Try Something New

I realized this morning that I make the same “to do” list every Saturday, complete my paperwork to ww, and buy groceries.  HOW BORING!!! So today, I raised the flag on the mailbox, grabbed my bag and went SHOPPING!!! It was so much fun to go from store to store, people watch, and begin to look at all of the spring fashion still at full price!  My last stop was the grocery store and then home to begin dinner.  All of sudden I had this urgency to start my normal Saturday routine at 8PM but everything on the list can and will wait.

Often our lives become so routine and safe we forget to try something new.  I was recently reading a Blog in which the writer encouraged everyone to select 30 fashion items and create 30 new outfits for 30 days without a new purchase. Shoes, jewelry and accessories counted in the 30 so it took a lot of thought but it was amazing to read the comments of readers who had been successful plus the excitement of saving money during the month.

We often find the same safety in certain foods causing us to become afraid to “step outside of the box” and try something new!  We calculate the pp values, write it down, and have a successful weigh in so we repeat it the next week.  Until it is week whenever and we are so tired of the same oh same oh meal!   

Making changes to last a lifetime requires the determination to step out of the box and try something new.  My challenge is not a menu for 30 days but a menu for one week with a variety for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.  Try a new recipe, a new variety of fruit, a new vegetable, or even a new restaurant.  Where will you begin and then share how it turns out!

Yum Yum

I made the Shrimp and Scallops Veracruz from the March/April magazine and it was yummy! Since I could not find the picholine olives, I substituted for a favorite olive I already had and no one knew the difference.  Next time I will not add as much liquid from the tomatoes.  I served this with roasted asparagus spears and Simply Filling was in place for me or for those who count this is a 4 pp dinner!

I am on my journey to try something new at least once or twice a week....the Coq au Vin is next!

Are your eyes bigger than your stomach?

February 20

Have you ever heard the expression that your eyes were bigger than your stomach?  It took me a long time to understand the importance of getting my eyes and stomach on the same measurement system. My journey with ww has definitely taught me that portion control allows me to experience success with foods of my choice! 

My classroom students began cooking this week.  They were so excited! While they anticipated the eating part of the food lab we began with the basics of measuring. I have four kitchens in my classroom so I am all over the place.  Each class is 90 minutes so we have plenty of time to prepare, bake, eat, and clean up.  Each segment of the class creates its own hassles and issues!  The day before we cook I do a walk through of all of the tasks, how to prepare their recipe, and place the exact pieces of equipment on the kitchen counter for them to use.  However, it never fails someone will reach into a silverware drawer to retrieve a teaspoon to measure with.  After my coming apart, we review correct measurements once again.  In the back of my head I know their moms and grandmoms can pour a teaspoon of something into the palms of their hand because I am the child of a fabulous cook who measures a cup with an old green milkglass coffee cup!  But it is my job as their teacher to teach correct measurement techniques to insure success.  To prevent arguments over servings, portions are controlled by preparing their food item based on the number of students present.  The goal is for their kitchen group to prepare a successful product and enjoy being in the kitchen!

As a side note…the first day we cooked, when I left school I had over 10,000 steps on my pedometer with 12 batches of chocolate chip cookies with no two looking the same! (I never eat with them!) Exhausting!

It is just as important to practice good measuring techniques when serving our food as we do in preparing our food. Controlling portions takes practice, visual cues, and sometimes tricks of the trade.  Since I was a member of the childhood “Clean Your Plate Club”, my eyes would measure portions onto the plate that was way more than I needed. So now, I often serve from the stove rather than serving from the table, I do leftover plates first, serve with my ww MeasureRite spoons, and I eat from a salad plate with a salad fork. Portion control allows me to eat right and be successful.

Share with us your successful tips on controlling your portions.

Check out this video from the Mayo Clinic to learn some great visual cues.

  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/portion-control/NU00267

What's in your bag?

WOW!!!  I loved Jennifer on Oprah!  It was so inspiring to hear that her Aha moment was after a weight gain on week 3.  How many of us have experienced that moment?  Luckily for me, my DVR was still programmed to tape Oprah on Friday.  While I am not a loyal View watcher, I did enjoy the “What is in your purse” segment to look at the personalities of the ladies of The View.  All of the ladies had rather interesting items in their purse from a real book to an iPad to a pacifier.  Whether it was trivial or not, it spoke to who and where they are at this moment in their life.

I used this segment and the Jennifer episode to inspire me as I prepared for our meeting this week on our DIY kitchen makeover.  For further research, I retreated to HGTV and every kitchen makeover show I could enjoy.  My aha moment watching HGTV came when each host would respond that in design you stay loyal to the principles of design but then work within your own budget, taste, and preferences.  That is it…that is ww and PP.

We work each day with the tools we have been given with our PP program and then we make it work within our lifestyle!  Now the task at hand is to update to a ww friendly kitchen!  Open the fridge and the pantry and take a good hard look……what does your environment say about your personality?  Is it full of trigger foods or is it speaking volumes about your new lifestyle?

Considering the weather will hit the 60’s this week, let’s do some spring cleaning and get rid of those trigger foods (and for all of you hoarders of cookies and chips– that is another day!) and make over our kitchens to work within our PP budget, taste, power foods and preferences!

Recap of Jennifer’s interview with Oprah.

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Jennifer-Hudsons-Incredible-Weight-Loss-Journey/1

Eat like your Pet!

February 6

If I would only eat like Ella!  Ella is our cat.   Every morning Ella is given the same portion of food.  She nibbles for a few minutes and then walks away.  During the day as the mood strikes, she will nibble a bit more.  Many evenings when I return, Ella still has food left in her bowl. There is no need to worry, Ella is healthy and gets plenty of exercise.

I have noticed this true hunger eating pattern in the multitude of birds on our feeders as well.  So what lessons can we learn from our furry friends? Beginning with portion control, stopping when satisfied, and eating only when we are hungry would be a great place.  True hunger is body hunger while emotional hunger is head hunger.  Learning to identify body hunger is essential to a healthy lifestyle. I always chuckle when I reflect on an Oprah episode in which she said that when her stomach growled she would refer it to as the sound of burning calories rather than the sound of it is time to eat!  How do you identify true hunger and not eating just because?

While Ella may have this technique under control at our house it would be a whole lot easier if everyone in my family would be on the same hungry schedule and pattern as me!  Join us in the meeting room this week and share how you identify true hunger.

Yogurt update:  I asked the dairy stock person at Publix about WW yogurt.  The response included how they lost 44 items one week and they were replaced with 47 items.  The Greek Yogurt brands are so popular they took over the ww spots.  I expressed my sadness!  You may want to share your sadness with a manager as well!

Calculator Help

The response to our new PP program has been so overwhelming that we ran out of our new calculators!  So check out the link for a new temporary calculator for all of our members to use!!!

A Solution While PointsPlus Calculators are Out of Stock 

All members can access a calculator online at https://www.weightwatchers.com/calculator. The free calculator will stay up on the site until we can replenish our supply of PointsPlus Calculators in meeting rooms.

Closing

Thursday, February 3

Due to inclement weather and road closures, the Hoover Center meeting will be closed.

diane