Month ONE is in the books...

Today is weigh in day and my one month mark on Weight Watchers. Last week wasn't my best week...it was the worse. I was sick with bronchitis and didn't get to exercise. I was even negative on my points. I wasn't sure what the scale was going to show. I finished strong and stayed on points all weekend. I even felt like riding by exercise bike. So how'd I do????

Down 0.5 pounds. I will take it!!!

That brings my 1 month Total to 12 pounds!! I am so happy!!

I will try to post more meal pictures soon.

Until next time.....

Week 3 Weigh In

Yesterday was week three weigh in and I lost 2 pounds. YAY!! I am down 11.5 pounds. I have been sick for a week and ran fever all weekend so I wasn't sure how my numbers would look. I have not been able to exercise either.

I was quite happy. Now if I can get over this cough and get back to normal. Sorry for another short post but I don't have any new recipes to report on or any news.

Thanks for stopping by. Until Next time.

Week 2 Weigh In

Yesterday (Monday) was weigh in and I lost 2 pounds. Yay!! Down 9.5 pounds total. I am getting in my groove and enjoying the process instead of saying I can't have this. I think it makes all the difference.

Thanks for stopping by!!

A Quick Check in.....

Tomorrow is weigh in day and I am feeling great. I know I will not have another huge 7.5 loss but I am shooting for 1-2 pounds. I have stayed on track with my points and exercise. I am positive that I am in for the long run. I am actually enjoying researching recipes and making them fit in my points.

My daughter is all settled in school and had her first full week of classes last week along with other meetings for her organizations. I am so proud of her!!

The hubby is doing well too. Other than his scar and restriction on the amount he can lift you would never know he had neck surgery 10 weeks ago. It seems like so long ago.

I am all prepped with my meals planned and food logged on WW. Ready for a productive week. My goals for this week are:

• Keep moving forward on my weight loss journey by logging every bite
• Be more positive in every aspect of my life
• Get my desk organized because I have alot of clients traveling this fall so I need to prepare NOW. 
• Drink more water
• Do a strength training workout 3 times (I did one today so Tuesday and Thursday are my other 2 days)
• Be thankful

That's it for today! I will post the results of my weigh in tomorrow night. Thanks for stopping by. until next time. 

Cook Once Eat Four Meals

I am amazed at how much I was over eating. Yes, I knew I was but seeing how far food last when you eat the correct servings is a real eye opener. The meal that opened my eyes to this was the Taco Stuffed Bell Peppers that I cooked Monday night for dinner.    
                         

I knew this meal would be two meals because one bell pepper per person and there is only two of us. There was so much meat mixture left that the next night we had tacos plus lunch for the day after.

Here are pictures of my meals.

 Lunch left overs from the stuffed peppers.

 Dinner tacos

 Lunch taco salad

So I got 4 meals for 2 people out of 1 pound of ground beef!! That's a bargain. Best part is 1 serving is 4 Weight Watcher points!! 

Here's the recipe for the meat mixture:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 med onion chopped

1 can of drained black beans

1 can of drained corn

1 jar of salsa

1 package of taco seasonings

Just brown the beef and onion. Drain. Then mix everything together and simmer to heated.

Easy peasy!!

So many ideas to use this mixture. Share yours.

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time....

1st Week on Weight Watchers

I survived my first week on weight watchers..just joking. I never felt like I was deprived.  I enjoyed all my meals. Yes, I felt hungry at times but my body was adjusting to smaller quantities. I did eat some of my weekly points but did not eat them all. My weigh in was Monday morning........I lost 7.5 pounds!!!!

Here are some of my meals to show you what I ate. We traveled this weekend so we ate out alot.

 This is a lean cuisine Chicken Alfredo meal. Lunch at my desk.

 This is a dinner of sautéed chicken and mushrooms plus pasta, green beans and roll.

 Lunch from Chick Fil A. Grilled sandwich and fruit cup.

 We tried this Mexican place for breakfast while out of town. This is my steak omlet, rice and beans.

 This is what was left when I was done.

So as you can tell, I ate well and never felt deprived. This week I am focusing on more fruit, veggies and water. I know my body will shift to small weight changes around 1-2 pounds after the first week or so. 

I have also added in exercise. I am either walking or riding my exercise bike. I do plan on adding some workout videos too. 

Here's to week 2. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.....

Progress.....change is coming

I survived NYC barely. I came back with a knee bothering me and the realization that I am not getting any younger or healthier. I can't say it was just NYC that was the straw that broke the camel's back but it was one of the main factors. I have battled my weight for years. I wasn't always fat. In fact, I was a tiny 2 pound preemie born 2 months early. I did have a chunky stage as a child then slimmed down for high school even though I thought I was over weight then. I gained some when I got married....each year added a little more. I can't blame it on my pregnancy at all. It was just being comfortable with my life and not exercising or watching what I ate. I can't blame anyone but me.

I have probably tried every diet out there and watched my carbs on and off the last few years since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I did manage to lose some weight but gained almost all but 10 pounds back. Well, earlier this week I discovered that my health insurance has a program with Weight Watchers that offered members 6 months free. I didn't hesitate at all. I signed right up and it is FREE. No strings attached. I was scared of failing again but somewhere deep down, I knew that this is my chance and my time.

