Monday, January 31, 2011

Super Bowl Survival

Well we all need a good time and it is that time.  I suppose we will cheer on Pittsburg since we have a Saturday morning member who is a big fan.  Click here for great ideas both food and others.

Bouncing back

This weeks topic:  click here.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Get your healthy oils in

Having troulbe getting in all your healthy oils? Here's some idea's,. You only need to eat 2 tsp of oil per day. (1 teaspoon is a serving), So you can get it in throughout the day. Healthy oils are: olive oil, canola, sunflower, safflower or flaxseed. FYI: Fish oils, Oil capsules, avocados, peanut butter, nuts, salad dressings, etc, do NOT count towards WW healthy oils requirements. Only the pourable kind.




1) Cook with it, a lot of recipes start off with oil in the skillet

2) Mix up a marinade for meats and/or veggies

3) Mix it with meat sauces, or most sauces

4) Sautee with it.

5) Drizzle over pasta

6) Drizzle over popcorn

7) Drizzle over veggies

8) Drizzle over pizza

9) Drizzle over corn on the cob

10) Drizzle some over fat free cheese(it helps melt better)

11) Mix up some salad dressing (like olive oil and balsamic vinegar)

12) Rub it on poultry or fish before baking it

13) Rub it on meats for the spices and/or rubs have something to stick to

14) Rub some on a baked potato

15) Grill sandwiches

16) Stry Fry veggies

17) Coat some homemade baked fries

18) Makes garlic toast, (oil and garlic on bread toast)

19) Add some to soups

20) Add some to smoothies

21) Mix 2 tsps olive oil to fat-free salad dressing

22) Add to anything that is fat-free. instead of the fat, you're replacing it with healthy oils

23) Roast veggies with oil

24) Mix conola oil to oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, soups

25) put some in salsa

26) If you eat frozen dinners, drizzle some over it.

27) make some Herb or Spice Infused Oil, (for dipping or cooking)

28) Mix in some Butter Buds or Molly McButter, You'll have butter flavored oils.

29) mix some in the new PB2 peanut butter flour that alot are trying. (you're replacing the fat with healthy oils)
 
*from message boards.  Not all my ideas, but good ones.

Winter Day Work-out

Click here for some ideas on how to get the most of a snow day.  Although today's snow fizzled out so far!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

From Hungry Girl

I just read this:

What's the Deal with the Cow?


A recent email of some HG staples prompted MANY subscribers to write in, asking us if we're SURE that TWO wedges of The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese have a total PointsPlus™ value of 1*. Here's the scoop: The wedges USED to have higher stats on their labels. But last year, the brand quietly rolled out new packaging to reflect lower sodium and fat counts, resulting from small tweaks made over the years to the product's nutritional content. Check the back of the wheel and note that each wedge has 35 calories, 1.5g fat, 210mg sodium, 1g carbs, 0g fiber, 1g sugars, and 2g protein; double those numbers and plug 'em into your WW calculator, and you'll see that two wedges have a total PointsPlus™ value of 1*. If a food database tells you otherwise, it hasn't been updated to factor in the lower fat count. And now you know!



Woo hoo, even better!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Stress Busters

7 Simple Stress Busters


Peace of Mind is Just a Few Minutes Away

-- By Zach Van Hart, Staff Writer
Spark People


Stress happens. No matter how organized you are, how good your systems are, or how friendly your work and living environments are, stress can find a way to poke its ugly head in from time to time. What can you do? Turn to a convenient Stress Buster – a small, simple activity that clears your head and calms you down. When you feel a stress attack coming on, it’s the perfect time to turn to one of these busters and kick that stress out the door.



Here are 7 of our favorite Stress Busters, but feel free to develop your own:



1. Take a walk

Want a break from the office? Does your house feel like an insane asylum? Slip out the door and let your feet take you somewhere. Not only will walking give you the opportunity to clear your head and take a break from that hectic situation, but it’s great aerobic exercise, too.



2. Call a friend

We all have someone whose voice alone perks us up. Give them a buzz, even for a few minutes. Whether with a joke or a funny story, or just by listening, they will likely put a smile on your face and calm you down. Besides, what are friends for?



3. Write in a journal

Expressing our feelings could be the best way to deal with stress. Keeping a journal is a way to capture those feelings at any moment. You don’t have to worry about what others think or say, just let your pen do the work. By the time you’re done, those feelings will be on their way out of your system.



4. Play a board game

Remember these? Maybe there are a dozen stashed in your closet, waiting to be dusted off. Monopoly probably should be saved until you have a few hours to spare, but quick kids’ games like Candy Land, Chutes & Ladders, Connect Four, or even Twister are always good for a smile.



5. Work up a sweat

Have some pent up frustrations? There’s no better way to get rid of them than by exercising. Pop in a workout tape, hop on your bike or grab your jump rope. You’ll be too busy working up a sweat to worry about what’s stressing you out. Picture the stress leaving your body through your pores.



6. Plan something fun

Is there a trip you want to take but never had time to get it together? Or a dinner you’ve always wanted to make? Now’s the time. Not only will you take your mind off things, but you’ll be spending time eagerly anticipating a great getaway or meal later. It’s a win-win situation.



7. Take a hot bath

A hot bath will initially give your body a kick, which in turn will give your mind a kick too – and then it’ll slow both down. Add bubbles and a few candles and you have the ultimate soothing atmosphere. A rubber ducky is optional.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Baked Ziti

This is the recipe for baked Ziti that i fixed.  I made some changes, used ff ricotta cheese and ff mozerella.

click here.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Power Foods

Click here for a great article from ww.com

Can you name three ways to  include power foods in your daily diet?

