Week 19 Weigh In

Current Weight: 189 lbs baby!!!!

Weekly Loss: 4.2 lbs       Total Loss: 33 lbs

Happiness and sunshine!!!

I am so happy!  Hit 2 goals this week- getting under 190 lbs and losing over 30 lbs!

Back when I got below 200 lbs, I was hoping to be under 190 by May, and I did it!

Next goal- under 180 lbs by July.  I'm almost back to my gym routine, and I know that helps me tremendously.  It is also nice that spring has finally arrived so I can get out and about in the nice weather.

GO ME!!!!

Chinese Food Revelation

A while ago, if I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it very well may have been chicken chow mein.  I love it, and love Chinese food in general.


I have had a revelation.  I can't believe I'm going to say this.  


Chinese food just doesn't do it for me anymore!  I got some last night before a concert.  I ate quite a bit with some brown rice.  It tasted good, but it wasn't satisfying in the least!  Insanity!!!


So now, whenever I'm craving some takeout, I have to remember that while I'm eating away my points, I'm still going to be hungry afterwards, and that's not worth it!

Getting back in the Groove

My schedule has opened up a bit, but I haven't gotten back 100% into my gym routine.  I'm easing my way into it, and hopefully by next week I will be back in the gym 5-6 days a week.  Right now, I'm at more like 3 days, which is better than nothing, but I can do better!

I'm still eating relatively well, so hopefully that'll keep me going in the right direction.  I made the BEST green smoothie the other day- almond milk, spinach, kiwis, yellow apple, mango, peaches, strawberries and honey.  DELICIOUS!!!  I experimented with freezing half of it, and it didn't affect the taste or texture, but it took longer to thaw out than I thought.  

Tomorrow is my weigh in day, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Chocolate

I am a chocoholic.  It is my biggest weakness.  

I always have to keep something on hand that will satisfy my chocolate desires 

without ruining my weight loss.

Here are my top 4 choices, in no particular order:

Fiber One 90 Calorie Brownie

These brownies are individually wrapped, and clock in at 2 Points+ each.  

They are a decent size, and they have chocolate chips in them!  

Not as good as a homemade brownie, but close enough!

Weight Watchers Dark Chocolate Turtle

Dark chocolate with pecan pieces, how can you go wrong!  It's on the small side, but it definitely does the job when you need a little something sweet for 2 Points+!

Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk + 

Hershey's Lite Syrup

There are times when I crave chocolate milk.  The creaminess of the almond milk plus the syrup does the trick!  1 cup almond milk + 4 tbsp syrup = 3 Points!

Weight Watchers Chocolate Caramel Bar

These are small, too, but they are very dense.  

If you take a big bite, you'll look like Mr. Ed.

2 Points+ each, and worth it!

Bring on the Meat!!!

Since starting WW, I really haven't been eating much, if any, red meat.  It's higher in fat than other protein sources, but sometimes, you just need meat!

We love buying a full filet mignon when it's on sale, freezing them, then thawing and trimming it up ourselves (who am I kidding?  Chris trims it up himself, I can't take any credit for that!), and testing out various marinades before grilling it.  We were both craving meat, so we took one out of the freezer.  We made 2 different marinades.  The first one was olive oil, worcestershire sauce, parsley, basil, salt, pepper, garlic, salt and pepper.  

8 oz. (before cooking) filet mignon, with my faux risotto made with beef broth, mushrooms, onion and broccoli.
Whole meal: 12 Points+

It was pretty good, but nothing as compared to my Favorite Marinade for any Meat Besides Fish!

I have used this same marinade for pork, chicken, and steak, with wonderful results.  It can be grilled, cooked in the oven, or even in the slow cooker (with chicken).  The marinade itself tastes great cooked up as a side sauce as well!  The ingredients seem like a strange combination, but trust me, it comes together wonderfully.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup apricot preserves

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tsp garlic, chopped

3 tsp hot sauce (we like more heat, so we use this liberally!)

Mix all ingredients, add meat of choice.  Marinate and cook with whatever method you choose!  I ate it before I got a chance to snap a picture!

Week 18 Weigh In

Current Weight: 193.2 lbs

Weekly Gain: 0.4 lbs        Total Loss: 28.8 lbs

 I gained a little, but that's okay!  This is the dress that I bought, it looks even better in person!  I'm glad I had this week to get myself back into my workout routine.  My body is a bit sore, but that's to be expected, especially after spending an entire day walking around Manhattan.  I've also been having a green smoothie every morning the past few days, and I really like it!  I feel like I am getting so many nutrients at once.  The ingredients change daily based upon what I have on hand, but it's always good.  

