I was in the middle of a 30 day challenge when this whole corona virus thing came down hard and the challenge went out the window. This is my first day off work in 13 days and my first post since then too. I have not tracked, gone to WW, or stepped on the scale every morning. The only time I have worried about food is when I wondered if we would have enough if we got quarantined. I actually worried more about toliet paper…who can find any of that at the store just now?
Stress eating? Yeah, I got that. Unfortunately, I had started pre-buying goodies for my 
Easter baskets and our family get together this summer…I had to give away 4 packages of peanut brittle last week after I discovered it was the best peanut brittle ever….ever….ever….and I tested several packages just to be sure..sure..sure. So the rest had to leave my house and go, go, go.
This is a unique and terrible global pandemic the likes of which has not been seen in my lifetime. It is scary. It is nerve wracking. And it is mind-blowing to think that people used to live like this ALL THE TIME. Polio, typhoid, diptheria, small pox, malaria…before treatment and vaccines were routine people lived with the threat of communicable disease ALL THE TIME. So while people are talking about this like it is the end times or Armageddon, it is really more like Old Times – what it used to be like all the time. For our parents, for our grandparents, great-grandparents – and they survived. They endured. They thrived. My dad, who survived polio, is alive and well and hunkered down in Arizona. He is wearing a mask when he goes out and ordering groceries online for pickup. And he prays. He is praying everyday for our family, our friends, and our country.
And my mom calls me and says, “I hope you are not worrying about your diet right now.” And she is right, I am not. Because right now, you get a pass. Whatever you are doing right now – stress eating, not eating, picking, cooking 5-course meals with Emeril every day, or tracking religiously because it is the one thing you can control, is okay – for now. We will get back to normal and back to business when this pandemic is over. Until then, be kind to yourself and kind to your neighbors. If you have never prayed before, this would be a good time to start. Be well, and be careful.
his unwanted leftover lunch. No big deal. Except I LOVE cornbread and I was HUNGRY by the time I got home. Sweet guy even made me a hamburger with cheese. I put it on lettuce, tomato and onions and ditched the bun – so I could have the cornbread….both pieces. I also had sweet potato fries (zero points), almonds (not zero points), and WW pumpkin cheesecake with lots of whipped cream (5 points). 
Day 6 of my challenge and day 6 of WW week – what a coincidence! And on day 6, I have 32 weekly points left after dinner! That is AMAZING! I am excited and energized by the challenge and feeling like I am eating healthier and exercising control on a plan where I can actually EAT NORMAL and still lose weight. Diet Workshop was great to lose weight, but it was more focused on limiting portions and restraint and there was no feeling full or free foods. As soon as I stopped following the plan, I started putting weight back on. Even when I tried to just maintain and not gain on WW blue plan, it didn’t work. I really think I could live on purple even after I reach my goal.
and pineapple. Tonight I made seared scallops – first time ever! I have only ever made scallops wrapped in bacon which is not on the menu. These I made on the stove and I did use butter – 5 points! Not sure I ate five points of butter as most of it was left in the pan, but I counted them. I had left over whole wheat pasta so I made pasta salad which turned out okay. I made broccoli and sweet potato fries – too much food but I was on a roll. So, the point total was still only 7 points – 5 for butter, 1 for olive oil on the sweet potato fries, and 1 for the Hellman’s light mayonnaise on the pasta salad.
The trick to getting to the end of the week and still having points? 1 – Avoid eating out until the weekend when you have points saved up. 2 – Stick to zero point proteins like seafood, fish, eggs, turkey breast and chicken breast. 3 – Choose zero point carbs like whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and wild rice. 4 – Keep points low at lunch. Today my lunch was a healthy choice Chicken and Vegetable frozen dinner – 1 point! By keeping to low points, you can add in a few snacks and still be under budget.
Day 4 of 4 – Still sticking to the program! And Kelly had a great idea! Change the first day of our week from Wednesday to Monday on WW. Because weekends are toughest for me, having them in the middle of the week meant I had used up all my points before the week was out and because I might have made some bad choices on the weekend, I lost momentum for the rest of the week. By moving the weekend to the end of my WW week, I can save points for them and if I struggle or do poorly, I start over again with a new week instead of having two days that already feel ruined.
I did okay today – I made whole wheat pasta with WW Hollandaise sauce and had chicken salad on lettuce for dinner. For lunch, I had egg salad on a fiber one wrap. Yesterday, when I had a walnut chicken salad for lunch that was 8+ points, I cut dinner down to 2 points to stay within my daily points. That was a win! I am writing in my 30 day journal and reading the encouragement…so fingers crossed for a perfect week!
Challenge on! 30 days of sticking to the program (WW Purple) with no slips. We are using a workbook for the Whole30 diet but not their diet. We want their motivation and insights while gloating that our plan is easier! The Whole30 is no sugar, no alcohol, no grain, no dairy, no beans…uggh. According to Melissa Hartwig, that is not a hard diet to stick to…yeah, right. Still her words are motivating, “Don’t even consider the possibility of a “slip.” Unless you physically trip and your face lands in a pizza, there is no “slip.” That is what I need – 30 days of tough love.
fryer, ground chicken breast stir fry with onions, asparagus and zucchini. I even made enough for another night this week. And I boiled eggs for egg salad lunch tomorrow. Total rock star! I still have 7 daily points left for the day so there is a Fiber One Chocolate Chip Cookie in my future – told you it was better than the Whole30 diet!
