Tuesday afternoon is never ending….
Wednesday morning papers didn't come…
Thursday night your stockings needed mending…
See how they run……
Happy Hump Day!!!! Gotta love a newsletter that starts with an excerpt from The Beatles. I am a huge fan…since I was a little girl. My favorite was always Paul. Me and about a bazillion others! This week didn’t start out great for me. I forgot my weigh-in garb on Monday, so I ended up being up. Not a big deal. Good news story for next week, with a little luck (notice the Wings song thrown in there?)
I started talking to some friends, and there seems to be a waning sense of motivation here lately. It’s not just me either….seems pretty widespread. I am not really sure what the cause is. Why do we lose motivation? Maybe work is interfering, or maybe it’s just that tracking is getting old? Not really sure. I have been doing pretty well with tracking in e-Tools (which is Weight Watchers’ own…) but with FitDay, I have kind of slacked off quite a bit. This is the program that tallies the total nutritional intake and provides all kinds of graphs. I made a pact with a very good friend that we are going to check in on each other every couple of days so that we can have some accountability and try to get back on the bandwagon. Again, I didn’t quit by any means. I am just on the part of the journey where you get off the highway at the wrong exit, and can’t seem to find an on-ramp. I like that analogy!
This weekend, I did our usual 5k Parker Square walk with Karen. By the time we got done, we were both pretty much stinky, sweaty, and tired. Even at 8am, it was still hot and humid. Whassup with that??? All in all? Good walk though. We didn’t have any major child-related meltdowns this weekend, which is always nice. Adam seems to be enjoying his swim lessons, quite a bit. I think it helps that he has his friends with him.
The workouts this week are getting ridiculous! I have been a total sweatball at the completion of each session, which I know is a GOOD thing, but I must not be cooling down enough. I am still sweaty after getting out of the shower. We have been doing crazy things like lunges with one leg on a stability ball and doing bridges with both feet on the stability ball. Balance? Not really my strong suit. Good thing was that I didn’t bust my butt or take anyone down with me. I stood my ground, so to speak :::tee-hee::: Sore hammies and sore legs so far this week. Last workout of the week with Coach Dwayne is tomorrow…I think I can survive it. Maybe.
Well, we got our new Weight Watchers leader this week. She seemed a bit nervous, but she was cute, and the meeting went well…however, it was a much smaller meeting than in past weeks. I am really hoping that this isn’t the implosion of our Monday meeting. I’d like to think that everyone was busy?? Oh well…at least Sally and I will be there together!
The topic of this week’s meeting was “On the Right Track”. Here is my commentary on this subject…
This is a very relevant topic because I really do believe that the degree of weight one loses is directly proportional to the accuracy and stringency of the tracking that we do on a regular basis. The research shows that you tend to lose 50% more weight when tracking than when you don’t. I know at some point on our journey, we are or were all guilty of either lying by omission on our trackers, or just not tracking very well. I went through a stint where I thought I was doing a good job, but realized that I’d forgotten to write some things down. There are many ways to journal—before you eat, during the meal or after the meal. Some folks even do their journaling the day after (which I don’t recommend because of ‘tracking amnesia’). I actually prefer to track before I eat. I usually track my breakfast, lunch and snacks when I get into the office (since I usually have these meals with me, and I just take inventory at that time). This actually helps me plan dinners because I know what’s left in my POINTS® budget for the day.
The basic point of the meeting is that tracking is actually your friend. There are many tools out there to help you…and many won’t even cost you a dime. For those in my audience not on Weight Watchers, there is a wealth of free information available on the web to help you with your journaling. Paper trackers and computer software (such as FitDay) can help. There are also a multitude of free food diaries out there on the web. Get onto Google and check it out. Once you find a paper tracker that you can live with, you can print them off and file them in a 3-ring binder and track your successes. If you are up on a particular week, and want to know what worked in a prior week when you lost weight, by tracking you will have this information at the ready. A free online food tracking tool is also available at http://www.fitday.com. I have the standalone PC version, and I love it. The nice thing about the web version is that you only need access to a PC with an internet connection and you can track from anywhere. If you ARE a Weight Watchers subscriber with an e-Tools subscription, you can use your Blackberry or iPhone to track your food as well. A free app is available with your subscription. I just wanted to throw that out there as well.
