Emily Johnston's recent posts

Recent public discussion board posts (showing 1-20 of 149).

Great job! I had a small gain this week, but since I lost 2 last week and had a pretty eh week last week, I think my body is just settling down. I don't normally have losses as large as that these days it seems. But on the bright side, I started a new exercise routine and signed up for a yoga class with my best friend. So those are pluses from last week!

HAHAHAHAHAH. Sorry, yes, that is a victory. And I guess I should throw away the rest of this donut currently sitting on my desk....

I lose.

I knew I heard a happy dance last night! Congrats!

I read Eleanor of Aquitaine and it was really great, so I highly recommend it. But I think I'll vote for the Hemingses of Monticello this month.

-em

My parents gave me a great cookbook when we got married - it's the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. I believe all (maybe not all? at least most.) of these recipes are vegetarian. And they have all the nutritional info for each recipe, which I love. Everything I have made out of this book is really delicious and wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals

I like the WW ice cream products, but I'm a sucker for cherry ice cream with fudge bits. And sadly I haven't found that anywhere else. And totally agree about the little chocolate cakes.

And, yes, totally try out the Bagel Bread. It's the most delicious thing.

I just ordered some of those tortillas and will report back ASAP.

I didn't meant to be all WW-fanatic, either. But after lots of trying, the structure around the program has allowed my lifestyle to change in the ways it had to change for me to lose the weight. So basically I'm in love. :)

Agree with you that it's easier to do with a partner or someone supporting you. Luckily that's what we're all here for! :)

I also think it's equal parts of hilarious and awesome that the Irish pub has the running/walking club. Fantastic!

In my most recent meeting, someone was raving about La Tortilla Factory wheat tortillas, which apparently come in both 0 point and 1 point sizes. I heard you can order them on the Internet, though I haven't looked into it yet. For non WW I think this means high fiber, 50 cals for the smaller tortilla and 100 or so for the larger.

I adore Thomas Bagel Bread - 2 points for the wheat variety but it is SO delicious. Both my mom and I (both on WW) are addicted. I believe it's 150 calories with high fiber and low fat.

I'm also really addicted to Ben & Jerry's frozen yogurt in Cherry Garcia flavor. For 1 serving (which is 100 gms, I always weigh it out), it's 3 points (or 150 calories-ish). It always satisfies my sweet tooth and is totally delish.

I'll think more about this - I know I have more... :)

Yippee - 2 pounds down this week! Hoorah!

Yippee, Trudy! I also get my "too big" clothes out of the house ASAP. I know I never want to fit back into them, so why keep them around?

Alli, I gotta say that I don't think of WW as a fad diet, for sure. In fact, what you're doing sounds a lot like the WW plan! I think that while a lot of the stricter fad diets are problematic from both health and longevity standpoints, the only time I've seen people really gain over the long term with WW is when they weren't doing the plan. And that's a problem with the choices they make, not with the plan itself.

Then again, I'm totally biased since I've lost about 65 on WW and think it's pretty much amazing.

Kristen, I'm the exact same way with you on number 4. I LOVE to cook and bake. When I got serious about losing, I decided to make my hobby shift a little bit and now my hobby is finding healthier ways to make the treats I love to cook. Check out myrecipes.com for a great treasure trove of Cooking Light recipes as a starting place.

Yay! Good job all! My WW meeting is at noon, so I'll let you know how it goes. :)

And, Trudy, I completely agree with you. A giant part of weight loss success is FORGIVENESS! Forgive yourself for the choices you made and then move on! :)

What is Dance 2? I want it, whatever it is... :)

Mexican food is my absolute FAVORITE cuisine and it's really hard to order at a restaurant. I generally end up just writing off dinner and moving on, which means I can only do it every once in a while. However, I have been able to make myself pretty decent Mexican food at home using a few key ingredients - the fat free refried beans, white corn tortillas (which are really good!), reduced fat/fat free sour cream, salsa, butter lettuce, 2% cheese, etc.

If I'm really feeling fancy I'll cook up some chicken, peppers and onions, stir in some spices (usually chili powder, cumin, a pinch of something hot like cayenne or a dash of hot sauce). I generally do it in a skillet and not on a grill pan. That way, at the very end right before we eat, I throw in a few tablespoons (up to a quarter cup sometimes) of water, which turns all those great spices into a little bit of a sauce, which recreates the restaurant fajita goodness. Let it cook down for a minute or less and serve.

I kick up the beans a bit by stirring in some chili powder and cumin and a tablespoon or two of fat free sour cream. If I'm eating sour cream just ON something, I find I like the reduced fat better, but to mix in to something, fat free is fine.

I always buy cheese in blocks and shred it myself. It's an extra step, but the cheese tastes SO much better. I honestly think that the Cabot 2% cheese is not that much different from real cheese - even my husband has totally switched over! But that pre-shredded stuff is not even worth it! I always pre-weigh my cheese, shred what I need and put the rest back so I'm not tempted to grab more. I LOVE CHEESE!

Anyway, that's just what I normally do. I'm totally obsessed with Mexican food, so I couldn't help weighing in.

That's awesome about the jeans! I went clothes shopping recently and found I had dropped into a medium and almost peed my pants with excitement. heheh.

Haha - April, I completely agree with that sentiment! I think that's the best thing about historical fiction - it satisfies your craving for engrossing (sometimes dramatic) reads and leaves you craving truth and reality.

Great job, everyone! I was up .5 this week, because of not-so-great choices when I went home for my high school reunion. There's a Mexican restaurant at home where I basically have to order cheese dip. I think it's an unwritten rule... :) Here's for a great week next week!

What's the ROKU? I'm pretty sure I want it. :) hehehe.

And you can totally do it! Just fire up one of those Carmen Electra strip tease workouts and shimmy that weight off. :)

Oh absolutely. I've found that most of what I've learned through this losing weight experience can be applied to every other part of my life, particularly crafting a budget. :) Let's just say I'm far more successful at losing weight than at saving money.

I think eating breakfast works, because otherwise I was hungry at lunchtime, I would make bad choices, and then feel gross for the rest of the day. If I eat breakfast, I get hungry for lunch earlier (weird, I know, but it's true) and feel clearer in the head about what choices to make. I don't eat a giant breakfast - just cereal and some fruit. And I always ALWAYS weigh my cereal on my food scale and only have one serving.

That's another side note - I'm a huge proponent of the food scale as opposed to measuring cups. You'll often end up getting more and it keeps you honest. I just keep mine out on my counter so I make sure to use it... and I have a NYC sized kitchen, so no one else has an excuse not to. :)