Sunday, November 15
Breakfast:
-Raspberry NutriGrain bar (best option at the gas station on the way up to A-Basin...)
-1/2 single serve bag honey roasted peanuts (on the lift...)
Late lunch:
-Veggie jambalaya (lots of veggies and beans with brown rice)
Dinner:
-Balsamic cherry tomato penne (from the WW cookbook Comfort Classics- adapted to be even lower in points!)
-2/3 cup peas/carrots mixture
-1 serving stuffing with sage and chives (from the WW website- test recipe for Thanksgiving- it is going to make the cut..)
-2 servings homemade fudge
-25 cal. hot chocolate
Good Health Guidelines:
Exercise- YES! (ski day... I'm tired...)
Whole grains- yep
Limit sugar/alcohol- I stopped at 2 pieces of fudge, didn't I? :)
Fruits/veggies- yep
Liquids- yes (again, remember I'm not listing my liquids all out here- too much to type!)
Vitamin- yes
Lean protein- yes
Healthy oils- yes
Dairy- nope (notice a trend here? I know, I know...I typically DO drink fortified soymilk- but somehow this week that hasn't been the case)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
A.W.L.- Saturday
Saturday, November 14
Breakfast:
-Oatmeal (same basic stuff as yesterday too- nothing fancy lately in my oatmeal)
Lunch:
-Boca burger on 2 pieces of toast. Fixed with lots of pickles, lettuce, ketchup and a smear of vegenaise (non-eggy mayo). Oh- more pickles on the side too. Love the pickles.
-Baked sweet potato
Dinner:
-Essentially the same as lunch- another Boca burger. This time it was paired with 1/2 cup vegetarian baked beans instead of the potato.
Good Health Guidelines
-Liquids- check
-Fruits/veggies- I think that I was okay here
-Vitamin- check
-Exercise- check
-Limit alcohol/sugar- check
-Lean protein- check
-Whole grains- Hmmm... nope
-Healthy oils- I missed this one today
-Dairy- no
Breakfast:
-Oatmeal (same basic stuff as yesterday too- nothing fancy lately in my oatmeal)
Lunch:
-Boca burger on 2 pieces of toast. Fixed with lots of pickles, lettuce, ketchup and a smear of vegenaise (non-eggy mayo). Oh- more pickles on the side too. Love the pickles.
-Baked sweet potato
Dinner:
-Essentially the same as lunch- another Boca burger. This time it was paired with 1/2 cup vegetarian baked beans instead of the potato.
Good Health Guidelines
-Liquids- check
-Fruits/veggies- I think that I was okay here
-Vitamin- check
-Exercise- check
-Limit alcohol/sugar- check
-Lean protein- check
-Whole grains- Hmmm... nope
-Healthy oils- I missed this one today
-Dairy- no
Saturday, November 14, 2009
A.W.L.- Friday
Friday, November 13
Breakfast:
Oatmeal (My "basic" recipe is 1/2 cup regular oats and usually 1 tsp. brown sugar and a splash of soy or almond milk. See an earlier post for the numerous ways that I doctor up oatmeal though...)
Lunch:
Kashi brand Black Bean and Mango frozen entree
Medium apple
Snack:
Emerald Cocoa Roasted Almonds- 100 cal. pack
Dinner:
Chinese vegetables-- steamed- not fried. Kung Pao sauce on the side- used about 1/3 cup sauce- total for "dipping" my veggies.
1 cup white rice (this restaurant didn't have brown-!?!?)
Post-Dinner:
2 bottles pumpkin beer
1 wheat tortilla with 1 tsp. earth balance buttery spread
Good Health Guidelines:
Fruits and Veggies- check
Liquids- check
Vitamin- check
Whole Grains- check (my Kashi meal was all whole grains- even if the Chinese restaurant didn't have brown rice...)
Lean protein- check
Milk products- no
Exercise- no
Limit sugar/alcohol- check
Healthy oils- not quite
Breakfast:
Oatmeal (My "basic" recipe is 1/2 cup regular oats and usually 1 tsp. brown sugar and a splash of soy or almond milk. See an earlier post for the numerous ways that I doctor up oatmeal though...)
Lunch:
Kashi brand Black Bean and Mango frozen entree
Medium apple
Snack:
Emerald Cocoa Roasted Almonds- 100 cal. pack
Dinner:
Chinese vegetables-- steamed- not fried. Kung Pao sauce on the side- used about 1/3 cup sauce- total for "dipping" my veggies.
1 cup white rice (this restaurant didn't have brown-!?!?)
