The Game On Diet

As many of you know, I am ...let's see...how do I say this...."doing" Weight Watchers. It's more than just *doing* it, because it's a complete change of eating habits and making different choices so it feels like I should say "living it". But 4 weeks ago, a group of girlfriends challenged each other to a new game called The Game On Diet. Because I can barely count my daily points, I opted out. That is, until the first week of the game had ended and ALL my girlfriends had lost weight. Alternatively, I was still on Weight Watchers and I had gained a pound. So, I signed on to the game for the remaining 3 weeks.

Long story short, in three weeks of playing the game, I lost about 4 pounds. Yes, I still counted points (although not as strictly as usual and I stopped tracking after 2 weeks). But there is a lot more to Game On (GO, as I call it) than just what you're eating.

If you're interested, check out this official website http://www.thegameondiet.com/ and see for yourself. I'll give you the low-down here too...

There are certain rules and regulations to the game. Frankly, it's a bit overwhelming in the beginning, but it makes a lot more sense as you go along.There are points involved, gaining points for doing things on the list and deductions for not doing them or cheating. I'm going to skip the part about the points and just give you the basics. Like I said, it's not just about food...

1) eat 5 balanced, small meals a day - this basically means a carb, protein and fat at each meal.
2) eat at least 4 servings of veggies a day with meals, unlimited sizes
3) drink 100 ounces of water a day. (Holy Cow. That's a lot of water!)
4) no alcohol, no artificial sweeteners
5) you can have one day off a week and one additional meal off
6) work out 20 minutes a day
7) for the duration of the game, choose one new good habit to do and one bad habit to avoid
8) get at least 7 hours of sleep each night

There may be more, but these are the basics. I loved drinking all that water. I've noticed a huge difference in my skin, and I think that's largely what helped my weight loss. After playing for 3 weeks, I realized that I'm not drinking nearly enough water on a regular basis. Now, I noticed that instead of wanting water with crystal light, I prefer plain water. Crazy! LOL

Has anyone else tried this game? Shoot me a comment and let me know your thoughts. We start another round at the end of this week!

Albino Squirrel

I just had to take a picture of this little guy (or girl?) who somehow landed on our upper deck last week. My daughter saw it and thought he was cute....that is, until he tried to jump through the window into the house (fortunately, since it's freaking cold here, the window was closed). Not too bright, those albino squirrels. Once he realized he couldn't get into the house via the window or the sliding screen door, I think he freaked out a little. He started running in circles and then eventually took a flying leap off the edge. I'm sure he's fine. Probably just landed on the lower deck....

In any case, check out the color on this little dude. Very interesting. Has anyone else seen him, or his family members, around? Incidentally, he's also featured on the cover of the community newsletter.

Guest Meal Planner - week of Jan 31

This evening as I was sitting down to do the meal plan, I asked my husband and 5 year old daughter for ideas since we have 5 leftover cooked chicken breasts. My daughter decided *she* wanted to make the meal plan for the week. Whoo hoo! Mission accomplished. I have successfully trained her in the ways of meal planning.

Actually it was pretty cute, because not only did she want to choose the meals for the week, she also wanted to write them down. See the picture? That's her handwriting. And in case you can't interpret kindergarten handwriting, here's what we're having:

• Sunday - pea soup
• Monday - taco soup
• Tuesday - chicken tacos
• Wednesday - bbq chicken pizza
• Thursday - gumbo
• Friday - leftovers
• Saturday - leftovers

Most of these meals involve leftover chicken, except the pea soup which is from the Soup Swap. I'm going to be so sick of chicken by the end of the week....good thing I'll be hitting the city of Chicago to meet up with my sister for some bridal planning bonding (and eating out!). She's the bride, not me. I'm the matron of honor. That makes me sound old, right? Ahhh, well I am old. Guess that works. ;)

Meal Plan week of 1/24/10

Have I mentioned that I love Homemade Gourmet? Probably, but it's worth repeating. Right now, all the soup mixes are on sale at 15% off regular prices...and just because it's a soup mix doesn't mean that you have to make soup with it. The website has a recipe search and there are tons and tons of variations for all the mixes. Yippee!

You can even order online and skip the whole party thing (but then you wouldn't get to sample stuff!). My friend Sherri has a website, even if you don't think you want to order, check it out!

www.homemadegourmet.com/sherri20571

Here is my meal plan for the week:

Sunday- burgandy beef tips (crock pot, amazing!)
Monday- salmon soup & salad
Tuesday-WW lasagna in the crock pot
Wednesday- Homemade Gourmet chicken in the oven
Thursday- pea soup & bread
Friday- leftovers
Saturday- pizza

Soup Swap!

