MIDWEEK MINUTES December 28, 2013

Midweek Minutes
December 28, 2013
Hello, Winners!
Where did the year go?  This is the last newsletter for 2013, and then we will all have to get used to writing 2014.

I hope you had  wonderful Christmas!  How did it go, food-wise?  Did you have too many holiday goodies?  Come to the meeting ANYWAY!  Did you forget to TRACK?  Come to the meeting ANYWAY!  Have you been away for a few weeks?  Come to the meeting ANYWAY!  Will 2014 be the year you succeed at losing weight and keeping it off?  You can do that if you COME TO THE MEETING! 

This is the time everyone makes New Year's Resolutions.  Will yours include finally losing that weight and keeping it off?  Weight Watchers is the way to go!

This will be my year to succeed
I have all the Weight Watchers' tools that I need
I will make good choices to get me there.
I will think first, eat smart, and always prepare!
I will make activity part of the deal,
So I will move more each day!
My meetings are important, and I will attend.
This is my weight loss family, and on them I can depend.
I will set realistic goals, ask for help, and start fresh each day.
Feedback NOT failure will guide my "weigh".
My life will never be the same as I say on New Year's Eve,
"ALL IT TAKES TO REACH MY GOAL IN 2014 is to BELIEVE!"

Last week on Monday, we only had 2 members in Superior!   That hasn’t happened since last year on New Year’s Eve day when there was that surprise snowfall. This morning in Hastings, we had 19 members...SO, I know that people are ready for a new year with Weight Watchers!  It’s going to be a great year!  See you at the next meeting!  --Zig

Celebrating Member Milestones
Hastings: –13 lbs.
5%
Diane S. ( H )
Biggest Loser
Mary B. ( H )

Hold Steady

Simple strategies to help you maintain your weight loss this season.
Article By: Weight Watchers
Let's face it, this time of year can be as stressful as it is merry. Your already busy schedule is suddenly crammed with shopping marathons, parties, holiday preparations and high-pressure family visits. You're stretched to the limit. The result? You have less energy. Your motivation begins to slip. Sweets seem more tempting. And your favorite fitness class is becoming a distant memory. Is it possible to take care of yourself, maintain your weight-loss resolve and actually enjoy the holiday season? Absolutely! The key is to plan ahead.
Practicing this month's Routine: Always have a healthy snack on hand is a perfect example of a small, yet powerful behavior that can help you stick with it! Also be realistic about how many dinners, happy hours, and cookie swaps you can (and want to) attend. Become best friends with your calendar. Block off time for your weekly meetings, workouts, "me" time, andsleep. And use these simple strategies to help you cruise through the New Year in control.
Holiday stressor: Parties
  • Plan the day of the event itself. Will you be active that morning? What will you eat that day before and/or after the event? Having a small meal before the party can help curb the urge to overindulge once you're there.
  • Skip the booze, alternate it with water or try a little cranberry juice topped off with club soda and a twist of lemon
  • Tempted by trays of fatty finger foods? Don’t sink into the sofa with a plateful. Get up and mingle. Or hit the dance floor and earn some activity PointsPlus® values.
Holiday stressor: Shopping
  • Don't shop when you're hungry. Before you go, have a meal packed with Weight Watchers Power Foods so you'll be satisfied longer.
  • Wear a pedometer or your ActiveLink®* monitor while you walk the mall to inspire you to stay the course
  • Pack a couple of healthy, non-perishable snacks to help keep your hunger in check
Holiday stressor: Meal prep
  • No time to slave away over a hot stove? Put your slow cooker to work.
  • Stick with familiar, basic, healthy — and fast — recipes
  • Double-batch when you cook staple ingredients — chicken breasts, rice, sweet potatoes — so you can make two meals from one.
Welcome to Simple Start, our NEW 2-week starter plan filled with delicious and satisfying meal ideas to help you nail your first two weeks.
Yes, it’s really this simple:
  • Choose meals and snacks from the list — and eat them.
  • The goal of Simple Start is to get you in the habit of eating good-for-you foods. So for now, don’t worry about portion size. But if you do want guidance around portions, we’ve provided recommended portion sizes as visual clues.
  • Try to get in at least 6 glasses of water (with or without bubbles, unsweetened), coffee or tea (no sugar; fat-free milk only) or diet soda.
  • Limit yourself to 2 tsp of healthy oils per day, total. Healthy oils include olive, canola, safflower, sunflower and flaxseed.
We’ve even created a shopping list to help you navigate the grocery store aisles. The meals have swap options and flavor boosts, and there are plenty of options for vegetarians.
FREE REGISTRATION FOR ALL NEW MEMBERS!!!

