Trader Joe's Tour

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I had an amazing opportunity last week.  Julie, a Weight Watchers Leader arranged for a tour of the Trader Joe's store in Batavia.  I joined about 10 other Weight Watchers members to listen to Christine, a Trader Joe's Crew Member show us around the store and tell us all about the PointsPlus (PPV) bargains that were spread throughout the store.  In addition to telling us where we could find these gems they also provided us a list of these foods and their associated Points Plus values.  I thought of myself as pretty savvy when it comes to finding a good PPV value but some of these things were a surprise to me.  I thought I'd share the list with you guys because if you haven't found any/all of these items, please go in search of them if you have a Trader Joe's store near you.

A few of my favorite items from Trader Joe's:

• Horseradish Hummus - you get a ton of flavor for only 1 PPV per serving
• Champagne Pear Dressing - there is cheese in the dressing!  Need I say more?
• Queso Cheese Dip - It is SOOO delicious
• Chili Lime Chicken Burgers - they are HUGE and so flavorful!
• Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins - they are only 2 PPV per thin!!

If you've found any other Points Plus bargains that I haven't included, please let me know so I can update the list.

RECIPE: Cranberry Orange Scones

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Cranberry Orange Scones

Cranberry Orange Scones

Points Plus Value Per Serving:  3
Makes:  12 scones

I have been absolutely delighted that fresh cranberries are back on store shelves!  I love the flavor of cranberries and oranges together because it reminds me of baking with Mom.  Unfortunately, Mom's muffin recipe isn't exactly Weight Watchers friendly, yet.  I'm going to try making it over this week or next but until then I got my cranberry orange fix with this scone recipe.

2 c all-purpose flour (Use whole wheat flour to kick up the nutrition a bit)
1/2 bag fresh cranberries, picked over
1 T. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. table salt
1/4 c sugar (I used Stevia)
1/4 c. egg substitute
1 c. fat free buttermilk (see note below to make buttermilk)

1/4 c. low calorie butter, melted (I used Brummel & Brown)
Zest and juice of one large orange

TO MAKE FAT FREE BUTTERMILK:
Mix 1 T vinegar or lemon juice + fat-free milk to make 1 cup & let stand for 10 minutes = 1 cup fat-free buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Coat a baking sheet with non-fat cooking spray or parchment paper
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except cranberries together until mixed well.
Fold in cranberries.
Drop 12 equal two-inch mounds of batter on prepared baking sheet about 1-inch apart.
Bake until tops just start to turn golden, about 12 to 15 minutes.

These are wonderful fresh out of the oven.  They are also fabulous if you toast them briefly to warm them and make them a little crispy, again.

Quick and Easy Meals

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The past couple of weekends have been incredibly busy which is why I've been quiet on here lately.  So, the routine for this month seems especially relevant.  Two weekends ago we were in Wisconsin with friends and had an absolutely amazing time.  But I knew I overate.  A lot.  There were more starchy carbs eaten in four days than in the last year I think.  Last weekend we were home for a family reunion.  Let me tell you, my mom and aunts can cook up some seriously delicious eats.  Again, I overate.

Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed the food that I ate.  Not surprisingly, after having eaten way too much (and things I'm not used to eating) I got sick.  It's "nice" that my body reminds me when I make stupid choices.  Being able to put together a quick meal is essential to staying, or getting back on, plan.  I'm pretty good with the side dishes, mostly because there are only a handful of vegetables that Dan will eat which certainly makes that part of the meal easier.  Then it's just a matter of figuring out the protein for the meal.

My favorite side dishes:
Brussels with Bacon
1 bag frozen Brussels sprouts
2 slices bacon
1 t. olive oil

I cut off most of the fat from the bacon and just use the meatiest parts.  Add the olive oil to a pan, then the bacon and the frozen sprouts.  Cook for about 8-10 minutes.  The bacon should be crispy and the sprouts tender with a little crunch.  Since the bacon is salty you don't really need to use seasoning, in my opinion.


Garlicky Green Beans
1 bag frozen green beans (I like the french cut beans best)
1 t. olive oil
garlic salt to taste

Add olive oil to pan, then green beans.  Cook until beans have begun to brown.  I add a little spray butter and then garlic salt or another seasoning (sometimes steak or barbeque) depending on my mood.

What quick and easy meals do you have in your pocket?

