Tag: weight watchers

Fit Fat Fit

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I’m pretty sure that I fall into that pesky category of fit and fat. While admittedly, I’m on the small side of large, I’m in that annoying grey area where I can sometimes squeeze into the highest number in the Misses category, and the second lowest size of Plus. I’m growing increasingly skeptical that my Mirena IUD is inhibiting my lasting weight loss, either that, or something with the Weight Watchers program (which has changed since I had my resounding success a few years back) has not been helping.

I have been hovering at the same weight for about a year now. What’s different between now and last year is that I go to the gym at least three times a week, and I’m working with a personal trainer. My trusty scale, which calculates my body fat percentage, says that realistically, if I maintain my current muscle mass, I only have to lose 40 lbs of body fat to be just above the minimum body fat percentage for an athlete. (To get to the top of the healthy BMI, I would have to lose 60-65 lbs.)

I realized that I do not do well when I’m not tracking my food intake, and after becoming so frustrated with the newest iteration of Weight Watchers (360), I decided to try My Fitness Pal. It’s free, works with mobile devices, and syncs with my Fitbit Ultra to help calculate what my actual food intake should be with relation to my exercise level. I’m mostly excited about this right now (consider it NRE) because I’ve logged in for two weeks straight, and have tracked reliably, which is more than I can say about WW in the past year. I’ve also realized that along with possible hormonal impacts to my weightloss, I wasn’t eating enough on Weight Watchers. I thought of myself as sedentary, but it turns out that a mother of a toddler in a highly walkable neighborhood/city is HARDLY sedentary.

Fitbit One
Fitbit One
I just upgraded my Fitbit to the Fitbit One , which has the added plus of syncing with my mobile device. I justify that this will come in handy during my vacation.

This has been an educational two weeks. I realized that I’m much more active than I gave myself credit for, and I’ve not felt deprived since I’ve been able to have a daily adjusted food intake based on my actual activity level. I have only lost about two pounds so far, and now it’s about seeing if I can lose more than that, which I have been unable to do with Weight Watchers this past year.

The best part of this experiment? I’m not gaining weight, and I’m not forcing myself to eat a piece of fruit when what I really want is a slice of cheese.

Vegan Banana and Cacao Nib Bread

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Here’s another vegan recipe! I’ve used flax seed meal and water for the egg replacer. Cacao nibs can be hard to find for some people. I got mine from Theo Chocolate. You can find cacao nibs at small specialty stores, some Whole Foods Markets, and other natural food stores. You can omit the nibs, or use something else, like walnuts, to add some texture.

Vegan Banana and Cacao Nib Bread
Makes 16 servings
5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus Values per serving

1 1/2 cups bananas, pureed or smashed
3 Tbsp ground flax seed meal
6 Tbsp water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cups sugar
1 cacao nibs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp table salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease the sides and bottom of a regular loaf pan.

An hour ahead of time, in a small dish, mix the flax meal with cold water, and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Make a well in the center for the wet ingredients. Combine the flax meal and water mixture with the pureed banana, sugar and oil with the dry mixture. Stir together until all of the mixture is moistened and still a little lumpy. Gently stir in the cacao nibs. Put in the baking pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a skewer or toothpick in the center comes out clean. Let the loaves cool and rest .

Vegan Chocolate Pudding Pie

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I’ve had to be dairy-free while attempting to breast-feed my son, as that he’s allergic to milk. This means that I have to kill my sugar cravings with dairy-free foods. I figure, might as well go vegan, since I have vegan friends and like the challenge.

This recipe can be made with a home-made graham cracker crust, or canned vegan whipped topping. I did what was easiest for me to grab at my local grocery store. The assembly is the easy part. The secret is the chocolate “pudding.”

Vegan Chocolate Pudding Pie
6 Weight Watchers PointsPlus Values per serving
Makes 8 servings

1 vegan 9″ graham cracker pie crust
1 pound soft silken tofu (usually, one cold-pack package of tofu)
1 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips (usually 1/2 a package)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
5 ounces Soyatoo Vegan Whipping Cream

Set the graham cracker crust aside, ready for the filling.

