Oh my goodness, thinking that Thanksgiving is only eight weeks away is crazy! But this is the time of year when we really need to buckle down and keep focused. Getting through the last few months of the year can really be challenging.
Over the next eight weeks we'll be featuring weekly challenges that will help you keep that focus. We'll highlight behaviors and habits that our most successful members use, and challenge you to incorporate those behaviors to ensure your success.
If you want help beyond the meeting room, you can join the eTools Community Challenge. There you can discuss strategies, find members who are working on the same things you are, and get a little inspiration in the hours when you're not at a Weight Watchers center.
Click on this link to get to the Community Page and scroll down to find the Thanksgiving Challenge. You can also find other non-holiday related challenges that might be more your speed. Use our online community to enhance your support system!
Coming up next week: TRACKING! Be sure to bring a copy of your tracker with you to the meeting.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Week #38: Be a Weekend Warrior!
Fitting that I'm posting about this on a Saturday morning. It's the weekend! And as many of you related this week, the weekends can be a challenge. There's less structure, more things that need to get done, more running around, socializing, eating and drinking.
Dealing with the weekends is honestly something I still have to work on. I've tried lots of things over the years, including giving myself Saturday as a "free day", but then I ended up using the remainder of the week as damage control to make up for one day's eating. Not a good way to lose weight, that's for sure!
One thing the weekend allows me to do is get in a lot of activity. I've shared with some of you that I have been training for a half marathon (that was supposed to happen today - but got cancelled, and the less said about that THE BETTER). To do that, I've got to make sure I get up on the weekends and get those training runs in! That helps me get a healthy start to the weekend. I can't be eating trash on Friday nights and expect to get up on Saturday morning and do a long endurance workout. And being able to sit here at 10am on a Saturday morning having already met my ActiveLink goal for the day is pretty cool, too.
A topic of discussion this week related to weekends was trying the Simply Filling Technique as a way to continue the healthy eating patterns on the weekend with perhaps less burden of tracking when there's not as much time for that sort of thing. Many of you seemed pretty interested in it, and I think that's great!
Simply Filling Technique (in which you eat Power Foods until satisfaction and need not count PPV of those foods) is almost like what I think the ideal eating habits would be. Focusing your calorie intake on fruits, veggies, lean proteins and whole grains? Staying away from lots of sugar and fat-filled snacks? Learning to obey your hunger signals and stop before you're full? GENIUS.
If the "eat until you're satisfied" part sends chills down your spine, here is something to think about. When you walked through the door on day one, did you know everything you needed to about how to lose weight? Most likely not. You had to practice changing habits, learn some new things, and figure a few things out about yourself. This is another one of those things. Sure, you may not be able to stop at satisfaction TODAY, but that doesn't mean that you can't practice that skill and master it over time.
If you knew how to stop eating before you were full, wouldn't that make all the difference in the world? What's stopping you from trying to master it?
Dealing with the weekends is honestly something I still have to work on. I've tried lots of things over the years, including giving myself Saturday as a "free day", but then I ended up using the remainder of the week as damage control to make up for one day's eating. Not a good way to lose weight, that's for sure!
One thing the weekend allows me to do is get in a lot of activity. I've shared with some of you that I have been training for a half marathon (that was supposed to happen today - but got cancelled, and the less said about that THE BETTER). To do that, I've got to make sure I get up on the weekends and get those training runs in! That helps me get a healthy start to the weekend. I can't be eating trash on Friday nights and expect to get up on Saturday morning and do a long endurance workout. And being able to sit here at 10am on a Saturday morning having already met my ActiveLink goal for the day is pretty cool, too.
A topic of discussion this week related to weekends was trying the Simply Filling Technique as a way to continue the healthy eating patterns on the weekend with perhaps less burden of tracking when there's not as much time for that sort of thing. Many of you seemed pretty interested in it, and I think that's great!
Simply Filling Technique (in which you eat Power Foods until satisfaction and need not count PPV of those foods) is almost like what I think the ideal eating habits would be. Focusing your calorie intake on fruits, veggies, lean proteins and whole grains? Staying away from lots of sugar and fat-filled snacks? Learning to obey your hunger signals and stop before you're full? GENIUS.
If the "eat until you're satisfied" part sends chills down your spine, here is something to think about. When you walked through the door on day one, did you know everything you needed to about how to lose weight? Most likely not. You had to practice changing habits, learn some new things, and figure a few things out about yourself. This is another one of those things. Sure, you may not be able to stop at satisfaction TODAY, but that doesn't mean that you can't practice that skill and master it over time.
If you knew how to stop eating before you were full, wouldn't that make all the difference in the world? What's stopping you from trying to master it?
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Week #37: Rehab Your Habits
Since we discussed changing habits this week, I want to share something I've noticed. When one adopts healthy habits and gets on a roll, one can often extend those habits into situations where it might not always be safe to do so. (Don't ask me how I know this.)
