Happy Monday All! Wow, I guess you all do want to know how my brain works and why I changed my Weight Watcher Meeting Day as mentioned on yesterday’s post. For what it’s worth, here was my logic:
* Weighing in on Sunday makes it “challenging” because I try to eat light and low sodium 1-2 days before weigh in. We usually go out on Friday and/or Saturday nights which can sometimes mess with my weigh in results.
* If I weigh in on Friday morning and we DO go out on Friday and/or Saturday, I have an entire week to be good and not have it show on the scale. I usually do great at making my meals/staying on track during the week so I can enjoy our weekends without wondering if it will affect my weigh-in.
* Ironically, I think it might encourage me to do better on weekends because I don’t like using all my WPA up at the beginning of the week.
* I usually have to miss at least one WI meeting a month where I do a fly by weigh in so we can head to the antique show.
* If we travel for the weekend, I can weigh in BEFORE we go instead of just skipping the meeting.
* I LOVE my Sunday group and will miss them, but, sometimes it’s fun and gives you renewed motivation to visit different meetings.
* I LOVE My Sunday Leader, but, she also teaches the early morning Friday Meeting!
I am sure there are probably more reasons I could list because I had quite the conversation in my head for about a month while I pondered. It’s all about trial and error and finding what works best for you. I am hoping this is My SOLUTION! I will definitely keep you all posted on how it goes.
The Husband was nice and brought me a Venti Iced Dirty Latte (Nonfat, Decaf, Latte with 1 pump Mocha) to start my day! (4 points+)
He also brought donuts home, but, I didn’t have any. Instead, I whipped up a delicious Protein Pancake.
Click HERE for the Recipe ~ Topped with 1/2 a banana, 1 tsp of Whipped Butter, 1 Tbsp Pure Maple Syrup and a sprinkle of Organic Unsweetened Coconut Flakes (10 Points+)
Breakfast kept me full all morning long ~ no snacks required. I think being super busy at work does that to you too.
I couldn’t wait to dig into lunch. I whipped up this AWESOME Cooking Light recipe for Chicken and White Bean Soup that was recommended by one of my super cool readers.
Any recipe that starts off with crisping up 2 slices of bacon is a WINNER in my book 
Remove the bacon using a slotted spoon and set aside.
I used chicken breast over chicken thighs because it is what I had on hand. Add the chicken to the bacon grease and cook for about 6 minutes.
While the chicken cook, I prepped all the remaining ingredients.
Mushrooms, garlic and onion.
Diced tomatoes, dried oregano (it’s what I had vs fresh) and crushed red peppers (ummm, because I add them to everything).
Parsley.
I sort of didn’t read the recipe all the way through since I was supposed to remove the chicken before adding in the mushroom mix. Eh, I went with it and cooked it as though I was following the recipe
As much as I love fresh tomatoes, I actually think that canned diced tomatoes might give this soup even more flavor.
Add back the bacon, plus 2 cups of broth and water.
Add 2/3 cup of Whole Wheat Orzo Pasta and cook for 8 minutes.
Add your beans (I used pinto because it’s what I had on hand) and cook for 2 additional minutes.
Remove from heat and add parsley plus a splash of vinegar.
Divide into 4 bowls, top with parmesan and crush red pepper flakes if desired. The entire recipe made about 8 cups. Each serving is 8 points+.
Crusty French bread for dipping. I had a slice for 2 points+.
My belly was full but my mouth wanted something sweet so I snacked on one dried pear. As odd as it sounds, it definitely hit the spot.
I snacked on some banana chips and watermelon chunks.
Dinner tonight was actually picked out by The Husband when he was glancing through my Weight Watcher magazine. He is funny because he always says he never looks at my magazines, but, then will come and show me a picture or tell me a story LOL.
Weight Watchers Best-Ever Cheese Steak Sandwiches
They are actually really simple to make and only 8 points+ each.
TIP!!! I absolutely agree that having your pan SUPER HOT makes all the difference in the world when you are trying to “create” a nice crust on your steak.
The only seasoning I used on my steak was Emeril’s Original Essence. HIs Essence Spice Mix is versatile and can be used on so many things to bring out the “natural” flavor.
NOTE ~ The BIG steak is for this recipe and the other two were cooked up for The Husband as “snacks” as requested.
I seared each side in 2 tsp canola oil for 5 minutes and then place the steaks in the oven on low to finish cooking. My coal was Medium to Medium Well as The Husband doesn’t like his steak any other way.
