Weigh In: Week 4

Hello, everyone! I hope everybody had a great weekend! We certainly did!

Okay first off, Friday morning, my mom and I stopped at a bakery before visiting my great aunt...and Oh. My. Gosh. Diet suicide. Minefield. War Zone.

Behold: Sciortino's Bakery on the east side:

Friends, I did not bite or nibble a SINGLE THING. Be impressed by my willpower. For the record, though, they had FRESH baked doughnuts. So, I took an extra big whiff of the good stuff and calmly walked back out onto Brady Street.

Later that day, my mom and I travelled out to Sheboygan County to meet with a woman who used to own the "Private Gardener" in the 3rd Ward. Her name is Victoria and she gave me wonderful, beautiful ideas for wedding flowers and centerpieces. More on that another time...tune in for my wedding posts :) Victoria is my new girl crush. She lives on a large farm out in Sheboygan County. She and her husband transformed an old barn into their house and it is so gorgeous and unique. After a lovely tour, she served us delicious homemade chicken and wild rice soup (4 Points Plus) and a spinach and goat cheese salad with BEETS (also 4 points) that she canned from over the summer. Oh my gosh, how do I love beets. They are so delicious. And goat cheese. But not too much goat cheese, now. 1 ounce of goat cheese is 3 Points Plus. But spinach and beets are 0, so Horray!

  That is not my salad, I WISH. That is the serving plate. 

On Friday night, we did the Lakefront Brewery Tour on Friday night with all my nursing gals which was super fun. Activity points were definitely used on this trip... They don't necessarily have "light" beer at Lakefront. But this tour was very fun and informative! I highly recommend it. And at the end you get to sing the theme from Laverne and Shirley! WE'RE GONNA DO IT!

Then, Saturday night, Patrick and I had dinner out at my parents house (which of course meant great wine!). Patrick and I kept it all in check, though, being good little Weight Watchers citizens and tracking everything we ate. I worked out like an animal again last week (meaning, I worked out everyday, not something I'm used to doing), so I felt comfortable on the weekend. 

We're really getting the hang of this and we both feel pretty good this week, so.... 

Let's hit the scales!

Margaret
Current weight: 156.0 lbs
Chest: 36DD
Waist: 34.5"
Hips: 37"
Weight Loss: 
Total weight loss: 4.8 lbs

Patrick
Current weight: 208
Chest: 41"
Waist: 38.5"
Hips: 38.5"
Neck: 15.75"
Loss: 
Total weight loss: 11 lbs

This appears to be a very slow-moving process for me, but I'm okay with that as long as I'm losing weight and not gaining! 

Have a good week, everyone! 

Gotta Get My Fix...

Hello, AGAIN!

I'm posting again this week because I really wanted to share with you this really super awesome website/concept. It's called Stitch Fix....and it's really the best thing ever.

First off, I learned of Stitch Fix from my very near and dear friend, Katherine Derus (she's actually not that physically near because she lives in Colorado). I've known Katie since my freshman year of high school. Then, as luck would have it, we both went to Winona State University and even lived together for two years! She's loud and hilarious and incredibly kind. I consider her one of my closest friends.

 Katie is ALSO an absolutely phenomenal photographer. You can follow her and her beautiful photos (and hilarious nanny stories) on her amazing blog KD Photography and then definitely book her for any and all of your photography needs! I'm biassed, but she actually IS the best.

ANYWAY. Back to Stitch Fix. A couple of gals in San Francisco started up Stitch Fix probably to help out lowly dressers such as myself. To sign up, you fill out a profile in which you put in all your sizes for everything you wear, tops, bottoms, dresses, etc. Then you kinda describe your own sense of style and how you may or may not be trying to branch out style-wise. You also get to put in what type of moolah you are willing to spend on certain items of clothing, accessories, or jewelry. Then you wait. And wait. And wait. For them to accept you into their Stitch Fix world. They are doing very well for themselves so you might be on the waiting list for awhile (I think I was for about a month). After you get accepted, you can schedule your first fix! They'll send you about 4-5 items of clothing and/or accessories (I only get one accessory, because I more want the CLOTHES). You put in your credit card info and $20 goes towards each fix as a "Styling Fee". Now you have a personal stylist!

When your box comes, you do an excited happy dance because YAY new clothes! Then you try everything on! Anything you keep, your $20 goes towards and you pay for it, but anything you don't keep goes back in a PREPAID shipping bag that they give you! It's really easy and super awesome... and slightly addicting.

