I lost 3 pounds! I am now officially 10 pounds from my goal. It is within sight. It may be another 4 – 5 good weeks. It may be another couple of months. But it is getting closer.
Even if I wasn’t weighing myself, I can tell I am getting closer – pants that used to be tight are looser. Pants that used to be loose before I gained weight are getting loose again.
It’s happening!
Recap
Water: Plenty throughout the day pretty much every day
Exercise: None. Back and shoulder pain kept me from working out, so I focused on food this week.
Fruits / Veggies: Pretty good all week. Some dinners this week especially had lots of different fruits and veggies, which made them colorful and delicious.
Portions: I still didn’t measure, but I think I have a good sense now of how much I should be having. My only splurge was some cheesy/caramel popcorn one night.
Planning: Awesome this week – lots of home-cooked meals and repurposed leftovers. On Day 7, I was really tempted to eat out, but I had a veggie wrap using leftovers instead, and I’m glad I did!
Breakfast: Cereal, Banana, Blueberries, Milk, Water
Cheerios™ with half of a sliced banana, some blueberries, and 2% milk.
Lunch: Banana, Yogurt, Granola Bar, Water
Snack lunch: the other half of the banana, some Activia® black cherry yogurt, and a granola bar.
Dinner: Veggie Wrap, Plum, Water
Same wrap I had on Day 5: whole wheat tortilla, yogurt-tahini sauce, lettuce, chopped vegetable salad, and Kalamata olives. I also had a plum – sweet, tart, and delicious. There’s a little bit of yogurt-tahini sauce left, but other than that, the shawarma leftovers are gone.
Snack: Triscuits, Salsa, Dip, Cheese Stick, Apple, Water
Same snack as the last couple of days. There was also a little bit of Spanish rice left (only about 1/4 cup), so I mixed that with some leftover tomato from a couple of shawarma meals and a little bit of salsa and I had a little with a couple of extra Triscuits.
Exercise: 0 Minutes
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
How Did I Do?
Another good day to end the week. I am feeling pretty confident, but we’ll see how I do tomorrow!
Total cereal with chopped nectarine and 2% milk milk.
Lunch: Wrap, Grapes, Water, Banana Bread
I made a wrap with some of the shawarma dinner leftovers: whole wheat tortilla, yogurt-tahini sauce, lettuce, chopped vegetable salad, and some Kalamata olives.
Mediterranean veggie wrap
I overstuffed the wrap, but it was good. I made sure not to get too much liquid / vinaigrette from the chopped vegetable salad because I didn’t want it getting soggy or dripping all over. I served it with grapes and finished with a slice of banana bread for a treat.
Dinner: Granola Bar, Yogurt, Plum, Tootsie Roll, Water
We were going to have leftovers, but the kids had a late PB&J dinner after getting back from grandma and grandpa’s house, and I couldn’t wait until after bedtime, so I had a snack dinner: KIND oats and honey granola bar (the crunchy one), Activia® black cherry yogurt, a plum, and a midgee tootsie roll.
First, I had six Triscuits with salsa, a reduced-fat cheese stick, and half of a Fuji apple. No problems there. But then the cheesy/caramel popcorn combo from last week appeared, and I had that too. Probably too much, but I haven’t really splurged on anything this week, so I think this one slip will be okay.
Exercise: 0 Minutes
Still having problems with my back and shoulder, so no.
How Did I Do?
Besides the cheesy/caramel popcorn mix, another good day. Plenty of fruits and veggies and water, and good food choices / portions (except for the popcorn).
Just need to keep going for two more days. And then, you know, start again.
This was my favorite so far. The pork is marinated in a mixture of lime, peanut butter, sugar, fish sauce, curry, coriander, and garlic, then grilled and served with a sweet, tangy sauce of rice vinegar, lime, mirin, fish sauce, cilantro, chile, sugar, and peanuts. Here are my notes:
Ingredients: I used about 3 limes total, a jalapeno instead of a serrano since that’s what I had, and although I’m glad I got to use the mirin (sweet rice wine), it was a little hard to find.
Meat bridge: I used the same method as the shawarma chicken yesterday, threading the meat across two long metal skewers to form a meat bridge between the skewers, which made it easier to flip, but I had to cook it a little longer.
I served it over jasmine rice with cantaloupe and gingered sugar snap peas, which was another recipe from the article’s sidebar: Heat 1 Tbsp. canola (I used vegetable) oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. grated peeled fresh ginger and 2 minced garlic cloves to pan; cook 30 seconds or until fragrant, stirring constantly. Add 8 oz. trimmed sugar snap peas; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup water (watch out when it reacts with the oil); cook 1 minute or until most of water evaporates. Stir in 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. black pepper; cook 30 seconds or until peas are crisp-tender.
I ended the meal with a square of dark chocolate.
Snack / Exercise: None
No snack, and still no exercise. I did chase my girls around on the playground for a bit.
