Finals!

Hi everyone!  I hope your post-Thanksgiving time has not been as hectic as mine!

Today is weigh-in day and Kyle & I both lost weight!

Current weight: 277.3
Kyle's current weight: 249.6

I lost 3.6 pounds this week and Kyle lost 2.8!  I lost all but 0.4 of my terrible Thanksgiving weight gain! Kyle didn't gain any over Thanksgiving, so he's still moving along great! He's lost 18.5 pounds since moving to Baton Rouge in August! :) I'm so proud of him and so thankful to have a partner in this crazy journey!

Today marks the almost end to the fall semester! I have one take-home final left before I have a break until January. All I can say is that this semester has been very stressful and I am so surprised and pleased with how well weight loss has gone for me and Kyle with all this stress going on. It just goes to show that know matter what you have going on in your life and how many "bad weeks" might crop up, you can still set realistic and healthy weight loss goals for yourself and reach them! It certainly won't happen overnight, but if you keep pushing yourself and don't quit, you'll be fine!

Hopefully now that Christmas break is in sight, it'll be easier to blog more often!  Good luck to all of you who are in the middle of finals!  I don't know about any of you, but I'm officially in the Christmas spirit! :)

Until next time,
BK

Post-Thanksgiving Weight Gain

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to spend time with the people you love!  It's weigh-in day and let me just say: Thanksgiving leftovers are evil! :)

Current weight: 280.9
Kyle's current weight: 252.4

That's right, Kyle LOST 0.2!  Wow!  I admire him because as you can tell if you glance at the previous entry, I gained four pounds this week. It's a combination of eating Thanksgiving leftovers for five days (they WERE delicious) and hormones/water retention from my monthly cycle. I'm disappointed over the gain as I am disappointed over every gain, but it's a new week and Kyle and I are both counting points and staying on program. I'm also excited to get back on track with our exercise!  Holidays, as wonderful as they are, have a way of wreaking havoc on weight loss plans. Could I have made better eating choices? Yes. Could I have worked out more than the three hours I did this week? Sure. But the point is, the past is over and today is a new day!  Luckily, I have some time to recover before we head home for Christmas!

I should probably also mention that my first attempt at cooking a big Thanksgiving dinner (and our first married Thanksgiving dinner) was a roaring success!

With a lot of help from Kyle, we fixed a roast turkey, homemade dressing, homemade mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, homemade gravy, peas, green beans, the famous Kreiger broccoli casserole, yeast rolls, cranberry sauce, and a homemade pumpkin cheesecake!  We did it! As you can remember from my last post, I was VERY nervous about cooking this big meal for our first Thanksgiving away from home, but we nailed it! :)  They were very delicious leftovers, too! I do, however, think my body is finished with rich food for a while and looking forward to turkey sandwiches, fish, and brown rice!

I hope your weigh-ins have been smoother post-Thanksgiving than mine!  If you did happen to gain, don't give up!  A weight gain, no matter how disappointing, does not undo all the hard work you've put in! Get back on track and remember that it's not a sprint, it's a marathon!

If you are like me and finals are heading your way, good luck!  If not, enjoy the approaching holidays! :)

Until next time,
BK

The 75-pound mark!

Happy (early) Thanksgiving everyone!

It's weigh-in day and Kyle and I both lost weight!

Current weight: 276.9
Kyle's current weight: 252.6

I lost 2.2 pounds and Kyle lost 1.1!  Kyle has lost 15.5 pounds since moving down to Baton Rouge almost 3 months ago. I'm celebrating big today because I've reached the 75-pound goal in my whole weight loss journey! In fact I've lost 76.1 pounds since my heaviest weight of 353 pounds in 2009 (as you can see, I got a couple years head start on Kyle!).

Here's a picture of me I found when I weighed my heaviest:

For comparison, here's a picture of me from this weekend!

That's my gorgeous husband in the second picture, in case you can't tell! It helps me to look at pictures like these, because I've found that when you are losing weight day by day, it's hard to tell if there has been a big change. Sometimes I still feel like that girl in the first picture!  I find myself turning sideways to fit in places and then realizing, "Oh, I'm smaller now."  It's definitely a huge cognitive shift.

I had a big accomplishment this week!  In going to the gym with my favorite gym buddy, Valerie, I first pushed myself to go 50 consecutive minutes on the elliptical machine, then the next day was able to push myself to a full 60 minutes!  When I called to share the new with my sweet Momma, she reminded me when it was difficult for me to go even 5 or 10 minutes without having to stop (see first picture). I always wanted to be "one of those girls" who could just get on a elliptical for an hour and not feel like you are going to die afterward... and I did it!  I was really proud of myself and very surprised. I find that I constantly underestimate my body and that it continues to prove me wrong!

Thanksgiving is coming and I'm not going to lie, I'm not counting points on Thanksgiving Day. Now, mind you, I not going to eat an entire cheesecake and three servings of stuffing, but I'm not going to stress about points on the day of. And honestly, I don't feel bad about that either. BUT, the thing to remember is something the esteemed Miranda from Sex and the City told me, "You get a day, NOT A WEEK."  That's the truth! Take the day off on Thanksgiving, but don't let yourself take the whole week off and end up with an awful gain. I say this now and we'll see how I handle all the leftovers, but my goal is to get back on track on Friday and get back to the gym when it opens on Saturday.

I'm nervous about cooking this HUGE holiday meal for the first time. Hopefully it will turn out well and I won't ruin a turkey and send Kyle out for Chinese tomorrow! I'll be sure to let you know! Now I'm off to go shopping for new (smaller) clothes, brine a turkey, and bake a pumpkin cheesecake for tomorrow.

I hope everyone has an amazing holiday!  Don't forget to share what you are thankful for, because if you are like me, it is QUITE a list!

Until next time,
BK

Hellllllooooo 270s!

Hi everyone!

Today is weigh-in day and Kyle and I both lost weight!

Current weight: 279.1
Kyle's current weight: 253.7

Kyle lost 0.3, which isn't bad considering he lost 3.5 pounds last week. So far he's lost almost 15 pounds since moving to Baton Rouge. Pretty exciting! I lost 2.9 this week, which is the 2 pounds I gained last week plus 0.9 of new weight!  I am thrilled and even more thrilling is the fact that I am in the 270s! The last time I was in that weight range was probably sometime during my time at Wofford College during undergrad (I graduated in 2008 if that tells you anything)!  This was a boost that I needed after my disappointing weigh-in last week. I've also been a little sick this week (standard run-of-the-mill cold/sore throat mess) so I was worried about how that would affect the weigh-in, considering I did not get as many workouts in as I would have liked and I may have indulged in (a reasonable amount of) Ben and Jerry's ice cream to soothe my sore throat.

This week was also awesome because I pushed myself with my fitness routine. I increased my weight in my Body Pump class and surprised myself by almost being able to complete the work-out with more weight. I'm still lifting the least amount of weight in the class, but I can only go up from here! :)  On Saturday, I met my good friend Valerie for a work-out and between the 2.3 miles on the elliptical and the almost 2 miles we walked afterwards, I did almost 4 miles in one day!  That's a personal best for me!  My feet were sorely upset (pun intended) afterwards, but overall I felt great and I was proud of myself.

We have one more weigh-in before Thanksgiving!! I can't believe the holiday season is almost upon us. I'm trying not to worry too much about Thanksgiving. I've already told myself that on Thanksgiving Day, I'm giving myself a little bit of leeway. All the days before and after Thanksgiving, I'll be counting points, but on Thanksgiving proper I'm taking the day off from worrying. It IS Thanksgiving after all. :)  I hope you all are able to cut yourself some slack for this holiday without gorging yourself to discomfort or going too far off program!

Until next time,
BK

Recipe Time: Farmhouse Chicken and Dressing

Hey everyone!

I've been promising you this recipe for a while and it's become a favorite in the Kreiger house, so I thought I'd share it today: Farmhouse Chicken and Dressing. This is a Weight Watchers recipe and I take no credit for it whatsoever!  I hope you enjoy this delicious comfort food that won't steal all your points. We usually serve it with peas or sauteed zucchini and squash. It may seem steep at 12 points plus a serving, BUT it's both your meat and your carb for the meal!  I love keeping it simple!