Post-Dinner:
2 bottles pumpkin beer
1 wheat tortilla with 1 tsp. earth balance buttery spread
Good Health Guidelines:
Fruits and Veggies- check
Liquids- check
Vitamin- check
Whole Grains- check (my Kashi meal was all whole grains- even if the Chinese restaurant didn't have brown rice...)
Lean protein- check
Milk products- no
Exercise- no
Limit sugar/alcohol- check
Healthy oils- not quite
Friday, November 13, 2009
A.W.L.- Thursday
A (W)eek in the (L)ife of... Me (Thursday).
Here was my day on Thursday:
Breakfast:
Gas station cappuccino (remember what I said about not being perfect-?!?!)
Early Lunch:
Leftover stir fried veggies with a miso sauce
Later Lunch:
Wild rice/veggie soup
Dinner:
Vegetarian jambalaya- made with brown rice and loaded with beans and veggies
Snacks:
Coke Zero
Hot chocolate
Veggie baked beans
Good Health Guidelines:
Vitamin- check
Liquids- check (I'm not writing all the water that I'm consuming throughout the day)
Fruits/Veggies- check
Whole grains- check
Dairy- no
Lean protein- check
Healthy oils- check
Limit sugar/alcohol- check
Exercise- no
Here was my day on Thursday:
Breakfast:
Gas station cappuccino (remember what I said about not being perfect-?!?!)
Early Lunch:
Leftover stir fried veggies with a miso sauce
Later Lunch:
Wild rice/veggie soup
Dinner:
Vegetarian jambalaya- made with brown rice and loaded with beans and veggies
Snacks:
Coke Zero
Hot chocolate
Veggie baked beans
Good Health Guidelines:
Vitamin- check
Liquids- check (I'm not writing all the water that I'm consuming throughout the day)
Fruits/Veggies- check
Whole grains- check
Dairy- no
Lean protein- check
Healthy oils- check
Limit sugar/alcohol- check
Exercise- no
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
A week in the life of...me
From time to time, members ask me to share my menus/daily log. I am always happy to do so- and figure if I post a week's worth of my meals here, this can be an easy place to access the information. However, before I do that, I have a few things first to get out of the way. Deep breath. Okay- here goes:
1) I eat very little to no animal products. I am a long time vegetarian who eats very little (if any) other animal products (dairy, eggs, etc.) at home, and try to avoid them when I'm out and about. Now, why was the deep breath needed? Well, because I recognize that the way that I eat is different, and sometimes people make assumptions about vegetarians (i.e. we are all a bunch of hippies preaching about the evils of eating meat). Those of you who know me from meetings know that I'm not this way. 1) I'm not a hippie :) (though I have a funny picture of myself from a few years ago when I pulled off the look pretty well for a Halloween costume...). 2) I have some really strong convictions about respecting the ways that others eat- and as such, I do not judge others for their food choices (meat or otherwise), and hope that others will extend this same respect to me about my food choices. The other main (and false) assumption that people sometimes make about vegetarians are that we are all skinny. This is simply not true. I was a vegetarian when I was overweight, and I was overweight before I became a vegetarian at the age of 15. In short- my vegetarian diet didn't do squat for my weight-- one way or another. Consider that french fries, chocolate, ice cream, mozzarella sticks and fettuccine alfredo are all vegetarian foods-- now do you see why all vegetarians aren't skinny?? Seriously though--- I sometimes worry that some members may be less inclined to relate to me as a leader if they have different food choices than I do. Lastly, I just want to clearly state that I am not opposed to others eating meat. In fact, my husband is a classic meat and potatoes guy- who doesn't cook. I love to cook, and love to cook for others, so certainly am well versed in meat cooking and preparation techniques-- just not the eating side of things. To each their own.
Now that I got that one out of the way, (phew...I really did feel somewhat nervous about that...)the other items that I want to disclose may all make sense.
2) I eat a lot of stuff that others may consider "weird". For dinner last night, for example, I had a kale and miso stir fry. I love tofu, tempeh and seitan (no, not the devil... seitan is a "wheat meat" of sorts made with wheat gluten- it is actually really tasty). As you can imagine, I also eat a lot of different vegetables. I think that it is safe to say that I like them all (even the unpopular brussel sprouts)-- though something about cooked green peppers makes my stomach turn (raw and crunchy I love them, and yellow and red peppers I can do cooked).
3) Although I eat "weird stuff", I am pretty boring when it comes to variety. Consider that I am cooking batches of food for me (and separate food for my husband). See my note about his eating style above, and you will understand that a kale and miso stir fry isn't going to fit into his meat and potatoes pallet. Hence, I eat a lot of leftovers. Often I'll cook a big batch of something (i.e. soup or a casserole) on the weekend, and eat it for lunches (and sometimes dinners too) throughout the week.
