MIDWEEK MINUTES August 13, 2016
Midweek
Minutes
August 13,
2016
Hello,
Winners!
Kids start school on
Monday...had two days of in-service...it’s now REAL!!! It’s a New Year, and
it’s a FRESH START!
Kids are getting ready as
well, but teachers need to get ready too. I got the food shopping done so I
have healthy stuff at home and for school. I have bandaids for the blisters I
will incur the first day. I’m ready...I think. It’s always fun to see the kids
with their new supplies and outfits for the first day.
so . .
I am
now in training for the Teacher Olympics in a few events such as bladder
control, room organization, and speed-eating. For those teachers and parents
out there, you know it’s going to be a busy week, and I know I will be on
caffeine on Monday evening as I travel to Superior for the meeting. I’ll be
there. I hope you will too because, well, it’s IMPORTANT!!!!
In
honor of “Back to School” week, I’ve taken the liberty to list some teaching
tips here that I have translated into weight-management
tips.
1. Listen to
advice, but trust your gut. Weight Watchers BEYOND THE
SCALE is the plan. MEETINGS are the place where you can share ideas about the
plan and make it work with your life. You can get great tips when you attend
meetings so that you don’t feel as though you are going it alone. Ultimately,
you will know which tips work for you, and that’s what makes the the plan your
own. Believe in yourself!
2. Set
aside weekly prep time. If you use your meeting night as YOUR TIME to
get your week planned, or if you have another day where you plan the week, this
is CRUCIAL for success. Organize yourself. Get your materials in place so that
you are aiming for the most success you can in your day and your week. Your
plan might change, but knowing that you HAVE a plan is going to make starting
your week so much more successful and less stressful.
3. Expect
to make hideous mistakes. Expect to feel like quitting. Expect to have
a horrible week at the scale. Expect to lose your mojo. Everyone does. Come
to your meetings and find strength as the fabulous TEAM we are! Learn from the
things which didn’t work and regroup. Don’t try to change too many things at on
time.
4. Know
your subject. Read your materials. Look up the SMART POINTS. Measure
and eyeball portion sizes. If you don’t know something, use the wonderful
resources in your meetings, online, and with other members to find out the
answers.
5. Have
fun! Losing weight should NOT be a chore. Strive for progress and
excellence, not perfection. Smile. Do some fun activity. Take some ME TIME to
keep you balanced. Get enough sleep. It’s always better after
sleep!
So, I’m getting the mindset to
go back into the trenches of high school life. Retirement? There are days I
think about that. Mostly, I get just as excited as the kids to go back...just
don’t tell them! See you at the meeting! --Zig
Member
Milestones
Superior: – 18.6. lbs.
Hastings: –3.2 lbs.
Orville and Wilbur Wright. J.K. Rowling. Bill Gates. Oprah. If any of these notable people had given up after their first, or third, or 10th setback, none of us would know their names today. Of course, they didn’t give up. They kept going, learning from their failures, and eventually succeeding. The rest, as they say, is history.
Obstacles crop up in every journey, especially with weight loss. And it can be hard to stay positive in the face of them. But the most successful "losers" are the ones who simply refuse to give up. They achieve their goals by persevering, learning from their mistakes, and embracing optimism.
As you discussed in your meeting and explored in your Weekly, negative thinking can hold you up, whether you tend to downplay the good things you’re doing or assume that one slip means disaster. Hey, we’re all prone to negative thinking. The problem is that it can be self-fulfilling. A more effective approach, according to research into what leads to weight-loss success, is confidence and positive thinking coupled with realistic expectations (like accepting the fact that you’re likely to slip a few times, and that it will take time to reach your goal).
Here’s how that might play out: You step on the scale at some point and see a gain, a smaller loss than you expected, or no movement at all. What happens next? Do you beat yourself up and throw in the towel? Or do you look at the big picture and think about how far you've come? Do you take a look back at the week and see where you might make a change? And no matter what, do you get right back on track as soon as possible? Those are ways to apply positive thinking to situations that could trip you up otherwise.
Putting a better spin on things, while accepting the lessons that setbacks can teach, can restore your confidence, keep you motivated, and make your path to success smoother.
