Simply Filling = Simply Fabulous

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I think the Simply Filling Technique is one of THE MOST underutilized tools Weight Watchers has! There are many benefits for MANY members. The new flexibility of using Simply Filling on a daily basis is AWESOME, particularly since a HUGE factor of success is accountability and tracking - which is where so many people get tripped up. So often members feel they can't be successful trackers, don't want to write it down, aren't following our Good Health Guidelines, feel it takes too much time, won't track because it isn't perfect, have trouble figuring out PointsPlus values, etc. I am really passionate about "converting" people to the joys of the Simply Filling concept - once in a while or even daily; it is a block buster strategy on vacations! What could it hurt…..

SIMPLY FILLING = SIMPLY FABULOUS

We encourage people to track, because it makes you more aware of what you’re eating, and helps you maintain control when you’re aiming to lose weight. Still, tracking isn’t for everyone — and for those who want to try a different method, we offer the Simply Filling technique.

So, what is simply filling? Following the Simply Filling technique means you eat exclusively from the Power Foods list without counting the PointsPlus values of those foods. You can find a complete list of power foods in the following places:
• Pages 40-43 Meet PointsPlus® 2012
• Pocket Guide( Green section ) page 103
• Power Start colored Trackers contain a list

You know a food is a power food if it has a green triangle beside it in the companion guides, pocket guides, or on e-tools.
Eat portions that feel right for you. Not so much that you feel too full, and not too little that you still feel hungry.

If you decide to try the Simply Filling technique, the Plan Manager on e-tools makes it easy. Go to “Settings” and select “Tracking Preference.” Follow it for a day, a week or more; whatever works for you. You might find it's a good idea if you're on vacation or have a special event. You can always switch back if you decide Simply Filling isn’t for you.

You’ll still enjoy a weekly PointsPlus Allowance with the Simply Filling technique, and have room to treat yourself with food that is not on the Power Foods list. Just remember to track those items, and stay within your weekly allowance. You can also continue to earn, and swap, activity PointsPlus values.

With the new PointsPlus 2012 system you can decide to do the simply filling technique on a day to day basis! (Used to you would have to follow the simply filling plan for an entire week at a time.)

You can also Include your 2 tsp. of healthy oil each day without counting PointsPlus values. Use your weekly PointsPlus Allowance for any additional oil. Healthy oil choices include:
• Olive oil
• Canola oil
• Safflower oil
• Sunflower oil
• Flaxseed oil

Remember, as with the regular PointsPlus plan your goal is to get in all of your good healthy guidelines each day. Those include (pages 48-53 of Meet PointsPlus 2012 book):
• 5 servings of fruits/veggies
• 1-2 servings of lean proteins
• At least 2 servings of non-fat and low fat dairy
• Choose whole grains whenever possible
• Get in at least 48 oz. of nonalcoholic liquids each day (water is your best choice)
• Get in 2 tsp. of healthy oil
• Take a multivitamin daily
• Watch your intake of sodium, added sugar, and alcohol

If you find that you are already eating a lot of power foods, then the simply filling technique may be right up your alley. Give it a try this next week and see how you like it!

Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner App

Ready, Set, Scan!

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Weight Watchers thought they would make staying on plan even easier this holiday season, which is why I proudly present to you the Weight Watchers barcode scanner for both the iPhone and the Android!

The barcode scanner provides accurate PointsPlus® values for thousands of products which can be tracked directly from scanning a product’s barcode — no manual data entry into the Tracker is needed! Scan any food you like, even if it’s one we don’t have in our database — you can easily add the food to your Favorites list or directly into a mealtime in your Food Tracker. Additionally, the new barcode scanner app can compare multiple scanned products — a really useful feature when it comes to meal planning and creating shopping lists.

To download this beauty, look for Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner in the App Store or the Android Market. This product is free for all iOS and Android smartphone users who have a Weight Watchers Online or eTools account with us.

So, what are you waiting for? Head to the grocery store and start scanning all of your holiday food items before you purchase to make sure they are PointsPlus values-friendly.

As few housekeeping items:

1) It’s best if your Weight Watchers Mobile app is the latest version (iOS v1.7, Android v1.1), it’ll play nice with the barcode scanner

2) All items will be tracked as "user-created foods" and will display with the blue flag next to them in your PointsPlus Food Tracker.

3) The barcode scanner has a separate food database from the Plan Manager and Tracker apps, so only the foods you track or add to favorites from the Barcode Scanner app will be available in the PointsPlus Food Tracker.

4) All Favorites created in the barcode app will be added to the Plan Manager and Tracker app favorites, BUT you will not see Plan Manager or Tracker app favorites in the barcode scanner app. Also, deleting favorites from the barcode scanner app will not delete it from your Plan Manger or Tracker app.

OK, OK, start scanning already

Celebrating Our Anniversary

This past weekend, Jon and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary!! I cannot believe that we have already been married for 5 years!! Where did the time go!?

We have learned a lot over these last 5 years. Here are just a few things that God has taught us so far. God has shown us that we need to depend on one another when life gets hard. God has taught us that going to church is a priority, because we will not make it in this life without God. God has shown us that He will provide for our every need. God has also taught us that His timing and plans are much more perfect than ours.

To really celebrate such a big milestone in our lives we are taking a trip after the first of the year. We will be attending the Passion 2012 conference. There is no better way that we could celebrate than to attend a conference that helps to teach us more about the Lord!!

On, Saturday, our actual anniversary we spent the day resting and relaxing! We watched movies and hung out at home! This was perfect, because recently our schedules have been so hectic. Here are so pictures from our anniversary.

Jon and I ready to go out to dinner!

We went to Genghis Grill, it's one of our favorite places to eat!

Jon bowl was spicy as usual.

