MIDWEEK MINUTES December 16, 2017
Midweek Minutes
December 16, 2017
Hello, Winners!
‘Twas about a week until Christmas
And especially this year
Everyone was excited
For FREESTYLE is here!
With zero-points foods
And rollover Points
The new year additions
Do not disappoint.
Well, I could go on and on...but there is a lot of enthusiasm for the 2018 Freestyle program. People are putting the program into practice. There’s less pressure to track EVERYTHING and worry about portion size with the zero-points food as a back-up. Members feel that the holiday parties and food can be more manageable this year. That’s great news!
We hope you will join us for one last meeting before Christmas. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fall on Mondays this year, so we will not have meetings. We are debating whether or not to have meetings on Tuesday those weeks. What are YOUR thoughts? Email me back or tell me this coming Monday night.
If I don’t see you before Christmas, I WILL send a newsletter each weekend. I just might get it posted on Facebook too.
Merry Christmas! --Zig
Member Milestones
Total Loss: -15 lbs.
We're humans, not robots, so we don't do things—or eat—the same way Every. Single. Day. That goes double, or triple, for this time of year. From the inevitable goodie-basket-from-a-vendor gracing the office kitchen to your neighbor's legendary New Year's Eve blowout to the little celebrations in between, normal eating routines can take a hit. Food (often high in SmartPoints® values) and drink (ditto) abounds this time of year. How to deal? With WW FreestyleTM, of course!
Your program tools
Remember all those zero Points® foods? A surprising number of them show up in holiday dishes: shrimp cocktail, chicken teriyaki skewers, 3-bean salad, and so on. And you can round things out with zero Points crudités (the fancy way to say "raw veggies"): carrots, sweet peppers, grape tomatoes...
And work your rollovers! Up to 4 unused daily SmartPoints automatically roll over into your weekly SmartPoints, which can give you a nice nest egg (eggs are zero Points!) for that New Year's Eve bash or Christmas Eve dinner.
Be a food (and booze) snob
Remember that vendor goodie basket? Chances are those cellophane-wrapped cookies and processed-cheese wedges aren't really all that good. But that blushing-red Anjou pear or the orange jewel of a clementine will deliver juicy goodness for zero Points. Don't waste your precious SmartPoints on anything unworthy of you. Save them for your mom's awesome lasagna, or really good champagne, or whatever makes your tastebuds truly happy.
Have your cake and eat it, too
Whether you're hosting a holiday event, or contributing to one, check out our delicious options for Hanukkah celebrations, Kwanzaa feasts, some zero Points holiday picks, and for finales, a roundup of delectable desserts.
Set up for success
Heading into a party hungry often means your stomach, not your head, is leading the way straight to the buffet; so eat a low SmartPoints snack or small meal before you go. You might want to allot a certain amount of SmartPoints for the event, and even pre-track. Once you're there, keep your hands full—with a glass of bubbly (alcoholic or not) and a plate (empty or not)—and steer away from the food table. Check out these other savvy party pointers. And if you wind up overdoing it, get back on track at your next meal and keep moving forward!
For most people, the Christmas season is a joyful time, focused on family, togetherness, and the spirit of giving. For a lot of others, it’s also about food. Cookies. Candy. Hot chocolate. Egg nog. For someone trying to lose weight, the holidays can seem like a huge food pitfall. But they don’t have to be. To emerge on the other side of Christmas without a Santa belly, try hosting the festivities yourself—the healthy way.
It may sound impossible. Trying to explain to your mother-in-law why you’re not eating her famous pumpkin pie or refusing a helping of Aunt Sue’s sugar cookies is hard enough, but convincing your family to sacrifice their favorite foods feels like the epitome of awkward. The key, according to longtime Weight Watchers leader Gloria Munson, is to remember that committing to a healthy lifestyle is a permanent change, not a temporary diet plan that can be put on hold to indulge your craving for that slice of fruitcake.
“It’s just a lifestyle change, and you learn to adjust to that,” she says. “It’s not like, ‘Let’s just do it until the holidays.’ You have to be able to do it every day.”
