Weigh-in Day, Feb. 24

198.8!!!! (Bouncing up in down in my seat as I write this!!) That's 2.4 pounds down this week - which means I lost ALL the weight I gained last week PLUS one more pound!

What an amazing reminder that one setback does not mean you should give up! If I had continued to be upset about my gain last week, I probably would have gained that much weight. Instead, I let it inspire me to do better this week. And here's how I did that - I still didn't make perfect decisions. But when I did slip, I was HONEST with myself about it, put it in my food tracker, and made up for it on another day. Remember that 80/20 thing I mentioned last week? Yeah, it works.

Here's how my goals went this past week:
Wednesday 2/23 - 4 fruits and veggies, tried new recipe (Grape and Walnut Chicken Salad), worked out with trainer
Tuesday 2/22 - 4 fruits and veggies, tried new recipe (Roasted Chicken with Fennel), worked out (Zumba Class)
Monday 2/21 - 4 fruits and veggies, worked out (circuit training class)
Sunday 2/20 - 4 fruits and veggies
Saturday 2/19 - 5 fruits and veggies, worked out (running)
Friday 2/18 - 3 fruits and veggies, worked out with trainer
Thursday 2/17 - 5 fruits and veggies, worked out (running)

So, one day of not enough fruits and vegetables, but 6 days of working out AND I cooked twice this week! Which perhaps might explain why I lost so much weight this week. I find that when I have healthy leftovers in the fridge, I want to eat them. Plus, I feel guilty if I cooked food and then I let it go to waste!! Both recipes turned out fine - I can't say that either one is the most delicious thing I've ever tasted, but they are good and very filling. The grape and walnut chicken salad is my favorite of the two - it's made with nonfat yogurt instead of mayonnaise. So it's got a lot more nutrients that your body needs! In case you want to try it, here's the recipe!!

Grape & Walnut Chicken Salad
6 oz of cooked chicken breast (boneless and skinless)
1 cup of plain nonfat yogurt
1 cup of green grapes, halved
1/4 cup of walnuts coarsely chopped

Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Mix thoroughly with yogurt. Add grapes and walnuts. Makes 2 servings. You can eat this on a whole wheat hamburger bun or plain. I actually used Arnold's whole wheat sandwich thins, but they wouldn't support half of the chicken salad. So I ended up eating some of it with a fork and half of it on the bun. Still yummy, though! This recipe is 8 PointsPlus values (without bread) - which is kind of a lot. BUT you are getting protein, fruit and healthy fat. It will keep you full for a long time, so it's worth it.

That's all for today - I'll let you know how this week is going!