Special Saturday: New Foods! - Berry Edition

After tying to think of some good, new, or interesting posts to write, I finally decided that I would discuss all of the new foods I've been trying. These foods aren't new foods for everyone. In fact, I'm sure a lot of people have eaten these foods plenty of times. The foods I'm going to list below are foods that are ones that I've never tried or haven't tried often enough to acquire a taste for them. One of my goals to achieve my 2014 New Year's Resolution was to try new foods, so I've been doing just that in order to expand my appetite for delicious, healthy foods.

First, I should mention that I've been wanting to increase my intake of berries despite the fact that I've been simultaneously wanting to decrease my intake of fruit. Berries are really great for your digestive system since they have a lot of fiber in them. I found that anytime I ate berries (typically strawberries) or had them in a smoothie, my digestive system was much happier. Since I was limiting myself to only trying and successfully eating strawberries, I was determined to try a couple of new berries.

The first berry I tried was blueberries. I like blueberries in every other way (blueberry filling, in smoothies, etc) but I could never acquire their taste enough to enjoy eating blueberries straight. I've finally figured out that I like eating blueberries in two ways: 1) they have to be coated in a zero-calorie sugar substitute like Truvia; and 2) I can only really eat them with strawberries. I don't necessarily see either of these two requirements as being a problem so I've been eating them just like that -- mixing/coating them with Truvia and putting them in a to-go container with strawberries. It makes for an excellent snack! One day I hope to cut down on the amount of Truvia and possibly stop using it completely so I eat blueberries with just their natural, delicious flavors.

I have to say that I absolutely love eating blueberries. They're great in smoothies: I add blueberries and ½ banana to a Weight Watchers chocolate smoothie and it tastes great! I also love adding frozen blueberries to oatmeal that I make ahead for the week using Old Fashion Oats. Once I add Yoplait's Vanilla Great Yogurt, I have a delicious meal of oatmeal, Greek yogurt, and blueberries that works for breakfast, lunch, OR dinner. It's one of my favorite meals, quickly becoming a go-to comfort meal as it's a healthy option that always makes my day better.

The second berry I decided to try was blackberries because I was eager to fill the blue/purple color slot of the ~*Rainbow of Fruits & Veggies*~ I try to eat every day. The only quick blue or purple foods I could think of were grapes, blueberries, and blackberries with eggplant being a back-up idea once I need to substitute another fruit for a vegetable (in order to eat more veggies than fruit in a day). I also still need to figure out how to prepare eggplant to make it enjoyable enough to eat (I've been thinking stir-fry but haven't felt up to making it). With that aside, I decided to try blackberries to change my diet up every once & awhile instead of always eating blueberries for my blue/purple fruit of the day. Unfortunately I've learned that I'm not a huge fan of blackberries because they're so tart. Even after coating them in Truvia like I do with blueberries, I still have a hard time eating a ½ cup of them as a snack. Therefore I haven't been eating them as much as I eat blueberries and only buy them once in awhile.

The last berry I've tried these last couple of months are raspberries. I actually really love eating raspberries whole as a snack on their own (but coated in Truvia of course). Unfortunately the one downside to eating raspberries is that they become (or even come when bought) SO mushy. After washing some raspberries the night before work, they had lost all of their firmness so I had to eat them with a spoon. The good news is that after I was done eating them with a spoon, the remaining liquid/juice from them was very delicious and actually sweet (if I'm remembering correctly). Additionally, I absolutely love adding frozen raspberries and ½ banana to a Weight Watchers vanilla smoothie because it's so delicious! The same goes for frozen strawberries -- add a frozen banana with frozen strawberries to a Weight Watchers vanilla smoothie packet and you'll have a delicious smoothie for any meal of the day.

So with all of my experiments of eating berries whole as snacks at work or on-the-go, I decided to give them a try frozen. As I've already stated, I had previously tried some of the aforementioned berries frozen like raspberries and blueberries with Weight Watchers smoothie packets. However now that we're getting into the hotter days of summer, I was really looking forward to getting in fiber-filled berries in colder ways instead of just eating them whole. So last weekend I took a 16 ounce cup and filled it with frozen blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries as well as ice and water. I threw all of the ingredients in my cup into a blender. Then amazing mom assisted me with the blender since I was having technical difficulties. She also helped me tweak the recipe because it tasted a bit... off (perhaps too tart?). We added about ½ banana to the mix but that didn't improve the taste so we added a packet of zero-calorie lemonade (such as the kind by Crystal light) and it made the drink absolutely amazing. Next time I definitely plan to forgo the banana completely and just stick to frozen raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, ice, water, and a zero-calorie lemonade packet. It makes for the perfect summertime afternoon or evening treat after a long, hot day.

