Maximize the Minutes

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Here is the Meeting Summary from Saturday 24th, 2011.

In the meeting room last week we talked about different ways that we can maximize our minutes. We started by looking at what we are already doing to make it easier for us to stay on plan. We are not able to create more time, but we are able to plan and prioritize so that we can stick to the plan.

Gayle Reading, a time management consultant from Miami, who runs private and corporate workshops and for the last ten years has specialized in streamlining work schedules for women juggling careers and family. "Unfortunately, being chronically busy is a fast track to burn-out. That's why people come to me - to have someone give them permission to make simple lifestyle changes to get more time to themselves."

Sound appealing? Here are some of Reading's tips that will help you add an hour to every day:

In the morning:
- Get up earlier and go for a walk, so your evening is free to relax after work.
Buy groceries for tonight's dinner on your way to work, rather than on the way home - the store will be less crowded.
- Put in a load of wash and get your partner to help you hang it out. When you get home, it will be done.
- Clean one room before you go to work - by the weekend the housework will be done.
- Spend fifteen minutes soaking in an aromatherapy bath before the kids are awake. "You won't oversleep any more because you'll look forward to getting out of bed," says Reading.

In transit (on the bus or train):
- Write birthday cards or letters.
- Read the newspaper (and skim the headlines) or listen to a talking book.
- Work out your day's schedule.

At work:
- Take breaks - go for a walk or head to the park for lunch - you'll work far more effectively all afternoon.
- Ring ahead to check whether your doctor is running on time.
- Make a "to do" list: "Then number each task in order of importance," says Reading. "Tackle the biggest most taxing job first and you'll feel more energized all day."
- Stop being a perfectionist. "Learn where to cut corners and set times within which to complete tasks," Reading advises.

At night:
- Grab your cordless phone and pay bills by credit card while you stir the minestrone.
- Use your answering machine to screen calls and avoid unnecessary interruptions that eat into your night.
- Get a friend or relative to pick up the kids from baseball practice. Then do the same for them next week.
- While cooking, clean as you go.
- Let it go. "Remember, nobody has ever died from an untidy house," says Reading. "Whereas overwork has been proven to lead to chronic fatigue, cancer, ulcers and heart attacks."

On weekends:
- Delegate jobs like unloading the dishwasher to your partner and kids.
- Food shop outside peak-hours so you don't waste time in lines. Reading suggests you: "Organize a buddy system with a friend, where you buy her groceries one week and she gets yours the next."
- Cook in bulk and freeze the leftovers.
- Say no to social engagements every Friday night. "Then make a date with your partner, even if you just dress up and enjoy a candlelit dinner at home - you'll feel like you've pampered yourself," says Reading.

In summary....
Analyze your day. (Look for pockets of time)
Set priorities. (What would help you be successful today?)
Enlist help from others (Ask for help!).
Have a plan for the entire day.
Use the Plan-Friendly Shopping List on e Tools
Make an “appointment” for exercise or look for opportunities to move more.
Prepare additional food while cooking for future meals or freezing.

My Weekend Report

How was your weekend!? On Friday, I blogged about how we can Avoid Weekend Struggles. I asked you to choose one of three game plans for your weekend. Many of you commented and told me what you were planning to do, but I really want to know how it went.

Now, you are probably wondering how I did this weekend. On Friday, I told you that I was going to follow #2, "a Relaxed Version of the Plan". More specifically I said,

"I am going to choose #2 and follow a more relaxed version of the plan this weekend. I am going to track what I eat even if I go overboard, but allow myself to freedom to use my weekly PointsPlus allowance. On Saturday, we have an event at church and I do not know what kind of food they will be serving, so I will bring a snack for myself. On Sunday, Jon is going to make his famous Chinese food and I want to be able to enjoy more of it then I normally do when I am on plan."

Overall, my weekend was better than I expected. On Saturday, I stayed on plan all day until dinner where we went out to eat. I ate a larger meal and used some of my weekly PointsPlus allowance. The biggest success is that I was able to track everything I ate on Saturday! Sunday was a different story. I did not track anything after lunch and just ate what I wanted. Bummer!

I am being positive and trying to learn from my experience instead of just getting down on myself, because I threw the plan out the window on Sunday. It is not going to do any good to just focus on what I did not do.

