I suppose I need to report a 1/2 pound gain from Saturday morning. Considering I indulged in a few too many pistachio nuts and some of the *real* ice cream Tony brought home on Friday night, I'm OK with it. I started Core on Saturday morning and so far, I really liked it. My sneak peek shows a loss of the 1/2 pound plus a little more, I'm eating well and it has been easy to follow. I got a little bit of yoga in yesterday morning, just enough to stretch but that was it for the day (but Tony and I played some tennis this morning). I used a few WPA's (I think they are being called now) for something I didn't have all summer - a fresh-from-the-garden tomato sandwich (NO bread) with lite mayo and a slice of LF cheese. It was yummy and worth it. I made a couscous chicken salad (from the current WW magazine) to take for lunch a couple of times this week (it is yummy and Tony is now suggesting we have couscous with his tomato/veggie mixtures instead of pasta!) I'm making the SBD Taco Bake tonight - it's all core except I use 2% cheese instead of fat free and it's enough for two meals. I have two challenges this week - the first is to get up early enough to at least do a short yoga workout *before* work. I don't expect to earn any AP's with it this week - I just want to try to get back into the habit. The other challenge will be tomorrow at lunch. Tomorrow is just a faculty day - about 1/2 - 3/4 of a day but around noon, the PTA cooks lunch for the faculty - they are a fabulous PTA - and the food is fabulous. Oh well, I'll do my best and use the WPA's I need to.
Have a great one,
Judy
163.5/154/135
166/240 workouts
Judy - Sorry to hear about the small gain, but it's a thing of the past already.... Good to hear that so far, so good for CORE. You know I haven't had a tomato sandwich yet this summer either. I'll have to keep that in mind. I'd be happy to use a point or two on the N.O. bread. I'll have to look for that oat banana bake recipe - sounds like something I'd like and it would make a change from just a bowl of oatmeal in the morning. I'm also going to have to keep that taco bake in mind too. I pretty much have dinners planned out for my CORE week, but they're not set in stone, since I haven't done my grocery shopping yet. The couscous salad sounds good too. I love couscous. I hope lunch isn't too difficult today - I'll send stay strong vibes your way.
I haven't had very good food days the last few days and I suspect I'll pay for it at the scale tomorrow. I'm also retaining water like a mad woman, so I'll be guzzling today. Tomorrow is CORE day for me and I'm looking forward to getting started. Like Judy, lunches will pose a bit of a dilemma for me as my lunch time repetoire is generally stuff that isn't CORE and I don't think I'm going to want to burn points for lunch every day. But, I'll get it figured out. Most likely I'll have dinner leftovers I can use for lunch. And now I have to get ready to go to the dentist. It's just my regular cleaning/check up, but he usually manages to find something...
Carla - sorry you've had a rough few days - I hope the scale is kind tomorrow but no matter what happens, you are starting CORE and I think you will like it. One thing I know I'll take for lunch is are chef's salads. I buy very low fat turkey and ham, cut in a hard boiled egg or egg whites, add some cucumber and tomato and I'm great. I haven't decided if I'll go with the ff salad dressings again or if I'll use a point on something lite but not ff (or use my 2 teaspoons of olive oil) but it's a filling lunch. That and a piece of fruit, and I'm great.
The oat banana recipe is very quici to put together:
Banana Baked Oatmeal
2 cups oatmeal dry
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup skim milk
½ cup Egg Beaters
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cups Splenda
2 medium bananas, mashed
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
Mix dry ingredients, then mix in wet ingredients.
Pour into a sprayed 8” square pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min.
Cut into 6 pieces
I had a good day today. I think I will like the teacher I'm with. The new (interim principal - the last one was asked to resign) seems great. School tonight was good - my first literacy course although it looks like I'll be in the library a lot this semester. The PTA lunch went well. I'm guessing I used 5 points. I had a *big* breakfast on purpose so I really had tiny tastes of a few dishes, some salad and some fruit. I did get up at 6:00 this morning and did a very short yoga workout. I'm going to try to do a little bit more tomorrow morning.
