The Value of Menu Planning

One of the habits that I've developed as I have tried to live a healthier life is menu planning.  I did it a little before Samuel was born, but it became a necessity after he came along. I had some space in my kitchen pantry to paint a chalkboard, so I did that one day while my mom-in-law was here watching newborn Samuel.  I've used it every week since then.  The black paint is chalk board paint, and the white paint was just some white latex paint that I had left over from another project.

Menu planning has helped eliminate stopping to get take-out for dinner when life gets crazy. I'll take some time on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday each week and choose recipes for the coming week. I usually print out recipes from the internet and then I make my grocery list off what I printed.  Having a plan for the week means that I know I have healthy options to prepare at home when something unexpected happens.

My lunches usually consist of left overs from the night before, but I keep some back-up options on hand just in case we don't have any leftovers.  My favorite things for last minute lunches are unsweetened coconut milk yogurt with fruit and hemp seeds or eggs and Canadian bacon with veggies or fruit on the side.

Sometimes I get a mental block when trying to decide what the plan for the week. So here's a little framework that I came up with:

• a crock pot meal
• breakfast for dinner
• fish prepared one way or another
• a chicken recipe

That leaves three nights unaccounted for. If it's cold, I'll add a soup or chili recipe. If it's warm I'll plan for something that can be grilled. Sometimes I will plan a meatless night, but I've been doing less of that lately. One night is take-out night. Cooking is a chore that James and I share. I do the planning and grocery shopping. If a recipe has a lot of steps, I'll do some of the prep work. James does most of the cooking.  He enjoys it more than I do. Cooking is a hobby for him, whereas it is a chore for me. I usually keep the kids entertained while he cooks. I'm thankful for his willingness to help!

Weight Maintenance Update

It's been a little over a year since I hit my goal weight, so I thought it was time for an update. Hitting the one year mark, and still being at the weight I want to be at is a big deal for me. When I started trying to improve my health over two years ago, I was truly unsure of how successful I would be both in the short term and long term. Could I actually loose the weight? Could I maintain healthy eating habits for the rest of my life?

 I've hit a new low weight of my adult adult life. The photo above was taken this morning, and it's the first time I've seen my weight below 150 lbs as an adult. It's a welcome change from this before photo:

 I have to admit part of this recent dip in weight is due to a stomach virus that my whole family has been fighting, but that's not all of it. We got back from vacation about a week ago, and vacation time usually means a several pound weight gain for me. Not this time though. I did three things differently - no desserts at restaurants, I made a solid effort to track most of the food that I ate, and I tried to stay away from wheat. I did have a little wedding cake on the trip, but I came home weighing what I weighed when we left for the trip! I've noticed that avoiding wheat has resolved my issues with water retention.

I still have these size 20 jeans in my closet, just as a measure of restraint. They are there to remind me of what I used to have to wear. I still struggle with self control, and I still eat and drink things that I shouldn't at times, but one day off the wagon is just that. One day.

I've been reading Made to Crave, which a a great book that addresses the emotional and spiritual component of over eating.  I'll write a more detailed review of the book when I'm finished with it, but I want to share a quote from the book.

"Food can fill our stomachs but never our souls,

Possessions can fill our houses but never our hearts,

Sex can fill our nights but never our hunger for love.

Children can fill our days but never our identities."

The main point of the book is that we find true joy and satisfaction in God alone.  I finally got some time to listen an excellent sermon on gluttony that was recently preached at my church.  Hear is the link, if you'd like to watch it: Where do you find your satisfaction?  One point that our pastor made that really stuck a cord with me was this:

Does my over indulgence mean that someone else starves?

Oh that pinged my heart. I've seen severe poverty, I've lost a child in Ethiopia, partially due to malnourishment. How much money each week do we spend on food that we don't really need? How much of that money be given to buy food for someone else who doesn't know where their next meal is coming from?

