My mom just texted me that she's heading to noodles and co (we have never had one in this state) and she wanted to buy me lunch.
So, I skipped breakfast and I'm keeping my lunch here in order to have this 230 calorie bowl of soup instead of my breakfast and lunch which would have totaled 289.

Today's plan is on the low side. I had a disgustingly high day at 1400 calories yesterday. I had super, super low calories all day (including my awful, boring dinner of basically iceberg lettuce at a restaurant), then my daughter ordered a kid's size 1-scoop mocha mud pie ice cream sundae. I just had to take a bite of that ice cream! I counted it as 200 calories, but who really knows.

Anyway, because my dinner was so paltry, I was still hungry...then my boyfriend came home with crab rangoon and Chinese buffalo wings (seriously the best thing ever in the world). 2 rangoons and 2 wings crossed these lips. I'm really going to have to get used to having him around, with his snacks and fried foods!

Today I'm starting fresh and making up for yesterday.

March 26, 2014
B: Hot tea w/lemon and agave (30) = 30 (.5)
S: None = 0
L: Thai curry soup (230) = 230 (5)
S: Baby carrots/cherry tomato (50) w/ light ranch (80) = 130 (2)
D: 2 quinoa/spinach patty (236) with picamayo (35), 1 cup green beans (35) = 306 (6)
S: None = 0
TOTAL: 696 (13.5)

Munchy the Thai curry soup sounds good -- it's cold and rainy today, some nice warm soup would be nice! Have a recipe you can point us to?

This one was from noodles & co and was so not worth skipping my delicious soups for!

I have been looking at this one for so long because the reviews are very high, but never seem to make it:
Coconut Curry Chicken Soup

Hi all! Munchy steered me to this thread and after reading 1/2 way through all of the posts, I am SO grateful that she did. Will read the other 1/2 tomorrow and subscribing to it. Thanks, Munchy!

I am combining Intermittent Eating and Weight Watchers. I can see from reading all of your posts that the Volumetrics recipe ideas can really help me.

I am following the WW plan to learn a more balanced way of eating. I am an intermittent eater which means, for me, that I only eat one meal a day. I do this as it is better for my particular digestion and I am usually not hungry until after 4p. If I get hungry earlier, of course I do eat. Now integrating the Volumetrics theory into my woe will better enable me to follow the other two more effectively as well as maintain a healthy lifestyle.

I too am a soup-lover. Oh, your ideas Munchy and Larry are so great. I have always added extra vegetables wherever I could, especially greens, to add nutritional value. As a family, we were lacto-uovo-pesco vegetarian for 3 years. So, I am well-versed in veg, but didn't even think of it bulking things up! Meal planning will be done a bit differently from now on.

Oh, the carrot/peanut soup sounds good and reminded me of the W. African Peanut soup that I make. Totally different taste, but the idea of pairing carrots and peanuts struck me deliciously. I am very much into Food Anthropology, so that works itself into my meals to make them more interesting. I'm from New England, live in Seattle and have worked my way into kitchens of home cooks and restaurants around the world. My husband is from USVI and NYC and we travel together whenever we can, so food diversity is paramount to us. We do like the heat in our food and have an abundance of hot sauces in our fridge. I'm going to have to dig through my recipes (I'm also the Seattle Budget Meals Examiner) to see what I can share that is appropriate for this thread. Below are two of my fave soup recipes:

Zucchini Squash Soup (learned this in Peru when I was on an Archeological dig)
Escarole and green olive soup with ditalini (Zuppa di scarola con ditalini) (Ate this a lot when I lived in Italy)

Tonight: Asian-style veg & pork saute with an emphasis on the veg. Rice noodles for the fam and Shirataki noodles for me.

ladynredd - Next time you need a dessert try one of these that I found while searching on the web:

LOW CALORIE STRAWBERRY CHIFFON DESSERT

1 (4 serving) envelope low-calorie strawberry gelatin
1 c. boiling water
1 pt. strawberries, hulled and crushed
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. low-calorie whipped topping

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in strawberries and lemon juice.
Chill until slightly thickened. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon into individual dessert dishes.
Chill until set, about 2 hours. 6 servings. 44 calories per serving.

