Weekly WI: Goodbye 2022

It has been a rough month.  Work is crazy busy and life in general is just flying by.  I have so much to catch up on, including a lot more of my beer calendar!  

I decided to skip the scale this week and end 2022 with my weigh-in from last week.  I somehow managed to squeak by with a maintain only to follow up this week with off plan eating and an abundance of sweets because…you know…Christmas!  I am always inspired by the WW members that step on the scale even when they don’t want to but I just am not ready to see the gain.  I want to end my year on a positive note and just refocus for the weeks ahead.

We are officially four weeks until the cruise and the time between now and then is sure to pass in a flash.  

I am ridiculously busy at work between training our new employees and working on my employee evaluations.  I have a slight break this coming week and then it will be go-go-go again.  I did some practice packing so I could prepare myself for the cruise and start to narrow down what all I will pack and if I want to check a suitcase or carryon.  The jury is still out.  

I was talking with a member today about how 17 weeks ago the pain was to loose a pound a week.  Yeah, I’m not very good at sticking to that plan!  But, with four weeks to go, four pounds is still four pounds.  So, re-focus and hunker down I must!  It was a beautiful day where the freezing cold temps finally gave and the sun came out.  I went for a walk and enjoyed every moment of it.  Vitamin D is good for the soul!

I need to make a better commitment to myself to eat better, move more, and keep going.  I know I’ll feel better if I just pull up my big girl panties and do what I know I need to do.

German Beer Advent Calendar: Days 1 - 6

One of my online WW pals opens really fun advent calendars from Aldi every holiday season.  I finally joined the advent group last year with a wine calendar.  I don’t really love wine so I still have several tiny bottles kicking around one year later.  I spotted a German beer advent calendar at Costco for $90 and debated each visit on if I should spend the money.  I caved in and snagged one before they were gone.

I am going to highlight the first six days of beer.  I am loving it!  I am so glad I got this calendar and other than when beer (day nine) it has been delicious.  I open the calendar in the morning for a reveal on Instagram and Facebook stories and then drink one most nights.  Considering I had a two pound loss, I am thinking the “beer diet” might finally be how I can lose weight!

Without further ado, here is Day 1 - 6 of the German Advent Calendar.  I will also include the tasting notes from the Beer Tasting App.

Day 1: I love a good light German lager.  This was a nice way to start off the countdown.

Day 2: This weissbier (white beer) was really, really good.  I think weissbiers might be a new favorite.  Plus, the can looked cool.

Day 3: Similar to a lager, you can’t go wrong with a pils.  This was nothing special but still tasty.

Day 4: Kellerbier is also a new favorite.  It is light and tasty.  There are several of this variety in the pack so far.

Day 5: You cannot go wrong with a stout and I hope to uncover more in the mix as the month continues.  Currently, I have opened through Day 14 and this is t he only stout so far.

Day 6: I don’t love the taste of a marzen, an amber type German beer and after getting sick following too much marzen at Oktoberfest a few years ago, it brings back memories when I drink a marzen.  But, this pack has a few and I do enjoy drinking them.

More beer to come…stay tuned!

Weekly WI: A Loss

I was feeling pretty good about my week and also feeling lighter so I was hopeful the scale would show a loss.  I was pleasantly surprised to see two pounds had dropped off.

 

I was awoken at 3:30 a.m. yesterday by a text message for sick coverage at my full-time job on the same day I was scheduled to worked my part-time job.  Oy!  It all worked out and I was able to break away for a few hours for my Tuesday morning WW Workshop before coming back to ISP for coverage.  I had not planned to get on the “official” scale but still needed to get my employee weight-in on record.  I had eaten breakfast, drank coffee, and was wearing my work clothes so the decision was made to step on the scale and if I was at least a maintain from last week, I’d put in on record.  I had another pleasant surprise when I showed a loss!  I am pretty close to where I was in October 2021 when I started monthly weigh-ins as a WW employee and I am down from my January 2022 employee weigh-in.  I am not where I wanted to be at the end of 2022, but I am feeling better about it now that the scale has come down.  Plus, I still have two weeks to go.

We are six weeks away from the cruise and I just can hardly sand it.  I am so freaking excited. 

I suspect December will fly by between the anticipation, training a new employee at work, and finishing up the edits on my annual evaluation for my other four employees.  Busy…busy…busy.  If we can keep the unexpected overtime coverage needs down (i.e. sick coverage) then maybe it will feel like I can have some normal time on days off.  I tell ya, I really miss having days off.  I am just plum exhausted!

I plan to get back into activity today as this is my only day off after a 7-day stretch followed by an upcoming 6-day stretch.  I really want to start rebuilding a healthier work-life balance and it has been so hard feeling the weight of coverage needs on your shoulder.   I said for years I wouldn’t get another job that required you to find coverage for days off, sick, etc.  And yet, here I sit between and full time job and a part job that requires both.  Sometimes I think I am insane!

