Weekly Weigh In - Getting In Control

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This week, I am finally getting back into the swing of things! I cannot believe that this is my first full week of work following Christmas break. Last Saturday, at my weigh in, I lost 0.6 pounds!! That means that I only have 4 more pounds until I am back into my healthy weight range!! I have more than that to get to my ultimate goal, but I am excited to be making progress.

Last week, my small goal was to drink my water and liquids. Even though it's winter, I did a much better job getting in all the water that I need per day.

My goal for this week is to plan ahead!!

On Saturday, after my Weight Watchers meeting, I made a dinner menu for this week. I also went to the grocery store to stock up on fruits, veggies, and other low PointsPlus snacks! I portioned out my snacks, so that they would be ready for me to enjoy throughout the week. I get really busy during the week and doing this prep work ahead of time helps me to be more successful during the week.

What small changes are you going to make this week!?

For those of you who are curious, this is what my dinner menu looks like for the week.

Monday: Crockpot 3 Bean Turkey Chili
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Meatloaf Muffins
Friday: Sheperd's Pie, Lightened Up

Eat What You Love

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Here is the meeting summary from my Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday, June 23, 2012.

This past week in the Weight Watchers meeting room I asked my members a question:  

 

Is your food PointsPlus worthy?

Think about it, is everything we eat that great or good that at the end of the day we are satisfied with our food choices? I mean do you feel like you could have something better or more pointsplus friendly?

The answers to these questions are not going to be the same for everyone, because we all have different tastes. Something that sounds satisfying to one person might not sound appealing to the next. However, it is important to choose foods that satisfy us. If we choose foods that do not taste good we will not stick with our Weight Watchers program, because we will get bored and feel deprived.

I love the Weight Watchers program, because they do not lay out for you what you must eat everyday. I do not have to buy the Weight Watchers food products. I can eat whatever I want as long as I stay within my daily and weekly PointsPlus allowances. This was important to me while I was losing weight, because I was able to eat foods that I loved and still lose weight!! It doesn't get much better than that?

Overtime I found that some of the foods I loved were too high in PointsPlus values, so I would try to find a substitution that was lower in PointsPlus values and still satisfying. Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.

I love ice cream and dessert!! This is something that I did not want to cut out of my daily life while I was losing weight. However, some ice creams can be as many as 8 PointsPlus for just 1/2 cup. Yikes!! That's too high for me to eat each day. Thankfully, I was introduced to Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwiches!! These ice cream dessert were just as satisfying to me and much more PointsPlus friendly, so I could budget for one everyday!

For me, when I evaluate whether or not a food is PointsPlus worthy, I take two in to account two different factors. First, how many PointsPlus values is this food per serving? If a food is too high in PointsPlus values I do not enjoy it as much, because it is breaking my PointsPlus budget. Second, does this food satisfy my cravings? If I am craving something salty and the food I try to eat doesn't satisfy that craving, I try to look for other foods that might do the trick.

Take some time this week to begin to evaluate the foods that you are eating each day. Are they PointsPlus worthy? If not, try to find something that it more PointsPlus friendly and still just as satisfying to you.

What are some foods that you think are PointsPlus worthy?

Set Summer Goals

Today, I want to give you the meeting summary from my Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday, June 9, 2012.

You have 13 weeks between now and labor day. Think of what a difference you can make in your weight loss journey during that time if you just set your mind to it. You can be successful over summer, it is just going to take some planning.

For many of us, summer is vacation season. Our focus shifts from routines, schedules and carpools to getaways, reunions, outdoor dining, amusement parks and concerts. Food is often a big part of these fun summer experiences, and it can be easy to lose sight of how much you're consuming. However, with a little planning, you can enjoy all the season has to offer and still stay on track.

I want you to take the time to set 3 summer goals.
• In 13 weeks where would you like your weight to be? (remember that healthy, sustainable weight loss is .5-2lbs per week)
• What would you like to achieve activity wise in 13 weeks? (Let the Live Life Active challenge help you reach this goal.)
• What would you like to change about your current lifestyle in 13 weeks? (Do you want to cook more meals at home, do you want to go to bed earlier, do you want to increase your water intake)

Remember when setting goals to do it S.M.A.R.T.

