Author Archives: Kelly

Food Find – mini Babybel Light Cheese

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So I work ungodly hours.  I get up at 3 am and don’t get home from work until after 5 pm.  I’m usually not a snacker per say, but that time between breakfast and lunch gets to me.

I love these Babybel Light Cheeses.  At only 1 Smartpoint they give you a boost of protein to get you through.  I usually pair them with some kind of fruit, usually an apple or cherries and it’s delicious.

Economically the best way I’ve found to buy these is at Costco.  They have big honking bags of them and I put keep part of them at home and take the rest to work.  These are also awesome crumbled and put on things like tacos.  I’m going to have to try these in a sauce too, I bet it’d be delicious!

Weigh In 6-18-17 Oh Boy

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So I’m close.  Very close.  Like 10 pounds and some ounces close.  Like I’ve never been this close before. To goal. I’ve lost 48.6 pounds and have 10.4 to go.

I haven’t weighed this little since I was 29 years old, and that my friends was a decade and change ago.

So I am super close to goal and what do I do?  Hey, let’s go to Vegas!

To be fair I had this trip planned for a while.  My brother is playing in the World Series of Poker and I said I’d go with.  This funny thing happens on the way to Vegas though, it’s like you go through this time warp travel thingy and get off the plane feeling like you are 22.

And acting it.

Please don’t say it’s just me.

Food….Drinks…More drinks…some more drinks…food.

Good God what I have I done??

Nope I’m not going to stress about it and I’m going to have a blast.  I was thinking about this vacation thing, and how it was in the pre-fat days.  It wasn’t like I went on vacation and was like “oh I better not eat that” or “I better not drink that huge honking margarita because I might gain weight.”

No, I went and had a great time, and when I got back if the pants were a bit snug I reeled it back in until they weren’t.

Did I mention that the two other times I did Weight Watchers and fell off the wagon was after going on vacation?

It feels different this time.  I’m giving myself a pass.  Am I going to eat everything in site and drink until I puke?  No, but I am going to have some awesome crepes at the Paris and a Sprinkles cupcake and oh probably my fair share of adult beverages.

Will I gain?  Maybe.  Will my butt be back in that chair July 1st facing the music for whatever may happen?  Most definitely.

I leave this Friday so my blog may be a bit of a ghost town since I haven’t had a day off work in two weeks and have so much to do before I go.

But I’ll be back.  I promise.

Food Find – Premier Protein

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So this has been one of my staples since rejoining back in February.  Everyone has their vice, their trigger when they are trying to lose weight, and mine is coffee.

I love coffee.  I mean I seriously love coffee.

The problem is I love all the stuff that comes with it – the flavored creamers, the sugar, the whipped cream.

It is amazing to me that I was probably drinking most of my Smartpoints in creamer before!  Seriously!  It’s a miracle that I did’t have more than 59 pounds to lose.

As a veteran Weight Watcher I knew this.  I tried all kinds of things when I was on the program before to make my coffee tolerable.  I remember buying those Swiss Miss light hot chocolate packets and using those, until I started noticing the big blobs of undisovable junk and it totally freaked me out.

So I knew I needed a way to make this work, and the people in my meeting kept talking about this Premier stuff.  Yeah, yeah chemicals blah blah.  I’ll take a minimal amount of chemicals over 59 pounds of fat thank you.

I actually really do try to stay away from that stuff and with the few exceptions I do.  But this, this I need.

I don’t ever drink them as protein shakes, I just put them in my coffee.  I love the chocolate one.  Vanilla is good too, strawberry is decent, and I found banana to be repulsive.

So if you find yourself needing a decent sub for your coffee, that’s my recommendation.  At only 2 Smartpoints it’s not bad.  I’ve found them the cheapest at Costco, but I’ve heard that Sam’s Club sells them at a good price too.

If you all have any tricks to jazz up your coffee please please leave it in the comments!

Easy Chicken Egg Rolls

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As a serial Weight Watcher I know one of the biggest mistakes is to let yourself get stuck in a rut.  You know what the Smartpoints are of certain foods/meals, so you eat them over and over again.