Weekly WI: A Gain

I am popping in real quick to fill you in on my Weekly Weigh-in.  After a difficult week getting back on track after our trip to Jackpot, I had a dream I gained 5 pounds.  Thankfully, just 1.4 pounds.

The Weight Watcher’s App updated and now syncs all the number with my new WW scale.  I am so happy for this update as it was just odd to have a scale were you couldn’t see the other numbers.  I completed employee training on the new scale/app update and am ready to answer questions members might have.  

I don’t really pay attention to the other numbers but I have enjoyed having our other scale track those and then graph them.  You can see the trends, which I like most.  I have just been so up and down lately on the scale I would love to re-focus and really see a downward constant trend.

I am running out of time before our upcoming cruise and the days are passing so fast.  December is sure to go by in a flash with all the business at work this time of year.  I have seven weeks left until the cruise and a goal of one pound per week will still make a difference for sure.  

I think I have a bit of mental hang up worried about all the weight gain during vacation and how long it takes to lose it.  But, I can’t continue to let that deter me from reaching my goals now.  Anything more I can take off will be helpful for sure.

A Quick Trip To Jackpot, NV

On Thursday, Danielle and I had tickets to see Hotel California, a Salute to the Eagles in Jackpot, Nevada.  We both took Thursday and Friday off work so we could have extra time to relax and well…just not be at work!  As usual, it went way to fast!

 

We stopped into Twin Falls so we could try out two different breweries and support the Boise Beer Buddies Hubs. 

 

Koto Brewing Co. is a really fun place with good beer.  We tried an appetizer and split a burger.  The appetizer was amazing, but the burger was undercooked for my liking.  We also shared fries and homemade chips, with were really good.

 

My favorite beer at Magic Valley Brewing was the Downtown Broadway Brown.  It was really tasty.  We also shared a pretzel which was out of this world.  I loved the mustard as it has a little spice to it.

 

We spent the night at Cactus Pete’s in Jackpot where we managed to avoid the winter weather arriving before it started snowing and leaving later the next day when the roads had cleared, and the sunshine was out in full force.  Since it had snowed and it was super cold, we didn’t venture out of Cactus Pete’s where we enjoyed drinks, gambling, and had dinner in the Desert Room. 

 

I wish I could go back and have twice as much fun.  One night was just not enough.  I hope to go back to Jackpot soon.  I managed to play off my winnings so it made it enjoyable. 

 

 

 

Weekly WI: Squeaked By With A Loss

OMG!  What a week.  I am exhausted.

 

I feel like a juggler with so many balls in the air I’m having trouble controlling them all.  Bottom line: I work too much.

 

Let’s rewind to Tuesday and work back from there.  I wasn’t sure what to expect from my Weekly WI as I had social events and Thanksgiving on the calendar last week.  I was hoping for a maintain and when I peeked Monday, it looked like a gain.  But things leveled out and I was down 0.4 pounds for the week as well as down from last might.

 

I would love, love, love to end the year where I was in February, but that is a lot to try and lose in December.  I am going to give it my all.  I absolutely want to be lower than where I started the year. 

 

I have exactly two photos from Thanksgiving.

 

Connect on Weight Watchers has a #WWPotluck and my contribution to Thanksgiving Day was Pound Dropper’s Weight Watchers Crustless PumpkinPie Cupcakes.  I thought they turned out really good and at one point each, you can’t beat that.  I tried to add a spiced egg nog whip cream, but it wasn’t that good.

 

The other photo was the vintage Christmas tree from my grandmother’s house.  It is so fun each year when my brother puts it up at Mom and Dad’s house.  Emma helped decorate.

 

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we attended the Black Friday Payette Brewing event.  I’ve been wanting to attend this event for so many years and finally was able to as I was on dayshift, and it went until 10pm.  It is an exclusive dark beer event with beers from 9%-13% ABV and boy were they dark!  I felt I needed a glass of water after each 5 oz beer pour.

 

The main event is held in the brewing area, which is behind the tasting room.  It is huge back there and two levels.  You buy a taster and tokens, each for $4 and worth one 5 oz pour each.  It felt a little disorganized and really loud with the live band but a really fun time.  The tasting room had seating available, so we snagged a table and there were food trucks on site.  I will go again for sure.  They also served their regular beer and cocktail menu in the tasting room for those not interested in dark beers.

 

 

 

 

Weekly WI: Ready For Turkey Day

Good Morning.  Happy Thanksgiving Eve.

 

I had an awesome weigh-in this week and was thrilled to see the scale go down.  I had been feeling really good about my week and was hoping I’d see the unexpected gain drop off.  Whew.

