Forgive me, Allmighty Scale..

I have been tracking every single morsel of food and every ounce of beverage that passes my lips since Monday, everything goes into my journal no matter how "bad" or off track I was. As a result, I've learned a few things and might actually have figured out why I've gained so much weight: "I eat and drink too much." Simple as that. Big ah-ha moment, right? Not so much. This isn't rocket science, for goodness' sake, it is simple math: Calories In, Calories Out. If you take in too many and don't expel enough you're gonna get fat. Period.

So, with that big revelation what do I intend to do about it? Well, first off continue to track consistency and completely which allows me to make better choices and actually know how many POINTS I have left at the end of the day. Yesterday, for example, was a rough one. We had a bit of a "family crisis" which resulted in a few of us meeting for lunch at a local chain restaurant/bar known for it's ribs, burgers, and other unhealthy fried food. Every part of me wanted to say "to hell with it, I deserve this," order a big ol' pile of onion rings and some loaded nachos, eat & drink to my heart's content, shoving down the feelings instead of processing and looking for a solution to the problem. Instead, my kids ordered the nachos and I got smoked fish dip with extra veggies, a glass of wine & water. I nibbled & sipped, totally ignoring the piles of tortilla chips surrounding me. Ok, I ended up having 3 glasses of wine which wasn't great for me but I could have done so much worse.

Then, last night some friends came over for happy hour, one of them brought along new-to-me tropical fruit called Jak Fruit, have you all ever heard of it? Very unusual and delicious but a little bit goes a long way so I doubt my portion even equaled a POINT. I did have another cocktail or two but did not indulge in the platter of cheese & crackers I put out for the guests. I thought I did ok but was honestly a bit nervous this morning when I finally sat down to log my POINTS. The end result? I went over 5 POINTS. That's it. After all of the drinks, the dip, etc. Whew. What's the big deal? I have them to spare, that's what they are there for, why shouldn't I use them? Now, going over 5 POINTS every single day is going to present a problem and certainly not result in weight loss. But once or twice a week? Big deal!

The moral of the story here is that instead of ignoring my journal for fear of what it will reveal, thus resulting in that "screw it" mentality, it's much better for me all around to face the music, confess my indulgences and move on! Chances are I will be pleasantly surprised in learning that my "sins" were not nearly as great as I'd imagined. How freeing, how refreshing! I'm now ready to start the day with confidence and the ability to make informed decisions about how much I'll be able to wine & dine today. See, confession truly is good for the soul!

Hot Dish ~ Spicy Cowgirl Chicken

I don't normally work on Fridays but since I took Monday off I'm going in to make up the hours. After work we'll probably be headed to a friend's house for happy hour and I know that I'm not going to want to cook afterward so I'm throwing this dish into the crockpot right now in preparation for tonight. I surely don't want to end up starving and grabbing just anything, especially after a couple of cocktails when my inhibitions are lowered, shall we say. *wink*

I've been making this recipe with great results but noww that I'm back on WW I have tweaked it slightly and made it my own. Since I am using a sweet & spicy barbecue sauce there's no need for the additional sugar in my opinion and adding a bit of onion spices it up a bit. And, yes, I know that it's not recommended to cook frozen chicken in the slow cooker but honestly I've never had a problem with it. If you do, feel free to use fresh and just shorten the cooking time.

With my tweaking, this turns out to be 4 POINTS per serving. I plan to serve it on light hamburger buns or Sandwich Thins for an additional POINT but it's also great over baked potatoes!

Spicy Cowgirl Chicken

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 4 Hours
Ready In: 4 Hours 10 Minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
1/2 cup fat free Italian salad dressing
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup diced onion
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes if desired

Directions:

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, onion and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.

Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low, shredding once the chicken becomes cooked enough to do so.

Bon Appétit,

Hot Dish ~ Shrimp Lo Mein

Beren's working late and my kids are out & about so I'm on my own for dinner tonight. No problem, I'm looking forward to whipping up this quick & easy shrimp recipe I found on the Weight Watchers site. This sounds so much better than the restaurant version which would cost me 8 POINTS instead of 3 and this one has tons more veggies. Yummy!

