Status Update on My Journey for all of 2018!

I have very few followers, but thought I should update those of you still with me. I was MIA in 2018 because I got a new job that took me out of the house and got me moving! It is a great change of pace. I enjoy it (most of the time)! I became a Shipt Shopper!

It also took me away from meal planning, cooking dinners most nights, counting anything points related, and blogging, social media, etc.

I'm not going to lie....there has been a huge shift in this house due to my absence. A huge struggle actually. My husband is no cook. That still fell to me despite being gone most evenings. The peak shopping times are from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.--straight through dinner. As a result, there was a lot of not-so-good choices being made in this house for dinner, as well as late-night eating for me anywhere from 10 to 11 p.m. when I got home, but I still lost weight!

The homefront struggles aren't all limited to dinners either. Everything else related to kids and home falls onto my husband in my absence, and it is stressful on him too after working his full day. Twenty pounds in 11 months with a couple of big chunks of time off due to vacation and family emergencies. I'll take it! Hell, I got it and I'm loving it!

Now I am trying to get my organization skills back out and figure out a plan of attack to get things in order here at home for everyone else while I am away and on the run out there and everywhere. I will get it eventually.

This "job" (since I am self employed, as all Shipt shoppers are), requires a ton of walking and pushing heavy carts and a lot of lifting, sometimes up to 40 pounds (think bags of water softener salt pellets, dog foods, and kitty litters, as well as 24-count packs of heavy bottled water). My muscles have made a comeback. I suffer less back problems from strengthening my back muscles in a way working out never seemed to do for me. Overall, I see improvements all around.

I have been injured a few times as well. There are risks involved in this line of work believe it or not and being self employed means you pay the price. This old bird has fallen on an icy driveway and has had an emergency tear-filled doctor-visit day trying to figure out what I did to my shoulder (inappropriate lifting of 2.5-pound jugs of water did the trick), but I am learning as I go what NOT to do as well. For instance, I created a list of orders I will not take again...the lady with 400 pounds of this and the one ordering 40-lb bags of dog food to be delivered in dangerous terrain. Plus, I can overlook a lot of the annoyances that come with this job by simply reminding myself that I am earning money as I lose weight and tone-up my body! Win!

My confession is not eating well throughout the year. By making a conscious effort this year to do so combined with this physical job of mine, I'm interested to see how 2019 ends!

Carrot-Apple-Ginger Smoothie for 3 Weight Watchers points or 6 Smart Points each

Please excuse this plastic tumbler's gnarly edges. ;)

This smoothie recipe can be quite refreshing. You can use 2 ice cubes for a cold drink style or add 4 for more of a thickened smoothie.

Ingredients:

1/4 c. 100% carrot juice, chilled
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c. organic fat-free vanilla yogurt
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 frozen ripe banana
2-4 ice cubes

Instructions:  Place all  ingredients in a blender and voila!

Serves: 1
Points: 3 Points
SmartPoints: 6 (5.5 rounded up)

Nutritional Information:  Calories 138; Fat 0.1 g (sat 0 g, mono 0g, poly 0.1g); Protein 4.3 g; Carb 32.7 g; Fiber 2.3 g; Chol 2 mg; Iron 0.3 mg; Sodium 79 mg, Calcium 126 mg

Poached Egg-Arugula Meal Salad for Only 6 Weight Watchers points!

I adore this meal salad. I can whip it up at any time of the day (and I just did)....breakfast, lunch, or dinner...take your pick. I can also prepare it with one egg for a single serving or double it up accordingly.


You can prepare your egg so that the yolk is runny in a number of ways, obviously, but I prefer to poach mine to save any points preventing pan-stick while saving the most yolk as possible.  The egg and egg yolk can be mixed into the greens to accent/blend with the olive-oil-vinegar dressing or be spread across the toast like I prefer to do to then cut up and have a little sumpin' sumpin' in every single bite.

Salad Ingredients:

1 poached egg for 2 points
1 slice of 1-point whole wheat toast for 1 point
1/2 Tbs. of whipped Land O Lakes sweet cream, salted butter for 1 point
1 ounce of baby arugula for zero points
1 ounce of shredded fresh Parmesan cheese for 3 points or 0.5 ounce for 1.5 points (optional)
salt
pepper

Dressing Ingredients:
equal parts white wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil

For one serving:

1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil for 4 points
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar for 0 points


Directions:

Toss 1 ounce of baby arugula with HALF of the dressing for 2 total points.  Place your buttered toast atop the arugula (now at 4 points) and the poached egg atop the toast (now at 6 points). Salt and pepper to taste. If points allow, you can add freshly grated Parmesan cheese accordingly.  If I were to add about 0.5 ounces, it would bring the total up to 7.5 points and a whole ounce up to 9 points.

If points allow, you can double up the eggs, butter and toast atop a 2-ounce, zero-point bed of baby arugula and use the whole single serving dressing batch above for a total of 12 points withOUT the cheese. Topping THIS with a whole ounce of freshly grated Parmesan cheese comes out to 15 points.