Day 6 of 7

Things have gone really well this week. I am hoping for awesome results at the scale. I know my body well enough now to know that sometimes it can take two weeks for results to show up on the scale. That can be good and bad. I say this because last week I had a small loss of 0.2 and really felt I was going to have about a 2 pound gain due to all the EXTRA food I had eaten. So I guess if I do not see super great results tomorrow morning, due to the overeating last week, I will certainly see them next week.

Breakfast.....Bacon, egg and cheese biscuit, grapes.






Lunch....Lots of points for that breakfast, so light on the points for lunch. Veggies, hummus, laughing cow cheese........



Snack......One of the several I had today. Urg......



Dinner.......Salad bar from the grocery store topped with salsa.



Typically, Wednesday and Sunday are my days of rest when it comes to exercise? But in staying true to my word in my 7 day challenge, I headed out with Tucker for a good fast paced 30 minute walk. I didn't want to be gone too long because it was maybe the best night of television in HISTORY!

American Idol Finale.......Modern Family Finale.....Revenge Finale! Can it get ANY better than that? I think not!


So we head out the door and immediately see a neighbor and get wrapped up in a 10 minute catch up conversation. We decide to get back at it. We see another neighbor. It was a gorgeous night out I had thought, and so did everyone else! We walked with this neighbor for quite a while, but really we were strolling. After we separate from this neighbor? Yip, that's right, more friendly people! We ended up being gone for about an hour, but I'd say we only got in about a really good 20 minute walk. You can't say I didn't TRY!


Refresh.........I can eat 26 points a day.
I can earn Activity Points by doing exercise.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I should drink a minimum of 6 (8 oz) glasses of water each day.

The food I ate today and it's PPV.

Breakfast = 8
Granola Bar = 2
Lunch = 4
Cinnamon Almonds = 3
Strawberries and Reddiwip = 1
Chips = 2
Dinner = 10

Total = 30

Activity Points Earned Today = 2
Remaining points from my 49 Points Allowance = 41
How many glasses of water I drank today = 8


"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Day 5 of 7

I know I have worked this hard before at WW, but I don't think I have ever been so diligent about tracking every single bite and drink that has gone into my mouth, and every single bit of activity that I have done. And then WROTE about it too! But It's kinda fun and I am enjoying my own little 7 day challenge.

Breakfast......Egg white and cheese omelet with English muffin topped with Better N Peanut Butter and a banana. I'm thinking about framing this picture! I took it on the kitchen floor in the morning sunshine.



I went to a neighbors for a coffee and took my own, because even though we had a "coffee", she doesn't drink coffee.




Lunch was boring.......grilled chicken and some salad......




And a little Greek yogurt.....I'm learning to like it, but I really eat it because it's 14 g of protein!





Before dinner snack.......



Last night's pork was really good, so I shredded it in it's juices and roasted some cauliflower.






Time snuck away from me today, and at our 7:30 pm dinner, I still hadn't exercised. After dinner, all I could think about was a shower, pj's and the couch for some American Idol and DWTS final. At 8:30, a miracle in my house happened and I got on the treadmill! Sometimes, I amaze myself. I think it's thanks to Pinterest and all those damn motivational quotes I'm finding!


Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I can earn activity points by doing exercise.

The food I ate and it's PPV.

Breakfast = 6
Latte = 2
Lunch = 8
Almonds = 1
Snacks of banana, apple and cucumbers = 0
Dinner = 9

Total = 26
Activity Points Earned 3


"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Running, while pushing a wheelchair

Weight Watchers has tons of great online tools. Well, actually, they have tons of great tools, period! One of the tools I use daily is the online tracker (journal) that you can keep track of the food you eat, how many fruits and veggies you eat, how much dairy you have, healthy oils, multivitamin and your activity. When you enter your food, it subtracts it and keeps track of what you have left for the day.


You can enter a food, and it will give you the points value of that food. If you have the nutritional info, you can enter that, and it will tell you the points value. If you have something you eat often, it's saves it in a favorites file!
This week, (today being day 5 of 7) in my personal challenge to track and blog absolutely everything I eat, drink and all the activity I do, I decided to really utilize all the tools I have available. I was tracking my activity, and I remember in a WW meeting one time, a member mentioned that he earned 4 activity points by mowing his lawn with his push mower. Since I decided to treadmill and lift weights and mow yesterday, I was curious just how many activity points I had racked up? In the wonderful alphabetical list of activities, I discovered I earned 3 activity points just from mowing my lawn!
I also discovered other activities I hadn't thought about. Here are some things I might try that are on the WW list!
Anishinaabe dancing (native dancing, I looked it up)
Ax chopping (hmmmm....need to buy an ax)
Billiards (will the beer cancel out the points?)
Pushing a wheelchair (maybe I could become a hospital volunteer)
Running, while pushing a wheelchair (this really is on the list, and It concerns me for the individual IN the wheelchair)
Walking backward (well now that just sounds dangerous)
Washing the car (does it count if you drive through)
I found this humorous, and thought you might too!
Basically, get off the couch!