Bye-Bye Wheat

At a doctor's appointment a couple of weeks ago, my doctor advised me to eliminate wheat from my diet.  This wasn't a big shock to me. I've recently had some blood work come back that may suggest I've got an autoimmune disease brewing, and wheat can be problematic for people with autoimmune diseases. I don't have any noteworthy symptoms, thankfully, so no diagnosis, no medication for now.
A few months ago, a pharmacist friend of mine let me borrow a book called Breaking the Vicious Cycle. That book outlines a diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), and my friend used it for his son following his diagnosis of Crohn's disease. After following the diet, his son is symptom free and not in need of any medication.  That is a huge victory.  However, the SCD plan is rather rigorous with a long list of foods to avoid - wheat is one of them, along with a host of others. Since I wasn't having any symptoms, it didn't make since for me to jump all in with it. One change I did make after reading the book was eliminating Splenda. I had been using it in my coffee and oatmeal. After giving it up, I realized just bad Splenda was making me feel.

After leaving the doctor's office, I decided that giving up wheat is doable. Coming from the girl who used to love and crave bread, that is a big deal.  Some friends gave me some good ideas of substitutions to make for wheat products in recipes, and I'm off to a good start.  Last Friday, the four of us went out to dinner at a little Italian restaurant. The bread didn't look appealing to me, so I didn't even want to eat it. The kids enjoyed it though.

I get most of my recipes from Skinnytaste, and you can find a searchable list of gluten free and paleo recipes there. I really love that the author post the nutrition facts for every single recipe. I had to give up my favorite Kashi granola bars, because they contain wheat. I started making my own, thanks to a gluten free recipe at Skinnytaste called Banana Split Bars.

So yummy!

Six months of Weight Maintenance

It's been six months since I hit my goal weight with Weight Watchers.  I'm doing a few things differently, so I thought I would share the changes that I've made.  I had read somewhere that the first six months of weight maintenance are the most critical for making good habits stick to prevent gaining back the weight that had been lost.

That was my weight on Sept. 5th, and this morning it was 152.6. I've noticed that my weight can fluctuate 2-4 pounds in the course of a week, so I'm happy with where I'm at. Well, most of the time I'm happy. There are some days that I'd like to see the scale at 147, because that would be the 100 pounds-lost-milestone for me, but there's no real health reason for me to keep chasing that number. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, I've still lost 97 pounds from my highest weight ever.

The biggest hurdle I've was our trip to Hawaii.  Seven days of eating whatever I wanted. Not so good. I was at 158 when we got home, and it took me a couple of months of get back down to 150.  Those eight pounds don't sound like much, but they made a big difference in how easy it was to get my pants zipped. I sold or donated all of my fat clothes, so if I don't keep my weight where it is it means buying more clothes. I'd rather not spend money on replacing a wardrobe that I didn't have the self control to fit into.

I joined a gym in April after my weight jumped up to 154, and I added weight training to my routine. I did almost no weight training while I was loosing weight. My primary form of exercise had been cycling or using an elliptical, so weight training was definitely new for me. I kept tracking my food with Weight Watchers for a while, but I canceled my account in August. I started using My Fitness Pal in July, because I was staying hungry all day trying to stick to Weight Watchers. With the weight training that I was doing, I found that I couldn't get in all the protein that I needed and stay within my daily points allotment. So far, so good with My Fitness Pal. I love that it's free to use, whereas Weight Watchers was costing me about $15 a month. That's not much, but $15 is $15. I'm still weighing or measuring everything that I eat. 

I've learned that I have a problem with self control in buffet situations, so I try to avoid them. Baked goods are a weakness of mine, so I rarely bake. Another thing that I've learned is that I have a problem with sugar. Carb-o-holics meetings, anyone? Once I start eating something sweet, it is hard to walk away. I can keep a bag of chocolate candies in my house for months and not touch it, but once I cave - I'll eat two or three handfuls. Ugh. Some days, I pray for self control.

