Still Here!

Hi- It's me! I'm still here! Really! I am just struggling with a new adaptation I think I may do with this site. I started doing Core because I was really sick of writing everything down and keeping track of everything that passed through my lips. I wanted to only keep track of non-Core things. And then I went and started this site to do exactly the opposite. I wanted to show people what doing Core every day looks like. That it can be done, it's pretty delish, and it can give you a rockin' hot bod!

It really works, I'm telling you! And I am doing it, I'm just not writing that much about it I guess. I will get back to it, I'm just deciding HOW I want to do it...so don't give up on me!

I also changed my hair (cut and color) and started doing a new exercise DVD. It makes me happy :) It's The Firm (Total Body workout or something like that) and I do the 45 min. routine. And let me tell you- I am usually partial to running on the treadmill or outside because I really see the impact, but the 400 million squats and lunges, etc. in the DVD are REALLY working my legs and buns! Pretty soon I will be made of steel! haha So if you are stuck in a rut, I recommend that you try it out. Totally worth the $15 it cost me!

Also, for some of my WPA's this week- since it really is starting to look like Summer around here, I purchased the Weight Watchers Turtle sundae cups. OH. MY. GOSH. They are GOOD! The ice cream part is a bit thinner, almost like ice milk, but I really like the texture. It feels lighter, but gives you all the satisfaction of the real deal! Ice cream usually gives me a stomach ache, but not these! YUM! Go do your self a favor and buy them!

Same thing with Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches! SOoooooo good!

I saw somewhere someone did a Core shopping list, and I am putting together one of my own so that will be posted here soon and I will link to it in the sidebar :)

Eating the Good Stuff!

Breakfast:

• 2 kiwis

Lunch:

• Diet coke
• 1 pc. leftover cheese pizza (6.5 WPA)

Snack:

• Curry chicken salad
• Tons of water

Dinner:

• Chicken
• Whole wheat pasta salad w/ balsamic vinegar and 2 t. O/O and some left over veggies lying around (satisfying both my 0-2 and my PPS quotas for the day)

Snack:

• Grapefruit
• Popcorn
• Diet coke

I am going to need to do some serious working out this week so I can earn some activity points to eat any more WPAs. Since I essentially ate all of my WPAs in the first 2 days of the week... I am DEFINITELY going to need some more this week! Yikes! Treadmill/outdoor paths and elliptical watch out for this girl!!!

Daily WPA used: 6.5

Weekly WPA used: 34.5 (this makes me feel very very bad about yesterday's choices.... wow! lol... 2nd day and I obviously have only 0.5 points left for the week)

So I have been doing decently well the past few days but didn't have everything written down, so I am making yesterday (Saturday) my official "first day of the week." I think this will work well for several reasons: 1) Saturday and Sunday are usually the days where I use the most WPAs...for obvious reasons I guess, including that I like to relax and not live such a "structured" life on the weekends; but by making the days the "first" of the (counting WPA) week, I won't have to worry about "saving" points all week to last me through the weekend- granted I don't want to use so many those days that I can't have any WPAs the rest of the week either. 2) Sat & Sun are the days I am most likely to give up and just say that I will start my diet on Monday again (due to the aforementioned desire for unstructured-ness)- if I put the emphasis on starting on those days, I think I will focus better. So- here goes.

Yesterday, as usual, was a Saturday AND we had guests in town so we did some touristy stuff that lead to some not so great eating. Here I am fighting the urge to just "start over" today- as if my body actually listens to what day I am starting over... it doesn't change what I put in my body yesterday!

It's sort of embarrassing to admit what I ate yesterday, but here goes:

Breakfast (Day didn't start off bad):

• Scrambled eggs (2) with 2 pc. Canadian bacon, 1/2 pc. American cheese and ff milk, S & P
• Grapes

Lunch:

• 5 Ritz crackers (1 WPA)
• FF Fage yogurt w/ 1 T. honey (1 WPA)
• Chicken w/ spray butter and lemon pepper & FF feta

Snack:

• Mango/orange tea
• 3/4 of a Strawberry churro... (about 7 WPA according to this site)
• Skittles (3 WPA's worth)

Dinner:

• 1 Light beer (2 WPA)
• Airheads Extreme Sour Belts (4 WPA)
• 1 Oreo Double Stuffed Cookie (2 WPA)
• 2/3 piece deep dish pizza (8 WPA)- I'm actually rounding up here from the count I found for a whole piece b/c I am very surprised that this wasn't much higher!

Walked for about 2-3 hours today and have been doing a lot of arm weights and ab stuff lately, but none this day.

Daily WPA: 28 (OUCHHHH!!!)

Weekly WPA: 28

Excused

Due to some extremely hectic life events lately, I excused myself from blogging for a bit. I also excused myself from eating healthy. I excused myself a bit too much and now I can no longer find a good excuse, despite the busy and hectic times lately. Oh well! I don't want to be chubby AND busy... just busy!

So as I zipped along on the train this morning I planned out my week and shopping list as well as a few go-to meals when I don't have time to pack or just want to go out for lunch with friends.

Here is my meal plan for the week (I hope this helps others to see that sticking to a healthy eating plan does NOT mean that you have to eat a bunch of boring salads!):

Breakfast:

• Oat Bran or Bob's Red Mill 10 grain breakfast with fruit (bananas or berries) OR
• Eggs and 1/2 avocado
• Water or tea

Lunch:

• Curry chicken salad (baked chicken, red grapes, and cucomber, ff mayo with curry powder-mix that first before mixing in the rest!)- A CYE recipe!
• Naan (1 piece is about 3 WPA- so I probably won't have a piece every day)
• Diet pop/diet juice/water to drink

Dinner:

• Mediterranean pasta salad (ff feta, whole wheat pasta, 2 t. oil, 2 T. balsamic vinegar, cucumber and red cabbage)- CYE again! and/or
• Vegetable soup (slightly adapted from 0 pt. soup- Weight W*tchers) and/or
• Salad w/ chicken, apples, grapes, and Lemon Basil Dressing or German Salad Dressing- I just realized how great it is to make your own dressing recently and here at Kitchen Parade's campaign to end store-bought dressings are a bunch of great recipes that are definitely CYE.
• This week dinner will encompass both my 0-2 (2 t. daily oils) and my PPS (pasta/potato/starch)

Snacks:

• 94% ff popcorn
• Fruit
• Veg
• FF Fage yogurt w/ honey (1 WPA per T honey)

There is obviously enough flexibility in this that even if you were cooking for your family every night you could switch up dinner and lunch and have left overs and different options. I like options, but I also like a plan, so this works well for me.

I enjoy coming home to a fridge stocked with food I can EAT TO LOSE weight! What a concept!

