Now on to this week… alas, I had a 4 pound loss! Woo hoo! (and I do mean loss this time!) Of course, I pigged out before I weighed in last week, so I don’t think it was hard to come by. And well, this week, is not shaping up to be such a good eating week. I’ve had a series of unfortunate cooking experiments in the kitchen. Hence, no recipes posted. Not to mention wasted food and going off plan because I don’t feel like cooking something else! Note to self: You are not a genius in the kitchen… stick to the recipe!

Anywho… it’s short and sweet today. I am thrilled that I had a 4 pound loss, but that usually means ZERO loss the next week.  The proof is going to be in how I do over the next couple of weeks, so stick with me.

Weight: 170.0 lbs
Change This Week: -4.0 lbs
Overall: -17.6 lbs (-3.2 lbs from the first time) = -20.8 lbs

You can see all my weight loss progress without having to go through all the posts too!

As usual, the meeting ended up being a lot of what I needed to hear.  I even got a card with a quote from a very successful lifetime member who our meeting leader knew. It said “Never trade what you want most for what you want now.”  This quote is what got her through over 100 pounds of weight loss! Hopefully it will help me get my motivation mojo back!

So today, I started eating right and counting my points. I think I wanted to give up a billion times! And not because it was that difficult, but I kept thinking, I will just go ahead and splurge, or I will start being really good tomorrow. I am happy to report that it is now 10:30pm, and I have counted all my points, met all the good health guidelines (except the activity because of my knee injury ), and only used 2 of my extra weekly points. Not too shabby! I can definitely say I gave it 100% today!

Weight: 174.0 lbs
Change This Week: +3.8 lbs
Overall: -13.6 lbs (-3.2 lbs from the first time) = -16.8 lbs

You can see all my weight loss progress without having to go through all the posts too!

But really people, I am just NOT okay with the size I am! Not just because of the way I look, but because I actually have health problems that can be affected by or have actually been caused by my not being in a “healthy” weight range!  Acid Reflux Disease, High Blood Pressure, and High Cholesterol in your early 30’s are just not cool! And if you have stopped by here before, you would know that I haven’t felt like I have been giving it even close to 100%.

Ah, but truth be told, I also really miss my old skinny body! I miss how good it felt to go try on new clothes and go out and look hot! I miss being able to show my stomach without massive embarrassment. I haven’t worn a bathing suit in public in at least 5 years, probably more. I have somehow taken my diva self and settled down into lazy old maid spinsterhood without even knowing it!  Ok, well, maybe I know it, but I think it’s finally gotten to me. I have vowed to get back on track after two months of doing nothing and who knows how many pounds of weight gain!

Yeah, I tortured myself a few times here and there during my “non-dieting” phase by weighing myself, which is why I am positive there has been some weight gain. And being the klutz that I am, I fell and sprained my knee last week, so I have basically been immobile and eating for a week!  My knee still has some healing to do, so doing any actual activity is out of the question for a while. But I didn’t want to let that be yet another excuse for not getting down to business. I am going back to Weight Watchers to get the “official” weigh in tomorrow!

So there ya have it. I am back in the game. I am a stubborn girl, and I am trying to parlay that into this whole getting healthy thing! I know how demanding I can be, and I need to just turn that into vehemence for being healthy!

Oh, and I am sorry if I let you down by not telling you about cool new recipes and diet foods and funny stories! Hope you can forgive me!

THE BAD: I celebrated with, what else?… FOOD. And after blowing my weekly extra points in one evening, I proceeded to eat whatever I wanted for the next four days. Not counting points, not caring. What is my problem?!? Am I a glutton for punishment? Do I thrive on self-sabotage? All I know, was that the above achievement was very short lived.

THE UGLY: According to my scale, I have gained 2.4 pounds since my weigh in. And since I ate bad yesterday, I am sure there is more gaining to come. And I am just not caring about being healthy! Why can’t I just be this size, sign my ass up for BBW Personals, and just keep taking my blood pressure and cholesterol meds?!? I am no longer in the obese category, for the love! Can’t that be good enough? I just feel like I am never going to get to that healthy weight range!

Ok, so I think maybe we are back to THE GOOD now?!? (1) All the real butter in the house is now gone! and (2) today, I started eating better again… even though with every second I would rather be eating junk food and don’t really care. I’d really like to see myself go for a walk tonight, but I am afraid that might be pushing it in my hardly caring condition!

And another thing that has been bothering me… I haven’t posted any recipes or food reviews in forever, so forgive me for that! I hope to have time and motivation to do so very soon!!!

Weight: 168.4 lbs
Change This Week: -2.8 lbs
Overall: -19.2 lbs (-3.2 lbs from the first time) = -22.4 lbs

You can see all my weight loss progress without having to go through all the posts too!