Here's hoping for a loss next week!

Green Smoothie

I am a big fan of green smoothies, but never have actually made them myself.  I enjoy the Naked Juice Green Machine, and also a Green Smoothie Protein Powder I used to get (can't remember the brand).


I decided that I want to learn how to make my own.


My attempt for today was a combination of baby spinach, avocado, green apple, strawberries (frozen), blackberries (frozen), peaches (frozen), and agave nectar.  I was surprised that my little blender was able to handle all of the ingredients rather well!  No chunks!  After I strained out the seeds from the blackberries, it was pretty good!  I'm hoping that with summer coming closer, the fresh fruit will enhance the sweetness of the drink without adding any sort of additional sweetener in there.  The blackberries made it more of a purple smoothie, but I'm still calling it green!


I'm thinking that nice, ripe mango would taste excellent next time.  Banana, too!  Come on, summer!  I need nice fruit!!!


Have you ever made a green (or any other color) smoothie?  What do you like to put in?

Pumpkin Smoothie

I've been in a breakfast rut.  I like to use only 4 Points+, and my greek yogurt with preserves fits that bill perfectly!  It fills me up, keeps me satisfied, and it's delicious!  I sometimes make egg whites with center cut bacon and some toast, but that adds up in points, so I usually save that for mornings when Chris and I are home together and want to make a nice breakfast.  


This morning, it's all gray outside, Chris is at work, and I know I need to head to the gym soon or else I won't get my butt out of the house at all today!  I ran out of yogurt yesterday, and bacon and eggs is way too heavy to eat before going to workout.  


I decided that I wanted to make a smoothie.  The problem?  I have no fruit in my house!  My usual stockpile of frozen banana is empty and all fresh fruit has been consumed.  Off to the pantry I go to see what I can find.  


Enter:  Libby's Pure Pumpkin


I am a pumpkin fan.  It's a mild flavor, and I enjoy the texture.  After looking up some pumpkin smoothie recipes, I created one of my own that satisfied my breakfast needs this morning.  It has a mild taste, but I didn't want to overdo the cinnamon.  I might add a bit more next time, but for now, this works!  

Try out this Pumpkin Smoothie.  The best part?  3 POINTS+!!!

Ingredients

1 cup Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

1 cup Libby's Pure Pumpkin

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 packets of Splenda

5 ice cubes

Add all ingredients to a blender, and blend until well mixed and the ice fully broken up.  Enjoy!

New Fav Meal & New Page!

Have you ever been hungry and find yourself pacing back and forth, blankly staring into your pantry, refrigerator and freezer, trying to come up with something to eat that will taste good and satisfy your hunger?


This happens to me all of the time.  I know I have food in my house, it's just a matter of putting things together so that I'm happy with the results.  Well, I've come up with a meal using foods I keep in stock all of the time.  I call it...

Shrimp Enchilada Stew

I didn't get a good picture, I was too hungry!!!

Ingredients:

12 large frozen shrimp, thawed, cut into thirds

1/2 cup frozen roasted corn

1 can enchilada sauce

1 can diced tomatoes and chilies, drained

1/8 cup mexican blend shredded cheese

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 450.  Using a large oven-safe dish (I used a quart sized Pyrex bowl), mix all ingredients except cheese.  Place in oven, stir every once in a while, and cook until shrimp is 95% done.  Sprinkle cheese on top and cook until melted.   Serve with tortilla chips, it's soupy!

This was so good.  The recipe above clocks in at 7 Points+, and it's so much food!  If you don't like shrimp, it tastes just as great with diced chicken (Points+ value would be a little higher).  I paired this with 4 corn tortillas made into chips for a total value of 10 Points+.  

In other news...

I've created a new page on here where I'm going to track my workouts.  It's nothing overly interesting, but I've had a lot of people ask me what I do when I go to the gym, so I decided that I'll keep a basic log of exactly what I do each day.  Check it out in the tabs towards the top of this site!

Tortilla Chips

One of my favorite snacks is salsa and chips.  Tortilla chips can add up in points very quickly, so I've been making my own!  It's so simple and much lower in points.

Ingredients
4 corn tortillas, cut into eighths (3 points+)
cooking spray
salt


Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a cooking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray.  Lay out cut tortillas in a single layer.  Coat with more cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt.  Put into the oven.  Keep an eye on them, when you start to see them browning underneath, turn them over.  Take out when both sides have become a nice, golden brown color.


Serve with anything!  I like to make mine fresh, but I'm sure that if you bagged them up once they had cooled down, you could store them as long as the container is moisture free.

