I am weighing myself every week, to check my progress, but a scale is not the only option, or the only measure of success. You may want to measure your waist, take a picture of yourself and check for visual differences, or see if a certain piece of clothing fits any differently. Or, you may want to just go by how you feel, especially if pounds aren’t as important to you as simply making healthier choices.
And the scale says…2 pounds! Yeah! One or two pounds is a solid, healthy weight loss for one week. At this rate, it may take at least 10 to 12 weeks to get to my goal, but I’m okay with that; losing too much too quickly can actually be bad for you.
Re-cap
Water: Water is the unsung hero of weight loss, and I drank plenty of it every day, all week long. Glasses before, after, and with meals and snacks did the trick. If I’m hungry between meals, the first thing I do is drink some water.
Exercise: Exercise is definitely good for you, but it can also be a kind of insurance plan. I exercised every day (most days would also work), which meant I didn’t need to worry as much about going a little over my Points for the day once in a while, or using those extra “Flex Points” for the week. Ironically, exercise gives me a little cushion.
Fruits and Vegetables: I made sure I had at least one fruit or vegetable with every meal, and most days I had five or more fruits and veggies total. These natural wonders are key to healthy eating, so find the ones you like and always have some in the house!
Portions: I’m using tools from Weight Watchers® circa 2007 to figure out how much food I should have for each meal and each day. I stayed within my daily Points goal most days, and fit cake in using my Flex Points for the week. Other options: look at serving sizes on packages, Google how many calories you should eat in a day, or follow Food Pyramid / plate guidelines.
Planning: My plans fell through more than once. I didn’t get to the store. I was running out of fruits and veggies. I didn’t have the ingredients I needed to make my next planned healthy meal. It happens, so it’s good to also have back-up plans. Look at nutritional info for nearby restaurants and find some go-to options for each. I look for items that have less than 400 calories, sometimes adding fruits and vegetables from home (or choosing low-fat veggie sides). I had to fall back on restaurants three times this week, but I made it work.
Last day before weigh-in! This is when I start to doubt myself – when I think about those three slices of cake, that magnificent bread, the two (three after today) restaurant meals. Did they really fit within the program? Did I really do as well as I thought? What if I step on the scale and nothing has changed, or the number is higher?
This is when I have to tell myself – you did your best, and whatever the scale tells you tomorrow, you’ll keep going, and you’ll get there.
Breakfast: Cereal, Milk, Water
This was a quick breakfast on my way out the door. I had Special K® Red Berries, so even though I didn’t have fresh fruit or veggies with this meal, at least it had some freeze-dried strawberries, right? It has 11 grams of sugar, which is slightly more than I would usually want for cereal, but in my mind, it had fruit, and I wanted to include fruit in some way, so I went with it (I still hadn’t gone to the store, so the options were limited). I added 3/4 cup 2% milk.
Lunch: Bean Burrito, Cheese Stick, Mandarin Orange, Water
Breakfast was light, so I wanted something a little more substantial for lunch. A frozen burrito doesn’t sound very healthy or light, but if you get a regular size bean burrito (no beef), it’s not that bad. I get Amy’s bean and rice burritos; the black bean burritos are even better because they have more veggies, but I don’t find them very often at the grocery store. I added a reduced-fat cheese stick and a mandarin orange to round out the meal. Some salsa probably would have been good too.
Easy, filling lunch
This was slightly more Points than I would normally spend on lunch, but it balanced out with breakfast, which was slightly less.
Dinner: Chipotle Salad, Apple, Water, Tootsie Roll
I STILL didn’t get to the store, so we had takeout for the third time this week! Luckily, Chipotle has a nutrition calculator on their web site that gives you the info as you build your meal. I found I could get a salad with barbacoa, fajita veggies, cheese, and salsa and stay within my Points allowance for the day – yeah! However, when I picked up the food, the container seemed a little small, so I stopped at the grocery store (quick trip; still haven’t technically done my grocery shopping yet) and got some more lettuce to add just in case. While I was there, I also picked up some carrots and more fruit options for breakfast.
My SPICY salad with lettuce added
The salad (with more lettuce added) was really good, but also really spicy. That red chili salsa is no joke. My mouth was on fire, and suddenly the Chipotl-away ad from South Park was running through my head. I drank a ton of water (didn’t want to spend Points on milk, or I would have been chugging that too), and I ate half an apple to try to cool things down a bit. I finished the meal with a “midgee” tootsie roll.