S.M.A.R.T & Positive Goals
- Specific: Don't be vague. Exactly what do you want?
- Measurable: Quantify your goal. How will you know if you've achieved it or not?
- Attainable & Action Oriented: Be honester with yourself about what you can reasonably accomplish. You need to be able to take action!
- Realistic: It's got to be do-able, real and practical.
- Time: Associate a time frame with each goal. When should you complete the goal?

- Positive: Keep your goal POSITIVE!

It is entirely possible to have success over the summer as long as you take the time to plan out foreseen roadblocks. Take the time to mark on your calendar days that will pose the most challenge. These may be holidays, vacations, family reunions, picnics, etc. If you know when they are coming than you can save your weekly pointsplus allowance for that day. You may even be more active that week to earn some extra activity pointsplus. Remember other good techniques are to bring your own healthy dishes, and to eat a power food snack before you go so that you are not as hungry when you get there.

Friday Night Grocery Shopping

My grocery list for this coming week.

Happy Friday!!

Tonight, I'm going to the grocery store. When do you do your grocery shopping? Normally, I go to the grocery store on Friday night or Saturday. My baby belly is getting bigger and bigger, so I cannot carry the groceries upstairs by myself. I have to become more strategic about my grocery shopping and go when Jon can come with me. This way I do not have to make one hundred small trips up and down the stairs by myself!

Throughout the month of June I am going to go to the grocery store on a weekly basis to see how I like that. Because I am pregnant, I've been eating a lot of fruit and milk! This is good, but it means that I need to go to the store more often than I normally do. I told you about my grocery experiement last year, which has been working pretty well for us up until this month. What works best for you? Weekly trips?

No matter how often I go to the store, I always have to make sure I have a list. This helps me to stay on track and only get what I need. It also helps me to avoid tempting foods that are high in PointsPlus values. When I know what I need, I do not have to spend a lot of time wandering up and down the alises walking past snacks and treat that I know I do not need.

This week I plan on making some great recipes!! I have listed the recipes below if you are interested.

June Meal List - Week 2
Taco Junk
Santa Fe Breakfast Ring
Apricot Glazed Pork Medallions

If you have to go grocery shopping this weekend, make sure that you go prepared! Click the link to read more about some Supermarket Tips that might help you this weekend while you shop.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

Supermarket Sweep

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Today, I want to give you the meeting summary from my Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

Outsmart the Supermarket 
Here's how to navigate to the best-for-you choices. Article By: Janis Jibrin, R.D.

You're driving home from work, your stomach is rumbling, and you still have to make a stop at the supermarket. As you walk down each aisle, foods you had no intention of buying — from snacks to full-fat potato salad to frozen lasagna — are suddenly irresistible. Sound familiar?

Arm yourself with strategies that will help you avoid temptations and get in and out of the supermarket faster, with the right stuff in your grocery bags.

Plan ahead
Take five minutes to plan menus for the upcoming week. Create seven lunch and dinner menus (fewer than that if you eat some meals out). Keep in mind the week's events: Working late on Thursday? Make it a take-out night. If the dishes you plan don't include vegetables, estimate how many salads or cooked vegetables you want to accompany the meals. Also, plan on a few snacks and get enough cereal or breakfast foods.

Create a list
This isn't the list you hurriedly make as you rummage through your fridge and see that you need more milk or you're out of eggs. Nope, this fool-proof list comes right out of the seven-day menu plan strategy.

Make your list market-friendly 
To make shopping easier and faster, organize your list according to the sections of the store. Shop at specialty markets? Then organize by market. Here are some basic categories:
• Fruits and vegetables
• Refrigerator cases (dairy, juice, eggs, etc.)
• Meat, poultry and fish cases
• Canned foods, condiments and oils
 • Grains and cereals
• Breads
• Frozen foods

Grab a snack beforehand
You've heard this a zillion times before, and it's still true: Shop hungry and you're more likely to succumb to high-calorie foods. If you don't have time for a whole meal, munch on a quick, healthy snack such as a handful of nuts or a small bag of baked chips before you grab your cart and go.

