Got Tools?

Do you remember your granddad's toolbox?  You know - the one that contained every single nail, screw, hook, washer, piece of wire or nut and bolt; not to mention every size spanner, type of screwdriver or wrench, in short whatever was needed to build, repair or fix anything that needed building, repairing or fixing.

That toolbox was a magic thing!  It certainly taught me as a child that we are capable of ANYTHING given the right tools & no excuses!

What if we had such a toolbox that could magically make weight management easy?  A toolbox that could help manage one or many aspects of this journey, is tailored for our personal needs and is available wherever we happen to be?

Um, well you (we all) do!
It's called e-Tools... 
I revealed in the meeting that members who use e-Tools lose 50% more weight than members who do not; that's from research, not just anecdotal.  You may wonder why?  When I asked members in the meeting - they told me it was because it's more accurate, faster and more creative than simply relying on the books and a hand written tracker.  Ready to try them?

At Work (workplace) members, and those of you who are using a monthly pass already have access to e-Tools and many are not utilizing it and others, members who purchase their membership by 17-week pass or paying weekly, and lifetime members, can purchase e-Tools for a very modest fee - and we'll even give you a coupon to give it a try for 2 weeks first.

Here's a link to the Weight Watchers Website - the page that deals describes the online experience.  It includes a couple of testimonials from members.

I also thought it may be helpful to post some frequently asked questions:

1. How do I log in?    Go to www.weightwatchers.com, click on the "log-In" button on the top right.  Your initial username is the number on your Monthly Pass.  Your Password is the number under the barcode of your weight record.  For e-mail help send an email to the helpdesk at "LoginHelp@weightwatchers.com"
2. Why is my daily PointsPlus target on e-Tools different from the one on my weight record?  DPT depends upon your weight.  Be sure to enter and then update your current weight each week into the Weight Tracker on e-Tools.  This will ensure that e-Tools is calculating your daily target correctly throughout your weight management journey with us.
3. How can I change the first day or my Weight Watchers' week?  You can change your reset day on the settings channel (top right corner of your Plan Manager).  There you can also choose PointsPlus (Counting PointsPlus Values) vs Simply Filling Technique (if you're not sure what I am referring to - ask at your next meeting).  You'll also want to set your status (currently losing or maintaining weight), and even swap the source of your extra PointsPlus Values (Weekly PointsPlus Allowance Values [WPPAs] vs. Activity PointsPlus Values [APPVs].
4. How do I find smartphone apps?  The free apps are available for all smart phone platforms:  Android users - go to your app center to download the Weight Watchers App and the PointsPlus Calculator.  iPhone and iPad users:  Search for Weight Watchers in the iTunes Store.  Blackberry users (and other mobile devices - including older Android Phone owners:  Go to mobile.weightwatchers.com on your browser to access the mobile website and then go to the Blackberry App World to download the PointsPlus Calculator.
5. How do I print my tracker?  Simply display the day of the Tracker that you would like to print and click on the word "Print" (right side - near the top.  To email a copy of the tracker to your buddy or your leader, if they have asked you to, do the same thing, the page opens up in print preview and you can simply copy and paste the data into an email.
6. Other Questions?  Please bring them to your next meeting.

A Couple of Things:

Baked Chips & Snacks
** NEW** Roasted Salsa Multigrain Crisps  /  3 PPV per pouch / 6 pouches per box  $4.50     Sale Price $3.50
Popped BBQ Potato Crisps  /  2 PPV per pouch / 5 pouches per box  $4.50     Sale Price $3.50   
Popped Cinnamon Swirl Crisps / 2 PPV per pouch / 5 pouches per box   $4.50     Sale Price $3.50  
Cheddar Twists / 3 PPV per pouch / 6 pouches per box  $4.50     Sale Price $3.50   
Ranch Multigrain Crisps / 3 PPV per pouch / 6 pouches per box   (discontinued - while stock remains)  $4.50     Sale Price $3.50   
Baked Snack Bars
Roasted Almond Sensation / 3PPV per bar / 4 bars per box  $4.95     Sale Price $3.50
Peanut Butter and Chip Delight / 3PPV per bar / 4 bars per box  $4.95     Sale Price $3.50 
Sweet and Salty / 3PPV per bar / 4 bars per box   $4.95     Sale Price $3.50
Cinnamon Crumb Supreme / 3PPV per bar / 4 bars per box  $4.95     Sale Price $3.50   Cookbooks and Kits
Essential Member Kit     $24.95   ON SALE FOR $19.95

Deluxe Member Kit         $44.95   ON SALE FOR $34.95

ALL COOKBOOKS ARE CURRENTLY ON SALE FOR 50% OFF

This is the final week of Lose for Good in your meeting room.  I want to take a few lines to say a huge thank-you to everyone who has helped us to make this a success.

