You CAN have chips and dip on a diet!

I love chips and dip. Chips and salsa, chips and quacamole, chips and queso, chips and french onion dip, you name it, I love it. But obviously, they are pretty much on the Do Not Eat list since Tostitos are like 8 points for 12 and it's just all around bad for you.

So I thought my chips n dip days were over.

That is, until...

I watched the new Hungry Girl TV show and saw her make chips out of lavash bread! I had no clue what lavash bread was, but it's like a big tortilla. All you do is cut it into pieces and bake it until crispy, just like chips. The whole tortilla for only 2 points!

As for the dip, her recipe says to mix greek yogurt with salsa (which is good, and only 1 pt), but you can also mix light sour cream for 1 pt also.

But today, we had Frito Lay cheese dip in the fridge, so I looked up the points just out of curiosity. I was surprised to see that 2 tbsp was 1 point. Two tbsp doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a good amount. (Altho I did have 4 tbsp for 2 points... :))

Full recipe here. Let me know if you try it and like it :)

All or Nothing Mentality

Sometimes it feels like in my life, I am either actively losing weight... or actively gaining it.

I tend to have an all or nothing mentality, which is really kind of dangerous. That's how I got to 250 lbs. I was basically unhappy with my life and eating my feelings. And if I'm eating a ton of calories, why would I work out? It can't make that much of an impact when I'm eating fast food and ice cream like it's going out of style.

If I'm not actively working to lose weight or stay fit, I just throw caution to the wind and eat whatever I want whenever I want. And I don't work  out. Ever.

Not good!!

I'm breaking that cycle now. I never want to gain weight like this again. It's not healthy - physically or emotionally. For me, every part of my life is affected when I am unhappy with my weight. So I vow to lose weight and then maintain it, for good.

Right now I am trying to be more strict with myself and not cheat very often at all. I still beat myself up when I don't work out as often or if I eat something bad (or too much of something), but the main point is to not let it completely derail my efforts. I can slip up, but then I need to just go right back.

As a general rule, a much better way of doing things is to follow the 80/20 rule. Do good 80% of the time, and the other 20% can be  used to cheat and have fun a little. Once I finally lose the weight, this is what I am going to do for sure. Strict for right now, but if not 100% strict, at least 80% good.

January - 7.9lbs lost

My January weight loss was 7.9 lbs. I'm happy with that. It could have been better, could have been worse. Here’s how the month went. I started back on my weight loss plan on January 2^nd. Not the 1^st like most people simply because my family was cooking a lot of good foods on New Years Day and I didn’t want to be all bummed saying no to everything.

Then I started all gung ho, eating well and working out… for two days. Then I have to admit that for the rest of that week, I failed big time. I blame it on my sister because she was still home for college and eats like it’s her last day on Earth, every day. She wants to snack on good foods, make cheese fries, brownies, have happy hour, the whole thing. Seriously, when I’m with her, I feel like on one of those temptation challenges on The Biggest Loser. I get jealous because I gain weight so easily and she just stays thin no matter what… so I said screw it for the week. But then she went back to school and it was a lot easier to eat well and work out, and the 1^st week back on course, I lost 5 lbs. Then my sister came back the next weekend, and when we’re not doing anything all weekend, I swear to you, she eats all day long, the fattiest, best tasting foods. And she suggests things for dinner that are really high calorie, and my parents will make whatever she wants because she’s just home for the weekend. It’s so hard to eat well with her around and then I just get bitter and end up sabotaging myself.

I shouldn’t let someone else's eating habits affect me, but especially since I'm just starting out again after taking a 2-3 month break, it's extra difficult. That week, I only lost 0.9 lbs because I kinda let it affect the rest of my week. But such a measly weight loss that week made me more dedicated and this past week I lost 2.2, for a monthly total of 7.9. I am happy for that loss, but keep thinking it would have been much better if I hadn't taken the first week off and hadn't half-assed it the third week.

My January workouts - pretty good this month!

My goal for February is to lose at least 10 lbs. I think that's a realistic goal if I stick to the plan of working out and eating right.

Does anyone blog from their phone?

I'm testing out an app I got so I can blog from my phone! This will Allow me o blog more often and it'll probably be easier to post pictures this way*... Is everyone else already doing this?

As my first pic, I'll show you the chocolate brownie muffins I made last night from a Hungry Girl recipe. All that is in there is cake mix and pumpkin, crazy, huh? 5 points and really good!

*When I posted this picture from the iphone, it was humongous! I had to get on the computer to make it small. Any tips on this?

Welcome to my (mostly weight loss) Blog!

Hi everyone! Since this is my very first blog post, I will introduce myself. I'm a twenty-something female currently working to get my life back in shape. That includes my weight, which I let get up to 250, my job/career situation, which right now is nonexistent, and various other aspects of my life. I recently went through a breakup with a guy I had been with for a long, long time, and moved home with my parents.

It was after graduating from college that my life just took a huge nose dive. I couldn't keep a job, my ex worked all the time, I didn't have many friends in the area, and I was just unhappy with my life. That's basically how I managed to gain about 70 lbs in 2 years - not normal! A few months ago, the ex and I broke up. That's when I stopped and was really forced to look at my life and figure out where I went wrong and what I need to do to fix it.

I need to start getting myself back, hence the start of this blog. After the breakup, I lost 30 lbs. Nothing kicks your ass into gear like being single and knowing you have to get back into the dating world! And being miserable helped in my case too. Then the holidays came and I took a little vacation from eating well and exercising. Who wants to count Weight Watchers Points during Christmas? Not me, as I have a passion for Christmas cookies. But that is what I am doing - Weight Watchers. I did it a few years ago, so I know the basics and have just decided to do it myself rather than the meetings or online. At first, I thought that I should officially sign up so I am accountable every week, but then I decided that I need to be accountable to the person this affects the most - myself! Sundays are my Weigh Days and I keep track just like they do in the meetings.

So of course, my weight loss goals are kicked into high gear now that it's a new year. I have been doing the new Weight Watchers Points Plus program and working out on the elliptical machine 4-7 times a week. Since I don't have a job, there is really no excuse to not work out daily. I've been looking up new recipes and ideas and finding ways to get the most food for my points, so I look forward to sharing all that with you guys! (I think my dad is getting a little tired of hearing how many points something is!)

I have also started reading weight loss blogs for inspiration and that is why I am deciding to start my own.  I'll give props to my favorite blog so far, called A Journey to Thin - Alissa is doing WW too and documents everything she eats with pictures, which I love!, as well as recipes and random fun things. I like having someone to share my new findings with, someone to bitch to about calories or weight loss struggles with and learning from others who are going through the same thing! I hope I can follow some great blogs and get followers for mine so we can all help each other!