weight watchers Archives - My Eating Clean Journey

My Happy Planner and No Bake Energy Bites

October 4, 2016

I’m down 11.8 pounds on the Weight Watchers SmartPoints Plan. I’ve hit a few bumps in the road with some illnesses and that slowed some progress down but as long as I continue to move forward, I’m not on any fast train. Slow and steady wins the race.

I have found that planning my meals with the help of my Fitness Happy Planner has really helped. I’d be happy to help anyone with menu planning. Just let me know by commenting below. I find picking one cookbook, website, Pinterest board – where ever you find healthy recipes, and use that as your guide for the week.

I started out using just a pad of paper to jot down my meals and that worked really well for many years. Then I was introduced to The Happy Planner by Me and My Big Ideas (sold online, Hobby Lobby and Michaels). Since then, I’ve enjoyed jotting down my meals in there. I created a SmartPoints tracker to add up my points at the end of each day. This week I also added a tracker for the supplements I’m taking. The sidebar tracker was a free printable that I printed and used a tape runner to adhere.

I also wanted to share with you a recipe for some No Bake Energy Bites. You can really customize them to whatever your taste buds like. Swap out the raisins for other dried fruit (I used dried cherries today). The original recipe calls for peanut butter but I used a mixture of 1/2 peanut butter and 1/2 cashew butter. I would bet that almond butter would be really good also.

No Bake Energy Bites

2016-10-04 16:52:36

Serves 15

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Ingredients

1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used a mixture of peanut butter and cashew butter)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanuts or almonds (I used slivered almonds)
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup raisins or dried cranberries (I used a mixture of raisins and dried cherries)
1 T chia seeds
1/2 cup chopped pretzels

Instructions

Stir everything together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours then shape into 1-inch balls. Refrigerate until ready to use. They will last 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

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My Trip Back to Weight Watchers

June 18, 2016

That’s it. I did it….again. I joined Weight Watchers. Out of all the programs I have ever followed, I have found Weight Watchers to be the easiest to follow and I’ve always had success with it. Plus I have about 10 20 50 100 Weight Watcher Cookbooks and although they change their points program on an almost yearly basis, they have their nutritional info included on each recipe. That makes it easy to convert to the new SmartPoints Program.

Week one has finished and I’m down 5.4 pounds. With the new SmartPoints plan fruits and vegetables that you chew (compared to drink), don’t have any points value – so you can eat as many as you’d like. Bravo! I have been so impressed at how much I can eat and how big a serving portion is. Me and the SmartPoints Program are now best friends.

When I joined Weight Watchers online I received a Welcome Kit and included in that is the most-amazing-cookbook-ever, “Fresh & Easy”. All recipes are for 1 or 2 servings and they give you tips on how to use your leftover ingredients. I am a BIG one on meal planning and as I sit down and create my menu for the week, I use my cookbooks as my guide. Having the tips in this cookbook helped with pairing meals, one after the other, so I could use up the ingredients.

Here are some of the items from the Cookbook that I cooked this last week.

Butternut Bulgur Chili – One Serving is 4 Smart Points

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo Rice – Each Serving is 8 Smart Points

Garden-Style Penne with Sausage and Ricotta – 6 SmartPoints

Prosciutto-and-Mozzarella Panzanella Salad – 9 SmartPoints

Italian Turkey Burger with Crispy Oven Fries – 9 SmartPoints

Turkish Meatballs with Yogurt-Pomegranate Sauce – 9 SmartPoints

All of the recipes for these dishes can be found in the Fresh and Easy Cookbook by Weight Watchers.

Homemade Salsa

February 9, 2014

Homemade Salsa

5-6 Tomatoes, cup in quarters

Handful of Cilantro

1/2 onion, cut in half

Squirt of lime juice

1 package of Stevia

Put everything but the Stevia in a blender and blend until it’s the consistency you enjoy. Add in the Stevia and mix. You can also spice it up with some jalapeno powder, red pepper flakes or chipotle powder.

Spicy Cabbage Salad

February 9, 2014

This was really good. I served it with the mini meatloaf. My husband compared it to a salsa. I’m not a fan of raw radishes but in this dish they worked really good and I actually enjoyed them.

Spicy Cabbage Salad

· 1oz cabbage, shredded

· 1oz tomatoes, chopped

· 1oz radishes, chopped

· 1oz green onions, chopped

· Apple cider vinegar

· Lime juice

· Dash of Salt

· Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

Mix the vegetables in a bowl. Whisk the vinegar, lime juice, salt and hot sauce together. Pour over the vegetables and mix well.