So. When I was waiting for my Fix this month, I was thinking about how we feel in clothes depends greatly on how we feel in our bodies. As I've been feeling better about myself and working out more, I have to say, clothes are way more fun! 4 pounds isn't a ton, but I've noticed more tone in my arms and legs which makes me like putting on fitted clothes instead of always drape-y. I was super excited to try on my clothes this month because I feel so much better about myself. And. I decided to share some of the great clothes with you guys!

Please excuse some of the pictures, Patrick is not as great of a photographer. He needs tips from Katie. But I'm a super model, right?

So this is a floral top that I loved a lot and I actually ended up putting it on under the blazer but felt like I kinda looked like a tool posing. This was a keep for me because, as you all know from my measurements, I'm a busty gal, so I like anything that HIDES that.

Next was this absolutely fantastic asymmetrical jacket. It's super cute and will look good with anything underneath! I'm going to wear this this Friday, so, obviously, a KEEP!

Next,  I got a great pair of black skinny jeans! I've never gotten pants in my Stitch Fix, so I was a little skeptical that they would fit great...but they DO! Also, they make me look like I have a butt, which is a feat! These were definitely a keep because I felt like I could prance around and maybe show off my bum a little during my prances. I didn't do a butt-shot (haha, ew) because I'm just not really like that and I don't really know how to pose per say.... and you'll all just have to see it in person.

Last were these earrings. While they are super cute and I'm definitely on a gold kick right now, they weren't really striking my fancy tonight and were just a touch out of my price range for a pair of earrings. So, back into their nice packaging they go and then into their pre-paid shipping bag.

Overall, I really loved my Fix this month, and I think it's because my stylists name this month was MARGARET. Clearly we were having Margaret mind-waves because I loved all my clothes so so much.

So! Head over to Stitch Fix to sign up! AND! If you use this link when you sign up, I can get $25 credit towards my next fix: Help a gal out! And help FEED MY ADDICTION! My next Fix is scheduled for the end of February! Stay tuned for more fun clothes then! I'll practice my poses for you. And my smizing...

Weigh In: Week 3

We're on week 3 and going strong! 

Everyone has been so supportive of us, and we thank you! Our biggest fan and supporter, however is....

Memphis. Our trusty sidekick. I mainly just wanted to put a picture of him in the blog because I love his face. But he loves that we're getting slimmer so he isn't so embarrassed to be seen with us. It's the German in him or something. Anyway, moving on.

This week, I feel a whole lot better about our weigh in, so let's hit the scales!

Margaret
Current weight: 156.4
Chest: 36DD
Waist: 35.75"
Hips: 39.25"
Weight Loss: 2.4 lbs
Total weight loss: 4.4 lbs

Patrick
Current weight: 210.8
Chest: 39.3"
Waist: 38.5"
Hips: 38.5"
Neck: 15.9"
Loss: GAIN of 0.8
Total weight loss: 9.8 lbs

Poor Patrick. Now he knows how I felt about a week ago. But he has little Gregger to blame since it was Gregger's birthday extravaganza this weekend. He had a weekend of "Too Much Fun", so to speak. However, he assures me, that it was absolutely and totally worth it to help G-Force celebrate in style. 

                                                            But look how handsome he is! 

I do have to say that, so far, I have found I'm more successful when I plan the whole week of eating and working out because I know where I stand every day. It sounds boring, but I eat some form of eggs every morning. I have my cottage cheese/cantaloupe concoction for a snack almost every day. At work, I eat a bulkier dinner because it has to last me about 5 hours. 

That being said, a possible minus of Weight Watchers may be that I can't be extremely spontaneous in life. For example, if my darling sister, Elise, calls me to get sushi, I have to look at my points, see if I have wiggle room, check how many Points Plus a spicy tuna roll is (7, if you're wondering...and nobody has just ONE roll. SHOW ME THAT PERSON. Show me that person, and I'll show you a LIAR). 

I think another contributing factor to my weight loss this week is the fact that I did not consume much alcohol this week, 2 glasses of wine with dinner on Friday. I'm not going to lie, that's hard for me. Alcohol-driven I am not, but I love to have a glass of wine with dinner or when I'm lounging in front of the boob tube at night. One SERVING (5 fl oz) of red wine is 4 Points Plus. What I actually pour is about 1 cup, which is 7 Points Plus. Le sigh. 