Farmhouse Chicken and Dressing (12 points plus per serving)

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup sliced celery

2 cups water

2 tablespoons yogurt-based spread (we use Brummel and Brown)

1 10-ounce can of reduced fat-reduced sodium cream of chicken soup

1 8-ounce package cornbread stuffing (we use Pepperidge Farm brand)

3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast

Pepper to taste

Cooking Spray

Directions:

•  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• I start with cooking the chicken (I find that breast tenderloins or breast strips cook faster) in a pan with a little bit of olive oil. Once you cook it, chop it up, measure 3 cups out and set aside.
• Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sliced celery; saute for 4 minutes or until the onion is golden.
• Increase the heat to high and add the 2 cups of water. Let it come to boil and cook for 4 minutes or until the celery is soft. Stir in the Brummel and Brown until it is good and melted.
• Add the can of soup, the stuffing mix, and the pepper.
• Remove it from the burner and stir in your chopped chicken.
• Coat your baking dish with cooking spray (we use small casserole dish pictured above, but you can use any 2 quart baking dish) and then place the stuffing and chicken mixture in.
• Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the top is golden. 

Enjoy! :) You can also decrease the portion size to make it 6 servings and the pointplus value for that serving size is 8.

Until next time,
BK

Weight gain. BOO.

Hello everyone!

It's Wednesday and it has been a stressful week so far!  Luckily the stressful part is over and now I can (hopefully) relax for a few weeks.  Well, folks, it's weigh-in day and I gained weight. :(

Current weight: 282.0

Kyle didn't weigh in this morning, but he will tomorrow.  A weight gain of TWO POUNDS? that's a direct result of stress eating, which is shameful, I know. I had two weeks in a row of big weight losses, then this stressful, low activity week came along and this is what happens. I'm disappointed in some of the eating choices I've made, but today is a new day and best of all, it's the start of a new week! :)  Time to get back on track. What are your best tips for getting back on track after having an "off" week?

Criminal Minds is on and since I don't have any school assignments in the imminent future, I'm going to go veg out and relax a little bit!  Who knows, I may even take a hot bath before bed! I know my sore Zumba muscles would enjoy that after tonight's workout.

If you've had an off week like me, don't give up!  Giving up will do nothing but put you closer to where you started. And if you're like me, you don't ever want to go back to that starting point again. Keep it up!

Until next time,
BK

Happy (Late) Halloween: Weigh-in Post!

Welcome to November everybody!

Yesterday was weigh-in day and Kyle and I both lost weight!

Current weight: 280.0
Kyle's current weight: 257.5

I lost 2.4 and Kyle lost 1.5!  We survived Halloween!  I'm excited for both of us because we're making awesome choices and the results are so sweet.

I've been trying to up my exercise over the past week and I'm glad the scale is showing it. I recently posted on my Facebook page that I got up to 35 consecutive minutes on the elliptical machine, which is a personal record for me!  My previous record was 20-25 minutes and that was a big struggle. I'm still absolutely loving Zumba and Body Pump, but I'm looking for activity to do on my "days off" when my fave teachers aren't teaching or there aren't any classes that I like. Gotta keep it fresh!

Also on another happy note, I found RANCH flavored Veggie Straws at Wal-Mart!  They are sooo good and still 3 pointsplus per serving!  Kyle and I keep trying out new recipes (our latest have been crock pot beef stew and crock pot potato and bacon chowder!). 

I hope everybody had an awesome Halloween, enjoyed a healthy amount of candy, and is as excited about the holidays as I am! :)

Until next time,
BK

Snack of the Week: Veggie Straws

Hello all!

I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things with Snack of the Week posts.  This week's snack has been one of my favorites for a few years and I mentioned it briefly when I began blogging back in 2010.

Veggie straws!

 These snacks are super delicious and super low points! The serving size is 38 straws (yes, I said it 38!). The points plus value is 3 points plus!  That's insane! There must be something magical about this delicious snack!

 Just for reference, here's a serving size of 38 straws! Supposedly all natural and made from veggies, these crunchy, salty treats get an A+ from this girl!  They are a bit hard to find. I got these at Albertson's here in Louisiana, but I've seen them at Sam's Club and sometimes Bi-Lo (up in SC).  If you can find them, give them a shot! If you are like me, you won't be disappointed!

Halloween is quickly approaching and candy season is upon us. I just wanted to take a minute to give a little friendly advice. In my opinion, it is not wise to deprive yourself of something you are craving when you are dieting, but instead to eat it in moderation. With that being said, don't feel like you have to deprive yourself of candy on Halloween for the sake of your waistline. On the other hand, don't feel like you have to eat an entire bag of Reese's miniatures either (your waistline WILL HATE you). Instead, find a happy compromise so that you don't miss out on the sweet memories (pun intended) of Halloween without sacrificing your hard work for the week. Kyle and I have gotten only tiny candy bars for our Halloween celebrations. When we bought candy for our church's Trunk or Treat we followed 2 instructions: (1) Get candy WE wouldn't mind eating leftovers of and (2) don't have too many leftovers!  As a result we have about 25% of a candy bucket full of these little guys:

It's little teeny Snickers, Reese's, KitKats, Twix and the like. I call them fun fun size (because they are the smallest you can get). These bad boys are 1 pointplus per piece, so Kyle and I can have a couple every day if we want to and still not carry around a ton of guilt.

Happy Halloween everyone!  Snack smart!

Until next time,
BK

Back on track (finally)

Hello everyone!

Happy Wednesday and happy weigh-in day!

I don't have long to blog so I'll get to the nitty gritty!

Current weight: 282.4
Kyle's current weight: 259.0

I lost 2.2 this week (1.3 of that is new weight)!  I am happy to have re-lost the 0.9 I gained during mid-terms and especially nice to be back in the negative!  Over 70 pounds lost since my heaviest!  Kyle also lost the weight he gained during mid-term stress AND 0.9 of new weight!  We're excited.

I finally feel like my life is getting back to normal after mid-terms.  It got really dicey there for a while, but I survived my mid-terms with B's and turned in my last big project for a couple of weeks, so I have some room to breathe!

Kyle also got a job very recently at Barnes and Noble!  It's a seasonal position until something in accounting opens, but he's getting a lot of hours and so far he really enjoys it! :)  I'm proud of him for grabbing a sweet job and working hard for us. He's kind of the best!

So back on track and hopefully back blogging twice a week like I should!  I'm so sorry I got so spacey there for a while, but life is in a state of disarray.  Thanks for reading and sticking with me, even when the entries are way too short.

Keep on keepin' on, everybody!

Until next time,
BK

This post is late late late, oh so very late!

Hello everybody!

I feel like that Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland (I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!).  It's been way too long since I've posted.  Mid-terms are now over and life has finally gotten back to normal!

I missed the weigh-in post this week, but Kyle and I did weigh-in Wednesday morning as scheduled.  We both had gained.  I had gained 0.4 and Kyle had gained 1.5.  We are back on program though and exercising like we should!  My body is super duper sore, but very pleased to be back on schedule!  Life happens and when it does, you pick up where you left off and move forward!

In good news, I went clothes shopping today, which was VERY overdue. I had 1 pair of jeans that fit normally (about 5 super baggy pairs), countless work pants that were so baggy they were almost falling off, and quite a few tops that fit like dresses.  So I sucked it up, went out and went shopping. I assumed that I was a size 26 in the pants, since my 28s were too big and I hadn't been a size 24 in years. I put on a pair of size 26 work pants and realized, much to my amusement, that they were too big!  So I nervously tried on a size 24 and sure enough, they fit wonderfully!  I had gotten so used to clothes being too big that I forgot what it felt like for clothes to FIT.  I know I asked Kyle and the saleswoman at least 5 times if they were SURE the pants weren't too tight.  Not only was I a size 24 in dress pants, but also in JEANS!  I bought two pairs of dress pants for work, two pairs of jeans, and also picked up two new work-appropriate tops.

Here's one of my new outfits!

So excited!  It's refreshing to see results from the exercise and healthy choices! :)

Until next time,
BK

Kyle's Birthday!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

It's Kyle's birthday today! :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!

Current weigh: 284.2
Kyle's current weight: 259.9

You read it right, I gained half a pound this week. I'm disappointed, but honestly I expected it!  We've been celebrating Kyle's birthday all week long (with cupcakes, meals out, pancake breakfasts) and I've been eating more than I should. Luckily, we haven't been eating TOO terribly crazy or else the gain would have been more. Life happens, celebrations happens, back on track this week. It's my first gain since June, what does that tell me? I need to do better!

On the other hand, birthday boy lost 0.7 pounds!  :)

We also only exercised one time this past week, which has us both feeling like we are dragging. We're looking forward to getting back in our workout schedule!

Not sure what else to report. Life is still busy for us both. Kyle is still job hunting (he didn't get the job at the other accounting firm... boo) and I'm right in the thick of mid-terms! Eventually, things will even out and my entries will stop being so short!

