Memorial Day Eats and a quick Catch Up

Memorial Day Eats and a Quick Catch Up

I haven't posted in over 2 years! Wow! Shortly after my last post, Mom got sick and by July, she was gone. I have been thinking about her so much the last couple of days because my parents ALWAYS cooked something special for Memorial Day and I hardly ever have. I've only stepped it up since my folks moved down here in 2019.

So . . . last week I did a LOT of celebrating -- my graduation with my M.Ed, the kids finishing school, and today, Tink turned 18. So even though I wanted special food for Memorial Day, I needed it Weight Watchers friendly.

Did I mention I've lost 50 pounds in the past 12 months?  Yup. Still losing; I have about 20 to go. So here is my kind of crazy WW-friendly Menu for Memorial day. 9 Points total !! 

• Almost BBQ Chicken  - this one is the long game, start w/ sous vide, dry and cool, then end with air fryer - 1 point if you remove the skin before eating. 
•     WW's Easy Pasta Salad (on app) (4 points)  I add celery for zero points. 
•     WW's Air Fryer Corn Ribs (on app) (2 points) 
•     2 Point Strawberry Dream Cups - adapted from a Facebook post - super simple 

       PREP: 

1. Place muffin cups into cupcake pan - silicone are amazing 
2. Crush up 1/2 (2 rectangles) of Chocolate Graham cracker
3. Put graham crackers into muffin cups 
4. Make 1 recipe of Dream Whip
   
5. Mix 1 - .03 oz. packet of Sugar-Free Strawberry Jello into the Dream Whip
6. Cut up as many fresh strawberries as you like
7. Add to the Dream Whip
8. Fill muffin cups
9. Enjoy!

   This whole meal is only 9 points, provided you take the skin off whatever chicken you eat! I leave the skin on for cooking as it makes it so much moister and more flavorful. My family really loves the beautiful crispy BBQ skin so . . . it's worth the little bit of extra work and time. It's still MUCH easier than actually grilling it!

It was SO delicious that I decided I could re-run the whole menu for Independence Day.  Maybe with a green salad and some blueberries added to the dessert. 

Of course, you grillers could actually grill instead of air fry, but you know me -- I love cooking in the A/C!

No pics this time. We gobbled it up so quickly. 

You Are Worth It - Links for Inspiration

(Part 1 is here)

If you read my post from a few days back and are interested in trying some new things for yourself, thought I'd share some of what I'm looking at. Before I do, however, I want to tell you that my 2 secret weapons are unfortunately, not really available to share; they are my teen daughters, Pepper and Sunshine.

Pepper has been quite regularly sharing in my body weight strength training, including being the person to hold my feet for my curl-ups and being the person who convinced me that I can plank!  She has also cooked a ton of delicious and nourishing food this summer! Sunshine has been very encouraging of my running, in particular, and saved me this very night. She came in when I was in the toughest part of my run and so "Way to go, Mom. You have this." How I needed that!

I can't give them to you but please do find a couple secret weapons of your own! Meanwhile, here are some links to what I've been loving lately:

Food and Recipes:

Totes "Tortilla" Soup
Triple Almond Scones - oh. my. goodness. Just do it.
Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimchurri
Paleo On the Go Restaurant Tips - so helpful on the road
The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook ($3 on Kindle; not much of a gamble)
Eating Well Quick Mediterranean Recipes

Fitness:

Workouts

Nerd Fitness Beginner Body Weight Workout
Kenda's Trail Runner's Strength Training Workout (also mostly bodyweight)
Navy PRT training information
Hotel Work Out - this has helped so much this summer. I do mine on the front lawn of the hotel. I'm that awesome.
The Strong Knees Workout

Help for Working out!

Fitbit (how I love thee). We've been in a relationship 6 years. Any fitness tracker, really.
Tempo Magic - makes it easy to build a playlist for your workout.
Simply Yoga
Fight Song by Rachel Platten - makes me WANT to run!
Shake it Off by Taylor Swift
All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor

General Helpful Information:

Beginner's Guide to Paleo 
Weight Watchers International
Fooducate's Scanner App - get your nutrition info into a tracker instantly
Calm is an app that helps you do just that

If you try any of these things out, let me know how they worked for you. Now put down that phone and put on your trainers!

You are WORTH It.

I am back on the losing train again, Woo, WOOOOOOOO.

This is typical of my journey. Work hard, not get a lot of results, get discouraged, gain a couple of pounds, come back to it and bam! Something works.  I have not given up in about 10 years of this battle due in large part to the encouragement of those around me like my dear friends Gina, Anna, Colleen, Will, Christine and my indefatigable Weight Watchers leader, Carolyn.

