Say Goodbye to the Pounds

Starting weight 193.6
Weigh in #2 - 189.8
Loss 3.8 pounds

Almost four pounds gone.   That’s in the average of two pounds per week, since I didn’t go last week.  I’m happy.  If I’d exercised, it might have been more.

The meeting was useful.  We discussed “Actunity.”  Find the opportunity for activity.  I don’t like the word “exercise.”  It bring to mind yuckiness.  Activity can be anything.  Leg raises while I’m at the computer.  Standing on your toes for a count of 10 while doing dishes, waiting on the subway or elevator.  Marching in place during commercials.

My Week 2 goodies included adding activity into your lifestyle.  It went perfect along with the week’s topic and reiterated I need to get my butt moving.

Considering I’ve not been active at all, it shouldn’t  be hard to do something.

I’m going to make some breakfast.  I’ll ride the bike while watching my soaps.

Three weeks in, and I’ve still not started exercising.  I have all kinds of excuses, none of them really any good.

No more crap, no more anything.  From this point on, I will exercise at least 3 days for at least 30 minutes.  More will be preferable.  But, I need to start somewhere.  Will do some tonight after weighing in at Weight Watchers.  I will be keeping an exercise journal here, as well as my food journal.

I’m feeling good as far as losing.  According to my home scale, I’m down 5 pounds from two weeks ago.  Of course that was naked.  But, I’m wearing the same clothes I wore at weigh-in two weeks ago, and assume (not good to assume, right?) it should be similar at the meeting.

Think I’ll order in Chinese tonight.  Steamed shrimp & broccoli with brown rice.

Just a reminder:  If you haven’t joined already, today is the last day to sign up and get your $25 joining fee.

See yall later after I weigh in!

My Mother’s Day was very nice. I hope all of the moms who read me had an enjoyable one as well.

Hubby and both sons made breakfast. Fish, grits, biscuits and eggbeaters for me. He went to the fish store when he woke up, and I told him to buy me whitings because I don’t like porgies. Well, after I figured my points out for the whitings, I found out that he treated me to two salmon steaks. I love salmon. But, its fattier than whitings. Oh well, just go with it. Not much of a difference. I took the skin off and measured 4 ounces using my trusty scale. That scale really helps. When I’m not counting points, I would’ve eaten a whole steak. Four ounces came out to half a steak and 5 points, whereas the whole steak would’ve cost me 9 points. I ate the other half with breakfast this morning. Maybe I’ll have half of the second one for lunch today.

Before breakfast was served, they gave me a nice bottle of Burberry London by Burberry Eau de Parfum Spray 1.7 oz for Women (New). It came with the trial size of lotion and shower gel in a cute cosmetics bag. I’m not a fan of Burberry (I don’t like plaid). But, the perfume smells very nice. I was just glad the cosmetics bag wasn’t plaid.

From there, we went to visit my mother. She’s 81 years old, and has changed from the mother I grew up with. But we’re dealing with it. It was a good visit, and for that I’m happy.

Dinner was a quick pickup. Kids wanted pizza, we didn’t. So I ordered a chicken gyro, and forgot to say no sauce. I’m still within my points for the week. I’ll just have to make sure I get some exercise in if I go over from now until Wednesday’s meeting.

So for today’s Top 10, I thought I’d share my favorite snacks when I’m being conscientious about losing weight. I’m going to leave out the requisite fruits and vegetables. Those are a given.  Sometimes I want junk food.

TOP 10 SNACKS

1. 100 Calorie Snacks - There are so many snacks out there. And, they are perfect portions. Usually 1 or 2 points. Sometimes I get greedy and eat two, which I have to watch.
2. Fat free/sugar free pudding - I love pudding, and this works well for a great snack or dessert. Top it with Cool Whip Free, and its yummy! And, it counts as a dairy (1/2 cup is 1/2 serving)
3. Sugar free jello - again, top with Cool Whip free. It’s so low in calories, I can eat a cup if I like and not worry.
4. 94% fat free popcorn - Watch the serving size on this one. One large bag is usually two servings, so I split it with someone. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy
5. Fat free/sugar free ice cream or sorbet - Believe me you can find FUN flavors. Squirt some sugar free chocolate syrup, Cool Whip Free, and sprinkle some nuts and you have your own sundae.
6. Vitalicious Muffins - If you haven’t tried these, DO SO QUICKLY! They are delicious. Full of fiber. And FILLING! I stock up when they are on sale and put them in the freezer. Chocolate gets Cool Whip Free. Others I use for breakfast and spread with a tablespoon of jelly.
7. Cheerios - great for when you want something crunchy
8. Diet soda muffins - A box of cake mix and a can of diet soda (match the color to the cake. Diet Sprite or 7 up for yellow, Diet Coke or Pepsi for chocolate cake). Mix it up and bake for 25 minutes. I freeze them and hide them from the kids!
9. Baked potato chips - Lays, Doritos, Pringles, Cheetos, etc. I’m not giving up my chips and with these I don’t have to.
10. English muffin - toasted & spread with either 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and/or jelly. Another late night bedtime snack. Also fills you up so you don’t wake up hungry.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

What are your favorite snacks to eat when you’re losing weight/getting healthy?

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

Some of you mom’s will be taken out tomorrow (or later) for a nice Mother’s Day meal.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

It really is so easy to choose healthy meals when eating out. Granted, some restaurants do not have healthy eating options, but so many do. And, now many even offer their nutritional info online and/or on the menu.

I like to know where we’re going ahead of time, so I can look up the menu online and plan what I’m going to eat. I can check out the nutritional information, figure out my points, and make a choice, or at least get an idea, of what I will eat before I get to the restaurant. [Read more →]

I got my copy of Hungry Girl: Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World today! I ordered it Monday, and was expecting it around the 14th.  I am soooo excited! As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been a fan of hers for a few years. I think she’s been doing this for about four years. I remember when she had a simple website and was just posting recipes and tips. She had legion of fans even then. So when I heard she wrote a cookbook, I had to buy it!

I am not disappointed. I haven’t even really dug through it, but here’s an excerpt from her back cover:

Do you want to have burgers, chocolate cake, frozen margaritas, fudge and French fries - and still fit into your pants? Is life not worth living without brownies and onion rings? Do you want a surefire way to tame your cravings? From breakfast ideas and chopped salads to guilt-free junk food and cocktails, Hungry Girl recipes taste great but are low in fat and calories. Check it out!

She is a girl after my own heart. I’m all about simple and easy recipes.

Even if you’re not interested in the book, please check the link. She has a FREE e-booklet deal with Amazon, Hungry Girl’s Weekend Fun Guide, with some really good low-cal recipes (alcoholic drinks, pigs in a blanket, microwave chocolate cake, bbq seafood skewers, peach crumble, baked pretzels, pb&j cocoa-nana trail mix, breakfast, banana bread, chicken lo mein, crunchy apple pie sundae). You’ll need Adobe to get the ebook. But, I can’t wait to make the banana bread! A huge slice for 140 calories.

You can also check her site, Hungry Girl, out just to get a feel for her before buying the book. I highly recommend the site for EVERYONE who wants to really EAT while losing weight.

She uses Weight Watchers for her maintenance. While she calculates the points for foods on her site, she doesn’t in the book. She does include all nutritional info, so if you’re a Weight Watcher, you can calculate it yourself using e-tools or your Weight Watchers calculator.