Nowadays, not everyone is getting to experience that sense of joy. We’ve become an increasingly indoor society. The average American spends 87 percent of her time inside—a trend likely related to the rise of computers, technology, and workplace demands in our lives, but also to fears (unfounded or not) of sun damage, skin cancer, or even tick-borne diseases. So widespread is the problem that American journalist Richard Louv coined the term “nature deficit disorder” in his 2005 book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. It describes the sense of alienation from the natural world that our kids are developing from spending so much time indoors, and so little outside playing in the snow or wading down creek beds. But missing out on nature affects us all, no matter what our age.
Most of us are at least somewhat aware of how toxic indoor life can be for us—sitting for hours slumped in a soft chair, breathing stale air, staring at an electronic screen (or four). What we may not realize is just how profound an impact stepping outside into a world of trees and hills, sunlight and water can have on our minds, bodies, and souls.
A Natural High
“To be truly healthy, we need nature,” explains Craig Chalquist, PhD, program chair of the East-West Psychology department at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. “We evolved in a natural world. Technology keeps us indoors for so long we forget we’re part of it.” He teaches courses in ecotherapy, a discipline that promotes well-being through interaction with nature. Chalquist calls ecotherapy a form of nature-assisted health care (like animal-assisted therapy or gardening therapy). “It’s all connected to the theory of biophilia,” he says. “Philia means ‘being drawn to,’ and biophilia means we evolved to be drawn to nature. It’s something we’re born with and that we share with other creatures. In other words, we start from connection, not from having to learn to connect. When we look at, listen to, and smell nature, we’re in touch with our own deep origins and those of all our ancestors.”
An ever-growing body of research supports how much happier and healthier nature can make us. One recent study showed that a group who walked in a forest had lowered blood pressure and improved pulmonary function, while another group walking the same distance in a city saw no benefits. And 2015 research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that study participants who took a 90-minute walk in a scenic natural area experienced a marked decrease in negative thought patterns, as measured by both a questionnaire and a brain scan. Yet another study showed that a 20-minute stroll in a natural setting could invigorate you as much as a cup of coffee. Though it’s great to know there’s scientific evidence, I never really needed that confirmation. I feel it every time the sun hits my face, whether I’m marveling at the Grand Teton or ambling through the California woods. I know it works. The question is why?
The Upper Reaches of Pleasure
What I feel when I experience the beauty of nature—that sense of wonder and excitement—has been described by psychologists as “awe.” In a seminal paper from 2003, psychology professor Dacher Keltner, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley, and Jonathan Haidt, PhD, professor of ethical leadership at New York University, wrote that awe is a feeling “in the upper reaches of pleasure and on the boundary of fear.” They explain that awe is composed of two elements: perceived vastness (sensing something that’s larger than ourselves), and accommodation (our need to assimilate that immensity into our minds).
That’s what I—and probably you—feel when standing at the foot of a raging waterfall or atop a mountain or even looking up at the night sky. Individual concerns like a late cable bill or sharp remark from a co-worker melt away. I remember that nature isn’t just outside me: I’m part of it all. A new study from the University of California, Irvine, suggests that experiencing nature-inspired awe may increase our sense of compassion and responsibility toward others. Seeing ourselves in relation to the vast world beyond us may put our lives in perspective and attune us to the welfare of other people, and nature itself.
Though awe is still a relatively understudied emotion, research is starting to show that it may have an impact on physical health, too. A study co-authored by Keltner in 2015 found that subjects who reported feelings of wonder and awe had lower levels of a cytokine called interleukin-6; high levels of the substance are associated with inflammation, autoimmune disease, and depression.
The Turning Tide
Awe is what so many of us have lost by staying inside. Worldwide, though, more and more of us are feeling that loss and trying to recapture our sense of oneness with nature. Take shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing,” a Japanese practice that involves leisurely walks through wooded areas to help reduce stress. Studies show that by consciously focusing on engaging with the environment, forest bathers can boost their immune systems, soothe their nerves, improve their mood, and their sleep. The Forest Agency of Japan coined the term shinrin-yoku in 1982, and the country now has 44 accredited forests.
