Focus on filling foods. Stay satisfied...show HUNGRY who's boss!!!

Tuuuuesssday…..Ahhhhffternoooonnnnn….

Okay, feeble attempt at the Moody Blues, but it’s almost Tuesday afternoon, and so far it’s been a good week.  I showed a .8 loss last week, which, according to the stick-of-butter methodology is over 3 sticks gone this week! Use visuals! They help! 

This week, I have my mom here with me, from Orlando.  Turned out that the weather here is about the same as it is there recently….COLD!!!!  We turned this week into soup week at Chez Ducar.  We made the butternut squash soup over the weekend, followed that up with a pot of Hot & Sour soup (recipe was published in a newsletter a few months back) and last night my mom made a soup from a split pea soup mix, fat free chicken broth, whatever veggies we had in the fridge and some soup bones for depth of flavor.  We were definitely loving the cold weather more with the soup to keep us warm.

I don’t see my mom and dad as often as I’d like, due to the distance between us.  They try to make it out here about once every 8 weeks or so, and we try to get to Florida when we can. Next trip for us is in March.  Looking forward to it because we want to take the kids to Cocoa Beach and let them run around in the sand. Morgan has been to the beach before, but Adam (the feisty 2 ½ year old) has not.   Should be fun!  In any case, since I don’t see my mom on a daily basis, she tends to notice the losses and smaller body more than I do.  When she saw me at the airport, she told me that I Iooked fantastic.  Ok..that made my week!

Dwayne changed my workout again this week. Today’s torture…er…workout…was for thirty minutes of which twenty were spent on the stationary bike.  He had me at a pretty respectable workload on the bike and while biking, he had me do bicep curls for a minute, followed by shoulder presses for a minute, and resting for a minute with no weights, just pedaling.  We did that for three sets. He then had me rest for three minutes with no weights and then switched to hammer curls alternating with side raises.  We did 5 lb weights for bicep curls, hammer curls and shoulder presses and for the side raises we used 2 ½ pound weights.  My heart rate definitely got up there, and I worked up quite a sweat. 

 Was that it you ask? No way.  After the bike sweat session, he had me go over to the mats for ab exercises.  I began to get scared.  We had three sets of whatever torture was planned.  For the first set, we did the following:

1. Lay down on mat on back.  Coach Dwayne was standing behind my head and had me grab his ankles and put my feet in the air…He grabbed my feet and threw my legs toward the mat. The exercise here was to NOT let your legs hit the mat.  Each set was 12 reps.  This is NOT as easy as you may think.
2. The second exercise was to hold a 9 lb body bar up in the air and hold your legs up. The object here was to keep your shoulders off the mat and pulse up while contracting your abs to try and get the body bar up to your feet.  This was done for 30 reps.
3. The final ab exercise in the set was a Pilates move modified from one called 100’s and he turned it into 50’s. You can google this one.

This was repeated two other times.  OUCH.  Long story short, I am going to be SORE either tomorrow or Thursday!!!!

The topic of this week’s meeting dealt with staying satisfied while following the plan.  A very common theme among members who go to meetings for awhile then quit is that they are feeling either hungry or deprived.  I attached an article that addresses how to stay satisfied and keep HUNGRY away.  Don’t you just LOVE this little guy?????

You really don’t have to be hungry, and you won’t, if you focus on the filling foods:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Whole grains
• Lean protein
• Fat free dairy products

These foods have a low energy density but provide satiety so that they stay with you longer.  More calorie bang for the buck, if you will. These are called filling foods because they are higher in water content, fiber, and air.  These fill up your stomach and will stay with you longer (compare a raisin to a grape for a visual!)

Please make sure to journal or track and stay accountable to yourself.  In the end, it’s YOU that has to make the decision to get healthy, to lose weight or to exercise.  You can’t do it for anyone else.  It won’t work. Trust me, I know what I speak of.  I have been there.

Our challenge for this week was to choose one of the following:

1. Choose 10 meals this week and make them entirely out of the filling foods
2. Incorporate filling foods into each of your meals this week.

"It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable."

-  Moliere

ATTACHMENTS

The attachments this week:

1. Get the Most Out of What You Eat – as mentioned above, this deals with staying satisfied and strategies for doing so.
2. Butternut Squash – 5 Ways – This one I threw in because butternut squash is now my favorite veggie.  Here are a few ways to use it!

 

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RECIPES

Sesame Noodles with Chicken

Whole-wheat noodles add nutrients and flavor to this satisfying dish. Toss in shredded carrots for texture and color.

Yield: 6 (1 cup) servings at a POINTS® Value of 4 per serving

Preparation time: 12 minutes|Cooking Time: 10 minutes|Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

  8 oz uncooked whole-wheat spaghetti, or whole-wheat udon    

  1/2 cup(s) scallion(s), green parts only, chopped    

  8 oz boneless, skinless chicken thigh(s), cut into thin strips    

 3 Tbsp rice vinegar    

 3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce    

 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce    

 1 Tbsp dark sesame oil    

 2 tsp chili sauce, with garlic    

 1 1/2 tsp honey    

 1 Tbsp cilantro, fresh, finely chopped    

 2 tsp sesame seeds    

Instructions:

Cook noodles according to package directions. Remove 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water; drain and rinse.  In a large bowl, combine noodles, scallions and chicken; toss gently but well.

In a cup, combine reserved cooking water, vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, oil, chili sauce and honey; stir well.  Pour vinegar mixture over noodles; toss gently but well to coat noodles. Sprinkle with cilantro and sesame seeds; serve.

Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Okay, okay...I had to post this recipe. I had this dip for the first time in when visiting NC and was at a friend of my hubbie’s.  The original version was a bit higher in calories and fat, as it called for full-fat versions of the cream cheese and dressing.  I asked the person who brought it where she found this little slice of heaven, and she pointed me to the Frank's Hot Sauce website. This dip is my new addiction!!!!!

Yield: This recipe yields between 3 ½ and 4 cups of dip.  If you follow the guidelines on the website for calorie information, it’s 1 POINT® for 2 tablespoons of the dip, but for a ¼ cup serving? It’s only 2.  I say indulge. SO worth it, and if you use veggie dippers, it’s even a better option for you!

Ingredients:

 8 oz Kraft Philadelphia Free Fat-Free Cream Cheese    

 1/2 cup(s) reduced-calorie blue cheese dressing    

 1/2 cup(s) hot pepper sauce (Frank’s RedHot, Crystal, Tabasco…whatever you like)

 1/2 cup(s) blue cheese, crumbled    

  2 cup(s) roasted skinless chicken, chopped or diced (or in a pinch, used canned!)

Instructions:

HEAT oven to 350F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth.

MIX in salad dressing, Frank's RedHot Sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken.

BAKE 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

TIPS:

Microwave Directions: Prepare as above. Place in microwave-safe dish. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 5 min. until hot, stirring halfway through cooking.

Slow Cooker Method: Combine ingredients as directed above. Place mixture into small slow cooker. Cover pot. Heat on HIGH setting for 1 1/2 hours until hot and bubbly or on LOW setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Stir.

Tailgating Tip: Prepare dip ahead and place in heavy disposable foil pan. Place pan on grill and heat dip until hot and bubbly.

Nutritional Values per Serving (2 tablespoons dip): Calories 65, Total Fat 5g, Sodium 260mg, Total Carbohydrate 1g, Protein 3g.