My weight-loss journey - Getting back on track....

[sophie274]

That's so funny, I hate hate hate dark meat. Will only eat the whitest of white meat (chicken breast only) - dark meat just really grosses me out.

 

That recipe does sound delicious Annie. Wish I had a kitchen here at school. I have made a Moroccan chicken before that involved a preserved lemon. I bet adding a bit of lemony flavor to that dish would be delish!

 

Good to hear you're back on track. I'm right there with you now!

[Applewhite]

Annie, how are you doing? I've let go for so long and screwed up, now I am afraid to go on a scale. Any suggestions?

[jengh]

I've been bored and just read all of your entries back through late june/early july.

 

Everyone slips up.. You've done so well, and as it's been stated--you've done it once, you can do it again! Plus, it's the stupid holidays and it's stupid cold out and that makes you want stupid comfort food (says the girl who made rice krispie treats last night ) I thought I had been gaining weight, but then I realized that it was just losing my tan It turns out I've lost 20lbs since coming to England. I guess it's just been not having my car and walking everywhere... PLUS, I've been poor and haven't been eating out as much.

 

And now I'm rambling. I'm going to try that Hungry Girl chili recipe you posted a few months back. It looks gooood

[annie24]

hey - yes, i've slipped. been so busy haven't been to WW in a while. i made a ton of healthy recipes lately, but like you guys said - it's the holidays, there are so many parties and yeah, so much food. the good news is that i still fit in my clothes, but i think i need to lose. so, i'll try to go on saturday if my schedule permits.

 

i do spend 1 hour a day walking the dog, (i'm his dog sitter) so that is helping, for sure.

[jengh]

Oh yeah, definitely. An hour walking each day is bound to help.

Are you still not consuming aspartame? How's that going for you? I don't know if I could do that. I have such a horrible addiction to diet pop.

[annie24]

oh no, diet coke is back!!! i determined it didn't make any difference, lol.

 

I spent time cutting up a ton of vegetables into easy to snack pieces. like all my celery, cauliflower, and brocolli. it's working, i've been snacking on them more.

[jengh]

hahah, back in high school I gave it up for a month I think... Not only did I not lose weight, but it also made me insanely moody. Could've been hormones, but I blame it on withdrawls

[Applewhite]

I bake with splenda. Cheesecake zuccini bread etc. And I do use it in coffee too. I don't drink much diet soda etc.

 

I am too lazy to cut vegetables, so I bought a bag of cleaned, cut vegetables. It wasn't that expensive, around 3-4 dollars for a big bag.

[BellaDonna]

I bake with splenda. Cheesecake zuccini bread etc. And I do use it in coffee too. I don't drink much diet soda etc.

 

I am too lazy to cut vegetables, so I bought a bag of cleaned, cut vegetables. It wasn't that expensive, around 3-4 dollars for a big bag.

 

I love Splenda. They also make a version of it with added fiber now.

[BellaDonna]

i do spend 1 hour a day walking the dog, (i'm his dog sitter) so that is helping, for sure.

 

That's really good, annie.

[Daligal83]

I found a website with a lot of great recipes. It's link removed and I made one last weekend. It was pretty good. Not amazing, but good and healthy for you. Plus you can submit your favorite recipes for them to "healthify."

[annie24]

urrgggh.... the holidays....... cookies, cakes, sweets, everywhere...... it's like turning into a new food group for me. not so good. too many parties. i'm feeling rather fleshy, lol. I overslept this morning, didn't make it to the meeting.

 

BUT.... i tracked my food intake. The biggest challenge for me is tracking my food, if i don't do that, i slip off. and i forget what i eat.

 

like today, i had a Caramel Creme Brulee Latte at starbucks. Grande, skim milk, whipped cream. the beverage is HEAVEN!!!!!!! soooo good. then i checked starbucks' website. 400 calories, 7 g fat, 0 g fiber. omg. omg. 400 calories!? i mean, it is good, but maybe not THAT good.

 

for dinner, i was better. I made some chili using canned black beans, chipotle flavored salsa, cumin, chili powder, and fat free soy crumbles. really good and spicy. i got the recipe from the flat belly diet cook book.

 

I also had some soy hot dogs, 50 calories each. you can make a guilt-free chilidog with some light bread, soy hot dog, and a few tablespoon of chili. (That's a suggestion from Hungry Girl)

 

ugh, must get back on track!!! I'm going home in 2 months, and i want to look good when i see my family and old high school friends.

