Tales of a Bathroom Scale

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 26

2016-03-30T17:39:00.000-04:00

I didn't even realize this was possible but I only had 2 weigh ins in between TOM weigh ins. And now I'm up 1.8 pounds this week. This is my biggest gain ever since I started and it's really depressing. Plus I haven't been weighing myself because of TOM so it was a big shock. And it just snowballs from here. Not only is my weekly weigh in up but it affects my 6 month weigh in today and my March weigh in tomorrow. It screws up everything.

There's not much I can do about it so I just have to keep going.

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 25!

2016-03-23T12:56:00.003-04:00

Wow, week 25! I've been doing this a while now.

It was a really good week. I've been feeling like my weight loss has been crawling. Even though I lost 2.8 pounds last week, when you adjust the number to account for my gain during my period week, I only lost 1.2 both weeks. My average per week has gone down A LOT. I was averaging about 10 pounds a month and now I think I'm at 6 or even less than that. I had to up my calories a little, I was just too hungry and I didn't think I'd be able to go long term with that sort of hunger. I was around 1000, or less than 1000 calories and it was hard, no joke. Now I'm trying for 1100 but I'm usually just shy of 1200 and I'm okay with that even with my weight loss slowing (per month).

But this week was really good!

Although I've got a long way to go, a lot of clothes have become an issue. My bras fit very funny, they curl out on the side. I was trying to make it until I could buy bras from somewhere besides Lane Bryant but I gave in last week and ordered a couple new bras. I also went down a size in underwear. My underwear were hanging off of me, I think I lost all my weight in my butt because I lost ZERO inches last month but my underwear hangs like a droopy diaper.

I ordered some clothes from Old Navy in XXL. I was a 2X in Women's Sizes so this is a pretty big leap for me. Everything I ordered was too big. I think the time has come and I have to physically go into a store to shop for clothes. The day of the Oscar Party we went to Belks to shop for a dress because all my dresses are too big now and the mall was about to shut down so I had one shot and couldn't really find anything, fancy dresses are expensive for one thing, I'm not buying a $200 dress for an evening at my house, and a lot of things didn't fit me in size 18. So I thought because of that XXL was probably my size. That said, Old Navy runs larger than other places. In any case, I now have to physically try on clothes in a store until something fits me. I ordered a dress from J Crew in XXL and it was too big in the arm holes, that's been like my biggest issue, and I returned it. I didn't feel like the rest of the dress was too large but maybe it was, that was like 3 weeks ago anyway.

So it's kind of exciting and frustrating when I can't get something to fit and my budget is an issue and I'm still going so I don't want to waste too much money. Also my rings haven't fit in a while now so I haven't been wearing my rings and I miss them a lot. I don't really know what to do about this. I don't want to resize them twice and I was thinking about at least getting an interim ring from a thrift store or something. I'm still thinking on that one.

This is a weird place to be. I've lost a lot of weight but I'm still very overweight. It's just weird. I know I'm thinner, there's physical evidence, but in my head I don't feel any different. Like I'm dreading shopping in Old Navy. I'm afraid they'll look at my tags when I go to try something on and scoff. I want to wear a sign that says I don't know what size I am!!!

Weigh In - Week 24

2016-03-16T11:15:00.003-04:00

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 23

2016-03-09T11:48:00.002-05:00

Despite this week being the least amount of weight I've ever gained during TOM, it's been an incredibly frustrating week. It's true I'm dealing with some stress and anxiety but mostly it's so frustrating to be so close to 50 pounds (I was .2 pounds away) and then be unable to stop yourself from gaining weight and maintaining that gain for days, many days. And even now it feels out of my control. History shows that I have a great loss the week after TOM so I'm just hanging in there for that. I'm so tired of treading water. I know it's the nature of it but I hate it. I need momentum.

I think a silver lining is necessary and I'm down 6 pounds since my last TOM weigh in, that's something. It's not like A LOT but it's a big deal. I need to hold on to that.

Weigh In - Week 22

2016-03-02T11:43:00.001-05:00

I would have liked to see a bigger number this week, which sounds like a complaint, but it's not. I'm happy the scale is at least going in the right direction.

