Kim’s Journey to a Healthier Place

Can anyone tell me how to load pictures onto my blog? I’d love to include pics of food and possibly of myself, but I haven’t had much luck with it. Thanks!

This is Roni’s recipe. I’m putting it here so I can refer to it later. I made some of these last night, also. The husband really like these, too! It doesn’t get any easier than this. I baked mine since I was already making Crispy Chicken Dippers in the oven. (375 degrees for 25 minutes or until juices run clear)

Balsamic Dijon Chicken

Serves 4: 3 WWP per serving

• 16 oz of chicken breast cut into tender style pieces
• 2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tbsp spicy Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dried parsley flakes

Mix the vinegar, mustard and parsley in a small bowl.

Place the chicken in a ziplock bag, pour in the marinade. Seal and let sit for at least 10 minutes.

Grill the chicken for 4-5 minutes a side (or bake for 25 minutes with oven at 375 degrees or until juices run clear).

Serve!

Photo compliments of www.Kraft.com.

I also made these last night. It’s another recipe from Kraft. The husband is an avid fried chicken finger fan, and he actually really liked these! I did, too!

Crunchy Chicken Dippers

4 servings: 5 WWP per serving

1 egg (or Egg Beaters) 

1 lb.  boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch wide strips

~ 2 cups POST HONEY BUNCHES OF OATS Cereal, finely crushed (I used my food processor)

salt

pepper 

1 cup Barbecue Sauce

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Beat eggs lightly in shallow dish or pie plate. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in eggs, turning over to evenly coat both sides of each strip. Coat chicken evenly with cereal. Place in 15×10x1-inch baking pans sprayed with cooking spray.

BAKE 25 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

SERVE as dippers with the barbecue sauce.

Photo compliments of www.Kraft.com.

This recipe is from Kraft. In fact, I like more of the Kraft Canada recipes than those for the US Kraft. They’ve got some great healthy recipes over there.

I made this last night. It’s great! It’s definitely not as thick and dense as real cheesecake, but honestly I like it being lighter in consistency. Instead of using the springform pan, I just used a 9 inch pie plate, and it worked out fine. The crust could be improved somewhat, but I could eat it without the crust. Enjoy!

Low-Fat Orange Dream Cheesecake 

 8 servings: 2 WWP per serving

3 sheets HONEY MAID Honey Graham, crushed (I used my food processor)

2/3 cup  boiling water

1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Brand Orange Flavor Sugar Free Low Calorie Gelatin

1 cup  BREAKSTONE’S or KNUDSEN Low Fat Cottage Cheese

1 tub (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Fat Free Cream Cheese

2 cups  thawed COOL WHIP Sugar Free Whipped Topping

SPRINKLE crumbs onto bottom of 8- or 9-inch springform pan  or pie plate sprayed with cooking spray.

STIR boiling water into dry gelatin mix in large bowl at least 2 min. until completely dissolved. Cool 5 min.; pour into blender. Add cheeses; blend well. Pour into large bowl. Gently stir in whipped topping. Pour into prepared pan; smooth top.

REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until set. Remove rim of pan before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Yesterday was definitely a step in the right direction, but a small one. I still overate, but not nearly as much as the other days. I had best intentions to stay within my daily points, but my usual low point dinner was altered. I usually buy the lowest fat ground beef I can find, but somehow we managed to have 80/20 beef for our spaghetti last night. I guess it was the mind set that it’s already messed up, screw the points. Why? Why do we do that to ourselves? So up until I finished my plate at dinner I did fabulously! Then I went back for seconds and proceeded to pick at everything in the kitchen. Boo. But looking at the positive, it was a small step in the right direction.

Tonight WH has class, so I’m going to try some new recipes. I managed to buy some great OP groceries yesterday so I could try a few new healthy recipes. I’m pretty excited about it. I’ll post recipes tomorrow if things come out well!

Thanks for all the encouragement. I was shocked that anyone had replied, but boy, I sure did need it. You guys are the absolute greatest, and I hope that I provide as much support to you as you give to me! Have a fab day!

I could come with so many excuses. Here’s just a few…. new meds = sleepless nights = insanely grumpy moods = emotional eating. That’s what’s been up with me for the past 4-5 days. Sooooo not good. I haven’t been this far off track since before I started WW back in June. I’m not going to dwell on it, but I need to readjust some of my goals for the week.

