80#

(o:

Just a yay for me moment. Succcccch a long haul, and a ways to go (like the rest of my life!) but every week it gets a little easier, a little clearer.

So... yay for me. Now you can say it too! (o:

Sick

I had free and easy long weekend of holiday eating and have been back in a healthier mode since Monday. But today I am sick and need to be at work until 10:00pm. In other words, I am not going to make it through the day without candy. I wish I were a better woman than this...but it's the hierarchy of needs, baby.

Are any of you still trying to lose weight over the holidays, or are you in a "maintain, don't gain" mode?

Zero Tolerance

I know that with Weight Watchers, you're supposed to be able to eat "whatever you want" in moderation. But here's a hard truth I'm learning. Sugar craves more sugar; fat craves more fat. And yes, if we had to be 100% honest, booze craves more booze.

It just seems to be one of those slightly bummer facts of life. Anyway, I'm back on track.

A 4 point turkey & avocado sandwich with carrots...

...and a 2.5 point egg white scramble with roasted veggies and feta and a side of grilled tomatoes.


I've also decided to be even more discriminating about my baked sweets. Thus, the homemade cupcakes made by a coworker got a polite "pass."

It's much harder to pass on the following:

D's Chocolate Bread Pudding
Erin's Peanut Butter Cookies with Mini Peanut Butter Cups
Dana L's Chocolate Peanut Butter Krispys
and Jill's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake.

Agh! You're all such talented bakers! Tie me to the mast, plug your own ears and no matter what I say, don't let me loose!

Rice Krispy Treats

FYI

Rice Krispy Treats made with

3 tbs butter
40 marshmallows
6 cups rice krispies

equals 45 points for the entire batch.

I made a batch this afternoon with no butter (used cooking spray). Let's just say...the butter is there for a reason. :)

Pep Talk for all us revelers!

Special occasions, be they holidays or historic election days are great for indulging. Enjoy without shame or guilt!

The day after-- eat your 2 point breakfast and keep yourself busy, don't think about "getting back on the wagon" just get back to normal. Eat your points and enjoy that light feeling that comes with going to bed after a day of eating just enough instead of a day of too much.

You are a healthy woman! You can make great choices for yourself to celebrate with food or to simplify and reduce your food intake every day!

P.S. One thing that helps me when I am recovering from a day or weekend of excess is noticing how much MORE I can eat when I prepare a healthy meal. High fiber bread, a couple slices of deli turkey, mustard and laughing cow cheese--3 points! I used that same three points for 2 measly fun size snickers a few days ago! This helps me feel like I'm not depriving myself when I'm eating fewer calories/less fat.

I Need a Pep Talk

I got a group email from the "Wellness Coordinator" at work that said that an appropriate goal for the holidays is "don't gain, maintain." I'm a little nervous because in the last two weeks, I seem to have preemptively adopted that strategy; am I on a slippery slope?

What's been hard? Oh, the usual stuff. Busy at work, writing everyday and what else? Oh yeah, a little thing called ELECTING THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT and WATCHING A SEA CHANGE IN AMERICAN HISTORY. (I mean, when "some-of-my-best-friends-are-black" Celeste and Leslie invited me to eat Mexican food, what was I going to say? Don't care if Obama won, I'm eating a salad? What I actually did say was "margaritas are on me!")

Advice?

Ranch Dressing

I tried a modified version of this Ranch dressing tonight. (Modified because I didn't have any sour cream and used low fat mayo). Pretty darn good on Cobb salad made with iceberg lettuce, chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, hard boiled egg and chicken (for me) or bacon (for the kids).

Note that everything on the Veggie Venture website has both nutrition info and WW points.

Email Ping

Looser Pants-ers,

Let me know (in comments or shoot me an email) if you want to be pinged when someone comments on this blog. I can enter up to 10 emails.

Jillian's 30 Day Shred

Okay, I've been recommending this workout DVD all around town. It is so great. It will kick your butt and you'll come back for more. This is coming from JillyG here, one who usually says "no thanks" to exercise. I haven't done this DVD in the past week, and I actually miss it a little bit. I find that a workout dvd works best for me in getting the exercise in. I think most of you guys do the gym/running thing, but if you want to try it out I'll lend it to you.

Achy and Feeling Crumb-y

(I am temporary exiled from my office here at GSPP while they install new furniture).

There are days when healthy and low calorie eating feels downright easy. You're in a good groove, you have your staples and the occasional treat, it's all good. Then there are times like this weekend.

I had planned well for the party on Friday night, but when I woke up on Saturday morning with a sore throat, it was over before it started. Good intentions decreased as body aches increased. I was sick, not so sick that I was completely out of commission, but sick enough that I wanted to do something to make myself feel better.

Add to this the beautiful persimmon muffins I made for Anna's soccer team that were returned mostly uneaten (woe to the 8 year old's palate!) and you have a weekend of hot tea and muffins, and more hot tea and muffins. Which might have been okay, except that since I thought I was baking for kids, I used a recipe consisting of 1 cup butter, 1.5 cups sugar.

To get myself back on track, I cooked up a pot of lentils last night. Today's lunch is a cup of lentils with 1/4 cup feta and lots of heirloom tomatoes. 6 points.

The only downside is that the kids think cooking lentils smell bad...and Anna, aka Miss Smell Sensitive, says that, after standing over a pot of boiling lentils, my clothes "smell like farts" and that I should take a shower. Kids can be so darling, can't they?

Roasted Veggies

I couldn't help but notice the delicious bowl of veggies that Dana L. was eating last Sunday night (while the rest of us was eating pizza at the prayer vigil meeting). I asked her about the method behind her veggie bonanza. Her answer:

I spray the tray with olive oil, very lightly. Load up my veggies (eggplant, yams, mushrooms, cauliflower, zucchini, etc. I stay away from things like peppers and really really wet vegetables, because I like them to roast a little dry.)

spray again, lightly

grind fresh pepper on top and put a little bit of garlic salt on it (like a lawry's)

Bake at 425ish for about 20 minutes. Less is fine too. But I do like it to be dry...

Then, though I didn't do it this time, because I was out... I mix it in a bowl with an 1/8 cup (or less) of a cup of feta. Heaven!

I use feta packed in brine which is something I discovered recently. Well let's be honest, they did a taste test on supermarket feta on America's Test Kitchen, and they determined it didn't matter what you bought as long as it was in brine. I'd never had feta packed in brine, but I love it!! I also don't need to use very much because it has so much more flavor!

Where do you buy it? I don't know if they have it at regular grocery stores, but I buy it at Indus groceries on San Pablo. Big ole block for about 5 bucks.

Breakfast

I've been on my healthy eating regimen for six weeks now, with a one-week break to account for my parents' visit, the church anniversary and the Full Belly Farm Hoes Down. I only recently acquired an accurate scale, so I can't really say how much weight I've lost. I'll approximate and say 5 lbs.

The best healthy habit that I've adopted so far is eating a good breakfast, even if that means I roll into the office a little late (and therefore have to stay late--boo!).

My breakfast of choice:
2/3 cup Trader Joe's Fruit and Fiber cereal with nonfat milk (2 points)
3 egg white scramble with salsa (1 point)
coffee with half and half (1 point)

The caffeine curbs hunger, the half and half is my morning indulgence. The protein gives me energy and the fiber keeps things moving right along. It's a good kick start to my 20 point day.

What are the best practices that you've adopted?