Kiss of death

Have you ever had a favorite...something? A favorite ice cream? Shade of lipstick? Type of jeans? TV show? And then the company that makes it. Well...they get some harebrained idea that the product needs to be changed. Improved. Or the kiss of death. Eliminated altogether.

My Clinique eye shadow was "improved" a few years ago. But the new shade is not an improvement on my lids. I am still searching for the correct shade.

I am still not over the cancelation of "John Doe" and "Homefront." I know. I was the only one watching. You don't have to rub it in.

When I diet...I tend to latch on to certain products that make it easier for me. Usually these foods are eaten on a daily basis. I can easily get into a rut. Many moons ago when I did Weight Watchers, I found the be-all-end-all in ice cream. Health Choice Peanut Butter cookie dough. Oh. It was like manna from heaven. Evidently no one else thought so. And they stopped making it. Or Entenmann's fat free chocolate pound cake. By itself, not so great. But. If you made it like I did. It was divine. (Cut the cake into 8 layers. And layer Healthy choice Mint chocolate chip ice cream in it. Oh my. I want some. Right. Now.)

And apparently I have that magic touch. Because a few weeks ago when I told you about some of my favorite products. El Monterey was listening. And stopped making my very favorite soft tacos. Now what will I dip into my wholly guacamole? What will I dip into my bean dip? What will I eat for lunch? Every. Single. Day.

So...what about you? Have you been the kiss of death for a product that you loved?

Trim the Fat Thursday

I can't believe that it's been a week since I've posted! Between reading several books. Running the girls to swim practice. Swim meets. Tennis practice. And my addiction to Farmtown on Facebook. My poor blog has suffered.

But. Today is a day I must post. I so want to succeed on this weight loss journey. And I am hoping that this once a week check in with you will help me.

My goal for this past week was to actually measure what went on my plate. And I must admit that my eyes were opened. I KNEW that what I was putting on my plate was larger than what I counted. But by how much? Oh, wow!

I went to a Pampered Chef party about a year ago and bought these glass prep bowls.They come in a set of six. With lids. And are great when you are cooking - so that you can measure out all your ingredients ahead of time. And not let something boil over or scald because you forgot to get something out already.

But what I noticed is that they have measuring guidelines on the side of the bowl.

So I can fill up my bowl with grapes. Or strawberries. Or half of it with rice. Or whatever side we are having with dinner.

But where it is really eye opening for me was with cereal.

I know that our portion sizes keep growing. And that what is a small coke - used to be considered a large size.

I know that our dinner plates are growing. And one of the things that I have started doing is eating off of the "salad" plate.

But this is my favorite bowl. It's deep. It's great for chili. And soup. And cereal. (Man...that is a horrible picture.)

This is what my bowl looks like with an actual serving of cereal (1 cup).

Kinda empty. And lonely. Because if I filled my bowl with cereal...I'd be eating FOUR servings instead of one.

So, I moved my cereal into the smaller bowl. The ones I usually use for the kids. Perfect fit.

And all my measuring paid off. I lost 2.1 pounds this week. Bringing the grand total to 7.9 pounds!

Goal for the week:

To keep measuring. To be better about writing EVERYTHING down. And to exercise. Somehow. Something. At least once.

Go get yourself motivated by reading the other Trim the Fat posts at Angie's spot. Or join us...and link yourself up!

So...what about you? How do you deal with portion control? Do you trick your brain by using smaller plates? Or even ordering kids meals when you are out?

Trim the Fat Thursday

I have been reading. All about Shannon and Brandy becoming paralyzed by Jillian Michaels. About Carrie and her losses with Weight Watchers (she has two really low points - and yummy - recipes posted - one for Spanokopita and another for pizza dough). Rachael reached a huge milestone in losing 20+ pounds. Angie has been trimming the fat. Aubrey is on the bandwagon. And I am too. I just haven't told anyone about it. Until now.

I have so much to lose it's overwhelming. But I took that first step about 6 weeks ago and joined Weight Watchers online. I just this week got to the five pound benchmark. I am quite convinced it goes beyond a slow metabolism. I think that mine has deserted me entirely. So, to help with my motivation. And accountability. I thought I'd bring you into that inner circle. And tell you how it's going. What I need to be doing. What I am doing well. And maybe. Just maybe. Inspire us both.

My plan is to tell you about something that is helping or hindering me each week. Followed by some sort of goal. So...this week. I thought we would talk about food. I am all about what I can eat a lot of. For as little points as possible. But. I am not a veggie person. I cannot just grab a handful of mini carrots and enjoy. I wish my tastebuds leaned in that direction.

