43.4 Pounds Gone!

I lost 1.4 pounds this week. I felt like I did really good eating, though I didn't do any exercising. I accounted for every piece of candy, etc. I had, and had very little dining out, so only used about 15 of my weekly points. And, then came today. I started out well, but then after lunch and a couple of candy binges during the day, I was left with just 6 points left. So, I had a 6 point dinner (normally have 10-13). Then an ice cream sandwich (skinny cow), so only used 2 of my weekly points, which is pretty good for a Friday. Here's hoping I have another good week! :) I got a lot of comments today on how "skinny" I was looking. What's funny about that is that I am far from it, but I know what they mean--I'm shrinking before their very eyes. And, the outfit I had on today must have looked slimming. Today I even took a look at some wedding sets. I'm married, and have been for 9 years, but my rings were bought very inexpensively (and it shows), and I'd love to upgrade. Since my fingers are shrinking too, I figure I'll wait till I can't wear these anymore for fear of them falling off, and then reward myself! Sound good? Here's my picture for the week:

Update & Glazed Green Beans

I lost 1.5 pounds this week! I was pretty surprised, as I used every last one of my flex points (again) and did a lot of "estimating" my points with certain foods. But, we also went for family bike rides a couple of times, in which I pull an extra 50 pounds (my son and the trailer he rides in). I guess that helped! I was in a munching mode this week and feel like I ate a ton of candy from passing by the bowl at work. A praise though--for the first time in many many weeks, I didn't dip into my flex points on a Friday--yesterday! I came in exact, and feel like I ate a ton of food. I made a new impromptu recipe at dinner last night, shared below, and ate them all! Good thing they weren't too bad for me! Now we're getting ready to make some of the cookies I shared a recipe for awhile back. Yum!

My total weight loss to date:

Glazed Green Beans
1 tsp. EVOO
1 pkg. fresh steamable green beans
4 pieces bacon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. balsalmic vinegar
2 T. brown sugar blend

First, cook the green beans according to package directions. In the meantime, sautee the garlic and bacon. Add the green beans and drizzle with the vinegar (I used dressing) and brown sugar. Continue sauteeing until the vinegar starts to get a little syrupy. I estimated 4 points for this and it was so yummy that I ate it ALL! It was a combo of a few recipes I found online. YUM YUM!

You know you're on WW when...

I am a member of a WW group on Facebook, and saw this post..."You know you are a WW member when..." and was cracking up at some of the responses. I had to share some of them. I've either done these, or they made me laugh out loud. :)

You know you are a weight watchers member when:

you shave your body the night before you weigh in.

you stand in the aisles of the grocery store calculating the point value of foods you want to buy.

Your child says there are too many POINTS in something s/he doesn't want to eat!

When you see someone eating a wendys baconator and you yell "DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY POINTS THAT IS?!!!"

When you have a cold and need cough drops, you buy the sugar free cough drops.

When you try to deconstruct and re-invent every fattening recipe you know of by replacing fat and increasing fiber!

When people start asking you "How many points is this?" and they aren't on WW.

When you calculate points to the fraction of an ounce - like cutting up the 6oz block of reduced fat cheese into EIGHT pieces so that each piece is one Point instead of two.

When you actually HEAR your stomach growl.

When your roommate opens the fridge and/or freezer and says "Ahhh!! It's Weight Watcher Land!!!"

When you go for a glucose test at the doc's and ask how many calories are in the overly sugary drink, so you can count the points for it.

When you go to a restaurant and they ask you what kind of salad dressing and you say "none" and then pull some out of your purse.

You see a pair of jeans on sale for $7 in your new size and really think over whether you should get them, because you might not be in that size for long!

***

I hope you got a kick out of those. Share yours in the comments! :) My stats--I lost 2 pounds this week, which put me into the fabulous forties!! It felt great to be over that hump! And, just this morning I got more size 2X and size 20 clothes, which felt great. And, the $7 jeans comment above...that was me today!

I must admit I felt skinny minny at work yesterday wearing my new smaller clothes, just felt like I was taking up less space. And, not having such baggy clothes on really brought on the comments! I know I have a long way to go before I am skinny, but this is feeling GOOD!

I even went to a buffet last night and didn't overdo it too much. Used about 10-15 of my flex points, but that's what they are there for, and I ate a lot less than I would have pre-WW, and was still stuffed!

I LOVE VEGGIES!

I took these pictures with my phone so the res isn't great, but I just wanted to say I LOVE VEGGIES! And, I'm so glad I love veggies, since they're usually 0 points!

I was going high on points today due to a lunch out and poor snacking choices in the afternoon. I was making pigs in a blanket for dinner with ff hot dogs and 1 pt. biscuits, along with some garlic noodles. I had gotten some zucchini today so decided to saute one of those and threw in some red onion and cherry tomatoes. This made up the bulk of my meal, so I only had a 6 point dinner!