NOTE: Any time I mentioned "coat in Truvia" for the berries listed above, I simply mean that I take 1 or 2 packets of Truvia, add them to the container of berries that I feel need to be sweetened, put a lid on said container, and shake the container up a bit to "coat" the berries. I don't add an excessive amount of Truvia to all of the berries I eat but I'm sure I could start cutting back on how much I use to sweeten the berries I find to be more tart than the others.

Weekly Weigh-In #22 (week of June 11-17)

I lost 1.6lbs this week at my morning weigh-in at Weight Watchers! I'm now down to 155.8lbs which means I have ~30lbs left to lose until I hit my own personal goal weight of 125lbs. I will continue to focus on every 5lbs but I'm ecstatic that I'm getting closer to my goal weight every week.

My weeks continue to be difficult by I think that's just how life goes. Life is hard and it's crazy for me to look back on my 3+ years of doing WW to see how much has changed since I first started losing weight. There are still a lot of areas in my life that I would like to improve but I have to just take each area -- and each day -- one step at a time. Slow but steady improvements or changes are what will hopefully make them lifelong, positive changes.

Therefore, since I'm trying hard to improve on my spending (as well as my healthy eating), I want my goals for this upcoming week to reflect my attempt to cut back on spending money for dinner out on Thursday. Therefore my goals for this week are as follows:

• T R A C K E V E R Y T H I N G
• Eat (or plan to eat) my salad-in-a-jar and gluten-free burrito for dinner on Thursday instead of getting gluten-free pizza to go like I typically do on Thursday nights
• Only use up to 20 of my extra weekly 49 points+
• Check off my daily Good Health Guidelines (GHGs)
• Add the fruits & veggies that I eat in a day to my WW tracker

For the last month or so, I've been spending Thursday nights with my current significant other and we've gotten into the habit of buying pizza from the most delicious local Italian restaurant close to where he currently lives. Although I hate to see the tradition change, it's really becoming hard on my Weight Watcher points+ budget as well as my financial budget. This is because while he gets a regular cheese pizza for cheap, I have to buy a gluten-free pizza that's a bit more expensive. If I can forgo the pizza for at least three Thursdays every month, then perhaps I can let myself splurge a bit with both finances and points+ on the last Thursday of each month.

On top of the aforementioned goals for this week, I also need to update the Weight Watchers reminders I have in my phone. Even though I made this a goal to update them last week, I didn't follow through with this goal. It's not a huge deal, but it's something I should do every week just to reinforce my goals, reminders, and weight loss rewards for myself every week.

My NSV for this past week week was successfully getting back into a daily life routine. This included adjusting to a new summer work schedule, meal prep for the week, and going to the gym almost every day this past week. I also had a wonderful moment yesterday when I squeezed myself into a size 9 jeans, which I haven't worn in well over a year. All of my size 11/13 jeans are starting to become way too big so I thought I would chance it wear my size 9 jeans at work. (I like to wear a smaller size of pants the day before I weigh-in to remind me to stick as close to my WW plan as possible.) I'm so pleased that I'm starting to fit back into a smaller size pair of jeans!

Weekend Wrap-Up 15

Another extended weekend has come & gone and I can honestly say that I did okay for the past 3-4 days. I didn't do the greatest but I didn't do terribly either. I know in my Weekly Weigh-In post I said that I would only use up to 20 points+ of my weekly points+ allowance. Unfortunately I used 33 points+ of my weekly points+ allowance. It was mostly on Thursday that I splurged on my points+ and I definitely felt the repercussions of eating too much on Thursday the next day. I also went over my daily points+ last night when I was craving all things salty, crunch, sweet, and chocolate.

The good news is that this is a marked improvement over the last couple of weeks when I would easily go over my daily points+ allowance by 30 points+ in one day alone. I'm also slowly but surely earning those points back with the Activity Points that I earn throughout the week. It's about improving and making progress instead of dwelling on what I could have done differently. I made my choices so now it's time to move past them by making smarter choices today! Plus, I have been very diligent about making sure I track everything 100% honestly to keep up with my Tracking Challenge Jar.