A relevant quote to end on…
If you bite it, write it
If you snack it, track it
If you nibble it, scribble it
If you drink it, ink it
Grab your pencil…before your utensil!
-Another great one from the meeting room board!
RECIPES
American Potato Salad
Steve had a friend over for dinner this weekend, and we decided to grill. I am appalled at the fat and calorie counts on store-bought salads, so I set off to find one that I could make at home. I found this one on the Weight Watchers website, and it turned out fantastic. The only thing I did differently is leave out the hard-boiled egg. Steve is not a fan of eggs in his potato salad, but you know what? It was fabulous WITHOUT it, and it probably saved a point or so.
POINTS® Value: 2 per ¾ cup serving
Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 12 min
Cooking Time: 9 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
2 pound(s) Yukon Gold potato(es), peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 large egg(s), hard-boiled (I left these out, and it didn’t hurt the dish at all!)
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup(s) plain fat-free yogurt, Greek-style recommended
1/4 cup(s) fat-free mayonnaise
3 Tbsp sweet pickle relish
1 1/2 tsp SPLENDA® SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetener
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 cup(s) celery, diced
1/3 cup(s) red onion(s), chopped
Instructions:
Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are fork-tender, about 7 to 9 minutes; drain and cool slightly.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, using a fork, mash yolk from 1 egg with vinegar until smooth. Add yogurt, mayonnaise, relish, Splenda, salt and pepper; stir until blended.
Add potatoes, celery and onion to bowl; toss to mix and coat. Chop remaining egg white and egg; gently fold into potato salad. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Yields about 3/4 cup per serving.
Notes:
A large amount of regular mayonnaise was replaced with some fat-free mayonnaise and creamy non-fat Greek-style yogurt.
Garnish with chopped dill, red onion and/or chives. For a change of pace, substitute 1-inch red potato chunks for the Yukon Gold potatoes.
Amaretto Berry Cheesecake
This is another great recipe that I adapted from Kraft. I wanted something good for dessert and cheesecake was calling my name. I didn’t want to do this one as written because the POINTS® were waaaaay too high to justify the splurge. I substituted Neufchatel and fat-free cream cheese for the full-fat variety, and it came out fabulous.
POINTS® Value: 6 per serving
Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 50 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
8 oz package Neufchatel cheese, softened
8 oz package fat free cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. almond-flavored liqueur (can use 1 tsp almond extract in place of the liqueur)
2 eggs (or ½ cup egg beaters)
1 lowfat graham cracker redi-crust
2 cups mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries)
Instructions:
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add liqueur; mix well. Add eggs; beat just until blended.
POUR into crust.
BAKE 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Top with berries just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.
Cajun Chicken with Fresh Tomato Relish
This was last week’s Wellness Wednesday choice in the café downstairs. I sent the newsletter out on Monday, so I missed getting this out to you. This was another big hit, in my opinion. Just enough heat! No new one for today…as they did the Spicy Mexican Skillet Chicken dish again today.
POINTS® Value: 3 per serving
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 20 min
Cooking Time: 10 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
Relish
2 medium tomatoes, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
8 medium green onions, chopped (1/2 cup)
1/3 cup chopped celery
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper sauce
Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb)
3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
Instructions:
1. In medium bowl, mix relish ingredients; set aside. Heat gas or charcoal grill. Coat both sides of each chicken breast evenly with Cajun seasoning.
- When grill is heated, carefully oil grill rack. Place chicken on gas grill over medium heat or on charcoal grill over medium coals; cover grill. Cook 10 minutes, turning once, until juice of chicken is no longer pink when center of thickest part is cut (170°F). Serve chicken with relish.
Nutritional Information:
1 Serving: Calories 150 (Calories from Fat 35); Total Fat 4g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 70mg; Sodium 630mg; Total Carbohydrate 4g (Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 2g); Protein 26g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 15%; Vitamin C 15%; Calcium 2%; Iron 8% Exchanges: 0 Other Carbohydrate; 1 Vegetable; 3 1/2 Very Lean Meat; 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 0
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
