I visited a Jenny Craig office to see if I could kick-start my goal of losing weight. Booked an appointment, met with a councillor and the end result was that I did not sign up with Jenny Craig.

I have been struggling with my weight for years and have tried various diets out there. I even tried Weight Watchers, but that fell to the side since my diet buddy couldn’t go to the meetings anymore. I need to lose weight, and not just because I want to look fabulous.. I am under orders to lose atleast 50lbs. So, this means I need help – ergo the visit to Jenny Craig.

One of the fabulous things about Jenny Craig is that the meals, for the most part, are already prepared. This is good for me, as it means I wouldn’t have to spend time figuring out how to reduce a recipe for 4 servings down to one serving. And as I sometimes don’t get home til late, it would be nice to have something I can pop into the microwave for a couple of minutes.

I can’t do Jenny Craig because of one really big reason – I am lactose intolerant, and for some unspeakable reason the company includes milk/butter in every dish…even chinese dishes like Chicken Chow Mein. I found that odd since most chinese dishes do not have any smidge of dairy in them. There are not enough food choices within Jenny Craig for me to feel anything but deprived. I am happy to say that atleast there wasn’t a hard sell and even though I am one less person they can milk for cash, they were honest about it.

So, what to do? I wandered over to an Indigo and was looking at diet guides/books. I have been down this road and there, in the middle of the diet book aisle I decided I would do a modified South Beach Diet. I say modified in that I am low-carbing it, to some extent, but nothing to the extreme that the first phase of SBD is nor Atkins. I eat carbs, but the carbs are found in vegetables like carrots, corn, potatoes and fruits like bananas.

I have also revved up my exercise regime. I walked home yesterday from work, and this morning I walked to work.

Unlike my prior posts I don’t intend on listing my food items, but instead will focus more on my emotional responses to what I am eating, how I’m exercising, and if I feel buoyed or not on any given day.

Today I feel good. This is the second day of my “new” diet and so far I feel extremely good. My toes ache a little, but that’s cos of the increased physical activity – I’ve gots good walking shoes. My trousers feel a little looser, but that could be wishful thinking or the trousers have stretched.

WW was quite successful, but I didn’t have breakfast before the meeting (I can’t eat that early in the morning) so my food intake for Saturday was a little off compared to the weekdays.

Breakfast (at the Purple Onion with Lyds and Andrew) – 2 eggs overeasy, 2 slices of whole wheat toast, 1c hash brown/potatoes, 6oz steak – 23 points

Lunch – 1c corn bran squares, 1c 2% milk – 5 points

Dinner – 85g whole wheat pasta, 1/4c sauce, 3oz lean ground beef, mushrooms, 1tsp oil, 1oz shredded old chedder – 15 points

I ended up using 10 of my “extra 35 points”, 25 remain.

At my last WW meeting Lyds suggested I post the recipe of a dish which I credit with my 4.6lb one week loss.

This recipe will produce what WW calls 4 portions, but since the points value is quite low I double up on the portions for eating at a single meal. Each portion is 4 points, but even at 8 points if you eat 2 portions that is a very reasonable amount of points for a single meal.

• 200g ground lean pork (I’ve tried it with chicken and it works just as well)
• 6 spring onions
• 4oz chopped mushrooms
• 1tbsp low sodium soya sauce – I use kikkoman (sp?) as I find the flavour quite pleasant
• 1tbsp crushed ginger
• 4 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/3c low sodium chicken stock
• half a pack of cellophane noodles or asian rice noodles – about 2oz (they are extremely light so it is a fair bit)
• 1tsp oil

Boil some water and then pour over the noodles – the noodles, much like couscous will “cook” while you are preparing everything else.

Fry the pork, the spring onions (finely chopped) along with the garlic & ginger. Add the soya sauce when the pork is nearly cooked through. Add in the chicken stock and then the noodles. Mix together and let it cook gently until all the liquid is absorbed by the noodles.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Where this recipe varies from the WW recipe is that I don’t add in hoisin sauce, I find that the flavour is just as excellent without it. The original WW recipe doesn’t include mushrooms, but I love ’shrooms and I just needed to include them. Bulks up the recipe and they have virtually no points. As I mentioned, officially this serves 4 portions. But when I get home at night and I’m quite hungry I can eat 2 portions at once. Comes out to 8  points and it’s fabulous. Takes hardly any time to prepare, at the most 20 minutes, and is a great way to create a lovely meal really quickly.

…so far 11.4lbs. I was having a hard time and had actually gone up for 3 weeks in a row, but I stuck to it and this week I saw results. Lyds has suggested I post the recipe for Cellophane Noodles w/ Pork which has been a godsend for me.

I stuck to it and refocussed my energies and the result has been that I have broken the 10lb barrier. My next goal is to break the 15lb barrier – small goals, that’s why I am looking at this, achieving small goals/milestones is the best way to focus on my overall need to lose nearly 100lbs.

Breakfast – nature valley cereal 1.5 & 2% milk 1.5c – 9.5 points

Lunch – chicken breast with skin & frozen veggies – 6 points

Snack – Cadbury Thin – 2 points

Dinner – Cellphane noodles w/ pork (WW recipe) 2c – 8 points

Snack – 1oz cheddar cheese – 3 points

Total 28.5 points

I haven’t blogged in a month, and I have no excuse for it. I do plan on being more dedicated towards jotting down my points consumption.

