Survive the Supermarket!

Weight Watchers Speak "I can't eat it if I don't have it"

Looking for a comprehensive Shopping List?
You can use this one to see if you're giving yourself your "BEST SHOT" at staying on track - come to the meeting this weeks to get ideas of specific brands and even more great Supermarket Finds and Strategies!
Vegetables such as

            green beans

            broccoli

            onions

            bell peppers red / green / yellow / orange

            radishes

            grape tomatoes

            lettuce

            celery

            baby carrots

            jicama

            sweet potatoes

            cucumber

 Fruit, such as

            berries

            apples

            melon

            grapes

            bananas

            mangoes

            lemons

            blueberries

            pineapple

            raspberries

            strawberries

            pears

Whole-wheat waffles

Frozen vegetables such as

            peas

            spinach

            mixed / steamer bags

            corn

Haddock

Ground lean beef, turkey, or chicken

Veggie burgers

Turkey sausage

Fat-free or low-fat milk

Fat-free or low-fat cheese

Parmesan

Fat-free or light mayonnaise

Low-fat or fat-free spreads such as cream cheese

Plain or flavored 0% Fat Greek yogurts

Eggs or egg substitute

Low-fat / low sodium luncheon or deli meats

Seltzer or calorie-free flavored waters

Sugar free ginger ale

Flavored tea

Sugar free hot chocolate

Whole-grain breakfast cereals

Instant or cook oatmeal

Light whole-grain breads

Tortilla wraps

Whole-wheat pasta

Whole wheat couscous or quinoa or bulgur

Brown rice

Canned tuna

Canned salmon

Canned beans such as cannellini, garbanzo, or black

Canned refried beans

Canned fruit in own juice

Salsa

Canned or jarred tomato sauce

Reduced-fat pasta sauce

Broth

Low sodium / low fat soups

Flavored vinegars

Ketchup

Mustard

Ponzu sauce

Hoisin sauce

Healthy oils such as canola or olive

Dried herbs or spices such as basil, oregano, Mrs. Dash, cinnamon

Sugar substitute

94% fat-free microwave popcorn or air-popped type

Baked chips or tortillas

Whitman’s brand Weight Watchers candies

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Valuable tips and advice from Lifetime Members across the country

• “Keep tracking PointsPlus values even after you have reached your goal.  It’s too easy to increase your portion sizes and eat too many extra PointsPlus values if you don’t”.
• “Enjoy every day you are on plan.  Laugh at your mistakes and celebrate your successes”.
• “Create a strong catalog of meals you love to eat.  Eat only what you truly love and the plan will be a thing of JOY”!
• “Keep yourself busy so the focus of your life is not food”.
• “Be intentional about your healthy lifestyle.  Don’t leave it up to chance”.
• “Lifetime membership is the greatest gift.  I encourage my friends to please hang in there because earning Lifetime will keep them fir for life.  I have remained faithful to my goal because Weight Watchers helped me change the way I eat for life”.
• “Anyone can lose weight – we've all done it a million times – but the key to keeping weight loss off is to embrace your new lifestyle – tell yourself ‘I love the new me!’”
• “Meetings are the place where I learned my new lifestyle and they are the place I continue to learn and contribute to the health and well being of my fellow meeting room buddies”.

OH – one more – I could not resist this:

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what's the first thing you say to yourself?”

“What's for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”

“I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It's the same thing,” he said.

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Have you ever wondered about The Body Mass Index?  A MEMBER ASKED ME FOR MORE INFORMATION THIS WEEK:

Why BMI is the recommended method to diagnose overweight and obesity, how it is calculated and its links to several diseases.  Body mass index, or BMI, is a measurement that evaluates the relationship between body weight and height. While BMI is not a direct measure of excess body fat, it is the recommended method to diagnose overweight and obesity. Because it expresses the weight-height relationship, BMI provides a more accurate measure than body weight alone.

The formula for calculating BMI uses weight in kilograms and height in meters: BMI (kg/m²) = Weight (kg) ÷ Height (m) 2; or weight in pounds and height in inches: BMI (lb/in²) = Weight (lb) ÷ Height (in) 2 x 703. Online calculators that automatically do the computations from an entered height and weight are a convenient method of determining BMI.

Definitions of Overweight, Obesity

Over 50 healthcare organizations around the world, including the National Institutes of Health, use the same BMI standards to define adult overweight and obesity.

Definition BMI Overweight 25-29.9 Obese 30-39.9 Morbidly Obese 40+

BMI's Link to Diseases

BMI is used as the standard to diagnose overweight and obesity because there are so many studies that show a link between BMI, the risk of several diseases and death.

As BMI increases, so does the risk for several conditions, including

• Diabetes
• Cardiovascular disease
• Stroke
• Hypertension
• Gallbladder disease
• Osteoarthritis
• Sleep apnea
• Some cancers
• Premature death

While the links between BMI and disease risk is clear, it is important to remember that it is only one of several disease risk factors. In other words, BMI cannot tell an individual that he or she will get a disease, only that his or her risk of developing the disease is increased.

BMI has some limitations.  It tends to overestimate body fat in people who are very muscular and underestimate body fat in people who are highly sedentary. BMI also doesn't show where the body fat is located. Abdominal fat carries the greatest health risk.

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This recipe comes from “DINING with the DUCHESS”

Sarah, the Duchess of York.

Braised Leeks

PointsPlus™ Value:    2
Servings:  8
Preparation Time:  5 min
Cooking Time:  25 min
Level of Difficulty:  Easy

8 medium leeks – halved lengthwise and thoroughly cleaned

½ cup chicken broth

¼ minced parsley

¼ cup white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon minced thyme

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1.  Preheat the oven to 375°F.  In a 9 x 13” baking dish combine the leeks and broth.  Cover with foil and bake until soft, approximately 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile in a small bowl, combine the parsley, vinegar, olive oil, thyme, orange zest, mustard, salt & pepper with 2 teaspoons of water.  Serve the leeks drizzled with the vinaigrette.

See you in your meeting this week :)