Week 4

This past week was awful. Work was so busy and stressful that I didn't upload my information to the Weight Watchers site once! That means no food log, no activity log and no weight update. The increased hours at work meant my food intake was irregular and worse than usual. Dave and I ate out three times I think, two lunches and a dinner. And though for both lunches I did my best to eat well by choosing 6 subs and baked chips to go with them, it was still higher calories than the food I normally take with me to work.
No matter what tomorrow's weigh in brings, this is a new week and I will do my best to overcome the challenges of the inevitable stressful work schedule. Corny I know, but I will. I have no real goal in mind other than stick to my points as much as possible.

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Cookbooks and Recipes

I have several really great cookbooks. The Podleski sisters books are absolutely amazing. The book shave really great tasting food that is supremely healthy for you and tips and witty comics to boot. I have gotten one on my own and another as a Christmas present (thanks Chris). There is a third (their first one) that I have yet to find anywhere, including most online shopping sites. It is on eBay, but at high prices that I don't want to pay. Anyway, the books are great.
I also have some other healthy-eating books like the vegetarian Company's Coming and a Weight Watchers one that I bought myself and one that Chris got me for my birthday.
All of these books are great and when combined with my personal cookbook and my knowledge of cutting out fat and calories in recipes (which is growing with every healthy meal I make), I am capable of making some really healthy, nutrititous and still very yummy meals.
The problem arises when I go out and buy the ingredients. More often than not, I forget about the ingredients and they end up going to waste. Dave and I finally figured out a way that we can get great ingredients for my recipes and not really have to worry about them going bad.
Monday evening when getting our grocery list ready, we went through the recipes books and picked out a handful of ones that we wanted to try. We wrote down the names and general decriptions of them and will be placing them on our bulletin board. When the meals have been made, we will remove the name and place it somewhere to be used again if the meal was deemed worthy of repeating. This way, I know what recipes we have the ingredients for and will actually remember to make them before the food goes bad.
We are going to test it out this week and next, basically until all the food is gone again and hopefully it will result in us trying out some different meals and branching out from our normal food routine while not wasting money buying food that will not get eaten.

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Week 3

Another week has passed since registering with the WW online program. This past week was hard as Dave and I had no food in our house and no desire or energy to go get any. We ate out for lunch almost every day but tried to make good choices by getting 6" sub from Subway most of the days and splitting the chips/cookies that come with the meal deal.
There was a great deal of activity like the Heart and Stroke Big Bike on Tuesday (the 16th) and lots of extra walking as my Photoshop course moved classes to a much further location. I wanted to get out and do some biking this weekend but never found the time, though Dave and I did walk around the Science and Tech museum so at least I got off the couch.
I forgot to get on the scale yesterday, and this morning as well so I have no update there, which may be for the better considering how much takeout we ate last week.

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Week 2

My second week was even better than my first. I didn't walk around as much as the first, but I definitely ate better. I ended the week with leftover weekly points and therefore didn't delve into my activity points at all. I am feeling better about myself already and to make things even better - my clothes are starting to loosen up again. I haven't lost crazy amounts of weight or anything like that, but for me it doesn't take many pounds to really start feeling the difference when it comes to my clothes - and my back pain, as that has also lessened recently. In total, I have lost 5.6lbs so far.
I am hoping that in Week 3 I am able to stay out of my weekly points all together and get some more more exercise in, probably biking as I really enjoy that. Other than that I am going to just stick to my plan as much as possible.

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Breakfast Pitas

Whenever I visit Dave's family in Peterborough, I have a similar breakfast. We start off with fruit drinks, which are another post on their own, and eventually get around to eating breakfast pitas and extra old cheese.
The breakfast pitas are usually apple cinnamon flavour and toasted for just long enough to get them warm. Then you place three slices of extra old cheese on top and they are so warm and delicious and extremely satisfying.
For a few weeks after each visit to Peterborough, I look for these breakfast pitas and am never able to find them in the grocery stores in the area BUT this time was different. Dave and I decided to do our grocery shopping in South Keys this past weekend and we happened to come across the pitas at the Loblaws there! So now I have the apple cinnamon flavour and the cranberry orange ones.
They are 190 calories, 1.5 grams of fat and 2 or 3 grams of fibre which works out to something like 3 points in WW. But a few slices of extra old cheese on and you get a 6 points breakfast that is filling and satisfying, which are two of the keys to not over indulging. I am really enjoying these things and am finding it pretty easy to resist 10 and 11 o'clock temptations around the office when I eat pitas for breakfast.