"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Day 4 of 7

An extremely uneventful day. Except for dinner. Dinner kicked ass!

Breakfast....cinnamon raisin bagel thins with Laughing Cow Cinnamon Cream Cheese Wedge, orange and scrambled egg whites.






I mentioned this in my blog yesterday. Spiced Apple. It's 0 PPV and I top it with 1 T. of Reddiwip, also 0 PPV.






For lunch, I was trying to use up the leftovers that needed to be used first. I made a concoction of black beans, corn, shredded chicken and sour cream and put it all on a tortilla. It was about 8 points. About 1/3 of the way through it, I decided it really wasn't worth the points, and it didn't taste delicious. So I tossed it down the sink. I hate to have to throw food out, but it just wasn't worth it when I had a whole fridge full of better, tastier options. I went ahead and called what I did eat, 4 PPV, which is killing me, but my alternate option tasted much better.

I sliced up some left over grilled chicken from last night, then added hummus and carrots to my plate, along with a pear. Chicken, as well as carrots, taste great dipped in hummus.




I put dinner in the crockpot around 9:00 a.m. I have been home most of the day. The house smells delicious! Pork chops (first I browned them in the skillet a bit), chicken broth and onions.



I was craving mashed potatoes so I was very careful about weighing and measuring everything I was going to put in them. Simple. Small white potatoes, skim milk, light margarine, light sour cream and salt and pepper.
I smashed them down into the pan and divided it into four parts. Want to make sure I only eat ONE serving!



After the pork chops cook all day, you add sour cream! The crockpot smells like heaven!



Look at this baby!



DINNER!



I was having a hard time getting on the treadmill today. Knowing that I was going to mow and weed a bit in the afternoon, was making it hard for me to want to do any EXTRA work. Usually that's my exercise for that day. But I wanted to really get in a good 30 minutes of cardio each day, so I got on. I started out slow thinking I would really only do 20 minutes. 20 turned into 30, then 30 surprisingly turned into 40! Yay me! Then I did weights. Then I mowed. Then I pulled up a few weeds.


Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I can earn activity points by doing exercise.

The food I ate and it's PPV

Breakfast = 5
Cider = 0
Lunch = 10
Snacks today...banana, apple, carrots = 0
String cheese = 1
Dinner..1/2 pork chop(3), potatoes(6), peas(1) = 10

I earned 6 activity points.

The potatoes were totally worth the points. I only ate 1/2 of a pork chop to stay within my daily points.

Mike thought dinner was superb!





"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Day 3 of 7

Sadly, this kick ass successful weekend I am having in WW world is completely due to the fact that we had no plans. I don't remember the last weekend we had zero on the calendar. My chores are done, I am working on a couple of projects, meals for the week are planned and shopped for and there is time for exercise AND dog walking! Maybe I need to reduce the social calendar a bit? Nah, I'll figure out a way to work around things. Maybe this?

Random friend, neighbor, bartender, passerby, complete stranger, ..... "Hey Julie, wanna a beer?"

Me...."No thank you."

That's gonna take some practice.

Urg...that hurt just to TYPE.

Breakfast....I was in the mood for carbs. Sometimes that can hurt me a couple of hours later, because I seem to crave them after I've had them, but I thought since I had a full day planned and would be busy, and since I am in the zone, I could handle it.

I can't remember where I recently saw this? Hungry Girl maybe?

French Toast Waffles.

So I mixed a few egg whites, skim milk, cinnamon and vanilla. I dipped my Nutri-Grain Whole Grain Waffles in and made them French! A la carte, of course, they're French!










Topped with fresh strawberries and honey!


I also made attempt number two at a latte at home. My milk frothing needs some work, but it still taste superb!



Here's my coffee corner I set up in the kitchen. Coffee pot, syrups and sweeteners, grinder, whole espresso beans, espresso machine (it's a baby) and my Kuerig and it's many favors. The Folger's Carmel Drizzle is my favorite right now, along with the apple cider, which is awesome topped with a tablespoon of Rediwhip!






This has NOTHING at all to do with coffee, but it is on my kitchen countertop. I have my grandma's old sewing maching, a project I'm currently working on, and decided while I was trying to decide what to do with it, I thought a drawer made something cute to put my Olive Oils in.



I finished up a few things on the "to do list" and went to the grocery store. A few of the things on this weeks menu include pork chops in the crock pot, chicken on the grill, and Thai Pizza on whole wheat crust.

While at the store, the salad bar was calling my name....kinda like the beer does. I said "Yes, please!"

Lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, kidney beans, grilled chicken and some light ranch from the fridge at home. I had to dump my salad in a big bowl and chop it all up. You can get away with so little dressing if you do that! Carrot chips and hummus on the side.