I had a long conversation with my internist about my weight loss journey a couple of months ago. He said that, with my family history of extreme obesity and terminal diabetes, the cards were stacked against me. He also said that I must not give up my efforts. Even if I am maintaining my weight or losing at my typical glacial pace, I am still staving off the health problems that will inevitably come if I begin gaining weight. He pointed out that though I am yet significantly overweight, all my insides are healthy. My cholesterol reading is in the normal range, but could be a lower number; otherwise, I'm in great shape. I exercise more than most "normal weight" people. I have no known health risks outside obesity. He credits that health to my having waged this weight loss battle almost continuously since 2005. Hearing this, I made a decision then and there that I will fight with renewed vigor.

When school got out, I determined to use my time flexibility to build in more exercise and research eating styles that might support me. Clearly it is not just a numbers game for me. Once again, I was drawn to a modified paleo approach to eating. (Here's a good synopsis of it if you're interested). I also set up a spreadsheet to track my intentionality in this quest to "level up my life."  It's not pretty but it's functional and here if you'd like to see it.

These two changes--additional exercise and modified paleo eating--  have made a difference for me! Since our last day of school, June 8th, I have lost 7.4 pounds. It was apparently enough to  push me down a size; my pants, loose at the end of school,  were literally falling off me at at last weekend's ball tournament. What's more, I feel more toned and am so much stronger. I have a fitter frame, suddenly, and I can feel it on the inside! I have not had a weight this low since 2010, and I will soon blow those "lows" right off the charts.  Next time I will post a few awesome resources for you.

This was a lot of personal detail and I have said it all to underline one thing: We must never give up on ourselves. I am worth it; You are worth it. If people around you aren't saying that to you, call me up. I will say it.  (1-512-983-1390) You have time to spend on your health. (Yes, you do.) You have a right to surround yourself with support. You can make choices that are better for you. Small changes can really add up and you can make those changes because you are worth it. 

Here it is again: You are worth it. You are more than a number on a scale. You deserve a life worth living. You deserve a healthy future. You matter.

Please let me hear from you and how you are waging your battle for greater healthfulness. We are stronger together.

3 Weeks In

January 24.  This month is flying by. I thought I'd better take a minute to check in on my goals for the year:

I am still not tracking my food so I also don't know if I'm staying in my points allowance. Okay, I admit it, I'm resistant. I will plumb the depths of that resistance a bit later and see what's driving it. Similarly, since I'm not tracking, I'm missing out on the opportunity to see what is behind the eating choices I'm making. Okay, I've convinced myself. I will track today!

I do have perfect attendance at Weight Watcher's so far, and it is paying off, in spite of my lack of attention to tracking. So far, I've lost 4.8# of my 50 lb. goal for this year. 49 weeks and  45.2# to go.

As far as my exercise goals, I'm getting in my  60K steps and then some; now I need to focus on my minimum 1 hour of strength training and working up to 30/min a day of structured exercise.  I got 20 minutes of Dance Party yesterday. I will get 30 minutes of structured exercise today.  My fitbit week starts on Sunday, so that exercise will be strength training plus about 8000 steps to get in today.  I found some great leg presses without machines I will try. (Here's another. And one more.)

My glaring "miss" so far is I still have not gotten my official support partner on board. It's because there's been an awkward silence between us for some time so I need to break that silence. I will do so with an email today. I know that if I had more accountability, I would be hitting more of my goals!

I'm working on my first every self-made workout playlist. The last thing I had that was even close -- try not to laugh -- was a mix tape I made in the early 90's and played on my Walkman! Oh I am so old!  I think getting my playlist will help me get those weekend steps in. 

How is YOUR year going? Are you meeting your goals? What do you think is helping you succeed or getting in your way?

2015 Goals and a Plan to Succeed

Hello, out there.

Yes, it has been a long time.  Yes, I've been busy but honestly, not that busy!  I have not posted frequently here because . . . quite honestly . . . it's hard to keep up a weight loss blog when there is almost never any weight loss to report.  There, I said it!

I have my list of "reasons" too -- some real, most excuses -- but that isn't the point, is it?  The point is, I have a commitment to myself to reduce my weight, and by golly, I am going to.

The good news is, I haven't given up. I have managed not only to maintain, but to lose another 12 pounds since school started. I have lessened my effort at times since Thanksgiving but am still on a losing trend.

I have made a big commitment for this year: To lose 50 pounds. For me, that's a lot, as a typical loss ratio for me is about 1/2 pound every two weeks. What I have learned since September, however, is that increased muscle tone and activity can give me the metabolism boost I need to sustain a higher rate of loss.