Next time, I will definitely choose another salsa, or add my own. Yikes!
Snack: Pretzels, Mango, Water
I actually had a couple of Points left, so I had 10 pretzels (mini, fat-free) and half of a mango (a regular mango this time). Ten mini pretzels doesn’t seem like a lot, but it was just the little bit of salty crunch that I needed.
Exercise: 30 Minutes
Denise Austin’s fat-blasting yoga DVD again (the first part). Do you ever do a workout video so many times that you notice what the background people are doing more than you really should, sometimes even coming up with internal dialogue for them? (I can’t hold this pose another second. Someone totally just gassed. Oops, just got the cue to smile bigger.) No? Oh well.
How Did I Do?
I would have liked to avoid another takeout meal, but I chose well (although I’d choose less spicy next time) and even added some fruit and greens. Five fruits and veggies altogether (not counting the dehydrated strawberries in my cereal), water, exercise – all good as far as I’m concerned.
We’ll see what the scale says tomorrow!
No regrets.
*Note: I am using tools from the Weight Watchers program circa 2007, because that’s what I have. So, the Points values that I am using may differ from the current program.
Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast, Banana, Yogurt, Water
Yup, my third peanut butter toast for the week. This time, I sliced up half a banana over the top and served it with an Activia® black cherry yogurt. The bread had “whole wheat” or “whole grain” in the ingredient list. The yogurt had less than 10 grams of real sugar. I had a fruit or veggie. I measured the one tablespoon of natural peanut butter. I drank water. All good on breakfast.
Peanut butter toast with bananas – my 9-year-old likes this one too
Lunch: Salmon Salad, Triscuits, Tomatoes, Water
Same lunch as yesterday (see Day 5 for salmon salad recipe), except all tomatoes since I was out of carrots, and I had seven Triscuits instead of six. This was a pretty light lunch, and could have definitely used some more veggies or fruit to make it more filling.
Dinner: Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Salad, Water
I had meant to go to the grocery store, but it just didn’t happen. My daughter also had a gymnastics class, so there wasn’t much time to figure out dinner. So, we had Wendy’s®. I knew from past experience that a grilled chicken sandwich was a reasonable choice for me – just the sandwich, no combo.
I needed something else though, so I made a salad out of spring mix and chopped apple (I used half of a large apple). I drizzled it with half a tablespoon of olive oil and some cranberry-pear balsamic vinegar and topped it with some ground pepper.
Sometimes you have to make your own side
Overall, it was slightly more Points than I would spend on dinner, but it balanced out with the rest of my day and left me one point for a snack later.
Snack: Popcorn, Mandarin Orange, Water
I wanted something filling, so I had half a bag of low-fat popcorn. I also wanted fruit with it, but didn’t want to spend a point, so I had a small orange. I could have had veggies, but I was out at this point (I really needed to get to the store).
Side note: the nutrition info for popcorn is very confusing. Two servings per bag. Serving size: 3 tbsp unpopped (makes about 6.5 cups popped). So far, seems pretty straightforward, except that there’s no way that one bag makes 13 cups of popcorn, even if every single kernel pops, which it won’t. Then, there’s nutrition info “per serving” (assuming popped), but then also “per 1 cup popped,” which when you multiply by 6.5, does not match with the “per serving” info. Argh! In the end, I just figured I was not having more than 4 cups of popcorn, which was the most I could have before hitting two points based on the “per cup” nutritional info. Orville’s smile somehow seems more sinister now.
Exercise: 30 Minutes
I decided to try the “beginner” full-body workout on Amazon Prime again. This used to be free, but more recently, I could only buy or rent it. There’s not much to it – it’s basically an animated Barbie doing the exercises, with a voiceover from a very calm woman. But, it is a straightforward, challenging (for me) workout, and I like that it gives you tips and alternate versions of each exercise if you’re having trouble. I also like that it has a countdown for each exercise, so I know exactly how much longer I have to go. It was only $2.99, so I bought it.
How Did I Do?