This morning, I left the house at six in the morning to go for a run. Already it felt like a typical fall San Diego day - a warm, dry tinderbox. According to The Weather Channel, it got up to 106 in Clairemont yesterday. And if you actually clicked on that link, you'll see that yesterday's temperature was a full twenty-seven degrees hotter than the day before. If you're not a weather junkie like I am, you may have been caught off-guard.
Today is shaping up to be more of the same, and while the temperatures right now are even warmer than they usually are this time of year, September and October are traditionally warm in our neck of the woods. And if you're new to exercise, this might be a new experience for you.
If you're going to exercise in these next few days, do it early, or do it inside. If you feel woozy, light-headed, or feel like you're going to be sick, STOP EXERCISING. Here is a great article with symptoms of heat illness and you'll also find links to how to treat those illnesses.
No APPV or blinking lights on the ActiveLink are worth potential health hazards. So while you're trying to keep that healthy momentum going, be safe!
This morning, I left the house at six in the morning to go for a run. Already it felt like a typical fall San Diego day - a warm, dry tinderbox. According to The Weather Channel, it got up to 106 in Clairemont yesterday. And if you actually clicked on that link, you'll see that yesterday's temperature was a full twenty-seven degrees hotter than the day before. If you're not a weather junkie like I am, you may have been caught off-guard.
Today is shaping up to be more of the same, and while the temperatures right now are even warmer than they usually are this time of year, September and October are traditionally warm in our neck of the woods. And if you're new to exercise, this might be a new experience for you.
If you're going to exercise in these next few days, do it early, or do it inside. If you feel woozy, light-headed, or feel like you're going to be sick, STOP EXERCISING. Here is a great article with symptoms of heat illness and you'll also find links to how to treat those illnesses.
No APPV or blinking lights on the ActiveLink are worth potential health hazards. So while you're trying to keep that healthy momentum going, be safe!
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Week #36: Believe in Yourself!
This week's topic is really not an easy one for me to sit here and pontificate about. What on earth can I possibly say in a blog entry that will convince you that you actually CAN reach all of your health goals? If it was as easy as writing something and bam, you changed your mind, well, we wouldn't need to bother with our weekly meetings, now would we?
Hopefully you were inspired by hearing about the stories of your fellow members this week. Whether it was one of our staff members, or just the person in the next row over, there are lots of success stories all around you. Consider that the next time you're waiting for the meeting to start...that person over there that looks like they don't "need" Weight Watchers? Find out that person's story! I mean, how many of you at this week's El Cajon meeting would look at our coworker Diane and think "now there's a woman that clearly used to be 100+ pounds heavier!" I know I wouldn't think so!
Collaborating and sharing our stories becomes one of the most powerful things we can do for each other. We inform, we inspire, and we find out that at the end of the day, none of us is doing this alone.
And now, to completely switch gears, I want to remind you that our Lose for Good campaign is officially under way. Every pound you lose between now and October 20th gets tallied up, and Weight Watchers will end up donating ONE MILLION DOLLARS to two food charities. So you can help by losing weight, but here's another way....
Saturday, September 15th! - all of our Weight Watchers stores in San Diego (Clairemont, El Cajon, Rancho San Diego, Poway, etc.) will be open for a huge one day food drive! Your donations will help local charities distribute food to the people in our very own neighborhoods who suffer from food insecurity. Please stop by any time between 7am and 4pm with your donations of non-perishable food items (please, no glass jars). There will be special activities (member panels, eTools demonstrations, raffle prizes) and special one day only joining offers. Stop by quickly to drop off your food, or linger and see what we have to offer!
Hopefully you were inspired by hearing about the stories of your fellow members this week. Whether it was one of our staff members, or just the person in the next row over, there are lots of success stories all around you. Consider that the next time you're waiting for the meeting to start...that person over there that looks like they don't "need" Weight Watchers? Find out that person's story! I mean, how many of you at this week's El Cajon meeting would look at our coworker Diane and think "now there's a woman that clearly used to be 100+ pounds heavier!" I know I wouldn't think so!
Collaborating and sharing our stories becomes one of the most powerful things we can do for each other. We inform, we inspire, and we find out that at the end of the day, none of us is doing this alone.
And now, to completely switch gears, I want to remind you that our Lose for Good campaign is officially under way. Every pound you lose between now and October 20th gets tallied up, and Weight Watchers will end up donating ONE MILLION DOLLARS to two food charities. So you can help by losing weight, but here's another way....
Saturday, September 15th! - all of our Weight Watchers stores in San Diego (Clairemont, El Cajon, Rancho San Diego, Poway, etc.) will be open for a huge one day food drive! Your donations will help local charities distribute food to the people in our very own neighborhoods who suffer from food insecurity. Please stop by any time between 7am and 4pm with your donations of non-perishable food items (please, no glass jars). There will be special activities (member panels, eTools demonstrations, raffle prizes) and special one day only joining offers. Stop by quickly to drop off your food, or linger and see what we have to offer!
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