What's In Your Cup?

Today I'm posting something I read on CONNECT that I loved.

I don't know who actually authored it but I thought it was a nice way to be mindful about what we're putting out into the world and what we're filling our own hearts with.

"You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you, making you spill your coffee everywhere.

Why did you spill the coffee?

You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.

Had there been tea in the cup, you would've spilled tea.

The point is that whatever is inside the cup, is what will spill out.

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you(which will happen), whatever is inside you will come out.

It's easy to fake it,... until you get rattled.

So, we have to ask ourselves, "What's in my cup?"

When life gets tough, what spills out?

Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility?

Or does anger, bitterness, peace, harsh words and reactions come out?

You choose!

Today let's work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, kindness, gentleness and love for others."


Now that's my kinda cup ;)

Blessings,

~Carrie

Weight Watcher Friendly Websites

I recently had a meeting member friend, Joyce, ask me about which websites I use.

I did a post about this a while back which you can find here.

In addition I'm going to add one I hadn't before.

That website is dailydoseofpepper.

I have the most familiarity with the recipes on skinnytaste and, in truth, I think they taste the best.

I'm also a sucker for packaging and her pictures are mouth-wateringly perfect.

Also keep in mind that many of the authors of these websites have cookbooks that you can buy or check out at your local library.

If they offer ebooks those would be even cheaper.

Sometimes we just get in a rut and need new inspiration to keep things fresh.

Check out these websites and I think it'll help you answer that age old question, "What's for dinner?".

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

This is another recipe I've been seeing all over CONNECT.  This is yet another reason to start using CONNECT if you haven't already.

This recipe is easy peasy and only 1 pt for the whole batch!

So here it is...

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Kodiack Power Cakes

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

Instructions

Mix all of your ingredients together.  Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and turn the burner onto medium to medium high heat.  

Like you do with regular pancakes, watch them closely and turn them when bubbles start to rise to the top the the edges are firm enough to flip.

And, below is what happens when you're tired and you try to make the pancake too big, you attempt to flip it and it flops.... all over the pan.  Ugg...

This is just when you roll your eyes and laugh at yourself.  ;)

You could make 3 smaller sized pancakes.  I made one smaller and one too big sized pancake that, as previously stated, just made a big mess.  So my recommendation is to go for 3 small pancakes.

These turned out fantastic!  I thought this had a much more authentic pancake texture and flavor in comparison to the banana and egg pancakes that I previously posted.  

I will definitely make these again and highly suggest you try them for yourself!

Happy Cooking!

Chicken & Spinach Alfredo Bubble Up Casserole

Look!  Drippy Cheese! :)

I joined a CONNECT group that does different challenges each week.  This past week was a recipe swap.  We posted our favorite go-to recipes each day.  One of my friends posted a Ranch Bubble Up Casserole that looked good but since I don't like ranch flavor I changed things.

I have made a enchilada bubble up recipe from emilybites that was very good.  I also posted that one on my blog.  You can find it here.  

Today I was craving something creamy.  I looked through my fridge and freezer to see what I had and this is what I came up with.  

Ingredients

16 oz of frozen spinach

1 (15 oz) jar of Classico Light Asiago Romano Alfredo sauce(or other preferred light brand Alfredo)

1 (7.5 oz) can of buttermilk biscuits(I used Wal-Mart's Great Value brand)

1 (12.5 oz) can of chicken chunks

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 cup part skim mozzarella

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Spray a 9 x 13 inch Pyrex dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Thaw your spinach and then, using your hands, wring out the excess water.

Mix together the spinach, Alfredo, broth, chicken, garlic powder, salt & pepper in a large bowl.

Cut each biscuit into four pieces and then gently toss with the mix to coat.

Place mix into your casserole dish and spread it out evenly.  

Bake for 25 minutes.  

Take it out of the oven and top it with the mozzarella cheese.  

Place back in the oven and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted to your liking.

This serves 6 and comes out to 8 pts per serving.

This was delicious!  

