Roasted Red Pepper Spaghetti with Goat Cheese...

Still going strong on my new vegetarian road....I have quite a few recipes that I've found that I really love, I just haven't had time to post them. Our closest friends up the road moved this week to Las Vegas and so we've been having good-bye parties and watching their son so they can pack, etc....but through all of that, the only thing I've been restricting is meat and I'm down 5.5 lbs since Monday. Yes, I realize that at the beginning of any new "thing" weight comes off faster, etc - but I'm happy.

Yesterday, we decided to take the kids to see "Brave" and instead of driving the 1/2 mile to the theatre, we decided to walk to the movie and then stop by Trader Joe's to get some stuff for dinner. I made our new favorite Pasta which is here:

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/roasted-red-pepper-pesto-pasta-with-goat-cheese/

I made homemade Roasted Red Pepper Pesto which I found here:
http://www.dainty-chef.com/2012/02/roasted-red-pepper-pesto-for-ravioli.html

And we both loved it! We've had it twice this week so far with some oven roasted broccoli, which is my absolute favorite veggie. So, I'm a happy girl - feeling good and successful and not deprived....I still won't eat Tofu or fake meat though, that's where I draw the line....

To Veg or Not to Veg....

So, I'm back on the wagon yet again after a few months of doing/eating whatever I want. Of course, I've gained back pretty much everything I lost before but I'm trying to get back under control. I still think that WW is probably the most effective way to lose weight long term but, the thought of trying to keep track of points during the summer with the kids home and vacations, etc. Adding in the fact that I work less hours in the Summer so we have less money to pay for things like WW, I've decided to try something different at least for now.

My husband and I both have decided to be vegetarian for the Summer and so far, we are doing really well! I have a few friends that are Vegan and I don't think I could ever do that, but I've always sort of toyed with the idea of going meat-free. I had been thinking about it and then, my husband out of the blue said "I think I want to try being a vegetarian". So, here we are three days into our experiment and so far, so good. We're not keeping track of what we're eating other than not eating meat. It's made me much more conscious of what I'm eating but I don't actually feel restricted much. I've lost 3.8 lbs since Monday - which is just water weight, I'm sure, but it's encouraging.

I also found this walking outline that a friend posted on Pinterest and so I've talked the kids into doing that with us and we're going to start that this week.

I wanted to get back on the blog and write about my journey and also share some recipes that I find along the way. Monday night we had a yummy Roasted Red Pepper Pesto / Goat Cheese Spaghetti with Roasted Broccoli and it was amazing! Last night I made homemade cheese enchiladas with Trader Joe's Enchilada sauce, which is amazing btw....I'll write later about those recipes, but in the meantime, I wanted to let my one reader know that I'm back, plugging along again....

Back on the Wagon...

So I fell off the wagon a little last week and weekend...I blame the chocolate bunnies...But, I am happy to report that I am back on the wagon today and I didn't do too much damage. I was up a tiny bit this morning and hope to have it back down tomorrow. The thing that makes me mad at myself is that, per one of my previous posts, I feel like I have two good losing weeks per month and Easter happened to fall during those two weeks so I've put myself back some...but, it is a marathon no a sprint so I'm trying not to beat myself up too much as I climb back on the wagon.

Here's to a good week before vacation...oh crap, vacation is next week...Lord have mercy!

Reason #546 Why I Love WW....

So, I haven't had a great weight loss week, as referenced in my last post...that hasn't changed yet, but I have hope and I know it has to come off. But, yesterday, I was talking to my mom because she and my dad are on South Beach - as are my in-laws...I've so far been successful in not talking to my family about my WW journey but we were talking about their current endeavor and I remembered what I don't like about low-carb diets. Besides the fact that I don't lose weight on them as well as my husband does, I don't like having to completely cut sugar and other carbs like potatoes out of my diet. I've worked and worked before to cut it out and then when I have one bite of anything with sugar in it, it's all down hill...

With WW, I love the flexibility I have. My husband and I take Friday off and I've sort of decided that Friday will be the day I use my weekly points because we tend to go out for lunch or have people over, etc...Last Friday, we tried a new breakfast spot downtown called Tolousse - it was a sort of New Orleans place and they had beignets on the menu and they sounded really good - so we split a small order and they were yummy. So to counter that, I ordered the yogurt with fruit and granola for my entree and only ate about 1/2 of it and I was so satisfied.

