Weigh-In Wednesday Thursday

I took the morning off work yesterday to go spend the morning with my mother-in-law and 2 sister-in-laws. We went to breakfast at IHOP (where I successfully ate healthy and for under 400 calories... winning!) and then we BOOKED OUR CRUISE TO ALASKA! Danny's mom has been planning this cruise since 2010 and the time has arrived to actually make the plans. We are going next June and we are excited. This cruise will be the definition of organized chaos trying to get 13 people from ages 1.5 all the way up to 90 everywhere at the exact same time. I told Danny's mom we need to bring someone along just to film this adventure.

Anyways, that's why I wasn't able to participate in WIW yesterday. So, here I am today to share what I was going to share. Which isn't the number on the scale since that stayed the exact damn same. I have a feeling I'll be out $20 come October 2nd or 3rd.

There are a few challenges that I face when I am trying to lose weight. Going to lunch or dinner with family and friends, parties/social functions, lack of time to meal plan and go to the grocery store, and sometimes I reward myself food like I'm a dog.

One of the mental challenges I have is I have a "finish your plate" mentality towards food. If it is in front of me, I will eat whether I'm really hungry to stuffed so full I'm uncomfortable. For example, if I am at a Mexican restaurant and I've made my way through more chips and salsa than necessary and I've eaten my meal, if there are chips and salsa left on the table still, I will go right back to them.  I can't blame my parents for raising me this way because they didn't. They never forced my brother and I to finish our plates or eat anything we didn't want too. They would encourage us to try new things, but if we didn't like something or want to finish our plates then that was okay too.

A few years ago I read an article about how to trick yourself into eating less. This particular trick works perfectly for someone like me who eats whatever is put in front of her. The trick? Using smaller dishes. I do this whenever humanly possible whether I am trying to lose weight or not. Using a smaller plate or bowl makes you feel like you're eating more when really you're likely eating the same amount or less. Want some photo evidence?

The teacup on the left is holding the same amount of ice cream as the bowl on the right. My inner fat girl wanted to put at least 2 more scoops in the bowl on the right simply because there was room even though 2 scoops is plenty for a treat. 

 

Each bowl contains the same amount of oatmeal and oatmeal fixings (apple & pb.. you should try it). I cook my oatmeal in the red salad bowl on the bottom to prevent an overflowing mess in the microwave. Sometimes it is worth dirtying and extra dish to make me feel like I'm eating more.

 

A couple of other ways to make this trick work for you:

1. I buy paper plates to use for snacks after dinner dishes have been done or to eat my lunch on. I always buy the smaller ones. Not the smallest, like what you would serve cake on, but the size below that.

2. At parties or family functions, if there are 2 size options for plates, go with the smaller option. This will prevent you from filling your plate up too much and if you really want more, you have to get back up and get it. And at that point, what you wanted more of but shouldn't have more of, might be gone.

3. If I want a bedtime snack of cereal, which is my dessert sometimes, I use a coffee mug. They are half the size of our bowls.

 

You can also use this trick in the opposite direction in terms of consuming enough water or eating enough veggies. I have a 33 oz water bottle and a 24 oz water bottle. I aim to drink at least 3 full bottles (in addition to the water I drink at lunch and dinner) per day. If I use the 33 oz bottle, I get nearly 100 oz of water as opposed to 72. Are you making a veggie to go with your dinner? Fill your plate or bowl up with the veggies first.

 

I hope these tricks work for you like they do me. They don't work every single meal of every single day, but a little bit of help is better than nothing I think!

 

Do you have to finish your plate too? What weight loss tricks have you found to be helpful?

Pumpkin, Pumpkin and more Pumpkin

The other day I was looking in our cabinets for something sweet and as I was going through the 2 with the baking items, I noticed a can of pumpkin that I bought last fall and never used. I was THRILLED because I had just told Danny a couple days before that I was craving pumpkin pie. Not only did he not offer to go get some, he told ME to go get some. That's not the point of this post though...

I decided to see what I could whip up with this one can of pumpkin. It was one of the larger cans and I knew one of the recipes I wanted to try only needed half and the other only needed a couple of spoonfuls, leaving me with 3/4 of a can and in need of a 3rd quick and easy recipe. I wanted quick and easy because Pregnant Erin is lacking patience these days. So, here is what happened.

Saturday night I made Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Sunday morning I made Pumpkin Pie French Toast
And just this morning I made Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
... All of which turned out great!

Lets start with the cookies... all you need is: a box of spice cake mix and a 15oz can of pumpkin. Honest to God, thats all you need.

Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. As you can see, mine are quite large so it took about 15 minutes for them to get done enough. My family has LOVED them! A few recipes I've seen have put cream cheese frosting on them, but the hubs and I agree that a dollop of whipped cream would be awesome!

Next was the Pumpkin Pie French Toast... you can click the above link for the measurements of the larger batch, but here is what I used for 4 pieces and yes I ate all 4.
4 slices of bread
1 egg
2 spoonfuls of pumpkin
splash of milk
couple shakes of pumpkin pie spice

Mix that all together until it looks like really nasty runny baby food. Lightly dip both sides into the mixture then put on a hot griddle. **When dipping, don't completely saturate the bread. My first 2 pieces were so heavy they almost fell apart and were mushy** Cook both sides until they look done then enjoy :)

Finally, the Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal. I LOOOOVE variations of oatmeal, especially when they apply to the current season.

For this breakfast, you'll need oatmeal(duh), a couple spoonfuls of pumpkin, some shakes of pumpkin pie spice and vanilla wafers (or graham crackers).

Prepare your oatmeal as directed and in a separate bowl mix together the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. I did this in a separate bowl because I wanted to make sure the spice was evenly spread throughout the pumpkin. Combine the pumpkin mixture with the oatmeal. Crush your cookies/graham crackers (the amount you use is up to you.. I used 6 vanilla wafers) then sprinkle onto the oatmeal. Give it a taste test then doctor it up as you wish. I ended up putting 1/2 a packet of Truvia so it was a little sweeter since I like sweet oatmeal.

And now that all this is over, I'm probably going to be okay with not eating pumpkin until Thanksgiving when I have a large slice of pie!