Don’t worry, even though it looks burned, it doesn’t taste burned.
Add 1 tsp canola oil along with your mushrooms, onions and garlic to the same pan you seared your steaks in so they absorb all the bits of flavor.
Cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
Add in the sliced steak.
Plus a little less than 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese. I reserved about 2 tbsp to add to the top of the sandwich.
This was the HARDEST PART ~ take out the soft part of the bread and throw it away ~ who does that?! I reluctantly did….
Add Cheese Steak Mix and sprinkle with remaining cheese. The Husband actually came into the kitchen at this point and was like ~ that’s MY SANDWICH, right?! LOL.
Cut into 4 slices and serve.
MMMMMMM!! We both LOVED this and I am not even a huge cheese steak fan. It honestly tastes just like a good well seasoned steak, mushroom and onion sandwich with hints of cheesey richness for only 8 points+.
For our sides, I made a Quick Tomato Basil Caprese Salad
In the food processor add and puree:
~ 1 cup basil leaves
~ 1 lemon, juiced
~ 1 garlic clove
~ 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
~ Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Pour over
~ 1 Pint organic cherry tomatoes, halved
~ 1 container fresh mozzarella balls
Makes 9 servings, 1/3 cup each, 2 points+ per serving
NEW AT FRIENDS FOR WEIGHT LOSS
* Shannon shares a super easy recipe for 6 points+ Buffalo Chicken Pizza! Click HERE for the recipe!
GIVEAWAYS!!
* Win a Case of Chobani ~ Click Here
* Win an ENTIRE YEAR of ORGANIC VALLEY GROCERIES ~ Click HERE!
Q’S
Do you attend meetings? If so, what do you love most about your meeting? Do you pick a certain day of the week to weigh-in?
Night all!
I changed from Sunday to Saturday for the same reason – we usually eat out / do fun stuff out of town on Saturdays, and I’m usually home from trips on Saturdays, so it works out.
I totally get you – I’ve been really happy with my Friday meeting. I’ve probably had meetings every day of the week but this is working for me now. The one week I didn’t “watch” my Weds/Thurs eating (sodium, etc), I was up 1.5.
The funny thing is my WP’s turn over on Thursday because I set that before I had my mtg set. Works for me.
I’ve never been a cheesesteak fan, but those look good!
I think tomorrow I am going to try this dirty latte. Every time I see it I wonder how it tastes.
I made the decision to weigh in on Mondays on purpose so that I wouldn’t overdo it on the weekends. I try to be good all week and allow myself one splurge meal a week. So far that has worked for me. But lowering sodium intake… never thought of that. I will try that this week. I don’t go to the meetings. I just go in to weigh in. I find the support I need on the blogs I read and through Twitter.
I attend meetings every Thursday at 6pm. I drive straight from work and I rarely have an excuse not to go. My leader has been doing weight watchers for 40 years and she’s a fun, energetic person so that’s why I’ve stuck with it.
OMG those steak sandwiches look so yummy, and so does the caprese salad! Gotta try ’em!! I do WW on-line at the moment, weighing in on Friday; I attended meeting for almost a year, and it just didn’t work for me! I felt really bad, but the leader was terrible…after going EVERY Saturday she still didn’t know my name, and they always had pc problems where many weeks we stood in line the whole meeting waiting to check-in 🙁 Not a good experience…but it’s where I lost my 40 lbs. Now trying to lose another 30 and struggling…
The husband & I *always* tear the middle out of bread!!! We just don’t care for that part. Been wanting to mention to you that you should try your boiled egg sometime w/ cumin & salt sprinkled on it. It’s the Moroccan style & how we always eat our boiled eggs. Yum!
I’m on maintenance and I always weigh in on Friday. I figure after I weigh in, I can enjoy my weekend just a little more. Unfortunately, that’s when I usually blow it! 🙁 But, I have the rest of the week to make it right…
I agree with everything you said about changing your weigh-in day! I did the same for many of the same reasons!
YUM to cheesesteaks! Trader Joe’s has Shaved Steak in their refrigerated meat section and I’ve been using them to make cheesesteaks. So good!
I weigh in on Tuesday nights and I always stay for the meetings. I find they are extremely helpful to keep me on track. So motivational! The husband and I usually go out for dinner after and that is my splurge for the week.