-------------------------------------

Instant Sorbet

Servings: 2

Ingredients:
1 can Peaches, juice packed

Directions:
Take a can of juice-packed peaches or pineapple. Freeze it for several hours. (That's right, just put the can in the freezer!) Open and dump frozen contents into food processor with metal chopping blade in place or into a blender. Process until desired consistency. Enjoy!

This is a frozen dessert, that, with a little pre-planning, is practically instant. You can also do this with frozen bananas. I find this is a good way to use them this time of year when they get over-ripe so quickly. Freeze them w/o the peels in "zip-lock" type bags - peeling them when frozen can give you frostbite! They end up very creamy--like very rich ice cream...but with no added fat,sugar, etc. This is actually quite good and extremely easy!!

Munchy - What is the difference between Chinese Buffalo Wings and regular Buffalo Wings? My former wife is Chinese and I do not remember her making them. I sometimes make Buffalo Chicken Legs, They have a lot less fat and I remove the skin before cooking them. The Thai curry soup sounds great, I love curry especially Asian curry. Five years living in Japan got me hooked on Asian curry but the real stuff is hard to find in Florida. That Coconut Curry Chicken Soup looks great. A two cup serving size is decent.

archychick - Welcome to our thread! Both of those soups sound great. I can taste in my mind what the Escarole and green olive soup with ditalini would be like and I am sure that I would really like it. The problem is that due to cardiac bypass surgery, I need to limit my sodium intake. I know I can get no salt chicken stock by making it myself. I will have to look around the web to see if anyone sells low sodium green olives.

I have not been posting a lot recently because I have been working hard on my vegetable garden. I built a new 4 foot wide by 8 foot long by 2 feet high raised bed. It is a combination of hugelkultur http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/ and Square Foot Gardening. I also built a fence to keep the critters out and I made it big enough for another 4 X 8 raised bed that I want to add in the future I also make five gallon self watering containers. so far I have planted Radishes, Yellow Onions, Bibb Lettuce, Leaf Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, Beets, Cilantro, Eggplant, Georgia Collards, Green Beans, Wax Beans, Jalapeno Peppers, Big Jim Peppers, Cubanelle Peppers, Grape Tomatoes and Slicing Tomatoes.

I weighed today and I have lost another 2 pounds.

archychick I'm so glad it's a helpful thread for you. I think making vegetables the bulk of any of our meals is the best way to eat, especially when trying to lose weight, save money, or feed a family.

The carrot/peanut soup is a very simple way to get that North African flavor. It's worth a try - we love it.

The squash soup recipe is exactly how I use my zucchini when I have too many or they're going to go bad. It's a freezer-friendly soup and ends up being under 50 calories/cup.

Larry I am highly doubtful that these wings have any kind of authenticity, but they're so delicious. They are obviously made with sriracha and something else, but I just can't place it. They're not too spicy and have a certain sweetness to them. Nobody ever thinks to order buffalo wings from Chinese takeout but my boyfriend who wants to eat wings everyday. I never even liked them much until last year!

I'm still going strong. I have my busy Thursday, so likely I'll have a banana in the midst of my evening and eat a late dinner made with the boneless skinless chicken thighs I thawed. Weigh in is tomorrow morning. I'm praying for at least a pound. I haven't been out of the 120's since before my daughter was born!

I'm really excited to implement a bunch of things that I learned, mostly here, that I learned yesterday. I nearly jumped out of bed. lol

Larry: Congrats on your loss!

I don't know how low sodium they are, but I love Trader Joe's Worlds Largest Olives as they taste much less salty than other olives and are much meatier. They are 230 mg per/2 olives (they're huge). Sodium is something that we all need to consider, so I'm glad that you brought that up. I will keep this in mind when posting.

I love to garden and belong to a community garden as I live in an apartment. I am a terrible gardener, but try every year. lol I love this hugelkultur idea! Please post a pic when you finish building it.

Munchy: I am definitely going to make your carrot/peanut soup. I've put it on the menu for next week. Sending all the best vibes for you to exit the 120s tomorrow!