The only downside for me is that it wasn't all that filling.  

So, word to the wise, eat a salad, a fruit and/or another vegetable with this.  

It just takes a lot to make this hungry girl feel full.  I could've easily eaten 3 servings.

It's definitely worth making again but next time I'll be more prepared with other sides.  

Happy Cooking!!!

Wendy's Large Cup of Chili. It's What's For Lunch!

Just a quick post today.

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE our WW weekly meetings?

I do!

The topic this past week was dining out.  One of the members shared that one of her go-to meals when she was out and needed something was Wendy's large cup of chili.

It's only 4 pts!!!

So today, for just over $2, I made this my lunch.

And it was delicious!!!

It's cold outside and there's nothing like a warm bowl of chili to warm you up from the inside out.

So if you're on the go with no time to meal prep or cook you might consider this option.

Happy Munching!

The Heavy Burden of Shame

Recently I was talking with a friend about why I choose to do Weight Watchers and why I will always choose it.  

I remember the very first meeting I went to.  I felt so incredibly vulnerable, so afraid this was just going to be another thing I failed at.  

But what I found is that the leader and the members were incredibly kind and real.  They didn't judge me because they understood, they'd been there.  

And what I found is that one of the most powerful tools was speaking my truth.  

I carried so much shame about what I ate and how I looked.  It was awful.

But when I could sit in a meeting and admit that I'd eaten a whole pizza or a whole bag of chips, instead of hiding and feeling bad about myself, it was liberating.

What I found were nodding heads and gentle and encouraging smiles.  

And that was one of the best feelings in the whole world!

I felt so free when I left the meeting.  I cried in my car on the way home because I knew I'd found my home and my people.  

And that's why I keep going.  

It doesn't mean that I'm over making those kinds of mistakes anymore but it does mean I won't hold on to the shame.  

I'll tell my friends and release it.  

Do you remember my mentioning that I was saving my points up to have our annual Valentine's Day heart cake?

Well, I did save them.  The roads were icy so I couldn't rush the leftover cake to someone else and it sat here at my house.

And,... I ate HALF of the whole cake.  

And, I tracked it.  

And, the best part of all is that what I found is that the more I do this the less time I spend sitting in the shame.  

I move forward more quickly because this is the muscle I've been building.  

Through consistent practice over a long period of time I keep trying and practicing and little by little it's getting easier.  

Things like this may always happen for me but the game changer is how I will choose to respond to these events.  

And I choose to get back up.  

I choose not to sit in shame and let it swallow me up.

I choose me.

And I most sincerely hope that today and everyday ...

You choose you.

Because you're worth it, always have been and always will be.

~Carrie

Dining Out At Qdoba

Today I unfortunately woke up at 4:30 am, not even one hour before I normally get up.

While I should've just gotten out of bed I ended up falling back asleep, which only made me sleepier.  Ugg!  

Anyway, I have felt exhausted today.  I certainly didn't have the energy to cook or meal plan.

Even though I really, really didn't want to work out today, I did it anyway and even though I wanted to order whatever I felt like I didn't want to sabotage my hard work.

So I pulled out my handy dandy WW's app and looked up a few restaurants.  I have a few I've gone to over and over and have enjoyed success with that but I wanted to go somewhere that was new to me.

I had only been to Qdoba once years ago when it opened.  I wasn't on WW then but I had seen several people on CONNECT post about enjoying Qdoba for very few points.

My fellow meeting member and friend, Teresa, also mentioned that it was one of her favorites so I knew I had to try it.  

I met my mom for lunch and it was lovely.  I asked for a bowl of lettuce(0 pts) with black beans(0 pts), fajita vegetables(1 pt), part pico de gallo and part corn salsa(both 0 pts) and the grilled chicken(4 pts).   

I skipped the cheese and chips because I'd already read that those are point bombs.  Fortunately I don't really like sour cream or guacamole so I didn't have to worry about missing out there either.

This was delicious and fresh and I love that you get to have some control over what goes on your plate or in your bowl.  It's made to order.