As you can see, I am down with the CYE dishes, and find it hard to make an excuse when it really is cheaper, yummier AND easier to make your own and tote it along than to spend a bunch of money on something that is not totally on Core! Then you are left trying to guess what parts are on Core, what parts are not on Core, and what points you have to count. Definitely not something I want to do everyday. I can bring a lunch most days and join my friends in the lounge or lobby and get the same effect as going out. Sometimes I like going out though, so here are a few options I pre-selected:

• Chipotle- Green salad, beans, fajita veggies, tomato salsa, corn salsa and guacamole- all on Core! Very little oil, but if I eat this I won't be eating any more oil that day without counting some WPA's
• Local chicken grill place- Salad w/ grilled chicken and green tomatillo salsa

I am also thinking of doing 8 Minute Abs- does anyone have any experience positive or negative about it?

Apr. 30, 09

Breakfast:

• 2 Dove cholocate squares (2 WPA)
• 2 robbin's eggs (1 WPA)
• Carrot bread

Lunch:

• Egg salad (made just like yeserday) on 1/2 WW pita (.5)
• Diet Coke

Dinner:

• 4 Vietnamese style spring rolls- I am ADDICTED to Vietnamese food especially Pho and spring rolls. It is so fresh and delicious. I ventured out and made my own spring rolls last night with: Rice paper wrappers, Soba noodles (100% organic buckwheat so no need to count WPAs), tofu (raw), lettuce, and cucomber.... Once those were wrapped up (.5 WPA for each wrapper + 0 for contents x 4= 2 WPA), I dipped them in 2 T. Kraft Asian Sesame dressing spiced up with Sambal hot sauce (highly recommended) for an additional 1 WPA= 3 WPA dinner)
• Edamame steamed in microwave w/ salt
• 1 Mango - YUMMMM and so fun to watch my dog try to devour whatever is left... he gets so excited when he sees me eating a mango and gets very hyper running around in circles (aka doing his "excited dance")- now wouldn't that make you want to eat more mangos? Yep, me too!
• Kellogs chocolate fiber bar (2 WPA)
• Dove square (1 WPA)

Workout: 10 lb. arm exercises, 400 situps (varied styles)

Daily WPA used: 9.5

Weekly WPA used: 30.5

Apr. 29, 09

Breakfast:

• Carrot bread

Lunch:

• Egg salad made w/ 2 eggs, 2 small pickles, ff mayo and mustard
• Apple
• Coke Zero (cherry-yum :)

Snack:

• FF plain Greek yogurt w/ 1 T. honey and 3 dates (1 WPA for honey and 1 WPA for the dates)- but this is a CYE snack and is almost too good to be true! Tastes like a sundae or something sinful! I reccomend buying the Greek yogurt in the big sizes and honey on the side versus the small individually packed ones sold by F*ge if you are trying to save money. But the small ones are SOOOO good, I just wish they came in FF!

Dinner:

• Mediterranean pasta salad- see a trend here? I think I might be addicted!!!
• Kellogs chocolate fiber bar (2 WPA), good but not as good as Fiber One in my opinion
• Dove Dark Chocolate Promises squares (1 WPA each x 3= 3 WPA)- spring for the pink packages to support Breast Cancer research :)
• Grapes

Daily WPA used: 7

Weekly WPA used: 21

Apr. 28, 09

Breakfast:

• Core carrot bread

Lunch:

• 2 chocolate eggs (2 WPA), 2 robbin's eggs (1 WPA)
• Mediterranean Pasta Salad- seriously try this!!!!
• Grapes
• ff feta plain

Dinner:

• Coffee w/ ff milk (long day and on the run!)

Snack:

• 2 hardboiled eggs
• Austin's cheese on cheese crackers (3 WPA)

Workout: 10 lb. arm exercises, 400 situps

Daily WPA used: 6

Weekly WPA used: 14

Apr. 27, 09

Breakfast:

• Strawberries
• 1 Avocado w/ salt and lemon pepper
• 5 starburst (2.5 WPA)

Lunch:

• 2 slices carrot oat bread (recipe linked in a previous post)
• coffee w/ ff milk

Dinner:

• Mediterranean (made-up) Pasta Salad- CYE to the max! AND DELISH! Directions: Cut up carrots, cucomber, parsley, red cabbage (or spinach), garlic, and toss with 2 t. extra virgin olive oil, 2 T. balsamic vinnegar, salt and pepper to taste, then add cooked whole wheat pasta (whatever shape your heart desires!), and ff feta cheese on top!
• Mango

Dessert/Snack:

• 2 chocolate eggs (2 WPA), 1 robbins egg (.5 WPA), and 5 peeps (3 WPA)
• 94% ff popcorn

Daily WPA used: 8

Weekly WPA used: 8

Day 4 back on

Breakfast:

• 1 egg sunny side up and 1 pc. Canadian bacon, on a crrrrrrumpet! You need to stretch out the "r" to sound more British :) (1 WPA)
• 1/2 avocado with lemon pepper

Snack:

• Sunshine salad (already counted the WPA yesterday for whole recipe)
• Green tea w/ ff milk
• Marshmallow chocolate egg and bunny (4 WPA... higher than I thought...oops)
• 2 Whopper eggs (1 WPA)
• 1 pc. caramel (1 WPA)
• 2 pc. Nestle crunch type eggs (2 WPA)
• Jelly beans and bunnies (5 WPA)

Lunch:

• 1/2 c. garbanzo beans with salt and pepper
• orange

Snack:

• Diet pepsi

Dinner:

• Veg soup (1 WPA)
• Grape and mango salad (delish and fresh)

Snack:

• 94% ff popcorn
• Asparagus with 2 t. olive oil and salt and pepper

Another long walk/run with the sweet/adorable puppy that the Hungry Hubs and I can't get enough of :)

Here are some easy and quick reminders of how many POINTS are in CANDY:

http://www.weightdebate.com/weight-watchers/how-many-points-candy-t244.html

http://www.waynewatcher.com/index_EasterCandy.html

I think I am going to make some Core sweet-ish food tonight. Definitely going to make a sf/ff chocolate pudding and a Core carrot cake (recipe linked a few days ago) to keep me away from the candy I have left from Easter in my closet! I am going to get rid of that ASAP!!

Daily WPA used: 15

Weekly WPA used: 39 (okay that means that I need to up the exercise big time, make MUCH better choices, AND be good this weekend... I can do it, I can do it... repeat after me! lol)

Chugging along on Core :)

Breakfast:

• Bob's Red Mill oat bran hot cereal with banana and ff milk

Lunch:

• Curry chicken salad

Snack:

• Diet green tea drink

Dinner:

• Veg soup (1 WPA)
• ff feta
• 1/2 avocado with lemon pepper
• Sunshine salad (3 WPA- I am counting ALL the points for this salad today because I don't want to forget to count them later... the RECIPE IS HERE and it is delish! I did the ff/sf banana pudding modification and I really like this!)

