Balsamic Tomato Salad
WW PointsPlus per serving: 1
Makes 2 servings
This is my new favorite snack. A few weeks ago I had a bag of cherry tomatoes that were very close to spoiling. I knew I could cut them up and put them on a salad but that I'd probably end up throwing a bunch of them away. So, I pulled out an old recipe and modified it a little bit to shake things up. I use the cherry tomatoes that come in a little red bag, which is probably about 3 cups.
1 bag cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered (your preference)
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 t. olive oil
2 t. balsamic vinegar
1/2 t. basil
salt & pepper to taste
This recipe is so easy because all you do is chop the stuff up and then mix it all together.
We've had it on top of Wasa crackers (2 light rye crackers = 1 point) so you can have a pretty good sized snack for minimal points. I made this on Easter to take to my in-law's house for lunch and my mother-in-law said she used it on a salad the next day as the dressing. This recipe is so easy to make and it's great as a snack or a side dish.
Enjoy!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Well alrighty then
I know that the weigh-in at the WW meeting is the be all end all for me as far as weigh ins go. However, that doesn't stop me from stepping on the scale in the morning to check to see how things are progressing. Though regardless of what the scale at home says I do not change my eating or activity level, it's purely for reference. So when I stepped on the scale this week I started to go a little nutty because the scale kept saying I had gained weight. Normally, I know when I'm going to gain based on what I've eaten and how much I have (or haven't) worked out. This week was different, I'd had a really good week activity wise racking up 30+ activity points and only using 2 of them and not using any of my weekly points allowance. Insert the nuttiness of getting on the scale and seeing the number go up.
Seriously? What the <insert your favorite expletive here, I know I did>?
Needless to say I wasn't really looking forward to having a weigh-in today but I was super excited to go to my meeting. My regular leader, Karen, had been out for a few weeks and today was her first day back and I was super excited to see her. Karen has a level of enthusiasm that I really crave because she can turn any situation into something positive and she really looks for ways to incorporate members into the meetings so it's not all preachy. Karen has also been instilling things in us to reinforce what we practice on the WW plan. Karen has taught to learn from the poor choices that I've made but to not beat myself up. That is so important in my journey so I missed her while she was gone. Anyway, I was so excited to see Karen again that when I got on the scale today I had forgotten to look at the weight tracker for last week so I wasn't entirely sure what my number was but I was pretty sure that I lost weight.
Boy oh boy was I right! 3.4 pounds!!
Plus, hold on to your pants kids... I've lost a total of 90.8 pounds! I guess I really made up for my measly loss last week!
So, how do you prevent yourself from getting nutty about weight? One lady at my meeting told me that she literally threw away her scale. I'm not sure that I'm ready for something like that!!
Seriously? What the <insert your favorite expletive here, I know I did>?
Needless to say I wasn't really looking forward to having a weigh-in today but I was super excited to go to my meeting. My regular leader, Karen, had been out for a few weeks and today was her first day back and I was super excited to see her. Karen has a level of enthusiasm that I really crave because she can turn any situation into something positive and she really looks for ways to incorporate members into the meetings so it's not all preachy. Karen has also been instilling things in us to reinforce what we practice on the WW plan. Karen has taught to learn from the poor choices that I've made but to not beat myself up. That is so important in my journey so I missed her while she was gone. Anyway, I was so excited to see Karen again that when I got on the scale today I had forgotten to look at the weight tracker for last week so I wasn't entirely sure what my number was but I was pretty sure that I lost weight.
Boy oh boy was I right! 3.4 pounds!!
Plus, hold on to your pants kids... I've lost a total of 90.8 pounds! I guess I really made up for my measly loss last week!
So, how do you prevent yourself from getting nutty about weight? One lady at my meeting told me that she literally threw away her scale. I'm not sure that I'm ready for something like that!!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Gettin' the job done. Slowly.
I know I should be happy that the scale is going in the right direction but having 3 weeks where I lost more than 2 pounds per week spoiled me. Honestly though I thought when I went to weigh in today that I was going to gain so I was a little bit happy when I found out I lost half of a pound. I won't be setting any records with this kind of weight loss but at least I'm going in the right direction.
