Take the Summer On with CONFIDENCE!

Wild Weekends reversing your resolve?
Many times during the week, in the meeting room I hear this lament - "I did great all week and then came the weekend" ... and their voice tails off....  It can be a danger zone for so many of us.  We think "it's not going to happen this time" or "how bad can it be"?  

BUT it is easy to slip up or lose track when we are with our BFF's, family members, kids, neighbors or just with a bunch of people who are out for a good time. The WeightWatchers.com Community has some great advice for us. 

These are real members with real strategies to stay on track while still having fun:
*** "If I am out and about on a weekend that includes shopping, I actually pack a cooler with stuff that I can nibble on, so I am not tempted to hit the fast food places." 
*** "I used to give myself a day without tracking on the weekends — not a good idea. Instead, I now save most of my 49 weekly PointsPlus values for the weekend (for wine and occasional chips or crackers and cheese, etc.) and I track everything. As a result, I sometimes even go over into my activity PointsPlus values. In sum, I always eat all of my 49 weekly PointsPlus values and yet, I've been losing steadily." 
*** "I track. Even if I overeat. Tracking gives me sanity and will rein me in."
*** "Weekends do not have to be wild! You have choices and 49 extra PointsPlus values to use how you see fit. If I am facing a challenging dinner where I have no idea what is being served, I eat a smaller breakfast and lunch and save my PointsPlus values for that special event. I have found that there is always something you can eat where you are going and bringing a veggie tray with you is a great idea for you and appreciated by your host."
*** "Once I've begun the day with exercise and tracked my breakfast, I hate to 'blow' the day by overeating — this is true of many days.  Plus, at any event I attend now, I bring along a veggie tray, and I sit close to that. I think the key is being committed to a healthy lifestyle."
*** "I choose the healthiest options at the party. If you can, try eating a little low PointsPlus value soup or something light before going, that way you won't be so tempted to eat everything in sight if you're famished. Also drink water in between every alcoholic beverage."
*** "having a phone with Internet access is very helpful. I can easily escape to a bathroom and look up PointsPlus values if there is a surprise eating outing."  
*** "On the weekends we take the time to plan. For example, I speak with my hubby about where we're going to go to eat and go online to look up their menu and do some math. It is amazing how much help it is to walk into a restaurant and not need to look at the menu! You've done the work, you've made the decision and if you don't open the menu, you can't change your mind, and you stay on track!"

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So many of us focus our summer plans with family or friends around meals: "Come over for a barbecue," "Meet me at a restaurant," "Let’s get brunch." 
Have you ever wished you'd love to be able to come up with a fun alternative to "let's get food" as your second nature?  That an alternative social event would just pop into your brain when the question is asked?

It can be hard to train our brain to consider ways to socialize that don’t involve food or drinks. And it can seem equally challenging, even intimidating, to ask our friends and family to get on board with this new way of spending quality time together.
This coming week let's explore fun ways to spend time with friends and family that don’t involve eating. Come with your ideas and experiences.  We'll also spend time discussing ways to ask the people around us to support this new way of thinking. 

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Since this blog topic is all about toughing it out in in the summer months to make it though to the other side; I just wanted to share that so far, in the month of July, I have been able to celebrate members who have had:

a 65 LB weight loss, 

a 60 LB weight loss, 

2 x 50 LB weight losses.
I have also celebrated 5 members with weight losses between 25 LBS and 40 LBS lost.  

Two members have made goal and one has become a lifetime member during the month, too!

Many Many Congratulations to all those fantastically successful members!

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New universal Weight Watchers app runs on iPads and iPhones 

Gone are the days of squinting at the smaller iPhone app on your luxuriously spacious iPad screen. We’ve just launched our new “universal app” that lets iPad users live large—and still works on the iPhone, too. With the new app, which has a brand-new user interface as well as an updated food database, iPad and iPhone users can track PointsPlus^® values, search for foods, activities, and recipes, and track their weight on the go. 

And for all the cooks in the house, the universal app gives users the ability to rate and review recipes, just as you can on the site. This feature is free for all eTools users who have iPads. Just head to Apple’s App store, search for Weight Watchers, and hit download. It’s that easy.  

NOTE: All of our official apps are published under our legal name “Weight Watchers International, Inc.” If it doesn’t bear that name, it’s not ours, and it may very well be inaccurate and misleading; it also will not work with eTools. Read Buyer Beware for more details.

Don't forget to send me your ideas and suggestions to include in the "Insider Trading" Tab and ...

PLEASE make a special effort to come to your meeting this week.  I miss you when you're not there.

Check back on Wed for another fab recipe :)

Enjoy your week ... And finally:

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending"

Maria Robinson