The Pokey Little Pork Chop

Exercise...ugh! Enough said!

I don't mind exercising, although I would prefer this weight to just melt away. I know that the only way to get it to go away is to exercise. At least 30 mins a day. At least that's what Weight Watchers recommends, well what they say is "...the American College of Sports Medicine is that you should get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise five days per week or 20 minutes of high-inensity exercise 3 days per week to maintain health and reduce your risk for chronic disease" (Mastering the basics page. 83) So I do my bit, I exercise for 30 minutes or more a day. I walk on the treadmill and I use a number of exercise DVD's. My latest favorites are a Jackie Warner DVD, a Bob Harper DVD, and a Biggest Loser Power Walking DVD. I do both the treadmill and the DVD's because I know, that once the boys are in bed I sometimes don't feel like doing anything but parking my butt on the couch and watching TV (this is the exercise that got me looking so sexy and fluffy in the first place..lol). But on those days that I don't feel like doing the extra DVD I can feel assured that I have walked at a moderate-intensity (by this they mean you can't sing and you can only have a very laboured converstation with your walking partner, and you are sweating very early on in the walk) and have gotten some exercise in!

I have been trying to increase my exercise minutes, but to be quiet frank..I get bored...lol. I just have to remind myself that I am working towards a final goal and how much better I will feel about myself when I get there. I have only 2 days (since this is supposed to be a Wednesday post) until my next weigh in...dun, dun, dun....here's hoping that the exercise has helped!

Dinner was a Honey-Mustard Pork Chop. It was really, really good. Something different. Not to mention low in points. So I piled my plate full! It looks like in the picture that I'm not eating for being on a diet...oops..I mean "Lifestlye change"...the chop itself is only 4 points! So I had 1 cup of white rice for another 4 points, and then filled the rest of my plate with cauliflower and broccoli ~ 0 points, and my salad and dressing ~ 0 points! I was stuffed! I love it! I can eat everything on my plate and not feel guilty about it...not to mention that I get Activity Points for my exercise (more on that later).

Here is the recipe:

Prep: 5 min

Broil: 10 min

Serves: 4

1/4c Dijon Mustard

4 tsp honey

1 tsp apple-cider or white wine vinegar

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 (5-oz) bone-in loin pork chops about 1 inch thick (I used boneless because that's what was on sale)

1) To make marinade, whisk mustard, honey, vinegar and pepper in a cup.

2) Transfer marinade to large zip-close plastic bag; add pork. Squeeze out air and seal bag: turn to coat pork. Chill, turning bag occasionally, at least 4 hours or overnight.

3) Spray broiler rack with nonstick spray. Preheat broiler. (I used my indoor grill...was soo good)

4) Remove chops from bag; discard marinade. Place chops on broiler rack and broil 5 inches from heat until browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. (It took about 8 minutes on my grill for all 4 to be done).

Per serving: (1 pork chop) 165 cal, 5g total fat, 2g sat fat, 0g trans fat, 59mg chol, 546mg sod, 9g total carb, 5g total sugar, 0g fib, 19g protein, 17mg calcium.

PointsPlus Value: 4

This recipe can be found in the January/February issue of Weight Watchers magazine as well as the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook (John Wiley & Sons 2011).