A Few Days To Recoup!

Since my last post I have happily taken a few days of rest!  Yes I have still worked, and yes I still had some craziness to deal with Wednesday and Thursday….but a biggie, I have NOT COOKED since last Tuesday!

Ahhhhh….that in itself is kind of relaxing!

Wednesday, as promised, I took the Fabulous Preteen and her BFF to see New Moon.  Okay…I now completely and totally understand why all these 40-something women have gone Jacob crazy.  I so get it!   Hmmmm…

OH!  Excuse me…back to blogging!  On the way home, since we were near Whole Foods I decided to drop half of my Christmas money I had saved for gifts for the kids and get a few things I can’t seem to find on my side of the city (unrefined coconut oil…spelt flour…organic kabocha) and some things I was just out of and needed to get (rolled oats, quinoa, broccoli, ginger, and more!)…and while we were there I fed them.  I just didn’t want to cook when I got home!  I was burned out.

They had Whole Foods pizza which my FPT declared was the best pizza.  I had been craving sushi!  Easy!

Thursday was spent working….and then hanging out at FPT’s school for her Xmas class party.  I took advantage of every minute I could with her because after school her dad was picking her up and whisking her, along with FabTeen, to Canada for a week where they will be spending Christmas with him and his family.  I know they have to go….but even after 12 years of these alternating weekends and holidays I still get a huge knot in my tummy every time they leave me. 

So focusing on the positive….this week I am not driving anybody anywhere!  And I am doing my Christmas shopping ALONE…or with FabHubs.  But I warned FabHubs that if he got grumpy on me and started complaining I was going to LEAVE HIM HOME!  Now I know for most husbands that would be a threat they would be happy to have made good on them…and FabHubs usually falls right into that category.  But he is enjoying his alone time with me (and I with him!)…something we don’t get much of.

And with no kids around, he and I have been able to be lazy in the cooking department.

Thursday night I did make him cook!  I printed him this recipe for Mama Pea’s curry which looked really good, and adapted it to what we had on hand.  I then proceeded to take out all the veggies I wanted to go in it.  The tofu was already waiting for him, marinating in the juice of one lime, 2 TBS honey, a big ole spoonful of jarred garlic (out of my yummy organic!) and 1 TBS of soy sauce.

I took out the brown rice (and asked him to make that first), then took out whatever veggies I had on hand that might go well with curry…broccoli (which I had picked up from Whole Foods, none left in my produce box), one each of white and sweet potatoes, a huge handful of green beans, and some carrots, as well as the garlic and ginger!

  

One of the things that is really great about FabHubs is if I give him any recipe and the ingredients, he will make it.   He even took these pictures for the blog while he prepped and cooked!

   This is the tofu broiling. 

  On the other hand…sometimes he really takes his time when cooking……

I think we finally had dinner around 10 p.m.!  But boy was it goooood!

He put the chopped cilantro on top (I adore cilantro!) and additionally I topped mine with raw cashews and golden raisins.  This was/is one of my absolute favorite dinners!

And it was a large amount.  So we ate it Friday night too.  And he ate it Saturday for lunch while I was out.  And there is still some more!

Saturday night for dinner we went out for a treat, to Houston’s.  I have never been there before! 

I was starving and over-ordered a bit..I had only had a shot of wheatgrass juice at Jamba Juice during the day, and a giant glass of home juiced carrot/apple/ginger/beet juice when I got home.  I was going to get a juice at Jamba, (another place I had never been but I really wanted a shot of fresh wheatgrass juice!) but when I saw the menu I really didn’t want a smoothie type drink which is what they mainly have, and the only juices they had there were straight carrot or orange.  No combo juices!  And I wasn’t going to pay $3.00 for a small glass of carrot juice when I could make it at home!  So that is what I did.

But by the time we sat down for dinner I was ravenous! 

We decided to share two of their specialty sushi rolls as an appetizer, the Thai Tuna roll and the Shrimp Macadamia roll.  Both were really good….I had never had nuts in my sushi before!  But I have to say, next I would stick with the Thai Tuna roll…it was sweet, crunchy, and it rocked!

I had never had sushi wrapped in the rice paper either…I have always had it wrapped in nori.  Of course the rice paper didn’t add any flavor to it, but it was pretty!

