Weigh In Wednesday

So this weeks weight…132. Yep. Up again. Ugh. Not much I know, but I seem to be maintaining while I want to be losing. So hard to focus right now and do the things I need to do to get back to goal. I KNOW what I need to do. Just need to do it!

Today I want to share with you one of my best tips for avoiding the afternoon munchies. I am a BIG snacker of sweet things in the afternoon.

To avoid this my new BFF is iced tea. Love it.

I get this brand in “Passion fruit”. It tastes SO good on it’s own. No sweeteners needed! And it brews right in your coffee pot! You just place the tea bag in there, add 6 cups of water and a few minutes later you have a big pot of yummy tea ready to chill and enjoy!

I like to make mine at night so it’s ready for me the next day!

 

Ahhhhh…refreshing. 0 calories AND I stayed out of the cookies!

Weigh In Wednesday!

I hope you all are having a lovely week so far! The weather has been so pretty here. We are headed to the park this afternoon to enjoy some sunshine!

Today’s weight is….well I’m not sure! Our scale seems to me malfunctioning this morning! So I will try again tomorrow and update the post. How are you all doing? I am still struggling. Ugh. I know that meal planning and getting snacky things OUT of the house have always been huge for me…just need to do it!

I am following a new blogger who is posting a weekly menu so I am going to follow along with her. Simple organic recipes. Go visit The Weekly Plate for more details.

Even though I couldn’t weigh in…I still want to pass along a yummy recipe to you today!

Peppermint Plum shared this BEAUTIFUL veggie tray with us on my Made With Love Monday link party! Doesn’t it look yummy? Like eating a rainbow!

I love hummus and I found a really easy recipe on All Recipes the other day! We made it using our fancy new mini food processor courtesy of my Twitter friend @huntschef! She blessed me with this new toy just before Christmas. I love it! And I can’t wait to play with it some more. I think guac is next! Anyhow…the hummus recipe!

Extra Easy Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. In a blender or food processor combine garbanzo beans, garlic, cumin, salt and olive oil. Blend on low speed, gradually adding reserved bean liquid, until desired consistency is achieved.

*The NI is available on the site so you can figure out the Points Plus value. Or you can just look up hummus in your tracker.

Enjoy your day!

Weigh In Wednesday!

Good morning everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far! It’s time for another Weigh In Wednesday!

photo credit

This week’s weight is……131.6. Yep that’s right I’m up a lb from last week :( No excuses other than that I’ve been lazy. Things are so busy for me right now that I haven’t been able to really focus on the things that make me have good weight loss like…meal planning, tracking, and exercise…But I want this week to be different! Are you with me??? Let’s commit to plan each meal, track everything we put in our mouths, and move a little more…then we’ll see what the scale says next week! Enjoy your day friends :) Here is a tasty recipe to try…

Greek Lemon Chicken Thighs and Potatoes

PointsPlus™ Value:    10
Servings:  4

Ingredients

1/2 cup(s) fresh lemon juice   

1/2 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth   

2 Tbsp olive oil   

4 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced   

2 Tbsp dried oregano   

1 1/2 pound(s) skinless chicken thigh(s), about 8 thighs   

1 spray(s) cooking spray   

1 pound(s) uncooked new potatoes, cut in half (about 10 small potatoes)   

Instructions

• Place lemon juice, broth, oil, garlic and oregano in a large resalable plastic bag or medium glass bowl. Add chicken, seal bag or cover bowl, and marinate at least 2 hours or up to overnight in refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 9- X 11-inch pan with cooking spray.
• Place chicken and marinade in pan; add potatoes. Bake until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender, about 60 minutes. Yields about 2 chicken thighs and 5 potato halves per serving.

Weigh In Wednesday!

Good morning friends! It’s time for weigh in Wednesday! I hope you all had a great week and had some fun navigating the new Points Plus plan. I was pretty sick last week so I wasn’t able to commit 100%, but I made the best choices I could under the circumstances {aka HORRIBLE sinus goo}.

