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Here we are in Week Two of the TC Trimdown! I didn’t lose quite as much as I did the first week (read my Week One report here), but I anticipated that it would level off, and I’m still doing well and moving forward on my weight loss journey.
I’m eating lots of fruits and veggies, and getting some sort of exercise in every day. Pictured above is me doing a couple of laps at arctic Bowers Harbor Park.
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Since Tim and I love to eat out – as entrepreneurs who work from home, it’s one of the ways we can “get away” from everything (and scrimp on other things in order to afford it) – the challenge this week was figuring out how to make good choices at the restaurants we frequent. Let’s take a look at how I did…
Eating Out and Navigating Menus
One thing I always do is check out the menus online before we even get to the restaurant. That helps me to make a game plan and make good choices when I get there, rather than being overwhelmed by all the yummy food.
Randy’s Diner: We love Randy’s Diner because 1) they have great food at super reasonable prices; 2) they have an early-bird special, where you can get two eggs, potatoes and toast for something like $2.50; and 3) they’re kin, so we love to support them (one of the gals whose family owns the restaurant is married to my nephew).
For the early bird special, I ordered the eggs scrambled (2 points on Weight Watchers), ordered the toast with no butter and ate only one piece (2 points), and ate only half of the American Fries (7 points, but oh so good). So even though at 11 points I’ve used up about half of my daily Weight Watchers points allotment (I get 23 total), those American Fries are so worth it. Then I planned accordingly and ate mainly low-points fruits and salads the rest of the day. See Randy’s Diner’s menu here.
Boone’s Prime Time Pub in Suttons Bay. This is our favorite get-away-from-everything place. This menu is a little more challenging because most of my favorites – burgers, fries, onion rings – are off the charts points-wise.
I ended up getting chili (a whopping 10 points), fried green beans (which I estimated to be 3 points and gave me something fried to eat), and 1 point worth of Ranch dressing for the green beans. So, a big 14-point meal.
I think I can do better there. In retrospect, I should have just eaten half the chili because it was really filling, and yes, Jane! You can eat just half of something when you dine out! Portion control!
Next time, I’m thinking I’ll order one of my favorites – their slider basket, which is three mini-burgers, coleslaw and fries. If I skip the fries and eat only two mini-burgers, I estimate that’ll be about a 10-point meal. See Boone’s menu here.
Pearl’s New Orleans Kitchen in Elk Rapids. Sometimes we’ve just gotta go to Pearl’s. Nothing else will do, and we hadn’t been there in forever.
Again, this is a tough one, because their pre-meal basket of bread and cornbread is amazing, and my favorites – cheddar mashed potatoes, fried chicken, beef brisket, etc. – are super high in Weight Watchers points. Also, since I eat a lot of salads at home, I don’t want to use my “get-away” time to eat yet another salad.
Here’s what I did: Didn’t eat any of the amazing bread (oh, that’s tough!), ordered the fried chicken, but didn’t eat any of the breading (also tough), replaced the mashed potatoes with broccoli (ditto), and ate the collard greens.
While chicken and veggies are all zero points on Weight Watchers, I estimated this meal at 3 points, because I’m sure there’s oil and/or butter involved in the cooking. But still, 3 points at Pearl’s! See Pearl’s menu here.
TC Trimdown – Week Two Weigh-In
This week, I lost three pounds, bringing my current weight to 186.6.
- Starting Weight: 196.0
- Week One Weight: 189.6 (down 6.4 lbs.)
- Week Two Weight: 186.6 (down 3 lbs.)
- Total weight loss so far: 9.4 lbs.
Since my self-imposed goal is to lose 40 lbs. during the 13-week TC Trimdown, this puts me at 30.6 lbs. yet to lose.
Although I’m pretty sure a “Rewards Meal” isn’t the right way to look at it, I’ve been dreaming about one at the end of the Trimdown challenge. Chocolate cake and fried everything.
Are you doing the TC Trimdown and/or otherwise trying to lose weight? How’s it going? Leave solidarity comments below!
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You’re doing great, Jane! I look forward to next week’s installment.
Thanks, Nancy! Next report coming tomorrow!
Way to go Jane!!!!!!!!!! Hey just under 10 pounds in two weeks is GREAT. Lose it too fast, gain it back too fast!!!!!!!!! Keep up the good work and attitude!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, girlfriend!
Good for you Jane. Sounds like you’re on WW. Do you recommend them?
Thanks, Lorri! I do recommend WW, but also, another program might work better for someone else. I find that WW seems to “fit” with my brain, so it’s not such a chore to log in my food and exercise and weight. Of course, I’m extremely motivated at the moment because my weight loss numbers are out there for all to see! 🙂
I’m impressed!!! You are doing fantastic!! We just started a 7 week competition at work, but in 2 weeks I haven’t lost anything! If I was being as transparent as you, I may be doing better.
Thanks, Patti! Yeah, to keep up the motivation, just put your weight out there for all to see! This week’s report (tomorrow), I’m not sure my numbers will be as good, but still a little weight loss, hopefully. I haven’t been walking because of the arctic temps – should be working out with my DVDs, but that hasn’t happened either.
Jane, I met you at Pageturners. I am trying to loose weight also. Are you following a plan or just cutting back? Twelve pounds off is very impressive!
Hey Connie! I have to get reading on Last Bus to Wisdom!
So I’m doing Weight Watchers online. I don’t go to meetings or anything, like my mom did back in the day, but I signed up online (I think it’s something like $40 for 3 months), and I downloaded the WW app to my phone and log in everything there – food, exercise and weight. Over the years (yes, years), I find that WW seems to work with my brain (when I actually DO it, which I’m motivated to do because of the Trimdown!).