Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Walk-It Challenge
Below is the latest on Weight Watchers’ Walk-it Challenge. The idea is to challenge yourself to move more and sit less while training for an event. There is a great resource available to help you train (discussed below). I am committed to a 5-K and invite all of you to take part as follows: Lesia Linkous and other WW Members will be participating in the: Race for the Stars Memorial Run 5K Run/Walk & Children’s Fun Run Saturday, May 14th, 2011 Riner, VA https://auburnelementary.securespsites.com/Public%20Documents/Riner5K.aspx Complete your registration form (send it directly to Montgomery Parks and Rec) and join us! Get up and Go!!! And get yourself ready to accomplish this 5K. Will you join me? I hope so~ Walk It Challenge: It’s Here Already: The third annual Walk-It Challenge kicks off on April 3. Weight Watchers® is encouraging all members to move more and train to walk or run a 5K on Weight Watchers Walk-It Day, May 22. Members will have access to a training plan, a sweepstakes, interactive online training tools, and more. And everyone who completes a 5K on Walk-It Day will get both an official Walk-It Day T-shirt as well as a 5K Charm! Information is online at http://www.weightwatchers.com/templates/marketing/marketing_utool_1col.aspx?pageid=1219861 Lace up your sneakers and get moving! We show you how. Take advantage of our 6-week interactive training program on weightwatchers.com/walkit beginning April 3 to help you and your members achieve the goal of walking or running a 5K. Meetings members: Type in the access code (request it from your leader) Monthly Pass or eTools subscribers: Use your eTools log in On weightwatchers.com/walkit you can: • Read activity-related articles on topics such as workout gear, walking tips, running tips, and more • Get inspired by blog posts featuring our community bloggers’ training tips and weekly Walk-It plans • Sign up for a walk or run in your area, organized by our partner Road Runners Club of America, by clicking on the Walk-It Challenge 5K events link. On the Weight Watchers Community you can: • Participate in the Community challenge. You’ll get uplifting and motivating tasks from the WeightWatchers.com editors every week to help you complete your Walk-it training. • Create Walking Groups or find a Walk-It group in the Weight Watchers Community. We will provide Walk-It categories so that users can search and browse by region. • Share the new 2011 Walk-It token with friends in the Weight Watchers community. Weight Watchers official Walk-it Day is May 22. We encourage members, friends, and relatives to get involved and get moving. Visit weightwatchers.com/walkit and start training now! For questions regarding weightwatchers.com/walkit, please e-mail onlinequestions@weightwatchers.com
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
How to Use Points Plus... what Leaders are being told
How To Use All Your PointsPlus™ Values
Article By: Elly Trickett McNerney
It’s true: Some people have told us that they’re finding it hard to meet their daily PointsPlus Target. If you can relate, read on.
It’d be all too easy to be flippant when we heard people complaining that they were finding it hard to reach their daily PointsPlus Target. Indeed, when a couple of people posed this problem on the Message Boards, some posters met the pleas with a slightly envious, “I wish I had that problem!" tone.
But when we read the Message Boards post below, we knew a few tips were in order:
"No matter how hard I try I can not get in all my PointsPlus for a day. When I do, I feel so overstuffed and uncomfortable. Should I go back to eating low-fat foods, instead of fat-free? Please help me out with a few tips that I may be overlooking."
PointsPlus values: The math
First, let’s look at the nutritional math behind your daily Target. There is a minimum number of PointsPlus values — 29 — that experts agree should be consumed in order to meet basic nutritional needs. Don’t go trying to figure out what the equivalent number of calories is; the PointsPlus formula comprises carbs, protein, fiber and fat, which all make up a calorie. Instead, we look at the amount of these macronutrients you need to make the right nutrition available for your body, and, ta-daa: There’s your 29.
So, who’s struggling? We’ve asked a few of them to tell us a bit more about themselves, and what they’re eating. We saw more than a couple of people who’d had to adjust from eating 18 POINTS® values per day under the old Plan, to 29 PointsPlus values under the new one. That’s more than a 50% increase.
Now, let’s look at why that increase might be so hard to deal with. Under the old program, a banana cost the same number of POINTS values as a 100-calorie pack of cookies: 2.
When our person — who’s used to not having a huge number of POINTS values to play with —realizes the banana has 0 PointsPlus values when it used to cost them around 2 POINTS values, then it obviously looks like a better option than the cookies, which now have 3 PointsPlus values on average. They eat the banana, their hunger is sated and they’ve got as many PointsPlus values to eat as they had before their filling snack.