I am back on track and looking forward to a 30 day challenge that Kelly and I are starting next week! 30 days of not slipping but following WW to the letter. For me that means giving up late night snacking, boredom eating, and weekend cheat days. I was getting my hair done and even picked up a magazine on “healthy eating.” Inside front cover? M&M candy bar with M&M’s in it…thanks, thanks a lot! Why is it that a magazine devoted to “healthy” eating wants to allow candy bar advertising? It’s like that wellness drug store that sells cigarettes. I have no problem with people who want to smoke, but let’s not call it healthy. And likewise, let’s not call candy healthy food or put it in a healthy eating magazine!
weekend to stock up on all my 300 free foods – sweet potatoes – squash – zucchini, blackberries, strawberries, chicken, and fat free plain Greek yogurt. I want to try making some two ingredient bagels (I have the everything seasoning all ready), and a crustless pumpkin pie this weekend. I am going to cook a turkey and maybe make some turkey soup for next week.
progress so I should be doing a bit better keeping up with this blog. It is definitely more fun to write when you feel good about what you are doing and how things are going. I did not want to write this blog on Valentines when I was scarfing down my Valentines present (wanted to make sure I had it all eaten in time to have a couple of good days before WW weigh in)! Now that Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day are over, I am hoping to get motivated and back moving towards my goal weight so that by the time summer is here I will still fit into my clothes!
I had a good week and then went off the rails again…dinners out, weekend away, and now another chocolate holiday next week – Happy Valentines Day. I won’t be wearing my skinny jeans as I tried a pair on today and they were not zipping up. So, I know exactly where my weight has been going back on – right on my waist! Thank goodness for stretch jeans or I would have been going to the movies today in my sweat pants…
cheese for breakfast on the weekend…maybe tomorrow. I made quiche for lunch which was not too great as it was made with light cream and cheese but I had light cream that I needed to use up – it tasted great! I am hoping that once I can get through Valentine’s day…more tracking, less slacking!
WW was a success this week – 3 1/2 pound loss! I don’t think it was all from this week – I think I actually lost weight last week but drank too much water right before weigh in but either way, who cares? The scale was going in the right direction, even after the Turkey Farm visit!
points, (1/2) WW Hollandaise Sauce Packet – 1/2 Point, Chopped Spinach – 0 Points, and Fresh Pineapple – 0 Points = Total 1/2 Point for the whole meal! Not sure why the ground turkey looks like popcorn in the picture, but it tasted fine!
that’s a win. I also have some chickpea pasta and other varieties to try and hopefully I will find one that tastes good and is low or zero points. I can’t say I am a huge fan of the whole wheat pasta so far although the whole wheat spaghetti is not too bad.
You would think that a turkey restaurant would be great if you are on Weight Watchers, but it ain’t! I was at Hart’s Turkey Farm with my friends this weekend as we said good by to a legendary quilt shop in Center Harbor, NH. I had turkey but it was surrounded by mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy – not to mention cranberry sauce. Even the side of squash tasted sugary. To top it all off, I had the pecan pie. I restrained myself – I had whipped cream on it – not ice cream…shouldn’t that count for something? It doesn’t, but I did count all those points! I had not used more than a couple of weeklies, but that one meal was 47 points. Pecan pie is 19 points – before whipped cream! Then on Sunday, I had a piece of spice cake from Trader Joes – a small piece but 9 points. Even with my 35 weeklies, I am surfing in the negative and this was my week to stay within my points…
By this morning, I was -10 for the week and had 16 for the day. I managed to get through the day with 11 points! So, I should be down to -5 by tomorrow with one day left of the week…I might be able to break even and that was the challenge. For tonight’s dinner, I cooked haddock, corn on the cob, butternut squash and added shrimp cocktail. I wanted to get a lot of protein and a lot of vegetables so I would not get hungry and head for the snacks. I cut up cantaloupe for my late evening snack and I have been too full to even think about it yet. It was a lot of calories, but all zero points. The only thing on my plate with points was the cocktail sauce.
have been struggling – during the holidays who hasn’t? – but I want to be sure I can actually lose weight on WW purple. So, I have given it two weeks…two weeks that I need to stay within my points and see what happens. If I lose, I will stick with purple because there is more food. If I don’t, I will be back on diet workshop. I can’t make a good decision on whether purple will work if I don’t stick to it faithfully and I am hoping that will give me the determination to stay within the points.
Tonight I made chicken with onions and gravy, broccoli and wild rice. The thing with the wild rice is it takes about 45 minutes after it starts boiling so you have to start cooking it before everything else. For lunch, I had fat-free beans and a 1/2 chicken patty on flat bread with taco sauce, onions and tomato.
Eat Diet Blog 