And The Winner Is:

"Everyone's a winner"

This is a direct quote from a member a few weeks ago - she told me that all losses that show up on the scale; even 0.2LBS,  are a "powerful gain".  Her words reminded me of something I posted a couple of years ago that was written by a successful member.  Interesting that 2 separate people feel the same way.  Here you are:

Wow...I Gained!!!
Although I have LOST a lot of pounds, I realized this morning how much I have GAINED!
~ I have GAINED a new healthier, balanced diet, a new variety of foods that I love that are good for me!
~ I have GAINED a BMI of 25, a healthier heart, a longer life.
~ I have GAINED a whole new wardrobe of cute skinny clothes!
~ I have GAINED the ability to go up and down stairs without huffing and puffing, walk all day without tiring, and keep up with my kids!
~ I have GAINED increased strength and coordination - a new appreciation for fitness.
~ I have GAINED a respect for myself!
~ I have GAINED social confidence.
~ I have GAINED a sense of empowerment - my life is in control!
~ I have GAINED a big smile on my face when I look in the mirror and see ME again.
~ I have GAINED an understanding of how I got so overweight and what to do to avoid ever going back there.
~ I have GAINED a new way handling problems rather than medicating myself with food.
~ I have GAINED the respect of other who didn't think I could do this, and never believed I would stick with it.
~ I have GAINED the knowledge that I am setting a good example for my children of a healthier attitude towards food and exercise.
~ I have GAINED faith in my ability to accomplish anything I commit myself to achieving!
~ I have GAINED a wealth of friends through my meetings...a circle of support!
See "GAINED" isn't such a bad thing!

                         --- Author Unknown

SPRING CHALLENGE 02/12 - 04/14

I'm please to announce the winners of the SPRING CHALLENGE:
The winners were randomly drawn from the folks who qualified under the rules of the challenge.
Here were the requirements to qualify for the drawing:
You were required to set you own goal for the 8 weeks,  at least 5 LBS - communicate it to me at the start and then weigh in at least 4 times during the 8 weeks and send me the results of each visit to the scale in an email.  

At the end of the 8 weeks - all members that reached their chosen goal (within 1 LBS) and who had reported at least 4 weigh-ins were placed in the drawing for prizes.

(Lifetime members at goal or members working through maintenance during the challenge were included - provided you followed weigh in and reporting requirements)


CONGRATS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED AND CONGRATS TO THE PRIZE WINNERS:
Grand Prize  of 3 Cookbooks and a WW Fitness DVD
Terry P, Waltham Monday 5:30PM Meeting

3 Runners Up Prizes of  A Weight Watchers Cookbook each:
Norma D, Waltham Monday 7PM Meeting
Robin B, Newton Sunday 10:00AM Meeting
Sara A, At Work Thursday 12:15PM  Meeting
                                 
                             Come to your next meeting to collect your prize from me.

Here's a bit of fun for NO reason!

1. Pick the number of times per week you would like to go out to eat (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50

5. If you have already had your birthday this year, add 1762. If you haven’t, add 1761.

6. Subtract the four digit year that you were born

You should have a three digit number. The first digit is how many times you want to go out to eat in a week. The remaining two numbers are your age... oh yes they are! :-)

eTools Makeover


High-tech improvements bring more interactivity, better resources, and greater accountability

Expect exciting changes and new features on eTools as of May 22. Here’s a sneak peek at what you'll see this month.

Community Challenges get plugged in: The freshly redesigned Community Challenges will now pull weight and activity data directly from the Plan Manager, so you can check into your Challenge with accurate numbers.

Food Tracker gets more comprehensive: We’re adding thousands of brand-name and restaurant foods to our database. We’re also adding a new feature to the search function to make it easier to find foods—you be able to sort your search criteria by column, for example by PointsPlus® value or brand name.

Homepage Alerts keep you accountable: If you haven’t tracked your food or weight, you’ll now be prompted with an alert. These little reminders are one more way to help you be successful on Plan!

To learn more about each of these exciting changes, head over to our updates page on MONDAY by clicking here.

Tales from the Trenches...

In-Flight Options:
         When the food bites back!
A recent conversation with a member was a real eye opener for me.  She told me that she had made a peanut butter sandwich for nourishment on her SF to Boston flight, but was concerned because it was a lot of PB and "real bread", she would have liked an option for fewer PPV on her flight.

Once on the plane she saw the In-Flight Menu Choices and was happy to purchase what looked like a great healthy sandwich; Chicken Thai Wrap with a sauce.  Discarding the sauce, she dug into the sandwich, thrilled that the airline was giving thought to those passengers who did not want to eat a mayo slathered, fatty, carb-y food and had a "good choice"

However, upon returning home (she kept the wrapper) and calculated the PPV in order to track it - 14PPV without the sauce!  For a wrap!  (Oh, and by the way, the Sodium in the sandwich was over 1000 mg).  She couldn't believe her eyes, it was chicken and veggies...??  She feels that her best option would have been the PB sandwich.  I just looked at eTools and a "standard PB & J" will set you back 9 PPV!

And the moral of the story is - if you're going to want to eat in the air - BYO!

Here's a great article that I found on a blog:
A Guide to Airline Meals and Snacks

And finally:

Wanda  lost 80.8 LBS
Weight Watchers Member (from Inspirational Stories on www.weightwatchers.com)

Wanda's TIPS

"Don't give up if you mess up along the way, because it's the times when you get back up that make the difference."
"Be selfish when it comes to you weight-loss goals.  Don't let anything get in the way of your workout time or preparing your meals.  Make it a priority."
"Combine cardio and weight lifting for great results."
"Remember weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint."

See you in your meeting.  Have a wonderful week!