Thursday WI

Had my weekly weigh in this afternoon and am proud to report I am down another 1.2 pounds.

Even though I am following the simply filling, I am going to track this week and make sure my portions aren't getting out of control. I want to make sure I am not slowly increasing portions, and how close I am to my aloted range.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

I seen this recipe on http://weight-watchers-points-recipes.blogspot.com and it sounded so good. I have a head of cauliflower at home, so timing is perfect. Will let you know how it turns out.

Servings: 4 servings • Time: 20 minutes • Points: 1 ww point

1 tbsp butter
2 tsp unbleached flour
1 head cauliflower - chopped
1/2 cup chopped onions
4 cups fat free chicken broth (vegetarians can use vegetable broth)
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, make a rue by melting the butter on low heat. Add flour and stir about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, onions and cauliflower and set heat to medium. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender (about 20 minutes.) Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Frozen Peanut Butter Cups

8 oz Cool Whip
6 Tbsp Peanut Butter
2 Tbsp Hershey chocolate syrup

Combine Cool Whip and peanut butter. Line 12 cupcake tins with liners and spoon in mixture.
Top with a drizzle of syrup and freeze.

That's it! (1.5 points each)

This is a great treat if you are looking for something to take care of a craving.

New Favorite Treat/Snack! :O)

Special K Bliss Mocha!

By sheer destiny I ran into this morsels of goodness at the local grocery store yesterday and I had to just try them. I couldn't even wait to get back to the office, so I opened one in the vehicle and to my pleasant surprise -- they were wonderful, and only 2 PTS! I don't really care for the regular granola bars. They are a little syrupy for me, these aren't like that. They come in several different flavours. I also bought the plain chocolate ones for my children, and they loved them as well. I love finding new low point snacks.

Another Successful Weigh In!!

So last Thursday was my weigh in, and I am happy to say that I am down 4 pounds for the week. I had some serious ap's this week which included three hours of raking on Sunday alone. I did make a concerted effort to ensure that I fuelled the body for the upped activity. So I must have done something right. I also received my 16 Week charm for the key chain. Hard to believe that I have been at this for 16 weeks and have lost 36.4 pounds. I am very excited and am looking forward to another 16 weeks.

The 2 most important things for me in being successful at losing weight is tracking and portion control. If I can stay focused on these two things, I see the results.

As a side note, we pulled the trailer out on the weekend to park it for the summer and we are going to try and spend the night this coming weekend if the weather is nice. So note to mother nature, please send nice weather our way.

Mentally Preparing for Dim Sum

So I was just informed that the office staff is going to go out for dim sum tomorrow for lunch. I LOVE dim sum and cannot wait. However, that does mean some pre planning. First of all my weigh in is on Thursday, so my first awareness will be the salt intake. Second of all, I only have 30 points for the day (I have definately used up all weekly ap's); therefore, I will have the typical 2 point grapefruit for breakfast at around 9:30 am and use about 18 ponts for the dim sum. I think if I stay to mostly steamed items I should be able to count 5 pieces for 4 points. If I end up eating 15 pieces, I will end up using 12 points, allowing room for a couple deep fried items. I think (I know) I will be okay. :O)

I will drink lots of water and tea to help with any of the salt intake. I plan on staying within points and being successful for weigh in on Thursday.

What a great week!

Last week was so extremely busy. For Easter we went to Medicine Hat to spend the weekend with friends. There was no school for my kidlets last week, so I took holidays and spent the week with them. We really had a great time. Painted bedrooms, went swimming, biking, shopping, visiting, etc. We even managed to get up to the lake to rake the leaves on our property where we park a 5th wheel trailer for the summer (about three hours of ap's). Now we are really stoked about summer.

Even with having the week off I managed to get to a weigh in, where surprisingly I was down exactly 1 pound. LOVE IT!!! I am sure this is a result of the extra eating and extra activity points, but hey not bad.

I have come to realize - I hate organized exercising. What I mean by that is treadmill, exercise program, gym, etc. I would much rather get my ap's in by doing yard work, house work, playing with the kids, going swimming with the kids, etc. I think for me it is a whole productive thing, with my time so limited I have to kill two birds with one stone - nothing wrong with that. So far this method is obviously working for me, so why change it at this point.