How Did I Do?
Another great day! Water, fruits / veggies, food choices, portions – all good. And another delicious dinner.
Same breakfast as yesterday: Kashi® Cinnamon Harvest biscuits with 2% milk.
Lunch: Ham Armour® LunchMakers®, Veggie Dip, Nectarine, Water
Cracker / cheese / ham stacks dipped in low-fat veggie dip and a nectarine.
I always used to cut around the nectarine from top to bottom, but I recently saw a video that showed someone cutting around the middle to easily separate the fruit and get the pit out, so I thought I’d try it. So far, I have found this to be a way better method – no squished fruit. Just cut around the middle, and gently twist top and bottom in opposite directions. Twist the pit to remove.
Dinner: Chicken Shawarma, Salad, Melon, Water
The July 2008 issue of Cooking Light magazine that my beef kebab recipe came from actually has four kebab recipes in an article titled “Creative Kebabs.” Tonight I made the Chicken Shawarma kebab.
Yum
It was quick, easy, and delicious. The chicken is flavored with lemon, garlic, curry, and cumin, then grilled. You also grill pita bread, then top it with lettuce, tomato, the chicken, and some yogurt-tahini sauce. Some notes:
I used chicken tenders, taking the tendon out using the fork method (hold the tendon with a paper towel, slide it into the middle of a fork, and pull the chicken up and the fork down).
Instead of using eight skewers, I threaded all of the chicken across two skewers – basically, a big meat bridge between two skewers. I figured this would be easier to flip, and it was, but it had to cook a little longer.
I thinned the sauce out a little with some water; it was very thick.
I think next time I would actually put everything inside the pita to make it easier to eat. That’s what I did for the kids – my younger daughter just had chicken and a little smear of sauce in hers, and my older daughter had sauce, chicken, and tomato (she liked it enough to have another one!).
I served it with cantaloupe and a chopped vegetable salad that was a recipe included in a sidebar in the article: Combine 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in large bowl. Add 2 cups chopped cucumber, 1 cup chopped red bell pepper, 1 cup chopped tomato, 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper, 1/2 cup chopped red onion (I used a sweet onion), and 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (I used Italian flat leaf).
Snack: Tootsie Pop, Water
I just wanted something sweet, so I had a Tootsie Pop.
Exercise: 0 Minutes
Back still hurting, so no exercise. I think I’m going to have to rely on food this week.
How Did I Do?
Great! Three meals, a good amount of fruits and veggies, plenty of water, good food choices / portions. Plus, it was a really good dinner. Yeah!
Kashi® Cinnamon Harvest biscuits with 2% milk for breakfast.
Lunch: Toast, Water
It wasn’t really lunch, but it was around lunchtime. My brother wanted me to try some raspberry jalapeno jam he got from the farmer’s market, so he made me a piece of toast. It was good; I thought of several unhealthy things it would go well with. And then I drank some water.
Leftover jamboree – I had the last of the kebab meat / veggies and broccoli slaw with some rice, my husband had leftover rice and nacho pork and refried beans mixed together, and my daughters had their leftovers from our lunch out with friends this week. We all had grapes.
I also found some sweet mango mochi at the store, so I tried one of those for dessert – delicious! Sweet, chewy dough with mango ice cream in the middle – and a small enough treat to fit within my Points for the day.
Snack: Popcorn, Grapes, Water
Low-fat popcorn and some of the grapes left over from dinner for our T.V. snack.
Exercise: 0 Minutes
I’m having some recurring back and shoulder pain – something I’ve had before that has suddenly returned. It sucks when I really want to exercise, but I also don’t want to aggravate anything and be in even worse pain. I’m doing the exercises from my physical therapy earlier in the year, but today, even with that and some acetaminophen, I’m still in a lot of pain. So, no exercise.
How Did I Do?
Another solid day. I could have used more fruit / veggies throughout the day, and some exercise would have been nice, but it’s all 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.
No big plans this week – time to lose weight again!
Breakfast: Granola Bar, Water
Nature Valley™ Fruit & Nut granola bar was a quick breakfast before heading to the library.
Dinner: Kebab, Rice, Broccoli Slaw, Fruit, Water, Granola Bar
Late breakfast, so no lunch. Dinner was leftover kebab meat and veggies with rice and broccoli slaw. I had a Kashi® Chocolate Almond Sea Salt granola bar for a treat a little later.
Leftovers are the best sometimes
Snack: Triscuits, Salsa, Cheese, Carrots, Fruit, Water
Six Triscuits with salsa, a reduced-fat cheese stick, carrots, and fruit (strawberry, blueberries, grapes).
Exercise: 0 Minutes
Not yet.
How Did I Do?
Pretty good for a restart day. Plenty of fruits / veggies, although not with every meal, lots of water, and good portions and food choices. No exercise yet, but the week is still young. Definitely doing better than the last couple of days.
Losin' It 