All that said, I haven’t given up. I went out and walked after my meeting, and still have 4 points left and it’s 9pm! I just hope this keeps me motivated. I hope I can have a few weeks where I actually give 100%. I mean, hell, even last week when I lost weight, I only gave what I estimated to be 95%!  I need a few weeks of 100% in order to allow a few bad weeks. I am just taking this “I can’t be perfect” to the extreme. As they say, no pain, no gain, right? Giving 100% a few weeks in a row is really very little “pain” so I need to get over it and get with the program!

ok, enough of my bitchin! … and on with the program!

Weight: 171.2 lbs
Change This Week: +1 lbs
Overall: -16.4 lbs (-3.2 lbs from the first time) = -19.6 lbs

You can see all my weight loss progress without having to go through all the posts too!

Well, people, it’s June 1st, and what is June all about? A lot of things of course, but of healthy note we have Turkey Lover’s Month, National Dairy Month and National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month! (Somewhat of a triple crown of good nutrition, don’t ya think?)

TURKEY FACT: According to eatturkey.com, turkey has fewer calories than beef or chicken and no saturated fat.

DAIRY FACT: According to 3aday.org, dairy provides nine essential nutrients, including calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin, and niacin.

FRUITS & VEGGIES FACT: According to fruitsandveggiesmatter.org, those who eat more generous amounts of fruits and vegetables as part of a healthful diet (compared with people who eat small amounts) are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases.

So in honor of these food holidays, here are 8 fun recipes that incorporate all three of these fabulous food groups! Ok, Turkey is not actually a food group, but remember, turkey comes in many more ways than just the whole bird! … think ground turkey, deli turkey, turkey sausage, turkey bacon… you get the picture! And hey, I’ve even listed what turkey, dairy, and fresh fruits and/or vegetables are in each recipe! And just one more thing, they are ordered by points value.

Turkey Sweet Potato Soup from my girl Alanna on Kitchen Parade
Turkey: cooked turkey
Dairy: milk
Fresh Fruit/Veg: sweet potatoes, celery, onion
(195 calories, 5g fat, 2g sat fat, 4 points)

Italian Zucchini Boats from Cooking for 2
Turkey: Italian turkey sausage
Dairy: mozzarella cheese
Fresh Fruit/Veg: zucchini, onion, celery
(174 calories, 8g fat, 3g sat fat, 4 points)

Mashed Potato Sausage Bake from Taste of Home
Turkey: smoked turkey kielbasa
Dairy: sour cream, cheddar cheese
Fresh Fruit/Veg: potato, mushroom, onion
(210 calories, 7g fat, 0g sat fat, 5 points)

Curried Turkey Lunchtime Wraps from Cabot Cheese
Turkey: sliced turkey breast
Dairy: yogurt, Cheddar cheese
Fresh Fruit/Veg: baby spinach, carrot
(272 calories, 8g fat, 4g sat fat, 6 points)

Turkey and Sweet Potato Wrap from Chef Priscila Satkoff
Turkey: boneless cooked turkey
Dairy: cheddar cheese
Fresh Fruit/Veg: sweet potato, onion, celery
(330 calories, 7g fat, 3.5g sat fat, 6 points)

Turkey Stromboli from my girl Roni at Green Lite Bites
Turkey: ground turkey
Dairy: mozzarella cheese
Fresh Fruit/Veg: sweet onion, bell pepper, zucchini
(410 calories, 9g fat, 3g sat fat, 8 points)

Open-Faced Turkey Sandwich with Apple and Havarti from Cooking Light
Turkey: thin-sliced deli turkey
Dairy: Havarti cheese
Fresh Fruit/Veg: apple, red onion, arugula
(427 calories, 14.1g fat, 6.2g sat fat, 9 points)

Open-Face Turkey, Brie, and Nectarine Sandwiches from Real Simple
Turkey: thin-sliced roasted turkey breast
Dairy: brie cheese
Fresh Fruit/Veg: nectarine, arugula, Vidalia onion
(467 calories, 22g fat, 8g sat fat, 10 points)

I did it! I did it! I did what I said I was going to do! I did make that scale my bitch (see week 33 update)! And that is because I finally gave it more than 50%… I’d say more like I gave it 95% this week, and it paid off in a 4.2 pound loss!!!

How’d I do it, you ask?…

(1) I tried every day to meet those good health guidelines as close as possible. I say ”as close as possible” because (guess what?) I was not perfect! But at least I attempted to meet them every day and got close to the goal.

(2) I focused on eating lower point foods than I usually choose. For instance, I was eating frozen dinner entrees for lunch that came in at 5 to 7 points, where as I could have tuna salad I made for about 3 to 4 points and use the other points for fruits and veggies.