Today:

Breakfast: 1.5c corn bran squares, 1.5c 2% milk – 7.5 points

Lunch: 1 chicken breast w skin, 2c steamed broccoli – 5 points

Snack: Cadbury Thins – 2 points

Dinner: Cellophane Noodles & Pork (WW Recipe) 2c – 8 points

Snack: 1oz cheddar – 3 points

Total Points: 25 points

This is a tad low and I need to work on introducing a few more munchies in my day. I should be aiming for 30 points per day. In the meanwhile I have re-started walking to work and managed to do 2km today in one direction.

Woohoo! I lost another 3.4lbs, making the total 8.2lbs. I keep telling myself this is to the good, I need to lose the weight so that the hell I went through last year for the surgery will be all worth it. So I do have a long-term goal as WW suggests. My short-term goal right now is to lose another 5-10 pounds before my trip to England on September 13th. Not sure if I can make it, but I am focussed and journaling daily (even if I don’t update this blog daily).

August 23rd (weigh-in day)

I have to admit, I don’t eat before the weigh-in as I just feel a little too queasy in the mornings to eat that early. I was hungry and Lydia came with a little baggie of caramel rice cakes, to the meeting.

I ate:

1 rice cake – 1 point

Breakfast/Lunch – 3 egg omlette (I’m assuming it was 3 eggs as it was fairly large at the restaurant I went to with Lydia and Puck) with veggies, 2 pita quarters and I’m assuming 2 tsp of oil – 8 points

Snack/Drink at the Comic Exp – 500ml of a strawberry smoothie (not sure of the exact points so I’m going to overestimate to be safe) – 5 points

Dinner – went to Fran’s and had the Sheppard’s Pie – 2 cups of it – 20 points

Used 6 of my extra 35 points, down to 29

August 24

I woke up super late, around 11:45am so I mostly grazed through the day.

Breakfast/Lunch:

2c corn bran squares, 1 1/2c 2% milk – 8 points

Snack:

3 slices rye bread, 3 tsp margarine – 9 points

Dinner:

85oz whole wheat pasta, 1/4c crushed tomatoes, mushrooms/greenpeppers/onion, 3oz ground pork, 1oz old cheddar, 1 tsp oil (for the cooking) – 13 points

I point under my daily 31. Still have my 29 extra points, if I choose to use them.

Oh the insanity. I haven’t eaten all my points, but I’m feeling quite full nevertheless.

Breakfast – I poached 2 large eggs (I tried my little microwave poacher), and half the flax seed bagel – 7 points

Lunch – 3oz pork, 1c mushroom/onion/green pepper, 1/2c potato, 1c cauliflower, 1tsp oil – 8 points

Dinner – (I didn’t use pasta sauce this time but instead crushed tomatoes, which has lowered the point value of my dinner) 85g whole wheat pasta, 3oz lean ground pork, 1c mushroom/onions, 1/4c crushed tomatoes, 1tsp oil – 10 points

Snack – 2 slices of high fibre no sugar added bread, 2 tsp margarine (yes, I measured it) – 4 points

Total of 29 points

I had a little walk this evening after work before hitting Dominion for a spot of grocery shopping. The walk wasn’t major, just about 20 minutes, but nevetheless it was some movement for the old joints.

Breakfast – 1 1/2c corn bran squares, 1c 2% milk – 6 points

Lunch – 3oz pork, 1c mushrooms/onions/green pepper, 1/2c potato, 1c cauliflower – 7 points

Dinner – (it was a lacklustre dinner, very protein rich) – 1oz cheese, 2 boiled eggs, 6oz chicken breast with skin – 15 points

I ended up saving 3 points, eating only 28 points overall from 31. I feel satisfied, but I don’t feel content; atleast not in the sense that I feel that I have accomplished anything weight-wise.

I tried some whole wheat, gluten-free tortillas (which are 1 point each) but it was so tasteless that I spat it out. I need something for breakfast (now that I’ve run out of milk, and I need a change anyways) and the flax seed bagels I have in the fridge are 6 points per bagel. 6 points!!! I need to hit the grocery store to find something suitable, but in the meanwhile I’ll have half a bagel in the morning. I did purchase a microwave egg poacher, so I’m hoping to try it out in the morning.

Breakfast – 1c corn bran squares, 1c 2% milk, 1c pineapple chunks – 7 points

Lunch – 3 naan pieces, 6oz tandoori chicken, 2c steam basmati rice – 28 points

Dinner – 85g whole wheat pasta, 1/4c sauce, 3oz lean ground beef, mushrooms, green peppers, 1oz shredded old cheddar, 1 tsp oil – 15 points

I used up 19 of my extra points, leaving me with 6. I tried to be careful at the Indian restaurant but after noshing there and totaling my points for the lunch I was shocked. I love naan, but obviously it isn’t a good choice unless it is a treat. As a potential weekly lunch I don’t think I could do.

I did manage to walk for about 35-40 minutes with Mr Tarotcub, so though it wasn’t a lot of walking it was still an accomplishment.

I don’t really want to count my activity points as “banked points”.