There are a few more days left to help bring this to a close.  Don't slow down as you run towards the finish line - take a deep breath and sprint!  Try your best to lose as much weight as you can this week and PLEASE PLEASE come and weigh in so that we can count your weight loss towards our 7 week target.  

If you have not yet shared in the contributions to the food pantry, this is the week to bring us your non-perishable food and personal items.  Take this opportunity to take one last look at your home pantry and bring in those items that you'd like to get out of there!  You know, the ones that do the opposite of helping your weight loss!
Please make sure anything you bring is sealed and not expired.
Thanks so much.

If you're planning to purchase food to bring to us; there are some items that are very much appreciated by the food banks:

• Proteins such as peanut butter and canned tuna, chicken, or fish

• Condiments such as mustard, mayo, and jelly to accompany proteins

• Rice, pasta, and other fiber-rich, grain-based foods

• Breakfast cereals and oatmeal

• Canned fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes and sauce

• Canned or dried beans

• Fruit juice, preferably 100% juice or low-sugar varieties

• Prepared foods such as macaroni and cheese and Hamburger Helper

• Shelf-stable milk such as dehydrated and evaporated milk, or instant breakfasts

Take another look at the Lose for Good tab (above) for more information.

It’s tough to choose weight-loss-friendly foods when your fridge and pantry are filled with not-so-healthy options.  A banana, a yogurt, or string cheese might seem like a disappointment next to leftover coffee cake, cookies, or a bag of chips.

This week in the meeting room - I would love to discuss how to refill the empty space in our pantries (after we empty them for Lose for Good), plus our fridges and freezers to avoid temptation and make following the Program easier.

Halloween

Yup, it’s that time of year again --- take the pledge with me:

“I ______________________  (name) pledge NOT to purchase my Halloween Candy until 30^th October!  I pledge to ONLY buy the amount of candy that, to the best of my ability, I estimate to need on Halloween and more-over I pledge to ONLY buy candy that I dislike, therefore minimizing my risk of being triggered by it!  In the name that is totally Weight Watchers – I pledge NOT to give Nina any more grey hair this year”!

Next week on the BLOG - look out for a list of candy and their value

"If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it"  Jessie Jackson 

Toffee Butterscotch Cookies

As Fall approaches I begin to think about all those flavors - you know --- spice, apples, honey, pumpkin, winter squashes, sage, turkey, cranberries - is your mouth watering yet?  Keep checking in here for all those recipes to come - we have weeks and weeks of great eating ahead of us!  And... all of it on the plan  :)   I bought my first can of pumpkin this week and I am still trying to decide what to do with it.


But today - I wanted to offer up a baking recipe so these wonderful Toffee Cookies came to mind -- it's a Weight Watchers Recipe and it is a real quickie;  the cookies are only 2PPV each!  I like baking recipes that don't contain artificial sugar substitutes, but I'm okay with the low cal marg. and the egg substitute.

Toffee Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 C reduced calorie margarine
3/4 C unpacked brown sugar
1/4 C egg substitute (regular)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 oz Hershey's Milk Chocolate English Toffee Bar - chopped into pieces.


Instructions:
~  Heat the oven to 375 degF.  Cream the margarine and sugar until soft.  Add the egg substitute and vanilla to the sugar mixture.
~  Whisk the flour and salt together to combine them, add them to the sugar mixture and stir in the candy.  Mix it all well.
~  Line a couple of cookie sheets or baking pans with parchment paper, place 1 tbsp of dough 1 1/2" apart for each cookie.  You will bake them in several batches - 1 tray at a time.  Bake until golden - about 8 to 10 minutes.  
~  Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer them to the cooling rack and cool completely.


Yields 30 Cookies
PointsPlus Value:  2 per cookie
Prep time: 10 minutes


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Check back on Sunday for the next post.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

In Memoriam

Trudy Pearlman

August 9, 1945 to October 1, 2011

I hate to say goodbye.

What was your last straw?
~ Did you see yourself in a photo?  Arghhh!
~ Did you decide that romping around with your kids on the floor is too hard; getting down is easy ~ right?  Getting up again...?
~ Did your doc say something, or worse --- did your mother?
~ Did a buddy lose weight on the program and when you saw his success, you knew you could do it too?


