Tag Archives: Points

6.6

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I knew I had a reason to be excited to weigh-in on Wednesday. Why? Because I knew I would lose. But I didn’t expect it to be the number it was.

Last week on Wednesday (June 1), I weighed in at 146 pounds, which was almost a 10-pound gain since my first weigh-in in April, which was on April 6. I was at 137.4 .  This Wednesday (June 8), I weighed in at 139.4 – a 6.6 pound loss! YES! SIX POINT SIX POUNDS!!!! I was ecstatic. Almost in tears really.

So, why? What did I change? What did I do?

A couple of things.

For one, I have been drinking lots of Vitamin Zero Water and Sobe Lifewater. Both zero calorie drinks, but unfortunately, that doesn’t equate to 0 PointsPlus values for Weight Waters. I found out that the Vitamin Zero Water has 2 PointsPlus values per bottle and there were times I was drinking two or three per day. And the Sobe Lifewater is worse…or at least for the flavors I was drinking. The pomegranate cherry and the orange tangerine Sobe flavored Lifewaters have 5 PointsPlus values per bottle. FIVE!!!! YIKES!!!! Again, there were times I was drinking two or three a day. You know how fast those points add up! Scary.

Lesson learned. Don’t assume that because something is flavored water and it has zero calories that it is healthy for you. It’s not. Plain and simple.

Lesson learned. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS check the PointsPlus values of every single item. DON’T ASSUME anything.

I also cut back on the all sweets I was eating. May not sound like much, but if you saw the amount of sweets I was eating you would understand.

I also cut back on the amount of sodium I was consuming. Pizza. Chinese take out. Chips. Processed foods. Yep, it all adds up.

It’s amazing how the littlest, simplest things can make such a huge impact. AMAZING!

So, I am back on track and hopefully looking for another loss next Wednesday. My goal is to stick closer to the 136-range. This is where I feel my best. I will let you know next week how I do. In the meantime, have a great weekend! AND watch those points….don’t let them sneak up on you!

And as always, remember, you can look me up on Facebook by clicking here.

Confession of all confessions!

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This was by far one of the worst days I have had in a VERY LONG time. It was so not good.

For the most part, I have been eating quite healthy. For. The. Most. Part. Until…today. Cake. Sweet, sweet cake. Yep, it was calling my name and I listened. And not only did I listen, I caved. BIG TIME.

After my first WW meeting in Morris today, I had a few hours before my next meeting. I packed my lunch with healthy foods – ham sandwich, grapes, carrots and a sugar-free, fat-free pudding. I also had one of those new granola thins from Nature Valley. I was set.

I thought.

Until that dang craving for cake kicked in. I drove to the grocery store, walked in, all the while screaming to myself in my head that, “I DON’T NEED CAKE!”

But yep, cake is what I needed. WANTED. Right when I walked in, I noticed a leftover Easter cake on display that was on sale for $4.99. It was an 8-inch layer cake but it was only one layer, not two. So, it looked like a really small cake. A small, cute, deliciously good, cake.

Now comes the confession. Part one. Because I felt really bad about buying the cake and because – if I happened to run into any of my members – I didn’t want them to think I was buying the cake for me, I had one of the bakery department people take off the plastic Easter decoration and write “Happy Birthday” on it. Very fitting I thought because today happens to be my mom’s birthday.

REALLY? Whatever. It wasn’t like I was going to be seeing my mom, delivering the cake to HER or anything. The cake wasn’t for her. I was buying it for myself. For me, myself and I.

Confession time again. Part two. As I got back in my car, I grabbed the plastic spoon I brought with me for my pudding and dug into the cake. One big bite after another. Yep, as I drove around the streets of Morris, I gobbled up my cake. My, oh-so-sweet-deliciously-yummy cake. I polished off nearly half of it. Really? Yep.

Yesterday, I ran nearly five miles. Today, I eat nearly half a cake. What the heck? What am I doing? What is wrong with me?

After giving it sufficient thought, I decided…I am over it. I am moving on. Chalking it up to poor lapse in judgement. Tomorrow is a new day. Right?

Right.

(Note: Because I still keep track of the food I eat, I DID track my cake on my Weight Watchers tracking site. I really didn’t know how many points it was so I decided that 25 sounded like a great number. So, 25 PointsPlus values is what I wrote down. Just in case you wanted to know!)

