Get Your Head In The Game!

What the what????  You are probably wondering what the heck High School Musical has to do with this blog.  Right?  Well I will tell you!  The pics above are from a musical number about getting your head in the game.  Makes complete sense now right ;)

I ask you to bear bare be patient with me this week while we hit blog overload.  Another realization I've come to thank to a good friend, is that I've slacked big time in the blogging.  I have been in Plateau City (a weight loss reference to staying pretty stationery on the scales) for the past few months and it pissed me off.  I've spent  a lot of money on this program and shouldn't be screwing around when I know I have the drive, the ability and the need to make it happen.  In the beginning I blogged daily, sometimes multiple times daily and I was very successful.  I stayed on track, stayed accountable and was able to voice my feelings about this journey.  So I'm throwing myself full on back into blogging, no excuses...if I'm dormant for heavens sake CALL ME ON IT!  Shoot me an email, send me a text, leave me a not so nice comment on one of my posts about how LAZY I've gotten!  I may not like you right away if you are too mean but the point will get across.  Towards the end of the year I have a busy schedule so it will get harder but I need to keep going.  Just like tracking, blogging seems to be a tool I can't do without right now.

So feel free to not read everything that comes across your feed, my feelings won't be hurt at all.  I promise I'll have new pix and measurements and all that stuff soon!

My Eyes and My Brain Aren't Speaking

One of the things I'm struggling with a bit, and probably always will, is the warped way I see portions.  The way an anorexic sees herself in the mirror as a mega fatty....that is the way I see my food portions.  Not all the time but every now and then it sneaks up on me and I really have to struggle to overcome it.  Being overweight is (although most people wouldn't think so) and eating disorder in many ways.  I didn't WANT to be obese, I DID NOT DO IT ON PURPOSE!  I get so tired of judgemental folks who throw out their, 'just eat less' 'you brought this on yourself' 'you must not have any self control, how hard it is to not eat to much?' crap for the world to have to listen too.  I get ahead of myself though.  Let me explain what I was originally talking about.

Example: I made tuna casserole for dinner last night.  I use my favorite 9x9 casserole dish and its perfect because we get 9 easy to divide up servings.  6pts per serving.  Steve and I usually each eat 2 since we don't have anything along with is as a side dish..I'm cool with 12pts for dinner cuz, um, my tuna casserole rocks big time!  Anyway, that leaves 2 double portions in Glad containers for lunch the next day and 1 serving split between the kids.  So today I pull out my container to pop in the microwave.  I pop off the lid and my very first thought was, 'geesh what else can I eat, there is barely anything in there!'  Normally I dump the contents onto a plate or into a bowl to eat, part of my need to see it spread out so I can see that the portion is actually quite a lot.  Today I didn't want to mess with another dirty dish so I ate it right out of the container, all the while pondering what to eat to add to my lunch.  Well guess what, I didn't eat anything else.  By the time I finished I was very satisfied...because DUH THAT WAS A DOUBLE PORTION THAT WAS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE LAST NIGHT ON A PLATE!!!

It was yet another reminder that while I feel in control of this whole weight loss thing most of the time, I still have some quirks in my brain that will throw up little road blocks here and there as I go.  I'm figuring out ways around the blocks, detours if you will.  I may need a little snack once the kids go nap but I've got cheese and grapes all planned out for that :)

Why I Hate Combining Buffets and WW

So today my husband had the day off and decided he'd really like to go to Hometown Buffet for lunch.  I slept through breakfast so I figured what the heck, I have plenty of points and I've done this before so I can make it work.  Now, like a good girl I started with a salad, lots of lettuce, peas, mushrooms and broccoli on top, just a teeny bit of egg and NO CROUTONS!  That's right, I went for the bacon bits and left my buttery, garlicky crunchy yumminess off and guess what...I didn't miss them at all.  I had light ranch and all was good.  Onto the actual food!

If you have been to a buffet recently then you'll understand this next part....their healthy selections are on the sucky side.  Sure they have green beans....swimming in a vat of buttery water (not to mention they are cooked until almost mushy and are usually an unnatural shade of brown green), baby carrots (I do actually eat those but we all know they aren't a FREE veggie) and today a very soggy assortment of zucchini and squash.  How do I handle this?  Does it get the better of me???? NO WAY BUFFET!  I ate the following...

• 1/4c mac n cheese
• 1 fish stick (more the size of a chicken strip)
• 1/2c white rice
• 1/2c orange chicken (not the healthiest but its actually quite good)
• 4oz of lemon pepper baked white fish...super yummy!
• baby carrots
• salad!!!!!!!!!!!!
• 1/3c of chocolate pudding for dessert

So, as you can see I 'sampled' my way around instead of loading my plate like a glutton and snarfing down uncountable amounts of crap.  To be honest, I didn't even finish most of the servings I gave myself, a few bites here a few there and then onto something else.  All in all I used 18 points...not bad considering I let myself have a dessert and there was a bit of Chinese food in there.  Now fab but hey, its eating out at a BUFFET, its not going to be low points.

Now you are probably thinking...okay she sounds like she did okay so why does she hate it so much?  Well I'll tell you.  It's actually sort of a twisted and complicated emotion I have for buffets while doing WW.  I don't feel like I eat enough to justify the cost, then I feel guilty about wasting money and have to battle myself not to get another plate and load up just to make sure I eat my dollars worth.  Crazy right?  We eat out more than we should, I know this, but at least when I get a meal at one of our usual places (yes my lovelies, Wendy's is one of our usual places) I know the points up front and feel like the cost to fulfillment ratio is right. 

I am probably all alone out here feeling that way, and you may be feeling a little let down that I didn't have some awesome train wreck of a story...sorry if my title was misleading ;)  but I feel better having faced one of my fatty demons and come away with a little peek into how my 'fat girl brain' works.  I will not let myself eat more than I want just to feel better about the cost.  Buffets make me feel guilty about that.  Buffet, I think we need to break up.  The End.

Oh My Avocado!

I so love when I discover a food that, previously, I might have claimed not to like (without ever trying usually) and it turns out that I really like it.  Avocados are a perfect example.  I got brave and tried a friends sushi (california roll actually) and with it, avocado, for the first time about a year ago.  I've been hook on sushi ever since and have eaten much avocado that way but not any other.  A few weeks back I got a super yummy salad at a local restaurant that had sliced avocado on it and it was the best thing I've ever eaten!  So I got the great idea last week to recreate this salad at home, thus able to control the ingredients and points value a little better...not to mention its so much cheaper!  I wish I'd have thought to get a picture but it was so good I gobbled it up to fast each time.  Want to make your own?  I'll show you everything I used :)

I've been using Spring Mix lately and love how colorful and tasty it is

 

I use about 1/2 of a medium size avocado, diced or sliced

I've found precooked and sliced grilled chicken in the deli section at Target, very yummy and ready to go out of the package

I only use about 1/2oz because these yummies are higher in points.  You could sub in sliced almonds as well.

Bacon bits...need I say more?

You could do any variation of ingredients, cranberries, fruits, cheese...whatever!  It's all yummy :)  I like the combo above because it's satisfying and crunchy.  I top it off with a few tbsp or Asiago Peppercorn dressing and voila!  I could eat this everyday and never get bored.  Because the avocado is creamy I find I don't have to use as much dressing, the creaminess covers the lettuce and I get the 'appearance' of tons of dressing without the tons of points.  SCORE!