Food Review: Lean Cuisine Grilled Chicken Primavera

Box Description: Asparagus & cherry tomatoes with grilled white meat chicken & whole grain vermicelli in a creamy garlic sauce.

Nutritional Info: 220 calories, 5 grams of fat, 5 grams of fiber, 18 grams of protein

Points: 4 (listed on box)

Thoughts: I freely admit, this is a meal I return to time and time again. Why? Tastes great and low in points. It's a very pretty meal, with the red and green and white blended so well together. I especially love the asparagus and tomatoes, two items that I don't feel are found in microwaveable meals enough (aside from tomato sauces, of course). I'm not sure that I knew that the sauce was a "garlic sauce" until typing up the box description - so don't worry about excessive garlic taste or smell. I think I thought it was some sort of creamy, cheesy sauce. Either way, it's pretty delicious. And of course, as with most pasta-based meals, this one is satisfying and filling. And, as it's only 4 points, you have a number of options of what to pair with this meal to keep you going throughout the afternoon.

Rating: 4.5 stars. Add more veggies, and it would be the perfect meal.

Food Review: Weight Watchers Smart Ones Picante Chicken & Pasta

Box description: Tender white meat chicken tossed with bow tie pasta, yellow pepper strips, and black beans in a spicy ancho chili sauce

Nutritional Info: 260 calories, 4 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, 23 grams of protein

Points: 5 (listed on box)

Thoughts: Spicy! I love spicy foods, and this meal definitely has a kick that leaves your mouth pleasantly burning after only a few bites. Seemed like they were a bit stingy with the chicken on this meal, but I suppose the addition of the beans makes up for it. The sauce has a slight sweet flavor to it, but really, it's overwhelmed by the spicy. The pasta texture is surprisingly good - not too soft, not too chewy. I finished this meal very satisfied. Probably a meal I'll pick up again. A warning to those of you who don't like spicy foods - this meal definitely leaves your mouth tingling afterwards.

Rating: 3 stars

Food Review - Lean Cuisine Sesame Stir Fry with Chicken

Box description: Edamame & broccoli with white meat chicken & whole wheat vermicelli in a sesame sauce

Nutritional Info: 300 calories, 6 grams fat, 5 grams fiber, 20 grams protein

Points: 6 (listed on box)

Thoughts: This is one of my all time favorite Lean Cuisine meals, so I'm biased. To start, this meal contains a good amount of vegetables, probably enough to constitute a full serving, perhaps more. The chicken is properly cooked and cut into small enough pieces to make you feel like you're really getting a lot. The sauce is slightly sweet, but not too sweet, and balances out the flavor of the vegetables. The meal is colorful and very filling, and because of the noodles and all the different vegetables, feels like it takes a while to eat, which for me, makes it that much more satisfying.

Rating: 5 stars. Highly recommended.

Monday already?

I've not been the best blogger, mostly because I wanted to figure out something new and different to do with this blog. I think I've got it figured out - in addition to updating, I'm going to do food reviews. I eat a lot of low calorie meals - Lean Cuisines, Weight Watchers, etc., plus I'm always trying out new products based on recommendations, such as VitaTops (my new love). I'm going to start reviewing these products as I eat them, to let everyone else know what's worth trying and what's best left on the shelf.

Official weigh-in day tomorrow. I'm afraid I haven't lost much, if anything at all, but I feel my body changing. My upper body definitely looks trimmer, and I feel stronger. Muscle does weigh more than fat, so I'll try to keep that in mind when I get on the scale tomorrow.

Food Review - Weight Watchers Smart Ones Chicken Carbonara

Box description: Roasted white meat chicken in a creamy parmesan cheese sauce with lean turkey bacon, basil and garlic over a bed of linguini

Nutritional Info: 250 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber, 20 grams of protein

Points: 5 (listed on box)

Thoughts: The scent was delicious. I think it was probably the turkey bacon. The smell alone gave me high hopes for this dish. Upon first glance, however, I noticed that the "creamy" sauce was actually pretty watery. It thickened a bit as it cooled, but remained fairly watery.

Not nearly enough veggies in this dish. Probably fewer than 20 peas.

Taste? Honestly, a little bland. I think it's due to the consistency of the sauce - the sauce has a great flavor, but it doesn't stick to the noodles. The chicken was surprisingly good though - not too chewy, good flavor and texture.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars. It's not bad, but it wouldn't be my top choice meal.

Monday Update

Well, I managed to not eat anything last week when we went out for drinks. Mainly because no one ordered any food. I splurged a LOT on Friday night and ate ice cream for dinner, but then was good the rest of the weekend, including throughout the BBQ I went to last night.

Today's weigh-in was a pleasant surprise! Down to 151.0, a loss of 1.6 lbs!

I wasn't great all week, had a few splurges. I wasn't feeling great during the beginning of the week and ate under points (about 18 rather than 22) for two days, and I wonder if that had an effect. Of course, under-eating is never a good idea, but I wasn't about to force-feed myself if I wasn't feeling up to it.