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Snow Days

Here is what has helped save me during these days:

I just love these clemtines!  Here is yesterday's story.  We took Alexa to see the Lady Bucs play basketball yesterday at ETSU.  I just knew that the sights and smells of popcorn, nachos, and hot dogs would be tough.  Well, I stuck 3 of these babies in my coat pocket.  Once there we sat with Scott's uncle.  (Scott's first cousin that is my son's age dates Natalie Pickwell which is a player.)  He was saying how he had put on weight and how he wished he had something to snack on SO, guess who pulled out the ole clemetines.  I was a hit.  Not to mention how good they smelled.  So I was all satisfied.  Score for me!!

I love this stuff for popcorn!


So today I took Daniel, my son to ETSU to pay his remaining bill.  After standing in 2 different lines for almost 2 hours we finished.  But before I left I took my own coffee  to go.  This little insulated mug works.  Keeps my coffee HOT for quite awhile.  5$ at Wally World.  Can't believe I found a deal there.  I never get a deal!!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Salad bar savy

Click here for one of those interactive salds from ww.com.  You might be amazed how a low pt. salad can become B-A-D!

Well it ends up not being interactive on here.http://www.weightwatchers.com/templates/print.aspx?PageId=1203921&PrintFlag=yes&previewDate=1/10/2011

Need a Reason

10 reasons to get moving


Need an excuse to get active? There are at least 10 that I can think of! Regular moderate exercise...



1.Makes you feel great




2.Helps boost your metabolism




3.Burns off calories, aiding weight loss



4.Tones muscles and improves shape.




5.Helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels



6.Can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers




7.Improves sleep, promotes relaxation and combats depression




8.Increases strength and flexibility




9.Keeps bones healthy and prevents falls in the elderly



10.Helps you maintain your desired weight for a lifetime

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Gratitude Journal

Developing an attitude of gratitude toward the people, things and events in your life is a life-affirming and effective way to strengthen your emotional resilience and reduce stress, among other things. Maintaining a gratitude journal makes it easy to get in the habit of focusing on the positive in your life, while also reaping the benefits of journaling. The following are simple steps to maintaining a gratitude journal -- a useful tool for stress management.


Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: A Few Minutes A Day
 
Another way I use my 3 month journal/tracker is to write positves from my day.  I try not to harp on the negative which is so easy to do, especially in my weight loss journey, my job, my family, oops didn't mean to get negative!.  So if you don't have time for a separate journal (which I do not) try writing in your tracker.  I get a nice smile every once in awhile when I look back not only at my food choices, but other events in my life.  I think some silly people might call that a "warm fuzzy feeling".
 
Yesterday's gratitude was "I drove in the snow all by myself and was able to get to Weight Watchers safely!"
Now I know I can do it.  I have before, just not very often.  Remember I grew up in the 70's, when we had REAL snow here in East TN!  Then I moved to texas and Middle TN where they don't know what snow is!!
 
Have a great day and drive safe tomorrrow, there is snow coming again tonight!!!!!
 
 Click here for a link to why journaling benefits your health.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Open

We are going to attempt!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

SNOW!!!!!

Well, here we are again, snow.  We missed school today and there is suppose to be more snow starting at 3 a.m..  My poor @ work from school, missed weigh-in again.  I hope they will come on Saturday.  Speaking of Saturday, let's hope that we will not have to cancel.  Weather.com says the snow lshould start at 3 am and not stop until Saturday afternoon.  Be sure to check here and I will post if we do cancel.  Patti calls into one of the radio stations, but I am not sure which one.  I will send her a text later and ask to let you know.  But hopefull we will be ok.

Iam so proud of myself I have had a great weight watcher week.  Even today.

Today's menu:

Bfast:  Cheerios with ff mild and strawberries and blueberries, 2.99 a container at Food City

lunch:  huge salad with lettuce, celery, tomatoes, green peppers, jalepenos, strawberries, 1 Tbsp of ff  ranch and 1 tsp of EVOO.

snack at my mom's ff banana pudding about 1/4 cup cause it SUCKED!  Yuck.  I won't tell her though.

supper:  Stir fry w/ brown rice and this chicken sausage I found at food city a whole link which I didn't eat a whole link cause it was cut up.  I used my handy dandy 1 cup spoon and scooped out 1 and 1/2 cups including veggies, rice and chicken sausage.

So I am still good with my points.  I am determined to get my chritmas 5 off, I am down 2!!!



Quick pic. of my daughter and her cousin in the pool.  we will be back in the pool in less than 4 months!!  I hope!!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Points Plus for Pal's

Starting this year all fast food restaurants have to display their NI.  So......Here are a few popular foods from Pal's:

sauce Burger 7

Hot Dog  8

Chili Bun  6

Jr. Burger  7

Big  Pal  16

Chipped Ham  10

Big Chicken  12

Frenchie Fry Small  7  Large 10

Cheddar Rounds  6

Biscuit  9

Sausage Biscuit  13

Ham Biscuit  10  16 oz. chocolate shake  16

AND THE ALL TIME FAVORITE AND BIG QUESTION:

SWEET TEA...................6 POINTS PLUS

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Substitution Please

Click here to see some of the ww subs.  A lotof them we have discussed.  Remember, keep on fibbing and you will only get thinner and healthier.