My nighttime snack looks a lot different now that it did with Weight Watcher's. Now I'm eating Greek yogurt, a serving of some type of nut butter (with no  added sugar of any kind), and almond milk. No more nightly chocolate or Weight Watcher's popsicles. I let myself have an indulgent dessert 2-3 times a month, and I've totally quit buying chips unless James asks for them. I don't like the chips that he eats, so there's no temptation there. I eat sliced cucumber when I want chips. I'm paying a lot more attention to the amount of protein that I eat at each meal, because it helps me stay full.  I've started eating Quest Bars for an afternoon snack, and I'm limiting my fruit intake to 1-3 servings a day. Sugar is sugar, even if it's coming from a fruit, and it won't keep you full like healthy fats and protein will.

When we do go out for unhealthy food, I'm more picky about what I choose to indulge in. Burgers? Smashburger, please on a pretzel bun with goat cheese. Pizza? A Chicago style pizza from Pi or something from Bellacino's. Ice Cream? Blue Bell from the Russell Stover store. Thankfully, none of these places are near my house.  Bellacino's is the closest, but it is still 15 minutes away. I've learned that I cannot eat calorie laden food like that every weekend and expect to maintain my weight. I'm trying to limit those indulgent meals out to twice a month. My go-to fast food places are Chick Fil A, Jimmy John's, and Jason's Deli. There are plenty of meal options at all three of those places for under 500 calories.

Weight maintenance is a battle, but it's worth it. For the first time in my life, I can leg press more than my body weight. I can manage an outing to the zoo with the two kids by myself without being physically exhausted afterwards.  If I don't take care of my body and eat healthy foods, I'm left with a body that won't allow me to serve my family well. My kids deserve a mom that can take them on bike rides, swim, and run around the park with them.

My Typical Day - Snacks

This is a follow up to my last post. Hopefully this will give some of you some good ideas about some yummy things to look for at the grocery store.

I don't buy a lot of Weight Watcher's food products, but these coffee flavored ice cream bars are one thing that I keep in my freezer. They are 2PP for one bar, and they are so good.  

 I like peanut butter, but one serving of regular peanut butter is 5 PP - that is more points than what I usually have for breakfast. PB2 is what I have replaced peanut butter with, and it doesn't have a bunch of weird ingredients. All it contains are roasted peanuts, sugar and salt. It comes in a dry powder & you add water to it. I add about 1 tablespoon of water to 1/8 cup of powder for one serving, which is only 1 PP. I get this from Amazon, but I think Trader Joe's sells it.  You can cook with it too.  This is a good source of protein, 5 grams per 1/8 cup.

 These Laughing Cow cheese wedges are 1 PP each. I don't eat these a lot, but they are nice to have with crackers.

 This hot chocolate is one of my favorite things to have for dessert at night. Two packets of it mixed with water are just 1 PP. I add one jet puffed marshmallow, which add one more PP.

 For a chocolate fix, I keep some kind of little chocolates around. Everything in the photo is 1 PP for one piece, except for the Rolo - two Rolos are 1 PP.

 I really like these Kettle Brand Baked Chips. They are made with a whole potato that has been sliced very thinly. They come in several flavors, and I like all of the ones that I've tried. Two flavors what aren't pictured that I like are Sour Cream & Onion and Cheddar & Roasted Tomato. These taste so much better than the standard baked chip.

 This fruit dip is yummy, and 1/8 of a cup is 2 PP. This plus a sliced Granny Smith apple makes for a nice snack.

 Edy's makes these fruit bars in a lot of different flavors, and I usually keep a box of them around. Most of the flavors are 2 PP per bar.

I like to eat frozen cherries. They are naturally sweet, and they have kept me from eating junk food. I don't defrost them.

My Typical Day - Breakfast

Thank you to all of you for your kind words regarding my last post!  I had a few people ask for some tips, so I'm going to do a few posts on what I typically eat on a daily basis.

 This instant oatmeal is my favorite thing to have on a cold morning. It is 3 Points Plus (PP) for one serving. I usually add a sliced banana and some chopped up apple to it. I also add extra cinnamon.