I tried something new and got noodles!

We went to Starbucks after dinner.

After Starbucks we headed to the bookstore, another one of our favorite places to hang out!

Click here to read more about our love story!

Weight Watchers Praline Nut Cluster

Serving Size: 1 bar
  2 pointsplus+

At my Weight Watchers center we finally received the new mini bar!! I bought a box of these Weight Watchers Praline Nut Cluster mini bars on Tuesday evening. They taste like a Payday and are very good!! When I am craving something sweet, like a candy bar, these mini bars are the perfect PointsPlus friendly option for me.

I hope that you will get some and try them the next time you are in the meeting room. Maybe you could even use them as stocking stuffers!!

Wordless Wednesday: My Weight Watchers Pedometer

Reader Question: Excess Skin

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Good Morning!! I’ve received several emails in the last few weeks from people who read and follow my blog. They are people just like you and me who are in the midst of their own weight loss journeys. These people need some advice and/or encouragement to help them along in their journey.

Normally, I just email the blog reader back and let that be it. However, I think that there are other people out there who have similar questions. So, I’ve decided to start using some of my reader questions as my inspiration for blog posts. I’ll post the reader’s question and my response to their question.

This past weekend I received an email from Sarah, who had a question about excess skin. Read below to check out Sarah’s question.

"Do you have to deal with extra skin, or has your body adjusted to the new weight? I look all over the place for weight loss blogs for inspiration, I have 92 pounds to lose. However, I recently came across a blog where a girl had to have a "lower body lift" which is basically plastic surgery to remove excess skin, and this kind of scared me. I'm a big fan of your blog, so I thought I would ask you and see if you had any issues with this after your weight loss. Thanks for your help."

Here is my response to Sarah and anyone else who is nervous about dealing with excess skin.

First, I just want to thank Sarah for having the courage to email me! I love hearing from my blog readers/followers! Talking about weight loss issues can be uncomfortable, especially when you are talking about it with a stranger.

My mother-in-law asked me this same question just a few months after I reached my goal weight. In answer to your question, I did not have to deal with extra skin. I have not had any kind of "body lift" either. To be completely honest, I did not lose all of my weight and find a six pack under the layers of fat that was hiding it. My stomach does not look like anything that you would find on the cover of a magazine. It is bigger than I like and still has a few larger rolls. However, I do not have lots of flabby skin just hanging around that I have to deal with.

Now that I’ve been too honest with you, let me tell you a few reason about why I have not had to deal with extra skin.

First, I lost my weight at a slow and healthy rate. As I lost the weight my body was able to make adjustments. People who choose to lose weight very quickly often have to deal with a lot of extra skin, because their body does not have time to adjust to the weight loss changes that are taking place. I would highly recommend that you lose your weight at a slower pace. I know that it can be challenging, but losing the weight slowly really is the healthiest way to go.

Second, half way through my weight loss journey I began to exercise. I believe that the walking and running that I was doing as I lost my weight helped to naturally tone my body. If you are not exercising regularly I would highly recommend it!

Don't let the fear of having excess skin keep you from losing weight!

PointsPlus 2012 Plan Changes

{Flexible PointsPlus Target}

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Many of you were surprised to notice that with our 2012 PointsPlus plan, many of your daily pointsplus targets have changed. When we launched our original PointsPlus program in 2010 we were overly cautious, making sure that everyone’s nutrition needs would be met with our program. Since that time we have done more research and discovered that this can still be done with a lower daily pointsplus target.

For that reason we have moved the bottom of our scale to 26 pointsplus instead of the 29. (You will notice that your etools account has automatically recalculated your daily pointsplus target to reflect these new calculations based on your age, height, current weight, and gender.) The choice to change your daily pointsplus target is completely up to you.

Why might you want to lower your daily pointsplus target?
• not losing or difficulty maintaining
• reduction in overall daily activity
• age, which may lead to slower weight loss or difficulty maintaining due to a decrease in activity
• I can’t eat all that! – Struggling to get in the recommended amount of pointsplus values

If you decide to move to the lower daily pointsplus values be cautious of the following things:
• Feeling deprived/falling into that diet mentality
• Getting in your Good Health Guidelines (proper nutrition)
• Unhealthy rapid weight loss -- what IS that? .5 lb to 2 lb per week. On the back of your newly designed weight record there is a place for you to plot your weight loss and identify if you are falling within the healthy range.

Why might you want to raise your daily pointsplus target?
• feeling too deprived, not being able to stick with it
• vacations, holiday seasons, a decision to maintain for a time instead of losing, etc.
• losing too quickly
• increase in overall daily activity, leading to rapid weight loss or chronic hunger

Now you have the option to remain at the daily pointsplus target you already have. If you are happy with your food intake, and if you are losing at a healthy rate, then you may not want to change your daily pointsplus target at all. If this is the case, and you have etools, you can adjust your daily pointsplus target under the plan manager under settings.

{Free eTools}

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Congratulations to all Zero paying Lifetime members. As a reward for your hard work, you are now able to receive free etools! Each month when you weigh in no more than 2 lb above your goal, you will receive an 8 week free etools voucher! WOOOOHOOOO! You guys deserve it!!

{PowerStart}

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Probably the biggest change that Weight Watchers is announcing this year is in how we are helping you get STARTED with your weight loss. Research shows that getting off to a GREAT start is critical to long-term weight loss success, so we’ve vamped our “getting started session” into a new 3-part POWERSTART! You’ll notice that on the front of your new weight record, there are 3 boxes to record when you’ve completed each of the great new sessions. I invite you ALL to stay for these 3 looping sessions. You do not have to take them in any order.

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Don’t forget that our new 2012 enrollment products are now available with more information and with new updated pointsplus values. Pick your copies up in the meeting room!