I have a game plan already brewing in my head for this coming week. Since I'm a bit tight on money this month, I plan to eat out less for the rest of the month which should help me control how much I dip into my weekly points+ allowance. I'm also thinking of ideas of new blog posts to write on top of checking on my Resolution Goals update to see how I've been doing this year so far. So keep checking back for new posts!

Weekly Weigh-In #21 (week of June 4-10)

Even after a "rough" week of celebrating my birthday too much, I somehow lost 0.8lbs this week! I almost feel guilty for losing weight because I feel it's rewarding my bad behavior/habit of NOT tracking for a few days this past week. However, I ended my week on a good note by doing great with my eating & tracking Monday and Tuesday. I've also restarted my Tracking Challenge Jar which I plan to continue.

After having two rough weeks on Weight Watchers (as far as emotions/eating/etc goes), my goals for the upcoming week will be simple because I need to focus on the basics. Therefore, my goals are as follows...

• T R A C K E V E R Y T H I N G
• *Only use up to 20 of my extra weekly 49 points+
• Check off my daily Good Health Guidelines (GHGs)
• Add the fruits & veggies that I eat in a day to my WW tracker
• Update my daily WW reminders on my phone

Five simple goals for the week that are things I've been doing all along but have stopped doing habitually. Hopefully focusing on doing tasks like adding the fruits & veggies to my tracker while I check off my Good Health Guidelines will help to get back into that routine. I'm also hoping that getting back into a somewhat normal day-to-day routine with work and life will help me get back on plan too!

*My second goal for this week is more broad than it's been before when I've only limited myself to going over my daily points+ allowance two days out of my "weekends" instead of thee days. This is because I've found that when I go over my points+ allowance those two days, I will REALLY go over my points+ allowance. There have been times when I've gone over by more than 30 points+ in a day. I'm hoping that this goal gives me enough flexibility that if I want to, I can dip into my weekly 49 points+ by 20 points+ on one day or spread it out between two or three days. Either way, I know I can earn back those 20 points+ in activity points now that I'm back (or getting back) to my usual work-out routine.

My Non-Scale Victories for this week was making behavior changes that I mentioned in my Weekend Wrap-Up post. This included putting dish soap over cake frosting, eating only half of my fries/chips that came with my British-inspired meal, only eating five bites of a cake & icing trifle, and many more. I certainly wasn't perfect this past week when I celebrated my birthday but I'm certainly a different person than I was 4 years ago. For that reason, I could not be more happy with who I am as a person today.

Weekend Wrap-Up 14

This past weekend -- and technically last week -- I celebrated my birthday which was yesterday, June 8th. I did good on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, but then fell off the tracking bandwagon on Saturday & Sunday. I can't say I necessarily feel bad for not tracking on Saturday and Sunday because I really just wanted to enjoy myself. However, I tried my hardest to not indulge too much.

With that being said, I'm ready to put the weekend behind me and move on, which will include going back to the basics. I've already tracked my food for today and I'll be tracking Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly Thursday later today. I'm also back to working on my Daily Fruits & Veggies Google Excel Doc. I've also emptied my Tracking Challenge Jar because I would be lying to myself if I didn't restart it after not tracking for two days in a row.

The good news is that I made behavior changes this weekend that I may not have done in the past:

• I bought a chocolate cake & caramel icing trifle, ate about five bites of it when I got home, and then gave it to my boyfriend because it was too heavy/sugary for me. If it's still around and too tempting for me when I visit him later this week, then I'm just going to throw it out.
• I only ate one of my two cupcakes that my mom got me for my birthday. I'm saving the other one for after Wednesday when my new WW week begins.
• My mom helped me make cupcakes for work by making the frosting. She made twice as much as what I needed. After I frosted the cupcakes, I ate a bit of it and instantly knew I would have no self-control if it was still around. So I quickly squirted dish detergent in the rest of it making it completely inedible.

I'm sure there are a few other behavior changes that I did over the weekend that I don't remember but those were the most memorable. As fun as the weekend was, I'm looking forward to getting back on track (literally) with Weight Watchers. I have a few ideas for how I'll make serious changes this upcoming week but I'll save that for my Weekly Weigh-In post on Wednesday.