Half way to another goal

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A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the Under Armour #WhatsBeautiful challenge.  When I signed up for that challenge I had to state my goal and it was to run my first half marathon after losing more than 200 pounds.  I've read quite a few blogs where people started training for races (some half marathons some full marathons) and that they gained weight.  *gasp* I didn't want to gain weight... obviously.  The week that the group ran 5 miles (and coincidentally after I'd had a couple of weeks of gains) I was running with Coach Bill and I asked him if he thought that because of the increased amount of training that weight gain was unavoidable.  I was surprised (and frankly relieved) when he said no and encouraged me to stay away from the pre-run binge on pasta/bread and instead continue to focus on getting my carbs from fresh fruits and vegetables.  When he said that I was like YES!  This I can do because all of those things are FREE POINTS!!!

Fast forward a few weeks and I am happy to report that half of that goal has now been accomplished.  When I went to weigh-in today I was a little nervous.  My last weigh-in was only last Thursday so really how much weight could I lose?  Additionally, after stepping on my scale this morning and seeing that I was only down 0.2 pounds I thought I might not even have a loss this week.  Imagine my surprise then when I stepped on the scale at my meeting and realized that I lost 2.2 pounds for a total of 201.0 pounds.  It's awesome and trust me when I say that I am aware of the awesomeness because I can do stuff that I could never do before.  Like run SEVEN miles.  At one time.  Without stopping.  Also impressive?  Being able to shop at basically every store (ironically except the plus sized clothing stores) without wondering if I'll fit into the clothes.

I have lots of other thoughts rolling through my head right now... I can't quite explain how I feel and apologize if this post is all over the place.  I'll try to gather my thoughts a little better before I post again...

So what do you do now that you couldn't do before?

Don't know what I did ....

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At my weigh-in today I thought Martha, the WW receptionist, was crazy.  Straight up bat shit, going to the crazy house crazy.  She told me I'd lost 4 pounds.  FOUR POUNDS!!  No way, I said, you mean I lost four tenths of a pound.  Then she showed me the computer screen.  Dumbfounded I looked from the computer screen to my tracker and back again.  Then I did a double take.  Oh my ... oops.  She was right.  So I'm sorry about that crazy comment Martha.  That one was my bad.

Now, don't get me wrong I am thankful that I lost weight.  I'm especially thankful that I lost such a large amount.  I am however questioning HOW I did it and how to make it happen again.  I realize, after the last two years of trial and error (e.g. gains and losses) that not every week is a loss and certainly not a multiple pound loss.  It is, however, pretty common for me to weigh-in and think about what I did over the week and figure out what worked or what went tragically wrong.  This week I didn't have an epic workout week like I did two weeks ago (earned 72 activity points but was EXHAUSTED) so maybe it was the effort in trying to  stay within my daily points target?  I'm not sure (and Dan told me to stop hypothesizing on it).

Dan's other piece of sage advice when I told him I lost the weight and didn't know how?  Just do that again next week.

Do you ever have weeks where the scale tells you something fabulous but you wonder when the other shoe will drop?  Show me some love in the comments and tell me about it.

It's good and it's bad

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My weigh-in today was good, let me first say that.  I lost 2.2 pounds which is a lot, in my opinion, and I'm not really sure how it's happening.  The bad part is that I lost another point in my Daily Points Target.  I'm not really sure how to feel about that.  When I saw my doctor a few weeks ago she expressed surprise at the amount of weight I've lost between last November and now.  I can assure you (and her) that it is a safe rate of weight loss.  It's one of the metrics I check often!  

While losing daily points is slightly depressing (but in the "it's hurts so good kinda way") it's exciting to me to continue losing and getting closer to my goal.  But, finding creative ways to use my points so that I still feel satisfied continues to challenge me.  I love this plan and I continue to work this plan because I am able to eat well.  Steak and seafood find their way on our plates more often than not.  Delicious fresh vegetables are now a welcome addition to the table and we continue to look for new ways to prepare them to keep our tastebuds happy.

Dan has told me (several times recently) that I should probably be eating some of my activity points.  I tend to not eat them, not for any particular reason other than I'm not usually hungry.  There are some days where I do feel like I could eat the world, and I try to moderate that but on the normal day I just don't feel it and I don't want to consume food just because I have points left.  

And since I have no funny story to tell you tonight (honestly I wrote one and then read it and then realized it wasn't funny) I will share some funny photos with you.  We needed to take some photos of the two of us and we were getting a little frustrated with the results.  So, we had to shake things up ... We also have a whole new respect for our friends who are photographers.  

Walk like an Egyptian??

Deep Thoughts... or ... you know, my thoughts

There are no words for this one

See you all on Thursday for another Thankful Things Thursday!