This is normally a great thing, and exactly what we hoped would happen on the new program! But we have seen people who have stopped eating their favorite snacks altogether — the 100-calorie pack of cookies, granola bars, pretzels, anything with PointsPlus values — even when they have PointsPlus values to spare for these items. We’ll always encourage you to eat fruit because it’s healthy; but we emphatically discourage you from depriving yourself of other foods you like, especially when you can “afford" the PointsPlus values for them.
The Power Food "bargains"
Another potential reason people are struggling to meet their Target is by focusing entirely on the “bargains." Some foods — especially lean proteins — are the same number of PointsPlus values than they were POINTS values. Most carb-heavy foods (whether they’re “good" carbs like whole grains or “bad" ones like white bread) have gone up. And that’s exactly why we also raised the daily PointsPlus Target.
If you change the way you eat to limit yourself to the foods that are the same, then of course you’re trying to eat more food than before. So it follows that you might either be struggling to eat the 29, or even that you might be struggling to lose weight or maintain at the rate you’re used to.
Remember: Grains and starches play a vital role in overall nutritional health, and shouldn’t be avoided. You should be choosing foods that will give you a healthy, varied diet; not those that allow you to stash as many PointsPlus values away as you can.
Fat facts
The same goes for fat. Our Message Boards poster wondered if she should go back to eating low-fat rather than all fat-free foods. If you’re eating low-fat or fat-free versions of everything and still struggling to reach 29 PointsPlus values, then yes, consider making some switches. If you’re eating a cup of Greek yogurt, the fat-free version will cost 3 PointsPlus values, while the 2% version will bump it up to 4. You’re not eating anything bad for you; just a creamier version of your high-protein snack.
At the bare minimum, do ensure you’re getting the two servings of healthy oils every day, as recommended by our Good Health Guidelines. And while we don’t recommend glugging glasses of the extra virgin, an extra teaspoon of olive oil on your salad or in your pasta sauce (you are still eating pasta, right?) won’t hurt.
The big picture
Still struggling to figure out how to get to the 29? A story from the meeting room illustrates brilliantly the disconnect that can seem to occur between both halves of the brain. Let’s call her Maggie. (Not her real name, of course.) This is what she told her Leader:
“Most of the things I eat didn’t change from POINTS to PointsPlus values, or they now have zero PointsPlus values. OK, my Kashi bar has gone up, but I don’t eat those anymore. You’ve given my 29 of these PointsPlus values, and I can only make it to 20. Help!"
As her Leader tells it, she heard the “Zzzzzzccrch" record scratch when Maggie said she didn’t eat the Kashi bar anymore. Maggie had thought the program was trying to absolutely discourage her from eating it by raising the PointsPlus values.
What the program is actually trying to do is to give you room for indulgences (that’s what your extra weekly PointsPlus Allowance is for!) while helping you make healthy decisions about your day-to-day food. As Maggie’s Leader elaborates: “We’ve seen that some of the people who aren’t losing weight, or who are feeling too full to reach their Targets, are depriving themselves. They’re eating monastically. It can be hard to loosen up, but that’s what it means to have a balanced life. .."
Though this is meant for staff on how to handle the new plan, I feel that you can benefit from it. I want you to be in the ..."know"... Lesia
Article By: Elly Trickett McNerney
It’s true: Some people have told us that they’re finding it hard to meet their daily PointsPlus Target. If you can relate, read on.
It’d be all too easy to be flippant when we heard people complaining that they were finding it hard to reach their daily PointsPlus Target. Indeed, when a couple of people posed this problem on the Message Boards, some posters met the pleas with a slightly envious, “I wish I had that problem!" tone.
But when we read the Message Boards post below, we knew a few tips were in order:
"No matter how hard I try I can not get in all my PointsPlus for a day. When I do, I feel so overstuffed and uncomfortable. Should I go back to eating low-fat foods, instead of fat-free? Please help me out with a few tips that I may be overlooking."
PointsPlus values: The math
First, let’s look at the nutritional math behind your daily Target. There is a minimum number of PointsPlus values — 29 — that experts agree should be consumed in order to meet basic nutritional needs. Don’t go trying to figure out what the equivalent number of calories is; the PointsPlus formula comprises carbs, protein, fiber and fat, which all make up a calorie. Instead, we look at the amount of these macronutrients you need to make the right nutrition available for your body, and, ta-daa: There’s your 29.
So, who’s struggling? We’ve asked a few of them to tell us a bit more about themselves, and what they’re eating. We saw more than a couple of people who’d had to adjust from eating 18 POINTS® values per day under the old Plan, to 29 PointsPlus values under the new one. That’s more than a 50% increase.
