Squash it!

Good Day Teaspoons! 

Today, I squashed my hunger with spaghetti squash! I've never had spaghetti squash before but people at work who are on WW were talking about it lately and my friend K had send me a spaghetti squash recipe. So today, I decided to make it! It was good and super easy to make! It also has a low point value since spaghetti squash is 0 Pts. I calculated the whole thing and it's about 7 pts+ for a quarter of the casserole. 

INGREDIENTS

1 whole spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red pepper, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 carrot, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, diced
16 ounces tomato sauce
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Poke spaghetti squash all over with a knife and cook in the microwave for eight to 12 minutes until soft. If you don't have a microwave, place the poked squash on a baking pan and bake at 375 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. While that's cooking, add the oil, garlic, pepper, zucchini, and carrots to a pan, cooking over medium heat.
3. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and with a fork, scrape the flesh from the peel. It should flake off easily in strings, resembling spaghetti. Place the spaghetti squash flesh in a casserole dish. Add the cooked veggies, diced tomato, sauce, and most of the cheese and mix well. Sprinkle leftover cheese on top and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
4. Allow to cool for five minutes, serve, and enjoy!
Link: http://www.fitsugar.com/Recipe-Gluten-Free-Cheesy-Veggie-Pasta-Bake-20317594

You could easily add some chicken in the there if you wanted to add meat. Hope you'll enjoy it :) 

Point plus target: 28 pts (NEW)

Breakfast:

1 banana : 0 pt

1/2 cup of skim milk: 1 pts

Lunch:

Rappie pie: 3 pts

Soup: 1 pt

Yogurt (0%): 2 pts

Snack: 

Apple: 0 pts

Banana muffin: 2 pts

Supper:

Squash casserole: 10pts

Snack: 

Rice Krispies: 3 Pts

Milk: 1 pt

Pudding: 2 pts

Day's total:  25 pts

Another Week Has Past

Good day Teaspoons!

It's already my 5th week of being back on track and I lost another 2.2 pounds.  It's crazy how fast time is passing by and how pounds are shedding off my body.  I'm proud to say that I lost 14.4 pounds since January 6th and it feels great!

My friend Melissa texted me yesterday to tell me she had lost 5 pounds this week.  We started this whole process together and she is doing great too.  I wanted to give her a shout out to tell her how proud I that she's making so many great changes in her life in order to be healthy for herself and for her little girl (who is growing up way too fast).

Now, I want to hear about YOUR accomplishments!  Whether it be weight-loss related or not.  Did you land your dream job?  Did you finally ran that 5K you always wanted to run?  Did you go to your first swim class?  Did you ask that cute Barista out? Did you finish that book about self-empowerment?  I want to hear (read) it all in the comment box below so I can give a shout out to some of you who are reading this!  It feels awesome to hear about other people's hard work paying off!  So start writing!

Till tomorrow, keep on doing things that makes YOU happy!

Point plus target: 28 pts (NEW)

Breakfast:

Bagel: 3 pts

1 banana : 0 pt
Light Peanut Butter: 2 pts

1/2 cup of skim milk: 1 pts

Lunch:

Fricot (chicken stew): 9 pts
Bread Roll: 3 pts

Snack: 

Apple: 0 pts

Supper:

Chicken a la king stuffing: 4 pts
Shell: 10 pts

Fries: 4 pts

Day's total: 36 pts

Weekly Point allowance used today:  8 pts

Be My Valentine?

Good evening Teaspoons!

How did you Tuesday go?  Only one more day before the weight-in.  We'll see tomorrow what kind of impact my trip to my parent's house did on the scale.

Valentine's day is coming up quickly!  The store are filled with teddy bears, hearts and chocolates.  What are you're plans for V-day?  Are you planning a romantic supper with your love one?  Or a fun outing with your single girl friends? What ever you will choose to do on Friday night, it will most then likely involve food.  So here's a few trick to survive V-Day.

1)  Make SURE that your boyfriend/girlfriend realise that buying you chocolate won't make you happy but rather annoyed (because you will be tempted to eat some).  So point him/her towards other things you might rather get.  Think flowers, a gift card, a good book, a card, a hug or a kiss (I rather have a hug or a kiss anyways).

2) Don't stop yourself from going to the restaurant if that's what you want to do.  As I said many times before, you can still have a life even though you are tracking what you're eating!  So plans ahead!
                     - Do a quick workout that day so you'll have extra activity points;
                     - Look at the menu online (if available) and choose wisely before going. 
                     - If you are really hungry because your restaurant reservation is later in the evening,                 
                       eat something before going! We tend to make poor choices when we are hungry because
                       everything looks good on the menu;
                     - Stay away from words like "creamy", "buttery" and "fried".

3) Have fun! Valentine's day should be about spending some quality time with someone you love.  Whether it be your boyfriend/girlfriend, a family member or a friend.  So enjoy your night and do something fun!  Go bowling, go to the movies, go shopping, go for a walk, etc.  As long as you are enjoying each other's company, that's what counts!