Frankly, it's going to take a higher rate of loss for me to ever get there since -- and I know some of you can relate to this -- every time I get sick or for some reason lose my focus, I immediately gain 2 pounds.  That's four weeks of work at my normal rate of loss! I can't afford to lose at such a low rate when gaining is as easy as breathing for me!  Okay, that's a little dramatic, but you get the picture.

Anyone who has tried to lose weight knows -- no one ever lost a pound by "planning" to lose. It takes real and concrete action.  Here is my action plan to get those 50 pounds off:

• Re-vamp my daily schedule with planned exercise periods (done);
• Get back to tracking my food to give me the opportunity for course correction;
• Stay within my Weight Watcher's Points Plus allowance;
• Have perfect attendance at Weight Watcher's this year;
• Notice the life-shocks that precipitate poor eating choices and deal with them;
• Get 60K steps a week, plus a minimum of one hour of strength training and work up to at total of 30 min/day (6 days a week) of structured exercise;
• Get a strong support partner on board and keep working with my WW partner.

I think this will be the recipe for success for me. The trick -- as always -- is sticking with it and believing in myself. My last list-item will help with this.

The elephant in the room in all this is this: My last post on this blog was in June; over 6 months ago. At that time I was in a self-made PRT Challenge.  Needless to say, I did not complete the challenge or reach my goals. I allowed myself to get distracted, especially when it got hard.

All I can do from here is forgive myself, learn from my mistakes and move on. That's what it's all about right?  I know I have re-started a thousand times, but what is the alternative? If I'm not forgiving myself and trying again, then I'm giving up -- and that is not an option.  I am quite certain if I hadn't been fighting all these years, I'd weigh 300+ pounds now. I gain weight so easily.

There is some science to help me:  Research shows most people give up their weight loss efforts within a few weeks. Other studies show that people who participate in a weight loss or accountability group are twice as likely to succeed at weight loss.  Additionally, losses of more than 44 pounds are more likely to be maintained than losses of 24 pounds or less. I am planning to get all of these things working for me this year.

What about you? Where are you in your weight loss efforts? What is your New Year's plan?

The Warrior's Way

It's been a bit since we've spoken. In those four weeks I've managed to witness the graduation of my oldest, host a lovely Smorga-salads-bord for 24, get 3 more kids out of school and into camps and summer home-life, almost quit my job . . . and gain 5 pounds.

That last is an estimate; I'm avoiding the scale until my Weight Watchers weigh-in Wednesday night. I didn't eat terribly during these weeks nor did I fail to exercise, but I let go of my disciplines regarding refined carbs, particularly sugar, and every calorie I ate seemed to stick to my gut. Whoopsie.

Such is the Warrior's way:  Fall down, stand up, get knocked down, stand up, retreat, advance . . . keep going. I refuse to give up on myself. I am worth every minute of work and struggle. Hence, I'm back at it again.

I have been working on a meal time regime in which I eat a serving of whole grain foods or sweet potatoes (etc.) at one meal each day and the rest of my meals and snacks are primarily protein. I am using a lot of the Dukan principles mixed with Trim, Healthy Mama principles.  This hybrid plan also fits well with an anti-SIBO diet in case I need to be doing that!  I've written about Dukan before but Trim Healthy Mama tweaks the science in this way:

All meals center around protein. If you are eating a meal higher in fat, then your carbs must be very low. If you are eating a meal higher in carbs, then your fat must be minimal (i.e, lean meats and only 1 tsp. per meal of added fat). They have many other guidelines but I like the idea that you can just start with this simple principal.  It's a pretty harmless principal too, so  . . . why not?

If it seems like lately I am constantly tweaking my eating plan . . . you are correct. It has become very clear that straight Weight Watchers or calorie counting does not result in net loss for me over time. I did very well years ago on a medical weight loss -- aka protein shake -- diet and that is the last thing that has really worked.  So . . . I am now working to find a plan that will result in a net loss over time . . . but is sustainable for the rest of my life. I want a plan that can move to maintenance and can just be how I eat.  That explains, I hope, my need to marry Dukan to the Trim Healthy Mamas. (Sorry husbands of those two Mamas!)  Dukan is too rigid for my life; I have a husband, 5 kids and a job. Mama cannot eat a different meal than everyone else!

So far, so good. I am not hungry, I feel balanced, I am not having sugar-swings; I'm happy. I sub in some "zoodles" or cauliflower rice for the grains I serve my peeps and don't even miss the grains. I am also committed to trying new recipes and refining old ones to keep my cooking self satisfied. Today I made Tomato Soup with inspiration from Zesty Zucchini Soup. It was so lovely I am sharing it here with you. Happy supping!

