Saturday

So I didn't make the preacher cookies last night. Whew! Success.

I was inspired and motivated when I got up this morning and was down nearly three pounds. Not sure how that's possible but I've definitely been tracking more and drinking a lot more water so maybe? I was 176.4 according to my scale which is very close to accurate with the scale they use at my meetings on Thursdays at Weight Watchers.

We had a busy morning! I walked the track at the gym for 35 minutes while two of my daughers did gymnastics. Lots of fun to watch them from above. Then we walked five blocks to watch the St. Patrick's Day parade. It was a good time but I'm totally exhausted.

(That's not me, those are leprechauns!)

Breakfast

1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt - 1

1/2 a granny smith apple, chopped

1/2 a cup blueberries

1 clementine

1 T flax - 1

1 piece of rye toast-2

1/2 t butter - 1

Crystal Light kiwi strawberry pure fitness water 16 oz

Total WWP+: 6

This breakfast fulfills 3 servings of fruit, 2 liquids, and I count the flax as a healthy oil even though it's a seed really. Need to check on that to see if it's a fact.

Lunch

Grilled chicken sandwich from McDonald's w/ lettuce & tomato. No mayo. Wish I'd had some honey mustard or something for it. It was crazy in there though and I didn't want to go back up to ask for some. Tossed about 1/3 of the bun. Way too much bread.

This sandwich is 9 points on WW but I'm deducting 2 points for the bread I tossed: 7

A few of the kids' fries: 1 (counted as 1/8 of a small fry)

Drank water (20 oz)

Total: 8 WWP+

Snack

String cheese: 2

1/2 an apple

clementine

Total: 2 WWP+

Dinner w/ cocktail AND dessert (sort of)

3 venison tacos w/ lettuce, tomato and real sour cream (about a tablespoon total)

Made 10 tacos w/ 1/2 a lb. of meat so I'm counting this as 3 oz of meat

3 El Paso taco shells: 4

3 oz venison: 3

1 oz cheddar shredded: 3

Vodka (1 shot): 4

w/ Sierra Mist (4 oz) and a squeeze of lime: 1

1/2 a piece of the peanut butter fudge from Christmas that we found in the back of the freezer when the kids turned off the thing and we had to clean it out: 2

Total for dinner: 17

Total for the day: 33 WWP+

I'll update with a dinner picture tomorrow and I'll tell you if I ate anything else. ;) I'm not hungry so that's a good sign. Maybe I should go to bed at 8:30 p.m.

Ok, total for the day 38 WWP+ after the husband handed me one of these and I couldn't help myself. Damn it. Good but not worth 5 freakin' points!

This Is New

I started doing Weight Watchers back in January. I thought it would help me to write about the things I'm eating so I'm more accountable.

I'm going to be completely honest and tell you that sticking to the 29 points a day and 45 weekly has been a challenge for me. There have been days where I've tracked 50 or even 70 points. Well at least I'm now conscious of it as opposed to before I started this journey when I ate and drank with reckless abandon.

I'm a big fan of eating natural, unprocessed foods as much as possible so that's not the hard part for me. I started eliminating high fructose corn syrup and trans fats from my family's diet three years ago. My struggle is with portion control. I'm also a bit of an emotional eater and will eat when I'm anxious or bored or happy. No wonder I've stayed overweight for nearly a decade.

I'm stuck currently at 179 pounds and am 5'2" so according to Weight Watchers I need to lose 42 pounds to be at the very top of their healthy weight range for me. Can I do that? I have no idea. I haven't weighed in the 130s since high school. I'm just taking it one pound at a time. I've lost 7 so far and only have a little more to get to my first goal of 5% lost (9 lbs.)

Here are my meals for the day. I will edit this at the end of the day to include anything else I consume.

Breakfast

A grapefruit w/ 2 tsp. brown sugar and a tiny bit of butter put under the broiler for about 5 minutes. Delicious! Two hard boiled eggs w/ salt & pepper. A clementine and a piece of rye bread w/ about a 1/2 tsp. of butter.

Total WW Points Plus: 8

But I also had a cup of coffee w/ 2 tsp agave and about 1/4 cup 2% milk: 2

Lunch

This Crystal Light powder I've been putting in my water is great. It's 30 calories for 16 oz but so much easier to suck down than plain water. It contains stevia instead of the aspartame or Splenda that Weight Watchers seems to be so fond of promoting.

I'm constantly using measuring spoons now which is kind of annoying and not my usual thing but I feel like I have to do it or I'll lose control.

1 cup of Muir Glen Southwestern Black Bean soup - 3

1/2 oz. cheddar cheese - 1

HUGE salad w/ 3 oz chicken breast - 3

2 T strawberry balsamic dressing - 1

1 t olive oil - 1

Total: 9

When I make salads I just put in whatever we have. This one fulfilled lots of my veggie requirements for the day. I do the teaspoon of oil to fulfill the healthy oil requirement. This salad had granny smith apple, clementine, grape tomatoes, and salad greens. It was very good and filling w/ the leftover chicken I found in the fridge.

For the sake of accountability, I also splurged at Starbuck's and tried this new drink even though I had planned to only get plain coffee. Damn it. So instead of spending 2 points, I spent 6.

That means a mere 4 points left for dinner.

Not pictured (like the kid who didn't show up on picture day!)

Dinner

Blackened salmon (4 oz): 7

This was delicious! I used a blackened seasoning rub I got at Fresh Market for $3.99. Plenty in the container. I think it will also be good on tilapia and chicken. It has no calories at all (the spices) and really added some kick. I cooked it in olive oil cooking spray in a cast iron pan for about 5 minutes per side.

My 17 month old daughter loved it, too.

17 baked Kroger fries: 3

4 oz. Kefir: 4

And I went over my points by 10 for a total of 39 points consumed, maybe 2 activity points earned by walking the mall today for an hour pushing a stroller.

I'm trying to stop myself from making preacher cookies. Damn it. Someone tie my hands behind my back and wire my jaw!