It wasn’t the dinner I had planned on, but sometimes your best-laid plans fall through. When that happens, it’s good to have some options ready. During previous weight loss stints, I had scoured nutritional info from nearby restaurant chains and found exactly what I could have from each. For me, I’m looking for something less than 400 calories (which isn’t always easy to find). Sometimes, you have to pair what you get with something from home, even if it’s just fruit and/or veggies.
I stayed within my Points, had five kinds of fruit/veggies, water, exercise – still doing ok, but I really need to get to the store.
No regrets.
*Note: I am using tools from the Weight Watchers program circa 2007, because that’s what I have. So, the Points values that I am using may differ from the current program.
When I want a filling breakfast (that isn’t three plates of food at a diner), I usually choose oatmeal. I make it in the microwave because it’s fast and it doesn’t get any pans dirty. I don’t buy the pre-flavored packs, because I like to control how much sugar and other stuff goes into my oatmeal. I generally keep it simple: quick oats, salt, 2% milk, half an apple. Mostly, this “recipe” is just following the directions right on the container of oats: half a cup of oatmeal, less than a grinder turn of salt (maybe 1/8 teaspoon if that), slightly less than one cup milk. I don’t even stir it, just microwave it for 90 seconds. If you like your oatmeal thick, then you might want to stir it and then microwave for another 30 seconds. But, it will also thicken as it sits. I peel and chop half of an apple, and after I stir that in, I’m done.
Ingredients for a simple, filling breakfast
You can experiment with other fruits and see what tastes best to you. If you want to add any spices (cinnamon, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice), you probably want to add it with the salt. If you can’t do without butter and brown sugar, think in terms of teaspoons (as in one of each). If you want to add some maple syrup and nuts, think tablespoons (again, one of each). Yum.
Lunch: Salmon Salad, Triscuits, Carrots, Tomatoes, Water, Chocolate Granola Bar
This is a variation of the Lemon-Salmon Salad Sandwiches from the March 2009 issue of Cooking Light magazine. I zest a whole lemon, then add the juice from half of the lemon, two tablespoons light mayo, and pepper (I grind enough to cover the entire surface – probably somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon). I mix all of that up, then add a 7.5-oz. can of wild-caught Alaskan pink salmon (wild caught tends to be better for you and the environment). This usually makes enough for two lunches for me. I love the bright flavor of the lemon and the slight kick from the pepper.
I ate this on Triscuits (six of them), but you could also turn it into a wrap or a sandwich with some greens, cucumber slices, and/or tomato. I served it with baby carrots and a variety of tiny tomatoes, but you could serve it with any vegetables or fruit, or even make it into a salad by serving it over a bed of greens, shredded carrots, and/or other veggies.
Lunch – although I only got to eat half of the salmon salad
Sometimes, you need a treat. When a bite of chocolate will do, I might have a mini Tootsie Roll, a dark chocolate kiss, a mini candy bar, or a square of dark chocolate. When I want something chocolatey that’s a little more substantial, I usually have a Kashi® Chocolate Almond Sea Salt granola bar. It has less than 10 grams of sugar (7), which is low for a granola bar. This was the first chocolate I have had this week, and it tasted so good.
Dinner: Pork Tenderloin Kebabs, Rice, Mango Salsa, Broccoli Slaw, Water
This was the same dinner as Day 3, and I thought it was even better the second time. (My 9-year-old thought it was better the first time, but still ate it.) I thought the pork was even more tender, and I could really taste all of the flavors in the soy/pineapple marinade. I also found the mango salsa even sweeter and more flavorful. Delicious dinner!
Even better the second time around
Snack: Sugar Snap Peas, Pickles, Water
I only had one point left at the end of the day. I would have had carrots and dip, but I was out of carrots, so I had sugar snap peas with no dip. After I was done with those, I wanted a hit of flavor, so I had a couple of dill pickles. Kind of a weird combo and a different way to get my crunchy / salty, but it still worked.
Exercise: 30 Minutes
I ran in place, jumped, and did jumping jacks for 30 minutes on the mini trampoline, with a five-minute warm-up and five-minute cool down. Unless stretching is included in the exercise (like in a video or a class), I make sure to stretch afterward to try to avoid soreness. Side note: I actually started exercising a week before I started changing my eating habits, and I was plenty sore no matter how much I stretched.
How Did I Do?
