The Blonde Diaries

Snacking away on Weight Watchers

I am a snacker. There is no getting around it or sugar coating it. I love just about anything for a snack. Flour tortillas with american cheese melted in between, hummas and wheat thins, string cheese, baked cheetos, grapes, well you get the point. If its snackable I will snack on it to make it through to my next meal.

I find though that my regular snacks are pretty high in weight watcher points. For those familar with weight watchers you only get a set amount of points each day and once you hit it you are either done for the day, dip into flex points, or you have to exercise to “earn” more points. So one normally doesn’t want to “waste” points by making bad snack habits. Luckily for me the transition back ont weight watchers these past 3 weeks has not been that bad. I was able to quit cold turkey on most of my snacks between meals with the only major snacks being right after work before dinner/gym time or right after the gym when I’ve worked out everything I’ve eaten.

During these past few weeks I’ve started to rediscover some of my old favorite healthy snacks which are low in points and keep my energy levels up. I think being that it is spring and fruits and veggies are beginning to get cheap again is helping. I’m hoping that something on my list will help others trying to live healthier as well. You don’t have to be on a particular diet or any diet at all to enjoy these items .

• green grapes (1pt) One of the most popular ways to eat this snack is frozen so throw some in the freezer today!
• cherries (1pt) Cherries are one of those items that helps get you off of a weight loss plateau so if you are sitting at a weight level for more than a week try eating a bag over a weeks time.
• sugar free jello. Nothing like water with some taste to it in jello form plus its 0 points!
• baby carrots (0pts). Washing them in the mornings and lightly towel trying (keeping some water on them) keeps these babies juicy until you eat them.
• fat free yogurt. I love the fruity taste (or the yummy pie tastes) for just 1-2 points.
• Pickle mixture: petite dills (0 pts) and bread and butter (1 pt) give you a bit of a sweet and sour taste that makes for a great after work snack. Just be careful to measure out your serving sizes as the bread and butters are higher calories.
• Sargento String cheese - I specifically point out the brand because these are only 1 point and are slightly smaller than other string cheeses. If you are like me and you get about 2/3 the way through a normal sized one before getting tired of cheese these will be the right size for you.
• Sliced cucumbers & spray italian dressing - another water packed veggie (0 pts) and the spray butter is only 1 point per 10 sprays. Great for portion control!
• vitamuffins/vitatops (1pt each!!) are great when you need a muffin fix. I love one of these with a tall glass of milk in the mornings for a breakfast total of 3 points. You have to order these online but Shape Magazine always has coupon codes.

Southwestern Pork Chops

I find that when I start trying to stick with a diet that I revert back to chicken recipes whether it be grilled, baked, casserole form, etc. Now I will give it to chicken - its pretty tasty and healthy - but it does get really boring really fast. So as I searched through my recipe box as I always do before my weekly grocery trips I ran across a pretty tasty recipe that uses the other white meat - Pork! Pork can be healthy depending on the cut and packaging. Loin cuts, boneless and fat trimmed, are on the healthy side whereas sausage and bacon are more on the unhealthy side. It basically comes down to preparation and cuts.

So don’t be afraid to eat more pork in your diet and spice things up a bit. Give this recipe a shot. It cooks up in 15 minutes!

Southwestern Pork Chops

• 4 lean boneless pork loin chops (4 4oz pieces)
• 1/3 cup Salsa (any kind)
• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (dried will do as will parsley)

1. Coat large nonstick skillet with cooking spray
2. Place over high heat until hot.
3. Press chops with palm of hand to flatten slightly; add to skillet
4. Cook 1 minute on each side or until browned
5. Reduce heat to medium-low.
6. Combine salsa & lime juice. Pour over chops and simmer uncovered for 8 minutes or until chops are done.
7. If desired sprinkle chops with cilantro or parsley.

Recipe makes 4 servings at 4 points each (if you are not on Weight Watchers 1 point is roughly 50 calories)

Onion: Vegetable or Garnish…. or Both?

So what is it? Mike and I sat down to dinner the other night pondering this very question. Mike was in the garnish camp while I was in the vegetable camp. Neither one of us had a reason for our position so I decided to do some research on the subject. After all it seems as if every recipe calls for it as a main ingredient so might as well know if I’m getting any type of nutritional value from it (and can consider it a veggie for weight watchers) or if it really is just a garnish used for taste.