The shrimp macadamia roll:

My beef lovin’ husband took advantage of eating out and ordered a hamburger.  Yes…in the past I would have gotten that too!

But I settled for the best veggie burger I have ever had!  This didn’t even look like a veggie burger when it was served…and it was moist and flavorful!  I am going to have to hunt this recipe down for FabHubs to make for me. 

     

We shared the sides of the spinach and fries.  My only complaint was that the menu didn’t mention the mayo on the burger and I hate mayo!  That was an unpleasant surprise and I wished it would have come on the side.  It had never even occurred to me it would be on there.

I was only able to eat half my burger and took the other half home.

Hubs wanted dessert!  So we split a dessert of their yummy brownie…..

I haven’t been that full in a very long time!  I was uncomfortably full.  We were both so full that the next day we weren’t hungry!  We had an Amazing Grass Green Monster around noon….and that was it until around 2ish when I had my leftover veggie burger and he had his homemade calzone….and that was it for the day.

Later on we snacked on some dried mango and chocolate covered pomegranate from Costco….and I did snack around some of the Costco food booths too while we were there.  But that was it.

This morning, weigh-in day though, I am UP a pound!  BLECH! 

Oh well…it will come off and I know I will not be eating like that again for a long time!

Today I do have veggies to make before they go bad so it is back to cooking for me.  But with no kids to be driving all over the place this week, thankfully this week will be much easier going as I sit in my house and work, and cook and shop….alone!

Weighing In On My Morning

Exhausting!   That is what it was!

First, after doing the camping/tenting/canoeing thing Sat and Sun, we got home last night shortly after 9 p.m. and FabPreteen still had work to do on a project, due, of course, today! 

So I took the opportunity to blog about my trip some (still more to come there) while she worked on the project.  We didn’t go to bed until  2:30 a.m.

Bright and early the alarm went off at 6:05 a.m.  If I thought getting up Saturday was bad, today was worse!  I was am tired.  And I have a jam-packed day too!

Speaking of which, it started out, well, very frustrating.   First…FabStepson was dawdling today and we missed the bus.  Only we didn’t know we missed the bus because she usually comes between 6:35 and 7:45 a.m.  I finally called her at 7:50 and she said she had been there at 6:30 and thought we might be on vacay today!  BIG SIGH!  FabStepson is the only kid at this bus stop so I always call her if we will not be there so she doesn’t have to make the stop.  And his school is not close.  And FabPreteen was still finishing up that project this morning!  I was frustrated that she didn’t call me!  We must have missed the bus by less than 30 seconds because we were there by 6:31.

While waiting for the bus that never came, FabTeen kept calling, looking for my Costco card to get gas.  But my wallet was nowhere to be found.  So he left without it and I came home to look for it.  Nope!  I had put my stuff in big ziplocks for canoeing and it wasn’t in my big ziplock.  And it wasn’t in the car.  And that was frustration #2!  BIG SIGH!

So now we pile into the car and are on our way…to FPT’ school first, then FSS next…without my wallet so I have my fingers crossed I don’t cross paths with any police types this a.m.   And then I realize…I don’t have my phone either!  By now the kids are in peals of laughter making fun of my day!  BIG SIGH!

As we pull up to FPT’s  school, the convenient little  side gate is still open…we are actually early for her and the side gate usually stays open for another 10 minutes.  And, luckily enough, there is a nice little parking spot for me right in front of that convenient side gate.  So I pull and park and the kids are talking about that good thing that happened…when the side gate is closed from inside just as we are getting out of the car!   Helloooo! What is going on here????  This is getting ridiculous!  BIG SIGH!

The kids on the other hand are loving this!  We make our way to the front of the school to find a space there instead.   Thankfully there is one open, waiting for me!

I am not really frustrated, more in shock.  And hoping the rest of the day goes better.  I have a produce delivery to sort and a ton of transcription to do…plus kids to pick up later and we need to get our Christmas tree tonight!  I like us to all do it together and FPT is with her dad this weekend so we have a small window of opportunity this week.

None of that can go wrong, especially the work things.

On the bright side however, traveling across town, traffic was more go than stop, so FSS was just a little late to school, and after digging out all of my camping gear, I found my wallet,  FabHubs had tossed it into another giant ziplock while cleaning out the car last night.  My phone was waiting for me on the kitchen counter…with no missed calls even.