Not a good week : (

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So, you are probably wondering how my week went, right? Well, I will tell you it wasn’t very good. At. All. (Insert HUGE frowny face here!)

I won’t bore you with the actual details, but I will just let you know that I ended up with a sinus infection and had to go in to the doctor. Let’s just say I love the Z-Pak (the wonderful five-day antibiotics that doctors use nowadays!).

It is Saturday and I am finally feeling back to normal. So, that means, yep, you guessed it, I did not get any of my running in this week. Not one single day. And that makes me mad AND sad. Especially, because the weather actually shaped up and I would have loved to be outside soaking up the sun and breathing in the wonderful fresh air instead of being cooped up inside my house on my couch feeling miserable. Boo.

As for my eating? Well, let’s just say I am guessing the first day of being sick I must have had a fever. Why? Because isn’t there a saying that goes like this…starve a cold, feed a fever. Well, that was me the first day. I couldn’t get enough food shoveled inside my big ol’ mouth. (I found out that a single scoop turtle sundae from Culver’s is 17 WW points!) But, luckily, the next few days were better. One, because I couldn’t taste anything and two, I couldn’t breathe while I was eating and that just made me not want to eat. I did, however, have TONS of Vitamin C.

When I am sick, I love to drink hot Tang. Yes. Hot. I boil some water and then mix it with the powdered Tang drink mix. I LOVE HOT TANG!!!!! It is so soothing and just plain ol’ awesome. I also drank plenty of Vitamin Zero Water, the orange kind. I love that stuff, too. But cold, not hot.

Well, now that I am feeling better, I plan on getting back on track and am going to work on getting in at least three runs per week. Even though it is kind of gloomy out today, I plan on going for a run this afternoon. And…I cannot wait!!!!! It just killed me this week not to be able to get out there and run, but I am the biggest wimp and wuss when I am sick. The couch is pretty much where I spend my time. YUCK!

So, so much for not boring you.

Maybe this will help. Last night, my husband and I had our typical “date night.” Yes, we usually have it on Saturdays, but we have other plans for tonight so we decided to have it last night. Both of us LOVE mahi mahi. It is probably our favorite fish, although I have to say that yellowfin tuna is right up there at the top as well. Anyway, my husband found an awesome recipe online, click here for recipe, called grilled mahi mahi with black bean salsa.  OMG!!!!! It was awesome. Perfect.

So, here is a couple of photos from our date night for your viewing pleasure.

Grilled mahi mahi with black bean salsa

Here is what the fish looked like when I cut into it. It's meaty and thick and dense. This is good, not bad. I love MEATY fish, not flaky and slimy.

And of course, when we have date night, we have to have our wine. Here are pics of the two bottles we enjoyed!

We love Coppola wines. We have never had one we didn't like. This one, however, was much better with the food than it was sipping it by itself.

Another awesome wine. We have also had many Cline wines and have never been disappointed. This, too, was awesome with the food.

So, until next time….have a wonderful week everyone! And, as usual, you can keep tabs on me by checking out the Confessions of a [former] Fat Girl Facebook page. Just click here.

Recipe makeover (now with photo!)

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All I can say is…wow! Last night, my husband made supper. Oh, okay, no big surprise there, right? But what amazed me was what he made. Oh, okay, that should have been no surprise either as most of you know he is one heckuva cook…er…chef. (That’s what I like to call him!)

But here’s the deal, he had taken chicken breasts out of the freezer in the morning and had planned on grilling them with one of his usual marinades. But, when he went to the cupboard to get it, a can of artichokes hearts caught his eye. We love artichokes.

So, like he often does, he logged onto one of his favorite recipe websites, allrecipes.com, and typed in chicken and artichokes. One of the first recipes listed, cleverly named no doubt, was Artichoke Chicken. It had more than one thousand reviews on it, which my husband loves, so he decided to give it a shot. However, he knew that the recipe wasn’t all that healthy, so he took it upon himself to revise it.