Another successful day, this time without any cake or takeout! I had a treat that fit within my Points allowance, drank water throughout the day, exercised, and had EIGHT different fruits and veggies. Has it been a week yet?
No regrets.
*Note: I am using tools from the Weight Watchers® program circa 2007, because that’s what I have. So, the Points values that I am using may differ from the current program.
Around day 4 (or 3), my brain gets confused. I feel great. I think, “I’m doing so well!” But, then I also think, “It’s only been HOW many days?” I feel different – healthier, lighter – but, I don’t look any different yet. My pants are still plenty tight. This is when I have to remind myself – you may not be that far into this, but you are doing great. Just take it one day at a time and get to the end of the week. And then the next week. And then the next. In other words: keep going. Don’t give up.
Breakfast: Grape-Nuts®, Milk, Banana, Strawberries, Water
Grape-Nuts is a great mom cereal, because it is meant to sit a little while, to get a little soggy. Distractions, multi-tasking, going to see if that was a good scream or a bad scream – when you come back to it, it will still be good. Also, the malted barley smell and flavor make me think of the aroma near one of our local breweries, so I like to think of it as “beer-eal.” The only thing with Grape-Nuts is that you don’t get much in a serving (only half a cup), so you’ll want to top it with some fruit – half a banana and half a cup of chopped strawberries for me this time. I added half a cup of 2% milk and I was good to go.
Basically what I had – although it didn’t look like this much, and I had strawberries and bananas
Lunch: Soup, Goldfish® Crackers, Water
Canned soup is a good thing to have on hand for a quick lunch. This day, I had Amy’s® Quinoa, Kale & Red Lentil soup. This one has become a favorite because of the surprising flavors – cilantro, jalapeno, ginger, turmeric – none of which I would think would go well with quinoa, kale, and red lentils, but it works. I like Amy’s soups in general because of the ingredient lists – all items I recognize as food.
The name does not even begin to describe the flavor of this soup
When choosing canned soups, look at the nutrition facts and compare the numbers. Some soup brands also have “light” or “healthy” versions of their regular soups. You can also of course make your own soup and freeze in individual portions for future lunches or dinners, which would be even better. But, canned soups work in a pinch. Keep an eye on the serving sizes though – one serving may not be the same as one can.
Normally, I have what my family calls “soup toast” with my soup. This is a piece of whole wheat toast spread with olive oil and toasted. Healthy, and maybe something I could have had with half a can of soup, but since I was eating the whole can, I had 25 (yes, I counted) whole grain Goldfish crackers. You could also pair your soup with fruit and/or salad (just watch what you add to this), or even a reduced-fat cheese stick.
Dinner: Steak, Baked Potato with Salsa, Water, Chocolate
So, Day 4 was also my wedding anniversary. Normally, we go to Traverse City, MI and eat and drink to our hearts’ content. Last year, the trip got cancelled when everything shut down. This year, we still weren’t ready to go anywhere, and we also had the kids, so the options were limited. Normally, even when trying to lose weight, I would give myself a pass for an anniversary dinner, but I had already had all that cake earlier in the week, and I was only four days into this, and I really wanted something that wouldn’t be too bad points-wise. So, we looked at nutrition info for some different restaurants and decided on takeout from Outback Steakhouse®. (When looking for restaurant nutrition info, sometimes it’s right up there in the main menu, and sometimes you have to go all the way to the bottom of the site to find the link.) It pained me a little not to choose a local restaurant, but not many local places have nutrition info available online, and we have been having plenty of local fare over the past year.
I chose a 6-oz. steak and a plain baked potato, which I knew I could add salsa to at home. It came with two sides, but the “fresh mixed veggies” had 10 grams of fat, the side salad (without dressing) had 8, and they didn’t have any of the other veggie options that might have worked, so we just chose something that someone else could eat for another meal. Next time I would choose the “no salt” option for the baked potato or rinse it off before cutting it up and adding salsa (it was basically encrusted in salt), but all in all, it was a good meal. I could have also added fruit or a simple salad with low-fat dressing, but the steak and potato were plenty for me. I did treat myself with one of the Ferrero Rocher® chocolates I had gotten myself for Easter.
Snack: Carrots, Water
After all the salt from that baked potato, I wanted something fresh to basically wash out my mouth. So, I just munched on carrots and drank a bunch of water.
