Sunday Funday!

It's the perfect Sunday afternoon for laying out in the backyard! It is just a tad windy but when you live CC for 27 years wind does not stop you!
A staple when laying out is a cold refreshing beverage. I prefer beer as it quiches my thirst. Bud Select 55 is my drink of choice as it is only 2PP. However, I discovered a refreshing new beverage for the same PP value!

• 8 oz Minute Maid Lemonade-light- 0 PP ( if you have more it the PP increases).
• 1 oz ( 1 shot) of Rum- 2 PP
• A couple of ice cubes
• Total: 2 PP

Blend and serve! It is so refreshing and delicious. I am not one to drink liquor but this will be my new sun bathing treat!
Happy Sunday Funday!
Christie

Parmesan Chicken Tenders with Marinara Dipping Sauce and French Fries

Friday is our grocery shopping day. I usually don't plan on this day becuase we are usually tired and I end of eating something frozen or use my weekly 49 points. I decided that this Friday I would plan an easy email for me and the Mr.

So we had Parmesan Chicken Tenders with Marinara Dipping Sauce! It was super easy to prepare and I walked for 30 minutes on the Wii plus and earned myself 3 activity points while it was cooking!  Here are the details:

Parmesan Chicken Tenders with Marinara Dipping Sauce

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 9 X 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine bread crumbs ( I used Shake and Bake- Crispy Chicken: same amount of points as the bread crumbs), cheese and garlic powder in a small, shallow bowl. Whip egg whites until foamy and place in another shallow bowl. Dip chicken first into egg whites and then into bread crumb mixture to coat thoroughly. (Note: You may use boneless, skinless chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts, if desired.)

Place chicken tenders on prepared pan and bake until crispy, about 25 minutes. Serve chicken with warmed sauce. Yields about 6 chicken tenders and 1/4 cup of sauce per serving.

It was sooooooo good and fills you up.  We also added Alexia Yukon Gold Julienne fries with sea salt.  You can 24 fries or 3 oz for 3 PP. It was a very filling dinner. For extra PP you can have a 2 tbsp of Yogurt Ranch dressing (which tastes just like Ranch) and 1 tbsp of Ketchup for 0 PP.

Happy Eating!

Christie

Working Out

Activity Points is the only way for you to 'get' points. I once was one that loved playing sports and working out. As I have gotten older and my bones are slowly feeling the affects of my youth (broken arm, torn acl, foot surgery and just plain wear and tear on my bones:).  I also have a full time job and when I get home, going to the gym or working out for an hour isn't on the top of my list.

When I started WW I knew I needed to find something just to get some activity in my day.  I have found two things that work for me: 

1. Wii Fit Plus: my love bug got this for me about 2 years ago when we first started dating. I rarely used it but I did enjoy it. I stared creating work outs and doing different types of activties. Then I discovered the gem: "Free Step". You basically step on and off for 10, 20 or 30 minutes. You can watch TV while doing this and it makes the time go by very quickly.  I did this for the first 2 weeks and it was a very good work out.

2. Active 2:   we picked this up at Best Buy one weekend as we had heard so much about this. It is a total body tracking system that allows you to work out. It tracks your heart rate, arm and leg movements.  One of the main reasons I love this system is you can get a great work out in a short amount of time. I typically burn an average of 140-175 calories in about 20-25 minutes. I love it. When I get home from work, working out isn't on the top of my list. It actually wasn't even on my list until I started WW. This work out can be done on the: Wii, XboX or PS3. I highly recommend this. You can do light work outs, dance aerobics or customize a work out of your choice!

I usually grab a bannana before I work out. It helps kick start my enerfy levels and it is 0 PP.  On average I get about about 12-15 activity points a week. It really doesn't seem like I am even working out and I believe that it has added to me loosing inches. What activity do you add to your day?

The Results are In!

Every week I go in for my weekly weigh in. As many people who weigh in weekly, I have a weigh in routine.  Weight Watchers devotes a section in their new member tools that discusses the weekly weigh in and made me feel normal about my weird antics. OK, my weigh in "antics" are not exactly "too" weird but I do the following things:

1. Wear the EXACT same outfit every time. The first week my mom and I ACCIDENTALLY wore the same thing therefore have matched at every meeting for 7 weeks.
2. Make sure I go to the little girls room before I leave my house.
3. Wear my hair the same way and do not wear too much make up:)
4. Take off my shoes.
5. Take a deep breath, close my eyes and tell myself I did the best I did and ate healthy AND everything is going to be OK no matter what the scale says.

Totally weird, I know but it works for me. Next time you step on the scale and feel kinda crazy for doing weird quirky things before stepping on the scale please know you are not alone and that I am doing the same thing every Saturday.

This Saturday was no different. As mentioned previously, I changed my weigh in day so I knew that the loss might a little higher than normal.

I stepped on the scale and waited for the lady to say: "Good Job!" or " You are doing great keep up the good work" or "You look great, don't worry about the number".  She didn't say anything as they were really really really busy this morning and I didn't want to linger around for praise. I took my seat in the meeting and took out my weigh in book. I looked at the number...to my astonishment delight, I lost.....

3.2 LBS!

While I do realize this is not standard to loose this much in one week, I am over the top. This helps push me on days when I want to eat a Whataburger with Fries (while I know i could eat that it wouldn't leave me as satisfied as a home cooked meal would). It helps me when I get home from a long day of work and only want to plop down on our new very comfy couch and watch TV all night long instead of working out (its only 20-30 minutes anyway). 

The point of my long windiness/giddiness/ excitement is that whether is be + 3.2 lbs or -3.2 lbs, I did the best that I could, my clothes fit better AND I feel healthy! 

THANK YOU WEIGHT WATCHERS FOR HELPING ME LEARN BETTER EATING HABITS AND FEEL BETTER ABOUT MYSELF. Thank you to my wonderful husband who has been soooo supportive.  Finally, thank you to myself for helping me know that I can do this and I will reach my goal!

Weigh-In Day

There are a couple ways to follow the WW program: going to meetings and weigh in and/or particpate online. Which ever works for you is what you should do:) What works for me is weighing in every week. It holds me accountable for what my actions are during the week. The first 6 weeks I weighed in on Sunday but last week I decided to switch it up and go on Saturdays. I really like the leader and the discussion.

Tomorrow I go for my official weigh in 2 weeks. Since I switched it up I wasn't able to have an official weigh in so this will be 2 weeks of lost weight which I hope equates to a big number! I have been working out hard and following my points so I hope it pays off. When I did the 'unofficial' weigh in last Saturday I lost 2 pounds so we will see tomorrow the scales says. I did my best and feel healthy so whatever happens happens!

Here is to a skinny Saturday!