Dinners-Week One

My entire family likes to eat out  It makes it very difficult for my husband and I to tell each other no in that regard.  He likes it as much as me and vice versa.  I know that the only way to keep us out of restaurants is to cook with a plan.

Of course, Saturday night I was late starting dinner which meant I had to find a new plan, but here's what I had for dinner week 1.

Friday Grilled hambuger (no bun), corn on the cob, sliced vegetables and dip

Friday's dinner was a little point heavy as I bought the ground beef and intended to use it before my first weigh in Friday morning.  I didn't and I had three pounds of 85/15 ground beef in the fridge.  Dinner weighed in at a whooping 18 points

Saturday 2 sloppy toms on a light bun, sliced cucumbers with dressing-10 pts

Sunday  Skinny Salisbury steak over mashed rutabaga with green beans sauteed with 3 slices of center cut bacon.

I'd like to take a minute out and really recommend substituting mashed rutabagas for your mashed potatoes at your next meal.  Rutabagas have a 0 points plus value, count as a serving of veggies and taste very good.  They're really between a squash and potato, flavor wise, but are a great way to get the carb-like bulk with dinner without spending any points on carbs.

My dinner was very filling with one Salisbury steak patty, .5 c of mashed rutabaga and .5c of sauteed green beans and it was only 10 pts.

Monday
We had a stressful day and the weather was bad when I needed to go to the store for a few ingredients I was missing for dinner.  We ordered pizza instead.  I had one slice of pepperoni from a large pizza for 10 pts, but the thin crust veggie pizza I ordered (but didn't eat at all ) was only 6 pts per slice.  A pretty good value for a big slice of pizza.

Tuesday
Hot Sausage over Polenta
I wish I'd have gotten a picture, but this was very easy and very very good and really gave you the taste of a hot sausage sandwich without the points
Serves 6

1 tube of polenta/corn mush
1 package of hot italian turkey sausage, sliced
28 oz of crushed tomatoe
2 large bell peppers cut into strips
.5 large onions, cut into thin rings
1-2 tsp of sugar (optional, if you like a sweeter sauce)

1. Preheat oven to 375 and coat a cookie sheet with cookiing spray.  Slice polenta (my 24 oz "tube" made 12 good sized slices.).  Place sliced polenta onto cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes until slightly crisp on top

2.  Meanwhile, add sliced sausage, peppers and onions to a large skillet.  Cook a few minutes and then add crushed tomatoes to pan.  Cook, allowing the tomatoes to reduce and thicken.  Add sugar, if you want it, to taste.

3. Serve over polenta rounds

6 pts for 3oz of polenta with one sliced sausage and accompanying veggies.e

Wednesday
We ate lunch late, so I went for quick and easy
2-lean pockets
.5c baked sweet potato
1 tsp butter
-17 total points

Thursday
Huge late lunch=skipped dinner. 

Lunches-Week One

Lunch usually ends up being the weakest part of my day (well, after the time right before dinner and right before bed.  I'm a snack monster).  With my schedule and my kids, eating out becomes far too easy.  It's easy to drive thru and end up with some junk in a sack.  And, in addition, despite considering myself a foodie, I love fast food.  I'd call it my dirty little secret, but since you know my weight, it's probably not a secret at all.

Lunch is going to be my hardest meal to change, but this is what I ate and the points value for week one.

Friday
1 serving of Trader Joes Chicken with Rice and Cashews.-7 pts.  Really easy, really good and really filling

Saturday
I revisted Friday night's dinner.  1 had a bunless burger-5 pts-with ketchup and mustard.  I had a sliced tomato and about a carrot and a half from the night before's dinner.  I had some Trader Joe's Bacon Ranch Dip, but limited myself to 1 tbsp so it was only 1 pt.  To finish, I had a serving of Aldi's baked bbq chips, which are pretty good and are 3 pts


Sunday
We ate a late breakfast, so we didn't need to each a huge lunch.  We were out shopping with our two youngest girls and picked up and split a commercially prepared steak wrap-7 pts

Monday
My take on Skinny Taste's Chicken Panini.  I used a few ounces of roast beef instead of chicken and dressed it up with more spinach and sliced tomatoes. -9pts

Tuesday
Burger King Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad-FOURTEEN POINTS

I could have had a whopper jr and a small fry for the same amount of points.  I was glad I ate the salad and got my veggies in, but I'd have really rather had the burger and fries. 

Wednesday
Tuna Salad on lite wheat bread with 1 serving of Aldi's baked chips-6 pts

Thursday
Chipotle Barbacoa Salad with light cheese, light guac, fajita veggies and black beans-10 pts for a HUGE meal.

Breakfast-Week 1

I know that to be successful with any eating program, you have to have a good plan.  Usually, it's the slipping of the planning that causes the slipping of my diet.  Sometimes, it's easier for someone to just tell you what to eat.  Of course, eating prescribed foods never made anyone happy for long, but sometimes it can make things easier when you're in a rut.

Each week, I'll be posting my breakfast, lunch and dinners with points values and recipes if that applies and encourage you to use them for inspiration.

Friday (Weigh in Day)  I always skip breakfast on the morning of my weigh in.

Saturday
Breakfast Sandwich Florentine
Serves 1
 7  points+

I realize that I don't like vegetables that much and part of being successful on nearly any diet program is making sure to get veggies in. This sandwich will give you one serving of vegetables; more if you want to increase your spinach or tomatoes.