Point plus target: 29 pts

Breakfast:

Lightly sweetened quick oats (Apple cinnamon): 3 pts

1 banana : 0 pt

1/2 cup of skim milk: 1 pts

Snack: 

1 apple: 0 pt

Lunch:

Green salad: 0 pts

Half an egg: 1 pts

Olive oil (2 teaspoons): 2 pts

Chicken: 2 pts
Cheese: 1 pt

Greek yogurt (2%): 3 pts

Snack: 

Strawberries: 0pt

Supper:

Moose (5 oz.): 7 pts

Mashed potatoes: 5 pts

Cauliflower: 0pts

Snack: 

Fat free pudding: 2 pts

Day's total: 27 pts

Monday, Not-So-Blah Day

Happy Monday Teaspoons,

Monday isn't the most popular day of the week for most people.  Its arrival means we have to go back to work, go to bed early, pack lunches and plan meals.  When Monday arrives, we usually want to stay under the covers and ignore it.  Instead of ignoring it, I decided this week, to embrace it and see it as a gift.  Monday is encouraging me to plan my week, stay on track and give myself new goals for the new week ahead.  It's also telling me that I only have two more days before the weight-in so I have to re-start drinking lots of water and try to keep fit.

I wanted to share a little moment of panic I had yesterday.  It all started at lunch time when I just couldn't resist a slice of pizza from my (skinny) boyfriend and I favourite pizzeria.  At first, I felt bad that I had ate a slice.  I kept thinking to myself that this meant that I had fail for that day and that I would surely gain weight this week.  I then sat down and started to track what I ate that day.  Turns out the slice was worth 8 pts and that was OK because I had enough pts left to cover the slice of pizza AND my supper.  It got me thinking that I really CAN eat what I want as long as I track it.  Sometimes I tend to forget that Weight Watchers permits us to eat foods we love as long as we keep on track.

Point plus target: 29 pts

Breakfast:

Lightly sweetened quick oats (Apple cinnamon): 3 pts

1 banana : 0 pt

1/2 cup of skim milk: 1 pts

Snack: 

Apple: 0 pt

Lunch:

WW Bagel: 3 pts

Fat Free Cheese Slice (1): 1 pt
Soup: 1 pts

Greek yogurt (0%): 2 pts

Snack: 

Strawberries: 0 pts

Supper:

Rappie Pie: 8 pts

Green salad: 0 pt

Oil: 2 pts

Snack: 

Rice Krispies (1 cup): 3 pts

Skim Milk (1/2 cup): 1 pt

Pudding (Fat Free): 2 pts

Day's total: 27 pts

Late updates

Good Day Teaspoons! 

Sorry I haven't wrote anything in the last couple of days! Being back home meant spending time with my family and friends and I didn't take the time to write anything down. 

But here I am today, writing again. It's not because I haven't been writing that it means I lost my way on this journey! Friday, I spent the whole day skiing with my mom. It was so much fun seeing her again and spending quality time together. The weather and the snow were perfect for skiing! We had a great time on the mountain. That night, I went to a friend's house! I resist the wine to have enough points to eat a few tortillas chips with guacamole. I had to go into my extra weekly points but it was worth it! Saturday, some friends and I went to the market. I had some Babimbe, which is rice with beef. I estimated it was about 12 pts. We did some errands all day my friends and I then decided we wanted to eat supper together. Since they all know I'm on a diet, they agreed to get some groceries, split the bill and cook a healthy meal all together. Everyone helped and we had a great time! 

Now I'm on the boat again heading back home. I ate some oatmeal and a banana on the boat this morning and had a nice coffee! The sun is shining and the water is calm. It looks like it's going to be a great ride.

            Here I am with my coffee! 

Hope you had a great weekend with love ones too! 

Until tomorrow, keep on tracking! 

Home Sweet Home

Good evening Teaspoons!

I came back home to visit my parents last night. I'm always worried about how I'm going to do (diet wise) when I'm at my parents. They cook very well and sometimes, it's easy to forget my goal.  I wrote a text to my friend yesterday saying how worries I was.  She told me to concentrate on the reasons why I was trying to lose weight and to concentrate on this.  So that's what I'm doing. I even called one of my home town friend and we went to Zumba together! I got to see her and catch up and burn calories all at the same time. Two birds, one stone!  I was able to stay on track and I plan on doing the same again tomorrow and Saturday.

Hope you tracked well today! If not, don't forget that tomorrow is a new day and try to remind yourself why you're doing it.

Point plus target: 29 pts

Breakfast:

Lightly sweetened quick oats (Apple cinnamon): 3 pts

1 banana : 0 pt

1/2 cup of skim milk: 1 pts

Snack: 

Orange: 0 pt

Lunch:

Grilled cheese: 4 pts

Broccoli soup: 2 pts
Yogurt: 1 pt

Snack: 

Grapes: 0 pts
Cereal: 3 pts
Milk: 1 pt

Supper:
Chicken breast (4 oz): 4 pts
Rice (3/4 cup): 4 pts
Veggies: 0 pts

Snack: 
Popcorn: 5 pts

Day's total: 28 pts

The Turtle Wins The Race

Good day Teaspoons!

Today was my weight-in.  I'm happy to say I lost 0.4 lbs.  I know it isn't a big loss but even the smallest of achievements must be celebrated.  Like the tortoise and the hare showed us in the fable of Jean de La Fontaine, sometimes, slow and steady wins the race.  This said, I definitely want to exercise more this week in order to tone up and to lose more weight and avoid reaching a plateau.  I will take my measurements before starting to workout since I don't want to get discourage if the results don't show on the scale.

Hope you have a wonderfull hump day Teaspoons!
Untill tomorrow, keep on tracking and dishing in the comment box below!