This week, we have a lot of yummy food planned. Last night we had the Rigatoni with Meat Sauce, but I am making some Pizza Pockets and Mexican Chicken Lasagna. Very exciting! Also, at work last week, one of our tech's mother-in-law made these TO DIE FOR lemon cookies. I looked on the old WW and found lemon honey cookies. I'm going to try those out and see if they are to DIET for! Get it? HA! I'll report back with my results. 

Until next time! 

On Monday She Ate...

Rigatoni with Meat Sauce

Today is the start of my "off" week, which means I have a lot of time to actually cook and prepare meals for the week. I did the grocery shopping this week and, again, stocked us up on fresh fruit and vegetables. Another thing I've been pretty much obsessed with since Weight Watchers is cottage cheese. A 1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese is just 1 Points Plus value and with 0 points cantaloupe, I have found one of my favorite snacks. During the work week, I really like soups because you get a little more bang for your buck and they fill me up without wasting points. That way, I can have a small snack when I get home at 11:30 pm. I swear, getting home from working PM shift at a hospital is like getting home drunk from the bars and needing to drunk eat. EVERYTHING is appealing and awesome and wonderful. Popcorn! Leftover chinese! Pizza Rolls! Now, I like to have a Chobani yogurt to quell the hunger pangs and then I scoot off to bed.

So. After a pretty long and tiring work week, I was hardcore craving carbs tonight. So we decided on rigatoni with a meat sauce. This was very easy to make and easy to double or triple the sauce to freeze for later in the week.

Rigatoni with Meat Sauce

Points Plus Value: 9 Points 
Adapted from: Weight Watchers
Serves: 4 people

Whatcha Need:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, peeled, chopped
• 1 rib of celery, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 8 oz lean, uncooked ground beef
• 28 oz canned diced tomatoes
• 1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 c dry red wine (or reduced sodium beef broth)
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 c uncooked rigatoni
• 4 Tbsp rigatoni

Whatcha Gotta Do:

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan

2. Add the chopped onions and cook until they're translucent (and filling your kitchen with that delicious scent that tells everyone else around that you're making dinner!)

3. Add the celery, carrot, and garlic. Saute an additional 5 minutes.

4. Add the ground beef and stir frequently to break up the meat. Cook until it's nice and brown.

5. Add the tomatoes, which juice, the parsley, the red wine, the rosemary, the bay leaf, and salt and pepper.

Before Weight Watchers, I would have had a glass of wine (or two) myself while cooking. Then probably another glass with the actual meal. Now that's a NO NO! And I'm a little sad about it....

6. Bring that yummy sauce to a bubble, then immediately turn it down and simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes to let everything thicken up a bit.

7. Cook up the rigatoni and pour the sauce over the cooked noodles.

One serving is a cup and a half. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of the cheese and EAT UP!

Our Review: I like most of the recipes that give me enough food for the points. Like I said, I love pasta so I got a whole bowl full and that made me and my stomach very happy. The taste was okay, I like thicker meat sauces myself, but you could definitely taste the rosemary and the carrot and celery added a nice little crunch. I gave the recipe 4 stars. Patrick gave it 4.5 stars. He said the overall taste was good, but didn't like that there wasn't more of a tomato sauce.

Tomorrow, we weigh in! I wish we had a sauna so I could try to sweat some pounds away, but we'll just have to see what the scales say!

Weigh In: Week 2

I'm posting this late because Patrick and I had to do our measurements very late last night after I got home from work. But then we were about the same on all the measurements so ... go figure. We also forgot to take our "WW" pictures....we suck at this blogging business.

Time to hit the scales. I'm really nervous for this week because of Saturday night. The thing is, I feel great. I worked out a lot last week, so I feel toned and strong.

Margaret
Current weight: 158.8
Chest: 36DD
Waist: 35.75"
Hips: 39.25"
Weight Loss: GAIN of 0.6
Total weight loss: 2 lbs

Patrick
Current weight: 210
Chest: 39.3"
Waist: 38.5"
Hips: 38.5"
Neck: 15.9"
Loss: 2.2
Total weight loss: 10.6 lbs

So. Let's talk about this. I'm obviously up and Patrick is down, which is really hard to take because we almost had the same weekend. Because he's a guy, the weight still comes off, whereas I have to be very vigilant and can. not. cheat. at. all. The weekend was definitely worth it, so I'm trying not to be too hung up on it. I work this week, too, so that makes it a little easier for me to stay on track. 

