Sorry for the Delay

Sorry for the delay, people!  It's been a crazy time in my life right now and updates have been neglected.  I always write these things either early in the morning before 8:00 or later in the afternoon after 5:15 or 5:30.  Then I schedule them to post a random times (this is because they also post to my Twitter account).

Well, work has been busy (in a good way!), home life has been busy (again, in a good way...massive organization, cleaning out the garage, closets, etc.), married life has been busy (2-year wedding anniversary a week ago!), and family life has been exciting (moving my sister back in college, Jay's sister is having our nephew this Wednesday, my dad's b'day and so on).  So my blog posts have been forgotten.

I have actually dropped an additional 1.8 since my last post to put my total at 28 pounds!  After my big 4.2 pound loss, I lost .8 (happy about that!) on 8/21 and then lost 1.0 this past Saturday.  What a great feeling to be 2 pounds away from the 30 pound mark and only 3 pounds away from LIFETIME status!  Granted, that will put me at the highest I can be for Lifetime at my height, and I plan to lose 10-15 more, but Lifetime is a MAJOR accomplishment!!!

Since I don't have any food things to really talk about this time, I'll delve into some things I have accomplished throughout this journey:
1. Heartburn is pretty much gone (unless I eat something for a splurge, like pizza last night, in which case it comes back temporarily)

2.  I sleep at night without the aid of anything (this includes Ambien, Benadryl, etc.)

3.  I have more energy

4.  I have gone from a size 14 pant to a size 8 so far!


5.  My eating habits are starting to stick for life I can tell.  I still have cravings for things sometimes, but on the whole, this healthy eating thing is addicting, which is the BEST part of it all!


My co-worker joined last week and at her first weigh-in today had lost 4.6!  I'm so proud of her and am so glad to have a work buddy on this journey with me now! 

Milestone Met!

Hello Slim Readers!!!  I am so happy to finally announce that I have met a major milestone in my weight loss journey.  I lost an amazing 4.2 pounds last week to put my total at 26.2 and I am officially at wedding day weight!  I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am!  Another 5 pounds and I will hit "Lifetime" status with Weight Watchers.  I plan to lose 10-15 more once I hit Lifetime, but once you hit that point, you don't have to pay for it anymore!  I couldn't wait to share that exciting news with you!

So I haven't posted a recipe or anything lately, and last night, I mad a great dinner that was so easy and very low points.  Jay gobbled it right up and comment several times on how good it was.  Here's the picture:

Grilled Pork chop (3 ounces) - 3 Points
2 Tbsp Jack Daniels Spicy Original BBQ sauce - 1 Point
Spicy Green Beans - 1/2 Point
Meal Total = 4.5 Points

So here's how I make the Spicy Green Beans.  I cut the ends off of the green beans.  You don't have to do this, but I tend to choke on the little stringy ends sometimes, so I cut them.  I put 2 cups of the beans in a non-stick skillet on the stove top and heat it over medium low with 1/2 cup of water, 1 tsp of olive oil and red pepper flakes, stirring often.  I think they were on the stove a total of 5-7 minutes.  Then you just divide them up on the plates.  That's it!  It's a nice spicy twist on snap green beans.

Until next time...
Eat to live, don't live to eat.

ENCHILADAS!!!

So Jarren ate the last of the enchiladas last night before I could get a picture.  Typical!  But I will give you the recipe.  It's so basic, you really don't need a picture.  Here we go!
You will need:
12 oz of cooked and chopped (or shredded) boneless, skinless chicken breast
6 wheat tortillas (or flour if you prefer, but you will have to add 1 point per enchilada for this)
1 can of Campbell's 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can of Campbell's Fiesta Nacho Cheese (you get this in the soup section...I know Kroger has it)
1 8-oz container of fat free sour cream
1 cup of Kraft 2% milk shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 finely chopped jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes

What you do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Lightly grease with Pam a 9x13 Pyrex dish
In a pot over medium low heat, combine the cream of chicken soup, fiesta nacho cheese soup, sour cream, and finely chopped jalapeno.  Mix it all together until smooth and heat thoroughly - about 5 minutes.
In a bowl, add the 12 ounces of chicken breast.  Pour a little more than half of the cheesy soupy mixture over the chicken and mix well.
Divide the chicken mixture evenly among the six tortillas.  Fold the ends over and roll them up.
Place each enchilada in the Pyrex dish so they are all even spaced, but not quite touching.
Pour the remaining cheesy soupy mixture over the enchiladas.
Sprinkle evenly with the red pepper flakes.
Top with the shredded cheese.
Bake approximately 15-20 minutes, or until everything is melted and bubbly.
5 Points per enchilada.

