Loki

 Last month we adopted a new dog that we call Loki:

He's a bassett beagle mix and cute as can be!

Loki is a year old and came from a rescue we've dealt with in the past.  Loki's a year old and not house trained at all!

House training doesn't bother me, it's the fact that this dog is a year old and no one has taken the time to even give him any basics.  Looking through his paperwork this poor dog has had several names - which indicates that he has been adopted out before and returned (more than once quite possibly).  I can even go back through the rescues fb page and see that he was adopted under one of those names back in April.

I don't mind that the rescue didn't disclose any of this....but I do think it's helpful to prevent future returns by being completely honest with what the issues were.  We have no plans to return him, wouldn't even consider it; but I'm sure the house training issues has been part of the reason he's been returned.  This dog has no understanding of inside and outside.  To him, they are the same.  I partially blame the rescue because they free feed and let the dogs all wander around in an enclosed area where they just do their business and they clean it up.  That's not house training.

Loki's been getting better but the other night he peed in the bed!!  That seemed odd since it was a sleeping area.  So today I dropped him off at the vet so they could check his urine for an infection, give him an examine and check for a few more things.  I mentioned this on the rescue's fb page (I'm not the only one dealing with house training issues).  People gave some advice.  The rescue's advice?  Put a wrap on him.  Wait, what?????

A wrap???  If you're unfamiliar with wraps, they are diapers you wrap around the dog to catch urine. 

Wraps do serve a purpose - if you have an older dog that can no longer hold itself or leaks urine; however, that is not an option when it comes to house training.  I want the dog trained; not trained to think it's okay to go in the house.  

Anyway, hopefully the vet visit will help (I could tell from his poop that he did have tape worms) and we can get things back in order!!!

Hershel

 On Wednesday I had to say good-bye to my dear sweet Hershel.

Hershel was a stray neighborhood cat that followed me home on a dog walk one day about 8 years ago.  He never left.  We were never truly able to find who he belonged to though someone mentioned that they thought his owners had moved and left him behind.  Hershel ran the neighborhood, hunted the wildlife and made pit stops at our house.  He was much loved.

This past year Hershel began to lose weight; half his body weight to be exact despite lots of eating.  Though this was probably due to thyroid issues or diabetes; when you run the neighborhood making pit stops, there's no easy way to medicate.

I was concerned he'd wander off one day and we'd never find him.

So this past Wednesday I took him the vet and said good-bye.

We will meet again at the Rainbow Bridge.

Long Month

 It's been a long month.....

Yesterday we had to have our sweet Lucy put down.  Lucy had throat/thyroid cancer and was slowly declining but really declined the past week.  We had hoped she'd make it to Labor Day or at least the end of the year; but it was not to be.  The situation wasn't without some drama though; we got to the vet's, hopped out of the car, and the back hatch wouldn't open to get Lucy.....hubby had locked the keys in the car!!  We had to wait 40 minutes for a locksmith!!  Only my Lucy......

Lucy was such a good dog and loved everyone - she never met someone she didn't like.  It broke my heart to lose my baby girl.  We do still have Dexter and realized that it has been a long time since we've only had one dog.  We'll get another at some point, but right now we need to grieve.

Needless to say....I haven't done much in the weight loss department.  I did go back to Weight Watchers this past week and am finally getting myself back on track.  It's still hard; but I'm moving forward.

Super Bowl & Planners

 I'm not a Super Bowl person; I'm not even a football person; come to think of it - I'm not into sports at all!

So I'll be in the comfort of my bed watching Netflix, Hulu, Prime, HBOMax or whatever else I can find.  Right now I'm watching the third season of "The Sinner".  I had seen the first season of this, and though it started out good; it lost me at some point and by the time it ended, I thought the whole storyline was stupid.  Season 2 I don't remember at all; so it must not of been that good, lol!  I'm attempted Season 3 and so far, so good....if you ever decide to watch - it is not necessary to watch them each order.  Same cop; but the storylines are all different.  I've also been watching "Freaks & Geeks"...it's an oldie but seeing James Franco and Seth Rogan in the younger days is lots of fun!

I had mentioned the WW 52 Week Meal Planner.  The cost of this is $19.99; actually not bad considering there are others out there that cost much more.  When I first got it, I wasn't impressed; but the more I look at it, it is not all that bad.  Here's some photos:

This plain planner I came across at Dollar General for $3.00.  Though not an actual food planner, you could make this work at a fraction of the cost.

It's all in what you need to get on track.  You could even make your own!  I only bring up planners again because one of the people I follow on YouTube has created one and is selling it at the tune of $50!!  I've seen others priced this way and I really do not think it is necessary to pay that much.

A Few Losses

 But the week didn't start good.  This week I had to say good-bye to my dear sweet Cooper.