Now, let’s look at why that increase might be so hard to deal with. Under the old program, a banana cost the same number of POINTS values as a 100-calorie pack of cookies: 2.
When our person — who’s used to not having a huge number of POINTS values to play with —realizes the banana has 0 PointsPlus values when it used to cost them around 2 POINTS values, then it obviously looks like a better option than the cookies, which now have 3 PointsPlus values on average. They eat the banana, their hunger is sated and they’ve got as many PointsPlus values to eat as they had before their filling snack.
This is normally a great thing, and exactly what we hoped would happen on the new program! But we have seen people who have stopped eating their favorite snacks altogether — the 100-calorie pack of cookies, granola bars, pretzels, anything with PointsPlus values — even when they have PointsPlus values to spare for these items. We’ll always encourage you to eat fruit because it’s healthy; but we emphatically discourage you from depriving yourself of other foods you like, especially when you can “afford" the PointsPlus values for them.
The Power Food "bargains"
Another potential reason people are struggling to meet their Target is by focusing entirely on the “bargains." Some foods — especially lean proteins — are the same number of PointsPlus values than they were POINTS values. Most carb-heavy foods (whether they’re “good" carbs like whole grains or “bad" ones like white bread) have gone up. And that’s exactly why we also raised the daily PointsPlus Target.
If you change the way you eat to limit yourself to the foods that are the same, then of course you’re trying to eat more food than before. So it follows that you might either be struggling to eat the 29, or even that you might be struggling to lose weight or maintain at the rate you’re used to.
Remember: Grains and starches play a vital role in overall nutritional health, and shouldn’t be avoided. You should be choosing foods that will give you a healthy, varied diet; not those that allow you to stash as many PointsPlus values away as you can.
Fat facts
The same goes for fat. Our Message Boards poster wondered if she should go back to eating low-fat rather than all fat-free foods. If you’re eating low-fat or fat-free versions of everything and still struggling to reach 29 PointsPlus values, then yes, consider making some switches. If you’re eating a cup of Greek yogurt, the fat-free version will cost 3 PointsPlus values, while the 2% version will bump it up to 4. You’re not eating anything bad for you; just a creamier version of your high-protein snack.
At the bare minimum, do ensure you’re getting the two servings of healthy oils every day, as recommended by our Good Health Guidelines. And while we don’t recommend glugging glasses of the extra virgin, an extra teaspoon of olive oil on your salad or in your pasta sauce (you are still eating pasta, right?) won’t hurt.
The big picture
Still struggling to figure out how to get to the 29? A story from the meeting room illustrates brilliantly the disconnect that can seem to occur between both halves of the brain. Let’s call her Maggie. (Not her real name, of course.) This is what she told her Leader:
“Most of the things I eat didn’t change from POINTS to PointsPlus values, or they now have zero PointsPlus values. OK, my Kashi bar has gone up, but I don’t eat those anymore. You’ve given my 29 of these PointsPlus values, and I can only make it to 20. Help!"
As her Leader tells it, she heard the “Zzzzzzccrch" record scratch when Maggie said she didn’t eat the Kashi bar anymore. Maggie had thought the program was trying to absolutely discourage her from eating it by raising the PointsPlus values.
What the program is actually trying to do is to give you room for indulgences (that’s what your extra weekly PointsPlus Allowance is for!) while helping you make healthy decisions about your day-to-day food. As Maggie’s Leader elaborates: “We’ve seen that some of the people who aren’t losing weight, or who are feeling too full to reach their Targets, are depriving themselves. They’re eating monastically. It can be hard to loosen up, but that’s what it means to have a balanced life. .."
Though this is meant for staff on how to handle the new plan, I feel that you can benefit from it. I want you to be in the ..."know"... Lesia
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Dancing in the Rain - Get Moving
Happy Rainy Wednesday!
Though we all hate the rain, keep in mind that we are in a rain deficit and that some continuous rain is wonderful for us:
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
(I think this message is really for myself as, humorously, I am cranky about the rain today)
Anyway, I hope you having a wonderful weightloss week. One of our fellow members, Carolyn found the following information:
"Somehow I came across a free offer for workout music from Workoutmusic.com and Subway Restaurant. I had to give a valid email (which they only check for an email pattern-- XXXXXX@xxxx.xxx, so if you hate SPAM you can put a fake email in) I am sure they send you offers and bug you.
