Week 4

So far the food has been pretty good. It's not restaurant quality by any means, but most of it isn't tasteless or bland either. What bothers me about this is that I miss making my own food. I'm a hands on kinda gal. There's nothing inherently satisfying about poking a few holes in plastic and popping the dish in the microwave. And then there's that whole size thing. I'm used to so much more. I know that was part of the problem. What's girl to do?

Well, I am allowed to have almost all of the veggies that I want. Corn is kind of a no-no. I stick to your basic greenies with a few orange, red, and purples thrown in. Say for instance tonight's dinner was chicken fettuccine. What can I do to spruce it up? Hmmm, I can saute some mushrooms, onions and garlic and a 1/2 tbsp. olive oil and steam some broccoli or asparagus. Then, toss the fettuccine with the veggies. I'd then have a full colorful plate w/o being deprived.

What do you do to renovate your frozen meals? Do you add your own special seasonings? Do you cut up a few carrots or slice a few scallions? Think about it and get back to me.

Down-6.2 lbs since 01/16/09

I Want A

It's Week 3 and I would give my right arm, left leg, a kidney and half my liver for a really good hamburger right now. Yes, JC has a burger. It's a turkey burger. It's quite good actually even the bun. But there's something about a burger that's freshly prepared with all the right ingredients. I mean the right blend of lean meat and fat, a little salt and pepper, fresh lettuce, a couple of slices of cheddar/swiss/smoked gouda, bacon, grilled red onions and a little mayo.

While I love a grilled hamburger because of the smoky flavor cooking on an open flame gives it, I prefer a burger that's griddled or fried. I've been known to bake a burger. Too much shrinkage that way. I'll work on it though.

As to the accompaniment for my perfect burger, I'll take a fried or roasted potato of some sort any day. I love waffle fries, shoestrings, roasted potato wedges, curly fries, steak fries if they're done right. I'm not terrible picky. They just have to be crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Really, who likes cold, pale, limp french fries?

How about you? If you were in my shoes, what meal would you miss the most? How would you prepare it? Better yet, do you love burgers and fries? If so, how do you like them?

I Never Met A...

that I didn't like. The blank can be filled with the food of your choice. For me it was potsticker. I loves those juice little Chinese dumplings. They are my favorite thing to order esp. when I'm sick. Talk about comfort food. Well, I hadn't met one I didn't like until Friday night. And it wasn't so much the dumpling itself as the accompanying side. JC served up fried rice with fake chicken and edamame. It didn't look natural. The edamame looked like little green spaceships. As for the 'chick'n', it felt weird.

On the plus side, at my weigh-in I am down another 1.4 lbs. This week's menu is a little bit better. I am trying to mix up the veggies that I have so that I don't get bogged down in the same thing every night. Although, I could eat broccoli and asparagus every day. Tonight, I'm having a tomato that's been stuffed with spinach, onions and mushrooms. I'll be checking the coming sales for slaw mix. I want to saute it with a little olive oil, chopped onions, black pepper and garlic. I like my veggies crunchy.

What veggies do you like? And how do you like to prepare them? Please share. I'll be looking for more ideas as I travel the road to a healthy new me.

Breakfast

is supposed to be the most important meal of the day. That being said. You should choose wisely when making your selection. I thought I had. Jenny Craig offers a variety of breakfast options from muffins to cereals (hot and cold) to egg sandwiches and platters. Well, when looking at my weekly menu, I thought breakfast scramble cool. I'm not too keen on eggs, but I thought there'd be something in there to make it good. The box said it has egg white product. That should have been my first clue. Does that mean real egg whites? What is an egg white product? The rest of the ingredients were turkey ham (better than turkey bacon), diced potatoes (cool), and cheese/cheese sauce (this rocks). In reality, this thing bit the dust. Since when does egg white look rubber ducky yellow? The ham had a nice bacony flavor, but it was the only redeeming thing in there. The potatoes were super chewy and flavorless. And the cheese stuck like melted rubber bands to the bottom of the bowl.

To be fair, there was a fairly good portion of food. It just wasn't as good as the maple nut hot cereal or the sunshine sandwich. I'll check next week's plan to see if it's on there. I'll be exchanging it for something a little more palate pleasing.

How do you like your eggs? What do you add to them? Can you fry it w/o breaking the yolk? Hit me back with your response. I'll keep you posted on JC.

Hi, My Name Is

AJ and I'm a control freak. This first week on Jenny Craig hasn't been easy, but the hard part doesn't lie in eating the food. Or at least not most of it. Come on, soup should taste like the ingredients not water. I haven't been sleeping well since I started the program. I wake up at about 11 every night hungry. It takes me hours to get to sleep. I can't just get up and go in the kitchen and fix a snack. What's a girl to do?



Well, I suck it up. I eat the food that I'm supposed to eat. My consultant called me and we talked about what I was eating when I was eating. More importantly, why am I hungry. Well, we discovered that I like to chew my food. The act of chewing connects me to my meal and makes it more satisfying. So, we switched a few things around.

Okay, you want to know what makes me a control freak. Well, I prefer to choose my own meals. If I want something, I should be able to have it. Unfortunately, I would eat the whole thing. That's not good. If I truly excerised control, then I wouldn't need Jenny Craig.

So, what brought this on. Well, I had an unplanned dining experience. MJ and I went to Subway after dropping off a prescription at CVS. We went for his dinner. It was too close to our normal time for dinner. So, I took half his sandwich and we split the Diet Coke and Sun Chips. As meals goes, this wasn't too bad. I will be sticking as close to my weekly meal plan as possible.

Week 1=4 pound loss

How is your health plan going? What kind of changes are you making? Have you experienced any unplanned dining experiences?

JC-Day 4

Okay, so the food isn't too bad. The portions on the other hand are another story. I know that was part of the problem. I was taking in too many calories from the wrong foods in large portions. The emphasis is on filling my plate with more veggies and getting in more water, etc. There's a salad at every lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fan of cold salads. Give me a steaming hot side of broccoli or cauliflower any day. So, that's what I've been doing. I've been supplementing my Jenny meals with steamed green beans, asparagus and broccoli.

As all of you know, I have a huge sweet tooth. Well, from time to time, I get to have dessert. Tonight's was chocolate cake. It was okay. The dab of frosting was a little cloying and lacked the full rich flavor of a finely crafted buttercream. The cake itself was moist not unlike a Hostess cupcake. It was about as exciting as one, too.

I'll keep you posted on how I do and what I like. Sunday will be interesting as there will be no mini-burgers, no Doritos, no cheese fries or triple chocolate espresso brownies. PRAY FOR ME, PLEASE!!!!!!!!

Have You Called Jenny Yet?

I know you've seen the commercial. Kirstie called. Valerie called. Queen Latifah called. And hundreds of thousands of other people have called. Well, I decided to call. Yes, I called Jenny Craig. All of you know that I love to food. I love to cook and I love to eat. I eat well, but I don't always eat healthy. Let's face it who does. However, my body is telling me it's time to start eating well for my health.

I have concerns about it. Taste being the number one issue. If it doesn't taste or smell good, do I really have to eat it? I'll let you know how it goes. I can have fruits and veggies. Most of those are unlimited so I don't have to worry about getting enough to eat.

I don't know about cooking when I first start the program. I think that would be kind of hard. I don't plan to give it up though. I can and will still cook for other people.

So, have any of you tried Jenny, yet? What are you doing to get healthy? Do you modify recipes? Or do you quit cold turkey all the things you like that aren't good for you. Let me know. I'd like all the tips I can get.