This next weekend, I will have to look at what we have planned and maybe I could eat what I want on Sunday as long as I write it down. If you have any other ideas I would love to hear them!!


BIG NEWS...
Weight Watchers announced that they have teamed up with Dr. Oz and together they are going to help transform America in a BIG way! You’ll have to tune in to the Dr. Oz show TODAY on Monday, September 26 for the official kickoff and to hear all the details!

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For now, I’ll just say there a million reasons to join this revolution, and the biggest one of all is your health.

Visit www.doctoroz.com for showtimes!

Avoiding Weekend Struggles

In my opinion, Friday is one of the best days of the week. It always feels like no matter what happens I can handle it. Why? Because it is Friday! If you survive Friday you have made it to the weekend which is my favorite part of any week. Friday may be the doorway to the weekend, however it is not as carefree as it is cracked up to be!

Chrissy from Doing the Weight Watchers Thang! asked:

How can I better prepare my weekends for a healthier but relaxed approach? The weekends are veg time or really busy and stressful. We tend to eat out junk on the weekends.

I really struggle to stay on plan during the weekends. I hope that this is not a surprise to you, because I have tried to be honest about this constant struggle. I even changed my weigh in day to Saturday, because I have had such a problem with weekends! Read more about how I am Changing It Up.

I might be alone in this, but I feel like I have earned the right to enjoy my weekend. Is anyone else with me!? However, I believe that we need to consider the consequences of completely letting go of the Weight Watchers plan and binge eating, because we "deserve it". Weight Watchers teaches us to make lifestyle changes and that includes what we eat on the weekends. Do you trust the Weight Watchers plan enough to follow it every day of the week?

The way I see it, each of us are going to do one of three things with our weekends: #1 stay on plan, #2 follow a relaxed version of the plan and #3 throw the plan out the window and start again on Monday. I am not saying that one choice is better than the other. However, I believe that you need to know what version you are choosing to follow each weekend, so that you are prepared.

#1: Stay on Plan
You know the Weight Watchers plan and what it requires. If you have the discipline to stick to the plan, even on the weekend do it!! I have so much respect for those of you who can do this.

#2: Follow a Relaxed Version of the Plan
To me, this is the perfect happy medium. You have worked too hard during the week to undo all of it in one weekend. However, you have worked hard and might just need a break. That’s okay! Don’t throw the entire plan out at once. Maybe you can decide not to do part of the plan, but stick to the rest of it.

For example: Go out to eat and choose someone on the menu that might be higher in PointsPlus value, but make sure that you count your PointsPlus. See! You do not have to relax everything you have learned at once! Be careful not to throw too much away at the same time otherwise it might start looking like #3.

#3: Throw the Plan out the Window and Start again on Monday
The thing that scares me most about choice #3 is that I know how much damage I can do in two days. I know how easy it can be to NOT start again on Monday. If you choose #3, please do so with caution. Make sure that you have saved up your weekly PointsPlus allowance to compensate for your over eating. I hope that some of the principles that Weight Watchers has taught you will influence the choices you make on the weekend even if you are not following the plan exactly.

What number are you going to choose this weekend?

I am going to choose #2 and follow a more relaxed version of the plan this weekend. I am going to track what I eat even if I go overboard, but allow myself to freedom to use my weekly PointsPlus allowance. On Saturday, we have an event at church and I do not know what kind of food they will be serving, so I will bring a snack for myself. On Sunday, Jon is going to make his famous Chinese food and I want to be able to enjoy more of it then I normally do when I am on plan.

It did not take very long for me to come up with this plan. The best part is that I made this plan during my normal week! When the weekend arrives I do not have to work at planning what I am going to do, because I already did it earlier in the week. Now I just relax and enjoy my weekend!

Remember

Please let me know what number you choose and why! On Monday, we can review our weekend and see how it went!

Recipe Review: Broccoli Cheese Chicken

I want to thank all of you what have given me such great topics to blog about! One of the best ideas someone gave me is that I should write more Recipe Reviews. Well, I completely agree!

Cindy from Cindy and John's Life emailed me a recipe that she wanted me to do a recipe review on. I had every intention of posting that recipe review this week! However, I did not have all the ingredients to make it. Sad day!

