Day 84 - 89, New Year

It has been one hell of a week.  Lots of roller coasters.

I didn't have a stellar week eating since last Wednesday. I was away for a few days and that meant restaurant meals, although I made pretty good choices, there's no way to really control the sodium or the hidden fats in seemingly innocent foods.  Actually, Applebee's in the US has a Weight Watchers menu and I ordered Paradise Salad, including dressing it was 9 points, since I never eat salad dressing, I know I over tracked that meal.  IHOP has a Slim and Fit menu with items under 400 calories and I ordered from that for breakfast the next day...but there was a lot more carbs than I would normally eat over the last week. Once I start the carb slide, it's a quick ride down to an all carb free for all.  This week was kinda like that, I did go over my total points by 5 for the week but I never count my activity points.....argh...somehow it all balanced out to a loss of 2.5 lbs this week.

That is 0.3 lbs away from 10%. Yeah, I know I'll get it next week...but damn....so close!!!

Total is 22.7 lbs, average is 1.75 lbs a week...still a great average, I think.

Plan for the week ahead is to count my activity points - just to see ;) and also to end the carb overload and get back to more balanced eating.

Day 76 - 83, New Year

That's my twelve week graph from Weight Watchers. The 10% line at 225lbs is from when I lost my first 10% from my highest weight of 250.  I didn't delete the old data. My new 10% line from my restart in December, 2010 is 212.  2.8 lbs to go as of today. This week I lost 1.1 lbs for a total of 20.2 lbs in 12 weeks.

This feels like it's been a long, long week. Yesterday was another monster snowstorm that made my commute horrendously long, but thankfully, I made it home safely, unlike many of the cars I saw spin out or flipped over. It was very scary.

Yesterday my right eye started hurting and watering. It was swollen and bloodshot within an hour and I could barely get my contact out. When I finally did, it did alleviate some of the pain but not all of it. This morning it was still swollen, bloodshot and very sore. Turns out I scratched the retina somehow. Thankfully, this is apparently very common and heals quickly on it's own in most cases. The only downside for me is having to wear glasses for 5- 7 days..UGH..it's only been one day and I already miss my contacts.

Hope you are all having an awesome week :)

Day 72 - 75, New Year

It has been a really crappy day. One of the worst days I've had in a very long time. I am both emotionally and physically tired tonight.

The topper to my crappy day was my weigh in. I gained 0.8 lb.  So now I am at 19.1 lbs lost and 3.9 to my 10%.

I am disappointed.  I am not devastated.  I don't know why I gained. I stayed within my points again this week. I did the same amount of physical activity. If I look over my tracker,  I can't see that my meals were wildly different from previous weeks. It's just one of those things. Could I have had a better week, eating and exercising? Sure. It's always possible to do better.

This weight loss is going to be my last time. It is going to take as long as it takes. I am not backing down or giving up. I am pushing forward and downward. Are you with me?

Day 69 - 71, New Year

My plans were foiled today by a sick car.  Coincidentally my eldest son is in bed sick with a cold/cough and my youngest is at a friend's house...so I'm all alone. What's a girl to do?

Cook!

I've been wanting to try this Peanut Butter Chocolate Dessert Hummus recipe for over a month now and today seemed like the perfect day.  I decided to go one step further and bake them into cookies. I've pasted the recipe at the end of the post for you.

The verdict:

Hummus - Delicious. I love it. I absolutely cannot taste the chickpeas. This would be good with low fat graham crackers or even arrowroot cookies (my personal favourite), but since I had neither in the house, I ate it with a spoon. For the Weight Watchers out there, 1/4 cup = 4 PP.

Cookies - I got 30 cookies out of the recipe and at 1 WW PP, that is excellent. These cookies are clean, nothing processed or fake - and are even better than other baked peanut butter cookies I've made. My boys didn't even know the difference and these are way better for growing boys than store bought or even home baked with processed sugar, flour and peanut butter.

I absolutely love this website, The Wannabe Chef. This is the first recipe I've tried but they all look delicious and easy.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dessert Hummus

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chickpeas
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4  cup mini chocolate chips 

Drain, measure, wash, and peel your chickpeas. Peeling them isn’t absolutely necessary but it makes for the creamiest hummus and really is worth the effort.(Note: I didn't peel mine and it came out quite smooth).


In a food processor, add the first 4 ingredients and process until the hummus is smooth and emulsified(the one thing no one wants for dessert is chunky chickpea pieces in their dessert).

Remove and lick the blade and fold in the chocolate chips. Move into a deep serving bowl and serve with graham crackers or baby carrots.

My cookie version:

Preheat oven to 350F. 


Spoon onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes. The tops will be slightly brown, but they will still look very soft and mushy.
Let them cool about 10 min on the cookie sheet then cool completely on a wire rack. If you don't let them cool, they WILL fall apart when you pick them up. They are slightly gooey and chewy on the inside, if you like them firmer, you could probably cook them a bit longer at a lower temp. They would look prettier if you use a cookie scoop!


Enjoy!

Day 66 - 68, New Year

Week 10 on the new Weight Watchers Points Plus plan. I really wanted to tell you I was down 20lbs in ten weeks, doesn't that just have a nice ring to it? 

But it didn't work out that way.

I've lost 19.9 lbs in 10 weeks. 

And...I am thrilled :)

This program seems to suit my medical issues much better than the old one. It really makes me think before eating processed carbohydrates. The points are so high for these types of foods that it discourages me from eating them and turns me towards better-for-me choices.  I still indulge occasionally but I do it within my points and it's balanced by a healthy diet most of the time.

Last Friday was my son Liam's 14th birthday.  When I asked him what he wanted that night, he said "Coldstone". Coldstone is an ice cream parlour that has the most decadent and delicious ice cream I've ever tasted.  So...I had a bowl with him.  It was 12 points of sweet cream ice cream with chocolate chips and it was worth every point. Every spoonful was delicously creamy and cold.  I had no regrets about spending the points on it. Not a single second of remorse or guilt for eating so many unhealthy calories, otherwise what was the point of having it?

Day 62 - 65, New Year

Just for fun, today.

Age: 43
Bed size: Queen
Chore you dislike: Vacuuming
Dogs: Not an animal person.
Essential start to your day: Hot, hot shower.
Favourite colour: Just about any shade of blue.
Gold or silver: Gold
Height: 5’ nuttin.
Instruments played:None, I failed recorder and ukelele in grade 4.
Job title: Procurement Support Assistant
Kids: 2 handsome, smart and funny boys
Live: with boys mentioned above.
Mom's name: Janet Louise
Nicknames: Enz, the Enz, Enzyme,
Overnight hospital stays: 3
Pet peeves:Changes frequently.
Quote from a movie:Star  Trek: Spock, in this case, do yourself a favor: Put aside logic. Do what feels right.

Righty or lefty: Right
Siblings: Tony, Michele and Louisa
Time you wake up: M-F 430 a.m. - Weekends - anytime
Underwear: always matching!
Vegetables you don't like:Eggplant, artichoke
What makes you run late: Waiting for boys to get ready.
Yummy food you make: Anything Italian.
X-Rays you've had:  tailbone, wrist, back, lungs, knees
Zoo animal favourites: Not an animal person but I like watching the lions.

Day 58 - 61, New Year

End of week 9....and another 3.7 lbs down. Total is now 18.3 lbs. Average is just over 2 lbs a week.

You know what that means?

4.7 lbs to 10%.

Awesome....if I do say so myself :)