Exercise: 30 minutes
I did the first part of my Denise Austin fat-blasting yoga video, which is about 30 minutes. From the few different videos I have tried, she seems to have solid workouts. She also has this wide-eyed stare that freaks me out a little, and says things like “function those organs properly,” but even so, this particular video is one I use a lot.
If you don’t have a go-to exercise video, there are some different places to look if you want to try before you buy: YouTube, the library, Amazon (free if you are a Prime member, or you can rent one to try it out). You could also ask friends for recommendations; they might even let you borrow theirs. My sister-in-law shared this particular video with me.
How Did I Do?
Even with takeout, I stayed within my Points allowance for the day and didn’t use any more Flex Points (I don’t think I had any left anyway). The anniversary dinner was different than what we would normally do, but still good, and I even got a small treat. Combined with plenty of water, exercise, and five fruits/veggies (assuming the soup has at least one veggie serving total), not bad!
If I hadn’t already had three slices of cake this week, I would have probably had whatever I wanted for dinner and it would have been fine. But a lot of this is a balancing act. On any given day, if you have one bigger meal, you might have to scale back on the others or modify your snack. The same thing goes for the week – if you have one heavy meal, or one decadent dessert (or smaller portions of one broken up throughout the week), then you just have to make sure that you try your best to make good choices for the rest of the week. Don’t feel bad about anything that you eat – enjoy it, move on, and start again with your next meal or the next day.
No regrets.
*Note: I am using tools from the Weight Watchers® program circa 2007, because that’s what I have. So, the Points values that I am using may differ from the current program.
Yup, same breakfast as Day 1. You could switch it up by trying a different nut butter, whatever fruit you have in the house, and maybe add a low-fat yogurt.
Lunch: Salad, Apple, Water
This was one of my usual salad combinations – lettuce (spring mix this time) with reduced-fat shredded cheese, sliced green olives, golden raisins, chopped walnuts, and lite Catalina dressing. I like the contrasts of these toppings – the sweet/salty, the chewy/crunchy, the slight tang of the dressing. I added less than I normally would – only one or two tablespoons of each. But it was still satisfying. I also ate half of an apple afterward for a nice sweet crunch to end the meal.
My chosen salad foundation on Day 3
Considerations when building a salad:
Foundation: Vegetables Your salad should be mostly vegetables. You could go for greens (romaine, spinach, arugula – try some different ones and see what you like best), shredded or chopped vegetables, or both. You could choose carefully or make a “kitchen sink” base and use up whatever you have. Fill up that bowl, or leave a little room for…
Toppings / Mix-ins Here’s where you have to start to be careful, but also what can bring salad to the next level. There’s cheese: shredded, crumbled, cubed, reduced fat or a smaller quantity of the real stuff. There’s protein: lean meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, or maybe even a little bit of chopped bacon. There’s sweet: dried or fresh fruit. You can also add even more vegetables, ones that have been grilled or roasted or marinated. Croutons, avocado…there are a lot of options. Quantity is key here – generally, the more things you add, the less you can add of each.
Dressing Olive oil and vinegar is a very healthy choice, but when you’re trying to lose weight, you can’t always add much oil. There are plenty of recipes for healthy homemade dressings, which tend to be so much better than what you get at the store. If you’re adding marinated or cooked veggies, you may not even need dressing. And sometimes you just have time to grab something from the fridge, so it’s a good idea to have at least a couple of light/low-fat dressings on hand. I try to avoid fat-free, because when a salad is just lettuce and dressing, I want to make sure there’s at least a little fat so my body can fully absorb those fat-soluble vitamins. For all dressings, watch the serving size (think in terms of tablespoons).
This was a great meal. The pork was marinated in a mixture of soy, honey, pineapple and lime juices, ginger, olive oil, garlic, five-spice powder, and pepper, then grilled on skewers with pineapple and red onion (recipe here). I served it over a half cup of jasmine rice with some mango salsa (recipe here) and broccoli slaw. For the broccoli slaw, I use the dressing from this Bok Choy Salad (sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, curry powder, crushed red pepper) and add a bag of broccoli slaw and two sliced bell peppers (yellow, orange, or red – I cut the slices in half so that it’s easier to eat).
