Week 2 & 3 - New Obsession

Okay so I have a new obsession. I just realized that the only way that I will willingly eat breakfast during the week is if I use the slow cooker. I made an awesome oatmeal and acutally ENJOYED it this morning.

So here is the recipe I used for that oatmeal.  Next I will make a hasbrown and egg cassarole. I'm so excited.

Apple Oatmeal

6 cups water
2 cups Steel-Cut Oats (don't use regular oats they won't hold up to the cooking time)
3 apples, diced
1/2 c honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg ( I left this one out because my mom hates nutmeg but I think it would taste great)

Mix all the ingredients in the slow cooker (preferably a large one).  Set on low for at least 6-7 hours.

This tastes like an apple pie. I added 1 tbsp brown sugar to the top and a sprinkle more cinnamon but it was heavenly.

5 PointsPlus w/out brown sugar  6 PointsPlus w/brown sugar

Week 1- Starting over on a new Weight Watchers plan

Okay so this is is week 1 on the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus Program. I did do this program a little bit last year when they first came out with it but I have registered online and now I'm starting over.
So here are the pictures that my Dad took of me for my before pictures.

Since this isn't my highest ever weight I know that these aren't as bad as it's gotten but this is where I am now. I am starting over, a fresh start.  Let's see where this journey takes me.

Day 17 - Lets get practicing!!

Breakfast

Lean Gourmet Breakfast Pocket
Diet Mountain Dew

Morning Snack

Fiber One Bar

Lunch

Morningstar "Chicken" sandwich with bun and ketchup
Campbells Soup In Hand Chicken with Noodles
Yogurt
Veggies and Ranch
Diet Mountain Dew

Day 16 - I think I can I think I can I think I can

I think I can,
I think I can,
I think I can,
I will.

This is my mantra today. I will keep practicing and thinking good thoughts about my upcoming auditions. Now if I could only find the sheet music to the Horovitz Sonatina.

Breakfast

Sun-dried Tomato Bagel w/ whipped cream cheese
Diet Mountain Dew

Morning Snack

Fiber One Bar

Lunch

Pita Pit
Philly Steak Pita with lots of veggies and tzatziki
Diet Mountain Dew
Grapes

Day 15 - Start of Week 3

Okay so I weighed myself this morning and I need to be honest with myself. I'm not really following any plan at all. No wonder I was up 1 pound.  I think though that I've been lax because I'm still getting used to my new schedules and life living with the parents.

Oh well. I will get back on track. Even when I pledge to practice every day!!!

Breakfast

Diet Mountain Dew
Fiber Plus Bar

Lunch

Chicken Strips with Ranch
Diet Mountain Dew
Veggies
2 Reeces Mini Cups

Afternoon Snack

Circle K Frostee

Dinner

Arby's
Beef and Cheddar
Curly Fries
Diet Mountain Dew

Exercise

I walked to the courthouse twice today to deliver files which means I walked a total of 12 city blocks and after a weekend of yard work and weeding my thighs were SORE!!

Day 14- Sunday up the River

So today was an interesting day to say the least.
So my parents decided that we should take an impromptu trip up the McKenzie just for the drive. It was really fun, but we ended up at Harbicks which meant Chicken on a Stick. Okay admittedly it was amazing chicken but I could have probably had something better for me.

Breakfast

1 Half a Bagel
Cream Cheese
Ham
Root Beer

Lunch

BBQ Pork Sandwich
Watermelon
Diet Mountain Dew

Dinner

Harbicks!
Chicken on a Stick
Diet Mountain Dew
1 Snickers Peanut Butter Square

Day 13 Weedin' the yard

So I get to work on the yard today. Yay for exercise.

Breakfast (err lunch really it's almost noon!)

Gourmet Lean Buffalo chicken snack bites

Dinner

Panko and Parmesan Pork Chop
Roasted potatoes and green beans
Diet Mountain Dew

Exercise

Weeding the yard, cleaning my room.