Off to finish my day of class and then wrap up birthday celebrations tonight with dinner at our favorite sushi place! So nice to finally be able to spend a married birthday together!

Have a great week everyone!

Until next time,
BK

Snack of the Week: Goldfish Snack Crackers

Hey everybody!

This week's Snack of the Week is also a throwback to a childhood favorite that is surprisingly not bad for you: Goldfish crackers!

The things I love about goldfish as a salty snack:

• They come in a LOT of flavors, like cheddar, parmesan (picture above), flavor-blasted pizza, etc.
• They are baked, not fried.
• You get quite a few in a serving. You get 60 Parmesan goldfish for 4 pointsplus! SIXTY!  That's the listed serving size!  They vary depending on the flavor (51 for flavor-blasted pizza, 55 for original cheddar), but always 4 points plus!

In case you can't tell from the last snack of the week and today, I love salty, cheesy snacks!  Next week I'll try to post a sweet snack!

Until next time,
BK

Yay October! :)

Happy October everyone!

I'm so happy it is finally fall and I'm happy that it is weigh-in day!

Current weight: 283.7
Kyle's current weight: 260.6

We both lost weight again: I lost 1.6 and Kyle lost 1.1!  Talk about a happy couple!  I was a little nervous this week because there were quite a few meals out and even a trip to the movies (complete with unbuttered popcorn!). I had to use some of my activity points, which I do NOT like doing, but we stayed on program!

I'm super happy this week because I reached my next goal: I'm under my wedding weight (284)!  That means that I've stopped re-losing my old weight and now I'm losing new weight. I finally feel like I'm making real progress and breaking all new ground.  Even though I'm keeping on doing the things I've always done, cognitively this is a big shift for me!  This is the lowest I've weighed in years and I can't wait to keep going!

Life is still super busy and I apologize (yet again) for the lack of blog posts. I have a Snack of the Week post that I'll post later today and I already owe you all the Farmhouse Chicken and Dressing recipe, which I'll try my best to remember to post this week!

October brings a month of new weight-loss challenges.  One week from today is Kyle's 23rd birthday! The next week will have lots of celebration, eating out, and I'm even baking him his favorite cupcakes. But I'm confident we can make it work while staying on program!  My mom's birthday is a few week as well and if I were in the same state as her, there would be even more celebration!  October is also Halloween/fall candy month!  Kyle and I have already bought some candy corn (19 pieces are 4 pointsplus)!  It IS possible to eat candy in moderation, so be sure not to deprive yourself too much during this season, but just keep yourselves in check!  I know I'll be indulging some weekly points in some Halloween candy!

I hope everyone is doing awesomely!

Until next time,
BK

Busy Life is Busy

Hello everyone!  Happy Wednesday!

It's weigh-in day and Kyle & I thankfully both lost weight again!

Current weight: 285.3
Kyle's current weight: 261.7

I lost 0.4 (no complaints here!) and Kyle lost TWO POUNDS!  As I described yesterday, it has been a busy week. I'm happy to not have gained weight and thrilled to have lost even a little bit of weight!  Kyle is doing super awesome.  He's finally eating all of his daily points (and most of his weekly points) and I think his metabolism is catching up with mine. He gets 13 more points per day than I do and for a while there, he wasn't eating all of his daily points (probably because it feels like you are eating a lot).  It seems counterintuitive, but I find myself eating more than just three times per day (because I snack quite a bit).  That's my favorite thing about Weight Watchers: As long as you stay within your points, you can eat what you want!  With all the exercising that we are doing, we need to keep our body fueled!

This week is a brand new week and I'm determined to stay on program! 

Have a great week everybody!

Until next time,
BK

(Late) Snack of the Week!: Cheetos White Cheddar Puffs

Hello everyone!

I am so sorry to post this snack of the week entry so late!  Life has gotten so busy with school starting back, clinic work picking up, and a husband to take care of!  I am so blessed to be busy (but busy nonetheless).  To make up for my carelessness, I have a recipe to post this week!  I probably won't get to it tonight, but tomorrow or Thursday I should!

Today's snack of the week is a throw-back to my adolescence: Cheetos White Cheddar Puffs

Morgan introduced me to these gems and let me tell you, they are addicting.  They are delicious and you get 32 puffs for 4 pointsplus!  Pretty legit for a snack or a sandwich side. The best part is that you don't have to stain your fingers with orange goo... these are white cheddar and just as delicious.  All I need is a (diet) Mountain Dew and I'll feel 14 again!  If you like indulging in puffy, cheesy, salty snacks then give this a try!  Also, thanks to Kyle for taking this uber awesome picture for my blog!

So, I'm not going to lie, I'm a tad nervous about tomorrow morning's weigh-in.  All summer I had the luxury of dieting and exercising on "summer schedule" with about a 1/3 of the stress.  Well, those days are gone!  It's just been one of those crazy busy weeks and I have not eaten as well as I should.  Kyle and I had date night on Friday and ate out, as planned.  On Saturday, we went to a deliciously wonderful dinner party at my old friend, Helana's apartment and the food was absolutely wonderful (she has a cookbook coming out soon if that tells you anything).  I did pretty well at the party with the exception of some fabulous Pumpkin Trifle.  We went out Sunday for lunch because my sweet and generous mother sent us some "splurge" money for a meal out.  We went to Olive Garden and I got Parmesan Crusted Tilapia (15 pointsplus) instead of Tour of Italy (probably 30+ pointsplus).  All of this alone wouldn't be so bad, buuuuut Monday was a super long day of testing and class and I got home significantly later than I thought and did not feel like cooking dinner at 7PM.  As such, I picked up food on the way home.

So that's been my week.  I probably have gained weight or (hopefully) maintained my weight.  Life happens and I am understanding of that.  I will still weigh in tomorrow and I will still post my weight.  Tomorrow is the start of a whole new week and I'm going to do better!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a great week so far.  Weigh-in is tomorrow!

Until next time,
BK

Whew!

Hello everyone!

It's weigh-in day and Kyle & I both lost weight (thank goodness!)

My current weight: 285.7
Kyle's current weight:263.7

That's a weight-loss of 1.8 for me and 0.9 for Kyle! :)  I'm pretty satisfied with those numbers considering the whirlwind weekend we both had going home to SC for a wedding!  We made it to 2 exercise classes this week (Zumba last Wednesday and Boot Camp last Thursday) and counted our points while in Baton Rouge, but over the weekend, we lost track of the points we were eating.

We still tried to make good decisions regarding what we were putting in our bodies. Although Kyle did well for his first trip home, I think he's still adjusting to the weight-loss mindset. He did well with most things (only eating a small piece of wedding cake, eating egg whites over eggs, etc) but some old habits are hard to kick (sticking with fried rice instead of brown rice at an Asian restaurant, etc).  I'm super proud of him, though!  He's only been at this a couple of weeks and he's impressing me! This weekend was tough and we both came out with a loss: that's success in my book! :)

Boot Camp was tough on Thursday; Stephanie really let us have it!  I think Kyle enjoyed his first class and we'll keep going back. I think he prefers to have both strength training and cardio in the same class. With Zumba it's all cardio and with Body Pump it's all weight training.  Boot Camp is a nice mix!  He's still sticking with Zumba, but I think he's going to start switching out Body Pump for Zumba at least once a week.

Covington and Jesse's wedding was beautiful!  They are a sweet couple and we're so happy to have been a part of their special day.  Wedding food and cake was delicious and Kyle and I kept it together by not going completely crazy with our eating. I think we burned quite a few calories dancing at the reception, which was a blast!  Covington looked even more gorgeous than usual (if that's possible).  She's lost quite a bit of weight and has been getting in great shape and I'm so proud of her!  As hectic as this weekend was, I'm glad we made it back for their big day!

Seeing our families was pretty amazing too!  It was a quick trip, but it was certainly better than nothing! Kyle and I are very blessed to have such loving and supportive families (and friends, as well)!  We are extremely fortunate. Hopefully, it won't be too long between visits!

Kyle's interview with the accounting firm in Baton Rouge also went really well!  He'll hopefully find out by the end of the week if he has the job and I won't jinx it by talking anymore about it!

I apologize for not writing a Snack of the Week post this week.  We were at home until the evening and in the airport/flying for the rest of Sunday.  Ideally, I'll post a snack AND a recipe this week!  Have an awesome day, everybody!

Until next time,
BK

20-pound loss!

Happy Wednesday!

It's weigh-in day and Kyle & I both lost weight again!