Weekly Weigh-In #20 (week of May 28-June 3)

So, I didn't gain or lose anything this week -- I stayed the same as far as my weight goes. This week was definitely a rough week with ups & downs every other day, so I'm actually happy that I didn't gain anything. I really thought I would have done better on Monday after I made a post that day saying how I was determined to do great on both Monday & Tuesday after having such a great Sunday. However, I went over my points+ allowance by 6 points+ but at least I was honest with myself when it came to tracking.

Additionally, I had a really hard time making it to the gym. With my typical work schedule, I absolutely love going to the gym before work so I can get it done with at the beginning of the day when I always have the most energy. However, my work schedule changed just for this week and I was working 8:30am to 5:00pm. It was much harder to get out of bed at the time I needed to (at 5am) make it to the gym, get in a good work-out, and make it back home to shower before work. Not to mention, the gym at the university where I worked was closed which robbed me of the convenience of working-out and showering in the same building then walking 10 minutes to my office location.

On Monday I did my best to walk on the treadmill I own and keep in the basement for about 45 minutes between 6am & 7am with the intentions of going to the gym or going for a bike ride after work. Yet the end of the day rolled around and I wanted to watch my nephew's Little League game since I don't often get the chance. Plus my energy levels were at an all time low after the game and I had zero motivation to go the gym after his game because it's really hard adjusting from a second/third/nighttime shift to a first/daytime shift. (I only got four hours of sleep Sunday night/Monday morning because I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight and I had set my alarm for 5am as I had every intention to go to the gym).

Thankfully Tuesday was a better day for me when I stayed within my points+ allowance. I think that's what helped me to not gain any weight this week.

With all of that being said, I can honestly say that I tried my hardest between being out of town, traveling a long way from home, my work schedule being completely different from what I'm used to, and my whole routine being switched around. I'm proud of the fact that I tracked honestly every day and got in a work-out every single day this past week. I really tried my hardest.

My goal for this upcoming week is to simply TRACK EVERYTHING because my birthday is this Sunday and I have plans that will make it harder to stick to plan. I feel that if I really focus on tracking everything I eat honestly, then I will be able to keep in check how much I'm eating as well as what kind of foods I'm eating. It will definitely be a difficult week since I already have several plans to go out to eat in order to celebrate my birthday with various people. I want to enjoy those times out with my friends & family instead of stressing out about them. I already know two out of the three places I'll be eating out at which means I can track/plan ahead what I'll eat when I'm there. Or, at the very least, I can study the menus before I go to those restaurants so I have a better idea of what those places serve. And with the third place I go to, I'll just make sure to stick to safer options with lots of Power Foods (fruits & veggies).

This is another week where I'd like to plan out my week ahead of what I'll be eating and try my best to adhere to my outline. So here's a break-down of my plan of attack for each day this week...

• Wednesday, 6/4 → walk on the treadmill in the morning; counseling appointment at 8:30am; WW meeting at 9:30am; spend time with my mom and go to Home Grown Cafe for lunch with her; go to the gym for my strength training & cardio work-out after spending time with my mom but before leaving to visit my boyfriend (aim to work-out between 2-3pm); have my oatmeal for dinner
• Thursday, 6/5 → away from home, I'm planning to sleep in for one of the few days this upcoming week and having my smoothie for breakfast/lunch; go to a restaurant of my choice for dinner (probably Applebee's)
• Friday, 6/6 → Greek yogurt in the morning and stop by the gym to get in my strength training & cardio work-out in before heading home; have a relaxing day at home that will make it easier to control what I'm eating
• Saturday, 6/7 → get up around 9am or so and have my smoothie for breakfast; beach day! ask to pick the restaurant on the boardwalk and pick one that would be easiest to eat as healthy as possible down at the beach; walk LOTS along the boardwalk
• Sunday, 6/8 → relaxing day at home; make a new recipe in the crock-pot and my birthday treats I have to make for work (I'm thinking a gluten-free version of these Rainbow Cupcakes!); plan out my meals for the week
• Monday, 6/9 → back to a more regular work schedule! "breakfast" at home then gym before work; all-employee campus picnic for lunch but I will probably take something anyways and just get some of the free Power Foods available (fruits & veggies)
• Tuesday, 6/10 → officially back to a calm, regular work schedule for me (give or take a few hours) that will include planned-out meals and time at the gym!

