I’ll be out of town for a couple days so this week so I feel I should do some planning so I can be assured Keith and Brooke actually eat. Just kidding, Keith does a great job when I’m away. I do intend to keep things pretty simple though.

Monday: College Student Gourmet Pasta (with chicken and broccoli mixed in)

Tuesday: Meatballs over Noodles

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday: This is when I’ll be out of town so I’m anticipating leftovers from Monday & Tuesday night, grilled cheese and maybe eating out one night.

Weekend: Mac n’ Cheese (didn’t end up having it last week) & probably an eat out night

It’s shaping up to be a crazy week here already.  What’s on the horizon for you this week?

So I moved my weigh-in day to Thursday this week.  Another success!!  I lost two more pounds for  total of four in two weeks.  This was totally not expected.  I had given myself permission to enjoy Super Bowl Sunday with the fun treats that Keith picked up at the store.  Brooke and I shared some gooey enchiladas at Pappasitos with my boss Tuesday night.  The difference from my pre-Weight Watchers days however, was I more thoughtful in how I ate.  I took a peek at the frozen taquitos on Sunday to have an idea what a serving was supposed to be as opposed to what I typically would pile on my plate and plugged that into my Points calculator.  Tuesday night, I didn’t pressure myself to clean my plate and put my fork down when I felt satisfied.  I see myself shifting away from eating out of habit or boredom toward more mindful eating.

I’m not claiming to be an expert weight loss after two weeks.  Rather, I’m just sharing what I’m learn as I go along.  Our meeting topic this week revolved around detecting physical hunger as opposed to emotional hunger.  As I left two things really stuck with me.  One was a task I think would be valuable for just about anyone.

If you tend to eat in response to feelings that aren’t hunger, take  a moment when you’re not feeling one of those things and come up with alternative activities for the next time those feelings crop up.  For example, I tend to eat out of boredom.  So I’m going to decide now that the next time I feel bored, I will pick up a book instead of potato chips.

The second was a quote: “If its not hunger, food won’t fix it”.

What do you think?  Do you tend to eat for reasons other than hunger?  Do you have a strategy to keep from doing it?

5 Things I Would Have Never Guessed About Potty Training

1. It can be just as messy as diapers. I don’t know what made me think that the mere shift from a diaper to a pull-up would make changing time any cleaner.  It’s not.
2. Speaking of pull-ups….why exactly are they more expensive than regular diapers?  And they don’t seem to ever be part of my favorite deal at Babies R Us that gives you gift cards when you buy jumbo boxes.  I’d been planning to build a stash of cloth diapers for our next baby and started early so that we can cloth diaper at home and only buy pull-ups for school.
3. You spend a lot more time on the bathroom floor. I seriously didn’t clock this much time sitting on the bathroom floor since my morning sickness and college party days combined.  Nothing prepared me for the fact that Brooke was going to view her potty time as a social event.  Heaven knows I’m waiting until I can go uninterrupted again!!
4. Public bathrooms are even more disgusting. They were bad before but I didn’t think about it much.  Now that I find myself squeezing into a stall with Brooke, holding her on the seat, trying to get her re-dressed with minimal floor-touching,  hoisting her up to the sink to wash her hands I am in a continuous .  Icky Icky!!  When we remember to bring it along, this portable potty seat is really handy though!
5. How many times we’ d have to interrupt dinner to race her to the potty. Really, how does her body clock seem to know when I’ve just taken a huge bite and she’s just stuck her hands in cottage cheese?

I realize potty training is just a phase and this too shall pass.  Until then, I gotta keep my sense of humor about it all, right?

I took last week off but gotta get back at it. This is going to be a busy week for Keith so I’m on my own for getting dinner done. My best chance for minimizing stress will be my menu plan.

Tonight – leftover pasta
Tomorrow – Cheeseburger Pie
Rest of the week -
Craving a chicken/noodle dish, will need to look up recipe
Mac N Cheese, will probably look for a new recipe for this too)
Grilled Cheese
More pasta leftovers

Its not the best plan but its a place to start.