4) I now use e-tools for my POINTs calculations. Whenever possible, if I have the nutritional information in front of me, I'll pull the cal/fat/fiber off that and 'save' the particular brand/item in my tracker for future reference. So, for example, if I say "wheat bread- 1 POINT", this doesn't mean that ALL wheat bread is 1 POINT- just so happens to be for the particular type of bread that I'm eating that day. I also really rely on the "recipe builder" tool. That said, when I joined Weight Watchers and was loosing weight back in 2002, e-tools didn't exist! Point being--- you can track as diligently as anyone with e-tools, assuming you've got your POINTs Finder, a calculator, and tracker (though e-tools is really, really nice for convenience sake)!
5) Lastly, please know that although I'll post my daily menus here for a week, this is just me and my one week. Weight Watchers is about YOU and your preferences and lifestyle. I hope that my postings expose you to some new ideas and help you see an example of Weight Watchers in action-- but please don't allow you to limit yourself to eating 'my way'. I've seen so many members have success in different ways-- and I'm pretty sure that most (all?) of them don't eat the same "weird" way that I do! :) You can work the program with convienience foods, you can work the program with restaurant foods, you can work the program if you love to cook, and you can make it work if cooking is the last thing that you want to do. So long as you are following the program- using your daily POINTs target, using (or not) your Weekly POINTs Allowance, and adhering the the Good Health Guidelines, the program works! Isn't it amazing how different our actual food selections can be-- and yet we can all be sucessful on the plan?
Oh- one more thing. I am not perfect. I'll post my good days- and my bad. This will be the 'uncut', 'uncensored' version of my Weight Watchers week. Enjoy!
1) I eat very little to no animal products. I am a long time vegetarian who eats very little (if any) other animal products (dairy, eggs, etc.) at home, and try to avoid them when I'm out and about. Now, why was the deep breath needed? Well, because I recognize that the way that I eat is different, and sometimes people make assumptions about vegetarians (i.e. we are all a bunch of hippies preaching about the evils of eating meat). Those of you who know me from meetings know that I'm not this way. 1) I'm not a hippie :) (though I have a funny picture of myself from a few years ago when I pulled off the look pretty well for a Halloween costume...). 2) I have some really strong convictions about respecting the ways that others eat- and as such, I do not judge others for their food choices (meat or otherwise), and hope that others will extend this same respect to me about my food choices. The other main (and false) assumption that people sometimes make about vegetarians are that we are all skinny. This is simply not true. I was a vegetarian when I was overweight, and I was overweight before I became a vegetarian at the age of 15. In short- my vegetarian diet didn't do squat for my weight-- one way or another. Consider that french fries, chocolate, ice cream, mozzarella sticks and fettuccine alfredo are all vegetarian foods-- now do you see why all vegetarians aren't skinny?? Seriously though--- I sometimes worry that some members may be less inclined to relate to me as a leader if they have different food choices than I do. Lastly, I just want to clearly state that I am not opposed to others eating meat. In fact, my husband is a classic meat and potatoes guy- who doesn't cook. I love to cook, and love to cook for others, so certainly am well versed in meat cooking and preparation techniques-- just not the eating side of things. To each their own.
Now that I got that one out of the way, (phew...I really did feel somewhat nervous about that...)the other items that I want to disclose may all make sense.
2) I eat a lot of stuff that others may consider "weird". For dinner last night, for example, I had a kale and miso stir fry. I love tofu, tempeh and seitan (no, not the devil... seitan is a "wheat meat" of sorts made with wheat gluten- it is actually really tasty). As you can imagine, I also eat a lot of different vegetables. I think that it is safe to say that I like them all (even the unpopular brussel sprouts)-- though something about cooked green peppers makes my stomach turn (raw and crunchy I love them, and yellow and red peppers I can do cooked).
3) Although I eat "weird stuff", I am pretty boring when it comes to variety. Consider that I am cooking batches of food for me (and separate food for my husband). See my note about his eating style above, and you will understand that a kale and miso stir fry isn't going to fit into his meat and potatoes pallet. Hence, I eat a lot of leftovers. Often I'll cook a big batch of something (i.e. soup or a casserole) on the weekend, and eat it for lunches (and sometimes dinners too) throughout the week.