I made pumpkin pie pudding for my DW. Wow!! it sure is good. It tastes like pumpkin pie and it is only 55 calories per serving. Adding Pumpkin makes this a Volumetrics recipe in my opinion.

http://www.food.com/recipe/pumpkin-pie-pudding-119192

Another 1.6 lbs. gone!

Ended yesterday at 769. Weigh in this morning and I didn't lose a single ounce. I think I need a new battery for my scale because my jeans are a little looser and I can see a bit of loss.

I'm joining a new gym tomorrow that opens at 4am, so now that my boyfriend is living with us, I can head there in the morning before he goes to work instead of scrambling after work to rush through a workout (and often missing them) to pick up my daughter in time.

Hopefully something will happen soon. I'm getting discouraged. It's been close to 5 years around the same weight. I am so so annoyed.

ladynredd yay!!

larry that pumpkin pie pudding sounds delicious. I never make sweets because I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I'm always looking for things to serve my little one. I'm actually purposely trying to add fruit and sweet things into my diet now!

archychick did you end up making the carrot/peanut soup?

I'm over my frustration from last Friday. I went ahead and purchased a new scale battery and joined another gym. With my morning workouts, I'm trying to follow what worked back when I lost my pregnancy weight. At the very least I was 5lbs less then, so something worked. I'm tracking my old ww points and also my calories and eating more during the day instead of just soups all of the time. Here goes!

March 31, 2014
B: Hot tea w/lemon and agave (30), 2 egg white omelette muffins (180) = 210 (2.5)
S: Tangerine (47) = 47 (1)
L: Mesclun/arugula/cucumber salad with 2oz chicken, (80), 1T sunflower seeds (47), 2T light champagne vin (60) = 187 (4)
S: Baby carrots/cherry tomato (50) w/ light ranch (80) = 130 (2)
D: Corn tortilla quesadilla (80), 2oz chicken (70), ½ cup 2% cheese (160) 2T light sour cream (40), salsa (10), mushroom, jalapeno, cilantro (35) = 395 (8)
S: 1 square dark chocolate (20) = 20 (.5)
TOTAL: 990 (18)

Everything is coming together for me finally. I don't feel that I am dieting as I really am not. I know that I can easily continue this lifestyle comfortably as I am not craving anything and it has now become routine. I feel really great. The Volumetrics idea is a key part I think.

ladynredd: Whoo hoo! Nice work!

Munchy: I had to put it off to next week as they didn't have any carrots in the produce section! Yes, they were re-organizing and I was in a hurry that day. My husband is itching for me to make it. Instead I made a Chilled Green Gazpacho. It has a little bread in it, but not a devastating amount.

Sending you the best success vibes from the Universe! ------------>

Larry: That pumpkin pie pudding sounds de-lish and looks easy! I'm going to use that idea of adding fruit/veg to low fat pudding to bulk it up.

Oops - double post!

Thank you!!!

I've been counting my old ww points and ending up at exactly 18pts. I refused to let myself make soup this past weekend so I made a list of a few 4pt (approx 200 calorie) lunches that could be frozen: stuffed peppers and quinoa "meat"balls with chipotle sauce. Since we roasted a chicken on Sunday, I've been using the leftovers in salads for lunch and even in a quesadilla for dinner last night.

I haven't gotten my new scale batteries in the mail yet, but I've been feeling pretty good. I'm on a mission. Eating more during the day has given me less stomach discomfort!

Tomorrow will be my first 4:45am gym trip. New gyms always give me major anxiety, so I've been putting it off

Today's plan is:
April 1, 2014
B: Hot tea w/lemon and agave (30), 2 egg white omelette muffins (180) = 210 (2.5)
S: Tangerine (47) = 47 (1)
L: Mesclun/arugula/cucumber salad with 2oz chicken, (80), 1T sunflower seeds (47), 2T light champagne vin (60) = 187 (4)
S: Baby carrots/cherry tomato (50) w/ light ranch (80) = 130 (2)
D: 4 oz chicken (140), 2 cups broccoli (60), sriracha/oyster sauce (50), 28g rice noodles (100) = 350 (6)
S: 16g peanut butter (100), 1 square dark chocolate (20) = 120 (2.5)
TOTAL: 1044 (18)