Posts tagged food
Weight Watchers Part 2: Lunchtime!
02 years ago
by Erin
(continued from Part 1 in the series: What to Eat)
For lunch I have a couple of options. Normally I’ll have a rice-beans-chicken bowl, which consists of brown rice (1 cup, four points), black beans (1/2 cup, one point), and a serving of chicken (3 oz, three points), a grand total of eight points. Trader Joe’s sells this really good, pre-cooked, pre-seasoned, pre-sliced frozen chicken, called Just Grilled Marinated Chicken Strips. It’s a lot tastier than plain chicken. Sometimes I substitute pork carnitas instead of chicken, which are the same points value. It’s a simple meal, but it’s really good.
Another lunch option is a sandwich, during the week I’ll normally get it at Subway. A six-inch turkey sandwich on wheat bread, with yellow mustard, no cheese and any vegetables will run you about five or six points. Stay away from the special dressings, cheeses and avocado; they will increase the points value of your sandwich to burger status. If you want chips, the Baked Lays (any flavor) are a good bet, those are two points. Add any diet soda for a drink, which are zero points, and you’ve got lunch for seven or eight points. I usually also eat a baby greens salad with lunch, with an awesome balsamic vinaigrette dressing that I found at Trader Joe’s, a zero points value.
A note about Balsamic vinaigrettes: They are not all created equal! I used to think that I hated them, I thought they tasted horrible. I took a chance on the Trader Joe’s Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette because I wanted to make my salad a zero points option and loved it. So if you think that you hate them, give a few different brands a try. Salads (especially baby greens) is a great way to supplement any meal for zero points, as long as you stay away from the creamy dressings such as Ranch or Blue Cheese. If you really cannot find a vinaigrette you like, salsa is a great dressing substitute, also zero points!
Points so far: 9-11 points
The afternoons are a tricky time for me, I normally get bored at work and then really want to start munching. I keep vegetables handy, and since they’re zero points I can eat as many as I want. I try to stay away from fruits because they are usually about two points a-piece. My morning banana is usually the only fruit I’ll eat, but in the evenings I’ll sometimes snack on an apple, two points. Carrots, broccoli, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, all raw, are delicious and all zero points. If you love cheese, most light brands of string cheese are only 1 point a stick, so those are a good snack that I love as well.
Points so far: 9-12 points
Check back tomorrow for part three in the series!
Weight Watchers: What to Eat
02 years ago
by Erin
I joined Weight Watchers on Sept 19 of this year and to date, I’ve lost 17lbs! I’m still a long way away from my goal weight, but I’m really happy with my progress and I’m especially happy with the Weight Watchers program, it offers exactly the kind of guidance and flexibility I needed. Since I’ve lost weight with little to no exercise, I thought I would share what I’ve been eating and what works for me. I know I’ll probably have to start exercising soon (my daily points allowance has already been reduced by two points since the start) but I think diet is a great place to start.
For breakfast, I normally have a banana (two points) and black coffee (zero points). I recently discovered this fat-free half and half that I buy at Trader Joe’s that is only twenty calories per serving, so I can add a whole bunch of that and only rack up a point. If I don’t have black coffee or the half and half, I’ll drink black tea with some kind of artificial sweetener, zero points. My brain may turn to formaldehyde, but at least I’ll be thin! 
If I want to have a bit more of a substantial breakfast, I’ll eat hot oatmeal (two points). Be sure it is PLAIN oatmeal, the flavored ones add all kinds of points. If you can’t eat straight oatmeal, you can add the fat free half and half and the artificial sweetener, which only racks up a point.
Points so far: 2-3
Check back tomorrow for Part 2 in my series on eating on Weight Watchers!
Greg’s and the Huntington!
26 years ago
by Erin
On Monday I was able to take off early, so Mike and I jetted up to Westwood, home of UCLA to visit Greg and his fiancee, Kristin. We stopped off at Tommy’s Burgers (Mike’s favorite Burger joint, mine is In N Out) for lunch and got there around 2 or so. Parking was horrendous! We hung out at Kristin’s and watched the awesomely bad Merlin miniseries. Once Greg got off work we walked down to Westwood Village and Olive Garden for dinner, then went separate ways for the evening. Greg and Kristin had play auditions to conduct at UCLA and Mike and I decided to see HairPo at the Village Theatre (soo cooool!!)
The rest of the night passed uneventfully, Mike and I eventually fell asleep on the floor together :loveeye: I don’t get many chances to sleep next to Michael, so when I do I really enjoy it. I think that may be one of the things we are looking forward to most about getting married, (besides all of the crazy SEX we’ll be having, of course!) is just being able to sleep and be together all night long. It’s hard for me to sleep much past 7 or 7:30, so I woke up and watched My Neighbor Totoro until Mike was ready to get going.
Our plan for Tuesday was to visit The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, about a 45 minute drive from Westwood. Once we got there we encountered the most beautiful gardens either of us has ever seen.
Awesome view of the LA skyline we saw on the way to the Huntington.
There’s Mike in front of the entrance.
Me in front of the first garden we visited, the Rose garden. Our favorite rose was called Tamora, it’s a peach colored rose that smells wonderful.
View of the magnificent Japanese garden.
Amazing Bamboo forest.
Mike in front of the rock garden. After this picture was taken, a squirrel ran across the rocks, lol! :faint:
Look at that bonsai tree! It bends over the edge and then goes back up, amazing.
Mike at the entrance to the lily ponds.
Aww koi fishes! Cute!
If you look closely, you can see some of their little mouths open for food. Precious!:grin:
Ahh being attacked by huge desert tree monstrosity! I can’t remember what the tree was called but it is NOT to be confused with a joshua tree! i remember that much, hehe. :angel:
Mike and a new friend, a brown preying mantis we saw at the entrance to the art galleries.
Overall we had a really fun and exhausting time. Thanks to our host and hostess for having us over.
