Saturday, May 22 -- Week 20, Day 7

Today was a very busy day, but I think I managed pretty well. Today was a scheduled use-up-perishing-ingredients day. I did NOT have a plan, which is always scary. We had a soccer game this morning, and my morning was a bit of a rush, so I just grabbed some cold cereal, juice, and milk. I actually went with the 3/4 oz serving suggested by the book, because I knew I'd be busy and not have a chance to think about being hungry, and that I would be eating at noon.

BREAKFAST:

• 3/4 oz oatmeal squares
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup apple juice

We took the kids to EMS Day at the ambulance hall after the soccer game. Free food! You can bet I was all over that. I had resolved to control my eating while we were there. Fortunately there was plenty to do, and the food wasn't near where we were. I had a grilled chicken leg quarter, a few bites of potato salad, and a cookie. But then I went out to watch the helicopter take off and grabbed a burger on the way back in. Not sure the count on any of that, but it was certainly better than I'd have done another time, I'm sure.

DINNER:

• about 1 cup egg noodles
• about 1/2 cup chicken in gravy
• 1/2 cup carrots
• small salad with the last of my delicious light Italian Romano Red Pepper dressing

Another good dinner. This is how normal, non-1980s Weight Watchers people eat. Normal food that everyone likes. :-) I have next week's menu planned out and ready to go. It was a combination of the book menu and a few of my own adaptations. Next week I will be back to posting the original menu as well as my adaptations. Don't expect them to be close. I mostly used the book for inspiration.

I found a second copy of this book at a thrift store this week for $1.99. I almost bought it because I thought it was funny that I found another. But then I realized I have no use for a second copy, and that it would be a food expense, so I left it. It's at the new animal shelter thrift store by SNK, if anyone's interested.

Friday, May 21 -- Week 20, Day 6

Friday was a good day! I enjoyed all my food. I'm not sure on a final calorie count, but I think it was around 1100.

BREAKFAST:

• 3/4 oz oatmeal squares
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup apple juice

This was unremarkable. I really like this cereal. I absent-mindedly put my milk ON it one day and found that I MUCH prefer eating it dry. Mmm-mmm.

LUNCH:

• salad with 3 oz deli meat and 2 T. lite 3-cheese ranch dressing
• 1 orange
• 1/2 cup green beans

My salad was delicious. It was lettuce, cucumber, carrots, ham, and dressing. Very large. Very good. The green beans were green beans. The orange tasted funny - a little bitter, so I didn't eat it. The last one I had was better than that, so I think this one was just old. I got some fresh ones today.

DINNER:

• beef shish kebabs
• salad
• sugar-free vanilla pudding

Shish kebabs ready to grill. You can tell whose was whose by what's on it. Top has beef, potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, green peppers, and onions. That was Mark's. Next one was mine. All of the above minus mushrooms. Bottom two were for the kids to split. Just meat, potatoes, and carrots.

This was the leftover stuff thrown into a grill basket. Good thing. One shish kebab does NOT feed a person.


Here they are cooked. They were yummy! I steamed the carrots and the potatoes in Ziploc steam bags until they were not-quite done. I will do them a little less next time, because they kind of burned on the grill until the meat was done. On the other hand, the onions and peppers were still mostly raw. Not sure how to fix that. How do you par-cook peppers and onions??

After soccer practice, I still had a snack of 3 oz. of frozen yogurt and 2 graham crackers left. I chose to translate that into frozen yogurt on a cone, so we went to the ice cream house. Very good treat, well within my calorie goal for the day. Good meals today!

Thursday, May 20 -- Week 20, Day 5

The day started out innocently enough...

BREAKFAST:

• 1 cup apple juice
• 1 pita broiled with mustard and 1 oz. cheese
• 1/2 cup skim milk

This was actually really good. I wish I'd been able to broil it instead of microwave it, because that would probably make it even better. I even enjoyed the mustard. It gave it a nice tangy surprise. I will definitely do that again in the future, probably on english muffins.

LUNCH:

• 2 T. peanut butter
• 2 tsp. strawberry jelly
• 1 slice homemade wheat bread
• carrot sticks
• 1/2 cup homemade applesauce

This also was very good. I'm not wild over carrot sticks, but I'd certainly rather eat them than celery sticks! And how quickly a simple PBJ has grown on me. I REALLY enjoyed it this time! Maybe I was just super-hungry...

DINNER:

I am going to make more excuses. We were supposed to have beef shish kebabs. I set out the meat to thaw, forgetting that we have no oven, no broiler, and no gas for the grill. So nothing else was thawed. It was a really really bad day. I was literally in tears by the time Mark got home. He took pity on me and went and got a pizza.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

One of the best things about dieting is that each day is a new start. No matter how badly I screw it up one day, I can always try for a better day the next day. I'm not completely convinced yet that doing my own menu is going to work. I think I've lost my momentum this week. It's been a week full of unexpected complications. I will try my own menu again next week. I looked at the next week in the WW book and have made my modifications. I'm ready for a new week!

