Saturday, February 27, 2010

10 in 2010 ~ Week 9

 
Wow - hard to believe that Week 8 is over and Week 9 is starting!  Only 2 weeks left of this challenge!

I stayed pretty consistent this week and had a good weigh-in this morning!  I lost 1.2 lbs for the week - yay!  That puts me at a 5 lb loss so far for the challenge, but only 2 weeks left.  It's doubtful that I can lose at least 5 more lbs in 2 weeks (not impossible though) - but I will just focus on being consistent and losing what I can!

Here is how my week went:

Weigh in at WW:  Weighed in; no time for the meeting as my son was with me. (And I will have to go much earlier as there almost wasn't even any place left to stand - totally full today!)
Track all food:  Tracked every week day.
3 45-min exercise sessions:  3 45-min. Wii Fit Plus workouts - Woo Hoo!
Bed by 11pm on weeknights:  Sigh - maybe twice.
Drink 3 glasses water per day:  Did it almost every day!
Plan meals each week: Meals were great, but I don't have much planned for this week yet.

3 things I'm proud of this week:

1. Less snacking in the evenings this week.
2. Working out even when I didn't feel like it.
3. Drinking water is becoming easier!

I hope things will go just as well this week.  I'm looking forward to it!  How was your week?  What do you struggle with?  Anything else you want me to post about?  I hope you have a great week - start out fresh and we can do it!

Have a healthy day!
Lisa  :)

Friday, February 26, 2010

Progresso Prize Pack Winner


The winner of this fabulous prize pack from Progresso is...


Congrats Melinda!!

Don't forget, you can still enter the Progresso Souper You Debut contest at Progresso through March 15th.  And download your $1 off coupon while you're there!

Thanks Progresso!

Have a healthy day!
Lisa  :)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

10 in 2010 ~ Week 8

Oops - never posted my 10 in 10 update for this past week!  We've finished Week 7 and started Week 8  - it's the last 3 weeks!

I did weigh in on Saturday, but the results were not what I was hoping.  I did lose, but only .4 lbs which was the exact amount that I gained the previous week.  While I'm happy that I lost my gain, I'm not happy that the whole 2 weeks net zero.  I want to see some downward movement this week!

Here was how last week went:

Weigh in at WW:  Weighed in and stayed for meeting.
Track all food:  Tracked every week day.
3 45-min exercise sessions:  3 45-min. Wii Fit Plus workouts - yay!
Bed by 11pm on weeknights:  3 times?
Drink 3 glasses water per day:  Succeeded most of the week!
Plan meals each week: Meals were planned out, healthy and yummy.

It was a good week for me even though the scale really didn't reflect it.  I think I need to be really careful about evening snacking and asked my hubby to try and refrain from getting snacks out.  This week I'm making healthy desserts/snacks so that we do have something to munch on a little in the evening.

3 things I'm proud of for the week:
1.  I got my 3 workouts in!
2.  I drank more water.
3.  I decided *not* to get a yummy cinnamon sugar pretzel from Auntie Anne's even though I had originally planned to get one since they were FREE!

So far this week is going well - we'll see what happens on Saturday!  How are you doing?  A lot of you have snow - does it make it even harder to stay on track?  We can do this - let's have a great finish to our week!!

Don't forget to enter my Progresso soup giveaway - today is the last day!

Have a healthy day!
Lisa  :)

Thursday, February 18, 2010

A Souper Giveaway From Progresso

There is a giveaway, but you'll have to bear with me first - LOL!  As you know, I've been doing a 10 week challenge to start off the year with some healthy habits.  As part of that, I've been doing Weight Watchers and tracking what I eat. One of the foods that helps me stay on track is soup!  I love having healthy soups for dinner and even more for lunch.
 
I've shared several healthy soups right here on my blog - you can scroll through the dinners and side dish lables on my sidebar.  But I don't always have homemade soup on hand.  That's where Progresso comes in!  I've always enjoyed Progresso soups, so I was especially happy to hear about their new varieties of Progresso Light and 100-calorie soups!  Not only that, but they offered to let me try the new varieties of soup along with a cute soup mug and a jump rope to help me get in shape.  Does one say no to free healthy soup from a brand they already like?!  No, one does not!

I tried a few varieties and really did like the soups.  It's important to note that each can is 2 servings - people sometimes forget that.  You can eat the whole can and the points are still low or you can share it with somebody and add on a healthy sandwich or salad for a more balanced meal.  If you're concerned about sodium intake you may want to only have 1 serving at a time or make sure that your other meals for the day are low in sodium.  However, Progresso even has low-sodium varieties of soups to choose from.

Progresso is celebrating these new soups by having a Souper You Debut contest from Jan. 4 through Mar. 15!  Three grand prize winners will be awarded a trip for two to New York City from May 21st-23rd. The prize includes roundtrip airfare, a two-night stay in a NYC hotel, a full makeover, a $1,000 wardrobe shopping spree and personal consultation at a New York department store.  Got to www.Progresso.com/SouperYou to get all the details and enter!!  While you're there, download a coupon for $1 off any three varieties of Progresso Soup!    

But wait!!  Progresso gave me a special pack to give away to one wonderful reader!
 
One U.S. reader will win this pack with 2 varieties of Progresso soup, a soup mug, and an electronic jump rope that keeps track of your jumps and even calories burned!  By the way, that soup mug holds an entire can of soup! 

To enter:  Stop over at Progresso and then leave a comment here telling me one of the 40 varieties of 100 calorie or less soups that sounds yummy to you! (I like all the chicken flavors.)  That's it - easy!  This giveaway is open through Thursday 2/25.