(3) I stopped eating frozen meals for just about every breakfast and dinner. Seriously, I was eating a Smart Ones Breakfast Sandwich every morning and had a lean cuisine or a smart ones entree for lunch at work. Those things are packed with sodium, and being that I have high blood pressure, it was time to stop!

(4) I focused on eating lean protein (in the form of egg substitute, fish, some chicken, and vegetarian “meats”), vegetables, fruits, low fat dairy, and healthy fats (I can no longer let myself buy real butter! ). I probably had only one serving of any bread-type (a.k.a. carbs!) products on most days, and it was either light bread or crackers made with whole grain… sometimes a whole grain snack bar, like Kashi. Come to think of it, I didn’t have very much refined sugar either. Both are residual habits from my low carb days, I suppose!

(5) I wore my pedometer every day, making sure I took extra steps at work by getting up almost every hour and walking around the hallway or around the outside of the building, and I got outside and walked after work when I could (even walking to the store once again!). That resulted in 1 to 2 activity points almost every day (a few days I did not fair so well!).

(6) I even had some splurges on the weekend, but kept my promise to track EVERYTHING, even when I thought I “messed up” or wasn’t sure how much I had. Turns out, I even went about 2 points over for the week, even after swapping out my activity points (and I still lost 4 pounds, people!).

To sum it up, it’s gotta be the better food choices and the walking. Even though I went over my points allotment, I barely went over, and the majority of the foods were good for me because I followed the good health guidelines.  I also think another key was that I was not afraid to use my extra points, and a lot of people seem to be. (It’s not an exact science, folks!) Before, I was sort of half-assed walking, and I would only be good for 3 days, and then stop caring what I put in my mouth for the other 4 days of the week! (Simple mathematics should tell me that is never going to work out!)

I am so totally proud of myself! And the good thing is, that it has given me some of that motivation back that I have been so painfully missing! It’s like, yeah, I CAN do this!!!

Weight: 170.2 lbs
Change This Week: -4.2 lbs
Overall: -17.4 lbs (-3.2 lbs from the first time) = -20.6 lbs

You can see all my weight loss progress without having to go through all the posts too!

Boy, have I been putting off this post! I think it was slightly subconscious because I had every intention of posting right after my weigh in on Wednesday, and then again on Thursday… but I just kept putting it off!

This was the first week I did not weigh myself the entire time at home, so my weight was a total mystery to me. Learning that I had a 2 pound gain put me in such a bad mood! I guess before when I was weighing at home, I already generally knew what to expect when I went to my official weigh in. Now it’s like a total shock! And seeing as though I have only slightly hovered above my 10% goal since February, I am just so mad at myself to begin with!

Yes, apparently, I was hoping for a miracle at the scale again this week! After getting all upset, I realized that once again I hadn’t given it even 50% effort again this week, and I was truly expecting the world to just give me what I want for half-assing it! I’ve been on the earth long enough to know that isn’t going to happen!

I then started to think of what I needed to do to make this work, and even considered buying alli or some of that acai berry stuff or hydroxycut! Something that would make this easier on me! Then reality hit me in the face that what I needed to do was work the program first, not rely on a pill to do it for me!

I mean come on, I was kidding myself! Listen to this! The day before weigh in, I ate a Hardee’s Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit for breakfast (that’s 14 Points!), a dollar menu McDouble (9 points) and small fries (5 points) from Micky D’s for lunch (apparently because they were “smaller,” I felt it wasn’t that bad), and Lance Cheese Crackers (4 points) (I got the whole grain ones, of course!) and Sour Cream and Cheddar Potato Chips (4 points) from the snack machine. I had a decent dinner, but my sodium intake alone was probably enough to weigh me down! Guess what? It was 3050mg sodium, and I hadn’t even had lunch yet! Not to mention the 36 points I had already consumed!

I guess I thought because I walked to the store earlier this week and have made somewhat of an effort to move more and wear my pedometer, that it would equal out?!? And I didn’t enter any of that in my tracker that day either… something I had vowed to do last week. I am sure I would have had it in my head just how bad that was if I had done so then, instead of right now! I clearly got cocky when I lost a whole whopping 0.4 pounds last week and still ate a Hardee’s Country Fried Steak, Egg and Cheese Biscuit. (Yes, I did convince myself that the Bacon, Egg & Cheese this week was at least better for me than that! It’s a sickness, isn’t it!?!) I just estimated the Steak, Egg & Cheese on the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder… 25 points! That’s more than my daily allowance!

So, lesson learned. Less than 50% effort = not enough. Fast Food the day before a weigh in = not smart. 

Ok, on a more positive note, at least I haven’t gained it all back and I keep trying! (at least 50% of the time anyway!) And at least I attempted to walk more! The good news is, I reached 10,000 steps yesterday! Woo hoo! I will make that scale my bitch next week!