Also! And I'm not trying to give myself excuses, but I worked out every single day last week and did a LOT of strength training. Doesn't muscle weigh more than fat or something? ;) 
But really, I did weights Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with Tuesday and Thursday being 45 minutes of the "Get Strong" circuits on my Nike Training Club app on my phone. 

Speaking of the NTC app, it's really cool and helpful, and it's FREE! You choose your workout: Get Lean, Get Toned, Get Strong, Get Focused. then choose a workout from there that's either 15 min, 30 min, or 45 min long. The more time you log, the more "Rewards" you get! I got a bunch of smoothie recipes in the beginning! 

Get Lean is a bunch of cardio circuits. Get Toned mixes up cardio with some weights. Get Strong has heavier weights and less repetitions. Get Focused is a bunch of quick, 15 minute workouts that target a specific area of your body. After you choose your fate, the app syncs up with your music and you have a lady telling you what to do. And she gives you encouragement and stuff, like, "Time to dig deep!" and "You can do it!" Sometimes, when I'm really sweating and breathing hard, I'm like, "Shut up, LADY! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!" but most of the time, it's nice to have SOMEone encouraging me. 

If you don't know how to do a workout, they have videos of extremely fit and toned girls showing you how to do it. Those Nike girls are inspiration enough! 

Here's to hoping that next week's weigh-in is better than this one for me! I'm not giving up, just going to work harder! 

Too Much Fun

Hello, all! I hope you all had as good of a weekend as I did!

My weekend was such a blasty blast and I was such a good Weight Watchers gal on Thursday and Friday....but not so good last night....more on that later.

This week, my bestie best friend, Mary-Ann came home from Florida! Mary-Ann (or as I like to call her, Lovah), moved to Orlando two springs ago and ever since she left, there is a little Lovah-shaped hole in my heart. I've known this girl since we were in 2nd grade when she told me her middle name was Margaret (a lie) and that she had moved to Wauwatosa from California, where she had been separated from her family by an earthquake (also a lie). We've been best friends ever since and we love to have a giggle at our friendship based on lies. She's always there to listen to my rants and ravings and is always good to make me laugh no matter what. We have a weird sense of humor that I wouldn't exchange for anything in the world.

I wanted to treat her to a fun night on the town Friday. I allocated all of my weekly points for our "sophisticated girls night out". We began our night at Cuvee, a champagne lounge in the Third Ward, where we sipped on the bubbles and caught up. Then we traveled to Blue at the top of the Pfister for martinis and music. We were sufficiently tipsy as we made our way to the Harp, one of our favorite Milwaukee spots.

We had such a blast and I didn't go over my points allowance, which was amazing. In case you are wondering, 2 glasses of champagne, 2 martinis, and 2 Miller Lites is 32 points. Really. Alcohol is not your friend on WW, but it makes sense. Empty calories and whatnot. Blah blah blah.

Last night, however, I didn't even keep track of points.  I couldn't, friends, and I'll tell you why. For Christmas, my siblings and I got my parents a food tour in the Third Ward. We are huge foodies in the Gottsacker family and so, really, I couldn't pass up any of the food. So if I'm up in poundage on Tuesday, I wanted to document exactly WHY I was up. In an attempt to offset the food to be consumed (and in true Gottsacker fashion), we did a "family workout" down by the lakefront. I really wish I had taken pictures because it was so. freakin'. funny. We started near the paddle boat launch in McKinley Marina and jogged (all 10 of us) along Lincoln Memorial Drive to the workout equipment near Northpoint custard stand. There, we did one minute circuits with all the equipment and added in some jump squats, walking lunges, and push-ups. I wonder what people thought as they drove and walked by. For the first part, we're a large group. For the second, we're not a quiet bunch (and five girls means a lot screeching), so I know we attracted a lot of attention. We definitely had fun, although I'm not really sure how many calories we burned....

Anyway, on to the food. Milwaukee Food Tours is sooooo fun and a great way to eat delicious food and learn about our wonderful city! Tours are about $50 a person which includes all of your food and it takes about two hours. I highly HIGHLY recommend it. There are several different tours, including the Third Ward, Brady Street, Churches and Chocolates (next on my list) and Old World Third Street. Yummy!