My current weight: 287.5
Kyle's current weight: 264.6

I lost 1.5 and Kyle lost 0.8!  He's lost a total of 3.5 in two weeks and I've lost 20.3 pounds in the past 11 weeks! :) We're both pretty excited to have lost weight, especially considering we had three pretty big meals out this week: date night at Chili's, a Saturday lunch at Raising Cane's (best. chicken. ever.), and a surprise celebratory meal at Sammy's.  On Monday, Kyle found out he passed the fourth and final part of the CPA exam and is DONE with standardized testing!  Thus, we went out to eat at our favorite Cajun place (Sammy's) to celebrate his accomplishment!  PLUS, Kyle did more weight-training exercises this week than I did, so I'm sure he is losing weight and gaining muscle.  Either way, we're stoked to have lost weight this week!  Also, another tidbit of good news is that Kyle has an interview with an accounting firm in Baton Rouge on Monday!!  We celebrated with Zumba and leftover stir-fry! haha.

We are flying home to SC this weekend for the wedding of our dear friends, Covington and Jesse! Kyle is a groomsman. :) It should be an awesome weekend of celebration and time with family & friends. It will also be an interesting week in terms of weight loss, between rehearsal dinner food, wedding food (CAKE!), and eating out with family, we will have our work cut out for us to stay on program.  We're going to try our best to stay on program and attend the exercise classes that we can!

Have a great week, everybody!

Until next time,
BK

Snack of the Week/Recipe Time: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies!

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope everyone's day has been as relaxing as mine! :)

It's September and I'm craving fall, my second favorite season (my favorite is winter!).  Sadly, in Baton Rouge we don't really get a fall or a winter... instead we get a vaguely-cooler time of year that I like to call "not summer."  As of this week we are still in the 90s in terms of temperatures, but next week we should drop down to the 80s (freezing, I know).

In honor of fall's approach, I baked some cookies in the Kreiger house today.  They are one of the Kyle's favorite: pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!  I usually save them for Halloween/Thanksgiving time, but we just couldn't resist!  Therefore, our snack of the week is also a recipe! They have THREE ingredients and are low-fat without sacrificing delicousness.  They are very ugly cookies though, don't let them fool you!  Also, a BIG thank you to Sara for giving me this recipe in the first place!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 box of Spice cake mix
1 small can of pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 12-ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix spice cake mix and canned pumpkin in a large bowl until smooth.  This is very hard to do by hand because the dough will be SO thick.  I usually use an electric hand mixer for at least 2 minutes.
• Once thoroughly mixed, add in the chocolate chips with a spoon until they are spread evenly through the dough.
• Use a nonstick cookie sheet and dip out the dough with a spoon. This batch makes between 20 and 24 cookies. Since the cookies are pretty big, I had to do more than one sheet full.
• Bake 18 minutes or until you can stick a knife in a cookie and pull it out clean.
• Serve with milk! :)

I count 3 pointsplus for these cookies, based on a estimate I saw on the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder when I had an online account. These cookies are much healthier than normal because you substitute pumpkin for eggs and oil!  I feel like the pumpkin/cake mix combo makes the cookies more moist/cake-y than other cookies.  Even people who don't like pumpkin seem to really enjoy these cookies.  I blame the delicious semi-sweet chocolate chips!  So if you are in the mood for something sweet that isn't going to offset your entire week of eating well, give these a try!  I hope you enjoy!

Until next time,
BK

Back in the 280s!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

It's weigh-in day and Kyle & I both lost weight! 

Current weight: 289.0
Kyle's current weight: 265.4

I lost 1.1 pounds and he lost 2.7 pounds! :)  I'm very pleased with those numbers considering the amount of social functions we had going on this weekend: Sushi party, tailgate, and Labor Day cook-out!  Plus Hurricane Isaac totally messed up our work-out plan so we only made it to 1 hour of exercise for the whole week!

As you can see from my previous post, we have been trying out new Weight Watchers recipes.  Last night we made Farmhouse Chicken and Dressing, which isn't necessarily a new recipe to us (my mom would make it frequently), but I have never made it solo and it's been over a year since I'd eaten it.  It turned out great, of course!  I'll post pics and that recipe later.  Cooking for both of us instead of just me hasn't been nearly as difficult as I had imagined.  Granted, it's more expensive (twice as much food!) and it takes more time, but so far so good! 

This weekend should be a bit tamer in terms of social functions, so there won't be as much temptation to eat poorly and we've already planned our date night for Friday (I know we're plan-aheaders)!  We're going to Chili's where they currently have a 2 for $20 special.  We perused the menu and found some tasty-looking options that are in the pointsplus range we want!

So today is the start of a brand new week and tonight is Kyle's (and Valerie's) second try at Zumba.  I think they both did wonderfully during their first class, but they still aren't sold on the idea of it yet, so they are still in the "trial phase."  Either way, I'm happy to be settling back into my exercise routine.

I hope everyone has an amazing end to the work week!

Until next time,
BK

Recipe time! Mozzarella-Stuffed Meat Loaves

Hello all!

As promised, I'm posting the new recipe Kyle and I tried this week!  It's a Weight Watchers recipe (and is thus trademarked by them and I cannot take credit for it AT ALL).  It was super delicious.  I paired it with some homemade mashed potatoes (my first attempt) and some low-sodium canned peas.

Mozzarella-Stuffed Meat Loaves

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 large egg
3/4 cup tomato-basil pasta sauce, divided (we used Classico Spicy Tomato Basil)
Salt (we didn't add this)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound ground sirloin (we used 97% lean ground beef on our first attempt, for the second attempt we bought ground sirloin, we'll see how it does!)
1/3 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skin mozzarella cheese

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• The recipe says to use a broiler pan with the bottom lined with foil and the top sprayed with cooking spray.  I don't have a broiler pan (yet), so I just used a baking pan with tin foil in the bottom. It turned out fine!
• Place egg in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Add 1/4 cup pasta sauce, salt, pepper, stirring with a whisk until blended. Add beef and oats.  Using hands, gently mix just until blended.
• Divide the meat mixture into 4 equal portions and then place three tablespoons of cheese in the middle of each portion.  Shape meat around cheese to form a small loaf.  This step was REALLY hard for me and I'm surprised mine looked as good as they did!
• Bake at 350 for 35 minutes; spoon remaining 1/4 cup pasta sauce over meat loaves.  Bake an additional 10 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees.

This makes 4 servings (serving size = 1 loaf).  Each serving is worth 6 points plus.

Hope you all enjoy! :)

Until next time,
BK

Snack of the Week: Light String Cheese

Happy Sunday, everybody!

I know we missed our snack of the week post for last week, but life was so busy.  My apologies.

Today's Snack of choice is light string cheese!

My favorite brand (and what I deem most delicious) is Sargento.  These sticks are 1 pointplus and I can't lie, sometimes I have two for a snack!  It's a good way to get some protein/dairy into your day, which is awesome for people like me who don't like drinking a lot of milk!  Quick, easy snack!

Last night I tried out a new Weight Watchers recipe for mine and Kyle's dinner: Mozzarella-Stuffed Meat Loaves and I must say it was delish!  I'll post the recipe online tomorrow with a picture of the finished product!  We are hoping to keep trying out new recipes and I will most certainly keep you all posted.

Kyle's first week on Weight Watchers is going great!  He's making great choices and going through that classic first week realization of "it's HOW MANY points?!" when we review some of our former favorite foods. Case in points, we went to our first LSU tailgate yesterday and both ate way too many points (yay for weekly points!!!) without eating too terribly much food (I'm blaming all the grilled meats!). Good thing we don't tailgate every weekend!  I'm hoping we burned some of those calories off during the super long walk to and from our car!

Speaking of calorie burns, Kyle also attended his first Zumba class this week.  He has agreed to give it a few more tries, but I don't think he's quite sold on it yet.  I think he's super amazing for just trying it and he did really well during his first class!  If you've never gone to a Zumba class and are thinking about trying it, I recommend giving it at least three classes before you make a decision.  The first class is always SUPER awkward because you don't know ANY of the dances and it feels weird to dance in front of people if you aren't used to it. One of my friends, Valerie, also came and has agreed to give it a few more tries!  I love having friends/family to work out with because it makes exercise so much more fun!  So yay for them!

Labor Day is tomorrow and we are headed to a cook-out at my friend Morgan's apartment.  Luckily, she and her boyfriend are also trying to eat healthier and shed some weight, so it'll be a healthier cookout than most!  I hope everyone has enjoyed their long weekend!

Until next time,
BK

First week living together (and first hurricane!)

Good morning everyone!

It's weigh-in day and I lost 1.8 pounds!

