I'm back from my blogging hiatus. It's been a whirlwind since November, and I'm finally beginning to feel back on my feet again.
Since it is Wednesday, I figured there is no better way to restart my blogging engine than to discuss something that has become a central part of my life in the last month - weight loss.
Throughout interview season (Nov - Jan), I was out of town every week, being wined and dined in different cities. Of course, I wasn't working out either. I gained 10 pounds.
Now, I have been going to Weight Watchers meetings for months now (since August, to be exact). I have paid my dues and sat in meetings, inspired by the people around me, but then I would get home and decide that food tasted too darn good to give it up. About a month ago, I decided that enough was enough, and I was going to try my best to get the L.B.s off for good.
In the past month, I have lost 5.2 pounds!!
I have honestly never been so successful at TRYING to lose weight. It feels like a huge accomplishment to me, and I look forward to seeing what the scale will read every week.
The first step I took was changing my relationship food. Ever since we started dating, Patrick and I have considered eating out our entertainment. If we are bored, we go out to eat. That was the first thing that had to change. We now try and limit our eating out to 1 night a week. And I'm so proud that I can now go into a restaurant and make a responsible decision. For example, the week of Valentine's Day, we ate out 4 times, and I still lost 1.4 pounds. Success!
Another important change was tracking my food. I use the Weight Watchers app to track all of my intake for the day, and that has made me more aware of how much I am eating throughout the day.
In addition, I started planning my meals and grocery shopping for the week on Saturday or Sunday. I use 2 handy notepads from Anthropologie. One that says what we will eat for the week, and one that has a supermarket checklist.
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I have started making healthier choices in regard to what we are cooking. I usually try and avoid carbohydrates in the evening, as they tend to make me feel bloated and not lose weight. We have been using a lot of Skinnytaste, CookingLight, and Weight Watchers recipes.
Last night, we had the most delicious Asian Porkchops EVER! They were from the CookingLight Fresh Food Superfast cookbook. (I can't begin to tell you how great this cookbook is - if you love CookingLight, but hate to be in the kitchen longer than 1 hr, this is the cookbook for you)
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Sweet and Spicy Chili Pork Chops
Cooking spray
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp lower sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp chile paste with garlic (sambal oelek)
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/4 cup diagnollay sliced green onions
1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork; cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove pan from heat; let pork stand 30 secs.
2. While pork cooks, combine brown sugar and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Add sauce to pork, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Turn pork over in sauce to coat. Sprinkle with green onions.
Yield: 4 servings
Weight Watchers Points Plus value: 7 Calories: 251
Crunchy Asian Vegetable Salad
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
1 cup sugar snap peas, halved crosswise
1 cup matchstick-cut peeled cucumber
1/2 cup matchstick-cut carrots
1/3 cup light sesame-ginger dressing (such as Newman's Own)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1. Place first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl, tossing to coat. Divide salad among 4 plates; sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds.
Yield: 4 servings
Weight Watchers Points Plus value: 2 Calories: 78
Be warned - the pork is spicy. If you prefer less heat, use less sambal oelek. But seriously, this stuff is gooood. I hope you try it! :)
-Alicia
the recipes look delicious! well done!
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