I also updated my monthly stats, I'm not entirely happy with my February progress. That said I entered Onderland and I continue to lose weight so I'm not like crazy upset or anything, I would just like to see at least 8 pounds a month.

Weigh In - Week 21

2016-02-24T12:28:00.001-05:00

I crossed a major milestone this week - I'm now in Onederland. I have a very long way to go but there was a part of me that didn't think this was even possible, that I needed to accept my fate and my size and try not to think about it. But I just decided to try and see what would happen. I still feel like I'm just beginning my journey, which is a weird feeling, being 21 weeks into something, but I'm committed for the long haul.

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 19

2016-02-10T11:01:00.000-05:00

Wonk-Wonk. TOM strikes again. I should be upset but my weight was actually higher yesterday. It doesn't look like I'm going to make my goal of being in Onederland by Valentine's Day but I gave it my best effort. There's just not much I can do during TOM. I do the same thing I do every other week and can't stop the gain. Next week will be better.

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 18

2016-02-03T11:23:00.001-05:00

Week 18! Wow.

Although it appears I will never catch up to my husband who casually weighed himself last night and declared he lost another 7 pounds in the past 3 weeks or so, I had a good week. I'm very close to Onederland and it would be amazing if I could get there in the next week.

Fingers crossed!

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 17

2016-01-27T12:13:00.001-05:00

I eeeked out a two pound loss this week.

I know some of you guys don't follow me on Instagram so I wanted to let you know about what I wrote over there. I've been having some female problems that have gotten worse over the past year or so. I had my yearly physical at the GYN and he's recommending hysterectomy. I was very emotional at the doctor's office but now that I've thought about it for a while I feel like this a smart option for me. I'm in a terrible amount of pain during my periods. And lately I've been having trouble days leading up to my period and during ovulation time. He said my uterus was quite large and it shouldn't be. Normal uteruses are the size of a small apple and mine is the size of a cantaloupe.

This will be a slow process, I don't even go back until mid February for an ultrasound to measure my fibroids. They also took some blood yesterday, I think he was worried about anemia. Now that the initial shock has set in, I'm mostly worried about the surgery part. I've already had 2 surgeries that will be very similar and I know how much it sucks. That said, there's isn't much I can do, I will ask all the questions I can to ease myself but I've come to know often they don't know what they are dealing with until they get in there. In times like this I often find comfort in the words, "this too shall pass." You can go through the suckiest thing but it will pass, one day it's part of your past, and you move on.

Milestone Award - 40 Pounds!

2016-01-26T12:41:00.002-05:00

January has been sort of a rough month for me. My numbers are not where I want them to be but that shouldn't take away from the fact that I've lost 40 pounds since October 1st. This is a big deal.

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 16

2016-01-20T11:31:00.000-05:00

Well, you have to subtract out the .8 I gained last week during my period. And then share this loss with last week so essentially I lost 1.5 pounds last week and 1.5 pounds this week. I want to complain about that but I'm not going to. I seem to be having a little more difficulty losing weigh this month than last month, which seems crazy because last month was Christmas and you'd think that would be the difficult month. I feel like my calories are on point but I'm just not seeing the same numbers.

There's really not much I can do about that but focus on the positives. And there's quite a few coming up. 1) I'm about to be at 40 pounds lost, which is amazing. 2) I'm about cross the weight I was after my appendectomy in 2013 (2012?), which is the lowest weight I've seen since my wedding weight, 3) I'm about to cross my wedding weight. Besides that brief moment after my surgery, I haven't seen numbers like this since I got married in 2005! 4) And you can't forget about Onderland. I'm hoping to hit Onederland before Valentine's Day. I don't even know if that's still possible. December's weights would have made it possible but I don't even know if I'm going to lose 10 pounds this month, which is a goal.

But it doesn't matter, goals are just destinations, when I reach them doesn't really matter as long as I do. All I have to do is keep going. I'm amazed at how far I've come so far and it really starts to get fun after I hit Onederland and get out of plus sized clothes and bra and swimsuits.

I'm so excited!!!