Current weight: 290.1

I ALMOST reached my goal of being in the 280s.  I was so close, but I'm just happy that I lost, honestly.  I got a little bit (a few points) off program with mine and Kyle's families being in town, but overall I'm pleased to have lost almost 2 pounds!

Kyle is officially moved in and he had his first weigh-in today (starting weight 268.1). I've given him his daily pointsplus value and he's already tracked his breakfast points. :)  It's going to be awesome to have a partner with me in this journey!  I'm so happy that we can FINALLY live together.

We had a great visit with our families.  We got all of Kyle's stuffed unpacked and put away in two days and were then able to just enjoy the visit. We did go out to eat quite a bit, but I made the best choices I could (baked fish instead of fried, veggie burger instead of beef, etc).  I still ate out a LOT more than I usually do and had went a few points over my daily and weekly points, BUT the loss was still there, thank goodness.

With Hurricane Isaac bearing down on us today, it'll be interesting to see what we are able to eat over the next few days.  We bought the best canned goods we could find (minus a can of Dinty Moore beef stew... that stuff is delicious).  We also have baked chips, crackers, Larabars, and other non-perishable yum yums.  So far, we haven't been without power, but that could change and we are prepared!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers during the storm.

Until next time,
BK

Tropical Storm/Hurricane

Hello all!

I know I owe you a Snack of the Week post and I'll be sure to make that happen this week (maybe tomorrow if we have power). I've so busy with family/moving Kyle in that it slipped my mind!

Long story short, the weekend with mine and Kyle's families was amazing! We got him all moved in and I'm so happy that he's here and we are FINALLY living together.

As I'm sure you've heard on the news, Tropical Storm (and soon-to-be Hurricane) Isaac is making landfall later today/tonight in the Gulf Coast.  As such, I'm not sure if I'll have electricity over the next day or so, BUT if I do have power, I will definitely post my weigh-in entry and a snack of the week post. If not, I'll get to it as soon as I can!

Please pray for everyone's safety who has been and is being affected by this storm.

Until next time!
BK

The Pattern Has Been Broken!

Hello everybody!

It's weigh-in day and I lost 1.5 pounds!

Current weight: 291.9

That's a total of 15.9 pounds in the past 8 weeks and a grand total of 61.1 pounds since my heaviest weight!  I am thrilled!  I had already prepared myself to not lose any weight this week since my pattern has been lose, maintain, lose, maintain, lose... and so on and so forth. BUT this is the second week in a row of loss! :)  This is my last weigh-in post before Kyle moves in.  I'm sure over the next few weeks you will hear about the adjustments and growing that we will do as a married couple cohabitating for the first time. Luckily, Kyle also has a desire to lose weight and begin a healthier, more active lifestyle. So I'll continue this journey with the best partner ever (and keep you posted along the way)!

Kyle moves down in TWO days!!  He's bringing both our moms, my brother, and his sister (in addition to a van full of boxes). This weekend will be the double whammy of family AND out-of-town guests all rolled into one.  Of course we'll be eating out frequently, but as per usual I am already beginning to plan what I'll be ordering at each restaurant so I won't be tempted to get something completely out of my points-range. My goal for next week is to be back in the 280s, but as long as I don't GAIN weight during the next week I'll be satisfied, considering the move and the family being in town. I've proven it can be done before, I just need to keep my wits about me and do it again!

Another fun adjustment after Kyle moves will be planning meals and cooking for two.  For over a year I've been cooking for one, which is in some ways harder and some ways easier than cooking for two or more. I've gotten a bit spoiled by eating what I want to eat every night and not have to worry about pleasing someone else. Fortunately, Kyle and I have similar tastes with regards to food (minus the fact that he LOVES mushrooms and I think they are gross). I'm also looking for some low-sodium tips and recipes, so feel free to send those my way!

This week also marks the beginning of the fall semester for me, which means I'm back in class. This semester I'm taking 3 classes and working three 8-hour days of clinical work. With all of that AND my husband finally living with me, I am foreseeing a huge lesson in time management over the next few months. Historically, school starting back has been a deterrent for my weight loss because life gets busy and it's easy to let "less important" things slide when you are under a lot of stress.  It's also easy to eat the wrong things when you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed (or at least it is for me). My desire is to keep my weight loss and exercise plan a priority every week.  I may not make it to EVERY exercise class EVERY week, but my goal is to work out at least 2-3 times a week no matter what is going on.  It's going to be a challenge and I'm sure I will feel like giving up multiple times, but I'm determined and I have Kyle, my family, and my sweet friends to encourage me and motivate me.

If you've started school, I wish you nothing but the best for the upcoming school year!  If you're out of the school range and you are working the same way you work all year, then keep on keepin' on!

Until next time,
BK

Snack of the Week: Dried Cranberries

Hello all!

It's Sunday, therefore it's time for our snack of the week post. I love Sundays for a lot of reasons. I'm a Christian, so I love going to church and worshipping God. I love taking Sunday afternoon naps, also! :)  Sunday is also laundry day for me. Laundry is my favorite chore because it pretty much does itself (except for the folding)!

Today is my last Sunday before classes start and it's also my last Sunday before Kyle moves in!  Both situations present challenges in weight loss. I'll blog more about that Wednesday during my weigh-in post.

This week's snack is dried cranberries (also known as "craisins").

I have become recently very addicted to these tasty little treats. They are similar to raisins, but have a tarter taste to it, which makes me like them more!  They are great as a salad topping, as an addition to a chicken salad, or just by themselves!  1/8 cup is 2 pointsplus and 1/4 cup is 4 points plus. I also like them because they have lots of little pieces and if I eat them one at a time it feels like I am eating a lot (a tip I got from Sara!). It's a nice way to finish off a meal as a light dessert!

Keep snacking smart!

Until next time,
BK

Mission Accomplished

Good morning everyone!

It's weigh-in day and I lost 2.7 pounds this week! :)

Current weight: 293.4

I'm so excited! This week has been an unusual week for me because I went home (as you all well know). Usually when I go home I'll gain 2.7 pounds (or more, sadly) because I'll get off program, get on "vacation mode" and, frankly, eat like a crazy person. This long weekend went beautifully. That 2.7 pounds is the product of good decision-making, planning ahead, and awesome support from my friends and family. I blogged last week that I considered going home a "hurdle" in my weight loss and worried quite a bit that it would adversely affect my number on the scale. I was also worried about only being able to fit in one workout all week! I was happy to prove to myself that I CAN lose weight while "out of town" and "at home" with my family; it just takes some prep work.

Kyle's graduation was wonderful. I'm so proud of him for accomplishing this major goal of completing his master's program. I feel very blessed that I was able to be there for him during that happy time!

I have a few proud moments of the weekend that I'd like to share:

1. On Thursday night (my first night), a big group of us including Kyle, me, our moms, my sister-in-law, and our friend Brendan went to go see the Dark Knight Rises (awesome movie by the way). As usual, my mother and I decided to share popcorn at the movies. If you know me well you know that movie theatre popcorn is a HUGE weakness of mine. I still eat it almost every time I go to the movies, I just count points for it and skip adding fatty butter. My usual pattern (even when counting points) is to eat until the popcorn is gone, but this time I stopped about 1/2 way through the tub. I knew I hadn't eaten dinner yet and wanted to conserve my points so that I could eat something slightly nutritious. So I just stopped eating and put the popcorn down. I know this seems like a trivial accomplishment, but I was impressed with myself.
2. Kyle's mom made peanut butter brownies when I was home. No matter what she bakes, it's always delicious and the smell of those brownies baking almost did me in. Usually I'd eat 2-3 full size brownies with some milk when she makes them. I ended up eating about 1/2 brownie TOTAL and just stopped. That little taste was all I needed.
3. I'll talk more about this later, but I ended up getting stuck in Atlanta on my plane trip from home back to Baton Rouge. Subsequently, I had to find dinner in the airport. I decided to eat at the Chili's because I figured I could at least find some vegetables there (as opposed to the endless burger/pizza places in the terminal). So I sit down and look at the menu. I was exhausted and starving (it was almost 10 PM) because of the delay in my flight. EVERYTHING on the menu looked good and I had the first real urge to cheat on my diet. For seven weeks, I haven't had too much temptation to stray from the plan, but that night was tough. All I wanted was to order the triple appetizer plate. You know the one: fried cheese, boneless buffalo wings, and mini-cheeseburgers (at least those would have been my picks). I sat there trying to justify choosing that as my dinner.  I thought "I'm so hungry and I'm under a lot of stress." No one was there to hold me accountable for my decision. It was SO tempting. But then I thought about not losing weight last week and about all the good decisions I had made so far. Instead, I chose the salmon dinner from the "light" menu. It. was. absolutely. delicious!  I didn't regret making my decision for a second. It came with a quite large filet of seasoned salmon, a serving of seasoned rice with corn in it, and steamed broccoli. My meal came out to be 14 pointsplus.