Of course afterwards I was further reading through the app and realized that the shrimp is 0 pts.  Just be careful not to order the shrimp salad which is 23 pts!!!

I'm excited that I ventured out to try something new today.  I really loved that I didn't have to feel guilty about what I ate and that it didn't eat into my daily or weekly points as some restaurants might.

You see, I'm saving my points up for tomorrow when my son and I make our annual heart shaped cake to celebrate Valentine's Day.  

There's no way I'm going to miss that!  And, my son is even more excited this year than ever.  

So, consider Qdoba's as a possible stop if you don't feel like cooking tonight.  

I think you'll be glad  you did.

Do You See What I See?

Do you see what I see?

I was unloading my dishwasher today and I noticed a pattern.

Can you see it?

There are three times as many small plates as there are large plates.

What you probably can't see is that there are a multitude of regular sized teaspoons and only three large, tablespoon sized spoons.

Pre-WW I always ate off of large plates and I used the large spoons because I was only concerned with getting as much as I could as fast as I could.

I know we've all heard or read about the idea of using smaller plates and utensils but this really is quite significant.  

This was another one of my favorite parts of reading Mindless Eating:  Why We Eat More Than We Think.

Studies have been done to show that we do in fact eat a whole lot more if the container we're eating out of is large.  

That's why buying a big, family sized bag of chips is dangerous.  

If you buy and individual bag at least you'll be limited to one serving instead of ten or so.  

The positive here is that this one small change can be really significant.  

You may not see it all at once but gradually you'll notice your waistline slimming down because over the course of a full year the calorie reduction would still be significant if you changed nothing else.

I'm still amazed when I go antiquing and look at all the old glasses and dinnerware.  

They're so, so much smaller.  They're quite beautiful but they're also significantly smaller.

Most of them would really only hold one serving size.  Nowadays we'd look at that as a rip off.

But in reality that's all our bodies need.

The dinnerware got bigger and so did our waistlines.

The good news is that we can choose to make the dinnerware smaller again and so our dress size can once again normalize.  

It's really about taking our power back and not being manipulated by the food and restaurant industries.

In competition with each other over the years they've progressively increased the amount of food they give us with all-you-can-eat specials.

They've genetically and chemically enhanced our food to look pretty and to be addictive.

As we become conscious of what and how we eat we can get back to a more health-centered and loving way of eating real food.

It's something I'm still working on.

But it's worth it.

I'm worth it.

And so are you!

Morning Star Chipotle Bean Crumbles

This is a new product I saw when I was shopping at Wal-Mart the other day.

The main reason I bought it was because when I scanned it it came out to 1 pt per 1/2 cup serving!

I cooked this according to package directions on the stove top and then made tacos with it.

Overall I thought the taste was good, not great, but it was good.  It certainly is nice to have around when you're low on points and low on energy to cook something from scratch.  

I would definitely give this a try if you haven't already.  

Low Point Cookies!

I've seen these on CONNECT and I've seen them on Pinterest and a myriad of other sites.  

Today I finally decided to try them, in part because I had three very ripe bananas I needed to use up. ;)

There are a few variations on this recipe.  One of the big differences I saw is in the oats.  

Some people say you have to use the old fashioned oats while others say quick oats.  I used the old fashioned ones because I read they're more chewy and have a better texture.  

After reviewing several recipes this is the one I put together~

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 serving Lily's brand, stevia sweetened dark chocolate chips(I bought these on Amazon.  They're a pricey but low point goodness!)

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Mash up the bananas.  You can use your clean hands or a potato masher or fork, whatever works best for you.

Now add in the 2 cups of old fashioned oats, cinnamon and vanilla and mix well.

Finally, throw in your chocolate chips and mix well.  

Now refrigerate the dough in a covered bowl in the fridge for at least one hour.

About 10 minutes before you're ready to start baking them preheat your oven to 350 F.

Use a silicone mat lined baking sheet(or foil sprayed with cooking spray) and use your hands to mold 12 cookies.