First stop in my quest to solve this great mystery was wikipedia. Ol’ wiki called an onion a vegetable but I knew better than to try and use that as the basis for my discussion with Mike. So I hopped on google and found the National Onion Association’s website (yes there really is an association for this!) and noted that while they don’t outright call an onion a vegetable it is implied. So there is no clear cut winner as it seems the onion is both a vegetable and is used as a garnish.

What we did end up learning are a few fun onion facts:

• Onions come in three colors - yellow, red, and white with yellow being the most prevalent
• Onions contain the antioxident which helps protect against heart disease as well as rebuilding Vitamin E.
• Onions are also a source of Vitamin C, Potassium, dietary Fiber, and Folic Acid.
• Additionally, onions contain calcium, iron, are low in sodium and contain no fat.

So maybe it isn’t so bad to have onions in everything we eat. Or maybe there is some truth of Maggie Waldron’s quote ““It’s probably illegal to make soups, stews and casseroles without plenty of onions.”

WDW ADRs

Over the years with increased tourism at Disney, preplanning your park days and dining spots are a must do. Complicating matters even more is Disney’s special promotion during the month of September the past few years: Free Dining. Now before you get too excited over the possibility of something for free note that when free dining is offered you are not eligible to use any other codes for discounts so you have to weigh your options and do some basic math. Often times people are having to choose between the 20-40% discounts on room rates, free upgrades on park tickets, or free dining and depending on your eating style free dining might not be the best choice.

Either way it doesn’t really matter because you will want to sit down at least once while you are at Disney for a character meal in the air conditioning. Character meals are the best way to see 4-5 characters and they are themed so if you want a certain character such as Mickey you can find one of the few restaurants he appears in and book there. That way you aren’t wasting valuable park time standing in line at his house to meet him.

So when should you make your ADRs? Actually what is an ADR? An ADR is an advance dining reservation. Depending on the time of year you go and where you want to eat determines how early you want to call Disney. The most popular restaurants are Cinderella’s Royal Table, Le Cellier, and Chefs de France which book up right at the 180 day mark. The 180 day mark is the earliest you may call for dining reservations and it represents that you have exactly 180 days before your trip! Its a very exciting time.

My 180 days is getting very close so I have already created my Dinner dining wish list. Check it out below and if you have any recommendations or words of caution please leave me a comment! I will update after my phone call to let you know which ones I actually got.

• Cinderella’s Royal Table (Cindy and Princess friends in the Castle) (dinner)
• Crystal Palance (Winnie the Poh & Pals) (dinner)
• Rose & Crown (England Restaurant in Epcot) (dinner)
• Garden Grill (Epcot - Micky, Pluto, Chip & Dale) (dinner)
• 1900 Park Fare (Cindy and family) (dinner)
• Sci Fi “drive-in” diner (zombie movie clips galore) (dinner)
• Liberty Tree (Minnie, Goofy, Chip, & Dale) (dinner)
• Biergarten (Germany in Epcot) (dinner)
• Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge (our alternative to Cindy’s) (dinner)
• Ohana (Lilo, Stitch, Mickey) our goodbye breakfast

Weight Watchers: Week 2 report

Well I just finished week 2 of my weight watchers lifestyle change. I call it a lifestyle change because that is what it truly is. There is not a lot of dieting involved because there are no restrictions on food except how much you eat.

So week 2 started off pretty well. I hit the gym 4 times: 2 sessions of cardio and 2 sessions of weights. Made a huge pot of healthy potato soup that was only 3 pts per cup that I feasted on most of the week but then Thursday hit. Thursday is where I fell off track last week. It started with lunch at Bennihana which is a Japanese Hibachi style restaurant. I thought I was being fairly healthy by ordering fried rice, salad, and then grilled shrimp and chicken. Well it wasn’t the best choice as once the chef started cooking I started noticing the butter he was putting on everything. Next time I think I’ll be ordering sushi from the sushi bar.

So while I was down that night with Weight Watchers, I continued my roll with going out for Mexican as my cheat night for the week. No healthy choices there haha but boy was it delicious. Then there was the pizza on Friday night after working out and Hard Rock Cafe Saturday afternoon with my friend before the play “Rat Pack: Live from the Sands”. But luckily it stopped after that.

To get back on track I made a favorite recipe of Mike and I’s: Chicken Rollups (recipe is in the cheesy chicken post) followed by cheeseburger macaroni hamburger helper last night. So I’m happy to report that I managed a 0 pound gain/loss last week and am officially back on the right path. If only I could throw this cold so that I can get back in the gym.