Anyway, the offer is for 12 free songs. The songs are not the original artist (the song sounds similar to the original artist ) the BPM are increased from the original. It looks like these are produced by the same folks who sell them on CD (You can find them at Walmart, etc)
I listened to a few of the songs and it seems like a great deal!
Now I need to make time to go to the gym and really test these songs!"
Fun new tools, like this, can help spark some great interest in activity. A very popular way to ramp up activity is Zumba. One of our Leaders, Angel, is leading this craze in the New River Valley and beyond. If you have the rainy day blues, I say go see what Zumba is all about. Her times and locations can be found at:
http://71933.zumba.com/
Though we all hate the rain, keep in mind that we are in a rain deficit and that some continuous rain is wonderful for us:
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
(I think this message is really for myself as, humorously, I am cranky about the rain today)
Anyway, I hope you having a wonderful weightloss week. One of our fellow members, Carolyn found the following information:
"Somehow I came across a free offer for workout music from Workoutmusic.com and Subway Restaurant. I had to give a valid email (which they only check for an email pattern-- XXXXXX@xxxx.xxx, so if you hate SPAM you can put a fake email in) I am sure they send you offers and bug you.
Anyway, the offer is for 12 free songs. The songs are not the original artist (the song sounds similar to the original artist ) the BPM are increased from the original. It looks like these are produced by the same folks who sell them on CD (You can find them at Walmart, etc)
I listened to a few of the songs and it seems like a great deal!
Now I need to make time to go to the gym and really test these songs!"
Fun new tools, like this, can help spark some great interest in activity. A very popular way to ramp up activity is Zumba. One of our Leaders, Angel, is leading this craze in the New River Valley and beyond. If you have the rainy day blues, I say go see what Zumba is all about. Her times and locations can be found at:
http://71933.zumba.com/
Monday, February 21, 2011
Hello from out of town~
Hello everyone!
All is well in CA. Pacific Grove California is one of my favorite places on the west coast. Though we do travel there when the climate is colder, it makes for great enjoyment in front of the many fireplaces you will find in the cottages we stay in.
I thought I would take a moment to post a few blogs for your enjoyment. Best wishes and see you soon, Lesia
All is well in CA. Pacific Grove California is one of my favorite places on the west coast. Though we do travel there when the climate is colder, it makes for great enjoyment in front of the many fireplaces you will find in the cottages we stay in.
I thought I would take a moment to post a few blogs for your enjoyment. Best wishes and see you soon, Lesia
A leader recently blogged about food staples in her home:
Fruit ( may be too rough for you)
Frozen berries of all kinds from Sam's
Morning Star Veggie sausage (10 gr. protein)
Cottage Cheese ( protein source again)
Carb Master Yogurt.Kroger brand (12g protein)
Hard boiled eggs
Laughing Cow cheese wedges
Lite Baby Bell cheese (Sam's)
Lite string cheese
Special K with berries cereal (only 3 PP per serving)
On the WW website for staff, below is a recent blog from a Leader. she called it "One Potato, Two Potato"...
Fruit ( may be too rough for you)
Frozen berries of all kinds from Sam's
Morning Star Veggie sausage (10 gr. protein)
Cottage Cheese ( protein source again)
Carb Master Yogurt.Kroger brand (12g protein)
Hard boiled eggs
Laughing Cow cheese wedges
Lite Baby Bell cheese (Sam's)
Lite string cheese
Special K with berries cereal (only 3 PP per serving)
On the WW website for staff, below is a recent blog from a Leader. she called it "One Potato, Two Potato"...
***
All of a sudden, we have rooms full of people who are obsessed with counting potatoes. OK, not potatoes. But bananas, or apples or grapes... oh my!
First, let's say that if we have gotten to the point that we are concerned with how much fruit is too much fruit, we have made a bit of progress. Remember earlier this year when it was a challenge, and for some members it really was a challenge, to get in 5 servings a day of fruits and vegetables? We spent a month on this in our meeting rooms, right? Our goal was to bring members along on this wonderful journey of embracing healthy, fresh foods. Now, suddenly we have rooms full of people who can't stop themselves from eating bananas. We have either done an outstanding job or something may be a little blown out of proportion here. I think it may be a bit of both.
So, I know that we have all been wondering and the members have been wondering, how much fruit is too much fruit. Here on the boards, I have read some very well thought out schemes of eating some fruit with zero PointsPlus values and then skillfully assigning PointsPlus values after some number of servings. I have fielded several questions regarding if it is OK to still count the fruit as zero PointsPlus values if it is juiced. I'm waiting for someone to ask me if it is OK to stomp on the grapes and then drink them for zero PointsPlus values :) Every question is a valid question, and we need answers. But we have to tread lightly here and make sure not to make up answers.