Ok here goes…today’s weight is…130.6…yayee! Down 1.4. Better than I thought! 2.6 to go. I can do it :)

How did you all do? When you comment, feel free to let us know if you were up or down or any questions/concerns you ran into. I’ll do my best to help out! I wish my replies were right under each comment, but I can’t figure out how to do that! So if you have a question, just look for your name for the answer! We had a staff meeting last week so I am aware of the concerns some new members are having. Have no fear…I know it’s not easy, but the plan works if you work the plan! Have a great week!

Here is another favorite recipe to try…

Chicken Parmesan

PointsPlus™ Value: 6
Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 spray(s) olive oil cooking spray

1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly pounded (four 4-oz pieces)

2 item(s) egg white(s), lightly beaten

1/2 cup(s) dried bread crumbs

1 Tbsp italian seasoning

1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste

1 tsp olive oil

1 1/2 cup(s) canned tomato sauce

1/2 cup(s) (shredded) part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.
• Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. Combine bread crumbs with Italian seasoning and salt; pour into another shallow bowl. Dip chicken in egg whites; turn to coat. Dip chicken in bread crumb mixture; turn to thoroughly coat.
• Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and add oil; heat over medium-high heat. When hot, add chicken and cook until lightly browned and no longer pink in center, about 4 minutes per side.
• Pour 1/2 cup of sauce into prepared baking dish; place chicken in dish and pour remaining sauce evenly over chicken. Sprinkle with cheeses and bake until chicken is cooked through and cheese is bubbly, about 25 minutes.

Weigh In Wednesday!

Welcome to the first ever Weigh In Wednesday at Sew Chatty! If you don’t already know I am a Weight Watchers employee! I work one meeting a week (Wednesday Night) which has been instrumental in helping me keep my weight down. In 2008, I lost 30 lbs with Weight Watchers and have kept it off for over 2 years now. Was it easy? Nope. But I was determined to lose the “baby weight” I’d been holding onto for 3 years and the plan works when you give it all you’ve got! It took me about 6 months to lose the weight.

My “Before” Pic.

To read more about my journey you can go here.

The new Points Plus program is THE BEST program we have ever had. So healthy and livable. I just love it! Since I am an employee (receptionist) I was given the new program in September and lost 4 lbs right away. But to be totally honest, the holidays hit and I got a little lazy and have gained those 4 lbs right back!

I am ready to say goodbye to my winter weight and would love for you all to join me! Each Wednesday I’ll be weighing in here on the blog as well as sharing one of our favorite Weight Watchers recipes that helped me get to goal!

For right now to participate in the fun, you can “weigh in” in comments and share a link to one of your favorite WW recipes too. If I get a decent response, I think I will set this up as a link party where you can write your own Weigh In Wednesday post and link up here. Sound fun?

So here goes…today’s weight is 132 lbs. My goal is 128. I’d like to be a few lbs below that to give myself a cushion, but for now, just getting those 4 lbs off is my goal. Baby steps. Now it’s your turn! Can’t wait to chat with you in comments!

Recipe for this week:

Chili Beef Tacos

PointsPlus™ Value: 7
Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 Tbsp chili powder, or Mexican seasoning

1/2 tsp Durkee Ground Cumin Seed, or other brand

1 tsp olive oil

1 small onion(s), chopped

2 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced

8 oz uncooked lean ground beef (with 7% fat)

8 oz canned tomato sauce

8 oz canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained

8 small store-bought taco shell(s)

4 Tbsp reduced-fat sour cream

4 tsp cilantro, fresh, chopped

Instructions

• Toast chili powder and cumin in a medium skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add oil to skillet and heat; add onion and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add beef and cook until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and beans; cook 5 minutes more or until heated through. (Note: To turn up the heat, toss in some chopped chipotle peppers with the tomato sauce.)
• To assemble, fill each taco shell with 1/4 cup of beef mixture; top each with 1/2 tablespoon of sour cream and 1/2 teaspoon of cilantro. Yields 2 tacos per serving.