Cooper was 13 years old and age wasn't well for him.  It was time to go but I stayed with him to the bitter end.  I loved this cat.

We've been looking to adopt another dog.  We found one and applied for it at our local shelter.  When days went by with no word; we stopped in and I explained that I had put in an application on Ginger but had not heard anything.  Without even asking my name they informed me that they were behind on applications and I wouldn't hear anything until the following week.  I asked to get Ginger out and the happily allowed it.  Hubby and I spent almost an hour with her, playing fetch, taking photos, bonding...  A few hours later she would be gone from the website - adopted, to someone else.  I wish they had told me there were other applications, that I would of understood; but allowing me to bond with a dog that you already had approved to someone else?  REALLY!!

So the week was about loss.

But I'm trying to not let it get me down.  There will be other dogs; Cooper is in a much better place.

First Weigh In For The Year

 My first weigh-in for the year and after the holidays, had me at a 1.8 lb loss.  Not bad since I wasn't overly trying too hard to stay on plan.

That said, I know that I need to get some things under control.  So I went on a shopping spree to pick up some much needed "snacks".

Yep, let's talk snacks shall we?  I'm a snacky type person and I can't go without snacking.  Though salt is normally my go to snack; sweets can enter the picture too.

The snack haul this week (besides grapes & bananas) is below:

Above we have small lunch size packs of Snyder's Pretzels at 1 pt a pack,  Emerald 100 Calorie Packs of Almonds & Walnuts at 3 pts a pack; Jack Links Beef Jerky at 2 pts a pack, Quest Birthday Bar at 4 pts a bar and Special K Pastry Crips at 4 pts a pack.

Laughing Cow Spreadable Cheese at 1 pt per wedge; Sargento Reduced Fat Colby-Jack Cheese Sticks at 2 pt per stick; Soup Oyster Crackers 35 for 2 pts  And an alternative for diet soda - Ocean Spray Diet mixed with Diet 7up (yeah I realize there's still soda there).

First the Diet Ocean Spray - Mix it with Diet Sierra Mist, Diet Sprite, Diet 7up or Diet Ginger Ale.  Pour then together in a pitcher.  Trust me - you will love it!  And you can use any flavor of Ocean Spray.

The rest needs no real explanation, mix and match them.  Laughing Cow goes well with crackers & pretzels, cheeses and nuts go well with fruits (or each other); the pastry & Quest bars are fine alone (I am not a Built Bar fan).  

Just some ideas to help with your journey.  What are your favorites?

So What Is "My WW+ (My Weight Watchers Plus)

 Don't panic!  Weight Watchers hasn't changed how points are calculated, nor have they added a new diet plan or brought back an old one; but they are going more digital and have 4 plans for you to choose from now:

Digital - is exactly what it has always been; on your own with the app.

Digital 360 - this one is a little confusing; from what I'm reading you get the app plus access to live & taped videos from inspiring coaches 24/7.  This does not include zoom meetings.

Unlimited Workshops Plus Digital - this one includes the app plus in person meetings (if you can find one) and the zoom meetings.

1 on 1 Coaching - You get a personal coach to help you with your journey.

You can go here for pricing and such:

U.S.A. Weight Watchers Plans

And refer back to here:

What You Should Know Before Joining WW

Before signing up!!

ALSO:

LIFETIMERS NOT AT GOAL - You know, like me!

You should not be paying more than $14.95 a month while not at goal.  Yep, that was a surprise to me as well!  However, you will need to call, private message on FB or email them to get set up.  It's helpful to have your Lifetime number available!  If a rep tells you they no nothing about this; disconnect and try again!  I did mine through private message on their FB page; it was very simple.  I sent a message saying I had heard this and gave them my Lifetime number, they messaged back asking for my log on id, date of birth and zip code, I sent them that, and they sent me a link with a code.  Now, it wouldn't let me do it because I'm locked into my current plan until January 9th (WW offered me 2 free months) but they assured me that at that time it will let me use the code.  Just to prevent a double charge; I'll probably cancel the day before I'm to be charged regular price and then re-sign up via the link and code.

I always thought WW should offer lifetimers not at goal a special price!

And Finally An Update!

Yep....I've been gone for a while.  These times have been so crazy, haven't they?

I started back on track yesterday.  Doing well so far, but it is only day 2.  I decided I needed to get lunch under control.  One of the reasons I have such a hard time with lunch is that my co-workers mostly eat out which makes their lunches look so much better than mine, lol!  So I try to come up with ways to recreate take out meals so I don't miss out.