Dessert/Snack:

• 94% ff kettlecorn popcorn
• 3 Nestle Crunch chocoloate easter eggs (3 WPA- I'm estimating the WPA off the fun sized bars so this might be slightly high)
• 2 Whopper eggs-big ones (1 WPA)
• FF Oikos Greek yogurt with 1 T. honey (1 WPA)

I took my brand new 4 mo. old PUPPY on a walk/run today for 1 hr. and 15 min. It was a beautiful day and a pretty nice workout :)

Daily WPA used: 9

Weekly WPA used: ouch...24

Keep it goin!

Breakfast:

• Oat bran (Bob's Red Mill brand) hot cereal with 1/2 banana and topped with a bit of ff milk

Lunch:

• 1 Crumpet (Wow! I feel like an English(wo)man already!! haha) with 1 egg over easy and 1 piece of Canadian bacon (1 WPA for the Duffy's Brand Crumpet)
• 1 piece caramel candy (1 WPA)
• ff Greek yogurt (Oikos brand) with 1 T. honey (1 WPA, but SOOO worth it for this wonderful snack!)

Snack:

• Diet Pepsi

Dinner:

• Curry chicken salad - delish! I made this with baked chicken, ff mayo mixed with curry powder, grapes and chickpeas! I would add some onion and celery if I had it on hand next time too

Snack:

• Apple
• 2 beef jerkey (1.5 WPA)
• Cofffee w/ ff milk
• 4 glazed donut holes/munchkins (3.5 WPA- I was surprised that it was this low!!!)

Daily WPA used: 8

Weekly WPA used: 15

Back in Action!

Okay! I'm back... and no! I didn't weigh myself this morning, but I will certainly weigh myself next Monday morning after a full week "on" Core again. I'm excited to be back.

Breakfast:

• 2 eggs sunny side-up
• Canadian bacon (3 pc.)
• 1/2 grapefruit

Lunch:

• Veggie soup (recipe referenced last post) (1 WPA- I put in tomato soup b/c I didn't buy V8 juice AND I found out that veggie juices are NOT on CORE so you have to count point anyways...so for this serving of the veg soup with the tomato soup in it I have to count WPA...that makes me sad :( lol)
• Piece of banana
• 1/2 c. caramel corn (3 WPA)

Dinner:

• Cucumber, ff feta, & vinegar salad with lemon pepper
• FF Chocolate yogurt (3 WPA!!! Ouch)
• 1/2 grapefruit
• 1/2 avocado

Daily WPA used: 7

Weekly WPA used: 7

Preparing to Come Back to Core! (After a one week hiatus!)

Okay, so I'm almost ready to come back after my one week off and I wanted to tell you a little bit about how I prepare. I love to eat, so I like to know that I have yummy recipes and food waiting for me at my next meal.

Meal planning is fun on Core, because it is such an adventure of finding new things that fit in to the plan, while also finding unique things that you love.

There is this great charming little diner outside my old apartment in this pretty city that is run by people of Eastern European descent. They have this wonderful cabbage soup, and I have always wanted my 0 point cabbage soup to be more like theirs. So after doing some research, I will be upgrading my standard recipe to be more Russian/Ukrainian. If I have any readers who know how to make this recipe even better, I welcome suggestions.

I am also going to be trying a new dinner recipe that I just found on this interesting blog. Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchiladas. I love the sound of this recipe, and although it involves brown rice AND sweet potato, I think it's still okay to have this at one meal per day because you won't be eating huge quantities of either since it will be inside an enchilada. Of course there will be some WPAs to count for the corn tortilla that serves as the "wrapper."

So here is my meal plan starting on Monday:

Breakfast:

• Eggs (scrambled or sunny-side-up) with Canadian bacon and/or fruit
• OR
• Bob's 10 grain hot cereal with a dash of FF milk and fruit

Snack:

• Fruit
• Veggies with dip (and possibly a Core homemade hummus! yummm I will keep you posted)

Lunch:

• Ukrainian style cabbage soup (adding lemon juice and dill to the regular cabbage soup recipe I make, found here)...check out CordyC's comment from 01-01-2003- she suggests the EE way to make it! I'm going to try the V8 Base!

Snack:

• Fruit
• Veggies with dip

Dinner:

• Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Dessert:

• Grapefruit
• Popcorn

*All the snacks and dessert are on as as needed basis and I might eat only part of the things on the list or all of them.

Most importantly though, over the last week, I have decided that I really LIKE the Core lifestyle! I actually MISS it! And to say that you miss healthy eating over junk food for me is a REALLY REALLY big deal...like REALLY big. Granted, I have enjoyed eating the junk food, but now quality matters. Scotcharoos will always be a weak spot, but when I have them literally once every two years (I don't often bake sweets) I don't see it being a big problem. Sour Patch K*ds used to be the epitome of a great snack, now they've lost their luster. I'm not swearing off sweets altogether or anything, but I don't see them as using up a big portion of my WPAs, which I was afraid would be a big obstacle to getting back on track. I'm really happy about this :) My stomach doesn't feel good (even after eating only a little bit junk food) and I'm sick of the "rumbly" feeling going on because my stomach doesn't know what the heck just hit it!

Additionally, I can literally see the difference between working out and not working out while on Core within about 3 days. I can see it in my arms, legs and abs especially and I am going to be making a much bigger effort to get it at LEAST 15 min. cardio plus arm weights and ab exercise in per day. It's not that much, but with such a low amount (its about a mile or 1.5 miles running at 5.5 mi. pace on the treadmill) it's pretty hard to rationalize that you "don't have time." If you have time to sit down in front of the TV, you can get in a quick work out before you even blink an eye. Do it with me- c'mon now!

Don't Worry!

Don't worry- I will be back posting again on Monday. I have given myself a week "breather" to get all these pent-up candy and junk food cravings out of my system and I also have a couple of events this weekend that I know will be very difficult to count points for.

BUT on Monday I will be back and better than ever! I have some new recipes, new ideas and a new blog design in the works! Pictures will be making a come-back too :)

I'm excited to see more red dots poking up over on the reader counter on the right! Please share comments and/or questions and let me know if you also have a site that I can follow!