Many doctors have also picked up on the health benefits of spending time outdoors, some even writing prescriptions for their patients to get out into green spaces and exercise so that they can reap the health rewards. “It’s rare to find a medical intervention that’s free, low-risk, and easy to do,” says Robert Zarr, MD, founder and director of Park Prescription at Unity Health Care and Park Rx Advisor to the National Park Service. “Common sense says you should spend more time outside. But sometimes it’s hard for people to change.”
He adds that he’s seen marked improvements in obesity, asthma, and even ADHD symptoms in his patients who faithfully follow his prescriptions. The change doesn’t have to be huge. Even if you don’t think your local park or backyard garden is exactly awesome, on some level it may be. A meta-analysis of studies from 2010 showed that your mood and self-esteem could improve when you get out into nature and move for as little as five minutes at a time.
Best of all, once you get started, you can get hooked: Exercising outdoors made people feel not just happier, but more likely to repeat the experience regularly, found a study published in Environmental Science and Technology. I know that something keeps drawing me back to my special place every weekend. Perhaps it’s awe. Perhaps it’s peace. Perhaps it’s the joy of feeling part of everything. All I know is, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
School Lunches They'll Love
Worried your kid's
going to ditch your lovingly-prepared bagged lunch the minute she hits the
cafeteria? Try these healthy, kid-pleasing strategies.
If you prepare a brownbag lunch for your
child to take to school, you know the daily challenge it presents. What can you
make quickly and easily that constitutes a healthy, nutritious lunch—and one
that your son or daughter will actually like? When life gets hectic, it can be
very tempting to quit spending the time and effort and just buy a prepackaged
kids' meal or send your child to the school with money for a cafeteria
lunch.
If you truly want your little one to have
a healthy lunch, however, that's not the best move. A meal you prepare yourself
— with ingredients you control—is usually far healthier and more nutritious than
the typical lunch bought at the supermarket or school
cafeteria.
"Up to about the seventh grade, most
children are glad to have lunches brought from home," says Sheri DeMaris, a
school guidance teacher and author of Macro Magic: For Parents and Kids!.
"In cafeterias today, you'll see a wide variety of foods in lunchboxes,
including dinner leftovers — and even sushi."
Even if you're not quite ready to roll
sushi for your tykes, these expert strategies should help make planning and
packing a tasty, nutritious lunch a whole lot easier.
Embrace the familiar
Refining your kid's tastes in box lunch fare does take persuasion. "Kids like French fries — that's just reality," says chef and specialty caterer Susan Wolfe-Hill. "As you're introducing healthy foods for lunch, you have to do some teaching and be imaginative yourself."
Refining your kid's tastes in box lunch fare does take persuasion. "Kids like French fries — that's just reality," says chef and specialty caterer Susan Wolfe-Hill. "As you're introducing healthy foods for lunch, you have to do some teaching and be imaginative yourself."
Wolfe-Hill sees the lunchbox as an
extension of healthful choices you make when you feed your child at home. "You
start off trying to get from peanut butter and jelly on processed bread to the
next step — maybe organic peanut butter in a cup, with a spoon, plus carrot
sticks or celery." Think of it as a gradual process in which your son or
daughter acquires a taste for healthier fare.
You
provide, they decide
Kids' have opinions, so let them express their gustatory preferences. Keep exposing them to fruits, vegetables and whole grains of many varieties (start with ones that are most visually appealing). Then offer samples for tasting and let them tell you which of several they like best.
Kids' have opinions, so let them express their gustatory preferences. Keep exposing them to fruits, vegetables and whole grains of many varieties (start with ones that are most visually appealing). Then offer samples for tasting and let them tell you which of several they like best.
"Even with grapes and berries, which most
kids like anyway, pick up five different varieties at the store," suggests
Johnnie Smith, a Los Angeles chef and caterer with a school-age son. "Wash them
up and put them on your cutting board, then say, 'Which three should we put in
the container for you to eat today?'