All about the celebrations

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First, sorry I'm blogging today instead of last night.  I got pulled into a work problem right when I started blogging and by the time I finished with that call I didn't really feel like trying to be witty (actually now that I think about it I'm not sure I have anything witty to share!).  Anyway, our meeting last night was all about the celebrations.  Some people have been long time members who were celebrating and some were relatively new faces, either way celebrations are awesome and I'm so proud and lucky to be in this meeting group because there is so much encouragement!

Of course the encouragement doesn't just happen during the meetings.  I've made some fabulous friends that I email/text with on a regular basis between meetings (I'm talking about you, Jen!) for not only encouragement but also the occasional (read: more often than we care to admit) blunder.  For me it was my Arizona iced tea miscalculation.  For Jen it was all about milk.  That series of text messages still makes me laugh.  Anyway... my point is that there are lots of ways to be encouraged and motivated to keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

One of the ways we (Jen and I) are doing that is by training to run a 5K.  We're signed up to run the Egg Shell Shuffle in Schaumburg on April 7.  We've already been devising our strategy since we will not be fully trained to run a 5K so we're planning on running intervals.  We've been texting an emailing each other to check on progress and it really helps keep me on track.  I know I have certain fitness goals for myself but having to be accountable to another person makes me less likely to blow off a training run for something else.

So who encourages you?  Who makes you accountable to eat well or be active?  If you want me to start texting you to make you accountable I will!!

PS - Congrats to Jen, Tashuna, Melany and Diane (celebrated being at GOAL for one year!).  You guys continue to inspire me and I can't think of a better group to be in.

Cooking Lessons - Beets

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Late last week I was making lunch using the new mandolin I'd gotten for Christmas.  I was slicing beets and being kind of an idiot about it by NOT using the safety thing that came with it to prevent one from slicing their finger off.  Guess what happened next?  Yes, I sliced my finger nearly all the way off.  After a few frantic phone calls (thanks Sheri for telling me where to go to have my finger put back together), a long drive to the urgent care center (maybe it only seemed long), 3 stitches and explaining to the staff that I did NOT cut my finger while PLAYING a mandolin but while cutting a beet on my mandolin (seriously, these people graduated from med school?  I should have asked to see diploma's) my finger is healing well.  However, this spurred a conversation between my friend Jen and I today.

She said that we need to have cooking school because she didn't know anyone who cooked beets.  Except me.  This got me thinking... I could post some information about vegetables that you may not understand how to cook.  If you have questions about one - post it in the comments and I'll try to follow-up with those suggestions.  So... here's my informal cooking lesson on beets.

They are tremendously healthy, free in Points+ values, but they will stain almost anything they come in contact with so be careful with them.  There are really only two ways that I generally prepare them - if you do something different and want to share please post that in the comments section too.

The first way I have prepared them is to make the beets into chips.  I start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.  I wash the beets, though I don't peel them and then I use my mandolin (WITH SAFETY GUARD) to slice them pretty thin.  I spray a cookie sheet with olive oil.  Spread the beet slices evenly across the cookie sheet and bake for 20-35 minutes (depending on thickness) until they are chiplike.  Keep an eye on them though as they will burn and they are less appetizing when they become charcoal.  When I bring them out of the oven I will sprinkle some salt over top of them and let them cool.  Then, munch away.

The other way I have prepared them is to boil them.  I start by filling a pot about 1/4 of the way with water.  Then I wash the outside of the beets and slice off the top and the bottom.  If the beets are large you can cut them into smaller pieces.  Boil them until they are soft (which depends on how big the pieces are so I can't give you a time here) in the middle.  Once they are I put the pot in the sink and run cold water over them to cool them.  When they are cool enough to handle I just rub the peels right off (that's a nifty time saver that Mom taught me after I spent a long time peeling them one day).  I'll usually add a little spray butter and some salt and then enjoy them like that.

Does anyone else have any recipes using beets that you want to share?  How about other vegetables that you think about making but aren't sure you want to tackle?

PS - I also updated the About Me page with a new photo!

600 Quarterpounders?

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Today was big.  I mean HUGE.  I went to weigh-in and got on the scale and was so close (I was 0.2 pounds away from 150) when I realized that I hadn't gone to the bathroom.  Crap.  So I went to the bathroom quickly and then went to my favorite receptionist to beg her to weigh me, again.  For those who don't know Weight Watchers only allows you one recordable weigh-in per week.  Thankfully, Pat was able to delete my less than stellar weigh in and I tried again.  This time I did it.  Total weight loss:  150.2 pounds!!!!