[annie24]

I found a website with a lot of great recipes. It's link removed and I made one last weekend. It was pretty good. Not amazing, but good and healthy for you. Plus you can submit your favorite recipes for them to "healthify."

 

 

oooh!!! thanks!!! i've bookmarked this site, it looks like there are a lot of good suggestions there!

[annie24]

Just went to the grocery store and bought some insane amount of food - all for recipes in the Hungry Girl book by Lisa Lillien.

 

link removed

 

this is her website.

 

I have her books, they are really good. one thing i don't like is that a lot of them include a lot of fat-free or processed foods and splenda. but then again, i need a 'kick start' so this may be a way. She has a whole chapter on slimmed down "fast food" so i think that might help me out, when i am craving a burger or burrito to have the slimmer verison of it.

 

tonight for dinner i made:

 

7-layer burrito blitz

serving size: 1 burrito - 277 calories, 3 g fat, 875 mg sodium, 46 g carbs, 14.5 g fiber, 4 g sugar, 22 g protein, 5 points.

 

Ingredients

1 medium low fat flour tortilla (about 110 calories and at least 6 g fiber)

1/3 cup canned black beans

1 ounce ground beef style soy crumbles

1/2 cup chopped iceberg lettuce

1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp chopped onions

2 tsbp fat free sour cream

2 tbsp shredded fat free cheese

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

 

Prepare crumbles according to package directions. Season crumbles to taste with salt and black pepper. set aside. Microwave tortilla until slightly warm. Layer ingredients in a long strip down the middle of the tortilla, starting the black beans, and then adding crumbles, sour cream, lettuce, onions, cheese, and tomatoes. Fold tortilla sides in first, and then roll up from the bottom. Makes 1 serving. The photo is from the hungry girl site.

[annie24]

For dessert I made "chocolate pudding crunch explosion"

 

Per serving (entire recipe) 139 calories, 2.5 g fat, 288 mg sodium, 30 g carbs, 1.5 g fiber, 4 g sugars, 4 g protein, 3 points.

 

Ingredients

 

1 Jello Sugar Free chocolate pudding snack

3 caramel mini rice cakes or soy crisps, crushed

1 regular thin pretzel twist (or 4 minis), crushed

1/2 sheet (2 crackers) low-fat honey graham crackers, crushed

2 tbsp Fat Free reddi-whip

 

Directions

 

Spoon pudding into a dish. Top with all of your crushed snacks. Add reddi-wip and enjoy!

[BellaDonna]

OOOOO....

 

 

....Chocolate....!

 

That's my kind of recipe. I will definitely be trying that one. Thanks for posting!

[annie24]

no problem bella!!!!!

[annie24]

i had a pretty stressful day at work yesterday and wound up going home and indulged in emotional eating (PMS didn't help any!!!) 2 glasses of sangria, a weight watchers personal pizza (with a side of ranch), a light soy-hot dog..... well, now that i look at the list, it isn't that bad, however, i already ate dinner that day, this was the late night eating. my period doesn't help. sigh. i did feel better and more relaxed after that though.

[BellaDonna]

The good thing is that at least you had healthier choices of food available.

 

So even though you indulged. It could have been much worse if it was traditional greasy pizza or hot dogs. You over-ate less evil food. That is still a much healthier choice.

 

I also tend to get the worse cravings ever with the combination of stress, night, and hormones. They really are a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes a bowl of ceral will tame them for me.

[annie24]

yeah, it is NOT easy when the stress and hormones and late night all come together!!! I think having some of those easy lean cuisine pizzas around in the freezer is good.

 

So, I made some "Perfect Plum Tomato Cabbage Soup" yesterday and had some tonight for dinner (along with 2 bowls of cereal earlier, lol). It's good, well, it's OK. I think it needs some more seasoning, I don't know what, but I'll experiment with it. Maybe you guys can try it too and let me know what to add. But, for 35 calories, it isn't bad at all!!!! The recipe is also from Hungry Girl

 

Perfect Plum Tomato Cabbage Soup

 

Per serving (1 generous cup): 35 calories,

 

Ingredients

 

4 cups fat free vegetable broth

6 plum tomatoes chopped

2 cups chopped green cabbage

Optional: salt, black pepper, garlic salt, Splenda No calorie sweetener, Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper sauce, Tabasco Pepper Sauce

 

Directions

Place chopped tomatoes (along with juice and seeds) in a large pot sprayed with nonstick spray. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Stirring occassionally. Add broth and cabbage and raise heat to high. Once soup reaches a boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Allow soup to simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and/or any of the other optional ingredients, if desired.

