The signs were all there.  Searching for a “looser” pair of underwear in the morning, sifting through your jammies drawer for the extra stretchy pants.  I haven’t worked out in I don’t know how long, the wine has been a staple on my kitchen counter, and those extra licks and tastes (and gummies!) added up.

I didn’t weigh in on Saturday because I was downtown, but my app switchen over and I had access to all the online information to get me started on the new #freestyle program.  I had to buy a battery for my scale at home and while the weight varied by a couple pounds on where I put it on my bathroom floor, I took a picture of the highest weight, because that’s probably the most accurate.  Shit just got real seeing that number.

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First, let me apologize for my non-manicured feet.  Long time readers might remember that I started January 2017 at 178.  So I basically spent over $500 on Weight Watchers to gain a pound in 2017.  😛

While I realize I am in charge of my actions, I have to say, if it weren’t for Weight Watchers I would have gained 30 pounds easy.  While my meals were 80% on the WW program, as time went on, the “extras” kept sneaking back into my diet.  The occassional beer on the train ride home, the homemade potato chips that were purchased at the train station – you know, because I “deserved it” for working late.  You can pretty much rationalize any action if you try hard enough.

So Sunday morning, I pulled my big girl pants on, started meal planning, and I got Bizzy in my Kitchen.

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The new Weight Watchers plan is the most flexible plan to date.  It’s called Freestyle and they have included about 200 foods that are “zero” points.  I know there are going to be skeptics out there – no food can be considered zero points, because isn’t it all about calories in/calories out?!

True, but the foods that are on the “free” list are the foods you should be eating anyway.  Lean proteins like boneless skinless chicken breast and tufu, beans (yes!), fish (salmon and sea bass) shellfish (mussels, shrimp and scallops) all the vegetables, including corn (not potatoes) and my favorite – plain Greek yogurt!

One of the recipes that was going around on Instagram is a two ingredient dough – equal parts self-rising flour and Greek yogurt.  Huh.  I was intrigued.  1/2 cup of flour is 5 smart points.  I saw that some people were making bagels, so I thought I would try that too – but I altered the recipe a bit to mimic the bagels that I have made before – adding yeast, letting the dough rise, boiling them, and then baking them.

That’s how the bagels looked after I added a couple more tablespoons of flour to form the bagels.

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The dough was really soft, so I used my big spoon strainer to transfer the bagels to the water bath.

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Brushed with egg wash and everything but the bagel seasoning.

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And baked them for 16 minutes total.

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For breakfast yesterday I made a bagel sammie – 3 points for the bagel, 1 point for 1/8 cup Trader Joe’s reduced fat Mexican cheese, raddichio and sliced apple on the side.  This was so good!  I toasted the bagel at work and it tasted like it had just come out of the oven – crispy on the outside, yet a bit of “chew” on the inside that you would find in a bagel.

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Now that chicken and beans are “free” – my world famous buffalo chicken chili is only 1 point per serving! My food processor broke, so I made this recipe even easier – same ingredients as my original recipe, but this time I diced up the two pounds of chicken breasts, threw that in my stock pot, and then blended the carrots, celery, red pepper and canned tomatoes in my blender, added that to the pot, with all the remaining ingredients and let it cook for a few hours on Sunday afternoon on low.   I added 1/4 cup of cheese and lunch was 3 points.

 

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I told myself I was leaving at 5 no matter what, but there were some deadlines, so per usual, I stayed a bit late.  I grabbed the 6:00 p.m. express train – and when I walked out the door I had no idea it was snowing!  It was that big, fluffy wet snow, and I was not prepared.  No boots, no hat.  My hair and feet were soaked by the time I got to the train.

 

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As I got a few block from the train I could feel that my blood sugar was dropping, so picked up a pear and some veggie chips fo the train ride home.  I checked it when I sat down and it was 46!   While I had no intention of eating the whole bag of chips (it was 2 servings) I did – counting the 7 points for it and didn’t feel guilty about it because I was tracking it.

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I love these veggies chips because that aren’t salty at all.

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Dinner was quick and easy because I pre-cooked the chicken on Sunday and the couscous only took 10 minutes to make.  55 grams of couscous was 5 points, I sauteed the zucchini and mushrooms in 1 teaspoon of oil for a point, and just did a quick Pam fry on the sliced chicken to warm it up.  Not the most colorful plate of food, but it was delicious!  I ended my day with 21/23.  I was hoping I had time to figure out the calories for my eats before I posted this, but didn’t have time, but for curiousity’s sake I’ll run the numbers today.  I’ll let you know.

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All I know is that I felt full and satisfied and wasn’t looking for something else to eat – even last night when that is when I want ALL the food.

I’ve also got big plans for this dough recipe – from calzones, to garlic knots, to pretzels, the apple hand pies – so many possibilities!

I have to give a shout out to one of my co-workers who gave this to me – love it!  And as luck would have it, my long time blog friend Mel texted me a picture of this too and said “this screams you!”  #love

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And if you are on Instagram, you may not know that I have a link in profile under my name – circled below.

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Any post I have on Instagram that can be I have a recipe for on my blog can be found there – just scroll through, if you like a picture, click on it and it will take you to my blog post where the recipe is posted and can be printed out.  I posted my buffalo chicken chili yesterday that I had at lunch and even though I said “recipe in link in profile above” I got a couple dozen DM on Instagram asking where they could find the recipe, so that I would just point that out to anyone who didn’t know about that feature on my Instagram page.

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So here we are again – back at it again – for about the billionth time, but that’s okay.  I have renewed motivation, which was something I was lacking.  It reminded me of when I lost my 70 pounds back in 1999-2000.  I didn’t love myself, so I worked hard until I lost the weight and did – and that’s when love found me with Tony.  Not that I am looking to be in a relationship yet, but I realize that I need to get back to the place where I loved the skin I was in.  Who knows what 2018 will bring?  It will be here before we know it.

Make it a great day!