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 15 - URRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH

2016-01-13T12:28:00.001-05:00

I hate my period!!!! I don't understand why I cannot lose weight on my period. It's like everything just shuts down and goes into hibernation. I'm so bummed and depressed about it but there's nothing I can do. I can only wait until my body will respond to me.

GAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 14

2016-01-06T11:22:00.003-05:00

A pretty good week, though I've stalled for 3 days, I blame Chipotle, I may have to stop going there.

I'm really just gunning for Onederland at this point, I guess I've been doing that all along though.

NSV - Measurements!

2016-01-04T17:18:00.000-05:00

For fun, I decided to start taking my measurements once a month. I started last month so I was pretty excited to find out the changes today.

The only one I'm really iffy about is the thigh. I might not be at the exact same point on my thigh, which is why I'm not a big fan of measurements but it's fun to see anyway.

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 13

2015-12-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

This has been a nutty week. Brian's family has been here since the 26nd and we've been eating so wacky. I really made an effort to count calories as best as I can eating out at strange places. I gained some water weight yesterday, which was distressing, and a drank a lot of water and had a low food day and luckily it went back down and I lost even more.

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 12

2015-12-23T12:45:00.002-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I'm thrilled. However this isn't actually a 4.4 pound loss. I had a water weight gain last week of 1.4 pounds so if you remove that I lost 1.5 pounds for two weeks. But it's still great. I'm a half pound away from losing 30 pounds. That's right on plan and totally great!

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 11

2015-12-16T07:53:00.001-05:00

This whole week has been pretty depressing weight wise. I started gaining weight last Thursday and it's been up ever since. Granted it is my period week but I managed to lose over a pound the last period so I don't know what happened. I could not be doing any better on this diet so I know it's not my food. I can't do much about my body holding onto water or whatever. I have to wait it out.

I looked up my last diet and I gained more than a few times then (for no reason) and wrote something similar the first time it happened. I just have to wait this out, there's nothing else I can do. I hate that it may affect some of my goals. I was reaching another milestone on the 24th and I could be very close to Onederland early in January. A week like this just destroys stuff like that. And it would be different if I cheated but I've been spot on.

So I'm a little upset, okay, a lot upset, but I can't do anything about it. It's a stressful week for me, our Christmas party is on Friday. I start cooking tomorrow and it gets a little nutty. Maybe after that things will settle down. I was excited after the bar party to see how much weight I would lose for this party. It's disappointing but it happens. It can't be the end of the world.

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 10

2015-12-09T11:01:00.001-05:00

Yay, fantastic week! I wish every week was like this, it would be amazing.

The Bar Party

2015-12-07T14:47:00.001-05:00

I tried writing what I wanted to say about this party on Instagram but it was getting too long and I hadn't even gotten to the food. So I'll blog about it, that's why this thing is here after all.

The bar party is a pretty big deal. It's a fancy party and we don't go to many parties so it's a good occasion to get dressed up and eat fancy food. The past 2 years it seems have been especially hard for me. Last year we gave a ride to the attorney who worked for Brian at the time and they were making fun of the way some attorney they work with dresses and the attorney said something like, "she never wears heels!" and I'm sitting in the front seat with my flats on. I watched every person at the party and even the old people were wearing heels, I was like the only one there in flats. I felt really out of place and I'm already out of place. All the attorneys are so young and beautiful and wear these fancy dresses and I'm panicking a few weeks before hoping Lane Bryant puts out something that won't make me look like I'm wearing a sack. I've been overweight for years I don't know why this has hit me so hard the last couple of years, maybe I gained a little more weight and it pushed me into a new place where I just don't feel pretty anymore, I don't know.

I didn't buy a dress this year, I'm still thinking about it for our party. I have a slew of dresses in my closet but most of them don't fit me. But some do. My Non-Scale-Victory dress in there, I wore it a few years ago (2012 to be exact), I was stunned I found an emerald green satin dress in my size. The person who worked our party took a photo of us and I remember looking at the photo and thinking I didn't feel that fat in the dress but I looked bigger than I felt. I cropped the photo so only half of my body shows and it's one of my favorite photos. But then last year I wanted to wear that dress again and it wouldn't zip up. It was really frustrating.