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Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen strawberries
1 container of fresh strawberries
1 container of fat-free cool whip
1 package of individual angel or pounds cakes
water
sugar

Directions:
place frozen strawberries in microwave safe bowl and add a little bit of water. Microwave until the strawberries are soft.
Mush the strawberries up with a potato masher or egg salad slicer/masher.
Add more water and sugar and microwave for a few more minutes to allow the liquid to thicken a little.
Pour over cake and top with fresh strawberries cut in halves or quarters and cool whip.

Notes:
I used about 2 cups of water plus whatever came out of the strawberries upon melting.
Try to chose cakes that are lower in fat and calories. I was able to find ones that were only 100 calories and 2.25 grams of fat each. The entire dessert worked out to be approximately 200 calories but that would change depending on how sweet you like your strawberry mixture and how much cool whip you add on top.

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One Week Later

It has been one week since I registered for the online Weight Watchers program, which I will now be calling WW. I did alright in terms of my plan last week though it was a difficult and unusual one in that I was on vacation for the better part of it. I spent 3 days away from home and 4.5 completely out of my house. I ate 6 meals at restaurants and 5 at another person's home (and therefore had little to no control over what was made). All in all I did quite well when it came to food. If I could not choose a completely low calorie meal I attempted to select one that had good fats and oils in it (such as salmon or chicken). I didn't snack much if at all last week and ate a great deal of fruits and vegetables. I also did a huge amount of walking both leisurely (at a normal rate) and more briskly (at an increased rate and/or intensity than normal). I ended up with a surplus of points through my activity points even though I had to use most of my weekly points (at WW you are assigned a daily point value and also given a weekly point value for extras throughout the week. You can also increase your points through activity points gained through exercise). Normally I would not use my weekly points let alone my activity points, but last week was a special case. I am happy with how last week went and think it was a good idea to start WW again and an even better idea to start the online WW program.
As an added bonus to feeling good about my success with the program in terms of points, etc I have lost 3.2lbs since last week's weigh in. I am very happy with that.

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Weight Watchers Online

For years now I have been saying that I would try 'this time' on my own and if it didn't work or if I came to a plateau I would spend some money and get help one way or another. I have said it every time I recommitted to my weight loss and every time that commitment didn't last, I didn't look into outside help. Well yesterday I finally did it.
I registered for the Online Weight Watchers program. It was kind of expensive but I think I need something other than myself to push me forward. I have systems similar to the ones you get through the online program and the ones I didn't have I could have easily created myself, but I would eventually stop using them. Now that I am paying a monthly fee to use them, I have hopes that I will actually use them. I signed up for 3 months and I will see how that goes and then decide if it is worth using from then on.
I have heard good things about this program though I have heard better things about the actual meetings. I do not, however, have time for the meetings right now, especially with my night courses (currently running twice a week). I just know I would end up not going, or being to busy that I couldn't find time to exercise enough during the week. I think the online program is the best route for me right now.

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May Recap/June Outlook

So May was not a good month for my weight loss. I did not gain any weight overall but anything I lost (a pound or two here and there) was gained back by the next weigh-in. I have more time on my hands this month and more inspiration from friends and family so I want to see if I can lose 5 pounds this month and keep them off. I would love to lose more but I feel 5 is a good goal for now as I want to ease back into my routines and actually reaching a goal would be good for my self-esteem and therefore my will power and weight loss drive.
My plan to lose these pounds is pretty simple. I am going to start counting points (Weight watchers) and calories again and within two weeks be back on track with staying within my daily limits. I will be exercising more, predominantly through biking for cardio workouts and some calisthenics to target my midsection. I am not planning anything too restricting other than working out at least 4 times per week. This gives me Tuesday and Thursday nights off, as I have class these nights, and one other day that I can choose as each week progresses.
Summer is usually the time that I am most motivated to lose weight probably due to the smaller, tighter clothing and nicer weather. I want to use this motivation this year to get myself back into gear and really start doing something to better myself.

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