Hope you all had a fantastic week. I do have to say that mine are getting better and better. I am finding my groove, and I really think when that happens, other things tend to come into focus as well. I even joined a couple of the Weight Watchers challenges on the website!
I also managed to get back into the gym for three days last week, as well! The thing that I was most excited about was that I resumed the running part of my regimen. Thursday we focused on the running. We did intervals of 30 seconds walking and 30 seconds running. We did this twelve times. It actually felt great. I was able to do the running pieces at 5.0 mph and had an easier time with my breathing. It may not sound like a hard thing, but I found it hard to know WHEN to breathe. This time around, it seemed easier! I also find it easier to run on the treadmill at a faster rate. It’s much easier to go at 5 mph than around 4.5 or so. In any case, I will keep you guys informed as I figure this stuff out!
This weekend started out with a nice dinner with some old friends. Saturday morning, we did our 5K walk and then participated in the Denton A-Train Rock & Rail celebration in the afternoon. Steve had reserved tickets for the event. It was pretty cool. Each station from Downtown Denton to Hebron had vendors, music, and other things to do. You got to ride free all day, and starting on Monday, you can ride free for that week. Revenue service begins the following week. I guess this is a nice alternative to dealing with the I-35E traffic! Unfortunately for me, this won’t help me get to work!
Sunday, for Father’s Day, we took Steve to Blue Mesa in Frisco (or North Plano, depending on how you look at it…). It was awesome, and it was also the perfect use of my Weekly PointsPlus Allowance! I saved them up and used them. No fuss…no muss!
The topic of the meeting this week was portion control and estimation. What an eye-opener this was! Our leader had put several items from local chain restaurants up on the board and it was our task to estmate the PointsPlus values of each item. We did great on some, but one completely blew us away. The culprit was Chili’s Classic Turkey Toasted Sandwich. Description? “With lettuce, tomatoes, provolone and mayo on Texas Toast”. I think we estimated something like 20-ish points for this one, when in actuality, it had 34!! Listen to the nutritional counts on this one (brace yourselves!) Calories: 1340, Fat: 64g (17g Saturated), Carb: 138g, Protein: 41g, Fiber: 11g, (and the kicker…) Sodium: 3,140. This stuff makes me always think twice before going there. I would think a turkey sandwich (less mayo of course…) would be a healthy pick. What I want to know is just what they put on there to get the fat counts up to 64???? Crazy. This is why I stick to very basic menu items when faced with going to Chili’s.
When estimating, use what you know. Veggies are free, use the deck of cards rule for lean protein, and remember that most breads (EXCEPT for Texas Toast) have approx. 2 PP values per slice!). I tend to use overestimation, especially when faced with going to restaurants that don’t provide for nutrition information. I also found out that some establishments offer a smaller portion of their dinner entrees. When I met my friends for dinner on Friday night, we went to Carrabba’s in Grapevine, since it was about halfway between the two of us (they were staying inArlington). The offered small and large portions of their entrees. This made things nice. I opted for a small portion of their Chicken Bryan (no sauce) along with steamed veggies and a house salad (veggies only) and Italian house dressing on the side. I figured that my chicken was 4 points plus, 2 oz of goat cheese @ 4 points plus, (nothing for the tomatoes and garlic and onions) and another 3 for olive oil (my fault for not saying ‘grilled dry’). Soo…I figured that my entrée was 11 for the small chicken breast, zero for the steamed zucchini, zero for the salad, and 1 for the few fork dips into the dressing. Not terrible, and I think I can live with that. Now…that being said, once Carrabbas is forced to publish their nutrition data, I may run the other way!
What we learn with Weight Watchers is keeping track of our portion sizes at home. This is where the discipline starts. Those of us who practice this at home, tend to do better when faced with estimation of points/portions when dining out. Just as a reminder, most of us have wonderful portion size helpers already! The Weight Watchers pocket guide is there for you (Menu-Reading help on page 75, and Portion Sizes on pp. 85-87). Food scales, Weight Watchers or otherwise, are almost a MUST, and our trusty measuring spoons and cups. I, personally, have at least 5 sets of measuring cups and 4 sets of measuring spoons at the ready. Other great references are food count guides, and the companions that Weight Watchers offers. These are your ‘ammo’ for fighting the battle of the bulge!!! Mental rehearsing also helps as well. If you imagine your ideal dining experience, including questions you’ll ask your server, how you’ll assess your portions, packing up half your entree, etc…you will more likely have success there!
Also remember that we are human, and therefore not perfect. Reach for these tools every other week or so. Complacency and routine can sometimes undo our good work! Really weigh and measure that cup of cereal or milk. Remember what it looks like in your cup or bowl!
One other thing before I let you all go this week…how many of you all have seen the revised answer to the food pyramid? Finally---a visual that makes sense out all the nutritional hoo-hah out there!
I think it’s rather funny that the Government has settled on something that Weight Watchers has been focusing on for years! Divide your plate in half. Make half fruits and veggies. On the second side, divide in half and make half grains and half protein. I think this is fabulous! Here is the website if you want to take a look: http://www.choosemyplate.gov Here are some other things that the USDA says to focus on:
Balancing Calories: Enjoy your food, but eat less. Avoid oversized portions
Foods to Increase: Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Make at least half of your grains whole grains. Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.
Foods to Reduce: Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals—and choose the foods with lower numbers. Drink water instead of sugary drinks.
"The greatest of all gifts is the power to estimate things at their true worth”
~ François De La Rouchefoucauld
RECIPES
Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
This one is SO creamy! It’s very rich –you might not even need more than half a slice!
Yield: 12 servings
Prep Time: 30 MINUTES
Cook Time: 60 MINUTES
PointsPlus™ value: 6 per serving
Ingredients:
10 item(s) cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie(s) [I use lowfat Oreos for this one!]
8 Tbsp fat-free cream cheese
8 oz low fat cream cheese, tub-style
1 cup(s) sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup(s) fat-free cottage cheese
2 tsp almond extract, or less to taste
6 large egg white(s)
3/4 cup(s) mini chocolate chips
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325ºF.
Lightly coat a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Crush cookies and sprinkle cookie crumbs evenly over bottom of pan.
Using an electric mixer, beat together cream cheeses on lowest speed until well blended.
In a small bowl, combine sugar and flour. Add to cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth.
In a food processor or blender, purée cottage cheese until smooth. Add cottage cheese and almond extract to cream cheese mixture; beat until smooth. Add egg whites and beat until well blended. Stir in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.
Pour into springform pan; top with remaining chocolate chips and bake until cheesecake puffs and center is almost set, about 60 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Run a knife around sides to loosen and release pan sides. Cover and chill overnight. Cut into 12 slices and serve.
