F-Zero Cupcakes

I love cake.  No, seriously, I love it! As a matter of fact, while being on WW I've thought about my wedding cake many times!  It was delicious.  When I go the the grocery store - I have make a conscience effort not to look at the bakery section - when I see cupcakes my mouth begins to salivate.  I just can't get enough.  The problem is, cupcakes are really all that WW friendly.  Most costing at least 5 or more points.   That's almost a whole meals worth of points! Ridiculous. But, I have found a recipe that makes 24 cupcakes, frosting included, for the low cost of two points. Two, dos, deux, II...yep...two.  Super easy - and definitely fix that craving!

F-Zero Cupcakes 

What you need:

1 package Funfetti cake mix

1 can Sprite zero

1 container fat free cool-whip

1.5 oz fat free vanilla pudding mix

What you do:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2) Mix cake mix and sprite together.   When you add the Sprite it will look a bit bubbly, don't worry, when you mix it that goes away and it turns into a cake batter-like consistency.  

3) Line cupcake tin with 20 cupcake liners.  Fill each cupcake liner with 1/4 of batter.  (note: I found these cupcake liners at TJ Maxx - they don't require a cupcake tin - and honestly, I think they make for a fluffier cake.)

3) Cook cupcakes for 15-20 minutes.
4) Make frosting while the cupcakes are baking.  Add 1.5 oz of vanilla pudding mix to a container of fat free cool whip and mix thoroughly. 

5) Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost with cool whip frosting.  Since I am planning on eating these throughout the week and not serving them at a party - or eating them all in one sitting - I plan on frosting them as I eat them.  I will keep both the frosting and the cupcakes in the fridge until I plan on eating them!

These are the baked cupcakes.  Note they look a little bit different on the top.  Don't worry, I cut into them and they were fully cooked and looked completely normal! If your cakes have baked for 15 minutes and don't look quite right - take them out for the toothpick test! 

Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip

I'm not going to lie, I was skeptical about the idea of mixing Greek yogurt with ranch dip mix.  I mean - ew.  But, after figuring out the nutritional info for this dip, and knowing that it'd help me get more veggies in, I thought, "hey, it's worth a try!"  As a matter of fact, I bought enough ingredients to make two batches of this stuff.   

So here we go - the gross sounding, good tasting ranch dip that will save you a lot of calories & fat - get you a bit of protein and enhance your veggie intake!

Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip

What you need:

1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix

1 (17 oz) container of Greek yogurt

What you do:

1) Add ranch mix to the yogurt container and mix.  Yep, that easy!  I tasted a little bit of it before I put it back in the fridge, and it was ready to go right then, however, I'd recommend chilling at least 1 hour before eating if you want the best results taste-wise.

Serving Size: 
1/4 cup

Mix right in the yogurt container and you don't have to worry about how to store it! 

Weigh-in Saturday is here again!

Weigh-in #4: +2
Total Loss: -6.3
Thoughts: I'm not shocked, in the slightest!  Seriously, for the last week I haven't tracked, I haven't drank my water and I haven't exercised.  And to top it all off - I ate whatever I wanted, until I was full, and enjoyed myself!! I'm actually surprised I didn't gain more weight than this.  Am I disappointed in myself? No.  This is a journey, a learning lesson.  I knew what I was doing wrong but for whatever reason I couldn't get my stomach to agree with my brain this week.  I'm still down -6.3 lbs in 4 weeks and that's a success!
Goal for next week: I am officially ready to refocus, get back to tracking and back in the gym.  I'd like to lose more in February than I did January.  I'm aiming for a 8-9 lbs - and I think I can do it!! I've already gotten the meal plan for the week done and shopped for.  This week I tried to figure out what my trigger foods were and find a lower calorie/fat option.  For example, I wanted something savory/salty a lot in the afternoons - and it had to be crunchy - so I made some ranch dip & got baby carrots.  Right before bed I'm always craving something sweet - so I made some WW-friendly cupcakes!  Are these "clean" or do they give me any nutrients? Probably not - but they will help me stay on track and help me not to feel deprived.

Mistakes.

I was on a roll.  I had hit my 10lbs mark as of Wednesday, and then things went down him.  I got sick, I stopped drinking my water, I got hungry and things started to spin out of control WW wise.  Weigh in was yesterday, and I had still lost .5 lbs, however, this morning was a different story.  My body had caught up with me and I gained.  I gained big.  +2lbs.  For a moment, I felt like crying.  

Then I realized something, you know what, I've done really good since Jan 1.  I had a small setback and I can get right back on track!  This is going to take time, I'm going to hit bumps, I'm going to fall - but as long as I pick myself up and get back on track - I will be fine! I'm trying!!

So, that's what I'm going to do.  I'm picking myself up and having a healthy breakfast, my meals have been planned and I will go to the grocery store right after I get back to the gym.  I've got this.

Goals for the week:

1. Earn 25 activity points. (5 days x 45 minutes)
2. Do not eat anything that I  haven't planned for (i.e. no preschool deliciousness!). 
3. Drink all my water requirements. 

These goals are all obtainable.  How do I know? I was doing all of them (except #2) before I got sick.  Admittedly, #2 will be the hardest - but this week I've planned some super healthy snacks for the kiddos - so it won't be as tempting as cookies & frosting!

Here's to getting back on track!! Cheers!  

Trying to break the self-induced plateau...