Then, last night, we had friends over and my husband requested The Pioneer Woman's enchiladas so I made those with Mexican Rice, Beans and chips with the wonderful WW Avocado Lime sauce...we made fun fruity drinks and our friends brought ice cream for dessert (it happened to be light)....I think because I've been having a little bit of sugar each day, when I have days like this I don't go crazy. I know these aren't "forbidden" foods there are no "forbidden" foods - and mentally that works better for me.

So, even though I haven't had great weight loss this week, I've lost 10 lbs so far and that's awesome...plus, I know the next two weeks will be better and I feel great....

Two Good Weeks...

So, we've come to the discouraged portion of our program....I've gone a whole week with no weight loss...I realize this is normal as I'm retaining water and craving chocolate - and we all know what that means. But, it doesn't make it any easier...tomorrow is my official weigh-in day and I'm trying to not force myself to fast all day and just treat this like a normal day. Because, in the scheme of things, I know weeks like this will come.

I feel like, the older I get, I have about 2 good "weight loss" weeks a month and the other 2 are just about holding on until the next 2 weeks come. It's frustrating, but I know that in the long run, it has to keep coming off. I am eating less and being more active....I feel better, I have more energy so it's all good - If I can just get through these 2 weeks to the next 2....

Website Woes....

So a couple of days ago, I was having trouble logging on to the WW website. I got error messages all morning but, finally was able to log in the late afternoon...but, when I logged in, instead of my normal 36 daily points - it now said that I only was allotted 26 daily points! I tried logging in again, made sure it still had my weight correct, posted a message on the message board asking if anyone else was having issues, sent an e-mail to WW....finally, yesterday I called and got some lady who basically told me "If the computer says that, it must be correct - if you're losing weight, the points will go down."

I was so frustrated but started to doubt myself, thinking maybe I was supposed to only get 26 points...so I did some research on-line and realized that 26 is the lowest points allowed in the Points Plus program so I knew at over 250 lbs, there was no way it was correct. So, I called again today, and at first the woman tried to tell me again - it must be correct but I didn't take that answer...I pushed and asked to talk to a supervisor and while we were waiting for one to get on the line, she said "have you tried resetting your weight?"....um...no, you haven't mentioned that yet....so, I reset my weight to today's weight and voile' I have my 37 points back...it was weird because I swear I was down to 36 before, but I'll take it. It is kind of a pain because I had to start it with today's weight (254.4) so it doesn't show the 10.6 lbs I've lost so far, but I know I've lost them...

I just wanted it to work how it's supposed to work and I felt like no one could understand that...but, I MADE them listen to me and that is really good for me - I'm not always good at advocating for myself and it felt good to get it figured out....

On another note, I made Mongolian Beef in the crock pot last night. I really liked it - it was different than say PF Chang's Mongolian Beef, but I thought it was really tasty and easy to make....here's the link... http://veryculinary.com/2012/02/28/crock-pot-mongolian-beef/

Monday, Monday

This weekend was hard for me...harder than dieting has been this time around....I did fine and stayed within my points, etc but it was a struggle for the first time. I wanted to eat - I was grouchy and annoyed and wanted to eat. I realize this is completely normal, but it's not fun. I made it through the weekend to Monday and I feel better this morning, kind of...I'm tired and grouchy still, but I'm plugging along.

I have a much easier time eating well during the week - I pack my lunch for work with some sort of entree' - either a Lean Cuisine or leftovers - a big bag of raw veggies and a piece of fruit. I'm typically very satisfied with this and it gets me a long way to getting all my fruit/veggie servings in. I have more structure during the week - meals are relatively set and planned for. On the weekends, even if I've planned out our menus, things come up to change those plans...Or I have a marathon day of shuttling kids to and from Target and dropping off at birthday parties and I get tired and just want to eat. Last night, even though I was tired, I made the healthy Baked Potato Soup that I was planning on and it was good...I enjoy cooking and it calmed me down...I ate a bowl of soup and a big salad and felt much better. So far, I'm reacting well to the frustrations and diversions that are coming up and that's good.

I sat down this morning and made out our meals through the week and made a grocery list and I'll go to Fred Meyer after I work awhile and do our shopping and all will be right in my little dieting world and this hurdle will be over...until the next one....

PS - that baked potato soup recipe is here if you're interested.... http://www.recipe-diaries.com/2011/11/10/baked-potato-soup-2/