Now that my mind is back in the game I've been actually putting more thought into meals. Before, when my husband and I first started, we would just eat whatever and count the points stopping whenever we reached our point limit (usually...but sometimes we went over...). This time I've been actually taking the time to plan out meals and look up recipes. Last night for dinner we had lean top round steak, brown rice Mexicali, and a big old salad with light dressing. We were so full! The rice was yummy. I kind of threw it together and gave it a fun name. I'll give the recipe in a minute.
I've been trying to increase my fiber intake because I've been having...ahem...issues. All I can say is Fiber One cereal is awesome! Even though it looks like little bunny turds it's quite tasty, and filling. And my issues are solved, thank you! I am a greedy heiffer so I will eat 1 cup of FIber One honey clusters with 1/2 cup of the regular fiber one and I'm good to go until lunch time which isn't usual with me as I'm always ready to snack around 10-11. I feel like I've lost some poundage and I think the fiber and increased water drinking I've been doing is helping it. We'll find out at the WW meeting on Sunday.
Alrighty, gotta run. I'm going to go treat myself and my son to a new pair of shoes. At my largest I was a size 11-12 wide but since the weight loss I am now comfortable in a 9-9 1/2 so I have a lot more options now. Still wide but what can I do...I think the wide feet will always be there. Take care everyone!
Oops, the brown rice recipe! Here ya go:
BROWN RICE MEXICALI
1 cup uncooked long grain brown rice; 1 15.25 ounce can of black beans, do not drain; 1 15.25 can of diced tomatoes with chilies or jalepenos, do not drain; 1 small onion, diced; 1 cup Kraft 2% milk Mexican four cheese blend; spices (see recipe)
Prepare brown rice according to the package, will produce about 3 cups cooked. In a sauce pan bring beans, tomatoes, and onion to a boil. Add spices (I used 1 packet of ham flavoring, 2 tablespoons cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garlic, salt and pepper but you should season to your taste.) then reduce to a low simmer. Let simmer until the brown rice has finished cooking. Add bean mixture to brown rice and mix well. Add cheese and mix together. Eat! Makes 6 servings, about a little more than 3/4 cup each. WW points: 4
Red strawberries, that is! Strawberries! Strawberries! Strawberries! They are in season right now and cheap, just $2 a pint. (That's cheap here in DC unless you go pick your own.) Anyhoo they are so sweet and delicious, not like those crappy tasteless things I munched on now and again during the fall and winter. I bought 8 pints and have been munching on them all day long for the last two days. At only 1 WW point for like 3 cups they are a sweet treat I can indulge in. Now if I can just find some 1 point ice cream! I hear Breyers has a fat free ice cream now. Wonder how that will taste.
Oh, I did get a good dessert idea from my last WW meeting. Take 1 pack of those Hostess 100 calorie pack cupcakes, any flavor, and crumble the cupcakes (3 per pack) in a bowl. Then take a single serve container of reduced/non-fat pudding and scoop out on top of the crumbled cupcakes. Finally top with fat free cool whip. It was suggested to use chocolate pudding and cupcakes to get the most decadent dessert but it all averaged out to about 3-4 points a serving. I need to do something because I miss desserts! Those WW ones are good but they are expensive!
Anyone have any good dessert recipes to share using WW points?
But I didn't stray too far off my points. :-) I know I didn't count them as closely as I should but when I stood on the scale the numbers did not go up, in fact I believe I lost a pound but since I didn't weigh in at a meeting I'll just keep my poundage the same as last week, 252 pounds.
My brother had a baby last week on Wednesday and I spent the whole day at the hospital with him and his fiance and even got to participate in the birth! My first nephew, Aidan Tyler, was born 5/9 at 7:14 PM. He's so cute and I'm in love and now I have baby fever which has me more determined than ever to lose weight. I said that before I got pregnant again I wanted to be at least 10 pounds lighter than I was the first time I got pregnant (I was 244), so about 234 which is, coincidentally, my 10% goal for WW.
The day after my nephew was born my Grandfather went into the hospital. He has colon cancer that was in remission twice but has returned. His sons, my father and uncles, were all out of town so I kept the vigil just like I did last week for my Great Grandmother. Today is my first day "off" and I used this time to catch up on household things I've let fall to the wayside but I might go up there to the hospital anyway because I feel guilty about not being there. I promised him over and over when he was well that I would visit more and never did. You know how life is...the best intentions...and now he's sick and his recovery is iffy. So I guess sitting by his bed even though he is not conscious makes me feel like I'm repenting in a way.
I've been counting my points this week, well for the two days of this week, again using the E-tools on the WW website. I will be weighing in this Sunday even if I feel I've slipped because I am spending too much money NOT to show. I hope everyone else is doing well on their regimens. Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the Moms on here, by the way!