We celebrated during the meeting and even though I feel like my meeting mates are tiring of celebrating my losses they were so proud and excited for me.  A few of them asked some really great questions and I was extremely touched by it all.  Here are the questions I was asked (I think this is all of them but someone keep me honest if I missed any):

Q:  How long did it take to lose 150 pounds?  A:  I started Weight Watchers in July 2010

Q:  How did you get started?  A:  My very bestest friend, Sheri, called me while we were driving back from Northern Wisconsin and said that she and her daughter were joining and asked if I wanted to join too.  She said we'd go to meetings together and have a little club.  We called ourselves Fatties Unite Tonight.  It worked!!

Q:  Had I done WW before?  A:  Yes, about 10 years ago I did the WW Online only plan and followed it for awhile but then later quit.  I didn't realize how valuable the meetings are both from an encouragement perspective as well as a learning perspective.  There are tips about food and recipes that really kept (and keep) me going on the program that I wouldn't learn if I wasn't going to meetings.  Plus I've met some of the most friendly and caring people there and I really love going to the Tuesday meetings just so I can see them and catch up with them.  My leader, Karen, has been BEYOND supportive too and she has this contagious optimism that you can't help but feel motivated and energized for the week ahead.  Meetings, like the Weight Watchers commercials say, work!

Of course when I got home and told my husband he said, "my god that's like 600 quarter pounders".  To which I replied, "Well, that's one way to think about it!"

How about everyone else?  How was your week?  Sticking to the New Years resolutions?

Christmas and Virtual 10K Race Recap

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Merry Christmas 2012

Happy Holidays to you!  I hope that you were able to spend lots of time with family and friends celebrating the Christmas holiday.  We spent last weekend in Wisconsin with my family and Christmas day was spent with my husband's family.  I love being able to spend time with both families though it does come with a little anxiety on how to control my food intake.  To balance this out we tried to increase our activity level.  When in Wisconsin we hit the hotel fitness room and then later the pool and when we were home we took the dogs on some long walks.  We even found a new path to walk which, even using a couple of short cuts, makes the total route about 3.5 miles (which is longer than my daily 3.1 mile route).

Speaking of distance... late last week on a blog that I read was mention of a Virtual 10K Race.  What is this you ask?  There had been talk about the lack of races around Christmas but since everyone was travelling it wasn't possible to get everyone to meet in one spot and go out so a couple of bloggers organized an event where you register online, do the 10K at your leisure between Friday and Monday and then register your time with the organizers (they provided a form to do this).  So I signed up and told Dan about it and he mapped out a route and we figured we could confirm the distance using my Forerunner.  Unfortunately, less than halfway in, I thought I'd turned the timer off by accident so we didn't have an accurate read.  Note to self, always trust the Forerunner.  At the end of the walk we'd gone 4.35 miles and I was disappointed but exhausted and freezing and I didn't think I had another 1+ mile in me.  So we called it a day but I was determined to do the full 6.2 miles.

Yesterday after a brief, but emergent, trip to the vet's office I headed over to the fitness center.  The rules said it was OK to complete the miles on the treadmill so that was what I was going to do.  I'd never used this treadmill before but there was a 10K program button right on it.  I wearing my new Foot Pod for my Forerunner except that when I calibrated my food pod I did something wrong and my watch thought I went 12 miles.  I didn't.  I barely made it through 6.2 miles but I signed up for the full 10K and so by the grace of everything in me I was going to finish.  I did.  It just took me a LONG time.  I didn't have an exact time because even the treadmill was conspiring against me.  The treadmill said I completed it in 4:53... I'm guessing some numbers were missing there!!  It was more like 1 hour 44 minutes and 53 seconds, though I can't be certain but it was pretty close to that.

My hips are sore today (but after 15+ miles between Friday and Monday something was bound to hurt!) so I was happy it was Tuesday, aka REST DAY!  It was also the last weigh-in of 2011 and I was fairly happy with that too.  Oh, and I made a new page - you should check out my race schedule for 2012 and let me know if you're interested in joining me for any of the races.  Some races are still tentative but I did them this year so am planning on doing them next year too.

That can't be right...

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About a month ago we were on our way to my in-laws house to celebrate Thanksgiving (we celebrated early with them because we were going to be out of town on the actual day) and we stopped to get gas.  I ran in to get a couple of drinks and I found Arizona Cranberry Ice Tea.  I thought it was terribly festive so I tried it and it was awesome.  I looked around every where I went but I couldn't find it, except at this one gas station.  Until last night.  I found the motherload... BRILLIANT!  I almost started to load up the cart and then thought I should probably calculate the Points+ value on that.  So I did and the can was 6 points.  Then I calculated the Points+ value on a regular can of Arizona Lemon Iced Tea and it was 9 points.  NINE FREAKING POINTS!!!  Well that certainly explains why my weight loss hasn't been very much the last few weeks!  I'd been drinking 3-4 cans per week.  Apparently I'm back to Diet Snapple (which is delicious) or figuring out how to make my own Cranberry Iced Tea.