Anyone want to share their tried & true Mac and Cheese or Chicken/Noodle recipes?

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I’ve almost made it to the Top Ten Working Mommy Blogs!!

Wednesdays are going to be my weekly meeting/weigh-in day for Weight Watchers. I swear I didn’t pick that day so I could have alliteration in my blog titles…but it sure is handy!!

So far its been easier than I’d thought to stay within my PointsPlus target. We went away over the weekend and therefore ate out quite a bit but just made the best choices I could with what was in front of me. I’m sure I took advantage of my Allowance points!! One great aspect of Weight Watchers I found so far is that you don’t have to feel deprived. Its made starting out so much easier!!

This week resulted in a loss!! I was pretty excited because I didn’t feel as “on program” as I could have been. I didn’t do as well with my activity as I’d like either but I’ll keep working on that! And I’m even tracking on the second biggest eating holiday…Super Bowl Sunday! Its not pretty but I’m tracking it anyway!

Anyone else have a happy surprise on the scale this week?

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I went to my first meeting yesterday and I’m so glad I did!  The leader was very friendly and welcoming.  The members were very interactive and enthusiastic.  It was pretty much the experience I was hoping for.

They recently changed the program and I really like the direction they’ve taken.  The focus is on what I consider healthier foods, not necessarily low-calorie foods.  That probably seems counterintuitive but its really not.  Now ALL fruit and most veggies have PointsPlus Values of 0 so you can use them whenever you want to attack hunger pangs and stay full.  Woot!!  Pass the grapes and baby carrots!!

I’ll keep y’all updated on my progress and share any fun tips and tricks I learn along the way!  Ultimately I’d like to lose about 40 pounds to get myself to a healthier place. You can see ticker below and I’ll also add it to my sidebar. My first tip: take a big drink of water between every bite during a meal. This will keep you eating slower and help increase your water intake!

Was losing weight or getting healthier part of your plan for the new year? Or do you have any tips for me as I start a new weight loss plan?

My favorite quote is by John Lennon…”Life is what happens to while you’re busy making other plans”.  I’m going to keep meal planning but when things don’t work out according to plan, I just gotta go with it!

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Now, on to Working Mommy Wednesday!!!

 We had a choice of writing about our favorite or most annoying celebrity or write from our child’s perspective of a time when they had to wonder what the heck her Mom was thinking.  I chose the latter.

Last February in an act of homesick desparation, Brooke and I made the trip back to my hometown in Michigan to visit family & friends.  The February before that I swore that I would NOT be visiting February again.  I like my Texas winters for a reason!!  As mentioned earlier though, I was really homesick so off we went!!

Now Brooke is a native Texan and this would be her first encounter with a Michigan winter.  So of course everyone was excited to see her reaction to the cold and most importantly, snow!! 

One of the last nights of our trip we got Brooke all bundled up and plopped her down on the snow.  I wanted to get pictures so my dad helped her stand up in the snow which was that really crunchy kind that doesn’t really give under your feet.  Standing wasn’t really working too well so we sat her down and I’m sure her butt must have instantly frozen!!  She looked at me with this pitiful face and after a couple more pictures (I’ll admit it!) we headed back inside.  I can only imagine what she must have been thinking and I know she had to wonder what I was thinking…

I did much better with the menu plan last week. I had trouble putting a plan together this week because I feel like we’re just going to eat the same things over and over. Here’s what I’ve come up with.

Monday – Spaghetti & Meatballs
Tuesday – Tuna Casserole
Wednesday – Chili Mac
Thursday – Taco Pasta (Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures)
Friday – Cheeseburger Pie
Saturday – Deconstructed Broccoli & Cheese Stuffed Chicken (Cooking During Stolen Moments)
Sunday – Freebie Day

Things may not work in exactly that order but I think it will be pretty close.

What’s on your menu???