Day 24

Breakfast:

• 2 eggs- sunny side up :)
• 2 pieces Canadian bacon
• 1 Blanca's tortilla (1 WPA)

Snack:

• Strawberries
• Piece Carrot Cake

Lunch:

• Mediterranean pasta salad w/ ff feta
• Banana

Snack:

• ff feta
• carrots
• Bob's 10 grain hot cereal with sauteed (in Pam) banana
• Tons of edamame- steamed and salted

Dinner:

• 4 (FOUR!!!) packs of Austin's cheese on cheese crackers (12 WPA)
• Panera Garden Veggie Soup (prob. 1 WPA for any oil...couldn't see any on the surface tho, so it had to have been a small amount)
• Panera multi grain baguette (2.5 WPA)

Snack:

• Grapefruit

Workout: 10 min. elliptical, 1 mile on treadmill (5.5 speed), 200 crunches, and various 10 lb. exercises with arms

I'm not sure what my problem is this week so far, but I have been feeling insatiable! Honestly, I think that this week is one of the hardest of Lent, and if I could just have a little of the sweet stuff, I would be better off. I can't WAIT until Sunday...but in the meantime, I WILL do better and not eat ANY WPA from right this second until I am (at the very least) in the car for the road trip home. I have healthy snacks in mind that I will be taking for the Hungry Hubs and I, and I will continue to work out every day.

By the way, it's not very fun to come on here and report when you aren't doing so hot about controlling yourself. Just a thought...

Daily WPA used: 15.5

Weekly WPA used: 31.5

Day 23

Breakfast:

• Hot tea
• Carrot Oat Cake

Snack:

• 1/2 avocado with salt and lemon pepper

Lunch:

• 1/2 avocado with salt and lemon pepper
• cucomber with ff feta, white vinegar, and lemon pepper (Sounds weird but soooooooo yummy- CYE for sure!)
• Mediterranean pasta salad with ff feta

Snack:

• Strawberries
• Piece carrot cake

Dinner:

• 4 servings Wheat Thin Garden Chips (I think that was the name).... aka I demolished most of the bag and the Hungry Hubs happily gobbled up the rest of the bag when I got home and said no less than 4 times how good they were... Yep, you got that right handsome! (12 WPA- ouch...)

Snack:

• Grapefruit
• 3 pieces Canadian bacon

Clearly this day brings this lesson, and this lesson only: PLAN ahead Ashley! When are you going to learn already? When I don't bring adequate snacks/meals along and I'm going to be out all day, I tend to end up using too many WPAs (for my liking) in one fell swoop!

My only saving grace (hopefully it will help big time) is that I have kept up with my workouts this week. I worked out 10 min on the elliptical, ran 1 mi., did 200 situps and various 10 lb. weight lifts with arms.

Daily WPA used: 12

Weekly WPA used: 16

Day 22- Begining of Week 4!

I can't believe this is already the beginning of my 4th week on Core! The adjustment is getting easier, its just that I am having some trouble staying within the 35 allotted WPA points each week.

I'm just going to warn you ahead of time- this weekend I'm not going to be strictly following the plan, nor will I be counting WPA. Why you ask? WELLLLL.... I have a SERIOUS sweet tooth, but I bet you couldn't tell if you've been reading along. I gave up junk food (including cookies, candy, sweets of all types, and pop/soda) for Lent. And Easter is the end of Lent. And Easter is this weekend :) {I'm just a little excited} So I will have some delish and (horribly) fattening treats waiting for me. Since I haven't had any of that stuff in over 46 days (by Easter, that is), the only limit I am placing on myself is that I won't eat past the point of being satisfied. I'm not going to write anything down, because it would be too embarrassing eeerrrrr....I'm going out of town and am going to enjoy myself. I will be working out every day this week and weekend though in an effort to at least not gain this week.

However, until the weekend I will be on my best behavior. Even during the road trip :)

Breakfast:

• Banana
• Strawberries
• 3 pieces Canadian bacon (SO excited that I just found out these were on Core- I'm still learning!)

Lunch:

• Mediterranean style pasta salad (made with red cabbage, shallot, cucumber, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and whole wheat pasta)

Dinner:

• White wine chicken (2 WPA)
• Green beans with spray butter and garlic

Snack:

• Core Carrot Cake (no sugar added, but I did put in about 2 WPA of raisins to the whole thing and I am going to count them both today so I don't forget....but, honestly....it NEEDS the sugar-maybe even brown sugar...mmmmm)
• Small glass ff skim milk to wash down the carrot "cake" of course
• Grapefruit
• 94% ff popcorn

The white wine chicken had a total of 1 T. olive oil used to cook the chicken, and I had about half the recipe, so I would say that is about 1.5 t. The Med. pasta salad had 2 T. olive oil in it (and even that is a reduction from what the recipe said). That 2 T =6 t. for the whole recipe, but I only had about 1/4 if that. So that is about 1.5 t. as well.

That means that I am 1 t. olive oil over the daily allotment, but again I will try to even it out by having less tomorrow. If that doesn't work... I will be honest and tell you about it. Promise. :o)

Workout: 1 mile on the treadmill, 15 min. on elliptical, 200 crunches, 10 lb. weight exercises with arms.

Daily WPA used: 4

Weekly WPA used: 4

Day 21

Breakfast:

• Bob's 10 Grain hot cereal with banana and ff milk

Late Lunch:

• Egg omelet with onions, tomato, avocado (no cheese) (2 WPA for extra oil)
• 3 pieces bacon (3 WPA according to this list)
• Potatoes with katsup (1 WPA for extra oil)
• Piece sour dough toast with small bit of melted butter (4 WPA- maybe an over-estimate...probably not darn bread)

Snack-ish Dinner:

• Glass ff milk
• Piece Core Carrot Cake
• 1/2 grapefruit

I worked out by running 1 mile, did 10 minutes on the elliptical machine, and lifted some weights. I don't want to be skinny and flabby!

Still showing a loss though! Great news! :o)

Daily WPA used: 10

Weekly WPA used: 63 (I know- that's bad, but somehow I still lost weight this week! Still need to do better though)

Day 20- Progress Feels Good!

So, I woke up this morning and decided to check out the old scale. MORE weight gone! I KNEW it! I have to confess that for a few days in a row last week (well like 5), I saw no movement on the scale and I was a bit afraid that I had hit a plateau and/or Core/Simply Filling wasn't going to do the trick for me. I'm so happy I was wrong :) This is the lightest I have been in MONTHS! I have about 10 pounds to go until I am at my goal weight.

Breakfast:

• Scrambled eggs with 1/2 piece American cheese and ff milk, roasted potatoes (with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper), 1/2 sliced banana (0.5 WPA for the cheese)

Lunch:

• Piece of green pepper

Snack:

• Edamame with salt

Dinner:

• 2.5 glasses red wine (5 WPA)
• Sushi (12 WPA- I'm guessing here)
• Miso soup (1.5 WPA)

Later that night:

• 2 light beers (4 WPA)

So, it's safe to say that I used over my WPAs for the week, again. But hopefully the progress the rest of the week won't be completely over-run by having a little fun on the weekends.