4) I now use e-tools for my POINTs calculations. Whenever possible, if I have the nutritional information in front of me, I'll pull the cal/fat/fiber off that and 'save' the particular brand/item in my tracker for future reference. So, for example, if I say "wheat bread- 1 POINT", this doesn't mean that ALL wheat bread is 1 POINT- just so happens to be for the particular type of bread that I'm eating that day. I also really rely on the "recipe builder" tool. That said, when I joined Weight Watchers and was loosing weight back in 2002, e-tools didn't exist! Point being--- you can track as diligently as anyone with e-tools, assuming you've got your POINTs Finder, a calculator, and tracker (though e-tools is really, really nice for convenience sake)!
5) Lastly, please know that although I'll post my daily menus here for a week, this is just me and my one week. Weight Watchers is about YOU and your preferences and lifestyle. I hope that my postings expose you to some new ideas and help you see an example of Weight Watchers in action-- but please don't allow you to limit yourself to eating 'my way'. I've seen so many members have success in different ways-- and I'm pretty sure that most (all?) of them don't eat the same "weird" way that I do! :) You can work the program with convienience foods, you can work the program with restaurant foods, you can work the program if you love to cook, and you can make it work if cooking is the last thing that you want to do. So long as you are following the program- using your daily POINTs target, using (or not) your Weekly POINTs Allowance, and adhering the the Good Health Guidelines, the program works! Isn't it amazing how different our actual food selections can be-- and yet we can all be sucessful on the plan?
Oh- one more thing. I am not perfect. I'll post my good days- and my bad. This will be the 'uncut', 'uncensored' version of my Weight Watchers week. Enjoy!
A little something sweet...Chocolove
I am definitely one of those people who feels that dinner is "complete" with dessert. Unfortunately for my Weight Watchers program, I don't always have the points for a full fledged dessert after each dinner (though I do budget for those from time to time...). For me, a sweet treat is both a physical and mental signal that dinner is done. In the summer, oftentimes a great piece of fruit can do the trick- but come winter, that isn't always a viable option. Instead, I opt for hot chocolate (lots of 1 POINT options out there), tea (see an earlier post for my favorites), or, in other instances it chocolate to the rescue.
I am a firm believer that good, high quality chocolate is a worthy purchase. If I have iccky leftover Halloween style candy (not typically great quality...), it somehow just doesn't do the trick. I think that it has to do with the sweetness of the chocolate overpowering the actual flavor, or something like that and I end up eating more. Instead, I love a very small piece of high quality dark chocolate. Not too sweet- but a strong and rich true chocolate flavor that effectively signals that dinner is done. The high test stuff really is different (better) than Nestle or Mars.
I went through a Lake Champlain Chocolate phase (a nod to my New England roots), but recently have discovered Chocolove- made right here in Colorado! Not only is the chocolate itself the decadent dark chocolate that I love, but there are several varieties with blended fruits/spices. Right now I have a bar of it with orange peels melted in; last week it was crystallized ginger. They also have a raspberry and cherry/almond one. The 3.2 oz bar lasts me a week-- there are 18 little mini squares that you can break off the bar. I've been savoring 2 squares/night, as my little "nightcap". I just love the name too---and, BONUS: there is a love poem on the inside of each wrapper! The one on the bar that I have now is a part of a sonnet (I think...). How cute is that? Check out their website for more information- www.chocolove.com. I've seen them at Sunflower Market, King Soopers, and Whole Foods. Love that it is a local company, love the chocolate, and I love that this little something sweet helps me stay on program each night after dinner!
I am a firm believer that good, high quality chocolate is a worthy purchase. If I have iccky leftover Halloween style candy (not typically great quality...), it somehow just doesn't do the trick. I think that it has to do with the sweetness of the chocolate overpowering the actual flavor, or something like that and I end up eating more. Instead, I love a very small piece of high quality dark chocolate. Not too sweet- but a strong and rich true chocolate flavor that effectively signals that dinner is done. The high test stuff really is different (better) than Nestle or Mars.
I went through a Lake Champlain Chocolate phase (a nod to my New England roots), but recently have discovered Chocolove- made right here in Colorado! Not only is the chocolate itself the decadent dark chocolate that I love, but there are several varieties with blended fruits/spices. Right now I have a bar of it with orange peels melted in; last week it was crystallized ginger. They also have a raspberry and cherry/almond one. The 3.2 oz bar lasts me a week-- there are 18 little mini squares that you can break off the bar. I've been savoring 2 squares/night, as my little "nightcap". I just love the name too---and, BONUS: there is a love poem on the inside of each wrapper! The one on the bar that I have now is a part of a sonnet (I think...). How cute is that? Check out their website for more information- www.chocolove.com. I've seen them at Sunflower Market, King Soopers, and Whole Foods. Love that it is a local company, love the chocolate, and I love that this little something sweet helps me stay on program each night after dinner!
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