And you will get bored.  I know a lot of people don’t like to cook like I do, but once you start turning out some really good dishes it becomes more fun.  Also if you don’t get to use your creative side normally it can really come out in your cooking.

I like to consider recipes “guidelines”.  I don’t think I ever follow any specific recipe.  In the middle of it I always think, “oh but if I did this it would be really good.”  Experiment with your food. Have fun!

So me experimenting with food got me to come up with this.  It might be my favorite Weight Watcher friendly recipe yet.  I mean it was damn good.  And easy.  And low in Smartpoints.

Winning.

Coming it at a whopping 3 Smartpoints these egg rolls are seriously filling.  I ate two because I had a boatload of points and was stuffed, and trust me, I can EAT.

I used two of my favorite kitchen appliances to make this, but you could do it just with your oven and stove if you wanted.  I’ll include both versions here.

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Weigh in 6-10-17, Stages of Weight Loss, and Popsicles oh my

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So weigh in went well this week, I lost 2.8, pushing me over that 45 pound loss mark.  Yeah!  Thirteen pounds left to goal!  I can’t even believe it!

Speaking of that 45 pound mark, I have found that there are certain stages of weight loss.  Let me illustrate them for you with my dear friend Oprah:

  • stagesof2

I’ve been getting the “but you are wasting away” comments.  The “you don’t want to get to thin” comments.  I’m a 10/12 right now so I most certainly am not wasting away or to thin thankyouverymuch.

I see a lot of people in that under 20 pound range that have hurt feelings because no one has noticed, and I’m here to tell you a story that will make you feel better.

I had a friend that I hadn’t seen in awhile and I commented on how she had lost weight and looked great.  She hadn’t.  Maybe it was the outfit, maybe it was because I hadn’t seen her in a long time, but she hadn’t lost weight and demanded to know if she looked fat before.

Uh…Uh…yeah awkward to say the least.  So asking people if they lost weight ranks up there with asking someone if they are pregnant.  Unless I am positively sure, or if they mention it, I do not say a word.  Not. A. Word.

And make sure you enjoy that 20-30 pound stage.  It’s about the only time someone won’t be critical of you!

I also wanted to share with you an easy swap for pudding pops with low smartpoints since it is hotter than the seventh layer of hell today.

It’s so easy.  You just make your sugar free/fat free pudding and pour them into Popsicle molds.  Freeze.  That’s it.

sugar

I normally use my metal mold from amazon.

You can find them anywhere, I just like the way the metal ones come out.  I have a set of plastic ones that I don’t like as well, but they do the trick!  I think I found them at Target in their clearance bin, so keep an eye out!

pop2

You can even do cool stuff like put fruit in them!  The picture above used vanilla pudding with strawberries and it was delicious!

So get creative and beat the heat without breaking your smartpoint balance!  Mine usually come out to about 2 points a pop, which for a dessert/ice cream like item is awesome!

Click here to view my disclosure statement.

Fettuccine Alfredo Lightened Up

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For me there are two dishes that are my go to comfort foods.  The Queen Fettuccine Alfredo and the Queen Mother homemade baked Mac and Cheese.  I’ve seen a couple of different recipes for Fettuccine Alfredo that cut back on the Smartpoints using laughing cow cheese, but they were missing something.

I don’t play when it comes to my Alfredo.

Even before Weight Watchers there was a product I had to ban from my home because my ass was expanding at an alarming rate and I just wanted to eat it all the time.

alfredobottle

This product easily makes an awesome Alfredo sauce – and it does it easily.  I found that if I had it in my house I could have one of my favorite comfort foods in no time, so I stopped ordering it.

Then Weight Watchers happened, and once I felt secure enough I ordered some more to see if I could use it without all the butter and higher smartpoint ingredients.

I started this blog because of Weight Watchers Connect.  I’d post pics of my recipes and people would want the recipe, and on Connect you can only post on your phone.  I didn’t want this site to become a walking advertisement for my business, I already have a community for that, and I always try to put substitutes in so people can get the ingredients they need from the grocery store.

