My other friend, KT picked Monday as her official start day and even send out a meeting invite so that my calendar is blocked for the next 2 years! I usually attend meetings on Monday evenings but my house, and have been terrible about attending monthly so this will be a good way to keep myself focused as well as her. I believe the leader of this meeting is the same as my current leader which is good. To be honest, I am really looking forward to switching meetings as I was getting a bit worn out by my other one. The women there are really negative and whiny and I was getting less and less out of the meetings because of it. At my second weigh in after achieving Lifetime, I happened to be sitting next to one of those ladies and she turned to me and said "What are you doing here? You are too skinny to be on Weight Watchers." I looked at her and said as politely as I could, "I am on Lifetime, I come to weigh in once a month". She gave me a nasty look like I might be contagious and turned away. That was the first and only time anyone at my meeting other than my leader has ever spoken to me. So, when KT asked if I minded switching meetings, I immediately said that I would be happy to switch!
KT also asked me to go with her on her weekly grocery shopping trip to help her make some smart choices and give her some advice on what things to buy. Naturally, I jumped at this offer as grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do! We spent maybe 2 hours in that store going through the isles. I pointed out things I like, and things I have tried and didn't like. We got her all set and ready to start her Monday off on the right foot!
Since I am without my husband this weekend disgustingly bored, I decided to take some time and put together a list of things that I shop for and some of my favorite grocery shopping tips to share with my few, but wonderful, blog readers.
- Don't shop hungry. Everyone knows that shopping hungry is a quick way to buy twice as much as you need. I shop on Sunday afternoons or Mondays after work. I will pack a larger snack on Mondays so that I am satisfied and not suffering with stomach growling at me to buy cookies or Doritos to eat in the car on the way home.
- Pre-plan your trip. Know what meals you will be cooking for the week and what ingredients you need. I shop once a week so I get supplies for 5 days worth of lunches and dinners. I will pick 5 things to make for dinner that week then let my husband pick out what day he would like each meal.
- Make a detailed list. Before I go, I think of the lay out of my store and write out my list in the order of where the items are located so I don't have to back track. I also take some time to search online for any coupons for some of the brand name products that I might need. Paperclip the coupons to the list and mark items on the list that have coupons with required quantities.
- Shop the edges of the store first. Fill up over half of your cart with items from the edges and try to limit how much you go down the aisles. My first stop is always produce. Then the meat department, then dairy, then frozen foods. Then I hit the aisles and only the aisles that I need something from. Never wander without a purpose.
- Limit the amount of things that are not on the list that go into the cart. I am terribly about picking up something delicious and unhealthy just because "it was on sale". Last week it was my favorite brand of pre-made guacamole. The week before was mini-marshmallows with the intention of making rice cereal treats out of the leftover cereal in the pantry from Christmas that I would take to work and share (um, yea, haven't done that yet...pretty sure that cereal is stale...).
- Bananas
- Apples
- Baby carrots
- Salad mixes
- Broccoli slaw mix (just the bagged shreds, I use them on salads, I don't actually make slaw)
- Celery
- Red potatoes
- Deli turkey
- Deli roast beef
- Ground turkey
- Chicken breast - I get them on sale and I have them wrap them up in 2 breast increments.
- Catfisth - if fresh and on sale - which is rare, but I always check because we LOVE it
- Light yogurt
- Kraft 2% Shredded Cheese - Mexican blend
- Reduced fat sour cream
- Fat free sour cream (I make my own salad dressing with it)
- 1% milk
- Weight Watchers Individual cream cheese packs
- Eggs (half of which I hard boil for salads and snacks)
- Green Giant Steam packs of veggies - corn, broccoli & cheese, and cauliflower & cheese
- Mission brand reduced fat tortillas
- Tostitos Restaurant Style salsa
- Progresso soups
- Whole Wheat Ritz crackers
- Diet Sodas and Arizona diet Green Tea
- Apple juice and Cranberry juice (the Husband is a juice addict)
- Wine (for me...and lots of it...)
- Kirkland brand Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets
- Fat Free refried beans
- Laughing Cow cheese wedges
- 97% fat free popcorn
- Individual bags of Baked potato chips
- Sandwich Thins & Bagel thins
- Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches
Tomorrow morning I will have my first WI (weigh-in) on the new Points Plus program. I think I did pretty well. It was a struggle the first few days to get all my points in but I figured it out by just adding more wine at the end of the day! I tracked diligently during the week and not a single thing on Saturday or Sunday. I am not too worried about it though, as I hadn't touched a single one of my weekly points by the time Friday rolled around and I made good choices at the Mexican restaurant we went to dinner at on Saturday!
Also, I made a goal to start running in the mornings as my evenings have been so full lately I haven't had the opportunity to get on the treadmill. It will be really hard for me to change my routine, as I am not a morning person at all, but I know it is something I need to do, so I will just take it one day at a time. I told the Husband to start nagging me when my alarm goes off to get my ass out of bed instead of hitting snooze 800 times like I usually do. To start out, I will only get up to run on the days that I need to wash my hair, which is about every other day. I need to wash my hair tomorrow...but my husband isn't home to nag me...so hopefully I get up!
Oh, and before I forget...my blog got found...by my family...not that it is a big deal, but until now, no one in my real life but one person had read my blog. Not even my husband has read it! I knew they would find it eventually, I mean, it isn't a secret. Hell, I have the link on my Twitter profile! It is hard to explain my feelings about why I am a little weirded out about it, but maybe I am just being stupid. More than likely, I am just being stupid. I tend to keep all my weight loss stuff off of Facebook and away from family gatherings. I don't want to be that person whose whole life revolves around their weight so I limit myself to talking about it here and on Twitter. However, my weight and my struggles with my weight are a BIG part of who I am now. I don't know. I need to get over it.
Okay, fine. I am over it. (Hi Dad! Hi Paulyne, Hi Aunt Julee! Anyone else here?)
Omi has also read it....
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