We started our food tour at the Milwaukee Public Market with some chicken dumpling soup from Soup and Stock Market.  Sooooooo good. Soup and Stock Market only uses fresh ingredients from within a 50 mile radius of Milwaukee and, at the end of the day, any leftover soup is given to local food shelters. Delicious AND charitable!

Next stop was Rustico on Water Street. I've been to Rustico before for drinks, but never for pizza...but it is now one of my favorites. We tried the Margherita pizza and it was so simple and good. The owner of Rustico actually flies his cooks to Italy so they can learn the authentic Italian way of cooking. Another fun fact is that Rustico has very delicious gluten-free options! Honestly, I could have eaten way more than my one slice of pizza and I was dreaming of the pizza the rest of the night!

After Rustico, we trekked to Tulip, Milwaukee's best Turkish restaurant. I have never eaten Turkish food, but now Patrick and I have it on our list of places to go because it is delicious. Also, the restaurant is very beautiful inside. Everything inside Tulip is from Turkey and the owners are all 100% Turkish. The building itself was built with Cream City bricks, which is where Milwaukee got it's "Cream City" nickname. We had very delicious and savory chicken kebabs with a side of 2 types of jasmine rice. Here, my father also ordered 2 bottles of wine to be sipped with the food. The atmosphere, the food, and the conversation was unforgettable!

Next came Swig, where we had a pumpkin and mango salad with some teriyaki tenderloin skewers. Swig is one of my favorite places to eat, so I was happy to go there. What's cool about Swig is that they make their own infused vodkas (fruit-infused, vegetable-infused) and it's owned by a husband and wife. The husband is a hardcore carnivore while the wife is a vegetarian, so they have a really nice balance on their menu! Also, random fact: Oprah Winfrey loves Swig and, every Tuesday morning, Oprah sends someone from her team up to Swig in Milwaukee for an order of their black bean cakes.

We ended our tour at Spin Milwaukee for dessert and the Packer game (which we won't talk about). Spin is the brainchild of actress Susan Sarandon and their are only a few locations nationally: New York, Los Angeles, and MILWAUKEE! Here, we ended our fun night with a chocolate caramel brownie and some cheesecake samples and a specially-made-for-Spin Sprecher beer. We joked that it has crushed ping pong balls in it, but you can't get that brew anywhere else besides Spin Milwaukee.

I had such a blast with my family and with Patrick, I couldn't spoil the night by not indulging with them. We really had a great time and ate some delicious and different food. Patrick and I are back to counting our points today and we prepare for the week ahead by making some soup, some chili, and some more Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese.

We will still weigh in on Tuesday and we'll see what happens then!

Weigh in: Week 1

Before we get to the weigh-in, Patrick and I want to quick recap our week of diet and exercise. Tuesday was our initial weigh in day where we were shame-faced.
Wednesday, I worked out for about an hour. Then, we had dinner with Patrick's mom at Flat-Top Grill, which was an easy place to build a healthy, yummy meal. I created a chicken vegetable stir fry that I made into lettuce wraps and Patrick made his stir fry into a really yummy soup!
Thursday, I did a circuit training class for an hour, then Patrick and I took our dance lessons for the wedding and then we came home to make Hawaiian Curried Chicken with Pineapple Salsa (which was so good!)
Friday, I worked and ate leftovers for dinner.
Saturday, Patrick and I journeyed up to Lambeau field for the Packer Playoff game. We had such a blast! With Weight Watchers, we had to prepare for this day and we both decided ahead of time that we wanted to use our Weekly Points and Activity Points from the week to let loose and have some fun. Patrick was feeling slightly under the weather, so our drink of choice was tea with honey whiskey in it, 24 points for about 6 shots of the good stuff. The tailgate food was a MINEFIELD of naughty food, y'all, so I had a chili cheese brat for 6 points. Otherwise, we munched on veggies as we consumed most of our points....liquidly. During the game, we switched to Miller Lite, 14 points for 3 16-oz bottles. Remember, I get 27 daily points and 49 weekly points. Luckily, I had about 20 activity points as well. We were pleasantly buzzed as we watched the Pack dominate the Vikes. The atmosphere at Lambeau was amazing and so much fun. Arguably, games are waaaaaaay more fun when you're winning ;)