My lunch – packed in advance. Meatloaf and Spicy Cabbage Salad

Mini Meatloaf (Meatloaves)

February 9, 2014

I made these mini meatloaves using a pan I had originally bought to make brownies in. You can also use a cupcake pan or any other pan that has individual serving size slots.

Meatloaf

I used the recipe below but quadrupled it (x4) so I’d be making four servings at once.

4oz lean ground beef

1 serving Melba toast, Wasa cracker or Grissini breadstick crumbs

1 ketchup recipe

1 tablespoon chopped onion

1 clove minced garlic

Cayenne to taste

¼ teaspoon paprika

Crush cracker/toast into fine powder. Mix with the ground beef, chopped

onion and spices. Place in a baking dish, loaf pan or muffin tin for single

servings. Baste with ketchup recipe mixture and bake at 350 for 15-20

minutes. Cook longer for multiple servings using a loaf pan.

Put the broken up crackers/toast or breadstick into your blender.

Blend until it’s ground up like breadcrumbs

Add it to your hamburg mixture

These were very good and each serving was three mini loaves.

Down 27.2 pounds in 33 Days and My Cholesterol Results

February 5, 2014

When you wish upon a star, your dreams may come true. Right now I feel like I’m living in a dream. I stepped on the scale today and I’m down 27.2 pounds in 33 days. Plus, I had my blood drawn yesterday at my doctor’s to run a few numbers and my cholesterol is down to 117. What an amazing number to see. A healthy number. All my hard work and clean eating is really paying off. I wish I would have listened to my friend a year ago when I first heard about Omnitrition and their Omni-Drops.

I wanted to share a portion of the book, Pounds and Inches from Dr. Simeons. At the very beginning of his book he talked about Obesity as a disorder and says this:

As a basis for our discussion we postulate that obesity in all its many forms is due to an abnormal functioning of some part of the body and that every ounce of abnormally accumulated fat is always the result of the same disorder of certain regulatory mechanisms. Persons suffering from this particular disorder will get fat regardless of whether they eat excessively, normally or less than normal. A person who is free of the disorder will never get fat, even if he frequently overeats.

Those in whom the disorder is severe will accumulate fat very rapidly, those in whom it is moderate will gradually increase in weight and those in whom it is mild may be able to keep their excess weight stationary for long periods. In all these cases a loss of weight brought about by dieting, treatments with thyroid, appetite-reducing drugs, laxatives, violent exercise, massage, baths, etc., is only temporary and will be rapidly regained as soon as the reducing regimen is relaxed. The reason is simply that none of these measures corrects the basic disorder.

I am this person that Dr. Simeon describes in his book. I have been moving towards an eating clean lifestyle for the past three years but didn’t have much success in the weight loss category. Although I was feeling better and knew I was feeding my body the nutrients that it needed to remain healthy, the weight was still an issue. Thanks to his research and trials with his patients

in Italy, I feel he has unlocked the secret to losing weight – for me. I have been on almost every diet out there and have never had much success. There is an Omni support group on facebook for customers of the products. Someone was mentioning the other day that they were disappointed that they had only lost 3 pounds in two days. My response to her was that we put way too much emphasis on what the number of the scale is. We need to know that by eating a good diet full of whole foods, we are feeding our body with vitamins and minerals. Imagine if we just ate what we wanted and didn’t care if it was processed and full of ingredients we couldn’t even pronounce. I remember when I was following the Weight Watchers plan and celebrated a 1 pound loss each week. So what this one person on Omni-Drops lost in two days and was disappointed in, I would be celebrating at the three week mark on Weight Watchers.

If anyone would like information on Omnitrition and the Omni-Drops, please feel free to email me at cleaneating@comcast.net or leave a comment here on my blog (which I love receiving by the way).

Mexican Tortilla Soup

December 15, 2013

Mexican Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

6oz of turkey sausage, crumbled

1 red onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 garlic cloves

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

5 cups of low sodium chicken broth

2 cups frozen corn

3 plum tomatoes, chopped

3 corn tortillas

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

2 T lime juice

Cook the sausage in a dutch oven, until browned, about 6-8 minutes.

Add the onion, peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until they soften.

Stir in the broth, corn and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat and add 1 tortilla at a time (or more if there is room). Cook until golden brown (about 45 seconds), flip and brown the other side.

