So, I normally do my posts on Monday evening after my weigh-in, but I was sick this week. Yuck. I spent all of Monday on the couch queasy and with a headache...not a good combination. However, I felt good enough to go weigh in, and frankly I didn't know if it was going to get better or worse so I figured I should go weigh in while I knew that I could! So I weighed in, but didn't stay for the meeting. I was disappointed to miss it because it looked like a really good topic for me...healthy snacking! But, I didn't want to run the risk of sitting there and either getting sick or getting everyone else sick.
This was a difficult week! Not so much that I was unmotivated or was tempted by bad foods (let's face it, that happens every day!), but this week I was faced with having a food days of little-to no control over what I ate. Most of the week was pretty normal - after my meeting I only splurged on a sub and still did a small workout afterwards, so no cheeseburgers or burritos for me this week! But, on Thursday some friends were in town and wanted to go out to eat...and they picked Chili's. Now, I love me some Chili's, but it's not exactly very "diet friendly". I at least knew several days in advance where they wanted to go, so I was able to plan my day accordingly, but everything on the menu is so tempting! I wasn't going to be that girl who pulled out the Weight Watchers app to check everything on the menu before ordering, but I also didn't want to go too wild. I went for the 2 for $20 menu with one of my dinner companions because I thought it might be a smaller portion since it costs less. And, in doing so, I changed from my usual steak fajita to a chicken fajita which was probably a little (and I stress the word "little") healthier anyway. I let myself eat a few chips and salsa, but didn't eat as much as I normally would have. The sad thing is, I checked the points when I got home and it still used almost all of my daily points on that one meal! Good thing I planned for that!
Then came the weekend. I had to go out of town to take some students to a conference in Delaware, which of course meant more eating out/being fed specific meals. Friday I did pretty well because I had a bit more control. I took baby carrots to eat in the van and resisted from buying anything when we made a pit stop. We went to a cute local Italian restaurant for an early dinner and I only ate half of what they gave me. I was pretty proud of myself that day! Saturday was a bit more of a challenge. That was the full conference day and we were provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner...with nearly zero time to get something other than what they were feeding you. Breakfast wasn't too bad, I had a banana, a light yogurt, and a bagel. Yes, I could've done without the bagel, but we were eating around 8 and wouldn't get lunch until 1 so I needed something that was going to get me through five hours of meetings. Lunch was in the student center and we basically had the choice of burgers, Chick-Fil-A, or small gross looking salads. I went for the happy medium of Chick-Fil-A and avoided the ice cream desserts that everyone else got. Dinner wasn't too unhealthy, but it was more a matter of portion control, and I think I rocked it. I skipped the salad. "Why?" you ask? Because they only had Caesar salad! The only thing healthy about a caesar salad is the lettuce...which you then drench in dressing. I had a good helping of the steamed broccoli, just a little pasta, and a piece of chicken parm with very little parm. Then I let myself eat a small piece of the delicious tiramisu. ;-) Caesar salad or tiramisu?? Dessert will win pretty much every time. All in all it wasn't a horrible food weekend away, and I had saved all of my "extra" points for the week...plus we walked like a million miles while we were there. Once we parked at the hotel, I didn't move the vehicle until we left Sunday morning. We walked EVERYWHERE...which is also why I left myself eat the dessert. LOL.
Sunday I had some grapes for breakfast, but didn't snack in the car. I had a few fruits and veggies throughout the day, but kept it limited since I had dinner club that evening. At work a few years ago, some of my coworkers and I started a dinner club. We eat on campus so much, and it's hard cooking for just one person, that we took turns once a semester making dinner for the other people in the club. It's a great time to try new foods, to make an old favorite, and just to socialize with each other. Anyway, I like it and it's a great way to make my introverted self spend time with others. Well, our first dinner was at my bosses place on Sunday. The good news is that we send out our menus a few days ahead of time so that people know what to expect when they arrive. The bad news is that he was making meatloaf...and I love meatloaf. So, I asked him for his recipe ahead of time and used the handy dandy recipe maker online to figure out how many points the meatloaf would be. It was higher than I would have liked, but figured out why when I saw the meatloaf...it was giant sized! I normally would have made that bad boy in two separate pans, but he made it in one giant loaf on a cookie sheet. The recipe gave the points for 1/8th of the meatloaf...there's no way I could eat 1/8th of that thing. But, I took a small piece (it was pretty tasty), and filled the rest of the plate with yummy veggies. All in all, a tasty meal and I was able to manage my plate well.