AND (drumroll)….Weighing on the scale this morning for my official Monday Morning Weight Watchers weigh-in, after Thanksgiving, extra family dinners, and weekend  travel eating I stayed the same as last week.  Progress in my book!  (Okay..I cheat weighed last night, at night, after dinner, and in jeans and was in a panic at the 4-pound gain the scale showed…so when I weighed this morning and was back down to what I was last Monday, staying the same was a huge relief!).

Scrambling for groceries for my breakfast this morning (the cupboard is bare!) I found a little yogurt to which I added half of a really really really ripe banana, 1/2 TBS of almond butter, and 1/2 ounce of granola.  

Now I am craving an Amazing Grass but we have no almond milk! 

I am off to start work…have a FabDay!

I Am Running!

And I don’t mean for exercise either, although I wish I could.  Sure would be some great stress relief. 

This week has been nonstop. I dutifully took pix of all of my meals all week…but by the time I finished working/kids/dinner/fight everybody off the computer/etc. and sat down to blog I have been waaaayy too tired!  And even then I can’t seem to type a sentence without constant alternating interruptions from the other four people in the house!

And work was busy too so I couldn’t even steal away a few minutes this week from there to blog.  (I am self-employed and work from home so I am not really stealing from anybody from myself when I do this!)

Girl Scout Camping

Last weekend we camped with the Girl Scouts.  Isn’t this cabin cute?  We fit 12 girls and 4 leaders in that cute little cabin!  Girl Scouts are spoiled and don’t tent camp…we use cute cabins!  (Wait until my rustic Peace River trip next month with the Boy Scouts.  No cabins there! or even bathrooms for that matter.)

Meals were provided but I packed myself a whole bunch of my own goodies for just in case.  I packed fruit, salad, Almond milk, Amazing Grass, spinach, my magic bullet type blender (to make Green Monsters at camp!) chickpeas, an amazing salad, balsamic vinegar, soba noodles, Via coffee, feta cheese and some snacks.  I was a good scout…I was prepared!

….and just in case was on Saturday lunch when they served hot dogs.   I pulled out my beautiful salad with all sorts of crunchy veggies piled on, topped it with the chickpeas and feta cheese, and then added some of my soba noodles with peanut sauce.  It was sooo much better than hot dogs! 

And I am so proud that my daughter, on her own, told them while she liked hot dogs, she  would opt for the pizza because the hot dogs were not healthy.  PROGRESS!  I SEE PROGRESS!!!

Weighing In

When I snuck onto the scale Sunday night, in full clothes (I KNOW, I KNOW!) I was down one whole pound from last week.  I felt good and I figured I would be down for the “official weigh-in” Monday morning.

Of course that was before we  went to Olive Garden for my mom’s birthday dinner! 

The “official weigh-in” brought me back to the previous week’s weight.   But really I know it is less because I still carried the weight of the meal from the night before.  I am still quite pleased with my weight loss.

Produce Box

I also picked up our fresh organic veggies for the week….what a fantastic bounty!  This definitely makes us eat more produce in this house!

Yoga

Tomorrow I am going to try and fit in a chair yoga class that I found.  I haven’t really talked about it, and will probably elaborate more in a future post, but I have a mild form of a neuromuscular disease which causes my arm and leg muscles to be very weak, and at this point, at this weight, I cannot get up from the floor by myself.   I am hoping the weight loss will help that, but honestly I don’t know if my muscles have degenerated to the point where even with the weight off I will be unable to do that.  At this point I am still hopeful though.

So back to the yoga…I know I need to add exercise to my routine.  It is something that is hard for me physically…and I am envious of you runners, it sounds so freeing to throw on a pair of sneakers and go for a run, but I will probably never be able to do that.   Right now I can walk, and I can walk 2 miles (3 is pushing it!) and I am happy with that.  But I would like to do something to help the flexibility of my muscles and yoga sounds great.   But I cannot do regular floor yoga.  I am excited to try this chair yoga, which is supposed to stretch and work on all of your muscles including the legs.  Hopefully I can fit it into my schedule tomorrow.

And after this long-winded update, I will leave you with some photos of what I ate today:

Pear Oatmeal with cinnamon and almond butter:

Fresh made carrot/apple juice (not green!!! but oh so good!)