Slice the tortillas into strips. Set aside.

Stir in the cilantro and lime juice into the soup and then top with the tortillas.

Chicken Ratatouille

December 14, 2013

Chicken Ratatouille with Penne

Ingredients:

1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ cubes

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1″ cubes

1 zucchini, cut into 1″ cubes

1 yellow squash, cut into 1″ cubes

1 green pepper, seeded and sliced into 1″ cubes

1 can (28oz) of Italian Style Tomatoes, drained and chopped

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

4 cups of penne

1/2 cup of basil, chopped

1/4 cup of shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese

– Cook the chicken over medium heat in a dutch oven. No oil needed, just drizzle 1T of water from time to time to saute. Remove from the pot and place on plate.

– Add the onion and garlic to the pot and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. (again, use water if needed) Add in the eggplant, zucchini, squash and green pepper, tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, cover until the vegetables are tender – about 30 minutes.

– Add the chicken back to the pot and heat until the chicken is hot again.

– Add in the cooked pasta, basil and cheese and stir.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

November 22, 2013

What a day it’s been. After two weeks away from Weight Watchers, I bit the bullet and took the plunge and went back to weigh in. I was up 2.6 pounds. Since I knew I was going to have a gain this week, I decided it would be a good week to wear my “winter-weigh-in-clothes”. For anyone who has been to Weight Watchers, you know how much care is taken into wearing the perfect outfit to weigh in. Any change in the clothing from week to week can alter our real weight….right? 🙂

This week we talked about Thanksgiving and we were given a photo of a plate on a piece of paper. We had to draw (or write) the items down that we normally put on our plate on Thanksgiving and then we had to guess how many Weight Watcher Points Plus are in each item. My normal Thanksgiving plate consists of 3 oz of Turkey (white/skinless), 1 cup of mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup of corn, 1/2 cup of Stove Top stuffing and a bit of gravy on my turkey (I’ve estimated that to be around 1/4 cup). The biggest kicker was my slice of pumpkin pie. 1/8 of a pie is 13 points plus. 13! That is a crazy number. I’m reconsidering that slice this year. I’m on a hunt to find out how many points are in just the pie filling itself. I know that most of the points are associated with the pie crust and I don’t really care if I eat that part of the pie. Right now, I’m at 17 total points without the pie. Not too bad for a special occasion. My challenge is that we’re invited to two Thanksgiving feasts – one at noon and another one at 3pm. Planning will be the key to staying on track and within my daily pointsplus allowance (which is 39 points).

What are your must haves for Thanksgiving? No matter what you will eat it and suck up the PointsPlus?

Tonight I made Stuffed Acorn Squash for dinner. I think I’m in love with Acorn Squash this year – actually all squashes. Butternut was my squash of the month last month. Then if you add Smoked Gouda to it…..oh it just brings it to another whole level. I love topping anything that I stuff with Smoked Gouda cheese. Yum!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

7 Weight Watcher PointsPlus

Ingredients:

2 Acorn Squash

2 cups Black Rice, cooked

1 cup leeks, sliced (about 2 leeks)

3 celery stalks, sliced

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp sage

4oz Smoked Gouda, shredded (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut acorn squash in half and place upside down on a baking sheet (make sure you remove the seeds inside the squash first). Add enough water to bring the level to 1/2″ in the pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

While the squash is baking, saute the leeks and celery in a pan with about 2T of water until they soften. Add in the sage and poultry seasoning and mix well. Add the rice and mix until well combined.

Fill each squash with the rice mixture and place back in the oven, covered with foil, for 20 minutes.

Optional, top with shredded cheese and place back in oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

If you choose not to top the squash with the cheese, subtract 2 PP, bringing the total PP for one serving to 5PP.

It’s Friday and my Spartan Race Experience

October 4, 2013

I am so happy that Friday is here. Finally. It’s been an emotionally draining week, watching the news and dealing with my husband’s government furlough. I understand this is just the beginning and the big whoop won’t come until his payday is here and there is no paycheck. Then the October bills will start coming in and there won’t be funds in the bank to pay the bills. I guess I should have paid attention more to Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University. I guess that’s the story of my life. People provide me with the necessary tools to make the right decisions – both with my financial status and with my health. I need to learn to pay attention and learn. I’m working on it and know that I’ll get there.