The problems start when it’s your turn to host Christmas and your family doesn’t share your enthusiasm. When you’ve decided to do the holidays the healthy way, it’s time to get your relatives on board. Munson’s a fan of the upfront method, where you tell them ahead of time what to expect on the dinner table in your home.
“I just would say, ‘I prefer healthy alternatives, so let’s do things like grilled salmon. Let’s make baked potatoes,’ ” she said. “You have to ask them for help.”
If your relatives remain adamant about enjoying their favorite holiday dishes as-is, let them—but provide yourself with plenty of alternatives. David Grotto, a registered dietitian and president of Chicago-based Nutrition Housecall, eschews low-cal versions of decadent dishes for naturally healthy alternatives, including vegetable platters, whole-grain breads, and fruit salads, while allowing himself small portions of the good stuff, too.
“My philosophy is this: why not enjoy that food but have a small amount of it, and then fill up on other, healthy foods?” he says. “You’re still eating the same amount of food, just less of the decadent stuff.”
If you'd rather stick to an all-healthy menu, try telling your relatives that they’re welcome to prepare and bring any foods you’re not serving. Brett Curtiss, a vegan who’s currently pursuing a master’s degree in dietetics, used this method while hosting Thanksgiving for the first time, and says it eliminated any potential food drama.
“My wife and I made our own stuff, and we told our friends and family that we were making vegetarian food, but that if anyone wanted to bring anything else, they were welcome to,” he says.
But, he adds, his guests didn’t need to bring much, because turning a holiday dinner into a healthy meal doesn’t have to mean sacrificing favorite dishes like stuffing and mashed potatoes.
According to Munson, the base ingredients for most Christmas dinner foods are healthy on their own. “Turkey happens to be a very low SmartPoints™ value food, which is great,” she says.
It’s the additives (cream in the mashed potatoes; gravy on the turkey) that up the calories, Curtiss says. As a vegan, he’s had to experiment to find healthy versions of most recipes, but says it’s not hard to do. Most dishes will taste close enough to the original that even non-healthy eaters won’t notice the difference.
“There are a lot of good substitutions for things like cream and butter,” he says. “People don’t necessarily know the difference unless you tell them. My mom makes this yam and apple pie that’s kind of like a sweet potato pie with apples, and one year she decided to use the vegan margarine instead of butter. It tastes exactly the same. Nobody knew the difference.”
Making sure the healthy versions have the same appearance as the regular ones is also key, he says. “If it doesn’t look right, people will be more hesitant to eat it. I try to make it look as appealing as possible.” Doing this well also allows the meal to speak for itself—meaning less chatter about the food, and more time to eat it, he says.
“Our first Thanksgiving as vegetarians, we brought stuff over and said, ‘Oh, we made this squash casserole, it’s really good. It’s totally vegan.’ I think that stigmatized it,” Curtiss recalls. “It’s better not to try to hype it up at all and just let people judge the recipe on how it looks and how it tastes.”
To eat healthy without sacrificing flavor, explore alternative ingredients. In mashed potatoes, Curtiss is a fan of soy milk; Munson recommends fat-free half-and-half or chicken broth. Sweet holiday treats, like cookies and hot chocolate, can also be modified to contain fewer calories without losing taste.
“Try no-bake cookies, which don’t contain butter,” said Bobby Scheve, executive chef at Beyond, an Asian-fusion restaurant in the Shenandoah Valley. “Or try using alternative sugars, like fruit, instead of white sugars.”
Basically, any of your favorite holiday foods can be made in a healthy and satisfying way, and you can make it through the season without having to loosen your belt. The important thing, Grotto says, is to know that you can do it.
“The holidays don’t have to be a weight-gain sentence,” he says. “If you’re on your game, you can lose weight and still have fun.”
Helpful tips
- Know what you’ll be eating this week. Map out your meals for the week so you’ll know exactly what to buy.
- Beware of sale items. Resist enticing offers of food that you don’t need. Unless it’s on your list, don’t fall for it.
- Find a “kid safe” checkout. This is the one without the candy and snacks.
- Use the Barcode Scanner in the WW app to see the SmartPoints of almost every packaged food.
- Eat before you go. It will help you stick to your list and be better armed to resist tempting offers.