My saving grace throughout this trip was my Complete Foods WW Points Guide, my Dining Out WW Points Guide, and my handy little points calculator.  I ate out for the majority of my meals, but kept finding awesome (and delicious) choices at each place we went!  For example, Ruby Tuesday's has a Spaghetti Squash Marinara entree (with grilled Zucchini and red peppers) that was only 6 points plus!  Pair that with their awesome salad bar and it's a pretty satisfying lunch! Chick-fil-A has grilled chicken nuggets that are 6 pointsplus for a 12-pack. And when Kyle chose an upscale chinese bistro for his celebratory graduation meal, I could order chicken and broccoli for 3 pointsplus per cup instead of sesame chicken for 10 pointsplus per cup. I did indulge myself a little, but I still stayed on program the whole time and (aside from the Chili's incident) didn't feel too tempted to cheat!

What REALLY threw me for a loop was my airport fiasco. It just goes to show you that no matter HOW well you think you have things planned, life can throw your a curveball and knock those plans out of whack and THAT'S when you get to be resourceful. My mother, brother, and husband took me to the airport in Charlotte for my flight to Atlanta. I get there on time and decide to wait to eat dinner (even though it is already dinnertime) until I get in Atlanta because I'd have more choices and more time. We board the plane and then get the message that Atlanta is having bad weather and all flights to and from ATL have been temporarily grounded until the storm passes. And then we wait. For over an hour. By this point, I'm starving and luckily I had packed a Luna bar and a Lara bar in my bag and was able to eat those to tide me over. When we finally get to Atlanta (over an hour and 1/2 after we were supposed to), my flight to Baton Rouge had already left and there were no more flights until the next day. Delta gave me a hotel voucher, two meal vouchers, and a boarding pass for the following afternoon.

At this point it's almost 10 PM and once I had informed my family that I'd be staying overnight in Atlanta and told my supervisor that I wouldn't be at work the next day, I decided to eat at Chili's.  Luckily, Delta put in a pretty nice hotel room, so I got a good night's sleep and headed to the airport around lunchtime the next day to grab lunch and wait on my flight. Once I get to my concourse, I realized that my only three choices for lunch were Sbarro, Cinnabon, or Burger King (unless I wanted a Starbucks baked good for lunch). Burger King was (of course) "out" of their new veggie burgers, so I consulted my points guide and settled for chicken nuggets and fries at Burger King.  I was very relieved to FINALLY get back to Baton Rouge and go grocery shopping for food that I enjoy and that is also healthy for me.

So that was my crazy weekend in a nutshell. If I had to choose some take-away messages from my experience it would be the old mottos "fail to plan and you plan to fail" and "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade (with Splenda)." Planning is SUPER important in weight loss and, in my opinion, crucial to success. However, sometimes circumstances negate your plans and you just have to use your noggin and make smart choices in the moment.

Also, another piece of good news is that I'm FINALLY able to wear my cute new cropped dress pants that I bought for work!  I bought two pairs over 2 months ago when they were on sale and they sadly did not fit at the time. :(  I've been trying them on sporadically just to see and this morning I was able to wear them comfortably! Happy day!

Until next time,
BK

(Late) Snack of the Week: Greek Yogurt!

Hello all!

I owe you a LONG entry about my weekend at home (and subsequent airport troubles) tomorrow when I write my weigh-in entry. Just a teaser: no matter what the scale says tomorrow (weight loss or not), I consider this week a success!

I apologize for not blogging my snack of the week post on Sundays as I usually do, but I was shamelessly enjoying time with my husband and helping him back for his upcoming move. :)  I had a great weekend at home with him and our families.

Today's snack of the week is one that I have newly re-discovered and fallen back in love with: Greek yogurt! My favorite brand is Chobani and I picked up a few different flavors today when I was grocery shopping.

 So far my favorite flavors are Raspberry and Blood Orange. These cups are 4 pointsplus and have thick, creamy Greek yogurt on top with fruit on the bottom to mix in. They have a TON of protein and ZERO fat. This brand also boasts all-natural ingredients. I've always been a fan of all kinds of yogurt, but Greek yogurt has its own special taste in my opinion. It's also thicker and richer.  If you have yet to try it, choose your favorite fruit and pick up a cup of Chobani's!

Also, as promised, here is a picture of me in my size 22/24 dress that I wore on Kyle's graduation day.

I really liked it.  It fit wonderfully!  That's Kyle's sister Gabby, my brother Matt, Kyle and me. It was a pretty awesome day and I'm super proud of Kyle for graduating from his Master's program!

Long entry following my weigh-in tomorrow morning!

Until next time,
BK

A Scale is Just a Scale

Good morning everyone!

It's weigh-in day!

Current weight: 296.1 (still)

That's right, another week of staying the same. I am disappointed, but I'm not discouraged. As you can probably remember, this happened to me two weeks ago and I was a lot more upset then than I am today. Logically, I should have lost weight. I exercised 6 days this week and counted my points as meticulously as always. I haven't done anything "wrong" in my diet, so I honestly can't be upset with myself. Last time I attributed the lack of weight loss to my monthly cycle (which was probably true).  This week that was not the case, but it could be that I'm losing fat, but gaining muscle and therefore not showing a loss. It could also be that my body is just deciding to not let go of any more weight right now because I've already lost almost 12 pounds.  I could speculate all morning, but I'm not going to. Today is the start of a new week and I'm going to keep going on. If this IS a pattern that is emerging with my body, then maybe next week will be a repeat of a high weight loss number (last time it was 3.9 lbs!).  I know I'm making the right decisions for my body and for my health and I won't let the scale get me down this week!

Tomorrow I'm headed home to South Carolina for a long weekend to visit my family and see my sweet husband graduate with his master's degree.  I am very excited to be going home!  It's been over two months since I've been to SC (and since I've seen my mom and brother) and it's been five weeks since I've seen Kyle. I am nervous about how the trip home will affect my weight loss.  I'll be missing all of my exercise classes but one (my Zumba class tonight).  I am taking my work-out clothes home with me in hopes that I can squeeze in some type of activity while I'm away.  In the past, "going home" has meant a sure weight gain because I would decide to not count points and just try to "eat sensibly." Let me just tell you... for ME that is a fallacy.  I need structure or I don't pay attention to the points/calories/fat that I'm putting in my body. Going home also means my mother's (and mother-in-law's) delicious home cooking and going out to eat quite a bit. Luckily, both my mother and mother-in-law know that I'm serious about my weight loss and I'm sure they won't tempt me with their highest calorie recipes!

I'm taking with me my PointsPlus calculator, my Dining Out PointsPlus book, and my Complete Food PointsPlus book.  I'll also be keeping track of the points I eat the same way I always do. I have the tools I need to succeed, it's just up to me to make the right decisions. Overall, I'm going to enjoy myself while I'm at home and I'm going to try my hardest to stay completely on program. If I need to use every single one of my weekly points, then so be it!  That's why they are there!  I keep trying to tell myself that I'm not on a "diet," I'm changing my lifestyle. I need to be able to live with this for the rest of my life and the rest of my life is going to have a lot of my mother's and mother-in-law's cooking and quite a few restaurants!

As always, thank you so much for the encouragement and motivation that you all have been giving me, especially yesterday. I hope that I can be as supportive to you all as you all have been to me!

Until next time,
BK

Trying New Things

Hello all!

It's been an interesting week.  If I had to pick a theme for my week it would be the same as the title of this post: trying new things.  I've been trying new snacks and I've been trying new fitness activities. Most of them turned out well, but some did not. But the point is to try!

On Thursday, I tried a Boot Camp group exercise class.  I was really, really nervous before I went and was scared that it would be too intense for me.  The class was taught by my friend, Stephanie, who also teaches the Zumba classes and Pilates class that I take each week.  I trusted her to push me without pushing me past my limit. It turns out that I absolutely loved Boot Camp!  I did feel like I pushed myself and did things I didn't even think I could do.  Because of my weight and my size, I feel like I tell myself that I "can't" do things.  Before Boot Camp, I told myself "I can't run, I'm too heavy." During the class I realized that I CAN run. It may not be for more than a minute at a time, but I can run nonetheless.  I'll work my way up to running for longer. I told myself I couldn't do lunges or jumping jacks because I have bad knees. I CAN do lunges and jumping jacks. I can't do 100 of them at a time, but I can do enough of them. I told myself I couldn't do pushups because my body was just too heavy, but I CAN.  I know that I can because I tried. Unless your doctor tells you not to do something, then it's worth trying things that you have told yourself you cannot do. You might just surprise yourself!

