Secret #2 Bulk it up!

You can take a simple meal that's high in calories and "bulk" it up to make it less fattening! HUH...add more food and it's less points...YES!!!!
The key to bulking food up is to find low calorie additions for an already great meal. 

*One of the easiest ways to bulk up food is to add veggies (or more veggies) to it. This helps increase the overall amount of food. By adding the veggies and mixing it into your dish, it increases the number of servings you have while decreasing the calorie count per serving!  This works well with stir frys, pasta dishes, and cassaroles. (I'll be adding a few recipes to show how well this works soon). 

*If you eat a lot of "Lean Cuisine" type meals because they are quick and convienent and they leave you hungry even after you eat them, the same rule applys to them. These prepacked meals comes with more than enough sauce to cover extra veggies. By adding extra cooked veggies and mixing them in well you can get full while still enjoying your favorites at the same time! If your not good at paring up foods or you just don't know what you could add to bulk it up, look for meals that already have veggies in them and add more of the same kind of veggies! You can purchase microsteam bags that you can pop in the microwave and they are completely cooked in just a few minutes!  

*When cooking with spaghetti noodles, an easy way to bulk your dish up is to add "La Choy Bean Sprouts" (they'll only add about 1 point) or mix in a pouch of "Tofu Shirataki noodles" (they'll only tack 40 calories - about 1 point) onto your meal, and you'll feel like you're pigging out on pasta)  these both look remarkably like your typical spaghetti noodles and when seasoned to match your dish mixes in so well you can hardly tell they are not spaghetti type noodles.

*When you add meat to a recipe it could add hundreds of unnecessary calories! So when you add meat to a recipe use meat's that are low/lower in fat. Boneless, skinless white meat chicken is always a good choice. Chicken goes well with almost ANY recipe you can put together! Sometimes I even substitute ground beef for ground white meat chicken. 4oz is only 2pts!  When using beef look for lean cuts, even ground beef has 96% fat free meat! The lower the fat content, the more you can add to your meal!

Look for low point recipes coming soon! Enjoy "bulking" it up!

Starting Over - Tips for losing weight.

Today I have decided to rededicate myself to Weight Watchers with a whole new way of thinking, this isn't a diet, it's a way of life, a way to stay healthy! After watching my weight go up and down every week since I stopped tracking and before I got sick (which I think really just gave me an excuse to stop caring) I am deciding to set new goals and not worry about how I have messed up in past weeks. After looking back over all of the weeks since I have started, I see even though it's only a little I am still on the losing side! I still haven't went back up to my original starting weight. So I am starting with a new mind set, setting new goals and this time I will be successful! :)



My New Goals and TIPS for anyone trying to lose weight:

1. TRACK EVERYTHING, EVERYDAY....even if I go over!

2. Remember 1 bad day doesn't mean give up.....tomorrow is a new day and you don't have to give up when you mess up!

3. Work on smaller goals....don't worry about the "OVERALL" goal at first. Setting smaller goals and reaching them will help boost your confidence and help your weight lose progress. Think about goals such as 5% of your starting weight as your first goal, 10% of your starting weight as your second goal, then go from there.

4. Exercise 30-45 minutes 3 times a week. Create an exercise goal and stick to it! Whether it is walking your driveway, playing the wii, or going to a gym create a routine and stick to it!

5. Unless it is a special occasion (birthday, anniversary, etc) don't "splurge" (food wise-going out to eat) until you have reached your first goal. After you have reached your first goal reward yourself with something your really enjoy (it could be a night out with friends that you avoid because of all the calories, an extra large blizzard, or a trip to your favorite restaurant).

6. Ask for help from the people around you! Don't hide the fact that you are trying to lose weight! The people around you are your support system! A friend, a spouse, a family member can be your accountability partner and help you make the right decisions when it comes to eating and exercising! It might surprise you, someone you are close to may even be struggling with the same thing and may be relieved to have someone else working toward the same thing!

Remember every day is a new day, a chance for a new beginning, start today!!! Don't wait for tomorrow because what I have learned tomorrow will NEVER come!!!