Monday, December 23, 2013
Meet Simple Start! What is it? Well, it’s a 2-week starter plan for people who are new to Weight Watchers — or current members who want to reignite their motivation!Simple Start is based on our Simply Filling technique, which nudges you towards nutritious, satisfying foods. (We call these Weight Watchers Power Foods.) And, true to the name, we’ve made Simple Start easy to follow. Seriously — it’s really easy! You just pick from a list of good-for-you foods and start losing weight. There’s minimal counting involved!

Our Simple Start app makes choosing meals a breeze. There are 55 meals and snacks for you to choose from, plus swaps and flavor boosts to spice things up. If you don’t have a smartphone, don’t worry, you can get all of these delicious meals here on the website. How to get the appFor iPhone:- Go to the app store by clicking the app store icon from your phone
- Search for Weight Watchers Simple Start
- Click the box that says FREEFor Android:- Click on the Google Play icon on your decide
- Search for the Weight Watchers Simple Start App
- When you’ve got it, click the box that says Install. It you decided to continue, click accept & download 

When the app has downloaded, just log in with your WeightWatchers.com username and password. It’s that easy. So get started! Once you do, you’ll activate a load of cool stuff, including funrewards with badges and special messages. Happy Holidays!-The Weight Watchers Digital Team

Our Community’s New Year’s Resolutions

Have you given up on resolutions or are you using the new year as an reason to hunker down and meet your goals? Find out what our Community had to say about making resolutions.
Article By: Diana Kelly
WeightWatchers.com editors asked the Community what their resolutions are going to be.
Maintain weight lossSUSANHEIGL's last year's resolution was to lose weight. "I did it and now my resolution will be to keep it off!"

JULMA1120 says, "I think the best resolution, in terms of weight loss, would be to take control of eating and self-destructive behaviors, eat healthy, exercise and generally take care of ourselves to the point where we don't have any New Years' resolutions to make."
Meet fitness challenges
Community user KBL1969 has just hit Lifetime and says, “My hope is to stay motivated to continue my maintenance journey. I want to reach new heights in my fitness goals, too.”
PINKPUGSBITE plans to schedule workout time every day. “Now, I do it at different times which makes it easy to skip the workout altogether on some days. If I pick a particular time every day and stick to it, I'm sure my weight-loss results will be even greater.”
KDICLEME says, “This year, I will not only reach my goal but I will run a 5K. That is my resolution!”
“I really don't make resolutions anymore,” says Community user DESTELLE3. “I've been a Weight Watchers member for over two years now... I guess I ‘resolve’ to stay on track every day of my life. I work to stay on plan, to attend my yoga classes, to walk three to five times a week and to generally take care of myself. I don't really use a special date to mark that resolution. Thanks for the question. It really made me think!”
SPEACOCK9 has a lot of plans for the coming year, “…increasing exercise, planning for it and making it happen. To cook more so I am in control of what I put into my body and not eat so much processed, pre-packaged food. To worry about being healthy and not so much the number on the scale.”
Strive for health and peace of mind
Community user SOAPNUT101 says, "My resolution is to get to the weight I was before I started putting it on. I learned how to eat correctly through Weight Watchers. I have good days, and bad days. Yes I love my Big Mac but I know it tastes better once every six months than once a week.”
“I'm going to resolve not to punish myself every time I eat something [unhealthy],” says GIBSONTRIO1. “For example, when I go out to eat, I will plan to enjoy my meal instead of worrying about if I ordered the ‘wrong’ thing.”
DINI1954 is determined to “get back to basics whenever my weight starts edging back up.”
CLAUCKO says, “I resolve to remind myself each meal is a blessing... not a last-time-to-eat event.”
Healthy promises
Like many of us during these difficult financial times, Community user WEINERDOG_GRACIE plans on making monetary resolutions. “I am not a good saver at all. I am planning on setting up a budget for myself and hopefully break this habit I seem to have of not saving money. My goal is to pay off 50 percent to 75 percent of my debt by the end of the year.”
And FRENCHFRI38 says, “I need to quit smoking, but I’m scared to do it just yet... I want to lose the weight first.”
BRTRUMPET plans to sleep more next year. “Strive for eight hours a night!”
Don’t wait until the new year to change
FORBAM says, “I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. If you need to improve/change something in your life, why put it off until January 1?”
“I stopped resolutions years ago,” agrees FAST0013. “I keep living a good life.”
RING IN THE NEW YEAR with ON-PLAN TREATS LIKE THESE!

