Take It Off Tuesday (plus another recipe!)

I hit 28 pounds today! I lost 1.6 pounds this week. I feel a little bittersweet about this. I know that 1.6 pounds is a GREAT weight loss. I do. But, for some reason I just feel really defeated. Stupid I know, but I think that part of my disappointment is because of the Biggest Loser contest I am doing. I just REALLY want to win so to see a smaller weight loss is frustrating, but like my friend Erica said, that is 1.6 pounds that is no longer on me. She compared it to 1.6 pounds of ground beef...that is a lot! So, I should feel better about my 1.6 pounds, huh? Especially since we had J's birthday party and I ate some Pizza Hut pizza, brownies and ice cream. OK, going to be PROUD of my 1.6 pounds!

The contest has 28 more days. My goal is 15% of my original body weight. That means I need to lose 9.5 more pounds. I don't really know if it is doable or not, but that is my goal. At this point, I have already hit my goal for the entire contest (10%) so anything else is gravy...mmmm....gravy! ;)

I tried something new Friday morning. I went to a class at my gym called "Barre". It is based on the principles of ballet and even though it wasn't the sweat inducing workouts I usually like, it was pretty good. My calves were SCREAMING for 4 days! There was a lot of ab work and work of all those little muscles that don't normally get hit in a workout very easily. I am hoping that I can make it to the class again soon. It only meets on Monday evening and Friday mornings. Evenings are rough because of family time and L goes to our neighbors house on Friday mornings. So we will see, maybe we can do an every other week thing, although I would prefer going more than that. I don't know though, maybe I'll have to check out some of the gym's other locations and see if it is anywhere else at different times. :)

I made a Weight Watcher's Shepherd's Pie last night. It was SO good. I had a lot of people asking me for the recipe. So, here it is. I got it from the Weight Watchers newsletter that gets emailed to me every couple of days. Here you go:

Classic Shepherd's Pie

2 large Potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 c. fat-free sour cream
1 T. reduced-calorie margarine
1/8 t. table salt (or to taste)
2 t. olive oil
1 c. onions chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
2 medium stalks celery, diced
1 pound uncooked ground turkey breast
3 T. all-purpose flour
1 T. rosemary, fresh, chopped or 1 t. dried
1 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. table salt
1/4 t. black pepper
2 c. canned chicken or beef broth

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place potatoes in a large saucepan and pour in enough water to cover potatoes. Set pan over high heat and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer 10 minutes, until potatoes are fork-tender. Drain potatoes, transfer to a large bowl and add sour cream and margarine; mash until smooth, season to taste with salt and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery; Cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add turkey and cook until browned, breaking up the meat as it cooks, about 5 minutes. Add flour, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper; stir to coat. Add broth and bring to a simmer; simmer until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes.
Transfer turkey mixture to a 9-inch, deep dish pie plate. Spread mashed potatoes over top and using the back of a spoon, make decorative swirls over the top. Bake until potatoes are golden, about 30 minutes. Slice into 6 pieces and serve.
5 POINTS per serving

Now, what I did different...
I used Ore-Ida steam and mash potatoes...God love whoever invented these!! What a novel concept...I hate peeling potatoes!
Instead of cutting up the onions and celery, I used a frozen mix that had those plus green pepper already diced up, then I just added carrots to the mix. I know you can buy the mix with onions, celery, and carrots, just didn't have it on hand.
I also put in a little Italian Seasoning in with the spices.
Oh, of course I added garlic too! :)

Everyone liked it! Enjoy! Let me know what you thought!

I forgot to add that I started Level 3 of the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred yesterday. Did it again today. There is something oddly gratifying about hitting Level 3 on the DVD player! :)

Have a great one...until tomorrow!
With Love,
Theresa