 

Now, this week is a challenge.  With Thanksgiving and a beer event this week, plus some social activities yesterday, I will be lucky if I can keep the weekly budget out of the negatives.

 

Speaking of budget, I love my new daily budget of 23.  It really gives me a lot of flexibility and I don’t have to rely on those ZeroPoint grains.  I do still love my grains and still eat them, but I have also been looking up new recipes to try to shake things up.  I think that is why last week was so successful.  It feels exhausting at times to plan so much but the outcome is worth it.  I have about 10 weeks until our cruise so I need to keep working to bring that scale down.

 

On Tuesday after my WeightWatchers workshop, I met Kenyon for lunch at Meltz.  We just can’t get enough, and I am so glad to see they are busy and thriving!  I had a half Simpleton and Kenyon had a full Chicken Barby Blue, their newest creation.  I took half of one if his halves and gave him half of mine.  I love their chips.  Mmmmmm…..

 

I ran some errands (the stores weren’t too scary with the upcoming Turkey Day meal prep) and ended up at the realtor groups annual pie pick-up event.  I had planned to not partake in the offered free wine but then I saw my very favorite red wine from Telaya Wine Co.  Thankfully they had the perfect size tasting glasses to give me the taste I craved without spending a huge number of points.  AND I got to seemy favorite people.

 

Thanksgiving is my favorite food holiday.  Bring it on.

Making The Most Of ZeroPoint Foods

 Good Morning!  

Since moving to dayshift at work, I’ve been getting up at the same time on days off which makes for a much longer day off than when I’m on nightshift.  It is crazy it is just now almost 11am.  I have fun lunch plans at 1pm so I’m trying to hang in there but I will need to have something to tide me over for sure.

I have been making the most of the WeightWatcher Program and trying out different recipes and/or finding some ZeroPoint foods to spice up my meals.  At Trader Joes on Tuesday, If found these hashes for $4.99.  

I got the Garden Hash for our baked spaghetti squash, which turned out delicious.

I cooked the ground beef then sautéed the garden hash.  Oh man it smelled so good when cooking.  

I added the beef back to the hash, threw in some onion and garlic powder and crushed tomatoes.  

Using a bowl I added the sauce to the cooked spaghetti squash in hopes it would be less watery.  I think it was.  I baked it in the over for 20 minutes then topped with cheese.  I forgot to take a photo of the finished product out of the oven but I did snap a steamy photo when I put it into the oven.

Delicious!

Introducing The WeightWatchers Program

 Introducing…

The WeightWatchers Program

 

Working for Weight Watchers this least year after fast-tracking from the role of WW Guide to WW Coach, I am finally starting to feel my grove.  I am feeling much more confident leading my weekly workshop and discussing the science backed technique.  I am feeling much more confident when delivering orientation to new members as we delve into the logistics of the Personal Points Program.  While it was originally discussed there would not be changes to the WW program one year later, the valuable feedback from our members resulted in changes being rolled out now instead of next year.  Without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to The WeightWatchers Program.

 

Why, and how, is Weight Watchers simplifying the program?

·       We have simplified our proven program to make it easier for you to follow to achieve your weight loss goals.  - We’re committed to providing the most effective, livable, and flexible weight loss program possible.  That means we are constantly innovating to reflect the latest nutrition and behavior change science as well as the feedback from members.  We know (now more than ever) that life is complicated.  And we believe losing weight shouldn’t be. 

 

Why is there now one ZeroPoint food list for everyone?

·       With one ZeroPoint food list, every food and recipe has the same Points value for everyone, which makes sharing even easier - We know that food and Weight Watchers is a catalyst for connection, and an important part of the journey is sharing meals and exchanging recipes with others. 

 

Why was (potatoes, avocado, whole wheat pasta, whole grains) removed from the shared ZeroPoint food list? 

·       The list was streamlined in order to create one list for everyone while still ensuring that you have enough daily Points to spend on the foods you love. 

 

Why was the ability to add Points for eating veggies and drinking water removed from the program?

·       The ability to add Points was removed to simplify the program - The ability to grow your dailies for eating non-starchy veggies and drinking water gave you more flexibility, but also required additional tracking and made your budget inconsistent. 

 

Do I have to transition to the updated program (I like and am finding success on PersonalPoints)?

·       Yes, but you can choose the right time for you - Members will have four weeks to make the switch, from November 14 - December 11, 2022.  And anyone who has NOT opted into the simplified program will automatically transition on December 12, 2022.

 

Change can be scary.  I’ve always believed that Weight Watchers does not design a program that isn’t successful.  Unlike the last major program change, I did not had the opportunity for early release and I’ll be working The WeightWatchers Program right along side my members starting today.

If your Budget got smaller: Seeing that number shrink may feel unsettling at first. But if your daily Budget is lower, that also means your ZeroPoint foods list is now bigger.

