I cleared another hurdle in my Weight Watchers journey this week and it’s a biggie, because this is where my waistline affects my wallet. After six weeks of staying on goal, I finally achieved “Lifetime” status, which means I no longer have to pay for all the benefits of the Weight Watchers program. Yes, you read that right! I can attend weekly meetings and access the awesome phone app for the rest of my life at zero cost to me!
Tag: health and fitness
Chapter 6: Gooooooooooooal!
It took almost seven full months, but I finally reached my Weight Watchers official goal weight! Yay! Sure, I wished it had been a shorter journey; but let me tell you, summer has been a little tougher than I first imagined. With multiple vacations, VBS preparations and a general summertime mentality I have found it much more difficult to meal plan, eat right and stay the course. There has been a lot of ups and downs on the scale, but I think my secret weapon was perseverance. Even when I fell off the wagon food truck, I picked up my sad little self, wiped off the road rash, jumped back on the Freestyle plan and went scurrying back to my awesome Tuesday night support group.
Speaking of support, I have oodles of it and I believe this has made a huge difference in my weight loss journey. My husband has been one of my biggest cheerleaders since the day I joined and my mom loves (or at least she acts like it) to get my Tuesday night post-meeting phones calls with my latest stats. My sister even joined Weight Watchers a few months ago, and we exchange new WW friendly foods, recipes and struggles.
Other than my immediate family, I have one tremendous support system that is a big part of the Weight Watchers philosophy– the friendly folks at my weekly meeting and weigh-in. I usually see several familiar faces at my Tuesday night meetings and our leader has been awesome. There is no shortage of support, useful tips, food exchange ideas and camaraderie at these events. If you are absent, they will notice. If you are discouraged, they will listen. If you hit a milestone, they will celebrate. You, and I, are not alone!
So yes, I reached a huge milestone this week and guess what, one of the familiar faces at my Tuesday meeting asked to film my weigh-in because she knew I was getting close to my goal. I am so glad she hit the record button, because this was a big moment and now I can relive this exciting experience from the other side of the scale. Of course if I had known, I would have added some makeup and dressed differently, but this works too. *grin*
So after seven months, reaching my goal and feeling good, here is my thought on the Weight Watchers Freestyle program: If you use it, you will lose it.
STARTING WEIGHT: 168.2
JANUARY 2018 : -8.6
FEBRUARY 2018: -5.8
MARCH 2018: -6.0
APRIL 2018: -2.6
MAY 2018: -4.6
JUNE 2018: -2
JULY 2018: -4.4
CURRENT WEIGHT: 134.2
Oven-Baked Onion Rings
Summer living is in full swing here at The Three-Acre Wood and I’m all about some easy delicious meals that won’t blow up my Weight Watchers progress. After I lost over a pound last week, I gained almost half an l-b back this week. *grrr*
So last night I decided to dip into my WW bag of tricks and cook up some yummy good stuff that wouldn’t sabotage my weight loss progress. I thawed out some homemade barbeque pulled chicken, but sauces are pretty high in points; so I went searching for a complementary side that wouldn’t blow the day. That’s when I remembered these oven-baked onion rings that are so quick and easy to make that they wouldn’t interfere with some good ol’ treehouse building and T-ball playing (it was a busy evening).
Now who doesn’t love a good onion ring with some barbeque? I can really relish a deep-fried, bread crumb coated onion ring as much as the next gal, but those restaurant-style rings are not exactly low cal or even slightly healthy. Oh wait, onions are a vegetable. . . Can we count those as a serving?
Okay, so let’s stop kidding ourselves and get down to business. I found this recipe in a Weight Watchers cookbook that I borrowed from a friend and was really surprised the first time I cooked up this tasty treat (with a few changes), because they actually do taste like real onion rings! They are also super easy to make (my seven-year-old son helped me in the kitchen last night) and only one SmartPoint for six rings. It really does feel like cheating! I just gotta say that these things are so tasty I would use this recipe even if I wasn’t watching my weight. Yeah, they are that good!
Oven-Baked Onion Rings
2018-06-07 20:46:50
Serves 3
A tasty oven-baked alternative to a traditional deep-friend treat. Six rings are only 1 SmartPoint (108 calories) for folks watching their weight.
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
17 min
Total Time
30 min
Ingredients
- 1/2 c all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 c plain dried bread crumbs
- 1 large white onion
- Nonstick spray (I use Aldi's SimplyNature Extra Virgin Olive Oil spray.)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
- Mix together flour, salt and cayenne pepper in a shallow bowl.
- Beat eggs in a different bowl.
- Pour bread crumbs in a third shallow bowl.
- Cut onion into 1/4 inch rounds and separate rings.
- While rings are still moist from cutting, coat rings with flour, dip in eggs, and then coat with bread crumbs.
- Place onion rings on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake until browned on one side, about 10 minutes. Turn rings over and bake until browned on second side, about 6-8 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Notes
- Six rings are only 1 Weight Watchers SmartPoint or 108 calories.
Adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
Adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
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