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!