The weekends are hard for me, because when you are out with a group of people and you are sharing (like at sushi) it's hard to eat only the healthy things. I haven't figured out exactly how to deal with this yet, but I like to enjoy my weekends and when that means going out to eat with friends, I am not going to stress out over it. That's one of the reasons I switched to Core/Simply Filling in the first place. I didn't like the stressing out over points and obsessing over food choices. It made eating not so fun. And I like eating :)

Daily WPA used: 23 (yeah that's a lot- I'm really hoping I am way over w/ my estimation on the sushi)

Weekly WPA used: 53 (umm 18 over what I was supposed to have)

Day 19- Doing Pretty Good :)

Breakfast:

• Oat bran hot cereal with banana and ff milk (I always top it with ff milk...I think some days I forget to mention that because it seems like such an integral ingredient- sorry!)

Snack:

• Kiwi

Lunch:

• Whole wheat couscous with roasted grape tomatoes (look at yesterday's post for how-to details) and garlic- so simple, so delicious a total CYE recipe!

Snack:

• Kiwi

Dinner:

• Whole wheat pasta with diced green pepper topped with Kraft Lite Asian Sesame Dressing and Sambal (hot chili sauce)
• Glass of ff milk

Later that night:

• 4 Vodka Tonics- but they were kinda bit so I am calling it 12 WPA

I'm finding it easier to be satisfied with only Core/Simply Filling items as long as I plan ahead and make sure that I have enough stuff around to make yummy things. I feel healthier because I'm eating a lot more stuff that is actually "from the earth" versus straight off the grocery store shelves.

I like cooking more too :) It's fun to experiment and see what works out. I'm pretty open to trying all different kinds of stuff, but if you aren't- please take a look around here and see what you might like. I try to lay out the instructions on how I made things for that reason, and also so I can go back and see how I made something. It's hard to remember sometimes when you make lots of things up as you go along. :o)

Daily WPA used: 12

Weekly WPA used: 30

Day 18

Breakfast:

• Grapes

Snack:

• 94% ff popcorn

Lunch:

• Whole wheat couscous with roasted grape tomatoes (2 t. olive oil w/ salt and pepper over package grape tomatoes under broiler on 4 mins. on high)

Snack:

• Kiwi
• Oat Bran hot cereal with banana

Dinner:

• Cheesy taco/burritos (Made using 94% ff beef with cheesy taco seasoning package mix including ff milk...0.5 WPA) with avocado and 2 Blanca's tortillas (2 WPAs)

Snack:

• Kiwi
• 94% ff popcorn

Daily WPA used: 2.5

Weekly WPA used: 18

Day 17

Breakfast:

• Bob's 10 Grain hot cereal with ff milk and bananas

Lunch:

• Whole wheat couscous with garlic

Snack:

• Soy Crisps BBQ flavored- I was skeptical, but they did not disappoint! (17= 2 WPA, but I had about 2 servings so that's 4 WPAs used)
• Medium coffee with skim milk

Dinner:

• Whole wheat couscous (using 1 t. olive oil per serving), with peas, and 1 breakfast sausage (Al Fresco brand- 1.5 WPA)

Snack:

• Salad with ff italian dressing

I only used 1 t. of olive oil today, so I am back on track after yesterday and don't have have to count the points. :) This week I am not doing so great on planning ahead with snacks and meals when I am on the go. I need to figure out some snacks and portable meals I can make up in advance. Let me know if you have any good ideas- I would love some input!

Daily WPA used: 5.5

Weekly WPA used: 15.5 (ouch- since it's only Wed.)

Day 16- A Good, Totally On Core Day!

I didn't use any WPAs today! Go me! :)

Breakfast:

• 1/2 Grapefruit
• 1 Square Carol's Core Baked Oatmeal (with my addition of bananas)

Snack:

• Another square of Carol's Core Baked Oatmeal

Lunch:

• Chicken Tortilla Soup with avocado and ff cheese
• Few bites ff feta with barley and ff raspberry vinaigrette

Dinner:

• Whole wheat couscous with garlic
• Broiled asparagus with oil 1 t. oil, salt and pepper
• Sweet and spicy sweet potato (2 t. oil with lime juice, salt, cayenne pepper, and fresh cilantro)

I used 3 t. olive oil today, and that is technically 1 t. over, but I am not going to count the WPA today because I plan to cut back tomorrow to even it out (aka I'll only have 1 t. oil tomorrow). If that doesn't work out I will add in the WPA.

Daily WPA used: 0

Weekly WPA used: 10

Day 15- Note to Self: Don't Use So Many WPAs on Monday!

So I used a few too many WPAs today, because I was on the go all day and didn't have time to pack Core snacks. I still ate pretty healthy, but there was some definite usage of the WPAs.

Breakfast:

• 2 Blanca's tortillas with guacamole (made by mashing avocados and mixing with store-bought guac. mix) (2 WPAs)

Lunch:

• Subway 6 in. wheat sub with ham, provolone, herbs, veggies, oil & vinegar dressing (7 WPAs), Lays Light chips (1 WPA) and light lemonade (0)

Dinner:

• Large coffee with skim milk
• Chicken tortilla soup topped with half avocado and ff cheddar cheese (delicious and filling and I am FINALLY about to reach the bottom of my huge pot)

Snack:

• 1/2 grapefruit

Daily WPA used: 10

Weekly WPA used: 10

Day 14- One More Pound Down!

I love starting off the day seeing a new low weight on the scale! It's been a while since I have seen the lovely number I saw this morning. The first time I see a number on the scale, I don't really believe it is "real" weight lost (more of a slight fluctuation probably), but I take it as a great sign that things are going in the right direction.

When people start the Core/Simply Filling program, some report a weight gain the first week. Obviously this is not what anyone wants when they are trying to work a weight loss program, but sometimes it takes a bit for your body to adjust to eating a different way, and sometimes it is hard to change the habit of overeating (eating past the point of being full). I didn't experience this, and actually have lost both the 1st and 2nd week on the plan.

I have done decently well stopping myself from eating when I am no longer hungry, but I am going to really focus on that this next week as well. I can probably cut back in a bunch of areas where I am just eating because the food is in front of me. It might mean the difference of an extra pound!

Also, I don't record the water that I drink, but I thought I would just mention that water is pretty much the only thing I drink. Maybe sometimes diet fruit drinks, but no pop/soda, and very rarely a coffee with a bit of skim milk. So even though I am not saying it, I am drinking a TON of water :) That definitely helps keep me full and hydrated which helps with so many bodily functions.

