EIGHT Weeks =

56 days = 

1,344 hours =  

80,640 minutes

until Memorial Day...

What can you do with that amount of time?

In the meeting room we are counting down to Weight Watchers Annual Spring Live Life Active initiative.  It begins next week.  Don's skip your meeting - there are prizes to be won - Trips, Nintendo's, Fitness Gear and lots more.

Here is how it's going to work

GET MOVING.  EARN A REWARD!

Step 1

Pick an activity that sounds fun!  Could be biking, hiking, swimming or training to walk or run a 5K.

Step 2

Begin to track your activity to see how your efforts are paying off.  Earn a charm by tracking activity.

Step 3

Chart your activity progress in meetings for 6 weeks.

To stay motivated, grab a friend and do something together.  Start planning today.  From next week (04/07) the website will be up www.weightwatchers.com/livelifeactive.

LET'S ALL start this week with 3 x TEN MINUTE WALKS!  I will if you will!  Are you up for the challenge?  Oh, by the way - that's a mere 30 minutes of your 80,640 from today till your Memorial Day Picnic  :)    

"Have a bias toward action – let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away."   Indira Gandhi 

The TOPIC we are tackling in the meeting room this week is "Why do we do what we do?"  Our old friends EMOTIONAL EATING may show their heads - if they've been pestering you recently and you've found it necessary to hang out with them --- come and get some support; I promise you'll not be alone!

Fake it till you make it!

We've heard that many times.  I usually substitute the words "Act as if...."  For instance, when faced with chips, act as if you've been on track all week and taken 60 minute walks every day"  This often works for me, I really visualize myself having been on track... and that helps skip the chips.

Here are some more fakeout ideas from the Weight Watchers Website - an article called "The Healthy, Stealthy, Full-Plate Fakeout":

“I'd much rather eat my PB and J open-faced because it looks like more. Another thing I do is roast a whole pint of cherry tomatoes because the almost no PointsPlus value volume feels so comforting. I can eat so much and still lose weight.” — Leslie Fink, MS, RD

“I live on cauliflower soup in the winter. I simply boil two whole heads of cauliflower florets in chicken broth with an onion and some garlic until it breaks apart and makes a hearty, stew-like concoction. I eat a huge bowl of it for little to no PointsPlus values!” — Liz Josefsberg

"Rather than make a sandwich, I like to arrange all the ingredients on a plate with a lot of lettuce so I feel like I’m looking at a full meal. Just imagine a plate containing all these goodies: A whole wheat pita, split in half and toasted, then cut into triangles; 2 ounces of smoked salmon; 2 Tbsp low-fat cream cheese; 1 tomato, sliced; some red onion; capers; a lemon wedge; and a pile of arugula with 1 tsp olive oil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. It looks so much more plentiful than if you’d just made a pita sandwich, and it takes three times as long to eat, assembling each wedge." — Elly Trickett McNerney

“Anything cut up into small pieces looks like way more than it is (I discovered this cutting up food for my kids). My best secret is roasted potatoes — I cut them pretty small (an inch or so wide, and pretty thin) and roast in a small amount of oil to make little delicious bites that take up half my plate, when I've only served myself the equivalent of half a potato.” — Amanda Genge

Finally

"Keep Calm and Come to a Meeting"!

:-)

Looking for the magic answer?

Why is it that members who attend meetings lose more weight than those who don't?  

Significantly so....

Tough Question - right!  After all; we know that we should eat healthy foods, we know that to lose weight we have to reduce our calorie intake and we know that too many adult beverages cause weight gain.   

We try and try to go it alone, we somehow believe that the theory of "meetings work" refers to the other guys!  I had the same belief until I was open to hearing the truth; and being open to the idea of attending meeting resulted in weight loss of more than 100 pounds.

NOW I hear it week after week from members; they tell me that when they miss a week, it is so much harder to stick with it, food becomes even more tempting and weight management becomes harder and harder as the missed weeks go by.

If you've been trying to go it alone because you believe you know what you have to do without sitting through a meeting.  If you've been running in to "weigh-in and run" because you're so busy.  If you've stopped coming to Weight Watchers altogether because the last time you tried, something got in your way; you are only HINDERING yourself and making it harder for yourself to achieve YOUR GOALS.

It's time to change your thinking right now, today, PLAN to attend a meeting this week:  If you're worried or scared of the "truth" from the scale or you're concerned that I or the staff will somehow ridicule or humiliate you, or worse; that you'll beat yourself up, come in just to talk to us and let us give you a warm welcome and help you to get back on track.

IF, on the other hand, you're one of my members who come to Weight Watchers every week and stick around for the meeting; I'd love it if you'd share your success, your tips and strategies with the returners and please please help them feel welcome and supported.
SPRING is here and we deserve to feel amazing & I know a place where you can!

