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YES IT'S HARD! BUT I CAN DO HARD THINGS!

0 point plus dessert!

I was introduced to this by one of my favorite weight watcher members, Marla. I'm hooked. After a meal I pop one of these babies in and it feels like I just had dessert! They come in three flavors key lime pie, strawberry shortcake and mint chocolate chip ice cream!

1 point plus veggie chili

This is one of my all time favorite recipes! It is hearty and tasty and LOW in points plus! It is 1 point for a whole cup and will totally carry you til your next meal (or at least till your next 0 point fruit/veggie snack)

1 zuchini

1 red pepper

1 squash

1 onion

saute with a little pam in own juices for 10 minutes

then add

1 can kidney beans

1 cup salsa (I like using peach or pineapple salsa)

1 tsp cumin

garlic salt simmer for 20 minutes. This is even better then next day! I like mine with a corn vitatop (for three points plus, worth it) or my favorite low point lemon corn bread which I will share with you in an upcoming post!

Johnson Juice

My kids love it too!

1 cup fresh pineapple

1 cup greek yogurt ( I like fage)

1 banana

1 cup fresh spinach

a handful of ice

splenda, truvea

a little water

1 tbls grapeseed oil (optional, add points if use)

Place all in blender ( or magic bullet)

Makes 3 smoothies for 1 point plus each! It's great on the new program because you don't have to count points for the fruit. It is soooo filling. It might sound kind of weird but it seriously is tasty and you don't even notice then spinach! Just trust me and try it! Thank you Hilary Johnson for this recipe!

Chips and Yummy Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Who would have thought you could enjoy chips and salsa guilt free? With Baked Tostito lays you can! Here is a great recipe that I love. It's also great over greens.

1 bottle small fat free italian dressing

1 bag frozen corn

2 cans rinsed black beans

2 cans mild rotel (it's a tomato/green chili combo found in the mexican section)

1 yellow pepper diced

3/4 of a bunch of cilantro chopped fine

3/4 bunch of green onion chopped fine

Enjoy!

SPLURGES

Deprivation IS NOT sustainable. If you are depriving your self...STOP...it will not last and you are wasting your precious time, life and energy on uselessness. Weight loss and management is about eating healthier and moving more and enjoying some splurges along the way. it's not ONE piece of cheesecake that makes you overweight. Mostly it's our day in and day out eating. Throughout our day we have to learn to negotiate. If we want a yummy dessert then if we have a light breakfast, snacks throughout the day of fruits and veggies, a sensible lunch and dinner we can make it work!! For me, I could have lost weigh a whole of a heck of a lot faster if I would have GIVEN UP on all those foods that I just love. I didn't! I ate them in very small quantities and negotiated them in my plan. I know that I would have given up if I had been extreme and cut out all of those things. I would have worked really hard for two or three months and then would have stopped trying and gained the weight back slowly over time.

ambience and satiety

One of the things that I've learned through this weigh loss and maintenance journey is to ENJOY my food. I used to think that the only enjoyable thing about food was how it tastes. This is very true. However, there are also other factors that can help you to enjoy your food. One of these is the ambience. A little music, candle light (it really only takes seconds to light one), and something pretty on the table can do wonders. It helps you to slow down and enjoy what you are eating. This has really helped me to eat less and enjoy my food. Even a glass of ice water is more satisfying in a pretty goblet. Having color in your food also makes it appear more appetizing (and usually offers you more fruits and veggies). I always try to look at the plate and make sure it is full of color. As we are more satisfied in our environment we will eat less and LOSE MORE!