I really like Kashi cereal, but it is a little on the pricey side. Luckily, Sam's Club sells this flavor, and it's a little cheaper to buy it in bulk.  It is 5 PP for one serving, which is one cup.  I've been eating this for over a year, and I still measure it out every single time I eat it. I don't trust myself to estimate portion sizes. I have to do a little guesswork when I'm at a restaurant, and I'm bound to make mistakes sometimes. So, I would rather measure when I'm at home and take the guesswork out of things.  I have all but quit drinking cow's milk because of the sugar content in it. One cup of skim milk has 11 grams of sugar and it is 2 PP. I switched to almond milk months ago, and I love it. We even cook with it. One cup of unsweetened almond milk has 0 grams of sugar, and it is 1 PP.  I use just half a cup of almond milk on my cereal, and I don't have to count the one point.  Fresh fruit is zero points on Weight Watchers, so I try to have some with every meal. I usually have a banana and sliced peaches or berries with my cereal.  If you use frozen fruits, make sure to buy unsweetened fruit. The only thing that should be listed as ingredients in the fruit is the fruit itself.

 These Kashi granola bars are great for a quick breakfast. I'll eat these on hectic Sunday mornings with a banana and coffee. These come in a number of different flavors, and most of them are either 3 or 4 PP. This one pictured is my favorite, and it is 3 PP. My grocery store doesn't always have it in stock, so I set it up as a subscribe & save order with Amazon. I get six boxes of it every 6 months.

This is what I put in my coffee. Note that it is sugar free. One serving (1 tablespoon) is 0 PP. I also put a packet or two of Splenda in my coffee.  This comes in several flavors, and as far as I know, all of the sugar free flavors are 0 PP.

I don't have a photo of this last item, but I really like Chobani Fat Free Greek Yogurt. It is available in a variety of flavors, most of which are either 3 or 4 PP per 6 oz. Sometimes I will add a banana and 1/4 cup of the Kashi cereal pictured above to the yogurt. Adding the 1/4 cup of cereal adds 1 PP.

Weight Loss Goal Met!

Today is a day that I have been waiting for and working towards for 17 and a half months. I stepped on the scale this morning and I saw this :

I weighed myself like four times to make sure it wasn't a fluke! Same exact number all four times!  I entered my weight into my Weight Watchers app, and I finally got to see this screen: 

I asked James to take a few photos of me when he got home from work today., but before we get to those I have a "before" photo to share with you from 2011.

I'm note sure what I weighed in that photo, but I think it was between 245 and 250 lbs.

And today:

 These boot used to be so tight that I could barely get the sides of them zipped up. Now there is room to spare.

 Those are an old pair of my jeans. They used to fit comfortably. They are a size 20.  I am going to save these as a reminder of how far I've come.

James watched the kids for me this evening so I could got clothes shopping. I've been putting up with jeans that are so loose I can take them off without unbuttoning them, and I was itching to get some that fit.  The clerk at the store asked me what size I wanted to try on. I told her maybe and 8 or a 10. I hadn't bought pants in a while, so I didn't know what size I would need.  I was surprised when the size 8's were too big. I wear a size 6! I've never worn a size 6 in my life!  The last time I bought jeans at that store I was in a size 16.  I bought a few shirts, some were small, some were extra small.  I also went to Victoria's Secret and got some much need things there, which were also way smaller, but that's a bit much to share. Some of my flats are too loose to stay on my foot now, but that isn't an urgent need - so no shoe shopping today.

Here's a breakdown of how my sizes have changed:

pants: from a 20/22 to a 6

shirts: from a 2x to a small

ring fingers: left hand size 8 to 6, right hand hand 8.5 to a 6.5

Thank you to all of you who have been such an encouragement to me these past months! And a big thank you to Gina at Skinnytaste! It was her delicious Weight Watchers recipes that convinced me to give the program a try. If you are struggling on the same kind of journey, do not give up. There were days when it was hard. There were times when I prayed for self control. God heard. If I can do this, so can you. You might find that a different program suits your needs better, but find something that you like and stick with it. When you fall of the wagon, get right back on it the next day. 