Hit the supermarket once a week
If possible, shop on the same day each week and spare yourself some aggravation by avoiding the busy times: weekday evenings or weekends (by Sunday, the produce is usually not so hot anyway). If you work during the day, go after 9 p.m.; if you have a more flexible schedule, go during the day.

Make a produce pit-stop
Shopping once a week may be too little for fresh produce, so dart into the market mid-week to replenish your supply of fruits and vegetables. In the summer months, save time by stopping off at a roadside stand.

These lists will take the guesswork out of supermarket shopping. And with the right foods on hand, you'll have a leg up on preparing Weight Watchers recipes and minimizing food temptations.

Fridge staples
Cheese:
• reduced-fat or fat-free hard cheese, such as parmesan
• grated cheese
• cream cheese
• cottage cheese

Condiments:
• mustard
• ketchup
• light or nonfat butter
• light or nonfat margarine
• low-fat salad dressing
• low-fat sour cream
• light mayonnaise

Cooking essentials:
• bottled minced garlic
• fresh lemons and limes to squeeze for juice

Diet beverages:
• flavored waters and seltzers
• soda
• light juice cocktails
• sugar-free lemonade mixes

Dips:
• hummus
• black bean dip
• fat-free or low-fat sour cream-based dips

Eggs/liquid egg substitute

Fresh Fruit:
• whole items such as apples and plums
• cut up melons and mixed fresh fruit salad

Fresh vegetables:
• whole items for slicing and dicing
• bagged salad mixes
• Cut-up vegetables for dips

Hot dogs and bacon:
• Canadian-style bacon
• light turkey or pastrami bacon
• reduced-fat or fat-free hot dogs

Luncheon meats:
• deli-sliced turkey breast
• lean ham
• roast beef

Meat, fish and poultry:
• lean beef
• skinless fish
• lean ground chicken
• turkey breast

Meat alternatives:
• soy dogs
• tofu
• tempeh
• seitan

Milk:
• skim
• 1%
• buttermilk

Starches:
• tortillas
• wonton wrappers
• fresh pastas

Yogurts/smoothies (low-fat or fat-free varieties)

Freezer staples 
Breakfast items:
• whole-grain waffles • pre-made pancakes

Frozen desserts:
• light and fat-free ice creams, muffins and cakes Frozen Entrees (light breakfasts, lunches, dinners and side dishes)

Frozen Fruit (for baking and making smoothies)

Frozen Starches (low-fat/low-calorie potatoes and squashes)

Frozen Vegetables (whole, cut-up and sliced for soups, stir-fries and other entrees)

Meal kits (Asian stir-fries that include already cut veggies and light sauces)

Meat substitutes:
• veggie burgers
• soy products

Meat, fish and poultry:
• lean beef
• skinless fish
• lean ground chicken
• lean ground turkey breast

Soup (bean-based, broths for cooking)

Pantry staples
Baking mixes/needs:
• angel food cake
• spice cake
• reduced-calorie pancake and brownie mix
• light or fat-free, sugar-free pudding and gelatin mixes
• sugar and/or sugar substitutes

Beans and lentils (canned and dried; kidney, pinto, black, chickpeas, etc.)

Bread/starches:
• light whole-wheat or whole-grain breads
• reduced-calorie hamburger and hot dog buns
• pre-made thin pizza crust
• reduced-fat crackers

Canned fish (tuna and salmon packed in water)

Canned vegetables and soups:
• pureed pumpkin for baking
• chopped chilies
• canned artichoke hearts
• fat-free broth
• reduced-fat tomato-based soups

Canned fruit (packed in water or their own juice)

Cereal:
• high-fiber varieties
• dry oats and farina
• instant flavored oatmeal

Dried fruit/vegetables:
• cranberries
• raisins
• apricots
• sun-dried tomatoes
• dehydrated vegetable snack mixes

Jam/jelly

Oil, vinegar, cooking spray and other bottled sauces/dressings
• teriyaki
• reduced-sodium soy
• reduced-calorie syrup
• olive-oil flavored cooking spray, etc.

