Current Weight: 213.8 lbs

Total Weight Loss:  20.6 lbs

Like I said last week, I didn’t really believe that 212 weight, and the scale definitely agreed with me this week.  213.8 definitely seems more reasonable.

Non-Weight Loss Victory:  I suffered through a 30 minute run/walk by myself in 100+ degree heat on Thursday.  It wasn’t pretty, but I did it.  And I managed to stay within the 12-13 minute/mile range.

How I’m Staying Active:  Obviously, I’m running.  This past week, I logged a total of 15.75 miles:  2.1 on Tuesday, 2.4 on Thursday, 5.25 on Saturday and 6 on Sunday.  (The 6 miles was all walking.)  I also did some hot yoga on Monday and Wednesday.  This week, I plan to add some arm workouts to my running days and some pilates for some cross-training.  Overall, I’m feeling stronger despite the runs on Thursday and Saturday being somewhat difficult.  Thank goodness for the group running to get me through Saturday’s run!

What I’m Eating:  This week, I’ve sort of been on a Greek food kick.  My favorite thing about Greek food (sort of like Tex-Mex/Mexican) is that I usually have all the key ingredients (tomatoes, greek yogurt, pita, feta cheese, olive oil, chicken, garlic, olives and cucumbers) on hand most of the time, so it’s easy to just throw something together without an additional trip to the grocery store.

Here’s one of my favorites, courtesy of WeightWatchers.com:

Chicken Souvlaki Sandwich – 9 PointsPlus

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 lb uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, four 4 oz pieces
• 1/2 cup plain fat-free greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup cucumber, shredded
• 1 Tbsp dill, fresh, chopped
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 4 large whole wheat pitas, halved
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/2 reduced fat feta cheese crumbles

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400ºF.
• In a shallow baking pan, whisk together lemon juice, soy sauce, honey, minced garlic, oil and oregano; add chicken and turn to coat.
• Bake until chicken is cooked through, about 25 to 30 minutes, spooning sauce over chicken once or twice during cooking.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine yogurt, cucumber, dill and garlic powder.
• When chicken is cool enough to handle, slice each piece crosswise into thin strips and place inside pita pocket halves. Spoon 2 tablespoons of yogurt sauce into each pita half. Top with red onion slices, feta and tomatoes. Yields 2 halves per serving.

Makes 4 servings.