Weight Watchers and Diabetes

Most of you who know me in real life know that I've had diabetes since I was a kid. This is something I rarely write about, but it has been a major source of frustration for me this week. I decided to share what I've been dealing with in hopes of helping others who are dealing with something similar & maybe get some advice.

On Monday, there was only one thing that I *had* to get done. I needed to take Eva to see her pediatrician, which meant toting Samuel along. Sounds simple enough, but I got up with my blood sugar low & battled it all day long. Getting the kids to and from that doctor's appointment was about all I got done. I felt awful all day. I had a super bad headache. I went back to bed after I got the kids down for their afternoon nap. I'm still following Weight Watchers, so I didn't want to just eat a bunch of carbs. Usually I can treat low blood sugar with a banana or two & it's fine. That just didn't work on Monday. I think I had a banana, cereal, chocolate, ice cream, yogurt, oranges, apples, grapes, and I don't know what else before I went to bed Monday night. I didn't enjoy having to eat it. After that carb feast I would have expected my blood sugar to be pretty high the next morning. But no, it wasn't even 90. Ugh. That tells me that it is time to reduce my insulin dose. (Normal fasting blood sugar range is 80-120)

I've had to make reductions in my dose as I've lost weight, and it always takes a few days to figure out how much insulin I need to take to keep my blood sugar within a normal range. And it is frustrating. It means checking my blood sugar more often than usual & making sure I have snacks stashed everywhere. I try to keep granola bars in the diaper bag, the console of my car, the saddle bag on my bike, both of my purses, my camera bag, and my nightstand. I don't like eating when I'm not hungry, but I simply don't have a choice when my blood sugar is low.  My doctor has asked me to come in for lab work every three months since I've been on Weight Watchers and making adjustments to my insulin, and I go faithfully. We've agreed on what my goal weight should be, and I'm almost there. I've been *almost there* since Christmas, which is another point of frustration. I'm running out of clothes that are not too big for me, but I don't want to buy anything else until I get these last 8 pounds off. I'm down to two pairs of jeans that fit OK, no dress pants, 4 bras, 3 skirts, and well, even my shoes are loose. I've bought some things for the springtime that fit, but since it looks like winter is never going to end here in St. Louis, I don't know when I'll be able to wear them. It was 10 F, when I got up this morning.

One thing that I love about Weight Watchers is that fresh fruit is zero points, so I don't have to count it when I have to eat a banana to treat low blood sugar. This is what has made the program sustainable for me. Getting past the hurdle of a dose reduction just makes for a few rough days. Hopefully, this is the last dose adjustment that I will have to make.

A comparison from last summer

I though I'd share another bit of my story with Weight Watchers.  Here is a photo from July 2012. This was Samuel's first time in the pool.

 There is really nothing flattering about that photo - except for Samuel's cute little self.

Here are two photos from this past July, about 1 year later.  This was my 9th month on Weight Watcher's, and I had lost 60 pounds. I've lost another ten pounds since these photos were taken.

James' mom gave me that swimsuit 12 years ago to take on my honeymoon.  It had been sitting in a drawer for several of those years because it didn't fit. I was glad to be able to use it this summer!

 I am currently within 25 pounds of my goal weight!

Here's some of the positive changes that have occurred as a result of my weight loss:

• I had a check up with my doctor last week, and my blood work looks better than it has in a long time.  I've been able to stop taking three prescription medications that I had been taking.
• I can shop at any store for clothes. I do not have to seek out stores that carry plus size clothing anymore.
• I don't wince when I catch my reflection in a window or mirror or when I look at photos of myself.
• I've got more energy and I'm able to be more active with my kids.
• I don't see food as a reward anymore.  After a rough day, I used to turn to food as a reward for getting through the day.  We still have treats for special occasions, but I don't make excuses for easting unhealthy food like I used to or think that I earned it because I've had a bad day.
• I found a new hobby - cycling. I had wanted to get a bike for a long time, but for safety reasons James wanted me to wait on purchasing a bike until I had lost some weight. We both got bicycles after I had lost 50 pounds.
• I don't fear being the "fat girl" at events or wonder if I am going to be comfortable in the seats at a ballpark, theater, or airplane.