Pasta, rice and other dry grains: • whole-wheat pasta • brown and wild rice • bulgur • couscous

Peanut butter or other nut butters/nuts

Savory snacks:
 • light popcorn
• baked chips
 • portion-controlled cracker packs

Seasonings:
• dried herbs and spices
• prepackaged seasoning packets

Shelf-stable vegetables:
• whole onions
• heads of garlic
• potatoes

Sweet snacks (reduced-fat and fat-free candy, cookies and chocolates)

Tomato sauce and paste:
• bottled and canned
• plain and seasoned

Popular getting-started must-haves 
• Canned, fat-free refried beans (for burritos, quesadillas and vegetable dips)
• Flavored mustards (such as tarragon, dill and honey mustards for sandwiches, potato and poultry toppings)
• Flavored salsas/canned seasoned tomato products (for potato toppings, vegetable dips, poultry and fish, Mexican-based dishes)
• Frozen veggie burgers (black bean, Southwestern- and Indian-flavored and soy burgers)
• Grapes (wash and freeze for a frozen treat)
• Gum
• High-fiber crunchy cereal (to snack on or mix into yogurt)
• High-quality dark chocolate
• Highly flavored vinegars (high-quality balsamic vinegar and herb-infused vinegars)
• Highly flavored cheeses (Parmigiano Reggiano, crumbled feta, blue cheese)
• Highly flavored oils (toasted sesame, walnut, extra-virgin olive oil)
• Light crackers/cookies (look for pre-portioned snack packs)
• Light or fat-free whipped topping (for dessert toppings or as a dip/topping for fresh fruit)
• Light or nonfat sour cream and plain yogurt (for making dips and sauces; plain, fat-free Greek yogurt is nice and thick — perfect as a chili/stew topping and thicker creamy sauces)
• Low-fat microwave popcorn
• Mini packs of low-fat cottage cheese
• Pistachios in shells/tamari roasted almonds
 • Whole-wheat pitas/tortillas/wraps (use for sandwiches or slice, season and toast for homemade chips)
• Soy chips/baked chips/flavored rice cakes
• Spaghetti squash (bake and remove flesh with a fork as a pasta alternative)
• String cheese
• Sugar-free, fat-free pudding and gelatin
• Sugar-free, fat-free fudge pops, ices and ice cream bars
• Sweet potatoes (for homemade oven-baked fries)
• Whole-wheat pasta and whole-wheat couscous

The Great Labyrinth of Weight Loss

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Here is the meeting summary from Saturday, January 21, 2012.

Have you ever been in a labyrinth? You work it from the outside in, making twists and turns to get to the center. Weight loss is a lot like that. We are trying to get to the center, our goal, and we too have twists and turns along the way with ups and downs. Sometimes we hit a dead end, (have a gain/eating binge) and have to have the confidence to work around them and learn from our mistakes.

For us to make it to our goal we have to be willing to make some changes.

There are four levels of change that will help you reach your goals:
1. Environment
2. Beliefs
3. Capabilities
4. Behavior

This week let’s look at just the first level, environment.

When it comes to your environment, it is important for us to identify our danger zones.

Which areas of your life pose the most temptation? Is it the break room at work, the drive home, or maybe your very own kitchen. Identify the places that you’re most likely to engage in unplanned eating.

Now that you know them what needs to happen in order for you to stay in control at these places? Maybe you can declare a certain space a “no eating” zone, or plan to have your own healthy snacks readily available, or maybe even just moving the most tempting foods out of arms reach.

Now let’s focus on specific foods. Which foods are your red light foods, the ones you just cannot stop eating once you start? Remember that you can’t eat it if you never buy it. If it is a food that can be done without then maybe your best bet is to never bring it in the house. Or, maybe you can find a healthy substitute that is lower in PointsPlus values…for example Peter Pan peanut butter replaced with PB2.

