Lean & Greens!

Last weigh-in went great. The total weightloss to date is 18.5 lbs!! I am totally excited and happy about it. Some days are harder than others to stay on track, but overall there has been no "cheating", I haven't eaten anything not on the approved list. Have I tasted the food while cooking and still weighed the 6 or 7 full ounces....of course not!!!!! I found this great tomato and basil, salt free seasoning and I love it. I have tons of tilapia that I froze together, so we have alot of tilapia to go through the next couple of days.
For this simple meal, I used my healthy fat of olive oil with tomato and basil seasoning, with red pepper flakes. Just prepared on the skillet, tilapia cooks super fast!

 The finished produced plus two cups of greens and half cup of sauteed zuchinni. Delish!!

 With a little black pepper!

 This was another great meal! I love buffalo!!!!! Here it is paired with 2 cups of salad topped with the .5 cup of cauliflower and Walden Farms Thousand Island dressing!

 For another dinner, I had the rest of the buffalo with baked asparagus!

 I discovered a "secret" at the Medifast office. They sell SAMPLES!!! Great way to try new things without the commitment or the fear of wasting money.  I sampled the Southwestern Eggs. This powder was to become eggs....I was skeptical....?

Once it was mixed with the water, the mixture looked much better!! 

 Halfway through I took sneaked a quick peak at the process. The egg mixture was starting to look like real eggs....go figure!! LOL

 Finally, we have eggs! The texture was PERFECT. The taste was really good! It had a kick, not a spicy kick, but a flavorful kick that was so good! I would buy more samples if availble to prepare on weekends. But I am not a big egg lover to begin with.

 Today's Lean and green was.....drumroll.......tilapia!!! Here are the three ounces with half a cup of broccoli and cauliflower.

 My second lean and green of the day. Rotisserie chicken w/ two cups of mixed greens and water!

 Tomorrow's Medifast lunches are waiting in the fridge. I have Capuccino, Dark Chocolate shake and peach tea.  The flavor of the peach tea does not have me completely convinced and sold! I am debating if its a possible rebuy item...? I will ask what makes it better, since they completely turned the Fruit Punch around for me! Lean and green is half portion of tilapia with veggies.

Monday Ready!!!

On my counselor's advise, I am returning to having my lean and green meal divided in half.  Tonight's half of my lean is extra lean ground turkey. With my whole green, two cups of spring mix with tomato and two tablespoons of this awesome zero calorie salad dressing. It was so yummy. 

Tommorow's meals are in the fridge.  Chai Latte which is meant to be a hot drink, but I am trying it cold. Chocolate pudding for my mid-morning Medifast Meal, Caramel crunch bar for mid-afternoon. The soup was meant for lunch but will stay in the fridge for tonights last medifast meal.

For lunch, half of my lean and green, includes 2 1/8 ounces of Cod fillet with 1/2 cup of white mushrooms.

 The Cod was prepared stovetop with Mrs. Dash, salt-free, tomato basil seasoning.

Meal Planning the Medifast Way!

Happy Tuesday!  This weekend was soooo much better than the last one.  It took some basic planning just to make sure I was always on schedule with my meals and lean and green.  During my last weigh-in, I purchased a month's worth of food. Lot of newbie foods, soooo excited!!! 

 Some of the new items are:

• Parmesean Cheese Puffs
• Vanilla Pudding
• Brownie
• Chai Latte
• Caramel Crunch Bar
• Tropical Fruit Punch
• Peach Drink
• Cream of Broccoli Soup

I spread everything out on the dinner table by groups. Breakfast always a drink (easy to drink while driving), lunch (always a warm filling soup) and dessert (ending the day with sweetness!). Weeks worth of food is all waiting for me in neat little bags.

Todays Meal Plan was:

Breakfast           Essential 1 Cappuccino
Mid-Morning     Chocolate Shake
Lunch                 Beef Stew
Mid-Afternoon   Tropical Fruit Punch
Evening              Chocolate Brownie

And of course, lots and lots of water.

For dinner, I had to stop and run an errand so I had leftover Buffalo meat with canned no salt added green beans and H2O.

 Really good! No seasoning other than a little black pepper.

Tommorow's lunches are waiting in the fridge. Cappuccino for breakfast, Dutch Choc Shake for mid morning, Beef stew for lunch and Tropical Fruit Punch for mid-afternoon meal.

Weigh-In #4 - Day 15

Weigh-in  #4 was this week. Less 2 more lbs for a total of 13. So excited! Averaging 6.5 per week! Yay! Such a positive note to finish off the week with. Unfortunately, weigh-in #3 was not great.  Did not gain any, but did not lose any either.  This past weekend really affected my weight-loss goals. It was great to know I was getting back on track!  