I'm looking forward to tonight's dinner though, because I believe we're getting gas for the grill so we can have our shish kebabs, which reminds me to marinate the meat this afternoon. I think I'll parboil some potatoes. We also have a green pepper and some sliced mushrooms (not sure how well sliced mushrooms will stay on the skewers, but we'll see). Maybe some onion chunks on Mark's. Anything else?

Wednesday, May 19 -- Week 20, Day 4

Today was a good day. I ate lots of good food and got lots of great exercise. Now if only I could apply that to housework, I think maybe everyone would be a lot happier!

BREAKFAST:

• 3/4 oz serving cream of wheat
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup sliced strawberries with Splenda

This was very good. The taste of fresh strawberries has really grown on me. I really truly enjoy them. Too bad our latest box is gone. That will give me something to look forward to for next week though!

**********

LUNCH:

• Greek salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, tomato-basil feta cheese, light Italian-romano-red pepper dressing)
• 1 thin slice homemade wheat bread
• 1 tsp. margarine

Also very good!! I absolutely LOVE this feta cheese!! That's unfortunate, because at that price, I'll probably never buy it again. Something tells me plain feta isn't quite as delicious as tomato-basil...

*******

DINNER:

• 3 oz. sautéed chicken
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1/2 cup wax beans
• salad
• 1/2 cup sugar-free chocolate pudding

And now ... are you ready to feast your eyes on the most colorful dinner ever???

Or not. I can hardly wait until we decide on a stove. It's really hard to cook without an oven. This was supposed to be baked chicken. I just sautéed it in a skillet sprayed with cooking spray. I seasoned the chicken with only salt and pepper. About 5 minutes before it was done, I drizzled a splash of white cooking wine into the pan and cooked it until it was evaporated. It made it a little more moist than it usually is.

As much as I enjoyed the chicken salad I got from Sheetz the other day, I figured I might as well put my chicken ON my salad. It was really good. This dressing was light 3-cheese ranch. I think I opened the bottle roughly a year ago and it's still good! That's not an exaggeration. I really think it was about a year ago.

This chocolate pudding mix came from Fisher's Country Store. It is REALLY good! I used all skim milk, but it was still very rich and not at all grainy. I prefer the chocolate to the vanilla, but both are quite good! And only 23 calories each serving (I divide a 4-serving pack into 6 bowls).

For snacks today, I had 2 graham cracker squares and a big bowl of vanilla frozen yogurt. Before the yogurt, I was at about 812 calories, so it was a big bowl. I ended the day at 1082 calories.

I ran 1 1/2 miles this afternoon, which burned about 200. Then this evening, I biked 6.5 miles during soccer practice, which burned about 400 more. Hopefully the scale will be kind in the morning!

Monday, May 17 -- Week 20, Day 2

This is my first week of creating my own menu, using the WW cookbook as a template. Our day had an unexpected interruption, so lunch went a little awry, but I still did my best to stick within the diet and chose a healthy lunch.

I apologize for the lack of photos today. I know that's a favorite feature, but it was an extremely hectic day. I'm lucky I got a chance to EAT, much less take pictures.

BREAKFAST:

• 1 over easy egg
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 slice wheat toast
• 1 tsp. margarine
• 1/4 cup skim milk

LUNCH:

• Sheetz grilled chicken salad with fat free Italian dressing

(This was supposed to be chicken on lettuce with mayo and tomato, bread, jello, and milk, but we ran out the door rather quickly right at lunch time, so I had to make do. My salad was only 168 calories, and it was REALLY good!)

DINNER:

• 3.5 oz sautéed haddock
• 1/8 of a large cast-iron skillet of grated potatoes & rutabagas
• 1 slice wheat bread
• 1 tsp. margarine
• 1/2 cup green beans

SNACKS:

• sugar-free jello
• banana

I just added up my calories for the day, and I realize that I'm only at about 839. Surprisingly, I'm not hungry, but I just ran 3 miles, which burned 400 calories. That leaves me with only 439 to get me through the rest of my day. I think I'm at a bit of a deficit. I'm contemplating eating something else before I go to bed. Part of me says, "839 is not enough. Eat something!" A bigger part of me is saying, "But you're not hungry. No need to eat anything." Time will tell which side will win, but I'm rooting for the "Don't eat" side.

***********

Guess which side won.... I just ate 2 graham crackers, for an additional 140 calories. Good night.

Weekends

Ok, apparently don't expect any posts over the weekend. There WILL be a post tonight though! I have a great menu planned for today, so stay tuned...

Planning Ahead

I was just looking over next week's menu, trying to come up with my own. This is going to be harder than I thought. Here is some of what I've come up with, very loosely based on the book's menu. I'm very open to suggestions!