Also remember the phrase out of sight out of mind. If it is a food that must be in the house, move it to a place where it won’t be seen very often. Put it in the back of the tallest cabinet for example. If its sitting on the kitchen counter, and that is the first thing you see when you walk in, then 10-1 its going straight into your tummy.

How could power foods help in these types of situations? What can you do to make these foods more assessable? It could help to buy prepackaged bags of baby carrots, buying sliced apples for convenience, or keeping a stash of snacks at home, in the car, and at the office.

Your best bet is to always be prepared with a healthy snack for when hunger strikes!

To help create a healthy work environment getting off to a good start is imperative:
*Give yourself a healthy breakfast that includes protein and fiber to keep you full until lunch so you won’t be roaming for break room goodies.
(A good example might be scrambled eggs with toast and turkey bacon, or oatmeal with milk blueberries and almonds)

*Instead of choosing those high pp lattes, cappuccinos, and coffee with full fat cream, try herbal or green tea instead.

*Bring healthy munchies such as fruit, nuts, popcorn, or snack bars to satisfy the mid-afternoon hunger pains

*Bring your own lunch to work maybe some leftovers from last night or a great homemade sandwich.

*Keep water bottle on hand. Take it everywhere you go! If you feel hungry, have a bottle of water first. You might just be thirsty.

My Chipotle Dinner

Happy Friday Everyone!!

Is it sad that I am already thinking about and planning what I am going to have for dinner? Let me explain.

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Tonight, Jon and I have plans to go out to eat at Chipotle. We are so excited! I cannot put into words how much my husband enjoys Chipotle. The hardest part is that we live in a town with NO Chipotle! Thankfully, Jon is a pilot and when he goes out of town he can eat at Chipotle. To our surprise, a town about 45 minutes away from us just opened a Chipotle before Christmas of this last year! Tonight, is going to be our first night to eat at this Chipotle that is so close to our home! Yes, I am going to bring my camera to document the occasion.

As you might have guessed, over the years, I have learned to really enjoy eating at Chipotle. Even after I joined Weight Watchers, Chipotle was still a great option for me to choose when we would eat out. Chipotle uses organic and local produce when they can. And they use milk from cows raised without the use of synthetic hormones. If you have never been to Chipotle I would highly recommend that you find one in your area and check it out.

I use the Chipotle Nutrition Calculator 2.0, to figure out the nutritional facts for my burrito bowl. I just check what I am going to add to my burrito bowl and it gives me the nutritional facts. I take those facts and put them into my PointsPlus calculator to figure out how many PointsPlus I need to budget for the evening.

Me with my Chipotle burrito bowl in August 2009.

Tonight I am going to have a burrito bowl that includes the following:

White Rice

Chicken

Fajita Vegetables

Tomato Salsa

Corn Salsa

Cheese

Lettuce

In total, my burrito bowl is going to be 12 PointsPlus, which is not bad at all. I do not know if I will eat the entire burrito bowl, but I am going to budget for it just in case. I feel confident in my ability to stay on plan today, because I have made a plan! I have added my burrito bowl to my Weight Watchers Plan Manager, so I know how many PointsPlus I have left to use throughout the day.

Are you going out to eat tonight or tomorrow? What kind of plan are you going to make to help you stay on plan?

Planning a Key to Long-term Weight Loss

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As you know, yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which meant that the university was closed and I had a day off! It was so nice to just have a day to myself.

This past week the meeting topic at my Weight Watchers meeting was about planning. I have to be honest and confess that I have not been very good at planning since November! I am so good at planning, but recently I have not made time to do the planning that I know I need to do at the beginning of each month. I am hoping that after this meeting I will be more motivated to get back on track with my planning. Not only does it help me eat healthy, but it also helps my budget!

Here is the meeting summary from Saturday, January 14, 2012.