I'm going to a family event tomorrow and needed to bring something. I wanted to ensure I'd have something I could graze on without blowing my points, so I made this fab corn and black bean relish (recipe below).

Corn/Black Bean Goodness:
3 cans canned corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 tiny can diced green chilis (don't drain)
Chopped cucumber (I used 1/2 of a large one)
Chopped green pepper (I used 1/2 of one)
Diced tomato (I used 2 smaller ones)
Red onion (I used 1/2 of a small one)
Cilantro (I probably used 1 T. dried)
Cumin (Again, probably used 1 T. dried)
Salt & Pepper (1/2 tsp. each maybe?)
Seasoned Salt (1 tsp. probably)
Dried Minced Garlic (1 1/2 tsp likely)

Combine and stir, let sit for a few hours and enjoy!!!


Oh, by the way, I maintained this week. Weighed in at the exact weight as last week. That's a first, but I was pleased with it since I had used all my weekly flex points + some. Here's hoping I can make that up this week! OH, and I hit our local thrift stores today and got three different things in size 20. I didn't think they'd fit yet, but maybe soon, so got them for later. I tried them on when I got home to see how far I had to go...and they all fit PERFECTLY! Not even tight. I was so excited!!! I started as a 24, so I'm down two sizes. I'm sure people at work won't know what to think this week when we have jeans day and I'm actually wearing some that fit!

Yes!!!!

I did it! I stayed in my points today for the first time since last Wednesday!!! Thursday I used up my flex points for that week. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I used my flex points for this week, and today I stayed on target--even with having pizza for dinner!

Yay Me!

Felt the need to celebrate! :)

Uh oh.

I said I wouldn't overdo it at the fest last night. I did a little. I had a Po Dog, Ribbon Fries (w/cheese), and Apple Slices with Carmel. I didn't think I was overdoing it so much, especially when I saw all the other delicious things I could have had. But, when I started doing some research to find out how many points I ate, I came up with 33. That's more than my daily limit! YIKES!

We went out for brunch this morning before tackling the other half of the festival, and I was going to have banana crepes, for about 10 points. Instead I was surprised by the brunch buffet and ate way too much for way too many points. I don't have any idea how many I ate, but it may tie with last night (though for a lot more food). The good news is that was one meal for two meals, and then we walked and walked and walked after that.

I'll try to squeeze in some Wii Fit or a bike ride this evening after a nap. I have one more splurge tomorrow night, we're having pizza for dinner. But, I may get mine sans cheese. I've found I actually like it that way. :) Tonight's dinner will probably be soup and salad (it's like 60 degrees here today--feels like fall), so we can keep the points low to make up for breakfast.

I'm sure I'll have no problem staying on track most of Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday, but we do have a work potluck Thursday. Hopefully with proper planning and being mindful of Friday's weigh in I can minimize the damage of this weekend. :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

AMAZING 1 point Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Ingredients:
4 T. margarine or spread, softened
4 tsp. veg oil
1 c. brown sugar blend
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 oz. chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter, oil, and brown sugar together. Add vanilla, salt, and egg white. Mix thoroughly. Mix flour and baking soda together and then add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and stir to distribute evenly. I used the medium pampered chef scoop and made 21 cookies. The whole recipe is 24 points, according to the recipes I found online. They baked for about 10 points. These were SO GOOD! I highly recommend them.

Now, on to other things! I lost .6 last week (yesterday was weigh day). I was kind of suprised that I didn't lose more, since I did good compared to how I had been doing, and kept track of points all the time. I did use EVERY LAST one of my weekly points though, which is probably the reason. But, I was still very satisfied with the loss. I have now lost 38.5 pounds. I got on my Wii Fit this morning, and it said I hadn't in 201 days. That's just after I started WW. It was neat to have it say that I had lost 37.1 pounds since my last visit. But, they still considered me at the top of the "obese" range. I enjoyed my time on it, and hope that it won't be even 10% of the time it had been before I jump on it again.

We're headed to a festival tonight. I've only had 8 points today in prep for this. :) I'm not sure yet what I'm eating, but I'll be sensible (as much as you can be at a fest!). I had an eggless breakfast burrito for breakfast (because I'm not that huge on scrambled eggs), with sauteed mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, a little lunchmeat, and a little bit of fat free cheese in a healthy tortilla with ff sour cream and salsa. It was a yummy and filling 3 points. For lunch I had one of my standby low point meals...a big salad! Isn't it great to be able to eat so much for next to no points?! Some 100 calorie lorna doons were my study partner when I was doing homework and the boys (husband and son) were napping.

It was as good as it looks! Until next time!