For the past few weeks I've been trying to get better about cooking dinner. My cooking was pretty much non-existent for the first couple months of the baby's life. We managed to survive on Evan's "cooking" (love ya babe!), prepared meals from family and friends, and lots of take out and fast food... which is why I was NOT losing my baby weight.
Well, in the past month I have made a commitment to myself to get better with cooking dinners and I've started creating a weekly menu to help me stay organized. It has helped that I'm doing weight watchers so I need to at least have some idea of what I'm having for dinner every night. Also, my awesome husband is training for a half marathon that he's running in December so he's watching what he eats and tracking all of his calories on Spark People.
I'm working into dinners pretty slowly, and I'm by no means creating masterpieces here... but as I get more into a routine hopefully we'll start seeing menu's that aren't so vanilla.
Monday
Turkey Burgers, cooked on the grill (4 points)
Sandwich Thin Buns (1 point)
Ore Ida Tator Tots (4 points)
Salad (0 points)
Dressing (3 points)
Tuesday
Whole Wheat Spaghetti (4 points)
Pasta Sauce w/ Jenni o Turkey Meatballs (5 points)
1 slice garlic bread (3 points)
Salad (0 points)
Dressing (3 points)
Wednesday
Beef Stroganoff, cooked in crock pot (6 points)
Salad (0 points)
Dressing (3 points)
Thursday
Chicken Tortilla Soup (Evan's night to cook) (8 points)
Friday
Petite Fillet Mignon, cooked on the grill (6 points)
Baked Potato (3 points)
Salad (0 points)
Dressing (3 points)
Saturday
Chicken Salad (4 points)
Dressing (3 points)
I'm a few days late posting here and I am happy to report, it's not because I have bad news it's just because I haven't had time to post. Friday's weigh in was another success, I lost exactly 2 pounds... putting my total weight lost since 9/9/10 at -15 pounds.
For the past 3 weeks in a row I've lost 2.6, 2.4, and 2 pounds, so I can definitely say that the plan is working for me. Unfortunately, I only got to walk one time last week and while just following my points alone is enough to allow me to lose weight, I feel like walking helps my heart and tones my legs and backside.
On another note, I am so close to my 10% goal which means I get an awesome silver WW keyring... oh the small things in life that make us happy right? :)
I still haven't made it to the gym, but I think I'm going to try (try!) to squeeze some workouts on the Wii during nap time. The hard part being, that's when I straighten the house, or cook, or nap myself. We'll see!
Also, stay tuned for a new and exciting element to this blog...
Since my pumpkin cheesecake recipe only called for 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, I had to figure out what to do with what was left of my 29 ounce can of pumpkin puree... Pumpkin Butter. I found this recipe also on Gina's Skinny Recipes and couldn't wait to make it.
I had most of the can left but this recipe calls for a full can, so I ended up buying a small can (15 ounces). The recipe calls for 3 1/2 cups of puree but it ended up being about 4 cups. I plan to use this on toast, bagels (I have some 1 point cinnamon bagels), waffles, etc. Should keep us in the fall spirit for a while.
Pumpkin Butter
Gina's Skinny Recipes
Servings: 14 • Serving Size: 1/4 cup • Points: 1.5 ptsCalories: 88.2 • Fat: 0.3 g • Protein: 1.0 g • Carb: 27.3 g • Fiber: 2.5 g
- 3 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, or 1 (29 ounce) can (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup apple cider or juice
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2-3 cinnamon sticks
- 1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (to taste)
Combine pureed pumpkin, vanilla, apple juice, spices, cinnamon sticks and sugar in a large saucepan; stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes or until thickened. Stir frequently. Adjust spices to your taste.
We hosted a dinner party over the weekend and I cooked a fall themed meal. I did not want it to be too much like Thanksgiving so I just had bits and pieces of fall: chicken bake, steamed squash and zucchini, salad, rolls, roasted potatoes, and for dessert... Pumpkin Cheesecake. I didn't want to make pumpkin pie as that screams Thanksgiving, so I thought this was a nice median.
I found a recipe on my new favorite website Gina's Skinny Recipes. I happened upon this website a few weeks ago, and awesomely enough one of my loyal followers also pointed me there for a stuffed artichoke recipe, thanks Sophie!