I felt like my workouts were sub-par this week, but I did get in a 7+ mile run on Saturday in preparation for the 10 mile race I'm running on April 6th. I actually had an 8-9 mile run planned, but the rain and a poor choice of pre-run meal cut that short.

I'm wondering if I'm going to have to keep up 7+ mile runs on the weekends to keep my weight loss on track. If the weather's nice, I don't mind it. Last summer, I did 5 mile runs every weekend, and extending that distance is never a bad plan. I just wonder what the winter will bring though. I don't think I can handle 7 miles on a treadmill.

Either way, if long runs on the weekend is what it takes for now, then I'll keep it up. I feel good after a long run, as if I've accomplished something. Sure, I'm slow, but I'm getting faster, and I enjoy it. That's what matters.

Making a plan

This morning, I got up and worked out at 5:15. It felt pretty good, though a bit sluggish. I think I may start doing that on days that I don't plan to run in the evenings (or maybe even on the days I plan to run in the evenings - might be a good way to get in both cardio and weights), just to ensure I'm not skipping my workouts because I'm lazy. Provided it's not raining, I'm very unlikely to skip a planned outdoor run, but other cardio? Always questionable.

Doing well so far this week on points. I'm a little concerned about the rest of the week however.

I get 22 points a day, plus the standard 35 flex points. On a typical day, I eat my 22 points, and sometimes any additional activity points I earn. The flex points I try to save, and then if I have one day where I go out to dinner, even though I still try to eat well, I just don't count the points and assume that took up all of my 35. It's probably not the best way to do it, but it's what works for me in terms of tracking.

Unfortunately, this week, I will be going out for a happy hour tonight, and then to a friend's house for Easter on Sunday, both events I would normally use as an "all flex point" event. Yes, the odds are not good that I will eat 35 points PLUS the remaining points I have left for today tonight at happy hour, but that way I don't have to count.

I think the solution is to actually try to count points tonight at the bar and figure it all out. Additionally, I will try to pick up some additional workout points throughout the week. I realize they don't carry over day to day, but it can't hurt.

Getting started

I know what you’re thinking. Oh great. Another weight loss blog. Another fattie trying to get thin by blogging. She’s probably sitting at her desk eating potato chips and jelly beans, but drinking a Diet Coke because she thinks that makes it healthy.

Wrong on all counts. Though jelly beans and potato chips do sound kind of good right now.

The raw facts. I’m a 27-year-old single woman living in the Washington, D.C. area. I’m either 5’2” or 5’3”. As of yesterday morning, I weighed 152.6 pounds. That gives me a BMI of 27. A healthy range is 20-25. To get into the healthy range, I would need to weigh 141 pounds. My goal weight is 135 pounds.

I have fought my weight all my life. As a child, I remember my mother telling me to not put something in my mouth because I didn’t need to be eating it. That continued through my teenage years. I don’t blame her for anything – she’s built like me and continues to fight her weight every day. She was just trying to help, and for that I am thankful.

The earliest weight I have recorded (aside from my birth weight, of course), is my weight when I was fifteen and a half. At that time, I weighed 140. (I know this because I put 135 on my learner’s permit application, and I know I cut 5 pounds off of my weight). So in twelve years, I’ve gained about 13 pounds. Honestly, that’s not bad.

The problem is that right now, my weight is on an upswing again. My highest weight was 163. It was the week after I graduated college, and I spent that entire last month of school eating out and drinking a lot. Much of that weight melted off pretty quickly. At one point last year, I was down to 143 pounds. How did I do that? Exercise and dedication to eating well. Six months ago, I was hovering around 146 or so, and I was content there.

What happened? I moved halfway across the country and started a new job. I had to leave for work earlier and couldn’t bring myself to continue my morning workouts, plus it isn’t exactly safe to run in my new neighborhood in the dark. I skipped evening workouts because I was tired. I would hit the treadmill but give up after 20 minutes because I hated it. I ate out significantly more.

I joined Weight Watchers Online right before Christmas, thinking that was what I needed. And it helped a bit. And then I stopped tracking. When I started, I was at 153. So technically, I have lost since joining, but not by much.

This week has been a bit of a kick in the pants, however. I started working at a new office and had to wear a suit the first few days. I haven’t put my suits on in a while, and I didn’t realize just how tight they had gotten. All my pants are starting to feel tight, but having to wear those uncomfortable suit skirts was really eye opening.

I need to be accountable. I thought about joining Weight Watchers meetings, but I’m not a meeting person. I don’t want something else on my schedule. And from what I have heard, the meetings often become frustrating for those of us who do only get 22 points a day. A four point snack is unheard of when you’re working from a bank of 22 points!

I don’t expect to ever be thin. But I would like to be fit and healthy and most importantly, comfortable in my own skin. And that starts today.