There are still some things about this process that are not easy. There are foods that I miss - like Papa John's pizza. We used to get it delivered occasionally and watch movies together. While Weight Watchers is flexible enough to incorporate a slice or two of pizza, I don't think I would stop at a slice or two. So we just don't order it anymore.  Sometimes it is still challenging to stay on track when we travel. In June, we took the kids to Louisiana so our family and friends there could meet Eva. She still was not sleeping through the night at the time, so I had the perfect storm of not sleeping enough, indulging in some local foods that are hard to find in St. Louis, and not making the time to exercise. I gained 6 pounds on that 4 day trip!  I lost it by the end of July, and it served as a learning experience.

I'm thankful for James' support. He has been willing to eat what I eat for dinner, and he's been generous in giving me time to exercise.

Initial Goal Met!

The day we got to meet Samuel, I resolved to start taking better care of myself. I'd been exercising, but not really watching what I ate, so I wasn't seeing a lot of results from the exercise.  I set a goal to loose 42 pounds by his first birthday. I stepped up the amount of exercise that I was doing, but I didn't get a a very good handle on what I was eating until October last year.  That's when I joined Weight Watchers, and I saw results right away.
Here's a photo from 2010 when my weight was at it's worst:

 Here's a photo from this past September, just before starting Weight Watchers.  I'd been exercising regularly for 8 months, and I'd yo-yo with my weight. I had only been able to keep about 6 measly pounds off.

Here's a photo from last night.

Those jeans were so tight a year ago, that I couldn't comfortably wear them. I bought the Cardnial's t-shirt back in January with the hopes that it would fit by opening day of baseball season - which is today! I've lost 42 pounds since October.  I'm about half-way to my long term goal, but I'm happy with the results so far.

James has been super supportive. Dinner is the only meal that we eat together most of the week, so he gets to eat whatever he wants for breakfast and lunch & we eat a Weight Watcher's friendly recipe together for dinner.  I could not do this if I was having to prepare a separate dinner for myself. We've enjoyed almost every recipe that we've tried.  There are a lot of recipes on the Weight Watcher's website, and there are several food bloggers that post Weight Watcher's friendly recipes. My favorite food blog is skinnytaste. I tried a few of her recipes before I started Weight Watchers, and they were what got me to seriously consider giving Weight Watchers a shot.  Here's some of our favorite recipes from that site:

Three Cheese Tortellini and Mushroom Soup (We're having that for dinner tomorrow.)
Loaded Baked Sweet Potatoes (Sounds odd, but they are quite good)
Crockpot Corned Beef and Cabbage
Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps

I'm still exercising. I try to get in 4-5 hours of cardio each week.  I rotate between one hour on an elliptical machine or stationary bike and walking outdoors.

The main thing that I like about Weight Watchers is that it is flexible. You don't have to entirely give up eating out or desserts.  You just have to plan for indulgences and make smarter choices.  Most fruits are vegetables and considered "free" - so they don't count towards your daily limit.

I've had a few people ask me if it is hard to follow Weight Watchers.  There is a learning curve when you get started, but after you get into the routine of things it's not that tough.  They have a mobile website that I use on my smart phone to keep track of what I've been eating if I've not close to a computer.  There are a ton of chain restaurants and fast food places in their database, so you don't have to make a guess about the food at those places.  It is a little time consuming to keep track of every last little thing that you ate and to weigh or measure your portions of food out, but it is worth it!  I'm just using the online program with WW for now. I haven't been to any meetings yet, but I think will eventually start going to them.  If you're wondering about cost, the online program is less than $15/month.  That's the cost of three trips to Starbucks. I've traded in my weekly trip to Starbucks for a healthier me.