Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Tuesday Night

I've almost made it through the day without going over! I count my points from midnight to midnight, and, since it's almost midnight, I can pretty much count on myself making it.

Since part of this blog is to show that you can lose weight and still eat tasty, comfort foods, I thought I'd write down everything I ate today. In addition to the smoothie and brownies I had this morning (6.5 points), my other meals can be described as follows:
  • Meal 2: (5 points) whole wheat linguine with homemade Alfredo sauce, broccoli, and another brownie
  • Meal 3: (5 points) a large piece of meatloaf
  • Meal 4: (8 points) spicy crock pot chicken and three oatmeal applesauce pancakes with butter

I get 21 points a day and today I got 3.5 activity points, so I that's why I ate 24.5 points.

I think part of the reason I did so well today is because all of my meals were a decent size and left me satisfied! The activity points helped, too, otherwise I would have just had a little bit of chicken and not the pancakes for my last meal.

Tuesday Morning

I was up early again yesterday and got to bed late again, so it was tough to stay within my points. I'm proud of myself, though--I only went two over, and I think I really needed to. When you're awake for 19 hours, you probably need a little more food, and I definitely paced myself yesterday, eating five times. I think sometimes when you're really really hungry, it's better to go over your points a point or two than to go hungry. I find that I actually lose weight faster doing that.

So I started today with a smoothie that I've been making:
  • 1/2 banana,
  • 1 tablespoon reduced fat peanut butter (I get the Wal-mart brand; it's less calories than any other brand I can find),
  • 1 tablespoon sugar free honey,
  • 1/4 cup skim milk.

It doesn't make much, and it's about 4-5 points (4.5, to be exact), but it tastes so good and it's very filling. It tastes a lot like a dessert, but it's full of good sugars, like bananas.

I'm always looking for a good smoothie recipe, so if someone has a good one that has less points, please share!

I also ate two brownies with it, because I wanted something solid with my 4 oz. smoothie. I have a great recipe for 1 point brownies:

  • 2 1/2 tbs low calorie margarine
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 7 tbsp. flour
  • 1/3 cup artificial sweetener
  • 2 egg whites

Just beat the ingredients together, dump into a small pan, and bake at 350 F! Mine took about ten minutes to bake. It makes 9 brownies, at about 1 point apiece. They aren't the best brownies I've ever had, but they fill me up and get rid of my sugar craving. The batter is really good--I almost wish I hadn't baked them!

I'm going to try and get some more exercise in today. I haven't gotten much in since Thursday. I've found that exercise helps boost my metabolism. It builds muscle, which breaks down calories and fat faster. It also gives me more energy and makes my skin tighter when I do lose weight. I always use my activity points on the days I earn them, and they really help keep me on plan.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Monday Morning

I really want some coffee this morning, but I've decided against it. Once the caffeine wears off it seems to make me feel hungry when I shouldn't be! Or lazy and unable to exercise. I've also been trying to be a little more careful about counting "extras" like coffee creamer, which I hadn't been before. And I really don't want to waste any points on coffee creamer.

I started my day off with an enchilada and some broccoli at 6:30 Am. As you can see, I don't always eat a typical breakfast.

Well, I ended up going over my points last night. I got really dizzy late at night so I ate some cheese. I think the problem is that I got up so early and stayed up so late on Sunday that I ended up needing to eat more.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

First Post!

I started this blog to show people that you can eat good food and lose weight. I'm a twenty-eight-year-old single woman who has been working on getting herself in shape since 1/1/2009. I just can't rely on the typical diet most dieters use that consists of boring, bland meals such as:
  • oatmeal for breakfast
  • grilled chicken salad for lunch
  • fish and steamed broccoli for dinner
  • nuts and fruit for snacks

I am going to use this blog to detail my journey on weight watchers, including my successes, failures, and struggles. I hope to offer encouragement, tips, advice, great diet products, and great recipes for my readers!

I want to share this burrito recipe with you before I sign off. The recipe does make a lot, but they are only 4 points apiece!

Beef Bean Burritos

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. 4% fat ground beef
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. black pepper
  • 4 oz. canned diced green chile peppers
  • 15.5 oz. canned black beans
  • 15 oz. canned chili without beans
  • 10.75 oz. condensed tomato soup
  • 14 oz. low calorie red enchilada sauce
  • 18 small flour tortillas (the tortillas I used were 1.5 points apiece)
  • 2 cups lettuce
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 8 oz. shredded 2% milk Mexican-style cheese
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
  • Brown beef and yellow onion in skillet. Season with garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir in the green chile peppers, black beans, tomato, lettuce, and 1 cup Mexican-style cheese
  • In a medium saucepan, combine the chili, tomato soup, and enchilada sauce. Stir and heat over medium-low until heated through.
  • Spoon ground beef mixture evenly over each tortilla. Roll up tortillas and place seam-side down in baking dish.
  • Pour sauce over top of the enchiladas. Sprinkle with 1 cup Mexican-style cheese and green onions.
  • Bake at 350° F for 20-30 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is melted.