Finally finished off the soba noodles with veggies and peanut sauce

Dinner was:

Vinegar dressing:

Cukes and sweet onions waiting to be dressed:

Dressed salad:  

A surprise photo from a sneaky daughter:

Cauliflower stirfry….even the cauliflower-hating husband said this wasn’t bad!  Finally!  YAY!My complete dinner of Boca Burger/Balsamic roasted asparagus/stir fry cauliflower/Thai cucumber salad.  Oh this was good!  I started eating and forgot to snap pix at first!

WOW!  This ended up being a mega-post!

I could finish it up finally because everyone else is asleep!

And as I post I am enjoying a glass of Merlot…but I am too lazy right now to deal with taking the memory card out of the computer, putting it back into the camera, taking the picture, putting the memory card back into the computer, uploading the picture, and then posting it into this post,    Waaay too much work for me at this moment…so you will just have to use your imagination.   It pretty much looks like a glass of Merlot though.

And on that note….I am tired and Cookie and I are going to go off to bed as well.

A Fun Monday

I am going to post a couple of recaps here of Monday and Tuesday!

Monday the kids were off of school and FabHubs took off of work.  We had some tickets to go to Boomers and decided to use them.  We had a fabulous time.  I managed to eat healthy most of the day….I flubbed up a little at dinner though.  Not too badly….but not too goodly either.

The  day started off with my Monday Weight Watchers Weigh-In and I was DOWN!  YES!!!  By 3 pounds!!!  YES!!!!  Bringing my total to 17 pounds since July 20.

I am pleased about the slow, steady weight loss.  I really feel I am adjusting my body’s setpoint by going so slowly and healthy…and that the weight will stay off this way. 

Breakfast was one of the two usuals.  Due to the cooler weather I opted for some oatmeal.   Gotta take advantage of that hot cereal weather…normally I have hot cereal on hot days!

It was 1/2 cup oatmeal cooked with Vanilla Lite Silk Milk, topped with 1/2 sliced banana, 1 TBS walnuts, and 1 TBS Almond Butter.  YUM! 

By the time we got up to Boomers everyone  was hungry.  FabHubs stopped at McDonalds to let everyone pick something off the dollar menu to tide them over….I haven’t had fast food since back in June and I was not going to break that trend now!  So I  opted out…but when we got to Boomers I was hungry!  So I had a healthier (I think) snack…..

A simple pretzel (with waaay too much salt which I had to scrape off) and a bottle of water which I had brought.  It was perfect and held me over for most of the afternoon.

Then the fun began!!!

We played air hockey:

Rode Go Karts: 

The Swings:

Played on the Bumper Boats:

Became Secret Combat Agents in Laser Tag:

And played some Mini Golf:

By this time it was after 6 and I was FAMISHED!

I dragged everybody to Sweet Tomatoes as we don’t have one near our house and there was one right by Boomers.  I was craving a good salad!  Only the MeatEater, otherwise known as the FabHubs, protested, although afterwards he relented and said it wasn’t that bad.

I piled mostly veggies on my plate…with a few of the “Bad” salads thrown in (sorry…a little blurry) Boy do I love Jicama…I need to buy some of that for my salads at home!   I also had shredded raw butternut squash…I have never eaten that raw before and that was good!  The beets and carrots were also raw!

I had a slice of their delicious whole grain seed bread…shhh….with butter.

 

And that  is when I sort of ate more than I should have…I had a couple of spoonfuls of the Leek and Potato soup (with cream)….a couple of spoonfuls of the Lemon Orzo Chicken soup….a couple of spoonfuls of the vanilla pudding….half of a chocolate muffin…half of a lemon muffin…and a small chocolate chip square. 

I really do need to get a handle on the buffet stuff!  I like to sample everything!  But because I wasn’t sitting behind a computer all day, I also got a bit more activity than usual..so that was good.

All in all we had a fabulously fun family day!

Great WI Today!

Today was WW weigh-in day and I did a whole lot better than I did for BL weigh-in day last Thursday.  I had been sort of hovering up and down for a few weeks, unable to get down past a certain point, ready to cross a zero but  never making it.

