Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Weight Watchers Recipe Review: Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies


Alien glop? Or mounds of meringue marvelousness?

Despite Teeny's best efforts, I made it into the kitchen for some meringue makin' this morning. They turned out very well. Perhaps too well. I kept hanging around the kitchen waiting for them to be done (two hours is a very long time).

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies
1 point per cookie, makes 24
  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, semi-sweet
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 200ºF and cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form; gently fold in chocolate and vanilla.

Drop mixture by heaping tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart, making 24 cookies.

Bake until lightly golden and no longer sticky on the surface, about 1 hour. Turn oven off and let cookies sit in oven for 1 hour. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Yields 2 cookies per serving.

Source: http://www.weightwatchers.ca/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=129171

Recommended?
Sorta. It was easy to make and yielded 24 cookies just like it said. I did make one small modification and that was to use parchment paper instead of cooking spray. Parchment paper releases cookies like a dream. Much simpler and cleaner, too.

As far as taste, they're crisp and chewy with a nice hit of real chocolate. Yum. However, as far as meringue recipes go, I'm sure there's lower point ones out there. If I make them again, I'll make smaller cookies to trick my brain into thinking I'm eating more per serving.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Second Post-Baby Weigh-in



Ye gads. I knew going into this that babies eat up your day. What they didn't tell me is that they eat up two or three days at a time! Though I'm posting this on Tuesday, I've back dated it to when the actual weigh-in was.

Speaking of which...

I'm down 0.2 lbs. That's about the same amount as Teeny spits up. I kid, I kid. She isn't a spitter-upper. She just projectile pees. But that's another story.

It was nice to see some familiar faces at the meeting. Fewer than I thought there'd be, but then again it has been a year since last I went. One of the gals I'm familiar with made goal and she looks fabulous. We also discussed ideas to jazz up protein (chicken, beef, etc.) to avoid getting in a food rut. I came away with some good tips and will hopefully have more to share later when I try them.

Lastly, I'm thinking of splitting these weigh-ins from the first go round. This time feels different because I already made the grade. I'm simply getting back to where I was. Two separate journeys you know? But whether or not I split them depends on my time. Or lack thereof.

*glances at Teeny Trim*

Ah, the joys of motherhood :)

Monday, August 3, 2009

A year in the life of Tiny Trim

As I mentioned before, a lot has happened in the last year or so. To make this a less painful read, here's a recap in point-form:
  • I achieved all my 2008 goals except one (the step class; I couldn't find one)
  • I have gallstones
  • My grandmother passed away
  • Needle biopsies hurt like a sunnuva
  • I don't have thyroid cancer
  • I do have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
  • I haven't exercised in a coon's age (how old are coons anyways? answer.)
  • Baby stroller fit puts the boots to my sad flabby body
  • More happened, didn't it? Surely it did. Must blame pregnancy brain. Oh wait...I already had the baby...dangit...

Sunday, August 2, 2009

First Post-Baby Weigh-in




It's only taken me a week and a half to post this but here it is. Teeny Trim has this amazing ability to add days (and weeks) to the most simplest of tasks :)

At any rate, I finally made it to my Weight Watchers centre yesterday to get officially weighed. As you can see, I'm about 21 lbs away from goal. Considering how my first trimester went, I'm actually pretty proud that this is all I have to lose. In fact, I've been back on plan since mid-July and have lost about 5 lbs already. Not too shabby!

Because I'm nursing, I've discovered that I get a schwack of extra points and also need to increase my servings of milk, oil, veggies, and protein. With all that extra food, I'm super stuffed by the end of the day. I love losing weight this way.

My long absence has also brought changes to the Weight Watchers plan as well. There's a new system to learn - this new-fangled-thingamajig Momentum Plan. I noticed it when I started tracking again in eTools and of course I received new materials when I went for my weigh-in. I really like the focus on the filling foods. I gravitate towards those anyways, but it's nice to have extra reinforcement.

So what's my plan of attack now? Going by my new start weight, my 10% goal (roughly 15 lbs) seems rather far away. Therefore, I'm going to go at this in 5 lb increments with a small reward at each stage. I'm also going to put on the enthusiasm of a newbie. Read my materials back to front, try new recipes, and so on. Miss Teeny might have other ideas for her mama, but that's the plan!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Mr. Trim + Mrs. Trim = Teeny Trim

Presenting....



...the adorable feet of my beautiful baby girl, Teeny Trim :)

Born at the beginning of June, Teeny is a happy healthy bundle of awesome and squee!

A lot has happened in the months leading up to her birth, but it's too much to go into detail right now. Suffice it to say, motherhood rocks, Teeny is precious beyond all reason, and I'm back on Weight Watchers.

