Time for Thanksgiving!!!

So 3 days from now we will be stuffing our gluttenous faces with yummy Turkey and other scrumptious sides.. The holidays can be a weight watching PT student's nightmare (or paradise, whichever sounds better!). Luckily I have one recipe that I have tested out and found still yummy after being weightwatchified!

On Saturday, my very best friend, and author of The Happiness Pact, had "Friendsgiving." A bunch of friends got together and did a potluck Thanksgiving. I decided to not count points on this lovely evening, hence the PILE of food on my plate

Yeah... definitely went over 21 points that day!! haha But its always okay to give yourself a day (or two this week, oops) to just eat whatever.

Here is the recipe for you to use on Thanksgiving, if you want!

Green Bean Casserole by WW

3 points per serving (1 cup)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of frozen or canned green beans (its up to you!)
• 1 medium onion, chopped.
• 1 tsp sugar
• 12 oz can of Low Fat, Low Sodium Cream of Mushroom Soup.
• 3/4 cup of 2% Low Fat  Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 tsp of Worchestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp of salt (I add this because I feel like it was kinda bland without it...)
• 1/2 cup of french fried onion (the best part!!)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Spray a 8x8 casserole dish with nonstick spray
• Cook the green beans according to their package. Drain and put in large bowl.
• Spray nonstick skillet with nonstick spray. Add sugar and onion and saute on medium-high heat until starting to brown. Transfer to bowl with the green beans. About 5-6 minutes.
• Stir in soup, cheese, worchestershire sauce, salt, and garlic powder. Add to casserole dish.
• Pour french fried onions on top (or in it, its your choice).
• Bake for 30 minutes or until the onions start to brown.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

oh yeah, PS- I've lost 10% of my body weight so far. My goal is about 5 lbs away. It'll probably be about 10 lbs away after this week, but shh....we won't think about that.

Long time no see...

SO SORRY that its taken me forever to post again. School has picked up a lot--and by a lot, I mean I have about 15 assignments due in the next 3 weeks...so it might be 3 weeks before you hear me again... Anyways, last friday I took the time to get away from the books and have a potluck with 2 of my good girlfriends and then go see a movie. I made Baked Beef Ziti.

Baked Beef Ziti, again from WW, tweeked by Chelsea

5 points per serving, serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp of olive oil
• 2 medium cloves of garlic, minced (or just use the jar version, already minced, like I do)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 28 oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 3/4 lb lean ground beef
• 12 oz whole wheat penne pasta or ziti (if you can find it, I just use penne since it looks like ziti)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook pasta and drain, set aside
• While the pasta is cooking, put oil and a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute for about 2 minutes.
• Add beef and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Drain excess fat off meat and place back over heat.
• Add the oregano, rosemary, salt, and pepper to beef and stir until coated. Let it cook until the herbs become fragrent, about 2 minutes.
• Add can of tomatoes and let it come to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Once done simmering, take a 4 quart casserole dish and spoon a small amount of tomato/beef sauce on the bottom (just enough to coat it)
• Next, top with half of the pasta and then 1/2 of the tomato/beef sauce.
• Then layer with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
• The next layer should be the remaining pasta and then top with the rest of the tomato/beef sauce and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
• Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until cheese becomes golden and bubbly.
• I slice into 8 pieces to get a serving size.

Each serving size is plenty if served with a side, like a salad or vegetable. This was a success at my potluck dinner and Kirk really likes it too. It also holds well as a left-over. Hope you enjoy!!
Now back to the books!

10 pounds!

Went to my meeting today and I've lost 10 pounds!! Whoo hoo!! Still not at my goal weight, but 10 lbs closer! yay!

I swear I am alive!

Sorry I've been MIA the past 10 days! I have been studying like a fiend this week for my 163 question-4 hour midterm that I had this morning. Luckily it is OVER and I can enjoy life again, until Thanksgiving, that is....

I have a new recipe for you that I tried tonight! I found it in the Weight Watcher Weekly that I get at my meetings, but I tweaked it so that its only 3 points a serving instead of 5 :) I feel a lot better eating 2 serving sizes if its 6-8 points total instead of 10!!

Black Bean and Spinach Quesadillas by WW, modified by Chelsea:

Ingredients:

• 16 oz can of refried black beans
• 1/2 cup of refrigerated fat-free salsa (I like Pace Medium Salsa)
• Cooking spray
• 6 oz package of Baby Spinach, coursely chopped
• 4 whole wheat tortillas, medium sized
• 3/4 cup of Mexican Cheese, 2%

Instructions:

• Combine the can of refried beans and salsa in a bowl, mix and set aside
• Head a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and then coat pan with cooking spray
• Add spinach to skillet and allow to saute until spinich is wilted (get strong like Popeye!!) Remove skillet from heat.
• On a plate, add 1/4 cup of the salsa/bean mixture to HALF of the tortilla. Evenly cover with cheese and spinach and then fold in half.
• Once you've made all 4 tortillas, wipe the spinach residue from the skillet and spray with cooking spray.
• Add 2 of the tortillas together to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes of each side, or until golden brown and crispy.
• Cut into wedges and enjoy!

YUMMY! Please let me know if you try it and how you like it!

"Join the Party!"

My best friend Stephanie started her Happiness Pact and she was thinking that exercising might make her happy. Kelly, another friend of ours, suggested that we try out this new thing called Zumba so we looked up classes and Kelly and I went to one last week. I think I'm in love.