Sunday Breakfast:

• 1 piece of fruit
• 3/4 oz oatmeal squares
• 3/4 cup skim milk

Sunday Lunch:

• broiled turkey burgers (assuming we have a broiler by then)
• 1 hamburger roll
• 2 tsp. ketchup
• 1/2 cup carrots
• cucumber-tomato salad

Sunday Dinner:

• macaroni and cheese
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1/4 cup carrots
• green salad

Sunday Snacks:

• 2 pieces fruit
• 3/4 cup milk

**********

Monday Breakfast:

• 1/2 cup juice
• 1 egg
• 1 slice toast
• 1 tsp. margarine
• 1/4 cup skim milk

Monday Lunch:

• 2 1/4 oz. chicken on lettuce with 1 tsp. mayonnaise and diced tomatoes
• 1 slice bread
• 1/2 cup low-calorie jello
• 3/4 cup skim milk

Monday Dinner:

• 3 oz. broiled haddock
• 1/4 cup squash (whichever kind is on sale)
• 1/2 cup green beans
• salad
• fruit

Monday Snacks:

• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 cup juice

**********

Tuesday Breakfast:

• 1 piece fruit
• 1 oz. cheese
• 1 slice toast
• 1/2 cup skim milk

Tuesday Lunch:

• deli meat on toast
• salad with 1 oz. shredded cheese
• canned fruit

Tuesday Dinner:

• 3 oz roast beef
• 1/2 cup wax beans
• 1/2 cup carrots
• salad
• 1 piece fruit

Tuesday Snacks:

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 english muffin
• 1 tsp. margarine + 2 tsp. jelly

***********

Wednesday Breakfast:

• 1 piece fruit
• 1 serving cream of wheat
• 1 cup skim milk

Wednesday Lunch:

• Greek salad
• 1 slice wheat bread
• 1 tsp. margarine

Wednesday Dinner:

• 3 oz. baked chicken
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1/2 cup zucchini
• salad

Wednesday Snacks:

• 1/2 cup low-calorie pudding
• 1/4 banana
• 3/4 cup canned fruit
• 2 graham crackers

**************

Thursday Breakfast:

• 1 cup juice
• 1 pita broiled with mustard and 1 oz. cheese
• 1/2 cup skim milk

Thursday Lunch:

• 3 T. peanut butter
• 2 tsp. jelly
• 1 slice bread
• carrot sticks
• 1/2 cup applesauce

Thursday Dinner:

• 3 oz steak
• 1/2 cup snow pea stir fry
• fruit gelatin pie
• salad
• 1/2 cup skim ilk

Thursday Snacks:

• root beer froth
• 1/2 cup strawberries w/ 1/4 cup yogurt
• 1 piece fruit

*************

Friday Breakfast:

• 1/3 cup juice
• 3/4 oz oatmeal squares
• 1 cup skim milk

Friday Lunch:

• use up any ingredients that will go bad soon
• include a meat, a veggie, a fruit, and a salad

Friday Dinner:

• probably pizza, using any veggie toppings available
• salad
• low-calorie pudding

Friday Snacks:

• 1 piece of fruit
• 2 graham crackers
• 3 oz. frozen yogurt

***************

Saturday Breakfast:

• Use up any ingredients that will go bad
• include a grain, a fruit, cheese, and milk

Saturday Lunch:

• EMS DAY, try to not eat like a pig

Saturday Dinner:

• Use up any ingredients that will go bad
• include meat, 2 veggies, salad, small dinner roll

Saturday Snacks:

• canned fruit
• 1 piece fresh fruit

***********

That's the tentative plan. I've left it specific enough to actually have a plan to stick to, but vague enough to allow me freedom based on grocery sales.

One of the goals I hope to accomplish through this project is to learn how to menu plan like this by myself. My biggest hurdle is remembering to include enough fruits and veggies, as well as GOOD grains.

It has been very easy for me to identify patterns in this diet. Dinner always includes 2 veggies, and usually a salad, but very few (if any) grains. I think that's a pretty easy system to stick to.

I've been making a side dish (potatoes, rice, etc) for the rest of the family, because they'd overthrow me if I didn't. I usually have one very small spoonful, just so I don't end up craving it and hiding in the closet to eat a huge bowl of it.

Having built-in snacks planned into my day has been a huge help. It's nice to know that if I feel hungry between meals, I'm ALLOWED to have a couple graham crackers or a bowl of applesauce.

I'd like to give my "freedom" menu a fair shot this coming week. If it goes well, I'll probably try it again, using the WW book for ideas. Surprisingly, quite a lot of my proposed menu this week came directly from, or was greatly inspired by, the WW book. I didn't just completely make it up out of thin air. Using the book as a guide, and with practice, I hope to be able to do it by myself eventually.