Week 17 Weigh In

Current Weight: 192.8 lbs

Weekly Loss: 2.4 lbs         Total Loss: 29.2 lbs

 I was expecting another week of maintaining my weight, 

so I was pleasantly surprised to hear that I lost!  

I can't wait for this week so that I can start cooking again and get back to the gym!

I survived!

The play was yesterday, and it went very, very well!  And I looked awesome!  I didn't take any pics, but I will be back in the dress in a few weeks, and I promise to post some pics, because I really did look fantastic!  I sound so full of myself, but I'm really just proud!  And, my feet and knee survived in those shoes, so I was very happy!


Today it finally warmed up around here.  After I got home, I went to change into shorts.  I realized that the shorts which were too tight on me last summer are now way too big on me!  Hooray!  I'll start shopping for the summer shortly!


I will be weighing in tomorrow in the late afternoon (finally).  I am so excited to be able to now get back on track with exercising since my schedule is so much more open.  Here's to kicking off my weight loss once again!

Frozen Dinners

I'm counting down the days (1) until my life begins to become normal again in terms of hours spent at work versus hours spent on me!  These past few weeks have been full of stress and exhaustion, and not full enough of exercise and cooking.

This weekend I made it to Trader Joe's, and decided to try some of their frozen fish entrees.  Last night, I decided to make their Misoyaki Turbot.  The whole thing could serve 2 if you make additional sides, but at 8pm, no cooking was going to take place.  I decided to enjoy the whole thing myself for a total of 10 Points+ (420 cals, 12g fat, 820g sodium, 12g carbs, 62g protein, and 2g fiber).

It doesn't look as good as it tasted!

I really enjoyed this!  I've never had Turbot before, so I can't really speak about how the freezing altered the taste or texture.  It was a bit dense and fishy, but I'm assuming that's the kind of fish it was.  Ready in 8 minutes, it tasted great!  The fish was perfectly done, and the veggies and sauce were delicious.  There was so much fish, too!  I'm going to keep this in my freezer for those nights when a quick yet filling dinner is needed.

Finally, (some) Shopping Success!

Saturday, I decided to give shopping another go.  Chris and I headed back to the mall.  The day started off with just as much frustration as the other week.  We almost gave up.


Then, I decided to head to the dress department.  I have all of my concerts plus a wedding coming up, and all of my dresses are too big.  A lot of the dresses were prom-styles or more mother-of-the-bride, and I was getting frustrated once again.


Then we found this beautiful dress!  I'm wearing it on Wednesday, so I'll be sure to take pictures.  It's so pretty, and just perfect for everything that's coming up!


I also found a pair of heels that don't hurt my feet!  My feet have gotten a bit smaller as well.  I was an 11, now I'm either a 10 or 9.5.  Since I tore my ACL, I can't do heels at all.  They cause my knee to swell and hurt, and it sucks.  These fit so well, and they are so comfortable!  YAY!!!!!

I'm so excited to wear the whole outfit!  It's going to look so good!

I need more fruits and veggies!

I've realized that during these busy few weeks, I've forgotten about fruits and vegetables.  Not only are they  0 Points+, but they're yummy!  I usually use them to bulk up my meals, but these past few weeks have found them missing!


I'm going to get back on the wagon today!  I have some red grapes with me, and I'm stopping by the store after rehearsal tonight to stock up on some fresh produce.  The weekend is finally here, and I'll have some time to cook.


My latest veggie snack is so simple and so delicious.  Peel a cucumber (or don't if you like the skin, I can't stand it!), and dip it in some tzatziki (greek yogurt cucumber dill garlic dip- it's fantastic).  Tzatziki has always been a favorite of mine.  I haven't mastered making my own yet, but I've found the one from Trader Joe's to be fantastic.  A half cup of tzatziki is 2 Points+, the cucumber is 0, so it's very WW friendly.


I highly suggest taking a trip to TJ's if you haven't already.  A lot of people are under the assumption that it's an expensive specialty grocer.  WRONG!!!  Most of the items are actually cheaper than you would find in another store, and you can find many unique items there.  

Wait- that sounds gross!

One of the things I've been trying to do during these busy weeks is keep cooked chicken in the fridge so I can pull together a quick dinner without having to first cook the meat itself.  I don't always have a specific recipe in mind, so I keep the chicken plain.  And I boil it.


Yes, you read that right.  I boil up a batch of trimmed chicken breasts.  I know it sounds gross, I thought so too at first, but it's really quick and works well!  The chicken works well in anything after that- chicken salad, enchiladas, wraps, you name it!  Just add seasoning when you use it, and enjoy.


