Healthy & New

My WW Journey - Weight Watchers Journey - began this time in Mid-March of 2020.  Nearly a year ago, I invested in better health, reaching my weight loss goal of 20 pounds (often 22), and learning to eat differently than I have most of my adult life. Sugar has been set aside for the most part while learning to use bananas and other ingredients for a natural sweetener.  Pasta and flours cause digestion issues for me, so I had removed them before WW. If you've ever tried an "elimination diet" you know that its a process of removing trigger foods and then re-introducing them to your diet to see if they are the problem foods.

My latest new-to-me foods are combining seasonings in new ways, and eating foods once reserved for soups and main courses, but for breakfast.

Breakfast changes:

cooked old fashion oats that have been topped with figs, yogurt and nutmeg

cooked barley (!) topped with slivered almonds, dried cranberries, and cinnamon - the barley is cooked but I haven't tasted this yet

cooked steel-cut oats with apple and cinnamon, topped with maple labneh - that's a new one for me. Its a strained yogurt similar to Kefir.  This is next on my list.

Lunch changes:

Cinnamon as a savory. Cumin and coriander, allspice and cinnamon are cooked with onion and garlic.  I shook my head and thought it was a mistake, but my oh my!  it is tasty.  Mix this into cooked lentils and brown rice and top with a Greek Yogurt and turmeric sauce. All I can say, is move over black bean salad!  I have eaten the black bean salad with brown rice for lunch every.single.day for 7 months.  It took four months of eating this and oatmeal for breakfast to get my digestive system to relax and accept this new healthy way of eating.  Move over bean salad!  Welcome Lentils and cinnamon and spices and onion and garlic! It.is.so good I have to keep myself from eating the whole batch at once! (Yes! there's still the urge to over eat when you love the taste)

The recipes can be found in WW Healthy Kitchen Program Cookbook, pages 3, 13, and 124 which is available at Kohl's or Amazon. The recipes will be most beneficial to you, of course, by understanding the plan. This program cookbook is also available for free by earning points for logging your food, weight and exercise on the WW app.  More information on the local WW programs are here.  If you choose this new way of life, we could both benefit.

I never really set out to change that much. My terms were to lose weight and make better food choices. I figured that was doable and enough. Control. Hanging on to the old habit, and not trusting that the new way will be better, but totally awesome.  A similar situation happened when I was working out with a trainer. "Don't you feel better?"  I never knew I felt bad until I felt better!   I never knew eating could be so enjoyable without my favorite foods until I tried new-to-me foods and spices.  I never knew life in Christ could be so awesome until I surrendered and claimed Jesus as my Savior.  

Here's to learning and trying new things - You'll never feel so good!

Cinnamon as a savory.  Barley for breakfast.  Labneh on your oatmeal.  A different way for a better you, living a good life!

Thanks for stopping by.  Be blessed!  sb