It is Tuesday.
And that means I must start my new diet plan.
For reals.
Or realz.
Whichever you prefer. Although I think I am getting to old to use the spelling “realz.”
But that’s just me.
Ever since the 6th grade, I have always felt a little . . . plump. Between the 5th and 6th grades, I put on like 25 pounds.
My button-fly shorts have yet to forgive me.
They had to work hard to cover my expanse.
When I was in the 7th grade, I remember walking into the classroom and a boy started singing:
“1-800-94-Jenny! Call 1-800-94-Jenny!”
Yes. He was singing the phone number for Jenny Craig.
Sadly, I remember calling it. And quickly hanging up.
I kept putting on weight and reached my highest in the 8th grade. One night, I had a sleepover with 6 of my bestest friends. One of them got the genius idea for us to all weigh ourselves and stand in order of lightest to heaviest.
Guess who was the heaviest.
Guess who got laughed at when she got on the scale.
That moment triggered a weight loss “movement” in me and I dropped about 15 pounds by 9th grade, finally feeling comfortable with myself.
I was around this weight when I got married and I am just a couple of pounds over right now.
Here’s the thing: I know I am not overweight. I am within a healthy weight range for myself. But I would like to change some of my habits.
The biggest habit I want to change: Talking about weight and dieting around my girls.
I don’t want them to start feeling like they are “chubby” or “fat” or worry about how they look in a mirror.
I want to set a healthier example for them. I want to teach them how to make good choices. I want exercise (groan) to be a fun part of their routines.
And I would feel better if I dropped about 6 pounds. (Which is still in my healthy weight range)
So.
Here is my mission. And I choose to accept it.
For week 1:
1. Actually follow the Weight Watchers plan. Novel idea . . . is it not?
2. Exercise for 30 minutes 3 times.
And, since I am on a low cholesterol diet, the doctor said no beef and no full-fat cheese/dairy.
My long-term goals are to get to a lower weight and maintain it, trim off my tummy chubs, eat a low-fat/low-cholesterol diet consistently, and help my family eat healthier and enjoy exercise.
The Lumberjack will take these changes the hardest.
I fear my main man loves him some Pepsi, ice cream, popcorn, candy bars and chips.
Tough break, Lumberjack.
Tough break.
Alright. Here are some tips for this week:
1. You all know how much I love me some creamer.
My friend, Ashlee shared with me this trick: Thin out the creamer with fat-free half and half to cut down the fat.
Oooooh! I like it!
2. My friend Amanda makes these delicious cookies and I will now share the recipe with you.
You are so very welcome.
Chocolate Chip Meringue Recipe:
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper, and set aside.
- In large metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar while continuing to beat until they hold stiff peaks. Mix in the vanilla and cocoa on low speed, then fold in chocolate chips by hand. Drop small mounds of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart.
- Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. Turn off oven, and leave the cookies in the oven for 2 more hours, or until centers are dry. Remove from pan and store in an airtight container.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 22 | Total Fat: 0.7g | Cholesterol: 0mg
Amanda’s tips: I double the recipe and cook them for an hour then promptly take them out of the oven cool them for a short time then put the in some air tight container and leave the lid ajar a bit so the moisture can escape. Not too long or they lose that delicious gooey effect. good luck. Make sure that the bowl you use to mix the egg whites is very clean and has not oils/butter on it or they won’t rise and cookies are weird then.
I made some this very week. They taste great and give you a sweet fix.
POINTS value: 1 cookie=0 points, 2 cookies =1 point
Also, The Queen of the Brussels Sprouts is having a contest. She is asking to be challenged to make your favorite recipe healtheir. Click here to add a recipe that you would like her to lighten up.
So . . . here is where you come in!
Leave a comment or a link to your own blog post stating your goals. We will “weigh” in every week by saying how many pounds we are up or down. You don’t have to enter in your real weight.
I know I’m not!
Feel free to also share any tips, tricks, fun exercise ideas, healthy recipes, or snack ideas!
Thanks everyone and Happy Tuesday!
Your junior high stories are sad 🙁
Kids can be so cruel.