- Choose snack packs over bulk. Yes, the giant bag (of pretzels, cereal, whatever) is the better deal. But research has shown that for most products, stockpiling increases the amount consumed. The worry-free portion control of individual packs makes the extra price a sound investment in your healthy future.
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 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.
Those of you who have signed up for the REMIND notices on your phone, I will send you a remind message. I will also try to post on FB.
Member Recipes
Holiday Frozen Yogurt Bark
1/6th of recipe: 88 calories, 2.5g total fat (2.5g sat fat), 53mg sodium, 14.5g carbs, <0.5g fiber, 10.5g sugars, 1.5g protein
Freestyle™ SmartPoints® value 4*
Ingredients:
1 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
Dash salt
1/8 tsp. red food coloring
1 candy cane (or 3 mini candy canes or 3 starlight mint candies), crushed
1 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Line a 9-inch pie pan with parchment paper. (A springform pan works best.)
In a medium-large bowl, combine whipped topping, yogurt, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and salt. Mix until smooth and uniform.
Spread mixture into the pan, and smooth out the top.
Place food coloring in a very small bowl.
Dip the back of a spoon or a knife into the food coloring, and swirl into the yogurt mixture.
Top with remaining ingredients, and lightly press to adhere.
Freeze until solid, at least 2 hours.
MAKES 6 SERVINGS www.hungrygirl.com
Shrimp Scampi Wonton Cups
1/5th of recipe (2 wonton cups): 97 calories, 2g total fat (1g sat fat), 278mg sodium, 12.5g carbs, 1g fiber, 1g sugars, 6.5g protein
Freestyle™ SmartPoints® value 2*
Ingredients
One 8.2-oz. box Gorton’s Simply Bake Shrimp Classic Scampi
10 small square wonton wrappers (refrigerated and stocked with the tofu)
1 cup roughly chopped spinach
1/3 cup drained and roughly chopped roasted red peppers (previously packed in water)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
Remove bag of Gorton’s Simply Bake Shrimp from the box, and place the bag on a baking sheet, window side up.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until shrimp have cooked through.
Meanwhile, prepare the wonton cups. Place each wonton wrapper in a cup of the muffin pan, and press it into the bottom and sides. Lightly spray with nonstick spray. On an empty rack of the oven, bake until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.
Once cool enough to handle, plate wonton cups, and fill with spinach and red peppers.
Once cooked, cut bag of shrimp to release steam before opening entirely. Evenly distribute saucy shrimp among the wonton cups, about 2 shrimp each.
MAKES 5 SERVINGS
Candy Cane Glazed Donuts
1/6th of recipe (1 donut): 181 calories, 2g total fat (1g sat fat), 300mg sodium, 39g carbs, 2g fiber, 26g sugars, 3g protein
Freestyle™ SmartPoints® value 9*
Ingredients
Donuts
1 1/4 cups moist-style devil's food cake mix (a little less than half a box)
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/4 cup (about 2 large) egg whites or fat-free liquid egg substitute
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar (not packed)
1 1/2 tbsp. unsweetened vanilla almond milk, light vanilla soymilk, or fat-free dairy milk
2 - 3 drops peppermint extract
Dash salt
1 full-sized candy cane (or 3 minis), crushed
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 6-cavity standard donut pan with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, combine all donut ingredients. Add 1/4 cup water, and mix until completely smooth and uniform. Evenly distribute batter into the rings of the donut pan, and smooth out the tops. (See HG Tip below.)
Bake until a toothpick inserted into a donut comes out mostly clean, about 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, place a cooling rack over a baking sheet.
Let donuts cool completely, about 10 minutes in the pan and 15 minutes on the cooling rack.
In a medium bowl, combine glaze ingredients except candy cane, and whisk until smooth and uniform.
One at a time, dunk the tops of the donuts into the glaze, coating the top halves. Return to the cooling rack, and sprinkle evenly with crushed candy cane.
Allow glaze to set, about 10 minutes. (Glaze will run off; that's why you've got the rack over that baking sheet.)
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
HG Tip: To make your donuts look extra beautiful, fill the donut cavities using a DIY piping bag. Just transfer the batter to a plastic bag, and squeeze it down toward a bottom corner. Snip off that corner with scissors, creating a small hole for piping. Ta-da!
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