Happy New Year's Eve! My Ugly Weight Watcher Weigh-In

Happy almost 2018! 

Went to Weight Watchers this morning for my weekly weigh-in and as suspected it was a shit show. I mentioned the other day that I love the new Weight Watcher's Freestyle program and I'd lost 5 pounds the first week. The new program is great... when you actually do it.  I ate like an asshole indulgently the last two weeks and drank dirty martinis like I had stock in olives and vodka, and well, I gained four back.

For accountability, I will be sharing my weight with the world after each weigh-in. Or at least the 5 of you who read this blog). This is terrifying but I think that sharing the good, bad, and ugly of the journey is important. So my starting weight as of right now is 180.2 - I haven't weighed this in at least seven years. Kind of a bummer but no surprise. You can't eat and drink like I have and fizzle out on the working out part and expect the scale not to "reward" you with a nice hefty gain. Worse than the scale though is how tight my clothes feel and how I don't love what I see looking back at me in the mirror lately. I came to identify myself as a runner and lately I just feel like a slug. An imposter. My goal weight is 150. I hung around the 160's like 165'ish for a long time and now I find myself here. Oh well. I can get hung up on this number or I can do something about it. So here we go.

So that's the bad news. But here's the good. I really do like the new program and I'm ready to get going. For the first time, in a long time, I feel energized to get back on track and back to me. I feel my best when I'm working out, eating right and taking care of myself. I want that feeling back. I can't change the past but can change what I do right now. That's what I'm focusing on. 

After the meeting today I went to the gym and ran/walked for four miles. It felt really awesome to be moving and was literally a step in the right direction. Then I came home and made some foods to help support my eating right this week. I made a slow cooker Freestyle Split Pea Soup (0 points on Weight Watchers!) Here's the recipe. And then I made this delicious chicken cutlet thing w/diced tomatoes and white beans - Recipe here. 

Split Pea Soup ingredients

So onward and upward!

Thanks for joining me on this journey and I wish you all the best in 2018.

XO
Jen

Weight Watcher Freestyle Split Pea Soup Recipe

Weight Watcher Freestyle Split Pea Soup 

I made this recipe last week and it was delicious. Hearty and satisfying this Freestyle soup comes to 0 points per serving. I made this in a crockpot but you could probably simmer it on the stove for a few hours as well. 

Ingredients:

1 bag (1 pound) of split peas rinsed. 

1 medium onion diced

2-3 medium carrots peeled and chopped

2-3 medium celery stalks chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic minced

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup chopped parsley

4 cups of chicken or veg stock

3 cups of water

(optional) 2 tsp of liquid smoke 

Put the split peas in the bottom of the crockpot - put the rest of the veggies on top, season with salt and pepper. Pour the liquids in and add the liquid smoke. 

Set crockpot on low for 8-10 hours or high for about five hours.  

Optional: Add one cup of diced ham for the last half an hour (this adds a point per cup). 

Makes about 7-8 one cup servings. 

If it's too thick add a little extra water. 

Enjoy!