Cream of Tomato Soup - Speedy

This is a speedy soup for waistline watchers! It has tons of goodness for very little in the way of calories. It is suitable for most higher protein plans. It is a bit high in sodium but you could drastically change that by buying low sodium tomato sauce.

4 hearty servings, 5 or 6 for a starter.

1 pint chicken broth, 99% fat free, low sodium
1 pint tomato sauce
1 tsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp minced basil
4 oz. Neufchatel cheese
2 packets Truvia
(Sea salt, if desired)
(Pepper if desiered)

Parmesan cheese or hot sauce for garnish

Combine chicken broth and tomato sauce in saucepan. Heat to a simmer.
Meanwhile, warm the olive oil and garlic together in the microwave, just until you can smell the garlic.
Whisk into the soup. When soup is simmering well around the edges, turn off the heat.
Set aside the basil.
Place the Neufchatel cheese and Truvia into a blender
When the soup is hot, transfer about 1 cup to the blender.
Remember to leave the center lid ajar, and be careful!
Blend on medium until no chunks of cheese remain. Pour back into saucepan and whisk to combine.
Stir in the basil.

Top with Parmesan cheese or hot sauce, as desired.

NOTES: 
If the soup is too acidic for you, try whisking in 1/2 to 1 tsp. baking soda near the end of cooking time. You can also replace the Truvia with sugar if you are not watching your sugar intake. It will take 1 tablespoon or more.

You can also replace the Neufchatel Cheese with 3 Tbsp. heavy cream for a more authentic tasting cream soup.  You lose calories and fat but also protein; I opt for the higher protein version for a meal.  The adjusted nutritional values are listed below.

Estimated Nutritional Values for 4 Servings:
4 Weight Watcher's Points Plus139.25 kc
7.9 g fat
1.8 g fiber
10.9 g carbs
759.8 sodium
4.8 g protein

Estimated Nutritional Values for 4 Servings with Cream Substituted:
4 Weight Watcher's Points Plus
108.25 kc
5.8 g fat
10.65 g carbs
658.55 sodium
2.8 g protein

Liquids, Protein and a New Way Forward

Good Monday, friends!

I apologize for the "radio silence." On March 26th in the midst of a very busy day, I became very ill and was in terrible pain. I soon learned it was an attack of diverticulitis, not entirely unprecedented since I knew I was susceptible to it, but unexpected nonetheless. Long story shortened, I spent the next week on a clear liquid diet and am just finishing the course of two antibiotics and a "bland" diet. I feel great now, but it certainly did throw a wrench in the works.

One thing became abundantly clear to me: I do have will power. I have often accused myself of not having it because I struggle so to stay "in the box" with my eating plan. I can't have that excuse any more; it simply isn't true. In fact, I did learn a few things during the week of clear liquids:

1. Drinking a lot of fluids really does help that "full factor."  During the entire week, I was only "stomach hungry" once.
2. I am capable of following my plan 100% when I know there is a good reason for it.
3. There is a good reason for my plan! Despite my "fit but fat" status, research shows that otherwise healthy people who are obese still have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and early death.
4. I need to just put my big girl pants on and do whatever it takes to get this excess weight off once and for all.

Today I am cleared for both exercise and "normal" diet. What this means is that today I go back to my "physical readiness training" program of exercise. The long break made my feet feel better and since my cardiologist took me off warfarin after a nasty drug interaction with my antibiotics, I get my ibuprofen back too! It's been a long year of exercise without ibuprofen. It's a brand new day!

Food plan wise, I am going to try a protein week quick start, followed by a few weeks of getting most of my calories from protein and vegetables and strictly avoiding refined carbs (noodles, sugar) while still enjoying fruit in a limited way.  I realize this is a departure from my normal "whole foods, restricted calories" plan, but I got some advice from my doctor who thought this might be a good way to shake up my metabolism. It is pretty clear now that a regular "whole eating" plan is simply not going to work. This is not a "Paleo" plan nor a "Low-Carb" plan in the traditional sense. It's closest to a modified Dukan diet. I hope it works.

There are risks, of course. One risk is a lack of potassium; I am mitigating that by including enough higher potassium foods every day to make sure I get by full dose of this heart-guarding nutrient. I have a list of best foods (including sweet potatoes and beet greens). Another risk is ketosis; that's why I am only staying on the strictest form of low-carb for one week and then will be adding in more and more foods with carbs over the next many weeks, so that I will only be completely avoiding foods with refined flour and sugar. Naturally occurring sugars will be part of my plan. I will be writing more about this in weeks to come; sorry if it's a bit murky here.

