MIDWEEK MINUTES August 19, 2017

Midweek Minutes

August 19, 2017

Hello, Winners!

Of course, the big news this upcoming week is the solar eclipse on Monday.  I should be at our meeting on time.  Our school is taking the 7-12 kids to Kearney.  It is expected that 10,00 people will be attending the event there.  Since we are to be gone almost all of the school day, I anticipate much of our time will be spent in traffic!

How to connect the eclipse with weight management?  Hmmm...so I googled and found an article at http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/solar-eclipse-horoscope/.

You can read the whole article, but I found these thoughts interesting.

Eclipses don't just have a visual impact, but they have a great personal impact as well, according to Perrakis. "Eclipse cycles tend to run in 18-month periods," she explains. "And so for people who are trying to understand it personally, they might want to look back first to the last solar eclipse, which happened in March of 2016. It's going to be the end of that cycle for people. So they're gonna say, 'What have I learned since March 2016 until August 2017? What themes have come up for me? What challenges have come up for me?' It's about seeing this eclipse moment as an opportunity to change the way you're orienting yourself to those challenges or those experiences or those lessons and themes." An eclipse is the best time—astrologically speaking—to take stock of your life and yourself. It should be a time of reflection and learning, a time when understanding your past can give you a better concept of your future.

Well, why not take the eclipse as an opportunity to take stock of your weight management life? Have you been to a meeting lately?  Are you making good choices?  As you look forward to a new season, are there some things you want to tweak?

Here's a great poem from my leader-buddy Sue to spark you into attacking the new season head-on! (Thanks, Sue!)

START OVER

If you've started out in pursuit of your goal

and you've really tried with your heart and soul,

but somehow things got out of control - START OVER

When you've tried your best to do what you should

and you thought this time that you surely would,

but once again you didn't do good - START OVER

When you've worked so hard to follow a healthy way

and you fought to win a victory each day,

but one more time you went astray - START OVER

When the road to success seemed much too long

and each temptation was oh so strong

and once again you gave in to wrong - START OVER

When you've told your friends what you planned to do

and trusted them to help you through

and soon discovered its up to you - START OVER

When you know you must be physically fit,

but your hope seems gone and you're stuck in a pit,

that's not the time for you to quit - START OVER

When the week seems long and successes few

and at weigh-in time you're feeling blue,

remember today is just for you - START OVER

To start again means a victory's been won

and starting over AGAIN means a race well won.

Starting over AGAIN proves it can be done,

so don't just sit there - START OVER!!

It’s been a long first week of school with kids, so I’ll make the newsletter short.  Today, I have also been working on putting current members into our new MEG computer!!!!  Hope to see you in the meeting room...and be sure to wear your solar protection glasses for the eclipse! --Zig

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We saw great Member Milestones this week!

Total Loss: -5.6 lbs.

15 lb. star

Pam W.

Sheryl T.

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We’re going DIGITAL on August 28!  We might be practicing on Monday evening...and asking if all your information is updated.  If you have not been to a meeting in over a year, we will be asking you to fill out new paperwork.  If it’s been since May when you attended, and you are a Monthly Pass member, please come a bit early to the meeting.

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Shedding pounds can be challenging—and it can be doubly so when it’s tough to separate weight-loss fact from fiction. In the Weekly, we tackled such myths as “cut out carbs,” “certain foods can burn fat,” and “losing weight wrecks your metabolism.” Alas, they’re all fake news.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the truth behind some of these myths:

Myth: You should cut out carbs to lose weight.

Fact: Cutting out carbs may result in short-term weight loss—but any eating plan that banishes an entire category of food usually winds up feeling restrictive. Who can keep that going for the long term? What's more, you'll miss out on complex carbs—primarily whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, popcorn, oats, and farro—that deliver fiber and key nutrients, including protein. Other valuable carbs include sweet potatoes, corn, and peas. What you might want to dial back on are the simple carbs that don't deliver much in the way of nutrition: primarily forms of sugar, including table sugar, honey, and corn syrup.

Myth: Certain foods can boost your metabolism.

Fact: No foods affect your metabolism in the long run. Chile peppers. Green tea. Apple cider vinegar. At one time or another, all have been touted as fat-burning or metabolism-boosting. They are, sort of—but in order to reap the benefits from these foods you have to eat a LOT of them for a LONG time—which is just not realistic.

Myth: My metabolism will be wrecked if I lose weight.

Fact: Lose weight at a steady, safe rate and your metabolism will adjust with you. When you lose weight quickly, your body struggles to make sure that your needs are met—breathing, brain power, and so on, and it adjusts metabolism to protect these basic life functions. So slow is the "weigh" to go! Staying physically active while also strength training a few times a week can preserve muscle mass, which also helps maintain your metabolism.

Myth: Late night eating leads to weight gain.

Fact: If you eat within your daily SmartPoints Target, it doesn't matter when you eat—unless, some research suggests, you eat large, mixed meals (cheeseburger and fries, for instance) at night. There are other reasons not to eat at night: It can disrupt your sleep cycles and it might dull your appetite for breakfast in the morning and lead to overeating later in the day.

Illustration by Deborah DeLue

And here are a few more myths—busted!

Myth: Smoothies are a healthy option.

Fact: For weight loss, smoothies are not always the best choice. Although smoothies can be chock-full of healthy ingredients such as nonfat yogurt, fruits, and vegetables, they're concentrated sources of calories that you tend to take in quickly because you drink rather than eat them. You're likely to feel more satisfied if you eat the ingredients whole as opposed to liquefied.

Myth: Working out is the best way to lose weight.

Fact: Exercise by itself has many health advantages, but weight loss is not one of them. Studies have shown that working out without cutting calories doesn't really affect weight loss. What does help: pairing a healthy eating plan (hello, SmartPoints®!) with exercise on most days of the week; that can help you lose and maintain weight loss. If you want to gain and maintain muscle mass (which also helps burn calories), throw some strength training activities in the mix. And if you're at a weight-loss plateau, adding activity might help get the scale moving again.

Myth: Superfoods are better for you.

Fact: So-called "superfoods" like Brussel sprouts, acai, pumpkin seeds, and so on do have nutritional value, but often it's only when they're eaten in their purest form—which is not always not readily available. Besides, no one food by itself can keep you healthy. It’s the combination of foods that are best for health.

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Seven Layer Salad 2 SP

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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
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