Today, I tried something else new and I failed at it. I had decided to go try a 30-minute Spin class at one of the local YMCA branches.  I thought "30 minutes, I can probably make it through that." So I went early and met the teacher (super nice!) and got the spin bike all set up to the proper settings and was ready to go. The instructor warned me that first couple of times I did Spin would be painful on my tailbone/sit bones because of the way the seats are designed, but that eventually it would get better as I got used to it. So I practiced a little on the bike before class started and pretty soon we were ready to go.  After a couple of minutes into the class, the pain in my tailbone/sit bones was excruciating and my legs (of course) felt like jello.  I tried to tough it out, but the pain was unbearable, so after just 5 minutes of Spin class, I got off the bike and left.

I was so disappointed in myself and felt really embarrassed to have had to leave a class after only five minutes.  I drove to my usual YMCA branch to finish some type of workout, called Kyle, and cried. I felt really defeated.  Kyle (being the awesome husband that he is) told me that there was no reason to be upset or embarrassed because I had at least tried.  He reiterated that Spin class is really intense and that I could work my way up to it in the future if it is something I really wanted to do. I still felt really bummed, but I felt considerably better after talking to him. I also got a text message pep talk from my Mom who told me pretty much the same thing. So after composing myself, I walked into the gym and got on a standard exercise bike (much easier on my tailbone) and rode for 25 minutes to finish the 30 minutes I would have spent in my spin class.  I pushed myself and got 4.66 miles in those 25 minutes and felt pretty good about it.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still disappointed about my failure in Spin, but I'm proud of myself for trying. I now know that I can't do Spin class....yet.  I plan to revisit it after I get in better shape and take some more of this weight off.

In addition to trying Larabars this week, I also bought a couple of Luna bars to try!  I had one today for a snack and it was delicious.

Luna bars are nutrition bars made for women that are a source of Vitamin D, Folic Acid, Iron, and Calcium, among others. They also have 8 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber to keep you full!  There's a larger list of ingredients with these bars than there are with Larabars, but this bar definitely has its perks. It is 5 points plus per bar (according to the 3 I calculated) and they come in a lot of different flavors. As with Larabars, quite a few of their bars contain tree nuts, but as you can see I found at least 3 flavors without. Today I had the Chocolate Peppermint Stick flavor and it definitely satisfied my sweet craving.  I got these at Whole Foods for $1 a piece (they were on sale!).

So go out and try new things!  Don't be too hard on yourself if you aren't able to do everything, but if you are like me, your body might just surprise you!

Until next time,
BK

Snack of the Week: Larabars

Hello everyone!

It's Sunday! Time for a snack of the week post.  This week's snack is a recommendation I got from Bob Harper on the Biggest Loser as a filling and healthy snack. It's called a Larabar and it's an all-natural fruit and nut bar that is full of yummy ingredients. They are dairy free (all except ones with chocolate chips), soy free, gluten free, and vegan (all except the ones with chocolate chips). They are also kosher!

Here's what the wrappers look like. I bought mine today at Whole Foods for about $1.35 a piece.  You can also order them online (and see all the flavors!) at www.larabar.com.  They come in all different flavors from Cherry Pie to Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Whole Foods had at least 2/3 of the flavors I saw online. I'm in an interesting situation in that I can't eat snacks that have tree nuts in them. My husband and I are both allergic. Our allergies aren't severe (they don't involve anaphylaxis), but our symptoms are still unpleasant enough to avoid them. So anything with almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, or pistachios are off limits to us.  This can be frustrating because a lot of health food companies fill their products with these types of nuts because they are healthy and full of protein.  This is especially true with Kashi. I've wanted to badly to try their cookies and bars and cereals, but every single product I look at has some type of tree nut in the ingredients. Luckily, Larabar has three different flavors without any tree nuts in them: Peanut Butter and Jelly, Peanut Butter Cookie, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.  Whole Foods had the first two flavors, which I snatched up today. Instead of tree nuts, these bars have peanuts in them (peanuts are legumes, not actual nuts, so Kyle and I can eat them without side effects). Also, because so many people have severe peanut allergies, Larabar's company makes the peanut bars in a separate place from the tree nut bars!

So anyway, I found some tree nut-free flavors and decided to give them a try. I ate one of the Peanut Butter and Jelly bars today for an afternoon snack and let me just read you the list of ingredients: dates, peanuts, unsweetened cherries, and sea salt. THAT'S IT! No preservatives, no fillers, no artificial flavors.  I was amazed. When I usually stop for a bar, like a Fiber One bar or a Special K protein bar (both delicious), there's a long list of ingredients to look through.

Granted, they aren't the most appealing to look at, here's the bar unwrapped:

I really enjoyed my snack today!  It wasn't the same as eating a PB& J sandwich, but it definitely had that same flavor, which satisfied my sweet craving.  The bar was also very moist.  Most bars I eat are pretty dry, but not this one. It had almost a cake-y quality to it. As you can see from the picture, the ingredients are apparent: you can SEE the peanut and cherry pieces immediately.

These bars are 6 points plus per bar, which seems like a lot, but they have 6 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber, so they should be nice and filling! I also appreciate the fact that I know EXACTLY what I'm eating with that tiny list of truly all-natural ingredients!  So give a Larabar a try if you want and see if you like them as much as I do!  Snack smart!

Until next time,
BK

Twoterville!

Good morning, everyone!

After last week's frustrated post over not losing any weight, I am happy to be writing an excited post today! This week I lost 3.9 pounds!

Current weight: 296.1

I've reached my first goal of being back in the 200s! My next goal is to get under my "wedding weight," (what I weighed on the day of my wedding) which was 284. So just 12.2 more pounds to go until I reach that goal!  I've always been told by friends and Weight Watcher Leaders (and probably Dr. Oz) that in successful weight loss, it's important to set small goals on the way to your larger goal.  Obviously my large goal is to be my healthy weight (which is around 150), BUT that goal is a long way off.  It will take me quite some time to lose that amount of weight and, in the meantime, I need smaller goals that I can meet and feel successful!

Looking back over the past five weeks of renewed determination in my weight loss, I've lost 11.7 pounds.  That's an average of about 2.3 a week, which is a healthy rate of weight loss and pretty impressive to me!  I know that as I keep losing, I most likely won't sustain a consistent loss of 2.3 per week, but as long as I'm in the negative I will be happy!

It was also a relief this week to cross the hurdle of "having friends in town" and its possible hindrances in weight loss. It can be anxiety-provoking trying to handle eating out and enjoying yourselves while trying to continue a consistent weight loss. Let's face it: sometimes friends can bring out our not-so-healthy eating habits (at least for me). This can be especially true when they are in town for a visit, which can fall under "vacation mode" eating.  Luckily, Sara and Laura are also making healthy choices in their lifestyles and were understanding when I fretted over what to order in restaurants. They also didn't suggest we go to completely unhealthy places where it would have been difficult for me to stay on track.

The next hurdle to cross is the "going home" hurdle. In 8 days, I'm headed back to South Carolina to see my husband Kyle graduate from Clemson with a master's degree!  I'm so excited to see him (it's been over five weeks) and also excited to see my family (it's been over two months)!  However, I'm also nervous about how going home will affect my weight loss. More on that later,though; we'll cross that hurdle when we get to it!

I hope you all have a great week!

Until next time,
BK

A Pretty Amazing Weekend

Hello all!

As promised, I'm finally getting around to writing an entry about this weekend. It was super wonderful in so many ways. My good friend Sara and her friend Laura came down to Baton Rouge to compete in the Rocket Chix triathlon!  Living alone, I LOVE having visitors and it's been months and months since I'd gotten a chance to hang out with Sara. So Sara and Laura came into town Friday afternoon and we headed over to an expo for them to get their free swag for competing in the tri.  Laura was craving Italian so we decided to go eat Italian for dinner.

I LOVE Italian food.  I've always loved pasta. Old Blair would have taken one look at that menu and ordered some type of creamy pasta and eaten the entire bowl of it without thinking twice. Since my weigh-in last week, I've been really vigilant about what I've been eating. As I looked over the menu, panic started to set in. I didn't know what to order!  Pizza was too high in points, Calzones too high, and I just couldn't bring myself to order pasta. I knew this wouldn't be the only time we would be going out during the weekend, so I tried to plan ahead. The pasta looked delicious, but every time I thought about ordering it, I just pictured my scale at home and could not do it. I noticed they had a pretty awesome salad selection that included salads with spinach.