Let's just stick to the facts. Here's how I explained it in the New Jersey pilot and how I am explaining it to the members in my rooms now.
PointsPlus is a totally new program with totally new rules and guidelines. One of the new rules is that all fresh fruit and most vegetables have zero PointsPlus values. It is our new rule. I point out that each member in the room paid a fee to join our 'club' and that they pay their weekly dues to be a member of the 'club'. Well, the club rules are that fresh fruit and most vegetables have zero PointsPlus values. It is a rule, but it is not magic!!! Weight Watchers made this rule to encourage us to eat more fruits and vegetables. But the nutrition and the calories are still in those foods. We can not magically eat all that we want AND see weight loss. I believe that the spirit of the zero PointsPlus produce is to encourage members to make healthy, sustainable choices that will lead to weight loss.
Stick to the facts. Stick to the Good Health guidelines. Make room in your day to eat from all of the food groups.
.....
What do you think?
- Janice :)
First, let's say that if we have gotten to the point that we are concerned with how much fruit is too much fruit, we have made a bit of progress. Remember earlier this year when it was a challenge, and for some members it really was a challenge, to get in 5 servings a day of fruits and vegetables? We spent a month on this in our meeting rooms, right? Our goal was to bring members along on this wonderful journey of embracing healthy, fresh foods. Now, suddenly we have rooms full of people who can't stop themselves from eating bananas. We have either done an outstanding job or something may be a little blown out of proportion here. I think it may be a bit of both.
So, I know that we have all been wondering and the members have been wondering, how much fruit is too much fruit. Here on the boards, I have read some very well thought out schemes of eating some fruit with zero PointsPlus values and then skillfully assigning PointsPlus values after some number of servings. I have fielded several questions regarding if it is OK to still count the fruit as zero PointsPlus values if it is juiced. I'm waiting for someone to ask me if it is OK to stomp on the grapes and then drink them for zero PointsPlus values :) Every question is a valid question, and we need answers. But we have to tread lightly here and make sure not to make up answers.
Let's just stick to the facts. Here's how I explained it in the New Jersey pilot and how I am explaining it to the members in my rooms now.
PointsPlus is a totally new program with totally new rules and guidelines. One of the new rules is that all fresh fruit and most vegetables have zero PointsPlus values. It is our new rule. I point out that each member in the room paid a fee to join our 'club' and that they pay their weekly dues to be a member of the 'club'. Well, the club rules are that fresh fruit and most vegetables have zero PointsPlus values. It is a rule, but it is not magic!!! Weight Watchers made this rule to encourage us to eat more fruits and vegetables. But the nutrition and the calories are still in those foods. We can not magically eat all that we want AND see weight loss. I believe that the spirit of the zero PointsPlus produce is to encourage members to make healthy, sustainable choices that will lead to weight loss.
Stick to the facts. Stick to the Good Health guidelines. Make room in your day to eat from all of the food groups.
.....
What do you think?
- Janice :)
***
My take on her blog is to remember about the good health guidelines and that it is also a part of creating success on this plan...If you're needing a boundary, look on p. 61 for guidance. Lesia
~If you increase your portions so that food doesn't go to waste, it just might go to your waist! :-)
~If you want a little behind you have to leave a little behind.
~If you increase your portions so that food doesn't go to waste, it just might go to your waist! :-)
~If you want a little behind you have to leave a little behind.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Meat Loaf Muffins
1 box of stovetop stuffing
2 lb lean ground beef
1 cup of water
mix together, bake 35 min at 350
2 lb lean ground beef
1 cup of water
mix together, bake 35 min at 350
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Blueberry Squares
1 pkg angel food cake mix (14.5 oz)
22 oz light blueberry pie filling (you can also sub crushed pinapple in its juice)
Preheat over 350
Combine cake mix with filling (do not add other ingredients). Pour batter in ungreased 9x13 baking pan. Bake 30 min. Cool and cut into 24 pieces
24 pieces
Points Plus: 2
This week's quote: Don't feed a mood food!
22 oz light blueberry pie filling (you can also sub crushed pinapple in its juice)
Preheat over 350
Combine cake mix with filling (do not add other ingredients). Pour batter in ungreased 9x13 baking pan. Bake 30 min. Cool and cut into 24 pieces
24 pieces
Points Plus: 2
This week's quote: Don't feed a mood food!
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