So, I went to Cindy's blog looking for another recipe that I would have all the the ingredients to make. I found a recipe for Broccoli Cheese Chicken. Yum! There are few combination's in this world that taste as good as broccoli and cheese together!

It's slow cooker season and I hope that you will add this recipe to your menu this next month!

Ingredients.
Please note: the ingredients call for frozen broccoli, but all I had on had was a broccoli and cheese steamer bag.
I used what I had and it turned out good!

I only used two chicken breasts, because that's all I had.

Melt margarine or butter

Combine Cream of Broccoli soup and melted margarine

Add milk to soup mixture

Stir everything together

Spoon soup mixture over chicken

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

Remove cooker lid and place broccoli over chicken. Cover and cook one more hour.

I served this over rice for dinner. This was good, however I would have added some salt and pepper to give it a little more flavor.

We ate this meal with our friends Michael & Becky!

. . . . . . . . . .
Broccoli Cheese Chicken
Source: Cindy and John's Life

Ingredients
4 breast(s) uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast
2 Tbsp margarine, melted
10 oz Campbell's 98% Fat-Free Cream of Broccoli
1/4 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
10 oz frozen chopped broccoli

Instructions
Place boneless chicken breasts in oblong slow cooker.

In bowl, combine melted butter, soup and milk. Spoon over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Remove cooker lid and place broccoli over chicken. Cover and cook 1 more hour. Serve over noodles or rice.

Servings 8; PointsPlus 5

Lingering Benefits of Exercise

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Here is the latest Get Fit email from Dr. Jacobs.

We all know that doing exercise is good for you.

Now it turns out that our bodies continue to work out long after we have stopped exercising.

Anyone undertaking a vigorous fitness session continues to burn calories for hours after they finish, research shows.

Men who exercised on a stationary bike for around 45 minutes burned an additional 190 calories over the 14 hours afterwards, the study found.

The same theory should apply to any intense activity, be it football, swimming or running, researchers say – and for the fairer sex.
However, to get the extra calorie-burning benefits, the workout needs to be enough that ‘you’re sweating, your body temperature is up and your heart beats fast’.
Ten volunteers, aged 22 to 33, each burned an average of 519 calories during their biking tests.

Afterwards, however, they burned another 190 calories – meaning their bodies carried on working when physical activity ceased.

Researcher David Nieman, of Appalachian State University in Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S. said: ‘That means a person would lose one pound after five intense exercise bouts if they resisted the temptation to eat more.

‘This shows that intense exercise can have a meaningful impact on your body fat stores if you don’t counter it with an extra piece of cake. I hope this will motivate people to get out there to do sweat-producing activities. You get so much bang for your buck.’

Mr. Nieman added that although only men were used as test subjects, there is ‘every reason to believe that the findings apply to women, too’.

The researchers used a metabolic chamber for the study, which is a silicone-sealed room with a bed, sofa and sink. Food was sent in through an air-locked entrance.

This allowed scientists to measure how much oxygen a volunteer consumed and how much carbon dioxide was produced, before calculating the number of calories burned.

Each of the men was given a rest day in the chamber and did little physical activity for 24 hours, bar stretching every two hours for two minutes.

They then spent a second day in the room doing exactly the same despite cycling vigorously for 45 minutes at 11am.

Measurements were taken immediately afterwards and again at 1am the following morning.

Other research has looked at the number of calories burned during exercise, but this is the first study to identify that it happens afterwards as well.

Overcoming 5 Common Weight Loss Obstacles

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Here is the Meeting Summary from Saturday 17th, 2011.

There are certain obstacles that everyone seems to encounter sooner or later in the weight-loss journey. Here's how to prepare yourself for hurdles and learn how to lose weight for life.

If you're new to dieting (and maybe even if you aren't), you may think that a successful weight-loss journey is one that's struggle-free. It starts the day you snap out of your old habits and start eating and exercising the right way, and ends the day you are at the weight of your dreams. And there isn't a single hitch along the way.

Well, here's something you ought to know. Samantha Heller, MS, RD, senior clinical nutritionist at the New York University Medical Center in New York City, says, "In the course of a weight-loss journey, everybody encounters obstacles."