I was visiting the office twice a week, but beginning next week I am doing only one visit per week. Yikes. A bit nervous but I think I can do it. The support has been great in providing the guidance and answering all the questions that came up during the beginning.

Our next step is joining a gym.  The hot humid weather is uncomfortable to even walk in. The enjoyable walks are gone! So we will tour the Fort Bend YMCA, the online tour has a great kiddie area.  The office recommended Fitness Connection for their low monthly price. Just today I saw that one is coming soon less than a few miles away. We do have a stationary bike, a weight machine in the garage, and pilates videos, so we have to decide what we think will work best.

To catchup on this week's dinners, here is the Citrus-Grilled Pork Chops. Five ounces of boneless pork loin chops marinaded with lime juice, garlic and olive oil. So good!

 We also tried the sun-dried tomato chicken baked with broccoli.

The night before work. I prepped all my meals for the next day. In the blender cup is the morning favorite iced Cappuccino, ready for a final spin in the blender in the morning.  Chicken and wild rice soup for lunch, with chocolate shake and pretzels.

Our favorite recipe from the Lean and Green book is the Nothern Italian Shrimp & Broccoli. Such a good recipe and quick to prep and cook!

The Medifast office gave me a sample of this Peanut Butter Soft Serve. 

 I crushed the ice in the blender.

 Combined the peanut butter soft serve powder.

 The results! Smooth and delicious. I don't think I would buy it again. I am more of an almond butter lover.

 I am trying out the Chocolate pudding for my 5th Medifast Meal of the day.  What better to end the day with chocolate pudding.

 Combine water with the pudding powder.

 Wisk away until combined. Do not stop to take a picture or the result will be a little lumpy.

 Not like the picture on the box, but definately really good! I placed it in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Just enough time for it to chill. Love it!

Weekend of missing meals =(!

This was a very trying weekend on the plan. It seemed I almost missed the 2-3 hour window between every meal!  I actually completely missed two meals without noticing the time. Visiting family and running after a soon-to-be two year old makes it much more hectic than sitting at the office =/.  I can't wait to go back to work to get back into the routine of things! That sounds so sad!

The soups are a great filling way to do lunch and still feel like you are having an actual lunch portion. They are so filling and taste pretty good.

I was running late for dinner. So I needed something quick and easy to prep, with no defrost time. The Zucchini Fritters were perfect.  Grating the zucchini had to be the "hardest part". That and actually having to finish 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites!!! Lots of egg! I am not an egg lover, specially after the second one!! So this one was a tough recipe to finish.

The zucchini is grated, ready for the egg.

 Combined both together to give me this.

Into the pan they went, 2-3 tablespoons per fritter.  These spread pretty easily when on the pan. I would have preferred them to be a little thicker. Again, not an egg lover here.

 So naturally, I stacked my portion pancake style. Again, one portion gave me way to much food.

 Closeup!

 For the last Medifast Meal I had the Coffee Soft Serve. It is delish! Took the ice through couple of rounds in the blender to give me this.

 Halfway through, I opened it up to scrape the powder of the soft serve still remaining.

 At the end I got this smooth and creamy textured soft serve. LOVE IT! The texture is just right. And with the wonderful hot and humid weather in Sugar Land, its a keeper!

 Ready to be enjoyed with a good glass of water!

Second Weigh in - Day 9 of Medifast Plan

Yesterday was my second weigh-in.  Scary and exciting. They confirmed, I am now less a total of 11 pounds!! So excited!!! Sticking to the plan is the easiest thing. And since I have been following the recipe book they provide, the Lean Green meal is easy to prepare and plan for. The recipes have a small number of ingredients which makes preparing them even that much easier. I just prepared my shopping list for tommorow. Can't wait to try new recipes.

Tonight's recipe was the Broccoli Chicken Dijon. Overall, I would give this recipe a solid B. Good flavors, easy to prepare and fast to cook! This are the ingredients for two serving sizes.

 I sauted the broccoli with garlic and olive oil.

 Cooked chicken, added broth and mustard.

 Then mixed everything together.

Dinner is served. Again the portion is huge! I have literally compared the book ounces to the scale to confirm! I find that the 5 Medifast meals really help me enjoy the Lean Green. I take more time in savoring the taste.

Earlier today, I had the Chicken and Wild Rice soup for lunch. For work, I usually make them the night before and leave them in the fridge until lunchtime. Today I only prepped it an hour before lunch.  The overnight soak really helps the texture of the ingredients. I noticed a few hard pieces of rice....=(. The taste was still good. Lesson learned, SOAK SOAK SOAK!!!!

Last night's dinner was the baked salmon. Delish!!! Love this dish, I looove salmon and asparagus!!

This was a great week! Can't wait for next week's weigh-in! I am hoping for another great week!