On the Menu This Week

Greek Style Cheeseburgers
Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
Roasted Cornish Hens with Quinoa and Broccoli

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Recipe (from last week)

Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta

Serves 4
Points 6 per serving
Cook time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
  • 2 (14.5-ounce) cans of no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with their juices
  • 1/4 cup finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh dill
  • 1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2/3 cup reduced fat crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat the oil in an oven proof skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until the tomato juices thicken.

Remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley, dill, and shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the feta over the top. Bake until the shrimp are cooked through and cheese melts, about 12 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

Nutritional Analysis per Serving

Serving size: 1 1/2 cups

Calories 300
Total fat 9g
Saturated fat 3.5g
Protein 35g
Carbohydrates 12g
Fiber 2g

I serve it with whole wheat penne, 2 oz dried per person.

This is a relatively fast dish that always gets great reviews. Sometimes i will reduce the amount of the tomato juices I'm using if the can looks particularly juicy. I have also varied the dill amount to find the right balance of dill, 1 TBSP seems about right, but adjust to preference.

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My Plan

I did WeightWatchers once before in 2004-2005. I lost 50 pounds. I gained some back going through my divorce but the good news is I kept off 20 of them until I restarted WeightWatchers in January 2009.

For the first time, I have found a plan that was easy to stick to. Something just felt right this time. Before embarking on WeightWatchers I re-read some books I had found helpful in the middle of my last journey. The books are listed under "Weight Loss" Books on the side bar, and a blog post about them will follow soon. These books helped get me mentally prepared to lose weight and they are the reason I think I am finding losing to be less of a struggle. I am not letting myself get discouraged by small gains and I am seeing far more consistent results.

WeightWatchers gives you a points target based on weight and basic daily activity level. Every food has a points value based on calories, fiber and fat. Then its like a checkbook you start with your daily balance, subtract for foods eaten and add for activity done which can earn you points. Exercise=More Food. Each food point is roughly 50 calories and each activity point is worth roughly 100, I use a heart-rate monitor to calculate my activity points earned.

You also get 35 weekly points to use as you want anytime during the week. For me the most successful both mentally and on the scale is to use most of those points on Saturday night for a splurge and to then stick to my daily points fairly closely the rest of the week. It helps me to know my favourite foods are only a week away if I want them. People can manage the plan however they want but for me this is the most successful. When I'm working out a lot I try to eat some of those activity points as well. Ironically I get much smaller losses the weeks I don't eat those points on Saturday, maybe it shakes up my metabolism, who knows I just know it works

Finally my last key to my plan is attending meetings. It helps keep me accountable and on track.

Weight Loss Slideshow