Shrimp Lo Mein
POINTS® Value: 3
Servings: 6

Ingredients:

8 oz House Foods Tofu shirataki - noodle shape
16 oz shrimp, frozen, thawed
3 tbsp teriyaki sauce
18 oz Birds Eye Oriental Style Vegetables In Garlic Soy Sauce, Frozen
1 cup(s) edamame (shelled)
1 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:

Microwave noodles for 1 minute; set aside. Place shrimp in a small bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce; set aside.

Place mixed vegetables and edamame in a large nonstick skillet with 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat for 7 minutes or until cooked through.

Stir shrimp into vegetable mixture; cover and cook 4 to 5 minutes or until shrimp is pink and cooked through.

Stir together remaining 1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce and the cornstarch, then stir into the mixture in the skillet and cook until warmed through.



Oh, and here's a pic of me taken today presumably at that dreaded WW weigh-in weight. *groan* Why is it that I always think I look better/thinner than I actually do? Hate the honesty of the camera!

Clean Slate

Yesterday I grabbed that big ol' imaginary eraser and wiped away all the past dieting "mistakes." So, maybe I earned an "F" in weight loss this past semester but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up and settle for failure. I'm better than that, this time I"m getting an A!

Since it's almost back-to-school time (or so the retailers want you to believe), there are all kinds of cool lunchbox items in the stores now. I was in both Wal-Mart and Target over the past couple of days, perusing the aisles for organizational gadgets to assist in my food planning. I really coveted the Sigg Hello Kitty bottle..swoon..but couldn't justify it in my budget at the moment. Maybe someone will give it to me for my birthday next month? (not-so-subtle hint in case any of my family members are reading!)



I did, however spring for this Deluxe Salad Kit by Stayfit, it has three separate compartments and a freezer tray so that your dressing stays nice & cold. This is really great for me because I don't always have access to the refrigerator at work and this way I can keep my salad in my desk drawer without fear of it rotting before lunchtime!



Now that I've purchased, planned and packed all of the things I need to succeed, am looking forward to an awesome day!

Have a Beauty-Full Day,

Back to Reality

I'm baaack! We had a really nice weekend but even though I brought my own food and tracked most of the time, took a couple of bike rides and walked every day, I still overindulged a bit (that margarita which was soooo not worth the calories!) So, after e-mailing a very successful weight loss blogger friend, I decided that doing it on my own just isn't working and I need to get back to the meetings. I need the camaraderie, the support, the accountability.

It was a good decision, I knew it when I walked into my old Weight Watchers meeting place last night, but stepping on the scale was not an easy feat. Apparently my scale at home is not accurate or, at least different that the one at WW because the number shocked me: 166.6. Gulp. What the hell? No wonder I feel like crap, my clothes don't fit and my thighs are rubbing together - that's more than I weighed when I gave birth to my eldest daughter 24 years ago! And, geez, all of those sixes just can't be good luck!

Yes, I was upset, frustrated and angry but none of those emotions are going to help me take the weight off, are they? What will is working the program. Completely. 100%. Period.

So, here I go. A new start. Again. Beginning today.

Camping? Moi?

Beren and I are heading out of town this afternoon, going to the Keys for a nice long weekend..alone! It seems like forever since we've had any real time together, what with his girls being here for two solid weeks and every weekend in June. It was great having them but I am used to having every-other-weekend to ourselves and am really missing that couple time! You see, My Man works very long hours and even when he gets home from the office he is in "workmode" for the remainder of the day, doesn't really come back to himself until..oh, sometime Friday evening! This means that weekends are very important to me, to us, and I look forward to them big time!

I'm especially excited about this little getaway because it's somewhere we haven't stayed before, Fiesta Key, and something we haven't really done before: camping. Now, I am going to admit right here that I am not a camper, not in the traditional sense. I can't stand the heat, I prefer not to sleep on the ground and mosquitos and I do not get along! However, my dad owns a gorgeous 40-foot RV and has decided to park it at this lovely campground for a month and has invited us to make use of it any time we want! Isn't that lovely? Dad will be joining us there this evening to "show us the ropes" since we have no clue how to operate the mechanisms of the RV but after that he'll be heading home, leaving us to our devices.