I don’t grill a lot, and found the kebabs a little cumbersome to turn, but my mother-in-law said that sometimes it’s easier if you use two skewers per kebab. For the slaw, I used unseasoned rice vinegar and natural peanut butter. Admittedly, my kids don’t eat the broccoli slaw when I make it, and they weren’t fans of the mango salsa, so I think I gave them some grapes instead, and some bread and butter. I ended up kind of mixing everything together on my plate, which was delicious.
And then, yes, I had one last slice of cake for the week. But, three was my limit for keeping within my Flex Points for circa 2007 Weight Watchers®, so it was fine (or, I’ll see how fine it was on weigh-in day).
Snack: Popcorn, Grapes, Water
I had a couple of points left at the end of the day (not counting the cake), so I branched out and had some low-fat popcorn with a side of fruit. I usually get Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop!, but other brands have low-fat popcorn too. Look at the nutritional info and compare the numbers. You could also use a popcorn popper, spray the popcorn with cooking spray (or olive oil in a mister), and then add seasonings, but I haven’t mastered that yet.
Exercise
I’m pretty sure I was bouncing / running on my mini trampoline for 30 minutes this time. I set it up in front of the TV after the girls go to bed and watch part of a movie. I do a five-minute warm-up, then 10 minutes of running in place, then alternate between jumping, running, and jumping jacks for the next 20 minutes, then do a five-minute cool down, then stretch.
How Did I Do?
The cake called to me once more, and I answered. But other than that, all good. Water, a whopping eight different fruits and vegetables, controlled portions, delicious food, exercise…yeah!
No regrets.
*Note: I am using tools from the Weight Watchers program circa 2007, because that’s what I have. So, the Points values that I am using may differ from the current program.
I could have cereal for breakfast every day; sometimes I do. It’s quick, easy, and gives you grains, dairy, and fruit (if you add some, which is a good idea). I usually eat it standing at the counter, after everyone else in my house is all ready for the day.
The only problem with cereal? Sugar. Even the ones that seem healthy, touting granola, grains, oats, wheat, bran – even the ones with pictures of farms and wheat stalks and fresh fruit – even those may not be as healthy as you think. I look at the nutrition info, specifically the total grams of sugar, and try to find cereals with less than 10 grams of sugar. If it has a short ingredient list of things I recognize as food, even better. This day, I had Cheerios. As a child, I thought all Cheerios were honey nut Cheerios, and now there are even more varieties, but the box on top of my fridge is just plain, regular Cheerios, which has only two grams of sugar (that’s really low!).
Some cereal options with less than 10 grams of sugar
I added one cup of 2% milk because that’s what the serving size said on the milk, but I would probably add less next time. Growing up, we usually had 1/2% milk, and then I switched to skim. Then we started having whole milk in the house around the time my daughter turned one, and I realized what milk could be. I couldn’t go back to skim; even 1/2% seemed like a watery imitation. I compromised at 2%, and I’m good with that.
Since I used the serving sizes listed on the cereal and the milk, my banana put me slightly over what I would normally do for breakfast points-wise, but I have vowed to have at least one fruit or veggie with every meal (a vow I will probably break, but not yet). Next time, I would probably do slightly less cereal and milk.
Lunch: Turkey Wrap, Mango, Water
This was the same turkey wrap as Day 1, which included a whole wheat tortilla, 1/2 tablespoon light mayo, whole grain mustard, a reduced fat cheese slice, turkey lunchmeat, and shredded carrots. (for variations, see Week 1: Day 1 lunch) I added a mango (we like to get the honey/ataulfo mangoes, which are smaller, sweeter, smoother, and have yellow skin when ripe).
Dinner: Chili, Bread, Water, Cake
This was the same dinner as Week 1: Day 1, and still delicious. The chili wasn’t as amazing as my husband’s chili, but still a solid chili. As I ate the bread, Oprah’s words from an old Weight Watchers® commercial rang in my head: “I. Love. Bread!” (I hear that in my head a lot.) I didn’t add grapes this time, because I was already at my point limit for the day, but fruit or salad would have been a great addition (remember my fruit/veggie vow? I reasoned that the onions and tomatoes in the chili counted). That didn’t stop me from eating a piece of cake using my Flex Points, though. I thought it would be the last one for the week, that it would surely be gone the next day…we shall see. (For more details about this meal and the chili recipe, see Week 1: Day 1 dinner.)
