What Works For Me

The hubby and I celebrated our sixth anniversary this past weekend. We had a great weekend, and we headed to Atlanta on Monday morning to spend the night to do the zoo and the aquarium. While fun, it was two of the most exhausting days we've had in a while. The children are recovering still. I will share pics from the trip in a few days because I think I am still recovering as well.

We FINALLY went on a date night since having Tucker. Let me tell you, having the third child throws a wrench into babysitting! Now, we are back to a normal schedule, so it should be easier. I made the hubs take a picture with me before we left to celebrate the momentous occasion.

I have been doing Weight Watchers for the past few months, and I have had more than a few people ask me about it. It works for me because I like a plan, some ideas on what to eat, and exactly how to do something - that's how I operate best.

I have about 10 more pounds to lose, and I have fallen off the wagon a bit in the last 2 weeks with travel and such. I am getting back on it now :) Here's to losing that last 10 pounds!

The hardest part about doing WW is the planning. WW works best for me when I plan out exactly what I am going to eat each day. I try to do it for several days so that I don't have to think about it every single day. Thank goodness for Pinterest. I created a board to keep a bunch of my WW recipes in one place. Here is the link. I have eaten oatmeal for breakfast almost every morning. One half cup of dry oatmeal, one half cup almond milk, one half cup water, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, and 1 Tbsp maple syrup with a little cinnamon equals 6 points plus. I like to add the chia seeds, as well. The reason I do oatmeal is that it keeps me full until lunch and I know the points without having to search for anything.

I plan lunch according to what I am cooking for dinner. Sometimes it is a wrap made with those high fiber 1 point wraps with turkey and veggies, sometimes it is a WW frozen meal, etc. It depends on the day. What has helped the most was planning dinners. The first month I was back doing WW online I created that Pinterest board and sat down one night to put together meals. I have a sheet that looks sort of like this:

 

 

I hope this isn't too hard to decipher. I picked a main dish, a side or two, and made sure to list the point values. I get 26 points per day with my plan. I stick to them during the day, so I really don't worry about adding a handful of chips, an extra tsp of mayo, etc to a meal because I have 49 extra points during the week to use whenever I want. I love that WW has a recipe builder tool, and I use that to figure point values for things that I don't know the points. For instance, the portions that I have on the Spanish/Mexican rice above are 2 pp per serving because of how I divide the servings.

 

Jason and the kids eat the same things I do, so it makes cooking really easy. There are nights that the kiddos might get a grilled cheese or something else, but that is getting more and more rare. I use a handful of sites (besides Pinterest) to search for recipes. The most common ones are Emily Bites, Skinnytaste, and Laaloosh.

 

Also, a few weeks ago I joined the local YMCA. I did this for a few reasons. One was that I really want to get into shape. I want to feel good about the body that I live in, and I would love to feel great in my clothes. The other is that the kiddos are out for summer. The Y has a childcare program included in its fees. Y'all, I am being serious when I say that it sounds great to drop my children off for an hour or two of free time. If that means I have to work out in order to get some time to myself while the boys burn some energy, then I guess it's a win-win for all.

 

I hope this helps. I am excited to try some new recipes this next month, and I will let you guys know whether they are worth it or not. I have had some flops, but I have flops in cooking anyway, so I don't get discouraged when a WW recipe turns out to be something that I won't fix again. 

 

Let me know if you have any yummy WW recipes that you love!