"We can't be perfect," says Heller. But getting thrown off track occasionally does not mean you've messed up for good. Don't set yourself up for failure by believing that. In any process that requires changing lifestyle habits, there are going to be ups and downs. Understand that, and you're on your way to lifelong success.

Obstacle advice
That said, expecting ups and downs is the perfect way to make them work for you, rather than against you. We asked several dieters what they think are the most common weight-loss obstacles. Here's what they said, and what you should do when you come across these challenges on your weight-loss journey.

Common obstacle #1: Shame
One dieter said: "My biggest mistake? Skipping my weekly weight-loss meeting if I think I gained some weight. That's when I need help the most!"

How to jump the hurdle: Knowing you overindulged can be upsetting, says Heller, but instead of punishing yourself, learn from the lesson. Out of shame, you may feel tempted to stop keeping track of what you eat, or to stop stepping on the scale. Don't! "Keeping a good food diary keeps you conscious and aware of what you're doing," she says. You can use it — together with your scale — to find out how well you're doing, and most important, why you're getting the results that you are.

Common obstacle #2: Unrealistic deadlines
One dieter said: "Every time I say I want to lose weight by a certain date or event, I wind up not losing anything and sometimes gaining. That has been my biggest downfall."

How to jump the hurdle: The temptation to try to get to a certain weight in time for an event such as a wedding or reunion is strong. But doing so, says Heller, could set you up for failure. Not making your deadline could turn you off to weight loss altogether. "Be patient with your body," she says. "Set realistic goals, then work hard to get to them." Remember, reaching your weight loss goal will feel just as great if it takes you longer to get there, and taking the time to establish healthy habits will help you stay at your weight goal for life.

Common obstacle #3: Temptation
One dieter said: "I used to say, before starting a diet, 'I'll never eat X again' in order to lose weight. 'Never' is a long time, and restricting foods from my diet just made me want to eat that restricted food even more!"

How to jump the hurdle: If you have favorite foods that are very high in calories, and you really love them, deciding you'll never eat them again is a recipe for disaster. Because then, when the temptation wins (and it probably will), you'll feel as though you've failed. The trick is to find ways to fit the food in without going off track. Look for low-fat versions, for example. Or allow yourself an occasional splurge. "Just always understand the pros and cons of eating whatever the food is," says Heller, and plan accordingly.

Common obstacle #4: The "diet" mentality
One dieter said: "When I think of weight loss as 'this is how I'm living my life now,' instead of calling it a 'diet,' it is less overwhelming. Just 'something I do.' Otherwise, I get hung up on 'I can't wait until I can eat X again.'"

How to jump the hurdle: "Something you do for a couple weeks to a month is not going to change your life," says Heller. Create habits that you know you'll be able to keep up every day for the rest of your life, and, even if it's one habit at a time, dedicate yourself to making the changes for good. This way, your weight loss will be for good, too!

Common obstacle #5: Plateaus
One dieter said: "When I read the stories of people who have been really successful at this, they have hung on despite plateaus and gains. Being impatient is probably my biggest mistake."

How to jump the hurdle: "Understand that it's totally okay to reach a plateau in your weight loss," says Heller. The reasons could be your body's natural reaction, or it could mean you've loosened up on the good habits you've developed. Either way, break through by keeping at it and increasing your exercise. Just be patient, and you will make your goal!

Help!

Good Morning Blog Friends! How are you? How are your weight loss journeys going?

I'm sorry for being a blog slacker last week. I've been really stressed which makes it hard to blog. When I am stressed I often end up cutting things out of my life that I enjoy the most. I know it doesn't make sense, but that's what I have been doing the last few weeks. I have put myself on the back burner and made others a priority over myself. I cannot do this any longer! I have to get my priorities back in order and put myself closer to the top!!

Another reason that it has been hard for me to blog is because I feel like I am running out of things to say. Did I just say that!? It's probably not good to admit to your readers that you are suffering from writer's block, but it is true. Please do not misunderstand me, I love writing for this blog! I love being honest and open with you about Weight Watchers, healthy eating, struggles, spiritual things and more. However, I would really appreciate having some reader questions or topic suggestions to go off of.

Will you help me?

Thanks for letting me be honest with you!