Another Snow Day!

"Crikey" - that's British for "Yikes"!  

Here we go again; 4th time in 4 weeks!  Do you love it or do you dread it?  How do you manage when you're stuck at home (with or without the kids)?  Do you suffer with "cabin fever"?  How about the "winter blues"?  

I've got a few strategies that you may find helpful:

Meals and Snacks:  Don't alter what you were planning for breakfast except that you may want to add a piece of fruit to help you feel full.  Pack your lunch and snacks (don't pack more that you normally would) as if you were going out the door at your normal time.  Only eat from the packed bag during the day.  Plan the evening meal early in the day so you have an opportunity to cook and look forward to something delicious, hopefully allowing you to bypass the cookies and chips!  Decide ahead of time what your ONE "naughty" treat is going to be and pre-track it to set the decision in writing, making it a commitment to yourself.

Move More:  If you're working at the dining room table, get up and move at least once every hour for 5 minutes.  Remember, the height of the table and chairs are designed for eating - not working on your laptop.  You don't want to end up with a stiff neck and back!  Try a few sit-ups or squats, take a walk around the house (avoid the kitchen), if you have stairs - walk up and down 5 times!

Drink Plenty:  Water, water, water and warm tea are best!

I found this on the Weight Watcher's website.  The article is attached here:

The 30-minute Winter Wonderland Workout Developed by Kathy Kaehler for WeightWatchers.com This 30-minute workout consists of 7 moves, each a 10 minute cycle. Do each cycle three times, with the first as a warm-up at low intensity (you should be easily able to carry on a conversation), the second at moderate intensity (you should be able to carry on a conversation, but feel that you’re working) and the third one at high intensity (pushing yourself as hard as hard as you feel comfortable).
1	Military March Swing your arms and march forward for 10 giant steps. Turn around and march back to your starting spot. Do this (back and forth) at least six times, packing the snow down as you go.Trainer Tip: Focus on swinging your arms and lifting your knees high to maximize lower body toning and calorie burn.
2	Plank Walk This move will use the path you’ve made. Stand tall and bend down at your waist, flexing your hips. Reach your (gloved!) hands to touch the ground and walk them forward until your body is parallel with the ground in a full pushup or “plank” position. Stay there for a beat and then walk back up. Reach your arms high and repeat the sequence five times.Trainer Tip: This is great for chest, shoulder, triceps and core. To make it tougher, gradually increase the amount of time you hold your body in the pushup position.
3	Snow Shuffle Stand on one end of the path sideways. Bend your knees slightly and shuffle side sideways until you reach the other side. Try to make it back and forth four to six times.Trainer Tip: Keep your body low and move quickly to blast calories and tone both the inner and outer thigh.
4	Frozen Lawn Lunges Standing on one end of the lawn (use the path if you want an easier workout, new snow if you need a bigger challenge), alternate walking lunges for 20 steps (count right leg, left leg, 1, right leg, left leg, 2). Turn around and lunge back to your starting spot.Trainer Tip: Keep a tight belly to work your core as well as your lower body.
5	Snow Ball Target Practice Walk to some deep snow and find a target like a tree, wall or fence. Make snowballs by squatting (by bending your knees, not your waist), grabbing snow and packing it. As soon as you make one, throw it as far and hard as you can, aiming for your target. Launch 20 balls.Trainer Tip: This exercise is great for the lower body, butt and legs as well as the chest and shoulders.
6	Feet Drag In shallow snow, sidestep to the left with your left foot, and then slowly drag your right foot across your body in the snow, working the inner thigh. Then reverse the motion, stepping to your right and dragging your left foot. Go across back and forth 4 times.Trainer Tip: Make sure not to cheat by speeding through the drag.
7	Angel Abs Lie down on your back and place your hands behind your head. Bicycle the legs in and out, reaching across with the opposite elbow. Do six repetitions (after you bring both knees in, that is one rep) and then make five snow angels. Repeat this series twice.Trainer Tip: During your snow angels, keep your arms and legs straight and extend them as far as possible to maximize the resistance.
8	Stand up, take a deep breath and begin cycle again.

News from Weight Watchers:

Live 360 Promotion
Many meeting Members won fantastic prizes during the first few weeks of our Live 360 promotion—and there are more to be awarded! Make sure you're in the running by taking all three of the following steps:

• Register for the sweepstakes at WeightWatchers.com/Live360. By registering, you're giving Weight Watchers permission to send you a prize by email. Without that permission, they can't send a prize.
• Participate in the Live 360° Community Challenge the first time you visit.
• After completing the weekly task, check in to the Live 360° Community Challenge. For every week that you check in, you'll will win! 

Prize emails go out to winners within 3 to 5 business days. 

eTools Gets Even More Social - Come On In!

With our latest eTools upgrade, coming mid-March, you will soon be able to:

• Comment on articles, debating the topic at hand and maybe even getting (and giving) hot tips.
• Share stuff you think your friends will love to your Facebook Timeline or Group pages—or shoot it straight to their in box.
• Pin Weight Watchers recipes right to your Pinterest boards. With 3,700-plus of them, you’ll have options for all your boards, from “My lunch box” to “OMG Chocolate!”     

Barcode Scanner App Update

Have you seen our update in the App Store and Google Play? We've just upgraded the Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner app and we're so excited for you to check out these amazing new features:

• Easier edits to servings and units of measure. There is now an editable field right on the Item Detail screen that you can tap to see a picker wheel. You can also view your selected serving size right from your History, Favorites, Tracked, and Shopping Lists.
• Simpler re-tracking. The default tracking date for foods in your Lists is now "today," making it easier to re-track items. This fixes the issue of items in your history defaulting to their original scan date.
• Updated PointsPlus^®  values of some foods. Update your Favorites list on Weightwatchers.com (if prompted). Just access the Plan Manager and tap the "Edit My Foods" button on the left.
• No more pesky blue flag popping up for every food tracked from the Barcode Scanner. Foods you scan will no longer display as member foods in your Tracker/Plan Manager. The flag will show up only for items you actually create (using the Calculator).

We hope you enjoy all the changes and look forward to sharing more with you later this year!

Mini Bars  $4.95 per box (regularly $7.50) 
Smoothies  $4.95 per box (regularly $7.50) 
Oatmeal $4.95 per box (regularly $5.95)
Shop + Eat Out bundle—Buy both for $20 (regularly $11.95 each)               

When you're done reading the blog, head on over to my WW Community Facebook account at www.facebook.com/wwnina.udwin and join us by sending me a friend request!

Have a Healthy, On Plan week.  See you in your meeting!