I’m not on WW but have been in the past. Both now and when I was doing WW I weigh myself every morning on my home scale. I choose one day for that to be the “official” weigh-in. For me, it’s Monday. I really don’t worry about sodium. If my weight does spike one day (even if it is official weigh-in) day, I don’t worry about it, because I know it’s not real. When I was doing WW, I really only paid attention to my own scale reading in the morning, because I often wore completely different clothes (i.e. jeans vs. lightweight workout shorts), sometimes ate a meal just before the weigh-in and sometimes didn’t, etc. Therefore, the week to week weights were so varied, it didn’t even make sense to compare them. However, I could see if you weighed in the morning in similar weight clothing, the number would be more meaningful. It’s great that the leader you like is at that meeting! That makes such a difference.
I posted yesterday but wanted to post again. I weigh in on Thursday afternoons and I attend a meeting and I go because the leader is absolutely amazing and funny. She has been doing it over 25 years and is the reason this team has been going as long as it has been. I do like the Thursday meetings because I can use the WPA over the weekend and be okay with it. Then know I have a few days to be okay before I have to weigh in.
Agree with the meeting change. I weigh in on Saturday mornings and Saturday’s are my cheat day. I have done WW and have also worked for them and it has worked for me ever since. However, this time I am not going back to gaining weight as I think they got the program right. 🙂 The day before my weigh in I don’t eat a lot of sodium or soda. Danica, you are good trying to do the low sodium for 2 days, that’s hard. 🙂
Hey that’s me! I’m so glad you made the soup! I have trouble making recipes more than once, but I’m really going to try to remember to make this one again 🙂 Mmmm…bacon! xoxo
Each person needs to pick their weigh-in day carefully to fit their own particular lifestyle. I think you are being smart to adjust your’s to find a better fit. Having a leader who inspires you is also really important. I’m in week 51 and I’m down 62.8 pounds. I’ve only skipped 2 classes because I was on vacation. My leader has been a WW member for 34+ years and knows exactly what all the rest of us go through on a daily basis. She’s energetic and learns everyone’s name by the 2nd or 3rd week (and our classes are usually pretty well-attended). Thursday works for me – it gives me Friday daytime to start my week off right but also gives me Friday and Saturday nights with a little less “point pressure” and the rest of the week to stay on track.
Keep up the good work Danica!
Yay for finding a meeting day that works better for you! Your reasoning makes complete sense. And wow…that cheese steak looks soooo good. Have a great day Danica!
I totally understand your thinking about your weigh in day. I weigh in on Tuesday at 5pm. I’ve tried doing the weekend in the past and I found that mid week works the best for me. I usually save most of my AP and 49 extras for the weekend usually just Saturday. This way I stay on track Tuesday-Fridayish and then a break Saturday and back on Sunday and Monday. I found trying to be extra diligent for so many days straight was hard on me. The leader I have is awesome! She is so energetic and sends great motivational weekly e-mails and facebook updates. I like the idea of cutting back on sodium. I weigh in today so I’m going to try eating low sodium food today.
Thanks again for the awesome recipes and food suggestions!
That’s why I weigh in Friday mornings. We generally go out to eat Friday nights and that one meal will catch up to me for days!!!
Hi Danica,
I’m a day late or so to posting.
I weigh in on Saturday mornings, we don’t have a weight watchers office in my small town, so we have 2 options, Tuesday evening with a terribly boring leader, or Saturday mornings with a wonderful and knowledgable leader, so I chose Saturdays. I suppose I could drive into the next town, it’s 10-15 minutes away to goto the WWer Center, but I love my saturday meetings.
Our leader calls us the “Sunshine Group”, probably because we are very social, and pretty funny if I do say so myself. We use it as our social hour, and I have developed some great saturday morning friendships with the other ladies, a lot of them are a bit older (seniors) and I think they go there for the socializing as well.
I also find it easier for me to weigh in on an empty belly, 🙂
Your logic makes total sense! GOod idea!
Just made the cheese steak sandwiches for a Sunday night supper. Both DD and DH were impressed and this will definitely be on our regular meal rotation. If you haven’t tried this yet, do! It’s so delicious. thanks for sharing this.
That sandwich looks delicious!! My husband would Love it!
Can you tell me which book this is taken from? Im new to WW and am collecting cookbooks to help me stay on track.
Love your blog
Thank you!!
Hi Leah,
The sandwich is actually from the April issue of Weight Watcher’s magazine. It’s delicious and super easy to make.
Thanks,
Danica