Starting today (it’s been great so far) I’m focusing on what I eat. I tried to conquer eating and working out, but if you know a little about me, I have to take one step at a time. Working on both wasn’t working, just frustrating me and giving me more opportunities to fail. We’ll try adding the working out goals back next week. I need just one thing this week to focus on… food.

I’ve got to get my head back in weight loss mode. Recent health challenges have made losing more weight very difficult. Between Dr.’s making me maintain and now this new med that makes me retain fluids and keeps me from sleeping well, I need to work harder and more diligently. I know I can do this. I think I wasn’t taking into account my new challenges. I don’t want to lose control again, because to me that’s the worse feeling. This morning I hopped on the scale and it was 163 lbs! Yikes! Worse than that, my shirt and pants feel snug. That’s a feeling I really hate.

On a good note, I went out of town for a family reunion this weekend to see family I haven’t seen in 5-12 months. They were all shocked by my weight loss. It made me feel good and reminded me why I’m on this journey- to be healthier and happier!

At WI, I maintained. Last week I did soooo well being OP, journaling, and exercising. Maybe next week the scale will budge. I really think that the new meds and weight training may have something to do with it. I’ve notice too though, that a lot of times my actions don’t show up until the following week. So chances are, my good week will show up next week on the scale. (Same thing goes if I have a bad week.) That’s fine with me as long as we’re not going in the wrong direction!

I didn’t binge yesterday! The 2 snack size candy bars did it. They even gave me a boost at the gym, and I worked really hard. Blogging about it and writing the words out, “I WILL NOT BINGE TODAY!” really did the trick. I just needed to turn my attitude around and get focused. I was so happy that I turned those cravings around yesterday!

Flex remaining: 33

I guess you could say I’m craving food but nothing in particulalr. I know it’s bad to admit this, but I’m pretty sure that food journal will change before the end of the day. For some reason, my brain is saying “Eat, eat, eat.” I’m not really sure what it wants, but the fun size snickers may have helped. Hopefully it won’t turn into a binge. Now I’m worried after reading everyone’s comments about the binging article Roni blogged about today. I honestly haven’t read it yet. But I actually do feel better after eating  savoring the candy bars. I’m stopping it here. NO BINGE FOR ME TODAY!

I was in the mindset that I have to WI tonight, but what I failed to realize is that I don’t have to because I’m now lifetime. (c: Not that it’s an excuse to be irresponsible with my eating but that it lays off the pressure a bit, and today that feels good. Earlier this week I was showing a loss on my home scale, but TOM arrived and now it’s back up a smidgen. I may not WI and let 2 weeks worth of being back OP accumulate into a bigger loss next week. Honestly I haven’t decided. I guess we’ll find out if I do tonight. ‘Cause as you can see, I’m still debating it! But it’s nice to have the option now! (I’ll still be at the meeting regardless!)

Flex remaining: 33

This past week was so great! Even with the weekend I still have about 9 more flex points before WI tomorrow. I don’t think I’ll use them though, just in case I didn’t allot enough points towards food items I wasn’t too sure about (mainly the meal at Longhorn’s on Sunday). I overindulged on Heavenly Pumpkin cookies, but you know what? It was okay! I had enough flexies! No guilt! I love it! Another improvement is that I actually journaled my weekend. I haven’t done that in months! I’m right on track, and it feels so good.

I was talking to my best friend on the phone last night. She’s doing WW also and has just gotten back on the wagon since a couple months ago. We were sharing about how much better we feel when we feel in control of our eating. She even said her apartment was cleaner and she was more organized! It’s amazing how when one thing is out of balance, it just throws EVERYTHING off. I had to totally agree with her!  WW is the best lifestyle change I could possibly make!

Today

Saturday

Sunday

1. I will work out 4 days a week- 5 days, DONE!

2. 2 of those workouts will include strength exercises.- 3 days, DONE! 

3. 1 of those workouts will include exercise dvd (counts as 1 strength)-Wednesday, DONE!

4. I will journal!- Mon.-Fri., need to work on journaling during the weekend.

5. I will drink a glass of milk everyday- in addition to milk in cereal.- 4 days, need to keep at it!

6. I will eat 5 fruits and vegetables everyday.-Not very good. I got close most days, but I need to work on this.

Overall I’d say it was a great week. I stayed well within my points Mon.-Fri. I need some work on the weekends, eating veggies, and drinking my milk. I totally rocked the exercise goals this week! Go me!

Thanks for dropping by. Have a fabulous weekend!