As we approach Holy Week and Passover, I wanted to wish everyone a Very Happy Pesach and a Very Happy Easter.

P.S. The Seder Points are on the  "Insider Trading"  Tab - look at the top of the blog page.

Girl Scout Cookies VS Weight Watchers Mini Bars!

It’s that time of year again, when cookie boxes show up at your door at the hand of a smiling neighbor, family member, or co-worker. Before you know it, you have boxes and boxes of cookies sitting around, and let’s face it, it’s tough to hold back. Sure they taste good, but have you ever calculated the PointsPlus^® values of a Samoa, Thin Mint, or Tagalong? Head to head, Weight Watchers Mini Bars are a better choice—Scout’s honor!

IN MY HOUSE - THIS IS KNOWN AS
"THE PRETZEL WOWIE"

For almost every favorite cookie flavor, Weight Watchers has an equally as yummy Mini Bar offering.  Power through Girl Scout cookie season on Plan:
~  If you like Samoas, you’ll love Toasted Coconut Dream.
~  If you love the peanut butter or chocolate in Tagalongs/Peanut Butter Patties, the Toffe Peanut Perfection or Chocolate Pretzel Blast will satisfy your craving for something sweet and salty.
~  Savannah smiles but our *New* Key Lime Pie also gets you grinning.
~  Caramel deLites? We have our very delightful Chocolate Caramel Mini Bar.

• Our Mini Bars are only 2 PointsPlus values per serving while for 2 smaller cookies, you are looking at 4 to 5 PointsPlus values.
• Our Mini Bars have less sugar and more fiber.
• Our Mini Bars have built in portion control. We all know that one or two cookies leads to half a box.

It’s true that the cookie sales are for a good cause, so if you must order them, try some of these tactics: Make a straight-up donation instead of purchasing cookies altogether; Share boxes you do buy with friends and colleagues; portion cookies into individual serving sizes; and/or freeze boxes for later.

One Last Thing - 

For the past 2 weeks, we've been talking about the "cost" of consuming our PPV in alcoholic beverages.  Here's some sage advice from a member of mine:  BEER and WINE are FREE! If you leave the cap on or the cork in the bottle   :)  Thanks Sally!

A Personal Battle

It is no secret that I struggle with including exercise in my day to day routine.  

I am forever hopeful that one day I'll be that person that says "I never owned sneakers and now I'm training for the Boston Marathon"!  Ha!  Even typing those words is amusing me right now  :-/  

I was chatting with a (Weight Watchers) pal last night and we kinda agreed that it sorta makes a difference with weight management if we did include some activity... notice the reticence?  I wanted to remind myself of the benefits if I began to get back to the Y to do something.  Not just with my weight, but my overall health and good feelings.

I found this article on the Weight Watchers website in the Science Center.

Weight Benefits of Exercise

Physical activity promotes weight loss and is a key factor for keeping the weight off.¹ To maximize these weight benefits, it's important to understand how different types of activity are beneficial for different components of weight management.

Activity Type	Activity	Calories Burned Per 30 Minutes of Activity
		150 lbs	200 lbs	250 lbs
Aerobic	Swimming, backstroke	340 kcals	460 kcals	570 kcals
Aerobic	Jogging, 5mph (12 min/mile)	280 kcals	370 kcals	460 kcals
Aerobic	Bicycling, 9.4 mph	200 kcals	270 kcals	340 kcals
Aerobic	Walking, 4 mph (15 min/mile)	200 kcals	260 kcals	330 kcals
Resistance	Strength Training (e.g. free weights)	100 kcals	140 kcals	170 kcals
Flexibility	Stretching	80 kcals	110 kcals	140 kcals

Weight Benefits of Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic activities (e.g. walking, jogging, swimming) are the best option for burning the most calories per exercise session, which is helpful for losing and maintaining weight loss. Plus, the extra calories burned with regular aerobic exercise can make the difference between a diet that feels depriving and one that is satisfying and sustainable over the long term.

Weight Benefits of Resistance Exercise
While resistance exercises (e.g. lifting weights) do not burn many calories per exercise session, during weight loss they are the most effective way to preserve lean muscle mass. Preserving muscle is important because it burns a lot more calories compared to fat. Once the desired weight goal is achieved, regular strength training can build muscle and increase resting metabolism over time. Resistance training has also been shown to prevent the loss in lean body mass that is seen as one ages. ²

Flexibility exercises (e.g. stretching) are an important component of an exercise routine. They help prevent injury and improve performance, but burn few calories and do not have major weight benefits.

This content is reviewed regularly. Last updated December 17, 2011.

Footnotes
1 Wing RR, Phelan S. Long-term weight loss maintenance. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jul;82(1 Suppl):222S-225S.
2 Guo SS, Zeller C, Chumlea WC, Siervogel RM. Aging, body composition, and lifestyle: the Fels Longitudinal Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 Sep;70(3):405-11.

