Day Three...So Far So Good

While I sort of abandoned my postings and updates, I am proud to say I have not abandoned Weight Watchers yet!

Planning and shopping for the menu for the whole week sure has made a difference in sticking with it and so far everything has been going GREAT!

I have been sticking to my points without any problems. Yesterday I was full and ate really well and still had two points left over.

Today, Day Three, is the first day I have dipped into my weekly allowance points, which I am trying to save for the weekend....with Hubby home and cooking I know my weekends will be more challenging.

I have been meaning to post my menus as well. I don't know, between work, kids, scouts, website, and now cooking and tracking, if I will be able to do this daily, but I will do my best.

Speaking of cooking, I am sure one of the best side effects of this whole Weight Watchers plan in our household for Hubby (who doesn't need WW!) is that he seems to have lost his job of cooking dinner! I have somehow slipped into this role myself...haven't decided if it is good or bad yet though.

Now about my meals:

Breakfast has been pretty consistent with 24 Frosted Mini-Wheats, one-half cup of fat-free milk, and my usual coffee. I am surprised at how well this is satisfying me and holding me off until lunchtime or snack time. This morning I did add a beautiful ripe nectarine to the cereal though...it was ready and I just couldn't resist it. I do LOVE summer fruit!

Total Breakfast = 5 points

I took the kids to the movies today for the summer free family fun movie. We saw Nim's Island which I hadn't seen before. It was cute. Anyway, I snuck in my bottle of water and a baggie with 9 Quaker Rice Snacks...the cheddar flavor (which were BOGO at Publix this week!)

Snack = 2 points

Next was lunch which was incredible!!! I am going to have to have this one again tomorrow...and I think it will be a staple around here. First I sliced a thick slice of eggplant, spritzed it on both sides with some olive oil spray, and stuck it on the George Foreman grill.

Then I took a whole wheat roll and on one side put a nice pile of baby mixed greens and then topped that with some jarred roasted red peppers. I measured one-quarter cup of goat cheese (Only 2 points!!!) and spread that on the top of the roll. When the eggplant was nicely grilled, I sprinkled it with a little Adobo seasoning, stuck it on top of the roasted red peppers and was good to go. This was delicious!!!! and only 5 points for the whole thing! I also had a cup of raw carrots on the side.

Lunch = 5 points

Now all was going well...and I had dinner, snack, and dessert for the rest of the day planned...until my son decided to make a low-fat yogurt banana smoothie. Even though it was low-fat, it's 5 points would take me over the day...even after eliminating snack and dessert! But it looked so good and everyone was having some so I did too. Now I only had a small glass and it was really hard to determine the exact measurement/point value so I guestimated based on the full recipe. I think I probably had less than 5 points' worth...but since that is what came up in the recipe builder, that is what I went with.

Snack = 5 points

Finally came dinner. Another divine meal! We marinated salmon in a little olive oil, lime juice, TONS of garlic, and an onion all day. At dinnertime I threw this under the broiler and added some steamed broccoli and a cup of brown rice. I measured out 4 ounces of salmon, which compared to everybody else's portion at the table looked pitiful...and at this point I started to feel a little deprived...but I talked myself out of having some more and slowly finished my rice and broccoli first, saving that delicious salmon for last, and I was fine.

I did decide to go ahead and dip into my Weekly Allowance for 2 more points though and have a Weight Watchers English Toffee ice cream bar...while everybody else had chocolate haystacks (7 points per cookie!)

Dinner and Dessert = 10 points

Total for the day = 27 points, going over by 3 points!

Overall I am feeling good....my only concern at this point is that, even though I am following plan and staying satisfied, most of the time I am feeling a little too satified!!!...am I going to have a drop in weight on my first weigh-in?

Day One

After my surprise weigh-in on Day One morning, so far the day is going pretty well.

At first I was starving, even after my breakfast of 24 (yes...I counted!) frosted mini-wheats. But as I started to get into my day, I realized about half an hour to 45 minutes after breakfast that I was actually feeling comfortable and not so hungry anymore.

So I planned to get some work done and then find time today to go to the store to stock up on my produce. Apparently DH didn't buy most of it off of the list when he went yesterday and I need to make a mad dash to get the rest of my supplies for lunch and dinner.

The blip in the schedule came at lunchtime when I hadn't yet made it to the store and now was missing ingredients for my planned lunch! Back to starving again!

So I thought about what we had and whipped up an egg salad sandwich based on the WW recipe of 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites, mixed up with light mayo and seasonings, split between two people. I shared with DS and gave him the two extra egg yolks so it worked out perfectly!

Now that we have eaten, it is off to the store to get the rest of my stuff for the day.

Vacation Pounds

Stepping on the scale for my first "official" weigh-in this morning, I am shocked to see that I gained 4 pounds over our 9-day Orlando vacation! I guess those meals really did catch up with me...I don't know why I really didn't expect that!

So now that our schedule is clear for the next few weeks until school starts, it should be easy to get into the swing of things, mastering the basics of the meal planning and keeping track of my points.

The Night Before

Okay...I am READY!

Weight Watchers...here I come again.

It is the night before I begin and I am actually kind of excited. I am a lifetime member, reaching goal weight and maintenance when my daughter was born 12 years ago.

Divorce and re-marriage, kids in school and activities...constantly on the run with no time to myself. Over the years I have let myself go and the pounds have crept on.

At this stage of my life I am 45, fat, and frumpy. I am looking at middle age and I want to be fit and fabulous again.

I want to feel good as well, with energy to get things done instead of feeling blah and exhausted all of the time.

I signed up about four weeks ago but with so much going on, trips out of town, kids to drive around town, I just couldn't motivate myself to get started. I started one day half-heartedly, but was so hungry I never really got it off the ground.

So here we go again. I have pored over dozens of WW blogger postings the last few days....dug deep into the WW forums and guides...and FINALLY....put my menu plan for the week together. Not only that, I carried out the most important step of actually shopping for the foods on that plan!

With all that in mind I am ready to begin...looking forward to pounds lost, and energy and self-confidence gained.