Weight Watchers 360 – Page 2 – This Crazy Life of Mine

Tag: Weight Watchers 360

18
Jan
2014

WW Weigh-In #55

categories: #beamazing, #expectamazing, homemade, maintain, minestrone, plank-a-day, planks, power foods, running, Simple Start, soup, tracking, weigh-in, weight, weight loss, Weight Watchers 360

Second best to weigh-ins where I have a loss would be weigh-ins where I maintain. And that is exactly what happened yesterday. I really thought I would be up, I was so bloated all week. I know, I know…. TMI. But I am just being honest. So when the scale said the exact same thing as last week, I was pretty darn happy.

As every other week seems to be, this was a busy one. I sometimes think I thrive on the craziness that I live in. This was my 4th full week on Simple Start and it is still working for me…. Clearly.

Things I did right this week are:

I cannot say enough good things about Simple Start. I didn’t track this week. I focused on power foods probably 90% of the time.
I made homemade minestrone AND meat sauce for the week. Both were exceptional.
I had plenty of fruit and veggie snacks to take with me during the week. Quite possibly my favorite snack of the week were the cherry tomatoes I bought from Publix. I ate them like candy, literally.
I made hard boiled eggs for the week – these always make for a great snack and are filling.
I ran twice and did my plank-a-day every day!
I had jury duty on Wednesday and I bought health snacks at the cafeteria in anticipation of getting called upstairs to a trial. That didn’t happen, but I felt great being prepared for the possibility of a long day. I cannot let myself get to the point of starving or I am in big trouble.

What I will focus on this week:

Today being Sunday, I will grocery shop for the week and prepare snacks.
For dinner tonight, I am making macaroni and cheese with beef. I am taking my mom’s fabulous homemade recipe and making it healthy and Simple Start friendly.
I have to get in more than 2 runs this week. I am really shooting for 3, in addition to my plank-a-day.
I must make the new potato recipe from the WW Weekly I got at yesterday’s meeting.

As for my activity this week, it was down again from previous weeks. Running only twice during the week isn’t earning the points so I’ve been pretty active day-to-day, but I’d really love to get some strong running activity points earned several days this week.

I had some more excitement this week from WW. After my blog post last Sunday, I got an email from their social media department, asking if they could quote me on their Facebook page, Of course I said yes, and on Monday this showed up on the WW Facebook and Instagram pages. It’s so awesome when WW quotes you….

So! Another good week and I am happy with it. I am always to start a new week and see where it leads me. After the meeting yesterday, I registered for another race (more on that soon!) and enjoyed some down time with hubby.

Have a fantastic week!

12
Jan
2014

WW Weigh-In #54

categories: #beamazing, #expectamazing, ambassador, black & red chili, chili, Google +, Hangout, homemade, Jessica Simpson, meeting, minestrone, plank-a-day, planks, recipe, running, Simple Start, soup, tracking, weigh-in, weight, weight loss, Weight Watchers 360

Happy Sunday, everyone! I am a day behind on my WW post, but I had a busy day yesterday. As usual, I really enjoyed the meeting yesterday morning. Beverly was not there, but Anthony filled in for her and he is always great too. Also, it was really full meeting! It’s the time of year, of course. Many regular faces and many new faces. Last week was my third week doing Simple Start. I am really enjoying the power foods and I still have my indulgences, some days a little more than others if I am being honest. My first week on Simple Start, I had a gain. The second and third week, I had a loss. One of my favorite things about Simple Start is the power foods – they are better fuel for me and my running. Power foods are AWESOME.

I was so thrilled about this weigh-in. A total of 31.6 lbs. lost putting me at 146.4. I am just 4.4 pounds from being Lifetime again and 6.4 pounds from reaching my goal of 140. SO close. I feel like Simple Start came around at just the right time in my journey and is giving me a little jump start to keep me pushing forward.

Things I did right this week are:

I focused again on power foods. Salad, chicken breast, tuna, tilapia, healthy oils, fresh fruits and veggies, and more. I made another batch of my Black & Red Chili for the week. It is SO good leftover.
I only ran twice this last week but I did my #plankaday consistently, even having my longest plank ever at over 3 minutes long.
Plenty of water…
I made sure I had the foods handy that would have for the week. The shopping list of the back of the Simple Start is the best thing ever. Your options are endless when you have the right foods on hand.
I threw together a salad for lunch one day and it was delicious! Broccoli slaw and baby spinach salad with cucumber, tomato, albacore tuna, olive oil, and red wine vinegar… I just love the colors and how fresh this salad was. I will definitely make this again!