Let me know if you try this and how it turns out!!!

Told ya so...

Told you I would gain.  Saturday at weigh-in, I was up 3 pounds bringing my total down to 22 (instead of the lovely 25 it was sitting at 2 weeks ago).  But honestly, I was OK with that all things considered...which includes eating my way through Destin on the "No Hush Puppy Left Behind" quest.  Seriously...I ate hush puppies at every meal that involved a restaurant, which was 4 dinners and 2 lunches.  Just in case you wanted to know, 2 hush puppies are 4 points.  So...yeah.  On the subject of hush puppies, though, we were at Dewey Destin's one night for dinner (if you have never been, seriously, go there next time you're in Destin) and they were mentioning a world record hush puppy.  Turns out it had just been done the night before...a 31 pound hush puppy!!!  How did I miss this???  But, it's pretty good that I did, because 31 pounds of hush puppy are 1,038.5 Weight Watchers points.  You know, just in case someone offers you one... : )

Made an extra yummy version of an enchilada recipe that is all low fat/fat free options.  One enchilada is only 5 points, so I'll be sure to take a picture of mine tonight and include the recipe tomorrow. 

Promise.  Yeah, you've heard that before, but I will try!

Life's a Beach...when you're at the beach!

Hello readers!  I know a neglected you last Monday.  I'm so sorry, but it was my only day of work for the week before heading to the beach with my in-laws for the week.  But...

I lost 1.4 pounds on Saturday (the 24th) and hit the coveted 25 pounds lost mark!  YEA!!!

I can't believe it, but I hit the 25 pound mark right square on the head.  What an amazing feeling that was.  I swear I walked on Cloud 9 all day with pride.   The journey hasn't always been easy, but I feel healthier and better than I have in a really long time.  In celebration of hitting that mark, I'm going to let you see a "Before" and "Current" picture.  Granted, I think the week at the beach is going to put me up a few pounds, but I'll just deal with that at weigh-in Saturday.  I missed weigh-in this past Saturday on account of, well, the BEACH (have I said that enough times to make you jealous yet?)!!!  Here's the pic:

The one on the left is me on January 31st of this year at the Georgia Aquarium.  I started Weight Watchers on February 6th.  The picture on the right is of me this past Friday before heading to dinner at Dewey Destin (my one fried meal of the week-was it worth it?  TOTALLY!).  This picture marks the "Half Way" point in my journey and lifestyle in changing the way I look at food.

I'll share a few pictures from the week at the beach...if you're friends with me on Facebook, you can see all of them there a little later when I find time to upload them.  Here a few from our day at Crab Island:

My really handsome hubby navigating the boat to Crab Island.

The honey and I in the water at Crab Island

THIS is paradise...for those of you not familiar with Destin, this is what is called "Crab Island".  It is this area just northwest of the bridge that separates Destin from Ft. Walton Beach that is really shallow...no more than 2-3 feet deep in most areas.  The area is HUGE and easily capable of a few hundred boats congregating around.  Everyone just anchors the boat, jumps out, and plays around in floats, drinks beer, etc.  The water is crystal clear and turquoise blue.  I recommend packing a few sandwiches and lots of beer and head out!

And since this is a food blog, here is my lunch one day (needed a break from the sun).  Those are mahi mahi tenders, gumbo, and hush puppies (Jay and I split all that-I didn't eat it myself)!  I eat hush puppies at every meal at the beach.  It is just one of those things I let myself splurge on.  This particular meal is from a FABULOUS little hole in the wall on the north side of Old Hwy 98 called Kenny D's.  Went there with my dad for years when it was called Wahoos.  I highly recommend it next time you're in the area.  Food is amazing!

Other places we ate were Bayou Bill's Crab House (shared a bucket of crab legs with new potatoes and corn on the cob here), the Tommy Bahama Restaurant (shared the fish tacos and a crab cake here), Dewey Destin (YOU MUST EAT HERE...had a crab cake basket with two crab cakes, fries, and hush puppies...this was clearly my major "splurge" meal), and Captain Dave's (this is my absolute favorite restaurant and I had the blackened mahi mahi with a twice baked potato and salad).  If you're wondering why I don't have the points listed, it is because I went on one little 4-night vacation and I didn't eat everything in sight, and I tried to make smart decisions, but I also let myself something if I wanted it.  Like I said earlier, I may pay for it at weigh-in Saturday, but I have some GREAT food memories from this trip!

Sorry this post is long, but I had a lot to cover!  Probably won't post again until next Monday.  I love reading your comments, though, so leave them if you feel so inclined!  : )