Snack: Carrots, Tomatoes, Water
I had zero points left at the end of the day, so I just had veggies as I sat on the couch and watched TV (after working out). Although baby carrots do not resemble or taste like chips in any way, they do both have a satisfying crunch. And it turns out that sometimes all you need is to grab something out of a bag and crunch on it, no matter what it is.
I couldn’t do dip, but the tomatoes brought the flavor – they were from the Sunset Wild Wonders® tomato medley, with all different colors and shapes and varieties of little tomatoes. If you have only ever had red tomatoes, it may be time to explore the rest of the tomato world. I had never tried a non-red tomato until my early twenties, when a plate of multicolored sliced tomatoes – layered with fresh mozzarella and basil and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar – was placed before me at a wine dinner. As I ate, I was amazed at the differences in textures and flavors. I didn’t know tomatoes could be like this, that they could be buttery and tart and rich and alive with flavor. In other words? Think outside the red.
My former attempt at recreating that glorious tomato dish that opened my eyes
Exercise
Again, I’m not sure which thing I did on this particular day, but it was either Denise Austin fat-blasting yoga, the Amazon Prime “beginner” full-body workout, or bouncing / running on my trampoline for 30 minutes. I tend to do my workouts at night because that’s when I have time.
How Did I Do?
Thumbs up. I could have done without the cake, but other than that, I stayed within my points allowance for the day. Plenty of water throughout the day – check. Exercise – check. At least four different kinds of fruits/veggies. Feeling good.
No regrets.
*Note: I am using tools from the Weight Watchers program circa 2007, because that’s what I have. So, the Points values that I am using may differ from the current program.
Peanut butter toast is one of my go-to breakfasts. It’s just one slice of whole wheat toast spread with one tablespoon natural peanut butter. Add some fruit (I added an orange), and/or a low-fat yogurt to get some dairy, and you’re good to go.
What I use for peanut butter toast
The bread we usually have in the house is Koepplinger’s® 100% Whole Wheat. If you want whole wheat bread that’s actually made with whole grains of wheat, look for the phrase “whole grain” or “whole wheat” in the ingredient list; otherwise, you may not be getting what you think. (more info here)
I like Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter, because it has salt, which is not true of all natural peanut butters, but necessary to me whenever peanuts are involved. The upside of natural peanut butter is its simplicity; there are only two ingredients – peanuts and salt. The downside is all the stirring you have to do the first time you open it. It never fails that I realize I have to switch to a new jar when I am in a hurry, or just trying to throw something simple together. But, if you get it blended really well that first time, you won’t have to do it again. And it tastes so…peanut-y. No sugar or other junk getting in the way.
Lunch: Turkey Wrap, Yogurt, Water
A turkey wrap is one of my standard lunches, and one that you can easily customize. I start with an 8-inch whole wheat tortilla (see notes above on choosing whole wheat). Then add flavor: 1/2 a tablespoon of light mayo and some whole grain mustard (what I used on this day), or some light veggie dip, or some hummus, or some light mayo or low-fat yogurt or light sour cream mixed with hot sauce or herbs or spices…there are a lot of flavor options to choose from. Then I add a slice of reduced-fat cheese (you could also do shredded, crumbled, or skip the cheese). Then turkey (or any lunchmeat, or no meat at all) – just pay attention to the serving size. Then veggies – on this day, I opted for shredded carrots. You could also add greens (lettuce, arugula, spinach, etc.), tomato, cucumber, peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli – really, any vegetable on hand that you think might be delicious in your wrap. Sometimes I add chopped apple with my shredded carrots. Sometimes it’s just hummus, a bunch of veggies, and some Kalamata olives. There are endless possibilities.
One option for the turkey wrap
Normally, I have a piece of fruit with my wrap, but I didn’t get any dairy with breakfast, so I added a yogurt instead. You could definitely do both. I had a black cherry Activia®. I’m not a big fan of artificial sweeteners or anything that pretends to be sugar. But, I also think if you’re eating yogurt straight up, it needs some sweet – but not too much. So, I look at nutrition info. This particular cup of yogurt had 12 grams of sugar – that’s a little high, but it’s what I had in my fridge and I like it. At some point, I may camp out in front of the wall of yogurts at the grocery store and look for something that has less than 10 grams of sugar (real sugar) and try some different brands out, but I’m not there yet.