I am very disappointed in my progress (or lack thereof) in the past two weeks. Two weeks ago after my fabulous loss of 10 pounds I started eating like a fiend. I blame it on my period however I know that I could have picked healthier and lower point alternatives. Although I never went over my 35 extra points I ate things high in sodium and that coupled with a period made for a tremendous water weight gain hence the reason I had gained and got back up to 252.
This past week I actually started off great but then my 92 year old Great Grandmother went into the hospital. She raised me in the place of my mother for a long time so I just had to be there with her in the hospital. What that meant, unfortunately, that I was living out of the vending machines or unhealthy cafeteria food. I know I probably should have packed meals to take with me but with no refridgerator and being short on time that wasn't really a choice for me. This type of eating hurt me in the wallet and in the weight loss. Because of that I did a WW no-no and skipped weigh in.
Well Great Grandma is back at home and doing well so there is no excuse for me not to get back on track. I don't know how much damage last week did but I hope that by doing what I'm supposed to do this week that I can reverse some of that damage. I'm back on my points and even though it's allowed I'm going to try my hardest not to go over my daily points and use the extra 35. Also the weather is mild and conducive to long walks with my son so I'm going to try and get more activity in this week. My husband is back on track along with me so that will help. It's funny how we both seem to have a "monkey-see-monkey-do" attitude-- if he cheats so will I and visa versa but the same thing applies if one of us follows the program to a T.
Okay, I gotta run. I've got a 20-month old with a cold who is being very demanding right now!
Well, I went to a meeting to weigh in today, after missing last week, and to my surprise even with all my slipping and not counting my points as closely as I should I've lost 4.4 pounds! I weighed in at 250.4 this morning for a total loss of 10.4 pounds! I only have 15.4 pounds to go to reach my goal of 10% of my starting weight and I'm really psyched about it now!
Today's meeting was about the WW slogan "Be an after. Stay an after." which pretty much is about maintaining your weight loss. Our leader, Mary, was saying that instead of thinking about maintenance at the END of your journey you should constantly be thinking about maintaining DURING your journey. For every pound, every ounce we lose we should be thinking about maintaining that loss as we try to get to our goal. She is exactly right. I know that I have been guilty of saying "I've lost 5 pounds so I can slack a little". So I'm trying to get in the right mind set and remember how happy I am to have lost these 10 pound and try not to sabotage my progress by forgetting to maintain the loss.
That being said I am off to Crisp & Juicy (Peruvian chicken really good!) with my hubby, son and friend but I am not going to overindulge. I promise!
Okay, so I let myself slip a little...er...a lot this past weekend but it was my birthday so I let myself have a piece of cake.......or two.
I didn't do so hot on Monday either because I still had birthday cake left but you know what I did? I took the rest of a cake (there was half a sheet cake left) and tossed it in the trash. It hurt like hell to do but I did it and now the temptation is gone.
The craziest thing is that with all the over eating I had done in the last week I still managed to lose weight. I didn't go to the meeting on Sunday but I weighed in at home and I had lost 1 pound! I expected the scale to go up. My wedding ring is a lot more loose than before and I expect I'll need some sort of ring guard for it soon. It was great that my week of sabotage didn't sabotage the weight loss.
I'm doing well on points so far today and I even got in some activity although it was unexpected. I signed my son up for a toddler gymnastics class and although I knew parents had to participate I had no idea how much we would be participating. We ran, jumped, bounced, crawled and much more. There is this big pit filled with foam squares that is the ultimate workout for out of shape peeps like me! It's like trying to walk in mud and the only way out is to climb out. I made it out but not without trying for a good five to ten minutes. My son loved it and I got a workout so this turned out to be a really good idea.
Okay, time to go eat my healthy pizza (I found a tortilla where each one is 0 points!) and call my Mom. We are still in shock over the Virginia Tech shooting especially since the shooter was Korean (did I mention I'm half Korean?). Our concern is that people will blame all Koreans as a whole because of the actions of this one troubled individual. My Mom owns a business and is worried about repercussions from the community. Hopefully people will understand that the actions of one don't speak for everyone but you know how people can be.
Okay, off to eat and make phone calls. Good luck everyone!
If you really want to know how addicted you are to the internet just try going about a week without access to it. My freaking DSL died due to a short in the wiring from the phone box to the house and my freaking property manager said that they wouldn't fix it because, and I quote, "We are only required to make sure your phone works, not your DSL". And the phone company can't work on a rental property without authorization. Anyhoo, long story short I've switched to cable so I'm back.
I've done crappy crappy crappy this week! I am so tempted, and just might, skip weigh in this Sunday. It started when my inlaws came to visit because I cooked normal foods instead of my usual lowfat fare and of course I participated in eating it. Then instead of getting back on the horse when they left my brain was stuck in this "You already ruined it so might as well eat!" mentality so I indulged a little more than I should. I mean I wasn't doing like 20-30 points over my daily limit but at least 10-12 points over. I am pretty sure with the KFC I had tonight that I've used up all my extra weekly points. I was going to continue on but I'm going to try an recoup my losses a little in the next two days and stick to my 33 points a day. I may not like what I see at weigh in (if I go) but it could be much worse if I let myself go the way I want to.