Cut the silken tofu into about 4-6 pieces, and throw in a food processor. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes. You can also melt the chips in a double boiler. Mix up the chips to make sure that it creates a smooth, melted chocolate mess. Pour in with the tofu. Add the sugar, vanilla, salt and nutritional yeast. Yes, salt and nutritional yeast. This is the secret to its deliciousness. Pulse the food processor, initially, then let it go until the contents are evenly mixed and very smooth. Make sure to stop and scrape the sides with a spatula.

Pour the pudding mixture into the pie crust and smooth in evenly.

Take the soy whipping cream and whip with a hand mixer until it’s light and fluffy. Here you can get creative. You can either pour it/spoon it on top of the chocolate pudding, or you can do what I did (sorry, no pretty pics!), which is use a plastic bag with a 1/4 in hole cut in the corner, fill it with the whipped cream, and pipe it in a circle from the outside to the inside. This is where a can of aerosol whipped topping would come in handy.

Throw in the refrigerator for an hour or so, and serve!

Please let me know if you try this recipe, and if you do, what the results were like!

End of the Week

Posted on Posted in Fitness and Diet, MotherhoodTagged , , , 1 Comment

Today ended my challenge to myself to do 10 minutes of a beginner workout for five days. Tomorrow is my Weight Watcher weigh-in, and I don’t expect any weightloss. This is because I’ve had a rough week with eating. Today was the worst. Let me tell you about it.

I’m new at being a mom. My kid is just over 2 months old, and days can vary from him being low-maintenance to needing extra love and attention (and constant guessing as to why he’s screaming.) Today was the latter. I was already tired from poor sleep last night, and by midday, when THINGS started needing to get done (washing bottles, making formula), he wouldn’t even settle in the Moby on my chest. Finally, as I was prepping for a feeding, the Girl Scout cookies I purchased the other day says, EAT ME. Samoas. My weakness.

So I ate 5.

This wasn’t terrible. What capped it off was when, after my husband got home, he asked me to check if a new gadget was working in the basement entertainment center. I go down, and a YEAR OLD BOX of Lemonheads was sitting there. Open. And I ate about half of what was left in the giant box. The giant, YEAR OLD box.

Then I ate a Sumo citrus upstairs, and realized I really should have skipped the Lemonheads and eaten the Sumo, which would have been 1) Free on the Weight Watchers plan and 2) provided the tart sweetness that the Lemonheads provided.

I guess, with a week that feels like a food failure, it’s not a total loss if I came away learning something. Next week, I’m going to try to eat lean protein and fruit instead of refined carbs, which I’ve grown addicted to (obvs. with the Lemonheads.) Also, I know the key to my success is exercise, and this week I proved I can make a plan and stick to it, I just have to start small and work my way up.

The other key is working on the emotional stuff, which is making sure I have the care I need, and making sure I have childcare covered so I can take care of the things I need to take care of (or go back to work.) But that’s another post…

Four for Four

Posted on Posted in Fitness and Diet, MotherhoodTagged ,

I didn’t post yesterday because I almost didn’t make yesterday’s goal of doing the 10 minute video. However, I realized before bed that one of the videos was stretching. 10 minutes of stretching? Before bed? Great idea.

So, I fulfilled my commitment and did the 10 minute exercise AND got a stretch in before bed. Score!

That left the lower body 10 minute video for today. Unfortunately, I totally gorged myself on Puerto Rican food (and barbecue earlier today.) Food is my vice, for sure. The thing is, when I was active, I started craving things less, or more in moderation. Exercise is the key.

I’ve also developed a sugar habit. I’m working on breaking that, as in, I’m thinking about it strongly. 🙂 It’s a start. I’m contemplating the change, which is a step to recovery!

This leaves tomorrow. It turns out 10 minutes is easy to do when you have a video that starts at a low fitness level. I finish thinking, “That was too easy!”, but it’s the stepping stone. Not to sound like a broken record, but affirmation is important.

I’m looking forward to telling my WeightWatchers leader about my challenge to myself. Even if I didn’t make my food eating goal this week, I will likely make my exercise goal, and that’s something.