What I will focus on this week:

I’ve already been grocery shopping this morning and I went with a plan, which is the best. Today I will work on food prep for the week. I’ll be making meat sauce for whole wheat pasta, as well as a pot of my homemade minestrone. For snacks, I have apples, cucumbers, carrots, raspberry jello, and hard boiled eggs. I’m also going to try my hand at roasting sweet potatoes.
For dessert this week…. Cake in a cup is still our current favorite. This week, we’re trying lemon flavor. It will be hard to top the spice cake, but we’ll see!
Aiming for 3 days of running this week – half marathon #7 is on February 1! Also trying out a few more T25 workouts and keeping up with my #plankaday. I missed yesterday which is so frustrating to me, but I will just jump back into it today.
I have 2 great new cups to use for water. It’s more fun to drink water from a fun cup than just a plastic bottle. When I’m at work, I keep ice water on my desk, right next to my computer.

This last week, I also had the pleasure of taking part in a live Google + hangout with Weight Watchers and Jessica Simpson. I still can’t believe I was asked to do it. It was such fun. You can read my post about it here, as well as watch the video.

With only 2 runs last week, my activity points were down for the week, but it helped that I spent two days rearranging and cleaning our living room. Moving furniture and cleaning from floor to ceiling is no joke.

All in all a great week. I love starting a new week fresh and ready to go. I enjoy cooking and prepping food for the week, so I’ll be doing that today, along with some napping and reading mixed in. I ran 6.5 miles this morning, with hubby by my side on his bike. It was beautiful out, a really cool and crisp morning. And even better? I didn’t take one single walk break on my run, so I’m feeling like a rock star. This run also means I am splurging on breakfast and making homemade BLT’s. Bacon rocks!

Make it a great week, everyone!

04
Jan
2014

WW Weigh-In #53

categories: #beamazing, #expectamazing, ActiveLink, black & red chili, meeting, plank-a-day, planks, power foods, recipe, running, Simple Start, T25, tracking, weigh-in, weight, weight loss, Weight Watchers 360

This morning, I celebrated a year at WW with a loss. What a way to ring in 2014! It’s very surreal to me to think that it’s been a full year since I went back. I’m such a broken record, but I just love my meeting. This one is the perfect fit for me. I look forward to it every week – Beverly is an amazing leader, the receptionists Marilyn and Connie are fabulous, and all the members are wonderful. We all share a common bond and it’s just… Nice.

This past week, I *mostly* followed Simple Start again. I made AWESOME chili which I had for lunch or dinner for a few days. I stuck to power foods most of the time. But, I did go over the 7 extra points per day for a few meals out while were moving stuff this week for work, and New Years Eve.

Things I did right this week are:

I didn’t track except a couple times. What? How is this right? Following Simple Start, you only have to track your indulgences, the 7 points a day. The first week on it, I still tracked because I was terrified of not tracking. Let’s face it, if I could eat without gorging myself on every meal, I would never need Weight Watchers. But the premise behind Simple Start is power foods, which are filling. So, you eat until you are satisfied. I am still working on this one, but this week I trusted my instincts a little more and tracked less. Clearly, it worked out okay since I lost. I still have to be mindful of it, though.
Power foods….. Zucchini, squash, tilapia, tuna, salad, cucumbers, green peppers, whole wheat pasta, lean ground beef, shrimp, black beans, kidney beans, and more. Power foods are endless and there are SO many that I love.
I seemed to go through a lot of water this week!
I ran Saturday – Wednesday. I was on a mission to complete my 625 miles for 2013 and I hit 628, overachiever that I am. I also did an ab workout from T25. Loving that program! I am also doing a plank-a-day for this month.
As I mentioned above, I made chili. It was so good! You can find the recipe here.

What I will focus on this week:

I am going to continue with Simple Start – mostly – this week. I will continue to focus on power foods and be mindful and aware of eating only until I’m satisfied – not stuffed.
I want to try 2 new recipes this week, using ingredients from the Simple Start shopping list.
I am shooting for 3 runs and 3 days of T25.

My activity points were up again this week with a total of 49! I am trying to get back into a regular routine again which helps me keep those points up!

I started reading Find Your Fingerprint last night, included in the new Success Kit. I am really loving it. I love reading about the science behind the reason we do things the way we do. Even better, the book has you focus on YOU, what works, what doesn’t, your successes, and more. I can’t wait to read more.

Have a great weekend!