Have you ever thought you were doing really well and then found out that you made a huge error like this?

If you're looking for a holiday alternative to cookies - try out my Gingerbread Muffin Recipe.

Gingerbread Muffins

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Gingerbread Muffins
WW PointsPlus Per Serving:  3
Makes:  23 Muffins

1 serving(s) Betty Crocker Super Moist Spice Cake Mix
1/3 cup(s) molasses
1/2 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
1/3 cup(s) unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup(s) Egg Beaters Egg substitute

1. Mix together cake mix, eggs, molasses, applesauce and milk.
2. Pour into paper liners and fill 3/4 full. (I did 23 cupcakes)
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

I really wanted to have something sweet for the holidays but didn't have time to roll out cookie dough and cut them all out so I opted to make muffins instead.

Another 5K, a new PR and my holiday menu

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Last Sunday I did a 5K walk with my bestie Sheri and her daughter Brianna.  My friend Kim from my WW meeting ran the 5K too.  It was to support the Helping Paws Animal Welfare Association in Woodstock, IL.  Brianna volunteers there, I love a good 5K and who doesn't love helping the animals?!

The weather was odd that day, it was super windy at the starting point but as I got going into the course the wind was blocked or it died down and I was wearing my new Under Armour jacket that has a pretty warm inside.  I started to get hot and could tell I was sweating a lot, so much so that my sleeve was practically dripping, but I kept pushing through.  My reward was a new PR of 48:48!!  That's nearly 10 minutes off my time since the first 5K I did back in May.

Tuesday I had to be in the city for a work event so I missed my regular meeting but I made it to a meeting tonight.  My leader handed out paper plates and we were to write down all the things that we were going to eat for Thanksgiving.  Then she asked us what we'd wrote and she went through the common PointsPlus values for the foods.  It's always interesting to see the appropriate serving size and hear the PointsPlus values for each item.

Luckily, I'd put a lot of thought into this a few weeks ago because we are going to be at my parents house for the holiday.  Mom is making the turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, stuffing/dressing, and pumpkin pie.  I am making roasted beets, coconut topped sweet potatoes, caramel apple salad, stuffing with sage and chives and a batch of pumpkin muffins. When I tallied up my items, including turkey, my plate ended up being 15 PointsPlus.  That's not too bad considering the rest of the day will hopefully be pretty light.  I'm also going to try to get in a LOT of activity points next week so that even if I indulge a little bit that I won't punished for it on the scale.

Have you made holiday plans?  Do you make special arrangements so that you can stay on plan or do you just hope that you'll be able to eat healthy?

Losing weight = losing Points Plus, or does it?

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When I weighed in today I was relieved to find out that I lost weight.  I really didn't think that I would have considering I weighed in last Thursday.  I blogged late about it on Saturday so if you missed it, here's what I think about eating out every day for a week.  Pat, my favorite receptionist, looked at me and said well the good news is that you lost weight.  The bad news is that you get to eat less!  Hrmph. 

Losing the daily PointsPlus value is a struggle because, obviously, you have to consume less food.  Or do you?  If we make smarter choices with healthier, more organic foods will we be satisfied longer?  I'm ok trading a higher PointsPlus value snack for a bowl of cherries (I love the Ranier Cherry season - if you haven't gotten some you really should splurge on them!) or a banana.  I've even found myself craving Peanut Butter Toast (2 slices Sara Lee 45 calorie multigrain bread with 30 grams or 2 tablespoons of Better'n Peanut Butter topped with a sliced banana is only 4 PointsPlus!).  These snacks can keep me satisfied for hours and don't rob my PointsPlus bank. 

About 6 months ago we found an all organic, grass-fed beef farm not far from our house that has really reasonable prices.  They let you buy in small or large (a whole cow) quantities.  While I was at my WW meeting my husband made a trip to 'The Ranch' today to restock our freezer so this is what made me think of this.  We've noticed that the grass fed and organic beef has much more flavor than the stuff we can buy in the grocery store.  So I'm hoping that really finding and investing in the quality products will help me appreciate what I do get to eat and even forget that I'm not able to eat such a large portion.

I want to leave you with this quote I read this week from Hannah Curlee (she was a Biggest Loser finalist this year) who was asked how to stay on track.  She said, make it about what you deserve not about dread and the long road ahead!

Oh, and go buy some Ranier Cherries.  But not all of them, save some for me.