Like all tropical vacation locations, when you're in the Keys you are expected to drink, and eat, and drink some more. Since I don't want to come home even more roly-poly than I already am, I'm going to rein in those habits and plan for better choices. Since the RV has a full kitchen, I have complete control over my eating and there's no excuse to just grab whatever high calorie junk is available. We'll be stopping at a grocery store before we hit the campground so I can grab all of my usual standbys, thus preparing myself to stay (mostly) on track. Of course I realize there will be some indulgences, am not going to deprive myself of fresh seafood and a couple of cocktails, but I am going to be aware of my consumption and track as best I can.

We are also bringing along the bikes, am thinking that a couple of early-morning bike rides and after-dinner strolls will work off some of the aforementioned damages.

So, all in all I feel fully equipped and ready to enjoy some much-needed fun in the sun! In case I'm unable to check in beforehand, have a fantastic, beauty-full weekend!

Plan to Succeed

I totally agree with the old adage,

"If You Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail."
I am a big planner & list-maker, always at my side is my Crackberry chock-full of every minute detail of my life. Shopping lists, book and cd inventories, family clothing sizes, recipes, etc. etc., it's all in there. If Heaven forbid I ever lose the thing, it's all backed up on my hard drive, no worries there!

Regular readers of my other blog know that I also plan my weekly dinner menu which saves me a ton of time and money. However, what I am not so good at is planning, and allowing for, the rest of my daily meals. I have always been the kind of weight watcher who logs her food after she eats it and hopes she has enough POINTS! Since I am a creature of habit and eat a lot of the same things every day, this usually works out ok for me. However, some days, especially lately when I was on vacation and had additional peeps in my house, it didn't turn out so well. I got lazy about cooking, I wanted to just hang out in the pool and eat whatever everyone else was eating, said Yes when I should have said No to that second (or third) glass of vino..you get the picture. Out of control, that's what I was.

So, I'm going to try something new: planning and logging before consumption. Obviously this isn't possible every single day, I'm not going to be a slave to my food journal, but for the most part I can do it. I think it will give me a bit more control (which the Leo me loves) and also remove some opportunity for overindulgence. No more willy-nilly gorging, grabbing whatever is on hand without knowing if I can afford it or not!

Another part of planning is having the good stuff on hand, available and accounted for. I practiced this last night, took some time to grill myself shrimp while the family had their usual take-out pizza. I tossed a couple of ounces into a big green salad, delish!



I then cut up a huge vat of strawberries so that when the nightly cravings started I wouldn't be tempted to share the cheese & crackers or salty snacks that Beren often goes for and could instead have a sweet treat of my own, guilt-free.



I also purchased a little plastic bin for the refrigerator, loaded it with "my" foods for the next day - measured all of my breakfast, lunch & snack ingredients out and put it into individual containers, am all set for tomorrow!



Here's my Plan to Succeed for today:

POINTS® Tracker
Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Morning
1 serving(s) Bare Naked Fit Granola 2
1 serving(s) Chobani Greek Yogurt 3
1 item(s) vegetarian breakfast patty 1
1 oz Veggie Low Fat Pepper Jack cheese (alternative) 1
1 serving(s) Thomas' Light English Muffins multi-grain 1
Subtotal 8

Midday
1 cup(s) strawberries 0.5
1 item(s) Original Vegan Burger 1
1 cup(s) romaine lettuce 0
1 serving(s) Arnold Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins 1
1 cup(s) mixed baby greens 0
Subtotal 2.5

Evening
White Bean Turkey Chili - 4
1 serving(s) wine 2
1 cup(s) pineapple 1
1 cup(s) mixed greens 0
1 tsp olive oil 1
Subtotal 8

Anytime
1 tbsp Original Better 'n Peanut Butter 1
1 medium apple(s) 1
1 cup(s) cucumber 0
Subtotal 2

Food POINTS values total used 20.5
Food POINTS values remaining 0


Wish me luck!

Have a Beauty-Full Day,