I tried the dress on this year before the party and it didn't look like it would zip so I wore last year's dress. When I got home though, for kicks I tried it on again and asked Brian to try to zip it to see how far I had to go and he was able to zip it. So that was good. But it's like bittersweet because I know I still look very overweight in the dress. But it's a NSV, I wanted it to fit and it does!

Anyway back to the party. We originally were going to have brunch on Saturday and I'd already be out like 700 calories. So I decided to make breakfast saving a ton of calories. Then at the movie theater I brought this little togo container that holds 2 cups and I filled it with popcorn and that's all I had for popcorn (and a little Gheradelli square). It was brilliant!!!! I'm going to do that every week and I'll be able to eat dinner on Saturday! It's so exciting to solve a problem like that.

So dinner (the party) comes and I have about 500-700 calories left. I passed on most of the appetizers but I did have a mini crabcake and a bite of Brian's ham biscuit (oh, southerners). Later the main dining room opened up and I passed on the pasta station and went for the seafood and had about 6 slices of Ahi tuna and a Oysters Rockerfeller (I found out later these have 20 calories a piece, I would have had more than 1) and a smallish serving of pecan crusted salmon and a mini chicken and waffle (very mini, like 2 bites). Later we shared a tiny chocolate mousse. I added it all up later and it was about 625 calories. The next morning I had lost weight! The biggest eating event (besides Thanksgiving) and I lost weight! I was really proud of myself. I could eat that night but I didn't go crazy.

I'm finding Instagram to be such a big help for me. I can't tell you how long I wanted to go on a diet but I couldn't figure out how to eat. Every time I post a photo I think to myself, that will help me later when I need help and can't remember on how to do this. It's so funny because I'm doing it right now and thinking I'm helping myself later.

This was not the year to feel pretty but I wore heels as painful as they were (my feet went numb a couple of times) and I ate correctly.

A photo to remind me next year. ;-) This was taken after the party and my hair had fallen and my heels are off (god, I hate heels!).

Oh, and yesterday I weighed in and have lost over 10% of my starting weight. This is a big deal guys! Doctors tell you to lose 10% for health reasons. My health was/is fine but it's an important milestone and another thing to check off the list. I want to lose about 40% of my starting weight so I'm like 1/4 of the way there!

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 9

2015-12-02T10:17:00.000-05:00

I really want to lose 2 pounds a week but it's Thanksgiving week so I'll take it!

This was a difficult week. I cook a big Thanksgiving dinner every year and I obviously pick all the things I like to eat on Thanksgiving and it was difficult to only try a little bit of everything. After Thanksgiving we gave all the food away to our family except a good amount of turkey and about 2 small servings of stuffing. Stuffing is probably my favorite thing in the world behind crab legs and chocolate cake so I'm glad I kept a little bit of it. I had the stuffing for 2 different lunches with turkey and it was really great. On Sunday we went to my dad's for Thanksgiving there. I did really well but I did pick at some stuffing on the way out the door.

Both Thanksgiving and Sunday I missed dinner and I also always miss dinner on Saturdays so I can have Eggs Benedict. It was a rough week because of that. I missed dinner 3 times last week and it's really a hard thing to do. But I got through it. I'm considering not having Eggs Benedict on Saturday or maybe every other Saturday but I get excited on Saturday morning so we'll see.

Hope your holidays were great! I'm on Instagram a few times a day usually if you want to read more about what's going on with this weight loss journey. Instagram: Dietchick09

I'll also be starting up Sunday dinners for a few weeks at least so I'll get back to those posts as well.

Weigh In Wednesday

2015-11-25T08:48:00.000-05:00

Hey Guys! After a terrible weigh in last week (thanks to a certain monthly visitor that lasted 9 (!) days) this week is much better.

