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Healthy Swaps

So in my weight loss efforts, I'm relying heavily (pun intended) on the smarts behind Weight Watchers, which I restarted last week. First week was great with a loss of 5.1 lbs! I haven't really figured out my goal weight, but I have to have something 'on file' with WW, so I set my first goal as 10 lbs. Half way there, right? That's the though process I'm hoping will be less intimidating than the daunting bigger number of 20 or 30 lbs. In the long term, I think I would like to lose about 40 lbs, but let's focus on this first 10.

There are a few things I know can help me be successful in my weight loss journey (WLJ):

1. Drink water and lots of it.
2. Exercise, at least 30 minutes daily.
3. Make at least one healthier swap every meal.

I already drink a ton of water, to the tune of . So #1 is checked off.

1. Drink water and lots of it.

I re-joined the gym today and with the help of my iPhone app, Epic Workout, I've set up a daily workout routine -- a combination of cardio and weight/resistance training. Some workouts longer than others and changing daily to comprehensively work all muscle groups and to keep my interest. #2 down.

2. Exercise, at least 30 minutes daily.

Let's talk about #3 -- Make at least one healthier swap every meal.

I think there are a variety of ways to go about this. Sometimes it will be passing up a yummy, high Point food; other times it will be selecting a zero Point beverage instead of a higher Point cocktail or soda; and other times it will be to swap out a higher Point ingredient to make a recipe healthier, hopefully without sacrificing taste or food quality.

Tonight, the Captain and I wanted Tacos but wanted to take #3 for a spin. Results -- delicious!!

Hungry Girl's Turkey Tacos -- we devoured ours before I could get a pic!

Not really a recipe, but here is what we did to make the Tacos more Point-friendly (and we got more than one healthy swap this meal!):

- Instead of corn or flour tortillas, we tried Mission Low Carb Flour Tortilla (8"), YUM!
- Instead of 85% lean ground beef, we tried Jennie-O Ground Turkey (93% lean), another YUM!
- Stuck with Taco Bell brand Taco Seasoning, because it's pretty good.
- Instead of full-fat sour cream, we used light sour cream (same taste, less fat).
- We used our regular reduced-fat Mexican blend of shredded cheeses
- Instead of beans or rice as a side dish, I boiled some ears of corn with just a little light butter and lime juice for seasonings.

Overall, very happy about the end results. I highly recommend the Mission Low Carb Flour Toritillas especially. They would be great with not only Mexican food, but in place of bread for sandwiches or other wraps.

I'm really happy with the small changes we made tonight -- more to come!
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