I don’t know if there is a sub for this one though.  I’ve never used a powered mix for Alfredo before, but you could try it.  You could also try the recipe without any powered mix at all, but it is so much better with it!

This makes 5 7 smartpoint servings.  9 if you add the chicken.  I’ll tell you this now, it does not reheat well but never fear!  Cut the recipe by 1/5 to make a single serving (just go with one laughing cow wedge) and it comes out just as good to make enough for one!

Ingredients:

1 cup fat free milk
6 The Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb Wedges
2 tablespoons Wildtree Alfredo Extraordinaire
1/8 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
10 oz Carba-Nada Egg Fettuccine Noodles

Put a big pot of salted water on high heat for the noodles and bring to a boil.  In a separate sauce pan, add you milk and laughing cow wedges, stirring occasionally over medium until your wedges melt.  Whisk in your Alfredo powder and add your pepper and Parm.  Stir occasionally over low heat while you wait for your noodles to get done.

Once water is at a boil add your noodles and cook for 3-4 minutes.  strain, put back in the pot, and add your Alfredo sauce.  Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for a minute or so – until all the noodles are covered in sauce.

The chicken was just some left over chicken I had that I had marinated in roasted garlic grapeseed oil and our California style Garlic and Pepper blend. and baked.  You could use your favorite chicken recipe if you’d like to add meat.

You get about a cup and a half a serving, or you can weigh it and it comes to about 2 1/2 ounces per serving.  7 smartpoints!  That’s it!  Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo is like 56 smartpoints and your first born child!

Is this as good as Olive Garden?  No, but it’s damn good and stands on it’s own!

If you’d like to try Wildtree products you can visit my site here.

Click here to view my disclosure statement.

Weigh In 6/3/17 – Whoops!

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So….Yeah….

I didn’t weigh in this Saturday.  No, it wasn’t one of my usual excuses I used to have before this go-round like I gained weight.

I had to train someone at work, and I didn’t find out until Friday afternoon so my weigh in options were gone.

Now if I go according to my scale at home, which I’m pretty sure is possessed I lost 2 pounds, but I’m not taking it until I can do an actual weigh in, especially since it’s said I gained a pound but when I weigh in at Weight Watchers I’ve lost, or sadly when it’s said I lost 3 pounds and I weigh in and have lost like point freakin’ 2.

Possessed I tell you.

But I digress….I didn’t even realize it until yesterday, but it was a great learning experience for me.  You see, as a serial Weight Watcher I have done it all, seen it all.  In the past when I knew before hand that I wasn’t weighing in it was all “Whoo hoo we have an extra week to make up any damage Paaarrrtaaay!”.

Friday night would have been a free-for-all of ice cream and pizza.  No, probably pasta and bread, because yes Oprah tells us we can have it but you pay dearly for it with your points.

The funny thing is that thought didn’t enter my head.  I didn’t think ahh screw it I don’t have to weigh in tomorrow so I’m going to enjoy myself tonight.  I didn’t even think it.

Well so this is new and maybe perhaps I’ve finally got it this time.

 

Chicken Quesadilla Muffins

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I shared my recipe for all purpose Mexican Chicken the other day, and this is one of my favorite things to make with it!  Weighing in at 5 Smartpoints it is delicious and different!

The chicken recipe is Staple Meal – All Purpose Mexican Chicken

For the Corn Muffin:

4 cups water
1 cup corn meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 eggs
3 tablespoon milk
1 cup 2% cheddar cheese

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Easy and Fast Veggie Stir Fry

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So I work a lot.  Like a 40 hour work week is a vacation for me.  At our meeting this week someone mentioned how much we eat out now.

We never ate out when I was a kid in the 80’s.  Unless it was someone’s birthday or an anniversary we ate home cooked meals, and none of us had weight problems.  We ate dessert every night for God’s sake!