Take a moment and think about the event, the thought, the observation ~ what was your moment?  Sometimes we get bogged down by the process of losing weight and we lose sight of the original motivation.  Additionally we may feel cheated or short-changed and forget (or discount) the benefits of losing weight; overlooking the benefits can rob us of our motivation to keep going.

I suspect I am not the only one who has tried to lose weight more than one time - am I?  I can't define why this last time was different than other times; except (well, I think of it as) the stars and moon aligned for me.  Other members tell me that success this time, for them, came because they were more ready than previous times; to do with psyche, and still other members say that small successes leads to greater success.

Motivation, support, scale success, non-scale victories, inspiration, education and "we're all in it together" are some of the reasons we keep going.  Even slow weight loss can feel okay when we have a great plan and a wonderful support network.

Here are some of the "Stick To It" strategies I heard in meeting rooms this week:

• Reminding yourself each day why you’re following the Weight Watchers program
• Setting smaller interim goals - and celebrating achieving them
• Using Weight Watchers Tools For Living such as the "Motivating Strategy" and "Anchoring" - ask me in the meeting if you want more information about these...
• Earning weight-loss milestone awards (5% star, 10% key ring, etc.)
• Listening to Lifetime Members share why they still come to meetings and what helps them maintain their weight loss
• Mantra's, such as "It's all about Perseverance, NOT Perfection"
• Looking at the body's changing shape, clothing sizes energy levels, ease of moving around - especially climbing stairs
• Noticing that eating on plan feels more "freeing" than it ever did in the past.
• Making meetings a MUST!

I was asked to publish my before picture - well here it is.  To lose the weight back then; I set myself small, achievable goals.  Gosh, as I think about it - at the time if I had thought about losing over 100 lbs, I would have been too daunted to even try, but somehow 6 LBS, 11 Lbs, 8 LBS goals consecutively really felt real. 

The MOST IMPORTANT achievement for me EVERY WEEK was making it to my meeting - no matter what!  Even on those Mondays when I knew that I had gained weight, I went and stepped onto that scale, and those were the weeks that I KNEW I had to stay for the meeting to recommit myself to the process.  That's where the forgiveness happened, that's where the motivation happened and more-over that's where the learning happened.  Instinctively I knew that on those days, hiding from the scale was just cheating myself!

Every day I battle the demons, called the food we are faced with, and every day I take control of my eating by allowing myself the thrill of making the choices of what to eat.  Does that mean I am making the "best" choices every day?  Well, the question is – what makes the "best" choices?  For me that means on program foods most of the time and allowing myself sufficient indulgences to not feel deprived or "poor me"! 

Since losing the weight, I feel fantastic, I have energy, I have a zest for life that I did not possess 6 years ago, Yesterday, I went for a 3 mile walk - hills - and no puffing!  I have had a milestone birthday, and yet I feel 15 years younger that I did 6 years ago!  I can sit on my haunches on the floor, I can cross my legs like a lady, I can shop in the store with all the other patrons and I have self- esteem.  People greet me (and treat me) very differently now, shallow I know - but so true!

In short - I recommend it!

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Enter The 2011 Weight Watchers Inspiring Stories Contest 

The deadline is coming up:  by Saturday, October 8^th 

Grand Prize Includes an Exclusive Fashion Consultation with Tim Gunn!

You've reached a healthier weight and thrown out all of their “before” clothing.  Now, you need a whole new wardrobe!  Wouldn’t it be great to throw caution to the wind on a shopping spree? Well, you can!   

The Grand Prize Winner receives a trip for two to New York City; a $5000 shopping spree; and a styling session with Project Runway Fashion Consultant Tim Gunn!  In addition, 100 first-prize winners will receive a $100 gift card to a major retailer.  

Enter the contest online by going to www.weightwatchers.com/contest.   There is also a mail-in entry form found in meeting rooms during the contest period, as well. 

Members do not have to be at goal to enter the contest.  Members will be disqualified, however, if they lost weight faster than the recommended average rate of no more than two pounds per week.  To enter, you must submit a completed entry form, along with the requested items: 

• Essay (400 words or less) explaining why they should be the Weight Watchers Inspiring Stories Contest Winner
• Jpeg attachment of before and after photos; or if mailed in,  non-returnable before and after photos taped to a separate 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper labeled with name, address and phone number
• Copies of weight records noting their start weight/date; goal weight/date (if reached); and most current weight/date

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Update:

As I am publishing this, I have not completed the math this week, but will do so by the end of the day tomorrow.  In the meantime - navigate onto the Lose For Good Tab (at the top of this page), I have published a story that I found on the Weight Watchers Staff Website that is truly wonderful.