I've been stuck at the same weight since weigh in on Saturday.  With this weekend and such, it's a miracle that I didn't gain.  I mean, I watched what I ate, sure, but I also enjoyed myself after 3 weeks of making really good choices (going into the flex points for apple and peanut butter is definitely a better choice than going into them for 2 martinis).

Anyway, I have promised myself that I'm not going to eat a thing at work that isn't planned for.  You see, I'm a preschool teacher.  And we make snacks that are related to our themes.  Today we made mud pudding cups - and while I hate pudding, I love oreos & gummy worms.  But, I avoided them!  I know this isn't much of a NSV (non-scale victory) to most, but it's the first time I've really put my mind to not eating something at school and actually doing it.   I'm hoping that this will make a difference on the scale come Saturday.  I'd really like to hit my 10 lbs mark this WI...and it's within my grasp - I just have to make the right choices.

The -10 lbs changes will be
documented using this amazing
mirror!! 

Today, when I was getting ready for work, I stepped in front of our brand new mirror (I love TJ Maxx) and for the first time in months I got a full body shot.  Typically my mind would go straight to the negative, why are you this fat? How'd you get so out of control etc. etc. but this time the first thing I thought was "Wow! I can really tell a difference with just 10 lbs!"  I suppose this is another NSV - seeing the positive and having a positive outlook about my body image.  I'm making slow but steady steps in the right direction - finally I am motivated by me not pictures of other women.  My body can do this and so can my mind!!

Things just got real...

TCBY frozen yogurt - my new favorite evening treat!

This was the weekend that the husband and I decided to celebrate our first anniversary.  We were married last year, January 9th, 2012, and this weekend we took time to hang out, explore SLC and just enjoy time together.

It's been a crazy first year of marriage. For 5 months of it we survived solely on my salary since he is from the UK and was not allowed to work until the government deemed it appropriate.  It was hard.  During these months he made dinners - delicious, mouth watering, insanely good dinners.  Nothing that tastes that good is good for you - so up my weight went.  Now, I'm not trying to blame it on him at all - I was stressed out, I was happy, I was also jobless (I resigned from my job in April and didn't find a new job officially until June/July).  I eat my feelings.  So, up went the weight with every emotion.

Another thing that happened this year? I found out that without medication/science it will be nearly impossible for me to have children.  It's something that I have struggled with for about 5 months.  I currently have "unexplained infertility," however, this is a diagnosis from an OBGYN and through an amazing community of other women dealing with IF, I really need to see an RE (reproductive endocrinologist) to make sure this is an appropriate diagnosis.

During these last 5 months I have gone through so much testing and medication that every month that went by, and I wasn't pregnant, the more weight I gained - I was unhappy.  Finally, during the holidays I had knee surgery and I was forced to spend time doing nothing more than self reflecting.  What I came up with is why I am trying my damnedest to lose weight: my body retaliates when it is overweight.   How do I know this? Well, both times that I've had to have knee surgery I've been overweight - and now, I can't get pregnant - I'm overweight.  Enough is enough.

Down 5 pounds - only 60 or so to go!

Not only did I reflect on things during my time confined to the couch - but I also researched.  I researched the fact that my weight really might play a role in my infertility.  And, that even if it does not solve the problem - it could make for an easier/healthier pregnancy if I am able to get pregnant with the help of science/medication.

This made me come to the very hard decision of taking time off from pursuing medication/doctors until I have lost a good deal of weight.  I'm hoping by March/April I will have lost enough weight to take the next step: contacting the RE.  They usually have wait lists, so that will give me 1-2 months more to lose weight and hopefully I will be getting back to a place where I feel comfortable trying again.

Here I am -5 lbs into my journey.  It's not much, but I wanted to start chronicling my weight loss every 10 lbs.  Unfortunately, I didn't come up with this idea until I had already started, so this one and my next one will be close together.  Oh well!

Weigh-in Saturday!

 Unlike last week, I have not been waiting for this moment all week. Thankfully, it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be! That being said, the husband and I are going away for the weekend to celebrate our anniversary - and while I don't plan on pigging out completely, I do really want a key lime cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory and a glass of wine. I'm almost sure that will suck away all of my weekly points...

Now for the good, bad and ugly...

Weigh-In #2: -1.2
Total Weight Loss: -8.3
Thoughts: I knew after last weeks loss that things would start evening out. Also, I earned 16 activity points, ate them all, and as of last night ate all of my weekly points as well.  I wasn't planning to eat all of my weekly points, but last night I was absolutely starving - and I did not make good choices with those left over points, i.e. wine, two peanut butter cups (I usually have one at night if I've made it through the day staying on plan and getting in exercise), an extra 1/2 of a WW burger recipe and an extra helping of french fries.  Yep, I was starving.  Oh, let's not forget the oreo cookies I had at work.  So, as you can see, I'm pleasantly surprised with the loss - I thought at the very least I would've just maintained this week.  
Goals for next week: I've been doing this on my own, but not logging it, so I figured it was time.  Last week I finally got good about getting all of my water in.  I've made my own rule that I will only have diet coke if/when I'm out to eat.  I also went to the gym 6 times - my goal was 4.  So, this week my goal is going to be: continue the gym but up the time.  I have been going for 30-35 minutes, this week I would like to go to the gym 5 times (I'm not able to go today) for 45 minutes.