 

2014 New Year, New You Challenge: Week1

Welcome to 2014! Here's to a new year and a fresh resolve to set yourself up for long-term success. Hint: It's easier than you think.
Article By: Elly Trickett McNerne
With its cold weather and post-holiday anticlimax (not to mention uncomfortably snug pants), January is not the kindest month. Why, then, do so many of us also spend the first few weeks beating ourselves up about what we ate and drank in December? Right here and now, we are officially declaring the holidays Behind Us, and are ready to help you focus on your goals for 2014. Whether you’re new to Weight Watchers, or simply looking for help you recommitting or sticking to the Plan, we’ll help you succeed.

 Your goal might be a sizeable one, or it might be just a few pounds away. Whichever camp you fall into, contemplating a whole year stretched ahead of you can feel overwhelming. Instead of worrying about the next 12 months, take our Challenge to get a far more manageable set of activities, ideas and motivation. Read the articles over the next four weeks, and head to the Community to participate in the Challenge with others looking to start the year off right.

 Week 1
You have two tasks this week: Something you can do right away, and something that will help you in the long term. For both of these, we encourage you to embrace the opportunity to believe in yourself and feel confident that you can change the way you think about yourself and your goals.
To that end, the long-term task is to think outside the scale. Set a goal for yourself that will see you through the 4 weeks of this Challenge and beyond, that has nothing to do with the numbers on the scale or on your clothing labels. Write it down and put it somewhere you’ll see each morning. What is it that you want to feel at the end of the 4 weeks? And how do you want to build on this momentum as we go into spring and beyond?
Only you can answer these questions, but here are some prompts for you. Think about what your decision to be healthier will do for you: Being a great role model for your kids? Wearing clothes with confidence? Accepting social invitations you might have turned down before, knowing you’ll show up feeling great?

 Chew something new
As for the simple task you can do right away: Try a brand-new food this week, one you’ve never tried before. Try to choose a whole food rather than a packaged one — a fruit, vegetable, protein or grain. To get ideas, check out our list of pantry staples that are a cut above the usual. For more shopping tips, subscribers can check out our shopping Spaces tool.
That's it for week 1. Come back next week to get your next task in the 2014 New Year, New You Challenge. Good luck!

BAD WEATHER: If there will be a meeting cancellation due to SNOW, etc., please stay tuned to NTV or KHAS-TV.  I will call them to announce a meeting cancellation by 3 P.M. for Geneva and Superior...and as early as I can (or the night before) for Hastings Saturday morning meetings. You can also log on to their websites where they have weather closings. 
You can also call the Weight Watchers' 800 number to find out if we are having a meeting.
1-800-651-6000.
NEXT WEEK’S MEETING
What’s Your New Year’s Resolution? Let US help you make it
a SIMPLE START !


Member Recipes
SIMPLY FILLING: Barbecue Beef & Bacon Sliders
by danicasdaily.com
(20 sliders)
2 lbs. lean ground beef, around 10% fat
3 slices apple wood smoked thick cut bacon, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 cup mushrooms, finely chopped
sea salt & black pepper
Combine the beef through the mushrooms with 2 tsp. sea salt and 1 tsp. black pepper. Use your hands to mix
just until combined. Form into 2 inch patties.
Spray each patty with nonstick spray or drizzle with a little olive oil, then, sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.
Grill for 5 minutes on each side, rest and serve up with all your favorite toppings on sweet Hawaiian buns or
lettuce cups. (You would have to count the buns)
*****Simply Filling plus 0 WPA


The Crab Rangoonies
2011 Hungry Girl. All Rights Reserved.
4 ounces flaked imitation crabmeat (or high-quality crabmeat)
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/4 cup fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
2 wedges light spreadable Swiss cheese (recommended: The Laughing Cow Light), room temperature
1 teaspoon reduced-sodium or lite soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
16 small square wonton wrappers (often stocked near the tofu in the refrigerated section of the market)
Sweet and sour sauce, optional
Chinese-style hot mustard, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
To make your filling, combine all of the ingredients except the wonton wrappers and optional ingredients in a bowl, breaking up the cheese wedges as you add them.
Mix until uniform. Set aside.
Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and set that aside as well.
Lay one wonton wrapper flat on a clean, dry surface. Spoon a heaping 1/2 tablespoon of filling into the center.
Moisten all four edges by dabbing your fingers in water and going over the edges smoothly.
Fold the bottom left corner to meet the top right corner, forming a triangle and enclosing the filling.
Press firmly on the edges to seal.
Repeat with all of the remaining wrappers and filling, gently placing each rangoon flat on the baking sheet.
Spray the tops of the wontons with nonstick spray.
Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, carefully flipping halfway through, until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly.
If you like, dip your rangoonies in some sweet and sour sauce or hot mustard!
PER SERVING (1/4th of recipe, 4 crab rangoonies): 3P+