Ingredients
1 sandwich thin-3 pts
1 egg-2pts
1 tsp of butter-1 pt
spinach-.5 c
a few slice of tomato
1 wedge of laughing cow light creamery swiss cheese

1. Toast your sandwich thin
2. Melt butter in a small skillet and wilt spinach
3. In a second pan, coat with cooking spray and cook your egg to your taste.
4. When bread is toasted, spread with laughing cow.  Top with tomatoes, spinach and egg and serve with fruit

I know it sounds a little point heavy, but it was really filling and tasted really REALLY good.

Sunday
 Lite wheat bread-2 pts for 2 slices
Two soft cooked eggs-4 pts
4 slices of Aldi's brand center cut bacon-2 pts
sliced cantaloupe

Monday
The Breakfast Sandwich Florentine was so good, I made it again.  I added more spinach because my husband enjoys it.

Tuesday
Stress=skipped breakfast 

Wednesday
Yet another breakfast Sandwich Florentine

Thursday
1 slice of Trader Joe's Tuscan Pane-3 pts
1 tsp butter-1pt 
1 soft cooked egg-2 pts
4 slices of Aldi's center cut bacon-2 pts

 

243.6

What I want to say in my head is that I could have lost more.  Maybe, I should have lost more.  I'm trying to be positive, though.

I lose 2.2 pounds.

I did not gain weight.

I did not stay the same.

I did not fill my body up with fast food.

I did count  and log everything I ate.

I "invented" a breakfast that I'd eat whether or not I was on a diet, and it contains a full serving of vegetables (maybe more, depending on how much you like spinach).

I found a low point "treat" at starbucks that, while not as good as my usual, it's pretty good.

I only have 106.6 pounds left to lose.

I had a meeting today that resonated with me and left me thinking about how I eat things and what I'm dong to my body.  I know it was supposed to be about how to build a good salad, and that's a great meeting, but today I got the meeting I needed.  Today, I got the meeting that told me that even i I ate a 14 point salad for lunch when  I could have had a cheeseburger and fries , that I still made the best choice for my body.  I did the right thing. 

I can't tell you how many times I've been on Weight Watchers.  More than I want to sit down and tally and this time, I am not feeling enthusiastic starting out.  I don't feel dread.  I'm just...here.  Participating. 

Weakness

In my downstairs cupboard, there are two large size bags of M&Ms.  Typically, I do a sweep through the house before I start a diet in an attempt to minimize eating lots of something horrible in a weak moment, but, for reasons I won't get into quite yet there's a very good reasons for the M&Ms to be here.

When the candy came home Saturday night, I decided to just have one or two.  Maybe three.  It would be okay.  There wouldn't be much of a point hit, but I bet you know this story.  If I could eat only three or even just a small handful of candy, I wouldn't be counting points and using a shoe horn to get myself into my size 24 pants.  No, ladies and gents, wide open bags of snack foods are something that tempt me and are beyond my control.

I don't know how much candy I ate.  It's beyond calculation.  I could have dumped out the bag, weighed the contents and estimated, but other people were eating the candy as well and the entire amount of missing candy wasn't all consumed by me.

I decided to let one of the my personal tenants of the weight watchers program come into play.  Once a week, I will eat what I like without counting, weighing, logging or concern.  While I usually want to save this for a lovely dinner out with my husband, this week I used that for a weak moment and on candy I don't even really like.

I often wonder if I'll ever get to the point where an open bag of candy or crackers or potato chips don't tempt me.  I wonder if they're going to stop singing.  I wonder if I will stop thinking, obsessively, about the bag of candy in the cupboard.  Or the crackers.  Or the chips.  Does that ever get better?  Will I stop wanting it?

245.8

You don't need the scale to tell you what the truth is.

Oh, sure, you may avoid specific knowledge.  You may cling to a number that you think is what you  probably  weigh.  Of course, in the end you can avoid the scale for days or week even months or years, but you already know what the scale is going to tell you.  You're only kidding yourself.

On Friday, I clocked in at 245.8.

There is always a point when you start a diet that you look at your weight with a defiant sneer.  You label it your highest ever.  You proclaim that you will never ever weigh that much again.  You attempt to avoid the idea of that number in any small way you can, but it's still there even when you don't acknowledge it.

245.8

The fattest I've ever been.  The closest I've ever been to tipping down the pipe towards 300 pounds.

None of this okay.

NONE of this okay.

But for the first time, in one small way, I'm not hiding from this number anymore.  I am barely 5'2" tall and I know weigh 245.8 pounds.

I've outgrown my hard won size 18s that required spanx to wear.  They hang forlornly in the closet.  I can't try them on.  They were 35 pounds ago.  The smaller size 22s that I wore every day last year?  Retired.  They're too tight.  The "fat" pants?  They're now my regular pants.  The pair of size 24s that I bought to bridge the gap while I tried to lose weight?  That was six weeks ago and they're snug after a washing.

My bras?  Too small.   The cute pair of pajama pants I bought last spring?  Won't even try for fear of having to face the depressing news of just what 35 extra pounds has done to me.

Friday, I went back to Weight Watchers.  How many times have I gone back?  Enough.  Too many?  I can't answer that.  In the past, I've made excuses why I couldn't go to a meeting and face my weight.  For years, I've carried the idea that if I just try hard at home for a week (or two or four) I'll lose the weight that my indiscretions  have caused me to gain and I'll return to Weight Watchers without having to face the scale or the piper.  What would happen if I had to face the music every week.  No matter what.   What would happen if I committed to that idea for real?