I LOVE this website as it has everything you can imagine made low cal, low fat, and she lists the Weight Watchers points! The pie turned out delicious and my husband even finished it off after our guests left... OK, so there was only 1 piece left at that point. :o)
Pumpkin Spice No Bake Cheesecake
Pumpkin Spice No-Bake Cheesecake
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 • Size: 1 piece • Time: 10 minutes • Calories: 239 • Points: 5.25 ww points
- 7 oz 1/3 less fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese
- 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (canned is fine)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
- 8 oz Cool Whip Free, thawed
- 9 inch reduced fat Graham Cracker Crust
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar for a few minutes until fluffy. Add Cool Whip and whip until smooth. Spoon mixture into pie crust and chill for a few hours, until firm.
The weigh in this week went well. I lost 2.4 pounds so I'm down -13 total. Still a little more than I would have liked, so I think I'm going to start eating some of my extra weekly points. I was not able to walk at all this week so honestly the loss surprised me.
I'm really itching to get back into the gym. I've been a handful of times since the baby was born but I'm really wanting to start toning up again. I can eat right and walk and lose all the "weight" I want... but I want to tone my arms and legs and try and do something about this post baby tummy.
Sorry for the short post!!
Got my -10 pounds bookmark today! I am down 2.6 this week making my grand total lost with WW in 4 weeks 10.6! I knew that I'd lost weight this week as I periodically weigh myself on our bathroom scale and once a week I weigh myself on the Wii but I wasn't expecting a 2.6! SO happy to see that.
What did i do different? I only ate 3 meals out:
date night on Sunday: Applebees (WW menu!!!) Chicken with Potatoes and Veggies
running errands on Tuesday: small Arby's Roast Beef sandwich
walked up to Port of Subs with Evan and Brianna on Thursday night: small turkey, no cheese
We also walked around the neighborhood on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
And, I think a lot of it had to do with more fruits and veggies. We've been eating all of our food from our Bountiful Baskets order. I did not order one this week as we're still finishing off last weeks and we will not be around tomorrow to pick it up. I think ordering a basket every other week will work for us, for now, while only 2 of us eat real food.
I'm really nervous about this weekend as we're going to be out of town. I am going to pack lots of healthy snacks and since I'll have to eat stuff that someone else prepares I will just have to watch my portions and take note of everything I eat so I can look it up later. I usually calculate everything before or while I am cooking.
If you're looking for a cheap and easy way to get in your fruits and veggies, I'd check out Bountiful Baskets. It's a local food co-op and for $15.00 you get a ton of yummy goodness!
Today's loot included everything you see above: strawberries, banana's, plums, cauliflower, grapes, apples, cantaloupe, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, artichokes, potatoes.
I already washed my lettuce, grapes, and strawberries, and cut up my cantaloupe. I just sat down and looked up everything online so I know how many points everything is. Everything is either 0 or 1 point with the exception of banana's (2) and potatoes (3). SCORE!
I have to snack and eat all day long and I'm constantly grabbing things quickly with one hand while I'm holding B in the other arm. While I have lots of healthy snacks to choose from like yogurt, granola bars, string cheese, what's healthy than fresh produce?
Now I just have to figure out what to do with those artichokes. :)
Weighed in at Weight Watchers yesterday and I was down .6 for the week which puts my total with WW at -8 pounds lost. I tracked everything I ate all week long but i think a couple of factors added to my .6:
1) Husband and I went out to dinner on the previous Friday night with the baby. I had a club sandwich and dessert. I looked up the points as best as I could but it's never going to be exact.
2) Sister, friend, and I went to a concert and ate dinner beforehand and I had another club sandwich (because I knew the points from the previous day).
3) Went to the mall and had 4 month pictures of baby taken and grabbed the healthiest thing on the menu from Panda Express. I had looked it up before I left and knew where I was going to eat and what I was going to get. Again, don't know if it was exact. (btw: i got chicken and mushrooms with steamed veggies)
4) I only got 1 walk in this week. We attempted a walk on Tuesday but only made it one lap before you know who called it quits. Then we walked up to Starbucks on Thursday.
Down is better than up, but this next week I have no plans to go out and I plan to walk a couple more days.
P.S. I still got a BRAVO sticker and I'm 2 pounds away from getting my -10 pound sticker. :)