First, as of yesterday, I crossed a milestone, I lost 20 pounds! I feel like I've been waiting for this forever but it was just shy of 8 weeks. My next milestone is to lose 10% of my weight, which hopefully won't take very long. Then onto 30 pounds and on and on. And maybe one of these time I'll drop a dress size! So far my clothes are looser, kind of like, oh yeah they are supposed to fit like this. I'm the queen of stretchy clothes so losing a dress size might take a while. Seriously, it might be like Onederland before I need new clothes. I do have a size 18 dress I really want to wear at our annual Christmas party. That's still almost a month away so we'll see how that goes.

My weight loss for the week is 3.2 pounds. It was one of those weeks where I had a loss almost everyday. Those are my favorite weeks because you wake up to results.

When I started these weight loss thingies, I was using other people's photos but for the past two weeks I've been using mine. Last weeks was a photo of an Adirondack sunset, my favorite thing to do every night when we are on vacation. This week is a photo I took in 2004 when we were in England and this was in an amazing rose garden. I weighed 180 pounds back then. It's weird to remember what you weighed during your memories. I was just coming up from all the weight I had lost down to 132. I was so frustrated and so lost. I couldn't get my eating under control and everything I had worked for slipped away from me while I watched. It's really great to lose weight but it's scary when you lose a lot of weight because after you do this enough (and this will be the 3rd time for me) you know maintenance is really scary. You can't go back ever to eating however you want. You can have a meal from time to time or a snack but somehow you have to get back in control. This is the part I worry about. I should be worried about all the many many pounds I have in front of me but that's just time. It's once I get there, I have to figure out how to stay there. Maybe I count calories forever, that wouldn't be the worst thing.

Weigh In Wednesday

2015-11-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's not that losing 1.4 pounds is bad, obviously it's really good. What sucks is to get a mindset that I'm going to lose 2 pounds a week and go 2 weeks without doing that. This was my period week, I don't know why that matters but it does. My husband lost 3 pounds. I lost 1.4. This is just how it goes.

I lost 1.2 of these pounds last Thursday. Then I maintained for 3 days, gained .2 pounds and maintained that for 2 days and then magically lost .4 pounds last night. It's been a battle all week. I'm just tired but it doesn't matter. It is what it is and all I can do is go on.

I envy people who get excited to lose a 1/2 pound a week. Man, I envy you guys.

I'd say next week will be better but I said that last week. I REALLY wanted to be down 20 pounds by Thanksgiving. That's going to be very tough now.

I should really be very happy. I had a really good chance of only losing a pound this week.

Sunday Dinner - Shrimp Etouffee

2015-11-16T10:41:00.001-05:00

I was trying to think of something like a stew that I could make for Sunday and I already had shrimp in the freezer. I had saved this Shrimp Etouffee recipe from Grandbaby Cakes a long time ago. The photo and the recipe looked amazing. I plugged all the ingredients into My Fitness Pal recipe builder and the calories for 4 servings (including a cup of rice per serving) was 485. Perfect!

Sunday came and I was reviewing the recipe and it said it fed 2-3. I was serving 5. I was going to stretch it but I got concerned last minute so I doubled the recipe. This turned out to be a mistake because it made an entire full spaghetti pot full of etouffee! Way too much. I made too much rice too.

The recipe (this is not the doubled version):

INGREDIENTS
¼ cup salted butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup chopped onion
½ cup sliced celery
½ cup chopped green peppers
1½ cup chicken stock
½ cup white wine -- I didn't use wine I used 2 cups total for chicken stock instead
½ teaspoon tomato paste
1 ( 14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons hot sauce -- cut this by a 1/4 so this was 1 3/4 teaspoon of hot sauce
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
Cooked rice for serving

INSTRUCTIONS
In a medium sized pan, melt butter over medium heat. Thoroughly stir in flour making sure there are no lumps to begin the roux. Allow the roux to develop, stirring frequently for about 9-10 minutes (until dark but make sure it doesn't burn). -- Making the roux is the hard part. I seem to do fine with a white sauce but when I make a dark roux I have some issues (I think the butter easily burns). So I really pay attention here.

Next stir in onions, celery and green peppers and cook for a few minutes until tender, frequently stirring. -- this part will look weird because you're cooking the onion mixture in this thick mixture but keep going and don't burn it!