CONFESSION: On the way home from the game, I still had my activity points and was staaaaaarving. So we stopped on the way home at.....McDonald's. Oh my gosh, you'd think diet suicide. My quarter pounder with cheese and small fries (see, portion control, right?) cost me all 20 of my activity points. But. Soooooo worth it. I'm not going to even tell you all the extra points Patrick had and how he had a double quarter pounder with cheese and regular fries.
Sunday, we ran errands and ate Subway. Grocery shopping included more of our fresh fruit and vegetables and ingredients for a couple of Weight Watchers recipes. Back on track with no extra points to speak of.
Yesterday, we made Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese which was so delicious, we're excited for our leftovers for the week! PLUS, we're excited to try some mushroom risotto my friend EMILY ZEI recommended :)

So now it's the moment of truth, guys and gals. Time for Patrick and I to step on the dreaded scale once again and see if the WW is working as well for us as it does/did for J-Hudson.

Margaret
Current weight: 158.2 lbs
Chest: 36DD
Waist: 35.75"
Hips: 39.25"
Total weight loss: 2.6 lbs

Patrick
Current weight: 212.2 lbs
Chest: 39.3"
Waist: 38.5"
Hips: 38.5"
Neck: 15.9"
Total weight loss: 8.4 lbs

We are definitely excited and now feel like we have to sound like a Weight Watchers commercial because...


We lost weight....and we ate McDonald's. It's true.

On Monday, She Ate...

Stove-Top Macaroni and Cheese 

After a long, hard week of dieting and working out, Patrick and I wanted a little comfort food. Is this an option with Weight Watchers? Could we enjoy one of our favorite fatty-fat foods? Could carbohydrates and cheese last a moment on our lips without journeying to our hips? 

The answer is YES! This recipe is really good. And also super easy, which is nice at the beginning of the week when I don't really feel like whipping up anything complex. I added a little bit of jalapenos for a little extra kick! 

Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese 
Points Plus Value: 6 Points 
adapted from: Weight Watchers

Whatcha Need: 

• 1 Tbsp butter (regular! not light!)
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 14.5 oz diced tomatoes
• 1/2 of a jalapeno pepper, diced
• 1.5 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 0.5 cup skim milk
• 2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese (we used the realllly good expensive stuff)
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 4 cups already cooked elbow macaroni

Whatcha gotta do:

1. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet.

2. Add the flour, stir constantly and let it brown slightly. This takes about a minute

3. Add the tomatoes and diced jalapeno and let the mixture thicken up and bubble. This takes about 2-3 minutes

4. Add the milk, both of the cheeses, the mustard, and the salt. Keep stirring for 2-3 minutes as the cheese melts all the way. It'll look like delicious chili cheese dip! But it isn't!

5. Stir in the macaroni noodles until they are all coated evenly.

This makes one cup per serving. It is so delicious! I had leftover points from the day, so I had TWO cups of macaroni and cheese. I ate it like I hadn't eaten in 3 days...and I was satisfyingly stuffed afterwards. I thought it tasted like a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, which I love. I was so pleasantly surprised by the dish; I was afraid it was going to be bland and gross. On the contrary, it was cheesy and creamy and the punch of jalapeno was really fantastic. The recipe suggested adding a little bit of bread crumbs for extra crunch, but that would affect Points values. Maybe next time.

Tomorrow is our one-week weigh in! I really wanted to weigh in today, but Patrick and I agreed we should have a full 7 days under our belt. 

On Thursday, She Ate...

Hawaiian Curried Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

Tonight, Patrick and I tested out the Hawaiian Curried Chicken recipe. I looooove curried chicken, so I was excited to try this. Plus, it called for COCONUT MEAT (exotic, no?), and I've never really worked with coconut myself apart from baking with it. So I was excited. Apparently, most stores sell coconut meat, like, in a bag? Unfortunately, Metro Market in Milwaukee does not sell it in this form, so we bought a WHOLE coconut.

 Which brought us to the part where we had to open the coconut. Patrick said he knew how to open a coconut. He learned in the Caribbean. I learn something new about him almost every day, but this was really a zinger. It is reason #547 why I'm marrying him.

When we opened up the coconut, though, it REAKED. Like, sour, awful, rancid milk. What happened to our little coconut? I don't know. My knowledge of tropical fruit is limited. We only had it 2 days. Do you refrigerate them? Either way, we discarded the coconut (in the dumpster room. at the end of the hall. in its own separate room), and decided we didn't need the 2 tsp each of toasted coconut meat on top of our meals.