I think you look great! But I’m all for being healthier. I just started a new program called ColorFuel. It’s more of a lifestyle change program than a diet program.
I’ll put a post up about it later today.
Hm. I may have to join you. I realized like, yesterday that I really needed to lose 15 pounds to get back to my pre baby weight. Sadly my HS reunion is on Saturday, so fat chance (ehhehe) of getting back to how I looked at 18 before then. Uhhh, my point is that I need to get on the weight loss wagon.
Like…tomorrow.
No seriously. I’m in. Maybe. Seriously.
(Don’t look at my blog…it has been sadly neglected!)
So, funny you should start this now…I have been doing WW forever. I’ve gone back, but not gone to a meeting for a month. This week, I decided I had hit the bottom. My body feels just bloated and icky. So, I have decided on a “detox” of sorts this week. My goals for this week are to:
1. Stick to the “detox” Kashi cereal for breakfast, fruit and salad during the day, and a salad with chicken or shrimp for dinner. So far so good, but it is only Tuesday!
2. Move! I sit at a computer all day! This week has finally gone below the 90’s and I am determined to walk, walk, walk!
3. Menu plan for next week
Thanks for doing this! I need accountability!
1) I assume you also gained height between 6th and 8th grade. The scale would have to go up too.
2) Junior high is awful. Awful, awful, awful.
3) I like your goals.
4) I shall not join you as I am deeply in denial right now.
5) Isn’t denial lovely? Right up until your pants won’t button any more?
So, I need to lose more like 30 pounds that I am still blaming on 4th baby weight.
I have to just not eat sugar, because I have no will power and if I eat one I will eat the entire batch.
I can’t eat four helpings of spaghetti.
And I mustn’t eat two dinners, one with the kids and one with the hubby EVERY night.
http://www.thejoyfuljungle.com
I am with you in mind and spirit but not food and body. Don’t think of it as dieting, think of it as a lifestyle update. We update our homes, cars and clothes, why not ourselves.
I am sorry about Junior High, kids are really terrible! Not yours though, I am sure! 🙂
OOOOOh, I do like putting the FF Half & Half in the creamer. That I may be able to do. I may switch to Splenda as well.. Hmmm…..
I too remember being the biggest as a kid. And, yes, kids can be cruel. They lack an internal filter.
Okay I’m in. My post is up. I didn’t get to the gym this morning because I was waiting on the exterminator. I take a yoga class on Tuesday evenings though so that will be my exercise for today.
My goal is to exercise for 45 min-an hour at 6-7 days a week. I can’t really cut back much more on the eating than I have already but I think I need to increase the exercise in order to see any improvement.
Good luck with your goals…you should do a Mr. Linky for Tuesdays. Maybe I’ll try to post a couple of good lower fat recipes for next week.
Oh, and Jr. High is just an awful age. You get to relive a bit of it when your own kids hit that time period. It’s still awful. 7th grade was my least favorite year when I was in school.
Gah, kids can be SO MEAN. I have some pretty harsh middle school stories, too. My own middle school boyfriend told me I had a “ghetto booty”, and I honestly didn’t even know what that was. I didn’t even realize that my hind quarters were even that big until he said that and then I became totally aware and self-conscious. And you know what else is sad?? I had been on Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, and South Beach all by the time I graduated high school, and the scary thing is that I was never REALLY fat, just on the heavier side of my “healthy” weight for my height. Even though I was in that range, I was still 20 lbs heavier than my late blooming friends so it pretty much made me feel like a feakazoid.
Anyway, today I can say that healthy eating and regular exercise are a part of my daily life, and I’m glad for it. Would I like to shed 5 lbs? Yes. I started 30 day shred 15 days ago and have only lost 1 lb. BUT, I’m not giving up! If I can lose 1 lb. every 15 days, I’ll be 5 lbs thinner in two and a half months! And, I’ll be able to sustain that weight loss instead of starving myself to get to a certain point.
