Back On The Wagon

This blog has been ignored for awhile simply because I fell off the wagon.  It was a busy couple weeks, okay month, and we ate out often.  I skipped Weight Watcher meetings.  I skipped tracking.  I skipped losing altogether.

I'm back on the wagon now for the last week.  It's amazing how quickly your body adjusts to eating healthy.  The first couple days were rough, but now I'm totally back in.  All in as a matter of fact.

I had one of the biggest losses of my journey this week:  3.8 pounds.

I'm about 13 pounds from goal, which isn't a place I thought I would be so quickly.  My husband told me I could go shopping once I hit my goal.  He totally knows how to motivate me!

Shredded Chicken

I'm always looking for creative ways to make meals that I can portion out and take with me to work.  Last week my husband asked that I make some chicken for him to make chicken/bacon/ranch wraps.  I threw some chicken in the crock pot and shredded it.

I didn't think about it again until this week.  I've been having a blast with it!  1/3 cup of shredded chicken fits on a bagel thin like a glove.  It's also only 3 points for the chicken and the bagel thin. 

In an effort to keep it fresh, I like to mix up my chicken.  This week I've discovered a little Frank's Hot Sauce and some Johnny's Lite Ranch mixed with the chicken gives me a buffalo chicken sandwich.  If you add 1/2 slice of provolone, some lettuce and a tomato (if you like that sort of thing), you've got a hot sammich for 5 points. 

I love buffalo anything.  This is an answer to prayer.  I've eaten at least three this week already.

I think next week I'll try mixing the chicken with some BBQ sauce and adding shredded cabbage for a backyard BBQ-ish sammich.  YUM!

Results Not Typical

This week, after a week of battling a sinus infection, I reached another milestone.  I hit the 25 pounds lost mark.  When we reach goals, our leader always asks us what's working, what's different, etc.  This time she asked how long it has taken me. 

It's only been 12 weeks. 

If you ask me what 12 weeks feels like normally, I'll tell you it feels like a long time.  On this journey, it feels like it was just yesterday that I joined.  There are days when I can't believe the number that's on the scale.  I never thought I would see it again. 

My leader was quick to mention that "my results weren't typical."  I guess I never realized how well this whole thing was working until she said that.  If I'm being honest, nothing has worked this well.

Then again, I've never wanted something more than I do this change.  I want to be healthy, eat healthy and be an example for my girls.  If I have to buy smaller clothes in the process, I'm okay with that too.

Tortilla Soup

A blog I read every day is Big Mama.  She's witty and funny.  She's also got some great recipes on her page every so often.  One of them is The Mansion Tortilla Soup.  Apparently The Mansion is a place in Dallas, Texas.  When I eat this soup I think of being on the show Dallas, enjoying this gourmet meal, pondering who shot J.R. 

I know, it's a life to envy.

This soup is that good.  It's easy and makes enough to feed all the cowboys in your life. 

Tortilla Soup from The Mansion



3 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 corn tortillas, diced
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
4-5 tablespoons of chopped cilantro (I don't include this because I'm not a fan)
1 tablespoon of cumin
2 tablespoons of chili powder


Saute all of the above until tortillas begin to crisp.


Add the following to the above and simmer.


1 cup onion puree (I diced a small onion and pureed it in the food processor)
1 large can (29 oz) of tomato puree
2 quarts of chicken stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne Pepper to taste
To serve: top with any or all of the following: diced grilled or baked chicken, avocado, shredded cheese, crisp fried strips of corn tortilla.

I add diced chicken to the soup.  I buy an already cooked one at the store and cut it up.  I also include a can of black beans (drained) and some frozen corn.  You can add cheese and avocado to yours if you like, but that's not my scene.

I did a little points calculation for this soup, for 2 cups, it's 5.5 points with chicken, corn and beans added to it.  That's quite a bit of soup and it's filling. 

It also freezes nicely.  If you don't have too many cowboys coming over to your house, you can enjoy this for a LONG time.  It's figure friendly.  I guess it is as glamorous as being on Dallas. 

Why You Shouldn't Skip A Meeting

Recently I switched my weigh-in days.  It's easier both for childcare and for my buddy to attend.  It's also WAY later in the day.  I'm fairly starving by the time the weigh-in happens.  If I want to play the glad game, I can eat at freakin' huge dinner.  I usually do.

This week the meeting numbers were down.  It's usually a smaller meeting, but there were only 14 or 15 people there.  Normally we have about 20.  It's nothing to be too upset about. 

Unless your leader does a traveling journal.  WW has journals that last for 3 months and are intended for you to track your points, your activities and to set weekly goals for yourself.  They're like a food journal/diary all in one.  Our meeting does a traveling one.  A person from our meeting takes the journal for a week, documents what they do and then brings it back to the next meeting for someone else to take.

With no volunteers, I got the traveling journal.  I feel immense pressure to eat more veggies and fruit than I ever have in my life.  Apparently if people are going to look at what I eat, I want to eat healthy.  Which I'm sure is the whole point of the book!

A Great Find

I am surrounded by people doing WW.  I'm not sure if that's God's way of giving me support or if I'm more tuned into it.  Like when you buy a new car and then you start seeing that car everywhere.

Awhile ago a friend told me about a ranch dressing that she found that was worth 1 point.  Ranch is my absolute favorite.  Then she told me it was Johnny's and I knew I had to try it.  She warned that it was a bit peppery, but she liked it.

I tried it last night for the first time and it's actually really good.  It does have quite a bit of pepper to it that really hits after you swallow.  It doesn't taste like 1 point salad dressing. 

Thank you Johnny for making my salads taste great and low points.  You are my new food hero.

10%

I've made it to another milestone.  I've lost 10% of my starting weight.  In all actuality, I've lost a bit more.  Yesterday at my WW meeting, I got my 10% keychain.

As I got on the scale and realized I reached this goal in such a short time, they are a little concerned that I'm losing weight too fast.  In all honesty, I'm just following the program.  I'm not deviating.  That's just how quickly I'm losing it. 

Apparently all the steak fries dipped in ranch was really bad for me.  Now that I haven't had one for 2 months, my body is finally shedding years of steak fries dripping with ranch.  If the speed of loss is any indication, I used to eat quite a few of them.