At my WW meeting this week, this was a "Food Find" that one of the members had discovered and shared. Cinnamon Almonds.



I am probably going to have to hide these, because they are really really good and after eating 24 of them, the serving size on the package, I ate 6 more! Thats enough points for breakfast or lunch! Hope I haven't screwed myself too bad.

I'm blogging as I go today, and just got home from a 75 minute walk with Tucker! Now for a little refreshment! Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade and a bowl of kiwi and strawberries!



Grilled chicken, grilled zucchini and salad for dinner, (heavy on the veggies).


I topped the platter with Parmesan cheese!


B-E-A-utiful outside, so dinner's on the deck! I'm so prepared! I wish I could take a picture of my IPad with my IPad , because it's out here too with a little dinner music playing!








Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I can earn activity points by doing exercise.

The food I ate and it's PPV.

Breakfast = 7
Lunch = 8
Almonds = 5
Kiwi & Strawberries = 0
Dinner = 9

Total = 29

I used 3 points from my allowance of 49. I have 45 left.

I earned 4 activity points.


"love the life you live, live the life you love"

Day 2 of 7

Another successful day!

My Saturday morning started off with a visit from my dad. Actually it started off with a banana and a cup of coffee on the deck, then dad came over. We had coffee and breakfast, and caught each other up on the weeks events.

I love my coffee and I have all this great coffee equipment, so I did a little rearranging on my counter tops last week and made a coffee corner. I'll take a picture tomorrow. Its kinda cute. This morning I made myself a latte! Not bad! I didn't think to take a picture before I gave it a stir and started drinking.
I'll do it again tomorrow and show my frothy milk!



About 30 years ago, my dad and I would go to breakfast regularly at Hardee's and I would always order the bacon, egg and cheese biscuit with a side of tater tots, or maybe they were crispy crowns? They were fried potatoes, no matter what they're called. They were crispy and greasy and delicious! I loved the buttery biscuit and the bacon. I always dipped everything in ketchup. Biscuit included.

This version is a little different, and no tater's on the side today, but it's a breakfast I have once or twice a week. I eat it open faced to make me feel like I have a bit more food. I use four egg whites, so it would be a pretty big bite if I didn't eat it open faced. I add one tablespoon of real bacon bits to the egg what's while they cook. The cheese is hidden under the eggs. I still dip it in ketchup!


After Pops left, I did a little housework and played with the dogs. Mishka isn't crazy about having her picture taken, but Tucker actually likes to pose!

Posing.......


Playing........



I really needed to go to the grocery store, but I wanted to get my workout in before I began to make any excuses and let the day get away from me. I got my workout in, and then I was starving!

These were the available veggies......carrots, bell peppers, and potatoes. No lettuce anywhere!



Then I remembered I had 3 little zucchini's on the counter top. I had a piece of grilled chicken left over from dinner this week that needed to be eaten TODAY. Here's what I came up with.....



It was so unexpectedly yummy!

I grilled the zucchini and used my WW olive oil sprayer.










I diced up the chicken breast and threw it in too!


I topped it all with Parmesan cheese.



I added grapes for dessert.......


Later in the afternoon, I made a blueberry smoothie....









For dinner I debated going out, or staying in. It is Saturday night ya know. And I am the one that gets to make those decisions. Mike is so easy. He really doesn't care if we eat in or out, and we do typically eat out on Friday and Saturday. But I really want the 160's on Friday, and I knew it would be easier to keep within my points at home. Well, I had black beans and corn from earlier in the week, and that whole Chipotle thing was calling my name again. So I created it at home as close as I could. I went to the store and bought lettuce.......real shopping and planning tomorrow! Here is the Chipotle buffet.



Love this stuff!



Chicken, black beans and corn, brown rice, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, chips and salsa.








My exercise today was 30 minutes on the treadmill, but I increased my speed and incline today, and continued with the walking/running intervals. I really got my heart rate up!

Then I did this again today....



Then I did several arm exercises with the 8 pound weights. Then I moved to the floor for some planks. Oh...the core.....Egads.

I was pleased with my workout! I was listening to Booty Wurk on Pandora the whole time. Something my lovely daughter found for me. But Black Eyed Peas is my favorite on Pandora to workout to.

Refresh...I can eat 26 points a day.
I have an allowance of 49 points that I can dip into if I chose.
I can earn activity points by doing exercise.

The food I ate and it's PPV.

Banana = 0
Breakfast sandwich = 6
Nonfat Latte = 1
Chicken and zucchini = 4
Grapes = 0
Smoothie = 2
Chicken Taco Salad = 12
Chips = 2

Total = 27

I used 1 point from my 49 points allowance

I earned 6 activity points.

Now I get to create a healthy day all over again tomorrow!


"Love the life you live, live the life you love"