As of last Thursday though, I have been trying to lean more towards a plant-based diet with less meat products.  (more on that later) I did have chicken on Friday night, and I did eat a hot dog at the pumpkin unloading Saturday (and felt ridiculously guilty after that!)  but otherwise since Thursday a.m. that is the only meat I have eaten.

Well TA-DA! That seems to have been the boost my needed to get over the hump it was struggling with! This morning’s weigh-in was a surprise!

Down 3 pounds from last Monday….and last Thursday.  Across a zero (YAY!) but down one point in my Weight Watchers food points as well (BOO!) 

And I am feeling great to boot!

The Good News and The Bad News

BLECH! Durn weigh-in results!!!

The Good News is that I didn't gain weight. (that is if you don't count my little cheat hop on the scale on Friday morning where I had been down from Monday by 2 pounds and if you did, would have made me have gained 2 pounds!...but nope, it is not official and I am not counting it!)

But The Bad News is that I didn't lose weight.

That's right....as of today I am EXACTLY THE SAME AS LAST MONDAY'S WEIGH-IN. UGH!!!!

I was active, I was down in LBs, I was mostly good....how could a little bit of dump cake make me go up? AARRGGGHH!

Anyway...despite all appearances attitude is still good. Physically I am feeling great and I think that is what is driving me. I am back in full force today.

I have noticed a trend in my weight loss though. It seems that I stay the same for two weigh-ins in a row, gain a pound of discouragement (and weight) the next week, and then BAM, drop 2-3 pounds in the next weigh-in for about an overall, long-term average of one-pound per week (not exact math here).

And this isn't a precise pattern....but it is always pretty similar. A few weeks of plateau, an up...and then a big drop. Don't know why. But I sure am expecting that drop next week!

Hello Scale...you better watch out!

I Survived The Weekend

and with only a small "negative point" value too! Not that I am happy about that...but it could have been worse.

First of all...I have no idea how many extra activity points I might have earned while camping. I don't think it was a large number because it wasn't a high activity campout...but it had to be something. I did make a point of getting up and doing every little walking activity we did as well as helping to cook and clean up rather than sit in my chair most of the weekend. I only gave myself 1 activity point for each day for a total of 2 (for the week!) but I know it could have very well been a little more.

Since we did the grocery shopping for our patrol, (all adults, this was a leader training weekend for beginning campers) I did take some liberties..such as buying the R/F cheese and R/F sour cream. I also was vigilant about taking only ONE HELPING! Yay Me!

Some of the things were hard to count...but when we got home today I forced myself to review the weekend and log everything in. It was hard to get an exact count...such as with the exercise and the dump cake I made for dessert in the Dutch Oven. I looked up a similar recipe on Allrecipes.com and gave it my best guestimate...(don't look if you don't want temptation!). I always guestimate conservatively too...on the lower side for exercise and on the higher side for points. I don't think I had a complete serving of the dump cake but I did have some, still, I put down the whole amount because I really have no clue how much I had!

Overall I went over all of my allowed points for the week, including weeklies and bonuses, by 8.5 points. Not too bad, and the first time I have gone over as I finish my 7th or 8th week of WW.

Tomorrow is weigh-in though and I am a little nervous. I know I did a cheat WI Friday morning ( I felt down in pounds and I just had to know) and I was down...but after this weekend I am not sure that number will still be down!

Crossing my fingers for tomorrow morning!!!!!

Week Seven Begins....BAH HUMBUG!

THE WEIGH-IN

OH this is so frustrating! I THOUGHT I had a really good week!

I walked three days and earned myself 7 activity points

I didn't eat my activity points by the end of the week...and I even had weekly points leftover. While I usually do try to eat all my weekly points, I didn't want to eat just to eat them up.

I finished my TOM early in the week. I even had a smoothie for breakfast yesterday morning...a healthy one! And ate really healthy all day...well except for the Tiramisu I had for #1 son's birthday...but I had plenty of points for that.

AND.........on WI this morning I was UP ONE POUND FROM LAST WEEK!!!

HELLLOOOOO????? How did that happen? Because I didn't eat enough maybe? I am still motivated but this sure is frustrating! Six weeks completed on plan and I have had two with 1 pound gains. Not fair!!!