So. On to the rest of the recipe!

Coconut Curried Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
Points Plus Value: 5
adapted from: Weight Watchers

Whatcha need:

• 3 sprays cooking spray
• 2 tsp peanut oil
• 2 tsp ginger root, finely minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp of sea salt (luckily this is what we had, otherwise we'd use a little extra regular salt)
• 1/8 tsp sugar
• 12 oz chicken breast, cubed into 1-1.5 inch cubes (for the record, a pound is 16 oz... Something I taught Patrick)
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 2 1/2 cup pineapple, diced
• 1/4 cup shallot, diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut meat, toasted (we did NOT use)

Whatcha gotta do:

1. Coat a medium skillet with the cooking spray and peanut oil. Place over medium heat and heat until the oil shimmers. What does this mean, do you ask? Exactly what it says. The oil actually starts to move a little.

2. Add the onion and ginger and cook until the onions start to caramelize a little, about 5-7 min.

3. Add the curry powder, sugar, and salt and cook until curry powder is fragrant. Oooohhh and it smells gooooood.

4. Push the onions and shallots to one side of the skillet and add the cubed chicken. Cook the chicken until it's browned, about 1-2 minutes.

5. Add the coconut milk. (A word to the wise. Canned coconut milk SEPARATES. Shake it up before you use it. Or stir it) Let this simmer 20-30 minutes.

6. While the concoction simmers, ignore the delicious smells coming from your stove and make the pineapple salsa by combining the pineapple, shallot, and cilantro and stirring them all together.

Serve yourself up 3/4 cup of chicken mixture and top it off with 1/3 cup of pineapple salsa....and 2 tsp of the toasted coconut, if you made it.

Patrick ate it in about 3 minutes, a WW no-no. He had basketball practice to get to, but we're supposed to savor our food and eat slowly (this is a tough concept for me, as well).

So, we gave this recipe 4 stars. Very delicious. The portion seems small, but I ate it with a side of green beans and, I have to say, I didn't feel full (how I usually feel after eating), but satisfied. The chicken is a little bit salty and deliciously coconut-ty, and the pairing with the sweet pineapple is really lovely.  I'll definitely be taking it to work tomorrow, and so will Patrick.

Cheers,
Margaret

D-Day: We're Joining J-Simps!

Alrighty, the day is here. The day of humiliation. And we are, truly, humiliated. Apparently the holiday season took more of a toll on us than we thought.... So we'll take a large humbling breath and tell you our starting points.  I'll also have you know that I didn't want to share my weight. I was just going to let you know how much I lost (or didn't lose) each weigh-in, get to my goal weight, and let all of you do some math to find out my starting weight....But Patrick said I couldn't. SO HERE YA GO:

Margaret
Starting Weight: 160.8 
Chest: 36DD
Waist: 36 inches 
Hips: 39.5

Patrick
Starting Weight: 220.6
Chest: 41"
Waist: 39.5"
Hips: 40"
Neck: 16.25" 

Sorry we're not taking half naked pictures. Maybe when we're so fit and thin we can hardly stand it. I don't think anyone should see our partially-clothed bodies.

For those of you who don't know how Weight Watchers works, here's how:
Based on our weights, Patrick and I have a certain amount of points to use each day. Each food has an allotted amount of points with fruits and vegetables being 0 points. In all unfairness of unfairness, Patrick gets 47 points a day while I get 27.
We also get 49 weekly points to spread throughout the week as we want. These are supposed to be used for "special occasions" when you might be eating a little more or something.
Activity points help us, as well. The more we work out, the more activity points we can trade in for food. For example, if I run for 30 minutes, I can earn 6 activity points.
Weight Watchers doesn't want us to get too ahead of ourselves, we've set "do-able" goals for now. My first goal is to lose 15 lbs and Patrick's first goal is to lose 20 lbs.

For today, I'm having an egg white scramble with some black beans, fat free sour cream, and salsa. For lunch, Patrick made the WW beef stew recipe. When I get home from work at 11, I'm usually hungry, So my "dinner" is some yogurt and fruit when I get home. I also have fruit, cottage cheese and other snacks for throughout the day.

Well, we're on our way! We'll be weighing in weekly and sharing some recipes and some of the stuff we like and don't like. Our woos and our woes, if you will.

Happy New Year!