Day 12 - Oh I love Friday!!!

Weekend Haiku

How I love weekends,
I get to sleep until Noon,
'fore weedin' the yard.

Breakfast

Dutch Bros Blended Coffee
Gourmet Lean Breakfast Pocket

Lunch

Thai Green Curry with Chicken and Veggies
White Rice
Diet Mountain Dew

Afternoon Snack

1 piece bread with peanut butter

Dinner

Spinach Lasanga
Diet Mountain Dew

Snack

Mountain Dew

Day 11- I love payday!!!

YAY it's payday!!! I decided not to eat out for a celebration of payday so that is good I guess.

But I did have breakfast at McDonalds. I was almost late so no wonder.

Breakfast
Iced Coffee-Hazelnut Flavor
Sausage McMuffin

Lunch

Spicy Black Bean Burger with Ranch
Spicy Thai Kettle Chips
Veggies with Ranch
Crystal Light

Afternoon Snack

Fiber One Bar

Dinner

Bean and Cheese Enchilada (1 1/2) with homemade pico de gallo
Mountain Dew
Diet Orange Soda

Day 10-The Middle of the Week Blues

Breakfast

English Muffin
Egg
1 Piece Bacon
Cheddar Cheese
Diet Mountain Dew

My version of a Bacon, Egg and Cheese McMuffin, probably is better for me too.

Lunch
Ham and Swiss Sandwich on Sourdough
Vegetables and Ranch
Garlic and Kale Roll from The Kiva
Crystal Light

Dinner

Stuffed Portabello Mushroom
Asparagus
2 pieces Sourdough bread with butter
Diet Mountain Dew

Day 9- Ready for Fall

Breakfast

Nancy's Vanilla Yogurt
Kashi Go Lean Crunch
Strawberries

Morning Snack

Fiber Plus Bar

Lunch

Cornbread Cafe Southern Fried Tofu
Homemade Potato Soup
Veggies with Ranch
Mountain Dew
3 sm Waffers with Chocolate

Dinner

Shrimp Cocktail
Garden Salad with Caesar Dressing
Watermelon
2 Hot dogs with buns and ketchup.

I like summer but I think I'm ready for fall. Or at least to pick up a new piece or research project.

Day 8- Start of Week 2

Okay so week one is over, so how did I do? Well since the last time I weighed at home I lost 3 pounds. Sounds awesome right!  I think that it will be even better this week.

Breakfast

English Muffin with Ham and Swiss Cheese
Diet Mountain Dew

Lunch

Homemade Potato and Vegetable Soup
Morningstar Chicken Patty with Bun and Ranch
Carrots
Roasted Garlic Hummus
Diet Mountain Dew

Afternoon Snack

Cheddar Crackers
Fiber Plus Bar
Fiber One Brownie
Diet Mountain Dew

Dinner

Steak Kebobs with Veggies
Apple Juice

Day 7 - More cleaning

Okay so Sunday is just another day to clean, but not today!  Today after I clean I'm going to see Erica at the Scandinavian Festival. Okay so this will be the third day for me at the Festival but it's awesome. I am trying to still stay on track with my exercise. I already walked two times around Valley River Center with Mom this morning.

Breakfast

Granola
Diet Mountain Dew

Lunch

Rice-A-Roni with Broccoli, Peas and Mixed Vegetables.

Dinner

Swedish Meat Pie
Lemonade

BBQ Pork
Almond Chicken

Day 6 - A Day to Clean

Okay so I've been absent from my cleaning duties for the last couple of weeks so I decided to stay home and help Mom and Dad do some much needed housework.  Thus my food consumption is drastically different from yesterday, for the better I think.

Breakfast (more like lunch but whatever)

Bagel Sandwich with Chicken Sausage, 1 Egg, and Cheddar Cheese
Lemonade

Lunch

Granola

Dinner

Baked Ling Cod with Garlic and Rosemary topping
Potato Fries
Broccoli
Cocktail Sauce
Diet Mountain Dew ( See I told you I would switch over!)

