Wednesday Weigh-In

Okay, ya’ll: Honesty time.

I have not been doing well with my weight challenge. In fact, this is only the second time I’ve blogged about it in three weeks and I’ve GAINED weight.

*sigh*

Plenty of excuses come to mind (R’s final count rollercoaster, the last ditch TTC effort, my period coming…) but no more! I am 31 days away from my 31^st birthday and I refuse to enter a new year with this extra weight hanging on me.

SO, here we go!

1. Reiterate my goal and where I stand in reference to this goal.

·         Starting BMI: 23.8

·         Current BMI: 23.9

·         Goal BMI: 22

·         Starting Weight: 145

·         Current Weight: 148

·         Goal Weight: 135

Pounds Lost this Week: 0 Lbs
Total Pounds Lost: +3 Lbs
Pounds to Goal: 18 Lbs

2. Discuss what I am going to do to achieve my goals.

I’ve decided to adopt W.eight W.atchers. The decision to take this route rather than simple calorie counting diet is this: without boundaries, I’m the kind of person who will fill up on cheese and chocolate. See my +3 lbs above for reference…

“Whoa now,” you might say. “Cheese and chocolate sounds like you should try L.ow C.arb!” And you’d be right – I rock the low carb life style. Until the six-week mark, when I crack and try a bite of rice. Or baguette. Or realize I’m craving fresh fruit and I’m now allowed to eat it! Then I fall off the wagon and gain it all back, plus five more pounds.

With W.eight W.atchers, I feel like I’m getting some good boundaries while still being able to enjoy all of the foods I love.

Another plus for W.eight W.atchers is that I’m a creature of habit. I eat the same thing every day for breakfast, lunch, and snacks at work each week. With WWP, I already know the maximum number of points I will eat during the day and exactly how many I have left for the evening, freeing me up to have fun with cooking dinner.

In case you were wondering, I max out at 10 during the day, leaving 11 for dinner and dessert.

We will continue to finish dinner by 6:00 PM each night. And dessert will be a FF, low-sugar treat like yogurt or a fudge pop.

A few other lifestyle changes have snuck into the spence house over the past few days. We have actually implemented the after work sit-ups and I picked up a weighted jump rope for 5 minutes of cardio each afternoon. It may not sound like much, but it’s the best I’ve got right now.

So that’s 10 minutes total each day, which is completely doable for me, and is certainly better than zero.

(As a little aside, let’s talk about bladder control. My bladder never did fully recover from having Little K over six years ago. I’ve been aware of that fact for years and have altered my lifestyle to compensate. However! Never was this brought into such sharp relief until Sunday afternoon, using the new jump rope. I swear, even after stopping TWICE in three minutes to use the bathroom, I STILL managed to pee myself a little. GAH!!!)

3. Try to motivate others to join in on trying to lose weight 

Big ups to Donor Diva for introducing me to the Wednesday Weigh In!

Good news! R has joined me on the lose weight wagon. R is a naturally slim guy, but even he has put on a touch of weight since our marriage. He’s cutting back on his snacking during the day and is joining me with sit-ups/jump rope. He’ll also be using his barbells for 5 minutes each afternoon. Hmm, maybe I can get in on that after a week or two…

Plus, him joining me on this journey means that he’ll stop making his addicting chocolate crackers (and no, I won’t share the recipe because they’re about 200 calories each and it makes 40 crackers at a time. Terrible!)

4. Post a healthy recipe, cooking tip, new idea for working out, photo update of my weight loss, or anything else I feel like sharing. 

So, there you go! Thank you for being patient with me. And enjoy this fast, easy, and low-fat dinner idea!

Salsa Chicken (Serves 4, Estimated 9 Points per Person)

Another slow cooker meal for an easy weekday meal!

Ingredients

·         2 Frozen Chicken Breasts, Whole

·         1 Jar of Your Favorite Chunky Salsa (I like Newman’s Own, Medium)

·         FF Refried Beans

·         Small Can of Green Chiles or One Fresh Jalapeno, seeded and diced

·         Shredded Lettuce

·         Flour or Whole Grain Tortillas, Optional

Place your whole frozen chicken breasts in the slow cooker, sprinkle liberally with kosher salt, and pour your salsa on top. Set it for low and leave it alone for 4 hours (or all day at work, in which case you should add ½ cup of water).

When you get home, turn off the slow cooker. Throw you refried beans and chiles in a small pot on low, covered. While that’s happening, shred your chicken with two forks while it’s still in the warm salsa. Warm up your tortillas in the microwave, about 30 seconds. Once your refried beans have loosened up, you’re ready to serve!

I like to serve these up as a DIY meal on each plate. The boys roll their chicken and lettuce into soft tacos, while I eat mine with a fork and use the tortillas to sop up the delicious juices in the plate. Mmm!

The use of chicken in place of ground beef and the lack of sour cream, cheese, or added oil, keeps this meal amazingly low fat. I’ve tried serving this with Mexican Rice a few times and have noticed that it doesn’t really add much to the experience. So I’ve cut that portion of the menu, saving 30 minutes of cooking time and almost 200 calories. Nixing the tortillas would remove another 3 points per person. Woot!