Time to get myself off the computer and start to unwind, relax, etc.
Judy - Thanks for posting the recipe. I'll give it a try. I too am planning on some salads for lunch, with some protein added in. I smiled last night when I realized that my homemade creamy garlic dressing is CORE since it's just ff mayo with ff sour cream. A nice big salad with a glob of that dressing - heaven! I'm glad to hear you had a good day yesterday and that you'll like the teacher you're with. Are you with the same student too? It sounds like you did really well at the teacher's lunch - a huge pat on the back to you.
Weigh-in this morning was a disaster - up 5.2 pounds. I know that a lot of that, if not most, is water as my rings are very, very tight - to the point that I can't pull them off. I also know that while my eating wasn't great, it wasn't in the league to merit that kind of weight gain. I'm a bit worried about the water retention and the escalating weight gains. I mean I've deserved some gains, but wow... I'll keep an eye on it and see what a week of CORE and followed by a few more good, OP weeks gets me. Speaking of CORE, today's my start date and I just finished a nice bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. I'm going to down a glass of milk (oh how I'll love drinking milk without worrying about points) and I'll be good to go until lunch, I bet. And then I have to do the nearly impossible - wake up Ana for school.
Well I started WW last week, and today I was my first weigh in. And yeah I lost 2 pds. Im very excited. I am doing Flex Points and it seems fairly easy, plus ive been walking like almost everyday 1.5-2 miles a day. Course I had a slip up on Saturday and ate all kinds of crap. Bad Me ! LOL
Carla - Good for your for being concerned but also realizing that there is no way that the gain isn't all from what you ate - no matter what you ate! I've found that I'm retaining water for longer periods of time because of my wacko hormones. What else is in your creamy, yummy salad dressing besides ff sour cream and ff mayo, garlic powder?
Good day today - I only used one point for a 1/2 c of OJ this morning. I got up early and did a little yoga this morning and will slowly try to work up to 30 min of something a little more sweaty a few times a week.
Girly - Congrats on a great start and on all that walking. Slip-ups do happen - the important thing is containing them and getting right back on program.
Judy - Yeah, I think my hormones are playing games with me too. This water retention stuff is the pits. Fortunately, 3.6 pounds of it were gone this morning. As for my creamy garlic dressing - that's about it: ff sour cream, ff mayo, garlic powder and some salt and pepper to taste. And a bit of milk to thin it out, if desired. Absolutely divine for this creamy garlic salad dressing lover.
I had my first day on CORE yesterday and so far, so good. I had my big salad for lunch and stir-fried veggies and brown rice for dinner. Breakfast was oatmeal and snacks were fruit and popcorn. I did use three flex points for a couple of chips at a parent's group meeting yesterday. I felt guilty, just like I did in the beginning of flex, for using them, but got over it. I did figure out points in my head and figured out I was probably about 5 points under minimum, but I was full and proud that I had put so much healthy food in my body. I think today I'll have soup for lunch, but I have another salad concocted in my mind: lettuce, onions, carrots, some corn, some black beans, some salsa for the dressing and some guacamole and ff sour cream. And if I'm in the mood for spending a couple of points - some shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese. And guacamole brings me to a minor CORE rant - some the food list doesn't make sense, guacamole being one of them. The on-line list has store-bought guacamole designated as CORE and then has an entry just titled guacamole (so presumably they mean homemade). Now it seems to me that homemade guac is more likely to be CORE. At any rate, since avacados are on sale this week, I'm making my own and since I'll only be using CORE ingrediants: avacado, some onions, a bit of salsa.... I'm calling it CORE. Does that make sense? Minor rant aside - this is a good way to eat and even on my non-CORE weeks, I forsee myself sticking to CORE foods for the most part.