Snack

Granola
Cracker
Diet Mountain Dew

So next week when I get paid I am signing up for Weight Watchers online. I really miss being able to track on their website. I will still keep my blog, mostly because I love blogging at work during my breaks. :)

Day 5-Friday!

TGIF!!!

Breakfast
Fiber Plus Coconut Fudge bar
Mountain Dew

I know that I should eat breakfast but I woke up coughing and wheezing so I think that I might be getting sick. Breakfast might actually be Halls Cough Drops.

Lunch

I bought two small pastry pockets from the Scandinavian Festival at the Nordic Crab Pocket cart. Okay I didn't get the crab one but I did get:

Ham and Cheese Pocket: Black Forest Ham with Harvarti and Colby Cheese and Honey Mustard
and
Swedish Meatball Pocket : I think this one speaks for itself.

Dinner-Scandinavian Festival

I love this festival. Day 2.

Swedish Meatball Pocket-These are 10x better fresh
Swedish Meat Pie- Only took 12 minutes standing in line for this baby
Prickly Pear Lemonade
Cinnamon Almonds.

Day 4 - Okay...so I slipped.

Alright I know that my plan for the Scandinavian festival was to eat well and exercise. Okay the exercise was fine because I walked around downtown Eugene but foodwise....well lets just say old habits are hard to break.

Breakfast (McDonalds)

Sausage McMuffin
Hashbrown
Hazelnut Iced Coffee

I swear I went in the Drive Thru for the Iced Coffee and left with food.  Lesson of the day:  If I want coffee in the morning I should go somewhere that doesn't serve food.

Lunch

Falafel Pita including cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, spinach, sprouts, mushrooms, cilantro and tzatziki sauce.
Mountain Dew

I found out today that I will eat less for lunch if I don't give myself that much time to eat.  So if I go and walk around or shop for half of my lunch break I will eat at least 25% less then what I normally do.  So I think I need to plan a way to be out for the first half of my lunch break and then eat my lunch.

Afternoon Snack

The last of my Auntie Annie's Cheddar Bunny Snackmix
Back to Nature Crispy Cheddar Crackers (these are are all natural, with no preservatives or hydrogenated oils and they are pretty tasty. I got them at The Kiva, which is in downtown Eugene.)

Dinner


Pig in a Box Pork Sandwich with BBQ sauce
Vanilla Ice Cream Bar dipped in Chocolate and Almond Toffee (OMG YUMMY!!!)
Prickly Pear Lemonade

Scandinavian Festival!!!
So I love this festival. Today I went with my parents. Ran into a long lost high school friend, Erica and her husband Nathan and her mom. It was really fun. True we didn't stay as long as I would have liked but I'm going again tonight with Eric and Lauri so maybe I'll be able to look more. 

So far I think that blogging about my food habits is helping because I think about what I will end up blogging. It's a good thing. I think that this will work for me in the long run. Even if there aren't many readers this is mostly for me. 

Day 3- A Day to Prepare

So today is the day to prepare for an event I've waited anxiously for....THE SCANDINAVIAN FESTIVAL. I love this festival.  Unfortunately this is the festival where I eat like a pig for a day or two and regret it later.   This time I have a plan. I will eat well during the day and get exercise before going to the festival.  This way, even though I might still gain, I will have made a conscious effort to eat well and exercise for the first part of the day.

Breakfast

Gourmet Lean Breakfast Pocket
Strawberries
Mountain Dew

Morning Snack

Fiber One Oats and Peanut Butter Bar - Very Chewy!  Tasty but chewy.  It really made me work for those 9 grams of fiber.

Lunch

Smart Ones Enchilada Suiza
Auntie Annies Cheddar Bunny Snackmix
Nancy's Nonfat Strawberry Yogurt
Dragonfruit Crystal Lite

Afternoon Snack
Popcorn, 94% Fat Free
Fiber One Brownie

I find that today it is harder than normal to focus on my work, mostly because I'm achy and my back is bothering me. I hope it's just a symptom of not enough sleep.