I know this video isn't the greatest quality but it might give you some idea of the types of dances that Zumba does. I brought my heart rate monitor with me, and I burned 890 calories in the 2 hours I had the thing on. Seriously? WOW, I'm impressed. Kelly and I just laughed at each other because neither of us know what the hell we were doing, but the dances are definitely doable (it may not be pretty, but doable). No one cares if you can't dance and the hour FLEW by. We had a blast!

I plan on doing this class at least twice this week. I'll let you know after Friday if it pays off on the scale!

A favorite dish of mine....

So I discovered this dish and made it my first week of weight watchers and fell in love. Its only 3 points per serving, surprisingly, and its actually really good. Kirk even likes it too.
Its called Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms by Weight Watchers (wanna make sure WW knows I'm not taking credit for this recipe haha)

Ingredients (with my substitutions):

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vineagar (i use low fat balsamic vinaigrette by Wishbone)
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed (I use 1 tsp minced from the jar cause I hate crushing garlic)
• 1 lb uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into four 4 oz pieces
• 2 cups mushrooms, halved
• 1/3 cup canned chicken broth
• 1/4 dried thyme, crumbled

Instructions:
In a medium bowl, mix TWO (not all of it) Tbsp of vinegar(vinaigrette), the mustard, and garlic. Add chicken and turn to coat.

In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 tsp of oil.

Transfer chicken and the marinade to the skillet. Saute chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes each side. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm.
***Use a screen or a top with the skillet because the marinade spatters everywhere and it is HOT***

Heat remaining tsp of oil in skillet. Saute mushrooms for 1 minute. Add broth, thyme and remaining Tbsp of vinegar/vinaigrette. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are deep brown, about 2 minutes longer.

Serve chicken topped with mushrooms. 1 serving is 1-4oz piece of chicken with mushrooms.

SO here is the finished product by Me. I would just show you what the picture online is, but we all know that the actual product never looks like it does in the pictures!

Okay, so it may not look very beautiful, but believe me... It tastes pretty good! I like to serve it with Birds Eye Steamfresh Super Sweet Corn. It comes in individual packets that I can throw in the microwave and they are steamed yummy in 90 seconds. And its only 1 point. So here in the picture is 2 servings of the balsamic chicken and 1 packet of corn.. Very filling, and I couldn't finish it all.

Hope you enjoy!

I am a Weight Watchin' PT student

For those of you that don't know, I have been in physical therapy school for the past year and a half. Needless to say, it hasn't been an easy 16 months, but I have enjoyed it for the most part. I recently started Weight Watchers in August and so far I have seen success with the program. I actually went to my meeting today and lost 2.2 lbs this week (for a grand total of about 8 lbs). I decided to start writing this blog because a bunch of my friends have joined in on the blog-writting bandwagon, and so why not me too? I have a bunch of friends who aren't part of my everyday life, so this could be a way for you to keep in touch with me! Also, I'll post tips and recipes that I find helpful in me reaching my weight loss goal, since it is a main goal in my life right now (other than getting A's in my classes, of course!)

The decision to start this new "lifestyle" was because I found that I was NEVER happy with the way that I was looking in pictures. I went to Auburn and Atlanta in August and, honestly, I was afraid that my friends from college were going to think that I looked like I had gained weight....and I had. I think its been about 15 lbs since I graduated from Auburn. The lifestyle that I lived before starting Weight Watchers wasn't all healthy, but it wasn't disgusting either! I guess since I went to college, I have always kept a close eye on my weight and they way that I looked because I have always been just a little bit bigger than everyone else. For those of you that don't know I am Dutch, 50% Dutch to be exact, and proud of it. BUT Dutch-Americans tend to be a little "big-boned," you could say.... My father is 6'6" and his family is all tall  too. I like to joke saying that I definitely look like a Broekstra - big boned, wide hips and butt, large & muscular thighs, and green eyes and blond hair. I sometimes wish I got more of my mother's genes, who is French, 5'5", and petit, but I am learning to love my body for what it is.

So if you've never been in graduate school, then you have no clue how much a grad student studies. It is NOWHERE near the amount of time I studied in undergrad. I spend 5-8 hours a day sitting a chair just in class, and then come home to sit another 2-3 hours in another chair studying. Needless to say, I have aquired a sedentary lifestyle. I like to exercise, but not by myself. I've gone through times where I enjoy going to the gym a few times a week, but then sometimes I feel like I am a slave to the gym...it is the last thing I want to do after a long day of class and/or studying. So I decided that the only way I was going to loose weight was to change my eating habits...and boy have I! It was hard to admit that I needed help with learning how to do this because I graduated with a degree in Exercise Science and I am learning how to become a medically taught exercise professional, so why should I need help losing weight? I guess its more of a motivational thing--I find it easy to motivate others, just not easy to motivate myself. I love teaching and since being a physical therapist, teaching is a big part of the job. So I guess I will partly use this blog to teach you about losing weight as I learn about it too!

I am now a "tracker." I track my points daily and plan out my meals for the week. I am allowed 22 points a day. I think that equates to about 1200 calories. I am also allowed 35 points a week to go over. I love this because I can enjoy a glass of white wine (2 points) at the end of my day even if I have already reached the 22 points for the day. I find myself always hungry around 3:30-5:00pm everyday, so I will leave you with this tip that curbs my hunger:

Jollytime Popcorn. It is 1 point, and definitely enough to fill me up until dinnertime! AND it is butter flavored!
Until next blog...