Vegetables

As an afternoon snack OR as a meal if I've eaten too much that day.

Normandy Frozen Vegetables from Costco.
I steam them in this basket on the stove. I don't like vegetables from a microwave- too soggy. When the vegetables are done, I take one String Cheese, tear it up and lay it across the vegetables. Put the lid back on. Takes about one minute to melt the cheese. Totally delicious and totally filling.

My LIFE SAVER

Every time I've had to lose weight(after each baby), I have different things that work for me. And every time it's different. Yogurt for breakfast- no way. And I lived on that stuff last time!
So, I found the thing that saves me. That is really going to work for me THIS time. And it is working.

Ta- dah!....



First, the bread. Sandwhich thins. Sold in just about every grocery store. They are hamburger buns, but are super thin. 6 grams fiber. 100 calories. I love eating a REAL sandwhich, like a normal person. And I don't miss the extra breat at all.
For breakfast, I have 1/2 of one of these, with a fried Egg(in Pam) and some turkey lunch meat. Under 3 points for the meal. I hate using a lot of points at breakfast, but if you don't, you could add a piece of fruit, or a yogurt and you would stay full all morning.

For lunch and dinner. I add this bread with a Veggie Patty. Alicia told me about these from Costco and they are delicious!! I can't get enough. I had 4 of them last week. They are 4 points+ plus the bun (1 point)+ avocado(INSTEAD of mayo)+ mustard+ Claussen pickles + tomatoe + lettuce. Totally delicous and so filling. At lunch, sometimes I'll eat half a sandwhich with a baby orange and some wheat thins. I actually look forward to this meal.

Enjoy!

Smoothies

So, I have been looking up diets a lot lately and so many of them have smoothies as a snack. I have started drinking them a lot lately and they taste great and are filled with good stuff. Here is one that I have been loving.

1/2 of an orange
a little milk
frozen strawberries, or fruit blend
1tsp of crystal light powder
a splash of french vanilla extract (yum)
ice

I made a fruit tray to take to a book club last week and had some fruit left on it after. So my smoothie that day had mango, and blueberries added to it.

One specific diet has an ounce of beef jerky to be eaten with this smoothie at snack time.

Here we go again...

So, for dinner last night I had...
It's not the LOWEST calorie option, but it is healthy and low enough for me for a special occasion. It reminds me of a delicious dish form Macaroni Grill, but it's way Lower Cal than that.

-Cooked pasta -Whole grain or Healthy Choice pasta- Just find one with the lowest cals/ highest fiber you can. Mine was 6 grams of fiber.
-Shrimp- the big kind, to make you feel like your at a fancy restaurant.
- Spinach- I used frozen and then cooked it according to package directions- probably half the bag.
- Little bit of olive oil
- Lemon juice
- garlic
- salt and pepper
- Toasted pine nuts(optional, but delicious)
Mix this all together in a pan until warm

- little bit of Parmesan cheese on top
- Fresh, diced tomatoes on top( You could throw them in the pan when it's almost all done. I hate it when they get all wilted down though.)

So- when I dished myself up, I went easy on the pasta. Heavy on the shrimp. Heavy on the tomatoes. Absolutely delicious. I had it again for lunch today. Oh, and the rest of my family won't touch it.:)

LUNCH

Ok, now for some lunch ideas. I will share some meals we like for lunch and please add yours.

1. Turkey Wrap - Whole wheat tortilla (1 pt), fat-free mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato and turkey meat. This is so good and is only about 3 or 4 points. I eat it with fruit and Baked Lays potato chips (you just have to count your chips to stay within the serving size - 2 pts.)

2. Gardenburger - Whole wheat bun, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and a veggie burger. I LOVE veggie burgers. (We don't like the Boca Burger brand.)

3. Can of Healthy Choice or Progresso Light soup (4 pts.). I eat wheat Ritz crackers with this.

4. Subway sandwich (no cheese) - 6 pts.

5. Salad - green leaf lettuce, tomato, cucumber, maybe some chicken. I put Balsamic vinegar and lemon juice on it.

6. Tuna Fish made with fat-free mayo and pickles. You can eat this as a sandwich on whole wheat bread or on wheat Ritz crackers.

7. We have the bag of frozen shrimp that I thaw and eat with coctail sauce. I have edamame (soy beans) with this.

8. California sushi rolls.

9. Bean burrito - can of no fat refried beans in a whole wheat tortilla with fat-free sour cream and salsa.

10. Scott takes the frozen Weight Watcher or Lean Cuisine dinner meals to work everyday, but I know that won't be a good option for Teresa. He says they are really good.

Often times I eat the leftovers from dinner the night before, so we'll get to those ideas next.

BREAKFAST

Over the past 2 months (exactly) that Scott and I have been doing Weight Watchers we have come up with some favorite food ideas that I thought I would share. As of today, I have lost 17 pounds and I think Scott is at 25 pounds. It really has not been hard at all. The only difficulty is when you want to eat out - you just can't without being really carefully. So, I will share some foods that we like for different meals. Now, I am nursing, so I eat a little differently than I otherwise would. I would NEVER normally drink my points (milk, oj, etc.), but sometimes I give myself the luxury of having orange juice or I feel like I should drink milk for dairy.

Just to clarify: For those who have never done Weight Watchers, we are on a point system. Scott and I are allowed about 30 points a day. I am only allowed that much because I am nursing. Thank heaven! Laura and Mom would be allowed between 20 -22. We try to have about 6 point meals.

Breakfast ideas:

1. Whole weat english muffin toasted. No butter. Cook one egg and make a sandwich. If you'd like you can add one slice of turkey bacon or canadian bacon. That stuff doesn't count for much at all (less than a point).

2. Weight Watchers yogurt is only 1 point or choose any fat free yogurt.

3. Crunchy Corn Bran cereal. Most cereals are worth quite a bit of points for the amount we are used to eating. Crunchy Corn Bran is the lowest in points. 1 point for 3/4 cup.

4. Banana or Grapefruit or any other fruit (but you should know that a banana and most fruit is worth 2 points so the same as that whole wheat english muffin)

5. Whole wheat toast. Some breads are better than others, look at the calories, fat and fiber. I use Smart Balance instead of butter.

6. Oatmeal packet. Only 3 points when made with water.

Feel free to give any other breakfast ideas you have.

Hello

Hello people, I am waiting for some recipes here!! :-)

I think the success that Alicia and Scott are having on weight watchers is Awesome! I am thinking about doing it even if I can't get exact calorie count because of my location. I think the recipes would be helpful. It would also be helpful if Steve stopped putting heavy cream in everything he makes. That is why I only let him cook occasionally.

Now just to let my goals be known.... I gave Steve 10 kilos for Christmas and said I would be that much lighter by his birthday in June. That is 22lbs. Steve has recently cut caffeine out of his diet and is also making a great effort to set goals and reach them. He is doing such a good job, I wanted to do the same. I am currently 1 kilo lighter than I was at Christmas. (That is 2.2lbs) so I have a long way to go. I love the advice of drinking more water. That is proving to be not as hard as I thought and I think it will help with calories. My goal for this week is to stop the constant snacking on sugary things. I am going to try to drink some water before I eat anything, and I also feel like when I drink hot chocolate or something it fills me up for a while, so while it is cold I am going to do that in the morning.

I also have a weird question that I have always wondered about and since this is a private blog I am going to ask it. :0

When you are losing weight, do you go poop more often? Gross I know, but I just wondered if that was one of the ways your body gets rid of the excess. Steve says I am crazy and he is right most of the time.

k, that is it for me, I will be posting my loses as they come off. I have 9 more to go.