01
Jan
2014

{Recipe} Black & Red Chili

categories: black & red chili, chili, power foods, recipe, Simple Start, Weight Watchers 360

After deciding to give WW Simple Start a go and using the recommended shopping list on the back of the Simple Start booklet, I knew I was going to make chili.The great thing about the shopping list is that it is full of essentials to have on hand for endless possibilities. There is nothing magical about this recipe, it’s just simple ingredients that I had, but it is oh so good!

2 tsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 white onion, diced
3/4 green pepper, diced
1 can black beans (drained)
1can kidney beans (drained)
1 can onion & garlic diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat oil, add onion, green pepper and garlic. When veggies start to soften, add lean ground beef and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and sauté until ground beef is cooked through.

Add black beans, kidney beans, and both cans of tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down to medium, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

I like my chili on the thick side, so it is not very soupy. You could add tomato sauce for extra liquid. I topped mine with fat free cheddar cheese.

This recipe makes roughly 6 servings. These are all power foods, so there is not need to track points. Regular cheese and any ground beef that is not lean would count as points if you decide to go that route.

As with most chili, it is even better the next day. I had this for lunch several days after and it was just as good each time. Another recipe success that I will make often!

Do you like you chili hot or mild?

01
Jan
2014

2014 Goals

categories: 2014, 5K, 8K, book, event, full marathon, goal, goals, Half Fanatics, half-marathon, hubby, lifetime, PR, race, running, Space Coast Marathon, training, training plans, Weight Watchers 360, writing

Happy New Year! Here we are again, starting a new year. It’s a fresh start, a clean slate. And with the new year, there are new goals. Some of my goals from last year will carry over and others are new.

Last year, it was my goal to have more date nights with hubby and while we did have some great ones, we didn’t have enough. 2013 was a challenging year time-wise with much going on with work for both of us. I made some work changes that I hope will help us to have a little more time to have more date nights.

I would love to start writing a book – this is another goal that carries over from last year. I have two books I want to work on, both near and dear to my heart. I really hope that 2014 is the year I can get a great start on them.

I am so close to my goal at Weight Watchers. Today is the one-year anniversary of when I went back and it has definitely been a success. I also blogged every Saturday about each weigh-in. I started 2013 at 178 pounds and ended it at 149 pounds. Just a few more pounds to go to get to my ultimate goal of 140 and make lifetime again.

I killed my mileage goal last year, which I set at 450 miles. I finished 2013 with 628 miles. It was such a great year of running. I ran every day in May, and then my mileage really bumped up during my half marathon training. It’s no secret what a visual person I am so the graph on DailyMile is fun to look at…

Right along with my mileage goal, I would love to complete a Sub-30 5K. I ran my best 5K to date at the Santa’s Twilight 5K in December, finishing it in 30:56. I will work on this!!

Last year I ran 4 half marathons, bringing me up to 6. This year, I want to run 4 more so that I have 10 total. I am such a Half Fanatic. To this day, I still can’t believe that signing up for that first half marathon would light such a fire in me. I really thought it would a one-time thing just to say I did it. Instead it created a monster. It is still just as exciting and exhilarating to cross the finish line…

And finally! The biggest goal I have set for the year is to train for and complete my first full marathon. Oh boy…. Even typing those words scares the heck out of me. I still remember when I swore I would never do a full marathon, I had no desire. It was sometime over the summer that that changed and I really started thinking about it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I wanted to do it. I thought I would hold off until early 2015 to do one, but it’s much too present in my mind to wait. I am currently looking into training plans, preferably an 18 – 20 week plan so that I can build my mileage slowly. It’s not the marathon itself that I am so much afraid of, it’s the training. Long runs of 18 and 20 miles? Scares the heck out of me. But after training for the Women’s Half this past fall and seeing how much the training prepared me for it and helped my time, I know that it’s possible. I also know that I have a lot of support going into it. Hubby will train with me by bike as he did my half marathon training (which I LOVED!!), and of course my mom knows I can do it. It also helps me to know that so many of my running friends are excited for me. My friend Beth seemed to know I was going to do a full before I did and told me to ask her any questions on training. She just completed her 7th marathon and I really look up to her. I also know a few people running this same race. So… I will run the Space Coast Marathon on November 30, 2014 in Cocoa Beach near Kennedy Space Center. I am beyond excited to add this medal to my collection…. And to finally add a 26.2 sticker to my car.

(Source: Space Coast Marathon)

I am excited about my goals for the year. I know that when I set goals and work towards them, all things are possible. Take them one step at a time and never give up. I accomplished so much in 2013, I am ready to tackle 2014 and see what it holds for me!

Have you set goals for 2014? What are you most excited about?