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.

Weekly WI: The Birthday Celebration Continued

 Good Morning!  

Are you all in a candy coma today??  I hope you had a great Halloween.  We celebrated over the weekend with more birthday fun where Flo from Progressive came out of retirement for a special appearance.

Let’s rewind - 

It was week of lots of indulgences as we redeemed the birthday two-for-one deals.  I had all intensions of balancing high point foods with low point foods but that didn’t quite happens and a free for all transpired.  I didn’t transition from night shift to day shift this week very well.  I chose to skip the scale and safe myself from all the negative feelings and instead, get back on track TODAY and make this week a great week where I reclaim accountability to my health and wellness journey.

The weekend was really fun.  On Friday, I met up with my girlfriend group for dinner at R&R BBQ in Meridian.  I was able to double dip with coupons too so it was good deal.

Saturday we picked up Phoenix and Stacey to head to Emmett for Halloween fun.  We started at Black Canyon Brewing, which was a bit of a let down as the beer selection was lacking.

We headed to Emmett City Park to take part in Gerald Turner Brewery’s 2nd Annual Rocktoberfest.  It was a little sparse on crowds and quite chilly but we managed to find a spot in the sunshine which helped.  I entered the costume contest and won 2nd place.

From there we decided to head back to town as we had a reservation to watch the BSU game at Jak’s Place.  Since we had extra time, we stopped by Idawild Brewing Company, which was a bit hit.  We also bumped into my parents there with was extra fun.

Jak’s Place was really great with delicious cocktails.  We also shared some appetizers of fried zucchini and onion rings with the most amazing batter.  Since BSU was winning the game, we left at halftime and continued the watch party with the World Series at Phoenix’s house.  It was a really great Saturday.

So, as you can see, an VERY indulgent week.  Now that I am back on dayshift, it is a huge adjustment to my previous routine and always impacts my weight loss.  I am working on figuring out how to get into a new routine that will help me be successful.