Jenny Craig Diet Update, Week 2

Can't touch this...

I have now been on this program for two weeks and as I predicted the ridiculous weight loss recorded last week was not repeated this week. I stuck to the plan as best I could, the hardest part remembering to eat six times a day. I seem to have the worst time remembering my afternoon snack. When I'm at the office I don't seem to remember that I haven't had my snack until I am leaving the office and then it's too late, dinner being only an hour and a half away. 

As most of you who know me or follow my blog, pizza is my favorite food (see  here, here, here, here and here)  so I have come up with a way to enjoy my pizza "pangs" without doing any damage to my diet. A snack for me is supposed to be 1 starch, the pizza dough, and 1 'good fat'. I can have all of the 'free' vegetables I want. I make up a pizza of my own by preparing a yeast dough with only 1 tablespoon of olive oil (a "good" fat according to Jenny) and make a sauce out of crushed tomatoes, crushed red pepper and garlic and top it with a combination of fat-free mozzarella and cheddar and vegetables that are considered "free" on the program. These include roasted peppers, onions, mushrooms and artichokes.

Homemade pizza sauce, roasted grape tomatoes
and veggies make a pretty good pizza!

The one thing I do that is probably not an idea that Jenny would support is that I also use some oven dried grape tomatoes. I cut a pint of grape tomatoes in half, toss them with a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt and let them drain for an hour or so. I then toss them with 1-1/2 teaspoons of olive oil and arrange them on a parchment lined baking sheet, cut side up. I roast them at about 400-425 degrees until they have released most of their juice but are not dry. The concentrated flavor of these little beauties gives you the glutamates that are missing from the meats, etc. that would normally make the pizza so tasty. 1 pint of grape tomatoes makes enough to top 2 pies. It's a really good idea and makes for a delicious pizza topping. I cut the cooked pizza into 10 pieces and freeze the slices. Reheat in a 385 degree oven for 10 minutes. I will have 1/10th of a pizza for snack in the evening and it really does satisfy craving for something 'naughty'. Make two pies at a time as you already have the oven and pizza stone hot. 

This week, after enjoying a pretty easy week of dieting I have lost 6.8 pounds, for a grand total of 18.2 pounds! More next Saturday.