I fell into the take out routine in my 30’s, and it’s also when I packed it on.  Even when you are trying to eat healthy they add so much salt and oil and the tears of puppies that even if you don’t eat huge portions (which they usually are) you don’t have a hope in hell of maintaining or good God losing weight.

I’m hungry when I get home, and if I haven’t prepped something, or I don’t want to wait an hour for something to be done, or sometimes I’m just to damn tired to cook I make this.  This is my go-to recipe on those nights when I’m hangry and just over it.

I can have this from prep to my plate in 10 minutes, and it’s GOOD.  I keep brown rice in my fridge at all times – just to be prepared and because I eat this at least once a week!

The most important thing about this is to have everything ready to go and measured out. I put my seasonings in a ramekin, and have everything else out with the measuring spoons.

What is completely awesome about this is you can adjust your rice or your oil or your egg beaters if you have a lot or a little points.

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Weigh In 5-27-17 – Document Your Life

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Down 2.6 this week.  Not to shabby!  I new it was coming because I had those few low weeks.  The thing about Weight Watchers and now FitBit you get a whole lot of data.  I love data, numbers, everything and anything to do with analyzing information.

I think that many people who get “stuck” would realize that they have a pattern.  I tend to have lower losses, and then a big one.  My body likes it’s fat, and isn’t going to let go right away.  But let it go it does my friends, if I don’t get discouraged and just keep plugging along!  I’ve lost 43.4 pounds so far, with 15 to go to goal.

The pic in this post shows a 25 pound difference for me.  The little nephew Roman found some of those pounds 🙂  I had on no make-up, my hair was a mess, but even in a world of filters and poses and 50 selfies until you get that perfect one I decided to take this picture anyway.

It’s all about documenting your life.

I’ve learned about this the hard way, after my parents died in succession.  When you lose your parents you inherent things like all the family photo albums.  My best friend’s Mom died soon after mine, and we found out our parents had a couple of things in common.

Both our Mothers struggled with their weight, going up and down their whole lives.  My Mom was skinny most of the time when I was growing up, but she also did not eat.  Like I never saw her eat.  She had a lot of health problems because of this, and when she got to her 40’s the starving stopped, and the weight packed on.

My friend’s Mom was the opposite.  She was always bigger and lost a ton of weight when she got older.  Unfortunately it was from un-diagnosed diabetes, and once diagnosed and treated she gained it all back.

The other thing they had in common was the disappearance and reappearance in pictures.  I have pictures with my Mom when I was little, but the older I got the more these became less frequent, or not at all.

I barely have any pictures of my Mom once she started gaining weight.  I don’t even have a picture with my Mom when I graduated from college.  Do you know what I would do to have that??

It was a sad realization, and you can’t go back and get memories like that.  It must be fairly common, and seeing my friend go through the same things just makes it all that more sad.

I imagine being in the world we are now it’s even worse.  I don’t understand it.  I mean, I understand the avoiding pictures thing – God knows I’ve done it too.  What I don’t understand is the obsessive culture we live in where people do so much to their pictures to look perfect.

I mean, we see you in real life.  We know you don’t look like that.  But with all this pressure to have that perfect picture on social media has probably made the picture phobia ten times worse because I’m betting a bunch of people out there fear the dreaded tagged pic – the one where your double chin and thunder thighs are in full view.

So that day back in February, when we had an unusually warm day and I took my nephews to the park to play, I took a really awful pic with messy, windblown hair and no make-up.  It was a great day, documented forever.

Yesterday, about 25 pounds less, I took a similar picture.  I’m glad I have them, for sure, because I can see my hard work paying off.  But I’m also glad that I have them for the memories made that day.

I don’t want to die and have people be sad because they don’t have documented memories of me because I thought I would look fat.  I don’t want to leave behind a sterile Facebook page full of pictures that don’t match people’s memories of me because they look nothing like me.

I’m going to document my life, my real life.  No one is going to look back and think “God she was fat!” or “man couldn’t see have got the lighting right?”

They’ll just be happy to have a visual to go with their memories.  I sure wish I had more.