Week 12 Preview - Making Restaurant Food "Fit"

Eating outside of the home has become part of our lives more and more.

The typical adult now averages 5.8 restaurant occasions in a week!

The tendency to use every eating out occasion as a reason to "go off plan" seriously challenges long term weight management. Eating out doesn't have to mean a splurge every time or a loss of control, and can fit into a healthy lifestyle.

Learning to eat out on plan is a key skill for staying on track long term. You might think you don't eat out that often.

What are the reasons you eat away from home?

Some examples of "everyday occasions":

Lunch at work

Fast food restaurants

Business travel (including airports and convenience stores)

Too busy or too tired to cook so you go out or order in

At our meeting this week we will talk about the difference between "Everyday Occasions" and "Special Day Dining"

Yesterday, I found this wonderfully educational article about restaurant portions on MSN.

Check it out. Here's the link

http://health.msn.com/nutrition/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100234866

Week 11 Roundup - Feed Your Soul Not Your Taste Buds

If you are not hungry why are you turning to food?

I hope everybody will take the challenge and find a simple, pleasurable activity that makes them feel good.

Here are some ideas, if you are stuck on how to take care of yourself:

Take an early evening stroll to invigorate and revitalize

Attend a library or bookstore reading

Join a club to learn and imagine

Use travel magazines or the Internet to plan renewal getaways or vacations

Read a favorite motivational or inspiration book (or listen to them on CD, Tapes, MP3, whatever)

Attend a local sports or arts event

Plant an herb garden

Empty a cluttered drawer or closet and reorganise it so it works for YOU

Wash your car inside and out

Visit a zoo with a child (Heather suggests a child you actually know)

Rent a boat or a bicycle

Get in the habit of regularly taking care of yourself!!!!

We're Sooo Open

Welcome! This blog is open to the public. You do not need to sign in any longer to read this blog.

For those of you that have not visited this blog before, I'm Paula one of your Weight Watcher Leaders here in Bellingham, WA.I'm glad you found this blog. I'm still very new to this and my daughter, Heather, and I are learning as we go :)

We only have one half of an hour together at the WW center each week and I'm hoping this blog will help bridge the time between each weekly meeting. One of the benefits of a Weight Watcher meeting is COMMUNITY. We learn from each others' experiences, challenges, and accomplishments.

My goal in this blog is to keep you informed of meeting topics and get you charged up, to learn more this week. Also, this blog will help extend the moments we have together by giving you an opportunity to continue to provide feedback and ask questions, you may not have had a chance to ask or contribute at the meetings. I leave you with questions in most posts. Please go ahead and answer them here! We learn from each other. As we contribute to the meetings and then to this blog the dialogue will continue to build and we will all benefit from that.

When I have them, I will show you Recipes and Food Finds - Weight Watcher friendly purchases from around Whatcom County.

Please, Please feel free to submit your own recipes and Food Finds! If you've got pictures...even better.

Email me at: paulablog@hotmail.com.

See you this week!

Paula

Week 11 -Preview - Feed Your Soul Not Your Tastebuds

This week is about learning to nurture yourself in non-food ways.

What types of simple, pleasurable activities generate self-appreciation?

What sorts of activities make YOU feel really good?

What nurturing activities might help you learn or realize something important for your weight loss process?

Do you ever ask yourself, "Why did I do that?"

If it's not hunger, why do we turn to food?

This week we are going to explore the WHY's and what we can do instead, by using the REFRAMING tool.

Week 10 Roundup - Making Workouts Work For You

Out of all the ways to spend our time, exercise provides the most benefits. It affects everything we do in a positive way.

Wondering what to do on a Saturday afternoon?

Looking for an activity that suits the entire family?

GET PHYSICAL!!!

Exercise doesn't have to be drudgery. Take a ballroom dancing class. Check out a local climbing wall or hiking trail. Push your kids on the swings or climb with them on the jungle gym. Plan a neighborhood kickball or touch football game. Find an activity you enjoy, and go for it. If you get bored, try something new.

If you are moving, it counts!

Ellen DeGeneres once said, "I gotta workout. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It's been about about two months since I worked out. And I just don't have the time. Which uh...is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner and uh...and watch tv. And get a bone density test and uh...try to figure out what my phone number spells in words."

Sound familiar? Well there is only way to get past that. Just get up and start moving.

Recipe - Key West Style Roasted Chicken Salad

Makes 4 Servings
Points Value Per Serving - 5

3 Tbs. Key Lime Juice
2 Tbs. Taco Sauce
2 tsp. Olive Oil
3/4 tsp. Salt
3 cups Sliced Deli Roast Chicken Breast
1 bunch Arugula
1 cup Grape Tomatoes
1/2 Small Red Onion Sliced
1/2 cup Chopped Cilantro

Whisk together the lime juice, taco sauce, oil and salt in a serving bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss to coat evenly.

(Recipe adapted from Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites 2008)