Monday brought not much eating due to the queasy stomach, but I made myself eat a few oranges throughout the day to get some fruits in, as well as the vitamin c to help fight off whatever was ailing me. Like I said earlier, I did weigh in, and was pleasantly surprised at my progress. Despite my difficult food choice week, I still lost!! And more than I expected! (I am getting better about not weighing myself at home so much, per last weeks post, but I did check it myself on Sunday afternoon.)
And before I reveal my new weight loss total, there's one more important tip I learned this week. BRAND MATTERS! Monday night I ate a bag of Baked Lays with my sandwich, which costs 3 points. Tuesday afternoon I got a bag of Baked Herr's chips at lunchtime and it costs 5 points!! I don't know if they use different ingredients or if the size of the package is different (insert "size matters" or "that's what she said" jokes here), but a 2 point difference is a big deal. Now I know to check each brand before purchasing. Also, FYI, Laughing Cow makes those tasty cheese wedges, well they have a light french onion wednge now which is quite good on your baked chips and it only costs 1 point per wedge! Definitely a tasty alternative to the regular stuff!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 3: -2.6lbs
Total weight loss: -9.2lbs (one pound short of my first ten...hence the title)
Current weight: 248.0
You're doing great! Keep it up, girl.
ReplyDeleteHooray! You're doing so well! My friend, Christopher, gave me his recipe for tortilla soup. It's loaded with veggies and if I figured right on the WW recipe builder it's very low in points too. I ate it tonight and it was soooooo good. I got in points trouble because I ate almost a whole avocado with my soup (and ate two bowls, which I didn't acutally need to do because now I am uncomfortably full), and you don't actually need the chips. Then I guess it's just a Mexican chicken soup, but it's very tasty and filling. I added a little low-fat sour cream and it give the soup a nice creamy hit. The cheese isn't really necessary.
ReplyDeleteIt also makes a big batch, so you can freeze it. You mentioned liking recipes that you can just make quickly and with this one you can defrost a bowl of it and you've got dinner!
Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
-1 onion, finely diced
-1 yellow bell pepper, diced
-1 red bell pepper, diced
-1 or 2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced (if you like a little heat leave the seeds in)
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper
-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
-32 ounces low-sodium chicken broth
-1 (14.5-ounce) can diced Mexican style tomatoes
-1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
(I add a can of black beans too, but it's still good as he originally wrote it)
-1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro, plus 2 tablespoons (I love cilantro, so I used the whole bunch)
-1 (12-ounce) boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
-1 cup crushed tortilla chips
-Sour cream, for topping
-Monterey Jack, shredded, for topping
-2 limes, wedged
Directions:
In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil on medium-high heat.
Saute the onions.
Add bell peppers, jalapenos, salt and pepper.
Cook until the onions become translucent.
Add the cumin and stir until fragrant.
Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, corn, and 1/4 cup of the cilantro.
Add the diced chicken and cook through for about 10 minutes. Season with salt, to taste.
Ladle soup into bowls and divide the crushed tortilla chips between the bowls.
Top each bowl with sour cream, Monterey jack cheese, cilantro, sliced avocado, and lime wedges.
Thanks, Trev!! This sounds delic, I will def have to try it soon. I mostly do my cooking on the weekends since I eat on campus during the week, but I will file this for my next soup adventure!
DeleteSpeaking of WW apps...have you downloaded the WW scanner app? My new favorite thing. You can scan the barcode of foods and it tells you the points value. It helps in the grocery store so much.
ReplyDeleteI have and I adore it!!! Not only does it make the grocery store so much easier, but it is so helpful at home when I can just scan the box and send it straight to my tracker. I just didn't want to sound any more like a walking advertisement for Weight Watchers than I already do.
DeleteAnd I totally understand your other comment about moving and losing focus and the whole vicious circle. The other problem I've had after moving is finding a new leader that I like. I did WW for the first time while I was at OSU and I went to the center out by Northland Mall, and I loved it there...I lost almost 40 pounds in 6 months. Then I had to go home for the summer, and there was only one WW meeting there at the time and the people were so unfriendly that it was so discouraging. That got me out of the habit of going, cause I figured I could totally do this on my own, I already know what I'm doing. But I couldn't, and I put it all back on, plus a lot more. You just need to be okay with playing around with your meetings until you find one you like - I just got fortunate this time that I found it on my first go.