That, my dear readers, is where the shock factor comes in. I entered the information for the original recipe into the recipe builder on the Weight Watchers website to find out how many pp values it had. I put the serving size as three because that is how many chicken breasts my husband used. Each serving had 21 pp values. TWENTY-ONE!!! Holy smokes. I only have 30 pp values to use in a day. To waste 21 pp values on one piece of chicken, not a chance. That is ridiculous. Absurd, really.

Well, my husband’s revised version of the chicken artichoke recipe, which I cleverly renamed Chicken A la Artichoke Al, was only 7 pp values per serving. SEVEN. Now that’s more like it. Seriously, to go from 21 to 7 pp values, that is absolutely crazy. Unbelievable almost.

You can find the original recipe here. The ingredients included 1 can of artichokes hearts, drained and chopped; 3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese; 3/4 mayonnaise; 1 pinch of garlic pepper; and 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. For instructions, click on the link.

The ingredients my husband used included 2 wedges of the Laughing Cow light original swiss cheese; 3 tablespoons of reduced-fat parmesan cheese; 1/4 cup of fat-free sour cream; 2 tablespoons of Hellman’s light mayonnaise; 1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder; 1 can of artichokes hearts (not in oil), drained and chopped; 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped (tossed on top once it was done); and 20 ounces of chicken (this was one package, but it only had three chicken breasts).

He mixed together everything but the chicken breasts and the parsley. Then he sprayed a glass pan with Pam and put the chicken breasts in the pan. He took the mixture and spread it evenly over the three chicken breasts and baked it, uncovered, for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees. When he took it out of the oven, he sprinkled the fresh parsley on top.

So, I am sure all of you are wondering if the recipe my husband made was even any good and you know what, it was DELICIOUS! And I am not just saying that. It was creamy, cheesy, flavorful, tender and just plain good. We ate it with a side of mixed veggies and it was a wonderfully delicious meal.

And the best part? It was way more healthy for us!!!! It just goes to show you that you can tweak a recipe just a little and it can make a huge difference, as far as how healthy it is. And you can do it without sacrificing the taste.

Here’s a photo of the Chicken a la Artichoke Al!!

Yummy!

Fast Food

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I do not like to eat at many fast food restaurants. If I do, I typically tend to choose Jimmy John’s or Subway. Before my healthy lifestyle journey began, I was probably what one would call a fast food junkie.

Quick and easy, that’s why I liked to go there. Not necessarily because the food was all that great and definitely not because it was cheap. Seriously, eating out at fast food restaurants frequently can be expensive…I don’t care if they have a budget menu, it’s still expensive. Period.

Jimmy John’s, which is on the spendier side, has the super fantastic Unwich, which is a sandwich wrapped in a lettuce leaf instead of on a bun. Here’s how I always order my sandwich: “I will have the #4 Turkey Tom Unwich with no mayo, no cheese, add cucumbers and avocado spread.”

This is a totally awesome, fresh tasting sandwich. Absolutely superb.

At Subway, here is what I order: “I will have the six-inch wheat with ham and turkey, no cheese, not toasted.” Then, I add lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, pickles, olives, green pepper and cucumbers. NO mayo. NO dressing of any kind. And you don’t need it with all those awesome fresh-tasting veggies.

My sandwich at Jimmy John’s is 2 WW pts. and my sandwich at Subway is 5 WW pts. Subway is higher because of the bread.

Well, guess what. The other day I was extremely rushed, hurrying from one job to the next and I didn’t have time for Jimmy John’s or Subway. I had to eat something in my car and I forgot to pack my lunch. YES, if I know I need to be eating in  my car, I PACK A LUNCH. Way cheaper and WAY, WAY healthier. I recommend to everyone who eats on the run to pack a lunch.

And don’t tell me you don’t have time because the time it takes you to run through the drive-thru of a restaurant is about all the time it would take you to pack a lunch that morning.

Anyway, I went through the McDonald’s drive-thru and all I ordered was a grilled chicken sandwich plain…as in no mayo, no cheese, no nothing. It was a piece of meat and a bun. That’s it. I also ordered a bottle of water because I am not a pop drinker and I knew I was going to be thirsty.

First off, I was shocked at the total. It was nearly 6 bucks – yes, $6 for a lousy sandwich and water. But I guess that’s what you pay for convenience. I finally figured out my points for that plain, ol’ boring sandwich, which to be honest, didn’t taste very good. It definitely didn’t have that fresh taste like the other sandwiches I eat. At any rate, it turned out to be 7 WW pts. SEVEN. For a piece of meat and bun. Ridiculous, I thought.

