Teetering on the edge

Sometimes I get so disgusted with myself. All I have to do is maintain my weight and stay under 140 pounds in order to sustain my lifetime status in Weight Watchers and attend the meetings for free. I blew it this week, but I am right at the edge. I really should be able to turn this thing around but I am wanting to eat all the time and I am finding it nearly impossible to stay around 18 points per day. Who can live on that without eating only bunny food?

This weekend is going to be especially challenging as I will be away from home at a con and eating out a lot. I'm thinking that if I bring in some healthy snacks such as fruit to keep in my room and try to stick to salads most of the time, I should do OK. There is a lot of temptations around though.

Weight Watchers points on Peapod

I just put in an order at Peapod for the first time in several months and discovered a great new feature called Nutrifilter. It allows you to set dietary restrictions and will display related information to help you make the best choices for your particular situation. I chose Weight Watchers so now on most of the products the calculations are done and a little box appears with the points value per serving. Let me tell you, this is really cool. I know many products already have points listed, but those are generally frozen entrees such as Smart Ones and Lean Cuisine. This gives you so much more for all product categories.

Weight Watchers is not the only option. You can choose peanut-free, gluten-free, high fiber, low-sodium, etc. One day I may look at a gluten-free/Casein-free diet for my son and this will be very helpful. Peapod started in the Chicago area and has since expanded to other regions. It is a wonderful service. I love to order from Peapod when I need to re-stock my heavy stuff, like laundry detergent, bottled water and canned goods.Check it out.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

This just out from hungry-girl.com:
Tomato Alert!!!

Wondering what to make of this whole tomato salmonella fiasco? Here's the scoop. The FDA is recommending that people do NOT eat raw red Roma tomatoes, raw red plum tomatoes, raw red round tomatoes, or products containing them (unless said tomatoes have been grown and harvested in select areas listed on the FDA website). Restaurants and grocery stores have been advised not to serve or sell these tomatoes, as well. Tomatoes not associated with this salmonella scare are cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and tomatoes grown at home. For more information on this, click here for the latest updates. FYI, experts say simply washing your tomatoes really well is NOT enough to get rid of the contamination, and the FDA does not recommend cooking these tomatoes either. So stick with those tomato types not associated with the outbreak -- at least for the time being!

Checking in

I'm finally over my horrendous cold that just about killed me for two weeks and now my guy has it. He did teach me how to make homemade lime juice today though. He had picked up a gizmo somewhere along the line that looked sort of like a thick ice cream scoop. I had played with the thing but it made no sense because it seemed like the holes were on the wrong side and I squirted lime juice all over. The way to do it is to put the round end of the lime against the round part of the juicer and squeeze the tool to flatten that lime. It is pretty cool and kind of like squeezing a garlic press. Apparently this type of juicer is popular in Mexico and Latin America. We juiced two limes per glass of water. Yummers!

It's hard to eat when your throat is sore

It is now less than a week until my friends wedding where I will slip into the little satin halter dress to be the maid of honor. Unfortunately, I feel like hell. I woke up several times in pain last night and felt like I had been choking down razor blades. Not fun. So today my diet pretty much consists of hot tea (Moroccan mint organic green tea) and chicken soup. I'm feeling somewhat better now because I've been gargling vinegar and warm salt water every couple of hours. This works like magic and is used by opera singers, or so I've heard. It tastes horrible, but it works like nothing I've seen. If you try this remedy, be sure to rinse your mouth with clean water afterwards as the vinegar is hard on tooth enamel.

Walking off the Weight ... for Autism

My family and I are participating in Autism Speaks Walk Now for Autism to raise money and awareness of autistic disorders. My son has PDD-NOS and it is very difficult to understand his condition and get him the help he needs. Please help if you can. Thanks.

Girl Scout Cookies vs. Weight Watchers Snacks

The other day at work we got into the last of the Girl Scout cookies. I told my friend that Weight Watchers makes a snack bar that is very similar to the thin mints that I love. This got me curious and so I broke out the points calculator. The cookies had 3 points for 4 cookies and the WW chocolate mint snack bar had 2 points for one bar. Then came the clincher. After reading the ingredients, the cookies seem healthier and more wholesome than the chemical laden overpriced Weight Watchers products IMHO. Cookies taste better too. Just watch those portions and count your points and you too can eat yummy Girl Scout cookies on the Weight Watchers plan.

Lean Cuisine Thai Chicken Tastes Like Crap!

I know, I know... I was raving about Lean Cuisine's 3 point herbed chicken the other day. I tried another frozen entree, the Thai Chicken, which has 4-points and I thought I was going to hurl. Yes, it is that bad. The smell even turned my stomach.

I'm going back to the salad bar.

The Skinny on 3 Point Entrees

Well today was one of those Mondays where I was so busy at work that I had to skip my Weight Watchers meeting and just eat a TV dinner at my desk. This is the third week in a row where I could not stay for the meeting. Bummer... I did go downstairs and weigh in though. I'm maintaining.

Anyhoo, my lunch hit me with some surprising good news. My TV dinner was only 3 Weight Watchers points. I couldn't believe it. These are usually 5 or 6 points and sometimes a 4 pointer if I want to starve myself. I had the herb chicken and it was really good. Actually, one of the best frozen entrees I have tried. By skipping the pasta and doubling up on the veggies they finally figured it out. I've noticed that some of their entrees are also featuring whole grain pasta. This will boost the fiber and knock down the points. Seems that Lean Cuisine has beaten Weight Watchers at its own game and has come up with several three-point entrees.


Chicken Marsala
Roasted, seasoned chicken breast in a rich Marsala wine sauce with tender mushrooms and a side dish of carrots and green beans.

Herb Roasted Chicken
An herb roasted marinated chicken breast topped with a creamy basil, garlic and mushroom sauce. Accompanied by roasted redskin potatoes, broccoli and red bell peppers, in a savory sauce.

Garlic Beef and Broccoli
Beef steak with broccoli, water chestnuts and yellow carrots in an asian- style garlic sauce.

Roasted Turkey & Vegetables
Tender roasted turkey and mushrooms in a traditional home-style gravy accompanied by a vegetable medley of hand-picked green beans with accents of red peppers.

So next time when you are hitting those 2 point snacks, remember it may just be lunchtime and try the herbed chicken. You'll love it.

Fill her up

Just a random tip I picked up from hungry-girl.com... A reader asked why she was always hungry on Weight Watchers and only lost a few pounds. The advice to her was to look at how she was reaching her point allowance and suggested foods with more water content (grapes instead of raisins, for example) and eat less bag foods like those 100 calorie snacks, which should be reserved for killing your cravings. Veggies, proteins and high fiber foods will fill you up on less points than carbs. Good advice.