Planning Healthy Meals
We are all busy. Whether you work full-time, attend college, care for a loved one, run a household or all of the above. You don’t always have time to make nutritious meals. Like many people who want to eat healthy on a budget, you probably rely on those handy frozen entrees to fill the gap. After all, they seem like a bargain compared to going out for lunch every day. But wait, with some planning you can make nutritious lunches and dinners and save money to boot.

Below are some benefits of planning ahead, meal wise:
1. Saves Money. Armed with a plan and a list, you only need to make one trip to the store each week, thus eliminating the opportunities for impulse purchases. You also save money by taking advantage of weekly sales to tailor your menu, avoiding duplicate purchases, and reducing the urge to order take-out.

2. Saves Time. You have to spend about 30 minutes to plan a week’s worth of meals. When you plan your meals, you can efficiently shop for groceries using your list, and you only have to shop once a week. You can spend dinner time preparing and enjoying your meal, instead of standing in front of the refrigerator waiting for a dinner idea to magically pop into your head.

3. Helps You Eat Healthier. By planning three meals a day, seven days a week, you can avoid visiting the drive-thru in the morning, abstain from lunch hour vending machine frenzy, and resist the temptation to order from a pricey take-out dinner menu.

4. Helps Reduce Your Stress. No more worries about what to have for dinner; you now have a plan. You’ll know when to pull food out of the freezer, avoid the mad rush through the grocery store at six o’clock, and most importantly, reduce the amount of money you spend.

Here are some great techniques to help you get started:

*Make a Master List of 10-20 Meals
Ask everyone in your family for a list of their favorite meals. Prioritize the list, highlighting foods that you can quickly prepare and meals that don’t require too many ingredients. Organize this list by category, including beef, chicken, crock-pot dishes, fish, vegetarian meals, side dishes, and soups.
Gather the recipes and keep everything in a handy notebook or store them on your computer for easy access. You will refer to this list often when you plan your meals.

*Write Your Meal Plan on Paper
You can use a blank calendar or even just use a piece of notebook paper. List the days of the week down the left side to log your meals, and use the right side of the paper to make your grocery list. You can then easily bring your plan with you to the grocery store.

*Plan for All Three Meals
When I don’t plan for breakfast and lunch along with dinner, I am more likely to skip meals or visit the drive-thru. You can make quick and easy breakfast foods and with some careful planning you can still head out the door on time in the morning. You can also use leftovers from the previous night’s dinner to prepare lunches. Make an extra serving or several extra servings at dinner time to pack for the next day’s brown bag lunch.

*Review Your Family Calendar
Are you working late this week? Do you have plans to visit the in-laws for Saturday night dinner? Do your kids have a soccer game or a Girl Scout meeting during the week? Take all of these scheduling issues into consideration when planning your meals. Once you know your family’s schedule, you can plan accordingly. For example, eat leftovers for those late nights at the office, take the night off from cooking when you visit your in-laws, and prepare a crock-pot meal for soccer night.

*Plan Your Menu around What You Already Have on Hand
To get started; you need to organize your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. Group the food in your pantry by category, including baking ingredients, canned goods, condiments, coffee and tea, pasta and rice, sauces, and snacks. Clean your freezer and refrigerator and throw out any expired food.

*Make a Double Batch of Your Favorite Meals
One for dinner and one for the freezer. The more home-cooked, prepared food that you have stored in your freezer, the less stress you feel when planning your menu. For instance, if you plan to have grilled chicken one night, grill a few extra chicken breasts and shred them after they have cooled. The cooked chicken stores well in the freezer and you can use it for a chili recipe, quesadillas, salads, and soups.

*Plan Your Meals around Your Grocery Store’s Sales Circular
Most grocery stores run their weekly sales circular on Sundays. The Sunday paper costs around $2 and by planning menus around the sales, the paper more than pays for itself.

Once you’ve organized the food in your home, and thrown away anything that’s expired, take inventory of what you have on hand. Plan meals around the food you already have. In addition to reducing your grocery bill, this helps to eliminate duplicate purchases.

Take it week by week at first, and before you know it, you’ll never have to break out into a cold sweat again when someone in the house charges through the front door and asks, “What’s for dinner?”