Carla - I'm glad you had a good day on CORE. I know what you mean about using the weekly points - at first, I didn't want to use any. Then I decided that if I use a few a day, I'll likely stick to plan longer - I mean, there's some ff stuff that's OK but I just like the lite or 2% cheddar cheese better. Even using some points for stuff like that, as of after dinner tonight, I still have 15 points left and after tomorrow, I will have completed my first week. The thing is, like you, I've basically been eating all good food (although I am considering having a Klondike SF bar tonight). I checked the small CORE guide on the guac and they list it as 2 points. I think I may go back to my meeting this Saturday; if I do, I'll check the bigger guide. Still, I don't see how making your own with what you listed as anything but CORE! I do know that some things (like whole wheat bread) are not on the CORE list because WW has found that people can go overboard with them.
I've had a good day so far. I got up early and did a 20 minute yoga workout and even though it was hot, I did some upper body strength during the kids' gym period. I had eggs and Canadian bacon for breakfast (yum!), a piece of the oatmeal bake for snack (which I ate when I got to school to keep me through to my 1:00 lunch), a grilled chicken breast on a mini whole wheat pita & a salad with ff salad dressing, and the taco bake for dinner.
Judy - Good for you for having all those flex points left. Did you have the Klondike bar? I'm calling my gaucamole core and not fretting about it. It makes no sense that store-bought guacamole would be considered core and homemade made with all core ingrediants wouldn't. I completely understand WW not putting some foods on the CORE list because they are often over-indulged in, but I've also heard that they are revisiting the lists and will announce some additions to the core lists soon. Perhaps they are adding back some of those foods. I think whole wheat bread is an example. I can see where you wouldn't want to allow it in unlimited amounts, but I think limiting it to two slices a day and maybe making a either/or choice of one serving of cereal or two slices of whole wheat bread would be a good thing. It would allow for a little more variety/choice in breakfast and lunch. Same with allowing sugar-free flavored low fat yougurt in addition to the plain. But those are minor things and really not very point-expensive that you couldn't have them on a regular basis anyway. And I'm with you on spending the points for the light or 2% cheese. Heck, if I want a piece of cheese (versus a slice for a sandwich or shredded for whater) I go the extra point and use regular cheese.
I had another good day yesterday. Dinner was lean pork chops, a sweet potato and an ear of corn, with a small salad. Desser was s/f, f/f pudding. Yum. Breakfast this am was shredded wheat and a banana and lunch was the corn/black bean/guacamole salad that I concocted. I'm probabl beyond satisfied and into the full zone, but I really didn't overeat and it was all CORE and good for you foods. Dinner tonight will be whole wheat pasta - our first foray into that - with sauteed veggies. We don't have a lot of plans for the weekend. We may go into the city tomorrow night as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is sponsoring a free day/night of music at the Symphony Center. That could mean a dinner out, but if worst comes to worst, I'll just use points for it. I'm anticipating that we'll go out to breakfast/lunch with my MIL after church on Sunday, but I'll work around that too.
Have a great day and, in case I don't get back on, a terrific weekend.
HI! I am doing WW at home and usually post on the Core Board but I notice that some of yall are doing Core too so it is not banned from being mentioned here (some of the boards are real touchy about using the 4-letter word, if you know what I mean ). Anyway I would like to join you if I may.
I can't believe someone mentioned the tomato sandwich. My favorite thing to have during the summer when the tomatoes are fresh. You gotta use Cheddar (or rat cheese as my Daddy also called it) and lots of mayo. It always takes me back to my childhood when I eat those. Of course now it is ffcheese and ff mayo but you take what you can get!
I have been on Core since the beginning and have lost 6 lbs. so far--2 lbs. a week. I love it and really think it is the plan for me.
I think that homemade guacamole is ok as long as you use Core ingredients. I think they just couldn't list it among the Restaurant choices because apparently some use sour cream in it to make it creamier. I don't mind it being store bought--saves me the time! There is a lot of confusion going on right now with Core because a lot of people have been developing recipes (like cornbread and desserts) with only Core ingredients and WW is saying you can't do that for some reason. It has to resemble the whole food, can't be blended together or some such nonsense. But I am going to continue to do it as long as I am losing. I made cornbread without flour and although it was denser than usual, it satisfied my need to go along with my beans and cabbage. I ate it twice last week and lost 2 lbs. so I really don't see it hurt me any. Of course, I only ate 1 piece at each meal--didn't pig out on the whole dish. I think that may be one of the concerns also. If it resembles "comfort food" people will lose control.