Breakfast:

• Bob's 8 Grain hot cereal with bananas- This time I microwaved the sliced bananas for the full 4 minutes mixed in with the cereal. Even the Hungry Hubs liked it- and he has nixed this particular cereal in the past b/c I don't put any sugar on it and I think it "tasted too healthy" for him :)

Snack:

• Some samples during the weekly shopping trip at Costco (I am ballparking 5 WPA)

Lunch:

• Grapes
• 2 Bites Chinese food (2 WPA-ish)
• Medium coffee with a bit of skim milk

Dinner:

• Guacamole with 3 Blanca's corn tortillas (3 WPA)

Snack:

• Grapes

Daily WPA used: 10

Weekly WPA used: 46 (over by 11 I know... but it is a LOT better than last week)

Day 13- Down another pound!

Breakfast:

• Bob's Red Mill 8 Grain hot cereal with sauteed bananas.... I came about this by wanting something like planatos fritos (if you aren't familiar with Latin American food this is fried plantains...similar to friend bananas- I'm working with what I have here), and just sauteed a banana with some Pam on the stove top. If you start on high, then lower the heat when it starts to become saucy it turns out DELICIOUS and is a GREAT addition to the cereal. Mmmmmm.... I think I might have to make this again asap!

Snack:

• Grapefruit
• Bag 99% ff popcorn

Lunch:

• Austin's cheese on cheese crackers (3 WPA)
• Small glass ff milk...Strange thing on this Core plan: I- the girl who HATED drinking milk my whole life- started wanting milk so much I want to drink straight from the carton!!!
• 2 Slices "Carols Core Baked Oatmeal"- try it... do the modifications she suggests in bold if you can... I also sometimes add sliced bananas and cut up dates (unsweetened- but you do have to count points for the dates b/c they are dried fruit- my package was 3 dates = 1 WPA)- this tastes like spice cake and I even left out the sugar/Splenda...the recipe is posted somewhere in here I believe. I am SO adding this link to the side bar- tons of good recipes and I am going to try the Thai Chicken with Asparagus #130 asap- the Hungry Hubs and I LOVE Asian food.

Snack:

• Coffee with ff milk

Dinner:

• Roasted potatoes with garlic, 4 t. extra virgin olive oil, and rosemary w/ roasted asparagus- yum, yum! I used my olive oil in this by splitting it with the Hungry Hubs!
• Chicken tortilla soup with fresh cilantro, avocado and cheese

I worked out again today. I ran 1.5 miles, did 200 crunches, and did some hefty lifting (a whopping 10 pounds)- but you know what, it really does make a difference. By working out, it helps to ensure the metabolism stays up and the weight continues to go down and will contribute to the ease of maintaining at a lower weight when I want to stop losing.

The scale says I am down another pound today! My Traineo counter is currently off by a pound for some reason, but my total loss is 3 lbs! For almost 2 weeks on Core, it is not THAT much weight lost, but I feel like this is really a lifestyle I can maintain forever. Just knowing that if I keep up with it I WILL reach my goal is really inspiring. Hopefully by adding more and more exercise, I will get there even faster.

I have several weddings this summer and it is really nice to actually be confident that I won't have to crash diet (which I am SO not good at) to try to get in shape before the wedding.

What I like about Core is this: When I was on the FLEX program (which is a great program and very effective if you do it faithfully), I felt like I was constantly focused on food and how many points I had left and what I could eat that would fit in that range. That focus made me think about food ALL THE TIME and that made me want to eat constantly and feel continuously hungry. Sometimes I gave in to that, and by the end I was so fed up with counting points and writing everything down that I just stopped. That is not effective for me. With Core, I eat until I am full, eating stuff that I actually like...real food. I don't have to write anything down (except WPA), but I just do it so that hopefully someone else will find this helpful and maybe I can swap tips with others on good ways to do the Core program/lifestyle. With Core, I don't have to deal with that deprived 'OHHH MY GOSHHH, I just ate all my points and it's only four o'clock and I can't eat another thing besides steamed veggies and salad until tomorrow morning' feeling.

I LIKE to eat... no... I LOVE to eat. But I also like to fit into my skinny jeans and not have to deal with any "muffin top" (where your waist/stomach falls over the top of your pants like a muffin top spills over the base) or jiggly body parts. I'm on my way and I'm actually enjoying it! Who would've thought?

WPA used today: 3

Weekly WPA used: 36 (one over for the week... I know, I know)

Day 12- Moving Right Along

Breakfast:

• Grapefruit
• 2 eggs scrambled with 2 spears asparagus and 1/2 piece cheese (1 WPA)

Snack:

• Couple bites asian barley (from the other day)
• Couple bites of avocado
• Austin's cheese on cheese crackers (3 WPAs)

Lunch:

• Egg salad (3 eggs with 2 T. ff mayo and pickles)

Dinner:

• Tortilla Soup with avocado and ff cheddar cheese
• Pita (1 WPA)
• Miller Lite Beer (2 WPA)

No workout today- just a little bit of lifting weights (arms only) and 2 walks with the dog totaling about 1 mile. It's hard to consider it a workout when your dog walks slow and stops hoping for a pet at each person he sees :)

Check the sidebar for updates though. I added some links to sites I have found helpful and some that have inspired me to try a new recipe.

Daily WPAs used: 7

Weekly WPAs used: 33

Day 11- Semi-Fat Day

A semi-fat day= Ate a bit more than I should have, but worked out....

Breakfast:

• Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain hot cereal w/ ff milk, strawberries, and bananas
  

Snack:

• FF cottage cheese with wheatgerm and dates (1 WPA)- Someone said on one of the sites I read (can't remember which one) that this tasted like cheesecake...needless to say, I don't know what kind of cheesecake they eat, but that does not taste like the cheesecake I know! lol I think that might have been some wishful thinking. :) It was still pretty good though (once you get used to tasting the wheat germ).

Lunch:

• Barley with 2 T. ff red wine vinaigrette and ff feta. This qualifies as a CYE (Cheap, Yummy & Easy) pasta salad type dish- Try it!

Snack:

• (Bad Bad) Cheese crackers and Austins cheese on cheese crackers (9 WPAs)

Dinner:

• Chicken tortilla soup with ff cheddar cheese and avocado
  

Snack:

• 1/2 banana
  

I worked out today! It wasn't extremely long or strenuous but, I ran a little over a mile (1.2 mi if you must know), did sit-ups, and lifted some hefty 10 pound weights. It's a start and it felt good!

Daily WPAs used: 10 (ouch- that’s what happens when you don’t plan ahead and end up snarfing down 5 million cheesy-flavored crackers)

Weekly WPAs used: 26

Day 10- Progress!

Today, I'm feeling good and feeling accomplished! Ten days on Core so far, and the few pounds that I have lost are still gone!