THE BREAKFAST

So with all my Amazing Grass samples my plan is to try one every day and see what I like the best before I order. Maybe. After two days, I am loving this stuff! And I don't want to run out so I may be ordering today.

This weekend I tried two flavors of the Green Superfood in almond milk with some banana and they were both delish.

This morning I jumped onto the Green Monster bandwagon. I threw some fresh baby spinach in with a packet of Amazing Grass, just the wheat grass packet this time, not SuperFood or Amazing Meal. I also put in the almond milk, a TBS of flaxseed meal, and some frozen banana. It was good...not as good as yesterday's Green Superfood smoothie, but still good.....BUT...

THE WALK

Was it because I rested my muscles for four days?

Was it because I had a good sleep?

Was it the flaxseed meal?

Was it the fresh spinach?

Was it the wheat grass powder?

I don't know what it was but let me tell you...as I started to walk I could feel some incredible energy that I have not had in a long time! I was amazed! I felt so good! I am going to keep taking the Amazing Grass products and see if this keeps up.

I personally have never been so in tune with my body so as to be able to follow the nuances in energy I have throughout the day that other people seem to be aware of. For me I am hungry, I am not. I am tired...I am...well I can't say I am not here because for the past couple of years it seems I am always tired.

I have been so fatigued, sluggish, and lethargic for a long time....it had gotten to the point where I was kind of frightened for my future, I could barely move. This is why I have started Weight Watchers and am pushing myself to walk.

But today's walk was something else. It was the best I have had in years. I was so energized, I could move, and I felt powerful. Powerful for me anyway.

Right now I am sold. I will order some Amazing Grass today and keep track of what I eat and how I feel over the next 30 days. I sure hope this wasn't a fluke...but I am thinking not.

It's Weigh-In Monday!

Week Four begins and I am another pound down for a total of 10 pounds! YAY ME!!!!

Yes it is going very slowly....but I am happy with my progress and will happily take a pound less a week. Sure is better than the other direction.

While starting on a Monday seemed like a sensible idea when I first signed up, weighing in on Monday after the weekend doesn't seem too smart.

Because of DH's high caloric (high point) meals (12.5 points for brunch yesterday and that is low 'cuz I don't want him to make his 9 point biscuits anymore!) I save all of my WP's for the weekend. It is easy for me not to use them during the week but really hard to stay within my dailies on the weekends...so I hoard my WP's for the weekend.

Of course after using all my points by Sunday night I always wonder if this affects WI Monday morning. So far, except for that one miserable week two, I have been down, but always one point at a time.

But I am watching and deciding whether or not to swap my WI date to Thursday instead.

Where Does The Time Go?????

Yes, one minute I was going to post my menu for the day....and before you know it, two weeks have passed without a word from me!

With kids at home, me trying to work, sometimes this can be a challenge but I am not giving up the "documentary" of my success.

Good news is I am hanging in there and now am down 9 pounds from starting day. I am frustrated with my WW online tracker....I signed up almost two months before I really started (a girl has to prepare you know!) and my weight changed (umm...went up) a few LBs before I committed. And I didn't realize I had to change it in WW! Now when I go to do that it wants to wipe out my whole history and I am just not up for that this far into it. So while today I got my first 5 pound star from WW online....I am actually 9 pounds down!

Today was WI day and the kickoff for Week 4.

I am thrilled I am finding foods I love that make it easy to stay on track and thrilled I am finding willpower to say NO when I need to. The 35 weekly points have been a Godsend for staying on track. I am proud to say last week I went out for an unexpected dinner and had Chicken Marsala, which came with pasta, soup and salad and garlic rolls. I ate half my garlic roll, most of my soup (which did seem a little pointy), most of my salad, and half my entree. I boxed up the rest of the Chicken Marsala (which was sooooooooooooo good!) and made my son eat it for lunch the next day! My WP sure came in handy there....as did the 10 Activity Points I earned last week working with our Girl Scouts weeding a park.


So, back to the present, let me sum up today's menu, which as of this posting leaves me with 1 point leftover....probably to be eaten later though!


