Weigh In Day!

Got on the scale this morning and I have lost 1.4lb this week :-)  Whoo hooo, that’s a total loss since Jan 1st of 7.6lb. I am super happy and unlike before when I would get sick of ‘cutting back’ after a few weeks, I feel more like moving forward and keeping on track with what I’m doing. Because in all honestly, I’m not cutting back on anything!

Something like this will be breakfast this morning – does this look like ‘cutting back’?

I love my Heinz Baked Beans. I just think it’s funny that I have to buy them in the ‘International’ aisle at my grocery store. It’s the only kind of beans I ate back home in England!

They are virtually  fat free and only 2pp per 1/2 cup. I had ‘beans on toast’ yesterday  for lunch so I will use some this morning for breakfast, along with some fried mushrooms and tomatoes and some turkey bacon, along with a delicious hot cup of coffee.

I’ve just told hubby to get on the scale before he jumps in the shower . . .  I want us both to have the same weigh in day! Problem is we can’t remember what he weighed at the beginning of the week! So, I’ll post his loss/gain (hopefully a loss) next Friday.

Not a pretty sight!

But they tasted SO good :-)  These are Butternut Squash Fries! Or as my hubby called them (when I told him how I would be cooking them) ‘Bakes’!  I got the recipe from Hungry Girl, she showed how to make them on her show the other week. It says to bake them for 40 minutes! I checked them after 20 minutes and they were cooked (imo) but I turned them over like the recipe said and let them go another 20 minutes! by which time they had shriveled to barely nothing! This is one half of a butternut squash.  I honestly don’t think they need to be cooked that long.

I’ve since seen them on WW site , and their cooking time is only 20 minutes total . . .  don’t they look much nicer? The picture below is linked to the WW recipe. The good thing is mine still tasted nice. It really was just like having sweet potato fries (which I love) but without the extra points (mine were only 1pt because I tossed in 1tsp of olive oil).

 

Now something that looked much prettier, was my iceberg lettuce wedge I had the other day. Just 2pts for the lite blue cheese dressing and 1pt for bacon – deliciously refreshing!

Things are still going well and hubby is still on board with me. I know he just started, but I think I’ll get him to weigh in with me on Fridays ;-)

Look Nenna!

Nenna (Brenda) is my sister back in England :-)  We were talking the other day about Indian food, it’s one of our favorites, and ‘over there’  they have the best Indian takeout food (im0) and I MISS IT!!  Brenda can get some really good WW Indian food in the frozen section of her grocery store, and I was rather jealous, until I found this. . .

Actually I’m still rather jealous, because I had a yummy WW frozen meal last year when I was back home for a visit and it was MUCH tastier than this one, but it was better than no Indian at all ;-) But like most frozen meals, they don’t look anything like the picture on the box!

I had this for lunch on Friday (8pp) along with a yummy juicy Tangelo! By the time you spoon out the chicken the sauce is kinda all mixed up with the rice!   Still tasted pretty good though and I will probably have more, although I think I will look for some recipes online and at WW and try to make my own too!

This big box arrived on Friday too! At first I had no clue what it was, but then I saw that it said ‘dry ice’ and I realized it would be the giveaway from Danica' that I won on Feb 4th! Miniture Icecream bars (only 2pp each), Kristen and I tried one straight away, they were delicious. Definitely a daily treat for me while they’re in the freezer. Thanks again Danica :-)

So, it’s Valentine’s Day today… do you have any special plans? We don’t (other than a trip up to my daughter’s school for their valentines party at 12.30). When I say ‘we’ I mean just me, hubby is at work).

I wanted no cards or flowers from hubby (we are sending all our spare cash to pay off our cars faster) BUT he gave me the best present ever yesterday?  He said he was going to join me and do the WW points plus :-)  I am so happy and excited – I hope he will stick with it, he hates following diets! But this is not a diet right, it’s a way of life, it’s how you should eat ALL THE TIME. The great thing about WW is that you can eat what you like and don’t have to give up anything, just have it in moderation and ‘COUNT THOSE POINTS’!!!  So, I will be journaling here how he’s doing too from now on.  I’ve already packed his lunch for today and counted all of his points for him (jeez, he should be able to stick with it, how nice that someone does all the counting for you, eh!) ;-)

If only. . . .

We eat (and drink) with our eyes! If only my Skinny Caramel Macchiato that I had today actually looked like this!!

 And I wish my oatmeal looked like this!

I had both today when I went out for coffee with my friend Cindy.  Don’t get me wrong, they were both still very good, a really nice treat, but the coffee was served in the usual white paper cup, and I skipped the caramel drizzle because the guy said it wasn’t sugar free! Total for my drink was 4pp (even though WW online said it is 5pp!) I used the Nut. Information from Starbucks website to calculate the pts and I’m sticking with 4 (plus I didn’t drink the whole cup anyway).  The oatmeal was 3pp and the brown sugar on top 1pp.

You know I said I wasn’t an oatmeal kinda girl, but I have to tell you this was the best oatmeal I’ve ever had!. I think the brown sugar had a lot to do with it (because it was pretty bland tasting before I sprinkled it on). And it was only an instant packet too! I’m wondering if that’s all I need to do to make my oatmeal yummy? Make some plain oatmeal and add sugar? I will have to try it.