I do intend to blog more and update my stats, but I can't guarantee when. Wiggly babies and one-handed typing make it difficult ;)

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Long awaited update

Having dropped off the face of the planet for the last three months, I'm finally ready to talk about what's been happening. I'm very sorry for any worry I might have caused. It's been a tough slog for sure.

The bad news is that the past few months have been hell. The good news is that I'm pregnant :)

But let's begin at the beginning...

After I returned from my trip to Disneyland, I was inundated with projects at work. I had no time for anything during the day but that. Combined with training for the half-marathon, I had precious little extra time. What time I had remaining, I used to do regular household chores. Cleaning, shopping, errands, etc.

Weeks passed in a blur and then on a fateful Saturday morning at the end of September, I peed on a stick. After only two months of trying, Mr. Trim and I had achieved our biggest wish– a bun was growing in the oven.

Unfortunately, things went from happy to awful in short order. There was some financial stress. I started spotting when I shouldn't have been and was sent for an early ultrasound. I was also told absolutely no exercise because of the spotting. My thyroid was deemed underactive and a lump was discovered on it. I was then sent for a thyroid ultrasound. Boom, boom, boom. Stressful things kept happening.

Meanwhile, I was slowly sinking into an emotional mess. Between the stress of dealing with everything above, the all-day morning sickness, and not being able to exercise at all, I went from a vibrant energetic person to someone who could barely sit on the couch all evening and watch tv. It was devastating. I withdrew. I doubted I could be a good mother. I hated what my body had become. And so on.

I knew at that point I was slipping into depression so I pre-emptively asked my doctor for help because I knew any dosage change would take time to become effective. She increased my dosage but it was too late. Within a week, I'd gone over the edge and was trapped in the deepest darkest pit of my life. I could not see my way out. I was trapped. Nothing was enjoyable. I couldn't stand to be touched. I didn't laugh. My world had become a bleak unending landscape draped in black.

At my worst point, I finally acknowledged what I was feeling was beyond normal depression and was worse than anything I had ever felt. This was one battle I couldn't win on my own. I pulled myself together enough to make two desperate calls. One to my doctor and the other to my therapist. Though difficult, it was the best thing I could've done.

In short order, I was diagnosed with antepartum depression. My medication was increased again. My doctor made sure I had weekly appointments with her so as to monitor me more closely. She also arranged an appointment with a specialist on pregnancy-related depression. While I was waiting for that appointment, I went to a number of sessions with my regular therapist. Talking helped and I began to feel better.

Slowly but surely, I was coming out of the blackness. The morning sickness was abating. My body didn't seem to be as foreign to me. And little things started falling back in place. Just as I did when I was losing weight, I started on small and acheivable goals. Flossing my teeth. Drinking water. Cleaning off my bedside table. Slowly but surely, I've been working my way up and it shows.

Between that and the care I'm receiving from the specialist, I'm on the mend and within inches of being as normal as the situation will allow. I wish I could say that pregnancy has been sunshine and daisies, but it hasn't been. But that's okay. I'm told that many woman experience a number of the same things as I did and that it's okay to not "like" being pregnant. Not everyone glows. Certainly not me!

But now that I have a noticeable bump, it's an indescribable feeling. I have reassurance. As well as an outwardly visible sign. Not that huge sore boobs aren't a visible sign, but they're not fun. Cradling the bump with your hand in the middle of the night, now that's a nice feeling.

As of this date, I've got appointments up the wazoo with the specialist, another therapist in pregnancy-related issues, as well as an endocrinologist for my thyroid. Though our health care system can be a little slow sometimes, it moved really fast to help me and the bump. I am so glad we have such great health care workers in this country.

Emotionally, I'm doing pretty good now. Physically, much improved. There are still a few things here and there that need working on but at least they seem to be within reach.

If there's one blessing to be had it's this: the bump has been growing despite everything. The early ultrasound at 7 weeks revealed a teeny tiny beating heart. At 9 weeks, I heard the heartbeat in my doctor's office. At 12 weeks, the bump came out of hiding and told me I needed bigger pants. And today at 13 weeks I'm feeling like it was worth all the difficulties to get to this point.

As for my blog, I'm afraid it's going to go into stasis for now. I'll still keep it active, but won't be writing new posts for awhile now. Once the bump is born and life settles into something of a routine, I'll be back on Weight Watchers to lose the pregnancy weight. Until then, thanks for the support and kind words over the years. I'll see you in 9 months :)

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Thursday’s Thought

Never give up. Never surrender.” – Jason Nesmith, Galaxy Quest