That's the weight loss forecast from here. What's new in your world of "fight the fat?"

Breakfast Tostadas, You Won't Miss the Meat Chili and other YUM! Menu Plan Monday!

Yep, it's been a while! Life here has been c-r-a-a-a-a-z-y for the past two weeks! On the 13th my youngest had a "simple" tonsillectomy that has been anything but simple and wow - am I behind on everything!

It's Monday, though, and time to get back to basics. This week we will be eating down our larder as the pantry and freezers are full to overflowing. We also may have a camping night so portable food is part of the plan:

Breakfasts

Steel Cut Oats

Grits with poached eggs and veggies

Cereal day

Breakfast egg and avocado tostadas (recipe below)

Toast, bacon and boiled eggs

Baked orange rind muffins - we make ours with spice cake and use the juice from the oranges for some of the water

Lunches  

This week I'll be putting the contents of the snack box into plastic Easter eggs inside this carton so they won't slide around when the kids hold it by the handle.  They are really egg-cited about these snack boxes!

Egg crate snack plate

Leftovers Day

Chicken teriyaki, brown rice, purple carrots, spinach knots (bento)

Meatball subs, oranges, grape tomatoes

Mason jar salads (little kids salad goes in plastic!)

Build your own subway sandwich, purple coleslaw, fruit (camping food)

Dinners

Skinny Meatloaf, roasted beets and sweet potatoes, green beans (meatloaf: I do half ground turkey breast, half ground beef)

Chicken breast, farro salad, something green (this is a summer recipe and I don't care! So tired of winter food!)

Swiss steak, noodles, sauteed cabbage

Baked white fish, quinoa with tiny veg, green salad

Pork with rice noodles and vegetables

You Won't Miss the Meat Chili with cornbread Dumplings (over the fire), cole-slaw and ice-cream cone s'mores

Breakfast Tostadas Recipe - a Fast and Fun breakfast

6 Servings (7 WW Points Plus)

(Prep all vegetables first)

1 zucchini, finely diced

2  large tomatoes diced

1 avocado, diced

6 egg whites

3 whole eggs, beaten with egg whites

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

6 ounces low fat, shredded Mexican cheese blend or Monterrey jack cheese

6 corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 375

Place corn tortillas on rack on jelly roll pan, bake 5 minutes then turn over and bake 3 more; watch carefully to make sure they do not burn.

Remove from oven.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan. Add the zucchini and saute 3 minutes, stirring as you go. Add the tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid is cooked away. Remove to plate.  

Wipe skillet with paper towels.

Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil

Soft scramble the eggs. When the eggs are nearly done, add the vegetables and cook until eggs reach desired consistency.

Remove from heat. Stir in half the cheese.

Top tostadas with egg mixture. Sprinkle with avocados. Top with remaining cheese.

Serve with salsa on the side, if desired.

I'm linking up to OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday; check out all the great menus! 

Vitamins, Slowing Down and Active (not) Kids: Friday Tips, Tricks and Inspiration

Happy winter Friday, fit friends!  Here are your tips, tricks and inspiration:

We all know that savoring our food leads to more satisfaction in eating and helps calm those cravings. It's also true that our brains need time to receive the message that we have had enough. The biggest benefit to slowing down though, is the social one. When we are savoring our meal, we have time for conversation, time to really hear our dinner partners and read between the lines. Even when dining alone, savoring that meal allows us time to think through our day (just past or just starting) and feed our souls as well as our bodies.  In that tack, let's start with these 5 tips to eat slowly from Fooducate. To these I would add two tips from Weight Watchers: Put your fork down between each bite -- it's harder than it sounds -- and/or take a small sip of water between bites.

This week's trick focuses on another way we may be tricking ourselves. As I've long suspected, yet another study seems to show that taking vitamins just isn't a good use of your money! We need to get as much nutrition as possible from our food, folks! If that isn't enough, this scary article from the New York Times demonstrates that some people have suffered real harm from dietary supplements. Please be both wise and cautious in your use of supplements.

Do you think your kids are active? I think mine are! Yet this new study highlighted in Obesity Panacea shows many are not as active as we think. My kids hate it when I read things like this because I start enforcing our hour-a-day-rule for exercise to earn screen time. I think teens and pre-teens are at the greatest risk because their school day is sitting-based. Hopefully this little bit of inspiration will get our kids moving and us, as well. I have started watching my own screen time since reading this study.