I walked another 5K this weekend and while it was cold and very windy I did it. And I did it four minutes faster than I did last weekend! I was amazed that I'd completed it any faster than last weekend because at some points I had such a strong headwind that I felt like I had stopped walking. Lucky for me I had a 60 pound yellow lab to keep me going! Now if only the weather would improve because while I will walk when it's cold I will not walk outside when it is raining.
The meeting topic this week was all about tracking, which I do pretty religiously. I use tracking to remind me what I've eaten. In the past I have eaten things and then completely forgotten what I ate or how much and just out of habit or boredom I will eat something else. Over time, clearly, this adds up. So I use the eTools and iPhone app to track what I eat and how much activity I get. Plus I know that when I have a bad week I know I can look back at the good weeks and find out what I did and where I need to improve.
So what do you do to keep yourself on track?
What do you do to motivate yourself when mother nature isn't cooperating?
I walked another 5K this weekend and while it was cold and very windy I did it. And I did it four minutes faster than I did last weekend! I was amazed that I'd completed it any faster than last weekend because at some points I had such a strong headwind that I felt like I had stopped walking. Lucky for me I had a 60 pound yellow lab to keep me going! Now if only the weather would improve because while I will walk when it's cold I will not walk outside when it is raining.
The meeting topic this week was all about tracking, which I do pretty religiously. I use tracking to remind me what I've eaten. In the past I have eaten things and then completely forgotten what I ate or how much and just out of habit or boredom I will eat something else. Over time, clearly, this adds up. So I use the eTools and iPhone app to track what I eat and how much activity I get. Plus I know that when I have a bad week I know I can look back at the good weeks and find out what I did and where I need to improve.
So what do you do to keep yourself on track?
What do you do to motivate yourself when mother nature isn't cooperating?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Activity? It works. Who'd have guessed
I got to my regular Tuesday WW meeting yesterday which was a breath of fresh air. I love the ladies at that meeting because they are so inspiring and supportive. I was super excited to be able to share with them my walk on Sunday and they were excited and asked me lots of questions about how I felt during the walk. This was exactly what I needed and I was so happy to see them.
My weigh-in went well and I was really happy when I realized I lost another 2.8 pounds which is awesome though slightly unexpected. I knew I'd lost weight but I wasn't sure how the scale would react. Especially with the increased activity I worried that it would register a gain due to muscle. Luckily, I suppose, it didn't though I can feel in my legs the difference that the walking has made.
I also wanted to mention that about a month ago I went to the New Balance store and they measured my feet and I got new shoes. Initially I didn't like them because they were a little bigger than I'd normally buy however, after having walked in them for a few weeks now I have to say these were a good investment. Prior to getting the new shoes I'd been having some problems with pain across the top of my foot. I wasn't sure if it was because of all the walking that I'd started doing but then my knees started to hurt too and I wanted to take care of that before it got really bad. So, I made the trip to the NB store. The shoes were expensive but my feet and knees are feeling really good so that is awesome. The reason I mention this is that if you're going to increase your activity - make sure you have the right gear.
Do you have any special gear that you absolutely cannot live without?
My weigh-in went well and I was really happy when I realized I lost another 2.8 pounds which is awesome though slightly unexpected. I knew I'd lost weight but I wasn't sure how the scale would react. Especially with the increased activity I worried that it would register a gain due to muscle. Luckily, I suppose, it didn't though I can feel in my legs the difference that the walking has made.
I also wanted to mention that about a month ago I went to the New Balance store and they measured my feet and I got new shoes. Initially I didn't like them because they were a little bigger than I'd normally buy however, after having walked in them for a few weeks now I have to say these were a good investment. Prior to getting the new shoes I'd been having some problems with pain across the top of my foot. I wasn't sure if it was because of all the walking that I'd started doing but then my knees started to hurt too and I wanted to take care of that before it got really bad. So, I made the trip to the NB store. The shoes were expensive but my feet and knees are feeling really good so that is awesome. The reason I mention this is that if you're going to increase your activity - make sure you have the right gear.
Do you have any special gear that you absolutely cannot live without?
Sunday, April 10, 2011
58 minutes and 2 seconds
That is how long it took me to walk 3.25 miles - 58 minutes and 2 seconds.
HOLY CRAP!!!
Yesterday while I was talking to my sister, Brenda, I decided (after she asked if I was walking the full 5K) that today would be the day. I didn't really have any big plans so if I was exhausted after the walk it'd be fine because I'd have time to recover. I immediately started to mentally prepare myself for the distance and the amount of time that it would take me to do this.
