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