Let me give you a little background about me & salads.  I can probably count on one hand the number of salads I have eaten in my lifetime. The thing about me is that I hate lettuce. I can't stand it, I think it tastes disgusting. I've tried iceberg, romaine, everything. I've tried it at home, in fancy restaurants, with every type of dressing. I just can't do it. About two years ago, someone told me that I should try salads with spinach leaves in place of lettuce.  I really like spinach, so I gave it a try and loved it!  I'm still not the type of girl who eats salads frequently, but it was nice to know I could if I wanted to.

So back to the Italian place. I found a salad with spinach leaves, feta cheese, red onions, dried cranberries, chicken and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. It sure sounded good to me! So I ordered a cup of minestrone and an entree salad.  I was pretty proud of myself: (1) I have NEVER ordered an entree salad in a restaurant and (2) I did it in an Italian restaurant of all places.  It seems silly to people who order salads all the time, but for me it was a big step.  Both the soup and the salad were delicious, by the way! :)

After dinner, we decided to head over to Tutti Frutti for some fro-yo (one of my FAVORITE desserts). I had already planned to get a small serving with fruit as my topping. When we got there, we saw that they had a new soy-based yogurt with no fat and no dairy that was enriched with protein. Since Tutti Frutti allows free samples, we all tried it.  I was skeptical at first. Aside from Boca burgers and edamame, I don't really like soy products. I'm not a fan of soy milk or soy chicken. But I'm here to tell you, that soy yogurt was delicious!  Absolutely delicious. It tasted like the most creamy of all vanilla yogurts. All three of us ordered it!  I highly recommend at least sampling it if you are a fan of fro-yo!

The next morning, I headed off the Zumba and the ladies headed off to compete in the tri. After Zumba I went and met them for the awards ceremony. They each finished in about 1 hour 15 minutes, which I thought was phenomenal. I was so inspired by the work they had done and watching people accomplish this goal that they had set for themselves. I had already told Kyle that as soon as he moves down, we're going to start training for a 5K. I am even more excited about that goal now! I'm ready to push my body and to finish something that I never would have dreamed I'd be able to do.  I plan to do quite a few 5Ks over the next few years. :)  Thank you Sara and Laura for inspiring me even more!

Aside from the quality girl time (with a matinee of Magic Mike), the other awesome thing about my weekend was that I found a dress for Kyle's graduation next Friday. I've been looking for a dress to wear to that event for weeks and have been unhappy with every single dress I tried on. I found one at Lane Bryant (for $30) and it is a size 22/24!  I'm still a size 26 in pants/shorts and the dress I bought was very flowy and has an elastic top, but it has been a while since I bought a dress that wasn't 26/28 (aside from my magical corset back wedding dress which was a size 22). I'm pretty excited about it.  After Kyle's graduation, I'll try to remember to post a picture on here. :)

I am very nervous about my weigh-in this week.  We did eat out twice this weekend (I counted points both times) and I was only able to make it to 3 hours of exercise instead of 5. My pilates class was cancelled and I missed my Friday night Zumba class to spend time with Sara and Laura. BUT I still attended two Zumba classes and swam a mile today. I think I'm just apprehensive because of my weigh-in last week. As always, you can expect an entry on Wednesday letting you know how I did! Here's hoping that I see a number in the 200s!

Until next time,
BK

Snack of the Week: Special K Cracker Chips

Hello all!

It's Sunday and it's time for the Snack of the Week Post!  I plan to write a longer blog entry later tonight because it's been a pretty awesome weekend.  But for now, here's my favorite snack this week.

I love to snack and I love crunchy, salty treats. However, I do NOT like the calories/fat in traditional potato chips (though I do occasionally indulge and spend the points on the real thing).  These chips come in a variety of flavors including Sea Salt, Cheddar, Southwest Ranch, and Sour Cream & Onion.  So far, my favorite is Sour Cream & Onion, but I haven't tried a flavor I haven't liked.  My FAVORITE thing about this snack is that the portion size is great!  You get 27 chips per serving (which is 3 pointsplus).  That's awesome for a salty snack! Here's a picture of what the portion size looks like.

I'm pretty sure I don't even get that many chips in an individual sized bag of REGULAR potato chips and they are double the points!  I will warn you, unless you like the "popped" style of chips, you may not like these. I know a few friends who do not care for these. If you want it to taste just like potato chips, you will be disappointed. If you want a crunchy, salty, and satisfying snack that lives up to its name of a "cracker" chip, then I think you'll enjoy this snack as much as I do.  Snack healthy! :)

Until next time,
BK

"Momma said there'd be days like this."

Good morning y'all!

It's weigh-in day and I come to you with a frustrated post. I have not lost or gained any weight since last week.

Current weight: 300.0 (still)

Not only did I not lose ANY weight at all, I'm still not under 300, which is a milestone I was looking forward to passing today. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I was really disappointed and frustrated when I saw that number. I feel like I haven't done anything wrong this week. I counted my points, I didn't use ANY of my activity points (as always), I didn't eat all of my weekly points, and I exercised a total of 6 hours this week. So why no weight loss?

I've been troubleshooting since I weighed in this morning and here are two reasons that might explain why my weight hasn't changed.
(1) It could be residual bloating/water retention from my monthly cycle which just ended.
(2) Because I'm exercising more than I ever have, I might have gained more muscle than I lost weight this week, which might be why it seems that my weight has stayed the same.

Those are the only two reasons I can come up with! But who knows, from losing weight in the past I have come to know that when you have a few good weeks in a row (like 7.8 lbs in 3 weeks) sometimes your body just does not want to let go of any more weight right yet. What I also have come to find is that I could be set up for a good weight loss next week, if I continue what I've been doing.

I may be frustrated, but I'm not going to give up. Weight loss is hard. If it were easy, then obesity would not be as big a problem as it is in America today. Today is the first day of a new week and I'm going into this week with the same determination (if not more) than I had before. Zumba is tonight and I'm going to go and dance my butt off and try to shed some calories.

This week presents with another challenge also. My dear, dear friend Sara is coming into town to visit this weekend (she's doing a mini-triathalon! she's awesome). I have not seen Sara since my wedding in December and I've missed her terribly. Of course, since she's coming to Baton Rouge for the first time, I'm taking her to my two favorite restaurants. I've already begun planning what I'll be ordering during both meals so that temptation does not get the best of me. I'm nervous about not losing (or even gaining) weight in the next week, but I'm going to make the smartest decisions possible nutrition-wise and keep exercising at least 4-5 hours this week.

In the mean time, I'll be soldiering on. I honestly can't be too upset. I'm making healthy choices for my body and I have begun to tell a difference in the way some of my clothes are fitting. I bought a skirt on sale about a month ago that "fit" but was pretty snug when I bought it. Yesterday, I wore it to work for the first time and it fit very well! Weight loss or no weight loss, I'm making healthy decisions and not giving up and I can't be anything but proud of myself for that.

Until next time,
BK

Snack of the Week: Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches!

Hello all! 

It's Sunday, which means it's Snack of the Week Day!  Before I go into what this week's snack is, I will say that I have found some new plus size work-out clothes!  Online and in-store at Lane Bryant (a different and better branch than the one I visited a few weeks ago).  I look good and feel confident when I'm exercising now. Not to mention I'm cooler because I bought pants/shirts with sweat wicking technology, so they are thin and stay dry during my workout!

Forgive my cluttered bathroom sink in my guest bath, but here I am in my new workout clothes ready for my Zumba class! (And almost 8 lbs lighter, which just makes me giddy).

So this week's snack is a life-saver for me because I have an epic sweet tooth. It's Skinny Cow brand ice cream sandwiches, which you can buy at any grocery store.

My "current" flavor is Strawberry Shortcake, which is delicious, but they come in all kinds of flavors. I've tried Peanut Butter/Chocolate (also delicious) and Chocolate Mint (might be my fave). They also have plain Chocolate/Vanilla types and Cookies & Cream flavor.  These delicious treats are only 4 points plus, which to me is a guilt-free dessert.  Also, they are a great size!

As you can see, the ice cream sandwich is the same size as the palm of my hand. So well worth the 4 points plus (in my opinion)!

So if you LOVE eating ice cream treats in the summer and you have an insatiable sweet tooth like I do, don't deprive yourself this summer!  Try these treats to get your ice cream fix.  Snack smart!

Until next time,
BK