That's it for this week's news. If you are facing a weekend of inclement weather as we are, think of ways to get the whole family out for some fun and activity. Maybe a visit to a local skating rink or bowling alley will add some fun to your weekend! Have a great one!

Ribollita and Other Delights: It's Menu Plan Monday!!

How does Monday always come around so fast?  Well here it is and I'm back in my menus, linking up as usual with OrgJunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday.

For the uninitiated, let me state that I cook low-fat, healthy, utilizing local and sustainable foods 90% of the time, year round. I make exceptions on the holidays but still try to be reasonable. This means we eat a lot of greens and root vegetables in the winter because that's what grows here in the cooler seasons. When feasible, I include calories and/or Weight Watcher's points plus values for my meal plans. Many of my linked recipes contain complete nutritional information.  If you post your menu plans in any type of public forum, please comment on the post so we can all share your inspiration!

My plan of coming up with several lunch and dinner choices worked well for me last time, so I am repeating the theme this week. We are taking the little ones camping for a night, hence the camping food!

Lunches
Shrimp with Zucchini and Tomatoes (stir fried with garlic and a bit of oregano) (4 WW Points+), toasted whole bread with garlic and misted olive oil.
Spiral turkey dogs (camping day), green salad, baked orange rind muffins
Tuna salad on whole wheat toasted sandwich thins, salad with vinaigrette (5 WW Points+)
Turkey, egg and carrot Soboro bento, brown rice, fresh fruit
Crockpot Spinach Manicotti, sauteed seasonal vegetables, fresh fruit (I am still calculating calories on my low fat version of this dish!)

Dinners 
Ribolllita (a Tuscan soup with kale, beans and bread), green salad ( 5 WW Points+, 245 cal.)
Chicken Parmesan, whole wheat couscous, roasted root vegetables seasoned with sage (8 WW Points+)
You Won't Miss the Meat Chili with cornbread dumplings, coleslaw (camping night) (4 WW Points+) In the dutchoven, over a fire!
Baked white fish with Quinoa with sweet potato, zucchini, carrot and kale; Garlicky Green beans - (6 WW Points+)
Slow Cooker Roasted Turkey Breast and Potatoes; sauteed greens, roasted baby turnips (7 WW Points+)

Chili with cornbread dumplings

Lose to the Last - It's Menu Plan Monday!

Welcome to Menu Plan Monday!  I love to link up with OrgJunkie.com to share menus and be inspired by others!

I am doing things a little differently this week. I made a short list for each breakfast, lunch and dinner, bought all the ingredients and am selecting which meals to make each day. Having the plan plus the flexibility will help me adjust to the ever changing climate inside and outside the house.

This menu has a lot of our favorites in it but the Farmer's Fritata and the Macaroni Salad are sure winners. There aren't seven meals here because we always have at least one leftover day and one or two days where no one seems to be here at the same time so we eat what we can find!

Breakfast:

Quick Berry Blintzes

Figs with Greek Yogurt

Farmer's Fritata with Goat Cheese (recipe below)

Oatmeal Brulee

Egg, Tomato and Avocado Tostados

Lunches:

Nicoise style tuna sandwiches  (here is a link to a recipe but we do not put mayo on ours)

Lemony Hummus and Goat Cheese with Homemade Whole Wheat Pita Chips

Classic Macaroni Salad with fresh veggies and cheese cubes (recipe below)

6 color rice, boiled egg, vegetables (inspired by this)

Dinners:

Filet Mignon (3 oz each) with Shaved Zucchini (sirloin for the little kids)

Grilled Shrimp Ceasar Salad (we use the classic ceasar dressing recipe and are sparing in application)

Pork with Rice Noodles and Vegetables

Pork Lo Mein

                                          -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --

Farmer's Frittata (Weight Watchers)
Serves 2

1/2 medium red potato (cook 3 minutes in microwave, then dice)
1 small zucchini, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 tsp. olive oil
2 pinches salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. fresh basil, minced
1 large egg
4 egg whites
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Saute the vegetables in the olive oil about 4 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium; add the eggs, gently lifting the edges so the eggs can flow beneath; add salt and pepper on top. Place lid on, cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle the goat cheese and basil on top, replace lid, lower heat to medium low for 2 minutes, until cheese softens.

Remove from heat. Cut into quarters for easy serving; serve 2 pieces per person.

This recipe is so delicious and such an easy way to get in a full serving of vegetables!

                                          -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --

Classic Macaroni Salad Remake by Weight Watchers

Serves 4 (doubles easily and keeps well refrigerated for several days)

8 oz macaroni, whole grain
1 cup small broccoli florets
1 large tomato, chopped
2 celery stalks, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup fat free sour cream
1 Tbsp. lemon juice  or pickle juice
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Rinse under cool water to stop cooking. Combine pasta and vegetables. Combine dressing ingredients in small bowl.  Add to pasta and vegetables.