Today I declared sub day (the rest of the week most likely).  When subs are ordered I always favor ham & cheese (I just don't like deli turkey meat).  One of the things that makes a sub a sub is the roll!  So light bread or hamburger/hotdog roll will not do.  I either use the club rolls or I buy hoagie rolls/steak rolls.  Depending on brand and size...the club rolls run about 4 sp and the larger ones run 5-6 sp.  When I buy the larger I cut them in half giving me a 3 sp roll.  Yes, you heard that right...I cut it in half and yes that makes a rather small sandwich; yet it turns out to be just enough!  I add 3 oz of ham and a slice of swiss cheese.  Buy the thin slices, they're only 1 sp a slice and it's the real thing.  Obviously you can use reduced fat or fat free varieties as well.  I top with 1/2 a tablespoon of light mayo.

I planned on having cucumber slices on the side but forgot to buy them at the store, so I dug into the guinea pig stash of baby carrots and had them instead.  I added two dill pickle slices as well.  With a sandwich, I do need something snacky.  I bought a bag of Utz Reduced Fat Potato Chips - 20 chips is one serving for 4 sp; I only counted out for 1/2 a serving for 2 sp.  I then added an orange to finish up. 

I ended up with this:

And it was very good - 8 sp total!

An Oldie But Goodie

As I've mentioned before, I've had much success with older plans but not much with the newer ones.  Weird, yes; but not unusual.  When I decided to try again; I looked back at my success.

And a recipe popped up!!

Whether you are new or not to the WW realm; you'll notice that a lot of people look for ways to make low point comfort foods.  One of the big deals is a recipe for banana pancakes.  What you do is mash a very ripe banana into mush and add an egg, mix well and cook like you would a pancake and TA-DA - you have a 0 point pancake on the blue or purple plan (2 pts for green).  Don't expect it to taste like a regular pancake, but many like it.  I'm of the group that doesn't.....I even took advice of others and added some self-rising flour to give it more of a pancake feel....but no, it wasn't for me.  This week I happened to remember a pancake I use to make when I did the classic points and points plus plans and I made it yesterday for breakfast and again this morning:

Sorry I took a bite before taking the photo and yes I was having breakfast in bed!

I'm not very good when it come to flipping things, but this pancake is thick enough that even an idiot like me can flip it, lol!!   I don't remember where I originally got the recipe, whether it was from a meeting, a blog, or some random website; but it was a staple for breakfast for quite a while.  Recipe?

1/4 cup of uncooked oatmeal (I use quick oats)

1 egg

1 tbsp skim milk

1 pack of sweetener of choice

Mix it together and cook like you would a pancake.

I'm going to give some advice here.  When you pour it in the pan, the oatmeal will kind of sit in one spot while the liquid will spread out.  Spread the oatmeal out with the liquid.  Also, you are definitely going to have an oatmeal texture when eating, if that's not your thing...put your quarter cup of oats in a blender and blend it to a powder.  I have never done that, but certainly you can; as a matter of fact if you plan on doing that I would think you could just put all ingredients in the blender to mix it together.  ***UPDATE*** This morning I mixed the ingredients together and let it sit while I dried my hair and put my make-up on (approximately 10 minutes).  This gave the oats time to absorb in some of the liquid, making the oatmeal texture after cooking not as textury (is that a word, lol?).  So that could be an option also if you're bothered by the texture. It also stayed with the liquid when I poured it into the pan and there was no need to spread the oatmeal out.   ALSO- I forgot to put the sweetener in, and it tasted just fine with the syrup!

I eat mine with 1/4 cup sugar free syrup and a banana; but you can have yours with whatever you like!  The oatcake itself comes to 2 pts on Blue, 4 pts on green, and 0 pts on purple.

Moving On...

I forgot to weigh yesterday so had to weigh this morning. Despite all the stress and bad eating, I managed to maintain! I'll take it!

Yesterday I got new livingroom furniture. Used but new to us. I found it on the FB marketplace. 

We never buy new due to all our pets, we consider them family and allow on the furniture. Over time the furniture gets worn and we replace as needed, most often our sofa and loveseat don't match, lol! This time they both needed a replace and we found a set. I'm not kidding when I tell you it looks brand new! AND....we got both pieces, the coffee table and two lamps for $100.00! SCORE!

I'm very pleased.  Oh and new drapes are coming!

Moving forward.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S10e.

Fail, Fail, Fail

I'm going to be honest,  I've been failing very badly.  Totally not on program at all.

I'm regrouping though, but can we discuss plain nonfat greek yogurt?

That stuff is nasty!  I have no idea how people eat it. I did for a while make the yogurt bowls with the yogurt and pudding mix:

Even adding fruit and cheerios still didn't get rid of that nasty yogurt taste. Blah!

I try, I really do. I came across a recipe with plain nonfat greek yogurt, 2 tbsp sugar free cool whip (I used 4 tbsp), 1/2 tsp of cake batter extract (I used 1 tsp) and some sprinkles.  It was disgusting! Even extra cool whip and extract couldn't get rid of that yucky sour yogurt taste.

I need to find some new non yogurt recipes.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S10e.