I guess I learned my lesson about remembering to pack my lunch. I will definitely do that from now on!

It’s fair time!

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Well, it’s that time of year again…time for the Douglas County Fair. And everyone knows what the fair means – FOOD!

I have plans to be at the fair tonight, tomorrow and Saturday and yes, I will be eating fair food. Some. Not a lot. Just a little. Enough to be satisfied.

I work at the newspaper booth at the fair all three of those days and for the most part, I will be bringing my own food. Yes, to some that probably sounds weird. Really weird. But seriously, as much as I like the “Patty Wicken Corn Dogs,” I don’t think I could eat one every single day. Sorry, Patty. Last year year at this time, I probably could have. And the year before that, I know I would have.

My husband and I will be working the newspaper booth together tomorrow night and that is when I plan on eating my deliciously yummy corn dog. I only eat corn dogs at the Douglas County Fair and I only eat them from the Wickens’ food stand. They are by far the best corn dogs I have every had. (And let me tell you, I have had my share of corn dogs. I used to eat them whenever I could!)

For tonight, I am bringing my supper with me…I won’t indulge in the fair food yet. My supper consists of three pieces of Oscar Meyer smoked turkey (.5 WW pts); one Thomas bagel thin (1 pt); two dill pickles (0 pts); about a cup and a half of cherry tomatoes (.5 pts); an apple (1 pt); a WW string cheese (1 pt); a cup of raw carrots (0 pts); one container of Jell-O sugar-free, 60-calorie pudding in the dulce de leche flavor; and maybe some grapes, about a cups worth (1 pt). All that food for a total of five points. Yes, only five points. I am all about quantity people. I like to eat a lot and so I try to find low-point food so I can get more bang for my buck, so to speak.

But tomorrow night, I know I will be eating a corn dog, which is probably worth between six and eight points. But I don’t care. It’s worth it to me. And I will enjoy every single bite of that corn dog. The best part is I will eat it without any guilt because tomorrow morning, I already know I will be working out for about an hour…maybe more.

And for some reason, I am finally to the point where I don’t mind working out because that means I can treat myself. And that’s what it’s all about!

Blues Fest, class reunion and Applebee’s

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You’re probably wondering what the title of my blog means, right? Well, it’s a combination of what I did this past weekend.

On Friday night, my husband and I had the pleasure of going to the Fargo Blues Fest. It was awesome. The music was great and so was people-watching. I’m not sure about you, but I love to watch people. It is amazing how different we all are. 

Because we got to the blues fest early and knew we would be having supper there, my husband and I did the smart and cheap route…we packed a picnic. You can’t bring food into the venue because they sell food there and might I add, not the most healthy stuff. Seriously, it was ridiculous. But, whatever. I will admit, we did have to buy some kettle corn and it was so worth it. Every single kernel. I just love that stuff.

Our picnic, which we ate in the parking lot out of the trunk of my car, consisted of turkey sandwiches, pickles, raw bell peppers (red, yellow and orange), strawberries, grapes, cherries, string cheese and pretzels. My husband had some beer, while I sipped on water! The picture below shows my trunk:

Here I am enjoying my supper! It was so much fun.

 

The next day, we headed back to Alexandria, unpacked from Friday night and then repacked, got ready and headed to Willmar for my 20th year class reunion. What a hoot! Seriously, it was so much fun. Here are a few pictures from the evening. Enjoy!

My husband and I before the reunion.

My three bestest friends from high school and myself. These were our name tags for the evening. From left, Jen, Trena, Tracy and then, yep, that’s me. I can’t believe we had that big of hair! 

Here we are today. This was taken before the reunion started. From left: me, Tracy, Jen and Trena. I have to say we all look better today!

Another one of my husband and I. We were looking at the reunion book. I just love this photo!