Weight: 174.4 lbs
Change This Week: +2.0 lbs
Overall: -13.2 lbs (-3.2 lbs from the first time) = -16.4 lbs

You can see all my weight loss progress without having to go through all the posts too!

I have never multi-tasked so much in my whole life! I have a new “thing” that I am doing (at least while it’s nice outside!). I have a grocery store so close to my house, it’s ridiculous. So, instead of going to the grocery store on my way home from work in the car, I come home first, put on some comfortable workout clothes and sunglasses, grab my reusable grocery bags, and head on a foot trek to the store!

Ok, so I have only done it twice so far, but it is completely laughable that I often drive my car there after having walked there and back in no time without even a being breathless!

And just think about the wonderful things I am doing! I am getting exercise, I am adding activity points by wearing my pedometer, I am getting that all important Vitamin D from the sun (funny that the tanning bed next door to the grocery store now advertises that you can get it there by paying money and laying down!), and I am being “green” by using my reusable bags and walking instead of driving (which also saves me money)!

Do you have a store that is close to your house? Just give it a try, and you will probably laugh too after you do it! (Oh, and even though you might need your Vitamin D from the sun, you should probably wear your sunscreen!)

I bet you didn’t know that yesterday was National Coquilles St. Jacques Day! Perhaps you are like me and thought, what the heck is a Coquilles St. Jacques? According to Random House Dictionary, Coquilles Saint Jacques is an appetizer made of scallops in a wine cream sauce topped with grated cheese usually served in scallop shells, and according to The New Food Lover’s Companion, Coquilles St. Jacques could be topped with breadcrumbs or cheese.

Turns out, a blogger who has lived both in the US and in France says coquilles St-Jacques is a variety of scallops not available in the US, in which the French eat the orange roe in the shell along with the white muscle. In fact it is said that the scallop and the dish Coquilles St. Jacques was named in honor of St. John (St. Jacques in French) because a knight he saved from drowning emerged from the water covered in scallop shells.

Although I can’t find the origins of why exactly May 16th is National Coquilles St. James Day, why not make it a reason to eat seafood with cream sauce? Oh yeah, because we are trying to eat healthy, right? No doubt, I found a delightful looking Coquilles St. Jacque recipe that came in at 884 calories, 73.7g fat, and 23 Weight Watchers Points! I’ve found ten better for you versions to help you celebrate (a little late!) while sticking to your diet! All for 12 points or less… and some as low as 5 points! Now let’s eat some scallops!

Coquilles St. Jacques with Curry with white wine, bay, curry and leeks from Cooking Light
(215 calories, 6.7g fat, 3.6g sat fat, 5 points)

Coquille St. Jacques made in the microwave with sherry, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese from Astray Recipes
(190 calories, 11g fat, 5 points)

Coquilles St. Jacques with white wine, bay, thyme and Swiss cheese from Cooking Light
(297 calories, 9.1g fat, 2.5g sat fat, 7 points)

Coquilles Saint-Jacques a la Bretonne with garlic, parsley, lemon and breadcrumbs on SparkPeople
(281.5 calories, 23.8g fat, 14.5g sat fat, 8 points)

Coquilles St. Jacques with mushrooms, white wine, bay, lemon, sour cream, breadcrumbs and the addition of shrimp on RecipeZaar
(309 calories, 18.9g fat, 5.8g sat fat, 8 points)

Coquilles Saint Jacques with mushrooms, white wine, breadcrumbs from Betty Crocker Complete Cookbook, Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today, 9th edition on the website for Cook’n (have to submit your email for the full recipe)
(335 calories, 20g fat, 7g sat fat, 8 points)

Rich and Creamy Coquilles St. Jacques, a recipe from a Canadian chef using vermouth instead of sherry or white wine on RecipeZaar
(335 calories, 23.6g fat, 14.3g sat fat, 9 points)

Coquilles St. Jacques with mushrooms, white wine, sherry, bay and paprika from RecipeLand.com
(390 calories, 25g fat, 15g sat fat, 10 points)

Coquilles St. Jacques with mushrooms, white wine, and Swiss cheese from the Readers Digest Quick & Delicious Cookbook on Meals Matter
(432 calories, 24g fat, 12g sat fat, 10 points)

Ok, so you got me… Most of these recipes are not exactly “diet” but they fare far better than other recipes I found. You could cut the calories and fat even further in most of these recipes by using less oil or butter, using reduced fat or even fat free dairy products (cream, cheese, sour cream, etc), or by splitting them into smaller servings.

Don’t feel like cooking? Order this Coquille St. Jacques (actually in the shell!) from Impromptu Gourmet, made with the addition of crab and shrimp with mashed potatoes. (320 calories, 13g fat, 4g sat fat, 7 points)