Breakfast: 3.5 points
1 cup Kashi GoLean (2)
1/2 cup FF milk (1)
1/2 cup fresh raspberries (1)
Espresso with 1.5 tsp sugar (0.5)

Lunch: 3.5 points
Flatout wrap (1)
Eggplant slice grilled on George Foreman spritzed with some olive oil spray and sprinkles with Adobo seasoning (0) (Love that!)
1/2 cup spring lettuce mix (0)
Roasted Red Pepper (0.5)
1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles (2)
2 cups tomato juice (1.5)

This is my absolute favorite sandwich right now...it tastes so decadent. I am in a phase where I can eat it every day and be satisfied.....and love that it is also low points. I sure hope I never get tired of it!

Dinner: 8
Veggie Burger (4) (I bought these at Costco and they are higher than I thought...but better than a burger and soooooo huge and YUM!)
Arnold Sandwich Thins (1)
Onion/Lettuce/Tomato (0)
Oven Fries (3)

Okay...at this point I still had 6 points leftover and it was dessert time.....I try to keep several options in stock. I have some low-point WW desserts in case I am low on points and the rest of the family is having ice cream (their favorite). But when I have a few extra to spare I will splurge and have some of the "good stuff" with the rest of them.

We have this Publix Chocolate Trinity ice cream that is to die for! But at 5 points for half a cup I usually have to choose between that and my two glasses of Merlot. I didn't have wine tonight so I had some creamy, delicious, full of chocolate things, heavenly Chocolate Trinity. And I still had one whole point leftover!

HA! I love that!!! Eating deliciously all day, feeling satisfied, and still losing weight.

WHAT!!!!!!!

Remember yesterday I told you about my sneek peek weigh-in...and that I was down 2 pounds and excited about today's official weigh-in? I thought for sure I would be down another pound. FOR SURE! No doubts at all!

So with GREAT EXCITEMENT I hopped on that scale this morning and WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! I am UP 1 pound from last week's WI.

UP 1 POUND! How did that happen??????

Since I had lots of activity and stayed within points, I am sure it is some fluke of lots of sodium or water weight or something or other. Motivation is still strong and I am sure that these pounds will melt off next week.

So today I will stick to program, take pictures, and log my measurements.

I will also do our menu plan for the week and shop....very important!

And maybe even post my menu for the day!

Week Two Finishes...and All Is Well

So far so very good...and I feel great! I was worried, stressed, nervous, and concerned that I would be hungry and not be able to stick to this...especially with my fabulous cook of a husband and his traditional weekend breakfasts!

But so far I have managed to stay within my points and enjoy some great meals!

Today is the last day of Week Two and I have 3.5 of my weekly allowance left over, and I didn't touch the 4 APs I managed to earn this week!

YAY Me!!!!

Week One, which I didn't report, I was down 6 lbs. Weigh-In for Week Two will be tomorrow. I am kind of excited. I don't FEEL down in weight...but I cheated on weighing in during the week (mostly because I have been eating so well I didn't feel like I was losing and had to peek!) and I know I am down at least 2 pounds.

Two weeks into this I realize a few things:

I never took "starting" photos. I do have photos of me...but it would have been nice to get some posed photos for comparison as I lose weight. I will try to do a monthly photo comparison.

I never took measurements. I bought the measuring tape...even went so far one night as to bring my WW journal and the tape measure into the bedroom so I could take the measurements in the morning...but in the morning I forgot all about it!!!!! Another thing I want to do ASAP.

Also....as blogs go, so far this is a BLAHG! I need to start adding more photos. My intentions starting out were to make this a meal journal, mainly a photo journal of my meals, but I have been quite remiss on this. Maybe I can step that up!

Planning is crucial for me! If I plan my meals, snacks, desserts...then I seem to have less trouble staying in points. Also, I do have a few low-point meals that are delicious and filling...that I LOVE. Having these have helped me on days when I want to be conservative in my points and not go over my dailies.

I do find that there are many changes in the plan since I was on it years ago that have made it much easier for me to eat the same meals as my family, feel full and satisfied, and mostly not feel deprived at all. Today I ate bacon and eggs with the family...tacos for dinner with sour cream (reduced fat of course), and yes...I even got to eat a half-cup of Publix Chocolate Trinity ice cream with the rest of the family tonight....it was heaven!

So all that being said, I am ready to wrap up Week One and excited about my weigh-in tomorrow. Hopefully I will be disciplined enough to take photos of meals and actually post them...and blog a little more faithfully, but overall I am mostly happy to be staying on plan so easily.