 

The day after the reunion, after my husband and I finally woke up (we had an extremely late night…didn’t get to bed until almost 3:30 a.m.!!! That’s the latest I have stayed up in a really, really long time), we decided to go to Applebee’s. Despite going out to eat at Perkin’s after the reunion was over…yes, at around 12:30 a.m., we were starving the next morning. I was not hungover, mind you, because I only had three glasses of wine throughout the whole entire evening, but I sure felt like I was. I think it was lack of sleep. Oh, when we went to Perkins, I ate a bowl of oatmeal with sugar-free maple syrup. My friends didn’t even really pick on me for eating it! Which, I have to admit, I half expected them to.

Anyway, back to Applebee’s. Because I was starving and have been so good lately with my eating habits, I decided to treat myself. My husband and I ordered the menu item where you get an appetizer and then two entrees. We chose the boneless buffalo wings for the appetizer, he opted for the bacon cheeseburger for his meal and I decided to have the cheesy chicken penne pasta. I have not ordered pasta in a restaurant for a very long time. Well, because I was "starving," I also ordered the spinach and artichoke dip appetizer.

Yep, you probably guessed it, my eyes were way bigger than my stomach. We did eat all the buffalo wing things, which were really, really good. We ate half of the spinach and artichoke dip, which came with really good salty chips. Then, when my meal came, I think I ate maybe six bites of it. Maybe. I was so full, it was ridiculous. 

Now, here is the fun part. Or at least I think it is. Prior to beginning my healthy living journey, my husband and I would have had no problem going into Applebee’s, eating all of our appetizers, all of our main dishes AND, I know for a fact, we would have ordered, and scarfed down, one if not two desserts. 

Not this time, however. We had half of one appetizer left, my husband ate his burger, but barely touched his fries and I barely touched my meal. And, there was no way in heck we could have ordered dessert. No way.

So, for that, I was happy. Yes, I did splurge, but it wasn’t overkill. It was nice. And you want to know what the best part was? I didn’t feel one ounce of guilt. Not one.

After we got home from Willmar, we didn’t even have a chance to unpack and then we headed to the lake. We were celebrating an 80th birthday. We didn’t spend much time at the lake, however, because it was raining. Instead, we headed into Alexandria and all went out to eat at Angelina’s Restaurant. There was 10 of us. 

I ate two pieces of garlic toast, which is my favorite stuff in the whole world. Then, my husband and I shared a small green olive pizza, which is our favorite kind of pizza. He ate way more than I did. Way more. I was saving myself for, yep, you guessed it, dessert! 

I may not have had dessert at Applebee’s earlier in the day, but I had it at Angelina’s. In fact, I ate not only my dessert, which was a piece of turtle cheesecake, but I ate half of the birthday girl’s dessert, too. She didn’t want all of it. Her dessert was cheesecake, too!

And you want to know the best part, I didn’t feel guilt at all. Not one bit. 

But I did feel just a little sick!

Oh, and by the way, I didn’t figure out my Weight Watchers points the entire weekend! Sometimes, I think it might be better not knowing! : – )

Maybe I figured it out

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For the last few months, I have been kind of keeping track of my eating habits. Meaning, I have noticed when I get hungry for certain foods, as in sweets.

Maybe I should first put a warning on here for any men that read this blog: I am going to be talking about "girl stuff" – as in our monthly visitor. You know, "Aunt Flo," or whatever it is people say. Usually, I call it what it is…my period.

I have a pattern, as I am sure most women do. But it seems my pattern is a little different…maybe. I know a lot of women who crave sweets and junk food the week of their period. That’s where I think I am different. I actually eat more the week BEFORE my period.

And it’s weird, I’ve noticed. I’ve talked about it before, but never really put two and two together until recently. I have certain times where I am hungry and when I say hungry, I mean ravenous. To the point I shake. To the point I pretty much can’t get full and just keep eating. I can eat healthy foods like fruit and veggies and good-for-me stuff or I can eat crap. Either way, I really don’t get full. 

Well, it seems like those times have always happened the week before my period. It’s not necessarily a whole week like that, but at least two days if not three days where it seems no matter what I eat, my body just wants more. It craves something that I can’t satisfy. 

Like I said, I’ve tried the healthy stuff, the crap stuff. I’ve tried more protein during that time, more dairy, more carbs, but nothing really seems to work. It’s like my body is preparing itself for my cycle, for my period and it just needs fuel. 