These won't spread when you cook them like normal cookies would so you need to sort of form them into cookie shapes by using your palm to flatten them out a bit.  

Bake them for 10-12 minutes.  

Let them cool completely and enjoy!

When I ran this through the points calculator it came out to 1 pt per cookie!

The taste?

I thought these were good, not great, but good.

Sadly, even though I didn't love them I ended up eating too many.  I'm like that with cookies, chips and so forth.  

If they're around I'll want to eat a gob of them!

So, if you have this problem too, don't forget to have a strategy in place.  

Are you going to freeze the extras or give them away?  Come up with a plan for success.  

These are a nice alternative to satisfy a craving for something sweet.

If I'm having a hard core cookie craving these won't cut it but if it's something more mild then I will definitely make these.

It also helps knowing that they're really pretty healthy and how many cookies can you say that about anyway?

Happy Cooking!!!

Great Weight Loss Tips

Today I'm linking another great Myfitnesspal article.

This is 67 Science-Backed Weight Loss Strategies.

You can find it here. 

It's a nice comprehensive review.  There may not be a lot of new info but I find it's nice to re-read this type of thing because it helps to boost my motivation.

Our bodies really are capable of amazing things!

Happy Tuesday!

Staying the Course

When I first started WW's Freestyle program I had two weeks in a row of losses.

They weren't large but they were still losses.  Keep in mind I was finally really tracking everything.

This has taken me MONTHS to do.  It was one of those situations in which I kept saying "NOW, I'm going to get back on track and I'm going to track everyday!".

But I didn't.

It will forever be a mystery to me why, when I was losing, it wasn't even a thought in my mind to NOT track and after I made Lifetime I couldn't seem to get myself to track anything.

This is why we see "No finish line!" mantras splattered all over CONNECT.  I suppose if I sorted the mystery of maintenance out I'd be a gagillionaire.  I had always heard maintaining was harder than losing but I couldn't wrap my brain around it.  It seemed so illogical but if you think about it, the losing phase has definite advantages; constant awards for losses of 5 lbs or more, 5% loss, 10% loss and don't forget the thrill of seeing that number on the scale go down every time.

What then do you do when you finally make your goal?  All I can say to answer that question is that you keep doing what you've been doing but you work hard to find motivation because when the shiny wears off the real work begins.  I don't think we talk about this enough in our society but we should be.

So, back to my own story.  Last week was the third solid, consecutive week that I really, honestly tracked everything and even got in more exercise than usual.

And, when I went to the scale, I had GAINED 2 lbs.

I would love to tell you that I'm beyond letting the scale rattle me these days but that would be a lie.

I think the real problem is that it had taken me so very long to really and truly get back on track that I felt I deserved a win.  I had worked hard for it after all and if I looked back on my history with WW it was absolutely clear that when I track, exercise and stay within my points, I lose.

Not this time.

And that was so hard for me mentally.  My head was filled with colossal fears that what used to work no longer worked, that I was once again stuck and no matter how much effort I put in I wouldn't lose.

They're all consuming, horrible fears.

At this point it would've been really easy for me to throw in the towel and say "I give up".

But I haven't.  I understand that this is for life and I've been really holding tight to my Why's.

I don't know if I'll have lost this week but I do know I've done the work.

This weekend I've even looked back on my tracker to 2016 when I was at goal.

Unfortunately it wasn't much help because the truth is that I'm not eating any differently than I was before.  The only difference is the new, freestyle plan.  I think it's possible that not portioning all the "free" foods has caused me to gain.  And so I made a conscious decision to change things up.

I decided if I had free food to make sure and portion it.  In addition, this weekend I made turkey tacos and I purposely used 90% lean ground turkey instead of the "free" 98% lean turkey.

The truth is I like the taste way better and counting the points feels safe to me at this time.

We'll see how it all turns out on Tuesday but for now...

I'm staying the course.

And ultimately the real difference between success in maintenance and not is doing just that.