Low Calorie French Onion Soup Recipe
2 large sweet onions, sliced
2 large red onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf
3 14-ounce cans fat free beef broth
1/4 cup minced fresh chives, or scallions
6 slices light, whole wheat bread (I used Sara Lee Delightful)
1 cup shredded Gruyère, or fontina cheese
Spray a large saucepan with butter flavored nonfat cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Add sweet onions and red onions. Toss lightly.
Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until softened and starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
Add garlic, bay leaf, and thyme and cook, uncovered, stirring often, until starting to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.
Stir in red wine, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper; increase heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer.
Cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in scallions.
Meanwhile, toast bread and divide it among 6 bowls; top with cheese. Ladle the soup over the bread and cheese and serve immediately.
Number of servings (yield): 6
Serving size is 1 ½ cups
Each serving = 5 Points +


Cauliflower Cheese Soup with Bacon
● 4 servings – 1 1/2 cups per serving: = 6 PointsPlus
● 1 20 oz. bag frozen cauliflower
● 4 cups chicken broth
● 1 cup skim milk
● 2 garlic cloves
● 1 teaspoon olive oil
● 4 ounces cheese of choice
● 1/2 teaspoon salt
● 1/2 teaspoon pepper
● 4 tablespoons bacon bits (for garnish)
● 4 tablespoons chopped cooked asparagus (for garnish)
● 1 teaspoon lemon zest (for garnish)
1. Microwave the bag of cauliflower and press “frozen vegetable.”
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add garlic and cook for a couple minutes.
3. Add chicken broth, milk and cooked cauliflower and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Using a stick blender, puree soup. Remove from heat and add the cheese (I used 4 ounces of
cheese ends), salt and pepper and stir until cheese is melted.
5. Spoon into 4 bowls. I had leftover cooked asparagus, so I chopped the asparagus, zest and
bacon bits and divided them equally between the bowls.


Feta-Stuffed Chicken Burgers
From the Weight Watchers website; Yields 1 burger per serving. PPV = 5
  • 1 pound(s) uncooked ground chicken breast
  • 1 tbsp fresh oregano (I used Italian seasoning)
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder (I used garlic salt)
  • 7 tbsp feta cheese, crumbled (I used reduced fat feta)
  • 4 item(s) reduced-calorie hamburger roll(s) (mine come in at 80 calories each, with 5 grams of fiber!)
  • 1 cup(s) lettuce, romaine, cut into thick strips
  • 2/3 cup(s) roasted red peppers, sliced (without oil) (mine had oil, but I soaked most of it up)
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • cracked pepper to taste
  • 5 small olive(s), black, sliced (about 4 tsp)  (I don’t like olives, so I left this off)
  1. Preheat grill or broiler.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, oregano, garlic powder and feta; divide mixture into four balls and then press them gently into patties.
  3. Grill or broil patties until internal temperature of burgers reaches 165°F, about 7 to 8 minutes per side.
  4. Serve each burger on a bun with 1/4 of lettuce, 1/4 of peppers and 1 teaspoon of olives.

Shrimp Scampi for Two
■ 1 tablespoon olive oil
■ 1 tablespoon butter
■ 1/2 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined)
■ 1/2 cup white wine
■ 1/2 lemon (juice and zest)
■ 1/8 cup minced garlic
■ 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Heat the oil and melt the butter in a pan. Add shrimp and sauté for 2-3 minutes a side.
Remove the shrimp from the pan. Add the wine, lemon juice and zest and bring to a
boil. Simmer the liquid until reduced by half - between 3 to 5 minutes. Add the minced
garlic and simmer until fragrant. Return shrimp and toss together. Sprinkle with dried
parsley.
Two servings each = 6 Points Plus

This newsletter is in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers, Inc. It is simply a motivational tool that I offer to members who attend my Weight Watchers meetings and wish to receive it.
Remove from list? If you no longer wish to receive weekly newsletters from me, please reply to this message indicating "Remove from list" in either the subject header or the body of the message.
I also try to post the newsletter on our private FB page "Zig's Winners" and the Google Blog called Midweek Minutes. Find us on FB and ask to join
our own private support group!

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