Regardless of what is happening, I don’t like it. Frankly, it’s a pain in my arse. I try and keep it in check and now that I have it somewhat figured out, that I just have to deal with a few days each month like that, I can handle it better. I know it’s coming. I can somewhat prepare myself. Somewhat.

I do wish, however, that someone could explain it all to me and tell me if there is something that would help. Why? Because I don’t like feeling that I am a starved maniac. I don’t like the feeling of not being in control. I don’t like the shaky feeling I get. I don’t like that I most often eat five to 10 additional points per day when it happens. At least, I do exercise through it, but still, it’s not a good feeling. Truly, it’s not.

So, if anyone out there has some helpful hints, PLEASE send them my way. Except, and I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, only if the tips don’t have anything to do with taking vitamins or herbs or other pills of any kind. Sorry, but I am just not into that. Now, if it’s an herbal tea…not Herbal Life…I might consider it. 

Also, if there are any women who would like to share their PMS stories, I would be happy to listen. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel so abnormal. Either post it here or feel free to send me an email to confessionsofaformerfatgirl@gmail.com. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.

Also, for any newbie blog readers out there, you can also find Confessions of a Fat Girl on Facebook. Look me up and hit the like button. I would be happy to have you on board!

A healthy salad. Really?

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Salad. Simple, right? Healthy, right? Well, it all depends.

Linda, a co-worker and friend of mine, sent me an email the other day with the ingredients she used for her salad, which she thought was pretty healthy. It is a salad, after all, right. Well, as all of you know, I am not only a Weight Watchers member, but I also now work for Weight Watchers as a receptionist. 

Well, I told Linda that I would figure out her salad for her and let her know just how "healthy" it was. 

First off, she told me that she did just trim her dressing down from about five tablespoons to two tablespoons, kind of at my urging, I guess. At any rate, Linda’s salad included lettuce, Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (the full fat version), shredded cheddar cheese (the full fat version) and slivered almonds. Not bad, right? Well, you be the judge. Now keep in mind I work off the Weight Watchers point system and not calorie or fat count. 

Here are my findings:

Hidden Valley Ranch dressing – regular – 5 tbs. – 10 points (Yowsers!)
Hidden Valley Ranch dressing – regular – 2 tbs. – 4 points (Nice cut back.)
Hidden Valley Ranch dressing – light – 2 tbs. – 2 points (Wow, big difference and not a lot of sacrifice in taste, as Linda later found out when she decided to try the light version of her favorite dressing…at my urging, I guess!

So, just by trimming it back from 5 tbs. to 2 tbs. Linda knocked it down six points. Yes, 6. But she can knock it down even more by going with the light version, which she plans on doing. Right, Linda?

Kraft shredded cheddar cheese – regular – 1/3 cup – 4 points
Kraft 2% milk colby/monterey jack shredded – 1/3 cup – 2.5 points
Kraft 2% milk reduced-fat mozzarella shredded – 1/3 cup – .5 points

I showed Linda the options she has for trimming down the point value for her cheese. She was pretty impressed by it. If she chooses to go with the reduced-fat mozzarella, she trims three and a half points, 3.5, off her total. To me, that’s impressive.

Slivered almonds – 1/4 cup – 3.5 points
Slivered almonds – 1/8 cup – 1.5 points

The almonds are almonds, but by cutting back on the amount, Linda can take 2 points off. Crazy, isn’t it. 

And of course, the lettuce had zero points. But you do have to watch your portion sizes on lettuce. Kind of. You can have up to seven cups, yes, 7 cups, and still stay at zero points. But, if you go for the eight cups of lettuce, you have to count a whole half a point. Yep, a big ol’ whopping .5. 

Linda’s original salad, with the 5 tbs. of dressing, came out to be 17.5 points!!!! YIKES!!!!!
Her salad with the 2 tbs. of dressing, 1/3 cup regular cheese and 1/4 cup almonds was 11.5 points. Better, but she could still do some trimming. 
If she used the light dressing, the lighter cheese (reduced-fat mozzarella) and just an 1/8 cup of almonds, her total points value for the whole salad would only be four points!!!!! Yes, 4.

As I told Linda in an email, each day I have 24 points to use. I like food…A LOT, which is why I make the choices I make. I am all about quantity. I want the most food I can eat with the least amount of points. You know what I mean?