Dinner: Chili, Bread, Grapes, Water, Cake
The chili was a recipe from my March 2007 issue of Cooking Light (more about my CL collection another time). It was good – ground beef, onions, garlic, tomatoes, beans, and spices that you don’t usually see in the average chili, like cinnamon and garam masala (recipe here). I probably added more garlic than it called for, I skipped the parsley since I didn’t have any, I just added all of the beans instead of saving some to sprinkle on each serving (I didn’t get the point of that), and I added more water before I let it simmer (there wasn’t much liquid in it). I also skipped the raw onions on top. My 9-year-old loved it and went back for more. My 5-year-old ate it without complaining, which is something. Success!
Beef, bean, and tomato chili with cinnamon and garam masala – yum!
The bread wasn’t just any bread – it was Zingerman’s chili cheddar bread, a pound-your-fist-on-the-table-when-you-bite-into-it-because-it’s-so-good sort of bread. My father-in-law got me a bread club subscription as a Christmas gift, so I have a few loaves in my freezer. This particular bread isn’t normally what I would choose to eat while losing weight, but I had already planned on serving it with the chili, and it was totally worth it. I did look up the nutritional info on their web site to figure out what the damage was, and while it was more points than I would normally spend on bread, it wasn’t too bad. We had grapes as our fruit/veggie, but you could also do other fruit or a salad.
Full disclosure, I also had a slice of frosted banana rum cake. I had made the cake earlier in the week to use up some bananas, and I could have just let my family eat the rest, but I also loved it so much and how it turned out, so I ate a small-ish piece. There wasn’t any nutritional info in the recipe, so I just looked up how many points a piece of frosted cake was in general – turns out, a lot. But, Weight Watchers® has (or had, not sure what the current program has) something called Flex Points – basically a set number of extra points you have every week that you can use or not use. Flex Points are for special occasions, or just giving yourself a little leeway each day, or, in my case, finishing the banana cake that is too good to pass up. So, I figured I could have 2-3 small-ish pieces over the first few days and that would be all of my Flex Points for the week. Plus, I convinced myself, I was exercising every day! (more on that later)
Snack: Carrots, Sugar Snap Peas, Veggie Dip, Apple, Water
Generally, the nighttime snack is where my husband and I struggle the most. The kids have gone to bed, we’re watching TV, and we want to munch on something. And then, something sweet sounds good. And, ooh, what if we got nachos?! At, you know, 10:00 at night. Yeah.
We definitely snack a lot differently when we are trying to lose weight. Usually I only have one or two or zero points left at the end of the day, which basically means fruits and veggies. This night, it was veggies with Marzetti® light ranch veggie dip and apple slices (we usually split a large apple, Fuji lately). In general, I try to go for “light” or “reduced fat” instead of fat free. In things like cheese, it’s because cheese needs at least some fat, or there’s no point in eating it. In things like veggie dip and salad dressing, it’s because I read that some vitamins are fat soluble, meaning that your body won’t absorb them (or not very well) unless there’s some fat tagging along with them. And if I’m eating all of these fruits and vegetables, I want their full benefit. Plus, I like the idea of fat being necessary, because it is. Your body needs some fat, and there are plenty of good, healthy fats – fat isn’t the enemy. You just need to find that happy place somewhere between fat free and donut ham hamburger.
Exercise
I don’t remember exactly what I did for exercise the first day (this was almost a week ago, before I decided to start a blog). I know it was one of three things: the first part of my Denise Austin fat-blasting Yoga DVD, a beginner full-body workout that I found on Amazon Prime (it may say beginner, but it was hard!), or running, jumping, and doing jumping jacks for 30 minutes on my mini trampoline while watching Runaway Bride on Netflix.
How Did I Do?
I think I did pretty well. I was only one point over my allowance for the day, not including the cake. I figured out a way to have the cake that also worked within the program. I drank plenty of water – one glass with every meal, plus 1 – 2 before and after meals. I exercised for at least 30 minutes. I probably could have done without the cake, but I don’t feel bad about Day 1.
No regrets.
*Note: I am using tools from the Weight Watchers program circa 2007, because that’s what I have. So, the Points values that I am using may differ from the current program.
Losin' It 