Great Tool to use during Sizzlin Summer Slimdown!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/diet-scancalc/id432799504?mt=8  
Awesome app for iphones and androids!!!!!  It scans bar codes and gives the PointsPlus values of products. What a time saver!  Just in time for our Sizzlin Summer Slimdown.  For anyone who missed Tuesday night's meeting, we are all committed to losing at least 10 lbs. this summer.  Please come join us! 
We discussed the need to self monitor on the journey to a healthy lifestyle.  Self monitoring goes beyond tracking the PointsPlus values of the foods we eat.  It means paying attention to feelings when we are experiencing cravings, hunger levels throughout the day, activity PointsPlus values we earn each day, tracking the Good Health Guidelines, or the amount of Power Foods we are consuming daily.  This week's challenge is to track one other thing besides our PointsPlus food values.  The more we learn about ourselves and our habits the greater the chance that this will be a successful road to health and happiness. 
We want to LiveIt not Diet!!!!!

This Week for the Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Our journey to health requires "Best Supporting Actors".  Just a reminder to thank those who support our weight loss efforts.  In this week's meeting we will be exploring ways each of us can best monitor ourselves in the quest for health and fitness.  We will also be kicking off Sizzlin Summer Slimdown.  The Red Chili Peppers will be working together to lose at least 200 lbs. this summer and each member lose at least 10 lbs.  I know we can do it.  Imagine how good we will all feel.  Congratulations to the Edens!  Kyle and Chris both earned lifetime this spring.  Soon we'll all be there!

Sizzlin Summer Slim down!

OK guys, it's been a long hard winter and a lot of us have really struggled with the new program and staying on track.  It's time to make a change and summer is the perfect time to do it......beautiful evenings, more daylight, fresh fruits and vegetables, and warm sunshine!  Beginning June 7 Tuesday night meeting until Sept. 6 it is the Sizzlin Summer Slim down!!!!!  Each of us are challenging ourselves to lose at least 10 pounds this summer and as a meeting 200 pounds. (I am so included in the totals)  Each of us can do it and we will be there to support each other!  It's all about choices and let's choose to get back on track together!!!!!!!

I'm Back!

I just finished my student teaching and will graduate in 2 weeks. My health has taken a beating this year and I have neglected my Weight Watcher members. Unfortunately everything took a backseat to my long journey to a degree. I'm back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They talk about the freshman 15, but I instituted the senior 15. No matter how much I fussed and stressed about my lack of exercise and poor food choices I just couldn't seem to get it together. I had a tough time doing school and living healthy.
Today I'm heading to my Weight Watchers meeting. The number I will see on the scales will be higher than any I've seen in over 5 years. It is what it is! I'm not going to worry about the number. I must focus on healthy food choices, staying hydrated, and moving.
If anyone is interested on following my journey with its ups and downs, I'll be posting on my personal blog Life's a Puzzle.
Hope to see you all at our Tuesday night meeting!

Are You REALLY Hungry?

I think there are very few times during the day that I want to eat out of true hunger.  Most of the time I'm bored, stressed, tired, angry, it's meal time, or it's just there in front of me, so I might as well!  I'm using food for comfort, entertainment, to celebrate, and sometimes as fuel.  Of course, if I'm constantly eating, there's very few times I actually feel hungry; unless I try to cut back.  And then for the first few days I'm STARVING!  And it's like my hunger is scary to me, or something.  Maybe it's because of all the times that I've tried to deal with hunger, only to give in and then eat everything in sight.  So with the new WW program, I'm trying to tell myself that it's OK to feel hungry.  And if I am hungry, I can ALWAYS have an apple, banana, some strawberries, blueberries, or any fresh fruit I want.  But sometimes those things just don't seem to cut it for me.  And why is that?  Because maybe my hunger isn't from a need for food.


Five Ways to Tell if You're REALLY Hungry
* Emotional hunger comes on suddenly, while physical hunger is gradual.

*Physical hunger is felt below the neck (growling stomach), while emotional hunger is felt above the neck (a craving for ice cream or pizza).

*When only a certain food will meet your need (cookies, chocolate, your favorite take-out), your "hunger" is born of emotion.  When your body requires fuel, you're more open to other options.

*Emotional hunger wants to be satisfied immediately, physical hunger can wait.

*Emotional hunger leaves GUILT in its wake.  Physical hunger doesn't.

If we can learn to recognize these signals, we will be better able to distinguish emotional needs from physical needs.  The next time a strong craving strikes, try to tune out the signals coming from above the neck, and see if you're truly physically hungry.  Ask yourself what you're feeling emotionally and mentally and how you can meet those needs.  Kris is always talking about how we need our warm fuzzies to turn to instead of food.  We need to develop new habits so that when we get those triggers, our automatic response wont be to reach for the cookie jar or hit Pizza Hut's number on our speed dial.

Some of My Favorite WW-Friendly Indulgences

Last night at our meeting, Kris asked us to think about what works for us and what doesn't.  I know pizza and cookies don't work so well for me.  I can still have them at times, but only when I am in the right frame of mind (otherwise I'll stuff myself with them till they're all gone).  So what does work for me?

*diet Barq's root beer with fat-free half and half (this is my substitute for a sugar and fat laden root beer float)
*cottage cheese and light key lime yogurt (a substitute for one of my favorite jell-o salads)
*Dove dark chocolate (only 1 pointsplus a piece; these are so smooth, they melt in your mouth almost like milk chocolate, and the dark kind has a stronger flavor so you are more satisfied with just one or two pieces)
*natural peanut butter (no sugar added) with a banana or apple (to help sweeten it); this gives me some healthy fats, a fruit, and satisfies my cravings for peanut butter in a healthy way
*Temptations (by jell-o) lemon meringue pie; only 100 calories a cup (3 pointsplus)
*Ice Cubes peppermint gum; they are little gum cubes with a sugary coating and tiny balls of mint making it a fun and tasty gum to chew
*Nut Clusters from Costco (another way to get some healthy fats and protein to help keep me satisfied; and since they're slightly sweet as well as salty with a nice hard-candy kind of crunch, I feel like I'm eating candy)
*sugar-free vanilla pudding (jell-o, in the refrigerated section)
*frozen fruit smoothies made with sugar-free fruits, light vanilla greek yogurt, and a little bit of Sun Crystals (a really easy way to get all the fruits you need in a day in a super thick and creamy drink)

Spring is Here! Spring is all about new beginnings!

We've all had some highs and some lows throughout the winter, but now is the time to put everything in the past. We all tend to do the same things over and over again expecting different results. Spring is the perfect time to take a good honest look at our setbacks, get REAL with ourselves, and come up with a new plan of action. Tonight's meeting is about "The Gift of Hindsight". Let's use our past challenges as a great tool to a fantastic spring! Every Red Hot Chili Pepper has the ability to reach goal or near goal by the end of the year! We're going to get there.

Congratualtions to Chris Eden on reaching Lifetime! She is a wonderful example of perserverence. It hasn't come easy, but she never gave up!