Here's keeping my fingers crossed that this Thursday will be a STS or a loss.

Happy Easter!

Just back from weigh in and I stayed the same. I am happy obviously that there was no gain. So we are off to Medicine Hat this weekend for Easter and I am totally prepared to stay op. We are taking the kids swimming, biking and other outdoor activities while we are there, so should be able to get some ap's in. I will drink my water (among other things) -- but I will prevail.

Happy Easter!! :O)

Motivating the Weight Loss

I have read many self help books, articles, etc. and have realized the common ground in all is finding out what makes you tick. As much as we want you to look your best and lose weight, there's much more to life than weight loss. It's important to know how to eat properly and to educate yourself on a healthy lifestyle.

We must continue to develop the person inside in order to gain the results we want on the outside. Be thankful for what you have. Do you have a job, house, spouse, car, children, friends, food to eat, nice bed to sleep in, television or credit card? If you have half these things, consider yourself lucky because the majority of the world's population would love to trade places with you.

It takes work and sacrifice to lose weight but you can enjoy the process by maintaining balance. Set days aside for eating your favorite meal with the family or taking that special person out to eat and don't worry about fat and calories.

Develop yourself by investing in others. Ask yourself what you can do to help someone make their world a little better. Develop into the person you want to be by educating yourself and taking care of family and friends.

Life is more than losing weight and fitting a certain image. So put your life in proper perspective and don't make appearance the main focus. Take care of your mind, soul and body. Seize the moment and take firm hold of the responsibilities placed before you.

This journey is worth it in so many ways.

New Progress Picture - Yikes!

So I have finally added a progress picture - not very flattering. There was a brief moment that I thought I should not even put it up, but I totally want to use it as motivation and I really want to see the transformation every few months.

On a positive note, I really feel the benefits to losing the weight. Going for a walk with my children outside is way easier. I LOVE IT!!! This is such a wonderful feeling.

I am not even going to comment on the whole weigh in thing this week; will just be hoping for the best.

One Point Chili Recipe

I love this stuff and will be making a pot of it this weekend. Sooooo gooood!!

Ingredients
10 ounces extra-lean ground turkey breast
1 medium onion, diced
2 (28-oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 medium zucchini, diced
2 medium yellow squash diced
1 (15 oz) can black beans
2 (15-oz) cans fat-free, reduced-sodium beef broth
4 celery stalks, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 (1 1/4-oz) package dry chili seasonings

Directions

Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and onion and sauté until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer the browned turkey and onion mixture to a large soup pot and add the tomatoes, zucchini, squash, beans, broth, celery, bell peppers, and chili seasoning. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Continue to simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Serves 20

Nutritional Info/Per Serving
Calories: 76.5
Total Fat: 1.3 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 321.2 mg
Total Carbs: 10.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.0 g
Protein: 6.5 g

Woo Hoo!!!!

So just back from WI and am down another 2.6 pounds. All I can say is Holy Shit!! I really can't believe it. As I mentioned in my other post I thought I had cheated a bit this last week.

I do follow the simply filling and do not really record my extra weekly points, so I thought for sure this is what might really mess me up.

Anyway, I am very grateful at the loss and will take it any time I can.

This really does work!!

So I have been following the WW's plan now for approximately 3 months. The one thing I have really noticed is that if you follow the program as outlined, you are very successful; however, if you cheat, the program is not really forgiving. This past week I have cheated several times, so I am very curious as to how my wi will go today.

Quite often I wake up thinking why does it take so long to lose weight. I was never really a bad eater, I just ate too much too many days in a row. I have always been at the very least borderline over weight. It wasn't until after my pregnancy that I became obese. This was definately an eye opener for me, and I feel terrible I have done this to myself. However, I am committed to making the change. My family has a history of overweight people; does that mean these eating habits have not been changed down through generations?

I am adamant that I will provide my children with great eating habits. I want to break this cycle, if I can. Both my children are very active and so far they are doing just fine. However, I want them to continue to know how important it is to eat right and exercise. I will often tell them that we need to do this so that our muscles and bones remain healthy. They never hear the word diet in our house -- it is just "the way" we have to eat.

I feel great that I have been able to lose the weight I have and am looking forward to seeing the progress 3 months from now.

Have a great day and think "thin thoughts".