Here are some things that are yummy. Low in points. And make this journey much easier.

1. Weight Watchers Chocolate chip cookie dough sundae.My kids cannot believe I won't share these with them. But they are all mine. My issue is to try and not eat both sundaes in the same day.

2. Edy's Whole fruit bars

Now these I am willing to share. And they are oh so yummy. And oh so low in points.

3. Pirate Booty and Smart PuffsAnother healthy snack that I am willing to share. I love it when the kids want these instead of chips. They are good. And you get A LOT for little points.

4. El Monterey soft tacos.This is my favorite lunch. These all natural soft tacos are only 2 points each. They are flavorful. And have a great kick. I also like to have them with my bean dip (which is only 1 point a serving!). It helps my wimpy taste buds deal with that kick from the spice.

5. Wholly Guacamole 100 calorie snack packs.Another food that my girlies refuse to try. I think I learned my lesson and will not be encouraging their taste buds on to one of my favorites. These are great to have with those soft tacos. Or just with some baked tostitos. And besides being uber delish...they are already portioned out. I don't have to measure. I just enjoy! And on that measuring note...

Goal for the week:

I have been pretty good about writing down what I eat in my WW log online. Where I am failing. I think. Is that I don't measure. I eyeball it. But my stomach may be influencing my fingers as I type the information. So. This week I am actually going to measure what I am eating. And type out the actual information. And see if that can equal a better number on my scale for next week.

Be sure to go over to Angie's spot to see how everyone else is doing this week. Get on the bandwagon yourself...and link up so that we can support each other.

So...what about you? Have you discovered a food that is making your weight loss journey easier?

Divine or Devil's Temptation?

Let me be honest. I am on weight watchers. I started 3 weeks ago and have lost 9.2 pounds. And yes, that .2 is quite important! So...what should happen to me this week to undermine my plans? Girl Scout cookies and Apple dumplings. The deadly duo. But...I have a plan. I am going to ignore weight watchers for the weekend and eat every last cookie. Whatever remains will go to work with Michael on Monday and I can get myself back on track. It's kind of like our policy with Halloween candy. The girls are allowed to gorge for a week...and what is left either goes to work with Daddy...or into the trash. We learned that that was the best option or I still had Halloween pumpkins and candy in my house competing for attention with the Easter candy. This way it's done and gone. And the girls know not to over do things. Trust me, it only takes one day of eating too many cupcakes followed by some prayers to the porcelain god to know that eating too much sweets is not a good idea. They know their limits.

And it just so happens that I discovered Pioneer woman and her cooking blog in the same week that cookies arrived. Why not add a few more (cough, cough...thousand more??) calories to my intake and make those dumplings. I think it's providence. And it looked like it would be a fun cooking lesson for the kids. Lisa over at Koinonia Academy says that spending time in the kitchen with my children would be a good idea (err...exercise in patience - of which I am sorely lacking!). But I don't think that Lisa has tried to cook with my children or else she might not have offered this particular piece of advice.

So last night after a dinner of subs picked up at Publix (because Michael HAD to stop and get vanilla ice cream to go with the apple dumplings - might as well have him get dinner too. As I do not cook on weekends. It's a law. Or something.) we made dumplings. Let me back track for a second. When I shared this recipe with my husband -- and even Cindy in TX -- both had suggestions for making it more weight watcher friendly. Michael suggested diet Mountain Dew. But "hello!!" it calls for two sticks of butter...oh...think of the calories I'll save switching to diet soda. And then Cindy even had the nerve to suggest switching to butter buds - but she didn't want to use Splenda in place of the sugar...so again..."why bother??" We made the recipe just as God intended...or maybe it was the devil's temptation...

First, I gave Madalyn the job of separating the crescent roll triangles.

At the same time, I cored the two apples and Katie peeled them. She had never used a vegetable peeler before and had a little trouble getting it started.Apparently, Madalyn was quick with her task and got bored waiting for additional instructions - and I got busy with helping Katie and taking pictures...so I didn't realized she decided to smoosh all the triangles together into a pancake. Isn't she helpful??

My next task was to attemp to separate all the triangles into usable pieces. This was an interesting process that required much patience and deep breathing.
After I had all the triangles done, the kids quickly rolled the apples into the mangled dough and we were ready to move to the next step of melting the butter for our low cal treats. Next we added the sugar and stirred.

Then we poured the concotion over our dumplings and popped them in the oven. The girls could not believe that they had to be patient enough to wait 45 minutes for the dumplings to be ready. Katie waited ever so patiently by washing the dishes.

And in no time...the timer went off and they were beautiful...mouth watering...and definitely divine.