Pour in chicken stock and white wine then add tomato paste and diced tomatoes and whisk together everything. -- I should have taken my time here and added the chicken stock slowly, I think my sauce would have been thicker.

Season with creole seasoning, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and hot sauce.

Allow the mixture to cook for 10-12 minutes over medium heat to come together and begin to thicken then add the shrimp and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes on a lower heat with the lid on. -- this time could be adjusted a little, the shrimp cooked very fast and was almost overdone. Maybe cook 20 minutes, then add shrimp and cook another 5 minutes.

Stir in heavy whipping cream then cook for 2-3 more minutes until thickened. Serve over rice. -- I almost forgot the cream and it really added to the taste so don't forget it.

Even though it turned out a little runnier than I would have liked it was amazingly delicious. If you are sensitive to heat adjust the hot sauce and cayenne. We found it kind of hot, it might have been too much for Brian's parents.

Thanks Grandbaby-Cakes for your amazing dish!

Wednesday Weigh-In - Week 6

2015-11-11T09:27:00.002-05:00

I was hoping somehow magically I could pull out a two pound week but I'll take the 1.6 with much happiness. I dropped into a new tenth digit, which is exciting, and I'm retaining water for that time of the month, which is not exciting.

So onward and upwards.

Sunday Dinner - Skinny Chicken Enchiladas

2015-11-10T13:20:00.001-05:00

Well I'm a day late with my Sunday dinner but at least I have photos this time!

I used Skinny Taste's Skinny Chicken Enchiladas with a few modifications. As always, I would suggest going to the linked address and follow her recipe, I am not a food blogger, I'm just sharing ideas and what worked for me.

I spent some time last week plugging in my old Chicken Enchilada recipe into My Fitness Pal to get the calorie count and I got it down to just under 500 calories, which isn't bad, another 90 calories for rice, still not horrible but I decided I would just try Skinny Taste's recipe, for 194 calories an enchilada, I could have 2!

After changing a couple things around and running out of chicken filling for my 8th enchilada, I had to adjust the calories. I'll explain how that happened below.

Ingredients:

For the enchilada sauce:

2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tbsp chipotle chilis in adobo sauce - comes in a can. I only used 1 tbsp because commenters were complaining it was too hot. Next time I don't think I'll use these at all, it's kind of wasteful.
1-1/2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder - I used regular chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

For the chicken:

1 tsp vegetable oil
8.5 oz cooked shredded chicken breast - I used a Costco rotisserie chicken
1 cup diced onion
2 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup cilantro
salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chipotle chili powder - I used regular chili powder
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup tomato sauce

For the enchilada:

8 (7-inch) low-carb whole wheat flour tortillas (la tortilla factory) - I used regular soft taco tortilla (8 inches)
1 cup shredded low fat Mexican cheese - I couldn't find low fat so I used regular Mexican cheese
non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, spray oil and sauté garlic. Add chipotle chiles, chili powder, cumin, chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil (This took a little while and then exploded on my shirt). Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 7 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the vegetable oil (I needed extra oil so I used my spray) in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onions and garlic on low until soft, about 2 minutes. (I missed the directions and tried to cook the onions on low. I guess you preheat on medium high then turn it to low when you add the onions. It's still going to take longer than 2 minutes, maybe 5, test a piece of onion to make sure it's cooked). Add chicken, salt, cilantro, cumin, oregano, chili powder, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and cook 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Spray a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Put 1/3 cup chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll it. (I measured out 1/3 cup and ran out of filling after the 7th enchilada so I only had 7 enchiladas, if you really want 8 I would not pack firmly like I did). Place on baking dish seam side down, top with the sauce and the cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes. Makes 8 enchiladas.

So mine only made 7 plus I used different tortillas and cheese so I had to enter everything into My Fitness Pal. Mine came out to 292 calories per enchilada. I served with Zatarain's Spanish Rice for 90 calories for 1/2 cup. I like to load on shredded lettuce for crunch.

Here's how they turned out:

This will definitely be our go to recipe for Chicken Enchiladas from here on out. Thanks Skinny Taste!