Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Happy last day of November! Hard to believe, right?

I mentioned a few things yesterday in my Hello Monday post, but today I plan to go more in depth about what I’ve been eating since we last spoke about the topic.

I keep saying I hope I don’t talk too much about this topic, but you, my dear sweet readers, seem to comment the most about this topic and I get the feeling you want the deets? If you don’t, just click away and I won’t be offended!

I am doing WW Personal Points and I still haven’t figured it all out yet, to be honest. The plan just came out at the beginning of November. I did WW Purple before that and got 16 points per day with 42 extras that I used on the weekends. Now I get 22 points a day with 28 extras. You can now earn extras for drinking water and eating a cup of vegetables. You can also change your plan by taking the assessment and getting different zero point foods. Anyway, it’s a lot but I think I like it. I’m still eating pretty much like I did while doing the Purple plan – low carb, lots of vegetables, lean proteins, lots of water, and not much sugar. I am also trying not to rely on too many packaged foods or artificial sweeteners; this is a personal preference for me. The app is amazing and lets you record what you are eating and tracks your points for you.

My goal going in to the holiday was to enjoy myself but not go crazy. I had two Thanksgiving meals – one on Thursday and one on Friday.

Here were my strategies:

-I made a pot of vegetable soup to help me not go to the meals too hungry – or as something healthy to have in the evening after the meals.

-I ended up wearing jeans both days just because I wanted to and…maybe as a bit of accountability and to remind myself that I have gone down 3 jean sizes? I wasn’t uncomfortable at all in my jeans but I learned last year that leggings were not my friends.

-I only put foods that I love on my plate. I didn’t request any special foods or act fussy. I don’t want to be that person ever. I ate slowly and enjoyed every bite but I did not stuff myself.

-I ate a great healthy breakfast both days that happened to be zero points.

-I made WW buffalo chicken dip and celery as an app to take that doesn’t feel like diet food to me.

I plan to employ these same strategies again because I think they really helped!

Another thing that helped is that I didn’t have any tempting leftovers.

On Saturday morning, I needed to re-stock my normal, healthy foods…

It felt good to go inside the store (rather than do pick up) to kinda peruse the healthier choices after the decadent Thanksgiving foods. I went at 8:30 and had the place mostly to myself. I primarily shop at Kroger and we have a Kroger credit card that we use for gas and groceries. I had $100 in rewards coupons/checks and only paid $3 for this order! Woohoo! That is the only credit card I have, by the way. I do have a debit card and Tom has one other credit card.

This is the vegetable soup I made:

Most Sunday mornings I work on my meal prep for the week. I take my breakfast and lunch to school everyday. Well, I take 2-3 lunches a week and my meal prep partner, Erica, does the other. Erica has now lost almost 30 pounds! I recently hit the 46 pound mark on the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving! Erica started in July and I started in April.

I am trying to eat a cup of vegetables at breakfast and this is what my breakfast prep for the weekdays looks like. I made a mixture of yellow squash, green zucchini, mushrooms, and onions. I included two Jimmy Dean turkey sausages for protein, and then I add…

my low carb egg casserole on top. It has 6 eggs, a half cup of low fat cottage cheese, and a can of green chilies. The original recipe called for a bit of flour and lots of shredded cheese but I don’t find that I miss those and they would be more points. I am definitely an egg for breakfast type of person. And, I love breakfast.

I eat this around 8:00 a.m. at school during my planning period. I’m also still doing a half of Premier Protein with instant coffee in the mornings, too. Bananas are now 3 points for me so I don’t know what else to do for a morning snack around 10? I love vegetables way more than fruits so I recently changed my Personal Points to get more zero point foods and that made the fruits cost points now. It’s kinda confusing. I may change back to fruits being zero for me.

Dinner is a variation of whatever I make for Tom. It’s probably easier for me right now because I’m only cooking for two and I am not hung up on us eating the same thing. Tom works out like a mad man but he is NOT on board with all of my healthy foods. It’s kinda weird, but whatever. He wants a meat at every meal with two vegetables or the classics like spaghetti, tacos, etc. He is very easy to please. He eats lunch out every single day at work and often has leftovers that he is happy to eat.

Some recent foods:

I am not great about sharing recipes in these posts; it’s more like giving ideas, I guess.

This was a variation of Alice Springs Chicken from Outback – grilled chicken, honey mustard, mushrooms with broccoli and potato wedges. Yes, I usually eat one potato a day!

This was a dinner of skinny pizza dough breadsticks, apple gouda sausage, brussel sprouts, potato wedges.

Salad with…

a chicken wrap on a low carb tortilla and a light twice baked potato.

I actually took a Chick Fil a breaded patty and took it off the bun and put it in the wrap. The flour tortillas I use are La Banderita brand and are one WW point.

A bagel sandwich with the skinny pizza dough in my air fryer…

A Boca burger wrap…

Erica’s lunch of copycat Olive Garden zuppa tuscano soup…

burrito bowls…

I am a big believer in putting your food on pretty plates. I would never eat a Lean Cuisine or a frozen meal in the container because I just think it tastes better on a plate! Another trick I do often is to cut things in more pieces so it seems like more. I’m weird.

This is what I use for creamer – no sweetener. You get used to it! Now I love my coffee this way!

I started adding this a couple of times a week. This may be TMI but we have a doctor friend that says everyone should be doing Metamucil everyday.

A great sweet treat for the cold evenings – one WW point.

This is what I buy for my breakfast – a great price at Costco and I put in the freezer.

This is my favorite bread at one WW point…

I often make avocado toast for an after school snack with this bread…

I love these!

Popcorn almost every day…

Ok – new to me… these are so good! I added some mayo and pickles and…

these buns for one WW point and it was like a faux CFA sandwich!

I plan to make 2 WW point egg rolls in the air fryer! I can use my egg roll in a bowl mixture inside and one of my readers reminded me about making buffalo chicken egg rolls.

As you can see I have been eating a lot of low carb tortillas and potatoes! And, I do repeat the same things quite a bit. Or, maybe it’s that I go in stages where I eat the same thing for a while before changing?

I am not really eating brown rice, whole wheat pasta, or other grains much now because it’s not zero for me anymore. I just need to learn this new plan a bit better and then I will add more variety I think.

Anyway, I love what I’m eating. It’s not perfect, but it’s a big improvement. I was eating way too much – mindless snacking, “tasting” while cooking, drinking too much alcohol and caloric coffees, eating way too much sugar… you get the idea.

If you have been on the fence about joining WW, I say do it! I feel so great heading into the new year for the first time ever. It feels so good to have already started working on my health goals pre-January 1, you know? There is no need to wait for a magical date on the calendar, and honestly, there is never a perfect time. Life is always gonna be crazy. While I have lost weight, I have gained so much. I am happier and more extroverted. I say YES more. I think I will have less Seasonal Affective Disorder this winter, maybe because I feel better? As far as vanity goes, everyone wants to be in shape and look good for the summer, but it is such a good feeling to look better in your winter clothes, too!

A word about the air fryer… I am using it so much! I think it’s especially great for people trying to eat healthier. It is also great for empty nesters who aren’t cooking for a large family.

If I can be of any help, let me know! This was a long post and I probably repeated what I have said in other posts but I always appreciate a followup, so…

Amy

P.S. – I would like to lose 4 more pounds before the end of 2021 to hit the 50 pound mark, but I am really just going to try to maintain through the busy holiday season.