·       ZeroPoint foods you can lean on – don’t have to measure and count

·       Rollovers – still there and ready to be factored into your budget

·       Make the most of your budget – focus on meals that matter most to you and plan your Budget around them.

 

If your Budget got bigger: May also feel unsettling at first.  Your Points Budget is generous enough to fit in the foods you love and makes it easier to stick with the program and hit your goals.

·       Trust the science – your Budget is carefully calculated to ensure a healthy rate of weight loss (1-2 pounds a week)

·       Embrace the flexibility – some days you’ll eat more and others you’ll eat less.  Focus more on the pattern over time.

 

Let’s do this!

Weekly WI: Full Circle

It has been a wild few weeks with tracking, motivation, and struggling to stay on plan but after so many members come to the kick-off of the Monday night workshop, most knowing the scale might be up due to evening weigh-in time, I was inspired to get on the scale today at my WW workshop.  The results are sort of all over the place but according to my WW app, I had a gain of 0.8 pounds.

 

I attended a Weight Watchers training on Saturday and we were given a WW scale as parting gift.  Now, under any other normal circumstances, getting a scale as a gift might seem odd.  When you are a WW Coach/Guide, it isn’t an odd gift after all.  This scale is one offered to members on a promotion for joining so they gifted one to us as well.

 

It weights one pound less than the scale I had been weighing on and while it also tracks all the other numbers, BMI, water, muscle mass, etc., I can’t get it to sync with the Conair scale app, it only syncs with my WW app.  But, I sure do like that you can track your weight directly from the scale to your app.  So, I will continue to use this scale even though it weights a pound less than what I have been using.  The main thing is that I am just consistent.  My weekly weigh-in at my “official” meeting wasn’t too bad either.  I am down a pound from October.  I am not sure I’ll be finishing my year much lower than where I started but anything lower is a definitely a win.  Apparently vacationing so late in the year has really thrown me off my game.

 

I have been working hard on being more consistent with my activity knowing that some days I am going to be tired.  I keep thinking the change from night shift to day shift will eventually even out but so far, I’m just still tired.  I am still working a lot of overtime so a break would be nice.  I am tired today.  None-the-less, I got in a walk on the treadmill before I started my day as I had a later start than other days this week.

 

I want to work on getting back the connection that is so important to me.  Weight Watchers has always been my center and has been what keeps me grounded.  I don’t have a workshop I can attend as a member, but I think if I can, I’ll start trying to pop into Tuesday night so I can start to feel like I belong somewhere.  I am so happy the opening of the Monday night workshop was a success.  We had 15 members weight-in and 15 members stay and about half were new/rejoining members.  It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces, some for me and some happy to be back.  I always new once the decision was made to start up a night workshop in Nampa that it would all come full circle.  January will be 16 years since joining WW, in Nampa, which was a night meeting too. 

 

 

The Last Few Days

 I survived the work week.  

Can I get an AMEN!

I have been working so much lately that I am just exhausted.  There are some items in limbo that could change the course of my two-and-a-half days off next week but I’ll keep my hopes up that it I can hang onto the thoughts of a much needed break.

I am prepping for my BIG annual WeightWatchers training tomorrow.  I am so excited to see my WW manager and all my favorite WW employees.  I am also getting myself prepared for running solo as we re-open a Monday night workshop giving me a chance to build my membership and get people back in the door.  I can’t wait!

I have been managing my points semi-well but still struggling a bit with the change of schedule/routine from mights to days.  I might even be using it as a bit of an excuse.  But, I am working on tracking honestly…even when I find myself getting into the peanuts in the pantry.  Ugh.  They MUST go out with the trashcan ASAP.  Anyway, I powered through a girlfriend meet-up where I only had one alcoholic drink, to my surprise just 6 points when I put “sazerc” into the search bar and it showed a sazerc cocktail was 6 points.  It was good but not sweet at all.

Last night we met my parents for dinner at Meltz Extreme Grilled Cheese, a restaurant I make sure to visit when I am in Couer d’ Alene that just opened in Boise.  WhoooHooo!  I was “in the club” and got an exclusive invite for me and three friends.  Mom, Dad, Kenyon, and I split two sandwiches, some chips and dip, and one side of Mac n’ cheese.  I forgot to take photos of our food!

I can’t wait to go back and have been making all sorts of girlfriend meet-ups for future visits.  It is amazing and I am so glad they are in Boise.  It is not point-friendly at all but worth every point!  I didn’t earn my blue dot yesterday.

Other than that, just hanging in there and working on balance.  I have such a huge pull to be social now that I’m back on day shift and I also wish that pull came with a weight closer to 192…but I am still working off the 

Girls Weekend vacation weight so it is what it is.  I just need to be accountable to my program and my WW journey.  I’m hoping over the next few weeks I can find my focus again and settle into a new routine.