Breakfast:

• Bob's Red Mill 8 Grain hot cereal with a few strawberries, 1/2 banana, and ff milk
  

Lunch:

• Garlicky white bean salad
• 1/3 Jimmy Johns sub (French bread, 1 piece ham, lettuce, and mustard= 3 WPA)

Snack:

• Banana
• Grapes
  

Dinner:

• Mango
• 1 Blanca's corn tortilla (1 WPA)
• Chicken Tortilla Soup with sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, and ff cheddar cheese

Snack:

• 1 bag 94% ff popcorn (Orville Redenbacher brand)

Daily WPAs used: 4

Weekly WPAs used: 16

Day 9

I've really gotten on a kick with the hot cereal! It might be an addiction... lol

Breakfast:

• Bob's Red Mill 8 Grain hot cereal with 1/2 banana and 4 strawberries sliced and diced and put on top- with a dash of ff milk to make it just right

Snack:

• Austin's cheese on cheese crackers (3 WPAs)
• 1/2 Banana

Lunch:

• Edamame w/ salt
• Grapes

Snack:

• Grapes
• Banana

Dinner:

• Egg salad (made with 3 hardboiled eggs, 2 T ff mayo, and sweet pickles)
• Chicken tortilla soup (recipe tomorrow- check back) with a few slices of avocado, some fresh cilantro, and a bit of ff cheddar cheese

So, I think I am actually getting the hang of this Core thing. I can pretty easily identify what is and isn't on Core... now I just have to stick to it. That's the "hard" part, but really, it's only hard when I don't plan ahead. Planning ahead isn't my specialty, but this is definitely showing me the benefits of bringing along healthy snacks and lunches.

This week I have been able to eat well on a pretty limited budget and I've hardly even noticed. I don't feel like I am "on a diet," because really this isn't a "diet" except in the most literal sense of the word (diet = whatever you eat). I feel like I have a lot of choices in what I eat, and I like the challenge of making things work within the Core list of foods.

Daily WPA used: 3

Weekly WPA used: 12

Day 8- Monday, Monday

It's Monday again. Sunday is my favorite day of the week. It came and went too quickly, like it always does... So, here we go.

Breakfast:

• Oat bran (the hot cereal kind) w/ ff milk, strawberries, and bananas. It was SO good. So good I took a picture to show you!

Lunch:

• Garlicky white bean salad w/ ff feta
• 1 Kiwi
• 1 Pack Austin's cheese on cheese crackers (3 WPAs)
• Orange
  

Snack:

• Banana
  

Dinner:

• 2 Kiwi and a few strawberries
• 1 Pack Austin's cheese on cheese crackers (3 WPAs)
• Barley with cucumbers, sauteed tofu and Tamari/garlic/Sambal Olek sauce... I made up this sauce a while back because I had it all on hand- and it was good! It's very low-cal and spicy enough that it curbs your appetite.

Snack:

• Snyder's Sourdough Nibblers (3 WPAs)
• 100 Cal. 94% ff Popcorn
• Orange

Today I was obviously having a craving for salty foods. Ahhh...cravings. Oh well, I will just have to do better tomorrow, and the rest of the week. I am not giving up that easily body!

I think I need at least one new recipe this week. I am getting bored of eating the same stuff. I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow for a few things.

BUT I will say, I recommend using barley as a base for a pasta salad. The consistency is very similar to pasta and I have used ff vinaigrette, veggies, and ff feta cheese to make a delish salad. You should try it!

Daily WPAs used: 9

Weekly WPAs used: 9

Day 7- Week One Complete

Breakfast:

• Sunny side-up eggs with 2 pieces of ham and 2 corn tortillas (2.5 WPA)

Snack:

• Kiwi and grapes

Lunch:

• 1/2 Costco hot dog (on a bun) with katsup, mustard, and onions (about 6 WPA for half!!! OUCH! The nutrition info is here)
• Costco samples (3 WPA est.)
• 1/2 to-go cup Nestea Rasperry Iced Tea & Lemonade (3 WPA)

Snack:

• 1/2 avocado with salt, pepper, and lemon pepper
• 2 hard boiled eggs

Dinner:

• Eggplant Pasta with 4 t. cheese (2 WPA)

Daily WPAs used: 16.5

Well... I contributed another 16.5 WPAs to my week... which is WAY over the limit as you can tell by now. I used almost DOUBLE the amount of WPAs I am supposed to use! That is not so good. I will say though, that I do try to estimate the points values of things that I can't be sure of on the high end. Hopefully I am over-estimating a bit. I used to be on the Flex program by the way, and did see a lot of success with it, I just got tired of having to count EVERYTHING, which brought me to Core. I do know how to calculate points values, I just can't always get accurate nutition amount to count from. :)

However, even though I managed to eat way more "off-Core" food than I should have, I still did lose some weight. That means either 1) I was eating way better than I normally do, so I was still able to lose weight; OR 2) my body is weird. Not sure which one it is, but I am happy to say that I still lost about 2 pounds this week and I will try to do better this coming week so I keep losing!

Stay with me now! I'm not giving up, and I hope you don't either!

Weekly WPAS used: 63.5

Day 6- Getting Back on Track

So today actually went pretty well, with the exception that I used about 5 WPAs and I don't have any left. Hey- I'm trying and it's only my first week. Starting Monday, I am going to add exercising to my routine again, so hopefully my slight WPA overage/slip-up won't affect my overall progress too much :) Optimism- see!

Breakfast:

• Banana
• Eggs w/ sliced ham, Velveeta, and onions (total about 1 pt. WPA per serving)

Snack:

• One bite chicken biscuit stuff at the grocery store- c'mon the sample lady was practically BEGGING (aka standing there silently but whatever)...It was a small bite, so I am hoping that it wasn't more than 1 WPA for the sample

Lunch:

• Grapes
• 1/2 avocado w/ salt and lemon pepper
• Banana

Dinner:

• A few strawberries while I was cooking- SO happy it's almost strawberry season again, so all the berries won't cost $1M per pack at the store anymore
• Salad w/ ff Italian dressing
• Eggplant pasta- I got the recipe from Pioneer Woman and you can find it here. However I will warn you that there are some dangerous other delish looking things on the site- so browse at your own risk :) (WPA 3 for all the Parmesan cheese I added)

Snack:

• Pear
• Hard boiled egg
• Kiwi

WPA used today: 5

WPA used so far this week: 47

Day 5- Bombs Away!

Ummmm....today didn't go so well :( I didn't do TERRIBLE, but I was at an all day event from 8 am until 8 pm and I was trapped there with all that temptation and did have to eat something that I didn't pack.