If you're like me and think of exercise as something the "other people" do,  will you join me in trying to have a more active spring?  I'm challenging myself to earn the basic 14 PPV every week for the next 6 weeks.  I'll get back to walking for at least 20 minutes a day.  I've decided that the key is going to be to TRACK how much and when I walk.  

Your Weight Watchers Meeting Room:

March's Routine: 
After each meal or snack, decide how many PointsPlus^® values you'll use for your next meal.

What does that actually mean?  Here are 2 examples that I heard this week from members...

"When I tried setting aside a specific number of my daily points for dinner (9).  I found that I could really focus on the rest of the day and eat sensibly.  I found that the whole 26 seemed overwhelming, but breaking it down into 2 parts helped me to manage the points".    Is that something you could consider?

"I tried thinking ahead to the next meal, specifically dinner, it made a noticeable difference to my 4-5pm low point of the day eating because I discovered that I was looking forward to the meal that was planned.   I found that I didn't want to have to compromise what I was going to eat later, including a piece of chocolate at the end of dinner".

The topic of the week was "Planning Ahead for Eating Out"  At some meetings we discussed the following challenge:  "Set aside a specific number of PointsPlus Values for a meal at a restaurant (you get to decide the number of PPV).  Plan ahead by checking the menu before you get there and decide how you'll order and fit into the meal into the PPV you've allocated to the meal.  Don't forget to account for the bread, beverages and other accessories.  Good Luck!

Last week of the...

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) 

Finally!

"as you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction!"  Anonymous

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!

What happened to Dec, Jan and Feb?

It's 3 month's since I last posted on the blog.  A lot has happened in NinaLand, Weight Watchers world, and, I'm sure your world since then...

For me, some challenging and some exciting, all of it educational and all of it worthwhile.  What about for you?

NinaLand:

On the day before Thanksgiving (November 21) I tripped on my way down to the basement, fell down 4 or 5 steps, and in trying to protect my head from colliding with the tile floor, landed squarely on my left shoulder, breaking it.  Lizzie came through for me to the nth degree; compassionate, caring and generous with her time in a way that it's hard to imagine that I could ever be in return.  She cooked, cleaned, carried trays of food upstairs to me, helped me shower and dress and most of all she kept my spirits up and made sure I didn't miss doses of painkillers!  

I had no frame of reference for such an injury, I understand now why the orthopedic doc, when I asked him, at that first visit, how many weeks will I expect to miss work, smiled so knowingly and corrected me "weeks?"... he said "months"!  Suffice is to say, I'm getting there, it's a work in progress!

Regarding my own weight journey through the injury period:  My initial reaction was to sit and pout, feel sorry for myself and medicate with delicious salty and sweet foods - nothing weird or unusual in that behavior, right?  It did take a couple of weeks, but I am proud to say that I came to the realization that it was not really what I wanted.  In fact it was making me feel horrible, both physically and emotionally (guilt was the primary emotion).  I set to work to figure out how to manage being home and not over doing it.  My weight didn't fluctuate more than 6 pounds from my goal - even over the holidays, which is not perfect, but could have been so much worse!  The number one strategy that I used - and, for those of you who understand, you'll agree with me, and for those who don't, take it for what it offers... TRACKING!  If I have the number, I know what to do with it!

Weight Watchers World:
Which segues me nicely to the things that have changed in Weight Watchers world...  Weight Watchers 360 launched the week after I injured myself and, oh boy, everyone wanted to know ----
What does that mean?
How is the program changing ,and
What do I have to do differently?

For Weight Watchers, the change is significant.  What's so clever, and one of the reasons I am so proud to work for the company, is that, seemingly, members experience of the program is a methodical transitioning to new elements and strategies without feeling disrupted.  At least I hope so, that's certainly what's been shared with me.  If your experience is different, please tell me.

TRACKING - it's what so many successful members say makes the program work for them every day.
SPACES - making sure our environment is the most conducive to successfully staying on track.
ROUTINES - day in and day out, making what we do intrinsic and instinctual.  

The new elements go along with committing each week to one small change that will make our journey fun and successful!  After all, if nothing changes, nothing changes!!

If you've been AWOL since the transition to the new program or since I've been away, it's 'do-over' time;  Come and see me to find out more about Weight Watchers 360  :)

My meeting days and times are on the right side of the page.  Reach out to me on Facebook if you like.  

Speaking of Facebook, I'm not going to send a weekly email letting folks know each time I make a blog posting, but I will post a link on my Weight Watchers Facebook Page - www.facebook.com/wwnina.udwin. 

Feel free to request "Friend" status on the Facebook page and to contribute to the conversation to make it into a wonderful, supportive Weight Watchers forum :)

Will I see you this week?