Last night I took some, cubed it up, mixed it with taco sauce and topped it with a corn tortilla and some cheese.  Pop that in the oven until it's nice and hot, and viola!  Delicious enchilada-type dinner ready to go!

Week 15.5 Weigh In

Current Weight: 195.2 lbs


Weekly Loss: 0 lbs          Total Loss: 26.8 lbs


(pics coming soon!)


No loss, but I'm very happy with that!  I haven't been able to go to the gym for a few weeks due to my schedule(except for while I was in Baltimore), and the fact that I've been able to maintain my weight with my diet amazes me.  I really thought I'd gain since the gym has been alluding me.  


I'm more excited now to get back to the gym in a week.  I have a very good feeling that it will kick-start my weight-loss again, and I'm hoping for a good amount of loss during the spring.   I won't be able to weigh-in until the end of next week, week 17!

The Fast-Food Conundrum

Normally, I tend to avoid fast-food chains since they are usually filled with high fat, high sodium, high carbohydrate foods that I'm trying to avoid.  Yet, while away, I found myself sticking mainly to these same eateries.


Why?


They have nutritional information available.  They give you everything you need to know in order to make a better choice.  You can take a few minutes before you go out to get a meal and check out the stats of whatever you are thinking of ordering online.  Subway might not have a fantastic turkey sandwich, but I can better estimate what I'm about to eat than if I went to a deli.  The same with breakfast.  Dunkin Donuts has a lot of horrible choices, but they also have some not so bad ones in there (my favorite is the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Wake- Up Wrap checking in at 5 Points+).  And, of course, there's my beloved Panera, which can be just as unhealthy if you're not careful.  The thai chopped chicken salad made another appearance, and was just as delicious!


So, my mentality about fast-food has changed.  It's no longer something to steer clear of, but it's something to rely on in a pinch, so long as one remembers to order the right things!

I am in love!

I have a new love in my life that completely satisfies me and leaves me feeling full of pure joy.


It's a hot pot.


While in Baltimore, I found a restaurant that served Dim Sum and your standard Chinese fair, but they also had hot pots.  I had never had a hot pot before, it sounded very appealing, so it was ordered.


A hot pot is, well, a hot pot!  It's filled with broth (we had ours arrive with half chicken broth and half spicy Szechuan broth), and served on a burner to keep it simmering at a decent rate.  We ordered chicken, spinach and vermicelli to go with it.  Out came huge plates of fresh spinach, very thinly sliced raw chicken (which may have had a slight bit of cornstarch mixed with water on it) and rice noodles.  Similarly to fondue, you cook your ingredients in the broth until they are done to your liking, and enjoy!  Hot pots don't involve skewers or forks, though.  You fish out your meal with a wire mesh spoon.

This was such a great meal!  Both of the broths were extremely flavorful, and the ingredients were so fresh.  It also turned out to be amazingly healthy, no oil or other fat source needed.  I also wasn't left feeling bloated and stuffed at the end, which usually happens after a large meal.  I ate a lot, but it was just protein and veggies.  Yummy!


I'm determined to create my own hot pot in the next few weeks.  I'm going to utilize my electric wok to house the broth.  I just have to experiment with seasonings to get the flavors right.


If you have the chance to head to a restaurant where they serve hot pots, go.  Now.  

Eating while Away

So far, so good!


Yesterday, I grabbed a chicken wrap for lunch along the way, and had a grilled chicken burrito for dinner.


Today started off with a trusted TJ's fig bar (3 Points+).  Then I went to the gym, and conference goodness followed.  For lunch I went to Subway since I know it's a dependable food source.  I got a 6" Turkey sub with lettuce, pickles and some mustard on wheat bread for 7 Points+.  I also stopped by 7-11 and grabbed a very large, very good fruit mix of apples, grapes, mangoes, strawberries and cantaloupe.  WOOHOO fruit being 0 Points+.  I'm keeping that on ice since it will last me a while, that way I have something to pick at when I'm a little hungry.


That leaves me with a whopping 21 Points+ to enjoy the rest of my day, plus I still have 42 weekly Points+ to use if I need.  Hooray!!!!  I would rather play it very safe on breakfast and lunch so that I can order something I really want for dinner.


Tomorrow I'm heading to Miss Shirley's Cafe for breakfast.  I really want the pumpkin cheesecake french toast, but that's out of the questions!!!  I think I'm going to treat myself to the shrimp and grits- sounds delicious and not the worst thing on the menu!  It shall be a true test of will power!  For lunch, I want to head over to the Lexington Market.  I'm craving some crabcakes, and Faidley's is supposed to have some of the best our there!  I love big markets, so many choices make it easier to find food you want to eat that won't kill your healthy eating habits!