Yesterday, January 23rd, was National Soup Swap Day. My friends and I participated by gathering at my house for the 3rd annual Soup Swap. It's so much fun, and I hope to be able to continue this tradition for many years to come.

Essentially, each guest brings 6 individual containers (1 quart each) of one kind of soup or stew. Freezable recipes are best, so not usually cream soups or potato. We do a "Telling of the Soup" where everyone says a little something about the soup they brought; special ingredients, if it's organic, family story behind it, etc. Then we draw numbers and take turns selecting a soup from the table - until all the containers are gone.

I give prizes for First Picked (the first soup to be completely taken) and Last Picked. This year, I made a No-Knead bread from the book Kneadlessly Simply (by Nancy Baggett - could that be a more perfect name for a bread author?!?). It was the multi-grain recipe and I made 3 batches to use as door prizes, and as a taster at the party. By the way, if you bake, you absolutely must check out this book, it's amazing and will change the way you bake bread!

At the end of the party, we each ended up with 6 quarts of homemade soup to take home. Fantastic!

Here's what everyone brought: (sorry, I always forget to take pictures!)

• buffalo chicken soup (mine)
• chicken noodle
• Texas chili
• chicken & noodles #2
• cabbage soup
• vegetable beef
• minestrone (last picked winner)
• creamy salmon soup (first picked winner)
• vegetable beef #2
• split pea

The cool thing is that even when you have 2 or more of the same named soup, each person's recipe is as unique as they are themselves....so you still get something new every time you reach into the freezer for a quick dinner and hearty lunch. I love soup swap!

Meal Plan for the Week

Ahh, you know me so well. Yes I *am* on another kick. I always seem to have something that I'm raving about...something that I'm "totally doing right now". LOL, and this month it's meal planning for the future. I hope to work myself back up to monthly meal planning, but for now I'm just taking it week by week.

Over the weekend, I had a Homemade Gourmet party. I'm impressed! I love the idea of buying a pantry staple of a seasoning mix (it comes with a tub and a scoop...fun!) and then being able to use it for over a dozen different meals. Talk about multitasking, there are many recipes on their website to help you figure out how to create awesome meals in minutes.

Speaking of, they even sell a 4 Meals in 4 Minutes kit....that was the demo my rep. did at the party. I bought chicken and a roast, she brought the seasonings and recipes. I now have 4 meals in my freezer for this week...but the best part is that each "meal" is really 6 chicken breasts, so for our family I can stretch that into THREE meals. I am so clever! Ha ha ha...

Anyway, we made freezer bags of italian chicken, garlic basil chicken, garlic lemon chicken and grandmother's sunday roast. Cool!

Here's my meal plan for the week:
Sunday (yesterday) : italian chicken
Monday: leftover linquine with clam sauce (thank you Tastefully Simple!)
Tuesday: white chicken chili (using Sunday's leftovers)
Wednesday: grandmother's sunday roast, bbq in the crock pot
Thursday: chicken spaghetti (with more leftover chicken from Sunday)
Friday: leftover bbq roast, probably made into burrito style something-or-another
Saturday: out to dinner (I hope!)

Each meal will be accompanied by a veggie and a salad...we're working on eating more veggies, so trying to eliminate bread and cut down on the pasta. I'm also doing weight watchers, and every single meal will fit nicely within my points plan. I only get 22 per day, so I do have to be careful.

I feel so organized!! Meal planning, Homemade Gourmet and Tastefully Simple all rock!

Happy New Year!

And welcome to 2010!

I don't make resolutions.
I used to. I even had this cute system where I'd put all my resolutions on paper and seal it in an envelope, and at midnight of the new year I'd read all my prior year's resolutions. But for the most part, I'd just end up feeling bad about all the things I *didn't* accomplish - instead of looking at what I did accomplish. So several years ago, I banished resolutions as we know them.

Instead, I just have "plans". Plans can change, which means things are flexible and fluid. And that also means, if I need to focus on something else instead of one thing I had hoped to change, I don't have to beat myself up for it next new year's eve.

One plan I have this year is to try and post at least once a week with something interesting that people will want to read about. And I'd love a few more followers too!

So with that said, here's a post for the new year....off to a good start already! :)