The weather was getting warmer but now it's all cold and rainy. I was hoping to do more outdoorsy stuff with my son, always great exercise chasing him around, but I guess I need to find another alternative. Time to whip out those "Walk Away the Pounds" tapes. I hope everyone else did better over Easter than I did. My birthday is this coming Sunday, I hope I can resist the birthday cake.
But here I am up at midnight. I am looking forward to putting my head on my pillow tho'.
So today I weighed in at WW. It's a day early but I had to because all the centers are closed for Easter. Anyhoo, I weighed in at 255.8, so I have lost 3 pounds. I'm glad I lost but I'm not as happy because all I've lost are the 3 pounds I gained last week. I was hoping for a five pound loss or something so I could have a little bit more to show for myself than just 5 pounds after 3 weeks in the program. Well, at least I didn't gain.
I did a lot of exercising in the last two days. Not your conventional exercise but house cleaning. Spring cleaning. My inlaws are up here from NC so I cleaned the house from top to bottom. I'm talking scrubbing floors, shampooing the carpet, vacuuming the stairs, dusting, polishing...the whole 9 yards. It took me 2 days to get it all done but it's done. I can't believe how much my mood has elevated just from being in a clean house. Now, if only it could stay this way forever and ever!
I did go way off my points today. I mean I had the points to spare because I had only dipped into my extra 35 a little this week so it's not like I'm cheating but I did eat things I didn't need to like bbq chips and oatmeal cookies. I've been chugging water like crazy to help flush the sodium from my body. I'll work of the extra calories tomorrow. We are all going site seeing downtown so I expect a lot of walking WHILE pushing a stroller.
Well, that pillow is really calling me. Time to hit the hay.
It should. The house we are renting doesn't have a washer/dryer and the laundry facilities in the area are a bitch as they are always occupied so I pack up all our laundry and take it to my Grandma's place to wash. Of course her house doesn't have a washer/dryer either so I have to cart the clothes a block to the laundry facilities. I figure with the walking back and forth and carting several bags of laundry I should get at least 1 points worth of activity, right?
As far as eating, so far so good this week. I have had to dip into the extra 35 we are allowed but it's just been a point or two every day. I have to get over the mindset that dipping into the 35 points is NOT cheating. I know that's why they are there, to use, but at the end of the day when I see I've gone over my points I do tend to feel a bit guilty.
I have been forcing myself to drink at least 3 24-oz bottles of water a day. With all the trips I've been making to the bathroom I feel like I did when I was pregnant! I'm having a hard time getting the veggies in. I eat a lot of salad and try to put as many fresh veggies in it as I can but I need to step that up. I rarely eat fruit but that's because I'm a summer fruit girl and apples and grapes don't really do it for me. Wait until the strawberries and peaches are in season...THEN I'll eat fruit!
I have to weigh in early this week because of Easter Sunday. I'm anxious to see if I lost that 3 pounds I gained last week. It'd be great if I lost more!
I've never been really good with introductions so I'll just lay out the facts: My name is Kia, I'm 32 (going on 33 this month) and I live in the DC Metro area. I have been happily married to Brian for 8 years and we are the proud parents of a gorgeous little boy, Bailey, who will be 19 months old at the end of the months.
I recently joined Weight Watchers after making the decision to get healthier after a miscarriage in February. Although I am new to Weight Watchers I am not new to weight loss. At my heaviest I was 422 pounds. I had a resectional gastric bypass and managed to get down to 285 before my body adjusted to the surgery and the loss slowed drastically and I actually started to gain weight. With sheer willpower I managed to get to my lowest weight after surgery of 235 pounds. Then I got pregnant. When I went in to give birth I was at 274 pounds. After that I yo-yo'd up and down. I went to my first WW meeting on 3/18 and weighed in at 260.8 pounds.
Every good diet program I've ever read says to set small goals. I would love to get somewhere in Onederland and out of Twoville but if I put down a goal of 140 that's about 120 pounds away...seems unattainable. So I'm using, as my first goal, the WW suggestion of 10% which is 26 pounds. That would bring me down to around 235, my lowest weight after surgery. Once I get there I will pick a new goal.
I have many reasons for starting a blog. My main reason is to keep myself accountable for my actions and the way I eat. There is something about being able to go back and see where you succeeded or failed that helps me to stick to a plan. Every time I've strayed from keeping a diary I gained weight. With this blog, the WW weigh ins, and, for the first time, my husband dieting right along with me, I hope to lose the weight and get to my goal. I've tried a thousand diets but after seeing my sister-in-law get gorgeous on this plan as well as a few other friends I realize that this must really be the way to go.
Since my meetings are on Sundays I will post my latest weight every week on that day. I will also post what my points are for that week as they change as you lose weight. I welcome everyone's comments and feedback and I look forward to going along on this weight loss journey with you.