Dinner

Beef Pot Roast
Mixed vegetables including potatoes

Day 2-Lots to Do

So yesterday was okay so the goal today is to walk for at least 20 minutes on my lunch break.  :)

Breakfast

Mountain Dew (I'm working on this really I am!)
Michaela's Lean Gourmet Breakfast Pockets with Ham (4 PointsPlus Values)  These aren't that bad. I would prefer the sausage ones but I can't seem to find them.  Oh well, for a quick and tasty breakfast snack it's pretty good.

Morning Snack

FiberPlus Caramel Coconut Fudge bar.  Surprisingly tasty...sometimes coconut can be a little overpowering in a concentrated bar like this but I really only taste yummy caramel. Yay! plus it has 9 grams of fiber per bar. I definitely don't want to eat more than one bar a day.

Lunch

So lunch was big but I was super hungry.

Morningstar Spicy Black Bean Burger with bun and ranch
Grapes
Campbells Soup at Hand-Creamy Chicken
Baby Carrots
Roasted Garlic Hummas
Mountain Dew

Afternoon Break

Auntie Anne's Cheddar Bunny Snackmix
Great Value Energy Drink Mix-Dragon Fruit (YUMMMY!!)

Dinner

Vegetarian Spaghetti with whole wheat noodles
Roasted Garlic Bread with parmesan cheese.

So I may not have stuck to my walking on my lunch break today but I did walk around Eric's pasture once. I don't know how far that is but I do know that next time I will be wearing regular shoes.  Plus their dogs follow them around the pasture which is adorable and the cat (Nicky) thinks he's a dog and walks the pasture too.  What a character!

Today is a New Day.

So I had an awesome weekend of movies, books and food. The food was a bit over the top but that's okay because today is the start of a new journey.

I bought some awesome lunch food which includes soups and morningstar chicken patties (okay fake chicken but I don't know the difference so who cares), and some crystal light tea.  I'm all stocked up.

So today has been a good day so far.

Breakfast

Bagel Sandwhich, including 1 egg, 1/2 oz cheddar and ham. Yumm!

Lunch

Chicken Noodle Soup
Morningstar Chicken Sandwich w/bun and ketchup
Auntie Annes Cheddar Snack Mix
Mountain Dew  (I'm currently working on transitioning to only Diet Mountain Dew, but for now this works.)
Fiber One Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie (90 calories and not half bad.  Nice and chocolately with a yummy peanut butter frosting.  For a low calorie brownie I approve.)

Dinner (which I have in the Crock Pot at home, yay for planning!)

Green Chile Chicken with Rice
Brussel Sprouts
Mountain Dew

Snack

Chicken Biscuit crackers

So overall not a bad day.  I think that I need to incorporate more exercise into my day.    I did walk to the courthouse and back from work which is about 6 blocks round trip.  

Overall, not bad. 

First Post-The Realization

I realized a long time ago that weight loss is a journey. I think that now that I am out of school I have also realized that I need, more than ever, to take that journey.

I have been doing Weight Watchers off and on my since I was in the third grade. That's a long time. I have been big my whole life.  From birth I was deemed "large" but it wasn't until I was in elementary school that it started to be a problem.

It was then that my parents put me on a diet and so the vicious cycle began.

I think that there are days when I don't care that I'm overweight. When eating what I want, when I want, is the only goal. Then there are days when I look around and see that pants aren't fitting and my wardrobe is getting smaller and I get really depressed. 

So I am thinking that this is the best place for my thoughts about weight loss, and my tips and tricks to doing it. I have lost weight before, up to 40 pounds, so I know that I can do it.  I know that if I stick to it I can and will lose weight and be healthier and happier for it.

Starting today is a new journey. A better journey. A journey that hopefully will lead me to a healthier life, a happier life.