This salad is so good and has a full serving of vegetables per serving. There is no reason ever to make the full fat kind again!  I dice the vegetables really finely which keeps the kids happy.  If sending for lunch, I add an ounce of cheese cubes and a fruit for a complete lunch. Grape tomatoes are also a nice complement to this salad.

Fit Friday - Tips, Tricks and Inspiration

I apologize for the inconsistency in posting lately; my parents are in town for several weeks and I am suddenly super-stingy with my time, trying to soak up every minute of family time!  Nonetheless, the fight to fitness goes on so here I am!

I have a tip: If you want to change the state of your health, don't spend time worrying about small things, like the timing of meals, but focus on reducing calories and increasing activity. This article on timing of meals is interesting, but in the end, metabolism plays only a small part in weight loss. Exercising more can reduce stress and build muscle -- which does speed up our metabolism -- but most importantly, the common side effect of exercise is that when we feel better about ourselves, we make better choices about what we eat. We all want the magic thing that will make weight loss easy and while speeding up our metabolism can certainly aid our efforts, in the end, it's all about what we eat versus what we burn.

The trick of the week is one I picked up at Weight Watchers from last week:  Put your fork down and take a small sip of water after every bite.  It's a simple tip to slow down my eating enough for my brain to get the message that I've had enough. The question is, how will I remember? My plan is to take the time to set a lovely table in the dining room each evening so I remember -- this is family time, not mindless-eating-time. I think is as much a challenge for the week as a trick; who is going to try this with me?

For this week's inspiration, I offer this wonderful article from the amazing Dr. Katz. When I suggest to people that toddlers and children can eat whatever adults eat, they think I'm crazy. Even some of the healthy eaters we know feed their young children differently than they eat. Dr. Katz says we are ruining our children with "kid food" and I agree. After 10 years of eating mostly home cooked healthy food with limited forays into processes or restaurant food, I will tell you that those odd chemical flavorings that are added to almost everything these days taste really weird to me! My concern is that if we acclimate our children to these chemical flavors, real food won't stand a chance.

The flavors in nature's food are more subtle than chemically enhanced ones. Kids will complain at first so we parents have to be patient but any child can learn to eat healthful, real food. Bento boxes are one way we've made real food fun for our kids. One of my proudest moments as a parent came when a worker at school commented on my 4-year-olds love of all types of vegetables. Oh and be realistic; my kids go to birthday parties and trick-or-treating. They get their occasional dose of candy and confection. It's all about moderation and a gradual lifestyle shift. Please read the article for yourself and let me have your thoughts.

I'm healed up from a foot injury so back to my Couch to 5K program this week.  Have a good weekend, everyone.

Menu Plan Monday

Welcome to another week of healthy eating! Okay, well there may a few meals in here that require temperance, but nothing that will require too much self-control. In some cases, I have included the Weight Watchers Points Plus values in parenthesis. 

Monday:

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner:  Black beans with vegetables and ricotta, over rice and baby spinach

Tuesday:

Lunch - Lemony hummus goat cheese pitas, Red  cabbage slaw, apple slices

Dinner - Cheese grits, blindfolded eggs, fresh fruit.

Wednesday:

Lunch - 

Dinner - Take-out Pizza, salad

Thursday:

Lunch - Filet Mingon, Six Color Rice (based on this recipe)i, mandarin oranges

Dinner - Pasta Thursday - spaghetti with meat sauce, broccoli, fruit for dessert

Friday:

Lunch:  School lunch trays today!

Dinner: Shrimp salad, toast and Mamaw's homemade jam

Saturday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Weight Watchers Homemade Mac-n-Cheese (6), sliced tomato salad

Sunday:

Lunch: Snack plate

Dinner: Slow Cooker Brisket, (9)  mashed potatoes, green beans

Linking up to OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday; check out all the great menus!  The "real food" low-fat menus are hard to come by but I get tons of inspiration from what other people eat.

Progress Report

On Wednesday, I passed my 6-week mark since my return to Weight Watchers. To be sure, it was an unusual start with two hospital stays, a surgery, and a vacation all in there. Nonetheless, I have been "on plan" except for a couple of days that I failed to track.

My net loss so far? Plus 0.4 pounds. I know, I'm going the wrong way.

Oddly, I'm not discouraged. My restrictions on exercise lasted most of the first 4 weeks, we're under tremendous stress at home with summer ending and all the kids dribbling back into school, and, truthfully, my medicines have changed 3 times. I think it could be worse.