So glad I am past that "hormone thing" cause I remember what havoc it would play on weigh in day. Made you want to scream!
I have a challenge today. My daughter is throwing the September Birthday celebration at her house today. She is having subs and of course cake and ice cream. I don't have a problem not eating the cake (hate bakery cakes with the Crisco frosting) and ice cream I can live without. The Sandwich I will count points for. I am bring a salad and 7-layer dip (Core of Course) and bean dips and chips (points for the chips). I should be ok. Am going to focus on the visiting instead of the food.
I had 28 pts. left from last week but Sunday is my start day so I am back to 35.
Janette - Welcome - glad to have you aboard. We don't get touch about diet plans here, so CORE away. I'm doing CORE this week (my week runs Wednesday-Tuesday) and am planning to rotate between CORE and Flex. I just read a post on the WW board about using dry oatmeal in breads, etc. and it not being CORE. The explanation, which I'll cut and paste tomorrow, made sense, but I agree with you - if it is all CORE ingrediants, if you can limit yourself, and if it works for you, go for it. I can understand guacamole in a restaurant not being CORE, but at home, no, so I'm going with it. Good luck with your birthday celebration. Unlike you, I'm a sucker for birthday cake, so that would be hard for me. Have fun!
Janette - Welcome! I'll echo what Carla said - we don't get touchy around here about the diet - as a matter of fact, I was trying out the South Beach Diet over the summer and one of our crew, Karen (who is on vacation) still is. We've known each other for a while (but of course newcomers are *very* welcome!) and we've all been through lots of ups and downs so we're very open. Good luck at the birthday party. I think you have a good plan and heck, that's what points are for! I would love a copy of your "core" cornbread recipe if you wouldn't mind posting it.
I'm with you both on the oatmeal/baking thing - I've been very happy with eating my oatmeal banana cake/bread/whatever - I recipe I found on the Core board. I haven't sat down and eaten the whole thing (i.e., abusing it) but I had some when I was hungry and wanted something other than fruit and in my first week of core, I lost 2 pounds. I think it's sort of ridiculous that WW sells a book of recipes that are core that combine all kinds of core ingredients into salads and sauces, etc., but then says that other people come up with is not core. I think the key is that if you don't abuse it (e.g., sitting down and eating the whole oatmeal/banana bread), then it's just fine.
I got pretty sick of counting points so I think I'm going to stick with core for a while. This coming week will be a little challenging. It's Rosh Hashanah starting on Wed night (the Jewish New Year) which means dinner at Mom's on Wed and Thurs! For the most part, I think most of what she's making is core. I am trying not to use many points since I want to have a piece of honey cake (a traditional food).
I'm back from the party. I used 10 flex points (1/2 sub sandwich and chips). I passed up the cake and ice cream and didn't mind at all. I would have felt terrible (physically and mentally) if I had eaten it. My entire family is really supportive about my trying to get control of my weight. We had a wonderful time. It is the first time I have had all my grandchildren together for a family gathering.
Core Cornbread
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2 cups Plain Corn Meal
3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons applesauce (instead of shortening--you could use Core oil I suppose)
Spray a 9-inch square pan (I use an iron skillet) with Pam. Place in a very hot oven (450 degrees). Beat eggs well in 2-qt. bowl. Pour in milk. Sift together corn meal, baking powder and salt and add all at once to liquid mixture. Stir until smooth. Then mix in applesauce until well blended. Pour into hot baking pan. Bake on oven rack slightly above center 25 to 30 minutes. Makes sixteen 2-inch squares or 8 wedges in the skillet.
It is a little dense, I guess because it has no flour, but the flavor is all there. It was wonderful with my pinto beans.
They are saying that it is not Core even though it is all core ingredients because "Bread" is not core but I'm going to use it as long as I still show a loss that week. Of course, I only ate the one piece, just like I did when counting points.
Janette
Weigh in at home 9/6 - 9/12
). Anyway I would like to join you if I may.