Well I started this post yesterday but didn’t get it finished so I’ll do it now. Today is Friday and that means WI day! I got on the scale this morning and  . . . . . . . . .  gained .6lb :-(

I’m really not surprised. I didn’t track very well at all last weekend and I think I’d gained about a pound by Monday. I did well the rest of the week and exercised too but it’s just not enough to get that pound back off AND some!  So, this weekend I MUST TRACK and even if I use my ‘weekly points’ which I often think I don’t but I obviously  do (I just don’t track them!) I should at least try to stay within those 49 pts.  So, all is not lost, I don’t feel down about it, quite the opposite, it just motivates me to keep going in this direction which I know is the right one. How can eating fruit and veg and exercising be wrong? ;-)

I’m ready for Spring!

I can’t bring myself to say I’m ready for Summer! I’m never ready for Summer. The past few summer’s here in TX have been brutal. I’ve been here for over 6 years and I honestly don’t think they were as bad those first 2 or 3 years (or was that cos I had a house with a pool in it? yeah,  that might have been why!). We moved 4 years ago and this house does not have a pool in it – it does have a neighborhood pool just around the corner, but …. and that’s a BIG BUT!

Anyway, Spring I like – Spring I can take any day :-)  I just wish it was today. Our winters here in Central TX are very mild but it can still get cold, (we had snow last week!) and it can get VERY windy, like it is tonight. I’m always cold in the house and walk around wrapped up in my long grey cardigan. I would just like it to get warm enough where I can take my cardi off and ‘feel slimmer’! Yes, wearing layers makes me feel fat – doesn’t it you?  I just want to shed some layers, get back in to a thin t-shirt and some capris, wear flip flops! Oh I know it will all come soon enough, but, I’m just wishing out loud.

Breakfast this morning was quick and simple, 1 cup of Cheerios, 1 cup of ff milk, 1 banana and 1/2 cup blueberries. Total 5pp

  I just discovered this Lactose Free milk a couple of weeks ago when I sampled it in the grocery store. To be honest I’m not much into milk. If I don’t have cereal in the morning I never get any! Most days I don't’ get my dairy in  as per the GHG’s! Bad I know, but a fact. I often find milk a bit too ??? how shall I put it?  ‘slimey’!!!!

This one is Lactose free AND it has more protein and more calcium than regular milk! I tried the 2% at the store and really liked it.  I don’t think I’m lactose intolerant, I mean I like cheese and yogurts and can drink milk when I have a freshly baked cookie in my hand no problem, but I thought I’d give this a try (it’s the protein in it that I like – anything to fill me up more) ;-) So I had a full cup today which means I got my dairy in. I think I’ll try to have cereal more this week.

Lunch was a big salad with 2 oz poached chicken. And dinner tonight was Mediterranean Couscous with veggies and tomatoes (I just cooked some frozen veg and added a can of tomatoes) and another 2oz of chicken.  It looks pretty bland but the couscous had a nice curry flavor to it.  1c couscous 5pp, 20z chicken 2pp (I’m not counting 1cup of veg and toms).

I must admit I’m getting a bit stuck on what to eat each night for dinner.  I wish WW had a cooking show on Foodnetwork. I love watching the cooking shows but wouldn’t it be great if they showed you the yummy recipes AND gave you the pts+ values!

Missed a few . . .

. . . days posting that is!  Can’t believe I haven’t posted since Thursday AND I haven’t taken any photos to share since then either!

But it’s Monday, a good day to get back on track (not that my eating was off track, just my blogging) ;-)  I weighed myself on Friday morning, and had a .6 loss. Better than a gain but I’d really like to see 1lb every week if I could.  I am determined to be more committed this week with eating AND exercising.

I finally opened this. . . .

 This is the dvd I got when I bought WW books and calculator last year . I used all the books and loved the calculator (have since bought their new one, but didn’t bother with new books) but never opened the dvd!!! I have been using my ‘Walk Away The Pound's’ dvd’s and the Reebok bench training dvd. Well I was happily surprised at this one, it has 5 different 20 minute workouts, from pilates/yoga to cardio dance. I could do a different one each day from Mon to Fri then take the weekend off!  I actually started it yesterday and did the 20 minute pilates one. It was really good. Only problem is it isn’t in the WW activity tracker online so I’m just having to put in 20 mins of pilates, and it says I get 1 activity point.

So, no pictures of food today. Except this one. . .

I’m having a little giveaway over at my daily blog. This is what you can win. The pack includes a coupon for a free bag of frozen smoothie from yoplait , a cute pink water bottle, diet and fitness journal and a little backpack. You can leave a comment on THIS POST for  a chance to win.

Thursday already?!

Wow, this week is flying by. Just wanted to make a quick post (incase my sis is dropping by to peek in) ;-)

It’s really cold here right now, we may even get snow tomorrow (very rare for Central Texas!). I’ve been doing well with eating this week and I’ve worked out on Monday and Wednesday and today. But if I’m honest I don’t feel any ‘lighter’ so I’ll be lucky if I’ve lost half a pound this week! Weigh In day is tomorrow.

I finally found some PopChips at Target this week. I’ve heard these are really good and only 3pp for about 22 of them!

I wasn’t disappointed! These were super yummy. Chips are my downfall, I could eat bags and bags of them. I haven’t had any of the ‘real’ ones in weeks, so these really helped satisfy my craving.

Lunch yesterday was one cup of progresso soup, tuna wrap and pop chips, total 5pp :-)

 

One of my fav afternoon snacks.. low fat cottage cheese and fruit, only 2pp.

I will post more tomorrow with an update on my weigh in. I really need to take some measurements too, I haven’t done that since I started back at the beginning of the year!