My Non-Scale Victory for this week was definitely making it a point to go to the hotel gym. I also did my research on the hotel prior to my trip and found out that every room came with a microwave AND a mini-fridge so I was able to take some refrigerated foods with me. This really saved me when it came to eating breakfast Saturday morning in the hotel. The continental breakfast hardly had anything that wasn't filled with gluten and/or lots of calories. I'm really proud of myself for making the trip work for me without having to inconvenience those I was traveling with this past weekend.

Weekend Wrap-Up 13

Happy Monday! I'm writing today instead of Sunday because my work schedule is different for this week and I actually had all of yesterday off. I wanted to see how I would make it through my first Sunday off in a while. Thankfully, I had a really productive day off and stayed busy pretty much all day. Unfortunately my extended weekend was a bit of a roller coaster since I had to take Saturday off to attend a funeral. Talk about an emotionally draining event to attend. I'm doing okay but I've always been very empathetic so I soaked in all other's emotions around me.

I'd like to say that I put my emotions aside but I ended my second day of my Weight Watcher week terribly by binge eating. I went over my daily points+ allowance by 31 points+ but I can honestly say that I tracked everything. I'm currently trying to earn back all of the points I consumed from Thursday until Saturday with Activity Points but I'm slightly worried as to how my weigh-in will go on Wednesday.

The good news is that I had a really good Friday to make up for Thursday. I made sure to go to the gym first thing in the morning, had my smoothie before we hit the road to head to upstate New York, and made a salad for my dinner on the road. Otherwise, I was able to keep myself busy in the backseat by playing video games (Pokemon X, heck yea!) and listening to my iPod so I wasn't munching on the WW snacks that I had brought with me.

Saturday was rougher for me though. It started off okay because I took oatmeal I had made with old fashion oats in case I didn't have many options of food to eat at the continental breakfast in the hotel which I didn't as most of the options were filled with wheat/gluten. Then I tried my best to eat well during the luncheon following the funeral services but 1) I forgot to take my salad dressing packets with me; 2) the few salad dressing available weren't that great as far as points+ goes; and 3) I learned the hard way that ham slices for lunch meat are more points+ than turkey when I opted for 2 slices of ham lunch meat and only 1 slice of turkey lunch meat. At least I skipped the bread and bake ziti which I can only imagine would have really upset my stomach.

Then, on the way home from upstate New York, we stopped at a rest stop where I picked up two Bear Naked Real Nut Energy Bars (Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter). I really wanted to try them out in order to review them for my blog but I didn't know before I bought them that they were 7 points+ each. While they were delicious, they were definitely not worth points+ which I unfortunately spent 14 points+ on Saturday eating them because I was drained of emotional/mental energy from the events of that day.

With all of that aside, I'm proud to say that I made it to the hotel's gym Saturday morning before anyone else woke up. There was an Octane Lateral machine which I used while watching an episode of Breaking Bad -- my current Netflix addiction -- since there was free wifi all over the hotel we stayed at, the Holiday Inn Express Canandaigua - Finger Lakes. Watching something on Netflix while I work out is part of my usual routine, so it was GREAT to do something so familiar while being away, out of my normal routine.

Thankfully I ended my weekend on a good note yesterday but going on a 44-minute bike ride. The fresh air & sunshine was greatly needed after spending part of the last 30 hours in a car for 12-14 hours. I also stopped by the local farmer's market at the Natural Foods Co-Op in town where I was able to pick up some of my veggies for the week fresh and locally instead from the grocery store. Of course, I still had to stop at the grocery store later in the day but I was glad that I had the opportunity to shop locally for once (I hardly ever get the chance since I work on Sundays). I also went into work for a little bit, got in extra Activity Points for the day by taking my car to the car wash where I also vacuumed out my car, hosed down my bike since it's been needing a good cleaning, and got a lot of my food prep down for the week later Sunday night.

My birthday week is coming up and I'm celebrating it a bit this week but I plan to take some time on Wednesday to map out my week so hopefully have a successful week. So far I have Wednesday & Thursday mostly planned out and Friday I'll be staying home. But once again I'm getting ahead of myself! For now I must focus on doing well today & tomorrow as far as eating and getting in Activity Points in goes. Then I can focus on the week ahead after my weigh-in on Wednesday.