Working out after being sick

With sickness comes a lack of working out. As I am starting to feel better I am still in the routine of my sick days. Daily naps and feeling super lazy seem pretty normal now. I use to nap everyday when I was heavier and I had gotten out of that habit, still LOVE naps but everyday won't work.

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I mentioned yesterday that I needed to start running again tomorrow.

My husband has a very annoying habit of remembering these comments and plans his day around them. I wake up and he says to me "when are you going to run?" While I love the encouragement I don't love it first thing in the morning. Give me a good hour with my computer and a cup of coffee then you may ask questions. I do realize this only happens in my perfect world.

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He bugged me for quite a while and I finally gave in. We still have tons of snow so my trail if not snow covered would be at least completely muddy and I don't want to deal with that. My two other options are a gym that is a little over 10 minutes away or to walk to our neighborhood workout room. They equipment is subpar and no one is really ever in there but it is close and I don't have to waste gas to get there. All I really need is a functioning treadmill anyway. I was feeling super crummy but I forced myself to begin my typical 5 minute warmup. My goal for the day was to run 20 minutes after my 5 minute warmup. I made it but my body was begging me to stop there. I didn't have a decent run but I gotta say that I am so glad that I made it as far as I did. Sometime the first step is the very hardest.

New favorite

One of the most important keys to WW is finding low points foods you love to eat.

One of my new favorite foods is taking a spear of romaine lettuce and putting a piece of turkey in the middle. It's almost like a sandwich. It's so yummy without anything else on it. The turkey we have right now is 1 point for 2 pieces because they are big pieces. I cut both pieces in half and put one in each each piece of lettuce, 4 total. They travel great to take them with you, they also are super filling and only 1 point!

Squash Soup

Yesterday's slow cooker meal turned out pretty yummy. I added chili powder and cumin after it was done cooking. Here is a picture of it today, it is cold so it doesn't look as good. It will be dinner tonight for me and my husband, I will eat one serving and give him two. Next time I make it I will add more corn because that was my favorite part. This will make it 4 points per serving most likely but it will be worth it!

Yesterday I went to Sunflower Market (it's a farmer's market grocery store with great prices on produce). I picked up a ton of great produce that will be fun to try in my slow cooker. Today I am planning on making butternut squash.

I cup up a squash into cubes added one clove of garlic and one sweet onion. I have read that slow cookers need liquid so I also added 3 cups of chicken broth. The broth is only 10 calories and .5 of fat for one cup, I am guessing it will be less than 1/2 cup or so per serving so I am not worried about the calories it adds, it will however add flavor!

I plan on dividing it up into 1 cup servings, I am having trouble finding out exactly how many calories one cup is but I would assume this would be 2 points. I really like squash soup so I plan on pureeing it after it is all cooked but you could eat it in cubes if you would like.

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I was looking up receipts for slow cookers and I have decided that I enjoy much more just throwing items that are on sale, look good or are in season in the pot rather than follow the directions. I have had good luck so far!

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Also obviously back on the wagon for two full days now and I could tell such a big difference this morning in my stomach!!

We are however sick :(

Slow Cooker

Now that the weather is cooling down (it has already snowed here three days) I am starting to use my slow cooker that I received last Christmas from my Grandmother. I never realized how easy it was to use a slow cooker, just throw in random things and leave it to cook for 6-8 hours and it comes out amazing!

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I went to bed thinking about what I could make the upcoming week. I was so excited I had to pull my laptop into bed to get some ideas. I came across some great ones but they all had high calorie ingredients that sounded yummy but I knew would throw off my points for the day. Most included a can of cream of ... soup. Anyone who loves soup but counts WW points knows cream based soups are super high in points.

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This morning I decided I would scour my kitchen for something that I could throw together with some chicken breasts. Here's what I found...

I threw each of these in with 3 large chicken breasts.

2 servings of frozen corn

3 servings of frozen green beans

and I plan on adding some chili powder before serving.

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I have figured out that if I divide the results into 6 servings they will be about 3 points each. When each item is divided up into a serving the only items with points are the chicken and the beans because the others are so low in calories and small servings! I am hoping that I can freeze/store these in serving sizes and replace my frozen meals with meals like these. I had all of this on hand so I am not sure how much it would cost but I can't imagine it would cost that much per serving. Much cheaper than $2 or more per frozen meal.

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I haven't tried it yet but I am hoping that it turns out good, it is starting to smell good. I will let you know how it turns out.

How to beat cravings

Yesterday I had a cheat day, at the end of the evening I thought to myself

"Is there anything I want to eat tonight before I have to count points again tomorrow?"

I know that most last meals before a diet starts or go back on track are this way. Luckily I have gotten rid of these items in my home, there was nothing in my house that I couldn't eat the next day on Weight Watchers. I would say that this is one of the biggest tricks to staying on track with WW. Most cravings aren't worth actually driving to the store for but if they are there you are going to eat them. I know it can be harder to control once you have kids but just make sure that the items that you have a weakness for stay out of your house. One other option is to look at the serving size and how many points the item is, usually it is nowhere near worth eating. Also have on hand something special that can replace the desired item. Most suckers are 1 point and will help pass a sugar craving. I also like that they take a while to eat. WW ice cream products are also good!

One last trick is to completely separate your food items from the other people's in your household. Mine are in the same cabinet but on an upper part that has a different door than my husband's food so I never see it.

getting back

Is there one thing you notice about your body when you haven't been eating correctly?

For me the biggest thing that I notice is the lines next to my mouth when I take a photo.

This photo was taken last night. I have started to get back on track but then I had events two nights in a row. Back to tracking points today!

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I have gotten quite a few comments about how hard it is to get back on track and asking for tips. I will work on that for my next post!

Until then, What body feature gives away the fact that you haven't been eating right?