 

Makes 5 servings.

 

(Hungry Girl recoomends Splenda and Frank's RedHot.)

[annie24]

For lunch today, I made the "Big Bopper Burger Stopper." Again, from the section on Fast Food Swaps.

 

Big Bopper Burger Stopper

 

Per serving: 202 calories, 2.5 g fat, 789 mg sodium, 32 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 6 g sugars, 17 g protein, 3 WW points

 

Ingredients

 

1 small light hamburger bun

1 Boca Meatless Burger, Original

3 slices/chips dill pickle

1 slice tomato

1 leaf romaine lettuce

1 slice onion

1 tsp ff mayo

1 tsp ketchup

 

Directions

 

Prepare patty per package instructions, using nonstick spray or nothing at all. Toast bun if desired. Place patty on bun's bottom half then top with tomato, onion, lettuce and pickle slices. On the top half, smear mayo and ketchup. Put 2 halves together and enjoy.

 

1 serving.

 

If desired, add 1 slice FF american cheese for a total of 233 calories.

[annie24]

For dinner last night, I had "HG's famous bowl." It's a swap for KFC's bowl calorie disaster (at 780 Calories!!). HG's version has 288.

 

link removed

 

It's ok. Not bad. I'm not a huge fan of gravy though. If you love KFC's bowl, then it's for you.

[annie24]

tracking, for sure, is the hardest thing for me. just writing everything down. I have the online tracker, and i'm trying to get back in the habit of planning and tracking my food intake. i was good about it last week until about halfway into the week. my goal this week is just to track EVERYTHING. sigh.

 

so, i've been cooking a lot out of the hungry girl cookbooks the last few days. I'll post some more recipes soon. some things come out really good, others meh.... but, it's good to try. I made breakfast today out of the "200 under 200" book. (200 recipes under 200 calories). The point being that sometimes it's a lot more satisfying to have a 200 calorie mini-meal rather than a 200 calorie energy bar. For breakfast this morning I made the "Gooey cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing." pretty good.

[annie24]

Gooey cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing

 

Per serving (1 iced roll): 126 calories, 5 g fat, 308 mg sodium, 18.5 g carbs,

 

Ingredients

 

For dough:

1 package pillsbury reduced fat crescent rolls, refrigerated dogh

16 sprays I can't believe it's not butter spray! (oops, forgot to add this in, just realized!)

 

For filling

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, not packed

1/4 cup splenda, granulated

1/2 tbsp light whipped butter or light buttery spread

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

 

For icing

1/4 cup cool whip free, thawed

3 tsbp ff cream cheese, room temp

1 tbsp splenda, granulated

 

Directions:

 

preheat oven to 375 degrees. To make filling, comine all ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well to make sure the butter gets mixed in evenly. set aside. To make icing, coming all ingredients in a small bowl and mix unitl smooth and blended. Place in the fridge to chill and set. Prepare a dry surface by sprinking it with a small amount of flour to prevent sticking. Remove dough from package and knead into a ball. Ising a rolling pin dusted lightly with flour, very firmly roll out dough into a thin sheet about 8 x 12 inches. spray the dough's surface evenly with butter.

 

spread filling out evenly over dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Starting with a long side of the dough, roll it up tightly forming a log. once dough is completely rolled up, pinch the long seam to seal. turn the log over so that the seam is facing down. using a very sharp knife, cut log into 8 even pieces, being careful not to squish dough.

 

spray a baking pan with nonstick spray and arrange pieces of dough in the pan with swirls sides facing up. use your hands to firmly press down on the tops of the pieces. pinch the side seams to seal, if necessary.

 

cover pan with aluminum foil. bake in oven for 8 minutes.

 

remove foil and return to pan to oven. bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cinnamon rolls have risen and are slightly browned on top. evenly distribute icing over cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

 

makes 8 servings.

 

image removed

[Leighton]

MM that looks delicious