You can do it, LJW. I know you can. 🙂
I’m in. I’ve been doing WW for about 18 weeks now, my results have been fairly good but the last two weeks I have been slacking on tracking (ooh I rhymed!) my points. Big. Mistake. All of a sudden, I’m eating things like microwave S’Mores for an evening snack instead of my usual WW ice cream bar (super yum). I don’t dislike the food on WW, its just that if I don’t plan, plan, plan, I’m in big trouble. I have followed my plan so far today and have a healthy lunch with me here at work. Good luck everyone…Also the junior high stuff — yuk –, I remember I was the heaviest person in my class.
Embarassing….
I have a recipe blog where I post healthy recipes 2-3x’s a week. Some are from low-cal recipe books and some are recipes that I have converted into healthier versions. Like peach cobbler…MMM! (Ill be adding it later this week) I LOVE doing this kind-of stuff! I actually have a college degree in fitness, and am a certified personal trainer, so its my passion really. If you have any questions feel free to ask!! =)
BLECH!
I am joining, but not joyfully…but then again I tell my boys all the time that not everything has to be fun.
Goals:
lose 60lbs
walk 4X a week
start couch to 5K program in 4 weeks.
BLECH!
I have been trying to follow WW points for a few months now but over the past week or so I’ve gotten pretty lax and am just eating what I want! I must say though one thing I couldn’t/didn’t give up was my creamer, just like you I love it. AND I found that the low fat creamer actually had the same amount of points as the usual creamer I bought, so I just used it. I measured out my creamer so I knew I wasn’t going over, it was only 1pt per tbsp. I have a healthy blog but haven’t posted in a whil
http://thehealthyden.blogspot.com/
check out my 3pt breakfast 😉
Good luck with your weight loss, I hope to get back to mine soon (I’ve gained back 3lb of the 9 I lost!)
I am with you on the “not in front of the kids” decision. I was shocked beyond belief to find out that my oldest (a ripe old 7) was calorie restricting!! She had heard me say that since I was no longer breastfeeding, I needed to cut down on what I ate so that I wouldn’t gain weight. So, she decided to do the same thing. She didn’t want to get “fat”. The girl lost 3 lbs before I caught her. She is WAY skinny, and can’t afford to lose weight. We have had a heart to heart and she is back on track where she should be, and trying to gain back her lost weight to be healthy (her BMI is below normal)…but jeepers! One little comment and that silly girl took it WAY out of proportion.
PS I am working on that lasagna recipe for you. That PW one made me want to have a heart attack when I looked it up. Good golly Miss Molly!!
Recipe looks great. I need something for a shower this week and this looks like it will fit the bill…healthy and chocolate.
Here from Joyce o’ the Pond’s blog. This is perfect timing since I started a diet yesterday.
Which was not the diet of the previous three weeks which involved a lot of Mexican food and even more cookies.
Count me in.
I’m in, maybe I need to kick it up a notch and have more accountability.
I’ll put up a post now.
I was always the chubby kid too. I haven’t exactly been on the wagon the last couple days because they have been a little stressful. I’m totally going to do better tomorrow! (Surely, I will do better tomorrow, right? 🙂
And I’m thinking Trim Tummy Tuesdays (what can I say? I love alliteration!)
You look great. Kids are so mean. I am so glad I am not in junior high.
I am in. My goal- lose 20 lbs. Walk everyday, exercise in some other way 3 times per week. I am seriously at my heaviest ever (except when 8 mos prego) and I can not even button my jeans. I have no clothes to wear. For real. I really have like 1 or 2 shirts I can get away with and 1 pair of jeans. I can not fit into half of my scrubs (which is really sad since they are loose and baggy!) But I am stubborn and am refusing to buy the next size. So I REALLY need this challange!
I fell off the wagon Friday-today. So glad to have something to get me back on track!
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I am in! I have been trying to do the Couch to 5K program for about 8 weeks – am only up to week 3 level because I find it so hard to get out three times per week – 4 kids under 10 and a husband who works ridiculous hours.
I now weigh more than I did when my third child was born and am almost 40 pounds over my ideal weight. This is the first time in my life I have really been overweight and I am really struggling.
My goals:
1. Couch to 5k then run 3 or 4 times per week
2. Healthier food choices
3. Back to pre-pregnancy weight for last child (must lose 25 pounds)