This morning I woke up around 6 am and just snuggled in. I hadn't planned on leaving the house until 7:30 so I had plenty of time to relax before getting up. Until I read Facebook and my bestie, Sheri, said that it was already 66 degrees out side. Yikes that got me moving a lot faster! I was out the door at 7:17 with Briscoe, our black lab.
I walked back in the door at 8:15 and that included 4 brief stops, for the dog, not me. I feel good now but I was about ready to let loose with some expletives around the 2.6 mile mark. The entire walk I kept second guessing myself as to whether I'd make it or take a short cut home. On the last stop to throw away the doggy bag I had to make the final decision. Short way or long way back to the house. We went the long way. I mean, it's already been 50 minutes, I can go another 10, right?
I have an app on my phone that tracks the speed and distance I've gone as well as the length of time. When I walked in the door I felt so proud that I'd just walked 3.25 miles in under an hour! What a sigh of relief. Thankfully, there was a huge cup of iced tea (my favorite drink) waiting for me and a high five from my fabulous husband. Not to mention a nice long shower.
It's a beautiful day out today - are you getting out and being active? Have you set any new goals for yourself?
HOLY CRAP!!!
Yesterday while I was talking to my sister, Brenda, I decided (after she asked if I was walking the full 5K) that today would be the day. I didn't really have any big plans so if I was exhausted after the walk it'd be fine because I'd have time to recover. I immediately started to mentally prepare myself for the distance and the amount of time that it would take me to do this.
This morning I woke up around 6 am and just snuggled in. I hadn't planned on leaving the house until 7:30 so I had plenty of time to relax before getting up. Until I read Facebook and my bestie, Sheri, said that it was already 66 degrees out side. Yikes that got me moving a lot faster! I was out the door at 7:17 with Briscoe, our black lab.
I walked back in the door at 8:15 and that included 4 brief stops, for the dog, not me. I feel good now but I was about ready to let loose with some expletives around the 2.6 mile mark. The entire walk I kept second guessing myself as to whether I'd make it or take a short cut home. On the last stop to throw away the doggy bag I had to make the final decision. Short way or long way back to the house. We went the long way. I mean, it's already been 50 minutes, I can go another 10, right?
I have an app on my phone that tracks the speed and distance I've gone as well as the length of time. When I walked in the door I felt so proud that I'd just walked 3.25 miles in under an hour! What a sigh of relief. Thankfully, there was a huge cup of iced tea (my favorite drink) waiting for me and a high five from my fabulous husband. Not to mention a nice long shower.
It's a beautiful day out today - are you getting out and being active? Have you set any new goals for yourself?
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Feeling it...
You know how sometimes you can feel your weight loss? Or worse, you feel a weight gain? This week I wasn't really feeling anything. We had a bunch of friends over on Saturday and we ordered pizza for lunch and BWW for dinner and in the middle we sampled some of the finest Stout beers in the land. Needless to say when I walked into my weigh-in today I really wasn't expecting much.
Well it snuck in there with a -2 pounds.
Oh hell yeah. I'll take that.
For those that were really paying attention a few months ago I put something in the stats area of the blog that I wasn't really proud of. I'm still not proud of it but I'm going to own it. When I started this whole journey I weighed in at 382.4 pounds. I could make a joke or I could try for sympathy but it's not even worthy of a joke or sympathy. The reason I'm telling you this is because I am now UNDER 300 pounds and while that probably doesn't seem like a big deal, it is to me.
Oh, and remember when I said I wasn't going to get addicted to the 5K? Yeah, I've registered for another one. Apparently I am one of those people. Who'd have guessed?
Well it snuck in there with a -2 pounds.
Oh hell yeah. I'll take that.
For those that were really paying attention a few months ago I put something in the stats area of the blog that I wasn't really proud of. I'm still not proud of it but I'm going to own it. When I started this whole journey I weighed in at 382.4 pounds. I could make a joke or I could try for sympathy but it's not even worthy of a joke or sympathy. The reason I'm telling you this is because I am now UNDER 300 pounds and while that probably doesn't seem like a big deal, it is to me.
Oh, and remember when I said I wasn't going to get addicted to the 5K? Yeah, I've registered for another one. Apparently I am one of those people. Who'd have guessed?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)