I started the same day I signed up. I have planned my meals all week and for this weekend. I am working the program to fit the food I have on hand until I get to the store this Sunday. This has to work or I know I will be plagued with illness and an early death. I want to enjoy life and not regret one minute. This is a tool to help me live healthier. Imagine that for a second...being healthier is in my hands. I am in control. I added in exercise this week too. I am making changes that I can live with each day.

Today was the first day that my knee didn't hurt the entire time I rode my exercise bike. I was able to ride faster and harder without pain. I actually have some energy after work. These small changes (believe me they are SMALL) are working!! YEP!! These little steps toward the big picture do make a difference.

I have a long journey but I know as I add more changes to my daily routine that I will see more and more improvements toward the big picture. One month from now, I will be smaller. Six months from now, I will be even smaller. It is not going to happen overnight and for once that is okay.

I plan to share my journey here to help anyone out there but to also document for myself the changes. I will try to update with meals, exercise and other updates.

So here's to me and my new journey ahead.

Whirlwind NYC!

Wow! What a weekend!! We got back today from our girl's NYC trip for my daughter's She's The First conference. I was pleasantly surprised that I did enjoy NYC. I wasn't sure what I would think of a large city like NYC. I have been to LA and DC but knew this would be different. The trip planning started back in April. My daughter attended this conference last year with 3 friends but this year she invited me. It would be her, a friend of her's, my friend and me. Well, at the last minute my friend had to cancel due to a family emergency so my sister in law gladly agreed to come. We had an early morning flight and arrived in NYC at 1:00pm.



It was a little bumpy flight. I had a first time flyer and 2 nervous flyers with me. We landed and all breathed a sigh of relief. Let the fun begin!! Well....first we have to figure out how to get a taxi. I knew to only use the yellow taxi cars but what I had not read in all my research was there is a taxi stand outside of Laguardia Airport. Once we figured this out, we got in line with a million other people. It really wasn't that bad. A short wait and we were on our way to our hotel near Times Square. It was really in the Garment District but it was a great hotel.



We check into Even Hotel - Times Square South and our room is ready! Awesome! I had wanted a high floor so we have a view but they only had a 2nd floor available. We gladly took it as we were tired and wanted to rest.


Our view!! Isn't it lovely. ;-) I can't believe I didn't take a single picture of the room.

We grabbed some lunch at a nearby pub and it was great food. We rested up for our Harbor Lights Cruise on Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises. I was most excited about this tour. We bought our tickets online and printed at home. I highly recommend this as it is crowed there. So I am a big planner as you know, I had used the MTA.com trip planner to figure all of our adventures out to make sure I knew in advance where to go. I took pictures of the directions because there is no reception in the subway tunnels. I knew we needed to walk down 8th Ave to 42nd to grab our M42 bus going to the Circle Line. We headed out of our hotel and stopped by the subway station on our street to get our metro card. We found the bus and the ride was uneventful. Now...the ticket we printed said to arrive 45 minutes early. DO THIS!!! It was crowded and the seats are first come first serve. We waited in line til 30 minutes before our time for them to board. We grabbed seats up top.



The cruise has a guide who had us laughing throughout the tour. It was well worth the $38 price tag. We all loved it and saw many great sights!! I highly recommend this!!











After the cruise was over, we figured out that we didn't allow enough money on the metro card for a bus ride back so we walked back. There was tons of people and we never felt unsafe. We ended up eating at Tick Tock Diner for a late meal. I was not impressed with this restaurant. The service was poor and the food just bleh.

We call it a night as the girls have early conference and we are going to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum on Friday.

Our first subway ride went off without any issues whatsoever and we have our first run in with all the people selling things on the sidewalks. We learned to say "No Thank You" and keep walking.

The 9/11 Museum was quite moving and draining. Afterward I just wanted to chill out and ponder everything. We didn't buy our tickets in advance so we wanted to get there early. We were able to get right in. I highly recommend this but would not bring small children due to all the images and videos.













Later this day, we ventured out to explore.









We got turned around and since it was so hot decided a taxi ride back to the hotel was in order. Here are a few pictures from our crazy ride through Times Square.











We ordered delivery for dinner. Philly cheese-steaks and eclairs.



The sandwich was so good but I never ate my eclair.

Next on our adventure was the Natural History Museum on Saturday. This is our last full day.

























That night we meet up with the girls for dinner and shopping. We ate at Lucy's on 34th. It was great tacos.



View from our table.



View of the Empire State Building while we were shopping.



It was a great trip but I was ready to get back home to my husband, fur babies and my bed. Funny how I am always ready to go on a trip but even more excited to get back home. <3

I am so glad I decided to go. There is so much to see and do. I think if I ever go back I want to go in the fall when it is cooler. It was hot and humid there which makes for long days walking around. Our hotel was amazing and I highly recommend it. Everyone was so helpful around the city. We never felt unsafe and as in any place you need to use common sense. There are lots of crowds in the touristy areas so I am sure they have pick pockets but again common sense. One last thing I wanted to mention, I have heard all about the homeless in NYC but I wasn't prepared for the sights. My heart tugged at each one because I can't imagine what they go through and I am so blessed to have a job, house and food.

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time..........