I think this is the first time in my entire weight loss journey of 8 years in which I could honestly say, "It's not all about the scale." I am doing a great job providing the family with healthful food and beautiful food too. I know I am eating the things my body needs. I feel great, for the first time in months, and I feel happy about what I'm eating too. I did start exercising last week and it's going well because I feel well.  There just isn't that much to be unhappy about.

This week, I'm experimenting with using only my daily points and not my flex points, although I have used 8 because of forgetting to log a food one day. I am staying the course and feel happy about it. I like that Weight Watchers allows me any food; that freedom helps me keep to my personal health guidelines and stick to what's in "my box." I have managed to "cook ahead" a bit to ease the pressure of school lunches.

I am encouraged, actually, that I managed to navigate all the obstacles of the last few weeks and remain, basically, the same weight. I have accepted that my life is always in a little bit of flux and I cannot wait for everything to fall into place.

I'd love to hear from some of you about what is working for you in your own weight loss or maintenance journeys, especially from my loyal 5 followers!   Cheers!

Work Space

Did I mention I went back to Weight Watchers? A friend wanted to re-join and I seem to have leveled off, weight wise, so I said I would go back with her. The inspiration and support makes a difference to me. I lost 0.4 pounds last week, so I'll take it.

There are two things I love about Weight Watchers and always have. One, you can eat literally anything; you just assign a points value to it. I can certainly have an ice cream dinner if I wish to, but I'll definitely temper my consumption because a cup of ice cream is 10 points. That is a third of my daily allotment. Yikes.

The other thing I love is the practical help they give you. This year's focus is on routines and spaces. At our meeting last week, I committed to myself to take charge of my work space. I am tired of being hungry at work! My workmates often eat out and so I join in but try to make a healthy choice and I wind up being hungry. Therefore, something had to give.

 Thursday, I dropped the Littles at day care an hour earlier than I had to and went to the grocery store on my way to work, confining my purchases to my lunch time stores. We have some free cupboard space in our office kitchen and I can usually make space in the fridge by throwing away old stuff, so I wasn't worried about space. I was going to take a picture of my stockpile but I got intimidated carrying everything in and chickened out!  Here's what I purchased:

Pantry food:
Dr Kracker (a favorite whole grain snack)
Regular snack crackers, thin ones
Almonds (in a can so they stay fresh)
2 bananas

Freezer food:
A loaf of whole-grain bread (we have a toaster at work)

Fridge food:
Non-fat greek yogurt
Raspberries
Grape tomatoes
Good cheese (an ounce will do me!)
Turkey diced and packed in two ounce cups

Utensils
A good knife
Lidded plastic containers (for leftovers)
Water bottle for my desk

Drinks
Unflavored sparkling water
Diet soda
Izzy-esque 4 pack (love those but they're so expensive)

That day I had an absolutely delicious 8 point lunch. And it was so filling. Really good cheese (Double Gloucester), a couple of crackers, a piece of toast, raspberries, turkey, grape tomatoes. I ate and ate.  Every few days I will replenish the meat, cheese and fruit and I will be set for a long while.

No more being fat and hungry at work! What ideas do you have? I dare you to take a picture of your work space pantry!

Beautiful Breakfast (or Lunch, if You Please)

I made Salade Niçoise for Pepper and Dear Hubby for lunch today and it looked so wonderful, I made it for myself for breakfast.  Yes, it was 8:00 a.m., however, I did get up at 4:30.  It was just what I was craving.

The base is salad greens.  We just restarted our CSA box so we got to enjoy some very fresh greens! On top of that is tuna dressed with a mustard vinegarette.  It is surrounded by boiled potatoes (toss them in a teaspoon of olive oil while they're warm), grape tomatoes and a boiled egg.  On the very top I have some pickled cucumber instead of olives which Pepper and Dear Hubby do not like. It's divine.

In the photo below is the deconstructed version for the bento boxes.  Tuna (with the cukes) on the right, potatoes, et al on the left.  This one is Pepper's.  Dear Hubby's has smoked salmon instead of tuna because he is not a fan of canned tuna.

It's simple, it's low calorie and it contains tons of good things for heart and brain health.  What more can you ask?  In case you keep track, nutritional information below:

Nutritional Info  (For Weight Watchers, 7 Points Plus. including your 2 healthy oils!)

• Servings Per Recipe: 1
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 263.0

• Total Fat: 14.3 g
• Cholesterol: 233.3 mg
• Sodium: 496.6 mg
• Total Carbs: 7.1 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2.0 g
• Protein: 26.4 g