Just a reminder - as a group, I have challenged you to lose 2800 pounds in total in 7 weeks - last week was week 4 and the total so far is 1531, beyond half way with 3 weeks left.  This week is done - so 2 tremendous weeks of weight loss will get us to the target.  Give me your best effort so that we can achieve our goal!    Thank-you!

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From the housekeeper:

I just wanted to let you know that we are open on Columbus Day -  you can come and weigh in and stay for a meeting on that day, just like you normally can.

If you attend Weight Watchers in a "public" meeting setting with me and you would like to know more about ( or your company is considering offering) a meeting at your work.  Please drop me a line wwnina@gmail.com.  I will put you in touch with the Corporate Account Manager responsible for your area and they can give you more information about such an offering.  In many cases, it costs the company nothing and lowers the overall health benefits costs.

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For those who missed the meeting last week - please try to come this week.  Don't hide from the scale and us and don't feel mad or bad.   We never ever judge you and I would love it if you can feel it in your heart not to judge yourself - forgive yourself; think about what you would say to your best friend~those are the words you ought to use for yourself too!

Remember losing weight is not about being "perfect" it's absolutely about "perseverance".

Don't forget to take a look at the tabs across the top of the blog - "Insider Trading", "Lose For Good" and "Purchase your Favorites".  

I love to receive your comments on my blog - please click on the Post a Comment section if you have something to let us know.  Share this blog with whomever you would like to inspire and come back here on Wednesday for the next recipe.

Have a healthy week!

Apricot Rugelach

This recipe was inspired by my auntie.  It is a lightened-up version but is still decadent and delicious.
A wonderful recipe to celebrate the Jewish New Year!


Don't be intimidated by the length of the recipe - it is pretty easy, just follow it step by step.

Ingredients:
2 cups white all purpose flour
1/2 tsp table salt
2 sticks salted or unsalted butter (yes! 2 -- can you believe it?)
8 oz light cream cheese
3 tsp ground cinnamon (separated)
Flour for dusting
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup all fruit apricot preserves (that's the sugar free jam - I use Polaner brand - but whatever is your choice)
1/2 cup walnut halves finely chopped
4 TBSP white sugar
1/4 cup fat free milk for brushing

Instructions:
Using a fork or a whisk, mix the flour, salt and 2 tsp of cinnamon together.  Then with an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and cream cheese together until it is combined.  Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture about 1/3 cup at a time and keep mixing and combining until you have all the ingredients combined and it has come together.  Flour the surface of your counter with a little dusting flour and tip the contents of the bowl onto the surface and knead with your hands just enough to form it into a cohesive dough ball and then roll it into a log and wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap.  Chill the dough for at least 4 hours (up to 24 hours) or until firm.

At this stage you are going to work fairly fast, especially if the kitchen is warm.  You do have to preheat the oven so you will be warming up the environment.  Set the oven temp to 350 deg F.  Make sure your oven rack is in the center of the oven.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silpat.

Mix the brown sugar, remaining cinnamon and chopped nuts together into a bowl and set aside.

Unwrap the dough and cut it into 4 even pieces.  Return 3 of them to the fridge while you work with the first one.  Dust your work surface really well with flour and then roll out a rectangle measuring about 12 inches wide by 8 or 9 inches long.  Make sure your dough is not sticking to the surface, if necessary add more flour to dust it.  Thinly spread 1/4 of the apricot preserve onto the surface of the dough - going all the way to the wide edges, but leaving about 1" of uncovered area at the long end - this is where you are going to seal it.  Then sprinkle 1/4 of the sugar & nut mixture on top of the preserve.  Brush the "nude" long end with milk to moisten and then roll it up like a long cigar and seal.  Place it carefully onto the baking sheet and place the baking sheet into the refrigerator.

Now continue making 3 more logs exactly the same.

When you have all 4 logs onto the baking sheet, making an indent, mark off 12 "cookies" at one inch intervals on the surface of each one, but don't actually cut the dough yet.  Now brush all 4 logs with the milk and sprinkle a tablespoon of white sugar on top of each log.  Take a fork and pierce each "cookie" with the tines of the fork at an angle about 2/3 of the way through (for decoration and to allow the steam to escape).  Now you can take a knife score each "cookie" with a deep 3/4" cut to make them individual cookies that are still joined at the hip!

Bake them until they are golden brown, will take approximately 45 minutes.  Cool them on the pan for about 30 minutes then you can slice through them to finally separate them from their siblings!

Yields 48 Cookies
2 PPV per cookie!

Warning - they're delicious - make sure the leftovers have a home to go to at the end of the festivities!