For instance, last week for lunch on Thursday, I had a grilled cheese sandwich (dunked in ketchup), two pickles and almost an entire bag of lettuce with 2 tbs. of Kraft free zesty italian dressing and 1 tbs. reduced fat parmesan cheese and a Skinny Cow white mint truffle ice cream bar. My total points for my whole lunch??????? It was only four points. Yep, 4.

On Monday of last week, I had my grilled cheese sandwich, ketchup, pickles, an entire bag (THE WHOLE BAG) of Birds Eye steamfresh green beans with 1 tbs. of balsamic vinegar plus a Weight Watchers giant fudge bar. Again, my total points value was only four points. Again, it was 4.

I told Linda these were just my thoughts and I just wanted to share them with her. She emailed me back and this was her reply:

Holy Crap!!!!! OMG! When I buy mozzarella I always get the reduced fat (usually that is all I can find) So I think that I will be using that for my cheese and I love the almonds but I am willing to cut down on those.

I have no idea how the points work but I know the difference between 17.5 points and 4!!!!!! I just can’t believe how many points are in the salad I eat.

Thanks for the info.

I told Linda that I would be using the information in this blog because I like to show people some of the simple changes that can be made and how much of a difference it makes.

Or at least I hope it makes a difference.

If anyone has any questions or comments and don’t feel like leaving on here, please feel free to shoot me over an email. I can be reached at confessionsofaformerfatgirl@gmail.com. That is confessions of a former fat girl at gmail dot com. Hope to hear from you soon.

Mission accomplished!

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 My weekend with my two sisters, Donna and Karen, was fantastic! A memory-making filled weekend. Here’s a brief (Okay, not really, but it sounded good! I mean seriously, am I ever brief?) synopsis of what I did this weekend and what I ate!

Friday day: I met up with a friend of mine, Shirley, at Granite City Food and Brewery in Maple Grove. I ordered the Southwestern Chicken Salad minus the cheese and the tortilla strips. It came with a tequila lime vinaigrette. It was awesome. Oh, it also came with a small, and I mean small, bowl of soup. I didn’t make the best choice, but it was fantastic. It was similar to beer cheese, but they called it something different and it had a couple of croutons on top. Really, truly, it was great.

I also downed a large (venti) skinny frappuccino with sugar-free vanilla at Starbucks. I had a gift card from there that I got for Christmas and there isn’t any Starbucks by where I live. It was worth five bucks, which is why I opted for the large. And let me tell you, it was worth every penny! Num-Num!

Friday night: My sisters and I met up with our brother, Mike, and our sister-in-law, Kim, at Khan’s Mongolian BBQ in Bloomington. This is an Asian-style create-your-own meal kind of place. I had nothing but veggies! It rocked. I loved it. These types of restaurants are one of my favorite places to eat at because you can make it really healthy! I did eat two fortune cookies, though! They were actually pretty good. 

Saturday day: I had my typical breakfast of yogurt, Fiber One cereal and Vita muffin (yes, I almost always bring my breakfast with me when I travel anywhere). We made it to the mall by 10 a.m., which is right when they open. My first task? Finding a new pair of jeans. Most of my jeans come from either Walmart or Kohl’s, so I decided that I was going to splurge and get a nice, decent, semi-expensive pair. I chose Macy’s because my sister had coupons! Gotta love coupons. Anyway, nearly 20 pairs of jeans later (trying on that many pairs of jeans better count for some kind of exercise!) and I found one that fit perfectly. Now here’s the funny part and once again, reminds me that size really does not matter. I was fitting into jeans ranging from size 10 to 6. I ended up with the pair that were a size 6 – and no it wasn’t because of the number on the tag. They truly were the best fitting jeans and the most comfortable. They were Ralph Lauren. After I found my jeans, I wandered aimlessly about the mall for the next hour and a half. I think I made it around level one at least once, if not twice.

My sisters and I met up for lunch at about 12:30 p.m. (We often don’t shop together because we all have different tastes.) We ate at Ruby Tuesday, which I absolutely love! Every time I eat there, I only have the salad bar. They have a low-fat balsamic vinegar dressing that is out-of-this-world delicious and all the veggies are so fresh tasting. I also ate a handful of the croutons, which I think they make homemade with rye bread. They are OMG good.