Ditch the "healthy" packaging
Sometimes a little subterfuge can go a long way. "Potato chips or veggie chips that you bought in the organic section look pretty much like commercial chips when they're in a clear baggie," says Wolfe-Hill. Even classic sandwiches can get a subtley healthy makeover, says DeMaris. "Go down the natural-food aisle and pick out the healthy bread, organic corn tortillas and other wraps," she says. "Then pick out your organic peanut butter, natural hummus, tofu mayonnaise, local cheeses, and focus on getting the most nutritional value out of each."
Sometimes a little subterfuge can go a long way. "Potato chips or veggie chips that you bought in the organic section look pretty much like commercial chips when they're in a clear baggie," says Wolfe-Hill. Even classic sandwiches can get a subtley healthy makeover, says DeMaris. "Go down the natural-food aisle and pick out the healthy bread, organic corn tortillas and other wraps," she says. "Then pick out your organic peanut butter, natural hummus, tofu mayonnaise, local cheeses, and focus on getting the most nutritional value out of each."
THIS WEEK IN THE MEETING ROOM
The Real Skinny on Weight Loss
We all know what a myth is. It’s a false belief,
a not-so-actual “fact”. When it comes to weight loss there are many of them out
there. Some stem from old wives’ tales while others are a result of out-dated
science. How many of these weight loss myths have you
heard?
-
You must cut out a certain food group to lose weight.
-
Eating certain foods can speed up your metabolism.
-
Don’t eat after 6 p.m.
What
other weight loss myths have you heard?
Bring
them to the meeting this week to get the truth…and perhaps a good laugh! We’ll
see you there!
For
our LAST meeting in Hastings, members brought these great treats.
Here
are their Member Recipes (plus a couple
more)
Banana Pancake Bites
yield: 24 PANCAKE BITESINGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup Bisquick Heart Smart Pancake & Baking Mix
- 2/3 cup skim milk
- ½ cup reduced calorie breakfast syrup
- 1 large ripe banana, chopped into small pieces
DIRECTIONS:
- Pre-heat the oven to 350. Lightly mist a 24 count mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together Bisquick mix, milk and syrup until thoroughly combined.
- Divide the batter evenly amongst the prepared mini muffin tin cups.
- Sprinkle the chopped banana pieces over the tops of each muffin cup.
- Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes until golden and cooked through.
WEIGHT WATCHERS SMARTPOINTS:
1 per pancake bite (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Cream
Cheese Cherry Dessert
1
pkg sugar free instant vanilla pudding
1
–8oz pkg light cream cheese
a
20 oz. can lite cherry pie filling
1
3/4 cup 1% or skim milk
a
–8oz lite whipped topping
1/2
angel food cake
Break
angel food cake into pieces and line bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Mix softened cream
cheese, pudding, and milk together. Pour over top of cake.Spoon cheery filling
over the top of this and then cover with whipped topping. Refrigerate until
set. Cut into 15 pieces for 7 SmartPoints or 12 pieces for 8.5
SmartPoints.
French Toast Casserole
5 cups bread cubes
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon margarine, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.
Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.
Makes 6 Servings
Nutritional Info Per Serving: Calories 207; Fat 7g; Carbs 26g; Fiber 1g; Protein 8.5g; 7 Smartpoints
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon margarine, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions :
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter an 8×8 inch baking pan.Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.
Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.
Makes 6 Servings
Nutritional Info Per Serving: Calories 207; Fat 7g; Carbs 26g; Fiber 1g; Protein 8.5g; 7 Smartpoints
Mandarin Orange Mousse
5 SmartPoints Value
Ingredients:
1 small box of sugar-free orange
Jell-O
1 small box of sugar-free, fat-free Jell-O white
chocolate pudding mix
1 small can mandarin orange slices,
drained
1 8 oz. tub of fat-free Cool
Whip
Instructions:
Mix Jell-O with 1 cup boiling water. Stir to dissolve
completely. Add 1 cup cold water and let sit for 5
minutes. Using electric mixer, beat in pudding and mix
until well combined. Fold in drained fruit and
Cool Whip. Chill and
serve. Makes 4 1-cup servings.
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 http://midweekminutes.blogspot.com/.
Find us on FB and
ask to join our own
private support group!
Comments
Post a Comment