1P+), some steak tips (5P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  I didn't feel like meatballs, so opted for the steak tips.

I was hungry later and had a packet of oatmeal (4P+) with some fruit, and two cups of skim milk (4P+) as a snack.

I ended up eating 40 Points Plus today, using 5 of my Activity Points that I earned.  So, I didn't dip into my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 45 weekly Points Plus.

Day 51, Wed Jan 26th: More food pics!

I started the day with two servings of Multi-Grain Cheerios (5P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+).

For lunch I made steak tips.  I had 4oz of steak tips (7P+), 2/3 cup of Green Giant Broccoli & Cheese (1P+), a half cup of coconut rice (3P+) and two cups of skim milk (4P+).

Dinner ended up being two packets of Quaker Weight Control oatmeal (8P+) with some fruit, and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  I was hungry later, so made a small roll-up sandwich.  It had on serving of Lavash bread (1P+), one tablespoon of Kraft Free Ranch (1P+) and one serving of Oscar Mayer lunch meat (1P+).

I ended up eating 39 Points Plus today, using 4 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 45 for the week.

Week 7: Weigh-In Day

I decided last night that I was going to try eating a small breakfast before going to my meeting and weighing in.  I know, I know, this goes against what most people believe.  It goes against what I believe too, however, I'm tired of having wicked headaches from waiting too long to eat.  So, I reasoned that a one ounce serving of cheerios and a half cup of milk would not be so bad.  It only weighs about 5 ounces, that's less than half a pound.  Plus, it'll only hurt this once, and then I can continue to eat each week.  So I did just that, and headed off to my meeting.

I had one serving of Multigrain Cheerios (3P+) and a half cup of skim milk (1P+).  I also brought oatmeal with me to eat before my meeting started.  I brought two packets of oatmeal (8P+) with fruit in it, and two cups of skim milk (4P+).  I thought I'd be smart and toss the frozen fruit in the hot oatmeal while it was still frozen.  Well.....when you do that, the frozen fruit sucks the heat out of the hot oatmeal....how did I learn this?  It was quite apparent when I opened my oatmeal and it was stone cold.  Yes, that's right folks, stone cold oatmeal.  I have to say, it is not nearly as gross as it sounds!  Yes, I ate it.  I was starving, and when you're starving you will eat just about anything that is remotely edible.

My leader gave us a great, easy peasy, recipe today.  It was for Shrimp Fra Diavalo.  Now, I love this in a restaurant, and once upon a time tried to make it on my own.  I simply added ground chili peppers to my spaghetti sauce...and added way too much!  I took one bite and couldn't eat anymore - ended up rinsing the food off and eating it plain.

The recipe she gave us was fantastic!  One serving of pasta, as much shrimp as you like, and Classico Spicy Red Pepper sauce.  It was so good, and not overly spicy.  It was devine!  It consisted of 5oz cooked penne (5P+), 4.5oz shrimp (3P+), and two cups of skim milk (4P+).

I ended up only eating 28 Points Plus today, missing my target by 7 Points Plus.  That means I still have 49 Weekly Points Plus Allowance left.

So how did I do?  I lost 1.8lbs this week.  I was happy, considering I had eaten breakfast before getting weighed.

Day 49, Mon Jan 24th: A New Breakfast (Sort Of)

I love breakfast foods.  I could eat them all day, and sometimes I do, lol.  I tried something a little different today for breakfast.  I wanted an egg sandwich, but didn't want to eat that many Points.  So, I made one half of an open faced egg sandwich.  It turned out so good!!!

I toasted a slice of Arnold Oat Nut Bread (3P+), and spread it with a little ketchup (I love ketchup and eggs), and placed a slice of Kraft American Cheese on it (2P+).  I fried up one Eggland's Best Egg (2P+) and also placed that on top.  I heated up two of my breakfast sausages (3P+) to have with my open faced sandwich.  I washed it all down withe two cups of skim milk (4P+).  It was soooooo good!  I ate it with a fork and knife, rather than trying to pick it up and wearing most of it.

Lunch was some leftovers from the other day.  I had a serving of the chicken satay (7P+), a half cup of the coconut rice (3P+), and a third cup of black beans (1P+) mixed in with the rice.  I had water to drink with lunch.

Dinner was pretty unexciting, lol.  I had two servings of Multi-Grain Cheerios (5P+) with two cups of skim milk (4P+) and some fruit.

For a snack before bedtime, I had two packets of Quaker oatmeal (4P+) with fruit mixed in, and two cups of skim milk (4P+)

I ended up eating 42 Points Plus for today, using 7 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance.  Tomorrow is weigh-in day, so we'll see how I did!

Day 48, Sun Jan 23rd: A Belated Christmas Party

Today I was invited to a belated Christmas Party at Janet's parents house.  Why is it a belated Christmas party?  Because everyone kept getting sick, so it was postponed a few times, lol.

I made myself pancakes for breakfast (6P+), and washed them down with two cups of milk (4P+).  I also cooked some frozen fruit on the stove, with a little bit of cornstarch to thicken them, and put that on top of the pancakes.

I found out ahead of time, what was going to be served at the party this afternoon, so had a packet of oatmeal (4P+) with some fruit mixed in, on my way to the party, so I would not be starving when I got there.

So, what was at the party?  Yummy chicken, brocolli and ziti that Janet made!  She is an awesome cook, all her food always tastes so good.  I suspect it's the butter that she puts in stuff, but I try to ignore that, lol.  She also made what the family called 'crack rolls'.  It is dinner rolls, cut in half, and spread with a butter/parmesan mixture.  OMG they are delicious!!!!  I had one half of a roll, and let me tell you, it was not easy to only eat one!  It did help that her brothers ate most of the rest, hahahahaha.  So, I had about a cup and a half of the alfredo (16P+) and one half of a dinner roll (5P+), and water to drink.  I also had a small slice of Boston Cream Pie (which is really a cake) (6P+) and a cookie that her mom baked (3P+).

I, of course, was hungry later, after I got home.  I had some of yesterday's leftovers, a serving of the chicken satay (7P+), a half cup of the coconut rice (3P+), and two cups of skim milk (4P+).

I ate 58 Points Plus today, using 23 of my Weekly Points Plus Allowance, leaving me with 13 Points Plus for the rest of the week.

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.