After lunch, we separated again and the plan was to meet back at Cold Stone Creamery at about 2:30 p.m. Again, I set off walking. And again, I headed to Starbucks. It was so good on Friday that I just had to go back for round two. This time, I only ordered a medium (grande). Afterward, I just started walking. I made it around level three maybe once or twice and I think I  may have completed level two once or twice. The Mall of America is so big and everything kind of looks the same to me, it’s hard to tell. All I know is that when I got to Cold Stone, I was happy to see an empty bench. I wasn’t there very long and one of my sisters showed up. We were both pooped. I even took my tennis shoes off while we waited for our other sister! We had our ice cream, which, as usual, Was. To. Die. For. We made our way back to the hotel for a rest before dinner and our night out at the Orpheum Theatre to see Mamma Mia!

Saturday night: We opted to eat at Houlihan’s in Richfield so we could meet up with our brother Steve and his family, including his wife, Lori, and their children, Trevor and Chelsea. I decided to kind of splurge on supper – I ordered the enchiladas, which came with chipotle-smoked chicken with queso
fresco, pico rice, black beans and napa cabbage. I ate all of my one enchilada, one bite of rice (it was too spicy for my tastebuds!), a couple bites of the napa cabbage (it was just alright, I guess) and nearly all of my black beans (they were delicious!). I was actually very full. Because we were celebrating two birthdays (Karen and Trevor), the waiter said we could pick three desserts! Oh my! All three were very small, but rich and good. I had a couple of bites of the chocolate cappuccino cake and a couple of bites of the strawberry cheesecake. I opted not to try the Snickers crunch ice cream dome! Not sure why. I was really, really full.

We made it to the play on time (we thought we were going to be late!) and it was fantastic! I loved it way better than the movie starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan! Seriously, the movie was just okay, but I didn’t really care for Mr. Brosnan. He’s a better James Bond.

Anyway, when we got back to the hotel, we all crashed – we were exhausted!

Sunday: We got up early (too early!) and my sisters got ready and then we headed downstairs for breakfast. Again, I brought my own and ate that. They left shortly after that. I stayed behind and took my time getting ready. I then met a friend of mine who used to work at the paper. She now lives in the Twin Cities. Erin and I met at The Tea Garden in St. Paul to visit and sip on some tea before we headed to Run ‘N’ Fun – an awesome shoe store on Randolph Avenue! This is where Erin goes and she thought she could get a discount for me as her running club members buy their shoes here and they all get a discount. How awesome is that! The Tea Garden was superb…I even bought some loose leaf tea that was seriously, the best tea I have ever had!

Well, I accomplished my second mission or task for the weekend – buying a new pair of running shoes. My last couple pairs of shoes have been Asics, which I love. But I didn’t buy Asics this time. The guy at Run ‘N’ Fun was very helpful and knowledgeable and told me that I have semi-flat feet, which surprised me for some reason. I found out I need shoes that have a lot of support. That was kind of cool to know. Anyway, I tried on several pair, including a couple of Asics and for a moment, it was a toss up. But, I eventually ended up with a pair of Brooks. OMG, they were sooooooo comfortable and light. It was almost like walking on air…seriously. I was happy. And, I did score a 20 percent discount. That rocked.

I finally headed home around 2 p.m. It was a fun-filled weekend. I didn’t make it to the hotel’s fitness center either day, but I think I made up for it with all my walking around the mall. I am happy with how the weekend turned out. It wasn’t stressful – food-wise, I mean. I didn’t necessarily hard-core exercise, but that’s okay. I spent time with my sisters, my brothers and my friends. It was a wonderful time that I will treasure forever!

Oh, by the way, I didn’t enter anything in my Weight Watchers log all day Friday, Saturday and today! That’s the first time I have done that since I started Weight Watchers back in November of 2008. I can’t wait to start logging again tomorrow! Believe it or not, I kind of missed it. Crazy, huh?

Just for fun, here are a couple of pics for your viewing pleasure – enjoy!

Karen, me and Donna at Khan’s Mongolian BBQ on Friday night.

Donna, Karen and I at Houlihan’s on Saturday night.

My new running shoes!!!!!

Whew, so much for being brief, huh?