Perserverance, Determination and Just a Touch of Insanity....

Friday, March 5, 2010.....


I'm always on the hunt for the perfect bite. I'm constantly cooking new recipes, trying new spices or tasting new dishes at restaurants. I admit, I'm a foodie.

I'm a foodie that needs to lose weight and the past few months I've been trying various low-fat/low-calorie recipes from my cookbooks. Some good and some I swear if I closed my eyes I'd think I was eating cardboard. Bland, ick and yucky are terms I often use with some of the low calorie recipes I've tried.

For the next few months, I'm getting serious about finding low calorie foods that will not only satisfy me, but put that smile on my face. I've decided to cook ALL the non breakfast recipes from Cooking Light and Weight Watchers.

In addition to taste, I'm looking for recipes that won't break the bank or contain ingredients impossible to find in supermarkets (one recipe contains duck fat and I'm not sure where I'll be getting that item). As an unemployed person looking to lose weight, I'm very concerned with not breaking the bank.

This month, I'm starting with the recipes from Cooking Light's Jan/Feb 2010 edition.

Forty-seven recipes, up teem servings (I calculated the WW points based upon nutritional info they supply), and a calendar mapping out the first week's menu, I'm ready to go.

I started yesterday, but hubby already put a monkey wrench in the calendar and I ate bean burritos for lunch and dinner yesterday and will be again today.

They were easy to make and I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty they were. I had the preconceived notion of them falling short and not satisfying me, but I was wrong.

However, one small burrito equals 7 points and I was a bit hungry an hour later. By dinner, I smartened up and added a kick ass salad. Sure, I felt a little like a rabbit, but I was happy and full. Verdict: I'd make them again.

The insanity part of this quest is syncing up the # of servings with the # of meals I will actually get from the recipe (yes, we eat leftovers here) combined with staying within my WW points and I have to food journal.

Plain and simple, food journaling works, but sucks! You record EVERY DANG BITE THAT GOES IN YOUR MOUTH. It eliminates the mystery of why you may wonder when you look in the mirror and see 5 or 10 extra pounds. It is your friend, enemy and slap in your face tool.

Actual Scale told me I could swipe her "bite it write it badge" for the month of March which she has officially entitled as "March is officially if you bite it write month".

I'll let you know what I think at the end of the entire experiment in terms of taste, cost, ease for cooking and ease for finding ingredients.

As Julia Child would say Bon Appetit...but minus the unnecessary calories!