This morning started off great. I enjoyed my usual one cup of coffee in the morning and then ate a nice breakfast – one of my favorites – Breakfast Scramble. I measure out a serving of hash brown potatoes, a serving of crumbled turkey sausage and at least a cup of peppers and onions. Warm it up in a pan and then crumble on top either a Weight Watchers Jalapeno cheese wedge or a Laughing Cow Chipotle cheese wedge. It’s only 5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus. I don’t use any oil or butter to cook it. You could add in a scrambled egg to up your protein. I don’t eat eggs but I’ll add it to my mixture on the weekends for the rest of my family (after I take out my serving first).

For lunch I had leftovers – same meal I ate last night for dinner – A Taco Salad.

I had a little free time this afternoon and spent some time reading some new blogs that I started following this week. They focus on eating well, eating clean, fitness, exercise and the thoughts that motivate or hinder us. I stumbled upon a post about a Spartan Race and thought I should share here my first experience with a Spartan Race.

A friend of mine lives in Colorado and a friend of his there loves Spartan Races. He flew to Vermont to attend the World Championship – The Beast, in Killington. Myself and another friend of mine decided to meet up with him and cheer him on. It was my first time attending one of these “crossfit” type of competitions. I’ve heard of the Tough Mudder and the Renegade Playground. My sisters both actually ran the Renegade Playground last year and invited me. I declined as I didn’t have enough time to actually get in shape for it. I couldn’t even lift myself up and over a 4′ wall right now, heck with a 10′ one.

The organizers of the Spartan Race had viewing areas set up for spectators. As we stood around waiting for our champion to cross the spectators area, I found myself watching thousands upon thousands of people run, climb, crawl, jump, swim and slither through the course. Most had absolutely amazing bodies with muscle tone I could only dream of, while others weren’t that much different than me. They had some fluff to their bodies. I so wanted to stop them and ask them what their story was. When, How and Why did they start this journey towards competing in a Spartan Race? What was their motivation to keep going and what thoughts did they have to push them through these ultra challenging obstacles? Then I spotted a woman with only one real leg, the other a prosthetic. I then spotted a few with crutches and one even in a wheelchair. I was so impressed with their commitment to their health and their fight within them that it brought tears to my eyes. Not sad tears but celebration tears. I didn’t know these people but I was so proud of them. At the same time, sad for myself. Sad that I feel like I live my life on the sidelines when it really comes to my fitness level.

I know that I have a good handle on my eating. I “Eat Clean” at least 80% of the time. I rarely have anything with sugar, almost always have whole grains when I eat grains, don’t drink soda (even diet) and eat plenty fruits and vegetables. So what’s holding me back in my fitness level? I’m not really sure. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. A few things that come to mind are these:

1. I hate sweating. Absolutely hate the feeling of my hair sticking to my forehead. Hate sweat dripping into my eyes. Hate it going down the middle of my back. Then I hate when I have to pull these wet or damp clothes off my body so I can shower and freshen up. I’ve heard from so many people that say they love the feeling of sweating and love taking a shower after a great workout. Not me. Hate it.

2. I find most exercises boring, and the ones I enjoy doing, require others to do it with me. I don’t have very many people in my life that like to exercise. I have joined a gym in the past but found that most people like to stick to themselves and aren’t very sociable. Ask me any day to grab my sneakers or hiking shoes and go for a walk in the woods or a hike and I’m usually game. Ask me to jump on a treadmill and walk for 30 minutes – it’s torture.

3. I’m an Introvert. I attended a training a few years ago called “Four Lenses”. In the class I learned that I was a green and yellow person and an introvert. I’m not really lazy. I can juggle 1000 things and get them all done but when it comes time to recharge my battery, I prefer to be laid back on the couch with the tv in the background (or a radio) and surf the web reading blogs, entering giveaways, checking facebook or even reading a book/magazine/newspaper. Some people would rock climb or play a game of pick up basketball to recharge their battery – those types of things don’t recharge mine. I’d love to hear from other introverts and how they have worked fitness into their life and still find the time to recharge their battery.

So, where do I go from here. What does all of that mean anyways? It is just me putting obstacles in my ways. I tell myself it is. That not everyone wakes up and just can’t wait to go work out. I know there are some of you out there that do love that and can’t wait to get your sweat on…but not me and I’m guessing not a large portion of our population. Sometimes exercising does suck. I just need to suck it up and do it. Like Nike says right, Just do it. Well…that’s what I’m working on.

Here’s my friend Jim during his Spartan Race.