Disclosure: Progresso provided me with information about their soups, several cans of soup, a soup mug, and an electronic jump rope for free.  They also generously provided one gift pack to give to my readers.

Have a souper day!
Lisa  :)

Sunday, February 14, 2010

10 in 2010 ~ Week 7

 
Week 6 is over and Week 7 has begun!  I do hope this will be a good week!
After a much-needed "kick in the pants" from friends' comments on my blog and on twitter (thank you ladies!), I ended up following my plans better as I ended the week.  However, that was not reflected at the scale when I weighed in (though it could have been much worse!).  For the first time during the 10-week challenge, I gained weight.  :(  I gained .4 lb.  I refuse to be discouraged by that and plan to have a great week this week!  I choose to believe that all the days of keeping to my plans will show at the scale at my next weigh-in.

How I did this week:

Weigh in at WW:  Weighed in and stayed for meeting.
Track all food:  Tracked every week day.
3 45-min exercise sessions:  2 45-min. Wii Fit Plus workouts.
Bed by 11pm on weeknights:  Twice.
Drink 3 glasses water per day:  1st half of week - 1 glass/day.  2nd half of week - 3 glasses/day.
Plan meals each week: Too much dessert at church potluck and some Super Bowl snacks last weekend, but dinners during the week were all planned out and turned out great!  Already have this week's dinners planned.

I'm going to start adding in something additional that I thought of after hearing some ideas at the WW meeting.  I'm going to list 3 things I'm proud of related to this challenge each week.  It's especially important when you've had a tough week to take time to think about the things that you have done well!

I'm proud that I...
1.  Drank some water every day of the week!
2.  Prepared healthy dinners for my family all week!
3.  Weighed in even though I knew it was a gain!

On to the next week!  How was your week?  What are some accomplishments that you are proud of?  Let's have a great week this week!

Stop by Recipe Girl to see more 10 in 10 updates and get a great healthy soup recipe!

Have a healthy day!
Lisa  :)

P.S. Be sure to check back this week as I'll be having a giveaway!!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

10 in 2010 ~ Week 6

 
I'm very behind in posting my update, but here it is!  Finished week 5 of the challenge and began Week 6.

I really didn't follow my plans much this past week, but had a loss in spite of myself!  I lost .4 lbs again for the week.  A small loss, but surprising considering how many Nutella Biscotti (it's on my other blog but I'm not giving you the link - don't want to tempt you - LOL) I ate, though I tried to make them healthier with wheat flour and coconut oil.  So yay for the loss and I hope to do better this week! 

Here's my week:

Weigh in at WW:  Weighed in, but couldn't stay for meeting.
Track all food:  Didn't even track some of the days.
3 45-min exercise sessions:  No workouts at all.  :(
Bed by 11pm on weeknights:  Maybe once or twice.
Drink 3 glasses water per day:  At most, only 1 glass of water on some days.
Plan meals each week:  Had good healthy dinners except for pizza Friday night, but I only ate 1 piece!

We are halfway through the challenge.  My original goal was to lose 15 lbs during this challenge.  At the halfway point, I'm only down 3.8 lbs.  At this rate, I would have about an 8 lb loss by the end of 10 weeks.  Not bad for me, but I would at least like to hit 10 lbs.  I know it can be done, but I need to keep my focus and not get discouraged!

I know I'll do better with my plans this week, but I ate too much this weekend with a church potluck and Super Bowl snacks.  I better go drink a glass of water and do a workout right now!

How did your week go?  Did you survive the Super Bowl snacking?  We can get right back on track this week though.  Start now so we can be strong for Valentine's Day!

Have a healthy day!
Lisa  :)

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Healthy Recipe: Crispy Sweet Onion Rings

With the Super Bowl approaching, snacks are on everybody's mind!  It is possible to snack on that day without going too overboard!  This recipe is one way to do it - it came from my WW Comfort Classics cookbook (LOVE that book!).  These are delicious!!  The family loved them!  Make sure you buy sweet onions, not regular yellow onions - makes a big difference.

 

Crispy Sweet Onion Rings

2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 cup plain dried bread crumbs (I only had seasoned, but thought it made it yummy)
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 (1/2 pound each) sweet onions, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices and separated into 32 rings

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray two large rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray.

2.  Place the flour, salt, paprika, pepper, and cayenne in a large zip-close plastic bag.  Place the bread crumbs in a shallow dish.  Place the egg whites in another shallow dish.

3.  Place the onion rings, a few at a time, in the flour mixture and shake to coat.  Dip each ring into the egg whites, then coat lightly with the bread crumbs.  Arrange the rings in a single layer on the baking sheets (reserving for another use any broken or small inner rings) and lightly spray the tops with nonstick spray.  Discard the excess flour mixture, egg white, and bread crumbs. (I didn't have any extra; had to use more 'cause I didn't coat "lightly" enough!)

4.  Bake until the bottoms of the onion rings are browned, about 10 minutes.  Turn the rings and bake until browned, about 5 minutes.

1 serving = 8 onion rings
Per serving: 154 cal, 2 g fat, 3 g fiber, 3 WW pts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other healthy snack ideas would be fresh crunchy veggies, Crunchy Party Mix, and I found a couple yummy snack ideas on the WW site (only 2 pts per serving!): Beef Nachos and Beef, Blue Cheese and Spinach Quesadillas.

Do you have a plan for Super Bowl snacking?  Let me know if you try the onion rings!  I'm linking this up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Have a healthy day!
Lisa  :)