Breakfast:

• 3 eggs, scrambled with salt, pepper & a dash of ff milk

Snack:

• Starfuit

Lunch:

• Spicy chicken sandwich (but I didn't eat more than 1/5 of the bun before I
  decided that the chicken was the only good part) (I am ballparking and guessing here that WPA used on this was 5)
• Medium fries with katsup (10 WPA used)
• Misc. bites of sugar free muffins (WPA used 5)
  

Snack:

• Hot pretzel with mustard and 1 t. nacho cheese (WPA used 6)

Dinner:

• Jamba Juice Mango Mantra 16 oz. (since most of it is on Core and on flex it is 2.5 I am going with 1.5 WPA here)

Snack:

• Glass ff milk
• 94% ff popcorn
• Banana

So, my total WPA used for the day was: 27.5...along with the 14.5 I already used that puts me at 42 for the week. Ummm, that is 7 WPA over for the whole week.

The good news is that I hope I overestimated on some of these points today, and I may not really be that much over (or over at all). Also, the event that I knew would hold food temptations galore tomorrow is no longer on the schedule, so that will make tomorrow easier!

I'm still hoping to see/sustain a loss this week, so I'm not calling the whole thing off just because I may have gone a little crazy with the eating this week!

Day 4

Those two pounds that were missing yesterday on the scale? Yea, they are STILL gone :) Surely that must mean something...only 12 more to go/goal!

Breakfast:

• Bob's Red Mill 8 Grain hot cereal w/ ff milk and strawberries

Lunch:

• Asparagus w/ 1 t. olive oil, salt and pepper broiled on high for 4 minutes (yummmm!)
• 1/2 pita (.5 WPA)
• Veg soup
• ff feta

Snack:

• Grapefruit
• Austin's cheese crackers (3 WPA)

Dinner:

• Whole wheat pasta, butter spray, Parmesan cheese (.5 WPA)
• 2 Scrambled eggs with 1/2 piece ham (.5 WPA)
• Plum

Snack:

• Peach
• Avocado (yikes! a whole one) w/ salt and lemon pepper

I used 4.5 WPA today, which is a total of 14.5 for the week so far. Slightly worried about going over my WPA's this weekend because I have to work an event all day tomorrow and that means temptation will be ALL over the place! I should pack something to limit my snacking.

*In other news, with all the water I am drinking and the nutrients I am getting from healthy foods, my skin is looking really good! Another great side effect :)

Day 3- Feeling Good and Seeing Results!

It might be a bit early, BUT I think I see some results already! I was down about 1.5 or 2 lbs this morning when I weighed myself. I noticed that I am eating past the "comfortably full" feeling, so I need to tone that down and maybe I will see more results.




Breakfast:

• Green tea
• Strawberries
• Orange

Lunch:

• Small portion of Bob's Red Mill hot cereal with FF milk and strawberries
• Garlicky White Bean Salad. Which I finally have a picture of for you today! The picture really doesn't do it justice because it should have baby greens instead of the iceberg bagged salad mix that I used. But, I already had it laying around so I made the substitution. I also added some lemon pepper to it today, and put in extra lettuce! This stretched it out into two full portions, so I have some waiting for me later today or tomorrow! (By the way-this salad uses up my full 2 t. daily allowance of olive oil)

Snack:

• Grapefruit
• Austin's crackers (that fulfilled my tasty treat craving that I got from THIS site: http://www.messythrillinglife.blogspot.com/ - but it was NO match for the goodies there I'm sure)

• Fat free feta (only the best fat free cheese on the planet)

Dinner:

• Make-shift Asian rice (see yesterday's post)

Snack:

• 94% FF popcorn
• FF feta
• Orange

I had bad cravings for everything that could be grouped in the realm of "Tasty Treat" today. I did drink a ton of water (which I refuse to measure, but I'm sure it was more than the 8 x 8 oz. recommended).

Instead of binging on cookies and other goodness that I was drooling over from Henrybella's, I ate the Austin's crackers, so one pack of those bad boys set me back 3 WPAs.

I also got in a workout today! I ran 2 miles on the treadmill, lifted some weights to work on some hot lookin' arms, and did some crunches too! Whoo-hoo!

Weekly total WPA used: 10

Day 2- So Far, So Good!

Breakfast:

• Bob's Red Mill brand 8 grain breakfast with fat free milk, strawberries, and raspberries and a glass of water. It is really good, way cheaper per portion that most other hot cereals, not to mention cuts out the sugar!

Lunch:

• Garlicy white bean salad
• Strawberries
• Fat free feta cheese
• 1/2 avocado with salt and lemon pepper

Snack:

• Edamame w/ salt
• 4 California pitted dates (yum! yum!)

Dinner:

• Make-shift Asian "fried" rice (instant brown rice made in the microwave, 2 scrambled eggs, chopped cucumber, scallions, and topped with 2 T. Asian dressing and a little Sambal to spice things up). Yum! I just made this up with what I had around the house after a taste for Asian take-out struck, and I even made enough for tomorrow- all I have to do is add the dressing! I love easy stuff!

Snack:

• 94% fat free (FF) popcorn, 1 grapefruit

Oh yeah and I also drank about 3.5 million litres of water and fought off chai tea latte and cookie cravings for a LOT of the day. Thankfully, I did make it through without caving :) I'm sick of my pants feeling tight!

I used 2.5 points of my Weekly Points Allowance (WPA) today, so total used so far this week = 7

First Day On Plan!

Breakfast:

• Two scrambled eggs (with salt, pepper, and dash fat free milk)
• Grapes

Lunch:

• Chicken breast (prepared by coating in egg, corn meal and wheat germ, cooking in Pam on stove top)
• White bean and garlic salad (link to recipe)

Snacks:

• 1/2 avocado with salt and pepper
• Orville Redenbacher's Natural popcorn (94% fat free)
• Grapes

Dinner:

• Al Fresco Breakfast Chicken Sausage, with Green peppers, Onions, over
• Whole wheat couscous

So far, not a difficult program to follow at all! The white bean and garlic salad was so good, I want to make it again already! My fiance (aka The Hungry Hubs) came home around lunchtime and RAVED about it. He is not a salad guy either, so it's not just me who thought it was so good!

I will try to post some pictures of what I am eating too, because everything is more fun with a visual!

Flex Points Used: 3 (2 sausages) + 1.5 for extra oil = 4.5

About: I'm On Core

I don't like fad diets, but I do like some sort of guidelines on how to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Weight Watchers Core plan seemed to be the perfect fit for me.

The stats on Core plan: Certain foods are considered "Core" (mainly fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, fat free dairy, and certain condiments). What I like about Core is that it encourages what you would normally expect to be "healthy" eating, but it also gives you some wiggle room of 35 flex points per week. Flex points are based on food's the calorie, fat and fiber content.

I'm not the type to attend a meeting, so all of the information is gathered from various free sources on the internet. I will give credit when due, as best as I possibly can.

Please feel free to follow along and join in on this journey to getting thinner and healthier!