Looking forward to Thanksgiving...

Looking forward to Thanksgiving...But not looking forward to testing my On/Off Diet skills.  My mom and I were going over the menu for the three day festivities out at my Grandpa's house in the Desert today.  The list of things for her and her sisters and the rest of us to bring was a mile long.  Beware...STOP reading now if our menu items will tempt you....here I go...
Deviled Eggs, Chips, Dips, Bacon & Eggs, Danishes & Donuts, Pies, Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Enchiladas, potato salad...the list goes on and on...and that is ON TOP of Thanksgiving dinner!  We have always gone out to his house for Thanksgiving and the whole point of the weekend is to RELAX and EAT!
I am looking foward to have a few holiday treats but feeling like it is a little early in the game to test my skills by going "off" my diet for three days.
We shall see....

Today was another great day.  Had a fabulous burrito for dinner.  It was approx 8 points, but it was a complete meal.  Tortilla, Fully Cooked Shredded chicken (from a whole hot roasted chicken from the grocery store) Light Shredded Mexican Cheese, Avocado and Beans! YUM!

I think I may get on the scale again tomorrow.  Feeling like my diet is really working...

Here are a few more OLD Before and After pics from my first Weight Watchers go 'round in 2004.  The Before Pic is of me going to one of my best friends baby shower in the Summer of 2003...ICK, UGG, EWW.  I can't believe I let it go so far...I remember just feeling awful.  I weight about 33 lbs less now than in that first pic.  The second set of pics is from my WW Lifetime goal home modeling career (you know, the one, where you try on every new outfit you own and have your hubby take pics of you in lots of poses...what, huh? no, you have not done that...oh, guess it is just me!) :-)

Summer 2003-going to a baby shower..and despite how it looks, NOT Mine!

December 2004-8 months after starting WW

Arms....

I have a hate/hate relationship with my arms.  It all started when in 9th grade when I was 5'9" and probably about 135 lbs, and cute boy came up to me and started squeezing my arms.  He made some snarky remark about how big they were.  From then on, I hated them.  Truth be told, my the women in my family all have fairly flabby chunky arms in comparison to the rest of their body....regardless of if they have a weight problem or not.  So the cards were stacked against me from the start..and now, they are the size of the western hemisphere! I am looking forward to at least getting them back to a respectable when I hit my goal weight.  I will dig up the best arm picture that I ever took and post it this week.  It was halloween 1996, I was 22 and weighed about 140.  While I don't think I will get that low again, I want to use that picture as my arm inspiration.

Today was another good day...I am on a roll.  I did cheat and get on the scale early.  I am down 2.5 lbs in 5 days!! I love the beginning of a diet and the weight comes off so easy!

Here are a few more pics of my infamous Yo Yo Past.  The Before pic is the day I started Weight Watchers for the first time in 2004.  The After was about 7 months later...WOW...that is all I can say when I look back at these.  What a difference 68 lbs makes!

April 2004 - Before

November 2004 - After

See you tomorrow!
Nicole

New PF Chang Frozen Dinners

I follow a blog that hosts a "Works for me Wednesday" post each Wednesday.  My post is below, but to check out what works for some other people check out:

I have a husband who likes to not eat all day and then is starving when I walk in the door from work. I have a super easy meal I like to make when in a time crunch.
I just started Weight Watchers again, so currently, I personally am not eating these as I would rather eat something with less calories.  That being said, I LOVE the PF Change frozen dinners.  They are soooo good and sooo easy.  You literally just open the bag, dump it into a sauce pan, cover, put it on High for 10 minutes and viola' it is ready to eat!
If you have ever need a quick meal, these are great!
*Pair it with a some brown rice, I like to use the frozen bags of brown rice from Trader Joe's or Birdseye

What I ate today 11/16/2010

Breakfast: Banana / Kid Cliff Bar
Lunch: Lean Cuisine / Apple
Dinner: Pesto Talapia, Brown Rice, Green Beans
Dessert: Animal Crackers
Total Calories: 1050!! Wow, and I am not even hungry and it is after 9 right now!

Another Easy Day!

I am so glad that I have this place to write down my thoughts on diet because I need to remember how EASY some days are to eat well!  I just get into this all or none mode where if I am eating bad one day then I just continue to do it day after day after day, not really connecting with what my body is even craving anymore.  I am 100% sure that there will be many days in my future where the cravings get the best of me, but if I can just remember to let that day be just that day and start fresh the next, then I can stop this constant Yo Yo situation.
I was looking back at some pictures of me and since hitting my Weight Watchers goal weight in Jan 2005 (where I had lost 68 lbs), I noticed that I have fluctuated up and down 45 lbs of that 68.  While I am glad to know that in 5 years since hitting that goal, that I have not gained it all back even after two pregnancies. I know that if I continue on this all or none path, that I am setting myself up for certain failure.

My focus needs to be on really putting in my brain that once I hit goal this time, that I can maintain it for a lifetime.  I can eat heathy on most days and have some splurges here and there and be satisfied.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

Nicole

Day 4 and going strong!

It's days like today that make me wonder why I can't eat like this all the time.  There was only one time today where I was super hungry and with working being pretty busy today, I just powered through.
I know that there will be many more days where I will feel more challenged, but I want to remember today as a day where my eating was in control and the food I ate was enjoyable and enough.
Here is a rundown of today's 1300 calories.
Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Lunch: Lean Cuisine
            Edamame
Dinner: Very small amount of Spaghetti
             A low fat stick of string cheese
             An Apple w/ 1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter
Dessert: Handful of Animal crackers

Lots of Water and Iced Green Tea too!

Not too shabby!

I was going to go back to a Weight Watchers meeting, but I was too busy at work today. Will try again next monday, so for now, I am still just going to count Calories...will get back on Point once I go to a meeting to check in.

See you tomorrow!

Day three-off to a good start!

So day three when off without a hitch! Let me give you a rundown on my days food intake...

Sunday is the day my husband let's me sleep in as long as I like while he takes on the kiddo's, and so it helps when I don't start my day until 9 am. Morning cravings averted!

I had my new favorite cereal...Kellogg's Fiber Plus Cinnamon Oat Crunch...9 grams of fiber per serving...and they taste similar to their evil cousin Cinnamon Toast Crunch...Yum.

Got a little hungry around 11, so ate some Chobani Greek Yogurt. Not my fav, I am much more of a yoplait girl, but alas, I can't argue with the protein in the Greek yogurt.

I breezed through to lunch where I ate a decent lean cuisine.

Kept busy with the kids all afternoon, so didn't start to feel like eating my hand until around 4 when I had a handful of Triscuits...that did not do much, so since it is now getting dark early, I started an early dinner for the family. I did not want to spend the calories on the sloppy joes that I made as I am not in full Weight Watchers counting mode yet, (more to come on that tomorrow), so I made a turkey sandwich with these new sandwich bread thins and made a salad. Both good and low in calories.

I ended my day with a 100 calorie popcorn bag and a diet coke.

A grand total of 1300 calories! And I did not have to eat my hand today! Yea for day three!

I did get on the scale today, but after tomorrow AM, I will only be weighing in on Monday mornings. This day has always worked best for me as it keeps me in check over the weekend from going overboard and thinking that I have all week to fix it. This way, I need to stay on track all weekend for a good Monday number.

Tomorrow I will go back to Weight Watchers...looking forward to it!

Current Weight 193.2: Down .06 lbs (ever bit counts!!)

See you tomorrow!